佛說校量數珠功德經

At that time the venerable Mañjuśrī, Prince of the Dharma, the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, wishing to bring benefit to all sentient beings, with a heart of great compassion addressed the great assembly, saying: All of you should listen well, for now I shall expound for your sake the matter of "weighing the merit of receiving and upholding the practice of telling prayer beads (the counting beads), and how the benefits thereof differ from one another. And, should anyone recite spirit-mantras together with the names of the Buddhas, how does it stand?"

– Because one wishes to benefit oneself and to aid others, praying that all dharmas may swiftly be accomplished and prove efficacious, the method of telling those beads must be as follows; therefore strive to receive and uphold it: If anyone uses iron to make the prayer beads, then telling and reciting one round gains merit fivefold greater than reciting with no beads. If anyone uses red copper to make the prayer beads, then telling and reciting one round gains merit tenfold greater than reciting with no beads. If anyone uses true pearl, coral, and the like to make the prayer beads, then telling and reciting one round gains merit a hundredfold greater than reciting with no beads. If anyone uses the seeds of the soapberry tree (the mokṣa seed) to make the beads, then telling and reciting one round gains merit a thousandfold greater than reciting with no beads. (If one seeks to be reborn in the pure lands of the Buddhas and also wishes to be reborn in the heavenly palaces, one should receive and uphold this strand of beads.) If anyone uses lotus seeds to make the prayer beads, then telling and reciting one round gains merit ten-thousandfold greater than reciting with no beads. If anyone uses indrākṣa seeds to make the prayer beads, then telling and reciting one round gains merit a million-fold greater than reciting with no beads. If anyone uses rudrākṣa seeds to make the prayer beads, then telling and reciting one round gains merit ten-million-fold greater than reciting with no beads. If anyone uses crystal beads to make the prayer beads, then telling and reciting one round gains merit a hundred-million-fold greater than reciting with no beads. If anyone uses bodhi seeds to make the prayer beads, whether using them to tell and recite, or merely holding them in the hand, telling and reciting one round, that merit is immeasurable, beyond all reckoning, and difficult to weigh or compare.

Good men! As for that strand made of bodhi seeds, if there be a person whose hand holds the beads yet who does not, according to the Dharma, recite and intone the names of the Buddhas and the spirit-mantras, but who nonetheless constantly bears it upon himself—when walking, when staying, when sitting, when lying down, whatever he may say—that person, by reason of bearing and keeping the bodhi seeds, gains merit no different from one who recites the names of the Buddhas and intones the spirit-mantras; that is to say, he gains immeasurable merit.

The strand one holds must consist fully of one hundred and eight beads. Should it be difficult to find enough, then making it of fifty-four beads, or twenty-seven beads, or fourteen beads, may all be used. Such is the rule for the variations of the prayer beads.

Good men! For what cause and condition do I now praise solely the using of bodhi seeds as gaining the most supreme benefit? All of you, listen well, for I shall recount for your sake the prior cause of this matter: In ancient times there was a Buddha who appeared in the world and attained the rank of Perfectly Enlightened One (Samyaksaṃbuddha) beneath the bodhi tree.

At that time there was a man of an outside path, deluded by belief and holding wrong views, who slandered the Three Jewels; yet that man had a son who suddenly was struck dead by the class of non-humans (the ghosts and spirits). That man of the outside path thought to himself: My heterodoxy now flourishes, yet I do not yet know what spiritual power the Buddhas possess. The Tathāgata attained the rank of Perfectly Enlightened One beneath this tree; if the place where the Buddha sat be a holy tree, then there must be a response of sympathetic resonance.

Having thought thus, he straightway took the corpse of his dead son and laid it beneath the bodhi tree, and spoke in this manner: "If the tree where the Buddha sat be indeed a holy tree, then my son shall surely be restored to life." Throughout seven days that man recited and intoned the names of the Buddhas, and his son was indeed restored to life. Thereafter that man of the outside path gave praise, saying: "The spiritual power of the Buddhas I have never before beheld; the tree wherein the Buddha accomplished the Way manifests a wondrous marvel; its majestic virtue is exceedingly great, hard to conceive or to discuss."

And, from that time forth, those people of the outside paths all forsook the heterodox and returned to the right, giving rise to the mind of bodhi. Everyone alike came to believe and to know that the majestic power of the Buddha cannot be conceived or discussed, and so they all called it the Tree of Bound Destiny. Because of this cause and condition, this tree has two names (bodhi and Bound Destiny), as all of you should know. And it is for this reason that I have, for your sake, pointed out the essential points concerning this matter.

When the venerable Mañjuśrī had spoken these words, the Buddha straightway declared: Excellent, excellent, O Mañjuśrī, Prince of the Dharma! It is just as you have said; truly there is nothing otherwise.

The whole great assembly, having heard this weighing of the merit of receiving and upholding these prayer beads, were one and all filled with joy, and with faith they received it and reverently put it into practice.