Summary
s.1Questions Regarding Death and Transmigration contains explanations of Buddhist views on the nature of life and death, and a number of philosophical arguments against non-Buddhist conceptions, notably some based broadly on the Vedas. The sūtra is set in the town of Kapilavastu at the time of the funeral of a young man of the Śākya clan. King Śuddhodana wonders about the validity of the ritual offerings being made for the deceased by the family and asks the Buddha seven questions about current beliefs on death and the afterlife. The Buddha answers each of the questions in turn. After two interlocutors interrupt to test the Buddha’s omniscience, the discourse continues to present the Buddhist account of death and rebirth using a set of eight analogies, each of which complements the others in a detailed explanation.
s.1《死亡與輪迴的問題》包含了對佛教生死本質觀點的解釋，以及針對非佛教觀念的一系列哲學論證，特別是基於吠陀的某些論證。這部經的背景設定在迦毘羅衛城，正值釋迦族一位年輕男子的葬禮時期。淨飯王對逝者家族所進行的祭祀供養的有效性感到疑慮，因此向佛陀提出了七個關於當時對死亡和來世信念的問題。佛陀逐一回答了每個問題。在兩位提問者中斷提問以測試佛陀的一切智之後，論述繼續呈現佛教關於死亡和轉生的說法，使用了八個類比，每個類比相互補充，構成了一份詳細的解釋。