The Basket’s Display (Kāraṇḍavyūha) is the source of the most prevalent mantra of Tibetan Buddhism: oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ. It marks a significant stage in the growing importance of Avalokiteśvara within Indian Buddhism in the early centuries of the first millennium. In a series of narratives within narratives, the sūtra describes Avalokiteśvara’s activities in various realms and the realms contained within the pores of his skin. It culminates in a description of the extreme rarity of his mantra, which, on the Buddha’s instructions, Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin obtains from someone in Vārāṇasī who has broken his monastic vows. This sūtra provided a basis and source of quotations for the teachings and practices of the eleventh-century Maṇi Kabum, which itself served as a foundation for the rich tradition of Tibetan Avalokiteśvara practice.
The sūtra was translated from the Tibetan and Sanskrit by Peter Alan Roberts. Tulku Yeshi of the Sakya Monastery, Seattle, was the consulting lama who reviewed the translation. The project manager and editor was Emily Bower, and the proofreader was Ben Gleason. Thanks to William Tuladhar-Douglas and Charles Manson for their assistance in obtaining Sanskrit manuscripts, and to Richard Gombrich and Sanjukta Gupta for their elucidations.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Tony Leung Chiu Wai and family for work on this sūtra is gratefully acknowledged.
The Kāraṇḍavyūha is an early Mantrayāna sūtra that is the source of the mantra oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ. The sūtra is thus of particular importance, as this mantra now holds a central role in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, especially throughout the lay population. This sūtra also records Avalokiteśvara’s transformation into the principal figure of the Buddhist pantheon, greater than all other buddhas, let alone bodhisattvas. In this sūtra, Avalokiteśvara is a resident of Sukhavātī and acts as a messenger and gift bearer for Amitābha, even though he is also described as superior to all buddhas and therefore paradoxically has both a subservient and dominant status.
The appearance in writing of the Kāraṇḍavyūha probably dates to around the fifth century
The earliest surviving manuscript is comprised of fragmentary pages from two manuscripts discovered within a Gilgit stūpa in the 1940s. It was written in a hybrid of Middle Indic and Sanskrit, now called Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, which was frequently used in sūtras. Adhelheid Mette, who has published these fragments, suggests that it was composed in the fourth or fifth century;1 the script in which it is written had fallen out of use by the early seventh century, and the fragments show variations between the two manuscripts that are the result of the texts having gone through generations of copying. Other existing Sanskrit manuscripts (see below) date from a century or more later than the ninth century Tibetan translation.
According to Lokesh Chandra,2 in 270
The sūtra also exists in a later, longer, and more polished form, entirely in verse and incorporating passages from such texts as Śantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, which has great importance within Nepalese Buddhism. Dating to the fifteenth century, it is one of the last Sanskrit Buddhist sūtras. It has not been translated into Tibetan.
Avalokiteśvara is noticeable by his absence in early sūtras where Mañjuśrī figures prominently. In the Sukhāvatīvyūha or The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī,3 which describes the realm of Amitāyus, the buddha who later became known by the name Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara has yet to appear. He makes his first prominent appearance in the longer Sukhāvatīvyūha4 in which he stands beside Amitāyus as one of his two principal bodhisattva attendants. The other bodhisattva is Mahāsthāmaprāpta, and in a number of subsequent sūtras they are included as a pair in the introductory description of the assembly of those who are listening to the teaching. In one of the Kāraṇḍavyūha’s internal contradictions, both Mahāsthāmaprāpta and Avalokiteśvara are listed as being in the audience awaiting Avalokiteśvara’s appearance.
Each bodhisattva later had a chapter dedicated to him in the White Lotus of Compassion Sūtra,5 but while Avalokiteśvara reached preeminence over all buddhas in the Kāraṇḍavyūha, Mahāsthāmaprāpta declined in importance. In the Tibetan tradition, even in the Sukhāvatīvyūha, he has become conflated with Vajrapāṇi. At the time of the composition of the Kāraṇḍavyūha, Vajrapāṇi, who in earlier Buddhism was a powerful yakṣa, appears as one of the gathered bodhisattvas, which is indicative of sūtras that contain mantras. However, this is a recent development, as one of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities given in the sūtra is that he terrifies Vajrapāṇi! Vajrapāṇi would soon join Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara to form the principal trinity of bodhisattvas in the early tantra tradition.
The Kāraṇḍavyūha does not mention Avalokiteśvara’s abode in this world on the Potalaka Mountain, which was a later feature that first appeared in South Indian Buddhism. The origin of the popular four-armed version of Avalokiteśvara appears within the sūtra as the goddess who is the embodiment of the six-syllable mantra, referred to throughout as a vidyā (which is a feminine noun) or often as the queen of mahāvidyās. Many forms of Avalokiteśvara appeared in India, such as the thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara included in fasting practice, and in the eleventh century there appeared the higher tantra form named Jinasāgara, a red, four-armed Avalokiteśvara in union with a consort. This practice was introduced into Tibet in the beginning of the twelfth century.
Eventually Avalokiteśvara practices spread throughout the Buddhist world. There are still ancient Avalokiteśvara statues even in Śrī Laṅka, though the figure is identified as Śiva in Tamil areas and as Maitreya in Buddhist temples. Avalokiteśvara was prominent in China for centuries before the Kāraṇḍavyūha was translated into Chinese. In particular Avalokiteśvara became a dominant figure in Chinese Buddhism as Kuan Yin (or Guanyin in Pinyin), transforming into a female bodhisattva, a process described by Chün-Fang Yü in Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara, as the result of focusing on his incarnation as the Princess Miao-chan.6
The Pillar Testament (Tib. bka’ chems ka khol ma) from the eleventh or twelfth century states that the Kāraṇḍavyūha was one of the texts that descended from the sky in a casket onto the palace roof of the fifth-century ruler of the Yarlung Valley, Lhathothori Nyentsen (Tib. lha tho tho ri gnyan btsan), and that during the reign of his descendant Songtsen Gampo (Tib. srong btsan sgam po), who became the king of most of the Tibetan plateau and introduced Buddhism to Tibet, it was translated by Thönmi Sambhota, the inventor of the Tibetan alphabet.7 In the thirteenth century Nelpa Paṇḍita, rejecting this legend, stated that the casket was brought by a paṇḍita on his way to China.8 However, he only records the maṇi mantra as being within the casket, which happens to be called a za ma tog or “a solid and precious casket” (rinchen za ma tog) and not a reed basket. Nevertheless, this is probably why this sūtra became associated with the legend.
The earliest and only translation of the sūtra appears to be the one presently in the canon. All of the versions of the Kangyur except one have a colophon ascribing the translation of the Kāraṇḍavyūha to Yeshé Dé and the Indian upādhyāyas Dānaśīla and Jinamitra, who collaborated with each other on the majority of their translations. The Narthang Kangyur (snar thang bka’ ’gyur) is alone in attributing the translation to Śākyaprabha and Ratnarakṣita.
Nanam Yeshé Dé (sna nam ye shes sde) was a Tibetan who became the principal translator in the translation program set up under the royal auspices of King Trisong Detsen (khri srong lde btsan, r. 742–798
Jinamitra and Dānaśīla were also two of the four or five Indian paṇḍitas who played principal roles in the completion of the Mahāvyuttpati, the Sanskrit-Tibetan concordance that was intended to regulate the translation of Sanskrit texts into Tibetan. Work on this dictionary began during the reigns of Trisong Detsen and Senaleg (sad na legs, r. 800–815
There is at least one instance in the Kāraṇḍavyūha where the translation does not accord with the Mahāvyuttpati. In describing the twenty peaks of the mountain that is the belief in the existence of an individual self in relation to the skandhas (“aggregates”), the peaks are described as samudgata, which the Mahāvyuttpati translates as “high” (Tib. mtho ba). In the Kāraṇḍavyūha, however, it is translated as “arisen” (Tib. byung ba). Unless the translators changed their minds, this would appear to identify the translation as having taken place before the Mahāvyuttpati was completed. Therefore we can say that the translation was certainly made during the decade between 815 and 824 ᴄ
A later translation or revision of the Tibetan version was never made. However, the Kāraṇḍavyūha served as the basis for the eleventh-century Maṇi Kabum (A Hundred Thousand Teachings on the Maṇi Mantra; Tib. ma Ni bka’ ’bum), which was attributed to Songtsen Gampo, although the extracts from the sūtra that it includes are clearly derived from the early ninth-century translation. The Maṇi Kabum was a highly influential work in propagating the practice of Avalokiteśvara, known in Tibetan as Chenrezi (spyan ras gzigs), the repetition of the maṇi mantra, and the identification of Songtsen Gampo as an emanation of Avalokiteśvara; it has had a much greater impact on Tibetan culture than the sūtra upon which it is based.
The title of the sūtra is somewhat ambiguous. A karaṇḍa is usually a basket made of reeds. The karaṇḍa is frequently portrayed in the background of portraits of Indian siddhas as a large pot-bellied basket with a lid, containing collections of scriptures. These siddhas are also portrayed making the hand gesture representing the basket, the karaṇḍamudrā (“basket gesture”). There is even a layperson’s hairstyle named karaṇḍamakuṭa (“basket crest”), where the hair is arranged on top of the head in the shape of a tall, rounded basket with a lid.
Another word for basket is piṭaka, which forms the basis of the most common metaphor for the Buddha’s teachings, “the three baskets” or tripiṭaka, which contain the Vinaya, Sūtra, and the Abhidharma or its predecessor the Mātṛkā. However, there are many instances in Tibetan literature where za ma tog, the translation of karaṇḍa, means something more solid and smaller than a pot-bellied reed basket, as in the precious casket (rin chen za ma tog) in the legend of the Kāraṇḍavyūha’s appearance to King Lhathothori. The name of the earlier Ratnakaraṇḍasūtra could at first seem to mean “precious casket,” but the contents of that sūtra validate the Tibetan translation as The Basket of the [Three] Jewels (dkon mchog gi za ma tog).9 There are also instances in the Sanskrit where the word karaṇḍa is apparently used for something more solid than a reed basket. There is a dhāraṇī in the tantra section of the Kangyur that has in its title the phrase dhātukaraṇḍa (Tib. ring bsrel gyi za ma tog), which means “the casket of relics,” or “reliquary.”10
The Kāraṇḍavyūha is spelled with a long initial a in all existing Sanskrit manuscripts, while every Tibetan edition has a short initial vowel. The long vowel is more likely to be lost than added, as errors generally replace the uncommon with the common. The enhanced vowel is used in Sanskrit to denote affiliation, origin, and ancestry. In the case of kāraṇḍa, the word usually means “ducks”; they live among the river reeds that are used to make baskets. Here kāraṇḍa may be signifying that this sūtra has its origin in the basket that contains the description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities. A basket or casket is normally spelled without the long vowel: karaṇḍa.
There are also titles in the Tengyur that contain the word ratnakaraṇḍa (without the long vowel) where it means “a casket that is made of a precious material,” even though that meaning is not necessarily evident in Tibetan because of the syntax of the titles in question.11
Therefore, after hesitating between “basket” and “casket” and wishing there was one word for both (or at least a word for a lidded, pot-bellied reed basket), we chose “basket” as the better translation, primarily because of the way karaṇḍa is used in the sūtra itself. This term occurs only within the description of the Avīci hell. The Vaidya edition has visphurad ratnakaraṇḍavat, which means “raging [flame] like a precious casket,” but this appears to be a corruption, with the Cambridge manuscript having visphurantaṃ karaṇḍavat, and the Tibetan not having the equivalent of ratna (“precious”). If karaṇḍa is being used here to describe the shape of the flame, then it is referring to the distinctive shape of the reed basket, wider at its middle. This shape is still associated with za ma tog in contemporary Tibetan, and it is also compared with the shape of an egg.
Vyūha has a wide range of meanings, but is based on the idea of things being set out or displayed, and was therefore translated into Tibetan as bkod pa. The word can also mean “description” or “explanation” and even “chapter.” The sūtra is therefore a display from a basket, or the presentation of its contents.
The later Nepalese version of the sūtra has a longer title, Guṇakāraṇḍavyūha, which could be translated as A Display from the Basket of Qualities, the “qualities” being those of Avalokiteśvara. Both versions of the sūtra are dedicated primarily to a description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities, which are stated to be greater than that of any buddha. The use of vyūha in the title is also evocative of the earlier Gaṇḍavyūha, which forms the last chapter of the Avataṃsaka, where gaṇḍa means “supreme” or “best.” The influence of the contents of that chapter is also discernible in this sūtra.
The Kāraṇḍavyūha’s principal content is the introduction of the oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ mantra and the descriptions of its inconceivable benefits. These are also the most quoted sections of the sūtra. However, it contains no instructions on the qualities and benefits of each syllable, of the kind that subsequently became widespread in Tibetan Buddhism. It also gives no explanation of the meaning of the mantra as a whole, a meaning that has been understood in various ways. Donald Lopez has given an account of various interpretations of the mantra in the West in his Prisoners of Shangri-la.12
Alexander Studholme, in his The Origins of Oṁ Maṇipadme Hūṃ, describes how the sūtra was composed within the context of familiarity with, and under the influence of, Purāṇic literature, in particular the Skandapurāṇa. In this sūtra, Avalokiteśvara has taken on various attributes and characteristics of Śiva, to the extent that one passage could be misread as describing Avalokiteśvara to be the creator of the universe. Even so, he is still being described as the creator of its deities, including Śiva and Viṣṇu. In particular, Avalokiteśvara’s mantra is evidence of the influence of Śiva’s five-syllable mantra, oṁ namaḥ śivāya (“Oṁ—Homage to Śiva!”), which is found in the Skandapurāṇa together with a description of the benefits of its recitation.
In classical Sanskrit grammar, padme would be the locative case, which has led to the interpretation of oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ as “jewel in the lotus.” However, mantras are typically given in the vocative or dative case, usually with the name of a deity being invoked. Padme is in fact the vocative for padma, this being Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. In classical Sanskrit, the e- ending vocative form is only used for feminine nouns.13 P.C. Verhagen has translated one of the few native Tibetan texts to be found in the Tengyur, a grammar text that uses this very mantra to explain the e-ending vocative form for masculine nouns.14 This vocative form of masculine nouns is a characteristic of the Magadhi, or northeastern Middle Indic, dialect. However, this form appears to have been much more widespread, extending as far as Sanskrit loan words in the Tocharian language of Central Asia.15 Maṇipadma is therefore a compound and is a name for Avalokiteśvara meaning “Jewel Lotus.”
The sūtra itself is rarely read in Tibet, other than in the annual ritual chanting of the Kangyur, and as mentioned above it has been eclipsed by the eleventh-century Maṇi Kabum. There is no evidence of it having had any significant impact on religious life in Tibet in the preceding centuries. In spite of the eventual importance of the oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ mantra, the sūtra is still primarily known only through select quotations. One reason for this is that very little of the teaching and meditation practice of the Maṇi Kabum is to be found in the sūtra.
Another reason is the difficulty involved in reading the sūtra due to its structure of narratives within narratives. After a buddha is initially introduced, he is subsequently only referred to as “Bhagavat,” and it is easy for readers to lose track of which level of the narrative they are reading. Although the speakers’ names were not repeated in the original, we have added them in here for clarity. We have not marked these insertions with square brackets, again for the sake of readability.
Another problem with the sūtra is that although it is a compilation of narratives, the sūtra does not always use its source material in a skillful manner. The Sanskrit original itself does not compare well with the clarity and style of writing found in other sūtras. There are abrupt transitions, inconsistency in the use of pronouns, and the contents of one part of the narrative appear to be in contradiction with those of another. For example, the Buddha tells the tale of the merchants being rescued from the land of the rākṣasīs in the first person, but there are sporadic lapses into what must have been the original third person of the narrative. The asura king Bali’s account of his downfall likewise transitions from a first- to a third-person account. In common with many other Mahāyāna sūtras but perhaps more frequently than most of them, the Kāraṇḍavyūha refers to itself within its own narrative as a sūtra that is being taught, requested, or longed for, but appears to describe itself as being comprised of verses, almost as if the Kāraṇḍavyūha is a different sūtra that is simply being referred to in this sūtra.
The sūtra assumes that the reader is familiar with the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, the two great epics of Indian literature, and the story of Viṣṇu’s avatar as a dwarf deceiving Bali, the lord of the asuras. Tibetan readers, however, would be unfamiliar with personages referred to in passing in the text, such as Śukra, who is both the deity of the planet Venus and counselor for the king of the asuras. Viṣṇu is usually referred to as Nārāyaṇa in the sūtra, but in the passage where he rescues the Pāṇḍavas and other kṣatriyas of Mahābhārata fame, he is referred to as Daśarathaputra (“son of Daśaratha”), which is actually the name of Rāma, another of Viṣṇu’s avatars. This may be because the story of the dwarf avatar also appears in the Rāmāyaṇa when it is told to Rāma, that is, Daśarathaputra.
The sūtra also includes a variation of a well-known jātaka tale in which the Buddha as a horse saves merchants from the island of the rākṣasīs,16 which has been retold with variations many times in Buddhist literature. Here it is retold with Avalokiteśvara as the horse and the Buddha as the head merchant who is being rescued. However, this too implies an unexplained internal contradiction: the sūtra had earlier narrated how Avalokiteśvara, in the form of a handsome man, had converted all the rākṣasīs from their cannibalistic ways to become devotees of Buddhism.
The Tibetan translation occasionally transliterates the Sanskrit rather than attempting to find a Tibetan equivalent, particularly when it comes to fauna and flora—even the Sanskrit word for “wolf” is simply transliterated as tarakṣa. There are also instances of obscure translations of words that do not agree with the Mahāvyuttpati.
In some passages, we relied more on the Sanskrit than we had originally anticipated because there is evidence that the manuscript from which the Tibetan translation was made had suffered from scribal corruption, as revealed by the surviving Sanskrit and confirmed by the English translation of the Chinese. For example, when describing the maṇḍala as adṛṣṭa (“not seen”), this was corrupted to aṣṭa (“eight”); a mountain made of padmarāga (“ruby”) was corrupted to padmarakta, which was translated as “red lotuses” (pad ma dmar po); and in the middle of the Buddha’s describing Avalokiteśvara’s qualities, ayaṃ (“this”) was corrupted to ahaṃ (“me”) so that the Buddha seems to be describing himself.
There are also omissions of sentences in the Tibetan (whether as the result of omission in the original Sanskrit manuscript or later copies of the Tibetan) that affect the narrative or meaning. The omissions are particularly evident when there are lists of qualities or meditations that are more easily left out in the process of copying manuscripts. On the other hand, there are also instances of members of lists that are preserved in the Tibetan but omitted in the available Sanskrit texts.
The most egregious flaw in both the Tibetan and Chinese translations, and one which has already attracted scholarly attention, occurred on rendering the obscure term ratikara, which literally means “that which creates joy,” and is also the name of one of the apsarases that are in the audience for this sūtra. The later Nepalese version used instead dvīpa, the common word for “lamp,” but both the Chinese and Tibetan translators, even with the assistance of Sanskrit scholars, were understandably stumped by this odd word, particularly as the ratikara laughs and speaks. Both Yeshé Dé and T’ien Hsi-tsai chose to make it refer to the rākṣasī wife speaking in her sleep, as she is the only other person in the room and is the merchant’s paramour. This entailed interpolating the word “sleeping” into the translation. However, the result makes little narrative sense, whereas the unlikely meaning of lamp, which we therefore preferred (see 2.7), does make narrative sense.
Our aim was to make the most readable, accurate, and coherent version of the sūtra as it is preserved in the Tibetan translation. The Degé edition and the version in the critical edition of the Kangyur were therefore our principal sources.
Sanskrit manuscripts do not necessarily reflect the original form of a text, even though they are in the original language, because they may have their own accretion of omissions and additions that have occurred in the centuries following the time a Tibetan or Chinese translation was made. There has not yet been a critical edition from all available Sanskrit manuscripts, but we consulted three Sanskrit editions, the most important being a palm-leaf manuscript from the Cambridge University Library, which was written in the beginning of the second millennium before the development of the Devanāgarī script. It is notable for being closer to the Tibetan. Of easier access but less representative of the original text are the Sāmaśrami edition of 1872 and the 1962 Vaidya edition that is based closely on Sāmaśrami. The Sāmaśrami is available on the Online Sanskrit Texts Project of the Theosophical Network, and the Vaidya is openly available on the internet. To complete the translation of some difficult passages, we also referred to the Gilgit manuscript fragments, though they were not readily accessible. Silfung Chen’s online English translation from the Chinese proved interesting in its correspondences with these editions.
Nevertheless, as noted above, there were a number of points where we relied on the Sanskrit to fill in missing elements, words, members of a list, and sometimes whole sentences, although it is possible that some of the latter may have been later additions to improve the flow and clarity of the sūtra’s sometimes clumsy narrative. Where our translation favors the Sanskrit over the Tibetan, annotations indicate that this is the case.
An important objective was readability, so the syntax does not necessarily reflect that of the Tibetan or Sanskrit versions. For example, an active construction may be used instead of a passive construction found in the original. The inconsistencies of first and third person have been resolved, and, as noted above, names are repeated when otherwise the reader might lose track of who is speaking or to whom the text is referring. Hopefully this will make reading the sūtra in English far less challenging than attempting to do so in Tibetan or Sanskrit. Readers will find the variant readings in Tibetan and Sanskrit in the notes if they wish.
Buddha Śākyamuni is at Jetavana Monastery with many disciples. Lights shine upon the monastery and miraculously transform it. The bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asks the Buddha where the lights came from. The Buddha explains that they came from Avalokiteśvara, who had just visited the Avīci hell and the city of the pretas, and then describes those visits.
Then Buddha Śākyamuni recounts being a merchant at the time of Buddha Vipaśyin and how he heard him describe how various deities, including Śiva and Viṣṇu, were created from Avalokiteśvara’s body.
Buddha Śākyamuni then recounts being Bodhisattva Dānaśūra at the time of Buddha Śikhin and how light rays shone from Buddha Śikhin. In response to questioning by Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi, Śikhin says that the lights and other omens are a sign of the approach of Avalokiteśvara, who then arrives from Sukhāvatī with an offering of lotuses from Buddha Amitābha.
After Avalokiteśvara’s departure, Śikhin describes to Ratnapāṇi how Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit is inconceivable by using a series of analogies. Then he describes how Avalokiteśvara teaches this very sūtra to the asuras in the form of an asura.
Buddha Śākyamuni then states that he was a rishi (ṛṣi) at the time of Buddha Viśvabhū. Before repeating what Viśvabhū taught, Śākyamuni relates how Avalokiteśvara taught upside-down beings in the realm of gold and four-legged beings in the land of silver. There then follows a long description of Avalokiteśvara’s visit to the asuras in the land of iron. Avalokiteśvara teaches the asuras the inconceivable merit that comes from making offerings to a buddha. Bali, the king of the asuras, tells Avalokiteśvara that he had in the past made an offering to the wrong recipient. He had imprisoned all the kṣatriyas, but Viṣṇu secretly freed them and came to him in the form of a dwarf asking for two steps of land. Bali offered him three, but Viṣṇu took on his divine form and covered the whole world in two steps. He then banished Bali to the underworld where he now dwells for having failed to fulfill his promise.
Avalokiteśvara then describes to him the suffering in hells that awaits those who have not made offerings to the Buddha.
Avalokiteśvara then radiates light rays to where Viśvabhū and his pupils are residing in Jetavana Monastery. Bodhisattva Gaganagañja asks Viśvabhū where the lights came from. Viśvabhū states that the lights are a sign that Avalokiteśvara is coming. However, Avalokiteśvara first goes to a land of darkness to teach the yakṣas and rākṣasas about the merit that comes from this sūtra.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to the Śuddhāvāsa realms, where in the form of a brahmin he begs from a poor deva. The deva goes into his empty palace to give him whatever he has, but finds it full of jewels and food that he then offers to the brahmin. Avalokiteśvara in the form of the brahmin tells the deva that he is a bodhisattva from Jetavana Monastery.
Avalokiteśvara then descends to Siṃhala Island, the land of the rākṣasīs, in the form of a handsome man. He agrees to be their husband if they follow his instructions, which they do, giving up killing.
Avalokiteśvara then travels to Vārāṇasī, where in the form of a bee he buzzes the prayer of homage to the Three Jewels to the insects in a large cesspit, liberating them.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to Magadhā, where starving beings have been eating each other for twenty years, and he causes a rain of food to fall. One of the people, a man who is hundreds of thousands of years old, realizes that only Avalokiteśvara could have caused this miracle, and tells the others of the benefits of making offerings to him.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to Buddha Viśvabhū. Bodhisattva Gaganagañja meets him, Viśvabhū teaches the six perfections, and the audience disperses. This is the end of part one.
Part two begins with Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asking for teachings from Buddha Śākyamuni, who lists the samādhis that Avalokiteśvara possesses.
Then Buddha Śākyamuni recounts being a head merchant who became stranded on Siṃhala Island with other merchants. Each of them goes to live with a rākṣasī. One night, a talking lamp warns the head merchant that the women are all rākṣasīs. As proof, the lamp directs him to an iron fortress where other merchants are being kept prisoner and then eaten. Then the lamp tells him of Bālāha,17 a miraculous horse on which the merchants can escape. As they flee upon the horse, all the other merchants look back, fall off the horse, and are eaten by the rākṣasīs, while the head merchant reaches home safely. Buddha Śākyamuni states that Avalokiteśvara was the horse.
Buddha Śākyamuni then begins a description of two pores on Avalokiteśvara’s body and their inhabitants.
Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, to the Buddha’s approval, describes the benefits that come from this sūtra.
Buddha Śākyamuni describes another pore and explains to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin that the pores are immaterial and cannot be seen even by buddhas.
Buddha Śākyamuni describes two more pores, saying that those who remember Avalokiteśvara’s name, meaning the six-syllable mahāvidyā, will be reborn in them, but that no one, not even the buddhas, know this mantra.
After Buddha Śākyamuni describes more benefits that come from the mantra, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin declares his intention to obtain it.
Buddha Śākyamuni recounts his own fruitless search for it until, after meeting trillions of buddhas, he finally met Buddha Ratnottama who directed him to Buddha Padmottama. Padmottama describes the incalculable benefits that come from saying the mantra once and then describes his own long fruitless search for the mantra until he came to Buddha Amitābha, who instructed Avalokiteśvara to give the mantra to Padmottama. Avalokiteśvara does so through a maṇḍala made of precious stones and gives the instructions on how to make the maṇḍala.
Buddha Śākyamuni follows this narrative with a description of how incalculable the benefits are from even one syllable of the mantra.
He then tells Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin that he can only obtain it from an unnamed dharmabhāṇaka who has lost his monastic vows and lives in Vārāṇasī. Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin goes to him in a huge procession of people and offerings.
The dharmabhāṇaka describes the benefits of the mantra and, at the urging of Avalokiteśvara, who appears in the sky, gives the mantra to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, who returns to Buddha Śākyamuni. Seventy million buddhas recite the mantra of the goddess known as both Cundi and Cundā.
Buddha Śākyamuni then describes five more of Avalokiteśvara’s pores.
Buddha Śākyamuni then describes the oceans that come from Avalokiteśvara’s big toe, and says there are no more pores but those ten. Then omens of Avalokiteśvara’s arrival appear. He leaves Sukhāvatī and comes to Buddha Śākyamuni and offers him lotuses from Buddha Amitābha.
Buddha Śākyamuni then directs Maheśvara and Umādevī to receive the prophecies of their future buddhahood from Avalokiteśvara.
Buddha Śākyamuni then gives a teaching on the incalculability of Avalokiteśvara’s merit and listing the samādhis he has.
Then Buddha Śākyamuni recounts when he was with Buddha Krakucchanda and saw Samantabhadra and Avalokiteśvara both practicing various samādhis. Krakucchanda declares that not even the buddhas have Avalokiteśvara’s samādhis.
