金剛般若經贊述 2.195

2.195

述曰，此第三如來成也。「若福德有實」者，謂說若為般若故行施，如為自體故行施實有者，佛則不說為得福多也。以三事體空行施，不同著果報等行施故，如來說福多也。以此准知，前以財、命等施校量不及受、持此經者，謂不能亡相故，不求菩提故也。謂若捨身命之時，但於少少飢餓眾生有益，非能廣利；若持般若者，當得成佛，濟利甚多，故功德勝也。若橫望言之，捨身極苦；望竪說者，不及持經也。

The commentary states: This is the third, the Tathāgata's establishing. 'If merit had reality' means: it says that if practicing giving for the sake of prajñā were really existent, like practicing giving for one's own self, then the Buddha would not speak of obtaining much merit. Because one practices giving with the three factors fundamentally empty, unlike practicing giving with attachment to retribution and the like, the Tathāgata says the merit is much. By inferring from this, one knows that when previously giving wealth, life, and so forth was compared as inferior to receiving and upholding this sūtra, it was because one could not eliminate characteristics and did not seek bodhi. That is, when relinquishing body and life, it benefits only a very few starving sentient beings and cannot broadly benefit; if one upholds prajñā, one will attain Buddhahood and aid and benefit exceedingly many, and therefore its virtue is superior. If spoken of horizontally, relinquishing the body is extremely painful; if spoken of vertically, it does not match upholding the sūtra.