Born of a Woman

Sri Krishna

Saw some articles about Jesus Christ lately on good old MSN News. But then some readers wrote in to make fun of the prophecy that the Messiah would be born of a woman.
最近在MSN新闻网上看到一些关于耶稣基督的文章。然后有读者来信取笑弥赛亚将由女人所生的预言。（译者注：弥赛亚——最终的救世主）

How else is anyone born?
不然会怎么出生？

A few wrote in and said, “Duh,” an expression of stupidity. (Picture a bewildered man with one finger in his mouth saying, “Duh.”)
一些留言写到，“嘁”，这是一种愚蠢的表情。（想象一个困惑的人，他嘴里含着根手指说：“嘁”）

（译者注：英文说“Duh”，发“哒”音）

Do these people think the prophets were idiots sitting around wearing dunce caps? The prophets set these words down two thousand years ago, words that people still pore over and use as the bricks to build their lives with.
这些人认为先知们是戴着傻瓜帽坐在那里的白痴吗？先知们在两千年前就写下了这些话，人们至今仍然在仔细研读这些话，并将其作为构筑他们生活的基石。

And the critics? Who will even know their names two thousand years from now?
那些评论家呢？两千年后谁还会知道他们的名字？

What is it, in fact, about computer keyboards that makes people hurl words that pierce and wound like darts?
事实上，是什么让人们在电脑键盘上打出像飞镖一样伤人的话呢？

“Born of a woman” makes sense. People looking forward to the Messiah may imagine or even predict that he will come down directly from Heaven. Or maybe rise out of the ocean or appear in some other mystical way.
“由女人所生”有道理。人们期待弥赛亚会像想象，甚至预言那样直接从天上降临。或者从海洋中升起，或者以其它神秘的方式出现。

So the prophets tell us no. He will be born of a woman.
但是先知们告诉我们不是这样的。他将由一个女人所生。

I Was the Dunce
我是最笨的笨蛋

One of the first things I learned when I joined the Hare Krishna movement was that I knew nothing of spiritual life. I was the dunce. I had to start from zero.
当我加入哈瑞·奎师那运动时，我学到的第一件事就是我对灵性生活一无所知。我是最笨的笨蛋。我必须从零开始。

These people who point the finger and laugh at the prophets—have they any background in spiritual life?
这些指责和嘲笑先知的人——他们有灵性生活的经历吗？

O.K. So it’s settled. The Messiah was born of a woman.
就是这样。弥赛亚是一个女人生的。

Then what about Krishna? Well it’s not so simple. But the answer, if you study it,  reveals the purest love of God.
那么奎师那呢？其实没那么简单。但如果你仔细研究，答案就会揭示出上帝最纯粹的爱。

Who Could Be Krishna’s Father?
谁能成为奎师那的父亲？

First, Krishna entered the heart of his father-to-be, Vasudeva.
首先，奎师那进入了他的准父亲瓦苏戴瓦的心中。

Wait! Isn’t Krishna the Lord? Isn’t he the father of everyone? Then who fathers Krishna?
But as Krishna explains  in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita:
等等！奎师那不是上帝吗？他不是所有人的父亲吗？那么谁能成为奎师那的父亲呢？
但正如奎师那在《施瑞·柴坦尼亚·查瑞塔米瑞塔》解释的那样：

“In whatever transcendental [relationship] My devotee worships Me, I reciprocate with him. That is My natural behavior.” (Adi  4.19)
“无论我的奉献者以何种超然的[关系]崇拜我，我都会给予他回应。那是我的自然的活动。”（阿迪4.19）

No one can be Krishna’s biological father, but someone who wants to love Krishna that way can have a loving father-son relationship with him. Like a stepfather.
没有人能成为奎师那的亲生父亲，但想要以这种方式爱奎师那的人可以与他建立父子之爱的关系。就像继父一样。

Some fathers adopt their sons. Others beget them. But they hug them the same.
有些是养父养子，有些是亲生父子，但是父亲对孩子的拥抱是一样的。

Then Vasudeva, just by looking at his wife Devaki,  transferred Krishna into her  heart. Thus Krishna entered Devaki’s womb.
瓦苏戴瓦仅仅通过看着他的妻子戴瓦克依，就将奎师那转移到了她的心中。奎师那就这样进入了戴瓦克依的子宫。

When the time came, Krishna was born but not in the usual way. He didn’t  have to. He appeared in the room in front of Vasudeva and Devaki as the Supreme Lord, decorated with jewels and holding weapons. The form known as Vishnu.
当时间到了，奎师那诞生了，但不是以普通的方式。祂没必要用普通的方式降生。祂以至尊主的身份出现在瓦苏戴瓦和戴瓦克依面前，身上装饰着珠宝，手持武器。这一形体被称为维施努。

“I have appeared before you in this way,” he said, “so you would know that I am the Lord.”
“我以这种方式在你们面前显现，”他说，“这样你们就会知道我是主。”

He then transformed himself into baby Krishna, looking like a newborn.
然后他把自己变成了婴儿奎师那，看起来像一个新生儿。

Many People Are Confused about This
许多人对此感到困惑

This event confuses many people in India. They think that Vishnu must be the origin of Krishna. But the scripture Srimad Bhagavatam says the opposite:
这件事让印度很多人感到困惑，他们认为维施努一定是奎师那的源头。但经典《圣典博伽瓦谭》的说法恰恰相反：

”All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Sri Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead.” (1.3.28)
“上述所有化身要么是主的全权扩展，要么是主的全权扩展的扩展，但主奎师那是原始的人格首神。”（1.3.28）

Then Krishna spoke to Vasudeva.  “Take me across the river to the village of Vrindaban,” he said. “Queen Yasoda Devi has just given birth to a girl and has fallen asleep. Put me in the girl’s place and bring the girl back here.”
然后奎师那对瓦苏戴瓦说话。“带我去河那边的温达文，”他说。“王后雅首达·戴薇刚刚生下一个女孩，已经睡着了。把我放在女孩那儿，把那个女孩抱回这里。”

So Vasudeva carried Krishna across the Yamuna River and secretly exchanged the babies.
于是，瓦苏戴瓦抱着奎师那渡过雅沐那河并偷偷交换了婴儿。

It was Krishna’s Trick
这是奎师那的把戏

When Yasoda woke up, she did not remember whether she had had a boy or a girl. Krishna, so she thought, must be her newborn child.
当雅首达醒来时，她不记得自己生的是男孩还是女孩。所以她认为，奎师那一定是她刚出生的孩子。

It was Krishna’s trick to reawaken ecstatic love in the heart of his eternal devotee Yasoda.
As Krishna explains in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita:
这是奎师那的把戏，为了唤醒祂永恒的奉献者雅首达心中狂喜的爱。
正如奎师那在《施瑞·柴坦尼亚·查瑞塔米瑞塔》解释的那样：

”If one cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, thinking of Me as his son, his friend or his beloved, regarding himself as great and considering Me his equal or inferior, I become subordinate to him.”  (Adi  4.21, 22)
“如果一个人对我怀有纯粹的奉献之爱，把我当作他的儿子、他的朋友或他心爱的人，认为自己伟大，把我看成是他的同辈或者晚辈，我就会从属于他。”（阿迪4.21.22）

But before we try to make Krishna our subordinate, there is a catch. The verse says “pure loving devotion.”  Have we attained that?
但在我们试图让奎师那从属于我们之前，有一个前提。诗节里说“纯粹的奉献之爱”。我们做到了吗？

We mostly know about love of God from Christianity, but that love is mixed with gratitude. Yasoda’s love for Krishna was not mixed with any other emotion.
我们大多从基督教中了解到对上帝的爱，但这种爱是掺杂着感激之情的。雅首达对奎师那的爱没有掺杂任何其他情感。

Grateful to a Baby?
对一个婴儿感恩？

Certainly, gratitude is noble, but it is not love. It is appreciation for having received something.  Yasoda  never thought Krishna could give her anything.  What can a baby give? Nor was she grateful to Krishna. Grateful to a baby? For what?
当然，感恩是高尚的，但它不是爱。这是对得到一些东西的感谢。雅首达从没想过奎师那能给她任何东西。一个婴儿能给什么？她对奎师那也没有感激之情。对孩子感恩？为了什么？

Just the opposite. She thought Krishna needed her care.
恰恰相反。她认为奎师那需要她的照顾。

Sri Chaitanya Charitamrta explains:
《施瑞·柴坦尼亚·查瑞塔米瑞塔》解释道：

“Mother sometimes binds Me as her son. She nourishes and protects Me, thinking Me utterly helpless. (Adi 4.25)
“母亲有时把我当成她的儿子绑起来。她养育我，保护我，认为我完全无助。（阿迪4.24）

Christians, for example, pray, “Our father which art in heaven … Give us this day our daily bread.”
例如，基督徒祈祷：“我们在天上的父，……我们日用的饮食，今日赐给我们。”

This is right. They see that God is their sustenance.
这是对的。他们看到上帝是他们的依靠。

But Yasoda goes a step further. She thinks that she has to give Krishna his daily bread or he’ll die.
但雅首达更进一步。她认为她必须给奎师那日用饮食，否则祂会死的。

The Goddess of Illusion
幻觉女神

King Nanda (Yasoda’s husband) and the other residents of Vrindaban share Yasoda’s pure love for Krishna.
南达国王（雅首达的丈夫）和温达文的其他居民分享了雅首达对奎师那纯粹的爱。

And Goddess Maya  Devi, herself a great devotee, helps them.  Most of us know Maya Devi as the goddess  of illusion. She covers our eyes so that  we cannot see Krishna at all, as if  no God were in charge.
而女神玛雅戴薇——一位伟大的奉献者，帮助了他们。我们大多数人都知道玛亚戴薇是幻觉女神。她遮住我们的眼睛，让我们根本看不到奎师那，就好像没有神掌管一切一样。

In Vrindaban, Maya also covers the devotees’ eyes but with her fingers spread apart. The devotees see Krishna but not his supreme position. This is Maya’s blessing. It lets them give Krishna the pure unmixed love that makes him laugh and dance.
在温达文，玛雅也遮住奉献者的眼睛，但她的手指是分开的。奉献者看到奎师那，但看不到他的至高无上的地位。这是玛雅的祝福。让他们给予使奎师那欢笑和起舞的至纯粹，没有任何掺杂和混合的爱。

Eternally touching my head to the floor at the lotus feet of my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, for showing me all this.
永恒地将我的头置于我的灵性导师施瑞拉·帕布帕德的莲花足下，因为他向我展示了这一切。

~Umapati Swami, February 6, 2023
~乌玛帕提·斯瓦米 2023年2月6日

(Note: The opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any organization or any other person.)
（注：本文所表达的观点，仅代表我个人，不代表任何组织或者其他人。）