The Translation

[F.330.b]

1.1Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

1.1禮敬諸佛及諸菩薩！

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Rājagṛha, on Vulture Peak Mountain, together with a great saṅgha of monks and a great saṅgha of bodhisattvas.

我聞如是：一時，佛住在王舍城鷲峰山，與大比丘僧和大菩薩僧眾共聚一處。

1.2On that occasion the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya rose from his seat, draped his shawl over one shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. Joining his palms and bowing to the Blessed One, he spoke these words: “Blessed One, what are the karmic results of bestowing the Dharma?”

1.2那時，菩薩摩訶薩彌勒從座而起，偏袒右肩，右膝著地，合掌向佛敬禮，說道：「世尊，施法的業果是什麼？」

1.3The Blessed One replied to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya, “Maitreya, suppose one person filled as many great trichiliocosms as there are grains of sand in the river Ganges with the seven precious substances and offered them to the tathāgata, arhat, truly perfect buddhas, and another person, out of compassion, established a single verse of the Dharma in the mindstream of another. Maitreya, the former mass of merit would not even come close to a hundredth of this latter mass of merit. Nor could it be compared to even a thousandth, a hundred-thousandth, a ten-millionth, a hundred-sextillionth, or any other portion, fraction, enumeration, or example.”

1.3佛對菩薩摩訶薩彌勒說：「彌勒，假如有人用七種珍寶填滿恆河裡沙粒數量那麼多的三千大千世界，並將這些珍寶獻給如來、阿羅漢、正等正覺的佛。而另有一個人，出於悲心，在他人的心相續中建立了一句法，彌勒，前者積累的福德還達不到後者福德的百分之一。它不能與千分之一、十萬分之一、千萬分之一、百億分之一相比，也不能與任何其他部分、分數、計算方式或比喻相比。」

1.4After the Sugata had said this, the Teacher furthermore declared:

1.4善逝如此說後，導師復又宣說：

“Consider one who has caused as many world realms as there are sand grains in the Ganges

「想像一個人令恆河沙數量一樣多的世界領域充滿

To be filled to the brim with an abundance of riches

充滿豐盛的財寶直到邊際

And offered these to the victors with a joyful mind,

並以歡喜心將這些供獻給勝利者，

And another who has bestowed a single verse to a sentient being‍—

與另一個人相比，那人只向一個有情眾生施予單一的偈頌—

“If that exceedingly vast gift of riches

「如果那個極其廣大的財富供養

Does not equal any fraction or portion

不及其一分一毫

Of cultivating compassion and then bestowing a single verse, [F.331.a]

培養悲心然後給予一首偈頌的功德，

How could one fathom the ripening of giving a verse twice, or three times?”

「又怎麼能夠測度施受經文兩次或三次的成熟果報呢？」

1.6When the Blessed One had spoken, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya, the other bodhisattvas and the monks, and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.

1.6薄伽梵說此語已，菩薩摩訶薩彌勒及其他菩薩、諸比丘，與世間的天、人、阿修羅、乾闥婆都歡喜踊躍，讚嘆薄伽梵的言教。

1.7This completes the noble Mahāyāna sūtra “The Question of Maitreya.”

1.7（結尾）