The White Lotus of Compassion
The Prophecies to the Bodhisattvas

“Then, noble son, the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Ratnagarbha thought, ‘The brahmin Samudrareṇu has made many millions of beings aspire to, be fixed upon, and be dedicated to the highest, most complete enlightenment and has brought them to an irreversible level. I shall give them prophecies, telling them what their buddha realms will be.’

“Then the Bhagavat entered the samādhi called never forgetting bodhicitta, and he smiled. That smile illuminated countless buddha realms with a vast radiance. He showed the array of qualities of those buddha realms to King Araṇemin and the many millions of beings. [F.170.a] At that time, the bodhisattva mahāsattvas in countless buddha realms in the ten directions saw that radiance, and through the power of the Buddha, they came to this world in order to see, pay homage to, and honor the Bhagavat and his saṅgha of bhikṣus.

“They made offerings to the Bhagavat with their various bodhisattva emanations, and they bowed their heads to the Bhagavat’s feet, honored him, and seated themselves before him because they wished to listen to the prayers and prophecies of the bodhisattvas.

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu, the chief court priest, said to King Araṇemin, ‘Great king, you should first choose your buddha realm’s array of qualities.’

“Then King Araṇemin placed his palms together, bowed toward the Bhagavat, and said, ‘Bhagavat, I have enlightenment as my goal. I have honored the Bhagavat and his saṅgha of countless bhikṣus for three months with various offerings. I have dedicated the good roots from this toward the attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment. Bhagavat, for these seven years I have contemplated the arrays of qualities in buddha realms. Bhagavat, in the buddha realm where I will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, may there be no hells, animals, or Yama’s realm. May the beings who die there not take rebirth in the lower existences. May all the beings there have a golden color. [F.170.b] May there be no difference between the devas and humans there. May all the beings there remember their past lives. May all those beings have the kind of divine sight by which they can see the hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of buddhas who remain, stay, live, and teach the Dharma in other realms. May all those beings have the kind of divine hearing by which they can hear the hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of buddhas teaching the Dharma. May all those beings there have knowledge of the minds of others, by which they can know the mental activities of beings dwelling in many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of buddha realms. May all those beings have skill in accomplishing miracles by which they can, with one aspiration, be in hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of buddha realms. May the beings who are in that realm have no attachment, not even attachment to their own bodies. May all those beings be on the level of irreversible progress toward the highest, most complete enlightenment. May the beings there be born spontaneously. May there not be the designation of female there. May the lifespan of the beings there have no end except through the power of their prayers. May those beings not even know the word nonvirtuous. May there be no bad smell in that buddha realm. May that buddha realm be permeated by the aroma of the Bhagavat that surpasses that of the devas.163 May all the beings there be adorned by the thirty-two signs of a great being. May all those beings be in their last lifetime unless they pray otherwise. May all the beings there, through the power of the Buddha, be able in one morning to pay honor to an incalculable number of buddhas, accomplish their wish to make offerings to those buddhas through a variety of bodhisattva manifestations, [F.171.a] and then return to my realm in that same morning. May all those beings converse about the Buddha’s piṭaka. [B5] May those beings have the power of Nārāyaṇa. May no being, even one with divine sight, be able to ascertain the extent of the qualities that adorn that buddha realm. May all the beings there possess knowledge and confidence.164 May the body of each bodhisattva be a thousand yojanas tall. May that buddha realm be radiant. May its environs have an array of qualities beyond enumeration. May any being who is born there be celibate until enlightenment. May all beings there be worthy of homage from the world and its devas. May there be no deficiency in their faculties. May the beings there, as soon as they are born, attain noble joy and happiness that transcends that of the devas. May all the beings there be endowed with good roots. May all the beings there be clothed in new saffron robes. May the beings there attain the samādhi of complete discernment the moment they are born. May they, through attaining that samādhi, go to countless buddha realms, honor the buddhas, and, until they attain enlightenment, be able to see all the buddhas. May the bodhisattvas who are born there see precious trees among the array of buddha-realm qualities, which are just as they wish the array of buddha-realm qualities to be. [F.171.b] May those beings attain samādhi as soon as they are born there, and through attaining that samādhi always see the bhagavat buddhas, who reside, live, and remain, teaching the Dharma in innumerable buddha realms in the ten directions. May all the beings who are born there have the clothing, divine palaces, adornments, jewelry, colors, and form of the Para­nirmitavaśavartin devas. In that buddha realm may there be no dust, no stones, and no Kāla mountains, Cakravāḍa mountains, Mahācakravāḍa mountains, Sumeru, or great oceans. May there be the complete absence of the words165 obscuration, obstacle, and kleśa; the complete absence of the words hells, animals, and realm of Yama; and the complete absence of the words unfavorable birth and the word suffering, and may there not be the words neither suffering nor happiness.166

“ ‘Bhagavat, that is the kind of buddha realm that is my goal. Bhadanta Bhagavat, I will remain a bodhisattva undergoing hardships until I can create a pure buddha realm that has those kinds of qualities. Bhadanta Bhagavat, during that time I will make that kind of human effort and afterward I will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. May I have a Bodhi tree that is ten thousand yojanas high, and when I sit there, may I, through a single instant of aspiration, attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. May my aura be without limit,167 illuminating hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of buddha realms. [F.172.a] May the length of my life be beyond measure, a hundred thousand million trillion eons long, so that, except for one with omniscient wisdom, no one will be able to measure it. May my bodhisattva saṅgha be so immeasurable that only someone with omniscient wisdom would be able to measure it, and may it be devoid of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. When I attain enlightenment may bhagavat buddhas in other limitless, uncountable buddha realms speak, recite, listen to, and repeat my praises. When I attain enlightenment, except for those who have perpetrated the actions with immediate results at death or who reject the true Dharma, if beings in other limitless, uncountable buddha realms, on hearing my name, dedicate their good roots to buddha realms,168 may they be reborn in my buddha realm. When I have attained enlightenment, may beings169 in countless other worlds develop the motivation for enlightenment and, with the wish to be reborn in my realm, create good roots in those realms. Then at the time when they are dying, may I appear before them encircled by an assembly of bodhisattvas, and when they see me, may they feel joy and delight toward me, and may their karmic obscurations170 be eliminated. Then, when they have died, may they be born in my buddha realm. May the bodhisattvas there wish to hear Dharma teachings that they have never heard before directly from me, and may they hear exactly what they wish to hear. [F.172.b] When I attain enlightenment, may the bodhisattva mahāsattvas of innumerable buddha realms who hear my name attain irreversible progress toward the highest, most complete enlightenment; may they attain the first patience and likewise the second;171 and may they attain the samādhis and dhāraṇīs that they wish to attain.

“ ‘Even after I have passed into parinirvāṇa, for countless eons may bodhisattvas in countless buddha realms on hearing my name attain great joy, perfect joy, and supreme joy,172 and may they be amazed, pay homage to me, and glorify and praise me. When I become a bodhisattva may I accomplish the deeds of a buddha, and afterward may I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. When I have attained complete enlightenment, may the bodhisattvas who have complete faith in me attain the first patience, the second, and the third;173 attain the samādhi, dhāraṇī, and patience that they wish to; and tend to them until enlightenment.

“ ‘When I attain enlightenment, may women in countless buddha realms who hear my name have great joy, perfect joy, and supreme joy, have delight, and develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment, and from then until enlightenment may they never again become a woman. Even after I have passed into parinirvāṇa, may countless women throughout countless eons who hear my name have great joy, perfect joy, and supreme joy, [F.173.a] have delight, and develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment, and from then until enlightenment never again become a woman.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I wish for that kind of buddha realm and those kinds of beings with pure thoughts. Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in such a buddha realm.’

“Then, noble son, the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Ratnagarbha congratulated King Araṇemin, saying, ‘Excellent, great king, excellent! Great king, your prayer to acquire a pure buddha realm is profound.

“ ‘Great king, look! In the west, beyond a trillion buddha realms, there is a world known as Indrasuvirājitā. The tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Indra­ghoṣeśvara­rāja is present, exists, and lives there, teaching the Dharma to pure beings.

“ ‘In that pure realm there are not even the words śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. Only the Mahāyāna is taught there. There, all beings are spontaneously born. There is not even the word woman there. Great king, all the qualities that are in that buddha realm are just like the entire array of immeasurable buddha-realm qualities that you have prayed for, and the disciples there are beings with immeasurably pure motivation.

“ ‘Great king, after the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha [F.173.b] Indra­ghoṣeśvara­rāja has passed into parinirvāṇa, his Dharma will come to an end, and after sixty intermediate eons have passed, that realm will be named Meruprabhā. In that realm will appear the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Acintyamatiguṇa­rāja. The array of qualities in Meruprabhā, the realm of the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Acintyamatiguṇa­rāja, will be the same as the array of qualities in the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Indra­ghoṣeśvara­rāja’s buddha realm.

“ ‘The tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Acintyamatiguṇa­rāja’s lifespan will be sixty intermediate eons. When the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Acintyamatiguṇa­rāja passes into parinirvāṇa, his Dharma will remain for sixteen intermediate eons. One thousand intermediate eons after his Dharma has come to an end, that realm will have the name Virati. In that realm will appear the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Raśmi. His lifespan will be the same as the former buddha, and his realm will be the same. After he has passed into parinirvāṇa and his Dharma has come to an end, that realm will have the name Aparā. That realm will have the same array of buddha-realm qualities, and in it will appear the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Ratneśvaraghoṣa. He will reside, live, and remain for five174 intermediate eons and teach the Dharma. When he has passed into parinirvāṇa, his Dharma will remain for seven intermediate eons, and [F.174.a] when that Dharma has come to an end, there will successively occur what has been previously described. In that way, I see countless, innumerable tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddhas appear and pass into parinirvāṇa in that realm without that realm being destroyed and recreated.

“ ‘In the future, after one incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River,175 and during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, that realm will have the name Sukhāvatī. Great king, you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood there. You will become the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Amitāyus.’

“King Araṇemin asked, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, from where will the bodhisattva mahāsattvas come, who will be the first in that realm to attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood because of me?’

“ ‘Great king,’ replied the Bhagavat, ‘it will be these bodhisattva mahāsattvas who have come176 from innumerable, inconceivable, limitless realms in the ten directions to pay homage to me, honor me, and listen to the Dharma from me.

“ ‘Noble son, these bodhisattvas who are present before me have been prophesied by buddhas in the past to attain the highest, most complete enlightenment, and buddhas in the present have also prophesied that they will attain the highest, most complete enlightenment. They are the ones who will be the first to attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in your buddha realm. Great king, each of these bodhisattvas has performed great service177 to many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of buddhas, generating good roots and [F.174.b] cultivating wisdom. Great king, it is these noble sons who will first attain buddhahood in your buddha realm.’

“King Araṇemin said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, it is the brahmin Samudrareṇu who has caused me and my retinue to aspire to the highest, most complete enlightenment. When will he attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood?’

“ ‘Great king,’ replied the Bhagavat, ‘the brahmin Samudrareṇu has great compassion. You will hear his lion’s roar.’

“The king said, ‘If the Bhagavat’s prophecy and my prayer are to be fulfilled, then when I make homage with the five parts of my body at the Bhagavat’s feet, may realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River shake and shudder, and may the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain in those buddha realms give me their prophecy.’

“Then, noble son, King Araṇemin bowed down the five parts of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha. When the king’s head touched the ground, buddha realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River shook, shook strongly, shuddered, shuddered strongly, quaked, and quaked strongly, and then buddhas as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River made this prophecy:

“ ‘In the Dhāraṇa eon, in the Saṃtīraṇa buddha realm, in which the lifespan of beings will be 80,000 years, the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Ratnagarbha made this prophecy to King Araṇemin: “After an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, there will be an immeasurably pure realm called [F.175.a] Sukhāvatī in which King Araṇemin will become the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Amitāyus, who will illuminate as many worlds in the ten directions as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River.” ’

“The Bhagavat said:

“Then, noble son, King Araṇemin was joyful and happy, and he experienced supreme joy and bliss. He then withdrew and sat to one side nearby in order to listen to the Dharma.

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu summoned King Araṇemin’s crown prince, Animiṣa. Animiṣa asked the same questions as the king. He said, ‘Bhagavat, I have seen178 the lower existences where beings experience extremely intense, unendurable suffering. I have seen the upper realms, where beings have minds filled with kleśas and fall into the lower realms. I have seen all beings associating with bad friends [F.175.b] in the darkness of a famine of the Dharma, devoid of good roots, possessed179 by evil views, and following evil paths.

“ ‘Bhagavat, by voice180 I shall make these beings become aware. I will dedicate all good roots to the highest, most complete enlightenment. When I am performing bodhisattva conduct, may beings think of me and say my name when they are afflicted by suffering, frightened by terrors, in the darkness of the Dharma’s absence, despairing, weak, or with no protector, no refuge, and no resort, and may I never attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood unless I can hear them with my divine hearing, see them with my divine sight, and free them from their suffering.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, when for a long time I practice bodhisattva conduct through this particular long-lasting prayer for the benefit of beings, may my wishes be fulfilled. Bhadanta Bhagavat, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, King Araṇemin will become a tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha in the Sukhāvatī realm. When he has become the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Amitāyus, he will accomplish the deeds of a buddha for the pure beings in that completely pure realm. The Tathāgata Amitāyus will perform the deeds of a buddha for countless eons. When he has completed the deeds of a buddha, he will enter the state of nirvāṇa without any remaining aggregates.

“ ‘After he has entered parinirvāṇa, I will practice the conduct of a bodhisattva for as long as his Dharma remains. As a bodhisattva, I will perform the deeds of a buddha. After the dusk when the Dharma of Samyaksam­buddha Amitāyus comes to an end, may I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood at the following dawn. [F.176.a]

“ ‘Bhagavat, I request that you prophesy my highest, most complete enlightenment. Similarly, there are the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain in the ten directions, in worlds as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, and I request that those bhagavat buddhas also prophesy my attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“Those were the words of his request. Noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha gave this prophecy to the crown prince Animiṣa: ‘Noble son, because the lower realms have been viewed by you, the higher realms have been viewed by you, and you have developed the compassion to free beings from suffering and to pacify their kleśas, it is for that reason, noble son, that you will be called Avalokiteśvara.181

“ ‘You, Avalokiteśvara, will free many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of beings from suffering. Noble son, being a bodhisattva, you will accomplish the deeds of a buddha. Noble son, after the Tathāgata Amitābha has passed into nirvāṇa, his Dharma will come to an end at dusk one day in the latter part of the second incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. The following dawn you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood while sitting on a vajra seat, at a Bodhi tree, in a manifold array. You will become the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Saman­taraśmya­bhyudgataśrīkūṭa­rāja. Your lifespan will be ninety-six hundred thousand million trillion182 eons. After you have passed into parinirvāṇa your Dharma will continue for 630,000,000183 eons.’ [F.176.b]

“Avalokiteśvara asked, ‘Bhagavat, if these wishes of mine are to be fulfilled, then when I bow down to the Bhagavat’s feet, may the bhagavat buddhas, who reside, live, and remain within worlds in the ten directions that are as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, give me their prophecy. May the ground shake in worlds in the ten directions that are as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River; may there come music that has the five tempos from the stones and treetops of all mountains; and may all beings have minds free of desire.’

“When the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, the same happened as just described. The ground in buddha realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River shook strongly, and those bhagavat buddhas gave their prophecy. There came the sound of music from the from the stones and treetops184 of all mountains, and all beings were in a mental state free from desire.

“The Bhagavat said:

“Then the brahmin Samudrareṇu, the chief court priest, summoned the second prince, who was named Nimi, and said to him, ‘Noble son, [F.177.a] you should in the same way rejoice in this great act of generosity. You should dedicate the good actions that you have accomplished toward omniscience for the sake of all beings and develop the motivation to attain the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“Then Prince Nimi sat before the Bhagavat and said, ‘Bhagavat, I have served with all offerings the Bhagavat and his immeasurable saṅgha of bhikṣus. The aggregate of merit that comes from rejoicing in having done this, and whatever aggregate of merit there is from the good activity of my body, speech, and mind, I dedicate it all to the highest, most complete enlightenment. May I not reach enlightenment in this afflicted buddha realm. Prince Avalokiteśvara will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in the realm Sarva­ratna­saṃnicaya while seated under a Bodhi tree that is adorned with an array of many jewels and will become the Tathāgata Saman­taraśmya­bhyudgataśrīkūṭa­rāja. I shall request him to teach the Dharma. I will practice the conduct of a bodhisattva for as long as that tathāgata teaches the Dharma. When that tathāgata has passed away and his Dharma has ceased to exist, I will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. My buddha realm will have an array of qualities that will be the same as the entire array of qualities of the Tathāgata Saman­taraśmya­bhyudgataśrīkūṭa­rāja’s realm. I will accomplish the deeds of a buddha in the same way, and in the same way I will pass into parinirvāṇa. [F.177.b] After I have passed into nirvāṇa may the Dharma remain for a long time.’

