宾头卢颇罗堕尊者
The Venerable Pindola-Bharadvaja
宣公上人讲于一九八六年十月二十八日 Lectured by the Venerable Master Hua on October 28, 1986
黄佩玲 英译 English Translated by Pei Ling Ooi
宾头卢颇罗堕，译为「不动利根」，如如不动，利根坚固。尊者曾为优婆填王之大臣，机缘成熟，看破放下，出家修道，证宿命通。某日，王至佛所，尊者不起于座，王不悦。王再至佛所，尊者前迎七步而止，对王曰：「折王七年之福。」当时有树提长者，以栴檀木钵置于剎顶上，对众宣曰：「若用神通取下，则与之。」尊者于山中树下补衲衣，以天眼遥见，即往取之。被佛斥曰：「不可在白衣前显神通。汝自今后，不得随我，不得入灭。与人增福，受请应供。」为福田第一。常现白头长眉相。
Text:
Pindola-Bharadvaja is translated as “unperturbed keen faculties.” He is still and imperturbable, with a stable, keen disposition. This Venerable One once served as the minister of the King of Udayana. When the conditions matured, disillusioned with worldly concerns, he renounced the home life to cultivate the Way, and further attained the spiritual penetration of knowing one’s past lives. One day, the king went to the Buddha’s place. Venerable Pindola-Bharadvaja did not rise from his seat, and thus the king was disgruntled. When the king went to the Buddha’s place again, Venerable Pindola-Bharadvaja moved forward seven steps to greet him and stopped, telling him, “That cost Your Majesty seven years of blessing.” At that time, Venerable Jyotika placed a sandalwood almsbowl on the roof of the temple and proclaimed to the assembly, “If any of you can use his spiritual penetration to take down the almsbowl, then it will be given to you.” Venerable Pindola-Bharadvaja was patching his robe under a tree on the mountain. As he saw the scene from afar with his heavenly eye, he immediately went to get the almsbowl. The Buddha reprimanded him, “You must not reveal your spiritual penetrations in front of laypeople. From now on, you are not allowed to follow me or enter into stillness; you must accept invitations to offerings in order to increase people’s blessings.” Thus Venerable Pindola-Bharadvaja is the foremost field of blessings. He always manifests an appearance with white hair and long eyebrows.
注解：
Commentary:
宾头卢颇罗堕这位尊者，他就是受法的供养的；你谁要是愿意请他吃斋，他是很高兴的，乐得那个头发也笑起来了、眼睛也笑起来了、眉毛也笑起来──他因为眉毛拖地，所以他一笑，眉毛就眨上起来了。他眉毛拖地怎么看不见呢？他眉毛一眨起来，他又就看见了你怎样供养他。我们现在讲一讲这位阿罗汉。
The Venerable Pindola-Bharadvaja is one who receives offering—the offering of Dharma. If anyone of you would like to treat him to a vegetarian meal he will be very happy. He will be so happy that even his hair, his eyes and his eyebrows will smile. His eyebrows are so long they extend to the ground. When he smiles, his eyebrows are raised. How can he see when his eyebrows extend to the ground? When they are raised, he can see again and know how you make offerings to him. Now we will talk about this Arhat.
