諸經要集 5.28

5.28

As the Xianyu jing states: "If a dānapati completely makes specific invitations to the sixteen kinds [of monks], although he will obtain karmic rewards of merit, it is still not much. What are the sixteen? Bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs each have eight classes. It is not as good as indiscriminately inviting four people; the merit and blessings obtained exceed the former, and [the former] do not equal even a sixteenth part of it. In the future age of decline, when the Dharma is on the verge of extinction, even if bhikṣus keep wives and raise children, if there are four or more, they are nominally the Saṅgha, and one should revere them just like Śāriputra, Maudgalyāyana, and the others." At that time, Maitreya Bodhisattva asked the Saṅgha: "If a dānapati invites one śramaṇa who observes pure precepts to his home and makes offerings to him, how does the profit obtained compare to someone gaining one hundred thousand coins?" Then Kauṇḍinya immediately said: "Even if someone obtained one hundred carts of precious jewels, when calculating the blessings and benefits, it would not equal inviting one śramaṇa of pure precepts to one's home and making offerings, which brings vastly more benefit." Śāriputra said: "Suppose someone obtained an entire Jambudvīpa filled with precious jewels; it would still not equal inviting one who observes pure precepts to one's home and making offerings, which secures far more benefit." Maudgalyāyana said: "Even if someone obtained the precious jewels of two continents, or up to all four continents, the benefit would still not equal inviting one pure śramaṇa to go to one's home and making offerings, which brings exceedingly superior benefit."