“The Bhagavat said, ‘Noble son, you wish to attain great power.185 Noble son, you will attain the same power186 that I have attained. Noble son, in that buddha realm you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. You will be the tathāgata named Supra­tiṣṭhita­guṇa­maṇikūṭa­rāja. Noble son, you will obtain that great power and therefore, noble son, may you become Mahāsthāmaprāpta.’187

“He said, ‘Bhagavat, if these wishes of mine are to be fulfilled, for that reason, when I bow down the five parts of my body to the Bhagavat’s feet, may the bhagavat buddhas in the ten directions, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, give me their prophecy, and may there be a rain of jasmine flowers.’

“Noble son, when that worthy being, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, bowed down the five parts of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, the bhagavat buddhas in the ten directions, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, gave their prophecy. The great earth shook in six ways, and there was a rain of jasmine flowers.

“The Bhagavat said:

“Then the brahmin Samudrareṇu summoned the third prince, who was named Indragaṇa, and spoke to him as he had to the others. [F.178.a]

“Prince Indragaṇa, with palms together, said to the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, ‘Bhagavat, the entire aggregate of merit that comes from rejoicing in having served with all offerings the Bhagavat and his saṅgha of bhikṣus, and the good activity of my body, speech, and mind, I dedicate to the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“ ‘May I not attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in an afflicted buddha realm, and may I not attain it quickly. While I am performing bodhisattva conduct, until I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, may I see the bhagavat buddhas in other endless, infinite realms in the ten directions. May I see with divine sight, in buddha realms as numerous as the particles in buddha realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, bhagavat buddhas teaching the Dharma whom I first caused to acquire, enter, and remain in the aspiration for enlightenment, and whom I caused to acquire, enter, and remain in the practice of the perfections and the conduct of a bodhisattva.188

“ ‘While I thus perform bodhisattva conduct, may I accomplish the deeds of a buddha. While I am performing bodhisattva conduct may I purify the motivations of beings so that those beings who will be born in my buddha realm will be, for example, like Brahmā devas. [F.178.b] May I purify an array of buddha-realm qualities so that it will be as if as many billion-world universes as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River have become one buddha realm. May that buddha realm’s surrounding walls, which reach as high as the summit of existence, be made of many jewels, and be adorned with a variety of jewels. May the entire ground in that buddha realm be made of beryl; may there be no dust, stones, or gravel; and may it be free of any dirt.

“ ‘May there not be even the word woman. May the beings there be born spontaneously. May the beings there have no wish for nourishment through mouthfuls of food. May the beings there be nourished by joy and nourished by the Dharma. In that buddha realm may there not be the words śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. May that buddha realm be filled189 only with bodhisattvas190 who are free of obduracy, stains, anger, and hypocrisy, and who remain in pure celibacy. May all the bodhisattvas there have shaved heads and wear saffron-colored robes.

“ ‘As soon as they are born there, may they have great auras of light. May there appear in their hands191 precious alms bowls filled with various flavors. As soon as those appear, may they think, “This food we have is not for us. We should go to other worlds and offer this food to the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain there. We should also give it to the buddhas’ śrāvakas and to beings in suffering. We should also go to the realm of the [F.179.a] pretas and give this food to the beings there whose bodies are aflame with hunger and thirst.” As soon as those bodhisattva mahāsattvas have that aspiration, may they obtain the samādhi called inconceivable activity. When they have attained that samādhi, may they go without any hindrance to the countless, innumerable buddha realms in the ten directions, and offer the food to the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain there and to the śrāvakas and to other beings. May they offer the food with joy, teach the Dharma, and that same morning return to their own buddha realm.

“ ‘May it be the same for the offering of precious clothing, up to their return that same morning to their own buddha realm where they dress each other in monastic robes.

“ ‘May the bodhisattvas first share all the pleasures and enjoyments they find in that buddha realm with the bhagavat buddhas, the śrāvakas, and other beings, and only afterward enjoy them themselves. May that buddha realm be free of the eight unfavorable states. May there not be the word suffering there. May there not be the word training there. May there not be the word transgression there.

“ ‘May there be an accumulation of hundreds of thousands of jewels in that buddha realm. May it be beautified by jewels and appear to be made of jewels. May there be present there all the jewels in the ten directions that have never been seen before and never been heard of before, and whose names would take ten million years to recite. [F.179.b] May a bodhisattva see the buddha realm as being made of gold if he wishes it to be made of gold, and may it continue to be made of gold for him; may another bodhisattva see it as being made of silver if he wishes it to be made of silver, without causing the realm made of gold to vanish. In the same way, may a bodhisattva see the realm as being made of crystal, or made of beryl, or made of emerald, or made of red pearls, or made of white coral, or made of whatever precious material he wishes.

“ ‘May a bodhisattva see the buddha realm as being made of agarwood, made of tagar leaves, made of bay leaves, made of gośīrṣa sandalwood, or made of uragasāra sandalwood, just as he wishes. May he see it as being exactly how he wishes, without one seeing what another aspires for, but with everyone’s aspirations fulfilled.

“ ‘May there be no sun or moon in that buddha realm, but may the bodhisattvas born there emit their own light. May there be whatever kind of light is wished for even to the extent of reaching a hundred thousand million trillion buddha realms. Other than the opening of the flowers, may there not even be the words night and day in that buddha realm. May there be no heat, cold, illness, weakness,192 old age, or death in that buddha realm. If a bodhisattva wishes to attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, may he go to a Tuṣita paradise, end his life there, and then attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in another world.193 [F.180.a]

“ ‘May there be no death in that buddha realm. May the Tathāgata’s parinirvāṇa take place high in the sky when he attains the ultimate nirvāṇa. May whatever enjoyment or pleasure a bodhisattva wishes for occur. May there come from the middle of the sky the sound of many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of musical instruments throughout the buddha realm. May there be no words of desire within that music, but the words perfections, Buddha, Dharma, Saṅgha, and Dharma teachings from the bodhisattva piṭaka. May the bodhisattvas hear the words that they wish to hear.

“ ‘Bhagavat, when I am performing bodhisattva conduct may I see the array of qualities in the buddha realms of innumerable, uncountable hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of buddhas, and may those adornments, signs, omens, places, wonders, and wishes be in my194 buddha realm, and may it have none of the array of qualities of śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas or of buddha realms that have the five degeneracies.

“ ‘May there be no hell beings, animals, or pretas in that buddha realm. May there be no Sumeru, Cakravāḍa, or Mahācakravāḍa mountains, no stones or dust. May there be no great oceans. May that buddha realm be filled with various divine, wonderful trees, without any trees made of wood. May it be filled with divine coral tree flowers and great coral tree flowers. [F.180.b] May there be no unpleasant smells there.195 May that buddha realm be filled by a vast, extensive variety of incenses.

“ ‘May all the bodhisattvas there be in their last life before buddhahood. May every being there when they pass away be reborn solely in Tuṣita paradises. When they pass away from there, may they attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I will continue performing the conduct of a bodhisattva until I attain that power. I shall establish that kind of buddha realm. I shall establish a buddha realm that is filled with the kind of beings who have pure thoughts, bodhisattvas with one lifetime remaining.

“ ‘May there be no bodhisattvas there whom I did not cause to aspire to enlightenment and to practice the perfections for the first time. May all the bodhisattvas whom I have caused to aspire to enlightenment and practice the perfections for the first time be born there. May I pacify completely the sufferings of all those who are contained within that buddha realm.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, after I have become a bodhisattva and accomplished those heroic actions, may I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in that buddha realm.

“ ‘May my Bodhi tree, Sapta­ratna­vicitrasan­darśana,196 be the size of ten thousand four-continent worlds, and may its circumference be that of ten billion-world universes. [F.181.a] May the aroma and light of that Bodhi tree spread throughout the entire buddha realm.

“ ‘At the foot of that tree may there be my vajra seat, adorned by various jewels, named Praśamak­ṣamasuvicitra­jñāna­gandha­samavasaraṇa,197 the size of five four-continent worlds and 84,000 yojanas high.

“ ‘May I sit cross-legged upon the vajra seat at the foot of the Bodhi tree and in an instant attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. May I remain seated, and not uncross my legs nor get up from under the Bodhi tree until I pass into parinirvāṇa. While I remain seated upon the vajra seat at the foot of the Bodhi tree, may I emanate buddhas and bodhisattvas who go to countless other buddha realms. May each buddha teach the Dharma to beings in the morning and in that morning make countless beings aspire to, be dedicated to, and progress irreversibly toward the highest, most complete enlightenment. Thus, may my bodhisattva emanations accomplish bodhisattva activities.

“ ‘When I have attained enlightenment, may my body be visible in countless other realms in the ten directions. May all those beings who see my body adorned by signs all definitely attain the highest, most complete enlightenment. Until they attain enlightenment and nirvāṇa, may those beings never be apart from the bhagavat buddhas [F.181.b] and never have deficient faculties.

“ ‘May all the bodhisattvas there who wish to see me, as soon as they think of me,198 whether they are going, returning, walking, sitting, or standing, see me at the foot of the Bodhi tree. May all those bodhisattvas who have doubts about the Dharma instantly be freed from them upon seeing me. Freed from doubt, may they understand even the meaning of Dharma teachings that they have not received.

“ ‘May my lifespan be immeasurable, so that only those with omniscient wisdom can measure it, and may the bodhisattvas who will be there be innumerable. From the instant that I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood until the instant I pass into the great nirvāṇa, may the bodhisattvas in that buddha realm all have shaved heads and wear saffron robes. May there not be one being in that buddha realm with long hair and white clothes, but may all wear the monastic color and remain monastic.’

“The Bhagavat said, ‘Worthy being, that is excellent, excellent. You are wise, learned,199 and intelligent. Your prayer is excellent. You have surpassing qualities. You have surpassing wisdom. Noble son, because you have created this kind of supreme, auspicious intention200 for the sake of all beings and have conceived of this supreme array of the qualities of a buddha realm, you will be named Mañjuśrī. [F.182.a]

“ ‘Mañjuśrī, in the future, when two incalculable eons have passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in two Ganges Rivers,201 and there is a third such incalculable eon, there will be a world realm in the southern direction that is called Śuddhavi­rajaḥ­saṃnicaya in which the Sahā world realm will be included, and there will appear a buddha realm with those kinds of qualities.

“ ‘Mañjuśrī, there you will attain the complete enlightenment of complete buddhahood, and you will become the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Samantadarśin.

“ ‘Your retinue of bodhisattvas will also be pure in that way. The prayers that you have made as a bodhisattva will all be accomplished. Therefore, you will be a bodhisattva who has generated good roots with many millions of buddhas. Mañjuśrī, you will therefore be like a medicine for beings.202 You will have a completely purified motivation, your kleśas will be defeated, and your good qualities will have developed.’

“Mañjuśrī said, ‘Bhagavat, if these wishes of mine are to be fulfilled, may the bhagavat buddhas, who reside, live, and remain, teaching the Dharma to beings in realms in the ten directions that are as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, give me their prophecy, and may the countless, [F.182.b] innumerable buddha realms shake. May all beings have happiness that is like that of a bodhisattva resting in meditation at the apex of the second dhyāna. May there fall a rain of divine coral tree flowers from countless, innumerable buddha realms. May these words sound from the coral tree flowers: the word Buddha, the word Dharma, the word Saṅgha, the word perfections, and the words strengths and fearlessnesses. May these signs appear when I bow the five parts of my body to the feet of the Bhagavat.’

“When Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta bowed down his head to the feet of the Bhagavat, the countless, innumerable buddha realms instantaneously shook; there fell a rain of divine coral tree flowers; and all beings gained the happiness that he had prayed for. The bodhisattva mahāsattvas who were listening to Dharma teachings from the bhagavat buddhas asked them by what cause and circumstances these signs appeared, and the bhagavat buddhas gave the prophecy of Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta’s attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“The Bhagavat said:

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu summoned the fourth prince, who was named Anaṅgaṇa, and like Mañjuśrī he made a prayer.

“The Bhagavat said to him, ‘Excellent, excellent! Noble son, when you become a bodhisattva, you will destroy a mountain of kleśas in innumerable, countless beings. You will perform the deeds of a buddha and will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. Therefore, noble son, you shall be named Vajraccheda­prajñā­vabhāsaśrī.203

“ ‘Vajraccheda­prajñā­vabhāsaśrī, in the future, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, there will be in the eastern direction, beyond buddha realms as numerous as the grains of sand in ten Ganges Rivers, a realm called Animiṣa.

“ ‘Noble son, you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood there, and you will be the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Samantabhadra, who has wisdom and virtuous conduct,204 who is a sugata, a knower of the world, a guide who tames beings, an unsurpassable teacher of gods and humans, a buddha, and a bhagavat. Your buddha realm will have the manifold array of qualities that you have prayed for.’

“Noble son, as soon as the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha prophesied to the bodhisattva Vajraccheda­prajñā­vabhāsaśrī his attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment, [F.183.b] there came from the center of the sky the sound of many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of devas saying ‘Excellent!’ and it rained powders of gośīrṣa sandalwood, uragasāra sandalwood, agarwood, valerian,205 and bay leaf.

“He said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if these wishes of mine are to be fulfilled in this way, then when I bow down the five parts of my body to the feet of the Bhagavat, may realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River be pervaded by divine, wonderful, vast, extensive incense. May all the beings who have been born in those realms, whether as hell-beings, animals, those in Yāma’s land, devas, or humans, experience that scent, and when my head is touching the ground, may their physical illness, physical suffering, mental illness, and mental suffering quickly cease.’

“Noble son, when Vajraccheda­prajñā­vabhāsaśrī bowed down the five parts of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, at that moment, realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River were pervaded by divine, wonderful, vast, extensive incense, and the physical illness, physical suffering, mental illness, and mental suffering of all beings quickly eased and ended.206

“The Bhagavat said:

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu summoned the fifth prince, who was named Abhaya, and he prayed as the others had.

“He said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, my buddha realm will not be like this afflicted buddha realm, [F.184.a] but one in which there are no hells, there are no animals, and there is no land of Yama; one where the ground is made of blue beryl; and one that is vast just like the array of buddha-realm qualities in the Padmā world realm, which I shall describe. That is where I shall attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.’

“Then Prince Abhaya placed lotuses in front of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if these wishes of mine are to be fulfilled in this way, then through the power of the Bhagavat may I attain the vision array samādhi, and thereby may the Bhagavat see before him, in worlds in the ten directions as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, a rainfall of lotus flowers that are the size of chariot wheels and as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, and may I208 also see them.’

“As soon as he said those words, through the power of the Buddha, he attained the vision array samādhi, and in worlds in the ten directions as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River there fell a rain of lotus flowers the size of chariot wheels and as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm. Prince Abhaya saw this and was overjoyed and blissful.

“The Bhagavat said, ‘Noble son, you have made an excellent prayer. You have acquired an excellent buddha realm, you have also attained samādhi very quickly, and through the power of true words there has fallen a rain of lotuses.’

“The prince said, ‘If my hopes for the highest, most complete enlightenment are to be fulfilled, [F.184.b] may these lotuses be suspended in the sky, and when they have floated in the sky, may they then fall like rain.’

“The Bhagavat said, ‘Noble son, very quickly the sky was sealed with the lotuses. Therefore, noble son, your name will be Gaganamudra.209 Gaganamudra, in the future, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in the southeastern direction beyond as many buddha realms as there are grains of sand in a hundred thousand Ganges Rivers, there will be the world realm known as Padmā. There you will become enlightened and become a buddha. You will become the tathāgata named Padmottara, an arhat samyaksam­buddha, one with wisdom and virtuous conduct, a sugata, a knower of the world, a guide who tames beings, an unsurpassable teacher of gods and humans, a buddha, a bhagavat. You will have an innumerable retinue composed entirely of bodhisattvas. Your lifespan will be immeasurable. Your buddha realm will have the entire array of qualities that you have prayed for.’

“The bodhisattva Gaganamudra bowed down his head to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha.

“The Bhagavat said:

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu spoke to the sixth prince, who was named Ambara, who made a prayer as the bodhisattva Gaganamudra did. He said, ‘My buddha realm will not be like this afflicted buddha realm…’ and so on.

“Then he said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be fulfilled, [F.185.a] then in the skies of all the worlds in the ten directions, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, may there appear parasols made of the seven jewels, covered with nets of gold, and adorned with bells made of the seven jewels. From the parasols, the bells, and the nets, may these words sound: the word Buddha, the word Dharma, the word Saṅgha, the word perfections, the word strengths, the word clairvoyance, and the word confidence. May all beings hear those words. When they have heard them, may they develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment, and may the aspiration of those beings who have previously aspired to the highest, most complete enlightenment be irreversible.’

“As soon as he said that, those words sounded from the sky in all the worlds in the ten directions, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, and so on, as before. Through the power of the Bhagavat he perceived this himself and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if my aspirations are to be completely fulfilled as I have prayed for, then may I in the presence of the Bhagavat attain the illumination by wisdom samādhi, and may that accomplish my good qualities. When I have obtained that samādhi may the Bhagavat give me his prophecy.’

“Through the power of the Bhagavat he attained the illumination by wisdom samādhi. The Bhagavat said, ‘Worthy being, excellent! Excellent! You have made a vast prayer. [F.185.b] Through the effect of this merit, noble son, worlds210 in the ten directions as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River have become buddha realms inspired by hundreds of thousands of beautiful words. Therefore, you should be known as Vegavairocana.211 Vegavairocana, in a future time, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, there will be, in the eastern direction, beyond as many worlds as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, a world realm called Ādityasomā. There you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. You will become the tathāgata named Dharma­vaśavartīśvara­rāja, an arhat samyaksam­buddha, one with wisdom and virtuous conduct, a sugata, a knower of the world, a guide who tames beings, an unsurpassable teacher of gods and humans, a buddha, a bhagavat.’

