有一次，尊者阿難隨佛陀來到憍薩羅國首都舍衛城遊化，住在南郊的祇樹給孤獨園。

一天夜晚，尊者阿難在講堂集合比丘，為他們講「跋地羅帝」偈頌，並加解說。

佛陀知道了，想瞭解尊者阿難是如何說的，就問尊者阿難說：

「阿難！你如何為比丘們說跋地羅帝偈呢？又如何解說這偈頌的含義呢？」

於是，尊者阿難就在佛陀面前，說出跋地羅帝偈的內容：

「慎莫念過去，亦勿願未來；過去事已滅，未來復未至。

現在所有法，彼亦當為思：念無有堅強，慧者覺如是。

為作聖人行，孰知愁於死！我要不會彼，大苦災患終。

如是行精進，晝夜無懈怠。是故常當說，跋地羅帝偈。」

佛陀接著問：

「阿難！怎樣是『念過去』呢？」

「世尊！對記憶或過去經驗中的色、受、想、行、識，起欣喜、歡悅、欲愛、執著、沉迷，就是『念過去』。」

「阿難！怎樣是『不念過去』呢？」

「世尊！對記憶或過去經驗中的色、受、想、行、識，不起欣喜、歡悅、欲愛、執著、沉迷，就是『不念過去』。」

「阿難！怎樣是『願未來』呢？」

「世尊！期盼將來有令自己欣喜、歡悅、愛著、樂住的色、受、想、行、識，就是『願未來』。」

「阿難！怎樣是『不願未來』呢？」

「世尊！不去期盼將來有令我欣喜、歡悅、愛著、樂住的色、受、想、行、識，就是『不願未來』。」

「阿難！怎樣是『染著於現在』呢？」

「世尊！對眼前的色、受、想、行、識，起欣喜、歡悅、欲愛、執著、沉迷，就是『染著於現在』。」

「阿難！怎樣是『不染著於現在』呢？」

「世尊！對眼前的色、受、想、行、識，不起欣喜、歡悅、欲愛、執著、沉迷，就是『不染著於現在』。

世尊！我在講堂就是這樣為比丘們解說的。」

「很好！很好！我有這樣具智慧之眼，能說法利人的弟子：所謂弟子能在老師面前，充分地解說法義。剛才阿難所說的，大家應該好好的記住，好好的實踐，為什麼呢？因為跋地羅帝偈，就應當作這樣的觀察思惟。」

On one occasion, the Venerable Ananda accompanied the Buddha to Savatthi, capital of Kosala for traveling and teaching. They were dwelling in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s Park.

One evening, the Venerable Ananda gathered the bhikkhus in the assembly hall for instructing with talk on the Dharma. He was reciting the summary and exposition of the Bhaddekaratta Gatha “One who has had a Single Excellent Night”.

Upon learning the event and in order to find out how the venerable teaches, the Buddha thus asked the Venerable Ananda:
“Aanada! How do you instruct the bukkhus the Bhaddekaratta Gatha “One who has had a Single Excellent Night”? And how do you explain the meaning of the Gatha?

Hence, the Venerable Ananda recited the contents of the Bhaddekaratta Gatha “One who has had a Single Excellent Night”:
“Let not a person revive the past or on the future build his hopes;
for the past has been left behind and the future has not been reached.
Instead with insight let him see each presently arisen state,
let him know that and be sure of it, invincibly, unshakeable.
Today the effort must be made;
tomorrow Death may come, who knows?
No bargain with mortality can keep him and his boards away,
but one who dwells thus ardently,
relentlessly, by day, by night—
it is he, the Peaceful Sage has said,
Who has had a single excellent night.”

Next, the Buddha asked:

“Ananda! How does one revive the past?”

“The World Respected One! Based upon memory or experience, one finds delight, fondness, desire, attachment and indulgent there thinking. I had such material form, feeling, thinking, perception, and consciousness in the past. That is how one can “revive the past,”

“Ananda! How does one not revive the past?”

“The World Respected One! Based upon memory or experience, one does not finds delight, fondness, desire, attachment and indulgent there thinking, I had such material form, feeling, thinking, perception, and consciousness in the past. That is how one “does not revive the past,”

“Ananda! How does one builds up hope upon the future?”

“The World Respected One! One finds delight, fondness, desire, attachment and indulgent there thinking, may I have such material form, feeling, thinking, perception, and consciousness in the future. That is how one “builds up hope upon the future.”

“Ananda! How does one “not build up hope upon the future.”

“The World Respected One! One does not find delight, fondness, desire, attachment and indulgent there thinking, may I have such material form, feeling, thinking, perception, and consciousness in the future. That is how one “does not build up hope upon the future.”

“Ananda! How is one “vanquished in regard to presently arisen states?”

“The World Respected One! One finds delight, fondness, desire, attachment and indulgent there thinking, may I have such material form, feeling, thinking, perception, and consciousness at this instant. That is one “vanquished in regard to presently arisen states”.

“Ananda! How is one “not vanquished in regard to presently arisen states?”

“The World Respected One! One does not find delight, fondness, desire, attachment and indulgent there thinking, may I have such material form, feeling, thinking, perception, and consciousness at this instant. That is one “not vanquished in regard to presently arisen states”.

