Toh 303 — The Sūtra on Having Moral Discipline
Śīlasaṃyuktasūtra
Translated by the Kīrtimukha Translation Group under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
The Sūtra on Having Moral Discipline
F.127.a Homage to the Omniscient One!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Śrāvastī, in Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, together with a great saṅgha of 1,250 monks.
At that time, the Blessed One said to the monks, “Monks,[1] since your consciousness will fade, your life force will cease, and the formations of life are certain to be destroyed, should you not practice with diligence and steadfast determination?
“This human life is extremely difficult to find. Thus, having obtained it, and having used it to find the Victor’s teachings and to go forth in them, if you are deceived by those who are opposed to the meaning of liberation, it is sure that you will suffer.
“Monks, it is easy to be separated from the life force and succumb to death, but the degeneration of moral discipline is not the same. Why is that?[2] When you are separated from the life force, that particular lifetime comes to an end. But with the degeneration and destruction of moral discipline, for ten million lives you will be separated from your kin, abandon well-being, and experience downfalls.[3]
When the Blessed One had spoken, the monks rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.
This concludes “The Sūtra on Having Moral Discipline.”Notes
Sanskrit begins the verses here and gives the three statements in reverse order.
backThis line in Sanskrit (from “Monks”) is “It is better to give up life, / better to succumb to death, / than that moral discipline should be abandoned. / Thus proclaimed the buddhas” (varaṃ te jīvitaṃ tyaktaṃ varaṃ mṛtyuvaśaṃgatam | na tvayā khaṇḍitaṃ śīlam evaṃ buddhaiś ca varṇitam). The Chinese has the same meaning but in prose. In Sanskrit, the section of verse begins here and proceeds through the rest of the text until the closing “the Blessed One had spoken” (#UT22084-072-003-52).
backSanskrit omits “abandon well-being, and experience downfalls.”
backThis line in the Sanskrit manuscript reads, “The one who abandons life / would separate from their kin” (jīvitaṃ tyajamānāya viyogo jñātibhir bhavet).
backSanskrit: “cool fluid water” (śītodakaṃ jalam).
backSanskrit: “It is moral discipline that pacifies” (śīlaṃ eva praśamnāti).
backSanskrit: “Moral discipline is the highest of the world” (śīlaṃ lokasya cottamam).
backThis line consists of two lines in Sanskrit: śīlena labhate yaśaḥ | śīlena labhate saukhyaṃ. Sanskrit then omits the final line of this verse (see #UT22084-072-003-35).
backThis line absent in S.
backThis line absent in Sanskrit and C, J, K, Y, N, and S.
backSanskrit substitutes “truth” (satya) for “Dharma” (D: chos).
backSanskrit adds “solid” (sāraṃ).
backSanskrit adds “well-protected” (surakṣitaṃ).
backExtrapolated by the Sanskrit khaṇḍitam; the Tibetan reads ral ba (“torn”).
backLit. these good qualities will “arrive at (gtugs) [their end].” This is supported by the Sanskrit: parihīyate (“forsaken”).
backThupten Chökyi Drakpa (folio 15.a) explains these two lines to mean (in paraphrase) that if one is, for example, missing a nose or has one’s nose destroyed by a sword, there is no need for mirrors to know this, and there is no use in wondering, “Am I beautiful?” (dper na dang po nas byad bzhin mdzes byed kyi sna gtan nas med pa’am/ yod kyang mtshon sogs kyis bcad nas sna rdum du gyur pa la sogs pa de ’dra’i rigs gang yin pa de ni byad gzugs mdzes rtogs byed kyi me long dag gi dgos pa gtan nas med de/ e mdzes snyam pa’i re ba btsam yang byed rgyu med pa bzhin no).
backSanskrit gives two lines here (see #UT22084-072-003-47).
back“Reach” is added here for clarification and to match the sense of the Sanskrit. Thupten Chökyi Drakpa, folio 15.b, gives a short explanation of this passage and explains that this verse is meant to convey the sense that moral discipline is the cause for going to higher realms, and even though it is not conventionally witnessed that those who guard their moral discipline go to higher realms, it is known from scripture (lung) that going to higher realms is the definite result of maintaining moral discipline. Even with Thupten Chökyi Drakpa’s explanation, the intended meaning of this stanza is quite ambiguous, and there is a possibility that the verses have been corrupted. The Sanskrit reads quite differently and has, instead of this three-line verse, the following two stanzas: “Much is heard by the ear, much is seen by the eye. / Those who practice after hearing go to the higher realms. // The ear that is impaired does not obtain learning. / Those who practice after hearing go to the higher realms” (bahu śrūyati śrotreṇa bahu paśyati cakṣuṣā | ye śrutvā pratipadyante narās te svargagāminaḥ || na hi śrotreṇa vaikalyaṃ prabhūtaṃ labhate śrutam | ye śrutvā pratipadyante te narāḥ svargagāminaḥ).
backLike verse #UT22084-072-003-50, this verse is also found in The Sūtra on Four Points (Toh 250, Caturdharmaka), #UT22084-066-008-24, with only minor variation in the Tibetan translation.
backThe Chinese reads this final verse slightly differently and adds a final unique remark not found in either the Tibetan or Sanskrit: “Forms and appearances are like flowers, there for a moment then changing into something else. Life is like a ripened fruit; it cannot last long. It is like a fast current carrying a boat away, or a like a rundown house one cannot stay in for long. Do you prefer to eat poison? Do not drink liquor. Do you prefer to enter a great fire? Do not indulge in the passions.” (色相如花須臾變異。壽如熟果不可久停。如急流渡 船。如朽屋暫住。寧食毒藥不得飲酒。寧入大火不得嗜慾。) Like verse #UT22084-072-003-48, this verse is also found in The Sūtra on Four Points (Toh 250, Caturdharmaka), #UT22084-066-008-24, with only minor variation in the Tibetan translation.
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