“The bodhisattva Vegavairocana bowed down the five parts of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha. The Bhagavat said:

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu spoke to the seventh prince, who was named Aṅgaja,214 and it proceeded as before. Prince Aṅgaja said, ‘May I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood not in a buddha realm like this afflicted buddha realm, but in one in which there are no hells, no animals, no world of Yama, no females, no beings inside wombs, no Sumeru, no Cakravāḍa, no Mahācakravāḍa, no soil,215 no rocks, no mountains, no uneven ground, no pebbles, [F.186.a] no gravel, no thorns, no thickets, no wooden trees, and no oceans. May there be no sun and moon, no stars, no day and night, and no darkness. May the beings there have no feces, urine, spittle, or snot; may they have no sweat and no odor; may they have no physical fatigue and no mental fatigue. May there be no dusty ground.216 May the entire ground be made of emerald; may it be adorned by hundreds of thousands of jewels. May it be strewn with coral trees and great coral tree flowers. May that buddha realm be adorned by a variety of precious trees; may those precious trees be adorned by nets of jewels; and may those precious trees be adorned with a variety of precious cotton cloths, a variety of precious clothing, a variety of precious beads, a variety of precious hanging ornaments, a variety of flower garlands, a variety of musical instruments, a variety of precious vessels, and a variety of flowers.217

“ ‘May the only indication of night be when the flowers close and the sound of music ceases. May bodhisattvas be born from within the closed flowers. May the bodhisattvas, resting in meditation, attain the samādhi called an array of visions. Through attaining that samādhi may they see the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain in other realms in the ten directions as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm. [F.186.b] In that instant may they attain the pure divine hearing so that they hear the Dharma teaching of the bhagavat buddhas in the other realms in the ten directions, which are as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm.

“ ‘May all beings, as soon as they are born there, remember their former lives and remember eons as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm. May all those beings, as soon as they are born, obtain divine sight so that they see the arrays of qualities of buddha realms as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, everywhere in the ten directions. May all those beings, as soon as they are born, be skilled in knowing the minds of others, so that in one instant they know the mental activity of beings within buddha realms as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, and until their enlightenment and parinirvāṇa may all those beings honor that samādhi.

“ ‘In the morning may there come from the four directions very aromatic, delightful, soft, blissfully cool breezes that cause the flowers to open. May the bodhisattvas arise from their samādhi and get up from the anthers of the flowers. May they have the miraculous power to, in one instant of mind, go to pay homage to the bhagavat buddhas who in every direction reside, live, and remain in realms that are as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, and then return. [F.187.a] May they then be seated cross-legged upon the anthers of coral tree flowers and great coral tree flowers and gaze at the Tathāgata with minds made blissful by the Dharma.

“ ‘In all directions, wherever they go, whether they are seated there or returning, may they see me. Whatever equivocation, uncertainty, or doubt about the Dharma arises among those bodhisattva mahāsattvas, may they be freed from it just by seeing me. Whatever Dharma teaching those bodhisattva mahāsattvas wish for, may they receive that Dharma teaching simply by looking at me. May those beings have no ownership and no attachments, to the extent that they have no preoccupation even with their own bodies and lives. May all those bodhisattvas be irreversible.

“ ‘May there not even be the word bad there. In that buddha realm, may there not even be the word training, and so on, as before, and may there be no mention of removing faults. May all those beings have the thirty-two signs of a great being. May they all have the power of Nārāyaṇa. May not a single being have impaired faculties during the time before their enlightenment and nirvāṇa. May all the beings there be born with shaved heads and wearing new saffron-colored robes. May they attain the samādhi of complete discernment and never lose it until enlightenment. May all the beings there be accompanied by good roots. [F.187.b]

“ ‘In that buddha realm may beings have no knowledge of the suffering of illness and aging. When their lifespan is over, may they all enter nirvāṇa sitting cross-legged. May fire rise from their bodies and burn up their bodies. May a breeze from the four directions carry their relics to a thousand buddha realms, where they will appear as precious jewels that are like the bright precious jewel of a cakravartin king. May any being who sees the light of those precious jewels, or sees the precious jewels themselves, or touches them, until they reach enlightenment and nirvāṇa, never experience the suffering of hells, animals, or Yama’s world. When beings pass away, may they be born where the bhagavat buddhas reside, live, and remain, teaching the Dharma to beings. When those beings have been born there may they hear the Dharma from the bhagavat buddhas and develop the aspiration for enlightenment. As soon as they have developed that aspiration, may they never turn back from the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“ ‘In my buddha realm may there be no beings who die while not in a state of meditation, while experiencing suffering, or not free from the malicious intent to kill one another.218 Subsequently, may they never be reborn into an unfavorable existence. May they never be reborn in a realm devoid of a buddha.219 Until they reach enlightenment may they never be unable to see a buddha. May they never be unable to hear the Dharma or serve the saṅgha. [F.188.a]

“ ‘May all beings in my buddha realm be free of obstinacy, anger, hypocrisy, envy, and selfishness. May śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas be absent. May the buddha realm be filled with pure bodhisattvas. May the beings who are born there be agreeable, gentle, forgiving, good, peaceful, and meditative.

“ ‘May my buddha realm be radiant. May my buddha realm have a great array of qualities. May it be seen in the worlds in the ten directions, which are as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, and may its aroma pervade them.

“ ‘May the beings there always have happiness. May the word suffering never be heard there.

“ ‘I will carry out the conduct of a bodhisattva such that I, as a bodhisattva, will establish a pure buddha realm endowed with this kind of array of a buddha realm’s qualities, and I will fill that buddha realm with such beings who have pure minds. Subsequently, in that buddha realm I will become a buddha with the highest, most complete enlightenment. When I attain enlightenment, may I have limitless radiance. May my body, which will be adorned by the signs of a great being, be visible in as many realms in the ten directions as there are particles in a thousand buddha realms. When the beings there see me, may their desires cease. [F.188.b] May all their anger, ignorance, envy, pride, hypocrisy, kleśas, and subsidiary kleśas cease completely. May they all develop the aspiration for enlightenment. Through seeing me may they attain whatever samādhis and dhāraṇīs they were seeking. When the beings reborn in the cold hells see me, may they experience bliss, a bliss that is like that of a bhikṣu in the meditation of the second dhyāna. When they see me, may they have perfect physical and mental bliss and develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment. When they die in those hells, may they be reborn in my buddha realm and not turn back from the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“ ‘When beings born in the world of the pretas see me, may the same happen to them and may they never turn back from the highest, most complete enlightenment. May it be the same for those who have been born as animals. May my light be twice as bright for those born as devas.

“ ‘May I have a measureless lifespan, which no one, except for the omniscient, will be able to comprehend. When I attain enlightenment, may the bhagavat buddhas in incalculable, countless, innumerable worlds in the ten directions praise me. When the beings in those worlds hear these praises of me, [F.189.a] may they dedicate all their good roots to rebirth in my buddha realm. May they be reborn in my buddha realm when they die, unless they have committed the actions with immediate results at death, or abandoned the Dharma, or maligned a higher being.220

“ ‘When I attain enlightenment, may beings in countless, innumerable worlds hear my name and wish to be reborn in my buddha realm. When they are dying, may I, encircled by a great retinue, resting in the freedom from darkness samādhi, satisfy those beings with excellent teaching and end their suffering. Through their faith in me may they attain a samādhi free of thought, may they realize the acceptance of phenomena221 that delights the mind, and, when they die, may they be reborn in my buddha realm.

“ ‘When beings in other realms are dying‍—those who are devoid of the seven riches who do not aspire to the three yānas, who do not aspire to the good fortune of devas and humans, who do not aspire to acquiring virtue, who do not aspire to the three methods of accumulating merit, who are attached to desires and what is not Dharma, who are overwhelmed by overpowering greed, who are under the sway of a wrong Dharma‍—then at that time may I, accompanied by a great retinue, appear through the brightness samādhi and teach them the Dharma. May I show them my buddha realm. [F.189.b] May I cause them to aspire to enlightenment. May those beings feel the greatest joy and faith toward me and develop the aspiration for enlightenment. May all their sensations of suffering cease. May they attain the lamp of the sun samādhi and eliminate their ignorance. When they die, may they be reborn in my buddha realm.’

“The Bhagavat said, ‘Excellent, worthy being, excellent! The prayer you made is magnificent.’

“Then Prince Aṅgaja declared, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this prayer of mine is to be fulfilled, may there fall a rain of uragasāra sandalwood powder in other buddha realms in the ten directions as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm. May all the beings who smell that scent develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment. May I attain the samādhi called sublime splendor and see that happen myself.’

“Then, noble son, he developed the sublime splendor samādhi, and he saw that it rained uragasāra sandalwood powder in other realms in the ten directions, as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, and saw that countless beings in each of the ten directions placed their palms together and developed the aspiration for enlightenment.

“The Bhagavat said, ‘Noble son, a rain of incense quickly fell, and countless beings have been inspired toward enlightenment. Therefore, noble son, you should be known as Siṃhagandha.222

“ ‘Siṃhagandha, after one incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, [F.190.a] at the start of the second eon, there will be in the eastern direction,223 beyond as many buddha realms as there are particles in buddha realms as numerous as the grains of sand in forty-two Ganges Rivers, a world realm called Nīlagandha­prabhāsavi­raja. You, Siṃhagandha, will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood there. You will become the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Prabhāsavirajaḥ­samucchraya­gandheśvara­rāja.’

“Then, noble son, the bodhisattva Siṃhagandha bowed down the five parts of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha.

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said to him:

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu spoke to the eighth prince, who was named Amigha,224 and it proceeded as before. Prince Amigha said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, as a bodhisattva I will perform the conduct of a bodhisattva in the afflicted buddha realm such that I will purify ten thousand afflicted buddha realms and so that they become like the buddha realm Nīlagandha­prabhāsavi­raja.225 I will cause them to be filled with bodhisattvas set out on the Mahāyāna who have planted the appropriate good roots and have pure motivation. Subsequently, I will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. Bhadanta Bhagavat, [F.190.b] I shall accomplish such bodhisattva conduct that no other bodhisattvas have ever performed.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, during these seven years that I have been in solitude I have contemplated the pure qualities of the buddhas and bodhisattvas and the pure qualities of the buddha realms. I have developed, attained, and meditated in eleven thousand bodhisattva samādhis, such as the vision array samādhi. Bhadanta Bhagavat, this has been my bodhisattva activity now that I am a bodhisattva.

“ ‘May I see and enter the endless, limitless world realms in the ten directions where bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain, teaching the Dharma for the welfare and happiness of beings, and the buddha realms called Dhvajāgrākeyūra, which transcend the three times and are filled with jinas. May I, through that samādhi, see the bhagavat buddhas, as numerous as particles, surrounded by assemblies of bodhisattvas and śrāvakas. May I, through the power of the unattached samādhi,226 pay homage to each one of them with bodies as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm. May each one of my bodies offer each of them manifold unsurpassable jewels and flowers, manifold unsurpassable incenses, garlands, powders, ointments, and music, all in unsurpassable arrays. May I perform this in each buddha realm for eons as numerous as the grains of sand in the ocean.

“ ‘May I, through the manifesting all bodies227 samādhi, see, in an instant, [F.191.a] the fields of buddha activity of every buddha, which are as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I, through the source of qualities samādhi, praise each buddha with unsurpassable praises as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I, through the unclosing eyes samādhi, in one instant of mind see all the buddha realms filled with victorious ones upon a single particle.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I, through the free from conflict samādhi, in one instant of mind see all the past, present, and future bodhisattvas in all the buddha realms and the arrays of qualities of the buddha realms.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I, through the heroic samādhi, enter the hells, take on the form of an inhabitant of hell, teach the Dharma to the beings in hell, and inspire them toward enlightenment. May the beings there develop the aspiration for enlightenment. Then, after passing away, may they be reborn as human beings and wherever buddha bhagavats may be, may they hear the Dharma from those buddha bhagavats, and may they be brought to the level of irreversibility.

“ ‘May I emanate bodies that resemble animals, pretas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, asuras, nāgas, kinnaras, mahoragas, piśācas, pūtanas, and kaṭapūtanas, and, similarly, caṇḍālas, merchants, and courtesans, Bhagavat, [F.191.b] in accord with the families that beings are born in, in accord with the bodies they have obtained, in accord with the happiness or suffering that they experience because of their karma, in accord with their skills in crafts, and in accord with the work that they do. May I manifest being diligent in those crafts and that work, and through using appropriate words may I please those beings and teach them the Dharma. May I make them aspire to, be intent upon, and be set upon the highest, most complete enlightenment. And may I establish them in irreversible progress toward the highest, complete most enlightenment.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I engage in the conduct of a bodhisattva until I purify, by any means whatsoever, the continuums of the minds of all beings in ten thousand buddha realms in the ten directions, so that there will be no228 karma and kleśas, without exception, in the mental continuums of those beings, and there will not be even a few beings whose paths of mental continuums are conceptualized via the four māras.229 For that purpose, may I purify those ten thousand buddha realms230 so that they have the same array of qualities as Nīlagandha­prabhāsavi­raja, the realm of the Tathāgata Prabhāsavirajaḥ­samucchraya­gandheśvara­rāja. May my buddha realm and my retinue thus be just as the bodhisattva Siṃhagandha prayed for.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, may all the suffering of beings in the buddha realms in the ten directions be appeased. May they all have gentle minds. May they all have flexible minds. May they see the buddhas present in their own four-continent worlds. May manifold jewels, flowers, incenses, garlands, ointments, powders, [F.192.a] parasols, victory banners, and flags appear to all those beings, which they will offer to the buddhas, and may those beings develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment. Bhagavat, may I see this myself through the power of the array of visions samādhi.’

“As soon as he said those words, he saw what he had prayed for. The Bhagavat said, ‘It is excellent, noble son, excellent that you, noble son, will purify ten thousand buddha realms‍—your own and everywhere around it‍—and that you will purify the continuum of minds of countless, numberless beings. Thus you will equal the zeal of making countless, numberless offerings to countless, numberless bhagavat buddhas. Therefore, noble son, you should be named Samantabhadra.’

“ ‘Samantabhadra, in the future, when countless eons, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, have passed, and a second series of countless eons has begun, in the northern direction from here, beyond as many buddha realms as there are grains of sand in sixty Ganges Rivers, there will be a world realm called Jñāna­tāpasuviśuddha­guṇā. You, Samantabhadra, will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect enlightenment there. You will become the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha, and so on, up to and including the buddha bhagavat, named Jñāna­vajra­vijṛmbhiteśvara­ketu.’

“Then, noble son, the bodhisattva Samantabhadra bowed down his head to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha.

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said:

“Then, noble son, ten thousand lazy beings said in one voice, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, we shall become tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddhas in the pure buddha realms which, with completely pure motivation, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Samantabhadra, while performing the conduct of a bodhisattva, will purify. May we thus complete the six perfections and be reborn in a buddha realm there.’

“Noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha thus predicted of those ten thousand beings, ‘When the bodhisattva Samantabhadra attains the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in the surrounding realms.231 You will become tathāgatas in groups of thousands that have the same names:

“ ‘One thousand will be tathāgatas called Jvāla­kuṇḍeśvara­ghoṣa.

“ ‘Another thousand will be called Saṃvṛtīśvaraghoṣa.

“ ‘Another thousand will be called Suvimala­ghoṣeśvara­rāja.

“ ‘Another thousand will be called Prahī­ṇabhaya­ghoṣeśvara­rāja.

“ ‘Another thousand will be called Vimala­ghoṣa­tejeśvara­rāja.

“ ‘Five hundred others will all have the same name; they will be called Sūryaghoṣa.”

