You are here: BP HOME > TLB > Aśvaghoṣa: Buddhacarita > fulltext
Aśvaghoṣa: Buddhacarita

Choose languages

Choose images, etc.

Choose languages
Choose display
  • Enable images
  • Enable footnotes
    • Show all footnotes
    • Minimize footnotes
DiacriticaDiacritica-helpSearch-help
ā ī ū ṛ ṝ ḷ
ḹ ’ ṃ ḥ ṅ ñ
ṭ ḍ ṇ ṣ ś ź
š č ǰ γ    
Note on the transliteration:
The transliteration system of the BP/TLB is based on the Unicode/UTF-8 system. However, there may be difficulties with some of the letters – particularly on PC/Windows-based systems, but not so much on the Mac. We have chosen the most accepted older and traditional systems of transliteration against, e.g, Wylie for Tibetan, since with Unicode it is possible, in Sanskrit and Tibetan, etc., to represent one sound with one letter in almost all the cases (excepting Sanskrit and Tibetan aspirated letters, and Tibetan tsa, tsha, dza). We thus do not use the Wylie system which widely employs two letters for one sound (ng, ny, sh, zh etc.).
 
Important:
We ask you in particular to note the use of the ’ apostrophe and not the ' representing the avagrāha in Sanskrit, and most important the ’a-chuṅ in Tibetan. On the Mac the ’ is Alt-M.
 
If you cannot find the letters on your key-board, you may click on the link "Diacritica" to access it for your search.
Choose specific texts..
Aśvaghoṣa: Buddhacarita
    Click to Expand/Collapse Option Complete text
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionTitle
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionPreface
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 1: Bhagavatprasūti
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 2: Antaḥpuravihāra
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 3: Saṃvegotpatti
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 4: Strīvighātana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 5: Abhiniṣkramaṇa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 6: Chandakanivartana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 7: Tapovanapraveśa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 8: Antaḥpuravilāpa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 9: Kumārānveṣaṇa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 10: Śreṇyābhigamana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 11: Kāmavigarhaṇa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 12: Arāḍadarśana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 13: Māravijaya
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 14: Englightenment
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 15: Turning the Wheel of the Law
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 16: Many Conversions
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 17: Conversion (pravrajyā) of the Great Disciples
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 18: The Instruction of Anāthapiṇḍada
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 19: The Meeting of Father and Son
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 20: Acceptance of Jetavana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 21: Progress (srotas) of the Mission
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 22: The Visit to Amrapāli's Grove
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 23: Fixing the Factors of Bodily Life
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 24: Compassion for the Licchavis
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 25: The Journey to Nirvāṇa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 26: The Mahāparinirvāṇa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 27: Eulogy of Nirvāṇa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionChapter 28: The Division of the Relics
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionColophon
Back to library
athājña iti siddho vaḥ kalpitena kim ātmanā |
vināpi hy ātmanājñānaṃ prasiddhaṃ kāṣṭhakuḍyavat || 12.81 || 
(20)若言無知者 我則無所用
(21)離我而有知 我即同木石 
ci ste khyod la śes mi ’grub | | bdag tu rtog pas ci źig bya | |
bdag daṅ bral yaṅ śes pa ni | | rab grub śiṅ daṅ rtsig pa bźin | | 
If you say there is no "knower," then who is it that is spoken of as "knowing?"
995. ’If there is knowledge and no person, then the subject of knowledge may be a stone or a log; 
79. ‘Or if the soul is declared to be unknowing, then of what use to you is this imagined soul? Even without such a soul, the existence of the absence of knowledge is notorious as, for instance, in a log of wood or a wall. 
parataḥ paratas tyāgo yasmāt tu guṇavān smṛtaḥ |
tasmāt sarvaparityāgān manye kṛtsnāṃ kṛtārthatām || 12.82 || 
(22)1 具知其精麁 背麁而崇微
(23)若能一切捨 所作則畢竟 
gaṅ (4)phyir goṅ nas goṅ du ni | | de ltar rtsibs ’phur gyi ni chos | |
mkhyen nas de ni ma tshim źiṅ | | mtha’ dag min źes śes nas su | | de nas so sor gśegs pa’o | | 
moreover, to have clear knowledge of these minute causes of contamination and reject them thoroughly,
996. ’These being so rejected, there must be an end, then, of the "doer." 
80. ‘And since each successive abandonment is held to be still accompanied by qualities, I maintain that the absolute attainment of our end can only be found in the abandonment of everything.’ 
iti dharmam arāḍasya viditvā na tutoṣa saḥ |
akṛtsnam iti vijñāya tataḥ pratijagāma ha || 12.83 || 
(24)於阿羅藍説 不能悦其心
(25)知非一切智 應行更求勝
(26)往詣2 鬱陀仙 彼亦計有我」 
 
What Arâda has declared cannot satisfy my heart.
997. ’This clear knowledge is not "universal wisdom," I must go on and seek a better explanation.’ Going on then to the place of Udra Rishi, he also expatiated on this question of ’I.’ 
81. Thus did he remain unsatisfied after he had heard the doctrine of Arâḍa; then having decided it to be incomplete, he turned away. 
viśeṣam atha śuśrūṣur udrakasyāśramaṃ yayau |
ātmagrāhāc ca tasyāpi jagṛhe na sa darśanam || 12.84 || 
(27)雖觀細微境 見想不想過
(28)離想非想住 更無有出塗 
de nas khyad par chos ’dod pa | | lhag spyod kyi ni gnas su gśegs | |
de yi bdag tu ’dzin las kyaṅ | | des ni lta bar sred (5)ma gyur | | 
998. (But) although he refined the matter to the utmost, laying down a term of ’thought’ and ’no thought’ taking the position of removing ’thought’ and ’no thought,’ yet even so he came not out of the mire; 
82. Seeking to know the true distinction, he went to the hermitage of Udraka, but he gained no clear understanding from his treatment of the soul. 
saṃjñāsaṃjñitvayor doṣaṃ jñātvā hi munir udrakaḥ |
ākiṃcinyāt paraṃ lebhe asaṃjñāsaṃjñātmikāṃ1 gatim || 12.85 || 
(29)以衆生至彼 必當還退轉
(24b1)菩薩求出故 復捨鬱陀仙 
’du śes ’du śes med pa’i skyon | | thub pa lhag spyod kyis śes nas | |
’du śes ’du śes med bdag min | | cuṅ zad med las gźan ’gro thob | | 
999. For supposing creatures attained that state, still (he said) there is a possibility of returning to the coil, whilst Bodhisattva sought a method of getting out of it. So once more leaving Udra Rishi, 
83. For the sage Udraka, having learned the inherent imperfections of the name and the thing named, took refuge in a theory beyond Nihilism, which maintained a name and a non-name. 
yasmāc cālambane sūkṣme saṃjñāsaṃjñe tataḥ param |
nāsaṃjñī naiva saṃjñīti tasmāt tatragata2 spṛhaḥ || 12.86 || 
(2)更求勝妙道 進登3 伽闍山
(3)城名苦行林 五比丘先住 
3. Gaya. 
gaṅ phyir dmigs pa phra mo ni | |
’du śes ’du śes med las gźan | | ’du śes med min ’du śes min | | de phyir der ni re (6)’dod min | | 
1000. He went on in search of a better system, and came at last to Mount Kia-ke [the forest of mortification], where was a town called Pain-suffering forest (Uravilva?). Here the five Bhikshus had gone before. 
84. And since even a name and a non-name were substrata, however subtil, he went even further still and found his restlessness set at rest in the idea that there is no named and no un-named; 
yataś ca buddhis tatraiva sthitānyatrāpracāriṇī |
sūkṣmāpaṭvī3 tatas tatra nāsaṃjñitvaṃ na saṃjñitā || 12.87 || 
(4)見彼五比丘 善攝諸情根
(5)持戒修苦行 居彼苦行林 
gaṅ phyir der ni blo gnas śiṅ | | gźan du rab tu rgyu pa med | |
phra źiṅ rno ldan de phyir der | | ’du śes med min ’du śes med | | 
1001. When then he beheld these five, virtuously keeping in check their senses (passion-members), holding to the rules of moral conduct, practising mortification, dwelling in that grove of mortification; 
85. And because the intellect rested there, not proceeding any further,--it became very subtil, and there was no such thing as un-named nor as named. 
yasmāc ca tad4 api prāpya punar āvartate jagat |
bodhisattvaḥ paraṃ prepsus tasmād udrakam atyajat || 12.88 || 
 
de phyir de yaṅ rab thob nas | | slar yaṅ ’gro ba ’khor ba ste | |
byaṅ chub sems dpa’ mchog ’dod pas | | de phyir lhag spyod dor ba’o | | 
 
86. But because, even when it has reached this goal it yet returns again to the world, therefore the Bodhisattva, seeking something beyond, left Udraka. 
tato hitvāśramaṃ tasya śreyoarthī kṛtaniścayaḥ |
bheje gayasya rājarṣer nagarīsaṃjñam āśramam || 12.89 || 
 
de nas de yi (7)gnas thob nas | | dge legs don gñer ṅes byas nas | |
gaṅ yaṅ rgyal ba’i draṅ sroṅ gis | | groṅ khyer źes bya’i gnas bsñen no | | 
 
