法供養品第十三
🍃 CHAPTER THIRTEEN - DHARMA OFFERINGS
爾時釋提桓因於大眾中白佛言：「世尊！我雖從佛及文殊師利聞百千經，未曾聞此不可思議，自在神通，決定實相經典。如我解佛所說義趣，若有眾生聞是經法，信解受持讀誦之者，必得是法不疑，何況如說修行？斯人即為閉眾惡趣開諸善門，常為諸佛之所護念；降伏外學，摧滅魔怨；修治菩提，安處道場；履踐如來所行之跡。世尊！若有受持讀誦如說修行者，我當與諸眷屬供養給事；所在聚落城邑、山林曠野，有是經處，我亦與諸眷屬，聽受法故共到其所；其未信者，當令生信；其已信者，當為作護。」
At that time, Śakra Devānām Indra, who was in the great congregation, addressed the Buddha saying, “World-honored One! Though I have heard hundreds and thousands of sutras from the Buddha and Mañjuśrī, I have never heard one with such inconceivable, sovereign spiritual power, and such definitive grasp of True Thusness. According to my understanding of what the Buddha has just said, if there are living beings who hear this sutra on the Dharma, believe and understand it, accept and uphold it, read and recite it, then they will surely and without doubt acquire that Dharma. How much more so if they practice as the Dharma directs. Such people will shut off all evil paths of existence and open the gates to all good ones. They will be constantly guarded and kept in mind by the Buddhas; will refute outside teachings and overcome the animosity of Mara; will cultivate and practice bodhi, and abide at the site of enlightenment; following in the way trod by the Thus Come One. World-Honored One! If there are people who accept and uphold, read and recite this sutra and practice it as the Dharma directs, then I and my followers will offer alms to them and serve them. And if there is a place among the villages or towns, the mountain forests or the broad plain where this sutra exists, then I and my followers will go there together to listen to and accept the Dharma; and those who do not yet believe in it I will lead to belief, and to those who already believe I will be a guardian.”
佛言：「善哉，善哉！天帝！如汝所說，吾助爾喜。此經廣說過去、未來、現在諸佛不可思議阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。是故，天帝！若善男子、善女人，受持、讀誦、供養是經者，即為供養去、來、今佛。
The Buddha said, “Excellent! Excellent! Heavenly Lord! It is as you have said, and I will assist you in your joyful task. This sutra broadly explains the inconceivable anuttarā-saṃyak-saṃbodhi of all buddhas of the past, future, and present. Therefore, Heavenly Lord! If good men and good women are able to receive, retain, read, and recite, and make offerings to this sutra, it is the same as making offerings to past, future, and present buddhas.”
「天帝！正使三千大千世界如來滿中，譬如甘蔗、竹[竺-二+韋]、稻麻、叢林；若有善男子、善女人，或一劫、或減一劫，恭敬尊重，讚歎供養，奉諸所安，至諸佛滅後，以一一全身舍利起七寶塔，縱廣一四天下，高至梵天，表剎莊嚴；以一切華香、瓔珞、幢幡、伎樂微妙第一，若一劫、若減一劫，而供養之。於天帝意云何，其人植福，寧為多不？」
“Heavenly Lord, suppose this Three Thousand Great Thousand World-System were as full of Thus Come Ones as it is of sugarcane, bamboo, reeds, rice and hemp plants, or forest trees. If there were good men or good women who for the span of a kalpa, or less than a kalpa, were to revere and honor, praise and make offerings to them and provide for their well-being; and if after those Buddhas had passed away, these people built towers adorned with the seven treasures to house the relics from each Buddha body, towers so broad they covered the four continents and so high they reached to the Brahma heaven, their central pole richly decorated; and if these people made offerings of all kinds of flowers, incense, necklaces, flags, pennants, and music, all of the most refined and wonderful kind, and did this for the span of a kalpa, or less than a kalpa—Heavenly Lord, what do you think? Would these people have thereby planted the seeds of much merit, or not?"
釋提桓因言：「多矣，世尊！彼之福德，若以百千億劫，說不能盡。」
Śakra Devānām Indra said, “Much indeed, World-Honored One! A hundred thousand million kalpas of explanation could never finish describing all that merit.”
佛告天帝：「當知是善男子、善女人，聞是不可思議解脫經典，信解受持，讀誦修行，福多於彼。所以者何？諸佛菩提皆從是生；菩提之相不可限量，以是因緣福不可量。」
The Buddha told the Heavenly Lord, “You should know, good men and good women who hear this sutra on the Inconceivable Liberation and have faith in it, understand, receive, retain, read, recite and practice it, the merit will be greater than that. How so? Because the bodhi of the Buddhas is all born from this sutra. The characteristic of bodhi is beyond limit or measure, and for that reason the merit is immeasurable."
