Verse I.65

Ratnagotravibhāga Root Verse I.65

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Verse I.65 Variations

त्रयोऽग्नयो युगान्तेऽग्निर्नारकः प्राकृतः क्रमात्
त्रयस्त्र उपमा तेया मृत्युव्याधिजराग्नयः

trayo'gnayo yugānte'gnirnārakaḥ prākṛtaḥ kramāt
trayastra upamā teyā mṛtyuvyādhijarāgnayaḥ

E. H. Johnston as input by the University of the West.

དུས་མཐའ་དམྱལ་བ་ཐ་མལ་པའི། །
མེ་གསུམ་འཆི་དང་ན་བ་དང་། །
རྒ་བའི་མེ་གསུམ་རིམ་བཞིན་དུ། །
དེ་དག་འདྲ་བར་ཤེས་པར་བྱ། །

Dege, PHI, 114

The three fires—the fire at the end of an age,
The one in hell, and ordinary [fire]—
Should be understood, in due order, as the examples
For the three fires of death, sickness, and aging.

When the Clouds Part, Brunnhölzl, 378

有三火次第 劫燒人地獄

能作種種苦 能熟諸行根

http://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/en/T31n1611_p0833b16

Les feux de la mort, de la maladie

Et de la vieillesse sont respectivement

Comparables au feu de la fin des temps,

Au feu des enfers et au feu ordinaire.

Charrier, Christian and Patrick Carré. Traité de la Continuité suprême du Grand Véhicule. Plazac: Éditions Padmakara, 2019.

RGVV Commentary on Verse I.65

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[However,] it has not been stated that, in terms of their characteristic of being [like] a plague, the fires of death, sickness, and aging that are the causes of the destruction of the [skandhas and so on] resemble the element of fire. {D99a} [Thus,] the following is said [here]:

The three fires—the fire at the end of an age,

The one in hell, and ordinary [fire]—

Should be understood, in due order, as the examples

For the three fires of death, sickness, and aging. I.65

It should be understood that, in due order, death, sickness, and aging resemble fire for three reasons because [death] causes the six [inner] āyatanas to no [longer be] what is "mine," because [sickness] causes one to experience various pains, and because [aging] causes the formations to ripen. [However,] the tathāgata element in its phase of being impure is not changed even through these three fires of death, sickness, and aging. With regard to this, [the Śrīmālādevīsūtra] says:

Bhagavan, "being dead" or "being born" are [merely] worldly conventions. {J46} Bhagavan, "being dead" refers to the cessation of the sense faculties. Bhagavan, "being born" refers to the manifestation of new faculties. However, Bhagavan, the tathāgata heart is not born, does not age, does not die, does not transit, and does not [re]arise. For what reason is that? Bhagavan, the tathāgata heart is beyond being an object that has the characteristic of being conditioned. [Rather,] it is permanent, everlasting, peaceful, and eternal.

tadvibhavakāraṇasya tu mṛtyuvyādhijarāgnerupasargalakṣaṇamārabhya tejodhātusādharmya noktamiti taducyate/

trayo'gnayo yugānte'gnirnārakaḥ prākṛtaḥ kramāt/

trayastra upamā teyā mṛtyuvyādhijarāgnayaḥ//65//

tribhiḥ kāraṇairyathākramaṃ mṛtyuvyādhijarāṇāmagnisādharmya veditavyam/ ṣaḍāyatananirmamīkaraṇato vicitrakāraṇānubhavanataḥ saṃskāraparipākopanayanataḥ/ ebhirapi mṛtyuvyādhijarāgnibhiravikāratvamārabhya tathāgatadhātoraśuddhāvasthāyāmidamuktam/ lokavyavahāra epa bhagavan mṛta iti vā jāta iti vā/ mṛta iti bhagavannindriyoparodha eṣaḥ/ jāta iti bhagavan navānāmindriyāṇāṃ prādurbhāva eṣa/ na kṣunarbhagavaṃstathāgatagarbho jāyate vā jīryati vā mriyate vā cyavate votpadyate vā ! tatkasmāddheto/ saṃskṛtalakṣaṇaviṣayavyativṛtto bhagavaṃstathāgatagarbho nityo dhruvaḥ śivaḥ śāśvata iti/

已說不淨時中依無分別相自性清淨心虛空界相似相對法已說依彼起不正念風界相似相對法已說依不正念諸業煩惱因相水界相似相對法已說依彼生陰界入果相轉變地相似相對法未說彼焚燒死病老等諸過患相火相似相對法是故次說偈言

有三火次第 劫燒人地獄 能作種種苦 能熟諸行根 此偈明何義明此三法老病死火於不淨時中不能變異彼如來藏是故聖者勝鬘經言世尊生死者依世諦故說有生死世尊死者諸根壞世尊生者新諸根起世尊而如來藏不生不死不老不變何以故世尊如來藏者離有為相境界世尊如來藏者常恒清涼不變故

Other English translations

Obermiller (1931)

The 3 fires,—those of death, illness, and decrepitude,

Are known to have a resemblance with 3 (other) fires,—

That (which arises) at the end of the world, the fire of hell,

And the ordinary fire, respectively.

Takasaki (1966)

The three fires, the fire at the end of the world,

The fire of hell and the ordinary fire,

These are to be known respectively as the analogy

For three fires, that of death, of sickness and old age.

Fuchs (2000)

The three fires of death, sickness, and aging

are to be understood in their given sequence

as resembling the fire at the end of time,

the fire of hell, and an ordinary fire.

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