般泥洹後灌臘經

Thus indeed have I heard: At one time, the Buddha was expounding the Dharma to the great assembly of bhikṣus, to devas and humans, in the Jeta Grove, the Garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the country of Śrāvastī.

At that time, Ānanda, kneeling before the World-Honored One with palms joined, addressed him, saying:

"O World-Honored One! We have something we wish to ask; may the Buddha instruct us! It is this: After the Buddha enters nirvāṇa, how should the four assemblies of disciples—bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās—perform the rite of bathing the Buddha on the fifteenth day of the seventh month?"

The Buddha said to Ānanda:

"To bathe the Buddha on the day that ends the rains retreat is to generate merit, with the wish that beings may be delivered. Therefore, let each person set aside a little of their wealth and spare a few of their precious things in order to seek transcendent merit. Furthermore, one should make offerings to the monastery to provide for the expenses of incense and lamps, the restoration of the Buddha images, and the printing of scriptures.

"If one makes offerings to the assembly of monks, or gives alms to the poor, then one should establish a vegetarian feast. One must not promise to give and then afterward refuse to hand it over, for that is to be in debt to the Buddha in this very life. Because it is brought about by one's own mouth and mind, one will thereby commit the offense of false speech. Why is this so?

"Because the Buddha established the basin for performing the rite, blending into it the five kinds of fragrant water, and then with one's own hands one bathes the Buddha, while the master who receives the offerings will invoke a blessing upon this rite. At that time the devas, the dragons, the ghosts, and the spirits all bear witness: that this person has taken the wealth of the five households, has cut away from the portion meant for the use of wife and children in order to seek merit and benefit, and yet refuses to hand it over. Therefore that person incurs five offenses and falls into the three evil destinies.

"The five offenses: 1. Their wealth steadily dwindles; 2. They lose their joy; 3. They meet with misfortune in their business; 4. They are interrogated and tortured with pain beyond all measure in the hell of Mount Tai; 5. In a future life they will be born as a servant, an ox, a horse, a mule, a donkey, a camel, or as a pig or goat.

"The three evil destinies: 1. They fall and become hungry ghosts; 2. They fall and become beasts among the animals; 3. They fall into the hells, passing through the eighteen levels of that place, where their suffering cannot be reckoned or counted.

"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, reflecting upon one's parents of seven generations and the kinsfolk of one's five clans who are falling into the evil destinies and undergoing much suffering—for this reason, the Buddha taught the performance of this rite to generate merit, so as to help them escape from those realms of affliction; therefore it is called the Pravāraṇā offering.

"The Buddha is the king of the three realms; he does not eat or drink as worldly people do. All those offerings are to be divided among the assembly of monks; one should not keep them for oneself alone. To keep them for oneself is to commit a grave offense. If there is no assembly of monks to whom they may be distributed, then one should give them in alms to the poor and destitute, the solitary, and the aged and infirm. This is to plant the roots of goodness."

When the disciples had heard the sūtra, they joyfully paid homage to the Buddha and withdrew.