法句經---14

As a well covered house is not penetrated by a rain,

如同屋頂蓋得縝密的房舍不被雨浸漏

thus an undeveloped mind is penetrated by passion.

如此，善修持的心不被欲貪浸漏。

Yathā agāraṃ succhannaṃ,

vuṭṭhī na samativijjhati,

evaṃ subhāvitaṃ cittaṃ,

rāgo na samativijjhati.(PTS)

 

A. 支謙《法句經》卷1〈9 雙要品〉：

「蓋屋善密，雨則不漏，攝意惟行，淫泆不生。」

(CBETA, T04, no. 210, p. 562, b4-5)

B. 如善密蓋屋，不為雨漏浸，如是善修心，貪欲不漏入。

  (了參法師譯 譯自巴利經文)

C. Even as rain does not penetrate a well-thatched house, so does lust not penetrate a well developed mind.

(Thera Narada 英譯，錫蘭、那羅陀長老英譯自巴利文)

D. 葺草蓋屋精密，雨不能浸漏，已修養的心，不為貪欲入侵。（淨海法師譯）

巴利註釋書解釋，《法句經》13, 14 偈為世尊成等正覺不久的偈頌。

yathā, Rel.Adv.: as, just like.

agāraṃ: agāra-, N.n.: house, home. Ac.Sg. = agāraṃ.

succhannaṃ: succhanna-, Adj.: well covered. It is a p.p. of the verb chad- (channa) with the prefix su- (good, well). Acc.Sg.n. = succhannaṃ.

vuṭṭhi: vuṭṭhi-, N.f.: rain. Nom.Sg. = vuṭṭhi.

na, neg.: not.

samativijjhati, V.: to penetrate. The verb vidh- (to pierce, to perforate) with prefixes sam- (altogether) and ati- (above, extremely). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = samativijjhati.

evaṃ, Adv.: thus.

subhāvitaṃ: subhāvita-, Adj.: well developed. It is a p.p. of the verb bhāv- (to develop, to meditate) with the prefix su- (good, well). Acc.Sg.n. = subhāvitaṃ.

cittaṃ: citta-, N.n.: mind. Acc.Sg. = cittaṃ.

rāgo: rāga-, N.m.: passion. Nom.Sg. = rāgo.

na, neg.: not.

Two lines of this verse form two sentences, which are both parts of one compound sentence.

    First one is yathā agāraṃ succhannaṃ vuṭṭhi na samativijjhati (as a well covered house is not penetrated by a rain). Here the subject is vuṭṭhi (rain, nominative singular). The verb is samativijjhati (penetrates, 3rd person singular, active, indicative, present tense, negated by the negative particle na -- not). The object is agāraṃ (the house, accusative singular). This word has one attribute succhannaṃ (well covered, accusative singular, it agrees with the main object). The relative clause yathā (like, as) connects this sentence to the following one (in a pattern yathā... - evaṃ...).

    The second part is evaṃ subhāvitaṃ cittaṃ rāgo na samativijjhati (thus a well developed mind is not penetrated by passion). The subject is rāgo (passion, nominative singular). The verb is samativijjhati (penetrates, 3rd person singular, active, indicative, present tense, negated by the negative particle na -- not). The object is cittaṃ (the mind, accusative singular). This word has one attribute -- subhāvitaṃ (well developed, accusative singular, it agrees with the main object). The adverb evaṃ (thus) connects this sentence to the previous one.

Commentary:

    And (continuing from DhP 13) if the roof on our house is well done, if we have made careful plans and executed them well, if we paid enough attention to the roof, then we do not have to be afraid of any rain, no matter how strong. The roof will hold it and the inside of the house will not become flooded, not even wet.

    And in the case of mind, the same rule applies. If we made a conscious decision to develop it, to keep high level of mindfulness and alert, if we sharpen our mind in meditation, all the passions have no way of entering. The "roof" holds and we can concentrate on our main goal -- cleansing the mind, without a need to repair the roof after every light shower.