The World Respected One! This is how I instructing the bhikkhus in the assembly hall.”

“Very well! Very well! I have such a disciple who equipped with wisdom eye, is able to teaching Dharma to benefit others; this is a so-called disciple who is able to competently explain in front of the teacher the meaning of the dharma. Everyone should remember carefully what Venerable Ananda had said, practice it carefully, because Bhaddekaratta Gatha--One who has had a Single Excellent Night—should be contemplated and observed as such.

一、本則故事取材自《中阿含第一六七阿難說經》、《中部第一三二阿難一夜賢者經》。

二、就像尊者舍利弗所聽到尊者馬勝說的「緣起偈」一樣，推斷「跋地羅帝偈」也是佛陀時代，在佛弟子間輾轉傳誦的偈頌。這類偈頌，應該能算是佛教最早「經典」集出的一類了。

三、「跋地羅帝」，《佛說尊上經》作「賢善」（大正大藏經第一冊第八八六頁中），《中部第一三二阿難一夜賢者經》作「一夜賢者」，英譯本作「A single Excellent Night」（一個傑出之夜），佛光本註解譯為「賢善一夜」，演義為「夜夜（日日）全然如是賢善生活之人」（第一四八三頁註解四）。依偈頌中的「晝夜無懈怠」，以及經中含意的說明，應當不止限於一夜之賢善的不染著，所以，將「一夜」演繹為「日日夜夜」，亦即「時時刻刻」應十分恰當。

四、嘗試以白話表達跋地羅帝偈的內容：不要回味過去，不要欣樂未來，因為過去的已經過去，未來的還沒來。對現在的一切，也要這樣思惟：這一切都是無常不牢靠的啊，有智慧的人應當這樣覺悟。只要依著像這樣賢聖的修行，有誰還會憂愁死亡的來臨呢！但如果不這樣修，苦難與災禍終究要臨頭。像這樣努力精進，日夜都不懈怠，這就是大家應當常說的跋地羅帝偈。

五、跋地羅帝偈的主要內容，簡單說，就是：「不回味過去，不欣樂未來，不染著現在」。初看似乎教人要忘掉過去，也不要去想未來還沒發生的，只要好好地活在當下就成，其實不然。反過來說，檢討過去，策劃未來，應該都不是問題，活在當下，卻不離執著，也沒什麼好讚揚的。所以，其重點應該是「不執著」，不論在過去、現在，亦或未來。不染著的內容，除了本則故事所說的五蘊外，《中阿含第一六五溫泉林天經》（《中部第一三三大迦旃延一夜賢者經》）則以六根認識六境來說明。

六、曾經聽人說：「青壯年時要多做點事，以便為年老時留些美好的回憶。」跋地羅帝偈的教說，與這樣的觀點是何等的不同啊！

1.  This story was derived from Madhyamagama 167th Sutra and Majjhima-nikaya 132nd Sutra.

2. Just like Venerable Sariputta heard of Venerable Assji talking about the “Dependent Origination Gatha” and inferring the Bhaddekaratta Gatha was the gatha that passing through everybody’s lips during the Buddha’s time. Such gathas should be accounted as the kind of earliest “sutra” collections in Buddhism.

3. Text of Bhaddekaratta read as “Pandita’ (a worthy) in Madhyamagama 34th Sutra (See Vol. I, Taisho Tripitaka p. 886 B). It reads “A single Excellent Night” in the English translation of Majjhima-nikaya 132nd Sutra; notes in the FoGuangShan Edition translated as “A single worthy night”, which elaborated as “one who living in a worthy life day and night” (p. 1483, note 4.). In accordance with “work diligently day and night”, and explaining the meaning, it should not be limited to the one single worthy night, hence, elaborating the “one night” into “day and night” which means “always” should be appropriate.

4. Following is an attempt to express the contents of the Bhaddekaratta Gatha in plain English: Do not mind and ponder over the past, do not rapture over the future, because the past has gone and the future is yet to come. We should contemplate everything in the present, these are impermanent and unreliable, and one with wisdom should comprehend as such. As long as following such noble practice, who would worry about the arrival of death! However, if one failed to practice as such, suffering and catastrophe eventually will happen. Work diligently and never slack off day and night, this is the Bhaddekaratta Gatha that everybody should often recite.

5. Simply speaking, contents of the Bhaddekaratta Gatha is “Do not mind and ponder over the past, do not rapture over the future and do not attach to the present”. At a glance, it appears to be teaching people to forget about the past, and do not imagine what has yet to happen, it is good enough for one living well at present, but in fact, it is not so. To the contrary, it should not be a problem for one to examine the past, planning for the future, living in the present but merely doing so without cutting off attachment is not worth much praising. Hence, the main point should be “detachment” regardless of past present or in the future. The contents of detachment, in addition to the five aggregates in this story, it was explained as the six faculties to recognize the six phenomena in Madhyamagama 165th Sutra and Majjhima-nikaya 133rd Sutra.

6. People often say, “one should engage in more activities in their prime time, so that more fine memory could be provided for the golden years.” What a sharp contrast to the teachings of the Bhaddekaratta Gatha.