Page:Sacred Books of the Buddhists Vol 1.djvu/61

 dress, given away by the simple-minded, are a well-bestowed gift.'

The audience respectfully approved this persuasive discourse of the king, and felt inclined to the exercise of charity and the like.

So any gift that proceeds from faith of the heart, and is bestowed on a worthy recipient, produces a great result; there does not exist at all anything like a trifling gift of that nature. [For this reason, by giving with a faithful heart to the Congregation of the Holy —that most excellent ground fit for (sowing) meritorious actions—one may obtain the utmost gladness, considering thus: 'such blessings, and even greater than these, may erelong occur to me too.']

The pious wish to exercise almsgiving even in spite of imminent peril; who, then, should not be charitable when safe? This will be taught as follows.

In the time, when our Lord was still a Bodhisattva, he was a head of a guild. In consequence of the excessive favour of his destiny, and owing to his own great activity, he had acquired a large estate. His fairness and integrity in commercial transactions procured him the highest esteem among the people; he was born of an illustrious family; he had acquainted himself with various branches of learning and art, and by them purified his mind. These qualities and his noble virtues caused him to be honoured by the king. As he was always keeping the precept of almsgiving, he shared his opulence with the people.

1. The mendicants loving him, praised his name far and wide, so as to fill all parts of the horizon with the high reputation of his prowess as an almsgiver.