这位阿罗汉以前是很愿意显神通的、很愿意和人开玩笑，人家办不到的事情，他就用神通要去办、要去显一显他的能力。所以被佛就呵斥说：「你不能韬光晦迹！你尽标异现奇！你尽光芒外露！」这么闹他：「不准你入灭！不准你再跟着我！」受佛这个呵斥，他大概也就听佛的吩咐，所以就不入灭了。现在你们谁有诚心，请他来应供，他都会来的。所以有的道场里头就预备一个好房间，收拾得很干净的──不是很漂亮的，就很干净的，很整洁的；那么床也给他预备上，被、什么的都预备上，请他来应供、请他来住；他都会来的，这是因为受佛的遗嘱。你们各位不知道这位尊者的这种妙用，无论是谁请他──甚至一天有几万个人请，他就到几万个地方去应供。
This Arhat liked to reveal his spiritual penetrations in the past; he liked to play practical jokes on people. Accordingly, he used his spiritual penetrations to do things that other people could not do in order to show off his abilities. For this reason, the Buddha reprimanded him, saying, “You can’t even hide your light under a bushel! You always do things that are strange and unconventional to flaunt your ability!” “You are not allowed to enter stillness. You are not allowed to follow me!” The Buddha reproached him in this way. He probably listened to the Buddha’s instruction and thus did not enter stillness. Now if any of you sincerely invite him over to receive offering he will invariably come. Therefore in some monasteries, a nice room is prepared especially for him. The room is tidy and clean; it is not necessarily elegant, but it is very neat. A bed is also set up for him. Not only that, but quilts and everything else are prepared for him to come and stay, and receive offerings. He will invariably come because he was so instructed by the Buddha. You all probably don’t know about the wondrous abilities of this Venerable One. No matter who invites him—even if tens of thousands of people invite him all on the same day—he will go to tens of thousands of places to receive offerings.
他名字叫宾头卢，姓颇罗堕，这名字就译做「不动利根」。他什么也不动──不为一切的财、色、名、食、睡所摇动；利根，就是聪明，他根性很利的、很聪明的。所以说「如如不动，利根坚固」。他是乐观主义，他常常很快乐的；所以你看他那么长胡子、那么长头发、那么长眉毛，他是很高兴的，总是像年轻人那样子。
His name is Pindola, and his last name Bharadvaja. His name means “unperturbed” and “keen disposition.” He is unperturbed by anything—wealth, sex, fame, food and sleep. Further, his disposition is very keen. To have a keen disposition means to be very intelligent. He is not only very sharp-witted, but also very intelligent. Therefore he is “still and unperturbed, with a stable, keen disposition”. He is an optimist and always very happy. You see, his beard is long, his hair is long, and his eyebrows are long. He is very happy and always looks like a youth.
那么他在没出家以前，他做这个优婆填(后称「于阗」或「和阗」，今属新疆省)王的大臣──或者管财政，或者管卫生，或者管外交、内政；总而言之，我们不管它。那么以后，他就看破放下，出家修道了；出家修道，就得了宿命通。他不单单宿命通，有天眼通、天耳通、他心通、宿命通、神足通，可是没有完全得到漏尽通；这得到漏尽通，就证得无学位了。这个优婆填王也是个信佛的，常到佛那个地方去供养佛；他一看宾头卢颇罗堕在那儿坐着，也不睬不理，他心里就生了一种瞋恨心，就很不高兴的。他心里想：你以前是我一个大臣，若见到我，就要三呼「万岁」，那么叩头顶礼的；现在你出了家，我来，你连理我都不理，你太没有礼貌了！好！等我再来，如果你还是这样子对我没有礼貌，我也不管是你三七二十一，我杀了你再说！
Before he renounced the home life, he was the minister of the King of Udayana [An ancient kingdom situated in present day Xinjiang Province]. As a minister, he may have managed the finances, the public health, the foreign affairs or the domestic affairs of the country. Anyhow we are not concerned about this. Afterwards, he was disillusioned with worldly concerns and thus renounced the home life to cultivate the Way. After he renounced the home life to cultivate the Way, he attained the spiritual penetration of knowing one’s past lives. He further attained the spiritual penetrations of the heavenly eye and the heavenly ear, knowing others’ minds and that of spiritual travel. But he had not fully attained the spiritual penetration of freedom from outflows. If he had, then he would have attained the stage of those beyond study. The King of Udayana had faith in the Buddha and frequently went to make offerings to the Buddha. When he was making offerings to the Buddha, he saw that Pindola-Bharadvaja sitting there and totally ignoring him. This made him angry. He was upset and thought to himself, “In the past you were my minister; when you saw me you had to give me three hoorays wishing me a long life, kowtow and bow in obeisance. Now that you have renounced the home life, you simply ignore me when I come. You are indeed too rude! If you still treat me so rudely when I come next time, I’ll definitely kill you no matter what!”
