勝軍化世百瑜伽他經

In the past there was a Sage named Vĩ Bà who, without relying on canonical texts or chapter-and-verse, spoke thus:

I now sing for myself, delighting in the place of the foolish

Briefly reciting the Gāthā and the hundred verses

Practicing kindness, practicing righteousness, practicing virtuous deeds

Without self, without conceit, without weakness

In true sincerity and compassion one should honor the Teacher

Able to be above others, yet apart from the doing

There is only greed, and resolute will

A body lofty and beautiful, yet gentle and harmonious

If one meets a strong foe, one is brave and valiant

This body is called the mark of the Great Man

The young who practice goodness are truly rare

He who seeks and he who is sought both rejoice

If one is praised yet feels ashamed

Such people are also hard to find

Wishing to seek what is good, first seek the Dharma

When the Dharma uplifts and the mind is pure, virtue arises of itself

All moral precepts are strictly upheld

Such a person is truly rare in this world

Of nature naturally good, this is called goodness

The virtuous and the wicked both clearly understand

Whether that or this, it too is stored within

That which a person understands, the world finds hard to attain

The nature of fire is to give warmth, its root is heat

The nature of the moon, bright and clear, is likewise

The Kṣatriya clan is called the highest

Below it, why should the other clans be afraid

When kinsmen meet with danger, one should rescue and aid them

When others meet with calamity, likewise

Exhausting one's strength for others, the heart not divided in two

In this, the way of living is called right livelihood

Giving, forbearance, together with the power of brightness

Subduing the faculties is called wholesome

This is a Saint truly adorned

Gold and jewels as adornment are like carrying a heavy burden

In this world there has never been a single thing

Not destroyed by impermanence into nothingness

There is only the unconditioned, the virtue of tranquil stillness

Passing through unmoved, abiding ever permanently

How excellent the form and appearance, the body upright and proper

Fully able to cultivate, virtue shining bright

Like the bright moon amid the clear sky

Pure and white, illuminating every house

The wealthy give generously to all people

The mind accomplishes very many dharmas

Strongly rescuing and aiding the weak

How excellent! This virtue is truly fine and good

That virtue, again and again, moves the virtueless

The fool despises virtue and so loses it

The wise are bright as the red sun

The foolish, like bright stars, are veiled and blinded

The virtuous are able to guard the body in all affairs

All of them cultivate lofty virtue

If through unrestrained mind one commits a fault

Diligently cultivating much virtue, one is as before

The wicked stay far from the place of moral virtue

Always wishing to draw near to the unwholesome

It is like leaving the pure pond of merit

And entering waters muddy as mire

Smearing oil upon the body to remove filth

Removing the filth, one must again wash off that oil

Just as one does a deed hoping for success

If wishing for success, one abandons the doing

The wicked, evil one is like a black serpent

The deluded wicked one is like a drunken elephant

The good person fears the mind being harmed

The wicked, perverse one delights in pleasure

A great fire under a hot sky is hard to extinguish at once

A bottomless abyss is not yet clearly known

Using wholesome wisdom to observe wicked peril

Deep indeed is firm faith without doubt

Falling into the abyss, into fire, is truly perilous

Or there may be a body remaining, forcing itself to stand

Or there may be a body remaining, forcing itself to walk

If a person falls into the realm of evil destinies

The evil destiny, a deep spring, is hard to escape

Great waters rising in waves are hard to flow through

A great fire ablaze is hard to burn through

The harm done by the wicked cannot be struck down

This is precisely the world's precious treasure

The weak who have wealth hold fast and guard it

The middling also cannot keep their wealth

The middling, seeing money, are truly delighted in heart

The weak rely on money, and in life regard it as important

All clans, colors, and virtues

Companions, kinsmen, and friends

Each and every one—it is not clear whence they come

Though it is only foolish greed delighting in wealth

The rich tell lies, the one who gives speaks truth

The greedy speak truth yet give as if it were nothing

Flattering when it suits, not acting rightly

That good and fine person feels no shame

Having money and wealth, yet without virtue

If one has virtue, people give praise

Without talent, with greed, virtue insufficient

The foolish, without wisdom, are quick to disparage

Valiant and virtuous, yet treated as nothing

This is precisely the person of true awakened contemplation

Departing from wealth, at peace in the Way, in a place of pure poverty

For kinsmen to despise poverty is truly wrong

Killing the son, the wealthy give what is true

