Śakra then said, “Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom is endowed with great good qualities because it fulfills all good qualities. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom is endowed with immeasurable good qualities because it is endowed with good qualities that are immeasurable.771 Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom is endowed with limitless good qualities because it is endowed with boundless good qualities.772
“Blessed Lord, any sons or daughters of good families who, having committed this perfection of wisdom to writing and made it into a book, were to uphold it and serve, respect, honor, and worship it with flowers, garlands, incense, unguents, butter lamps, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, ribbons, and diverse musical instruments, and, on top of that, were to focus their attention correctly on this perfection of wisdom as it has been explained, and were any sons or daughters of good families, having made this perfection of wisdom into a book, to bestow it upon others, which of these two would increase the merit more?”
“So then, Kauśika,” replied the Blessed One, “I will ask you yourself a question and you should answer as best you can. Kauśika, were certain sons or daughters of good families to serve, respect, honor, and worship many relics of the tathāgatas with flowers, garlands, incense, unguents, butter lamps, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, ribbons, and diverse musical instruments, and were certain sons or daughters of good families to give mustard seed-size relic of the tathāgatas, were to share them so certain sons or daughters of good families, having received a mustard seed-size relic of the tathāgatas, might serve, respect, honor, and worship it with flowers, garlands, incense, unguents, butter lamps, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, ribbons, and diverse musical instruments, which of these two do you think would increase the merit more?”
Śakra answered, “Blessed Lord, as I understand the meaning of what the Blessed Lord has said, those who bestow a mustard seed-size relic of the tathāgatas on others would increase merit more than the sons or daughters of good families who have served, respected, honored, and worshiped many relics of the tathāgatas with flowers, garlands, incense, unguents, butter lamps, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, ribbons, and diverse musical instruments.
“Blessed Lord, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas, seeing that very fact, generated great compassion for the beings, among the classes of beings, who can be trained by means of the pearl relics773 of the tathāgata, became absorbed in the vajra-like meditative stability, destroyed their vajra-like body, and the blessed relics of the tathāgatas remained. Blessed Lord, if any were to worship a relic of the tathāgatas, as small as it gets, mustard-seed size, with various offerings, by the time that root of virtue reached its end they would all have made an end to suffering.”
“Kauśika, it is so, it is so!” said the Blessed One.
“Kauśika, any sons or daughters of good families who commit this perfection of wisdom to writing and then bestow it upon others out of joy in the Dharma would increase merit more than the sons or daughters of good families who, having made this perfection of wisdom into a book, have served, respected, honored, and worshiped it with flowers, garlands, incense, unguents, butter lamps, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, ribbons, and diverse musical instruments.
“Moreover, Kauśika, if any sons or daughters of good families were to approach others and explain and teach, expound and interpret, and disclose and elucidate the perfection of wisdom, just as it has been taught, those sons or daughters of good families would increase merit more than the former sons or daughters of good families. They would be thought of as the Teacher. They would be thought of as those worthy of the position of guru, as learned774 and like Brahmā in conduct.775 If you ask why, Kauśika, it is because they are the Teacher of this very perfection of wisdom. The Teacher is not one thing and the perfection of wisdom another; rather, the very perfection of wisdom is the Teacher, and the very Teacher is the perfection of wisdom. If you ask why, it is because, having trained in this very perfection of wisdom, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas of the past, future, and present have fully awakened, will fully awaken, and are fully awakening to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment. Those who are like Brahmā in conduct are none other than the irreversible bodhisattvas. They too, having trained in this same perfection of wisdom, have attained, will attain, and are fully awakening to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment.
“Kauśika, those who follow the vehicle of the śrāvakas too, having trained in this very perfection of wisdom, have attained, will attain, and are attaining the fruit of having entered the stream; have attained, will attain, and are attaining the fruit of once-returner; have attained, will attain, and are attaining the fruit of non-returner; and have attained, will attain, and are attaining arhatship. Those who follow the vehicle of the śrāvakas too, having trained in this very perfection of wisdom, have fully awakened, will fully awaken, and are fully awakening to individual enlightenment. Bodhisattva great beings too, having trained in this very perfection of wisdom, have entered, will enter, and are entering a bodhisattva’s full maturity. They have attained, will attain, and are fully awakening to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment.
“Therefore, Kauśika, the sons or daughters of good families who wish to honor, who wish to venerate, who wish to respect, and who wish to worship the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas with flowers, garlands, perfume, unguents, butter lamps, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, flags, and diverse musical instruments should commit this perfection of wisdom to writing and serve, respect, honor, and worship it with flowers, garlands, incense, unguents, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, ribbons, and diverse musical instruments.
“Kauśika, when I, seeing the force of this very fact, having fully awakened to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment, thought, ‘What should I rely on and make a practice of serving, respecting, honoring, worshiping?’ and when, Kauśika, in regard to that, I did not observe anyone similar or superior to me in this world with its gods, demons, and Brahmā deities, with its beings who are virtuous ascetics and brahmin priests, and with its many gods, humans, and asuras, I thought, ‘In that case, I should rely on and make a practice of serving, respecting, honoring, worshiping just that peaceful, sublime Dharma through which I myself fully awakened.’
“Kauśika, if you ask what that Dharma is, it is this very perfection of wisdom. So it is, Kauśika, that even somebody like me776 honors, venerates, respects, and worships this perfection of wisdom, and given that I make a practice of serving, respecting, honoring, and worshiping in that manner, Kauśika, it goes without saying that those sons or daughters of good families who wish to fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment should serve, respect, honor, and worship this very perfection of wisdom with flowers, garlands, perfume, unguents, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, flags, and diverse musical instruments. It goes without saying that those sons or daughters of good families who follow the vehicle of the śrāvakas and those sons or daughters of good families who follow the vehicle of the pratyekabuddhas should serve, respect, honor, and worship the perfection of wisdom with flowers, garlands, perfume, unguents, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, flags, and diverse musical instruments. If you ask why, it is because the bodhisattva great beings have originated from the perfection of wisdom; the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas have originated from the bodhisattvas; and the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have originated from the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas.
“Therefore, Kauśika, sons or daughters of good families in the vehicle of the bodhisattvas, or sons or daughters of good families in the vehicle of the śrāvakas or the vehicle of the pratyekabuddhas, should serve, respect, honor, and worship the perfection of wisdom with flowers, garlands, perfume, unguents, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, flags, and diverse musical instruments. Those sons or daughters of good families who train accordingly in her, have fully awakened, will fully awaken, and are fully awakening to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment; those who follow the vehicle of the śrāvakas also have attained, will attain, and are attaining arhatship; and those who follow the vehicle of the pratyekabuddhas also have attained, will attain, and are attaining individual enlightenment.”
This completes the twenty-second chapter from “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.”