于是乎过了一天，他又去到佛那个地方去。这个宾头卢颇罗堕尊者，不愿意他这个国王犯杀戒；所以他就很勉强的那么站起来身，往前迎接他七步，就停止了。然后对这个优婆填王就说：「唉！大王啊！我现在站起来迎接你七步远，可是你折了七年做国王的福报啊！你将来是有灾难的。」那么这样子，优婆填王以后就少做了七年王，所以这个这种因果是很厉害的。
The next day, the king went to the Buddha’s place again. Venerable Pindola-Bharadvaja did not want the king to violate the precept against killing, so he reluctantly rose from his seat and moved forward seven steps to greet him. He stopped after seven steps and told the King of Udayana, “Your Majesty, now I’ve come forward seven steps to greet you. But that was at the expense of seven years of your blessing as a king! In the future I’m afraid you will encounter a disaster.” In this way, the reign of the King of Udayana was shortened by seven years. The law of cause and effect is very formidable.
所以我们在家人，不要出家人来给你倒茶、添饭，来招呼怎么样子的；到庙上，要自己照顾自己，不要叫出家人来服侍自己。那么往往现在有一些庙上，出家人讨在家人的欢喜；甚至于打躬作揖的，那么特别的招待、特别的亲热。那种样子为什么呢？就是为的攀缘，和有钱的人拉关系。这样子是不对的，因为你修道的出家人，就没有证果，也是比在家人地位是高的，所以在家人不可以叫出家人来服侍自己。所以我就是在东北、在香港，又到了美国，我对在家人从来也不斟茶、也不倒水，什么也没有；我是干干净净的，连个水果碟子也没有。普通的，照中国的丛林，护法来了，也摆出水果碟子，里边或者龙眼、桂圆、花生，又什么长生果、短命果的这一套──没有短命果，是吧？那么摆出来。我是不懂得这一套的，所以我到什么地方，人家都说我最冷淡了，不会招呼人。我不敢招呼人！我招呼人，我怕损了人家七年福报！那怎么办呢？他七年不能做国王了！我固然是没有证果的人，但是你怎么知道这里头没有这个因呢？
Therefore, you lay people should not let the monastics serve you tea or rice, or do anything to greet you. In the temple, you should take care of yourselves and not let the monastics wait on you. In some temples, monastics seek to please the laypeople. Some of them even make half bows to the laypeople and treat them with great hospitality. Why do they do that? They are obsequious in order to develop relationships with the rich. This is not right. Even if you as a monastic have not attained sagehood, your status is still higher than that of laypeople. Therefore laypeople must not ask the monastics to serve them. In Dongbei, Hong Kong and America, I have never poured tea or served water to laypeople. I never do anything for them. I’m very simple. I don’t even offer plates of fruit. In the ordinary monasteries in China, when Dharma protectors come, plates of fruit—longan, dried longan, peanuts or other nuts—are set on the table. I don’t comply with such conventions. Therefore no matter where I go, people say that I’m too aloof and that I don’t know how to serve people. I dare not serve people! I’m afraid if I did I would decrease their blessings by seven years and if they were the king, their reign would be decreased by seven years. I no doubt am someone who has not attained sagehood. But how can you be sure that there won’t be any consequences in doing this?
有一次，有一位长者，这个长者就专门很调皮的。怎么调皮呢？他用栴檀木做一个钵。做个钵，你愿意给谁就给谁；或者你抽个签也可以，说：「你们大家抽签，我就这么一个钵，谁抽到就给谁！」他不是，他把它放到那个庙的塔上边去。上边大概很不容易拿下来的，不知道用起重机或者用直升机，可以拿到的；他那时候不知用了什么方法？不知用个什么小鸟带上去的？总而言之，这人不容易到的地方，他放到那地方，说：「你们哪一位说你们有神通，你们若能用神通把这个钵取下来，我这个？就供养你！」当时这些个有神通的阿罗汉一想：不可！不可！因为我一用神通要去拿下来，这就表示自己贪图这个钵，有贪心了；若不拿嘛？他好像也是来故意这么试验，想要看我们大家有没有神通。你说这怎么办？
Once there was an elder who was particularly mischievous. How so? He used some sandalwood to make an almsbowl. If you want to give away an almsbowl you can simply give it to anyone you wish; or you could let everyone draw lots. You can say, “Let’s draw lots for my almsbowl.” But he didn’t do that. Instead he placed the alms-bowl at the top of a pagoda in the temple. It was probably not easy to get it from the top. Maybe one could get it using a hoist or a helicopter. But I don’t know how he managed to get it up there; I don’t know what kind of bird he sent to place the almsbowl there. He put it in an inaccessible place. He said, “If any of you have spiritual penetrations and manage to get the almsbowl using your spiritual penetrations, I will give it to you.” At that time, some Arhats with spiritual penetrations thought, “No way! In no case will I do this! If we use our spiritual penetrations to take it down, it will show that we covet the almsbowl and are greedy. However, if none of us take it down, this elder seems to be testing us to see if we have spiritual penetrations. What are we to do?”
