Embedded Files
[第五段]
EasyZoom - Annotated Notes for Scene 5
https://www.easyzoom.com/imageaccess/a0d1eba758174a949a2e7ca4276c83d4
日本語
恒河の辺に、五百の餓鬼あり。無量劫の中に
水を得ること能はず。河の辺に至
ると雖も、水、皆火と見えて飲むこと得ず。
その時に、仏、河の辺、鬱曇鉢(ウヅンバラ)林下に
坐しき。五百の餓鬼、仏の御許に詣り
て、「我が苦しみ耐へ難し、助け給へ」と申す。
その時に、仏、 諸々の鬼の為に、慳貪の咎
を説い（→き ）給ふ。鬼、これを聞くと雖も、「苦に責め
られて、心に入らず」と申す。仏の力をも
て、水を飲ましめて[2]、様々の法を説い（→き ）給
ふ。鬼、これを聞きて、
忽ちに餓鬼の貌
を捨てて、天の身を得たり。
English
At the banks of the Ganges river, there are 500 hungry ghosts. For an eternity, they can’t get any water. Even though they go to the river bank, all of the water looks like fire and they cannot drink it. At that time (when the ghosts went to the river bank), Buddha takes up place under the Udumbara[1] flowers by the river bank. The 500 hungry ghosts go to the holy presence of Buddha, and they humbly say “our suffering is difficult to bear, please help us”. At that time, the Buddha explains to them the sin of greed for the sake of the various ghosts. Even though the hungry ghosts hear this, they say “being assailed by pain/suffering, [what you say] doesn’t go into our hearts.” Through the power of the Buddha, [he] allowed[2] them drink water and he preached various teachings to them. The hungry ghosts hear this, they immediately dispose of the form of the hungry ghost, and attain a heavenly body.
Notes
[1] Udumbara flowers - a flowering tree. It is said that this flower only blooms once every one or three thousand years. Due to the infrequency of its blossoming, "Buddhist texts often use the udumbara in similies to indicate something exceedingly rare, such as the appearance of a buddha in the world" (Buswell Jr & Lopez Jr, 2014, p.934). The Udumbara flowers are, therefore, chosen to represent this rare event in which the Buddha has personally visited them and saved them from their suffering in the Hungry Ghost Realm.
[2] 水を飲ましめて - this phrase is difficult to translate into English as causative in Japanese can be translated as 'allowed' or 'made'. Buddha's power did 'allow' for the ghosts to drink water, but it may also be "he enabled them to drink water through the power of the Buddha".
References
Buswell Jr, R. E. & Lopez Jr, D. S. (2014). The Princeton dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. New Jersey, United Kingdom.
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