vbs 623
昔日蕭衍帝。即梁武帝。心中樂善好愛修行。禮拜誌公和尚。為國師也。惟有郗氏皇后。心不信善。造業深重。死後墮落。作一蟒蛇之身。武帝得師。究竟指明。心向修行。忽日宮中夜臥不睡。起往乘涼閣乘涼。須臾之間聽得殿下嘧啐之聲。武帝舉眼一觀。只見一條蟒蛇。直至殿下。帝見失色。嘆而言曰。朕宮嚴潔。何更有此蛇怪。
【白話】從前，梁武帝蕭衍一心向善，好樂修行，並禮拜寶志公禪師為國師。然而，他的皇後郗氏卻內心不信善法，造下深重罪業，死後墮落為蟒蛇之身。同時武帝得到高僧指點，更加精進修行。有一天夜裡，武帝在宮中輾轉難眠，便起身到乘涼閣休息。忽然，他聽到殿外傳來窸窸窣窣的聲音，擡頭一看，只見一條蟒蛇爬到殿前。武帝大驚失色，嘆息道：「朕的宮殿一向莊嚴潔凈，怎會有此蛇怪？」
In the past, Emperor Xiao Yan (蕭衍), also known as Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty (梁武帝), was a philanthropist and delighted in cultivation. He respectfully took the Dharma Master Zhi Gong (誌公) as his mentor, thus making him the teacher of the nation. However, his wife, the empress whose family name was Chi (郗), did not believe in doing good deeds and committed heavy offenses. After passing away, she fell into a lower realm and became a python. Emperor Wu had the dharma master’s clear and supreme (究竟) instructions and kept his mind on cultivation. One night in the palace, lying on the bed yet unable to fall asleep, he got up and went to a pavilion to enjoy the coolness. Soon he heard some noise beneath the palace. He took a look and saw a python coming directly toward him. The emperor gasped and exclaimed to himself, “My palace is well maintained with tight security! How can a serpent get in here?”
只見其蛇。口作人言告知。我主不要心驚。妾今不是別怪。乃是主宮中郗氏遭貶。妾因在生。不信佛法。至今墮落。得此苦報。尚且無穴藏身。肚中饑餓。遍身鱗甲。多諸毒蟲。恆抱痛苦。無有休息。只得奔投。乞賴我王。慈悲為主。憫念昔日。夫婦之情。施恩救拔。吾若得脫此苦。啣環當報。不負主恩。
【白話】這時，蟒蛇竟口吐人言，說道：「陛下不必驚慌，我並非別的妖怪，而是您宮中的郗氏，因罪業遭貶。我生前不信佛法，如今墮落為蟒蛇，受此苦報——無處藏身、腹中饑餓、鱗甲中布滿毒蟲，日夜痛苦不堪，無法解脫。今日特來懇求陛下，念在昔日夫妻情分上，慈悲救拔。若得脫離此苦，必當銜環報恩，絕不辜負陛下！」
The python then spoke verbally with its mouth, “My lord, please do not be scared. I am nobody else but your wife, Empress Chi, being punished. When I was your wife, I did not believe in the Buddhadharma; therefore, I fell and am now experiencing this suffering as retribution. I have no place to dwell and always feel hungry. My entire body is covered with many noxious insects that live under my scales, causing me constant pain. I have no choice but to turn to you, my lord. I hope you will have compassion and mercy on me, remember our past affection as husband and wife, and bestow upon me a favor—— rescue me. If I could be free of this suffering, I would never let you down and would definitely repay your kindness, like a siskin holding jade rings in its mouth to repay the person who rescued it.”
武帝見說。魂飛魄散。悶倒龍床。良久方甦。不見蟒蛇。坐守天明。嗟嘆而曰。人若不能行善。豈有超昇之分。是故即發誠心。投拜誌公和尚。啟問師曰。不知我郗氏夫人。何因緣故。死後墮作蟒蛇之身。
【白話】梁武帝聽完這番話，嚇得魂飛魄散，當場昏倒在龍床上，許久才甦醒過來。此時蟒蛇已消失不見，他獨坐守到天明，嘆息道：”人若不能行善積德，哪有機會超脫輪迴？”於是誠心皈依，拜謁志公和尚，請教道：”不知我的郗氏夫人因何業緣，死後竟墮為蟒蛇之身？”
Hearing this, Emperor Wu was frightened out of his wits. He passed out on his seat and came to only after a long while. The python had already disappeared by then. He sat there stunned as he waited for daybreak. Finally, he sighed and said to himself, “If a person does not perform good deeds during one’s lifetime, how is it possible for that person to ascend to a higher realm of rebirth after passing away?” Therefore, he gave rise to sincerity and visited Master Zhi Gong. After bowing to the master, he asked respectfully, “I wonder why my wife Empress Chi fell and became a python after she died?”
誌公答曰。此郗氏娘娘。只因心不信佛。嫉妒六宮。不敬三寶。不修片善。只說此間。便是天堂。倚福受福。不信因果。不懼罪業報應。廣造無邊惡業。不堪言也。所以被值日功曹。具錄文簿。奏上天界。牒下冥司依罪判斷。打失人身。做一蟒蛇之報也。
【白話】誌公和尚答道：”郗氏娘娘生前不信佛法，嫉妒六宮嬪妃，不敬佛、法、僧三寶，未曾修過半點善行。她總說人間便是極樂，仗著福報享樂，不信因果報應，不畏罪業懲罰，造下無邊惡業（其罪孽之深難以言表）。因此值日功曹將她的罪行記錄在冊，上奏天界，冥司依律審判，奪其人身，罰作蟒蛇受報。”
Dharma Master Zhi Gong answered, “The empress did not have faith in the Buddha. She was jealous of the emperor’s concubines and disrespected the Three Jewels. She did not perform a single act of kindness and claimed that the world around her was already heaven. She relied on her blessings and indulged in them and did not believe in the law of cause and effect. Unafraid of the consequences of creating offenses and bad karma, she committed innumerable offenses. They were so terrible that I can’t stand to mention them. The ‘time guardian spirits’ recorded all her offenses and reported them to heaven. The heaven then sent the records to the underworld for her judgement. Based on the verdict rendered, she was expelled from the human realm to become a python.”