..續本文上一頁 among his men, telling them to stop beating Pandu”s escort. "Spoils only," he said.
他對大家說:「不准殺人!」同時他用在馬車座下夾層藏有金匣子的消息,來轉移手下的注意力;而金匣子果然就在那兒,如同過去那些年,摩诃都塔本人無數次爲主人收藏的老位置。
"No killing." And he distracted them with news of the chest of gold which was, indeed wedged behind the false bottom of the carriage, just where Mahaduta himself had hidden it many times in past years.
強盜頭子讓潘杜和隨行的人自由下山,回到憍賞彌去。當晚,趁他的夥伴們正邊數金幣邊慶祝時,摩诃都塔悄悄地把裝有王冠的錢袋藏在山洞的夾縫中。有好長一段時間,他都沒有再拿出來或是去瞧它一眼。
The robber chieftain let Pandu and his men go free down the mountain back to Kaushambi. That evening, when his accomplices were counting the gold and rejoicing, he hid the purse in a crevice in his cave. He didn”t take it out or look at it again for a long time.
安然受報 得真快樂
Paying off his karmic debt peacefully,
he attained genuine happiness.
經過這次的搶案,潘杜再也不是有錢人了。他失去了大部分的資金,而一個珠寶商沒有資金,根本做不了什麼事。不過對他的損失,他除了怪自己外,並不埋怨任何人。「年輕的時候,我待人非常嚴苛。」他對家人說:「今天的下場,正是我苛刻傲慢的果報。」他現在虔誠地忏悔,並依佛法來修行;而且只要不用花心思在交談或經商時,他就誠心誠意地誦持佛號。
After the robbery, Pandu was no longer a rich man. He had lost much of his capital, and without capital a jeweler can do little. But he blamed no one for his losses but himself. "In my younger years I was very hardon people," he told his family. "What has happened to me now is simply the payment for my harshness and arrogance." Repenting and cultivating according to the Buddha”s teachings now came very naturally to him, and he took to reciting the Buddha”s name whenever his mind was not occupied with conversation or business.
他慢慢地體會到:現在在心靈深處的他,比有錢時更爲快樂。唯一的遺憾是,他再也沒有那麼多的能力來供養道場和護持佛法,或是去幫助鎮上的窮人──這是他過去從沒想過要多多益善的事。
Gradually he realized that, deep down in his heart, he was happier now than he had been when he was rich. His only regret was that he was no longer able to make so many offerings to the monastery, to support the Dharma, or to help the poor of the town─something he had never thought to do much before.
強盜反叛 頭目垂死
The robbers rebelled and beat
the chieftain to the point of dying.
又過了幾年,有一天,憍賞彌寺廟裏的方丈潘舍卡法師,在去朝聖的途中,單獨越過山頭時,受到摩诃都塔那群強盜的攻擊。由于潘舍卡法師身上沒錢,摩诃都塔便草草地打他幾下後,就放他走了。潘舍卡法師那天就沒有再繼續往前走。
Again, several years passed by. Then one day Panthaka, abbot of the monastery at Kaushambi, was set upon by Mahaduta”s robber band while walking alone on a pilgrimage across the mountains. Panthaka carried no money, and so Mahaduta beat him briefly and let him go. Panthaka went no further that day.
第二天早上,他還沒有走多遠,就聽見路旁有許多人爭鬥的聲音,接著是一個人痛苦地嚎叫聲。潘舍卡法師急忙趕到現場,希望可以勸阻強盜們不要再毆打別的旅客。然而這次被打的人,竟然是摩诃都塔本人,而非無辜的旅客。他被十幾個手下圍在中間,猶如一頭被一群獵狗逼到角落的獅子;他雖然用那根威風的棍子打了幾個強盜,最後還是寡不敵衆地倒下,他的手下拿他的棍子痛打他,打得他躺在地上奄奄一息。
The next morning, before he had walked far, he heard the sounds of men fighting just off the road. One man was roaring in pain. Panthaka hurried to the scene, hoping to dissuade the robbers from beating yet another traveler. But instead of an innocent traveler, it was Mahaduta himself who was being attacked. He stood in the midst of a dozen of his own men like a lion cornered by hounds. His great stick hit several of the other robbers, but at last he himself fell. He was beaten with his own stick until he lay as if dead.
潘舍卡法師一直等到所有的強盜都離開了才出來。他發現摩诃都塔還有一口氣在;所以他馬上走到奔流在附近岩石間的小溪,用缽裝滿了清涼的水,帶回來給這個垂死的人。
Panthaka stayed hidden till the robbers left. Then he found that Mahaduta had little life left. Panthaka walked down to the stream that ran among the rocks nearby. He filled his bowl with fresh water and brought it to the dying man.
摩诃都塔喝了些水,睜開了眼睛,他呻吟地喊道:「那些混賬賊子都到哪兒去了?我帶領他們一次又一次地打勝仗,要不是我,他們早就被吊死了!」
Mahaduta drank a little and slowly opened his eyes. He groaned and cried out, "Where are those rotten thieves that I have led to victory time after time
They”d have been hanged long ago if it weren”t for me!"
法師救命 勸忏罪業
The Dharma Master came to the rescue and advised the chieftain to repent of his offenses.
「冷…
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