The lofty, without talent, are not the weak

Kinsmen and friends conform to the world

Knowing only wine and revelry, not understanding sin

One must understand the evil destinies, perilous and drowning

There, undergoing punishment, is truly bitter suffering

The beggar comes and goes hoping for things given

Wholly without wisdom, mistaking the intention of the heart

The beggar, not complying, goes against this feeling

In part of the mind, full of anger, lamenting a place of resentment

This person's mind is mean, their words deceitful

Abandoning benefit they cannot, how much less abandon their life

This person is stingy, heavy with delusion

Of rescuing and giving they have never known

Hoarding money and cloth, in the end nothing remains

Ascetic practice and generous giving are ever steadfast

A single such person aids with much money

The foolish and deluded grow more so, without reflecting

Undergoing suffering, not understanding falsehood and stinginess

Many people aid them, yet the suffering is equal

Not directing, not using, not sharing with others

The unwise, regarding this wholesome deed

Gold and silver hoarded, filling the chambers

Buried deep and unclean—what use is it

When greed is exhausted, then giving is most precious

That person is called a Person of the Highest

The wealthy and noble who give away only a little money and cloth

Are like a river of few drops—who would worry over it

If a person relies on the Dharma, their conduct is not impoverished

Diligent in giving, like one who loves a beautiful person

If one gives much money, it lessens the hoard

The suffering of the fruit one feels is likewise

A pure mind-field—this is the king of dharmas

A youth with moral virtue is like fragrant flowers

A loving mind, soft and supple, like a beautiful person

Refined and adorned, doing good deeds

Bowing in reverence at holy sites, and giving generously

Diligent, learned, undergoing ascetic practice

If the standards diminish, there is no moral conduct

Having first cultivated much goodness together with diminished merit

Now one is again called a person who understands

In a later life born in Heaven, all people submit

Blessings and lifespan long-lasting, ever joyful

All through upholding precepts achieving success

Often hearing of the extreme suffering of the prisons of the three evil paths

Ever maintaining dignified deportment, complete in moral virtue

When this life is exhausted and this life-span ends

Yama and the evil destinies—I do not fear

Walled cities, hamlets, together with dense forests

Whether there is delusion, or there is wisdom

Suppose one understands the Dharma, or does not understand the Dharma

If one seeks the Well-Gone One, one cultivates and upholds precepts

Firmly maintaining the prohibitions, making oneself pure

Ever should one draw near to good spiritual friends

Cultivating diligently according to the Dharma, wholesome karma is full

All merits are gathered together

Upholding precepts brings the benefit of the Dharma, attaining peace and joy

If the mind, foolish and deluded, has harm and injury

Virtue and life in an instant are at once extinguished

For what reason does the wise one drink wine

That one, perhaps drinking wine, is hindered, foolish and inferior

In the end it cannot be called wholesome

Suddenly heaven and earth again are impermanent

Defilement fills the body, a vessel impure

Even so, kinsmen together delight in drinking

Once drunk, together they then destroy life

Thus it is only within an instant

It is said that wine is more poisonous than poison

Incurring sin, the cause is the practice of lust

Truly, even casting away one's life, one is ever entangled in mind

All desires and passions bring no benefit

Still using delusion, one selects a woman

If one delights in one's own wife, seeking to please the will

Because of constant craving, one wishes for more

Concerning that concubine, falsely seeking and pursuing

Sorrowfully feeling lonely, the mind in fear

Blood, flesh, sinew, bone, skin, mucus, and saliva

Within and without all come forth—the body is impure

Even one's own wife and children cannot be united with

That other woman—how could she be united with

If a person is pure in aspiration, without lust

Clearly understanding union as like a dream and illusion

Therefore departing far from this woman

One attains a settled mind, leaving delusion behind

A woman can truly bring delight

Wealthy and beautiful, it is likewise

Kinsmen together give rise to attached affection

This life is not enduring, again impermanent

The foolish keep clinging, increasing craving and attachment

The wise one reflects: in the end it returns to nothingness

If one turns toward the dust of love to dwell in pleasure

When will one come forth and arrive at enlightenment

In cultivation do not be deterred by hardship and toil

Afterward only then does one attain bodily peace and joy

This is precisely the wholesome word of true benefit

Drinking it in is to be likened to truly excellent medicine

All deeds one clearly understands

Errors and perilous ruin are all able to be understood

