Chapter 11: The Exalted Nature of the Severe Ascetic Practices: The Method of Acquiring Food to Bring Beings to Maturity
第十一章：苦行的殊勝性質：通過獲取食物引導眾生成熟的方法
11.1The bodhisattva Śāntamati then requested Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, “Please use your inspired eloquence, Lord of the Guhyakas, to shine light on those occurrences that were the causes of wonders, beginning with a description of the splendid array of the Bodhisattva’s severe ascetic practices, his arrival at the seat of awakening, his defeat of Māra, and his turning of the wheel of Dharma, all of which you have witnessed.”
11.1菩薩寂慧菩薩便請求密跡金剛力士說：「密跡金剛力士啊，請用您無礙的辯才來闡明那些作為奇跡之因的事蹟，從對菩薩所行苦行的光輝修為開始，還有他抵達菩提座、降伏魔境和轉動法輪的事跡，這些都是您親眼所見的。請為我們照亮這些奇妙的事蹟吧。」
11.2When this was said, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, responded to the bodhisattva Śāntamati. “Śāntamati,” he said, “the splendid array of the Bodhisattva’s virtues is immeasurable. It would not be easy for me to describe them in full or in detail if I were to use the whole length of my life, even if it were to last for an eon. However, I could gesture at them to some extent.
11.2當時，密跡金剛力士回應菩薩寂慧菩薩說：「寂慧，菩薩的德行之莊嚴是無量的。若我用盡我的整個生命，即使壽命長達一劫，也不容易完整詳細地為你描述它們。然而，我可以在某種程度上指示它們。」
11.3“Moreover, Śāntamati, the severe ascetic practices of the Bodhisattva were not of a single type. In order to defeat the rival teachers and their followers, the Bodhisattva undertook various vows, physical austerities, and physical postures. The rival teachers and their followers longed to undertake them, too, but the austerities were so intense, so extreme, and so severe that they were unable actively to display them. However, they were all displayed by the Bodhisattva.
11.3寂慧菩薩，菩薩的苦行不是單一的類型。為了戰勝外道師及其追隨者，菩薩承擔了各種誓願、身體的苦行和身體的姿勢。外道師及其追隨者也想去承擔這些，但這些苦行是如此激烈、極端和嚴酷，以至於他們無法積極地展現它們。然而，所有這些都由菩薩展現出來了。
11.4“In this respect, Śāntamati, some beings saw the Bodhisattva standing on one leg. Some saw him standing with one arm raised above his head. Some saw him staring at the sun. Some saw him practicing the austerity of the five fires. Some saw him engaged in the ascetic practice of standing without ever sitting down. Some saw him standing [F.147.a] without moving. Some saw him standing with one leg held aloft. Some saw him standing on his head. Some saw him lying on a bed of thorns. Some saw him lying on a bed of cow dung. Some saw him sitting on a seat of stone. Some saw him lying on a bed of reeds. Some saw him lying on a bed of wooden boards. Some saw him lying on a bed of pestles. Some saw him lying on a bed of dust. Some saw him following the sun.
11.4「關於這一點，寂慧菩薩，有些眾生看到菩薩單腿站立。有些眾生看到他一隻手臂高舉在頭上。有些眾生看到他凝視太陽。有些眾生看到他修行五火苦行。有些眾生看到他從事永遠不坐下的苦行者修行。有些眾生看到他站立不動。有些眾生看到他單腿高舉站立。有些眾生看到他頭立而站。有些眾生看到他躺在荊棘床上。有些眾生看到他躺在牛糞床上。有些眾生看到他坐在石座上。有些眾生看到他躺在蘆葦床上。有些眾生看到他躺在木板床上。有些眾生看到他躺在杵床上。有些眾生看到他躺在塵埃床上。有些眾生看到他追隨太陽。
11.5“Some saw him wearing clothes made of nut palm leaves. Some saw him wearing clothes made of muñja grass. Some saw him wearing clothes made of balbaja grass. Some saw him wearing clothes made of kuśa grass. Some saw him wearing black antelope skin. Some saw him wearing monastic robes. Some saw him naked. Some saw him wearing clothes made of darbha grass. Some saw him wearing clothes made of tree bark.
