萬善同歸集 2.79

2.79

「又慈悲喜捨，種種利益，度貧代苦，軫念垂哀。及施畜生一摶之食，皆是佛業，無緣慈因。《法句經》云：『行慈有十一種利。佛說偈言：「履行仁慈，博愛濟眾，有十一譽。福常隨身，臥安覺安，不見惡夢，天護、人愛，不毒、不兵，水、火不喪，在所得利，死昇梵天，是為十一。」』故經云：『一切聲聞、緣覺、菩薩、諸佛，所有善根，慈為根本。』《毘沙論》云：『若修慈者，火不能燒、刀不能傷、毒不能害、水不能漂、他不能殺。所以然者，慈心定是不害法故。有大威勢諸天擁護，害不能害。』《像法決疑經》云：『佛言：「若人於阿僧祇劫，以身供養十方諸佛，并諸菩薩及聲聞眾，不如有人施與畜生一口之食，其福勝彼，百千萬倍無量無邊。」』《丈夫論》云：『悲心施一人，功德如大地；為己施一切，得報如芥子。救一厄難人，勝餘一切施；眾星雖有光，不如一月明。』《華嚴經》云：『菩薩乃至施與畜生之食，一摶一粒，咸作是願：「當令此等，捨畜生道；利益安樂，究竟解脫，永度苦海、永滅苦受、永除苦蘊、永斷苦覺；苦聚、苦行、苦因、苦本，及諸苦處，願彼眾生皆得捨離。」菩薩如是，專心繫念一切眾生；以彼善根而為上首，為其迴向一切種智。』《大涅槃經》云：『佛過去惟修一慈，經此劫世七反成壞，不來生此。世界壞時，生光音天；世界成時生梵天中，作大梵王；三十六反為大帝釋；無量百千世，作轉輪聖王，乃至成佛。』

"Furthermore, with loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, they bring various benefits, saving the poor and taking on suffering on their behalf, deeply caring and bestowing pity. Even giving a single handful of food to an animal is a Buddha's work, the cause of unconditioned compassion. The Dharmapada says: 'Practicing loving-kindness has eleven kinds of benefits. The Buddha spoke in verse: "Carrying out benevolence and loving-kindness, / universally loving and rescuing the multitude, / has eleven praises: / blessings constantly follow one's person, / one sleeps in peace and wakes in peace, / one does not see bad dreams, / protected by gods and loved by humans, / unharmed by poison or weapons, / not perishing in fire or water, / obtaining benefits wherever one is, / and upon death ascending to the Brahmā heaven: / these are the eleven."' Therefore a sūtra states: 'Of all the wholesome roots of all śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas, loving-kindness is the root.' The Vibhāṣā says: 'If one cultivates loving-kindness, fire cannot burn them, swords cannot harm them, poison cannot afflict them, water cannot drown them, and others cannot kill them. Why is this? Because the samādhi of a mind of loving-kindness is a dharma of non-harming. Gods of great majestic power protect them, so harms cannot harm them.' The Sūtra on Resolving Doubts Concerning the Semblance Dharma says: 'The Buddha said: "If someone during asaṃkhyeya kalpas were to make offerings with their own body to the Buddhas of the ten directions and the assemblies of bodhisattvas and śrāvakas, it would not equal someone giving a mouthful of food to an animal; their merit surpasses that by hundreds of thousands of tens of millions of times, immeasurably and boundlessly."' The Treatise on the Hero says: 'Giving to a single person with a compassionate mind, the merit is like the great earth; / giving to all for one's own sake, the retribution obtained is like a mustard seed. / Rescuing a single person in distress and hardship surpasses all other giving; / although the multitude of stars have light, they do not equal the brightness of the single moon.' The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: 'When a bodhisattva gives food to an animal, even a single lump or a single grain, they always make this vow: "May they abandon the animal realm, receive benefit and peace, attain ultimate liberation, forever cross over the ocean of suffering, forever extinguish painful feelings, forever remove the aggregates of suffering, forever sever the perception of suffering; may those sentient beings abandon and leave behind the mass of suffering, the conduct of suffering, the cause of suffering, the root of suffering, and all places of suffering." The bodhisattva thus single-mindedly directs their thoughts to all sentient beings; taking those wholesome roots as foremost, they dedicate them for their attainment of the knowledge of all modes.' The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'In the past, the Buddha cultivated only loving-kindness, and passing through this world during seven cycles of formation and destruction, he was not reborn here. When the world was destroyed, he was born in the Ābhāsvara Heaven; when the world was formed, he was born in the Brahmā heaven and became a Great Brahmā King; thirty-six times he was the great Śakra; for immeasurable hundreds of thousands of lives he was a cakravartin, and ultimately became a Buddha.'"