維摩詰所說經法供養品第十三
Chapter 13: Dharma Offering
爾時釋提桓因於大眾中白佛言：「世尊！我雖從佛及文殊師利聞百千經，未曾聞此不可思議、自在神通、決定實相經典。如我解佛所說義趣，若有眾生聞是經法，信解、受持、讀誦之者，必得是法不疑，何況如說修行？斯人即為閉眾惡趣開諸善門，常為諸佛之所護念；降伏外學，摧滅魔怨；修治菩提，安處道場；履踐如來所行之跡。世尊！若有受持讀誦、如說修行者，我當與諸眷屬供養給事；所在聚落城邑、山林曠野有是經處，我亦與諸眷屬聽受法故，共到其所；其未信者，當令生信，其已信者，當為作護。」
At that time, Śakra Devānām Indra spoke to the Buddha from within the assembly: "World-Honored One, although I have heard hundreds and thousands of sutras from you and Mañjuśrī, I have never before heard a scripture as inconceivable, as filled with sovereign spiritual powers, and as revealing of the ultimate truth as this one. According to my understanding of the meaning you have explained, any sentient being who hears this teaching and, with faith and understanding, upholds, recites, and studies it, will surely attain this dharma without doubt—how much more so those who put it into practice! Such a person will close off all paths to suffering and open the door to all goodness. They will always be protected and remembered by all Buddhas; they will overcome non-Buddhist teachings and destroy demonic influences; they will cultivate the path to enlightenment, abide in the place of awakening, and walk in the very footsteps of the Tathāgata. World-Honored One, as for those who uphold, recite, and practice this teaching as spoken, I and my retinue will make offerings and serve them. In whatever villages, cities, forests, or wildernesses where this scripture is found, I and my retinue will go there to hear the Dharma. For those who have not yet gained faith, we will help them develop faith; for those who already have faith, we will protect them."
佛言：「善哉，善哉！天帝！如汝所說，吾助爾喜。此經廣說過去、未來、現在諸佛不可思議阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。是故，天帝！若善男子、善女人受持、讀誦、供養是經者，即為供養去、來、今佛。天帝！正使三千大千世界如來滿中，譬如甘蔗、竹𥯤、稻麻、叢林；若有善男子、善女人，或一劫、或減一劫，恭敬尊重，讚歎供養，奉諸所安，至諸佛滅後，以一一全身舍利起七寶塔——縱廣一四天下，高至梵天，表剎莊嚴——以一切華香、瓔珞、幢幡、伎樂微妙第一，若一劫、若減一劫，而供養之，於天帝意云何，其人植福寧為多不？」
The Buddha said: "Excellent, excellent, Lord of Heaven! Just as you have said, I rejoice in your understanding. This sutra fully expounds the unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment of all Buddhas—past, future, and present. Therefore, Lord of Heaven, if a good man or good woman upholds, recites, studies, and makes offerings to this sutra, they are thereby making offerings to all Buddhas of the past, future, and present.
Lord of Heaven, suppose the entire great trichiliocosm were filled with Tathagatas—as numerous as sugarcane, bamboo, reeds, rice plants, hemp trees, or dense forests. And suppose a good man or good woman, for the duration of one kalpa or a kalpa shortened, were to revere, honor, praise, and make offerings to all these Buddhas, providing them with every comfort. Then, after those Buddhas had passed into nirvana, suppose this person were to erect for each and every one of their complete relics a seven-jeweled stupa—each as wide as the four continents, as high as the Brahma Heaven, adorned with banner poles, decorated with every kind of flower, incense, necklace, canopy, and with the most sublime music and dance—and were to make offerings for one full kalpa or even a shortened kalpa. What do you think, Lord of Heaven? Would the blessings accumulated by this person be great?"
釋提桓因言：「多矣！世尊！彼之福德，若以百千億劫說不能盡。」
Śakra said: "It is vast, World-Honored One! Its merit and virtue cannot be fully described even if spoken of for hundreds of billions of kalpas."
佛告天帝：「當知是善男子、善女人聞是不可思議解脫經典，信解受持，讀誦修行，福多於彼。所以者何？諸佛菩提皆從是生；菩提之相不可限量，以是因緣福不可量。」
The Buddha said to the Heavenly King, "You should know that if good men and good women hear this sutra on the inconceivable liberation, and they understand it, accept it, uphold it, recite it, and practice it, their blessings will be far greater than those of the person mentioned earlier. Why is this? Because the enlightenment of all Buddhas arises from this sutra. The nature of enlightenment has no limits, and for this reason, the blessings it brings are also immeasurable."