11.5「有些眾生看到菩薩穿著由棕櫚葉製成的衣服。有些看到他穿著由草製成的衣服。有些看到他穿著由草製成的衣服。有些看到他穿著由草製成的衣服。有些看到他穿著黑羚羊皮。有些看到他穿著比丘袈裟。有些看到他赤身裸體。有些看到他穿著草製衣服。有些看到他穿著樹皮衣服。」
11.6“Some saw him eating grains of millet. Some saw him eating grains of barley. Some saw him eating roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, shoots, seeds, and lotus roots. Some saw him undertaking a six-day fast. Some saw him abstaining from meat. Some saw him eating jujube fruits, kodo millet, mung beans, māṣa beans, grains of puffed rice, sesame seeds, or grains of uncooked rice. Some saw him sustaining himself only with water. Some saw him sustaining himself with drops of ghee. Some saw him sustaining himself with drops of honey. Some saw him sustaining himself with drops of milk. Some saw him eating no food at all. Some saw him free of fatigue. Some saw him sitting alone. Some saw him standing alone.
11.6「有些眾生見菩薩食用小米。有些眾生見菩薩食用大麥。有些眾生見菩薩食用根、葉、花、果、芽、種子及蓮根。有些眾生見菩薩進行為期六天的斷食。有些眾生見菩薩戒除肉食。有些眾生見菩薩食用棗果、小米、綠豆、豆類、爆米、芝麻或未煮過的米粒。有些眾生見菩薩唯以水維持生命。有些眾生見菩薩以點滴酥油維持生命。有些眾生見菩薩以點滴蜂蜜維持生命。有些眾生見菩薩以點滴牛奶維持生命。有些眾生見菩薩完全不食。有些眾生見菩薩無有疲倦。有些眾生見菩薩獨自坐著。有些眾生見菩薩獨自站著。」
11.7“Indeed, Śāntamati, the Bodhisattva displayed severe ascetic practices such as these and an immeasurable number of other demeanors. For six whole years, not even a single one of his demeanors was disturbed, and all of them were displayed to perfection. [F.147.b] With vows of the most distinguished kind, unsurpassable heroic efforts, and the most intense austerities, he displayed all these vows and austerities for six years and he did so in such a way that beings whose inclinations were mutually exclusive to one another did not see the mutually exclusive vows and austerities. Instead, those beings saw only the vows and austerities by which they themselves were guided and not the others.
11.7「確實，寂慧菩薩，菩薩如此展現了苦行和無數其他的行為舉止。整整六年間，他的任何一種舉止都沒有被擾亂，全部都完美地展現出來了。以最殊勝的誓願、無上的精進和最激烈的苦行，他展現了所有這些誓願和苦行長達六年，並以這樣的方式展現：那些傾向相互排斥的眾生沒有看到相互矛盾的誓願和苦行，反而只看到了他們自己所遵循的誓願和苦行，而沒有看到其他的。」
11.8“In this regard, Śāntamati, the Bodhisattva was irreproachable in every respect and he displayed this activity while being in a state of equanimity. Six hundred and forty million gods and humans within the three vehicles were brought to maturity by these severe ascetic practices. Furthermore, Śāntamati, those gods and humans with lofty aspirations, who had completed the preparations, saw the Bodhisattva sitting in a jeweled pavilion for six years absorbed in the all-pervading meditation , without moving and in a state of bliss, after which the Bodhisattva arose from that meditation.
