..续本文上一页 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."
摩诃都塔点点头，如同口渴的人，得到清凉水般地，吸收这位比丘的法语。他试图再说些什么，却已办不到了。潘舍卡法师了解他的要求，就为他授三皈依，于是他便成为一个三宝弟子。接着潘舍卡法师又为他说菩萨的四弘誓愿：
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:
众生无边誓愿度
烦恼无尽誓愿断
法门无量誓愿学
佛道无上誓愿成
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.
然后又念了三次普贤菩萨的忏悔偈：
He also repeated three times the repentance verse of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva:
往昔所造诸恶业
皆由无始贪瞋痴
从身语意之所生
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.
还有这首偈颂：
And this verse:
罪从心起将心忏
心若灭时罪亦亡
心亡罪灭两俱空
是则名为真忏悔
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.
当潘舍卡法师仍在诵念时，摩诃都塔咽下了最后一, 口气，含笑而逝。
As Panthaka was reciting it, Mahaduta breathed his last. He died with a smile on his face.
强盗忏悔 死亦度生
With true repentance, the robber crossed
others over even after his death.
于是潘舍卡法师将朝圣之旅延后，立刻返回憍赏弥，到潘杜家说明一切。潘杜就召集了一批武装人员，与潘舍卡法师一起回到山中。此时摩诃都塔的手下都已经逃走了；潘杜的钱袋真的是被藏在摩诃都塔所说的地方，而且王冠仍在里面，丝毫无损。
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.
当摩诃都塔的尸体被火化，骨灰被装入坛中后，潘舍卡法师领着大家诵念《佛说阿弥陀经》及〈往生净土咒〉。他简要地说明业力，以及比业力更大的忏悔力量。他从《法句经》中引用了这首偈颂：
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 自力胜他力
皈依佛教导 同登正觉道
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
「我们的老师那拉达尊者，」潘舍卡法师继续开示：「一直强调我们要为自己的行为负责，也要为自己的业报负责。奖惩我们的，不是神或其他的众生，而是我们自己。一切唯心造，世界的好坏，都是我们自己创造的。今天被埋葬在地下的摩诃都塔，由于受邪恶思想的左右，过了罪恶的一生；除了不快乐外，其他一无所知。但最后他却改变了，他真诚忏悔与改过自新的誓愿，感动佛陀示现来庇佑他。他以宽恕的善行，走完了生命之旅，在安乐祥和中过世。我们应该可以以他做为借镜！没有一个人不是罪业凡夫，最后都要受到自己所织成的业网牵引。但只要真心忏悔，我们就能从中得到解脱。」
"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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