Parable of the Burning House.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Soothill, William Edward and Kumārajīva
If they themselves are ill,
None will save and cure them;
Though they take the best medicine,
They only grow worse.
Though it is others who run riot,
Pillaging and plundering,
For such crimes as these
On them falls perverse retribution.
Such sinners as these
Never see the Buddha,
The King of Sages,
Preaching the Law and transforming;
Such sinners as these
Are always born in distress;
Mad, deaf, and confused in mind,
They never hear the Law;
During kalpas innumerable
As the sands of Ganges,
In life they are deaf and dumb,
With deficient natural powers;
They ever dwell in the hells
As their only pleasure gardens;
Or in other evil states,
As their dwelling-places;
Among asses, hogs, and dogs,
Are the places to which they go;
Because of slandering this Sutra,
Such is their punishment.
If they become human beings,
They are deaf, blind, and dumb,
Poor, needy, and feeble,
For their adornment
Dropsy and scurf,
Scab, sore, and abscess,
All such ills as these
Are their apparel.
Their bodies are foetid abodes,
Filthy and unclean;
Deeply absorbed in themselves,
They swell with anger,