分別功德論 4.2

4.2

The reason why the Tathāgata spoke at length of each being foremost among the four assemblies was because in the future, in the final age of the declining Dharma, there might be non-Buddhist brahmacārins of the four castes and disciples of the four assemblies who would contest with one another over right and wrong, proclaiming themselves noble and others lowly. People such as these would be beyond reckoning, and therefore he took precautions beforehand, thereby opening the path to self-sufficiency. Now, the reason Kauṇḍinya is declared foremost is that he was of the Śākya clan and a noble family; selected by the king to be sent as an attendant through hardships and toil, in the retribution for his merits he was duly placed foremost. Furthermore, when the Dharma was first taught and received, none could precede him; this also makes him foremost. Skilful at exhorting, guiding, and nurturing the noble assembly, he was the first to receive the greeting of 'Come, bhikṣu!'; this is yet again why he is foremost. Among what humans revere, the cakravartin is supreme; among luminaries, the sun is supreme; among the constellations, the moon is supreme; among the myriad rivers, the ocean is supreme; among the Four Heavenly Kings, Dhṛtarāṣṭra is supreme; among the Thirty-three Gods, Śakra is supreme; among the six heavens of the desire realm, Pāpīyas is supreme; among the eighteen heavens of the form realm, the Pure Abodes are supreme; among the ninety-six schools of the saṅgha, the Śākya saṅgha is supreme; among the ninety-six paths, the Buddha's path is the most supreme; and among the five men, the monk Kauṇḍinya is supreme. By this account, Kauṇḍinya is foremost.