The Ground Beneath a Firm Resolve
Shansheng asks the Buddha what actually makes a bodhisattva's resolve firm as it presses toward bodhi. The answer opens with four qualities of firmness, then turns to precept itself — named the very root ground of the path, carrying two possible fruits, and capable of being either defiled or genuinely pure depending on the mind behind it. From there the chapter works outward: three considerations that guard against wrongdoing, the precise relationship between an ordinary precept and a true pāramitā, and a long, exacting catalogue of what actually distinguishes complete moral discipline from its more modest cousins. It closes on a deliberately uncomfortable verdict: for a monastic, fulfilling this perfection is not the hard case — for a householder, still entangled in the world's own causes and conditions, it is.
1. Milestone: Shansheng's Question
The chapter opens with the question that everything else in it exists to answer: what actually makes a bodhisattva's resolve firm as he presses onward toward bodhi?
善生言：「世尊！云何菩薩趣向菩提，其心堅固？」
Shansheng said: "World-Honored One, by what means does a bodhisattva's mind become firm as he presses onward toward bodhi?"
Taixu opens his lecture on this chapter by glossing śīla itself: in Chinese it is rendered "cool and refreshing" (清涼), and also carries the sense of "utmost goodness." He is careful to place this particular pāramitā against the three chapters immediately preceding it — on the three refuges, the eight precepts, and the five precepts — which he reads as teachings held in common across the three vehicles, or even across all five vehicles inclusive of ordinary humans and gods. The perfection of moral discipline this chapter actually addresses, by contrast, belongs distinctively to the Mahāyāna: reaching the far shore, not merely keeping a rule.
Read against that backdrop, Shansheng's question about firmness of mind is already a Mahāyāna question in disguise — not simply whether precepts are kept, but whether the resolve behind them is strong enough to actually cross to the other shore.
2. Milestone: The Four Marks of a Firm Resolve
The Buddha answers with four qualities that together make a bodhisattva's resolve firm — spanning how he meets suffering, how he handles power, how he handles poverty, and when in life he takes up formal renunciation.
「善男子？菩薩堅固，具足四法：一者、受大苦時終不捨離如法之行；二者、得大自在，常修忍辱；三者、身處貧窮，常樂施與；四者、盛壯之年，常樂出家。若有菩薩具足四法，趣向菩提，其心堅固。
"Good son — a bodhisattva's firmness is made up of four dharmas: first, when undergoing great suffering, never abandoning conduct in accord with the Dharma; second, having attained great mastery over one's own circumstances, constantly cultivating patient endurance; third, even while dwelling in poverty, constantly delighting in giving; fourth, in the very prime of youthful strength, constantly delighting in going forth from home. If a bodhisattva is complete in these four dharmas, then as he presses onward toward bodhi, his mind will be firm.
Taixu pauses specifically on the fourth item to head off two opposite misunderstandings at once. "Delighting in going forth" does not strictly require literal ordination, he notes; a householder who is simply not entangled by the five desires and who keeps a constant spirit of transcendence already satisfies it. But for those who do go forth, he insists the ideal window is youth and strength, not old age, precisely because ordination then leaves a long span of years in which to build up physical vigor together with learning, reflection, meditation, precepts, concentration, wisdom, and vigorous effort — the full toolkit needed to actually benefit both oneself and others, and to spread the Dharma widely.
He is unusually blunt about a habit of thought he considers simply wrong: the common Chinese assumption that monastic life is something to take up only in old age, once a person can no longer do productive work, as a kind of restful retirement. He is equally sharp about the opposite error — the assumption that going forth makes a person useless, which leads some to treat any mention of ordination as itself a kind of warning. Between these two misunderstandings, he observes, genuine practitioners end up rarer than the many people who merely profess belief in the Dharma.
3. Milestone: Precept as the Root Ground of the Path — Its Many Names and Two Fruits
Having named the four marks of firmness, a bodhisattva reflects further on what actually underlies them all: precept itself, given nine names in a row, and capable of bearing one of two very different fruits.
