譬喻經

Thus have I heard. At one time the Bhagavān was dwelling in the Jeta Grove near the city of Śrāvastī.

Then the Bhagavān, in the midst of a great assembly, addressed the king named Radiance: "Mahārāja, I will now for your majesty briefly set forth a parable concerning the beings of saṃsāra and their feelings, their clingings, their errors, and their troubles. Let your majesty now listen closely and reflect upon it well.

"Going back into the past, an asaṃkhyeya of kalpas ago, there was a man who went out into a wilderness and was pursued by a savage elephant. In his terror he fled, having no refuge. Then he caught sight of an empty well, and dangling down into it was the root of a tree.

Thereupon he quickly climbed down by the root and hid himself within the well. There were two rats, one dark and one light, that together gnawed at the tree root above him. And within the well, around its sides, were four poisonous snakes that wished to bite that man; and below was a venomous serpent.

His mind was terrified by the snakes and the serpent, and he dreaded that the tree root would break. The tree root held within it the honey of bees, and five drops of it fell into his mouth. As the tree shook, the bees swarmed down to sting the man.

And wildfires came again and again to burn the tree."

The king said, "How is it that this man should endure such endless distress, craving so slight a pleasure?"

Then the Bhagavān addressed the great king: "The wilderness is a metaphor for the long night of ignorance, vast and far-reaching. The words 'that man' are a metaphor for a being in yet another existence. The elephant is a metaphor for impermanence. The well is a metaphor for saṃsāra. The perilous tree root is a metaphor for life. The pair of rats, dark and light, is a metaphor for day and night. Their gnawing of the tree root is a metaphor for the wearing away of the four elements. The honey is a metaphor for the five desires, and the bees are a metaphor for false thinking. The fire is a metaphor for old age and illness, and the venomous serpent is a metaphor for death.

"For this reason, Mahārāja, you should reflect that birth, old age, illness, and death are truly terrible. Always should you contemplate them and keep them in mind. Do not allow yourself to be made a slave to the five desires."

Thereupon the Bhagavān, with gravity, spoke a gāthā:

"The wilderness is the path of ignorance,
The fleeing man is a metaphor for the ordinary being,
The great elephant is a simile for impermanence,
And the well is a metaphor for the shore of saṃsāra.

The tree root is a metaphor for being in this life,
The two rats are the same as night and day,
The gnawed root is the decay of thought upon thought,
And the four snakes are the same as the four elements—earth, fire, water, and wind.

The dripping honey is a metaphor for the five desires—taste, touch, smell, and the rest;
The bee's sting is a simile for false thinking;
The fire is the same as having old age and illness,
And the venomous serpent is the path to the suffering of death.

The wise contemplate these matters thus:
The elephant can weary a being's crossing,
The five desires can lead the mind to non-attachment,
And this path is called that of the liberated one.

Then King Radiance, having heard the Buddha give this discourse on birth and death as a passage through troubles, gave rise to a profound and unprecedented disillusionment. With palms joined in reverence and gazing single-mindedly and respectfully, he said to the Buddha: "Bhagavān, how greatly compassionate it is of the Tathāgata to expound such a subtle and wondrous meaning of the Dharma. I am now consecrated!"

The Buddha said: "Sādhu! Sādhu! Mahārāja, you should practice in accordance with what has been expounded, and not conduct yourself without restraint."

Then King Radiance and all those in the great assembly were filled with joy. They faithfully received it, transmitted it, and upheld it.

(End of the Sūtra)