原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
沙悟淨皈依
Sha Wujing Takes Refuge
那怪道：「我願皈正果。」又向前道：「菩薩，我在此間吃人無數，向來有幾次取經人來，都被我吃了。凡吃的人頭，拋落流沙，竟沉水底。這個水，鵝毛也不能浮。惟有九個取經人的骷髏浮在水面，再不能沉。我以為異物，將索兒穿在一處，閑時拿來頑耍。這去，但恐取經人不得到此，卻不是反誤了我的前程也？」菩薩曰：「豈有不到之理？你可將骷髏兒掛在頭項下，等候取經人，自有用處。」怪物道：「既然如此，願領教誨。」菩薩方與他摩頂受戒，指沙為姓，就姓了沙；起個法名，叫做個沙悟淨。當時入了沙門，送菩薩過了河，他洗心滌慮，再不傷生，專等取經人。那怪道：「我愿皈正果。」又向前道：「菩萨，我在此间吃人无数，向来有几次取经人来，都被我吃了。凡吃的人头，抛落流沙，竟沉水底。这个水，鹅毛也不能浮。惟有九个取经人的骷髅浮在水面，再不能沉。我以为异物，将索儿穿在一处，闲时拿来顽耍。这去，但恐取经人不得到此，却不是反误了我的前程也？」菩萨曰：「岂有不到之理？你可将骷髅儿挂在头项下，等候取经人，自有用处。」怪物道：「既然如此，愿领教诲。」菩萨方与他摩顶受戒，指沙为姓，就姓了沙；起个法名，叫做个沙悟净。当时入了沙门，送菩萨过了河，他洗心涤虑，再不伤生，专等取经人。
逐句解 Line by line
那怪道：「我願皈正果。」
那怪道：「我愿皈正果。」
The monster said: “I am willing to take refuge in the right fruit.”
又向前道：「菩薩，我在此間吃人無數，向來有幾次取經人來，都被我吃了。
又向前道：「菩萨，我在此间吃人无数，向来有几次取经人来，都被我吃了。
And he came forward, saying: “Bodhisattva, here I have eaten men beyond count; whenever scripture-pilgrims came this way, I devoured them all.
凡吃的人頭，拋落流沙，竟沉水底。
凡吃的人头，抛落流沙，竟沉水底。
The heads of all I ate I cast into the flowing sands, and they sank straight to the bottom.
這個水，鵝毛也不能浮。
这个水，鹅毛也不能浮。
In this water even a goose-feather will not float.
不能 — 不 takes bù before second-tone 能.
惟有九個取經人的骷髏浮在水面，再不能沉。
惟有九个取经人的骷髅浮在水面，再不能沉。
Only the skulls of nine scripture-pilgrims float upon the surface and will not sink again.
The nine skulls are the remains of Tripiṭaka's own former incarnations; they will later be assembled into the raft that ferries the pilgrims across this very river.
我以為異物，將索兒穿在一處，閑時拿來頑耍。
我以为异物，将索儿穿在一处，闲时拿来顽耍。
Taking them for wondrous things, I strung them on a cord all together, and in idle hours brought them out to play with.
以為 — to take for; 為 is wéi. 將 is the disposal jiāng; 一處 takes yí.
這去，但恐取經人不得到此，卻不是反誤了我的前程也？」
这去，但恐取经人不得到此，却不是反误了我的前程也？」
But now I fear the scripture-pilgrim may not reach here — would that not, on the contrary, ruin my own prospects?”
不得 — 不 takes bù before second-tone 得; 不是 — 不 takes bú before fourth-tone 是.
菩薩曰：「豈有不到之理？
菩萨曰：「岂有不到之理？
The Bodhisattva said: “How could there be a reason for him not to come?
不到 — 不 takes bú before fourth-tone 到.
你可將骷髏兒掛在頭項下，等候取經人，自有用處。」
你可将骷髅儿挂在头项下，等候取经人，自有用处。」
You may hang the skulls about your neck and await the scripture-pilgrim; they will have their use.”
將 is the disposal jiāng.
怪物道：「既然如此，願領教誨。」
怪物道：「既然如此，愿领教诲。」
The monster said: “If it be so, I will gladly receive your instruction.”
菩薩方與他摩頂受戒，指沙為姓，就姓了沙；起個法名，叫做個沙悟淨。
菩萨方与他摩顶受戒，指沙为姓，就姓了沙；起个法名，叫做个沙悟净。
The Bodhisattva then laid her hand on his crown and gave him the precepts, taking “sand” for his surname; so he was named Sha, and given the religious name Sha Wujing.
指沙為姓 — “pointing to the sand for a surname”; 為 is wéi. 沙悟淨 — “Sand, Awakened to Purity,” the third of the 悟-generation disciples.
當時入了沙門，送菩薩過了河，他洗心滌慮，再不傷生，專等取經人。
当时入了沙门，送菩萨过了河，他洗心涤虑，再不伤生，专等取经人。
Then and there he entered the gate of the Saṅgha, saw the Bodhisattva across the river, washed his heart and cleansed his thoughts, harmed life no more, and waited single-mindedly for the scripture-pilgrim.
沙門 — the śramaṇa community; a pun on his new surname Sha. 洗心滌慮 — to wash the heart and cleanse the thoughts, the inward turn of conversion.
總評 Commentary
The demon accepts, and his conversion turns on a remarkable detail: the nine skulls he kept as playthings are the remains of scripture-pilgrims he has devoured — and, the novel will later disclose, the bones of Tripiṭaka's own former incarnations. Guanyin bids him keep them, for they will become the raft that carries the pilgrims across the weak water.
This is the chapter's most striking instance of its providential design: the very crimes of the unconverted are turned into the instruments of salvation. The skulls that mark Sha Wujing's savagery are repurposed as the means of crossing, so that nothing in the fallen world is finally wasted.
His naming completes the second recruitment — 沙悟淨, “Sand, Awakened to Purity,” joining the 悟 generation. Following Anthony C. Yu, the pun on 沙門 (the śramaṇa order) seals the transformation: the cannibal of the sands becomes a monk of the Sand-gate, his ferocity disciplined into the patient waiting that will define him for the rest of the journey.