3. NGỌC HOÀNG THIÊN TÔN BỬU CÁO
Đại La Thiên Đế,
Thái
Cực Thánh Hoàng.
Hóa
dục quần sanh,
Thống
ngự vạn vật.
Diệu
diệu Huỳnh Kim Khuyết,
Nguy
nguy Bạch Ngọc Kinh.
Nhược
thiệt nhược hư, bất ngôn nhi mặc tuyên đại hóa,
Thị
không thị sắc, vô vi nhi dịch sử quần linh.
Thời
thừa lục long, du hành bất tức,
Khí
phân tứ tượng, oát triền vô biên.
Càn
kiện cao minh, vạn loại thiện ác tất kiến,
Huyền
phạm quảng đại, nhứt toán họa phước lập phân.
Thượng
chưởng tam thập lục thiên, tam thiên thế giới,
Hạ ốc
thất thập nhị địa, tứ đại bộ châu.
Tiên
thiên, hậu thiên, tịnh dục Đại Từ Phụ,
Cổ
ngưỡng, kim ngưỡng, phổ tế Tổng Pháp Tông.
Nãi
nhựt nguyệt tinh thần chi quân,
Vi
Thánh Thần Tiên Phật chi chủ.
Trạm
tịch chơn đạo,
Khôi
mịch tôn nghiêm.
Biến
hóa vô cùng, lũ truyền bửu kinh dĩ giác thế,
Linh
oai mạc trắc, thường thi thần giáo dĩ lợi sanh.
Hồng
oai, hồng từ, vô cực, vô thượng,
Đại
thánh, đại nguyện, đại tạo, đại bi.
Huyền
Khung Cao Thượng Đế,
Ngọc
Hoàng tích phước hựu tội Đại Thiên Tôn.
(Ba lạy, mỗi lạy
bốn gật, mỗi gật một niệm.)
*
3. EULOGY TO THE JADE EMPEROR
God
is the Heavenly Emperor,
The Supreme
Ultimate, and the Holy Sovereign.
He produces,
transforms, and nurtures all sentient beings,
Governing and
controlling all kinds of creatures.
Vast and
magnificent is His Gold Palace.
Truly imposing is
His White Jade Capital.
Displaying cosmic
changes, whether seen or unseen, God says nothing.
Formless or with
forms, not obstructing their own course, God commands all sacred beings.
Riding six
dragons, God travels without rest.(1)
Yin and Yang
generate the Four Forms,(2) and the cosmos revolves outwards, then
inwards, without limit.
God is mighty and
wise, with all-seeing eyes observing every good or bad deed.
His law is fair
and just; misfortune and fortune are swiftly determined.(3)
God rules over
thirty-six heavens and a triple-thousand worlds above,
Controlling
seventy-two globes and four great continents below.
Both the former
and later heavens are equally nurtured by the Father of Great Mercy.
From past to
present, as the Ancestor of all dharmas God is revered for His universal
salvation.
God is the Lord
of the sun, moon, stars, and constellations.
He is also the
Master of Saints, Deities, Immortals, and Buddhas.
The Dao of God is
profound, quiet, genuine, expansive, and dignified.
Through endless
transformation, God repeatedly transmits precious scriptures to awaken
humanity,
With immeasurably
sacred power, He always bestows divine teachings for mankind’s benefit.
Of grand dignity
and mercy, God is the supreme and ultimate.
Of sublime
holiness and vow, He is greatly creative and compassionate.
He is Caodai God
of the Mysterious Canopy,
Known as the Jade
Emperor, who bestows blessings and forgives sins,
Also as the
Greatly Revered One of the Heavens.
NAMAH
CAODAI THE IMMORTAL,
THE
MAHABODHISATTVA MAHASATTVA.
(Three kowtows,
four nods with each kowtow,
and
one recitation with each nod.)
Translator’s
Notes:
(1) This
line figuratively means that the vigorous Heavenly Law unceasingly operates in
harmony with all circumstances.
(2) According to Yi
Jing (the Book of Change), the Four Forms symbolise the four directions
(north, south, east, and west), and the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn,
and winter), among others. The Four Forms generate the Eight Diagrams, which in
turn generate sixty-four hexagrams
symbolising all manifestations or phenomena in the universe. Therefore, “Yin and Yang generate the Four Forms”
means that the Supreme Ultimate (Yin-yang) generates countless kinds of
existence in the universe.
(3) This sentence conveys the
idea that everyone’s life, negative or positive, is influenced by his bad or good
deeds, in accordance with the law of karma.
[Translated by Huệ Khải]
*
