有關如來佛祖的10個趣聞(上)

His legend is timeless: Siddhartha Gautama, the prince of a small kingdom at the foot of the Himalayas, is born into a world of luxury. A close encounter with human suffering shakes him. He leaves his family in search for answers and becomes homeless. After years of searching, he attains enlightenment, becomes the Buddha, and sets in motion a new religion. This list goes beyond the legend of the Buddha and presents ten interesting facts linked to this important historical figure.

佛祖如來的故事一直爲人所傳誦。傳說，悉達多·喬答摩生於皇家，是喜馬拉雅山腳下一個小國的王子。悉達多年輕時就痛感人世生、老、病、死各種苦惱,於是他出家修行。多年後，他證悟到真理，建立了一個新的宗教，成爲了如來佛祖。不過，我們今天要說的是有關如來佛祖的10個趣聞。

10 Not A Religious Leader

10.並非宗教領袖

This is arguably one of the most ironic facts surrounding the life of the Buddha: The so-called “founder” of Buddhism never claimed to be founding a religion at all. There isn’t a single line of reliable historical data expressing the notion that the Buddha saw himself as a religious leader or that he consciously decided to lay the foundations of a new religious movement. It would be more accurate to say that the Buddha considered himself a teacher who rejected the ways of traditional Hindu religious orthodoxy and offered an alternative path.

這可能極具諷刺：“佛教創始人”如來佛祖從未聲稱自己開創了一個教派。並沒有可靠的史實來表明如來佛祖認爲自己是一個宗教領袖，或者他有意開展新宗教運動。更準確地說，如來佛祖只是覺得自己是一個挑戰傳統印度教，開闢新教義的老師。

Rather than leading a new religion, the Buddha led a sect of wandering homeless ascetics, one of many such sects that existed at that time in India. It was only after his death that the community he founded gradually turned into a religious-like movement.

與其說如來佛祖在領導一個新的宗教，不如說如來佛祖是出家修行的倡導者，當時印度這樣的團體並不少。不過在他死後，他創立的團體逐漸變得宗教化。

9 Not A Prince

9.並非王子

The many legends of the Buddha present him as a prince, the son of King Suddhodana Gautama. However, there is no historical basis for believing that the Buddha was a prince, since his father couldn’t have been an actual king. It’s believed that the Buddha’s father was actually a regional leader, similar to a tribe’s chief.

佛陀的許多傳說都說他是一位王子——淨飯王的兒子。然而，沒有史實證明如來佛祖是一位王子，因爲他父親並不是國王，只是一個類似部落首領的地區領導人。

The social organization in which the Buddha lived resembled a republican system as opposed to a monarchy. Regular meetings were held between the members of the most influential families. The family of the Buddha was one of the leading families within this political system.

如來佛祖所生活的社會組織類似於反君主制的共和制部落，由最具權勢的家族之間定期舉行會議。如來佛祖家族是這個政治體系中的主要家族之一。

8 Controversy Over His Hometown

8.家鄉的爭議

Buddhist sources mention the city of Kapilavastu as the hometown of the Buddha, where he lived until the age of 29. The site was identified in present-day Tilaurakot, in the Terai region of Southern Nepal, not far from the Indian-Nepalese border.

佛教人士認爲迦毗羅衛市是佛陀的故鄉，他在那裏生活到29歲。現今尼泊爾南部離邊境不遠的寺井地區——提羅拉科特可能就是古城舊址。

When archaeologists began to study the site, the material they found did not date to the time of the city. Kapilavastu is supposed to have been founded a century or more before the birth of the Buddha, but nothing at the site suggested a date that early. As the controversy kicked in, another version was put forth—that Kapilavastu is actually located in Northern India and that the hometown of the Buddha is an earlier phase of occupation of the Piprahwa village.

考古學家着手研究時，他們發現根本查不到該城市的建立時間。迦毗羅衛國應該在如來佛祖誕生的一個多世紀前就已經存在了，但並未在現場找到任何依據。正當爭議不休，另一個版本被提出，迦毗羅衛國實際上是位於印度北部，佛陀的故鄉是早期的庇浦拉瓦村。

The dispute is still ongoing, and the exact location of the Buddha’s hometown remains speculative. Further compounding the issue are reports from the ancient Chinese pilgrims Faxian and Xuanzang, who traveled around the area in the fourth and seventh centuries AD, respectively. Both disagree on how far west of Lumbini (the birthplace of the Buddha) Kapilavastu was located.

這一爭議仍在進行，佛陀的故鄉依然是未解之謎。古代朝聖者法顯和玄奘的史料顯示西藍毗尼（佛祖的誕生地）位於迦毗羅衛國。

7 Uncertain Chronology

7.出生時間不詳

The traditional date for the birth of the Buddha is somewhere around 560 BC. This date is based on the Indian Chronology, which has been rejected by modern scholars on the basis that in is inconsistent with an important “fixed point” in said chronology, namely the reign of Ashoka, one of India’s most renowned rulers, who ruled from 268 to 232 BC. When scholars came to know the exact dates for Ashoka, it turned out that they were miscalculated in the traditional chronology.

一般認爲，佛陀誕生的時間是印度年表公元前560年左右。現今的學者卻認爲印度年表中記載的阿育王統治時期不正確。因爲據記載阿育王（印度最著名的統治者）統治期是公元前268到232年。這就是說，以前用印度年表推算出的佛陀誕生日也不準確。

Most scholars today support a date that is inferred from early Buddhist sources, which claim that the Buddha died 100 years before the reign of Ashoka. All sources agree that the Buddha died at the age of 80, which would place his birth somewhere around 450 BC.

大多數學者推斷出阿育王是在佛陀去世後100年即位的。佛陀去世時享年80歲，那麼，他的出生時間就在公元前450年左右。

There is a good historical reason to support this date: Early Buddhists were interested in pushing the dates of the Buddha further back in time. An early date meant more credibility over some rival religious schools that supported their authority by claiming to have originated a long time ago. Going against the natural tendency of early Buddhists and claiming a later date means that the source in question is more credible from a historical standpoint.

這一推斷是比較準確的，早期的佛教徒喜歡把佛陀出生時間推前。時間越早越能說明佛教的傳統由來已久。那麼佛陀的真實出生時間應該是相對晚一點的。

6 Humble Beginning

6.起步維艱

From what we can tell based on archaeological and historical records, the early stages of the sect founded by the Buddha did not have any considerable success in terms of gaining followers. After the Buddha died, the movement he founded was a relatively minor tradition in India. The scarcity of written documents, inscriptions, and archaeological evidence from that time suggests a humble beginning.

從考古和歷史記錄判斷，由佛祖創立的教派在早期階段沒有取得成功。佛祖死後，佛教在印度還是一個相對次要的派系。從當時的書面文件、銘文和考古學的證據表明，佛教早期並不興盛。

By the third century BC, however, this picture changed completely. Ashoka turned Buddhism into the state religion of India. He encouraged a social and political climate for the acceptance of Buddhist ideas, sponsored Buddhist missionary activity, and involved many Buddhist monks in the political decision-making processes of his government. Between the death of the Buddha and the time of Ashoka, Buddhist material evidence is scarce; after the time of Ashoka, it is abundant.

然而，到了公元前3世紀，這種局面完全改變了。阿育王把佛教奉爲印度的國教。他倡導佛教，支持佛教傳教活動，並讓許多僧人身居機關要職。佛陀死後到阿育王即位期間的佛教資料稀少；阿育王以後，佛教的資料就十分豐富了。