The Related Discourses
4. The Truths
| （三八九）大醫王 | 11 (389). The King of Doctors |
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| 如是我聞： 一時，佛住波羅㮈國、仙人住處、鹿野苑中。 | 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha was staying at the Residence of Sages in the Deer Preserve of Bārāṇasī. |
| 爾時，世尊告諸比丘： 「有四法成就，名曰大醫王者，所應王之具、王之分。 何等為四？ 一者善知病。 二者善知病源。 三者善知病對治。 四者善知治病已，當來更不動發。 | 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “When someone accomplishes four things, they are called the great king of doctors who possesses what a king should, with a king’s lot. What are the four? The first is skill in knowing illnesses. Second is skill in knowing the source of an illness. Third is skill in knowing the treatment for an illness.2 Fourth is skill in knowing that an illness won’t occur again in the future once it has been treated. |
| 「云何名良醫善知病？ 謂良醫善知：『如是如是種種病。』 是名良醫善知病。 | 3. “What’s called a good doctor’s skill in knowing illnesses? It means a good doctor is skilled in knowing: ‘Such and such are the various illnesses.’ This is called a good doctor’s skill in knowing illnesses. |
| 「云何良醫善知病源？ 謂良醫善知：『此病因風起、癖陰起、涎唾起、眾冷起、因現事起、時節起。』 是名良醫善知病源。 | 4. “What’s called a good doctor’s skill in knowing the source of an illness? It means a good doctor is skilled in knowing: ‘This illness arises because of wind … arises because of phlegm … arises because of saliva … arises because various colds … arises because present circumstances … arises because of the season.’ This is called a good doctor’s skill in knowing the source of an illness. |
| 「云何良醫善知病對治？ 謂良醫善知：『種種病，應塗藥、應吐、應下、應灌鼻、應熏、應取汗。如是比種種對治。』 是名良醫善知對治。 | 5. “What’s called good doctor’s skill in knowing the treatment for an illness? It means a good doctor is skilled in knowing: ‘Various illnesses should be treated with ointments, with emetics, with laxatives, with nasal irrigations, with suffusions, or with sweating.’ This is called a good doctor’s skill in knowing the treatment for an illness. |
| 「云何良醫善知治病已，於未來世永不動發？ 謂良醫善治種種病，令究竟除，於未來世永不復起。 是名良醫善知治病，更不動發。 | 6. What’s called a good doctor’s skill in knowing that an illness won’t occur again in the future once it has been treated? It means a good doctor is skilled in treating various illnesses, bringing them to a final end to that they do not occur again in the future. This is called a good doctor’s skill in knowing that an illness won’t occur again in the future once it has been treated. |
| 「如來、應、等正覺為大醫王。 成就四德，療眾生病亦復如是。 云何為四？ 謂如來知『此是苦聖諦』，如實知⋯ 『此是苦集聖諦』，如實知⋯ 『此是苦滅聖諦』，如實知⋯ 『此是苦滅道跡聖諦』，如實知。 | 7. “The Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Completely Awakened One is the great king of doctors. He achieved these four virtues to heal the illness of sentient beings in the same way. What are the four? The Tathāgata knows ‘this is the noble truth of suffering,’ and he truly knows it … ‘this is the noble truth of suffering’s formation,’ and he truly knows it … ‘this is the noble truth of suffering’s cessation,’ and he truly knows it … ‘this is the noble truth of the path to suffering’s cessation,’ and he truly knows it. |
| 「諸比丘，彼世間良醫於生根本對治不如實知⋯老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦根本對治不如實知。 如來、應、等正覺為大醫王於生根本知對治如實知⋯於老、病、死、憂、悲、惱、苦根本對治如實知。 是故如來、應、等正覺名大醫王。」 | 8. “Monks, that worldly good doctor doesn’t truly know the treatment for the root of birth … doesn’t truly know the treatment for the root of old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, trouble, and pain. The Tathāgata, Arhat, and Completely Awakened One is the great king of doctors who truly knows the treatment for the root of birth … truly knows the treatment for the root of old age, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, trouble, and pain. Therefore, the Tathāgata, Arhat, and Completely Awakened One is called the great king of doctors.” |
| 佛說此經已，諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 | 9. After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved. |
Notes
- This is sūtra no. 389 in the Taisho edition and no. 552 in Yinshun (T99.2.105a24-b20). T219 is an alternate C. trans. from the 10-11th c. (Song Dynasty). [back]
- treatment. C. 對治. This term is lit. “counteract, oppose, antedote, cure” depending on context. It refers to something that cancels or opposes something else. Here, I’ve translated it as “treatment” in the sense of a medical treatment to stop an illness. It could also be translated as a “cure.” [back]
Translator: Charles Patton
Last Revised: 27 May 2024
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