“ ‘Another 2,500232 will have these names: Vigata­bhaya­kīrti­rāja, Vigataraśmi, Vigataraśmighoṣa, Kīrtīśvaraghoṣa, Vipara­dharmakīrti­ghoṣa, Garbha­kīrti­rāja, Ratna­dhvaja, Jyotīśvara, Uttapta­muni­jñāneśvara, Ketacīvara­saṃbhṛta­rāja, Acintyamati­jñāna­garbha, [F.193.a] Jñānamerudhvaja, Jñānasāgara­rāja, Mahā­vīrya­ghoṣeśvara, Meruśrīkalpa, Jñāna­virajavega, Kimīśvarabīja, Jñāna­suvimala­garjiteśvara, Abhi­bhūta­guṇa­sāgara­rāja, Jñāna­saṃbhavabala­rāja, Viraja­vīreśvara­rāja, Muni­śrīkūṭavega­saṃkusuma, Śrīkūṭa­jñāna­buddhi, Vajrasiṃha, Śīla­prabhāsvara, Bhadrottama, Anantaraśmi, Siṃhanandi, Akṣayajñānakūṭa, Ratnāvabhāsa, Jñānavimala, Jñānapravāḍa, Siṃhakīrti, Abhijñāguṇarāja, Dharmasumanāvarṣin, Prabhākara, Abhyudgatameru, Dharma­samudgata­rāja­vimala, Gandheśvara, Vimalanetra, Mahāprasandaya, Asaṅgabalarāja, Svajñānapuṇyabala, Jñānacīvara, Vaśavartin, Asaṅgahiteṣin, Jñānasaṃbhava, Mahāmeru, Balagarbha, Guṇākara, Latākusumadhvaja, Guṇaprabhāsa, Viguṇamoharāja, Vajrottama, Dharmaketu, Ghoṣendrarāja, Svagupta, Vajradhvaja, Ratneśvara, Abhyudgatadhvaja, Śailakalpa, Ratimegha, Dharma­kārisāla­rāja, Samantaguptasāgara­rāja, Jñānasaṃnicaya, Jñānārci, Kusumagaṇi, Gajendreśvara, Udumbarapuṣpa, Kāñcanadhvaja, Dharmadhvaja, Vinarditarāja, Candana, Supra­tiṣṭhitasthāma­vikrama, Dhvajāgrapradīpa, Jñānakrama, Sāgaradhvaja, [F.193.b] Vyayadharmakīrti, Māravinardita, Guṇārci, Jñānaprabha, Jñānapradīpa, Kṣemarāja, Jñānaghoṣa, Dhvajasaṃgraha, Vajrapradīpa, Vyūharāja, Jayasaṃkhya, Supratiṣṭhita, Maticandrarāja, Kramavinardita­rāja, Sālendrasiṃha­vigraha, Nārāyaṇa­vijita­garbha, Ratna­guṇa­saṃnicaya, Jyotigarbha, Nakṣatra­vibhavakīrti, Puṇyabala­sāla­rāja, Manojñaghoṣa,233 Brahmottara, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

“ ‘Another thousand will be named Gandha­padma­vijitakīrti­rāja, Raśmimaṇḍala­jyotiprabhāsa­rāja, Gandha­padmottaravega, Ananta­guṇa­sāgarajñānottara, Jambūcchāya, Guṇaśailadhvaja, Siṃhaketu, Nāga­vivarjitakusumateja­rāja, Sugandha­bīja­nairātma, and Amṛtaguṇatejarāja.234

“ ‘Another thousand will be tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddhas called Visṛṣṭa­dharma­rāja and Nāgendravi­mukti­buddha­loka­sāgaralocanaśaila.235

“ ‘At the same time, on the same day, they will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in the different world realms. Their lifespans will be ten intermediate eons.’

“Those ten thousand beings bowed down to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha. The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said:

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu spoke to the ninth prince, who was named Anagha,237 and it proceeded as before. The prince said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I shall perform bodhisattva conduct in such a way that bhagavat buddhas as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, who reside, live, and remain in realms in the ten directions as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, will be the witnesses for my performance of bodhisattva conduct.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, from the time I develop the aspiration for enlightenment in your presence until I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, may I never regret performing bodhisattva conduct. Until I reach enlightenment may my commitment be firm, and may I carry out whatever I say I will. May I never disturb the minds of other beings. May the motivation for the path of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas never arise to me. May a mind or mental event of desiring sense pleasures never arise. May dullness and sleepiness never arise. May restlessness never arise. May remorse never arise. May doubt never arise. May I never take life, take what has not been given, fail to maintain celibacy, lie, slander, speak harshly, speak meaninglessly,238 be avaricious, be malicious, hold wrong views, be miserly,239 or be disrespectful to or contradict the Dharma. Until I reach enlightenment, as I perform bodhisattva conduct, may I never have those qualities. Until I reach enlightenment, even when I am just taking a step, [F.194.b] may my mind and mental events always be engaged in remembering the Buddha. Until I reach enlightenment, may I never be bereft of seeing the Buddha, hearing the Dharma, and serving the Saṅgha. May I become ordained in all my lifetimes. May I in all my lifetimes wear sewn-together rags, wear the three Dharma robes, dwell at the foot of a tree, sleep sitting upright,240 live in the wilderness, beg for alms,241 have few desires, be content, teach the Dharma, speak appropriately, and be endowed with limitless eloquence. May I never commit a root downfall. May I never subjugate opponents with words that are lies. May I never give a Dharma teaching concerning emptiness to a female. May I never teach the Dharma to a female with my mind focused on emptiness.242 May I never teach the Dharma gesturing with my hands. May I always perceive bodhisattvas who have set out on the Mahāyāna as my teachers. Whenever I listen to the Dharma from a Dharma reciter, may I perceive him to be my teacher and, having honored him, may I serve, honor, respect, and make offerings to that Dharma reciter as I would a tathāgata, to the extent that I would serve that Dharma reciter even with my own flesh. May I give to others without a thought of whether they are a worthy or unworthy recipient. May I never have a mind or mental event of miserliness when making the gift of the Dharma. May I protect those beings who are dedicated to enlightenment by giving my life. May I free beings in distress from their distress with whatever wealth I have gained through my diligence, my strength, and my prayers. [F.195.a] May I never criticize those with the signs of ordination, those with the signs of lay life, those who have committed downfalls, or those who have not committed downfalls. May I always perceive acquisitions, honors, and praise as being like fire, poison, and weapons.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if these prayers of mine, made in your presence, are to be perfectly fulfilled from now until I reach enlightenment, then may there appear on both my hands precious divine wheels, each with a thousand spokes, a hub, and a rim, and each as bright as the luster of the sun.’

“As soon as Prince Anagha said those words, there appeared upon both his hands such wheels as he had wished for. Then he said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if my wishes are to be fulfilled from now until I reach enlightenment, then may these wheels go to the empty buddha realms that have the five degeneracies. With a sound as loud as the movements of the nāga kings Nanda and Upananda, may they spread, throughout each entire buddha realm, the Dharma discourse on the domain of buddhas, who engage in prophecies to bodhisattvas, mindfulness, unforgetfulness, wisdom, vision, and meditation on emptiness. And may this Dharma discourse come to appear in the auditory faculties of all the beings born there. And, as soon as it is heard, may the desire of those beings cease, and may their anger, ignorance, pride, envy, and miserliness cease. With their minds focused on recollecting all the buddhas, may they give rise to the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“Noble son, Prince Anagha [F.195.b] sent forth those two precious wheels, moving as fast as bhagavat buddhas can.243 In such manner those two precious wheels went to countless, limitless buddha realms in the ten directions that had the five degeneracies, and to the beings there spread the Dharma discourse on the domain of buddhas, who engage in prophecies to bodhisattvas, mindfulness, unforgetfulness, wisdom, vision, and meditation on emptiness. And this Dharma discourse came to appear in the auditory faculties of those beings, and for all of them any mind or mental events of desire, and so on, up to and including miserliness, ceased. With their minds on the domain of wisdom of the buddhas, they gave rise to the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment, and within an instant the wheels returned and stood in front of Prince Anagha.

“Then, noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said to Prince Anagha, ‘Excellent, excellent, noble son, you have made a very splendid prayer. And you have sent these precious divine wheels to buddha realms that are empty and have the five degeneracies, and you have established many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of beings in unpolluted states of mind and have made them focus upon enlightenment. Therefore, noble son, you will be known as Akṣobhya. You, Akṣobhya, will become a guide for the world. You, Akṣobhya, shall obtain the arrays of buddha-realm qualities such as you wish.’

“Akṣobhya said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I wish for such an array of buddha-realm qualities: May all the ground be made of gold. May it be as flat as the palm of the hand, scattered with precious divine jewels, free of pebbles and gravel, free of pillars of rock, boulders, and mountains, and as soft and pleasant to the touch as down; [F.196.a] may it sink when you tread on it, and rise when you lift your feet. May hells, animal births, the world of Yama, and the preta realm not be known there. In that buddha realm may there be nothing that smells bad. May that buddha realm be pervaded by incense that transcends that of the devas, and may that buddha realm be filled with divine coral trees and great coral tree flowers.

“ ‘May the beings there never age, fall ill, or die. May they never be afraid of each other. May they never injure each other. May those beings never die prematurely or die with regret. May they never die while not in meditation. May the beings there be focused upon the constant recollection of the Buddha. May they not be reborn in the lower realms. May they not be reborn in buddha realms that are empty and with the five degeneracies. Until they attain enlightenment and parinirvāṇa may they never be deprived of the sight of the Buddha. May they never be deprived of hearing the Dharma and serving the Saṅgha. May the beings there have little desire, little anger, and little delusion. May all who are there adopt and follow the path of the ten good actions. May the beings in that buddha realm not be workers in crafts. May they have no portents for lower rebirth. May there be no way for the māras to enter the beings there. May the beings there not have a bad color.244 May the beings there neither be lords nor servants. May the beings there have no possessiveness and no acquisitiveness. [F.196.b] May the śrāvakas and bodhisattvas there never ejaculate, even while dreaming. May all the beings there long for the Dharma and seek the Dharma. In that buddha realm may there not be a single being who has a mistaken view and may there be no tīrthikas. May the beings there never be fatigued in body and never fatigued in mind. May all the beings there possess the five clairvoyances. May all the beings there never be oppressed by thirst or hunger. May whatever food they desire appear before them in precious bowls, just as for the devas in the realm of sense pleasure. May they have no feces, urine, spittle, snot, tears, or sweat.

“ ‘May there be no cold and no heat. May there be a pleasant scent. May soft breezes waft there. May those breezes bring fragrances of the devas or humans when they wish for it and of the kind they wish for. One person may wish for a cool breeze and another for a warm breeze. Some may want a breeze that has the scent of the blue lotus, some may want a breeze with the scent of uragasāra sandalwood, some may want a breeze with the scent of benzoin, some may want a breeze with the scent of valerian, some may want a breeze with the scent of aloeswood, and some may wish for a breeze such as has never been wished for before, and it will be created just as their minds imagined it. In that way may that world realm be free of the five degeneracies. [F.197.a]

“ ‘May the beings there have kūṭāgāras made of the seven jewels, and whenever people stay within those kūṭāgāras, may there appear couches that are made of the seven jewels and covered with cotton cushions, as soft to the touch as down. Whenever the beings there are going to bathe, may pools appear around those kūṭāgāras, filled with water that has the eight good qualities. May there be rows of jasmine trees and palm trees that are adorned. May those trees be adorned with various kinds of flowers, fruits, scents, cloths, parasols, strings of pearls, and ornaments. May the beings there pick from those wish-fulfilling trees whatever clothing and adornments they wish for and wear them. In this way, may they select and put on everything, from the flowers up to the ornaments.

“ ‘May my Bodhi tree be made of the seven jewels and be a thousand yojanas high, with a trunk that is one yojana wide, and with branches that spread for a thousand yojanas. When that Bodhi tree is stirred by the breezes, may it emit the words perfections, clairvoyances, powers, strengths, and factors of enlightenment, their sound being more gentle and pleasant than that of the devas. May the beings who hear those words each attain mindfulness, with a mind free from desire.

“ ‘May the women in that buddha realm be endowed with all good qualities, just as the apsaras among the gods of Tuṣita. May the women there have no bad smell, never be double-tongued, and never be filled with envy or miserliness. May the men [F.197.b] there not engage in sexual intercourse with the women. When a sexual desire arises in a man there, when he goes to a woman and looks at her with desire, may his desire cease in that instant, and feeling very contrite may he walk away and obtain a samādhi that is pure and unsullied. Through that samādhi may he be liberated from the nooses of the māras and never again give rise to a mind of desire. When a woman there looks at a man with sexual desire, may she become pregnant just by looking, and may the desire of both the man and woman cease completely just by looking. May the boy or girl in their wombs experience physical and mental bliss, just like the Trāyastriṃśa devas are delighted and joyful and experience physical and mental bliss. May the boys and girls in the wombs in that buddha realm experience such bliss for seven days and nights. May the pregnant woman experience such bliss as that of a bhikṣu in the meditation of the second dhyāna. May those beings be unstained by the stains and impurities of the womb. On the seventh day, may they be born, bestowed with the most excellent fragrances and the most excellent pleasant cushions. May the mother not experience any suffering, and may both mother and child enter and bathe in the pools. And may that woman attain such mindfulness that she attains the samādhi that is free from desire and pure. May that samādhi free them from all desire,245 and may they always remain in samādhi. May whoever has created and accumulated karma in previous lives that will result in experiencing female existences for many tens of millions of eons [F.198.a] have all those female existences entirely come to an end through the accomplishment of that samādhi, and may they never again acquire a female existence throughout the time until their parinirvāṇa.

“ ‘May those beings who have accumulated the karma that will result in experiencing for countless eons the suffering of being born from a womb hear my name when I have attained enlightenment, have faith in me, and, after passing away, be reborn in my buddha realm, without being born from a womb. May the entirety of all that karma come completely to an end. May those beings never again be born from a womb throughout the time until they reach enlightenment.

“ ‘May those beings who have planted good roots completely annihilate their karma and not be reborn into a womb.246 In my buddha realm may women and beings who are in wombs have perfect happiness in that buddha realm.247

“ ‘When the jasmine and palm trees are stirred by the breezes, may they emit a beautiful sound; may they emit the words impermanent, suffering, not self, and empty. Through those words, may the people there attain the samādhi called endowed with a lamp.248 Through that samādhi, may those beings understand the profound teachings that illuminate emptiness. In that buddha realm may there be no words connected with desire.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, seated at the foot of the Bodhi tree, may I instantly attain the highest, most complete enlightenment. When I have attained enlightenment, in that buddha realm, except for when flowers close, may there be no light from a sun and moon. May I radiate such light [F.198.b] that I can see with divine sight the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain in measureless, countless other buddha realms.

“ ‘When I have attained enlightenment, may I teach the Dharma with such a voice that I may fill the entire billion-world buddha realm, and may all the beings that are there attain the constant recollection of the Buddha. Whether they are going somewhere, walking, sitting,249 or returning, may they always see me. Whatever doubts about such teachings they may have, may their doubts be dispelled merely upon seeing me, merely upon beholding me.

“ ‘When I have attained enlightenment, may the beings in the measureless, countless buddha realms in the ten directions‍—whether they are following the Śrāvakayāna, the Pratyekabuddhayāna, or the unsurpassable yāna‍—hear my name or praise. Then, when they pass away, may they be reborn in my buddha realm. There, may they hear the Dharma from me and may those who follow the Śrāvakayāna become arhats who have attained meditative absorption in the eight liberations.250 May the bodhisattvas who follow the Mahāyāna hear the Dharma from me and attain profound samādhi, acceptance, and dhāraṇī. May they become irreversible from attaining the highest, most complete enlightenment. May my saṅgha of śrāvakas be so immeasurable that no one except for a tathāgata can know its extent.

“ ‘When I have attained enlightenment, wherever I go, wherever the soles of my feet touch the ground, may there appear golden thousand-petaled lotuses. [F.199.a] May those lotuses go to empty buddha realms and there emit a voice expressing my praise. When the beings there hear my name, praise, and fame, may they become pleased, delighted, and filled with joy. Having developed faith, may those beings desire to be reborn in my buddha realm. May they dedicate their good roots toward that, and when they pass away, may they be reborn in my buddha realm.

“ ‘May my saṅgha of śrāvakas be free of the impurities of mendicants, may it be free of the faults of mendicants, may it be free of the dishonesty of mendicants, and may it be free of the deceit of mendicants. May my followers be dedicated to the Dharma, not dedicated to material things, and not dedicated to gain and esteem, and may they delight in impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and no self, and be diligent. May the assembly be attentive to the Dharma and dedicated to the saṅgha.

“ ‘May those bodhisattvas who have become irreversible attain recollection that can persist into the future. Even when they have been reborn, may the words they speak be related to the perfection of wisdom. Until they attain enlightenment may they never forget the teachings.

“ ‘When I have attained enlightenment, may I live for ten thousand great eons. And when I have passed into parinirvāṇa, may the good Dharma remain for a thousand eons.’

“The Bhagavat said to him, ‘Well done, well done, good man! The buddha realm that you have chosen will be completely pure! In the future, Akṣobhya, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, [F.199.b] in the east, a thousand buddha realms from here, you will be in a realm that will be called Abhirati, which will be endowed with the array of qualities according to the prayers you have made. There you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. Thus you will be the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the buddha bhagavat, named Akṣobhya.’251

“Akṣobhya said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, may the beings everywhere in all the world realms‍—who have taken possession of aggregates, sensory elements, and sensory bases, who are comprised as beings‍—all have loving minds, minds without enmity, and minds without impurity. May they experience physical bliss. May they be bestowed with mental and physical bliss like that of tenth-level bodhisattvas in the lotus samādhi, who have the purity of having relinquished thinking. When I bow down the five points of my body to the feet of the Bhagavat, may the entire earth become the color of gold.’

“Noble son, when he bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, all beings were bestowed with the bliss he had prayed for, and at that time the entire earth was seen to be gold in color.

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said:

“Noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu then spoke to the tenth prince, who was named Himaṇi,254 and it proceeded as before. Prince Himaṇi made the same kind of prayers that Akṣobhya had. Then he said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, may all beings see the Buddha in their minds, may there appear the fragrance of uragasāra sandalwood in their hands, and may they dedicate that fragrance to the body of the Buddha.’

“The Bhagavat said, ‘Excellent, excellent, noble son! Exalted are the prayers you have made! Noble son, because you made all beings hold uragasāra sandalwood in their hands and caused their thoughts to be focused upon the Buddha, you will have the name Gandhahasti.255 Gandhahasti, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, after the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Akṣobhya has passed into parinirvāṇa, and seven days after his good Dharma has disappeared, you, Gandhahasti, will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in that world realm. There you will be the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Suvarṇapuṣpa.’

“Gandhahasti said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, when I bow down the five points of my body to the feet of the Bhagavat, may a rain of magnolia flowers fall over the entire park.’ [F.200.b]

“Noble son, when the bodhisattva Gandhahasti bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, a rain of magnolia flowers did fall over the entire park, and the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said:

“Noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu then spoke to the eleventh prince, who was named Siṃha, and it proceeded as before. Prince Siṃha made prayers like those of Gandhahasti, and then offered the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha a precious victory banner.

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said, ‘Worthy being, excellent! Excellent! You should be named Ratnaketu!258 Ratnaketu, in the future, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, after the Tathāgata Suvarṇapuṣpa has passed into parinirvāṇa in the Abhirati world realm and his good Dharma has disappeared, that buddha realm will be known as Jayasoma. There you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, and you will become the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the buddha bhagavat, named Nāga­vinarditeśvara­ghoṣa. Your buddha realm will have the same array of qualities as those of the Tathāgata Akṣobhya’s buddha realm.’

“Ratnaketu said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, then when I bow down to the feet of the Bhagavat, [F.201.a] may all beings acquire the mindfulness of the bodhisattvas who have set out toward great enlightenment, who have compassionately set out toward complete enlightenment for the sake of all beings, and who will not turn back.’

“Noble son, when the bodhisattva Ratnaketu thus bowed down to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, all beings acquired such mindfulness, that is, all beings were caused to have compassionate minds.

“Then, noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said to the bodhisattva Ratnaketu:

“Then, in the same way, five hundred princes, preceded by Mārdava, made prayers of aspiration and obtained arrays of qualities of a buddha realm just as the bodhisattva Gaganamudra had prayed and obtained arrays of qualities of a buddha realm. The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha gave prophecies of the highest, complete enlightenment to them all, saying that at such a time, in this or that world realm, they would reach the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“Another four hundred princes chose the array of buddha-realm qualities that Vajraccheda­prajñā­vabhāsaśrī had prayed for, and the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha gave prophecies to them all too, saying that in this or that world realm, they would reach the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“Another ninety princes chose buddha realms like those Samantabhadra had prayed for. [F.201.b] Also, each of the 84,000 minor kings all made their own specific prayers of aspiration. Each one chose an array of buddha-realm qualities, and the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha gave prophecies to them all too, saying that at such-and-such a time, in this or that world realm, they would reach the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“In that same way, 920,000,000259 beings each made their own specific prayers of aspiration and chose an array of buddha-realm qualities, and the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha prophesied to them all too, saying that at such-and-such a time, in this or that world, they would reach the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“Noble son, among the eighty sons of the brahmin Samudrareṇu, the brothers of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, the oldest was a brahmin youth named Samudreśvarabhuvi. The brahmin Samudrareṇu said to the brahmin youth Samudreśvarabhuvi, ‘Young brahmin, you too should choose a pure array of buddha-realm qualities.’

“The young brahmin Samudreśvarabhuvi answered, ‘Father, you should be first260 to make that lion’s roar.’

“ ‘Son,’ said Samudrareṇu, ‘you make an aspirational prayer, and I will make an aspirational prayer after you.’

“Then he asked, ‘Father, do you think I should choose a pure buddha realm or an impure buddha realm?’

“The royal priest replied, ‘Young brahmin, the bodhisattvas who have great compassion choose an afflicted buddha realm; [F.202.a] they decide to guide beings with afflicted thoughts and mistaken views. As for you, you should decide for yourself.’

“Noble son, the young brahmin Samudreśvarabhuvi went to where the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha was, sat before the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, and said these words: ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I wish to attain the highest, most complete enlightenment when beings live for eighty thousand years. Bhagavat, may the beings in the buddha realm where I attain complete enlightenment be like beings in this present time who have little desire, little anger, little ignorance, sorrowful thoughts, and who see the dangers and faults in saṃsāra. May they take ordination from me. May I teach the Dharma to those beings by the three yānas. Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, then I pray that the Bhagavat give me the prophecy of my attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said, ‘Young brahmin, in the future, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, there will be the Utpalasaṃtīraṇa eon in which there will be a four-continent world called Baliṣṭhā.261 In this buddha realm, where beings live for eighty thousand years, you will attain enlightenment and you will become the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Ratnakūṭa.’

“He said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, [F.202.b] then may there be a rainfall of red pearls over this entire park, and may all the trees emit music with the five tempos.’

“Noble son, when the young brahmin Samudreśvarabhuvi bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, there was a rainfall of red pearls over the entire park, and all the trees emitted music with the five tempos.

“The Tāthagata Ratnagarbha said:

“The brahmin’s second son was named Saṃbhava, who spoke just as Samudreśvarabhuvi. The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said, ‘Young brahmin, in the Utpalasaṃtīraṇa eon in the four-continent world realm called Baliṣṭhā, when beings live for eighty thousand years, you will become the tāthagata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Vairocanakusuma.’

“In the same way, the third son spoke. The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha prophesied, ‘When beings live for two thousand years, you will become the tāthagata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Jyotigandha.’

“In the same way he prophesied the tathāgatas Sumana, Śailarāja, Saṃvṛtalocana, Brahmottara, Jambūcchāya, Pūrṇa, Uttara, Ratnaśaila, Samudragarbha, Nārāyaṇa, Śikhin, Kanakamuni, Munīndra, Kauṇḍinya, Siṃhavikrama, Jñānadhvaja, [F.203.a] Buddhaśrava, Aparājita, Vikasitojjaya,262 Hiteṣin, Prajñāvabhāsa, Mahendra, Śāntaprajñākara, Nanda, Nyagrodharāja, Kanakalocana, Sahita, Sūryanandi, Ratnaśikhin, Sunetra, Brahma, Sunda,263 Brahmarṣabha, Praṇāda, Dharmacandra, Arthadarśin, Yaśonandin,264 Yaśottara, Abhirūpa, Sugandha, Catura, Pravaralocana, Sunijasta, Sārthavrata, Sumanoratha, Varaprajña, Kanakadhvaja, Sunetra,265 Devaśuddha, Śuddhodana, Sudarśana,266 Virūḍhadhvaja, Virūpākṣa, Brahmasvara, Śrīsaṃbhava, Śrīmahāviraja, Maṇibhadra, Mārīci, Śākyamuni, Ghoṣeśvara, Satyasaṃbhava, Śreṣṭha, Saṃbhavapuṣpa, Sukusuma, Akṣobhya, Sūryagarbha, Ratīśvara, Nāgadanta,267 Vajraprabhāsa, Kīrtirāja, Vyāghraraśmi, Sanetya­jñāna­saṃbhava, Gandheśvara,268 Sālendra, Nārāyaṇagarbha,269 and Jyotigarbha.

“Noble son, the youngest of the royal priest’s sons, who was named Vigatabhayasaṃtāpa, sat before the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, you have prophesied that all of these seventy-nine young brahmins will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in the second eon, the developed era of Utpalasaṃtīraṇa. [F.203.b] Bhadanta Bhagavat, I will also develop the motivation to attain the highest, most complete enlightenment. May I be the very last to reach supreme enlightenment in the Utpalasaṃtīraṇa eon when it is coming to an end. Whatever is the lifespan of those seventy-nine buddhas, when I attain enlightenment, may I have a lifespan that is equal to the sum of all theirs. May I alone have as many disciples as they all will have had, and may I give as many Dharma teachings through the three yānas as they all will. Having attained enlightenment, may I alone have in my saṅghas of disciples as many as all will have. And when I have attained the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood as the eon is coming to an end, may I firmly establish in the three yānas all those beings who attained a human body during that Utpalasaṃtīraṇa eon when the seventy-nine other buddhas appeared. Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, then may the Bhadanta Bhagavat prophesy my highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“Noble son, then the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha congratulated Vigatabhayasaṃtāpa, saying, ‘Well done, well done, good man! You have come forth as a compassionate benefactor for countless beings. Young brahmin, in the future, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, when the Utpalasaṃtīraṇa eon is coming to an end, you will be the last to attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. [F.204.a] You will become the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Vigata­raja­samudgatābhyudgata­rāja.270 The lifespans of all seventy-nine buddhas together are equal to half an eon, and so you alone will live for half an eon. Likewise, all those prayers of yours will be accomplished according to your aspiration.’

“Vigatabhayasaṃtāpa said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if my wish is to be completely fulfilled, when I bow down the five points of my body to the Bhagavat’s feet, may a rain of very fragrant blue flowers fall on this entire buddha realm. May the elements of all the beings who smell their fragrance become clear and unconflicted, and may all their illnesses become pacified.’

“Noble son, when the young brahmin Vigatabhayasaṃtāpa bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, a rain of blue flowers fell on this entire buddha realm, and the elements of all the beings who smelled their fragrance became balanced and in harmony, and all the beings there were without illness or injury.

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said:

“Noble son, thirty million disciples of the brahmin were sitting at the gate of the park. [F.204.b] They were giving refuge in the Three Jewels to those beings who arrived there and inspiring them to attain enlightenment.

“Noble son, then the brahmin Samudrareṇu addressed those disciples: ‘Dear young brahmins, you should develop the motivation to attain the highest, most complete enlightenment, and you should choose the array of buddha-realm qualities that you desire. In the presence of the Bhagavat you should make the aspirational prayers that you wish to make.’

“Then the brahmin youth named Radiant Bull271 asked, ‘Through which path, through which accumulation, through which conduct, and through which mindfulness is enlightenment attained?’

“ ‘Young brahmin,’ replied the royal priest, ‘the bodhisattva who follows the path to enlightenment accomplishes it through four inexhaustible treasures. What are these four? They are the inexhaustible accumulation of merit, the inexhaustible accumulation of knowledge, the inexhaustible accumulation of wisdom, and the inexhaustible accumulation of the true accomplishment of all Dharma teachings. Noble son, such is the path.

“ ‘And, young brahmin, the Tathāgata has taught that the bodhisattva practice of accumulation is called gathering the pure accumulations: The accumulation of generosity is to give completely the Dharma entranceways and thereby ripen those beings who are to be guided.272 The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of correct conduct completely fulfills their aspirational prayers. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of patience completely perfects for them the major and secondary physical signs. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of diligence enables them to accomplish all that is necessary. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of meditation elevates their minds.273 The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of wisdom [F.205.a] gives them the complete knowledge of all kleśas. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of learning makes them have unimpeded eloquence. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of merit enables them to care for all beings. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of knowledge gives them unimpeded knowledge.274 The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of śamatha makes their minds workable. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of vipaśyanā liberates them from uncertainty. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of kindness makes their minds free of hostility. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of compassion causes them to never weary of guiding beings. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of rejoicing causes them to delight in the joy of the Dharma. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of equanimity causes them to forsake attachment and aversion. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of listening to the Dharma causes the elimination of their obscurations. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of renunciation causes them to relinquish all possessiveness. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of dwelling in solitude prevents wasting the good actions they have done. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of meditating on the increase of goodness creates all good roots. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of recollection causes the attainment of the power of mental retention. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of intelligence distinguishes between the aspects of the mind. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of aspiration brings realization of meaning. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of mindfulness [F.205.b] develops attention to the body, sensation, mind, and phenomena. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of correct elimination perfects meditation on good qualities. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of the bases of miraculous powers creates lightness of body and mind. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of powers accomplishes the fulfillment of vows. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of strengths accomplishes the defeat of all the kleśas. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of the factors for enlightenment accomplishes the comprehension of the nature of phenomena. The bodhisattvas’ accumulation of the six essential matters accomplishes the purification of those they are guiding. This, young brahmin, is the Dharma entranceway for transcending saṃsāra called gathering the pure accumulations.’

“The young brahmin Radiant Bull said, ‘The Bhagavat has taught that the accumulation of generosity leads to having great wealth and a great retinue, that correct conduct leads to rebirth in higher existences, that listening to the Dharma leads to having great wisdom, and the Bhagavat has taught that faith, right livelihood, and meditation leads to transcendence from saṃsāra.’

“ ‘Young brahmin,’ replied the royal priest, ‘those who, taking pleasure in saṃsāra, practice generosity, should do as has been taught: Young brahmin, those noble sons or noble daughters who have entered the path to enlightenment should practice generosity with a tamed mind; with a stable mind they should maintain correct conduct, with an unpolluted mind they should strive to listen to the Dharma, and with a mind of great compassion they should practice meditation. They should search for the other teachings as well in order to accomplish the accumulations of wisdom, knowledge, and method.’ [F.206.a]

“ ‘This, young brahmin, is the path to enlightenment. Through such accumulation, enlightenment is attained. Young brahmin, such is meditation, such is mindfulness, such is the conduct of the path to enlightenment. Young brahmin, develop the aspiration for enlightenment. Young brahmin, the path to enlightenment is pure, because should you make an aspirational prayer with sincerity, it will be fulfilled. Young brahmin, the path to enlightenment is serene, because of the purity of thoughts. Young brahmin, the path to enlightenment is upright, because it is completely clear of deception and because it removes the kleśas. Young brahmin, the path to enlightenment is secure, because its consummation is unsurpassable nirvāṇa. Young brahmin, make an aspirational prayer and choose a buddha realm’s array of qualities that is either pure or impure, as you desire.’

“Then, noble son, the young brahmin Radiant Bull knelt on his right knee before the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I too will develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment. May I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in this afflicted buddha realm for the sake of beings with little desire, with little anger, with little ignorance, whose minds are not confused, whose minds are without enmity, whose minds are without envy and greed, whose minds are without wrong views, whose minds are established in correct views, whose minds are virtuous, whose minds are dedicated to virtue, whose minds have shunned the paths to the three lower existences, whose minds are dedicated to the paths of the three higher existences, [F.206.b] who accumulate good roots through the three activities that create merit, and whose minds are dedicated to the three yānas. Bhadanta Bhagavat, if my wishes are to be completely fulfilled, may the lords of elephants appear on my two hands.’

“As soon as he said those words, through the power of the Bhagavat, white seven-limbed275 lords of elephants appeared on his two hands. He saw them and said to them, ‘Go up276 into the sky above this entire buddha realm and awaken all beings from this buddha realm with rain that is perfectly fragrant and is formed of water with the eight excellent qualities. May the beings whose bodies are touched by its drops or who smell its fragrance be freed from the five obscurations, that is, may they be freed from the obscuration of taking pleasure in desire and may they be freed from the obscurations of malice, lethargy and sleepiness,277 agitation and regret, and doubt.’

“As soon as he said those words, the elephants quickly flew up into the sky as fast as a strong man can bend his arm and straighten it. Thus those lords of elephants accomplished what they had been told to do, and then returned and stood in front of him.

“Noble son, the young brahmin Radiant Bull was overjoyed, and the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said to him, ‘Noble son, in the future, during a second such incalculable eon, [F.207.a] in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, in the eon named Rutaprabhāsa, in these four continents there will be a buddha realm called Rutasañcaya, where you will be the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the buddha bhagavat, named Ratna­cchatrābhyudgata­raśmi.’

“Then, noble son, the bodhisattva Radiant Bull bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, and the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said:

“In the same way, a thousand young Veda-reciting brahmins and thirty million other young brahmins prayed to attain the highest, most complete enlightenment in this buddha realm, and the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha gave a prophecy to each of them. The last of these were the buddhas Vipaśyin, Śikhin, and Viśvabhu.278

“Among the young brahmins who had received prophecies, the eldest of the thousand Veda-reciting brahmins, who was honored by many as a guru, was named Vāyuviṣṇu. He prayed, ‘May I reach the highest, most complete enlightenment in a buddha realm that has the five degeneracies. May I teach the Dharma to beings who have strong desire, strong anger, and strong ignorance.’

“The young brahmin Jyotipāla asked, ‘Oh, what purpose does the upādhyāya Vāyuviṣṇu see in praying for a buddha realm that has the five degeneracies?’

The royal priest answered, ‘A bodhisattva who has great compassion attains enlightenment in a buddha realm [F.207.b] that has the five degeneracies. He benefits beings who have no refuge, beings who have no helper, beings who are oppressed by the kleśas, and beings who encounter calamity because of their views. He becomes their refuge and helper‍—he frees beings from the ocean of birth, he establishes them in correct views, and he satisfies them with the taste of the nectar of nirvāṇa. The one who prays for a buddha realm that has the five degeneracies is thus seen to be a bodhisattva with great compassion.’

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said, ‘Vāyuviṣṇu, in the future, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, there will be in the eastern direction, beyond as many buddha realms as there are particles in a buddha realm, a realm called Kaṣāyadhvaja. There, worthy being, you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. You will be the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Śālendrarāja.’

“Vāyuviṣṇu said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, when I bow down the five points of my body to the feet of the Bhagavat, may the Bhagavat’s feet, adorned by a hundred signs of merit, be placed upon the crown of my head.’

“Noble son, when the brahmin Vāyuviṣṇu’s head touched the Bhagavat’s feet, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha placed his two feet upon the crown of the bodhisattva Vāyuviṣṇu’s head and said: [F.208.a]

“Then, noble son, the young brahmin Jyotipāla knelt on his right knee before the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I too will develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment. May I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in this buddha realm at a time when beings have an equal amount of desire, anger, and ignorance, have minds that are not set on either the good or bad, and live for forty thousand years.’