佛告天帝：「過去無量阿僧祇劫，時世有佛，號曰藥王如來、應供、正遍知、明行足、善逝、世間解、無上士、調御丈夫、天人師、佛、世尊。世界名大莊嚴，劫曰莊嚴，佛壽二十小劫。其聲聞僧三十六億那由他，菩薩僧有十二億。天帝！是時有轉輪聖王，名曰寶蓋，七寶具足，主四天下。王有千子，端正勇健，能伏怨敵。
The Buddha told the Heavenly Lord, "In the past, countless eons ago, a Buddha appeared in the world named Medicine King Tathagata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly Enlightened, Perfect in Wisdom and Conduct, Well-Gone, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Beings, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, World-Honored One. The world was called Great Adornment, and the eon was called Adornment. That Buddha's lifespan was twenty minor eons. His Sangha of voice-hearers numbered thirty-six hundred million nayutas, and his Sangha of Bodhisattvas numbered twelve hundred million. Heavenly Lord, at that time there was a Wheel-Turning Sage King named Jeweled Canopy, who possessed the seven treasures and ruled over the four continents. The king had a thousand sons, handsome and brave, able to subdue enemies.
「爾時寶蓋與其眷屬，供養藥王如來，施諸所安，至滿五劫。過五劫已，告其千子：『汝等亦當如我，以深心供養於佛。』於是千子受父王命，供養藥王如來，復滿五劫，一切施安。其王一子，名曰月蓋，獨坐思惟：『寧有供養殊過此者？』以佛神力，空中有天曰：『善男子！法之供養勝諸供養。』即問：『何謂法之供養？』天曰：『汝可往問藥王如來，當廣為汝說法之供養。』
At that time, Treasure Canopy and his followers made offerings to the Tathagata Medicine King, providing him with every comfort, and this continued for a full five kalpas. After five kalpas had passed, he said to his thousand sons: "You too should follow my example and make offerings to the Buddha with deep devotion." So the thousand sons, following their father the king's command, made offerings to the Tathagata Medicine King, and for another full five kalpas they provided every comfort.
One of the king's sons, named Moon Canopy, sat alone in contemplation: "Could there be any offering that surpasses this?" Then by the Buddha's spiritual power, a heavenly being spoke from the sky: "Good man! The offering of the Dharma surpasses all other offerings." He immediately asked: "What is meant by the offering of the Dharma?" The heavenly being replied: "You should go and ask the Tathagata Medicine King; he will explain the offering of the Dharma to you in full."
「即時月蓋王子行詣藥王如來，稽首佛足，却住一面，白佛言：『世尊！諸供養中，法供養勝。云何為法供養？』佛言：『善男子！法供養者，諸佛所說深經，一切世間難信難受，微妙難見，清淨無染，非但分別思惟之所能得，菩薩法藏所攝，陀羅尼印印之；至不退轉，成就六度，善分別義，順菩提法，眾經之上；入大慈悲，離眾魔事及諸邪見；順因緣法，無我、無人、無眾生、無壽命，空、無相、無作、無起；能令眾生坐於道場而轉法輪，諸天、龍神、乾闥婆等所共歎譽；能令眾生入佛法藏，攝諸賢聖一切智慧；說眾菩薩所行之道；依於諸法實相之義，明宣無常、苦、空、無我、寂滅之法；能救一切毀禁眾生，諸魔外道及貪著者能使怖畏，諸佛賢聖所共稱歎；背生死苦，示涅槃樂，十方三世諸佛所說；若聞如是等經，信解、受持、讀誦，以方便力為諸眾生分別解說，顯示分明，守護法故，是名法之供養。又於諸法如說修行，隨順十二因緣，離諸邪見，得無生忍；決定無我無有眾生，而於因緣果報無違無諍，離諸我所；依於義不依語，依於智不依識，依了義經不依不了義經，依於法不依人；隨順法相，無所入，無所歸；無明畢竟滅故，諸行亦畢竟滅，乃至生畢竟滅故，老死亦畢竟滅：作如是觀十二因緣，無有盡相，不復起見，是名最上法之供養。』」
At that time, Prince Moon Covering went to the Tathagata Medicine King, bowed his head at the Buddha's feet, stood to one side, and said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, among all offerings, the offering of Dharma is supreme. What is the offering of Dharma?"
The Buddha said: "Good man, the offering of Dharma means: receive and uphold the profound sutras spoken by all Buddhas—teachings that all worldly beings find hard to believe and hard to accept, subtle and difficult to perceive, pure and undefiled, not attainable merely through discrimination and conceptual thought; they are embraced within the Bodhisattva's treasury of Dharma and sealed with the seal of dharani; they lead to non-retrogression, fulfill the Six Perfections, skillfully distinguish meanings, accord with the Dharma of Enlightenment, and stand above all sutras; they enter great compassion, departing from all demonic deeds and wrong views; they accord with the Dharma of dependent origination—non-self, no person, no sentient being, no lifespan; emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, non-arising; they can lead sentient beings to sit at the site of Enlightenment and turn the wheel of Dharma, praised together by gods, dragons, gandharvas, and others; they can lead sentient beings to enter the treasury of the Buddha-Dharma and embrace all wisdom of the sages and saints; they teach the path walked by all Bodhisattvas; relying on the meaning of the true nature of all phenomena, they clearly proclaim the Dharma of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, non-self, and quiescent cessation; they can rescue all beings who have broken the precepts, inspire fear in demons, outside-path followers, and those attached to craving, and are praised together by all Buddhas, sages, and saints; they turn away from the suffering of birth and death and reveal the joy of Nirvana—spoken by all Buddhas of the ten directions and three times.
