The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters - 11佛說四十二章經 第11章後漢 西域沙門迦葉摩騰 竺法蘭 同譯
Translated jointly by Indian Sramana Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaraksa in the Later Han Dynasty
△ 中文 | 德焱英文 | 弘惠 00 : 52 开始
第11章 施飯轉勝
Progressive Merits of Alms Giving佛言。飯惡人百。不如飯一善人。The Buddha said: "It is better to feed one good man than to feed one hundred bad men.
飯善人千。不如飯一持五戒者。It is better to feed one who observes the five precepts of Buddha than to feed one thousand good men.
飯五戒者萬。不如飯一須陀洹。
It is better to feed one Srotaapanna than to feed ten thousands of those who observe the five precepts of Buddha. 飯百萬須陀洹。不如飯一斯陀含。It is better to feed one Sakradagamins than to feed one million of Srotaapannas.
It is better to feed one Anagamin than to feed ten millions of Sakradagamins. 飯一億阿那含。不如飯一阿羅漢。It is better to feed one Arhat than to feed one hundred millions of Anagamins.
飯十億阿羅漢。不如飯一辟支佛。
It is better to feed one Pratyekabuddha than to feed one billion of Arhats. 飯百億辟支佛。不如飯一三世諸佛。It is better to feed one of the Buddhas, either of the present, or of the past, or of the future, than to feed ten billions of Pratyekabuddhas.
飯千億三世諸佛。不如飯一無念無住無修無證之者。
It is better to feed one who is above knowledge, onesidedness, discipline, and enlightenment than to feed one hundred billions of Buddhas of the past, present, or future." 英文版经文转载自 菩提字幕屋，英译者 D.T. SuzukiEnglish version sourced from Bodhi Fansubs, translated by D.T. Suzuki △ 英文 | 释宏添 中文 | 德焱 03 : 03开始
法师讲解：施飯轉勝
Commentary: Progressive merits of alms giving
In this section, the merits of offering to different kinds of alms receivers were ranked in ascending order. Among these receivers, the one who is beyond discrimination actually refers to the great Bodhisattvas, and from a macroscopic perspective offering of food denotes alms giving as a whole.
Why are the merits so different in each scenario then? We may want to know that the difference between bad men and good men is the belief of karma, and the difference between good men and Upasakas of five precepts is the belief in Buddhism. Also the difference between Upasakas of five precepts and the Sravaka sages is liberation from samsara, and the differences between the Sravaka sages and the Buddhas are unsurpassed compassion, loving kindness, wisdom and the well being of limitless number of sentient beings.
Then why offering to someone beyond discrimination is more meritorious than offering to the Buddha? Great Master Ou Yi of Ming Dynasty quoted this case study from the Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom to explain The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters: Once Sariputra made an offering of a bowl of rice to the Buddha, but the Buddha used it to feed a dog behind Sariputra. The Buddha asked Sariputra whose offering was more meritorious, and Sariputra replied that the Buddha’s offering was supposed to be more meritorious.
Why is that so? The merits of alms giving are more related to breadth of the giver’s mentality rather than the identity of the receiving party. Since the Buddha had perfected his mind in terms of equality and non-discrimination, his offering to the dog was therefore more meritorious. Master Ou Yi also quoted a story from the Vimalakirti-Nirdesa-Sutra in which Vimalakirti offered the Buddha and a beggar jewels in equal share, and surprisingly the merits of the two offerings were equal. We may want to know that the true identity of Vimalakirti was also a Buddha.
It follows that the first eight scenarios were talking about the pursuit of external form, which is more aligned with secular people’s mind. As for the last scenario, it was talking about a pure mind without discrimination from within, which is more close to the mind of the Mahayana sages. The first eight scenarios were expounded at the beginning in order to arouse our respect for the Three Jewels, and then the last scenario was taught in order to bring out the ultimate truth about the pure form of alms giving. 由此可见，前八种情况是讲对外在表相的追求，这与凡夫心更相应。而最后一种情况是讲内在的清净平等无分别心，这更接近大乘圣者的心。经中先讲出前八种情况是要让大家对三宝产生恭敬，再讲出后者是为了带出清净布施的真谛。
