諸經要集 14.14

14.14

夫稟形六趣。莫不貪欲為原。受質二儀。並皆戀財為本。雖復人畜兩殊。然慳惜無二。故臨財苟得非謂哲人。見利忘義匪成君子。且錢財玉帛是外所依。幡花僧物。是內供養。理應省己貧窘隨喜他富。豈以自貧貪奪他財。所以調達取花遂便退落。憍梵損粟反受牛身。迦葉乞餅被俗譏呵。比丘嗅香池神雅責。是知偷盜之愆寧非大罪。所以朝飡無寄夜寢無衣。鳥栖鹿宿赤露攣捲。傍路安眠循𮠔求食。遂使母逐鷓鴣而南去。子隨胡馬而北歸。夫類日影而西奔。婦似川流而東逝。莫不望故鄉而腸斷。念生處而號啼。淚交駃而散血。心欝怏而聚眉。如斯之苦。皆由前身不施劫盜中來。故經曰。欲知過去因。當看現在果。欲知未來果。但觀現在因。是故勸諸行者。常須誡勗勿起盜心。乃至遺落不貪。何況故偷他物也（此下有五種盜緣）。

Now, of those who take physical form in the six destinies, there is none that does not have greed and desire as its source. Taking bodily substance from the two poles [of heaven and earth], all alike have attachment to wealth as their root. Although humans and beasts are distinct, their stinginess and possessiveness are no different. Therefore, one who snatches at wealth whenever it is present cannot be called a wise man; one who forgets righteousness upon seeing profit will not become a gentleman. Furthermore, money, wealth, jade, and silk are external dependencies; banners, flowers, and the Saṃgha's property are internal offerings. In principle, one should reflect upon one's own poverty and rejoice in another's wealth; how could one, out of one's own poverty, greedily seize another's property? Thus Devadatta took flowers and thereupon fell away; Gavāmpati damaged millet and instead received an ox's body; Kāśyapa begged for cakes and was ridiculed by worldly folk; the bhikṣu smelled fragrance and was properly rebuked by the pool deity. From this we know that the transgression of stealing is by no means anything other than a grave offense. Thus one has no breakfast to rely on and no clothes for night's sleep; like birds nesting or deer lodging, one is naked and curled up; sleeping by the roadside, one stalks the alleys seeking food. Consequently, mothers follow the partridges southward, while sons follow barbarian horses northward; husbands flee westward like the shadow of the sun, and wives drift eastward like a flowing stream. There is none who does not feel heartbroken gazing toward their old hometown, or weep aloud remembering their birthplace. Tears mingle with blood, pouring down; hearts are aggrieved, with furrowed brows. Sufferings such as these all come from not practicing giving and committing robbery and theft in previous lives. Therefore, the sūtras say: "If you wish to know past causes, look at your present fruit; if you wish to know future fruit, observe your present cause." Therefore, all practitioners are exhorted to constantly admonish themselves never to give rise to thoughts of theft, even to the point of not coveting dropped items, let alone intentionally stealing the property of others! (Below this are five kinds of conditions of stealing.)