法苑珠林 62.20

62.20

"You yourself now say,
'Without planting seed, there is no fruit.'
Having no causes of giving from past lives,
How could you obtain fruit now?
Although you now endure hardship,
Fasting and making offerings to me,
You vainly undergo weariness and toil,
And furthermore disturb and trouble me.
By what means could I cause you
To have present benefit in actual affairs?
If you wish to obtain wealth and treasures,
Wives, children, and family retinues,
You should purify your body and speech
And perform the karma of giving (dāna).
[If] one could obtain blessed benefit without planting,
The sun, the moon, and the constellations
Should not shine upon the world;
Because they illuminate the world,
You should know that it is due to karma.
Among all the devas in the heavens
There are likewise respective differences:
Those with abundant power of merit have flourishing majesty and virtue,
While those with little merit have scant majesty and virtue.
Therefore, know that in the world
All things are caused by karma.
By giving, one attains wealth;
By keeping precepts, one is born in the heavens.
If one lacks the conditions of giving,
Majesty and virtue will be destroyed over kalpas.
Through concentration and wisdom, one attains liberation.
The retributions obtained by these three
Were spoken by the Ten-Powered One.
All these seeds are causes;
You should not disturb me.
Therefore, you should cultivate karma
To seek future fruits."