渴見水喻哲理故事

英文：

Once there was a fellow desperately in need of water for his thirst. on seeing the blazing fog, he mistook it for water. he pursued it until he reached the indus river. but he only looked at it without drinking. a bystander asked, "you are suffering from thirst. how that you have found water, why don't you drink it?"

The fellow answered, "if i could drink up all that water, i would do it. since there is more water than i can finish, i would rather not drink it at all."

As soon as people heard this, they laughed aloud at him. the heretics, acting against all senses and reasons, think since they are unable to keep all the buddhist commandments, they refuse to accept any of them. they will never attain the path of enlightenment and thus subject to transmigration in time to come. they are just like that stupid thirsty fellow who gets laughed at by his contemporaries.

古文：

過去有人，痴無智慧，極渴須水，見熱時焰，謂為是水，即便逐走，至辛頭河。既至河所，對視不飲。旁人語言：“汝患渴逐水，今至水所，何故不飲？”

愚人答言：“若可飲盡，我當飲之。此水極多，俱不可盡，是故不飲。”

爾時眾人聞其此語，皆大嗤笑。譬如外道，僻取於理，以己不能具持佛戒，遂便不受，致使將來無得道分，流轉生死。若彼愚人見水不飲，為時所笑，亦復如是。

譯文：

從前有一位愚蠢而又不通事理的人，口乾渴極了，要馬上喝水，看見了由熱氣流升騰經陽光折射而成的`幻影，以為是水，立即追上這片虛幻的水氣，一直到了印度河。到了水邊，面對着河水卻不喝。旁邊的人對他説：“你如此乾渴，追逐尋找水，現在到了河邊，為何不痛飲？”愚蠢的人回答説：“如果能將水喝乾，我就喝，可這河水滔滔不絕，不可能喝完，因此才不喝。”當時在周圍的人聽了這話，都大聲地譏笑他。

這就好比其他學派，用巧取的詭辯來掩飾自身，不能用佛家的行為和道德來約束，因此不接受它。而使今後不能夠覺悟，在生死輪迴中承受苦難。這就同那位愚蠢的人，口渴找到了河水卻又不喝，被人們譏笑的道理相同。