法苑珠林 92.7

92.7

'Just as when hail harms grain,
If someone is able to block it,
The owner of the field is greatly delighted
And rewards him with wealth and silks;
That slanderer is a dear friend,
He should not be called an enemy.
He blocks the hail of gain and offerings from me;
I ought to repay his kindness.
Like that Devadatta,
Harmed by the hail of gain and offerings,
Because of his greedy attachment,
Not a hair of good dharma remained to him.
Just as when being flayed with a hair-rope,
The skin breaks, the flesh and bones are destroyed,
The marrow is severed, down to the heart—
Gain and offerings are worse than a hair-rope:
They sever the skin of keeping the precepts,
They can break the flesh of dhyāna-concentration,
Shatter the bones of wisdom,
And destroy the marrow of the wonderful wholesome mind.
Because of greed for gain and offerings,
One takes no pleasure in quiet and secluded places;
The mind is constantly bound to gain and offerings,
Resting neither day nor night.'