法苑珠林 41.23

41.23

Furthermore, the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra states: Because the Buddhas respect the Dharma, they make offerings to the Dharma, taking the Dharma as their teacher. Why is this? The Buddhas of the three periods of time all take the dharmatā of all dharmas as their teacher. Question: If the Buddha does not seek merit, why does he make offerings? Answer: The Buddha cultivated all virtues through immeasurable kalpas and constantly practiced all goods, not merely seeking retribution; because he reveres virtue, he makes offerings. For instance, when the Buddha was in the world, before Aniruddha obtained the divine eye, he was blind and could see nothing, yet he sewed his robes with his hands. At that time, the needle slipped unthreaded, so he said, 'Who that loves merit will thread the needle for me?' At that time, the Buddha went to his place and spoke to the monk, saying, 'I am a person who loves merit; I have come to thread it for you.' That monk recognized the Buddha's voice, swiftly stood up, adjusted his robes, and bowed at the Buddha's feet. He said to the Buddha, 'The Buddha's merit is already full; why do you say you love merit?' The Buddha answered, saying, 'Although my merit is already full, because I deeply know the power of the repaying of kindness through merit, it has caused me to be the foremost among all sentient beings. Because of this merit, and also because I desire to instruct and transform my disciples, I say to you: I still create merit; why do you not create it?' It is like a hundred-year-old grandfather in an entertainers' troupe dancing; someone rebuked him, saying, 'Old man, you are already a hundred years old; what use is this dancing?' The old man answered, saying, 'I have no need to dance, but only desire to teach my children and grandchildren.' The Buddha is also like this: although his merit is full, in order to teach his disciples to create merit, he makes offerings. Therefore, when the Buddha's foster mother Mahāprajāpatī passed away, the Four Heavenly Kings carried the bier to escort her, and the Buddha went before holding an incense burner, burning incense to make offerings. In order to repay kindness, although he did not seek the fruit, he practiced equal offerings. Only a Buddha ought to make offerings to a Buddha; other people do not know the Buddha's virtues. As a verse says: