Able to awaken to afflictions, one should give rise to a joyful mind
Now listen to what I have collected, the verses proclaimed by the Buddha.
| 能觉悟烦恼， 宜发欢喜心，今听我所集， 佛所宣法颂。
|
Thus, the Buddha, the World-Honored One, the teacher among all the
wise, out of compassion for sentient beings, extensively spoke the true words.
| 如是佛世尊， 一切智中师，慈悲为有情， 广说真实语。
|
All conditioned phenomena are impermanent, they are all subject to arising and ceasing. What is
born will inevitably return to cessation, the state of peace and tranquility is the most blissful.
| 一切行非常， 皆是兴衰法，夫生辄还终， 寂灭最安乐。
|
When a candle flame is burning brightly, if one throws an object into the darkness
without the light of wisdom to seek it out, one will always be obscured by afflictions.
| 如烛炽焰时， 掷物在暗处，不使智灯寻， 恒为烦恼覆。
|
The human body is a physical vessel, when discarded and scattered in all directions
the bones are the color of doves. What joy is there in contemplating this?
| 人身有形器， 弃散在诸方，骸骨如鸽色， 观斯有何乐？
|
It is like a person in the early night, consciousness taking up residence in
the mother's womb. Many changes occur in a day, passing away and never returning.
| 譬如人初夜， 识托住母胎，日涉多迁变， 逝而定不还。
|
In the morning, one sees good things, by night they are
no longer present. What was seen yesterday may be absent tonight.
| 晨朝覩好事， 夜至则不现，昨所瞻视者， 今夕则或无。
|
Glory and wealth blaze fiercely, impermanence has no time or season, not
discriminating between noble and humble, always subjugated by the King of Death.
| 荣富焰炽盛， 无常无时节，不拣择贵贱， 常被死王降。
|
Some die in the womb, some die just after birth, even in the
prime of life, death cannot be avoided, in old age, one willingly accepts it.
| 或有在胎殒， 或初诞亦亡，盛壮不免死， 老耄甘心受。
|
Whether old, young, or middle-aged, death
always encroaches, why not be afraid?
| 若老或少年， 及与中年者，恒被死来侵， 云何不怀怖？
|
Life is like a fruit ripening, always fearing it will fall
once born, there must be an end, who can avoid this?
| 命如菓自熟， 常恐会零落，生已必有终， 谁能免斯者？
|
It is like a potter making pottery, all
things are broken, human life is also like this.
| 譬如陶家师， 埏埴作坏] cf.【丽】器，诸有悉破坏， 人命亦如是。
|
It is like a person playing a zither, with all kinds of wonderful sounds
when the strings break there is no sound, human life is also like this.
| 如人弹琴瑟， 具足众妙音，弦断无少声， 人命亦如是。
|
It is like a prisoner being bound, dragged to the city, every
step is on the road to death, life is also like this.
| 如囚被系缚， 拘牵诣都市，动则向死路， 寿命亦如是。
|
It is like a river flowing swiftly, going and never returning, human
life is also like this, those who have passed away never return.
| 如河急驶流， 往而悉不还，人生亦如是， 逝者皆不回。
|
All ailments are gathered in the body, giving rise to many sufferings, human
life is also like this, being watched over by old age and death.
| 诸患集成身， 生多众苦恼，人命亦如是， 为老死所伺。
|
What is accomplished is the result of hard work, obtaining peace and happiness for a
long time, like striking a stick on fast-flowing water, it opens briefly and then closes again.
| 所造成功劳， 永世获安乐，如杖击急水， 暂开还却合。
|
Like a person walking with a staff, tending and feeding cattle
human life is also like this, also nourishing life and going.
| 如人操杖行， 牧牛饮饲者，人命亦如是， 亦即养命去。
|
If a person wants to establish virtue, day and night should not be
wasted. Having obtained a human body, one should single-mindedly contemplate the end of life.
| 夫人欲立德， 昼夜勿空过，既获得人身， 一心思命尽。
|
For the sleepless, the night is long; for the weary, the road is long. For the
ignorant, the cycle of birth and death is long; rarely do they hear the wonderful Dharma.
| 不寐觉夜长， 疲倦道路长，愚迷生死长， 希闻于妙法。
|
Having children and wealth, one is stingy and encounters destruction. The foolish do
not reflect on themselves. How can they rely on having children and wealth?
