འཕགས་པ་ཀླའ་རྒྱལ་པ་མ་དྲས་པས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 70

70

they protect them; they serve them with respect; they listen to their explanations; they teach what they hear from them to others; they refute the criticisms directed at them; and they praise them. Aśoka, those are ten ways of maintaining the Dharma.

“Furthermore Aśoka, there are four types of generosity through which the sacred Dharma will be maintained. What are the four? They are giving birch bark, ink, bamboo, and volumes of scriptures; giving clothing, food, bedding, medicine, and tools to those who preach the Dharma; giving straightforward praise to those who teach the Dharma when one hears their teachings; and giving the gift of the Dharma. These are the four Dharma gifts by which the sacred Dharma will be maintained.

“Aśoka, there are four types of diligence through which the sacred Dharma will be maintained. What are the four? They are diligence in teaching the Dharma; diligence in pursuing the Dharma at all times; diligence in serving Dharma preachers; and diligence in defeating, in accordance with the teachings, those who have rejected the sacred Dharma. With these four types of diligence, Aśoka, the sacred Dharma will be maintained.”

Satisfied by the Blessed One’s answers to their questions, the five hundred young nāgas were pleased and rejoiced, and they worshiped the Blessed One. For the sake of all the activities, each of them, along with their relatives and retinues, offered him their own bodies and said, “From today until your parinirvāṇa, Blessed One, we will always serve you, and we will be delighted to guard and conceal this holy Dharma in its entirety. And, Blessed One, after the Thus-Gone One has passed into parinirvāṇa,