法苑珠林 21.13

21.13

又智度論云。以大悲心施物雖同福德多少隨心優劣。如舍利弗。以一鉢飯上佛。佛即迴施狗。而問舍利弗。汝以飯施我。我以飯施狗。誰得福多。舍利弗言。如我解佛義。佛施狗福多。佛田第一不如施狗。以是故知。大福從心不在田也。如舍利弗。千萬億倍不及佛心。所以者何。心為內主。田是外事故。或時布施之福在於福田。如億耳阿羅漢。昔以一華施於佛塔。九十一劫人天中受樂。餘福德力得阿羅漢。又如阿輸迦王。為小兒時以土施佛。王閻浮提起八萬塔。最後得道。施物至賤。小兒心薄。但以福田妙故得大果報。當知大福從良田生。若大中之上三事都具。心物福田皆妙。如佛以好華散十方佛時。問曰。此布施福云何增長。答曰。應時施故得福增長。如經說。飢餓時施得福增多。或遠行來時。若曠路險道中施。若常施不斷。或時常念施故施得增廣。又增一阿含經云。施畜生食者獲福百倍。與犯戒人食者獲福千倍。施持戒人食獲福萬倍。施斷欲仙人食者獲福千萬倍。與向須陀洹食者獲福不可計。況成須陀洹乎。況向斯陀含得斯陀含道。乃至那含羅漢辟支如來等。其福功德不可稱計。又智度論云。如大月氏弗迦羅城中。有一畫師。名曰千那。到東方多剎施羅國客。畫十二年得三十兩金。持還本國。於弗迦羅城中聞打鼓作大會聲。往見眾僧。信心清淨即問維那。此眾中用幾許物得作一日食。維那答曰。用三十兩金足得一日食。即以所有三十兩金付維那。為我作一日食。我明日當來空手而歸。其婦問曰。十二年作得何物。答曰。我得三十兩金。即問。金在何所。答言。已作福田中種子。婦言。何等福田。答言。施與眾僧。婦便縛其夫送官治罪。斷事大官問。以何事故。婦言。我夫狂癡。十二年作得金三十兩。不憐愍婦兒盡以與他。依如官制取縛將來。大官問其夫。汝何以不供給婦兒乃以與他。答言。我先世不行功德。今世貧窮受諸辛苦。今世遭遇福田。若不種福後世復貧。貧貧相續無得脫時。我今欲頓捨貧窮。以是故盡以金施眾僧。大官是優婆塞信佛清淨。聞是語已讚言。是為甚難。勤苦得此少物。盡以施僧。汝是善人。即脫身瓔珞。及所乘馬并一聚落以施貧人。而語之言。汝始施眾僧眾僧未食。是為穀子未種芽已得生。大果方在後耳。以是故言。難得之物盡用布施。其福最多。