「菩薩具足如是四法，復作是念：『是菩提道初根本地，名之為戒。如是戒者，亦名初地，亦名導地，亦名平地，亦名等地，亦名慈地，亦名悲地，亦名佛跡，亦名一切功德根本，亦名福田；以是因緣，智者應當受持不毀。』
"A bodhisattva complete in these four dharmas further reflects: 'The very first, root ground of the path to bodhi is called the precept. This precept is also called the first ground; also called the guiding ground; also called the level ground; also called the equal ground; also called the ground of loving-kindness; also called the ground of compassion; also called the Buddha's own footprint; also called the root of every merit and virtue; also called the field of blessing. For this reason, one of wisdom should receive and uphold it without ever violating it.'
復次，智者又作是念：『戒有二果：一、諸天樂，二、菩提樂。智者應當求菩提樂，不求天樂。』
"'Further, one of wisdom also reflects: precepts bear two kinds of fruit — first, the pleasures of the heavenly realms; second, the joy of bodhi. One of wisdom should seek the joy of bodhi, and not seek the pleasures of the heavens.'
Taixu lingers on the word "ground" (地) itself before moving on: it carries the double sense of what is relied upon and what is, in turn, able to sustain — exactly as ordinary earth is both what grass, trees, mountains, and rivers depend on for their existence, and what actually holds them up and supports their growth. Precept, named here as the path's own first, root ground, is meant to be understood the same way: not a constraint layered onto practice from outside, but the very thing every later stage of the path stands on and grows out of. The string of names that follows — guiding ground, level ground, equal ground, ground of loving-kindness, ground of compassion, the Buddha's own footprint, the root of every merit, a field of blessing — is less a list of synonyms than nine different angles on this same single claim.
4. Milestone: Three Ways a Precept Becomes Defiled
Having named precept's many honorifics, the text turns immediately to its opposite: three distinct ways a received precept can become defiled, through negligence, through regret, and through the wrong motive at the very start.
若受戒已，所不應作而故作之，所不應思而故思惟，懈怠懶惰，樂於睡眠，念惡覺觀、邪命惡願，是名污戒。
If, having received the precepts, one deliberately does what should not be done, deliberately dwells in thoughts that should not be entertained, becomes lazy and slothful, delights in sleep, and gives rise to unwholesome deliberation, a wrong livelihood, and evil aspirations — this is called a defiled precept.
若受戒已，心生悔恨，求人、天樂，多諸放逸，不生憐愍，是名污戒。
If, having received the precepts, one's mind gives rise to regret and resentment, seeks only the pleasures of humans and gods, indulges in much heedlessness, and gives rise to no compassion — this too is called a defiled precept.
若畏貧窮，若為恐怖，若為失財，若畏作役，若為身命，若為利養，若為愛心而受禁戒，既受戒已，心生疑惑，是名污戒。
If one receives the restraining precepts out of fear of poverty, out of fear itself, out of fear of losing wealth, out of dread of forced labor, for the sake of one's own body and life, for the sake of material gain, or out of mere sentimental attachment — and having received the precepts, doubt then arises in the mind — this too is called a defiled precept.
Taixu glosses "wrong livelihood" (邪命) plainly as sustaining one's own life through improper means — the third defilement in this list is specifically about precepts taken up for the wrong reasons: fear, self-preservation, material gain, or mere sentiment, rather than genuine conviction. But he adds an important qualification that keeps this from becoming a trap: even if the original motive for receiving the precepts was impure, once a person comes, afterward, to deep faith and clear understanding without any remaining doubt, the precept can still rightly be called purely upheld. The starting motive does not permanently fix the precept's worth — what happens to that motive over time does.
5. Milestone: What Makes a Precept Genuinely Pure
Against the three defilements just named, the chapter describes at length what a genuinely pure precept actually looks like in practice — not flawlessness, but a specific, ongoing relationship to one's own conduct and one's own mistakes.
「善男子！若人不樂久處生死，深見過罪，觀人天樂、阿鼻獄苦平等無差，憐愍眾生，具足正念，為欲利益無量眾生使得成道；為具無上菩提道故，為如法行故，受持是戒；心不放逸，能觀過去、未來、現在身、口、意業，知輕知重；
"Good son! Suppose a person takes no delight in dwelling long in birth-and-death, sees clearly and deeply into its faults, and regards the pleasures of humans and gods and the suffering of the Avīci hell as, in truth, no different from one another; who feels compassion for sentient beings and is complete in right mindfulness; who receives and upholds this precept in order to benefit countless beings and bring them to the accomplishment of the path, in order to be complete in the unsurpassed path to bodhi, and in order to act in accord with the Dharma; whose mind is free of heedlessness, and who is able to examine the deeds of body, speech, and mind across the past, the future, and the present, knowing which are light and which are grave;
凡所作事，先當繫心修不放逸，作已、作時亦復如是修不放逸；若先不知，作已得罪，若失念心亦得犯罪，若客煩惱時暫起者亦得犯罪，若小放逸亦得犯罪——是人常觀犯輕如重，觀已生悔及慚愧心，怖畏愁惱，心不樂之，至心懺悔，既懺悔已，心生歡喜，慎護受持更不敢犯，是名淨戒。
in everything he undertakes, he first fixes his mind and cultivates freedom from heedlessness, and continues cultivating this same freedom from heedlessness both while doing it and once it is done. If, through not having known beforehand, he commits an offense once the deed is done; if through a lapse of mindfulness he likewise commits an offense; if through some adventitious affliction that arises for only a moment he likewise commits an offense; or if through some slight heedlessness he likewise commits an offense — such a person always regards even a light offense with the gravity of a heavy one. Having seen it, he gives rise to regret and a sense of shame, feels dread and distress, and his mind takes no pleasure in what was done; he repents with utmost sincerity, and once he has repented, his mind gives rise to joy, and he guards and upholds the precept with such care that he no longer dares to violate it again. This is called a pure precept.
Taixu frames this passage against the traditional four-stage structure of the Buddhist path — faith, understanding, practice, and realization — and locates it precisely: the very first step of practice, in this scheme, is nothing other than keeping precepts. Everything in this long description of genuinely pure precepts — treating a light offense with the seriousness of a heavy one, examining one's own past, present, and future conduct of body, speech, and mind, repenting sincerely and then actually feeling joy once repentance is complete — is Taixu's way of specifying what "practice," concretely, actually looks like at its very first step, rather than leaving it as an abstract stage-name in a doctrinal chart.
6. Milestone: Three Considerations Before Acting — For Oneself, For the World, For the Dharma
A person of wisdom, having received the precepts, is said to weigh three separate considerations before ever committing wrongdoing — one turned inward toward cause and effect, one turned outward toward unseen witnesses, and one turned toward the Dharma itself.
「善男子！有智之人，既受戒已，當觀三事不作惡行：一者、自為，二者、為世，三者、為法。
"Good son! A person of wisdom, having received the precepts, should consider three things in order not to do evil: first, for one's own sake; second, for the world's sake; third, for the Dharma's sake.
「云何自為？我自證知此是惡事，知作惡業得如是果，知作善業得如是果。所作惡業無有虛妄，決定還得諸惡之果，所作善業亦無虛妄，決定還得諸善之果；若是二業無虛妄者，我今云何而自欺誑？以是因緣我受戒已，不應毀犯，當至心持，是名自為。
"What is meant by 'for one's own sake'? I myself have verified and know that this is an evil deed; I know that performing unwholesome karma brings such-and-such a fruit, and that performing wholesome karma brings such-and-such a fruit. Unwholesome karma performed is never illusory — it will most certainly return its evil fruit; wholesome karma performed is likewise never illusory — it will most certainly return its good fruit. If neither of these two kinds of karma is illusory, then how could I possibly deceive myself now? For this reason, having received the precepts, I should not violate them, but should uphold them with utmost sincerity. This is called 'for one's own sake.'
「云何為世？有智者觀見世間之人，有得清淨天耳、天眼及他心智，我若作惡，是人必當見、聞、知我；若見、聞、知我，當云何不生慚愧而作惡耶？復觀諸天具足無量福德，神足、天耳、天眼，具他心智遙能見聞，雖近於人，人不能見，若我作惡，如是等天當見、聞、知；若是天等了了見我，我當云何不生慚愧故作罪耶？是名為世。
"What is meant by 'for the world's sake'? A person of wisdom observes that among the people of the world there are those who have attained the purified divine ear, the divine eye, and the wisdom that reads others' minds. If I do evil, such a person is bound to see, hear, and know of it. And if such a person sees, hears, and knows of it, how could I fail to feel shame and still go on doing evil? He further considers that the gods are complete in immeasurable merit, in the power of miraculous flight, the divine ear, the divine eye, and the wisdom that reads others' minds, seeing and hearing from far off — near as they are to human beings, human beings cannot see them. If I do evil, gods of this kind will see, hear, and know of it. And if such gods see me with perfect clarity, how could I fail to feel shame and still knowingly commit an offense? This is called 'for the world's sake.'