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said, ‘After an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, this world realm will be called Sahā. Why will this world realm be called Sahā? It is because its inhabitants will have to endure desire, they will have to endure anger, they will have to endure ignorance, they will have to endure the bondage of the kleśas. That is why this world realm will be called Sahā. In the world realm called Sahā there will be a great eon called Bhadra.279 Why is it called Bhadra? Because in the great Bhadraka eon a thousand bhagavat samyaksam­buddhas with great compassion will appear among the beings who act through desire, anger, and ignorance. Worthy being, when the great Bhadraka eon has come and beings live for forty thousand years, you will be the first of all those who will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. You will be the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Krakucchanda.280 [F.208.b] You will teach the Dharma through the three yānas, you will liberate countless beings who are being swept away by the river of saṃsāra, and you will bring them to the far shore of nirvāṇa.’

“Noble son, the bodhisattva Jyotipāla then bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, stood up, and sat to one side.

“Noble son, then the second young brahmin, Tumburu, sat before the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I become a buddha after the Tathāgata Krakucchanda, at a time when the beings in that world can live for thirty thousand years.’

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said, ‘Young brahmin, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, in the buddha realm called Sahā, when the Bhadraka eon has come, following after the Tathāgata Krakucchanda, at a time when beings can live for thirty thousand years, you will be the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Kanakamuni, renowned throughout the world.’

“When the brahmin Tumburu heard the Bhagavat’s prophecy, he bowed down his head to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, circumambulated him, and stood before the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha. He scattered flowers over the Bhagavat, and with his palms together he praised the Bhagavat with verses:

“Noble son, the young brahmin Viśvagupta then set a seat made of the seven jewels before the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, an arranged seat that had the value of a hundred thousand silver coins, and on that seat he placed a golden mendicant’s bowl filled with the seven jewels, a gold vase, and a staff made of the seven jewels. He presented this to the Buddha and the saṅgha of bhikṣus and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, in the future, after as many incalculable eons as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River have passed, during a second series of as many incalculable eons as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during the Bhadraka eon, when the lifespan is diminishing, when the signs of the kaliyuga have appeared, and when beings have strong desire, anger, and ignorance and are completely overcome by pride, envy, and greed; when beings have wrong views, rely on bad friends, have minds completely overcome by roots of nonvirtue, have minds completely bereft of roots of virtue, have minds lacking the correct view, and have unvirtuous minds through incorrect livelihoods; and when the Tathāgata Kanakamuni has passed into parinirvāṇa, and his Dharma has ceased to exist, and the world has become blind, and there is no guide, and beings live for twenty thousand years‍—[F.209.b] then at that time may I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood and appear among those beings as a tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha, perfectly endowed with wisdom and virtuous conduct.’

“Noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said to the brahmin Viśvagupta, ‘Excellent, brahmin, excellent! Worthy being, you have prayed to become a buddha when the signs of the kaliyuga have appeared, when beings live for twenty thousand years, and when the world has become blind and has no guide. This means that you have great realization and that you are endowed with wisdom. Therefore, noble son, you should have the name Vidvagañja­karuṇāśraya. Vidvagañja­karuṇāśraya, in the future, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, in the Sahā realm, when the Bhadraka eon has come, when beings live for twenty thousand years, you will be the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Kāśyapa.’

“Then, noble son, the bodhisattva Vidvagañja­karuṇāśraya bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and stood to one side. He scattered flowers, flower garlands, incense, and powders over the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and praised him with these verses:

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu encouraged the fourth young brahmin, Vimalavaiśāyana. Noble son, [F.210.a] the young brahmin Vimalavaiśāyana then stood in front of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I also aspire to enlightenment in the Bhadraka eon‍—only not in the kaliyuga.

“ ‘When the Tathāgata Kāśyapa has passed into parinirvāṇa, when the lifespan of people is ten thousand years, when beings no longer have thoughts of generosity, control, or vows, when they are devoid of the seven riches, when they perceive bad friends as teachers, when they are not interested in engaging in the three acts that create merit, when they are devoid of the three good types of conduct, when they are dedicated to the three pleasures, when they have minds disturbed by the darkness of the kleśas, when they are not interested in the three yānas‍—at that time, no one is able to bring about the conduct of a bodhisattva. What to say when the lifespan is a thousand years, and then when those beings have a lifespan of only a hundred years‍—at that time, beings will not even know the words root of merit, let alone the practice of roots of virtue. At that time, when the world is comprised of the five degeneracies, when the lifespan is diminishing to a hundred years, when the intermediate eon of weapons has set in, may I descend from the gods and bring protection to beings. May I enjoin them to good actions, having abandoned bad actions. May I establish beings in the ten good courses of action. May I help purify the kleśas of beings by means of the good courses of action. May I enjoin them to the three yānas.281 May I help them abandon the five degeneracies. When beings live for eighty thousand years, [F.210.b] may I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. May I teach the Dharma to beings with little desire, anger, stupidity, ignorance, envy, and greed, and may I enjoin them to the three yānas.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is to be completely fulfilled, may the Bhagavat give me the prophecy of my highest, most complete enlightenment. Bhadanta Bhagavat, when I receive such prophecy,282 I will not be dedicated to the śrāvaka level nor to the level of a pratyekabuddha, by which yānas I would swiftly be liberated from saṃsāra.’

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha said, ‘Young brahmin, there are these four kinds of laziness for bodhisattvas. Some bodhisattvas who have such laziness while wishing to remain in saṃsāra for a long time experience the suffering of the precipice of views and the dungeon of saṃsāra, and they do not quickly attain the highest, most complete enlightenment. What are those four? They are when bodhisattvas have inferior practice, inferior companions, inferior generosity, and inferior prayer. How is it that bodhisattvas have inferior practice, and so on? It is having incorrect conduct and not guarding body, speech, and mind. It is being in the company of those of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha yānas. It is not being able to give away everything, not being able to give away to everyone; it is acts of generosity made out of a desire for the prosperity and happiness of devas and humans. It is not taking up, with a higher motivation, the array of qualities of a buddha realm, [F.211.a] but taking up prayers without being focused on guiding beings. The lazy bodhisattvas who have those four qualities experience suffering for a long time in the dungeon of saṃsāra and do not quickly attain the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“ ‘Bodhisattvas who possess four qualities quickly attain the highest, most complete enlightenment. What are those four qualities? They are the possession of correct conduct and guarding body, speech, and mind; remaining in the company of those who have entered the Mahāyāna; having the ability to give away everything, to give away to everyone, and performing acts of generosity through the compassionate motivation of wishing to free beings from suffering; and with an altruistic motivation choosing the arrays of qualities of a buddha realm and making prayers while focused on guiding beings. Bodhisattvas who have those four qualities quickly attain the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“ ‘There are four qualities upon which the path of the bodhisattvas depends. What are those four? They are diligence in the perfections, practicing the methods for gathering beings, accomplishing the brahmavihāras, and displaying the clairvoyances.

“ ‘There are four qualities of which the bodhisattvas should never have enough. What are those four? The bodhisattvas should never have enough of accomplishing acts of generosity; they should never have enough of listening to the Dharma; they should never have enough of meditation; and they should never have enough of gathering beings.

“ ‘There are four inexhaustible treasures that the bodhisattvas should completely perfect. What are those four? The bodhisattvas should completely perfect the inexhaustible treasure of faith, [F.211.b] of the teaching of the Dharma, of dedication, and of caring for poor beings.

“ ‘There are the four purities of bodhisattvas because there is no self. What are those four? They are the purity of correct conduct because there is no being; the purity of samādhi because there is no soul; the purity of wisdom because there is no individual; and the purity of knowledge through the vision of the knowledge of liberation.283 Those are the four qualities that should be perfected by the bodhisattvas.

“ ‘Through these, bodhisattvas quickly attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, and they turn the wheel of space, the inconceivable wheel,284 the unequaled wheel, the inexpressible wheel, the liberating wheel, the penetrating wheel, and the unturning wheel.

“ ‘Vimalavaiśāyana, in the future, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, not long after the Bhadraka eon has begun, there will be a time when the five degeneracies have ceased and the lifespan of beings increases to eighty thousand years. At that time, you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. You will become the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Maitreya.’

“The young brahmin Vimalavaiśāyana bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, stood to one side, and, with flowers, flower garlands, and powders, made offerings to the Bhagavat and praised him with this verse:

“The brahmin royal priest Samudrareṇu caused all of the thousand young Veda-reciting brahmins to aspire to enlightenment. Just as Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, Kāśyapa, and Maitreya were prophesied, in the same way Siṃha, Pradyota, and so on were all set to the highest, most complete enlightenment by the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha in this Bhadraka eon when a further 999285 of the young Veda-reciting brahmins prayed to attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in this Bhadraka eon.

“The royal priest then encouraged the youngest among them, who had not yet made his prayer, saying, ‘Dear Mahābalavegadhārin, why are you thinking about this for so long? You must develop great compassion for beings.’ And with these verses he instructed him:

“Then, noble son, the brahmin youth Mahābalavegadhārin said, ‘Upādhyāya, I do not seek the splendor of joy in saṃsāra. I do not seek the Śrāvakayāna or the Pratyekabuddhayāna. I seek the highest yāna. Dear upādhyāya, wait a short while to listen to my lion’s roar.’

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu left him and summoned his five young brahmin attendants and said to them, ‘O boys, develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment!’

“They said, ‘We do not have anything to offer to the Buddha and the saṅgha of bhikṣus, so how can we who have not planted good roots develop the aspiration for enlightenment?’

“Then, noble son, the chief royal priest, the brahmin Samudrareṇu, gave adornments with the colors of the seven jewels to the first attendant named Karabhuja. [F.213.a] To the second attendant, Sthālabhuja, he gave a pair of earrings made of the seven jewels. To the third attendant, Jalabhuja, he gave a seat made of the seven jewels. To the fourth attendant, Vegabhuja, he gave a staff made of the seven jewels. To the fifth attendant, Sārabhuja, he gave a vase made entirely of gold. He said, ‘Go, youths, and offer these things to the Buddha and the saṅgha of bhikṣus and develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“The five attendants then went before the Bhagavat and offered the things they had brought to the Buddha and the saṅgha of bhikṣus and said these words: ‘Bhagavat, we pray that you give us your prophecy of our attainment of the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in the Bhadraka eon.’

“Noble son, it continued as before until the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha prophesied enlightenment to the young brahmin Karabhuja, saying that in the Bhadraka eon he would become the Tathāgata Dṛḍhasvara. Then he prophesied to the others that, after Karabhuja, Sthālabhuja would become the Tathāgata Sukhendriyamati; after him Jalabhuja would become the Tathāgata Sārthavādi; after him Vegabhuja would become the Tathāgata Priyaprasanna; and after him Sārabhuja would become the Tathāgata Haripatracūḍa.286

“As soon as those five brahmin youths were given the prophecies of their enlightenment in the Bhadraka eon, the royal priest again said to the brahmin youth Mahābalavegadhārin, ‘Mahābalavegadhārin, [F.213.b] choose the arrays of buddha-realm qualities, and in the presence of the Bhagavat make the aspiration that you wish. Nurture beings with the elixir of the Dharma, and perform your bodhisattva conduct with unwavering diligence. Don’t think about this over and over for a long time!’ And he took him by the hand and brought him before the Bhagavat.

“Then, noble son, the brahmin youth Mahābalavegadhārin sat before the Bhagavat and asked, ‘Bhagavat, in the future, how many sun-like sages will rise in the Bhadraka eon?’

“The Tathāgata Ratnagarbha answered, ‘Brahmin youth, in that Bhadraka eon there will rise 1,004 sun-like sages.’

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat,’ declared the brahmin youth, ‘until the last of those sun-like jinas pass into parinirvāṇa in the great Bhadraka eon, after the brahmin youth named Sārabhuja287 has attained the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood and become the tathāgata named Haripatracūḍa‍—until then, I will for that long perform the conduct of a bodhisattva, gathering the various accumulations of observances, ascetic conduct, generosity, discipline, vows, listening, diligence, patience, rejoicing, merit, and wisdom. Immediately after each of those of the Bhadraka eon has attained complete enlightenment, may I offer them their first alms. May I make offerings to their relics when they have passed into parinirvāṇa. May I be one who upholds their good Dharma. May I make beings who do not have correct conduct enter into and maintain perfect good conduct. [F.214.a] May I make beings who do not have the view gain the correct view and be established in it. In the same way, may I establish those without aspiration in the correct aspiration. In the same way, may I establish those without rules of conduct in the rules of conduct, and may I show the various kinds of virtuous conduct to beings. When the good Dharma of those buddhas, those bhagavats, has ceased to exist, may I soon afterward become a guide in the good Dharma, a holder of the good Dharma, a source of the good Dharma, and shine as a lamp of the good Dharma in the world.

“ ‘During the time of the intermediate eon of weapons, may I cause beings to abandon killing and establish them in the correct view. May I establish beings in the ten good actions, lead them from the bad path, and establish them in the correct path. May I destroy the darkness of bad conduct. May I show the radiance of good conduct. May I destroy the degeneracies of the times, of life, of view, and of the kleśas in the world.

“ ‘During the time of the intermediate eon of famine, may I enjoin beings to the perfection of generosity and so on until I encourage and introduce them to the perfection of wisdom. May I bring beings to the six perfections and bring to an end everywhere the darkness of famine, conflict, impurity, war, enmity, argument, and dispute. May I extinguish the fire of the kleśas within beings. [F.214.b]

“ ‘During the time of the intermediate eon of disease, may I establish beings in the six conducive qualities.288 May I bring them to the four qualities that gather beings. May I destroy the darkness of the illness of beings. May I end the kleśas within beings. In this way, in the Bhadraka eon, may I free all beings from such sufferings in the Sahā buddha realm.

“ ‘May I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood after the 1,004 bhagavat buddhas in the great Bhadraka eon have arisen and passed into nirvāṇa and the entire way of the Dharma has entirely disappeared. When I have attained enlightenment, may I have a lifespan equivalent to that of all 1,004 buddha bhagavats of the Bhadraka eon. May my saṅgha of śrāvakas be as numerous as all their śrāvaka saṅghas. May I train as many beings as were trained by all 1,004 buddhas in the Bhadraka eon. Upon attaining enlightenment, may I free from the swamp of saṃsāra, and bring into the house of fearlessness in the city of nirvāṇa, all the śrāvakas of those buddhas who were mistaken in their training, who fell off the precipice of views, who were disrespectful to the bhagavat buddhas, who had angry minds, who were mistaken concerning the Dharma and the saṅgha, who had desiring minds, who maligned higher beings, and who committed the actions with immediate results at death. [F.215.a]

“ ‘May the great Bhadraka eon not come to an end until I have passed into nirvāṇa and the good Dharma has come to an end. May the Bhadraka eon come to an end when my Dharma has come to an end. May the thirty-two signs and the eighty excellent features of a great being‍—of a tathāgata‍—adorn each of the countless, innumerable bodies of my rebirths. May those tathāgata bodies go to countless, innumerable empty buddha realms in the ten directions, and may each of those buddha bodies cause innumerable, countless beings to possess the three yānas and guide them and establish them in those. May those tathāgata bodies in those buddha realms protect beings as previously described until their intermediate eon comes to an end.

“ ‘Afterward, may I become a wish-fulfilling jewel and go to the buddha realms where beings have no jewels, and may I cause a rain of jewels to fall and reveal treasures to them. May I become a timely incense rain of gośīrṣa sandalwood and uragasāra sandalwood in those buddha realms where beings are devoid of good conduct and are afflicted by illness, and may those rains heal beings of the illness of the kleśas, the illness of views, and physical illness. [F.215.b] May those beings dedicate themselves to the activities that create merit and go to the higher realms.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I protect beings in that way while performing bodhisattva conduct. When I have attained enlightenment, may I accomplish such buddha activity. And when I have passed into parinirvāṇa, may I protect beings in endless, infinite buddha realms in that way.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if this wish of mine is not fulfilled, if I do not become a medicine for beings, then I will have deceived the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain, teaching the Dharma to beings in infinite, endless realms in the ten directions; may the Bhagavat not prophesy my highest, most complete enlightenment. Bhagavat, when the many tens of millions of beings who are intent upon and have been prophesied to attain the highest, most complete enlightenment have become buddha bhagavats, may I turn away from them.289 And when for the sake of enlightenment I go round and round in saṃsāra, may my ears not hear the words Buddha, Dharma, Saṅgha, good actions, or practicing the virtuous qualities. If this wish of mine is not to be fulfilled and I do not become a medicine for beings, may I remain forever in Avīci.’

“Then, noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha congratulated the brahmin youth Mahābalavegadhārin: [F.216.a] ‘Excellent, worthy being, excellent! Worthy being, you will be a medicine for beings, and you will free them from suffering. Therefore, worthy being, you should be known as Bhaiṣajya­rāja­jyotirvi­mala. Bhaiṣajya­rāja­jyotirvi­mala, in the future, when countless eons as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River have passed, and a second series of countless eons as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River has begun, in the Bhadraka eon, you will offer alms to the 1,004 buddhas soon after they attain buddhahood, just as you have prayed. After the Tathāgata Haripatracūḍabhadra has passed into parinirvāṇa and his Dharma has ceased to exist, you will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. You will be the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, named Roca. Your lifespan will be half an eon. You alone will have a saṅgha of śrāvakas as numerous as the śrāvaka saṅghas of all the 1,004 buddhas of the Bhadraka eon, and you will guide that many beings. After you have passed into parinirvāṇa, your Dharma will not cease for as long as the Bhadraka eon has not come to an end. During that time, you will appear in the form of buddhas in other buddha realms, and with a rain of incense you will heal beings of the illness of the kleśas, the illness of views, and physical illnesses. Those beings will be established in the three activities that create merit, and they will go to the higher realms.’ [B9]

“Then, noble son, [F.216.b] the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajya­rāja­jyotirvi­mala said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if these wishes of mine are to be fulfilled, then may the Bhagavat’s hand, which bears signs of merit, be placed upon the crown of my head.’

“Then, noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha placed his hand, which bore the signs of a hundred merits, upon the crown of the head of the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajya­rāja­jyotirvi­mala and rested it there.

“Then, noble son, the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajya­rāja­jyotirvi­mala had joy and happiness; he rejoiced and was joyful. He bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, got up, and stood to one side.

“The brahmin Samudrareṇu covered him with a silken robe and said, ‘Excellent, worthy being, excellent! You have made a splendid prayer. From now on you do not need to serve and honor me but are free to do as you wish.’

“Then, noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu thought, ‘I have made many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of beings go toward the highest, most complete enlightenment. I see that in this entire assembly, all these mahāsattvas have made various vast prayers in which they have chosen perfectly pure buddha realms. Apart from Vāyuviṣṇu, all the bodhisattvas have avoided a kaliyuga. Therefore, I shall make a firm resolve to take care of the beings in a kaliyuga with the elixir of the Dharma.290 I shall sound the lion’s roar of such a prayer,291 such that the entire assembly of bodhisattvas will be astonished. This entire assembly and the devas, gandharvas, [F.217.a] humans, and asuras of this world will place their hands together, pay homage to me, and make offerings to me. And this buddha bhagavat will say to me, “Excellent!” and will give me his prophecy. In the same way, the buddha bhagavats who reside, live, and remain in the ten directions, teaching the Dharma to beings, will say “Excellent!” about my lion’s roar. They will prophesy my attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment and send emissaries to me. This entire assembly will hear and see those emissaries, and in the future, they will be bodhisattvas who have great compassion. They will aspire to enlightenment and pray to be in such an afflicted buddha realm during the time of a great kaliyuga. They will protect those beings who are in a Dharma famine and are carried away by a flood of kleśas and illness. Those bodhisattvas will carry out the deeds of a buddha and teach the Dharma to beings.

“ ‘Once I have passed into nirvāṇa, countless buddha bhagavats in infinite, countless buddha realms in the ten directions will for inconceivable hundreds of millions of trillions of eons utter praises and proclaim the glory and fame of my passing into parinirvāṇa. They will describe the nature of my prayer in front of bodhisattvas, and when those bodhisattvas hear my prayer that is pervaded and blessed by great compassion, they will be completely astonished. [F.217.b] Then they too will develop great compassion toward beings. Then they too will adopt the same kind of prayer that I have adopted. They too will attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in such an afflicted buddha realm. They will rescue beings swept away by the four great rivers and train them through the three yānas and establish them on the path to nirvāṇa. I shall sound a lion’s roar with such a prayer.’

“Noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu, the principal royal priest, having created a prayer pervaded by great compassion, removed his Dharma robe from one shoulder, and went to where the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha was. At that time, many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of devas played hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of instruments in the middle of the sky, a rain of flowers fell, and they all exclaimed in one voice:

“ ‘Excellent, worthy being, excellent! Go before the Bhagavat and make your supreme prayer! With the water of wisdom, you will end the suffering of beings in a world disturbed by the kleśas!’

“The entire assembly placed their palms together, and facing him said in one voice, ‘Excellent, worthy being, excellent! Supremely wise one, you who are our benefactor, you who have a supreme mind, make your unwavering prayer‍—we wish to hear it!’

“When the royal priest came before the Bhagavat and knelt upon the ground, the billion-world universe, this entire Saṃtīraṇa292 buddha realm, [F.218.a] shook, shook intensely, quivered, quivered intensely, quaked, quaked intensely, shuddered, and shuddered intensely. There was the sound of music without any musical instruments being played. All the animals and birds made beautiful and gentle sounds, and the trees emitted flowers. All the beings who dwelt and lived upon the earth in the worlds of the billion-world universe, whether they aspired to enlightenment or not‍—except for beings in the hells and in the world of Yama‍—developed altruistic minds, good minds, minds without enmity, minds that are not impure, loving minds, and amazed minds. Those beings who lived in the sky engaged with rejoicing minds in offering flowers, flower garlands, incense, the sound of music, precious parasols, victory banners, flags, clothing, and cotton so as to listen to the brahmin’s gentle and beautiful prayer. Similarly, devas as far up as the Akaniṣṭha paradise descended to Jambudvīpa, stood in the middle of the sky, and engaged in making offerings of divine incense, and so on, up to and including cotton, in order to hear the brahmin’s prayer.

“The brahmin placed his palms together and praised the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha with these verses:

“Noble son, when the brahmin Samudrareṇu, the principal royal priest, had praised the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha with these verses, the entire assembly [F.219.a] with its devas, gandharvas, and humans commended him.

“The royal priest said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I have caused many millions of beings to focus upon the highest, most complete enlightenment. Each of them has chosen an excellent buddha realm and has chosen well-trained beings with pure motivations who have planted roots of virtue and who are easy to train. And the Tathāgata has prophesied to these 1,004 young Veda-reciting brahmins, beginning with Jyotipāla, that they will attain enlightenment in the Bhadraka eon. Those worthy beings will, through the three yānas, train beings who have desire, anger, and pride. However, they have avoided those who have the degeneracies of the kaliyuga when the obscuration of the kleśas is strong.

“ ‘Therefore, Bhadanta Bhagavat,299 they have abandoned those who have committed the actions with immediate results at death, those who have rejected the good Dharma, those who have maligned higher beings, those who have wrong views, those who do not have the seven noble jewels, those who do not respect their fathers, those who do not respect their mothers, those who do not respect monks, those who do not respect brahmins, those who do what should not be done, those who do that which is not meritorious, those who do not see the next world as frightening, those who are not interested in the three excellent types of conduct300 and therefore strive for the glory and wealth of devas and humans, those who are engaged in the three bad activities, those who are without the ten good courses of action, those who have been abandoned by all kalyāṇamitras, [F.219.b] those who have been cast aside by all scholars, those who have entered the dungeon of existence, those who are swept away by the current, those who have sunk into hell’s caustic river, those who have sunk into the swamp of saṃsāra, those who are not free from the darkness of ignorance, those who have not rejected bad actions, those who are discarded within empty buddha realms, those who are accompanied by all bad roots, those who have been defeated by a bad path, and those beings who are in great despair.

“ ‘At that time, in the Bhadraka eon, in the Sahā buddha realm, humans will have a lifespan of ten years. All of these humans have been cast aside and abandoned by wise, worthy beings. Therefore, at that time they have no savior, no refuge, and no resort in the whirlpool301 of existence and the wheel302 of saṃsāra. They have abandoned those beings who are containers of suffering, and they have chosen for themselves excellent buddha realms where they will have as disciples those who are well-trained, have pure motivations, have planted roots of virtue, are diligent, and have served many buddhas. Is that not so, Bhadanta Bhagavat?’

“ ‘Brahmin, it is so,’ replied the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha. ‘Beings make prayers according to their dispositions and they have chosen the arrays of qualities of their buddha realm, and I have prophesied them therein.’

“The brahmin said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, my heart is shaking like the leaves of the Flame of the Forest tree, my mind is anguished, and my entire body becomes weary, if, Bhadanta Bhagavat, beings, who are the object of my compassion, were to be abandoned by bodhisattvas at that time, having been hurled into the darkness of the great kaliyuga, forsaken by all. [F.220.a]

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, in the future, after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, in the great Bhadraka eon, there will be a time when the lifespan of beings is a thousand years. Until then, may I not become disheartened by saṃsāra while performing bodhisattva conduct for a long time. May I, through the power of samādhi, search out those who can be ripened for a long time and take care of those who can be trained. While practicing the six perfections, may I take care of those who can be trained.

“ ‘I have heard the Bhagavat say, “The perfection of generosity is to give up the characteristics of things.” I will practice that kind of generosity. In my future lifetimes, when there are countless beings coming with requests, may I give away to them in this way: may I give them food and drink to eat, enjoy, drink, and lick,303 clothes, beds, seats, accommodations, garlands, incense, perfumes, medicine, parasols, victory banners, flags, wealth, grain, elephants, horses, chariots, gold, silver, cowries,304 jewels, pearls, beryl, conch,305 crystal, coral, silver artifacts, and gold artifacts.306 May I give all kinds of gifts again and again. May I give to beings with perfect joy and a compassionate mind, without hoping to gain a result from my generosity. [F.220.b] May I give this mass of gifts in order to ripen beings and in order to nurture beings who can be trained.

“ ‘When beings come who ask for the most difficult gifts, may I give away my male servants, my female servants, my villages, my towns, my kingdoms, my wife, my sons, my daughters, my hands, my feet, my ears, my nose, my eyes, my tongue, my skin, my blood, my bones, my body, my life, and my head to those who ask for those gifts. May I make these gifts to beings with perfect joy and a compassionate mind, without hoping to gain any result, in order to nurture those who can be trained. I will perform the perfection of generosity in such a way that never before has a being given away such gifts and ever after no bodhisattva would give away such gifts in their performance of bodhisattva conduct for attaining the highest, most complete enlightenment. In those countless, innumerable lifetimes during hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of eons, may I practice the perfection of generosity in my performance of bodhisattva conduct for attaining the highest, most complete enlightenment. May I establish subsequent bodhisattvas who have great compassion in the qualities of the way of generosity.

“ ‘As you have previously said, “The perfection of discipline is to end the war of the kleśas.” In that way, in performing the bodhisattva conduct that leads to attaining the highest, most complete enlightenment, may I perform the arduous conduct of uninterrupted precepts and observances of various kinds.

“ ‘As you have previously said, “The perfection of patience is to observe oneself and not be impatient about anything.” [F.221.a] May I cultivate patience in that way.

“ ‘As you have previously said, “The perfection of diligence is to never regress from the supreme conduct of dedication to the meditation that is devoid of formations and the peace that is all that is unformed.”

“ ‘As you have previously said, “The perfection of meditation is the practice of emptiness in order to eliminate being in error concerning all formations.”

“ ‘The perfection of wisdom is forbearance that comes from the realization that phenomena are unborn. You have described a bodhisattva’s conduct of the power, might, and strength of unwavering resolution throughout innumerable, countless hundreds of millions of trillions of eons, but there has been no bodhisattva, performing bodhisattva conduct for the sake of the highest, most complete buddhahood, who has practiced the perfection of wisdom with that power, might, and strength of unwavering resolution. Nor in the future will there be a bodhisattva, performing bodhisattva conduct for the sake of the highest, most complete buddhahood, who will practice the perfection of wisdom with that power, might, and strength of unwavering resolution. Therefore, may I do that and establish future bodhisattvas, who have great compassion, in the qualities of that way.

“ ‘Through this first development of the aspiration for enlightenment, may I cause future bodhisattvas to accomplish great compassion. May I, in order to amaze bodhisattvas, practice generosity without being conceited, until my ultimate parinirvāṇa. May I have good conduct without being dependent, patience without being conceited, diligence without making effort, meditation without being fixed, and wisdom without being dualistic. May I practice the perfections through the power, might, and strength of unwavering resolution, without desiring a result for myself, [F.221.b] but for the sake of beings who do not have the seven riches of the noble ones, who have been discarded in all the empty buddha realms, who have rejected the good Dharma, who have maligned noble beings, who have wrong views, who are accompanied by all bad roots, who are in great despair, and who have been ruined by bad paths.

“ ‘May I for ten great eons endure the sufferings of the Avīci hell for the sake of each of those beings so as to plant the seeds of good roots within their minds. In the same way may I endure the suffering of animals, pretas, poor yakṣas, and poor humans. Just as I will plant the seeds of the good roots within the mental continuum of being, may I do that for all beings. May I care for those who are to be guided, who are like empty oblivion or have burning mental continuums.307

“ ‘May I not have as my goal the happiness of life as a deva throughout eons, except for my last existence, when, with one rebirth remaining, I will dwell in Tuṣita paradise so that I may subsequently attain enlightenment at buddhahood. May I, for that long time within saṃsāra, serve and honor bhagavat buddhas, as numerous as the particles within a buddha realm, and to each buddha make various offerings as numerous as the particles within a buddha realm. May I acquire from each buddha good qualities as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm. May I inspire as many beings as there are particles in a buddha realm to attain enlightenment. [F.222.a]

“ ‘In the same way, may I inspire, according to their predilections, those who follow the Śrāvakayāna and those who follow the Pratyekabuddhayāna. Even if a buddha has not appeared in the world, may I through the special discipline of a ṛṣi enjoin beings to the ten good courses of action. May I enjoin them to samādhi and the clairvoyances. May I, by taking on the form of Maheśvara, enjoin to good actions beings who are attached to their views and devoted to Maheśvara. May I, through taking on the form of Brahmā and so on, enjoin to good qualities those beings who are devoted to Brahmā, or Nārāyaṇa, or Candra, or Sūrya. In the same way, may I enjoin garuḍa birds to good conduct by taking on the form of a garuḍa, and so on, up to and including taking on the form of Śakra, until I satisfy hungry beings with my own flesh and blood, and may I save beings in suffering with my own body and life.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I perform bodhisattva conduct with extremely powerful energy for a long time for the sake of those beings whose mental continuums are burning and who are devoid of good roots, and during that time may I, for the benefit of beings in saṃsāra, receive all kinds of intense and terrible suffering. After an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, in the Sahā buddha realm, when the great Bhadraka eon has come, [F.222.b] when the brahmin youth Jyotipāla has attained the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood and has become the Tathāgata Krakucchanda, at that time may I see with the noble eye of wisdom the bhagavat buddhas who, having turned the Dharma wheel that possesses the Dharma, reside, live, and remain in world realms in the ten directions as numerous as the number of particles in a buddha realm.

“ ‘May I first inspire toward the highest, most complete enlightenment those beings whose mental continuums are burning, who possess bad roots, who are devoid of the seven jewels, who are discarded within empty buddha realms, who have committed the actions with immediate results at death, who have rejected the good Dharma, who have been ruined on a bad path, and who are in great despair, and may I cause them to enter into and be established in the path to the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“ ‘May I first inspire those beings to practice the perfection of generosity, inspire them to practice the other perfections up to the perfection of wisdom, and inspire them to train in that path, to enter it, and to be established in it.

“ ‘May I cause the seeds of the good roots of those beings to lead to the highest nirvāṇa. May they be completely freed from the lower existences. May they be guided to the accumulation of wisdom and merit. May they enter308 the buddha realms where the bhagavat buddhas reside, live, and remain, and may they receive the prophecies of their attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment. May they obtain samādhi, dhāraṇī, and acceptance. May they ascend through the bhūmis. May I inspire them to choose a prayer for an array of buddha-realm qualities and inspire them to enter the training. [F.223.a] May they obtain the arrays of buddha-realm qualities that they have wished for.

“ ‘When the Bhadraka eon has come, when the sunlike jina Krakucchanda has arisen, may I see the buddhas and bhagavats who reside, live, and remain in buddha realms as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm,309 teaching the Dharma to beings. At that time, soon after the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Krakucchanda has attained complete enlightenment, may I come before him. May I make various offerings to him. May I address him with a query. May I enter the homeless life. May I apply myself to good conduct, listening to the teachings, and meditation. May I become a perfect teacher of the Dharma.

“ ‘At that time, may I teach the Dharma to those beings whose mental continuums are burning, who possess bad roots, who have entered onto the path of wrong views, who have committed the actions with immediate results at death, who have been ruined on a bad path, and who are in great despair. And may I perfectly nurture those to be trained. When the sun of that jina has set, may I effortlessly accomplish the deeds of a buddha. Until the lifespan of beings has diminished to a hundred years, may I inspire beings to engage in the three kinds of activity that generate merit. When that time has come, may I go to the deva realm and there teach the Dharma to the devas and perfectly nurture those to be trained.

“ ‘When the lifespan of beings is 120 years, they will become intoxicated by pride in happiness, power, family, and body, and they will become greedy. [F.223.b] Thrown into the darkness of the five degeneracies, beings will have powerful desire, powerful anger, powerful ignorance, powerful pride, powerful bad actions, envy, and greed. They will delight in unrighteous pleasures. They will seek unrighteous enjoyments. They will have wrong views. They will have mistaken vision. They will not have the seven noble riches. They will not respect their fathers. They will not respect their mothers. They will not respect monks. They will not respect brahmins. They will do that which should not be done. They will do that which is not meritorious. They will not be afraid of the next world. They will not apply themselves to the three activities that create merit. They will not be attracted to the three yānas. They will not apply themselves to the three excellent types of conduct. They will apply themselves to the three wicked types of conduct. They will not apply themselves to the path of the ten good actions. They will apply themselves to the path of the ten bad actions. They will be harmed by the four errors. They will remain within the four adversities. They will be under the power of the four māras. They will be swept away by the four rivers. They will be under the power of the five obscurations.

