Summary
s.1While on the way to Rājagṛha to collect alms, a group of newly ordained monks are approached by some non-Buddhists, who suggest that their doctrine is identical to that of the Buddha, since everyone agrees that misdeeds of body, speech, and mind are to be given up. The monks do not know how to reply, and when they later return to the brahmin town of Nālati, where the Buddha is residing, Śāradvatīputra therefore encourages them to seek clarification from the Blessed One himself. In response to the monks’ request, the Buddha delivers a comprehensive discourse on the effects of virtuous and unvirtuous actions, explaining these matters from the perspective of an adept practitioner of his teachings, who sees and understands all this through a process of personal discovery. As the teaching progresses, the Buddha presents an epic tour of the realm of desire—from the Hell of Ultimate Torment to the Heaven Free from Strife—all the while introducing the specific human actions and attitudes that cause the experience of such worlds and outlining the ways to remedy and transcend them. In the final section of the sūtra, which is presented as an individual scripture on its own, the focus is on mindfulness of the body and the ripening of karmic actions that is experienced among humans in particular.
s.1一群新出家的比丘在前往王舍城托缽的路上，遭遇到一些外道的勸說，他們聲稱自己的教義與佛陀的教法相同，因為大家都同意身語意業應該被放棄。比丘們不知道如何回應，當他們後來回到佛陀駐居的婆羅門城鎮那羅提時，舍利弗因此鼓勵他們直接向世尊請教。為了回應比丘們的請求，佛陀為他們傳授了一部內容全面的經論，闡述了善行與不善業的果報，並從他的實修弟子的視角來解釋這些內容——他們通過親身的修習過程，親眼見到並深刻理解了一切。隨著教法的展開，佛陀呈現了對欲界的宏大遊歷——從無間地獄到無爭天——始終介紹了導致人們體驗這些世界的具體人類行為和心態，並闡述了補救和超越它們的方法。該經的最後部分單獨成篇，重點放在身念處和在人類特別是會經歷的業力成熟上。