Buddha Śākyamuni then describes the benefits that come from this sūtra, and Avalokiteśvara departs.
Then Ānanda requests teachings on monastic conduct. Buddha Śākyamuni prophesies how there will be monks who do not maintain their conduct in the future and who should be expelled. He describes the tortures in hell and other rebirths that await laypeople who misuse the property of the saṅgha.
Ānanda departs and the sūtra concludes.
This outline is intended as a guide to the complicated narrative levels of the sūtra.
I. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni is in the Jetavana Monastery when lights appear, transforming the monastery’s appearance. Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin questions Buddha Śākyamuni about this, and the Buddha states that the cause of the lights is Avalokiteśvara visiting Avīci hell and then the city of the pretas.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara appears in the Avīci hell and liberates beings. As a result, Yama’s creatures go to Yama and describe Avalokiteśvara’s arrival. Yama goes to Avalokiteśvara and praises him.
II. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni responds to a question from Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin about whether Avalokiteśvara has left the hell.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara leaves the hells, visits the city of the pretas, and liberates them from their suffering. This very sūtra sounds in their realm.
III. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni says that he remembers being a merchant listening to Buddha Vipaśyin.18
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Buddha Vipaśyin describes the activities of Avalokiteśvara in the past.
A. Buddha Vipaśyin’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara emanates such deities as Maheśvara (Śiva), and Avalokiteśvara gives a prophecy to Śiva about the future rise of Śaivism, and how this will not bring liberation.
IV. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni tells Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin about his memories of being a bodhisattva named Dānaśūra when Buddha Śikhin taught about Avalokiteśvara.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Lights radiate from Buddha Śikhin, prompting Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi to question Buddha Śikhin. Signs appear as omens of the coming of Avalokiteśvara from Sukhāvatī. Avalokiteśvara arrives and tells Buddha Śikhin he has been liberating hell beings and pretas, and then Avalokiteśvara departs. In response to a question from bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi, Buddha Śikhin describes Avalokiteśvara’s qualities.
A. Buddha Śikhin’s narrative: Buddha Śikhin gives analogies for the inconceivability of Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit. He describes his various manifestations as a guide for beings and his visit to the asuras where he teaches them the benefit of this very sūtra (even though the sūtra is itself the description of these events).
V. Sūtra narrative: The story of Buddha Śikhin teaching Ratnapāṇi ends abruptly. Buddha Śākyamuni then describes his memory of being a rishi with Buddha Viśvabhū when he taught on Avalokiteśvara.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Buddha Viśvabhū begins a description of what Avalokiteśvara has been doing.
A. Buddha Viśvabhū’s narrative: There is a brief description of how Avalokiteśvara visits adhomukha (“head-down”) beings in the realm of gold and four-legged beings in the realm of silver. There then follows a lengthy episode in the land of iron where he meets Bali, the king of asuras, who tells him how he came to be in the underworld.
i. Bali’s narrative: Bali explains how he imprisoned many kṣatriyas, including the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas of Mahābhārata fame, and how Nārāyaṇa rescued them. Then he describes how he followed the tradition of a king making a vast offering from his wealth and granting the requests of anyone who came. Viṣṇu comes as a brahmin dwarf requesting the amount of land that he can cover in two footsteps. Bali offers him three footsteps’ worth. Viṣṇu takes on a gigantic form, encompasses the world in two steps, and then banishes the asuras to the underworld.
B. Buddha Viśvabhū’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara teaches Bali and the asuras, primarily describing the tortures by Yama’s guardians in hell. Then he takes his leave, saying he has to go to Jetavana Monastery. (Although this is the time of Viśvabhū, not Śākyamuni, here Viśvabhū’s own reported narrative transforms with no clear dividing line into Śākyamuni’s narrative about Viśvabhū.)
2. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara radiates light rays to Viśvabhū in Jetavana Monastery. The appearance of the light rays prompts the bodhisattva Gaganagañja to ask Viśvabhū a question as to their source.
A. Buddha Viśvabhū’s narrative resumed:
Avalokiteśvara leaves the realm of the asuras. (Although he had previously said Avalokiteśvara was leaving for Jetavana, Viśvabhū now says that he is going to Tamondhakāra, a realm of darkness inhabited by yakṣas and rākṣasas, where he teaches them analogies concerning the merit of knowing this very sūtra.)
Avalokiteśvara leaves that realm for the Śuddhāvāsa realms, where he appears in the form of a brahmin who begs from an impoverished deity. The poor deity goes into his empty palace to look for something to give the brahmin and discovers his pots miraculously filled with jewels.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to the island of Siṃhala, which is inhabited by rākṣasīs, where he appears as a handsome man. They all become his wives, follow the Dharma, and attain liberation.
Avalokiteśvara goes to Vārāṇasī, where he takes on the form of a bee and flies over a huge cesspool in the city. His buzzing is actually the sound of the Namo buddhāya prayer, and it liberates all the insects living in the cesspool.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to Magadhā, where people in the wilderness are eating each other for lack of food. He causes a miraculous rain of food and drink to fall. An old man among them describes the source of this miracle.
i. Old man’s narrative: The old man gives a description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities.
3. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative:
(Here Viśvabhū’s own narrative transforms, with no clear dividing line, into Śākyamuni’s narrative about Viśvabhū.) Avalokiteśvara goes into the sky and thinks that it has been a long time since he has been to see Buddha Viśvabhū, so he decides to go to Jetavana.
Avalokiteśvara arrives in Jetavana to see Buddha Viśvabhū. There is a brief mention of Viśvabhū teaching the six perfections and then everyone leaves, concluding part one of the sūtra.
VI. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni responds to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin’s request for teachings on Avalokiteśvara by first giving a list of Avalokiteśvara’s samādhis.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: An account of when Śākyamuni was the leader of five hundred merchants who became stranded on the island of the rākṣasīs, and how he alone escaped on Avalokiteśvara in the form of a horse.
VII. Sūtra narrative: Śākyamuni says he will describe Avalokiteśvara’s ten pores and their inhabitants and landscapes.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Śākyamuni describes the first and second of Avalokiteśvara’s pores:
(1) The pore Suvarṇa, where gandharvas dedicated to the Dharma live.
(2) The pore Kṛṣṇa, where rishis and gandharvas live who play music that teaches birds and animals, who then remember the name of this very sūtra.
VIII. Sūtra narrative: Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin describes the benefits of possessing and writing the sūtra to Buddha Śākyamuni’s approval.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni describes the third of Avalokiteśvara’s pores:
(3) The pore Ratnakuṇḍala, where female gandharvas live who remember the name of Avalokiteśvara.
IX. Sūtra narrative: Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin wishes to go to the pores but Buddha Śākyamuni describes how Samantabhadra failed to find the pores in twelve years of searching. Buddha Śākyamuni describes how Avalokiteśvara has a subtle form that even he cannot perceive, and that Avalokiteśvara has eleven heads, a hundred thousand arms, and a trillion eyes. Buddha Śākyamuni laughs and tells Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin that it is not yet time for Avalokiteśvara to come, and then returns to the description of the ten pores.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: He describes the fourth and fifth of Avalokiteśvara’s pores:
(4) The pore Amṛtabindu, where devas live on the bhūmis and gandharvas live on mountains of gold and silver.
(5) The pore Vajramukha, where kinnaras live who contemplate the six perfections and human suffering and remember Avalokiteśvara’s name.
X. Sūtra narrative: Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asks where he can find the six-syllable mahāvidyā. Buddha Śākyamuni tells him that the buddhas have spent sixteen eons looking for the mahāvidyā but failed to find it. He gives a description of the benefits gained by those who do possess, repeat, and wear it. Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin says he will use his own skin, bone, and blood to write it down if he can obtain it.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Śākyamuni describes how in a previous life he searched through many realms and met trillions of buddhas but failed to find the mahāvidyā. Then Buddha Ratnottama sends him to see Buddha Padmottama, and Śākyamuni tells of his search.
A. Buddha Padmottama’s narrative: This is a description of the merit gained by repeating the mahāvidyā and a story of how, in the past, Padmottama searched for the mantra through many realms and met many buddhas but did not find it. Padmottama comes to Amitābha and tells him of his search. Amitābha tells Avalokiteśvara to give the mahāvidyā to Padmottama. Avalokiteśvara describes to Padmottama how to make the maṇḍala of the mahāvidyā so that he may in the future give the mahāvidyā to others.
In response to Amitābha’s questions, Avalokiteśvara describes how to give the mahāvidyā if one cannot make such a maṇḍala.
Avalokiteśvara gives the mahāvidyā to Padmottama, who returns to his realm.
XI. Sūtra narrative: The sūtra does not state specifically that Padmottama gives the mahāvidyā to Buddha Śākyamuni, and Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin does not ask the Buddha for it but asks where he can go to find it. Buddha Śākyamuni describes the dharmabhāṇaka in Vārāṇasī who possesses the mahāvidyā.
Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin goes to Vārāṇasī with a great procession of people and offerings, praises the dharmabhāṇaka, and asks for the mahāvidyā. The dharmabhāṇaka describes the qualities of the mahāvidyā, wrong paths, and the devotion of even Prajñāpāramitā to the mahāvidyā.
Avalokiteśvara appears in the sky and tells the dharmabhāṇaka several times to give the mahāvidyā to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin.
The dharmabhāṇaka does not create a maṇḍala, as was described by Avalokiteśvara, but simply recites the mahāvidyā to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin. Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin returns to the Jetavana grove and tells Buddha Śākyamuni that he has received the mahāvidyā.
Trillions of buddhas recite the dhāraṇī of the goddess Cundi: oṁ cale cule cunde svāhā. No explanation for this dhāraṇī is given, so the reader is assumed to be familiar with it.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Abruptly, without any transition, the description of the last five of Avalokiteśvara’s pores continues from where it had previously been left off.
(6) The pore Sūryaprabha, where bodhisattvas dwell. They can see Avalokiteśvara and the seven buddhas when they remember the mahāvidyā.
(7) The pore Indrarāja, where irreversible bodhisattvas live.
(8) The pore Mahoṣadī, where bodhisattvas who have just developed bodhicitta live, and gandharvas live on mountains.
(9) The pore Cittarāja, where pratyekabuddhas live.
(10) The pore Dhvajarāja, where buddhas live who teach the six perfections to the humans of Jambudvīpa.
XII. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni, in response to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin’s question, says there are no more pores than those ten, but that beyond the last pore, the four oceans come from Avalokiteśvara’s big toe.
He states that Avalokiteśvara is coming to give prophecies to Śiva (Maheśvara) and Umādevī about their eventual buddhahood. Avalokiteśvara arrives with a gift of lotus flowers from Amitābha. Maheśvara asks the Buddha for a prophecy, and he is sent to Avalokiteśvara who prophesies his buddhahood and then does the same for Umādevī. Buddha Śākyamuni, in response to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin’s question, describes the qualities of Avalokiteśvara.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: He gives a description of the inconceivability of Avalokiteśvara’s merit and a list of Avalokiteśvara’s samādhis, which differs from that given earlier.
Śākyamuni describes his memory of being Bodhisattva Dānaśūra at the time of Buddha Krakucchanda. He sees Samantabhadra with Avalokiteśvara. They each enter different states of samādhis, and Buddha Krakucchanda emphasizes Avalokiteśvara’s superiority.
XIII. Sūtra narrative: Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asks for this very sūtra to be taught (although it is near its conclusion), and the Buddha describes the benefits of the sūtra. Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin sits silently.
Avalokiteśvara and all the other various kinds of beings assembled leave.
In an abrupt change of content, Ānanda asks Śākyamuni Buddha about monastic training. Śākyamuni condemns bhikṣus with incorrect conduct, saying they should be banished from the community. He prophesies how in three hundred years people will use the property and possessions of the saṅgha or monastery, and describes the sufferings they will endure, such as in the hells.
Ānanda leaves, and again the various classes of beings are said to leave (though they had already done so earlier), and the entire world rejoices in the Buddha’s words.
[F.200.a][B1]Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavat was staying, with a great saṅgha of 1,250 bhikṣus and a multitude of bodhisattvas, in Śrāvastī, in Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.
Eight hundred million19 bodhisattva mahāsattvas had gathered there, such as Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Vajramati, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Jñānadarśana, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Vajrasena, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Guhyagupta,20 Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Ākaśagarbha, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sūryagarbha, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Anikṣiptadhura, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Ratnapāṇi, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Samantabhadra, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sarvaśūra,[F.200.b] Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Bhaiṣajyasena, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Vajrapāṇi, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sāgaramati, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Dharmadhara, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Pṛthivīvaralocana, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Āśvāsahasta, and Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Maitreya.
The thirty-two classes of devas had also gathered there, the principal ones being Maheśvara and Nārāyaṇa. Śakra, who is the lord of the devas, Brahmā, who is the lord of the Sahā universe, Candra, Āditya, Vāyu, Varuṇa, and other deities were also assembled there.21
Many hundreds of thousands of nāga kings had also gathered there in that retinue. Nāga King Utpala, Nāga King Elapatra, Nāga King Timiṃgira, Nāga King Gavāṃpati, Nāga King Śataśīrṣa, Nāga King Hullura,22 Nāga King Vahūdaka,23 Nāga King Takṣaka, Nāga King Gośīrṣa, Nāga King Mṛgaśīrṣa, Nāga Kings Nanda and Upananda, Nāga King Vātsīputra, Nāga King Sāgara, Nāga King Anavatapta, and many hundreds of thousands of other nāga kings were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands of gandharva kings had also assembled there. Gandharva King Dundubhisvara, Gandharva King Manojñasvara,[F.201.a] Gandharva King Sahasrabhuja, Gandharva King Sahāpati,24 Gandharva King Śarīraprahlādana, Gandharva King Nirnāditabhūrya, Gandharva King Alaṃkārabhūṣita, Gandharva King Kumāradarśana, Gandharva King Subāhuyukta, Gandharva King Dharmapriya, and many hundreds of thousands of gandharva kings were gathered there in that retinue.
Also gathered in that retinue were many hundreds of thousands of kinnara kings. Kinnara King Sumukha, Kinnara King Ratnakirītī, Kinnara King Svārimukha, Kinnara King Prahasita,25 Kinnara King Cakravyūha, Kinnara King Puṣpāvakīrṇa, Kinnara King Maṇi, Kinnara King Pralambodara, Kinnara King Dṛdhavīrya, Kinnara King Suyodhana, Kinnara King Śatamukha, Kinnara King Druma,26 and many hundreds of thousands of other kinnara kings were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands of apsarases had gathered there. The apsaras named Tilottamā, the apsaras named Suvyūhā, the apsaras named Suvarṇamekhalā, the apsaras named Vibhūṣutā, the apsaras named Karṇadhārā, the apsaras named Amṛtabindu, the apsaras named Pariśobhitakāyā, the apsaras named Maṇiprasthanā, the apsaras named Cuḍakā, the apsaras named Mṛdukā, the apsaras named Pañcabhūryābhimukhā, the apsaras named Ratikarā, the apsaras named Kañcanamālā, the apsaras named Nīlotpalā, the apsaras named Dharmābhimukhā, the apsaras named Sakrīḍā,[F.201.b] the apsaras named Kṛtsnākarā, the apsaras named Suvyūhamati, the apsaras named Keyūradharā, the apsaras named Dānaṃdadā, the apsaras named Śaśī, and many hundreds of thousands27 of other apsarases were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands28 of female nāgas were gathered there. The female nāga named Vibhūṣaṇadharā, the female nāga named Acilillanā,29 the female nāga named Trijaṭā, the female nāga named Svātimukhā,30 the female nāga named Jayaśrī, the female nāga named Vijayaśrī, the female nāga named Mucilindā,31 the female nāga named Vidyullocanā, the female nāga named Vidyutprabhā,32 the female nāga named Svātigiri, the female nāga named Śataparivārā, the female nāga named Mahauṣadhi, the female nāga named Jalabindu,33 the female nāga named Ekaśīrṣā, the female nāga named Śatavāhāna,34 the female nāga named Śatabāhu, the female nāga named Grasatī, the female nāga named Anākṛtsnagatā,35 the female nāga named Subhūṣaṇā,36 the female nāga named Pāṇḍarameghā,37 the female nāga named Rathābhiruḍhā,38 the female nāga named Tyāgānugatā,39 the female nāga named Anāgatā,40 the female nāga named Abhinnaparivārā, the female nāga named Pulindā,41 the female nāga named Sāgarakukṣi, the female nāga named Chatramukhā, the female nāga named Dharmapīṭhā, the female nāga named Mukhakarā,42 the female nāga named Vīryā, the female nāga named Sāgaragambhīrā, the female nāga named Meruśrī, and many hundreds of thousands of other female nāgas were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands of female gandharvas had also gathered there. The female gandharva named Priyamukhā, the female gandharva named Priyaṃdadā,[F.202.a] the female gandharva named Anādarśakā, the female gandharva named Vajraśrī, the female gandharva named Vajramālā, the female gandharva named Sumālinī, the female gandharva named Vanaspati, the female gandharva named Śatapuṣpā, the female gandharva named Mukulitā, the female gandharva named Ratnamālā, the female gandharva named Muditapuṣpā,43 the female gandharva named Sukukṣi, the female gandharva named Rājaśrī, the female gandharva named Dundubhi, the female gandharva named Śubhamālā, the female gandharva named Vibhūṣitālaṃkārā, the female gandharva named Abhinamitā, the female gandharva named Dharmakāṅkṣiṇī, the female gandharva named Dharmaṃdadā,44 the female gandharva named Audumbarā,45 the female gandharva named Śatākārā, the female gandharva named Padmaśriyā,46 the female gandharva named Padmāvatī,47 the female gandharva named Padmālaṃkārā,48 the female gandharva named Pariśobhitakāyā, the female gandharva named Vilāsendragāminī,49 the female gandharva named Pṛthivīṃdadā, the female gandharva named Phalaṃdadā,50 the female gandharva named Siṃhagāminī, the female gandharva named Kumudapuṣpā, the female gandharva named Manoramā, the female gandharva named Dānaṃdadā, the female gandharva named Devavacanā,51 the female gandharva named Kṣāntipriyā, the female gandharva named Nirvāṇapriyā, the female gandharva named Ratnāṅkurā, the female gandharva named Indraśrī, the female gandharva named Indramaghaśrī, the female gandharva named Prajāpatinivāsinī, the female gandharva named Mṛgarājinī, the female gandharva named Sphurantaśrī, the female gandharva named Jvalantaśikharā, the female gandharva named Rāgaparimuktā,[F.202.b] the female gandharva named Dveṣaparimuktā, the female gandharva named Mohaparimuktā, the female gandharva named Sujanaparivārā, the female gandharva named Ratnapīṭhā, the female gandharva named Āgamanagamanā, the female gandharva named Agniprabhā, the female gandharva named Candrabimbaprabhā, the female gandharva named Sūryalocanā, the female gandharva named Suvarṇāvabhāsā,52 and many hundreds of thousands53 of other female gandharvas.
Many hundreds of thousands54 of female kinnaras had gathered there. The female kinnara named Manasā, the female kinnara named Mānasī, the female kinnara named Vāyuvegā, the female kinnara named Varuṇavegā, the female kinnara named Ākāśaplavā,55 the female kinnara named Vegajavā, the female kinnara named Lakṣmīṃdadā, the female kinnara named Sudaṃṣṭrā, the female kinnara named Acalaśriyā,56 the female kinnara named Dhātupriyā, the female kinnara named Jvalantapriyā,57 the female kinnara named Suśriyā,58 the female kinnara named Ratnakāraṇḍakā, the female kinnara named Avalokitalakṣmī, the female kinnara named Kuṭilā, the female kinnara named Vajramuṣṭi, the female kinnara named Kapilā, the female kinnara named Subhūṣaṇabhūṣitā, the female kinnara named Vistīrṇalalāṭā, the female kinnara named Sujanaparisevitā, the female kinnara named Sahāpatī,59[F.203.a] the female kinnara named Ākāśarakṣitā, the female kinnara named Vyūharājendrā, the female kinnara named Maṇicūḍā, the female kinnara named Maṇidhāriṇī, the female kinnara named Maṇirocanī, the female kinnara named Vidvajjanaparisevitā, the female kinnara named Śatākārā,60 the female kinnara named Āyurdadā, the female kinnara named Tathāgatakośaparipālitā, the female kinnara named Dharmadhātuparirakṣiṇī, the female kinnara named Satataparigrahadharmakāṅkṣiṇī, the female kinnara named Sadānukāladarśinī, the female kinnara named Nūpurottamā, the female kinnara named Lakṣaṇottamā,61 the female kinnara named Āśvāsanī, the female kinnara named Vimokṣakarā, the female kinnara named Sadānuvṛtti, the female kinnara named Saṃvegadhāriṇī, the female kinnara named Khaṅgajvalanā, the female kinnara named Pṛthivyupasaṃkramaṇā, the female kinnara named Surendramālā, the female kinnara named Surendrā, the female kinnara named Asurendrā, the female kinnara named Munīndrā, the female kinnara named Gotrakṣānti, the female kinnara named Tyāgānugatā,62 the female kinnara named Bahvāśrayā, the female kinnara named Śatāyudhā, the female kinnara named Vibhūṣitālaṃkārā, the female kinnara named Manoharā, and many hundreds of thousands63 of other female kinnaras were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands64 of upāsakas and upāsikās had gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands65 of tīrthika mendicant renunciants66 had also gathered there.[F.203.b]
At the time of this great gathering, light rays shone in the great Avīci hell. Having shone there, they came to the Jetavana Monastery, where they became adornments for the monastery: pillars adorned with divine, precious jewels; multistoried buildings that were covered with gold; buildings with doors made of gold and silver; buildings with steps made of gold and silver; and upper stories made of gold and silver, the silver upper stories having gold pillars adorned with divine jewels and the gold upper stories having silver pillars adorned with divine jewels.
In the gardens around Jetavana, there appeared various kinds of wish-fulfilling trees. They had trunks of gold and leaves of silver and were bedecked with a variety of adornments, with beautiful monastic robes,67 with Kaśika cloth, with hundreds of thousands of pearl necklaces, and with hundreds of thousands of crowns, earrings, braided ribbons, armlets, and anklets.
Outside the monastery there appeared hundreds of trees, which, like the wish-fulfilling trees, were made from precious metals and were bedecked with precious bracelets.
Within the Jetavana Monastery, there appeared stairs made from diamonds and entrance chambers hung with pearls and silks.68
Many bathing pools also appeared. Some were completely filled with water that had the eight qualities.69 Some were completely filled with a variety of flowers: they were completely filled with blue lotuses, red lotuses, night lotuses, white lotuses,70 tiger claw flowers and great tiger claw flowers,71 and udumbara flowers.
Moreover, there were a variety of tree blossoms: magnolia,[F.204.a] ashoka, oleander, trumpet flower, mountain ebony, jasmine, and other beautiful tree blossoms.
The Jetavana Monastery appeared completely beautified.
From within that assembly Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin arose from his seat, bared one shoulder, and kneeling on his right knee and facing the Bhagavat, placed his palms together and inquired of the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, I have perceived a great, wonderful marvel. Bhagavat, where did these great light rays come from? Who has this power?”
The Bhagavat replied, “Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva72 Avalokiteśvara entered the great Avīci hell. When he had completely liberated the beings there, he went to the city of the pretas. It was he who emanated these light rays.”73
Then Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, as the great Avīci hell is without respite, how did Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara enter it? In the great Avīci hell a wall encloses a ground made of burning iron, which has become one raging flame in the shape of a reed basket. Within this Avīci hell there is a pot from which comes the sound of wailing. Many hundreds of thousands of tens of millions of hundreds of millions of beings have been thrown into that pot. Just as green or black mung beans are massed together in a water-filled vessel, rising and sinking as they are cooked,[F.204.b] that is how the beings in the great Avīci hell undergo physical suffering. Bhagavat, how did Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara enter the great Avīci hell?”
The Bhagavat answered him, “Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara entered the great Avīci hell just as a cakravartin king enters a grove made of divine jewels. Noble son, it had no effect upon his body. As he approached the Avīci hell, it cooled. The beings that were Yama’s guards were in a state of agitation and extremely terrified. They wondered,74 ‘Why has an inauspicious sign appeared in this Avīci hell?’ When the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara entered the Avīci hell, lotus flowers the size of cartwheels appeared, the pot burst open, and the inferno of fire transformed into a pool. On seeing these inauspicious signs appear in Avīci hell, Yama’s guardians became dismayed.
“Then Yama’s guardians gathered their swords, clubs,75 short spears, long spears, maces, discuses, tridents, and so on, and, taking all their Avīci utensils,76 went to the Dharmarāja Yamarāja. When they arrived, they told him, ‘Divine One, know first that our place of work is completely destroyed.’
“Dharmarāja Yamarāja asked them, ‘Why is your place of work completely destroyed?’
“Yama’s guardians answered, ‘Divine One,77 know first that an inauspicious omen appeared in this Avīci hell, all of which became peaceful78 and cool. There entered a handsome being, with his hair in a topknot, his body beautified by divine adornments, with an extremely loving mind, and resembling a golden statue.79[F.205.a] That is the kind of being that arrived. The moment he arrived, lotus flowers the size of cartwheels appeared, the pot burst open, and the inferno of fire was transformed into a pool.’
“Yamarāja wondered, ‘What deity has manifested this power? Is this a special result that has occurred through the blessing of the deity Maheśvara, Nārāyaṇa, or some other deity? Have they descended to this level? Or has a powerful rākṣasa been born who rivals great Rāvaṇa?’80
“He looked with his divine sight into the heavens, wondering whose blessing this could be. Then he looked back into the Avīci hell and saw Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara there.
“Yamarāja went to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, bowed down his head to his feet, and made this special praise:
“ ‘I pay homage to Avalokiteśvara, Maheśvara, lover of lotuses, giver of the supreme boon, who has power; who illuminates the world;81 who brings relief; who has a hundred thousand arms; who has a hundred thousand times ten million eyes; who has eleven heads; who reaches Vaḍavāmukha; who delights in the Dharma; who completely frees all beings; who brings relief to turtles, crocodiles, and fish; who creates the greatest mass of wisdom; who brings joy; who is a splendor of jewels; who is sublime; who extinguishes Avīci; who is adorned by the splendor of wisdom; who delights in wisdom; who is the one to whom all devas make offerings, pay homage, and show reverence; who brings freedom from fear; who teaches the six perfections; who illuminates like the sun;82[F.205.b] who creates the lamp of Dharma; whose perfectly supreme form is whatever form is pleasing; who has the form of a gandharva; who has a form like a mountain of gold; who is deep like the vast ocean; who has attained the ultimate yoga; who shows his own face; who has many hundreds of thousands of samādhis; who brings true pleasure; who has a beautified body; who manifests as the supreme rishi;83 who brings freedom from the terrors of bondage in stocks and manacles; who is free from all existences; who has many retinues; who creates abundance;84 who is a precious wish-fulfilling jewel; who teaches the path to nirvāṇa; who brings the city of the pretas to an end; who is a parasol for beings; who liberates beings from illness; who has a sacred thread made of the nāga kings Nanda and Upananda;85 who reveals the beneficial lasso; who has hundreds of mantras; who terrifies Vajrapāṇi; who terrifies the three worlds; who frightens yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, pretas, and piśācas,86 vetālas, ḍākinīs, kūṣmāṇḍas, and apasmāras; who has eyes like blue lotuses; who has profound wisdom;87 who is the lord of knowledge; who brings freedom from all afflictions; who accumulates various paths to enlightenment; who has entered sacred liberation; who has paths to enlightenment accumulated within his body; who completely liberates pretas; and who has hundreds of thousands of samādhis as numerous as atoms.’
“In that way, Yamarāja praised Avalokiteśvara with a particularly sacred praise. Then Yamarāja circumambulated him three times and departed.”[F.206.a]
Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, did Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara leave?”
