三宝 · 慈俭不敢为天下先

Sān Bǎo

Classical Chinese Text

天下皆谓我"道"大，似不肖。夫唯大，故似不肖。若肖，久矣其细也夫！
我有三宝，持而保之：一曰慈，二曰俭，三曰不敢为天下先。慈故能勇；俭故能广；不敢为天下先，故能成器长。今舍慈且勇；舍俭且广；舍后且先；死矣！夫慈，以战则胜，以守则固。天将救之，以慈卫之

Translation & Meaning

天下人都说我所讲的“道”广大无边，却似乎不具体像任何现成事物。正因为它广大包罗万象，所以才不像任何单一有限的具体之物；倘若它像某件具体器物，早就变得渺小局促了啊！ 我有三件修身立命的法宝，始终谨守珍护：第一叫做慈爱柔和，第二叫做节俭收敛，第三叫做谦退而不敢抢占天下之先。 正因为怀抱慈爱，守护苍生时才能生出真正无畏的勇敢；正因为懂得节俭收敛，蓄积充沛才能施泽宽广；正因为谦退不抢锋头，众心归服才能成就领袖群伦的器局。 如今若舍弃慈悲而一味好勇斗狠，舍弃节俭而盲目铺张扩张，舍弃谦退而处处争抢占先，那就只有走向毁灭死路了！ 唯有真正的慈悲仁爱，用于自卫应战则能获胜，用于守御家园则坚不可摧。上天所要佑助的人，正是用这份慈悲之心来护卫他。

Commentary

青禾散人评注：老子亲授“三宝”——慈、俭、不敢为天下先。“慈故能勇”，如慈母护子，柔肠之中能迸发出超越生死的大无畏。

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
  • 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble
  • 皆 (jiē): all / universally
  • 谓 (wèi): called / named / designated
  • 我 (wǒ): classical character (wǒ)
  • 道 (dào): The Way / Logos / to speak
  • 大 (dà): classical character (dà)
  • 似 (sì): seems / resembles
  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 肖 (xiào): classical character (xiào)
  • 夫 (fū): for / indeed / now
  • 唯 (wéi): only / precisely because
  • 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
  • 若 (ruò): classical character (ruò)
  • 久 (jiǔ): classical character (jiǔ)
  • 矣 (yǐ): [modal particle of realization]
  • 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
  • 细 (xì): classical character (xì)
  • 也 (yě): [modal particle of assertion]
  • 有 (yǒu): manifest being / cosmos / to possess
  • 三 (sān): classical character (sān)
  • 宝 (bǎo): classical character (bǎo)
  • 持 (chí): classical character (chí)
  • 而 (ér): yet / and / but
  • 保 (bǎo): classical character (bǎo)
  • 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
  • 一 (yī): classical character (yī)
  • 曰 (yuē): classical character (yuē)
  • 慈 (cí): classical character (cí)
  • 二 (èr): classical character (èr)
  • 俭 (jiǎn): classical character (jiǎn)
  • 敢 (gǎn): dare / venture forward
  • 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
  • 先 (xiān): before / front
  • 能 (néng): fruitful / capacity / ability
  • 勇 (yǒng): classical character (yǒng)
  • 广 (guǎng): classical character (guǎng)
  • 成 (chéng): complete / fulfill
  • 器 (qì): classical character (qì)
  • 长 (cháng): long / enduring / grow
  • 今 (jīn): classical character (jīn)
  • 舍 (shè): classical character (shè)
  • 且 (qiě): classical character (qiě)
  • 后 (hòu): after / behind
  • 死 (sǐ): classical character (sǐ)
  • 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
  • 战 (zhàn): classical character (zhàn)
  • 则 (zé): classical character (zé)
  • 胜 (shèng): classical character (shèng)
  • 守 (shǒu): classical character (shǒu)
  • 固 (gù): classical character (gù)
  • 将 (jiāng): classical character (jiāng)
  • 救 (jiù): classical character (jiù)
  • 卫 (wèi): classical character (wèi)