87. Having quitted his hermitage, fully resolved in his purpose, and seeking final bliss, he next visited the hermitage, called a city, of the royal sage Gaya. 
atha nairañjanātīre śucau śuciparākramaḥ |
cakāra vāsam ekānta vihārābhiratir 5 muniḥ || 12.90 || 
(6)4 尼連禪河側 寂靜甚可樂
(7)菩薩即於彼 一處靜思惟 
de nas nee rañdza na’i ’gram | | gtsaṅ mar gtsaṅ źiṅ pha rol gnon | |
dben pa’i gnas ni mṅon ’dod ba’i | | thub pa yis ni gnas mdzad do | | 
1002. Occupying a spot beside the Nairañgana river, perfectly composed and filled with contentment, Bodhisattva forthwith by them (selecting) one spot, quietly gave himself to thought. 
88. Then on the pure bank of the Nairaÿjanâ the saint whose every effort was pure fixed his dwelling, bent as he was on a lonely habitation. 
tatpūrvaṃ pañcendriyavaśoddhatān |
tapaḥ vratino bhikṣūn ... pañca niraikṣata || 12.91 ||6  
 
de nas de ni sṅar brten (46a1)źiṅ | | dbaṅ po lṅa yi dbaṅ las kheṅs | |
mun pas bsñen pa’i brtul źugs can | | dge sloṅ lṅa rnams des gzigs so | | 
 
