Sights Not Seen Before

见色之前

“What do you think, Mālukyaputta? There are certain visible objects that you have never seen before, do not see now, nor hope to see in the future. Could such objects arouse desire, lust, or affection in you?”

“摩罗迦子，你如何认为？对于你此前从未见到的、现在没有见到的、在未来不可能会见到的色，这样的色会导致你生起欲念、贪爱、喜爱吗？”

The visible objects or form (rūpa) that one can see with one’s eyes are a reality, but there may be other unreal objects that appear in one’s imagination or dreams. These are called conceptual images. The text refers to objects in the distant past, which means objects from the past existence that are remembered in the present. In the Buddha’s time there was a woman by the name of Patipūjika who could recall her past existence in which her husband was a deva called Mālābhāri. She kept remembering him in her present existence. It was with reference to inpiduals like her that the remote past is mentioned in the text.

通过眼睛能看到的视觉对象或色法是种究竟法，但是，可能有其他出现于想象或臆想中的非真实的对象，它们称为概念法。经书中提到存在于遥远过去的对象，这种对象存在于过去世，在现在被回忆出来。在佛陀时代，有位妇人叫Patipūjika，她能回忆起她的过去世，在过去世她的丈夫是一位叫做Mālābhāri的天神。在现在世，她依然记得她的丈夫。经书中还提及类似她的个人，并记载有这些人遥远的过去世。

It is understandable that one can develop attachment to things dreamt of or imagined, but no attachment could arise in relation to objects that one cannot even imagine. No man could fall in love with a woman he has never met or imagined meeting, and no women could love a man she has never seen or imagined, either.

某人会对臆想或想象到的事物发展出执着，这是能理解的。但是，对于甚至无法想象得到的对象，执着就不可能会产生。男人不会爱上一位他从未遇到或想象遇到的女人，女人也不会爱上一位她从未见到或想象到的男人。

Mālukyaputta replied, “No desire, lust, or affection could arise in me for things that I have never seen before, do not see now, nor hope to see in the future.”

摩罗迦子答道，“对于此前从未看到的、现在没有看到的、在未来不可能会看到的色，我不会生起欲念、贪爱、或喜爱。”

(节末注：“见色”章中的“色”指颜色。“色”有不同意思。“色法”即物质。其中色法中的“色境色”指颜色，“触境色”指地、火、风三界。)