"If one hears such sutras, believes and understands them, receives and upholds them, reads and recites them, and with skillful means explains them clearly and distinctly for all sentient beings, guarding the Dharma—this is called the offering of Dharma.
"Furthermore, practicing in accordance with the teaching of all phenomena, following the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, departing from all wrong views, and attaining the acceptance of non-arising; firmly realizing non-self and no sentient being, yet without contradiction or dispute regarding the causes, conditions, and their effects, departing from all sense of 'mine'; relying on meaning and not on words, relying on wisdom and not on consciousness, relying on sutras of definitive meaning and not on those of provisional meaning, relying on the Dharma and not on persons; according with the characteristics of phenomena, without entering anywhere, without returning anywhere; because ignorance ceases completely, all formations also cease completely, and so on until because birth ceases completely, aging and death also cease completely: contemplating the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination in this way, without any notion of exhaustion, no longer giving rise to views—this is called the supreme offering of Dharma."
佛告天帝：「王子月蓋從藥王佛聞如是法，得柔順忍。即解寶衣嚴身之具，以供養佛，白佛言：『世尊！如來滅後，我當行法供養，守護正法。願以威神加哀建立，令我得降魔怨，修菩薩行。』佛知其深心所念，而記之曰：『汝於末後守護法城。』天帝！時王子月蓋，見法清淨，聞佛授記，以信出家，修集善法；精進不久，得五神通，逮菩薩道，得陀羅尼，無斷辯才。於佛滅後，以其所得神通、總持、辯才之力，滿十小劫，藥王如來所轉法輪隨而分布。月蓋比丘以守護法，勤行精進，即於此身，化百萬億人於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提立不退轉；十四那由他人，深發聲聞、辟支佛心；無量眾生得生天上。天帝！時王寶蓋豈異人乎？今現得佛，號寶炎如來；其王千子，即賢劫中千佛是也——從迦羅鳩孫駄為始得佛，最後如來號曰樓至。月蓋比丘，即我身是。如是，天帝！當知此要：以法供養於諸供養為上為最，第一無比。是故，天帝！當以法之供養，供養於佛。」
The Buddha told the god Shakra: "The prince Moon-Garland, having heard this teaching from the Buddha Medicine-King, attained the patient acceptance of gentle compliance. He immediately removed his jeweled garments and personal adornments and offered them to the Buddha, saying: 'World-Honored One, after the Tathāgata has passed into cessation, I shall practice the offering of the Dharma and guard and protect the true Dharma. I pray that you, with your majestic power, extend compassionate support and establish me, so that I may subdue the foes of Mara and cultivate the bodhisattva practice.' The Buddha, knowing the thoughts deep in his heart, gave him a prediction, saying: 'In the final age you shall guard the fortress of the Dharma.'
"Shakra, at that time the prince Moon-Garland, seeing the Dharma as pure and hearing the Buddha's prediction, went forth in faith and cultivated and gathered wholesome dharmas. Through Diligence, before long he attained the five supernatural powers, reached the bodhisattva path, obtained dhāraṇīs, and gained unbroken eloquence. After the Buddha's cessation, by the power of the supernatural powers, dhāraṇīs, and eloquence he had attained, for a full ten minor kalpas he distributed abroad the Dharma-wheel turned by the Buddha Medicine-King. The monk Moon-Garland, guarding the Dharma and diligently practicing Diligence, in that very body enabled a hundred million billion people to be established in non-retrogression on the path to peerless perfect Enlightenment; fourteen nayutas of people deeply aroused the minds of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; and countless sentient beings were reborn in the heavens.
"Shakra, was King Jewel-Garland anyone else? He has now attained Buddhahood and is called Tathāgata Jewel-Blaze. His thousand sons are the thousand Buddhas of the present Worthy Kalpa—beginning with Krakucchanda, the first to attain Buddhahood, and ending with the last Tathāgata, called Rucika. The monk Moon-Garland was myself. So, Shakra, you should know this essential point: the offering of the Dharma is foremost, highest, and unsurpassed among all offerings. Therefore, Shakra, you should honor the Buddha with the offering of the Dharma."