91. Then he saw five mendicants who had come there before him; they had taken vows on themselves and practised austerities, vaunting themselves of control of the five senses.1  
te copatasthur7 dṛṣṭvātra bhikṣavas taṃ mumukṣavaḥ |
puṇyārjitadhanārogyam indriyārthā iveśvaram || 12.92 || 
(8)五比丘知彼 精心求解脱
(9)盡心加供養 如敬自在天 
bsod nams kyis bsgrubs nor nad med | | dbaṅ ṅon rnams kyis dbaṅ phyug bźin | |
dge sloṅ de rnams kyis kyaṅ ’dir | | de mthoṅ gyur (2)nas ñe bar gnas | | 
1003. The five Bhikshus knowing him with earnest heart to be seeking escape, offered him their services with devotion, as if reverencing Îsvara Deva. 
89. Five mendicants, desiring liberation, came up to him when they beheld him there, just as the objects of the senses come up to a percipient who has gained wealth and health by his previous merit. 
saṃpūjyamānas taiḥ prahvair vinayād anuvartibhiḥ8 |
tadvaśasthāyibhiḥ śiṣyair lolair mana ivendriyaiḥ || 12.93 || 
(10)謙卑而師事 進止常不離
(11)猶如修行者 諸根隨心轉 
de’i dbaṅ gis gnas slob ma rnams | | dbaṅ po g-yos pas yid bźin du | |
rab tu de rnams kyis mchod ciṅ | | rnam par dul las rjes su ’jug | | 
1004. Having finished their attentions and dutiful services, then going on he took his seat not far off, as one about to enter on a course of religious practice, composing all his members as he desired. 
90. Being honoured by these disciples who were dwelling in that family, as they bowed reverently with their bodies bent low in humility, as the mind is honoured by the restless senses, 
mṛtyujanmāntakaraṇe syād upāyo ’yam ity atha |
duṣkarāṇi samārebhe tapāṃsy anaśanena saḥ || 12.94 || 
(12)菩薩勤方便 當度老病死
(13)專心修苦行 節身而忘餐 
’chi daṅ skye ba mthar byed la | | de nas thabs ni ’di yis źes | |
bza’ ba med par śes pa yis | | dka’ thub (3)gduṅ ba rnams brtsams so | | 
1005. Bodhisattva diligently applied himself to ’means,’ as one about to cross over old age, disease, and death. With full purpose of heart (he set himself) to endure mortification, to restrain every bodily passion, and give up thought about sustenance, 
91. And thinking, ‘this may be the means of abolishing birth and death,’ he at once commenced a series of difficult austerities by fasting. 
upavāsavidhīn naikān kurvan naradurācarān |
varṣāṇi ṣaṭ śama9 prepsur akarot kārśyam ātmanaḥ || 12.95 || 
(14)淨心守齋戒 行人所不堪
(15)寂默而禪思 遂經歴六年 
bsmyuṅ gnas cho ga du ma rnams | | mi yis spyod dka’ rnams mdzad ciṅ | |
las ni thob bźed lo drug tu | | bdag gi sku lus rig par mdzad | | 
1006. With purity of heart to observe the fast-rules, which no worldly man (active man) can bear; silent and still, lost in thoughtful meditation; and so for six years he continued, 
92. For six years, vainly trying to attain merit, he practised self-mortification, performing many rules of abstinence, hard for a man to carry out. 
annakāleṣu caikaikaiḥ sa kola10 tilataṇḍulaiḥ |
apārapārasaṃsāra pāraṃ prepsur apārayat || 12.96 || 
(16)日食一麻米 形體極5 消羸
(17)欲求度6 未度 重惑7 逾更沈 
pha mtha’ med pa’i ’khor ba yi | | pha rol thob par ’dod pa ṅes | |
bza’ ba’i dus su til daṅ ’bru | | (4)rab śa rnams ni re re gsol | | 
1007. Each day eating one hemp grain, his bodily form shrunken and attenuated, seeking how to cross (the sea) of birth and death, exercising himself still deeper and advancing further; 
93. At the hours for eating, he, longing to cross the world whose farther shore is so difficult to reach, broke his vow with single jujube fruits, sesame seeds, and rice. 
dehād apacayas tena tapasā tasya yaḥ kṛtaḥ |
sa evopacayo bhūyas tejasāsya kṛto ’bhavat || 12.97 || 
(18)道由慧解成 不食非其因
(19)四體雖微劣 慧心轉増明 
dka’ thub gduṅ ba des de yi | | sku las bri bar byas pa gaṅ | |
slar yaṅ de yi gzi brjid kyis | | sku lus ñe bar ’phel byas gyur | | 
1008. Making his way perfect by the disentanglements of true wisdom, not eating, and yet not (looking to that as) a cause (of emancipation), his four members although exceedingly weak, his heart of wisdom increasing yet more and more in light; 
94. But the emaciation which was produced in his body by that asceticism, became positive fatness through the splendour which invested him. 
kṛśo ’py akṛśakīrtiśrīr hlādaṃ cakre ’nyacakṣuṣām11 |
kumudānām iva śarac chuklapakṣādicandramāḥ || 12.98 || 
(20)神虚體輕微 名徳普流聞
(21)猶如月初生 鳩8 牟頭華敷
(22)溢國勝名流 士女競來觀 
ston ka’i dkar phyogs daṅ po yi | | zla bas ku mu ta rnams bźin | |
rid kyaṅ dpal grags riṅ min źiṅ | | gźan gyis (5)mig rnams tshim par mdzad | | 
1009. His spirit free, his body light and refined, his name spreading far and wide, as ’highly gifted,’ even as the moon when first produced, or as the Kumuda flower spreading out its sweetness;
1010. Everywhere thro’ the country his excellent fame extended; the daughters of the lord of the place both coming to see him, 
95. Though thin, yet with his glory and his beauty unimpaired, he caused gladness to other eyes, as the autumnal moon in the beginning of her bright fortnight gladdens the lotuses. 
tvagasthiśeṣo niḥśeṣair medaḥpiśitaśoṇitaiḥ |
kṣīṇo ’py akṣīṇagāmbhīryaḥ samudra iva sa vyabhāt || 12.99 || 
(23)苦形如枯木 垂滿於六年
(24)怖畏生死苦 專求正覺因 
rus lpags lhag ma lhag med par | | tshil daṅ śa daṅ khrag rnams kyis | |
zad kyaṅ zab mo ma zad par | | rgya mtsho bźin du de mdzes so | | 
his mortified body like a withered branch, just completing the period of six years,
1011. Fearing the sorrow of birth and death, seeking earnestly the method (cause) of true wisdom, 
96. Having only skin and bone remaining, with his fat, flesh and blood entirely wasted, yet, though diminished, he still shone with undiminished grandeur like the ocean. 
atha kaṣṭatapaḥspaṣṭa vyarthakliṣṭatanur muniḥ |
bhavabhīrur imāṃ cakre buddhim buddhatvakāṅkṣayā || 12.100 || 
(25)自惟非由此 離欲寂觀生
(26)未若我先時 於9 閻浮樹下
(27)所得未曾有 當知彼是道 
de nas saṅs rgyas ñid ’dod pas | | ṅal dub gduṅ bas don med bsal | |
ñon moṅs lus can thub pa (6)ni | | srid las ’jigs pa blo mdzad do | | 
he came to the conviction that these were not the means to extinguish desire and produce ecstatic contemplation;
1012. Nor yet (the means by which) in former time, seated underneath the Gambu tree, he arrived at that miraculous condition, that surely was the proper way, (he thought), 
97. Then the seer, having his body evidently emaciated to no purpose in a cruel self-mortification;--dreading continued existence, thus reflected in his longing to become a Buddha: 
Permanent link
Go to Wiki Documentation
Enhet: Det humanistiske fakultet   Utviklet av: IT-seksjonen ved HF
Login