Appreciation of Bai Yujing's Translation of the Complete Works of Brahman Killing Son

Brahman's metaphor of killing children

original text

Once upon a time, there were Brahmins [1], who claimed to know a lot and all kinds of astrology skills [2] [3]. I want to show my virtue by myself, so I went to other countries and cried! Someone asked the Brahmin, "Why are you crying?" Brahman said: "Today, this child should die within seven days, and mourn for his death [4] because he is crying!" Human language: "Human life is hard to know, and the calculation is good or bad [5]. If you set a goal for seven days, you may not die. What is pre-crying? " Brahman said, "The sun and moon can be dark, and the stars can set. What I wrote is correct. " For fame and fortune, on the seventh day, he killed his son to prove himself. However, seven days later, when he heard that his son had died, Xian sighed, "What a wise man! You are right!" Convinced, I came to pay tribute.

Just like the fourth generation of disciples of the Buddha, they claim to be enlightened for the benefit, and they have the method of fools, killing good people and deceiving virtue [6]. Therefore, the future will be painful. For example, if a Brahman tries to test himself, he will kill his son and confuse the world.

To annotate ...

[1] Brahman: the aristocratic group in ancient India, the first of the four castes, mastered theocracy and became the monopolist of knowledge. The four castes are Brahman, Khrushchev, Vedas and Dalits.

[2] Astrology: a method of divining bad luck according to astrology.

[3] Mindfulness: Have a clear and thorough understanding of things.

[4] I am sorry for my death: I am sorry, pity; Die young.

[5] Like mistakes: easy to make mistakes.

[6] Deceiving kindness: pretending to be charitable.

translate

Once upon a time, there was a Brahmin who thought he was knowledgeable and proficient in all astrology and divination. Relying on his skill, he always wanted to show his ability in front of everyone, so he ran to other countries and cried in front of people with his son in his arms. Someone asked him, "Why are you crying?" Brahman said, "In seven days, my child will die. I pity him for dying so young, so I cried! " "The person next to him said," A person's life is unpredictable, and prediction is easy to make mistakes. Maybe the child is still alive after seven days, why should he be sad in advance? "Brahman said," When the sun and the moon are dark, the stars in the sky may also fall. My prediction is never wrong. "In order to protect his reputation and interests, the Brahman killed his children on the seventh day to prove his words. Seven days later, when people heard that his son had died, they all sighed and said, "He is really a wise man, and his prediction is really good. "People sincerely believe in him and come to pay tribute to him.

This is just like among the four generations of disciples of the Buddha, some people pretend to be enlightened in order to gain benefits and sacrifices, induce them with secular thoughts, harm those practitioners who are dedicated to the Buddha, disguise the virtue of compassion, and thus make themselves suffer in reincarnation. Just like that brahmin, in order to verify his prophecy, he killed his son himself to deceive the world.

Comment and analysis

In order to satisfy his little vanity and impress others, the Brahman in the story actually killed his own child himself. It's really terrible that vanity has developed to this extent. Of course, everyone is more or less vain, but it must not be excessive. People with excessive vanity often regard fame and fortune as the internal driving force to dominate their behavior and always care about others' evaluation of themselves. Once you don't get others' affirmation, you will think that you have lost your so-called self-esteem and can't stand it. Therefore, for this so-called "self-esteem", many people began to pursue a temporary, superficial, false effect, and even cheated, so that vanity ate its conscience and made unimaginable things.

Story quotation

I'm still me.

Once upon a time, there was a woman who learned that she was an illegitimate child in a chat with others, so she felt ashamed in front of others. In addition, because of this incident, people around her pointed at her, and her heart was very troubled and painful. So she chose to leave and go to a strange place alone, thinking that only in this way would she feel much better. But what I didn't expect was that no matter where she went, she always felt that she could not get rid of this troubled shadow.

Finally, one day, the woman couldn't stand it and wanted to drown herself. However, as soon as the woman jumped into the river, she was saved by a kind person. When the kind-hearted people asked her why she committed suicide, she told them everything in detail. After listening to the woman's experience, a conscientious person advised her to enter the Buddha and seek liberation.

You finally convinced that woman. So the woman went to visit a Zen master and told him her misfortune. After listening to the woman's narrative, the Zen master said nothing but asked her to meditate silently.

In this way, the woman meditated for three days in a row, which not only did not relieve her troubles, but made her sense of shame stronger. The woman was so angry that she ran to the Zen master and wanted to scold him.

"You want to scold me, right? As long as you sit for a while, you won't have such an idea. " Facing the prediction of the Zen master, the woman was really surprised and respected, and the anger in her heart slowly disappeared. So she continued to meditate according to the instructions of the Zen master.

I don't know how long it took before the Zen master asked softly, "Who were you before you became an illegitimate child?"

When the woman listened to the words of the Zen master, a string in her heart seemed to be plucked. Suddenly, she suddenly realized, covered her face with her hand, and then burst into tears: "I am me, I am me!" "

Vanity is unacceptable.

One day, the forest goddess told all the birds to meet at the door the next day. It wants to choose the most beautiful bird among them and make it the king of birds. The forest is full of excitement, and the birds are not to be outdone, twittering and boasting about their beauty.

Of all the birds, only the crow kept silent and hid quietly, because it is recognized as the ugliest bird, with black body and no bright feathers. However, the crow's vanity is particularly strong. It can't resist the temptation of the throne of the bird king. It tries to be the most beautiful bird.

The crow thought and thought, and finally came up with a way. It asked each bird for a feather. The bird didn't know what it wanted to do, so it gave it one by one. The crow went back to the nest and secretly stuck all these colorful feathers on himself.

The next day, all the birds were dressed up and gathered around the forest goddess.

In order not to let everyone make trouble, the goddess carefully looked at it and compared it one by one. Finally, it pointed to the crow and said, "Look, it has the color of all bird feathers. It is the most beautiful bird among you. From now on, it will be the king of birds. "When the birds saw it, they couldn't help admiring it.

Hearing this, the crow couldn't help crowing proudly. Everyone heard the cry. It turned out to be a crow! No wonder it asked us for feathers yesterday. What a nuisance!

So, angry birds gathered together, and you took a bite and I took a bite, pecking back all their feathers, and the crow immediately showed its true colors.