vbs 623
帝復請曰。乞賴我師。金口究竟。云何懺悔。超度他去。
禪師答曰。若要救拔超度。然當我主發心。合宮齋戒大辦齋供。延請五百高僧。啟建道場。稱揚佛法。我皇親自禮拜。檢尋藏典。禮懺誦經。求哀懺悔。畢竟出離苦海。超生天界也。
【白話】梁武帝再次懇求道：”還請師父明示，究竟該如何懺悔，才能超度亡魂？”
誌公禪師回答道：”若要救拔超度，需陛下發大願心：令全宮持齋守戒，廣設齋宴供養；延請五百位高僧大德，開設水陸法會，弘揚佛法；陛下更需親自禮拜，查閱佛教經典，虔誠誦經懺悔。如此才能助其脫離苦海，超生天界。”
The emperor then respectfully asked again, “I implore my master to thoroughly instruct me on how I should conduct the repentance on her behalf so that she can be rescued?”
The Master answered, “To rescue her from suffering so that she can have a better rebirth, my lord must resolve to perform the following: have all residents in the palace uphold the vegetarian precept and prepare a large vegetarian feast to invite five hundred eminent monks with high virtue. They can prepare a platform of repentance to conduct the ritual and propagate the Buddhadharma. You, my lord, need to personally participate in the bowing repentance. Together with these monks, you can investigate the Tripitaka to compile the appropriate repentance texts. Having compiled them, you need to bow in repentance and recite the sutras. You must earnestly seek to repent on her behalf so that she can ultimately transcend the sea of suffering and be reborn in the heavens.”
武帝見說心生歡喜。即發誠心。合宮齋戒。依師之言。命請五百聖僧。修建道場。投佛懺悔。聖僧檢尋藏典。宣出大藏靈文十卷。號曰梁皇寶懺。帝乃誠心懇切。仗承三寶威光。接引郗氏靈魂。現出蟒蛇之跡。直至道場。壇下盤纏幾匝。醜惡驚人。僧眾登壇禮佛誦經。行道繞旋。果然郗氏受恩薦拔。即脫蟒蛇之體。獲得天人之身。影現雲端。禮謝而去。良因已竟。因果昭然。自後武帝。又加信心。精進修行。時時不昧良因。刻刻搜尋義理。
【白話】梁武帝聽完這番話，心中歡喜不已，當即發下至誠之心。他命令整個皇宮齋戒沐浴，完全按照禪師的指示行事。特別邀請了五百位德行高深的聖僧，修建莊嚴的法壇，虔誠地向佛懺悔罪業。
Delighted to hear this, Emperor Wu immediately gave rise to sincerity and ordered everyone in the palace to observe the pure precepts and vegetarianism. Following the Master’s instructions, he invited five hundred eminent monastics and built a ceremonial ground for the repentance ceremony.
這些聖僧們仔細查閱佛教經典，從中選出了十卷珍貴的經文，命名為《梁皇寶懺》。梁武帝懷着無比誠摯的心意，仰仗佛、法、僧三寶的無上威德，接引郗氏夫人的靈魂。只見一條蟒蛇顯現身形，蜿蜒游至法壇之下，盤繞數周，其狀猙獰可怖。
For this purpose, those monastics were tasked with searching for and extracting the relevant texts from the Tripitaka; the monastics compiled an efficacious repentance text of ten rolls, which is called the Emperor Liang’s Jeweled Repentance. Emperor Wu then sincerely bowed in repentance; by the merit and virtue of the Three Jewels, Empress Chi’s soul was rescued [from falling into the hells] but still manifested in the form of a python. The python went directly to the Dharma platform and coiled up a few circles below the platform. Its grotesqueness astonished the people.
眾位高僧登上法壇，恭敬禮拜諸佛，齊聲誦經。他們繞着法壇莊嚴行持，果然使得郗氏夫人蒙受佛恩超度。她當即脫去蟒蛇之身，獲得天人之相。只見她的身影在雲端顯現，向眾人行禮致謝後，飄然而去。這段殊勝因緣圓滿成就，因果報應的道理昭然若揭。自此以後，梁武帝對佛法的信心更加堅定，精進修行不懈。他時刻不忘這個善緣，不忘探究佛法的深奧義理。
The monastics ascended the platform to conduct the repentance on her behalf: they bowed to the Buddha, recited the sutras, and circumambulated the platform. Consequently, Empress Chi was liberated — right then, she shed the form of a python and became a celestial being. She appeared amid the clouds, bowed to express her gratitude, and took her leave. The entire Dharma event, with its planting of good causes, concluded successfully, which clearly revealed the working of the Law of Cause and Effect. Subsequently, Emperor Wu’s faith further increased, and he cultivated vigorously. He was constantly mindful of planting seeds of goodness and was always diligent in seeking out and studying Dharma principles.