「云何為法？有智之人，觀如來法清淨無染，得現在利，能令寂靜度於彼岸，能作解脫，不選時節。我為是法故受持戒，我若不能先受小制，云何能得受大制耶？破小制已，增五有苦，若至心持，增無上樂。我受身來所以未得證解脫者，實由不從過去無量諸佛如來受禁戒故；我今受戒，未來定當值遇恒河沙等諸佛。深觀是已，生大憐愍，至心受戒，受已堅持，為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，利益無量諸眾生故。」
"What is meant by 'for the Dharma's sake'? A person of wisdom observes that the Dharma of the Tathāgata is pure and undefiled, that it yields benefit in this very life, that it is able to bring one to stillness and to carry one across to the far shore, and that it is able to bring about liberation without waiting for any particular season. It is for the sake of this Dharma that I receive and uphold the precepts. If I am unable even to accept the lesser restraints first, how could I possibly accept the greater ones? Breaking the lesser restraints only increases suffering across the five realms of rebirth; upholding them with utmost sincerity increases unsurpassed joy. The reason why, ever since I first received this body, I have still failed to realize liberation, is truly because I have not received the restraining precepts from the countless Buddha Tathāgatas of the past. Now that I receive the precepts, I shall most certainly, in time to come, encounter Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Having deeply contemplated this, I give rise to great compassion, receive the precepts with utmost sincerity, and once received, uphold them firmly — for the sake of unsurpassed, perfect awakening, and for the benefit of countless sentient beings."
Commenting on the passage about beings who possess the divine ear, the divine eye, and the power to read others' minds, Taixu catalogues the five supernatural faculties available even to ordinary meditators and to spirits and gods — divine ear, divine eye, mind-reading, knowledge of past lives, and unobstructed miraculous power — noting that only arhats and Buddhas add a sixth, the cessation of outflows, which the other five lack entirely. He illustrates the divine ear with a story from antiquity: a meditator absorbed in concentration once heard what sounded like oxen locked in combat somewhere nearby, went to investigate, and found only ants fighting — a small, unglamorous illustration of the faculty's mere beginning, since a fully developed divine ear can pick out the subtlest and most distant sound there is.
He is equally precise about the divine eye: it needs no physical organ at all, working just as well with the eyes closed, seeing the smallest and farthest things without any wall able to obstruct it, and reaching even into events not yet happened. He closes with a small technical gloss: the "five realms" mentioned in the passage on breaking minor restraints refers to the five destinies of rebirth into which broken discipline can lead.
7. Milestone: From Precept to Pāramitā
The chapter now widens its lens — from any precept, taken in any form, to the specific conditions under which an ordinary precept actually becomes a pāramitā, illustrated with two vivid examples of bodily endurance from the jātaka tradition.
「善男子！若在家，若出家，若三歸，若八齋，若五戒，若具足，若不具足，若一日一夜，若一時一念，若盡形壽至心受持，當知是人得大福德。
"Good son! Whether one is a householder or one who has gone forth; whether it is the three refuges, the eight precepts of the fast day, or the five precepts; whether the precepts are received in full or not in full; whether they are upheld for a single day and night, for a single moment of thought, or with utmost sincerity for the whole span of one's life — know that such a person attains great merit.
善男子！若受戒已，修三善業——多聞、布施、修定——修善供養三寶，是則名為莊嚴菩提。
Good son! If, having received the precepts, one cultivates the three wholesome practices — learning widely, giving, and cultivating concentration — and cultivates wholesome deeds in making offerings to the Three Jewels, this is called adorning bodhi.
若受戒已，能讀如來十二部經，是名無上大法之藏，勤加精進，欲得具足尸波羅蜜。如是戒者，今世受已，後雖不受，成無作戒。
If, having received the precepts, one is able to read the Tathāgata's twelvefold canon of scripture — called the unsurpassed treasury of the great Dharma — and diligently applies vigorous effort, wishing to become complete in the perfection of moral discipline, then such a precept, once received in this present life, becomes a non-active precept even in lives to come where it is not received again.
善男子！有戒非波羅蜜，有波羅蜜非戒，有戒有波羅蜜，有非禁戒非波羅蜜。是戒非波羅蜜者，所謂聲聞、辟支佛戒。是波羅蜜非是戒者，所謂檀波羅蜜。是戒是波羅蜜者，如昔菩薩受瞿陀身時，為諸虫獸及諸蟻子之所唼食，身不傾動，不生惡心；亦如仙人為眾生故，十二年中青雀處頂，不起不動。非戒非波羅蜜者，如世俗施。
Good son! There is precept that is not pāramitā; there is pāramitā that is not precept; there is what is both precept and pāramitā; and there is what is neither precept nor pāramitā. What is precept but not pāramitā is the precepts of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. What is pāramitā but not precept is the perfection of giving. What is both precept and pāramitā is exemplified by the bodhisattva of old who, having taken the body of a godhā-lizard, was gnawed at by every manner of insect, beast, and ant, and yet his body never so much as flinched, nor did any ill will arise in him; and likewise by the sage ascetic who, for the sake of sentient beings, let a blue sparrow nest upon his crown for twelve years without ever rising or stirring. What is neither precept nor pāramitā is ordinary worldly giving.
Taixu specifies the three wholesome practices named here — learning widely, giving, and cultivating concentration — and draws a sharp line between the bodhisattva precepts under discussion in this chapter and the ordinary five precepts familiar from lay practice generally. The ordinary five precepts, he notes, last only for the span of a single life and must be received all over again in the next; bodhisattva precepts, once genuinely received, are not lost or destroyed even across future lifetimes.
He also identifies the otherwise-anonymous "bodhisattva of old" in the jātaka image of the creature devoured alive without flinching: this is Śākyamuni himself, in an earlier life, still at the bodhisattva stage of his own long path.
8. Milestone: Who Actually Fulfills the Perfection
Not every restrained life counts as fulfilling this perfection. The chapter draws a deliberate line between minimal, self-contained precept-keeping and the fuller cultivation that actually increases and adorns it.
「善男子！菩薩摩訶薩住尸波羅蜜時，所受眾苦，誰能說之？有人若受小小戒已，少欲知足，不能憐愍諸苦眾生，當知是人不能具足尸波羅蜜。
"Good son! When a great bodhisattva dwells in the perfection of moral discipline, the many hardships he undergoes — who could ever fully describe them? Suppose a person, having received only some minor precept, is content with little and satisfied with what he has, yet is unable to feel compassion for suffering beings — know that such a person is not able to be complete in the perfection of moral discipline.
若能修忍、三昧、智慧，勤行精進，樂於多聞，當知是人則能增長尸波羅蜜，莊嚴菩提，證菩提果。如是戒者，無量眾生故，無量果報故，無量戒禁故，以是因緣，莊嚴菩提。
But if he is able to cultivate patience, meditative absorption, and wisdom, diligently practices vigorous effort, and delights in learning widely — know that such a person is able to increase the perfection of moral discipline, adorn bodhi, and realize the fruit of bodhi. A precept of this kind, on account of the countless beings it serves, the countless fruits of retribution it bears, and the countless restraints it comprises, for this very reason adorns bodhi.
Taixu reads this passage as an argument for mutual completion among the six pāramitās rather than treating any one of them, including this chapter's own perfection of moral discipline, as something that could be perfected in isolation: patience, meditative absorption, wisdom, vigorous effort, and broad learning are not optional extras layered onto moral discipline from outside — cultivating any single pāramitā to its actual completion requires all the others functioning together in support of it.
9. Milestone: Tranquil, Pure Conduct in the World
Having drawn that line, the chapter spends its longest stretch describing what tranquil, pure precept-keeping actually looks like in the ordinary texture of a bodhisattva's day — speech, company, appetite, village life, and how he receives both generous and meager offerings alike.
「善男子！菩薩摩訶薩既受戒已，口不說惡，耳不樂聞，不樂說世，亦不樂聞，終不放心在惡覺觀，不親惡友，是故得名寂靜淨戒。
"Good son! Once a great bodhisattva has received the precepts, his mouth does not speak evil, and his ear takes no pleasure in hearing it; he takes no pleasure in gossiping about worldly affairs, nor any pleasure in hearing such gossip; his mind is never let loose into unwholesome deliberation, and he does not draw close to evil friends. For this reason he is called one of tranquil, pure precepts.
菩薩若見破戒惡人，不生惡心，為設種種善巧方便而調伏之；若不調伏，當生憐愍，不為身命破戒捨戒。食已，先修慚愧之心、不放逸心，為治身命，如療惡瘡。
If a bodhisattva sees a person of evil conduct who has broken the precepts, he gives rise to no ill will, but devises every kind of skillful means in order to tame and subdue him; and if that person cannot be subdued, the bodhisattva simply gives rise to compassion, and never, for the sake of his own body or life, breaks or abandons the precepts. Having eaten, he first cultivates a mind of shame and a mind free of heedlessness, treating the needs of his own body and life the way one treats a festering wound.
若入村落，如刀刺林，攝護諸根，修集正念，觀察可作及不可作，不生放逸。
When he enters a village, he regards it as a forest bristling with blades; he restrains and guards his sense faculties, cultivates and gathers right mindfulness, examines carefully what may and may not be done, and gives rise to no heedlessness.
若人作福亦因於我，若人作罪亦因於我，是故我得大供養時不應生喜，得衰苦時不應生瞋。得少供養，應作是念：『我今信、戒、施、聞、智慧如法住少，故得如是微少供養，是故今我不應生於愁苦之念。我為二事受他信施：一者、為增他福，二者、為增自善。是故若得少物、惡物，不應生惱。』
If a person makes merit, it is on my account as well; if a person commits an offense, it is likewise on my account. For this reason, when I receive lavish offerings I should not give rise to delight, and when I meet with decline and suffering I should not give rise to anger. When I receive only meager offerings, I should reflect thus: 'It is because my faith, precepts, giving, learning, and wisdom are still so slight and so little established in accord with the Dharma that I receive offerings as meager as these — for this reason I should not now give rise to any thought of sorrow or distress. I accept the faithful offerings of others for two reasons: first, to increase their merit; second, to increase my own goodness. For this reason, even if what I receive is meager or of poor quality, I should not give rise to vexation.'
久住遲得，輕罵已得，爾時復當自責其身：『是我宿罪，非眾生過，是故我今不應生惱。』
If it is a long wait before anything is obtained, or if it comes only after being slighted and reviled, I should at that time reproach myself instead: 'This is the fruit of my own past offenses, not any fault of these beings — for this reason I should not now give rise to vexation.'
若受戒已，為他作罪，亦應說言『如是所作實非是道』。何以故？十二部經不說諸惡為菩提道也。是故我今獲得雜報。若能如是深觀察者，當知是人則能具足尸波羅蜜。
If, having received the precepts, another commits an offense on my account, I should still say of it: 'What was done here is truly not the path.' Why is this so? Because the twelvefold canon of scripture nowhere teaches that any evil deed is itself the path to bodhi. It is for this reason that I myself now receive a mixed retribution. One who is able to contemplate so deeply in this way — know that such a person is able to be complete in the perfection of moral discipline.
Taixu adds a careful qualification here about the bodhisattva who appears to set aside a precept: this can genuinely happen, he notes, but only ever for the sake of other beings, never for the bodhisattva's own advantage — a distinction the text itself insists on throughout this whole passage. On the closing line about "mixed retribution," he supplies a precise technical gloss: it names a retribution in which some measure of evil is mixed within an otherwise good result — not straightforward misfortune, but a complicated, entangled kind of fruit that follows from being bound up, however innocently, in another person's wrongdoing.
He closes this whole stretch of commentary with a pointed reminder about motivation: precepts kept without ever vowing to seek unsurpassed bodhi still yield some result, but only the comparatively small fruits available to humans and gods — the entire distance between a merely well-behaved life and a bodhisattva's actual perfection of moral discipline lies in whether that vow for bodhi is genuinely present underneath the discipline.
10. Milestone: Five Marks of Complete Fulfillment
The chapter closes its long description with five parallel clauses, each ending in the same refrain — know that such a person is able to be complete in the perfection of moral discipline — covering restraint, equanimity toward the precepts themselves, good company, selfless service, and a final vow made on behalf of every being.