Furthermore, the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra* states: Although given with a mind of great compassion, even if the material goods are identical, the amount of puṇya accords with the excellence or inferiority of the mind. For instance, Śāriputra offered a bowl of rice to the Buddha, and the Buddha immediately turned around and gave it to a dog, asking Śāriputra, 'You gave the rice to me, and I gave the rice to the dog; who obtains more puṇya?' Śāriputra said, 'According to how I understand the Buddha's meaning, the Buddha obtains more puṇya by giving it to the dog. Even the supreme puṇyakṣetra of the Buddha is not equal to [the Buddha's mind in] giving to a dog.' From this it is known that great puṇya comes from the mind and does not reside in the [merit] field. Śāriputra was thousands of ten thousands of kotis of times inferior to the Buddha's mind. Why is this? Because the mind is the internal master, while the field is an external circumstance. Sometimes, however, the puṇya of dāna lies in the puṇyakṣetra. For instance, the arhat Śroṇa Koṭīkarṇa formerly offered a single flower to a stūpa of the Buddha; for ninety-one kalpas he experienced pleasure among humans and devas, and through the residual power of that puṇya he attained arhatship. Furthermore, when King Aśoka was a young child, he offered earth to the Buddha; he became king over Jambudvīpa, erected eighty thousand stūpas, and in the end attained the Way. The item given was of the utmost lowliness and the young child's mind was slight, yet solely because the puṇyakṣetra was exquisite, he obtained a great retribution. One should know that great puṇya arises from a fertile field. If within the great the supreme three things are all complete—the mind, the goods, and the puṇyakṣetra are all exquisite—[puṇya is vast], just as when the Buddha scattered fine flowers over the Buddhas of the ten directions. Question: How does this puṇya of dāna increase? Answer: Because it is given in accord with the right time, the puṇya increases. As a sūtra says: Giving when someone is starved yields increased puṇya; or when coming from afar; or giving along an open, perilous road; or giving constantly without interruption; or because one constantly remembers giving, the dāna is broadened and increased. Furthermore, the *Ekottarika-āgama* states: Giving food to a beast yields a hundredfold puṇya; giving food to a person who has broken the precepts yields a thousandfold puṇya; giving food to a precept-keeper yields ten-thousandfold puṇya; giving food to an ascetic free of desire yields a thousand-ten-thousandfold puṇya; giving food to one heading toward srotāpanna yields immeasurable puṇya, not to mention one who has become a srotāpanna! How much more so one heading toward sakṛdāgāmin, one who has attained the path of a sakṛdāgāmin, up to an anāgāmin, arhat, pratyekabuddha, or Tathāgata: the puṇya and merit are beyond reckoning! Furthermore, the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra* states: In Puṣkalāvatī of the Great Yuezhi, there was a painter named Qianna. He went as a guest-worker to Takṣaśilā in the east; after twelve years of painting he earned thirty ounces of gold. Holding it, he returned to his home country. In the city of Puṣkalāvatī, he heard the beating of drums making the sound of a great assembly. Going and seeing the saṃgha, his faithful mind was pure, and he immediately asked the karmadāna, 'How much material is needed among this assembly to prepare one day of meals?' The karmadāna replied, 'Thirty ounces of gold is enough to prepare one day of meals.' He then handed all the thirty ounces of gold he had to the karmadāna, saying, 'Prepare one day of meals for me; tomorrow I shall come.' He returned home empty-handed. His wife asked, 'What did you get from twelve years of work?' He replied, 'I obtained thirty ounces of gold.' She then asked, 'Where is the gold?' He said, 'It has already been made into seeds in a puṇyakṣetra.' The wife asked, 'What kind of puṇyakṣetra?' He answered, 'I gave it to the saṃgha.' The wife then bound her husband and sent him to the officials for punishment. The chief judicial officer asked, 'For what reason?' The wife said, 'My husband is mad and foolish. After twelve years of work he earned thirty ounces of gold; with no pity for his wife and child, he gave it all to others. In accordance with official regulations, I have bound and brought him.' The chief officer asked her husband, 'Why did you not provide for your wife and child, but instead gave it to others?' He replied, 'In my previous lives I did not practice merit, so in this life I am impoverished and suffer various hardships. In this life I encountered a puṇyakṣetra; if I do not plant blessings, in future lives I will again be poor. Poverty succeeding poverty, there would be no time of escape. I now wish to cast off poverty all at once; for this reason I gave all the gold to the saṃgha.' The chief officer was an upāsaka who faithfully believed in the Buddha with purity. Having heard these words, he praised him, saying, 'This is exceedingly difficult! Having acquired this small amount through diligent suffering, you gave it all to the saṃgha. You are a good man!' He immediately took off his own necklaces, his riding horse, and a village, and bestowed them upon the poor man, saying to him, 'You have just given to the saṃgha, and the saṃgha has not yet eaten. This is a case where the grain seed has not yet been planted, yet the sprout has already grown! The great fruit will only come later.' For this reason it is said: When things difficult to obtain are entirely used for dāna, the puṇya is greatest.