འཕགས་པ་གནས་འཇག་པའ་མད་ཞས་བྱ་བ 5

5

“Vasiṣṭha, what do you think? Can someone fathom the waters of the great ocean, saying, ‘There is this much water, or this many hundred jugs of water, or this many thousand jugs of water, or this many hundred thousand jugs of water’?”

“Gautama,” replied Vasiṣṭha, “regarding the waters of the great oceans, it is baseless and untenable for someone to fathom their volume, saying, ‘There is this much water, or this many hundred jugs of water, or this many thousand jugs of water, or this many hundred thousand jugs of water.’ Gautama, if you ask why that is the case, it is because there is not a fathomable volume.”

The Blessed One said, “One should understand this through the following illustration: it is possible that someone, at some time, and by some means could fathom the volume of water in the great ocean, saying, ‘There is this much water, or this many hundred jugs of water, or this many thousand jugs of water, or this many hundred thousand jugs of water,’ but one cannot fathom the extent of the merit of maintaining the eightfold observance of the noble ones a single time, or the fruits of the merit, or the ripening of the fruits of the merit, saying, ‘It is this much.’ And yet, it is described as ‘a lot of merit’ and ‘a big heap of merit.’

“Vasiṣṭha,” continued the Blessed One, “such is the great fruit of maintaining the eightfold observance of the noble ones; such is the great benefit; such is the great power; such is the abundance. Vasiṣṭha, maintain the eightfold observance of the noble ones, practice diligently on special days, and experience all you wish for among gods and humans!”

The brahmin Vasiṣṭha then replied to the Blessed One with these words: “O Gautama, now consider two people: the first practices gift giving for as long as they live, but the second, for as long as they live,