「善男子！若有人能攝護諸根，身四威儀不作諸惡，能堪眾苦，不作邪命，當知是人則能具足尸波羅蜜。
"Good son! If there is a person able to restrain and guard the sense faculties, who in all four bodily postures does no evil, who is able to bear every hardship, and who does not pursue a wrong livelihood — know that such a person is able to be complete in the perfection of moral discipline.
若於輕重戒中等生怖畏，雖遭惡時，不犯小戒，不令煩惱穢污其心，修集忍辱，當知是人則能具足尸波羅蜜。
If one gives rise to the same dread toward light precepts as toward grave ones, and even when meeting with adversity does not violate even a minor precept, never letting affliction defile the mind, but cultivates and gathers patient endurance — know that such a person is able to be complete in the perfection of moral discipline.
若離惡友，令諸眾生遠惡邪見，知恩報恩，當知是人則能具足尸波羅蜜。
If one keeps far from evil friends, leads sentient beings away from evil and mistaken views, and knows kindness received and repays it — know that such a person is able to be complete in the perfection of moral discipline.
若為善事不惜身命，罷散自事，營成他事，見罵詈者不生惡心，當知是人則能具足尸波羅蜜。
If, for the sake of a wholesome deed, one does not begrudge even one's own body and life, setting aside one's own affairs in order to accomplish another's, and gives rise to no ill will even toward one who reviles and abuses him — know that such a person is able to be complete in the perfection of moral discipline.
若見如來所開之處，如本持之，護眾生命，不惜財命，乃至命終不犯小戒，雖得微妙七珍之物，心不生貪，不為報恩以善加人，為憐愍故；受持禁戒，既受持已，善發大願，願諸眾生悉得淨戒，當知是人則能具足尸波羅蜜。
If, wherever the Tathāgata has opened some latitude, one nonetheless keeps to the original precept exactly as it stands; if one protects the lives of sentient beings without begrudging wealth or life, and even at the very end of life does not violate a minor precept; if, even upon obtaining the most exquisite of the seven treasures, no thought of greed arises in the mind; if one does good to others not in order to be repaid, but purely out of compassion; and if, having received and upheld the restraining precepts, one then skillfully brings forth the great vow that all sentient beings, every one, attain pure precepts — know that such a person is able to be complete in the perfection of moral discipline.
Taixu treats this closing catalogue as the concrete, checkable face of everything argued more abstractly earlier in his commentary: that no single pāramitā stands alone, and that a precept kept without the vow for bodhi behind it never rises above a modest, this-worldly good. Each item on this list names a specific point where ordinary good behavior and full moral discipline visibly part ways — not in how strictly a rule is followed, but in what the person following it actually wants for everyone else.
11. Milestone: The Householder's Harder Path
The chapter ends where the whole scripture keeps returning: a direct comparison between the monastic and the householder, and a blunt verdict about which of the two actually has the harder task in fulfilling this perfection.
「善男子！菩薩二種：一者、在家，二者、出家。出家菩薩具尸波羅蜜是不為難；在家具足，是乃為難。何以故？在家之人多惡因緣所纏繞故。」
"Good son! There are two kinds of bodhisattva: the householder and the one who has gone forth from home. For a bodhisattva who has gone forth, being complete in the perfection of moral discipline is no great difficulty; for a householder to be complete in it is the truly difficult thing. Why is this so? Because a person living at home is entangled by so many causes and conditions of evil."
Taixu's own account of this chapter opens by placing it apart from the three ordinary-precept chapters that precede it, as belonging distinctively to the Mahāyāna rather than to teaching shared across all vehicles — and the sutra's own closing line reads, in that light, less like a throwaway remark and more like the chapter's real conclusion. A monastic's structural situation already removes a great many of the "causes and conditions of evil" that the text says entangle a householder; going forth does not make moral discipline effortless, but it does simplify the terrain it has to be practiced on.
A householder gets no such simplification — the entire perfection of moral discipline this chapter has just spent so many pages defining has to be lived out inside a life still full of family, property, livelihood, and every ordinary entanglement the earlier milestones warned against. That, on Taixu's reading, is exactly why the sutra calls it the harder case: not a lesser form of practice, but the very same pāramitā attempted on much less accommodating ground.