The Story of Anitthigandha Kumāra

Anitthigandha Kumāra的故事

The Dhammapada Commentary relates the story of Anitthigandha Kumāra in whom love developed for the kind of feminine beauty that he had imagined. This illustrates that if one can visualize an image in one’s dreams or thoughts, then desire, lust, and affection can develop. The story is as follows:

法句经的注释书中讲到Anitthigandha Kumāra的故事，他爱上了一种他想象出来的美女。这个故事说明了，如果某人能在他的想象或想法中形象化出一个图象，那么欲念、贪爱、和喜爱就能产生。故事是这样的：

Anitthigandha Kumāra was born in Sāvatthi. He was a Brahmā in his previous existence. While in the Brahmā plane he was naturally free from the shackles of sensual desire and lust. When reborn as a human being, he had no interest in the opposite sex. When he came of age his parents urged him to marry, but he refused. As his parents were insistent he devised a plan by which he hoped to evade marriage. He enlisted the services of sculptors to make a gold image of a beautiful girl, and told his parents that he would marry anyone who looked like this gold image. The parents, being wealthy and capable, hired the services of brahmins to search the land for a bride whose beauty equalled that of the image that their son had conceptualised in the gold image.

Anitthigandha Kumāra出生在舍卫城。在过去世他是一位梵天。他在梵天界时，自然是不受欲念和贪爱的束缚。(所以)他再生为人类后，对异性没有兴趣。到一定的年纪，他的父母催促他结婚，但他拒绝了。因为父母的一再坚持，他便设计了一个计划，想借此逃避婚姻。他征募雕塑家们雕塑了一位美貌女孩的黄金雕像，然后告诉他的父母，如果能找到长得像这个金像的女孩，就和她结婚。他把想象到的美貌概念化到了这个金像中。他父母，富有又能干，于是雇请了很多婆罗门，到处寻找这位美貌能和雕像匹敌的新娘。

When the brahmins reached Sāgala in the Madda kingdom they heard talk of a beautiful sixteen year old girl who was kept secluded in a seven-storeyed tower. Having traced her, they persuaded her parents to allow them to assess her beauty. When she was brought to meet them they found that she was even more beautiful than the statue.

婆罗门到达了Madda国的沙伽拉城(Sāgala)后，他们听说到有位美丽的16岁女孩隐居在一座七层的塔中。追踪到线索后，他们劝服她的父母，允许他们评估下她的美貌程度。女孩子被带来和他们见面，他们发现女孩居然比雕像还要美丽。

They then negotiated with the parents for the girl to be given in marriage to Anitthigandha Kumāra. Gaining their consent, they informed the parents of the bridegroom. On hearing that the bride was even more beautiful than the figurine he had had sculpted, the bridegroom was anxious to have her brought as soon as possible. This is an instance of attachment that can arise purely out of one’s imagination.

然后，他们和女孩的父母商议，允许带走女孩和Anitthigandha Kumāra结婚。得到同意后，他们通知了新郎的父母。听到新娘甚至比雕像还要漂亮的消息后，新郎急切盼望能尽快把她带回来。这就是一个执着纯粹产生于人的想象的例子。

Sāgala and Sāvatthi are more than five hundred miles apart, and in those days transportation was primitive. Perhaps she was brought in a horse-drawn carriage. She became utterly exhausted during the journey, fell ill, and died.

沙伽拉城和舍卫城的距离超过五百英里，那个时代的交通很原始。大概，她是用马车来运送的。在旅途中，她变得极度疲惫，患上疾病，最后死掉了。

When Anitthigandha Kumāra heard this news, he became gravely distressed for having missed the chance even to catch a glimpse of her. He could not eat or sleep. Knowing about this, the Buddha took pity on him, and so came to his house for alms. The parents respectfully offered alms to the Buddha and brought their son to meet him. Then the Buddha uttered the following verse:

Anitthigandha Kumāra听到消息后，极度哀伤，因为连看新娘一眼的机会都错过了。他无法吃饭也无法睡觉。知道这件事情后，佛陀怜悯他，于是便来到他家房前托钵。他的父母恭敬地给佛陀提供了布施，并把他带到佛陀面前。那时，佛陀诵出了下面的偈句：

 “Kāmato jāyatī soko, kāmato jāyatī bhayam;
Kāmato vippamuttassa, natthi soko kuto bhayam.” (Dhp v 215)

“From lust springs grief, from lust springs fear;
One free from lust, has no grief, whence fear?”

“从爱欲生忧，从爱欲生怖；离爱欲无忧，何处有恐怖？”

Having heard this verse the young man attained stream-winning. Previously he had been disinterested in women, and thought he had set his parents an impossible task. When the impossible came true with the discovery of a maiden more beautiful than his wildest dreams, attachment arose to torment his innocent mind.

听完这个偈句后，这位年轻的小伙子就证到了入流果。先前，他对女人没有兴趣，心想已经给父母设置了一个不可能的任务。但是不可能变成了现实，比他疯狂的想象更加美貌的少女被发现了，执着生起，并折磨他无知的心。