The Bhagavat replied, “Noble son, he left the Avīci hell and went to the city of the pretas. Many hundreds of thousands of pretas came running toward him. They were like burned tree trunks; they were like standing skeletons; they were covered with hair; they had stomachs the size of mountains and mouths the size of a needle’s eye.
“As Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara arrived at the city of the pretas, it cooled and the vajra hail ceased. The staff-wielding guard at the gates, who had thick calves and red eyes, became kind and said, ‘I should not be performing this duty.’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s mind was filled with compassion on seeing these beings, and he emitted ten rivers from his ten fingers; he emitted ten rivers from his ten toes; and he emitted great rivers from all his pores. When the pretas tasted the water, their throats widened, their bodies became whole, and they were completely satisfied by the supreme flavor of divine food.
“Then they contemplated human existence.88 They thought about saṃsāric existence in this way: ‘Oh! The humans in Jambudvīpa are happy. They can perfectly enjoy cool shade. Happy are those humans in Jambudvīpa who are always supporting their parents and honoring them.[F.206.b] Happy are those good humans who always rely on a kalyāṇamitra. Those who continuously learn the Mahāyāna are good contemplative beings. Those who follow the eightfold path are good beings. Those who beat the dharmagaṇḍī are good beings. Those who repair dilapidated and ruined monasteries are good beings. Those who repair dilapidated, ruined, ancient stūpas are good beings. Those who are dedicated to the sacred representations and the dharmabhāṇakas are good beings. Those who have seen the activities of a tathāgata are good beings; those who have seen the activities of a pratyekabuddha are good beings; those who have seen the activities of a bodhisattva are good beings.’ “
At that time there appeared the sound of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display; wisdom, like a thunderbolt, destroyed the view of the aggregates as a self, 89which is like a mountain with twenty peaks; and the pretas were all reborn in the realm of Sukhāvatī as bodhisattvas named Ākāṅkṣitamukha. “
Avalokiteśvara, having completely liberated those beings, departed from the city of the pretas.”90
Then Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, did Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara leave?”
The Bhagavat replied, “Noble son, each day he completely ripens a million trillion beings. Noble son, not even the tathāgatas have Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s prowess.”
Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked him, “Bhagavat, how is that so?”[F.207.a]
The Bhagavat answered, “Noble son, there appeared in this world the Tathāgata, the arhat, the samyaksaṃbuddha, perfect in wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the Bhagavat Vipaśyin.
“At that time, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, I was a merchant named Sugandhamukha, and I heard Tathāgata Vipaśyin describe the qualities of Avalokiteśvara.”
Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “What were the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara that you heard the tathāgata describe?”
The Bhagavat said, “Āditya and Candra came from his eyes, Maheśvara came from his forehead, Brahmā came from his shoulders, Nārāyaṇa came from his heart, Devi Sarasvatī came from his canines, Vāyu came from his mouth, Dharaṇī came from his feet, and Varuṇa came from his stomach.
“When those deities had come from Avalokiteśvara’s body, that bhagavat told the deity Maheśvara, ‘Maheśvara, in the kaliyuga, when beings have bad natures, you will be declared to be the primal deity who is the creator, the maker. All those beings will be excluded from the path to enlightenment. They will say to ordinary beings:
“Noble son, those are the words I heard Tathāgata Vipaśyin say.[F.207.b]
“In a later time, there appeared in this world the Tathāgata, the arhat, the samyaksaṃbuddha, the one with wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the Bhagavat Śikhin.
“At that time, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, I was Bodhisattva Dānaśūra, and I heard from him the description of the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara.”
Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “What were the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara that you heard the tathāgata describe?”
The Bhagavat said, “When all the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and humans had gathered together, the bhagavat Śikhin looked at the great gathering and began to speak of the Dharma within that assembly. At that time, light rays of various colors emanated from the mouth of Bhagavat Śikhin. They were blue, yellow, red, white, orange, and the color of crystal and of silver. They shone on all worlds in the ten directions, then returned and entered the mouth of the bhagavat.
“From within that assembly Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi arose from his seat, bared one shoulder, and kneeling on his right knee and facing Bhagavat Śikhin, placed his palms together and addressed these words to him:[F.208.a] ‘Bhagavat, why did this sign appear?’
“Bhagavat Śikhin replied, ‘Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara is coming from the realm of Sukhāvatī. I manifest this kind of sign when he is coming. When Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara comes, a profusion of wish-granting trees appears, a profusion of mango trees appears, star jasmine flowers and magnolia trees appear, ponds covered with flowers appear, and precious trees appear. There is a rain of various flowers,92 a rain of precious stones—jewels, pearls, diamonds, beryl, conch, crystal, and coral—and there is a rain of divine cloth. In the vicinity of the monastery the seven jewels of a cakravartin appear—the precious wheel, the precious horse, the precious elephant, the precious jewel,93 the precious wife, the precious householder, and the precious counselor—and the ground appears to be made of gold. When Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara comes from the realm of Sukhāvatī, the entire world shakes six times.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi asked Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, what are these omens of?’
“Bhagavat Śikhin answered, ‘Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara is arriving, and that is why these omens appear.’
“As the earth shook and it rained beautiful lotuses,[F.208.b] Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara came to Bhagavat Śikhin. He was holding lotus flowers, each with a thousand petals and a golden stem. He bowed down his head to the bhagavat’s feet and offered the lotuses to him. He said, ‘Tathāgata Amitābha sends these flowers to you. The Tathagāta asks if you are in health, if you are at ease, and if all is well.’94
“Bhagavat Śikhin took the lotuses and placed them on his left. He then spoke of the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara. ‘How did you, Avalokiteśvara, accomplish your task among the pretas, the beings in the Avīci hell, the beings in Kālasūtra and Raurava, the beings in Hāhava, Tāpana, the great hell Pretāyana, the great hell Agnighaṭa, the great hell Śālmali,95 the great hell Śītodaka, and others?’96
“Avalokiteśvara replied, ‘The beings in those great hells are my task. I will completely ripen those beings, and then I will bring them to the highest complete enlightenment.’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, having given this answer, bowed his head to the bhagavat’s feet, departed alone,97 and disappeared into the sky as a blazing mass of fire.
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi asked Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, if I may ask for an answer to a question, how much merit has Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara accumulated?’[F.209.a]
“Bhagavat Śikhin replied, ‘If someone were for a deva’s eon to serve tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges with robes, food, bowls, bedding, seats,98 necessary medicine, and utensils, the merit that would be produced through those tathāgatas would be the same as that of the tip of one hair on the body of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if it were to rain day and night on the four great continents for a twelve-month year, I could count each drop, but, noble son, I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, the ocean is 84,000 yojanas deep and has an immeasurable expanse, but I can count each drop all the way down to Vaḍavāmukha. However, noble son, I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count every hair on all the four-legged creatures in the four great continents, such as lions, tigers, bears, hyenas, deer, camels, jackals,99 and so on, and oxen, donkeys, cattle, elephants, horses, buffalo, and cats, but, noble son, I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if stūpas100 for tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas as numerous as atoms were made in divine gold and precious stones,[F.209.b] and in one day the relics were placed in them all, I can calculate the accumulation of that merit, but I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count the number of leaves in a forest of agarwood trees, but I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if all the women, men, boys, and girls in the four great continents were to gain the result of becoming stream entrants, once-returners, non-returners, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas, their merit would only be, as said before, equal to the merit of the tip of one hair on the body of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi asked Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, I have never seen nor heard of tathāgatas having the kind of accumulation of merit that Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has, let alone bodhisattvas.’
“Bhagavat Śikhin said, ‘Noble son, even if all who are tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas like me were gathered in one place and provided for an eon with robes, food, bowls, bedding, seats, necessary medicine, and utensils, those tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas[F.210.a] would still not be able to calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit. So, noble son, it is needless to say that I cannot do so all by myself in this world.
“‘Those who remember Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s name will have happiness in this world. They will be completely freed from the sufferings of aging, death, and illness. They will be freed from the unavoidable sufferings of saṃsāra. Like white and pale yellow birds, like kings of geese moving with the speed of the wind, they will go to the realm of Sukhāvatī. They will hear the Dharma by listening to Tathāgata Amitābha teach. The sufferings of saṃsāra will not afflict their bodies. They will not become old or die. They will have no desire, anger, or stupidity. Their bodies will feel no hunger or thirst. They will not know the suffering of being inside a womb. Completely inspired by the taste of the Dharma, they will be reborn within a lotus and will remain in that realm until Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s powerful commitment is fulfilled and all beings have been brought to liberation.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi asked Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, when will that powerful commitment be fulfilled?’
“Bhagavat Śikhin replied, ‘He completely ripens the many beings who circle in saṃsāra, teaches them the path to enlightenment, and teaches the Dharma in whatever form a being can be taught through. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a tathāgata to beings who are to be taught by a tathāgata.[F.210.b] He teaches the Dharma in the form of a pratyekabuddha to beings who are to be taught by a pratyekabuddha. He teaches the Dharma in the form of an arhat to beings who are to be taught by an arhat. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a bodhisattva to beings who are to be taught by a bodhisattva. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Maheśvara to beings who are to be taught by Maheśvara. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Nārāyaṇa to beings who are to be taught by Nārāyaṇa. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Brahmā to beings who are to be taught by Brahmā. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Śakra to beings who are to be taught by Śakra. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Āditya to beings who are to be taught by Āditya. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Candra to beings who are to be taught by Candra. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Agni to beings who are to be taught by Agni. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Varuṇa to beings who are to be taught by Varuṇa. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Vāyu to beings who are to be taught by Vāyu. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a nāga to beings who are to be taught by a nāga. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Vighnapati to beings who are to be taught by Vighnapati. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a yakṣa to beings who are to be taught by a yakṣa. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Vaiśravaṇa to beings who are to be taught by Vaiśravaṇa.101 He teaches the Dharma in the form of a king to beings who are to be taught by a king. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a paṇḍita to beings who are to be taught by a paṇḍita. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a king’s soldier to beings who are to be taught by a king’s soldier.[F.211.a] He teaches the Dharma in the form of parents to beings who are to be taught by their parents. He teaches the Dharma in whatever particular form a being should be taught through. That, noble son, is how Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara completely ripens beings and teaches them the Dharma of nirvāṇa.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi said to Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, this is extraordinarily marvelous. I have never seen nor heard of such a thing before. Not even the tathāgatas have what Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has.’
“Bhagavat Śikhin said, ‘Noble son, in this Jambudvīpa there is a cave named Vajrakukṣi in which a hundred thousand million times ten million asuras live. Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara teaches the asuras there in the form of an asura. He teaches them the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display. He says to the listening asuras,102 “You must listen.”
“ ‘Then all other asuras, with loving minds and peaceful minds, with palms placed together, come to listen to this Dharma teaching from Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara:
“ ‘ “Those who turn their minds to this king of the sūtras will have happiness in this world. Hearing it will purify them of the five actions with immediate results on death. At the time of death, twelve tathāgatas will come and reassure them, saying, ‘Noble son, do not be afraid. You have heard the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display. You have prepared various paths for going to Sukhāvatī.[F.211.b] You have prepared various parasols, various crowns, various earrings, and various necklaces.’ When that kind of omen appears, at death they will go without impediment to Sukhāvatī.”
“ ‘Ratnapāṇi, in that way, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara teaches the Dharma of nirvāṇa to the asuras and shows them the entranceway to nirvāṇa.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi bowed his head to Bhagavat Śikhin’s feet and departed.”
At this point, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin said to the Bhagavat, “It is very difficult, Bhagavat, to hear the manifold description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities.”
The Bhagavat told him, “Noble son, there will be a description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities after he has left Vajrakukṣi and come to the land of iron. Listen to it at that time. Before that there is this teaching:103
“In a later time, there was the Tathāgata, the arhat, the samyaksaṃbuddha, perfect in wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the Bhagavat Viśvabhū.
“At that time, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, I was a rishi who taught patience and lived in a cliff among the mountains where people did not go. At that time, I heard Tathāgata Viśvabhū describe the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara.
“Avalokiteśvara had gone to the land of gold and taught the eightfold noble path, the Dharma that teaches nirvāṇa, to the upside-down beings104 who lived there.
“He then left the land of gold and went to the land of silver. Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara said to the four-legged beings who lived there, ‘You must listen with perfect, pure thought to this Dharma teaching on contemplating nirvāṇa, on turning the mind to nirvāṇa.’ Then Avalokiteśvara taught them the Dharma.
“Those beings sat before Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara and requested him,[F.212.a] ‘Show the path to blind beings! Be a protector and refuge to beings who have no protector! Be a father and mother to those who do not have a father and mother! Be a lamp for the darkness of the three lower existences! Be aware of us and show us, with great compassion, the path to liberation.105 The beings who have obtained and always remember your name are happy; they are free from this kind of suffering that we experience.’
“At this, the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display, issued forth into the ears of those beings. When they heard it, they reached an irreversible level and were established in the highest happiness.[B2]
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara then left for another land, which was made of iron, where he approached the asura king Bali.106
“When the asura king Bali saw Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara approaching from the distance, he went toward Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, accompanied by his queens, his retinue, and many asuras such as Kubja and Vāmanaka107 with their retinues. Bali bowed down at his feet and said these words:
“Bali offered a bejeweled throne to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara and implored him, ‘Bhagavat, look with compassion upon those who like to perform bad actions, who lust after the wives of others,[F.212.b] who are dedicated to killing, who kill others, and who are old and dying. Be a refuge to those who are weary of saṃsāra. You, lord, be our father and mother and show the path to we who are bound in bondage.’
“Avalokiteśvara said, ‘Noble son, it is like this: I will explain how much merit is acquired by those who give alms to a tathāgata, an arhat, a samyaksaṃbuddha.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, were there to be as many bodhisattvas like myself as there are grains of sand in twelve Ganges Rivers, and were they to be in one place with every facility for a deva’s eon, they would still be unable to calculate that aggregation of merit. So it is needless to say that I cannot do so all by myself in the realm of the asuras.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count how many atoms there are, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count each drop in the vast extent of the ocean, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if all the men, women, boys, and girls in the four continents were to apply themselves to work, and those people in the four continents were to do no other work than growing mustard, and from time to time the king of the nāgas would send down rain, and the mustard would grow perfectly for one harvest; and then if the men, women, boys, and girls were to load that mustard into carts, bags, and baskets, onto camels, donkeys, and cattle, and collect the great harvest together; and then if the donkeys and cattle threshed it to make a vast heap of mustard seeds,[F.213.a] noble son, I could count each one of those grains, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, the lower half of the supreme mountain Sumeru extends downward for 84,000 yojanas and the upper half extends upward for 84,000 yojanas. Noble son, if Sumeru were to become a mass of birch bark; if the vast ocean was to become an inkwell; and if all the men, women, boys, and girls who live in the four continents were to become scribes; and if they were to write on the limitless, endless extent of Mount Sumeru as birch bark, I would be able to count each letter, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if all those scribes were to become bodhisattvas on the tenth bhūmi, then the accumulation of merit of all those bodhisattvas on the tenth bhūmi would then equal the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count each grain of sand in the ocean, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.’
“Then the asura king Bali, with tears, a darkened face,108 choking, with stuttering words and sighs, told Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara his story:
“ ‘What kind of gift did I, Bali, make, with my queens and retinue, that brought me bondage in this lifetime? I made an offering to a bad recipient, and I am now experiencing the result of that action. Even a handful of dust thrown toward an omniscient one transforms into amṛta, but I made my offerings not knowing that,[F.213.b] and made an offering to a petitioner who came to me in the form of a dwarf.
“ ‘I had prepared offerings of elephant- and horse-drawn carts carrying diadems, earrings, and necklaces, hung with precious yak-tail whisks, and covered with strings of pearls, a net of pearls as a rear adornment, and jingling golden bells hanging from silver cords.
“ ‘I had also prepared offerings of a thousand tawny cows with silver hooves, golden horns, and covered with nets of pearls.
“ ‘I had also prepared an offering of a thousand young women with excellent complexions, who were full-bodied, very beautiful, similar to and rivaling divine maidens; adorned with divine jewelry; wearing diadems, earrings, and necklaces; adorned with armlets, bracelets, anklets, and girdles; and wearing rings, sash necklaces, and gold rings on the big toes of their left feet.109 They jingled as they moved, and wore clothing of silks in a variety of colors.
“ ‘I had also prepared a hundred thousand precious seats, numerous heaps of gold, heaps of silver, and heaps of jewels.
“ ‘I had prepared numerous heaps of clothing and jewelry.
“ ‘I had prepared many hundreds of thousands of herds of cows along with herders.
“ ‘I had prepared numerous kinds of food and drink. I had prepared divine food with supreme flavors.
“ ‘I had continuously prepared bejeweled bells of gold and silver, many bejeweled lion thrones of silver and gold, many thousands of divine yak-tail whisks, parasols, shoes adorned with gold, and bejeweled gold diadems.
“ ‘At that time, I had invited a thousand kings, a hundred thousand brahmins, and many hundreds of thousands of kṣatriyas, and I became arrogant on seeing110 that I was their sole ruler.[F.214.a]
“ ‘I now confess my first bad action. I tore out the hearts of the kṣatriya wives, slaughtered the boys and girls, bound all the great kṣatriyas in stocks111 and shackles, and took them to a copper cave. I imprisoned many hundreds of thousands of kṣatriyas in that copper cave. I fastened the legs and arms of those kṣatriyas, such as the Khasas and Pāṇḍavas, with iron chains and iron pegs to keep them in that cave.
“ ‘I made doors for the cave: the first door was made of wood, the second door was made of acacia, the third door was made of bronze, the fourth door was made of copper, the fifth door was made of iron, the sixth door was made of silver, and the seventh door was made of gold. Then I heaped seven mountains, one on top of the other, in front of the golden door.112
“ ‘Then I went in search of Daśarathaputra,113 one day in the form of a beggar, one day in the form of a bee, one day in the form of a pig, and one day in the form of a man, transforming into a different form each day, but I did not see him.
“ ‘Then, after contemplating, I began to make my offerings. Daśarathaputra, seizing the opportunity, quickly removed the seven mountains, throwing them to another place. He then shouted loudly to the kṣatriyas. Yudhiṣṭhira, Nakula, Sahadeva, Bhīmasena, Arjuna, the Kauravas, and the other kings heard him and were relieved and comforted.114
“ ‘Daśarathaputra asked, “Are you alive or dead?”
“ ‘They replied, “We are alive, Bhagavat.”
“ ‘Then the great hero destroyed all the doors and looked inside the copper cave. All the bound kings saw Nārāyaṇa. They discussed among each other, saying, “Either the time has come for the asura king Bali to die,[F.214.b] or the time has come for us to be slain.” They said to each other, “It is good if we die in battle, but it’s not good to die in chains. If we die in chains, the way of the kṣatriyas will come to an end, but if we die on the battlefield, we will be reborn in the higher realms.”
“ ‘Then all the great kings returned to their own cities and made preparations with many horse-drawn chariots.
“ ‘While they prepared their very precious chariots and weapons, Daśarathaputra transformed himself into a dwarf who wore a deerskin as a sash, held a bamboo staff, and carried a stool. He came to where I was and arrived at my door.
“ ‘The guard stationed there said, “Brahmin dwarf, you can’t enter.”
“ ‘He said, “I have come a long way.”
“ ‘Then the guard asked, “Brahmin, where do you come from?”
“ ‘He answered, “I have come to the rishi king from Candradvīpa.”
“ ‘Then the guard came to me115 and said, “Your Majesty, a brahmin dwarf has arrived here.”
“ ‘I, the lord of the asuras, asked, “What is it that he requires?”
“ ‘The guard said, “Your Majesty, I don’t know.”
“ ‘Then I said, “Go and bring the brahmin to me.”
“ ‘The guard summoned him, saying, “Come in, great brahmin.”
“ ‘Then he came inside and was placed on a precious seat.
“ ‘Śukra, who was renowned as my upādhyāya, was also present at this time and said to me, “This is a person who brings doom.116 He will certainly cause you an obstacle.”
“ ‘I asked him, “Bhagavat, how do you know that?”
“ ‘Śukra answered, “I know by seeing his signs and omens.”
“ ‘I asked, “What can we do?”[F.215.a]
“ ‘Nārāyaṇa thought, “If he thinks about this, he will definitely decide against making a gift, so I will put divinely inspired speech into his mouth.”
“ ‘So I said, “Come here, brahmin. What is your wish?”
“ ‘The brahmin answered, “I ask for two steps of ground.”
“ ‘I said, “Great brahmin, if you are asking for two steps, I will give you three.”
“ ‘The dwarf accepted this gift, saying, “This is auspicious.” He accepted it along with a gift of water, sesame, and gold, and then vanished.
“ ‘Śukra said to me, “Rishi King, I said that this was a man of doom who had come, but you did not pay heed to what I said. So may you experience the result of your actions!”
“ ‘Then Nārāyaṇa appeared in his own form. He was vast, with the sun and moon on his shoulders, and holding a sword, a bow, a wheel, a long spear, and a short spear117 in his hands. I, lord of the asuras, became faint, grew dizzy, fell headlong, and said, “What have I done? I have taken poison with my own hand!”
“ ‘Nārāyaṇa took two steps and said, “Give me my third step!”
“ ‘I said, “There can be no third. You have taken all the ground that can be taken. What can I do?”
“ ‘Nārāyaṇa said, “Wherever I place you, there shall you stay.”
“ ‘Then I, lord of the asuras, said to him, “Whatever you command, that I will do.”
“ ‘Nārāyaṇa asked, “Is this true? Is this true?”
“ ‘I answered, “It’s the truth, it’s the truth.”
“ ‘Thus Nārāyaṇa caught me in the noose of truth. The offering site was destroyed and the offering bowls discarded. The Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas took away the maidens. The Kauravas, Pāṇḍavas, and the others118 took away the golden lion thrones, the divine parasols, the bejeweled shoes, the clothing, the jewelry, the bejeweled golden armlets,[F.215.b] and the tawny cows, destroying the offering site.
“ ‘I, lord of the asuras, having been expelled from the offering site,119 contemplated my situation and said, “I was about to make an excellent offering, but I made an unfortunate offering that has resulted in this bondage. Homage to you, lord. Do what is to be done. It will be as you do.”120
“ ‘Then Nārāyaṇa took me, my queens, and my retinue and placed us in the underworld.
“ ‘I121 have this to say to the bhagavat: In the past I made that gift to a bad recipient, and now I am experiencing the result of that action.
“ ‘Be my refuge, holder of beautiful lotuses.
“ ‘I make this praise to the one who wears a matted topknot; to the one who has an omniscient buddha122 upon his head; to the one who brings relief to many beings; to the one who has compassion for the inferior and desolate; to the one who has beautiful eyes like parasols; to the one who has illuminated the world;123 to the one who is a supreme king of healing; to the one who is a perfectly pure being; to the one who has the supreme attainment of yoga; to the one who has perfect liberation; to the one who is a lover of liberation; to the one who is like a wish-fulfilling jewel; to the one who protects the treasure of the Dharma; to the one who is a teacher of the six perfections; and to the one whose thoughts are good.
“ ‘The beings who remember your name, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, will have happiness. When those who have been born in Kālasūtra, Raurava, Avīci,124 and in the city of the pretas remember your name, they will be freed from the great suffering of the lower existences. The beings who remember your name will have good thoughts. They will go to the realm of Sukhāvatī, and listen to the Dharma from Tathāgata Amitābha.’
“Then Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara made the following prophecy to Bali, the lord of the asuras:[F.216.a] ‘You, lord of the asuras, will become the Tathāgata, the arhat, the samyaksaṃbuddha, perfect in wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the Bhagavat Śrī. You will guide all the asuras. In your buddha realm there will not be the word desire, there will not be the word anger, there will not be the word ignorance, and you will come into possession of the six-syllable mahāvidyā.’
“As a gift with which to request the Dharma, Bali presented Avalokiteśvara with strings of pearls worth a hundred thousand silver coins125 and diadems adorned with various jewels.
“Then Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara began to teach the Dharma.
“ ‘Listen, great king. Human beings are continually thinking about transitory things, about acquisitions,126 about great pleasures, about male and female slaves, servants, and hired workers, about costly clothes, beds, and seats, about valuable treasures, riches, stores of grain, and storerooms, about sons and daughters, and about wives and parents. They are ignorant. Those things that they are attached to appear as dreams do.
“ ‘At the time of death, there will be no one to protect them. When they are separated from their lives they will look back at Jambudvīpa. They will see the great river filled with pus and blood. They will see the great trees that blaze with fire, blaze strongly, and blaze fiercely. When they see them they will be terrified. Yama’s guards127 will bind them with nooses and drag them away. When their feet are cut through on the great road of razors, as they lift that foot another foot will replace it.[F.216.b] Numerous ravens, vultures, eagles, and dogs will devour them. They will experience the sensation of great suffering in the hells. When they step off the great road of razors, five hundred thorns, each with sixteen spikes, will pierce each foot. They will cry out, “What have I, who delighted in bad actions, done?”128
“ ‘Yama’s servants will reply, “Friend, you did not offer alms to the Tathāgata. You did not hear the gaṇḍī being beaten. You did not circumambulate a stūpa anywhere.”
“ ‘To that they will reply, “We were without faith, delighted in bad actions, rejected the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, and are experiencing the result of those actions.”
“ ‘Yama’s guardians will then take them to King Yama, bring them before him, and present them to him.
“ ‘King Yama will say to the guardians, “Show them today your place of work!”
“ ‘So Yama’s guardians will bring them to the great Kālasūtra hell and put them into it. Inside there, though a hundred spears strike them, they will not die. Though a hundred spears strike them a second time, they will not die. Though a hundred spears strike them a third time, they still will not die. Because they will not die, they are thrown into a furnace, but there they still will not die.
“ ‘A red hot metal ball will be inserted into their mouths, incinerating their lips, destroying their teeth, splitting their palate, and loudly burning up their throat, gullet, heart, anus, and whole body.
“ ‘It is like this, great king. There will be no one to protect them in that other world. Therefore, great king, you must diligently create merit in this life.’
“In that way Avalokiteśvara gave Bali the appropriate Dharma teaching.[F.217.a] Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara then told that great king, ‘I must leave, for today many are gathering in the Jetavana Monastery.’129
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara now radiated many blue, yellow, red, white, crystal, and silver light rays that reached Tathāgata Viśvabhū, before whom devas, nāgas, yakṣas, mahoragas, and humans had gathered.
“From within that assembly of bodhisattvas the bodhisattva named Gaganagañja arose from his seat, bared one shoulder, and kneeling on his right knee and facing Bhagavat Viśvabhū, placed his palms together and addressed these words to him: ‘Bhagavat, where did these light rays come from?’
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū said, ‘Noble son, the light rays came from Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, who is in the palace of Bali, the lord of the asuras.’
“Bodhisattva Gaganagañja then asked Bhagavat Viśvabhū, ‘Is there a way for me to see Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara?’
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū answered, ‘Noble son, he is coming here.’
“When Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara left the palace of Bali, lord of the asuras, divine flowers fell on Jetavana Monastery, and extremely beautiful wish-granting trees appeared there. They were hung with hundreds of thousands of adornments, with many hundreds of thousands of strings of pearls, with silk, with monastic robes,130 and with clusters of garlands. Their trunks were red, and their leaves were made of gold and silver. There were also many trees made of coral, many blossom-covered trees,[F.217.b] and pools that were completely filled with flowers.
“Then Bodhisattva Gaganagañja asked Bhagavat Viśvabhū, ‘Bhagavat, is Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara not coming?’
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū answered, ‘Noble son, he has left the palace of Bali, lord of the asuras, and is going to an extremely dreadful land131 named Tamondhakāra where there are no humans. There, noble son, the sun and moon do not shine. A wish-fulfilling jewel named Varada provides light in that place.