这个时候，这些证果阿罗汉也都不知怎么好，也无所适从啦！那么这个宾头卢颇罗堕在很远的地方，他在树下补衣服呢！他也听见这个消息；他就想开开玩笑，就到那地方，用个神通踊身虚空，把那个钵给拿下来了。拿下不要紧，就被佛大闹了一顿，说：「你在人家面前显神通，这是不应该有的。你既然犯了这个过错，我不准你再跟着我了，我不要你做常随众了！也不准你入灭了──就不准你往生，不准你入涅槃！你要常常住在世界，谁请你，你就一定要去的，你要做世间应供的福田，给世人种福。」所以这一位宾头卢颇罗堕，他也就：「那也很好玩的，我可以的！我像个小孩子，我和世间小孩子来玩一玩！」所以现在谁要请他，他就到那儿去应供。可是我告诉你，他不叫你认识；你要是注意，他又…，总而言之，叫你不认识。这是宾头卢颇罗堕他大概的意思。以前他们讲的，都比我讲的更详细；我这个是按着我的看法和见解，和你们大家讲一讲。
At that time, these Arhats who had attained sagehood did not know what course to take. Pindola-Bharadvaja was patching his robe under a tree at a faraway place. While he was patching his robe, he heard about what was happening. He then wanted to play a joke on them. So he went to the place using his spiritual penetrations, soared high into the space and took the almsbowl down. As a result, he was reprimanded by the Buddha, “You always show off your spiritual penetrations in front of everyone, and this is impermissible. Since you’ve made this mistake, I won’t allow you to follow me anymore. I won’t allow you to be part of the community, and I won’t allow you to enter stillness, be reborn, or enter Nirvana. You must stay in the world forever, and you must accept every invitation to an offering no matter who invites you. You must receive offerings in the world and serve as the field of blessings. You must let people in the world plant the seeds of blessings.” Pindola-Bharadvaja thought, “That sounds good! It’s fun and I can do it. I can be like a kid and play with the kids in the world.” Therefore, today, if anyone invites him he will go to receive offering. But let me tell you, he will not let you recognize him. If you pay attention to him, he will do certain things so that you will not be able to recognize him. This is how Pindola-Bharadvaja is. In the past, some people talked about him in great detail. Therefore, I am simply saying a little bit according to my own perspective and understanding of him.
赞曰：
童颜鹤发 眉毛拖地
不甘寂寞 常作游戏
被佛呵斥 入灭无期
永住世间 莫现神异
A verse in praise says:
He had a ruddy complexion on a hoary head, and eyebrows extending to the ground.
Not resigning himself to loneliness, he frequently frolicked around.
Reprimanded by the Buddha, he will not enter stillness within the foreseeable future.
Instead he will stay in the world forever without revealing his spiritual penetrations and extraordinary powers.