11.8「在這方面，寂慧菩薩，菩薩在各個方面都是無可指責的，他在捨心的狀態中展現了這種行為。六百四十萬位在三乘中的天神和人類因為這些苦行而得到了成熟。此外，寂慧菩薩，那些具有崇高願心、已經完成準備的天神和人類，看到菩薩坐在珠寶亭閣中六年，沉浸於遍照三昧中，身體不動，處於安樂的狀態，之後菩薩從那個禪定中起身。」
11.9“In this regard, Śāntamati, for those gods and humans for whom the important thing is the Dharma, who desire the Dharma, and who need to be brought to maturity through the teaching of the Dharma, they saw the Bodhisattva occupied by no other activity than teaching the Dharma. This, Śāntamati, is the practice of great compassion, which is called the coming together of the Bodhisattva’s great knowledge. It is the gateway to the guiding principles of the Dharma, which is called the descent into the inconceivable. It is the gateway to the knowledge of what is difficult to do, which is called the overpowering of all Māras and proponents of rival doctrines.
11.9「在這方面，寂慧菩薩，對於那些把法視為重要的諸天和人類，他們渴望得到法，需要透過法的教導而得到成熟，他們看到菩薩除了教導法之外，沒有從事任何其他活動。寂慧菩薩，這就是大悲的實踐，被稱為菩薩大知識的聚合。它是法門的大門，被稱為進入不可思議的境界。它是難行知識的大門，被稱為克服一切魔和邪見者。」
11.10“When six years had passed in this way, Śāntamati, the Bodhisattva gave up the vows and austerities that he had previously displayed and went to the banks of the Nairañjanā River. There he took a bath according to worldly custom. His body cleansed, he came away from the Nairañjanā River and stayed there. A village girl named Sujātā came there holding a bowl of milk rice with honey, which had been made from the boiled milk of a hundred cows, and offered it to the Bodhisattva. [F.148.a] In addition, six hundred million gods, nāgas, yakṣas, and gandharvas were also standing there, each holding their own particular kinds of food and saying, ‘Good sir! Please eat my food! Good sir! Please eat my food!’
11.10「就這樣過了六年之後，寂慧菩薩，菩薩放棄了他之前所展現的誓願和苦行，前往尼連禪河的河岸。他在那裡按照世間的習俗洗浴。身體淨潔後，他從尼連禪河走出來停留在那裡。一位名叫蘇闍多的村女來到那裡，拿著一碗用一百頭牛的煮牛奶製成的蜜粥，供養給菩薩。此外，還有六百萬位天神、龍、夜叉和乾闥婆也站在那裡，每一位都拿著各自特有的食物說道：『善者啊！請吃我的食物！善者啊！請吃我的食物！』」
11.11“When this occurred, Śāntamati, the Bodhisattva received all the food, beginning with that of the village girl Sujātā, and including the food brought by the six hundred million gods, nāgas, yakṣas, and gandharvas, and he ate all of it. However, none of them saw the others. Each and every one of them had the understanding ‘the Bodhisattva has taken my food,’ and ‘having eaten my food, the Bodhisattva will awaken to unsurpassable and perfect awakening,’ and all of them were brought to maturity for the sake of their unsurpassable and perfect awakening.
11.11「寂慧菩薩啊，當此時，菩薩接受了從村女蘇闍多開始的所有食物，以及六百萬位天神、龍、夜叉和乾闥婆帶來的食物，並將其全部食用。然而，他們彼此都看不到對方。每一位都明白『菩薩接受了我的食物』，『菩薩食用了我的食物後，將會覺悟到無上正等覺』，他們全部都為了無上正等覺的緣故而得到成熟。」
11.12“This, Śāntamati, this is the method of bringing beings to maturity by means of acquiring food, which is, indeed, the exalted nature the Bodhisattva’s severe ascetic practices.”
11.12「寂慧菩薩啊，這就是菩薩通過獲得食物來教化眾生的方法，這確實是菩薩苦行的殊勝本質。」
11.13This was the eleventh chapter, “The Exalted Nature of the Severe Ascetic Practices: The Method of Acquiring Food to Bring Beings to Maturity.”
11.13（結尾）