| 有子兼有财， 悭惜遇散坏，愚夫不自观， 何恃有财子？
|
Hundreds of thousands, not calculable, of noble families, wealthy men and women
accumulate much wealth and property, all of which will eventually decline and perish.
| 百千非算数， 族姓富男女，积聚多财产， 无不皆衰灭。
|
Wealth and nobility are not the wealth of the sages. They are always
watched by impermanence. It is like a blind person who cannot observe himself.
| 富贵非圣财， 恒为无常伺，犹如盲眼人， 不能自观察。
|
What is gathered will eventually disperse and be destroyed. What is lofty will inevitably
fall. All who are born will eventually die. Sentient beings are also like this.
| 聚集还散坏， 崇高必坠落，生者皆尽终， 有情亦如是。
|
Those who do evil enter hell. Those who cultivate goodness are born in
heaven. If one can cultivate goodness, one can exhaust the taints and attain nirvana.
| 行恶入地狱， 修善则生天，若能修善者， 漏尽得涅槃。
|
Even the buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and śrāvakas still
abandon their conditioned bodies, let alone all sentient beings.
| 诸佛与菩萨， 缘觉及声闻，尚舍有为身， 何况诸有情？
|
There is no place in the sky, in the ocean, or in
mountain caves where one can escape death and not be subject to it.
| 非空非海中， 非入山窟间，无有地方所， 脱止不受死。
|
If one abides in the present world, the past
and future, all conditioned phenomena will eventually return to destruction.
| 若住现在世， 过去及未来，一切有为事， 终归于尽坏。
|
The wise are able to be free from bondage, always contemplating with right
mindfulness, constantly contemplating the undefiled path - this is called a true wise one.
| 智者能离系， 恒正念观察，常思无漏道， 是名真智者。
|
Like a prisoner bound in chains, there is nothing beneficial that can be done. It
is also like an old and decrepit cart, which will soon be seen to be destroyed.
| 如囚被系缚， 所欲无能益，亦如朽故车， 不久见破坏。
|
The change of form into old age is like being in prison, longing
for one's home. Not realizing that death is approaching, the foolish cannot know.
| 色变为老耄， 恋家如在狱，不觉死来侵， 愚夫不能知。
|
Even if one lives to be a hundred years old, one is still
followed by death. Pressed by old age and sickness, suffering will reach the end.
| 虽寿满百岁， 亦被死相随，为老病所逼， 患终至后际。
|
When old age comes, suffering binds the body, with much pain and distress day
and night. The bitterness is of a thousand kinds, like a fish entering burning ashes.
| 老至苦缠身， 昼夜多痛恼，辛楚有千般， 如鱼入灰火。
|
Rivers and streams do not stop, flowing swiftly without returning. Cherishing this leaking
body of pus and blood, though one may be attached, one cannot stay.
| 江河无停止， 驶流去不回，保惜脓漏躯， 虽恋不能住。
|
The body is a conglomeration of the four great elements, impermanent and how can
it stay long? When the earth element disintegrates, what use is the empty consciousness?
| 四大聚集身， 无常讵久留，地种散坏时， 神识空何用？
|
This body is full of many obstacles and afflictions, constantly leaking pus and
blood. The ignorant are attached and greedy, not weary of seeking tranquility and extinction.
| 此身多障恼， 脓漏恒疾患，愚迷贪爱著， 不厌求寂灭。
|
Although the year is said to be here, winter and summer do not
last long. Ordinary people are greedy for worldly pleasures, not alarmed in the meantime.
| 今岁虽云在， 冬夏不久停，凡夫贪世乐， 中间不惊怖。
|
Parents, brothers, wives, and relatives, when impermanence comes to
pull them, there is no one who can save them.
| 父母与兄弟， 妻子并眷属，无常来牵引， 无能救济者。
|
Thus, all these sentient beings, moving and greedy for glory and pleasure, are
invaded by impermanence, old age, and sickness, not realizing the arising of suffering.
| 如是诸有情， 举动贪荣乐，无常老病侵， 不觉生苦恼。
|
Shaving the head and becoming a bhikṣu, one should cultivate śamatha and
vipaśyanā. Māra cannot find an opportunity, liberating beings and reaching the other shore.
| 剃发为苾刍， 宜应修止观，魔罗不能伺， 度生到彼岸。
|
