The Lord Buddha rejoined, saying: “If a disciple adhered with implicit faith to a stanza[3] of this Scripture, and diligently explained it to others, the intrinsic merit of that disciple would be relatively greater. And why? Because, Subhuti, the holy Buddhas, and the Law[4] by which they attained to supreme spiritual wisdom, severally owe their inception to the truth[5] of this sacred Scripture. Subhuti, what is ordinarily termed the Buddhic Law, is not really a Law attributive to Buddha.”[6]
[1] Gold, silver, pearls, coral, cornelian, glass, and crystal.
[2] “Very considerable indeed, world-honoured one! But why so? This merit being in its very character of the nature of that which is no merit at all, so Tathagata speaks of it as being ‘much.’”—Kin-Kong-King. Beal.
“Subhuti said: Yes, O Sugata, that son or daughter of a good family would produce a large stock of merit. And why? Because, O Bhagavat, what was preached by the Tathagata as the stock of merit, is no stock of merit. Therefore, the Tathagata preaches: ‘a stock of merit, a stock of merit indeed!’”—The Vagrakkhedika. Max Müller.
[3] “Gatha—hymns and chants, narratives containing moral expositions in metrical language. A Chinese text says, ‘32 characters form one Gatha,’ which refers to a certain variety of Gatha called Aryagiti, a metre consisting of 32 instants.”—Handbook of Chinese Buddhism. Eitel.
[4] “The Dharmma (Law) is perfect, having nothing redundant, and nothing wanting. But it requires attention, that the benefits it offers may be received. Though the teacher may attain great happiness, and enter Nirvana, it does not follow that the disciple will necessarily possess the same privileges; he may be like one who binds the crown upon the head of another. Therefore each one for himself must exercise meditation, and observe the ordinances, that he may attain wisdom.”—Eastern Monachism. Spence Hardy.
[5] “Faith is in the world the best property for a man; Dhamma (the Law), well observed, conveys happiness; truth, indeed, is the sweetest of things; and the life they call the best which is lived with understanding.”—Sutta-Nipata. Fausböll.
[6] “What then, Subhuti? All the Buddhas, and all the perfect laws of the Buddhas, have sprung from (the principles of) this one Sutra; but, Subhuti, that which is spoken of as the Law of Buddha, is after all not such a Law (or, is a Law of no Buddha).”—Kin-Kong-King. Beal.
“Because, O Subhuti, the highest perfect knowledge of the holy and enlightened Tathagatas is produced from it; the blessed Buddhas are produced from it. And why? Because, O Subhuti, when the Tathagata preached: ‘The qualities of Buddha, the qualities of Buddha indeed!’ They were preached by him as no-qualities of Buddha. Therefore they are called the qualities of Buddha.”—The Vagrakkhedika. Max Müller.
An erudite Chinese commentator suggests that the words fei-fuh-fah are synonymous with wu-wei-fah—intuition, already observed in the preceding section. A familiar passage from Lao-Tsz, “Infinite truth is inexpressible,” is quoted by our commentator as serving to illustrate the difficulty of giving expression to an idea equivalent to the Law of Buddha.