“Many hundreds of thousands of yakṣas and rākṣasas live in that continent. They become happy as Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara arrives there, and with joy in their hearts they run to him. When they come to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, they pay homage at his feet and ask, ‘You are not tired? You are not exhausted? It has been a long time since you were here in Tamondhakāra.’
“He answers, ‘I have been doing much. I have not been ripening my own mind for the sake of one being, but have been, with the motivation of great compassion, ripening many beings.’132
“The yakṣas and rākṣasas lead him to a lion throne of divine gold and jewels, upon which he sits. Seated,133 he teaches the Dharma to the yakṣas and rākṣasas:
“ ‘Listen! Those who hear and then possess, study, promulgate,134 and have their minds completely focused on even one four-line verse135 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display, will be inspired to accumulate merit.
“ ‘Noble sons, it is like this: For example, I know the number of atoms that exist, but, noble sons, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit that comes from the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display.
“ ‘Noble sons, it is like this: For example, I can count the drops in the vast ocean, but, noble sons, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit that comes from even one four-line verse136 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display.[F.218.a]
“ ‘Noble sons, if tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas as numerous as the grains of sand in twelve Ganges Rivers were gathered together in one place and for twelve eons were provided with robes, food, bowls, bedding, seats,137 necessary medicine, and utensils, they would still not be able to calculate the merit that comes from even one four-line verse138 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display. So it is needless to say that I cannot do so all by myself in Tamondhakāra.
“ ‘Noble sons, it is like this: For example, even if all the households in the four continents built monasteries of gold and jewels and built a thousand stūpas inside each of those monasteries, and in one day inserted relics in them all, the accumulation of merit from one four-line verse139 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display, would be far greater than the merit from inserting the relics.
“ ‘Noble sons, it is like this: For example, just as the five great rivers flow into the great ocean, noble sons, in that same way merit accumulates from one four-line verse140 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display.’
“Then the yakṣas and rākṣasas asked Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, ‘What kind of accumulation of merit is obtained by those beings who write out this precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display?’
“ ‘Noble sons, their accumulation of merit is immeasurable. Those who engage in writing out the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display, are engaged in writing the eighty-four thousand compilations of the Dharma. They will become kings; they will become cakravartins who rule the four continents; they will give birth to thousands of brave heroic sons with perfect bodies and who defeat their adversaries.
“ ‘Those who always possess and remember the name of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display,[F.218.b] will be completely liberated from the suffering of saṃsāra and be completely liberated from birth, aging, sickness, death, misery, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and conflict. Wherever they are reborn, in every life they will remember their previous lives. Their bodies will have an aroma like gośīrṣa sandalwood. From their mouths will come the scent of the blue lotus. Their bodies will be completely perfect, and they will have immense, powerful strength.’
“In that way Avalokiteśvara taught them an appropriate Dharma. Some of the yakṣas and rākṣasas attained the result of becoming a once-returner. The others attained the result of becoming a non-returner.141
The yakṣas and rākṣasas then said, ‘Stay here.142 Do not go anywhere else. We will build a stūpa of divine gold in Tamondhakāra. We will create a circumambulatory walkway of gold.’
“But Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara said to them, ‘I have to bring many beings onto the path to enlightenment.’
“The yakṣas and rākṣasas, resting cheeks on hands, brooded and said to each other, ‘Our Avalokiteśvara is going to leave us, and we will not be able to talk about the Dharma with him.’
“As Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara was leaving, the yakṣas and rākṣasas followed him.
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara said to them, ‘It is too far for you to come, so you should go back.’
“The yakṣas and rākṣasas bowed down at the feet of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara and returned.
“Then Avalokiteśvara vanished into the sky as a mass of flames.”
“Avalokiteśvara then manifested in the form of a brahmin and went among the devas in the Śuddhāvāsa realms.[F.219.a] Among those devas there was a deva named Sukuṇḍala who was poor and suffering.
“Avalokiteśvara came to that deva in the form of the brahmin and said to him, ‘I’m hungry and thirsty.’
“The deva said to the brahmin, ‘Great brahmin, I have nothing at all.’
“The brahmin said, ‘You should give me what little you have.’
“So Sukuṇḍala entered his divine palace and looked inside his pots. He saw that some pots had become completely filled with priceless precious jewels, other pots had become completely filled with food that had the supreme flavors, and the left side of the divine palace had become completely filled with divine clothing.
“Sukuṇḍala thought, ‘Without a doubt the one at my door is an excellent recipient for offerings, and he has brought me this attainment of splendor.’
“Sukuṇḍala invited the brahmin into his divine palace. The brahmin entered, and Sukuṇḍala offered him the divine jewels, served him the food with divine perfect flavors, and gave him the divine clothing.143 The brahmin ate and recited a benediction.
“The deva Sukuṇḍala then asked him, ‘Great brahmin, where do you come from?’
“He replied, ‘I come from the monastery named Jetavana.’
“Sukuṇḍala asked him, ‘What is that place like?’
“The brahmin answered, ‘It is a place that is delightful, filled with divine jewels, and completely beautified by divine wish-granting trees. There are beautiful flowers, many kinds of bathing pools, many who have the qualities of right conduct and are worthy recipients for offerings, and there are the miracles of Tathāgata Viśvabhū. Son of a deva, that is how pleasant that place is.’
“The deva then said, ‘Brahmin, you definitely speak the truth. Who are you? Are you a deva or a human? If you are a human you don’t seem to be one.’[F.219.b]
“The brahmin replied, ‘I am not a deva and I am not a human. I am one who has compassion for the poor and the wretched. I am one who shows them the path to enlightenment. I am a bodhisattva.’
“Deva Sukuṇḍala then offered his diadem and earrings to the brahmin and recited:
“After the deva had recited this verse, the brahmin departed.
“The great brahmin descended from the deva realms to the island of Siṃhala. Arriving there, he transformed himself into a handsome form and approached the rākṣasīs. When they saw his handsome body they desired him. Desiring him, they came to him and said, ‘Sir, take us young women. We have no husband. For we who have no husband, be a husband. For we who have no protector, be a protector. For we who have no support, be a support. These are your homes with food; homes with drink; and homes with clothes and a variety of multicolored beds,144 beautiful gardens, and beautiful pools.’
“He said, ‘Only if you do as I command.’
“They answered, ‘We will!’
“He then taught them the noble eightfold path. He made them recite the fourfold scriptures. Some of them attained the result of becoming a once-returner, and some attained the result of becoming a non-returner.145 The rākṣasīs were no longer afflicted by the suffering of desire, there was no anger in their minds, they did not wish to cause anyone’s death, they continually delighted in the Dharma, and they took vows. They promised, ‘We shall kill no more. We will nourish ourselves in the same way that humans do in Jambudvīpa: with food and drink. From now on we will not act like rākṣasīs, and we will keep the upāsikā vows.’146 In this way the rākṣasīs took vows.
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara then left the island of Siṃhala[F.220.a] and went to a place where many hundreds of thousands of different kinds of insects lived within a cesspit in the great city of Vārāṇasī. When Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara arrived there, he transformed himself into the form of a bee that made a buzzing sound that was heard by the insects as the words, ‘Namo buddhāya, namo dharmāya, namaḥ saṃghāya.’147 The insects remembered the words namo buddhāya, namo dharmāya, namaḥ saṃghāya,148 and the thunderbolt of wisdom destroyed the mountain, which has twenty peaks, that is the view of the aggregates as a self,149 and they were then all reborn in the realm of Sukhāvatī as bodhisattvas named Sugandhamukha.
“After Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara had ripened those beings, he left the great city of Vārāṇasī.
“Next he went to Magadha. When he arrived in the land of Magadha, he saw beings that had lived for twenty years in the wilderness eating each other’s flesh. Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara wondered, ‘By what method can I bring contentment to these beings?’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara then caused divine rains to fall. First there was a rain of water, and the water brought them satisfaction. Then there came a rain of divine food with supreme flavors, and they were completely filled. When they were completely satisfied by eating the food, a rain of grain fell. Then there fell sesame, rice, jujubes, and wild rice. Whatever those beings wished for, their wishes were fulfilled each time.
“Those beings in the land of Magadha were amazed, and they all sat down150 together. Seated,151 they asked each other, ‘What deity manifested all of this?’
“Among them there was one being who was many hundreds of thousands of years old. He was aged, old, feeble, hunchbacked, and bent like a cow’s ear. He said to them, ‘Only Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has this kind of power,[F.220.b] no other deity.’
“Those gathered there asked him, ‘What are the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara?’
“The man began to describe Avalokiteśvara’s qualities to them:
“ ‘He is a lamp for those in darkness. He is a parasol for those burned and pained by the sun. He is a river for those afflicted with thirst. He gives freedom from fear to those who are terrified and afraid. He is medicine for those afflicted with sickness. He is a father and mother for beings who suffer. He is a teacher of nirvāṇa to those reborn in Avīci. Those are his special qualities.
“ ‘Those who remember his name will have happiness in this world and will completely leave behind every suffering in saṃsāra.
“ ‘Those who continually gather and offer flowers and incense to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara will become cakravartin kings who possess the seven jewels. The seven jewels are: the precious wheel, the precious horse, the precious elephant, the precious jewel, the precious wife, the precious householder, and the precious counselor.
“ ‘Those who offer flowers to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara will have aromatic bodies, and wherever they are reborn, their bodies will be perfect.’
“The old man taught Avalokiteśvara’s special qualities in that way. Then those gathered there returned to their homes, and the aged man, having taught them an appropriate Dharma, returned to his home, and Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara[F.221.a] vanished into the sky.
“While Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara was in the sky he thought, ‘It has been a long time since I’ve seen Tathāgata Viśvabhū,’ and so he next went to Jetavana Monastery. Bhagavat Viśvabhū saw him coming.
“As Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara approached the Jetavana monastery, he saw devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans, and a gathering of many hundreds of bodhisattvas.
“Bodhisattva Gaganagañja asked Bhagavat Viśvabhū, ‘Bhagavat, which bodhisattva is arriving?’
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū said, ‘This is Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara who is arriving.’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara bowed his head to Bhagavat Viśvabhū’s feet, circumambulated him three times, and sat on his left.
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū asked him, ‘Are you tired? Are you weary? Noble son, what work have you been doing?’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara told Viśvabhū what had occurred. Bodhisattva Gaganagañja was extremely amazed and said, ‘I have never seen such a field of activity as that of this bodhisattva. There is no such field of activity among the tathāgatas, let alone among the bodhisattvas.’
“Bodhisattva Gaganagañja now came to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara and sat before him. Seated,152 he asked Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, ‘Are you tired? Are you weary?’
“He replied, ‘I am not tired and I am not weary.’
“They talked with each other and then became silent.[F.221.b]
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū then began to teach upon the six perfections:
“ ‘Noble sons, listen. Having become a bodhisattva, you must complete the perfection of generosity. Similarly, you must complete the perfection of conduct, the perfection of patience, the perfection of diligence, the perfection of meditation, and the perfection of wisdom.’
“Having taught that Dharma he became silent.
“The assembled beings each returned to their own dwelling places, and the bodhisattvas returned to their own buddha realms.”
This completes part one of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, “The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display.”
Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin then said to the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, I request that you teach what samādhis Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has previously remained in.”
The Bhagavat said, “Noble son, they are as follows: the samādhi named Creation, the samādhi named Illumination, the samādhi named Sublime Vajra, the samādhi named Sunlight, the samādhi named Dispersal, the samādhi named Armlet, the samādhi named Supreme Vajra Victory Banner, the samādhi named Ornament, the samādhi named King of Arrays, the samādhi named Seeing the Ten Directions, the samādhi named The Supreme Illumination of the Wish-fulfilling Jewel,153 the samādhi named Dharma Holder,154 the samādhi named Descending into the Ocean,155 the samādhi named Totally Stable,156 the samādhi named Giving Joy,157 the samādhi named Vajra Victory Banner,158 the samādhi named Viewing All Worlds,159 the samādhi named Completely Present,160[F.222.a] the samādhi named Truly Bowing Down, the samādhi named Coiled at the Crown, the samādhi named Supreme Illumination by the Moon,161 the samādhi named Many Attendants, the samādhi named Divine Bright Earrings,162 the samādhi named Lamp of the Eon,163 the samādhi named Manifesting Miracles, the samādhi named Supreme Lotus, the samādhi named King’s Power,164 the samādhi named Extinguishing Avīci, the samādhi named Blazing, the samādhi named Divine Circle,165 the samādhi named Drop of Amṛta, the samādhi named Circle of Light, the samādhi named Immersion in the Ocean, the samādhi named Door of the Celestial Palace, the samādhi named Cuckoo’s Song, the samādhi named Scent of the Blue Lotus, the samādhi named Mounted, the samādhi named Vajra Armor, the samādhi named Elephant’s Delight, the samādhi named Lion’s Play, the samādhi named Unsurpassable, the samādhi named Subduing, the samādhi named Moon on High, the samādhi named Shining, the samādhi named Hundred Light Rays, the samādhi named Sprinkling, the samādhi named Brightening, the samādhi named Beautiful Appearance, the samādhi named Summoning the Asuras, the samādhi named Meditation, the samādhi named Summoning Nirvāṇa, the samādhi named Great Lamp,166 the samādhi named Liberation of Sensation,167 the samādhi named King of Lamps,168 the samādhi named Creating the Supreme State,169 the samādhi named Creating Indestructibility,170 the samādhi named Facing the Deities,171 the samādhi named Creating Union, the samādhi named Teaching Ultimate Truth, the samādhi named Lightning, the samādhi named Array of Names,172 the samādhi named Gaping Lion, the samādhi named Face of Arcturus,173[F.222.b] the samādhi named Approaching, the samādhi named Flash of Intelligence,174 the samādhi named Increasing Power of Mindfulness, the samādhi named Aspiration, the samādhi named Carriage of Victory, and the samādhi named Teaching the Path.
“Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has those samādhis. In each of his pores there are a hundred thousand samādhis. Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara thus has an incalculable accumulation of merit. Even the tathāgatas do not have that kind of accumulation of merit, let alone a bodhisattva.[B3]
“Noble son, in the past, when I was a bodhisattva named Siṃhalarāja,175 I was going to the island of Siṃhala with five hundred merchants. We were going to Siṃhala Island bringing much merchandise in chariots, in bags, baskets, and pots, carried by camels, oxen, donkeys, and so on, so as to go to villages, towns, suburbs, cities, and markets.
“I found an excellent ship that had been to Siṃhala Island many times. I asked the pilot, ‘Toward what lands are the winds blowing? Are the winds blowing toward Ratnadvīpa,176 or are the winds blowing toward Yavanadvīpa,177 or are the winds blowing toward the island of the rākṣasīs?’178
“The pilot answered, ‘Know this, lord: the breeze is blowing toward Siṃhala Island.’179
“So we set sail in the great ship in the direction of Siṃhala Island, but the rākṣasīs who lived on Siṃhala Island sent untimely winds that broke the great ship into pieces. We180 fell into the water and swam to the shore.
“Five hundred rākṣasīs took on the form of maidens, and with a great cry came down to the shore. They gave us cotton robes. We put them on, wrung our clothes dry,[F.223.a] and went to sit under a large magnolia tree. Seated, we talked among ourselves, asking each other what we should do, but we agreed that there was nothing we could do, and we became silent.
“The rākṣasīs came to us and said, ‘You who are not masters of a house, become masters. You who have no refuge, obtain a refuge. You who have no home, obtain a home. These will be your homes supplied with food. These will be your homes supplied with drink. These will be your gardens for you to enjoy. These will be your bathing pools for you to enjoy.’
The Basket’s Display (Kāraṇḍavyūha) is the source of the most prevalent mantra of Tibetan Buddhism: oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ. It marks a significant stage in the growing importance of Avalokiteśvara within Indian Buddhism in the early centuries of the first millennium. In a series of narratives within narratives, the sūtra describes Avalokiteśvara’s activities in various realms and the realms contained within the pores of his skin. It culminates in a description of the extreme rarity of his mantra, which, on the Buddha’s instructions, Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin obtains from someone in Vārāṇasī who has broken his monastic vows. This sūtra provided a basis and source of quotations for the teachings and practices of the eleventh-century Maṇi Kabum, which itself served as a foundation for the rich tradition of Tibetan Avalokiteśvara practice.
The sūtra was translated from the Tibetan and Sanskrit by Peter Alan Roberts. Tulku Yeshi of the Sakya Monastery, Seattle, was the consulting lama who reviewed the translation. The project manager and editor was Emily Bower, and the proofreader was Ben Gleason. Thanks to William Tuladhar-Douglas and Charles Manson for their assistance in obtaining Sanskrit manuscripts, and to Richard Gombrich and Sanjukta Gupta for their elucidations.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Tony Leung Chiu Wai and family for work on this sūtra is gratefully acknowledged.
The Kāraṇḍavyūha is an early Mantrayāna sūtra that is the source of the mantra oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ. The sūtra is thus of particular importance, as this mantra now holds a central role in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, especially throughout the lay population. This sūtra also records Avalokiteśvara’s transformation into the principal figure of the Buddhist pantheon, greater than all other buddhas, let alone bodhisattvas. In this sūtra, Avalokiteśvara is a resident of Sukhavātī and acts as a messenger and gift bearer for Amitābha, even though he is also described as superior to all buddhas and therefore paradoxically has both a subservient and dominant status.
The appearance in writing of the Kāraṇḍavyūha probably dates to around the fifth century
The earliest surviving manuscript is comprised of fragmentary pages from two manuscripts discovered within a Gilgit stūpa in the 1940s. It was written in a hybrid of Middle Indic and Sanskrit, now called Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, which was frequently used in sūtras. Adhelheid Mette, who has published these fragments, suggests that it was composed in the fourth or fifth century;1 the script in which it is written had fallen out of use by the early seventh century, and the fragments show variations between the two manuscripts that are the result of the texts having gone through generations of copying. Other existing Sanskrit manuscripts (see below) date from a century or more later than the ninth century Tibetan translation.
According to Lokesh Chandra,2 in 270
The sūtra also exists in a later, longer, and more polished form, entirely in verse and incorporating passages from such texts as Śantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, which has great importance within Nepalese Buddhism. Dating to the fifteenth century, it is one of the last Sanskrit Buddhist sūtras. It has not been translated into Tibetan.
Avalokiteśvara is noticeable by his absence in early sūtras where Mañjuśrī figures prominently. In the Sukhāvatīvyūha or The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī,3 which describes the realm of Amitāyus, the buddha who later became known by the name Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara has yet to appear. He makes his first prominent appearance in the longer Sukhāvatīvyūha4 in which he stands beside Amitāyus as one of his two principal bodhisattva attendants. The other bodhisattva is Mahāsthāmaprāpta, and in a number of subsequent sūtras they are included as a pair in the introductory description of the assembly of those who are listening to the teaching. In one of the Kāraṇḍavyūha’s internal contradictions, both Mahāsthāmaprāpta and Avalokiteśvara are listed as being in the audience awaiting Avalokiteśvara’s appearance.
Each bodhisattva later had a chapter dedicated to him in the White Lotus of Compassion Sūtra,5 but while Avalokiteśvara reached preeminence over all buddhas in the Kāraṇḍavyūha, Mahāsthāmaprāpta declined in importance. In the Tibetan tradition, even in the Sukhāvatīvyūha, he has become conflated with Vajrapāṇi. At the time of the composition of the Kāraṇḍavyūha, Vajrapāṇi, who in earlier Buddhism was a powerful yakṣa, appears as one of the gathered bodhisattvas, which is indicative of sūtras that contain mantras. However, this is a recent development, as one of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities given in the sūtra is that he terrifies Vajrapāṇi! Vajrapāṇi would soon join Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara to form the principal trinity of bodhisattvas in the early tantra tradition.
The Kāraṇḍavyūha does not mention Avalokiteśvara’s abode in this world on the Potalaka Mountain, which was a later feature that first appeared in South Indian Buddhism. The origin of the popular four-armed version of Avalokiteśvara appears within the sūtra as the goddess who is the embodiment of the six-syllable mantra, referred to throughout as a vidyā (which is a feminine noun) or often as the queen of mahāvidyās. Many forms of Avalokiteśvara appeared in India, such as the thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara included in fasting practice, and in the eleventh century there appeared the higher tantra form named Jinasāgara, a red, four-armed Avalokiteśvara in union with a consort. This practice was introduced into Tibet in the beginning of the twelfth century.
Eventually Avalokiteśvara practices spread throughout the Buddhist world. There are still ancient Avalokiteśvara statues even in Śrī Laṅka, though the figure is identified as Śiva in Tamil areas and as Maitreya in Buddhist temples. Avalokiteśvara was prominent in China for centuries before the Kāraṇḍavyūha was translated into Chinese. In particular Avalokiteśvara became a dominant figure in Chinese Buddhism as Kuan Yin (or Guanyin in Pinyin), transforming into a female bodhisattva, a process described by Chün-Fang Yü in Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara, as the result of focusing on his incarnation as the Princess Miao-chan.6
The Pillar Testament (Tib. bka’ chems ka khol ma) from the eleventh or twelfth century states that the Kāraṇḍavyūha was one of the texts that descended from the sky in a casket onto the palace roof of the fifth-century ruler of the Yarlung Valley, Lhathothori Nyentsen (Tib. lha tho tho ri gnyan btsan), and that during the reign of his descendant Songtsen Gampo (Tib. srong btsan sgam po), who became the king of most of the Tibetan plateau and introduced Buddhism to Tibet, it was translated by Thönmi Sambhota, the inventor of the Tibetan alphabet.7 In the thirteenth century Nelpa Paṇḍita, rejecting this legend, stated that the casket was brought by a paṇḍita on his way to China.8 However, he only records the maṇi mantra as being within the casket, which happens to be called a za ma tog or “a solid and precious casket” (rinchen za ma tog) and not a reed basket. Nevertheless, this is probably why this sūtra became associated with the legend.
The earliest and only translation of the sūtra appears to be the one presently in the canon. All of the versions of the Kangyur except one have a colophon ascribing the translation of the Kāraṇḍavyūha to Yeshé Dé and the Indian upādhyāyas Dānaśīla and Jinamitra, who collaborated with each other on the majority of their translations. The Narthang Kangyur (snar thang bka’ ’gyur) is alone in attributing the translation to Śākyaprabha and Ratnarakṣita.
Nanam Yeshé Dé (sna nam ye shes sde) was a Tibetan who became the principal translator in the translation program set up under the royal auspices of King Trisong Detsen (khri srong lde btsan, r. 742–798
Jinamitra and Dānaśīla were also two of the four or five Indian paṇḍitas who played principal roles in the completion of the Mahāvyuttpati, the Sanskrit-Tibetan concordance that was intended to regulate the translation of Sanskrit texts into Tibetan. Work on this dictionary began during the reigns of Trisong Detsen and Senaleg (sad na legs, r. 800–815
There is at least one instance in the Kāraṇḍavyūha where the translation does not accord with the Mahāvyuttpati. In describing the twenty peaks of the mountain that is the belief in the existence of an individual self in relation to the skandhas (“aggregates”), the peaks are described as samudgata, which the Mahāvyuttpati translates as “high” (Tib. mtho ba). In the Kāraṇḍavyūha, however, it is translated as “arisen” (Tib. byung ba). Unless the translators changed their minds, this would appear to identify the translation as having taken place before the Mahāvyuttpati was completed. Therefore we can say that the translation was certainly made during the decade between 815 and 824 ᴄ
A later translation or revision of the Tibetan version was never made. However, the Kāraṇḍavyūha served as the basis for the eleventh-century Maṇi Kabum (A Hundred Thousand Teachings on the Maṇi Mantra; Tib. ma Ni bka’ ’bum), which was attributed to Songtsen Gampo, although the extracts from the sūtra that it includes are clearly derived from the early ninth-century translation. The Maṇi Kabum was a highly influential work in propagating the practice of Avalokiteśvara, known in Tibetan as Chenrezi (spyan ras gzigs), the repetition of the maṇi mantra, and the identification of Songtsen Gampo as an emanation of Avalokiteśvara; it has had a much greater impact on Tibetan culture than the sūtra upon which it is based.
The title of the sūtra is somewhat ambiguous. A karaṇḍa is usually a basket made of reeds. The karaṇḍa is frequently portrayed in the background of portraits of Indian siddhas as a large pot-bellied basket with a lid, containing collections of scriptures. These siddhas are also portrayed making the hand gesture representing the basket, the karaṇḍamudrā (“basket gesture”). There is even a layperson’s hairstyle named karaṇḍamakuṭa (“basket crest”), where the hair is arranged on top of the head in the shape of a tall, rounded basket with a lid.
Another word for basket is piṭaka, which forms the basis of the most common metaphor for the Buddha’s teachings, “the three baskets” or tripiṭaka, which contain the Vinaya, Sūtra, and the Abhidharma or its predecessor the Mātṛkā. However, there are many instances in Tibetan literature where za ma tog, the translation of karaṇḍa, means something more solid and smaller than a pot-bellied reed basket, as in the precious casket (rin chen za ma tog) in the legend of the Kāraṇḍavyūha’s appearance to King Lhathothori. The name of the earlier Ratnakaraṇḍasūtra could at first seem to mean “precious casket,” but the contents of that sūtra validate the Tibetan translation as The Basket of the [Three] Jewels (dkon mchog gi za ma tog).9 There are also instances in the Sanskrit where the word karaṇḍa is apparently used for something more solid than a reed basket. There is a dhāraṇī in the tantra section of the Kangyur that has in its title the phrase dhātukaraṇḍa (Tib. ring bsrel gyi za ma tog), which means “the casket of relics,” or “reliquary.”10
The Kāraṇḍavyūha is spelled with a long initial a in all existing Sanskrit manuscripts, while every Tibetan edition has a short initial vowel. The long vowel is more likely to be lost than added, as errors generally replace the uncommon with the common. The enhanced vowel is used in Sanskrit to denote affiliation, origin, and ancestry. In the case of kāraṇḍa, the word usually means “ducks”; they live among the river reeds that are used to make baskets. Here kāraṇḍa may be signifying that this sūtra has its origin in the basket that contains the description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities. A basket or casket is normally spelled without the long vowel: karaṇḍa.
There are also titles in the Tengyur that contain the word ratnakaraṇḍa (without the long vowel) where it means “a casket that is made of a precious material,” even though that meaning is not necessarily evident in Tibetan because of the syntax of the titles in question.11
Therefore, after hesitating between “basket” and “casket” and wishing there was one word for both (or at least a word for a lidded, pot-bellied reed basket), we chose “basket” as the better translation, primarily because of the way karaṇḍa is used in the sūtra itself. This term occurs only within the description of the Avīci hell. The Vaidya edition has visphurad ratnakaraṇḍavat, which means “raging [flame] like a precious casket,” but this appears to be a corruption, with the Cambridge manuscript having visphurantaṃ karaṇḍavat, and the Tibetan not having the equivalent of ratna (“precious”). If karaṇḍa is being used here to describe the shape of the flame, then it is referring to the distinctive shape of the reed basket, wider at its middle. This shape is still associated with za ma tog in contemporary Tibetan, and it is also compared with the shape of an egg.
Vyūha has a wide range of meanings, but is based on the idea of things being set out or displayed, and was therefore translated into Tibetan as bkod pa. The word can also mean “description” or “explanation” and even “chapter.” The sūtra is therefore a display from a basket, or the presentation of its contents.
The later Nepalese version of the sūtra has a longer title, Guṇakāraṇḍavyūha, which could be translated as A Display from the Basket of Qualities, the “qualities” being those of Avalokiteśvara. Both versions of the sūtra are dedicated primarily to a description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities, which are stated to be greater than that of any buddha. The use of vyūha in the title is also evocative of the earlier Gaṇḍavyūha, which forms the last chapter of the Avataṃsaka, where gaṇḍa means “supreme” or “best.” The influence of the contents of that chapter is also discernible in this sūtra.
The Kāraṇḍavyūha’s principal content is the introduction of the oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ mantra and the descriptions of its inconceivable benefits. These are also the most quoted sections of the sūtra. However, it contains no instructions on the qualities and benefits of each syllable, of the kind that subsequently became widespread in Tibetan Buddhism. It also gives no explanation of the meaning of the mantra as a whole, a meaning that has been understood in various ways. Donald Lopez has given an account of various interpretations of the mantra in the West in his Prisoners of Shangri-la.12
Alexander Studholme, in his The Origins of Oṁ Maṇipadme Hūṃ, describes how the sūtra was composed within the context of familiarity with, and under the influence of, Purāṇic literature, in particular the Skandapurāṇa. In this sūtra, Avalokiteśvara has taken on various attributes and characteristics of Śiva, to the extent that one passage could be misread as describing Avalokiteśvara to be the creator of the universe. Even so, he is still being described as the creator of its deities, including Śiva and Viṣṇu. In particular, Avalokiteśvara’s mantra is evidence of the influence of Śiva’s five-syllable mantra, oṁ namaḥ śivāya (“Oṁ—Homage to Śiva!”), which is found in the Skandapurāṇa together with a description of the benefits of its recitation.
In classical Sanskrit grammar, padme would be the locative case, which has led to the interpretation of oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ as “jewel in the lotus.” However, mantras are typically given in the vocative or dative case, usually with the name of a deity being invoked. Padme is in fact the vocative for padma, this being Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. In classical Sanskrit, the e- ending vocative form is only used for feminine nouns.13 P.C. Verhagen has translated one of the few native Tibetan texts to be found in the Tengyur, a grammar text that uses this very mantra to explain the e-ending vocative form for masculine nouns.14 This vocative form of masculine nouns is a characteristic of the Magadhi, or northeastern Middle Indic, dialect. However, this form appears to have been much more widespread, extending as far as Sanskrit loan words in the Tocharian language of Central Asia.15 Maṇipadma is therefore a compound and is a name for Avalokiteśvara meaning “Jewel Lotus.”
The sūtra itself is rarely read in Tibet, other than in the annual ritual chanting of the Kangyur, and as mentioned above it has been eclipsed by the eleventh-century Maṇi Kabum. There is no evidence of it having had any significant impact on religious life in Tibet in the preceding centuries. In spite of the eventual importance of the oṁ maṇipadme hūṁ mantra, the sūtra is still primarily known only through select quotations. One reason for this is that very little of the teaching and meditation practice of the Maṇi Kabum is to be found in the sūtra.
Another reason is the difficulty involved in reading the sūtra due to its structure of narratives within narratives. After a buddha is initially introduced, he is subsequently only referred to as “Bhagavat,” and it is easy for readers to lose track of which level of the narrative they are reading. Although the speakers’ names were not repeated in the original, we have added them in here for clarity. We have not marked these insertions with square brackets, again for the sake of readability.
Another problem with the sūtra is that although it is a compilation of narratives, the sūtra does not always use its source material in a skillful manner. The Sanskrit original itself does not compare well with the clarity and style of writing found in other sūtras. There are abrupt transitions, inconsistency in the use of pronouns, and the contents of one part of the narrative appear to be in contradiction with those of another. For example, the Buddha tells the tale of the merchants being rescued from the land of the rākṣasīs in the first person, but there are sporadic lapses into what must have been the original third person of the narrative. The asura king Bali’s account of his downfall likewise transitions from a first- to a third-person account. In common with many other Mahāyāna sūtras but perhaps more frequently than most of them, the Kāraṇḍavyūha refers to itself within its own narrative as a sūtra that is being taught, requested, or longed for, but appears to describe itself as being comprised of verses, almost as if the Kāraṇḍavyūha is a different sūtra that is simply being referred to in this sūtra.
The sūtra assumes that the reader is familiar with the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, the two great epics of Indian literature, and the story of Viṣṇu’s avatar as a dwarf deceiving Bali, the lord of the asuras. Tibetan readers, however, would be unfamiliar with personages referred to in passing in the text, such as Śukra, who is both the deity of the planet Venus and counselor for the king of the asuras. Viṣṇu is usually referred to as Nārāyaṇa in the sūtra, but in the passage where he rescues the Pāṇḍavas and other kṣatriyas of Mahābhārata fame, he is referred to as Daśarathaputra (“son of Daśaratha”), which is actually the name of Rāma, another of Viṣṇu’s avatars. This may be because the story of the dwarf avatar also appears in the Rāmāyaṇa when it is told to Rāma, that is, Daśarathaputra.
The sūtra also includes a variation of a well-known jātaka tale in which the Buddha as a horse saves merchants from the island of the rākṣasīs,16 which has been retold with variations many times in Buddhist literature. Here it is retold with Avalokiteśvara as the horse and the Buddha as the head merchant who is being rescued. However, this too implies an unexplained internal contradiction: the sūtra had earlier narrated how Avalokiteśvara, in the form of a handsome man, had converted all the rākṣasīs from their cannibalistic ways to become devotees of Buddhism.
The Tibetan translation occasionally transliterates the Sanskrit rather than attempting to find a Tibetan equivalent, particularly when it comes to fauna and flora—even the Sanskrit word for “wolf” is simply transliterated as tarakṣa. There are also instances of obscure translations of words that do not agree with the Mahāvyuttpati.
In some passages, we relied more on the Sanskrit than we had originally anticipated because there is evidence that the manuscript from which the Tibetan translation was made had suffered from scribal corruption, as revealed by the surviving Sanskrit and confirmed by the English translation of the Chinese. For example, when describing the maṇḍala as adṛṣṭa (“not seen”), this was corrupted to aṣṭa (“eight”); a mountain made of padmarāga (“ruby”) was corrupted to padmarakta, which was translated as “red lotuses” (pad ma dmar po); and in the middle of the Buddha’s describing Avalokiteśvara’s qualities, ayaṃ (“this”) was corrupted to ahaṃ (“me”) so that the Buddha seems to be describing himself.
There are also omissions of sentences in the Tibetan (whether as the result of omission in the original Sanskrit manuscript or later copies of the Tibetan) that affect the narrative or meaning. The omissions are particularly evident when there are lists of qualities or meditations that are more easily left out in the process of copying manuscripts. On the other hand, there are also instances of members of lists that are preserved in the Tibetan but omitted in the available Sanskrit texts.
The most egregious flaw in both the Tibetan and Chinese translations, and one which has already attracted scholarly attention, occurred on rendering the obscure term ratikara, which literally means “that which creates joy,” and is also the name of one of the apsarases that are in the audience for this sūtra. The later Nepalese version used instead dvīpa, the common word for “lamp,” but both the Chinese and Tibetan translators, even with the assistance of Sanskrit scholars, were understandably stumped by this odd word, particularly as the ratikara laughs and speaks. Both Yeshé Dé and T’ien Hsi-tsai chose to make it refer to the rākṣasī wife speaking in her sleep, as she is the only other person in the room and is the merchant’s paramour. This entailed interpolating the word “sleeping” into the translation. However, the result makes little narrative sense, whereas the unlikely meaning of lamp, which we therefore preferred (see 2.7), does make narrative sense.
Our aim was to make the most readable, accurate, and coherent version of the sūtra as it is preserved in the Tibetan translation. The Degé edition and the version in the critical edition of the Kangyur were therefore our principal sources.
Sanskrit manuscripts do not necessarily reflect the original form of a text, even though they are in the original language, because they may have their own accretion of omissions and additions that have occurred in the centuries following the time a Tibetan or Chinese translation was made. There has not yet been a critical edition from all available Sanskrit manuscripts, but we consulted three Sanskrit editions, the most important being a palm-leaf manuscript from the Cambridge University Library, which was written in the beginning of the second millennium before the development of the Devanāgarī script. It is notable for being closer to the Tibetan. Of easier access but less representative of the original text are the Sāmaśrami edition of 1872 and the 1962 Vaidya edition that is based closely on Sāmaśrami. The Sāmaśrami is available on the Online Sanskrit Texts Project of the Theosophical Network, and the Vaidya is openly available on the internet. To complete the translation of some difficult passages, we also referred to the Gilgit manuscript fragments, though they were not readily accessible. Silfung Chen’s online English translation from the Chinese proved interesting in its correspondences with these editions.
Nevertheless, as noted above, there were a number of points where we relied on the Sanskrit to fill in missing elements, words, members of a list, and sometimes whole sentences, although it is possible that some of the latter may have been later additions to improve the flow and clarity of the sūtra’s sometimes clumsy narrative. Where our translation favors the Sanskrit over the Tibetan, annotations indicate that this is the case.
An important objective was readability, so the syntax does not necessarily reflect that of the Tibetan or Sanskrit versions. For example, an active construction may be used instead of a passive construction found in the original. The inconsistencies of first and third person have been resolved, and, as noted above, names are repeated when otherwise the reader might lose track of who is speaking or to whom the text is referring. Hopefully this will make reading the sūtra in English far less challenging than attempting to do so in Tibetan or Sanskrit. Readers will find the variant readings in Tibetan and Sanskrit in the notes if they wish.
Buddha Śākyamuni is at Jetavana Monastery with many disciples. Lights shine upon the monastery and miraculously transform it. The bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asks the Buddha where the lights came from. The Buddha explains that they came from Avalokiteśvara, who had just visited the Avīci hell and the city of the pretas, and then describes those visits.
Then Buddha Śākyamuni recounts being a merchant at the time of Buddha Vipaśyin and how he heard him describe how various deities, including Śiva and Viṣṇu, were created from Avalokiteśvara’s body.
Buddha Śākyamuni then recounts being Bodhisattva Dānaśūra at the time of Buddha Śikhin and how light rays shone from Buddha Śikhin. In response to questioning by Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi, Śikhin says that the lights and other omens are a sign of the approach of Avalokiteśvara, who then arrives from Sukhāvatī with an offering of lotuses from Buddha Amitābha.
After Avalokiteśvara’s departure, Śikhin describes to Ratnapāṇi how Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit is inconceivable by using a series of analogies. Then he describes how Avalokiteśvara teaches this very sūtra to the asuras in the form of an asura.
Buddha Śākyamuni then states that he was a rishi (ṛṣi) at the time of Buddha Viśvabhū. Before repeating what Viśvabhū taught, Śākyamuni relates how Avalokiteśvara taught upside-down beings in the realm of gold and four-legged beings in the land of silver. There then follows a long description of Avalokiteśvara’s visit to the asuras in the land of iron. Avalokiteśvara teaches the asuras the inconceivable merit that comes from making offerings to a buddha. Bali, the king of the asuras, tells Avalokiteśvara that he had in the past made an offering to the wrong recipient. He had imprisoned all the kṣatriyas, but Viṣṇu secretly freed them and came to him in the form of a dwarf asking for two steps of land. Bali offered him three, but Viṣṇu took on his divine form and covered the whole world in two steps. He then banished Bali to the underworld where he now dwells for having failed to fulfill his promise.
Avalokiteśvara then describes to him the suffering in hells that awaits those who have not made offerings to the Buddha.
Avalokiteśvara then radiates light rays to where Viśvabhū and his pupils are residing in Jetavana Monastery. Bodhisattva Gaganagañja asks Viśvabhū where the lights came from. Viśvabhū states that the lights are a sign that Avalokiteśvara is coming. However, Avalokiteśvara first goes to a land of darkness to teach the yakṣas and rākṣasas about the merit that comes from this sūtra.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to the Śuddhāvāsa realms, where in the form of a brahmin he begs from a poor deva. The deva goes into his empty palace to give him whatever he has, but finds it full of jewels and food that he then offers to the brahmin. Avalokiteśvara in the form of the brahmin tells the deva that he is a bodhisattva from Jetavana Monastery.
Avalokiteśvara then descends to Siṃhala Island, the land of the rākṣasīs, in the form of a handsome man. He agrees to be their husband if they follow his instructions, which they do, giving up killing.
Avalokiteśvara then travels to Vārāṇasī, where in the form of a bee he buzzes the prayer of homage to the Three Jewels to the insects in a large cesspit, liberating them.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to Magadhā, where starving beings have been eating each other for twenty years, and he causes a rain of food to fall. One of the people, a man who is hundreds of thousands of years old, realizes that only Avalokiteśvara could have caused this miracle, and tells the others of the benefits of making offerings to him.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to Buddha Viśvabhū. Bodhisattva Gaganagañja meets him, Viśvabhū teaches the six perfections, and the audience disperses. This is the end of part one.
Part two begins with Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asking for teachings from Buddha Śākyamuni, who lists the samādhis that Avalokiteśvara possesses.
Then Buddha Śākyamuni recounts being a head merchant who became stranded on Siṃhala Island with other merchants. Each of them goes to live with a rākṣasī. One night, a talking lamp warns the head merchant that the women are all rākṣasīs. As proof, the lamp directs him to an iron fortress where other merchants are being kept prisoner and then eaten. Then the lamp tells him of Bālāha,17 a miraculous horse on which the merchants can escape. As they flee upon the horse, all the other merchants look back, fall off the horse, and are eaten by the rākṣasīs, while the head merchant reaches home safely. Buddha Śākyamuni states that Avalokiteśvara was the horse.
Buddha Śākyamuni then begins a description of two pores on Avalokiteśvara’s body and their inhabitants.
Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, to the Buddha’s approval, describes the benefits that come from this sūtra.
Buddha Śākyamuni describes another pore and explains to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin that the pores are immaterial and cannot be seen even by buddhas.
Buddha Śākyamuni describes two more pores, saying that those who remember Avalokiteśvara’s name, meaning the six-syllable mahāvidyā, will be reborn in them, but that no one, not even the buddhas, know this mantra.
After Buddha Śākyamuni describes more benefits that come from the mantra, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin declares his intention to obtain it.
Buddha Śākyamuni recounts his own fruitless search for it until, after meeting trillions of buddhas, he finally met Buddha Ratnottama who directed him to Buddha Padmottama. Padmottama describes the incalculable benefits that come from saying the mantra once and then describes his own long fruitless search for the mantra until he came to Buddha Amitābha, who instructed Avalokiteśvara to give the mantra to Padmottama. Avalokiteśvara does so through a maṇḍala made of precious stones and gives the instructions on how to make the maṇḍala.
Buddha Śākyamuni follows this narrative with a description of how incalculable the benefits are from even one syllable of the mantra.
He then tells Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin that he can only obtain it from an unnamed dharmabhāṇaka who has lost his monastic vows and lives in Vārāṇasī. Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin goes to him in a huge procession of people and offerings.
The dharmabhāṇaka describes the benefits of the mantra and, at the urging of Avalokiteśvara, who appears in the sky, gives the mantra to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, who returns to Buddha Śākyamuni. Seventy million buddhas recite the mantra of the goddess known as both Cundi and Cundā.
Buddha Śākyamuni then describes five more of Avalokiteśvara’s pores.
Buddha Śākyamuni then describes the oceans that come from Avalokiteśvara’s big toe, and says there are no more pores but those ten. Then omens of Avalokiteśvara’s arrival appear. He leaves Sukhāvatī and comes to Buddha Śākyamuni and offers him lotuses from Buddha Amitābha.
Buddha Śākyamuni then directs Maheśvara and Umādevī to receive the prophecies of their future buddhahood from Avalokiteśvara.
Buddha Śākyamuni then gives a teaching on the incalculability of Avalokiteśvara’s merit and listing the samādhis he has.
Then Buddha Śākyamuni recounts when he was with Buddha Krakucchanda and saw Samantabhadra and Avalokiteśvara both practicing various samādhis. Krakucchanda declares that not even the buddhas have Avalokiteśvara’s samādhis.
Buddha Śākyamuni then describes the benefits that come from this sūtra, and Avalokiteśvara departs.
Then Ānanda requests teachings on monastic conduct. Buddha Śākyamuni prophesies how there will be monks who do not maintain their conduct in the future and who should be expelled. He describes the tortures in hell and other rebirths that await laypeople who misuse the property of the saṅgha.
Ānanda departs and the sūtra concludes.
This outline is intended as a guide to the complicated narrative levels of the sūtra.
I. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni is in the Jetavana Monastery when lights appear, transforming the monastery’s appearance. Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin questions Buddha Śākyamuni about this, and the Buddha states that the cause of the lights is Avalokiteśvara visiting Avīci hell and then the city of the pretas.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara appears in the Avīci hell and liberates beings. As a result, Yama’s creatures go to Yama and describe Avalokiteśvara’s arrival. Yama goes to Avalokiteśvara and praises him.
II. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni responds to a question from Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin about whether Avalokiteśvara has left the hell.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara leaves the hells, visits the city of the pretas, and liberates them from their suffering. This very sūtra sounds in their realm.
III. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni says that he remembers being a merchant listening to Buddha Vipaśyin.18
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Buddha Vipaśyin describes the activities of Avalokiteśvara in the past.
A. Buddha Vipaśyin’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara emanates such deities as Maheśvara (Śiva), and Avalokiteśvara gives a prophecy to Śiva about the future rise of Śaivism, and how this will not bring liberation.
IV. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni tells Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin about his memories of being a bodhisattva named Dānaśūra when Buddha Śikhin taught about Avalokiteśvara.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Lights radiate from Buddha Śikhin, prompting Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi to question Buddha Śikhin. Signs appear as omens of the coming of Avalokiteśvara from Sukhāvatī. Avalokiteśvara arrives and tells Buddha Śikhin he has been liberating hell beings and pretas, and then Avalokiteśvara departs. In response to a question from bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi, Buddha Śikhin describes Avalokiteśvara’s qualities.
A. Buddha Śikhin’s narrative: Buddha Śikhin gives analogies for the inconceivability of Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit. He describes his various manifestations as a guide for beings and his visit to the asuras where he teaches them the benefit of this very sūtra (even though the sūtra is itself the description of these events).
V. Sūtra narrative: The story of Buddha Śikhin teaching Ratnapāṇi ends abruptly. Buddha Śākyamuni then describes his memory of being a rishi with Buddha Viśvabhū when he taught on Avalokiteśvara.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Buddha Viśvabhū begins a description of what Avalokiteśvara has been doing.
A. Buddha Viśvabhū’s narrative: There is a brief description of how Avalokiteśvara visits adhomukha (“head-down”) beings in the realm of gold and four-legged beings in the realm of silver. There then follows a lengthy episode in the land of iron where he meets Bali, the king of asuras, who tells him how he came to be in the underworld.
i. Bali’s narrative: Bali explains how he imprisoned many kṣatriyas, including the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas of Mahābhārata fame, and how Nārāyaṇa rescued them. Then he describes how he followed the tradition of a king making a vast offering from his wealth and granting the requests of anyone who came. Viṣṇu comes as a brahmin dwarf requesting the amount of land that he can cover in two footsteps. Bali offers him three footsteps’ worth. Viṣṇu takes on a gigantic form, encompasses the world in two steps, and then banishes the asuras to the underworld.
B. Buddha Viśvabhū’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara teaches Bali and the asuras, primarily describing the tortures by Yama’s guardians in hell. Then he takes his leave, saying he has to go to Jetavana Monastery. (Although this is the time of Viśvabhū, not Śākyamuni, here Viśvabhū’s own reported narrative transforms with no clear dividing line into Śākyamuni’s narrative about Viśvabhū.)
2. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Avalokiteśvara radiates light rays to Viśvabhū in Jetavana Monastery. The appearance of the light rays prompts the bodhisattva Gaganagañja to ask Viśvabhū a question as to their source.
A. Buddha Viśvabhū’s narrative resumed:
Avalokiteśvara leaves the realm of the asuras. (Although he had previously said Avalokiteśvara was leaving for Jetavana, Viśvabhū now says that he is going to Tamondhakāra, a realm of darkness inhabited by yakṣas and rākṣasas, where he teaches them analogies concerning the merit of knowing this very sūtra.)
Avalokiteśvara leaves that realm for the Śuddhāvāsa realms, where he appears in the form of a brahmin who begs from an impoverished deity. The poor deity goes into his empty palace to look for something to give the brahmin and discovers his pots miraculously filled with jewels.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to the island of Siṃhala, which is inhabited by rākṣasīs, where he appears as a handsome man. They all become his wives, follow the Dharma, and attain liberation.
Avalokiteśvara goes to Vārāṇasī, where he takes on the form of a bee and flies over a huge cesspool in the city. His buzzing is actually the sound of the Namo buddhāya prayer, and it liberates all the insects living in the cesspool.
Avalokiteśvara then goes to Magadhā, where people in the wilderness are eating each other for lack of food. He causes a miraculous rain of food and drink to fall. An old man among them describes the source of this miracle.
i. Old man’s narrative: The old man gives a description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities.
3. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative:
(Here Viśvabhū’s own narrative transforms, with no clear dividing line, into Śākyamuni’s narrative about Viśvabhū.) Avalokiteśvara goes into the sky and thinks that it has been a long time since he has been to see Buddha Viśvabhū, so he decides to go to Jetavana.
Avalokiteśvara arrives in Jetavana to see Buddha Viśvabhū. There is a brief mention of Viśvabhū teaching the six perfections and then everyone leaves, concluding part one of the sūtra.
VI. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni responds to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin’s request for teachings on Avalokiteśvara by first giving a list of Avalokiteśvara’s samādhis.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: An account of when Śākyamuni was the leader of five hundred merchants who became stranded on the island of the rākṣasīs, and how he alone escaped on Avalokiteśvara in the form of a horse.
VII. Sūtra narrative: Śākyamuni says he will describe Avalokiteśvara’s ten pores and their inhabitants and landscapes.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Śākyamuni describes the first and second of Avalokiteśvara’s pores:
(1) The pore Suvarṇa, where gandharvas dedicated to the Dharma live.
(2) The pore Kṛṣṇa, where rishis and gandharvas live who play music that teaches birds and animals, who then remember the name of this very sūtra.
VIII. Sūtra narrative: Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin describes the benefits of possessing and writing the sūtra to Buddha Śākyamuni’s approval.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni describes the third of Avalokiteśvara’s pores:
(3) The pore Ratnakuṇḍala, where female gandharvas live who remember the name of Avalokiteśvara.
IX. Sūtra narrative: Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin wishes to go to the pores but Buddha Śākyamuni describes how Samantabhadra failed to find the pores in twelve years of searching. Buddha Śākyamuni describes how Avalokiteśvara has a subtle form that even he cannot perceive, and that Avalokiteśvara has eleven heads, a hundred thousand arms, and a trillion eyes. Buddha Śākyamuni laughs and tells Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin that it is not yet time for Avalokiteśvara to come, and then returns to the description of the ten pores.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: He describes the fourth and fifth of Avalokiteśvara’s pores:
(4) The pore Amṛtabindu, where devas live on the bhūmis and gandharvas live on mountains of gold and silver.
(5) The pore Vajramukha, where kinnaras live who contemplate the six perfections and human suffering and remember Avalokiteśvara’s name.
X. Sūtra narrative: Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asks where he can find the six-syllable mahāvidyā. Buddha Śākyamuni tells him that the buddhas have spent sixteen eons looking for the mahāvidyā but failed to find it. He gives a description of the benefits gained by those who do possess, repeat, and wear it. Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin says he will use his own skin, bone, and blood to write it down if he can obtain it.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Śākyamuni describes how in a previous life he searched through many realms and met trillions of buddhas but failed to find the mahāvidyā. Then Buddha Ratnottama sends him to see Buddha Padmottama, and Śākyamuni tells of his search.
A. Buddha Padmottama’s narrative: This is a description of the merit gained by repeating the mahāvidyā and a story of how, in the past, Padmottama searched for the mantra through many realms and met many buddhas but did not find it. Padmottama comes to Amitābha and tells him of his search. Amitābha tells Avalokiteśvara to give the mahāvidyā to Padmottama. Avalokiteśvara describes to Padmottama how to make the maṇḍala of the mahāvidyā so that he may in the future give the mahāvidyā to others.
In response to Amitābha’s questions, Avalokiteśvara describes how to give the mahāvidyā if one cannot make such a maṇḍala.
Avalokiteśvara gives the mahāvidyā to Padmottama, who returns to his realm.
XI. Sūtra narrative: The sūtra does not state specifically that Padmottama gives the mahāvidyā to Buddha Śākyamuni, and Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin does not ask the Buddha for it but asks where he can go to find it. Buddha Śākyamuni describes the dharmabhāṇaka in Vārāṇasī who possesses the mahāvidyā.
Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin goes to Vārāṇasī with a great procession of people and offerings, praises the dharmabhāṇaka, and asks for the mahāvidyā. The dharmabhāṇaka describes the qualities of the mahāvidyā, wrong paths, and the devotion of even Prajñāpāramitā to the mahāvidyā.
Avalokiteśvara appears in the sky and tells the dharmabhāṇaka several times to give the mahāvidyā to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin.
The dharmabhāṇaka does not create a maṇḍala, as was described by Avalokiteśvara, but simply recites the mahāvidyā to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin. Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin returns to the Jetavana grove and tells Buddha Śākyamuni that he has received the mahāvidyā.
Trillions of buddhas recite the dhāraṇī of the goddess Cundi: oṁ cale cule cunde svāhā. No explanation for this dhāraṇī is given, so the reader is assumed to be familiar with it.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: Abruptly, without any transition, the description of the last five of Avalokiteśvara’s pores continues from where it had previously been left off.
(6) The pore Sūryaprabha, where bodhisattvas dwell. They can see Avalokiteśvara and the seven buddhas when they remember the mahāvidyā.
(7) The pore Indrarāja, where irreversible bodhisattvas live.
(8) The pore Mahoṣadī, where bodhisattvas who have just developed bodhicitta live, and gandharvas live on mountains.
(9) The pore Cittarāja, where pratyekabuddhas live.
(10) The pore Dhvajarāja, where buddhas live who teach the six perfections to the humans of Jambudvīpa.
XII. Sūtra narrative: Buddha Śākyamuni, in response to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin’s question, says there are no more pores than those ten, but that beyond the last pore, the four oceans come from Avalokiteśvara’s big toe.
He states that Avalokiteśvara is coming to give prophecies to Śiva (Maheśvara) and Umādevī about their eventual buddhahood. Avalokiteśvara arrives with a gift of lotus flowers from Amitābha. Maheśvara asks the Buddha for a prophecy, and he is sent to Avalokiteśvara who prophesies his buddhahood and then does the same for Umādevī. Buddha Śākyamuni, in response to Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin’s question, describes the qualities of Avalokiteśvara.
1. Buddha Śākyamuni’s narrative: He gives a description of the inconceivability of Avalokiteśvara’s merit and a list of Avalokiteśvara’s samādhis, which differs from that given earlier.
Śākyamuni describes his memory of being Bodhisattva Dānaśūra at the time of Buddha Krakucchanda. He sees Samantabhadra with Avalokiteśvara. They each enter different states of samādhis, and Buddha Krakucchanda emphasizes Avalokiteśvara’s superiority.
XIII. Sūtra narrative: Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asks for this very sūtra to be taught (although it is near its conclusion), and the Buddha describes the benefits of the sūtra. Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin sits silently.
Avalokiteśvara and all the other various kinds of beings assembled leave.
In an abrupt change of content, Ānanda asks Śākyamuni Buddha about monastic training. Śākyamuni condemns bhikṣus with incorrect conduct, saying they should be banished from the community. He prophesies how in three hundred years people will use the property and possessions of the saṅgha or monastery, and describes the sufferings they will endure, such as in the hells.
Ānanda leaves, and again the various classes of beings are said to leave (though they had already done so earlier), and the entire world rejoices in the Buddha’s words.
[F.200.a][B1]Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavat was staying, with a great saṅgha of 1,250 bhikṣus and a multitude of bodhisattvas, in Śrāvastī, in Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.