If this can be done, that can be done

How would a wholesome deed have any place to conceal it

People upon people cultivate and create what came before

First eliminate deviance and disorder, with right contemplation

Determining afterward, there is no error

Naturally peaceful and settled, faults do not arise

If one cultivates wholesome karma, making it grow

Single-minded and tranquil, departing from drifting and floating

Should there be enemies, or the affliction of illness

Naturally they are removed, cutting off delusion

Harsh speech, double-tongued, the mind base and inferior

The foolish let loose their intent, abandoning to passion

How would they know the bird of beautiful color

That can lure the monkey, the heron, the owl and all

That can store up delusion without right understanding

Praising diligence and the gate of precepts and giving

I say there are people who do these deeds

Making merit, bringing peace to the body, is supreme

Self-mastered, the Dharma-sound is like singing and music

Without a mind that delights in this, on what does one then rely

If you who have feeling abandon the realm

And this animal birth—this very person

For the sake of benefit, neither word is awakened to

What is true and what is not true are both not understood

Thus evidently they do not understand the distinction

Though complete in human form, they are like beasts

Not understanding the wholesome and good from foolish delusion

How would one say the jackal differs from the lion

Not distinguishing better from worse, seeing them as alike

The wise one understands and does not live together with them

Not saying it is the Saint, not the foolish delusion

Not creating the double-tongued, not arrogant

It is hard to understand the lofty principle, yet there is a place of knowing

This is called the Brahmin's adornment

Single-mindedly understanding the intent, cultivating true conduct

Errors, time after time, one does not practice

The arrogant, the wicked together contend in strife

Thus form and virtue I do not have

Foolish delusion within the mind, troubled and perverse

Of kindness and forbearance wholly without, much fierce violence

These are exceedingly grave errors

Clinging because one's own virtue surpasses that of others

Having left home upon the great road, the mind is not deep

Good friends are scarcely respected or held dear

The teacher's instruction has never been honored with offerings

Drawing near only to strife and contention, truly foolish

The sky is vast, the moon is full, truly without waning

Below the mountain the flowers and grasses never wither

The people of the world are impermanent—how different from this

So why contend over self and other—to what end

A woman's basic nature is truly unwholesome

Yet no obstacle to one who cultivates wholesome deeds

The Āmalaka grass has this seed

These are the three kinds of errors in the world

Honoring the Dharma-master, visiting holy traces

Newly practiced contentment with little, remembering compassion and wisdom

Thus the five kinds of worldly deeds

If said to be hard to do, they are again easy to do

Understanding people, understanding the Dharma, ever doing good

And able to seek out and inquire of good friends

Just as within the sand there is true gold

All sentient beings know to treasure it

The foolish and inferior do likewise, not free

Naturally without virtue, again without wisdom

To be one who has left home yet is violent and wicked

Then indeed the way of living cannot be called wholesome

Why not trust in friends

Why not understand the realms of Humans and Devas

Why not practice skillful means

Why be self-satisfied, regarding it as enough

The stingy person—where do they give

A dune of sand—where would it have water

An impure place—where would it have fragrance

The wicked person—where would there be kindness and righteousness

The angry one, who loves—what virtue would they have

The enemy—where would there be a friend

The one who indulges—how would they know contentment

A long-lasting life—how could it be so

The wanton woman, proud and extravagant, is not deeply trusted

The foolish and stupid do not discriminate

Wealth, nobility, and splendor—who attains them for long

The cause of karma, once determined, is hard to destroy

The Brahmin who obtains food rejoices

The sparrow hearing thunder again rejoices together

The good person rescues and protects, others rejoice

The foolish person destroys, and then makes merry

Foolishness, delusion, love, and pleasure create strife

Like greedily obtaining wealth, the mind is glad and happy

The virtuous person hears that one speak fine words

Like a bee striking the fragrant scent of flowers

The person with virtue is able to draw near to virtue

The person prone to wrong—that wrong becomes enmity

The person who robs and steals—that robbing is suffering

The person of contentment—that one is again joyful

Why be discouraged when holding the alms-bowl

How would one cast aside the labor of that person

Understanding it is not for the body that one grasps a self

So one should tame the mind to be good, soft and harmonious

