經律異相 44.48

44.48

Formerly, there was a wealthy man whom the king ordered to itemize his belongings. He promptly wrote an account: 'In such-and-such year, so many tens of millions were used to make Buddha statues; so much was used for vegetarian feasts and scriptures; so much was used to relieve the poor and elderly. At present, there remain eight hundred and ninety million.' He presented this memorial to the king. The king was exceedingly enraged and asked: 'Why do you fail to list your existing goods and instead list what has already been spent?' The wealthy man replied: 'What has been used is the truest treasure, supporting a person's spiritual consciousness; therefore I presented it. Unused wealth is shared by five families and is not mine alone. That is why I dared to itemize it thus.' The king then realized that merit alone can be relied upon. (Extracted from the Parable Sūtra).