法苑珠林 33.36

33.36

如輪轉五道經云。佛言。凡作功德隨身之行。燒香然燈得福甚多。燒香作福及以轉經。不得倩人而不嚫。願如倩人食豈得自飽。燒香潔淨然燈續明。燒香齋食讀經噠嚫。以為常法。布施得福。諸天接將。萬惡皆却眾魔降伏。懈怠之人不能精進。一朝疾病又不吉利。便欲燒香方始作福。諸天未降諸魔在前。競來嬈觸作諸變怪。以是之故常當精進。罪福隨人如影隨形。種植福田如尼俱類樹。本種一核稍稍漸大。收子無限。佛言。阿難。施一得萬倍言不虛也。佛時說偈言。

As the *Zhuan lun wudao jing* states: The Buddha said, “Generally speaking, when performing meritorious deeds as practices that follow one's person, burning incense and lighting lamps yields very great merit. In burning incense to create merit, as well as reciting scriptures, one must not employ someone without offering dakṣiṇā. It is like asking someone else to eat on your behalf—how could you become full yourself? Burning incense with purity, lighting lamps to maintain illumination, burning incense, eating vegetarian meals, and offering dakṣiṇā when reading sūtras should be taken as the regular rule. By giving, one gains merit; the devas will welcome and guide you, all evils are repelled, and the hordes of Māra are subdued. Slothful people are unable to make energetic progress. As soon as they are struck by disease or encounter misfortune, they then wish to burn incense and only then begin to create merit. The devas have not yet descended, while all the demons appear before them, competing to harass and disturb them and create various monstrosities. For this reason, one must always be diligent. Transgressions and merit follow a person as a shadow follows a form. Planting a field of merit is like a nyagrodha tree: originally planting a single seed, it gradually grows large, yielding boundless seeds. The Buddha said: ‘Ānanda, that giving one yields ten thousand-fold is no false speech.’” The Buddha then spoke a verse: