..續本文上一頁 of this world, and he taught us that selfish desire is the source of our suffering. He taught us how to end our suffering by following him on the Proper Path. He taught us morality, concentration, and wisdom to put our greed, anger, and delusion to rest. He himself, through lifetimes of cultivation and renunciation, put to rest all his own desires, and with kindness, compassion, joy, and giving he came to give us himself as an example. If all men and women could take refuge in him, this world would no longer be the poor and dangerous place that it is now."
摩诃都塔點點頭，如同口渴的人，得到清涼水般地，吸收這位比丘的法語。他試圖再說些什麼，卻已辦不到了。潘舍卡法師了解他的要求，就爲他授叁皈依，于是他便成爲一個叁寶弟子。接著潘舍卡法師又爲他說菩薩的四弘誓願：
Mahaduta nodded. He drank in the Bhikshu”s words like a thirsty man who is given cool water. He tried to speak, but could not continue. Understanding his request, Panthaka spoke the Three Refuges for him, so that he became a disciple of the Triple Jewel. Panthaka then repeated for him the Four Great Vows of the Bodhisattva:
衆生無邊誓願度
煩惱無盡誓願斷
法門無量誓願學
佛道無上誓願成
Living beings are boundless; I vow to save them.
Afflictions are endless; I vow to cut them off.
Dharma-doors are countless; I vow to study them.
The Buddhas” Way is unsurpassed; I vow to achieve it.
然後又念了叁次普賢菩薩的忏悔偈：
He also repeated three times the repentance verse of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva:
往昔所造諸惡業
皆由無始貪瞋癡
從身語意之所生
一切我今皆忏悔
Of all evil I have done in the past,
Caused by beginningless
greed, hatred, and stupidity
And produced by body, mouth, and mind
I now repent and reform.
還有這首偈頌：
And this verse:
罪從心起將心忏
心若滅時罪亦亡
心亡罪滅兩俱空
是則名爲真忏悔
Offenses arise from the mind;
repentance is done by the mind.
When the mind is extinguished,
offenses are forgotten.
Offenses extinguished and the mind forgotten─
both empty:
That is called true repentance and reform.
當潘舍卡法師仍在誦念時，摩诃都塔咽下了最後一, 口氣，含笑而逝。
As Panthaka was reciting it, Mahaduta breathed his last. He died with a smile on his face.
強盜忏悔 死亦度生
With true repentance, the robber crossed
others over even after his death.
于是潘舍卡法師將朝聖之旅延後，立刻返回憍賞彌，到潘杜家說明一切。潘杜就召集了一批武裝人員，與潘舍卡法師一起回到山中。此時摩诃都塔的手下都已經逃走了；潘杜的錢袋真的是被藏在摩诃都塔所說的地方，而且王冠仍在裏面，絲毫無損。
Panthaka postponed his pilgrimage and returned to Kaushambi. He went immediately to Pandu”s house to tell him of what had happened. Gathering an escort of armed men, Pandu returned to the mountains. Mahaduta”s men had already fled. Pandu”s purse was hidden exactly where Mahaduta had said it would be, and the crown was within it, unharmed.
當摩诃都塔的屍體被火化，骨灰被裝入壇中後，潘舍卡法師領著大家誦念《佛說阿彌陀經》及〈往生淨土咒〉。他簡要地說明業力，以及比業力更大的忏悔力量。他從《法句經》中引用了這首偈頌：
Panthaka came with them, and when the body of Mahaduta had been burned and the ashes collected in urns, Panthaka led the assembled company in the recitation of Sutras and mantras. He spoke briefly of the power of karma and of the even greater power of repentance and reform. He also quoted this verse:
自救真救度 自力勝他力
皈依佛教導 同登正覺道
No one can save us but ourselves.
Our strength is greater than that derived from others.
We ourselves must walk the road to
Proper Enlightenment
With the Buddha as our Great Teacher and Guide
「我們的老師那拉達尊者，」潘舍卡法師繼續開示：「一直強調我們要爲自己的行爲負責，也要爲自己的業報負責。獎懲我們的，不是神或其他的衆生，而是我們自己。一切唯心造，世界的好壞，都是我們自己創造的。今天被埋葬在地下的摩诃都塔，由于受邪惡思想的左右，過了罪惡的一生；除了不快樂外，其他一無所知。但最後他卻改變了，他真誠忏悔與改過自新的誓願，感動佛陀示現來庇佑他。他以寬恕的善行，走完了生命之旅，在安樂祥和中過世。我們應該可以以他做爲借鏡！沒有一個人不是罪業凡夫，最後都要受到自己所織成的業網牽引。但只要真心忏悔，我們就能從中得到解脫。」
"Our Elder Master Narada," Panthaka continued, "has always stressed that we alone are responsible for our own actions, and that we are responsible for what happens to us as a result of our actions. No god or any other being rewards or punishes us. We reward ourselves; we punish ourselves. Everything arises from the mind, and so the world is exactly how we create it. This man Mahaduta, whom we have buried today, led an evil l…
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