dn23:13.0 2.6. The Simile of the Pregnant Woman
BAGIAN 13
dn23:13.1 “Well then, chieftain, I shall give you a simile.
dn23:13.2 For by means of a simile some sensible people understand the meaning of what is said.
dn23:13.3 Once upon a time, a certain brahmin had two wives.
dn23:13.4 One had a son ten or twelve years of age, while the other was pregnant and about to give birth.
dn23:13.5 Then the brahmin passed away.
dn23:13.6 So the youth said to his mother’s co-wife,
dn23:13.7 ‘Madam, all the money, grain, silver, and gold is mine,
dn23:13.8 and you get nothing.
dn23:13.9 Transfer to me my father’s inheritance.’
dn23:13.10 But the brahmin lady said,
dn23:13.11 ‘Wait, my dear, until I give birth.
dn23:13.12 If it’s a boy, one portion shall be his.
dn23:13.13 If it’s a girl, she will be your reward.’
dn23:13.14 But for a second time,
dn23:13.22 and a third time, the youth insisted that the entire inheritance must be his.
dn23:13.26 So the brahmin lady took a knife, went to her bedroom, and sliced open her belly, thinking,
dn23:13.27 ‘Until I give birth—whether it’s a boy or a girl!’
dn23:13.28 She destroyed her own life and that of the fetus, as well as any wealth.
dn23:13.29 Being foolish and incompetent, she sought an inheritance irrationally and fell to ruin and disaster. In the same way, chieftain, being foolish and incompetent, you’re seeking the other world irrationally and will fall to ruin and disaster,
dn23:13.30 just like that brahmin lady.
dn23:13.31 Good ascetics and brahmins don’t force what is unripe to ripen;
dn23:13.32 rather, they wait for it to ripen.
dn23:13.33 For the life of astute ascetics and brahmins is beneficial.
dn23:13.34 So long as they remain, good ascetics and brahmins brim with merit, and act for the welfare and happiness of the people, out of sympathy for the world, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.
dn23:13.35 By this method, too, it ought to be proven that
dn23:13.36 there is an afterlife.”