善男子 是大涅槃 有無量功德 若有衆生 但聞是經名字者 當知是人 已得超越三惡道苦 若能受持讀誦解說 如法修行 當知是人 得無量無邊功德 不可思議
shàn nán zǐ shì dà niè pán yǒu wú liàng gōng dé ruò yǒu zhòng shēng dàn wén shì jīng míng zì zhě dāng zhī shì rén yǐ dé chāo yuè sān è dào kǔ ruò néng shòu chí dú sòng jiě shuō rú fǎ xiū xíng dāng zhī shì rén dé wú liàng wú biān gōng dé bù kě sī yì
Key Message
Hearing the name of truth and receiving and upholding its teaching is itself already the seed of liberation.
▸This chapter teaches the immeasurable merit inherent in the very name of the Mahāparinirvāṇa.
This chapter teaches the immeasurable merit inherent in the very name of the Mahāparinirvāṇa. Addressing the assembly as 'good men' (善男子), the Buddha teaches that merely hearing the name of this scripture allows one to transcend the sufferings of the three evil destinations (三惡道) — the hells, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the animal realm. Furthermore, those who receive, uphold, recite, explain, and practice in accordance with the Dharma (如法修行) will attain immeasurable, boundless, and inconceivable (不可思議) merit. This chapter officially certifies the merit of reciting the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra and declares that the very act of upholding the scripture is itself practice.