大通方廣懺悔滅罪莊嚴成佛經 2.37

2.37

佛言。善男子。若人以三千大千世界。滿中珍寶。以用布施。不如聞此經名。福勝於彼。復置是事。若人以十千世界。滿中珍寶。以用布施。不如有人。攝持經卷。福多於彼。復置是事。若人以十方世界。滿中珍寶以用布施。不如有人。書寫大乘方廣經典。乃至一字一句。或復一偈。福多於彼。復置是事。雖施無量國珍寶。不如至心讀誦一偈。復置是事。雖施十千世界。滿中眾生命。不如至心解義一句。為人說一偈之義。福勝於彼。所以者何。財食布施。是世間布施。長養性命。不出世間。大乘法施。長養眾生。菩提道根。能續三乘。智慧常命。善男子。讀持是經者。本雖惡人。今是善人。本雖苦人。今是樂人。本雖縛人。今是脫人。本雖未度。今是度人。本雖無智。今是論師。本雖有漏。今是無漏。本雖凡行。今是聖行。本雖失道。今入聖道。身雖凡夫。讀持是經。智同聖慧。本雖煩惱。讀持是經。共諸佛如來。同有涅槃。

The Buddha said: "Good man, if someone gave away three thousand great thousand worlds filled with precious jewels in charity, it would not compare to hearing the name of this sūtra; the latter's merit surpasses the former. Setting this matter aside, if someone gave away ten thousand worlds filled with precious jewels in charity, it would not compare to someone who embraces and upholds this sūtra; the latter's merit is greater than the former. Setting this matter aside, if someone gave away worlds of the ten directions filled with precious jewels in charity, it would not compare to someone who copies this Great Universal Vaipulya Mahāyāna scripture, even a single character, a single phrase, or a single verse; the latter's merit is greater than the former. Setting this matter aside, although one gives away the precious jewels of immeasurable lands, it does not compare to reading and reciting a single verse with sincere mind. Setting this matter aside, although one gives away the lives of sentient beings filling ten thousand worlds, it does not compare to understanding the meaning of a single phrase with sincere mind, or explaining the meaning of a single verse to others; the latter's merit surpasses the former. Why is this? The giving of wealth and food is worldly charity; it nurtures physical life, but does not transcend the world. The Dharma gift of the Mahāyāna nurtures sentient beings' roots of the path to bodhi and can sustain the eternal life of wisdom in the three vehicles. Good man, though one who reads and upholds this sūtra was originally an evil person, now they are a good person; though originally a suffering person, now they are a happy person; though originally a bound person, now they are a liberated person; though originally uncrossed, now they are a crossed person; though originally without wisdom, now they are a master of discourse; though originally with outflows, now they are without outflows; though originally [practicing] ordinary practice, now they are [practicing] noble practice; though originally having strayed from the path, now they enter the noble path. Although their body is that of an ordinary person, by reading and upholding this sūtra, their wisdom is equal to noble wisdom; although they originally had defilements, by reading and upholding this sūtra, they share nirvāṇa together with all the Buddhas and Tathāgatas."