所以后边的那个赞就这么说：「童颜鹤发」：他那个相貌像个小童子似的，所以我说他是小孩子嘛！鹤发，他那个头发是白的，胡子也长长的。「眉毛拖地」：眉毛甚至于拖地──也不一定拖到地下，这个就是说它长的意思。你们不要来执着说：「啊！那这个不是宾头卢啊！你说他眉毛拖地，这个眉毛没有那么长！」所以他的化身来，或者他没有眉毛都不一定的。
Commentary:
He had a ruddy complexion on a hoary head. His appearance is like that of a youth. Therefore I said he is a kid. His hair is white, and his beard is very long. And eyebrows extending to the ground. His eyebrows do not necessarily reach the ground; the verse simply means they are very long. You don’t want to be attached to this and say, “Ah! This must not be Pindola-Bharadvaja. You said his eyebrows extend to the ground. The eyebrows of this guy are not that long.” In fact, when his transformation body comes, he might not even have eyebrows, not to mention having eyebrows that extend to the ground.
你看这句！「不甘寂寞」：他是很好玩、很好调皮的。我们这儿谁蹦蹦跳跳的，差不多，就不甘寂寞的，总是像小孩子那么跑来跑去的。你看！就这样不甘寂寞的。「常作游戏」：他常常的到各处去那么显示神通了。他显神通，不是单单拿钵这一回，相信是很多次了；若一次，佛也不会恼的。你们各位，这可想而知的，他总是人家做不到的事情他就要干一干，你看！
Take a look at this next verse! Not resigning himself to loneliness. He is very playful and mischievous. Anyone at our place who likes to scamper about is one who doesn’t resign himself to loneliness, one who is always running around like a kid. You see, he isn’t content to be lonely. He frequently frolicked around. He always goes around showing off his spiritual penetrations. Taking down the alms-bowl was not the only occasion in which he showed off his spiritual penetrations. I believe he did it many times. If he only did it once, the Buddha would not be angry at him. You can imagine that he always wanted to do things that other people were unable to do.
「被佛呵斥」：所以被佛呵斥他。「入灭无期」：他想入涅槃，也没有一个时候。「永住世间，莫现神异」：佛要他常常在世间上，这就是佛的慈悲。佛看如果他弟子都入灭了，就没有人和我们开玩笑了；所以就留一个这个老顽童的徒弟，来和大家有的时候见见面，但是不准他和所有的人显神通。所以你不要说：「我见见颇罗堕，我叫他使个神通给我看看！」那现在你看不见，你生在若在佛的时候，就看得见。
Reprimanded by the Buddha, he will not enter stillness within the foreseeable future. Even if he wants to enter Nirvana, it will not happen within the foreseeable future. This is roughly the meaning. Instead he will stay in the world forever without revealing his spiritual penetrations and extraordinary powers. The Buddha wanted him to constantly dwell in the world out of compassion. The Buddha saw that if all his disciples entered stillness, no one would be here to joke with us. Therefore he left his disciple, the old mischief maker, in the world to meet us sometimes. But he is not allowed to reveal his spiritual penetrations to anyone. Therefore, you cannot say, “Ah, let me go see Pindola, and ask him to show me some tricks using his spiritual penetrations.” You won’t be able to see them now. You could only see them during the Buddha’s time, but not now.
又说偈曰：
舍弃富贵淡荣华 不管世间乱如麻
勤修福慧精进力 干受劳苦早归家
不迎国王为护主 谦让数步损德芽
救度众生化五浊 虚空法界泯迩遐
Another verse says:
Renouncing riches and honor, indifferent to glory and high rank,
He cared nothing about worldly concerns as chaotic as a tangled skein.
Diligently he cultivated blessings and wisdom, and vigorously he exerted himself,
Enduring all toil and suffering in order to return home soon.
Not greeting the king, he intended to protect his lord;
When he gave in and took a few steps, he diminished the king’s sprouts of virtue.
He rescued and liberated living beings, transforming those in the world of five turbidities,
Transcending notions of far and near, his state pervades all of space and the Dharma Realm.
「舍弃富贵淡荣华」：他把富贵都舍弃不要了，把荣华也看淡了！「不管世间乱如麻」：这个世界上怎么样子，都不管了。他以前是个治国的大臣，现在不管世间了；你怎样就怎样，谁做皇帝都好──反正我不要做！
Commentary:
Renouncing riches and honor, indifferent to prosperity and high rank. He gave up all riches and honor, and became indifferent to fame and high rank. He cared nothing about worldly concerns as chaotic as a tangled skein. He paid no attention to mundane matters anymore; in the past he was the minister who governed the country. Now, he no longer cared about worldly matters. It didn’t matter to him what happened or who became the emperor. Anyhow he didn’t want to be one.
「勤修福慧精进力」：他很精勤的修福修慧，他用力量去精进。「甘受劳苦早归家」：他自己心甘情愿要修种种的苦行。你看他是好玩，但是他可不享福；他也不要一个 automobile (汽车)、也不要一个飞机、也不要一个火轮船、也不要一个王宫，什么都不要了！他把一切都放下了，所以就甘心受劳苦，愿意早早的回自己的本有家乡；本有的家乡，就是佛所住的地方。我们每一个人本有的家乡，就是佛所住的 house。
Therefore, diligently he cultivated blessings and wisdom, and vigorously he applied effort. he cultivated blessings and wisdom very vigorously. He used all his strength to vigorously cultivate the Way. Enduring all toil and suffering in order to return home soon. He willingly did all kinds of ascetic practices. In cultivation of the Way, he seemed to be playful. But he actually didn’t enjoy any blessings. He didn’t want an automobile, an airplane, or a steamboat; nor did he want a royal palace—he simply didn’t want anything. He had given up everything. Therefore he was very willing to endure hardship and suffering to return to his homeland where the Buddha dwells. The homeland of each and every one of us is the house where the Buddha dwells.
「不迎国王为护主」：他不起身去欢迎这国王，因为要保护他自己的这个国王，不要叫他折福。「谦让数步损德芽」：他谦让，因为国王要杀他；他就不得已，就和他客气客气，站起身来迎接他七步，想不到这折了国王七年的王福。那么他早怎么不同国王说呢？因为早说国王也不相信，国王一定说他是贡高我慢，来藉辞不欢迎他；所以他试验：那么做出来，你就折福了！所以至七步而止。七步而止，他告诉国王，他七年没有国王的福报了。那么这样子，这是通权达变的一种方法。我们人所有的福报，都是由德行积攒而来的，所以他把那个德行的芽伤了。
Not greeting the king, he intended to protect his lord. He did not rise from his seat and go forward to greet and welcome the king, simply because he wanted to protect his king from losing his blessings. When he gave in and took a few steps, he diminished the king’s sprouts of virtue. He humbly complied because the king wanted to kill him. He had no choice but to be very polite to him. He stood up and went forward seven steps to greet him, but who would have thought that this was done at the expense of the king’s seven years of blessings? Then why didn’t he tell the king earlier? It was because even if he did, the king would not have believed him. If he had told him earlier, the king would have thought that he was just being arrogant and was trying to find an excuse not to greet and welcome him. Therefore, he made this a test and thought, “If I really do it, this will diminsh your blessings.” He stopped after seven steps and told the king that he had just lost seven years of his blessings as a king. This was an expedient teaching. Our blessings are accumulated from our virtuous conduct. In this way the king’s sprouts of virtuous conduct were hurt. This was indeed a loss.
「救度众生化五浊」：这位尊者，他救度这个世间所有一切众生；所以在这个五浊恶世的娑婆世界，他来教化众生。「虚空法界泯迩遐」：他这种的境界，是没有远、没有近的，也没有亲、没有疏的。我们是众生，都是在他化度之内；所以也没有远近亲疏、也没有人我是非，也没有一个这个世界、其他的世界，或者这个种族、其他的种族，都没有这些个分别。
He rescues and liberates living beings, transforming those in the world of five turbidities. This Venerable One rescues and crosses over all living beings in the world. In this world of the five turbidities of the Saha World, he teaches and transforms all living beings. Transcending notions of far and near, his state pervades all of space and the Dharma Realm. There is no boundary to this kind of state of mind. It is neither far nor near, neither close nor distant. Since we are living beings, we are within the boundary of those whom he transforms and crosses over. There are no distinctions of being far or near, close or distant. There is no self or others, no right or wrong. There is no notion of this world or that world, this race or other races. Such distinctions don’t exist.
