諸經要集 2.71

2.71

Furthermore, the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says: If there are those who do not believe in this scripture, in their present life they will be afflicted and harmed by immeasurable illnesses and sufferings, often reviled and humiliated by sentient beings, and after death despised by people. Their facial features will be ugly, their livelihood difficult, and they will constantly lack sufficient provisions. Even if they occasionally obtain a little, it will be coarse, astringent, ruined, and vile. They will constantly live in poor, base families that slander the true Dharma and hold false views. When approaching death, they may encounter wild turmoil with weapons clashing, tyrannies of kings, or the incursions and oppressions of enemies and adversaries. Though there may be good friends, they will not meet them. What they need for livelihood, though sought, cannot be obtained. Though obtaining little gain, they will constantly suffer hunger and thirst. They will be acknowledged only by the vulgar and lowly, while kings and great ministers will entirely disregard them. Even if they hear what such a person preaches, even if it is reasonable, in the end they will not believe and accept it. Such a person is like a bird with broken wings that cannot fly; this person is also like that. In future lives, he cannot reach the good destinies of humans and gods. If, on the other hand, there is a person who can believe in such a Mahāyāna scripture, though the form he originally received was coarse and ugly, through the merit of the scripture he immediately becomes handsome; his majestic countenance and physical strength increase more day by day. He is constantly a joy for humans and gods to behold, who revere and cherish him without any desire to leave. Kings, great ministers, and family relatives, upon hearing what he speaks, all revere and believe it. If among my śrāvaka disciples there are those who wish to practice the foremost and rare deed, they should broadly proclaim such Mahāyāna scriptures for the world. Good sons, it is like fog and dew: though their power seeks to abide, it does not outlast the rising of the sun. Once the sun has risen, they are extinguished without remainder. Good sons, all the evil karma of these sentient beings is also like this: the power with which it abides in the world does not outlast encountering the sun of the Mahāparinirvāṇa. Once this sun has risen, it can entirely eliminate all evil karma. Furthermore, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra says: Whether while the Buddha is in the world or after his parinirvāṇa, if someone slanders such a scripture, or seeing someone reading, reciting, copying, or upholding this scripture, looks down on, resents, envies, and bears enmity toward him—now listen again to the karmic retribution of this person: When this person's life ends, he enters the Avīci hell for a full kalpa, and when the kalpa ends he is born again [there], thus revolving for countless kalpas. Emerging from the hell, he will fall into the animal realm for countless kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, continually born deaf, mute, and with incomplete faculties. He told Śāriputra: For one who slanders this scripture, if one were to speak of his offenses, they could not be exhausted in a whole kalpa. The verse says: