SA-2 126（一二六）

At that time, there was a village headman named Wish-fulfilling Jewel Topknot. He went to where the Buddha was, bowed his head at the Buddha's feet, sat to one side, and said to the Buddha, "World-Honored One! In the past, I was in the king's palace, sitting together with the ministers and discussing whether monks should handle money and treasures. At that time, someone in the assembly said, 'Even if they handle it, what is wrong? They should be allowed to handle it.' Another person said, 'They should not be allowed to handle it. The Śramaṇa Śākyas do not handle money and treasures.' World-Honored One! Are these two statements in accordance with the Dharma or not? If one speaks like this, is it not slandering the Buddha, not speaking correctly? Is it the Buddha's teaching or not?"

The Buddha told the village headman, "If one speaks like this, it is slandering me, not speaking correctly, and is called excessive speech. However, what I say is actually different from that. Why is that? For a bhikṣu, a Śramaṇa Śākya, it is not the Dharma to handle gold and other precious things. If one handles gold and other precious things, it is not the Dharma of a bhikṣu, a Śramaṇa Śākya. The Buddha's teachings become even more excellent and dignified. The Buddha says like this: For a bhikṣu, one should not handle gold and other precious things. If one does handle them, it is not the Dharma of a bhikṣu."

The village headman said, "At that time, in the assembly, I also said that Śramaṇa Śākyas should not handle gold and other precious things. If they do handle them, they should indulge in the five desires." At that time, the village headman heard what the Buddha said, bowed his head at the Buddha's feet, and left.

At that time, the bhikṣu Ānanda was standing by the Buddha's side, fanning him. The Buddha told Ānanda, "You should summon all the bhikṣus who are staying in this Rājagṛha and gather them in the lecture hall." At that time, Ānanda received the Buddha's instruction and, as instructed by the Buddha, summoned all the bhikṣus to gather in the lecture hall. When all the bhikṣus had gathered, Ānanda went to the Buddha, bowed his head at the Buddha's feet, sat to one side, and said to the Buddha, "World-Honored One! All the bhikṣu saṃgha who are staying in the Kalandaka Bamboo Grove in Rājagṛha have gathered in the lecture hall. May the World-Honored One know the time."

At that time, the World-Honored One went to the lecture hall, spread out his seat in front of the saṃgha, and sat down. The Buddha told the bhikṣus, "The village headman of Rūpyadhvaja came to me, bowed his head at my feet, and said, 'In the past, in the royal palace, I discussed with the ministers the Dharma of the śramaṇas, whether they should handle gold and other precious things or not. At that time, someone in the assembly said, "If śramaṇas handle precious things, gold, silver, and so on, what is wrong with that? There is no harm in handling them." Another person said, "The Dharma of śramaṇas is not to handle gold and other precious things." These two people had different opinions. Which of these two statements is in accordance with the Dharma?' I then replied, 'Śramaṇa Śākyas should not handle gold and other precious things.' The village headman said, 'In the past, in that assembly, I also said that śramaṇas should be allowed to handle gold and other precious things and should indulge in the five desires.' At that time, the village headman heard what I said and left joyfully."

The Buddha told the bhikṣus, "You should know that the village headman Rūpyadhvaja made a lion's roar in front of the assembly, saying, 'The Dharma of śramaṇas should not accept gold, silver, money, and precious things.' From now on, bhikṣus, if you need to handle something, you should think of it as grass or wood, or as excrement. It is better to handle excrement than precious things."

At that time, the bhikṣus, having heard the Buddha's teaching, rejoiced and bowed their heads in respect before departing.