Eight hundred million19 bodhisattva mahāsattvas had gathered there, such as Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Vajramati, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Jñānadarśana, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Vajrasena, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Guhyagupta,20 Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Ākaśagarbha, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sūryagarbha, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Anikṣiptadhura, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Ratnapāṇi, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Samantabhadra, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sarvaśūra,[F.200.b] Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Bhaiṣajyasena, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Vajrapāṇi, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sāgaramati, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Dharmadhara, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Pṛthivīvaralocana, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Āśvāsahasta, and Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Maitreya.
The thirty-two classes of devas had also gathered there, the principal ones being Maheśvara and Nārāyaṇa. Śakra, who is the lord of the devas, Brahmā, who is the lord of the Sahā universe, Candra, Āditya, Vāyu, Varuṇa, and other deities were also assembled there.21
Many hundreds of thousands of nāga kings had also gathered there in that retinue. Nāga King Utpala, Nāga King Elapatra, Nāga King Timiṃgira, Nāga King Gavāṃpati, Nāga King Śataśīrṣa, Nāga King Hullura,22 Nāga King Vahūdaka,23 Nāga King Takṣaka, Nāga King Gośīrṣa, Nāga King Mṛgaśīrṣa, Nāga Kings Nanda and Upananda, Nāga King Vātsīputra, Nāga King Sāgara, Nāga King Anavatapta, and many hundreds of thousands of other nāga kings were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands of gandharva kings had also assembled there. Gandharva King Dundubhisvara, Gandharva King Manojñasvara,[F.201.a] Gandharva King Sahasrabhuja, Gandharva King Sahāpati,24 Gandharva King Śarīraprahlādana, Gandharva King Nirnāditabhūrya, Gandharva King Alaṃkārabhūṣita, Gandharva King Kumāradarśana, Gandharva King Subāhuyukta, Gandharva King Dharmapriya, and many hundreds of thousands of gandharva kings were gathered there in that retinue.
Also gathered in that retinue were many hundreds of thousands of kinnara kings. Kinnara King Sumukha, Kinnara King Ratnakirītī, Kinnara King Svārimukha, Kinnara King Prahasita,25 Kinnara King Cakravyūha, Kinnara King Puṣpāvakīrṇa, Kinnara King Maṇi, Kinnara King Pralambodara, Kinnara King Dṛdhavīrya, Kinnara King Suyodhana, Kinnara King Śatamukha, Kinnara King Druma,26 and many hundreds of thousands of other kinnara kings were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands of apsarases had gathered there. The apsaras named Tilottamā, the apsaras named Suvyūhā, the apsaras named Suvarṇamekhalā, the apsaras named Vibhūṣutā, the apsaras named Karṇadhārā, the apsaras named Amṛtabindu, the apsaras named Pariśobhitakāyā, the apsaras named Maṇiprasthanā, the apsaras named Cuḍakā, the apsaras named Mṛdukā, the apsaras named Pañcabhūryābhimukhā, the apsaras named Ratikarā, the apsaras named Kañcanamālā, the apsaras named Nīlotpalā, the apsaras named Dharmābhimukhā, the apsaras named Sakrīḍā,[F.201.b] the apsaras named Kṛtsnākarā, the apsaras named Suvyūhamati, the apsaras named Keyūradharā, the apsaras named Dānaṃdadā, the apsaras named Śaśī, and many hundreds of thousands27 of other apsarases were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands28 of female nāgas were gathered there. The female nāga named Vibhūṣaṇadharā, the female nāga named Acilillanā,29 the female nāga named Trijaṭā, the female nāga named Svātimukhā,30 the female nāga named Jayaśrī, the female nāga named Vijayaśrī, the female nāga named Mucilindā,31 the female nāga named Vidyullocanā, the female nāga named Vidyutprabhā,32 the female nāga named Svātigiri, the female nāga named Śataparivārā, the female nāga named Mahauṣadhi, the female nāga named Jalabindu,33 the female nāga named Ekaśīrṣā, the female nāga named Śatavāhāna,34 the female nāga named Śatabāhu, the female nāga named Grasatī, the female nāga named Anākṛtsnagatā,35 the female nāga named Subhūṣaṇā,36 the female nāga named Pāṇḍarameghā,37 the female nāga named Rathābhiruḍhā,38 the female nāga named Tyāgānugatā,39 the female nāga named Anāgatā,40 the female nāga named Abhinnaparivārā, the female nāga named Pulindā,41 the female nāga named Sāgarakukṣi, the female nāga named Chatramukhā, the female nāga named Dharmapīṭhā, the female nāga named Mukhakarā,42 the female nāga named Vīryā, the female nāga named Sāgaragambhīrā, the female nāga named Meruśrī, and many hundreds of thousands of other female nāgas were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands of female gandharvas had also gathered there. The female gandharva named Priyamukhā, the female gandharva named Priyaṃdadā,[F.202.a] the female gandharva named Anādarśakā, the female gandharva named Vajraśrī, the female gandharva named Vajramālā, the female gandharva named Sumālinī, the female gandharva named Vanaspati, the female gandharva named Śatapuṣpā, the female gandharva named Mukulitā, the female gandharva named Ratnamālā, the female gandharva named Muditapuṣpā,43 the female gandharva named Sukukṣi, the female gandharva named Rājaśrī, the female gandharva named Dundubhi, the female gandharva named Śubhamālā, the female gandharva named Vibhūṣitālaṃkārā, the female gandharva named Abhinamitā, the female gandharva named Dharmakāṅkṣiṇī, the female gandharva named Dharmaṃdadā,44 the female gandharva named Audumbarā,45 the female gandharva named Śatākārā, the female gandharva named Padmaśriyā,46 the female gandharva named Padmāvatī,47 the female gandharva named Padmālaṃkārā,48 the female gandharva named Pariśobhitakāyā, the female gandharva named Vilāsendragāminī,49 the female gandharva named Pṛthivīṃdadā, the female gandharva named Phalaṃdadā,50 the female gandharva named Siṃhagāminī, the female gandharva named Kumudapuṣpā, the female gandharva named Manoramā, the female gandharva named Dānaṃdadā, the female gandharva named Devavacanā,51 the female gandharva named Kṣāntipriyā, the female gandharva named Nirvāṇapriyā, the female gandharva named Ratnāṅkurā, the female gandharva named Indraśrī, the female gandharva named Indramaghaśrī, the female gandharva named Prajāpatinivāsinī, the female gandharva named Mṛgarājinī, the female gandharva named Sphurantaśrī, the female gandharva named Jvalantaśikharā, the female gandharva named Rāgaparimuktā,[F.202.b] the female gandharva named Dveṣaparimuktā, the female gandharva named Mohaparimuktā, the female gandharva named Sujanaparivārā, the female gandharva named Ratnapīṭhā, the female gandharva named Āgamanagamanā, the female gandharva named Agniprabhā, the female gandharva named Candrabimbaprabhā, the female gandharva named Sūryalocanā, the female gandharva named Suvarṇāvabhāsā,52 and many hundreds of thousands53 of other female gandharvas.
Many hundreds of thousands54 of female kinnaras had gathered there. The female kinnara named Manasā, the female kinnara named Mānasī, the female kinnara named Vāyuvegā, the female kinnara named Varuṇavegā, the female kinnara named Ākāśaplavā,55 the female kinnara named Vegajavā, the female kinnara named Lakṣmīṃdadā, the female kinnara named Sudaṃṣṭrā, the female kinnara named Acalaśriyā,56 the female kinnara named Dhātupriyā, the female kinnara named Jvalantapriyā,57 the female kinnara named Suśriyā,58 the female kinnara named Ratnakāraṇḍakā, the female kinnara named Avalokitalakṣmī, the female kinnara named Kuṭilā, the female kinnara named Vajramuṣṭi, the female kinnara named Kapilā, the female kinnara named Subhūṣaṇabhūṣitā, the female kinnara named Vistīrṇalalāṭā, the female kinnara named Sujanaparisevitā, the female kinnara named Sahāpatī,59[F.203.a] the female kinnara named Ākāśarakṣitā, the female kinnara named Vyūharājendrā, the female kinnara named Maṇicūḍā, the female kinnara named Maṇidhāriṇī, the female kinnara named Maṇirocanī, the female kinnara named Vidvajjanaparisevitā, the female kinnara named Śatākārā,60 the female kinnara named Āyurdadā, the female kinnara named Tathāgatakośaparipālitā, the female kinnara named Dharmadhātuparirakṣiṇī, the female kinnara named Satataparigrahadharmakāṅkṣiṇī, the female kinnara named Sadānukāladarśinī, the female kinnara named Nūpurottamā, the female kinnara named Lakṣaṇottamā,61 the female kinnara named Āśvāsanī, the female kinnara named Vimokṣakarā, the female kinnara named Sadānuvṛtti, the female kinnara named Saṃvegadhāriṇī, the female kinnara named Khaṅgajvalanā, the female kinnara named Pṛthivyupasaṃkramaṇā, the female kinnara named Surendramālā, the female kinnara named Surendrā, the female kinnara named Asurendrā, the female kinnara named Munīndrā, the female kinnara named Gotrakṣānti, the female kinnara named Tyāgānugatā,62 the female kinnara named Bahvāśrayā, the female kinnara named Śatāyudhā, the female kinnara named Vibhūṣitālaṃkārā, the female kinnara named Manoharā, and many hundreds of thousands63 of other female kinnaras were gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands64 of upāsakas and upāsikās had gathered there.
Many hundreds of thousands65 of tīrthika mendicant renunciants66 had also gathered there.[F.203.b]
At the time of this great gathering, light rays shone in the great Avīci hell. Having shone there, they came to the Jetavana Monastery, where they became adornments for the monastery: pillars adorned with divine, precious jewels; multistoried buildings that were covered with gold; buildings with doors made of gold and silver; buildings with steps made of gold and silver; and upper stories made of gold and silver, the silver upper stories having gold pillars adorned with divine jewels and the gold upper stories having silver pillars adorned with divine jewels.
In the gardens around Jetavana, there appeared various kinds of wish-fulfilling trees. They had trunks of gold and leaves of silver and were bedecked with a variety of adornments, with beautiful monastic robes,67 with Kaśika cloth, with hundreds of thousands of pearl necklaces, and with hundreds of thousands of crowns, earrings, braided ribbons, armlets, and anklets.
Outside the monastery there appeared hundreds of trees, which, like the wish-fulfilling trees, were made from precious metals and were bedecked with precious bracelets.
Within the Jetavana Monastery, there appeared stairs made from diamonds and entrance chambers hung with pearls and silks.68
Many bathing pools also appeared. Some were completely filled with water that had the eight qualities.69 Some were completely filled with a variety of flowers: they were completely filled with blue lotuses, red lotuses, night lotuses, white lotuses,70 tiger claw flowers and great tiger claw flowers,71 and udumbara flowers.
Moreover, there were a variety of tree blossoms: magnolia,[F.204.a] ashoka, oleander, trumpet flower, mountain ebony, jasmine, and other beautiful tree blossoms.
The Jetavana Monastery appeared completely beautified.
From within that assembly Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin arose from his seat, bared one shoulder, and kneeling on his right knee and facing the Bhagavat, placed his palms together and inquired of the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, I have perceived a great, wonderful marvel. Bhagavat, where did these great light rays come from? Who has this power?”
The Bhagavat replied, “Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva72 Avalokiteśvara entered the great Avīci hell. When he had completely liberated the beings there, he went to the city of the pretas. It was he who emanated these light rays.”73
Then Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, as the great Avīci hell is without respite, how did Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara enter it? In the great Avīci hell a wall encloses a ground made of burning iron, which has become one raging flame in the shape of a reed basket. Within this Avīci hell there is a pot from which comes the sound of wailing. Many hundreds of thousands of tens of millions of hundreds of millions of beings have been thrown into that pot. Just as green or black mung beans are massed together in a water-filled vessel, rising and sinking as they are cooked,[F.204.b] that is how the beings in the great Avīci hell undergo physical suffering. Bhagavat, how did Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara enter the great Avīci hell?”
The Bhagavat answered him, “Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara entered the great Avīci hell just as a cakravartin king enters a grove made of divine jewels. Noble son, it had no effect upon his body. As he approached the Avīci hell, it cooled. The beings that were Yama’s guards were in a state of agitation and extremely terrified. They wondered,74 ‘Why has an inauspicious sign appeared in this Avīci hell?’ When the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara entered the Avīci hell, lotus flowers the size of cartwheels appeared, the pot burst open, and the inferno of fire transformed into a pool. On seeing these inauspicious signs appear in Avīci hell, Yama’s guardians became dismayed.
“Then Yama’s guardians gathered their swords, clubs,75 short spears, long spears, maces, discuses, tridents, and so on, and, taking all their Avīci utensils,76 went to the Dharmarāja Yamarāja. When they arrived, they told him, ‘Divine One, know first that our place of work is completely destroyed.’
“Dharmarāja Yamarāja asked them, ‘Why is your place of work completely destroyed?’
“Yama’s guardians answered, ‘Divine One,77 know first that an inauspicious omen appeared in this Avīci hell, all of which became peaceful78 and cool. There entered a handsome being, with his hair in a topknot, his body beautified by divine adornments, with an extremely loving mind, and resembling a golden statue.79[F.205.a] That is the kind of being that arrived. The moment he arrived, lotus flowers the size of cartwheels appeared, the pot burst open, and the inferno of fire was transformed into a pool.’
“Yamarāja wondered, ‘What deity has manifested this power? Is this a special result that has occurred through the blessing of the deity Maheśvara, Nārāyaṇa, or some other deity? Have they descended to this level? Or has a powerful rākṣasa been born who rivals great Rāvaṇa?’80
“He looked with his divine sight into the heavens, wondering whose blessing this could be. Then he looked back into the Avīci hell and saw Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara there.
“Yamarāja went to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, bowed down his head to his feet, and made this special praise:
“ ‘I pay homage to Avalokiteśvara, Maheśvara, lover of lotuses, giver of the supreme boon, who has power; who illuminates the world;81 who brings relief; who has a hundred thousand arms; who has a hundred thousand times ten million eyes; who has eleven heads; who reaches Vaḍavāmukha; who delights in the Dharma; who completely frees all beings; who brings relief to turtles, crocodiles, and fish; who creates the greatest mass of wisdom; who brings joy; who is a splendor of jewels; who is sublime; who extinguishes Avīci; who is adorned by the splendor of wisdom; who delights in wisdom; who is the one to whom all devas make offerings, pay homage, and show reverence; who brings freedom from fear; who teaches the six perfections; who illuminates like the sun;82[F.205.b] who creates the lamp of Dharma; whose perfectly supreme form is whatever form is pleasing; who has the form of a gandharva; who has a form like a mountain of gold; who is deep like the vast ocean; who has attained the ultimate yoga; who shows his own face; who has many hundreds of thousands of samādhis; who brings true pleasure; who has a beautified body; who manifests as the supreme rishi;83 who brings freedom from the terrors of bondage in stocks and manacles; who is free from all existences; who has many retinues; who creates abundance;84 who is a precious wish-fulfilling jewel; who teaches the path to nirvāṇa; who brings the city of the pretas to an end; who is a parasol for beings; who liberates beings from illness; who has a sacred thread made of the nāga kings Nanda and Upananda;85 who reveals the beneficial lasso; who has hundreds of mantras; who terrifies Vajrapāṇi; who terrifies the three worlds; who frightens yakṣas, rākṣasas, bhūtas, pretas, and piśācas,86 vetālas, ḍākinīs, kūṣmāṇḍas, and apasmāras; who has eyes like blue lotuses; who has profound wisdom;87 who is the lord of knowledge; who brings freedom from all afflictions; who accumulates various paths to enlightenment; who has entered sacred liberation; who has paths to enlightenment accumulated within his body; who completely liberates pretas; and who has hundreds of thousands of samādhis as numerous as atoms.’
“In that way, Yamarāja praised Avalokiteśvara with a particularly sacred praise. Then Yamarāja circumambulated him three times and departed.”[F.206.a]
Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, did Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara leave?”
The Bhagavat replied, “Noble son, he left the Avīci hell and went to the city of the pretas. Many hundreds of thousands of pretas came running toward him. They were like burned tree trunks; they were like standing skeletons; they were covered with hair; they had stomachs the size of mountains and mouths the size of a needle’s eye.
“As Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara arrived at the city of the pretas, it cooled and the vajra hail ceased. The staff-wielding guard at the gates, who had thick calves and red eyes, became kind and said, ‘I should not be performing this duty.’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s mind was filled with compassion on seeing these beings, and he emitted ten rivers from his ten fingers; he emitted ten rivers from his ten toes; and he emitted great rivers from all his pores. When the pretas tasted the water, their throats widened, their bodies became whole, and they were completely satisfied by the supreme flavor of divine food.
“Then they contemplated human existence.88 They thought about saṃsāric existence in this way: ‘Oh! The humans in Jambudvīpa are happy. They can perfectly enjoy cool shade. Happy are those humans in Jambudvīpa who are always supporting their parents and honoring them.[F.206.b] Happy are those good humans who always rely on a kalyāṇamitra. Those who continuously learn the Mahāyāna are good contemplative beings. Those who follow the eightfold path are good beings. Those who beat the dharmagaṇḍī are good beings. Those who repair dilapidated and ruined monasteries are good beings. Those who repair dilapidated, ruined, ancient stūpas are good beings. Those who are dedicated to the sacred representations and the dharmabhāṇakas are good beings. Those who have seen the activities of a tathāgata are good beings; those who have seen the activities of a pratyekabuddha are good beings; those who have seen the activities of a bodhisattva are good beings.’ “
At that time there appeared the sound of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display; wisdom, like a thunderbolt, destroyed the view of the aggregates as a self, 89which is like a mountain with twenty peaks; and the pretas were all reborn in the realm of Sukhāvatī as bodhisattvas named Ākāṅkṣitamukha. “
Avalokiteśvara, having completely liberated those beings, departed from the city of the pretas.”90
Then Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, did Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara leave?”
The Bhagavat replied, “Noble son, each day he completely ripens a million trillion beings. Noble son, not even the tathāgatas have Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s prowess.”
Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked him, “Bhagavat, how is that so?”[F.207.a]
The Bhagavat answered, “Noble son, there appeared in this world the Tathāgata, the arhat, the samyaksaṃbuddha, perfect in wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the Bhagavat Vipaśyin.
“At that time, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, I was a merchant named Sugandhamukha, and I heard Tathāgata Vipaśyin describe the qualities of Avalokiteśvara.”
Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “What were the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara that you heard the tathāgata describe?”
The Bhagavat said, “Āditya and Candra came from his eyes, Maheśvara came from his forehead, Brahmā came from his shoulders, Nārāyaṇa came from his heart, Devi Sarasvatī came from his canines, Vāyu came from his mouth, Dharaṇī came from his feet, and Varuṇa came from his stomach.
“When those deities had come from Avalokiteśvara’s body, that bhagavat told the deity Maheśvara, ‘Maheśvara, in the kaliyuga, when beings have bad natures, you will be declared to be the primal deity who is the creator, the maker. All those beings will be excluded from the path to enlightenment. They will say to ordinary beings:
“Noble son, those are the words I heard Tathāgata Vipaśyin say.[F.207.b]
“In a later time, there appeared in this world the Tathāgata, the arhat, the samyaksaṃbuddha, the one with wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the Bhagavat Śikhin.
“At that time, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, I was Bodhisattva Dānaśūra, and I heard from him the description of the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara.”
Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “What were the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara that you heard the tathāgata describe?”
The Bhagavat said, “When all the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and humans had gathered together, the bhagavat Śikhin looked at the great gathering and began to speak of the Dharma within that assembly. At that time, light rays of various colors emanated from the mouth of Bhagavat Śikhin. They were blue, yellow, red, white, orange, and the color of crystal and of silver. They shone on all worlds in the ten directions, then returned and entered the mouth of the bhagavat.
“From within that assembly Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi arose from his seat, bared one shoulder, and kneeling on his right knee and facing Bhagavat Śikhin, placed his palms together and addressed these words to him:[F.208.a] ‘Bhagavat, why did this sign appear?’
“Bhagavat Śikhin replied, ‘Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara is coming from the realm of Sukhāvatī. I manifest this kind of sign when he is coming. When Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara comes, a profusion of wish-granting trees appears, a profusion of mango trees appears, star jasmine flowers and magnolia trees appear, ponds covered with flowers appear, and precious trees appear. There is a rain of various flowers,92 a rain of precious stones—jewels, pearls, diamonds, beryl, conch, crystal, and coral—and there is a rain of divine cloth. In the vicinity of the monastery the seven jewels of a cakravartin appear—the precious wheel, the precious horse, the precious elephant, the precious jewel,93 the precious wife, the precious householder, and the precious counselor—and the ground appears to be made of gold. When Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara comes from the realm of Sukhāvatī, the entire world shakes six times.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi asked Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, what are these omens of?’
“Bhagavat Śikhin answered, ‘Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara is arriving, and that is why these omens appear.’
“As the earth shook and it rained beautiful lotuses,[F.208.b] Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara came to Bhagavat Śikhin. He was holding lotus flowers, each with a thousand petals and a golden stem. He bowed down his head to the bhagavat’s feet and offered the lotuses to him. He said, ‘Tathāgata Amitābha sends these flowers to you. The Tathagāta asks if you are in health, if you are at ease, and if all is well.’94
“Bhagavat Śikhin took the lotuses and placed them on his left. He then spoke of the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara. ‘How did you, Avalokiteśvara, accomplish your task among the pretas, the beings in the Avīci hell, the beings in Kālasūtra and Raurava, the beings in Hāhava, Tāpana, the great hell Pretāyana, the great hell Agnighaṭa, the great hell Śālmali,95 the great hell Śītodaka, and others?’96
“Avalokiteśvara replied, ‘The beings in those great hells are my task. I will completely ripen those beings, and then I will bring them to the highest complete enlightenment.’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, having given this answer, bowed his head to the bhagavat’s feet, departed alone,97 and disappeared into the sky as a blazing mass of fire.
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi asked Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, if I may ask for an answer to a question, how much merit has Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara accumulated?’[F.209.a]
“Bhagavat Śikhin replied, ‘If someone were for a deva’s eon to serve tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges with robes, food, bowls, bedding, seats,98 necessary medicine, and utensils, the merit that would be produced through those tathāgatas would be the same as that of the tip of one hair on the body of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if it were to rain day and night on the four great continents for a twelve-month year, I could count each drop, but, noble son, I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, the ocean is 84,000 yojanas deep and has an immeasurable expanse, but I can count each drop all the way down to Vaḍavāmukha. However, noble son, I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count every hair on all the four-legged creatures in the four great continents, such as lions, tigers, bears, hyenas, deer, camels, jackals,99 and so on, and oxen, donkeys, cattle, elephants, horses, buffalo, and cats, but, noble son, I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if stūpas100 for tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas as numerous as atoms were made in divine gold and precious stones,[F.209.b] and in one day the relics were placed in them all, I can calculate the accumulation of that merit, but I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count the number of leaves in a forest of agarwood trees, but I cannot calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if all the women, men, boys, and girls in the four great continents were to gain the result of becoming stream entrants, once-returners, non-returners, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas, their merit would only be, as said before, equal to the merit of the tip of one hair on the body of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi asked Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, I have never seen nor heard of tathāgatas having the kind of accumulation of merit that Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has, let alone bodhisattvas.’
“Bhagavat Śikhin said, ‘Noble son, even if all who are tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas like me were gathered in one place and provided for an eon with robes, food, bowls, bedding, seats, necessary medicine, and utensils, those tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas[F.210.a] would still not be able to calculate Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s accumulation of merit. So, noble son, it is needless to say that I cannot do so all by myself in this world.
“‘Those who remember Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s name will have happiness in this world. They will be completely freed from the sufferings of aging, death, and illness. They will be freed from the unavoidable sufferings of saṃsāra. Like white and pale yellow birds, like kings of geese moving with the speed of the wind, they will go to the realm of Sukhāvatī. They will hear the Dharma by listening to Tathāgata Amitābha teach. The sufferings of saṃsāra will not afflict their bodies. They will not become old or die. They will have no desire, anger, or stupidity. Their bodies will feel no hunger or thirst. They will not know the suffering of being inside a womb. Completely inspired by the taste of the Dharma, they will be reborn within a lotus and will remain in that realm until Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s powerful commitment is fulfilled and all beings have been brought to liberation.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi asked Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, when will that powerful commitment be fulfilled?’
“Bhagavat Śikhin replied, ‘He completely ripens the many beings who circle in saṃsāra, teaches them the path to enlightenment, and teaches the Dharma in whatever form a being can be taught through. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a tathāgata to beings who are to be taught by a tathāgata.[F.210.b] He teaches the Dharma in the form of a pratyekabuddha to beings who are to be taught by a pratyekabuddha. He teaches the Dharma in the form of an arhat to beings who are to be taught by an arhat. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a bodhisattva to beings who are to be taught by a bodhisattva. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Maheśvara to beings who are to be taught by Maheśvara. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Nārāyaṇa to beings who are to be taught by Nārāyaṇa. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Brahmā to beings who are to be taught by Brahmā. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Śakra to beings who are to be taught by Śakra. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Āditya to beings who are to be taught by Āditya. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Candra to beings who are to be taught by Candra. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Agni to beings who are to be taught by Agni. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Varuṇa to beings who are to be taught by Varuṇa. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Vāyu to beings who are to be taught by Vāyu. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a nāga to beings who are to be taught by a nāga. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Vighnapati to beings who are to be taught by Vighnapati. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a yakṣa to beings who are to be taught by a yakṣa. He teaches the Dharma in the form of Vaiśravaṇa to beings who are to be taught by Vaiśravaṇa.101 He teaches the Dharma in the form of a king to beings who are to be taught by a king. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a paṇḍita to beings who are to be taught by a paṇḍita. He teaches the Dharma in the form of a king’s soldier to beings who are to be taught by a king’s soldier.[F.211.a] He teaches the Dharma in the form of parents to beings who are to be taught by their parents. He teaches the Dharma in whatever particular form a being should be taught through. That, noble son, is how Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara completely ripens beings and teaches them the Dharma of nirvāṇa.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi said to Bhagavat Śikhin, ‘Bhagavat, this is extraordinarily marvelous. I have never seen nor heard of such a thing before. Not even the tathāgatas have what Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has.’
“Bhagavat Śikhin said, ‘Noble son, in this Jambudvīpa there is a cave named Vajrakukṣi in which a hundred thousand million times ten million asuras live. Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara teaches the asuras there in the form of an asura. He teaches them the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display. He says to the listening asuras,102 “You must listen.”
“ ‘Then all other asuras, with loving minds and peaceful minds, with palms placed together, come to listen to this Dharma teaching from Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara:
“ ‘ “Those who turn their minds to this king of the sūtras will have happiness in this world. Hearing it will purify them of the five actions with immediate results on death. At the time of death, twelve tathāgatas will come and reassure them, saying, ‘Noble son, do not be afraid. You have heard the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display. You have prepared various paths for going to Sukhāvatī.[F.211.b] You have prepared various parasols, various crowns, various earrings, and various necklaces.’ When that kind of omen appears, at death they will go without impediment to Sukhāvatī.”
“ ‘Ratnapāṇi, in that way, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara teaches the Dharma of nirvāṇa to the asuras and shows them the entranceway to nirvāṇa.’
“Then Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi bowed his head to Bhagavat Śikhin’s feet and departed.”
At this point, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin said to the Bhagavat, “It is very difficult, Bhagavat, to hear the manifold description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities.”
The Bhagavat told him, “Noble son, there will be a description of Avalokiteśvara’s qualities after he has left Vajrakukṣi and come to the land of iron. Listen to it at that time. Before that there is this teaching:103
“In a later time, there was the Tathāgata, the arhat, the samyaksaṃbuddha, perfect in wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the Bhagavat Viśvabhū.
“At that time, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, I was a rishi who taught patience and lived in a cliff among the mountains where people did not go. At that time, I heard Tathāgata Viśvabhū describe the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara.
“Avalokiteśvara had gone to the land of gold and taught the eightfold noble path, the Dharma that teaches nirvāṇa, to the upside-down beings104 who lived there.
“He then left the land of gold and went to the land of silver. Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara said to the four-legged beings who lived there, ‘You must listen with perfect, pure thought to this Dharma teaching on contemplating nirvāṇa, on turning the mind to nirvāṇa.’ Then Avalokiteśvara taught them the Dharma.
“Those beings sat before Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara and requested him,[F.212.a] ‘Show the path to blind beings! Be a protector and refuge to beings who have no protector! Be a father and mother to those who do not have a father and mother! Be a lamp for the darkness of the three lower existences! Be aware of us and show us, with great compassion, the path to liberation.105 The beings who have obtained and always remember your name are happy; they are free from this kind of suffering that we experience.’
“At this, the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display, issued forth into the ears of those beings. When they heard it, they reached an irreversible level and were established in the highest happiness.[B2]
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara then left for another land, which was made of iron, where he approached the asura king Bali.106
“When the asura king Bali saw Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara approaching from the distance, he went toward Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, accompanied by his queens, his retinue, and many asuras such as Kubja and Vāmanaka107 with their retinues. Bali bowed down at his feet and said these words:
“Bali offered a bejeweled throne to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara and implored him, ‘Bhagavat, look with compassion upon those who like to perform bad actions, who lust after the wives of others,[F.212.b] who are dedicated to killing, who kill others, and who are old and dying. Be a refuge to those who are weary of saṃsāra. You, lord, be our father and mother and show the path to we who are bound in bondage.’
“Avalokiteśvara said, ‘Noble son, it is like this: I will explain how much merit is acquired by those who give alms to a tathāgata, an arhat, a samyaksaṃbuddha.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, were there to be as many bodhisattvas like myself as there are grains of sand in twelve Ganges Rivers, and were they to be in one place with every facility for a deva’s eon, they would still be unable to calculate that aggregation of merit. So it is needless to say that I cannot do so all by myself in the realm of the asuras.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count how many atoms there are, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count each drop in the vast extent of the ocean, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if all the men, women, boys, and girls in the four continents were to apply themselves to work, and those people in the four continents were to do no other work than growing mustard, and from time to time the king of the nāgas would send down rain, and the mustard would grow perfectly for one harvest; and then if the men, women, boys, and girls were to load that mustard into carts, bags, and baskets, onto camels, donkeys, and cattle, and collect the great harvest together; and then if the donkeys and cattle threshed it to make a vast heap of mustard seeds,[F.213.a] noble son, I could count each one of those grains, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, the lower half of the supreme mountain Sumeru extends downward for 84,000 yojanas and the upper half extends upward for 84,000 yojanas. Noble son, if Sumeru were to become a mass of birch bark; if the vast ocean was to become an inkwell; and if all the men, women, boys, and girls who live in the four continents were to become scribes; and if they were to write on the limitless, endless extent of Mount Sumeru as birch bark, I would be able to count each letter, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, if all those scribes were to become bodhisattvas on the tenth bhūmi, then the accumulation of merit of all those bodhisattvas on the tenth bhūmi would then equal the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.
“ ‘Noble son, it is like this. As a comparison, I can count each grain of sand in the ocean, but, noble son, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit through that alms giving.’
“Then the asura king Bali, with tears, a darkened face,108 choking, with stuttering words and sighs, told Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara his story:
“ ‘What kind of gift did I, Bali, make, with my queens and retinue, that brought me bondage in this lifetime? I made an offering to a bad recipient, and I am now experiencing the result of that action. Even a handful of dust thrown toward an omniscient one transforms into amṛta, but I made my offerings not knowing that,[F.213.b] and made an offering to a petitioner who came to me in the form of a dwarf.
“ ‘I had prepared offerings of elephant- and horse-drawn carts carrying diadems, earrings, and necklaces, hung with precious yak-tail whisks, and covered with strings of pearls, a net of pearls as a rear adornment, and jingling golden bells hanging from silver cords.
“ ‘I had also prepared offerings of a thousand tawny cows with silver hooves, golden horns, and covered with nets of pearls.
“ ‘I had also prepared an offering of a thousand young women with excellent complexions, who were full-bodied, very beautiful, similar to and rivaling divine maidens; adorned with divine jewelry; wearing diadems, earrings, and necklaces; adorned with armlets, bracelets, anklets, and girdles; and wearing rings, sash necklaces, and gold rings on the big toes of their left feet.109 They jingled as they moved, and wore clothing of silks in a variety of colors.
“ ‘I had also prepared a hundred thousand precious seats, numerous heaps of gold, heaps of silver, and heaps of jewels.
“ ‘I had prepared numerous heaps of clothing and jewelry.
“ ‘I had prepared many hundreds of thousands of herds of cows along with herders.
“ ‘I had prepared numerous kinds of food and drink. I had prepared divine food with supreme flavors.
“ ‘I had continuously prepared bejeweled bells of gold and silver, many bejeweled lion thrones of silver and gold, many thousands of divine yak-tail whisks, parasols, shoes adorned with gold, and bejeweled gold diadems.
“ ‘At that time, I had invited a thousand kings, a hundred thousand brahmins, and many hundreds of thousands of kṣatriyas, and I became arrogant on seeing110 that I was their sole ruler.[F.214.a]
“ ‘I now confess my first bad action. I tore out the hearts of the kṣatriya wives, slaughtered the boys and girls, bound all the great kṣatriyas in stocks111 and shackles, and took them to a copper cave. I imprisoned many hundreds of thousands of kṣatriyas in that copper cave. I fastened the legs and arms of those kṣatriyas, such as the Khasas and Pāṇḍavas, with iron chains and iron pegs to keep them in that cave.
“ ‘I made doors for the cave: the first door was made of wood, the second door was made of acacia, the third door was made of bronze, the fourth door was made of copper, the fifth door was made of iron, the sixth door was made of silver, and the seventh door was made of gold. Then I heaped seven mountains, one on top of the other, in front of the golden door.112
“ ‘Then I went in search of Daśarathaputra,113 one day in the form of a beggar, one day in the form of a bee, one day in the form of a pig, and one day in the form of a man, transforming into a different form each day, but I did not see him.
“ ‘Then, after contemplating, I began to make my offerings. Daśarathaputra, seizing the opportunity, quickly removed the seven mountains, throwing them to another place. He then shouted loudly to the kṣatriyas. Yudhiṣṭhira, Nakula, Sahadeva, Bhīmasena, Arjuna, the Kauravas, and the other kings heard him and were relieved and comforted.114
“ ‘Daśarathaputra asked, “Are you alive or dead?”
“ ‘They replied, “We are alive, Bhagavat.”
“ ‘Then the great hero destroyed all the doors and looked inside the copper cave. All the bound kings saw Nārāyaṇa. They discussed among each other, saying, “Either the time has come for the asura king Bali to die,[F.214.b] or the time has come for us to be slain.” They said to each other, “It is good if we die in battle, but it’s not good to die in chains. If we die in chains, the way of the kṣatriyas will come to an end, but if we die on the battlefield, we will be reborn in the higher realms.”
“ ‘Then all the great kings returned to their own cities and made preparations with many horse-drawn chariots.
“ ‘While they prepared their very precious chariots and weapons, Daśarathaputra transformed himself into a dwarf who wore a deerskin as a sash, held a bamboo staff, and carried a stool. He came to where I was and arrived at my door.
“ ‘The guard stationed there said, “Brahmin dwarf, you can’t enter.”
“ ‘He said, “I have come a long way.”
“ ‘Then the guard asked, “Brahmin, where do you come from?”
“ ‘He answered, “I have come to the rishi king from Candradvīpa.”
“ ‘Then the guard came to me115 and said, “Your Majesty, a brahmin dwarf has arrived here.”
“ ‘I, the lord of the asuras, asked, “What is it that he requires?”
“ ‘The guard said, “Your Majesty, I don’t know.”
“ ‘Then I said, “Go and bring the brahmin to me.”
“ ‘The guard summoned him, saying, “Come in, great brahmin.”
“ ‘Then he came inside and was placed on a precious seat.
“ ‘Śukra, who was renowned as my upādhyāya, was also present at this time and said to me, “This is a person who brings doom.116 He will certainly cause you an obstacle.”
“ ‘I asked him, “Bhagavat, how do you know that?”
“ ‘Śukra answered, “I know by seeing his signs and omens.”
“ ‘I asked, “What can we do?”[F.215.a]
“ ‘Nārāyaṇa thought, “If he thinks about this, he will definitely decide against making a gift, so I will put divinely inspired speech into his mouth.”
“ ‘So I said, “Come here, brahmin. What is your wish?”
“ ‘The brahmin answered, “I ask for two steps of ground.”
“ ‘I said, “Great brahmin, if you are asking for two steps, I will give you three.”
“ ‘The dwarf accepted this gift, saying, “This is auspicious.” He accepted it along with a gift of water, sesame, and gold, and then vanished.
“ ‘Śukra said to me, “Rishi King, I said that this was a man of doom who had come, but you did not pay heed to what I said. So may you experience the result of your actions!”
“ ‘Then Nārāyaṇa appeared in his own form. He was vast, with the sun and moon on his shoulders, and holding a sword, a bow, a wheel, a long spear, and a short spear117 in his hands. I, lord of the asuras, became faint, grew dizzy, fell headlong, and said, “What have I done? I have taken poison with my own hand!”
“ ‘Nārāyaṇa took two steps and said, “Give me my third step!”
“ ‘I said, “There can be no third. You have taken all the ground that can be taken. What can I do?”
“ ‘Nārāyaṇa said, “Wherever I place you, there shall you stay.”
“ ‘Then I, lord of the asuras, said to him, “Whatever you command, that I will do.”
“ ‘Nārāyaṇa asked, “Is this true? Is this true?”
“ ‘I answered, “It’s the truth, it’s the truth.”
“ ‘Thus Nārāyaṇa caught me in the noose of truth. The offering site was destroyed and the offering bowls discarded. The Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas took away the maidens. The Kauravas, Pāṇḍavas, and the others118 took away the golden lion thrones, the divine parasols, the bejeweled shoes, the clothing, the jewelry, the bejeweled golden armlets,[F.215.b] and the tawny cows, destroying the offering site.
“ ‘I, lord of the asuras, having been expelled from the offering site,119 contemplated my situation and said, “I was about to make an excellent offering, but I made an unfortunate offering that has resulted in this bondage. Homage to you, lord. Do what is to be done. It will be as you do.”120
“ ‘Then Nārāyaṇa took me, my queens, and my retinue and placed us in the underworld.
“ ‘I121 have this to say to the bhagavat: In the past I made that gift to a bad recipient, and now I am experiencing the result of that action.
“ ‘Be my refuge, holder of beautiful lotuses.
“ ‘I make this praise to the one who wears a matted topknot; to the one who has an omniscient buddha122 upon his head; to the one who brings relief to many beings; to the one who has compassion for the inferior and desolate; to the one who has beautiful eyes like parasols; to the one who has illuminated the world;123 to the one who is a supreme king of healing; to the one who is a perfectly pure being; to the one who has the supreme attainment of yoga; to the one who has perfect liberation; to the one who is a lover of liberation; to the one who is like a wish-fulfilling jewel; to the one who protects the treasure of the Dharma; to the one who is a teacher of the six perfections; and to the one whose thoughts are good.
“ ‘The beings who remember your name, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, will have happiness. When those who have been born in Kālasūtra, Raurava, Avīci,124 and in the city of the pretas remember your name, they will be freed from the great suffering of the lower existences. The beings who remember your name will have good thoughts. They will go to the realm of Sukhāvatī, and listen to the Dharma from Tathāgata Amitābha.’
“Then Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara made the following prophecy to Bali, the lord of the asuras:[F.216.a] ‘You, lord of the asuras, will become the Tathāgata, the arhat, the samyaksaṃbuddha, perfect in wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the Bhagavat Śrī. You will guide all the asuras. In your buddha realm there will not be the word desire, there will not be the word anger, there will not be the word ignorance, and you will come into possession of the six-syllable mahāvidyā.’
“As a gift with which to request the Dharma, Bali presented Avalokiteśvara with strings of pearls worth a hundred thousand silver coins125 and diadems adorned with various jewels.
“Then Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara began to teach the Dharma.
“ ‘Listen, great king. Human beings are continually thinking about transitory things, about acquisitions,126 about great pleasures, about male and female slaves, servants, and hired workers, about costly clothes, beds, and seats, about valuable treasures, riches, stores of grain, and storerooms, about sons and daughters, and about wives and parents. They are ignorant. Those things that they are attached to appear as dreams do.
“ ‘At the time of death, there will be no one to protect them. When they are separated from their lives they will look back at Jambudvīpa. They will see the great river filled with pus and blood. They will see the great trees that blaze with fire, blaze strongly, and blaze fiercely. When they see them they will be terrified. Yama’s guards127 will bind them with nooses and drag them away. When their feet are cut through on the great road of razors, as they lift that foot another foot will replace it.[F.216.b] Numerous ravens, vultures, eagles, and dogs will devour them. They will experience the sensation of great suffering in the hells. When they step off the great road of razors, five hundred thorns, each with sixteen spikes, will pierce each foot. They will cry out, “What have I, who delighted in bad actions, done?”128
“ ‘Yama’s servants will reply, “Friend, you did not offer alms to the Tathāgata. You did not hear the gaṇḍī being beaten. You did not circumambulate a stūpa anywhere.”
“ ‘To that they will reply, “We were without faith, delighted in bad actions, rejected the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, and are experiencing the result of those actions.”
“ ‘Yama’s guardians will then take them to King Yama, bring them before him, and present them to him.
“ ‘King Yama will say to the guardians, “Show them today your place of work!”
“ ‘So Yama’s guardians will bring them to the great Kālasūtra hell and put them into it. Inside there, though a hundred spears strike them, they will not die. Though a hundred spears strike them a second time, they will not die. Though a hundred spears strike them a third time, they still will not die. Because they will not die, they are thrown into a furnace, but there they still will not die.
“ ‘A red hot metal ball will be inserted into their mouths, incinerating their lips, destroying their teeth, splitting their palate, and loudly burning up their throat, gullet, heart, anus, and whole body.
“ ‘It is like this, great king. There will be no one to protect them in that other world. Therefore, great king, you must diligently create merit in this life.’
“In that way Avalokiteśvara gave Bali the appropriate Dharma teaching.[F.217.a] Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara then told that great king, ‘I must leave, for today many are gathering in the Jetavana Monastery.’129
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara now radiated many blue, yellow, red, white, crystal, and silver light rays that reached Tathāgata Viśvabhū, before whom devas, nāgas, yakṣas, mahoragas, and humans had gathered.
“From within that assembly of bodhisattvas the bodhisattva named Gaganagañja arose from his seat, bared one shoulder, and kneeling on his right knee and facing Bhagavat Viśvabhū, placed his palms together and addressed these words to him: ‘Bhagavat, where did these light rays come from?’
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū said, ‘Noble son, the light rays came from Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, who is in the palace of Bali, the lord of the asuras.’
“Bodhisattva Gaganagañja then asked Bhagavat Viśvabhū, ‘Is there a way for me to see Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara?’
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū answered, ‘Noble son, he is coming here.’
“When Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara left the palace of Bali, lord of the asuras, divine flowers fell on Jetavana Monastery, and extremely beautiful wish-granting trees appeared there. They were hung with hundreds of thousands of adornments, with many hundreds of thousands of strings of pearls, with silk, with monastic robes,130 and with clusters of garlands. Their trunks were red, and their leaves were made of gold and silver. There were also many trees made of coral, many blossom-covered trees,[F.217.b] and pools that were completely filled with flowers.
“Then Bodhisattva Gaganagañja asked Bhagavat Viśvabhū, ‘Bhagavat, is Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara not coming?’
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū answered, ‘Noble son, he has left the palace of Bali, lord of the asuras, and is going to an extremely dreadful land131 named Tamondhakāra where there are no humans. There, noble son, the sun and moon do not shine. A wish-fulfilling jewel named Varada provides light in that place.
“Many hundreds of thousands of yakṣas and rākṣasas live in that continent. They become happy as Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara arrives there, and with joy in their hearts they run to him. When they come to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, they pay homage at his feet and ask, ‘You are not tired? You are not exhausted? It has been a long time since you were here in Tamondhakāra.’
“He answers, ‘I have been doing much. I have not been ripening my own mind for the sake of one being, but have been, with the motivation of great compassion, ripening many beings.’132
“The yakṣas and rākṣasas lead him to a lion throne of divine gold and jewels, upon which he sits. Seated,133 he teaches the Dharma to the yakṣas and rākṣasas:
“ ‘Listen! Those who hear and then possess, study, promulgate,134 and have their minds completely focused on even one four-line verse135 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display, will be inspired to accumulate merit.
“ ‘Noble sons, it is like this: For example, I know the number of atoms that exist, but, noble sons, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit that comes from the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display.
“ ‘Noble sons, it is like this: For example, I can count the drops in the vast ocean, but, noble sons, I cannot calculate the accumulation of merit that comes from even one four-line verse136 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display.[F.218.a]
“ ‘Noble sons, if tathāgatas, arhats, and samyaksaṃbuddhas as numerous as the grains of sand in twelve Ganges Rivers were gathered together in one place and for twelve eons were provided with robes, food, bowls, bedding, seats,137 necessary medicine, and utensils, they would still not be able to calculate the merit that comes from even one four-line verse138 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display. So it is needless to say that I cannot do so all by myself in Tamondhakāra.
“ ‘Noble sons, it is like this: For example, even if all the households in the four continents built monasteries of gold and jewels and built a thousand stūpas inside each of those monasteries, and in one day inserted relics in them all, the accumulation of merit from one four-line verse139 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display, would be far greater than the merit from inserting the relics.
“ ‘Noble sons, it is like this: For example, just as the five great rivers flow into the great ocean, noble sons, in that same way merit accumulates from one four-line verse140 of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display.’
“Then the yakṣas and rākṣasas asked Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, ‘What kind of accumulation of merit is obtained by those beings who write out this precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display?’
“ ‘Noble sons, their accumulation of merit is immeasurable. Those who engage in writing out the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display, are engaged in writing the eighty-four thousand compilations of the Dharma. They will become kings; they will become cakravartins who rule the four continents; they will give birth to thousands of brave heroic sons with perfect bodies and who defeat their adversaries.
“ ‘Those who always possess and remember the name of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display,[F.218.b] will be completely liberated from the suffering of saṃsāra and be completely liberated from birth, aging, sickness, death, misery, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and conflict. Wherever they are reborn, in every life they will remember their previous lives. Their bodies will have an aroma like gośīrṣa sandalwood. From their mouths will come the scent of the blue lotus. Their bodies will be completely perfect, and they will have immense, powerful strength.’
“In that way Avalokiteśvara taught them an appropriate Dharma. Some of the yakṣas and rākṣasas attained the result of becoming a once-returner. The others attained the result of becoming a non-returner.141
The yakṣas and rākṣasas then said, ‘Stay here.142 Do not go anywhere else. We will build a stūpa of divine gold in Tamondhakāra. We will create a circumambulatory walkway of gold.’
“But Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara said to them, ‘I have to bring many beings onto the path to enlightenment.’
“The yakṣas and rākṣasas, resting cheeks on hands, brooded and said to each other, ‘Our Avalokiteśvara is going to leave us, and we will not be able to talk about the Dharma with him.’
“As Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara was leaving, the yakṣas and rākṣasas followed him.
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara said to them, ‘It is too far for you to come, so you should go back.’
“The yakṣas and rākṣasas bowed down at the feet of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara and returned.
“Then Avalokiteśvara vanished into the sky as a mass of flames.”
“Avalokiteśvara then manifested in the form of a brahmin and went among the devas in the Śuddhāvāsa realms.[F.219.a] Among those devas there was a deva named Sukuṇḍala who was poor and suffering.
“Avalokiteśvara came to that deva in the form of the brahmin and said to him, ‘I’m hungry and thirsty.’
“The deva said to the brahmin, ‘Great brahmin, I have nothing at all.’
“The brahmin said, ‘You should give me what little you have.’
“So Sukuṇḍala entered his divine palace and looked inside his pots. He saw that some pots had become completely filled with priceless precious jewels, other pots had become completely filled with food that had the supreme flavors, and the left side of the divine palace had become completely filled with divine clothing.
“Sukuṇḍala thought, ‘Without a doubt the one at my door is an excellent recipient for offerings, and he has brought me this attainment of splendor.’
“Sukuṇḍala invited the brahmin into his divine palace. The brahmin entered, and Sukuṇḍala offered him the divine jewels, served him the food with divine perfect flavors, and gave him the divine clothing.143 The brahmin ate and recited a benediction.
“The deva Sukuṇḍala then asked him, ‘Great brahmin, where do you come from?’
“He replied, ‘I come from the monastery named Jetavana.’
“Sukuṇḍala asked him, ‘What is that place like?’
“The brahmin answered, ‘It is a place that is delightful, filled with divine jewels, and completely beautified by divine wish-granting trees. There are beautiful flowers, many kinds of bathing pools, many who have the qualities of right conduct and are worthy recipients for offerings, and there are the miracles of Tathāgata Viśvabhū. Son of a deva, that is how pleasant that place is.’
“The deva then said, ‘Brahmin, you definitely speak the truth. Who are you? Are you a deva or a human? If you are a human you don’t seem to be one.’[F.219.b]
“The brahmin replied, ‘I am not a deva and I am not a human. I am one who has compassion for the poor and the wretched. I am one who shows them the path to enlightenment. I am a bodhisattva.’
“Deva Sukuṇḍala then offered his diadem and earrings to the brahmin and recited:
“After the deva had recited this verse, the brahmin departed.
“The great brahmin descended from the deva realms to the island of Siṃhala. Arriving there, he transformed himself into a handsome form and approached the rākṣasīs. When they saw his handsome body they desired him. Desiring him, they came to him and said, ‘Sir, take us young women. We have no husband. For we who have no husband, be a husband. For we who have no protector, be a protector. For we who have no support, be a support. These are your homes with food; homes with drink; and homes with clothes and a variety of multicolored beds,144 beautiful gardens, and beautiful pools.’
“He said, ‘Only if you do as I command.’
“They answered, ‘We will!’
“He then taught them the noble eightfold path. He made them recite the fourfold scriptures. Some of them attained the result of becoming a once-returner, and some attained the result of becoming a non-returner.145 The rākṣasīs were no longer afflicted by the suffering of desire, there was no anger in their minds, they did not wish to cause anyone’s death, they continually delighted in the Dharma, and they took vows. They promised, ‘We shall kill no more. We will nourish ourselves in the same way that humans do in Jambudvīpa: with food and drink. From now on we will not act like rākṣasīs, and we will keep the upāsikā vows.’146 In this way the rākṣasīs took vows.
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara then left the island of Siṃhala[F.220.a] and went to a place where many hundreds of thousands of different kinds of insects lived within a cesspit in the great city of Vārāṇasī. When Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara arrived there, he transformed himself into the form of a bee that made a buzzing sound that was heard by the insects as the words, ‘Namo buddhāya, namo dharmāya, namaḥ saṃghāya.’147 The insects remembered the words namo buddhāya, namo dharmāya, namaḥ saṃghāya,148 and the thunderbolt of wisdom destroyed the mountain, which has twenty peaks, that is the view of the aggregates as a self,149 and they were then all reborn in the realm of Sukhāvatī as bodhisattvas named Sugandhamukha.
“After Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara had ripened those beings, he left the great city of Vārāṇasī.
“Next he went to Magadha. When he arrived in the land of Magadha, he saw beings that had lived for twenty years in the wilderness eating each other’s flesh. Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara wondered, ‘By what method can I bring contentment to these beings?’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara then caused divine rains to fall. First there was a rain of water, and the water brought them satisfaction. Then there came a rain of divine food with supreme flavors, and they were completely filled. When they were completely satisfied by eating the food, a rain of grain fell. Then there fell sesame, rice, jujubes, and wild rice. Whatever those beings wished for, their wishes were fulfilled each time.
“Those beings in the land of Magadha were amazed, and they all sat down150 together. Seated,151 they asked each other, ‘What deity manifested all of this?’
“Among them there was one being who was many hundreds of thousands of years old. He was aged, old, feeble, hunchbacked, and bent like a cow’s ear. He said to them, ‘Only Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has this kind of power,[F.220.b] no other deity.’
“Those gathered there asked him, ‘What are the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara?’
“The man began to describe Avalokiteśvara’s qualities to them:
“ ‘He is a lamp for those in darkness. He is a parasol for those burned and pained by the sun. He is a river for those afflicted with thirst. He gives freedom from fear to those who are terrified and afraid. He is medicine for those afflicted with sickness. He is a father and mother for beings who suffer. He is a teacher of nirvāṇa to those reborn in Avīci. Those are his special qualities.
“ ‘Those who remember his name will have happiness in this world and will completely leave behind every suffering in saṃsāra.
“ ‘Those who continually gather and offer flowers and incense to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara will become cakravartin kings who possess the seven jewels. The seven jewels are: the precious wheel, the precious horse, the precious elephant, the precious jewel, the precious wife, the precious householder, and the precious counselor.
“ ‘Those who offer flowers to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara will have aromatic bodies, and wherever they are reborn, their bodies will be perfect.’
“The old man taught Avalokiteśvara’s special qualities in that way. Then those gathered there returned to their homes, and the aged man, having taught them an appropriate Dharma, returned to his home, and Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara[F.221.a] vanished into the sky.
“While Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara was in the sky he thought, ‘It has been a long time since I’ve seen Tathāgata Viśvabhū,’ and so he next went to Jetavana Monastery. Bhagavat Viśvabhū saw him coming.
“As Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara approached the Jetavana monastery, he saw devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans, and a gathering of many hundreds of bodhisattvas.
“Bodhisattva Gaganagañja asked Bhagavat Viśvabhū, ‘Bhagavat, which bodhisattva is arriving?’
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū said, ‘This is Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara who is arriving.’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara bowed his head to Bhagavat Viśvabhū’s feet, circumambulated him three times, and sat on his left.
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū asked him, ‘Are you tired? Are you weary? Noble son, what work have you been doing?’
“Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara told Viśvabhū what had occurred. Bodhisattva Gaganagañja was extremely amazed and said, ‘I have never seen such a field of activity as that of this bodhisattva. There is no such field of activity among the tathāgatas, let alone among the bodhisattvas.’
“Bodhisattva Gaganagañja now came to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara and sat before him. Seated,152 he asked Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara, ‘Are you tired? Are you weary?’
“He replied, ‘I am not tired and I am not weary.’
“They talked with each other and then became silent.[F.221.b]
“Bhagavat Viśvabhū then began to teach upon the six perfections:
“ ‘Noble sons, listen. Having become a bodhisattva, you must complete the perfection of generosity. Similarly, you must complete the perfection of conduct, the perfection of patience, the perfection of diligence, the perfection of meditation, and the perfection of wisdom.’
“Having taught that Dharma he became silent.
“The assembled beings each returned to their own dwelling places, and the bodhisattvas returned to their own buddha realms.”
This completes part one of the precious king of the Mahāyāna sūtras, “The Sūtra of the Basket’s Display.”
Bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin then said to the Bhagavat, “Bhagavat, I request that you teach what samādhis Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has previously remained in.”
The Bhagavat said, “Noble son, they are as follows: the samādhi named Creation, the samādhi named Illumination, the samādhi named Sublime Vajra, the samādhi named Sunlight, the samādhi named Dispersal, the samādhi named Armlet, the samādhi named Supreme Vajra Victory Banner, the samādhi named Ornament, the samādhi named King of Arrays, the samādhi named Seeing the Ten Directions, the samādhi named The Supreme Illumination of the Wish-fulfilling Jewel,153 the samādhi named Dharma Holder,154 the samādhi named Descending into the Ocean,155 the samādhi named Totally Stable,156 the samādhi named Giving Joy,157 the samādhi named Vajra Victory Banner,158 the samādhi named Viewing All Worlds,159 the samādhi named Completely Present,160[F.222.a] the samādhi named Truly Bowing Down, the samādhi named Coiled at the Crown, the samādhi named Supreme Illumination by the Moon,161 the samādhi named Many Attendants, the samādhi named Divine Bright Earrings,162 the samādhi named Lamp of the Eon,163 the samādhi named Manifesting Miracles, the samādhi named Supreme Lotus, the samādhi named King’s Power,164 the samādhi named Extinguishing Avīci, the samādhi named Blazing, the samādhi named Divine Circle,165 the samādhi named Drop of Amṛta, the samādhi named Circle of Light, the samādhi named Immersion in the Ocean, the samādhi named Door of the Celestial Palace, the samādhi named Cuckoo’s Song, the samādhi named Scent of the Blue Lotus, the samādhi named Mounted, the samādhi named Vajra Armor, the samādhi named Elephant’s Delight, the samādhi named Lion’s Play, the samādhi named Unsurpassable, the samādhi named Subduing, the samādhi named Moon on High, the samādhi named Shining, the samādhi named Hundred Light Rays, the samādhi named Sprinkling, the samādhi named Brightening, the samādhi named Beautiful Appearance, the samādhi named Summoning the Asuras, the samādhi named Meditation, the samādhi named Summoning Nirvāṇa, the samādhi named Great Lamp,166 the samādhi named Liberation of Sensation,167 the samādhi named King of Lamps,168 the samādhi named Creating the Supreme State,169 the samādhi named Creating Indestructibility,170 the samādhi named Facing the Deities,171 the samādhi named Creating Union, the samādhi named Teaching Ultimate Truth, the samādhi named Lightning, the samādhi named Array of Names,172 the samādhi named Gaping Lion, the samādhi named Face of Arcturus,173[F.222.b] the samādhi named Approaching, the samādhi named Flash of Intelligence,174 the samādhi named Increasing Power of Mindfulness, the samādhi named Aspiration, the samādhi named Carriage of Victory, and the samādhi named Teaching the Path.
“Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara has those samādhis. In each of his pores there are a hundred thousand samādhis. Noble son, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara thus has an incalculable accumulation of merit. Even the tathāgatas do not have that kind of accumulation of merit, let alone a bodhisattva.[B3]
“Noble son, in the past, when I was a bodhisattva named Siṃhalarāja,175 I was going to the island of Siṃhala with five hundred merchants. We were going to Siṃhala Island bringing much merchandise in chariots, in bags, baskets, and pots, carried by camels, oxen, donkeys, and so on, so as to go to villages, towns, suburbs, cities, and markets.
“I found an excellent ship that had been to Siṃhala Island many times. I asked the pilot, ‘Toward what lands are the winds blowing? Are the winds blowing toward Ratnadvīpa,176 or are the winds blowing toward Yavanadvīpa,177 or are the winds blowing toward the island of the rākṣasīs?’178
“The pilot answered, ‘Know this, lord: the breeze is blowing toward Siṃhala Island.’179
“So we set sail in the great ship in the direction of Siṃhala Island, but the rākṣasīs who lived on Siṃhala Island sent untimely winds that broke the great ship into pieces. We180 fell into the water and swam to the shore.
“Five hundred rākṣasīs took on the form of maidens, and with a great cry came down to the shore. They gave us cotton robes. We put them on, wrung our clothes dry,[F.223.a] and went to sit under a large magnolia tree. Seated, we talked among ourselves, asking each other what we should do, but we agreed that there was nothing we could do, and we became silent.
“The rākṣasīs came to us and said, ‘You who are not masters of a house, become masters. You who have no refuge, obtain a refuge. You who have no home, obtain a home. These will be your homes supplied with food. These will be your homes supplied with drink. These will be your gardens for you to enjoy. These will be your bathing pools for you to enjoy.’
Āryasukhāvatīvyūhanāmamahāyānasūtra (Toh 115), see Sakya Pandita Translation Group (2012).
Toh 49 in the Heap of Jewels section, with the formal title Amitābhavyūhasūtra (The Sūtra of the Array of Amitābha).
See sman gyi gzhi (Bhaiṣajyavastu), chapter 6 of the ’dul ba gzhi (Toh 1); ’dul ba rnam par ’byed pa (Toh 3); and Rouse (1895), 127.
This is a Sanskritization of the name Valāhassa, which means “cloud horse.” The version of the story in the Vinayavāstu was translated into Tibetan as rta’i rgyal po sprin gyi shugs can, “the king of horses who has the power of the clouds.”
In the tradition that enumerates Śākyamuni as the seventh buddha, Vipaśyin is the first. The sūtra will introduce successively each buddha in order up to the fifth.
According to the Sanskrit, aśīti-koṭyo, literally, “eighty ten millions.” Tibetan: bye ba (“ten million”), “eighty” being omitted.
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan appears to be corrupt at this point, adding another sentence mentioning both thirty-two and thirty-three classes of deities: “Also, Īśvara, Nārāyaṇa, and the other deities of the thirty-two classes of devas were assembled there. Also the deities of the thirty-three classes of devas were assembled there. Assembled with such deities as the deity Maheśvara, Āditya, Candra, Vāyu, and Varuṇa, were Śakra, the lord of the devas, and Brahma, the lord of Sahā.”
According to the Cambridge. The Tibetan has blo gros chen po (a translation of “Mahāmati,” a scribal error for “Sahāpati”). The Sāmaśrami and Vaidya have “Sahāṃpati.”
According to the Cambridge. The Tibetan has Pulinda, which is repeated a few lines later. Absent in the Sāmaśrami and Vaidya.
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has sa ri’i bzhin, with sa ri a corruption of “Svāti.”
According to the Vaidya, “drop of water.” The Cambridge has only bindu. The Tibetan has thigs pa, meaning “drop.”
According to the Tibetan and Cambridge (“hundred mounts”). The Vaidya has śatabāhu (“hundred arms”).
According to the Tibetan. The first element comes from the Cambridge manuscript compound (“Anākṛtsna-karā”), and the second from the Vaidya (“Anākṛcchragatā”).
According to the Sanskrit. After Subhūṣaṇā, the Tibetan has “a female nāga named thig le” (possible from Tilakā). We have omitted it.
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan de bzhin du chags pa appears to have been translating from Tathāvirūdhā. According to the Cambridge, the female nāga Nīlotpalā is listed after Rathābhiruḍhā here, though an apsaras has already been given that name. We have omitted it.
According to the Cambridge. The Vaidya has “Mukharā”; the Tibetan translates from “Sukhakarā.”
According to the Sāmaśrami and Vaidya (“joyful flower”). The Cambridge and Tibetan have rudita puṣpa (“weeping flower”), which seems anomalous here.
According to the Tibetan, Sāmaśrami, and Vaidya. The Cambridge has audumvararudita and the Tibetan has me tog u dum ba ra’i lto ba, both implying a second part to the compound, although the Cambridge appears corrupt and the Tibetan “stomach” also has a dubious origin.
According to the Sāmaśrami and Vaidya. The Cambridge has “Padmālaṃbā.” Either that or Padmālaṃbāna translated into Tibetan as pad ma’i dmigs.
According to the Tibetan and Cambridge. The Sāmaśrami and Vaidya have “Suvaca.” The Tibetan has three additional names: ’khor gyis yongs su bskor ba, mchog dga’, and dam pa’i dpal.
According to the Tibetan and Cambridge (last two letters illegible). Absent in the Sāmaśrami and Vaidya.
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has blo gros chen mo, a translation of “Mahāmati,” itself a scribal error of “Sahāpati.” The Sāmaśrami and Vaidya have “Sahāṃpati.”
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan translates from a corruption, beginning with akṣa instead of lakṣa.
Nirgrantha in its general meaning as “one with no possessions.” The Tibetan has gcer bu pa, “naked ones,” which would refer specifically to Jains, but that does not appear to be the meaning here.
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has rgya’i gos (“Chinese cloth”), perhaps from cīnakavastra or cīnavastra, a corruption of cīvaravastra (“monastic robes”). rgya’i gos does not occur anywhere else in the Kangyur, whereas “monastic robes, sometimes made of divine material” occurs elsewhere along with “parasols, victory banners, etc.” “Chinese cloth” would be silk, which is next in the list of hangings.
Water of the eight good qualities is: cool; delicious; light; soft; clear; unstained; not harmful to the stomach; and not harmful to the throat.
Strictly speaking only the padma (red lotus) and puṇḍarika (white lotus) are lotuses. The utpala (blue lotus) is a water lily, as is the kuduma (night-flowering water lily).
Māndārava, and mahāmāndārava. The author, in copying lists of flowers from earlier sutras, has placed tree flowers on the pond. Tiger claw or Indian coral trees (Erythrina stricta) are trees prized for their beauty and are believed to grow in Indra’s paradise. The greater tiger claw tree is presumably Erythrina variegata, which grows much taller.
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has this passage as a description of the events instead of the thoughts of Yama’s guards: “At that time Yama’s creatures were dismayed as they saw bad omens appear in the Avīci hell, for when the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara arrived there, lotus flowers the size of cartwheels…”
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has btun, “pestle,” which is an alternative meaning of musala.
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has “Divine One, you don’t know? First an inauspicious…”
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits “peaceful,” and makes this omen occur on Avalokiteśvara’s entry into hell: “…a being, handsome, with a topknot and his body having all adornments, came and it became cool.”
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits “…with an extremely loving mind, and resembling a golden statue.”
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan interpreted mahārāvaṇa incorrectly as “the elephant of the gods,” a name for Indra’s elephant.
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan translates pṛthivīvaralocanakarāya as “the eyes of the world.”
According to the Cambridge and Tibetan. The Vaidya omits “who teaches the six perfections; who illuminates like the sun…” The Tibetan translates this as “who creates perfect eyes like the sun.”
In other words, two cobras tied together and worn diagonally over the torso across one shoulder, as a brahmin’s thread. Śiva is also depicted wearing this.
The Tibetan ’jig tshogs means “an aggregation that is destroyed.” The Sanskrit satkāya means “existent accumulation,” a secondary meaning of kāya, which is usually translated as sku, meaning “body.” The mountain is singular in the Sanskrit and has twenty peaks, which are the views of the relationship of the self to each of the five skandhas or aggregates—i.e., the self is form, form possesses self, self possesses form, and self is located within form—and the same for the other four aggregates (sensations, identifications, mental activities, and consciousnesses), which comes to twenty views.
Liṅga was translated into Tibetan as rtags, which can mean “sign,” “emblem,” or “gender.” The etymology of liṅga is here given a fanciful etymology from the verb līyana (“dissolve”), which is lost in translation.
The seven jewels are listed here in the order given in Cambridge, and in agreement with the second time they are listed.
Śayanāsana, literally, “sleeping-sitting,” can mean “bed and seat” as translated into Tibetan (mal stan). However, it is also a Buddhist term for a monk’s cell or dwelling.
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan transliterates and does not translate the Sanskrit for “hyenas” (tarakṣu, though tarakṣa would mean “wolf”) and omits “camels, jackals.”
As one of the twelve aspects of the Dharma, it means descriptions of miracles.
See also “twelve wheels of the Dharma.”
In the Vedas, the name originally meant “child of Aditi” so that in some texts it refers to a group of deities. However, in the Kāraṇḍavyūha it has the later meaning of being synonymous with Surya, the deity of the sun. It was translated into Tibetan simply as the common word for sun.
The essentially pure nature of mind is obscured and afflicted by various psychological defilements, which destroy the mind’s peace and composure and lead to unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, acting as causes for continued existence in saṃsāra. Included among them are the primary afflictions of desire (rāga), anger (dveṣa), and ignorance (moha). It is said that there are eighty-four thousand of these negative mental qualities, for which the eighty-four thousand categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote.
Kleśa is also commonly translated as “negative emotions,” “disturbing emotions,” and so on. The Pāli kilesa, Middle Indic kileśa, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit kleśa all primarily mean “stain” or “defilement.” The translation “affliction” is a secondary development that derives from the more general (non-Buddhist) classical understanding of √kliś (“to harm,” “to afflict”). Both meanings are noted by Buddhist commentators.
The constituents that make up a being’s existence: form, sensations, identifications, mental activities, and consciousnesses.
The Vedic deity of fire. The name can also mean fire, particularly the sacrificial fire.
This might be a variation on the name for the third of the eight hot hells, the “crushing hell,” (Tib. bsdus ’joms, Skt. saṃghāta) as the name occurs in no other sūtra than the Kāraṇḍavyūha.
The divine nectar that prevents death.
A pore on Avalokiteśvara’s body.
A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).
Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.
This is the name for epilepsy, but also refers to the demon that causes epilepsy and loss of consciousness, as in the Kāraṇḍavyūha. The Tibetan specifically means “causing forgetting.”
The “apsarases” are popular figures in Indian culture, they are said to be goddesses of the clouds and water and to be wives of the gandharvas. However, in the Kāraṇḍavyūha, they are presented as the female equivalent of the devas. Therefore the Tibetan has translated them as if the word were devī (“goddess’’).
According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.
The asuras are the enemies of the devas, fighting with them for supremacy.
As one of the twelve aspects of Dharma, it means stories of previous lives of beings.
See also “twelve wheels of the Dharma.”
First appeared as a bodhisattva beside Amitābha in the Sukhāvativyūha. The name has been variously interpreted. “The lord of Avalokita,” Avalokita has been interpreted as “seeing,” although, as a past passive participle, it is literally “lord of what has been seen.” One of the principal sūtras in the Mahāsamghika tradition was the Avalokita Sūtra, which has not been translated into Tibetan, in which the word is a synonym for enlightenment, as it is “that which has been seen” by the buddhas. In the early tantras, he was one of the lords of the three families, as the embodiment of the compassion of the buddhas. The Potalaka Mountain in South India became important in Southern Indian Buddhism as his residence in this world, but Potalaka does not feature in the Kāraṇḍavyūha.
The lowest hell, translated in two different ways within the sūtra and in the Mahāvyutpatti concordance, although mnar med became the standard form.
Bali wrested control of the world from the devas, establishing a period of peace and prosperity with no caste distinction. Indra requested Viṣṇu to use his wiles so that the devas could gain the world back from him. He appeared as a dwarf asking for two steps of ground, was offered three, and then traversed the world in two steps. Bali, keeping faithful to his promise, accepted the banishment of the asuras into the underworld. A great festival is held in Bali’s honor annually in South India. In the Kāraṇḍavyūha, he abuses his power by imprisoning the kṣatriyas, so that Viṣṇu has cause to banish him to the underworld.
“One who has bhaga,” which has many diverse meanings including “good fortune,” “happiness,” and “majesty.” In the Buddhist context, it means one who has the good fortune of attaining enlightenment. The Tibetan translation has three syllables defined to mean “one who has conquered (the maras), possesses (the qualities of enlightenment), and has transcended (saṃsāra, or both saṃsāra and nirvāṇa).
A level of enlightenment, usually referring to the ten levels of the enlightened bodhisattvas.
This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.
A being who is dedicated to the cultivation and fulfilment of the altruistic intention to attain perfect buddhahood, traversing the ten bodhisattva levels (daśabhūmi, sa bcu). Bodhisattvas purposely opt to remain within cyclic existence in order to liberate all sentient beings, instead of simply seeking personal freedom from suffering. In terms of the view, they realize both the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.
The personification of the universal force of Brahman, who became a higher deity than Indra, the supreme deity of the early Vedas.
A member of the priestly class or caste from the four social divisions of India.
An ideal monarch or emperor who, as the result of the merit accumulated in previous lifetimes, rules over a vast realm in accordance with the Dharma. Such a monarch is called a cakravartin because he bears a wheel (cakra) that rolls (vartate) across the earth, bringing all lands and kingdoms under his power. The cakravartin conquers his territory without causing harm, and his activity causes beings to enter the path of wholesome actions. According to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, just as with the buddhas, only one cakravartin appears in a world system at any given time. They are likewise endowed with the thirty-two major marks of a great being (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa), but a cakravartin’s marks are outshined by those of a buddha. They possess seven precious objects: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the wish-fulfilling gem, the queen, the general, and the minister. An illustrative passage about the cakravartin and his possessions can be found in The Play in Full (Toh 95), 3.3–3.13.
Vasubandhu lists four types of cakravartins: (1) the cakravartin with a golden wheel (suvarṇacakravartin) rules over four continents and is invited by lesser kings to be their ruler; (2) the cakravartin with a silver wheel (rūpyacakravartin) rules over three continents and his opponents submit to him as he approaches; (3) the cakravartin with a copper wheel (tāmracakravartin) rules over two continents and his opponents submit themselves after preparing for battle; and (4) the cakravartin with an iron wheel (ayaścakravartin) rules over one continent and his opponents submit themselves after brandishing weapons.
The deity of the moon, as well as the moon itself. In the Kāraṇḍavyūha, when Avalokiteśvara emanates Candra, it is the deity that is meant.
A well-known site of pilgrimage in Bengal. Candradvīpa was a prosperous kingdom with Buddhist sites, located on what is now the south coast of Bangladesh, centered on the Barisal district.
A pore on Avalokiteśvara’s body.
In the higher tantras they are portrayed as keepers of tantric teachings or embodiments of enlightenment. Otherwise in Indian culture, however, they are possibly dangerous female spirits haunting crossroads and charnel grounds, and are in Kāli’s retinue.
“The son of Daśaratha” is actually Rāma. At the point in the Kāraṇḍavyūha where Nārāyaṇa, really Viṣṇu, rescues the kṣatriyas, he is inexplicably called by this name, which may reference a Rāma story. Rāma came to be viewed as one of the ten incarnations of Nārāyaṇa.
In the most general sense the devas—the term is cognate with the English divine—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.
An alternative name for vidyā (knowledge) and synonymous with mantra.
In early Buddhism a section of the Saṅgha would be bhāṇakas, who, particularly before the teachings were written down and were transmitted solely orally, were the key factor in the preservation of the teachings. Various groups of bhāṇakas specialized in memorizing and reciting a certain set of sūtras or vinaya.
A gong, or a wooden block or beam, sounded to call the community together for a teaching or other assembly.
In distinction to the rūpakāya, or form body of a buddha, this is the eternal imperceptible realization of a buddha. In origin it was a term for the presence of the Dharma, and has come to become synonymous with the true nature.
A pore on Avalokiteśvara’s body.
One of the synonyms for meditation, referring to a state of mental stability.
The five extremely negative actions which, once those who have committed them die, result in their going immediately to the hells without experiencing the intermediate state. They are killing an arhat, killing one’s mother, killing one’s father, creating schism in the Saṅgha, and maliciously drawing blood from a tathāgata’s body.
Four deities on the base of Mount Meru, each one the guardian of his direction: Vaiśravaṇa in the north, Dhṛtarāṣṭra in the east; Virūpākṣa in the west; and Virūḍhaka in the south.
For someone to be accepted into the Saṅgha, and for any other action that needs the assent of the Saṅgha, first a motion (jñāpti; gsol ba) is presented to the community, for example, a certain person’s wish for ordination. The motion would be followed by three propositions, in which is it said that all who assent should remain silent. If no one speaks up after the third proposition, the motion is passed. The Tibetan translated it literally as “supplication and fourth.”
In the Kāraṇḍavyūha it is the name of both a bodhisattva and a samādhi. In this sūtra the bodhisattva is a pupil of Buddha Viśvabhū, but he is also portrayed in other sūtras receiving teaching from Śākyamuni, and is one of the sixteen bodhisattvas in the Vairocana maṇḍala.
A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”
As a personal name this refers to the deity who is said to be the ancestor of all birds and became the steed of Viṣṇu; he is also worshipped in his own right.
In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.
As one of the twelve aspects of the Dharma, it means those teachings given in verse.
See also “twelve wheels of the Dharma.”
As one of the twelve aspects of the Dharma, it means the repletion of prose passages in verse form.
See also “twelve wheels of the Dharma.”
A particular kind of sandalwood, known as “ox-head,” that grows in southern India. It is reddish in color and has medicinal properties. It is said to have the finest fragrance of all sandalwood. The Sanskrit word go means “ox,” and śīrṣa means “head;” candana means “sandalwood.” The name of this sandalwood is said to derive from either the shape of or the name of a mountain upon which it grew. The Tibetan translated gośīrṣa as ba lang gi spos or “ox incense.”
The first of the eight cold hells, named after the cries of the beings within it.
Unidentified river, possibly the Kali Gandaki.
The lord of the devas, the principal deity in the Vedas. Indra and Brahmā were the two most important deities in the Buddha’s lifetime, and were later eclipsed by the increasing importance of Śiva and Viṣṇu.
A pore on Avalokiteśvara’s body.
’phags pa za ma tog bkod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Āryakaraṇḍavyūhanāmamahāyānasūtra. Toh. 116, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 200a–247b.
’phags pa za ma tog bkod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Āryakaraṇḍavyūhanāmamahāyānasūtra. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vol. 51, pp 529-640.
“Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra.” In Mahāyāna-Sūtra-Saṃgraha. Edited by P. L. Vaidya, 258–308. Darbhanga: Mathila Institute, 1961.
“Kāraṇḍavyūha: mahāyānasūtra.” Edited by Satyavrata Sāmaśrami. Calcutta: Hindu Commentator: a Monthly Sanskrit Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1872.
Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra. Sanskrit manuscript, Cambridge University Library, UK. 126.7 (12).
Chandra, Lokesh. Kāraṇḍa-Vyūha-Sūtra: or the Supernal Virtues of Avalokiteśvara; Sanskrit Text of the Metrical Version, Edited for the First time from Original Manuscripts. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 1999.
’dul ba gzhi, Vinayavāstu. Toh. 1, Degé Kangyur, vols. 1–4 (’dul ba, ka – nga).
’dul ba rnam par ’byed pa, Vinayavibhaṅga. Toh. 3, Degé Kangyur, vols. 5–8 (’dul ba, ca – nya).
’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa, Āryāṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā [Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines]. Toh. 12, Degé Kangyur, vol. 33 (sher phyin brgyad stong, ka), folios 1b–286a.
bcom ldan ’das ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i snying po, Bhagavatīprajñāpāramitāhṛdaya [Heart Sūtra]. Toh. 21, Degé Kangyur, vol. 34 (sher phyin sna tshogs, ka), folios 144b–146a.
sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba shin tu rgyas pa chen po’i mdo, Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra. Toh. 44, Degé Kangyur, vols. 35-38 (phal chen, ka - a).
dam pa’i chos pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Saddharmapuṇḍarīkanāmamahāyānasūtra [Lotus Sūtra]. Toh. 113, Degé Kangyur, vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1b–180b.
’phags pa bde ba can gyi bkod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Āryasukhāvatīvyūhanāmamahāyānasūtra. Toh. 115, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, pa), folios 195b-200b [trans. Sakya Pandita Translation Group (2012), see below].
’phags pa dkon mchog gi za ma tog ces bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Āryaratnakaraṇḍanāmamahāyānasūtra [The Basket of the Jewels Sūtra]. Toh. 117, Degé Kangyur, vol.51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 248a–290a.
’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi byin gyis rlabs kyi snying po gsang ba ring bsrel gyi za ma tog ces bya ba’i gzungs (Āryasarvatathāgatādhiṣṭhānahṛdayaguhyadhātukaraṇḍanāmadhāraṇī) [The Dhāraṇī Named The Relic Casket that is the Secret Essence of the Blessings of all the Tathāgatas]. Toh. 507, Degé Kangyur, vol. 88 (rgyud ’bum, na), folios 1b–7b.
’phags pa lha mo skul byed ma zhes bya ba’i gzungs, Cundedevīnāmadhāraṇī [The Dhāraṇī Named Goddess Cunde]. Toh. 613, Degé Kangyur, vol.91 (rgyud, ba), folios 46b–47a; Toh. 989, Degé Kangyur, vol. 102 (gzungs, waṃ), folios 143a–143b. English translation The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā 2024.
’phags pa lha mo bskul byed ma zhes bya ba’i gzungs, Āryacuṇḍadevīnāmadhāraṇī [Goddess Cuṇḍa’s Dhāraṇī]. Toh. 989, Degé Kangyur, vol. 102 (gzungs ’dus, waṃ), folios 143a–143b. English translation The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā 2024.
sgra’i rnam par dbye ba bstan pa. Peking number 5838, Peking Tengyur, vol. 144 (ngo mtshar bstan bcos, ngo) folios 54a–64a.
Ma ṇi bka’ ’bum: A Collection of Rediscovered Teachings Focusing upon the Tutelary Deity Avalokiteśvara (Mahākaruṇika). Delhi: Trayang and Jamyang Samten, 1975.
bka’ chems ka khol ma [The Pillar Testament]. Gansu, China: kan su’i mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1989.
Dīpaṃkarajñāna. dbu ma’i man ngag rin po che’i za ma tog kha phye ba zhes bya ba, Ratnakaraṇḍodghāṭanāmamadhyamakopadeśa [The Madhyamaka Instructions entitled Opening the Precious Casket]. Toh. 3930, Degé Tengyur (dbu ma, ki), folios 96b1–116b7.
The Dhāraṇī of Cundī, the mother of seventy million buddhas, Saptakotībuddhamātṛcundīdhāraṇī. Taisho 1077.
Śūra. legs par bshad pa rin po che za ma tog lta bu’i gtam, Subhāṣitaratnakaraṇḍakakathā [A Talk: A Precious Casket of Eloquence]. Toh. 4168, Degé Tengyur, vol. 172 (spring yig, ge), folios 178a–189b.
Vasudeo, Ganesh, trans. and ed. Skanda Purāṇa. Tagare, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1994.
84000. The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā (Cundādevīdhāraṇī, lha mo skul byed ma’i gzungs, Toh 613). Translated by Adam C. Krug. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
84000. The Dhāraṇī of the Goddess Cundā (Cundādevīdhāraṇī, lha mo skul byed ma’i gzungs, Toh 989). Translated by Adam C. Krug. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
84000. The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī (Sukhāvatīvyūha, bde ba can gyi bkod pa, Toh 115). Translated by Sakya Pandita Translation Group. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2011.
84000. The White Lotus of Compassion (Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka, snying rje pad ma dkar po, Toh 112). Translated by Peter Alan Roberts. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Appleton, Naomi. “The Story of the Horse King and the Merchant Siṃhala in Buddhist Texts.” In Buddhist Studies Review, Journal of the UK Association of Buddhist Studies 23, no. 2 (2006): 187–201.
Cohen, Signe. “On the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit/Middle Indic Ending “-e” as a ‘Magadhism.’” In Acta Orientalia Vol. 63 (2002): 67–70.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary (2 vols). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.
Imaeda, Yoshiro. “Note préliminaire sur la formule oṁ maṇi padme hūṁ dans les manuscrits tibétains de Touen-houang.” In Contributions aux études sur Touen-Houang, edited by Michel Soymié, 71–76. Geneva/Paris: Librairie Droz, 1979.
Kapstein, Matthew (1992). “Remarks on the mani bka ’bum and the Cult of Avalokitesvara in Tibet.” In Tibetan Buddhism, Reason and Revelation, edited by Steven Goodman and Ronald Davidson, 79–93. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.
Kapstein, Matthew (1997). “The Royal Way of Supreme Compassion.” In Religions of Tibet in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.
Kapstein, Matthew (2002). The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation, and Memory. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Lienhard, Siegfried and Oskar von Hinüber, trans. Avalokiteshvara in the Wick of the Nightlamp 93 {395} – 104 {406}. Kleine Schriften. Wiesbaden, Germany: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007.
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