法句經---15

He grieves here, he grieves after death, in both does the wrongdoer grieve,

作惡的人現世憂悲，死後憂悲，兩處憂悲

He grieves, he is vexed, having seen his own evil deeds.

見到自己的惡行，他憂悲，他苦惱。

Idha socati pecca socati,

pāpakārī ubhayattha socati,

so socati so vihaññati,

disvā kammakiliṭṭhamattano.(PTS)

 

A. 支謙《法句經》卷1〈9 雙要品〉：

「造憂後憂，行惡兩憂，彼憂惟懼，見罪心懅；」

(CBETA, T04, no. 210, p. 562, b8-9)

B. 現世此處悲，死後他處悲，作諸惡業者，兩處俱憂悲，見自惡業已，他悲他苦惱。(了參法師譯)

C. Here he grieves, hereafter he grieves; in both states the evil-doer grieves, he perishes, seeing his own impure deeds.(Thera Narada 英譯)

D. 作惡的人，今世憂悲，來世憂悲，兩處憂悲，見自己污穢的行為，他憂悲，他苦惱。(淨海法師譯)

idha, Adv.: here, in this world.

socati,V.: to mourn, to grieve. The verb root suc-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = socati.

pecca, V.: after death. It is a ger. of the verb i- (to go) with the prefix pa- (directional prefix of forward motion). This verb means literally "to go over", it is used as an euphemism for "to die".

pāpakārī: pāpakārin-, N.m.: wrong-doer. A compound of:
pāpa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing.
kārin-, N.m.: doer. Derived (by adding the possessive suffix -in) from the word kāra-, N.m.: act, action (this derived from the verb kar-, to do).
Nom.Sg. = pāpakārī.

ubhayattha, Adv.: in both cases.

so: tad-, pron.: it. Masculine form: so. Nom.Sg. = so.

vihaññati, V.: to be struck (with grief), to be vexed, to be grieved. It is a passive of the verb han- (to strike) with the prefix vi- (adding emphasis). 3.Sg.pas.in.pres. = vihaññati.

disvā, V.: having seen. A ger. from the verb dis-, to see.

kammakiliṭṭham: kammakiliṭṭha-, N.n.: bad deed, evil deed. A compound of:
kamma-, N.n.: deed, action. Derived from the verb kar- (to do).
kiliṭṭha-, Adj.: bad, impure, unclean. It is a p.p. of the verb kilis- (to go bad, to get stained, to be impure).
Acc.Sg. = kammakiliṭṭham.

attano, attan-, N.m.: self. Gen.Sg. = attano (one's own).

    The first line consists of loosely connected sentences. They are:

    1) idha socati ([the wrongdoer] grieves here). Here the subject is omitted (it is the word pāpakārī from the third sentence). The verb socati (grieves) is in 3rd person singular, present tense, active voice, indicative. The adverb idha (here) is an attribute to the verb.

    2) pecca socati ([the wrongdoer] grieves after death). Again, the subject is the word pāpakārī from the following sentence. The verb is socati (as above). The gerund pecca (having gone) is an attribute to the verb.

    3) pāpakārī ubhayattha socati (the wrongdoer grieves in both states). The subject of this sentence (and of the two previous ones) is the word pāpakārī (wrongdoer). It is in nominative singular. The verb is socati (explained above). The adverb ubhayattha (in both places) serves as an attribute to the verb.

    The second line consists of two segments:

    1) so socati so vihaññati (he grieves, he is vexed). These two sentences are paratactic. They both have the word so (he, nominative singular) as a subject and verbs socati (grieves, 3rd person singular, present tense, active voice, indicative) and vihaññati (is vexed, 3rd person singular, present tense, active voice, indicative) respectively.

    2) disvā kammakiliṭṭham attano (having seen his own evil deeds). This clause is subordinated to the previous one. It is introduced by the verb disvā (having seen, gerund). The word kammakiliṭṭham (evil deeds, accusative singular) forms an object. The word attano (one's own, genitive singular) is an attribute to the object.

Commentary:

    Doing evil deeds is a sure way to grief and despair. As we know from modern history, the greatest evildoers of this century (Stalin, Mao, Hitler, etc.) did not have an easy life. They were with troubled personalities, seeing enemies behind every shadow. The amount of evil they created hunted them mercilessly and efficiently.

    If we commit an evil deed (a definition of evil deed is that it is an action which harms other living beings in any way -- physical or mental) not only our consciences bothers us (or at least it should, if we are to call ourselves human beings), but it will also bring us a bad rebirth. Thus, when we see our evil deeds, we will grieve both in this life and in the next one.