Where the mind has no love, no self-and-other

The deer without a home dwells in the garden-forest

Dwelling in the rich man's house, it is honored and esteemed

Not for small matters does one beg and curry favor

Casting aside false conditions and all the affairs of pleasure

In the end without embarrassment, truly free

Life is like a single swan

Long abiding forever in clean water

Royal cities, villages and hamlets, the places where people dwell

The eight virtues, more or less, no longer remain at all

A loving mind, pure and bright, reproaches with shame

Understanding the Dharma of no-self is truly a joy

Mountain ranges, spring waters flowing through caves

Eating fruit, garments of hide to cover the body

Tranquil and still, mountains and forests are truly delightful

Why need villages and hamlets to seek and pursue

In the mountains one sees no houses at all

Self-mastered, without dogs, glad to go at once

In that mind one is able to find benefit and joy

Subduing the faculties and consciousness, one lives long

I now have instructed you all

With joined palms and reverent heart, listen with a settled mind

All the Dharma-treasury is truly peace and joy

So one should delight in that joyful mind

You know clearly the karmic retribution upon a person

If within an instant it has not yet been attained

The later body, foolish and dim—how would it make merit

Following the former, one retreats and condemns oneself to torment

A drop of water on the earth does not stay long

Likened to a person's life, it is not firm and lasting

Three kinds of unhindered states—who is able

If one is a wise person, one can accomplish them

Thus if you follow accordingly

Direct your intention to the three kinds, understanding the little and the much

Like a forest bird contemplating its own body

The sparrow is more beautiful, yet it is not oneself

Impermanence, birth-and-death—who does a person love

Wisdom has already contemplated the five faculties

This body, though it exists, in the end is not for long

I tell you clearly: the world is empty

Thus Yama, the person sees clearly

Sentient beings undergo suffering—how many people escape

Old age and death do no harm, the realm of peace and joy

Why do you all turn and act otherwise

Impermanence on every side has already been understood

Only the matter of craving life is again not realized

The road ahead is dim and dark, far from light

For what reason, at the very peak, do you not reflect

Father, mother, wife, children, together with friends

Their union is false and illusory, awaiting the passing of time

The True Dharma is near—one should rely upon it

Able to drive away impermanence, the suffering of birth-and-death

Seeking much gives rise to much affliction

Guarding the body gives rise to true fear

Destruction, once attained, is truly sorrow

If the wise one seeks, what benefit is there

If that one does not cultivate true conduct

The cycle of birth-and-death—when will it stop

The wise one always views this world

All becoming illusory transformation mixed with foolish delusion

False words, sung songs, are not real

Desire and craving, pursued, are like a sore or boil

Harming the world, not firm, like an illusory dream

How could it compare to using the Buddha-Dharma with body and mind

Therefore one does not create sin

All in equality crumble along with the body

How does the world have a foolish and dim mind

Not understanding to reflect, evil sin arises

Where one does not do good or evil, in that mind

Guarding the world of humans and devas, one should understand clearly

If the mind is not able to reflect upon this

When will one ever be able to dissolve all the sins

According to conditions, sitting and dwelling, with things to use and enjoy

Grass and straw worn as garments, gaining time

This leisure as a supporting condition brings benefit

The remaining furnishings vex and trouble a person

Only seeing the adornment of palaces

Though they be coarse and ugly, things to sit and lie upon

In contentment, naturally the mind has joy and delight

Like seeing an ugly person, it is better than the devas and humans

One should understand that in the world it is only for money

Water, fire, and theft all plunder it

Thus, wishing to seek the blessings of a later life

One has not yet sought those things that are not money

Discussing crafts and commerce, farming together with scholarship

If they do not rely on the Dharma's rule, one should not do them

One should understand this matter must be fitting

Departing from blessings, naturally there is no accomplishment

If one is able to do good, or does not do it

One should understand it is not for any particular person

Together with this body, the place where karma is created

By this all sentient beings attain it

Thus all the places where karma is created

Are again able, in a later life, not to be born again

Birth, old age, sickness, suffering, together with impermanence

What follows next is not yet clear, whence it comes.

The Sūtra of King Victorious Transforming the World, the Hundred Treatises of Gāthā

The End