佛告天帝：「過去無量阿僧祇劫，時世有佛，號曰藥王如來、應供、正遍知、明行足、善逝、世間解、無上士、調御丈夫、天人師、佛、世尊。世界名大莊嚴，劫曰莊嚴，佛壽二十小劫；其聲聞僧三十六億那由他；菩薩僧有十二億。天帝！是時有轉輪聖王，名曰寶蓋，七寶具足，主四天下。王有千子，端正勇健，能伏怨敵。
The Buddha told the Heavenly Lord, “Immeasurable asamkhya kalpas in the past, there was a Buddha in the world named Medicine King, Thus Come One, Worthy of Offerings, of right and universal knowledge, perfect clarity and conduct, well gone, understanding the world, unexcelled noble, trainer of people, teacher of gods and humans, Buddha, World-Honored One. The world was called Great Adornment and the kalpa was called Adornment. This Buddha had a life span of twenty small kalpas. The śrāvaka monks numbered thirty-six million nayutas and bodhisattva monks were twelve million. Heavenly Noble! At that time there was a wheel-turning sage king named Jeweled Parasol, replete with the seven treasures, ruler of the four continents. This king had a thousand children, all upright, valiant, and capable of overpowering their enemies.”
「爾時寶蓋與其眷屬供養藥王如來，施諸所安，至滿五劫。過五劫已，告其千子：『汝等亦當如我，以深心供養於佛。』於是千子受父王命，供養藥王如來，復滿五劫，一切施安。其王一子，名曰月蓋，獨坐思惟：『寧有供養殊過此者？』以佛神力，空中有天曰：『善男子！法之供養勝諸供養。』即問：『何謂法之供養？』天曰：『汝可往問藥王如來，當廣為汝說法之供養。』
At that time Jeweled Parasol came with his retinue to make offerings to the Medicine King Thus Come One, providing him with all he needed for his well-being. He did this for five whole kalpas. After five kalpas had passed, he said to his thousand children, 'You too should make offerings as I have to the Buddha, with the same profound mind. The thousand children, obeying their father's command, proceeded to make offerings to the Medicine King Thus Come One for another five full kalpas, providing him with everything needed for his well-being. One child of the king named Moon Parasol sat all alone, thinking, 'Isn't there some offering that is better than these?' Then, by the spiritual power of the Buddha, a deva appeared in the sky and said, 'Kulaputra! The offering of the Dharma is the finest of all offerings!' The child asked, 'What is offering the Dharma?' The deva replied, 'You should go and ask the Medicine King Thus Come One. He will explain to you in detail offering the Dharma.'
「即時月蓋王子行詣藥王如來，稽首佛足，却住一面，白佛言：『世尊！諸供養中，法供養勝。云何為法供養？』佛言：『善男子！法供養者，諸佛所說深經，一切世間難信難受，微妙難見，清淨無染，非但分別思惟之所能得。菩薩法藏所攝，陀羅尼印印之。至不退轉，成就六度，善分別義，順菩提法，眾經之上。入大慈悲，離眾魔事，及諸邪見。順因緣法，無我，無人，無眾生，無壽命，空、無相、無作、無起。能令眾生坐於道場，而轉法輪，諸天、龍神、乾闥婆等，所共歎譽。能令眾生入佛法藏，攝諸賢聖一切智慧。說眾菩薩所行之道，依於諸法實相之義。明宣無常、苦、空、無我、寂滅之法，能救一切毀禁眾生；諸魔外道及貪著者，能使怖畏；諸佛賢聖所共稱歎。背生死苦，示涅槃樂，十方三世諸佛所說。若聞如是等經，信解受持讀誦，以方便力，為諸眾生分別解說，顯示分明，守護法故，是名法之供養。又於諸法如說修行，隨順十二因緣，離諸邪見，得無生忍；決定無我無有眾生，而於因緣果報無違無諍，離諸我所。依於義，不依語；依於智，不依識；依了義經，不依不了義經；依於法，不依人。隨順法相，無所入，無所歸。無明畢竟滅故，諸行亦畢竟滅；乃至生畢竟滅故，老死亦畢竟滅。作如是觀，十二因緣，無有盡相，不復起見，是名最上法之供養。』」
"Then the king’s child Moon Parasol went to visit the Medicine King Thus Come One, bowed his head to the Buddha's feet, stood to one side and addressed the Buddha, saying, 'World-Honored One! Among all offerings, the offering of the Dharma is the finest. But what is offering the Dharma?' The Buddha said, 'Kulaputa! Offering the Dharma means all the profound sutras spoken by the Buddhas, which are difficult to believe and difficult to accept throughout all worldly realms, for they are wonderfully subtle and difficult to see, clean and pure, without stain, incapable of being grasped by making distinctions or through thought. They are contained within the Dharma Treasury of the Bodhisattvas and sealed with the dharani seal. They lead to non-regression and accomplishment of the Six Paramitas, skillful discrimination of meaning, and conformity with bodhi Dharma, the highest of all the classics (sutras). They lead to great kindness and compassion, freedom from the activities of Māra and all false views. They conform with the Dharmas of dependent-origination, the absence of self, the absence of individuality, the absence of sentience, the absence of life-span, emptiness, characteristiclessness, aimlessness, and non-origination. They are able to cause sentient beings to sit upon the site of enlightenment, to turn the Dharma Wheel, and they are praised by all the devas, nagas, spirits, gandharvas, and so on. They are able to make sentient beings enter the treasury of Buddha-Dharma, and embrace all the wisdom of worthies and sages. They explain the path practiced by the host of bodhisattvas dependent upon the meaning of the True Characteristic of dharmas. They illuminate the dharmas of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, no-self, and cessation, and they are able to save all sentient beings who are transgressive. They can render afraid the Māras, heretics, and those attached to desire. They are praised by all the buddhas, worthies, and sages. They reject the suffering of birth & death and reveal the joy of Nirvana, as explained by all the buddhas of the ten directions and three periods of time. If one hears such sutras, and devoutly understands, accepts and maintains, and reads and recites them, will, with the power of upaya, explain them clearly and with discriminative understanding for sentient beings. This is because that person will be maintaining and protecting the Dharma. This is called ‘offering the Dharma.’ Furthermore, when one practices the Dharma as explained, one will be in accord with the twelve [links of] dependent-origination, transcend false views, and attain the patient tolerance of the birthlessness of dharmas. There definitively being no self and no sentient beings, therefore there is no disagreement, no contention with the results of dependent-origination, transcending all the aspects of self. Reliant upon meaning, not upon words. Reliant upon wisdom, not upon consciousness. Reliant upon sutras of comprehensive meaning, not upon sutras of incomplete meaning. Reliant upon the Dharma, not upon people. Being in accord with the characteristics of dharmas, without anywhere to enter, without any refuge. Because ignorance is thoroughly extinguished, all conditioning (saṃskāra) is thoroughly extinguished. Because birth, as well, is thoroughly extinguished, old age and death are thoroughly extinguished. Observing like this, the twelve [links of] dependent-origination are without the characteristic of exhaustion, no longer giving rise to views, this is called the supreme ‘offering the Dharma.’
佛告天帝：「王子月蓋從藥王佛聞如是法，得柔順忍。即解寶衣嚴身之具，以供養佛，白佛言：『世尊！如來滅後，我當行法供養，守護正法。願以威神加哀建立，令我得降魔怨，修菩薩行。』佛知其深心所念，而記之曰：『汝於末後，守護法城。』天帝！時王子月蓋，見法清淨，聞佛授記，以信出家，修集善法；精進不久，得五神通，逮菩薩道，得陀羅尼，無斷辯才。於佛滅後，以其所得神通、總持、辯才之力，滿十小劫，藥王如來所轉法輪隨而分布。月蓋比丘以守護法，勤行精進，即於此身，化百萬億人於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，立不退轉；十四那由他人，深發聲聞、辟支佛心；無量眾生得生天上。天帝！時王寶蓋豈異人乎？今現得佛，號寶炎如來；其王千子，即賢劫中千佛是也。從迦羅鳩孫駄為始得佛，最後如來號曰樓至。月蓋比丘，即我身是。如是，天帝！當知此要，以法供養於諸供養為上為最，第一無比。是故天帝！當以法之供養，供養於佛。」
The Buddha told the Heavenly Lord, “The king’s child Moon Canopy, hearing this Dharma from Medicine King Buddha, attained conforming patience. Taking off his jeweled robe and bodily ornaments, he offered them to the Buddha, saying ‘World-honored One! After the extinction of the Thus Come One, I will practice the ‘offering of the Dharma’ and protect the correct Dharma. Please use your majestic power compassionately, so that I will be able to tame the vengeful Māras and cultivate the practices of the bodhisattva.’ The buddha, knowing the profound thoughts in [the child’s] mind, made the prediction, “In times to come, you will protect the City of Dharma.”
“Heavenly Lord! The king’s child Moon Canopy then saw the purity of the Dharma. Hearing the Buddha bestow this prediction, he developed faith and left home. After cultivating the good Dharma with exertion for not very long, he attained the five spiritual powers and became a bodhisattva. He attained dhāraṇīs and unending eloquence. After the extinction of that buddha, using those spiritual powers, dhāraṇīs, and power of eloquence, he disseminated the wheel of the Dharma that Medicine King Buddha had turned for a full ten short kalpas. Through his diligent practice and exertion in protecting the Dharma, in that lifetime Moon Canopy bhikṣu converted a million koṭis of people irreversibly to anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Fourteen nayutas of people generated the profound inspiration to become śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. Immeasurable sentient beings gained birth in the heavens. Heavenly Lord! What kind of person was King Jeweled Canopy of that time? As of now they have attained buddhahood and are called Jewel Mirage Thus Come One. Those thousand children of the king became the thousand buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa (’Worthy Kalpa’). The first achieved buddhahood as Krakucchandra, and the last will be the Thus Come One named Ruci (’Bright and Splendorous’). Moon Canopy bhikṣu was I myself. Therefore, Heavenly Lord, you should understand this essential point: offering the Dharma excels all other offerings. It is supreme, incomparable. Therefore, Heavenly Lord, you should use the offering of the Dharma to make offerings to the buddhas.”