‘They will be intoxicated by pride in the six powers. They will practice the eight wrong things. They will experience the despair of desire. They will arouse their propensities. They will not seek the glory and excellence of rebirth as a deva or human. They will have mistaken views. They will be ruined on a wrong path. They will commit the actions with immediate results at death. They will reject the good Dharma. They will malign noble beings. They will be without any good roots. Their speech will be like the cawing of crows. They will be ungrateful. They will have lost their memory. They will abuse good actions. Their wisdom will be confused. They will have little learning. They will have bad conduct. They will have hypocrisy. They will have greed. They will speak unpleasantly to each other. They will disrespect each other. They will be lazy. They will have imperfect senses. They will be pathetic. They will not have clothes. They will be in the care of bad friends. They will have lost the essence of their thoughts and memories.310 They will be afflicted by various illnesses. [F.224.a] They will be tormented. They will have bad complexions. They will be hideous. They will be shameless. They will feel no guilt. They will be afraid of each other. They will be beings who, holding eternalist views as praiseworthy, commit many bad actions of body, speech, and mind each morning.

“ ‘At that time, beings will have minds that are attached to the five aggregates. They will have minds that yearn for the five sensory pleasures. They will have minds that have anger, minds that have malice, minds that have enmity, minds that wish to harm, minds that are foul, minds that are rough, minds that are disturbed, minds that are untamed, minds that are hostile, minds that are wild, minds that are attached to that which is not righteous, minds that are not stable, minds that seek to speak badly of each other, minds that are argumentative, minds that have the wish to kill each other, minds that have completely abandoned the Dharma, minds without diligence, minds that speak badly of the teachings, minds that give rise to wickedness, minds that do not seek peaceful nirvāṇa, minds that are not fit to be made offerings to, minds that bring forth all kinds of bonds and bondage, minds that put their trust into illness, aging, and death, minds that are governed by every kind of bondage, minds that possess all the obscurations, minds that overthrow the victory banner of the Dharma, minds that raise up the victory banner of wrong views, minds that wish to disgrace each other, minds that wish to eat each other, minds under the sway of hurting each other, minds that take up anger, and minds that wish to torment311 each other. They will have minds that are insatiable toward sense pleasures, [F.224.b] minds that are envious of all acquisitions, minds that are ungrateful, minds that desire the wives of others, minds that wish to harm out of malice, and minds that do not pray.

“ ‘And these are the words that they will hear from each other: the word hell, the word animal, the words Yama’s world, the word illness, the word aging, the word death, the word kill, the word inopportune, the words eternal enemy, the word stocks, the word chains, the word fetters, the word prison, the word punishment, the word harm, the word disgrace, the word scolding, the word blaming, the word burglary, the words dividing groups, the word robbery, the words enemy’s army, the word famine, the word sexual misconduct, the word lying, the words bad omen, the word slander, the words harsh speech, the words empty speech, the words envy and greed, the words seizing and owning, the words egotism and possessiveness, the words liked and disliked, the words desired and undesired, the words separated from what is liked, the words buying and selling, the words enslaving each other and injuring, the words being in a womb, the words bad smell, the word cold, the word hot, the words thirsty and hungry, the words feeling tired and exhausted, the word plowing, the words wearied by the work of various crafts, and the words afflicted by various illnesses. These are the words that those beings hear from each other.

“ ‘At that time, the Sahā world realm will be filled with such beings who are completely devoid of good roots, who are completely devoid of kalyāṇamitras, and who have wicked minds. [F.225.a] And those beings will have been abandoned by omniscient ones to empty buddha realms. Those beings will be bereft of food, drink, self-control, restraint, the performance of good actions, and the eightfold noble path. Comfortable with bad actions, they will go from darkness to darkness. At that time in the Bhadraka eon, because of excessive karma, those beings will be born to live for 120 years. Because of the karma of those beings, the Sahā buddha realm will be inferior. It will be devoid of any beings who have planted good roots. The earth will be saline, and the ground will have rocks, gravel, and dust and be uneven with mountains. It will be filled with nasty flies, mosquitoes, venomous snakes, and vicious animals and birds. There will be untimely dust storms. There will be untimely fierce rains mixed with distasteful salt.

“ ‘In this way, the ground will yield crops, herbs, grass, trees, leaves, flowers, fruit, grain, and juices312 that are bad food and drink for beings to enjoy and subsist on, being foul, harsh, rough, and poisonous. Consuming them, those beings will become even rougher and more malevolent, angry, ferocious, harsh, avaricious, abusive, disrespectful to each other, and, afflicted by terror, they will have a greater wish to slaughter and to kill. They will eat meat, consume blood, wear the skin of animals, carry weapons, and slaughter animals. They will be proud and envious of appearance, family, [F.225.b] lineage, power, learning, writing, horse riding, archery, weapons, and retinues. People will apply themselves to various kinds of spurious asceticism and vows.

“ ‘At that time, so as to ripen good roots in beings who can be trained, may I descend from the abode of Tuṣita and acquire the womb of a queen in an eminent, powerful, royal family of a cakravartin family lineage.

“ ‘At that time, may I shine a wonderful light throughout the entire Sahā buddha realm. May that wonderful light shine as far above as the Akaniṣṭha paradise and as far below as the golden disk. At that time, may all beings in the Sahā buddha realm‍—whether born in the hells, in an animal birth, in Yama’s world, or as devas or humans‍—all see, touch, and know that light. May they contemplate saṃsāra, become frightened of suffering, and long for nirvāṇa to the extent that they develop the aspiration to bring their kleśas to an end. May I cause them to plant this first seed of the supreme path.

“ ‘May I reside in my mother’s womb for ten months having settled my mind in meditation and teaching at the end of the eon by means of the single entrance to the Dharma that shows all samādhis to be proficient in the way of all dharmas. When I have attained buddhahood, may I liberate beings who are weary of saṃsāra. During my ten months in the womb, may those beings see me sitting cross-legged, with my mind resting in the samādhi of showing the jewel essence. [F.226.a]

“ ‘When ten months have passed, through the samādhi of having the accumulation of all merit, may the entire Sahā buddha realm shake in six ways. May it shake in six ways as far above as the Akaniṣṭha paradise and as far below as the golden disk. At that time, may I wake up the beings in the Sahā buddha realm, from those born in the hells up to those born as humans. [B10]

“ ‘When I emerge from the right side of my mother’s belly,313 may I furthermore shine a wonderful light throughout the entire Sahā buddha realm. At that time may I inspire beings throughout the Sahā buddha realm. May I plant the seed of nirvāṇa within the minds of beings who have not yet planted any good roots. May I cause the seedling of samādhi to grow for those beings in whose minds the seed of nirvāṇa has been planted.

“ ‘When I touch the ground with the soles of my feet, at that time may the entire ground in the Sahā buddha realm quiver, quake, and shake in six ways, as far down as the golden disk.

“ ‘Then, at that time, may I wake up all the beings of the four kinds of birth, the beings in the five kinds of existences, those that live in water, those that live on the ground, and those that live in the air.

“ ‘May I cause the seedling of samādhi to grow in the minds of beings in whom it has not yet arisen. May I establish as irreversible, by means of the three yānas, those in whom the seedling of samādhi is stable. As soon as I am born, may all the [F.226.b] great brahmās, māras, śakras, candras, sūryas, world protectors, great nāga kings, asura lords, those born miraculously, those with miraculous powers,314 yakṣas, rākṣasas, nāgas, and asuras in that Sahā buddha realm come to me in order to make offerings. As soon as I am born, may I take seven steps. Through the samādhi of having the accumulation of all merit, may I teach the Dharma in such a way that all my disciples gain appreciation of the three yānas.

“ ‘May I guide those beings among my followers who are in the Śrāvakayāna and in their last existence. May those beings there who are in the Pratyekabuddhayāna attain the acceptance called flowers of the sun. May all those beings there who are in the highest Mahāyāna attain the samādhi of the wild ocean of vajra holders, and through that samādhi may they pass beyond the three bhūmis.315

“ ‘When I wish to be washed, may the most distinguished great nāga kings that are there wash me. And may all the beings who see me being washed realize such qualities by way of the three yānas as previously described.

“ ‘May I, through the samādhi of the accumulation of all merit, teach the Dharma to those beings in such a way that they see me ascending into a chariot, and‍—to go into detail‍—see my youthful games, various skills, works,316 and my capability in studies; enjoying the five sensory pleasures in the women’s apartments; becoming disquieted; departing at midnight; [F.227.a] abandoning jewelry and adornments; constantly searching for red and orange clothes; seeking orange clothes; and going toward the Bodhi tree. And may they thereby develop a strong attraction to the three yānas. May the beings there who are of the Pratyekabuddhayāna all attain the acceptance called flowers of the sun. May those in whom the seed of the Mahāyāna has been planted all attain the samādhi of the wild ocean of vajra holders317 and pass beyond the three bhūmis through that samādhi.

“ ‘May I gather together grass and arrange a seat on the vajra throne at the root of the Bodhi tree, and sit down upon it cross-legged, holding my body upright, and with my exhalation and inhalation stilling, may I meditate on the dhyāna that pervades space. May I emerge from that dhyāna once each day, and, having risen from it, may I eat half a sesame seed and give the other half to a beggar.

“ ‘While I am undergoing such hardship for a long time, may all the devas in the Sahā buddha realm, from as far above as the Akaniṣṭha paradise, come there and make offerings to me. May they all be witnesses to my hardship. Bhadanta Bhagavat, may I bring to an end the kleśas in the minds of those in whom the seed of the Śrāvakayāna has been planted, and may they become my disciples [F.227.b] who are in their last existence; and may it also be for those in the Pratyekabuddhayāna as previously described.

“ ‘In the same way, may nāgas, yakṣas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, and ṛṣis with the five clairvoyances come to make offerings to me, and may they all be witnesses to my hardships. And may it be as previously described for those in the Śrāvakayāna and so on.

“ ‘May nonhumans tell the other tīrthikas who reside in the four continents practicing spurious asceticism and vows of hardship, “You are not practicing hardship like the bodhisattva in his last life who is undergoing hardship in this region; through meditating he has immobilized the mental activity in his heart, he has becalmed the activity of the body, he has stilled the activity of speech, his exhalations and inhalations have ceased, and each day when he arises from meditation he eats half a sesame seed for food. That kind of hardship is very powerful, will have a great result, and is vast. He will soon attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. If you don’t believe it, come and see for yourselves!”

“ ‘May they abandon their hardship and come to see my hardship, and for those in whose minds there is the seed or seedling of the Śrāvakayāna, and so on, may it be as previously described. Among humans may kings, respected men, townsmen, and the people of the land, the mendicants who have left home, and the householders come to see my hardships, and may it be for those in the Śrāvakayāna as previously described, and so on.

“ ‘May the women who come to see me [F.228.a] have that life be their last as a woman, and may it be for those in the Śrāvakayāna as previously described, and so on. May the animals and birds that see my hardship have that life be their last as an animal, and may the animals and birds in whom is planted the seed of the Śrāvakayāna become my disciples who are in their last existence; and may it also be for those in the Pratyekabuddhayāna as previously described. And the same is to be said about the various tiny creatures and about the pretas.

“ ‘During the time in which I practice hardship sitting cross-legged for a long time, may many hundreds of millions of trillions of beings witness my hardship and be astonished, and may I plant countless, numberless seeds of liberation within their minds.

“ ‘May I practice a hardship that has never before been practiced by anyone numbered among beings, whether tīrthikas, those in the Śrāvakayāna, those in the Pratyekabuddhayāna, or those in the highest yāna, the Mahāyāna. And afterward may there never be anyone numbered among beings and those who are tīrthikas who can equal the hardship I will have practiced.

“ ‘Before I have attained complete enlightenment, with the strength of a human may I defeat Māra and his army. May I be victorious over the Māra of the kleśas, who is determined by my remaining karmic results, and may I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.

“ ‘May I establish arhathood in the mind of one being, [F.228.b] and may I do so with a second being and a third, and in the same way teach the Dharma to a fourth being and establish arhathood in his mind.

“ ‘May I for the sake of just one being manifest many hundreds of thousands of miracles and thereby establish the true view in his mind. May I utter many thousands of words and meanings of the Dharma. May I establish beings in the results that they are capable of. May I destroy, with the thunderbolt of wisdom, the mountains318 of kleśas that are in the minds of beings. May I teach them the Dharma by establishing them in the three yānas. May I walk many hundreds of yojanas on foot for the sake of just one being in order to teach him the Dharma and establish him on the level of fearlessness.

“ ‘May no one be prevented from taking ordination in my order. May those who have lost their memory, those who have confused minds, the talkative with arrogant minds, those with corrupted minds, those with little intelligence, those whose minds are disturbed by many kleśas, and women receive ordination319 in my order. May my followers be fourfold: bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās. May there be many beings who spread my teaching.320 May the devas see the truth. May yakṣas, nāgas, and asuras keep the noble eightfold upoṣadha vows. And may even beings that are born as animals maintain celibacy.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, when I attain enlightenment, there will be those who with malevolence and aggression will attack me with weapons, fire, spears, or various other implements; [F.229.a] there will be those who will abuse me with harsh, rough speech, who will criticize me, and who will dishonor me in the principal and intermediate directions; and there will be those who give me poisoned food and drink. While I still have those kinds of karmic results remaining, may I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.

“ ‘When I have attained enlightenment, may I teach the Dharma with a voice that sounds like the drum of Brahmā’s voice, cultivated through good conduct, learning, samādhi, great compassion, and meditation, to those beings who previously, with enmity, used deadly implements against me, spoke harshly to me, struck me in various ways, gave me poisoned food and drink, and caused me to bleed. May I thereby cause their minds to develop faith and may I enjoin them to good action. May those beings confess their karmic obscuration and from then on keep vows. May those beings have no karmic obscuration that prevents higher existences, and may they have the result of liberation, freedom from desire, and the cessation of pollutions. May my karmic results completely cease there, be finished, and be brought to an end.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, when I have attained enlightenment, each day may I emanate buddhas as numerous as my pores, their bodies adorned by the thirty-two signs and eighty excellent features of a great being, and may I send those emanated buddhas to empty buddha realms, to buddha realms that are not empty, and to buddha realms with the five degeneracies.

“ ‘In those buddha realms there will be beings who have committed the actions with immediate results at death, who reject the Dharma, who malign higher beings, and so on, down to and including those who are involved in nonvirtue. Also, there will be beings who have set out in the Śrāvakayāna, or have set out in the Pratyekabuddhayāna, or have set out in the Mahāyāna, whose practice of the training is imperfect or ruined, who have committed the root downfalls, whose minds are burning, who have lost the way of good actions, who are going through the jungle of saṃsāra, who are ruined on a bad path, and who are in great despair. Each day may each buddha emanation [F.229.b] teach the Dharma to such beings among the hundreds of millions of trillions of beings.

“ ‘May I teach the Dharma in the form of Maheśvara to those beings who have faith in Maheśvara. May they praise me in the Sahā buddha realm, and may I inspire the beings there to make aspirational prayers. And may those beings who hear the praises of me wish to be reborn in my buddha realm and make an aspirational prayer.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if I do not appear before those beings when they die, teaching the Dharma and inspiring confidence, may I not attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. If those beings go to the lower existences when they die and are not reborn as humans in my buddha realm, may my entire Dharma vanish, may I never reappear again, and may I be incapable of accomplishing all the deeds of a buddha. [F.230.a] Likewise, if beings who have faith in Nārāyaṇa fall into the lower existences when they die, may I be unable to accomplish all the deeds of a buddha.

“ ‘When I have attained enlightenment, may the beings in all buddha realms who have committed the actions with immediate results at death, who are ruined on a bad path, and who are in great despair be reborn in my buddha realm when they die. Those beings will have the following indications: they will have a color that is like soil, they will have faces like piśācas, they will have poor memories, they will smell bad, they will have poor conduct, they will have short lives, they will be afflicted by many illnesses, and they will lose the possessions they own. For the sake of those beings who are in the four continents in the Sahā world realm at that time, may I manifest to all those beings everywhere in the four continents my descent from the Tuṣita paradise into my mother’s womb, and then my birth. May I manifest the youthful games, the mastery of crafts and works, undergoing hardship, subjugating Māra, attaining the complete enlightenment of buddhahood, turning the wheel of the Dharma, and the entire activity of a buddha to all those beings everywhere in the four continents. And may I then manifest passing into parinirvāṇa and the distribution of my relics.

“ ‘When I have attained enlightenment, may I teach the Dharma by speaking a single utterance, and may those beings who are of the Śrāvakayāna understand the Dharma that is taught to be the piṭaka that gives the Śrāvakayāna teaching, may those who are of the Pratyekabuddhayāna understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the Pratyekabuddhayāna teaching, and may those who are of the unsurpassable Mahāyāna understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the unsurpassable Mahāyāna teaching.

“ ‘May the beings who have no accumulation of merit [F.230.b] understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on generosity. May the beings who are devoid of merit and aspire to the happiness of the higher existences understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on good conduct. May the beings who are afraid of each other, who have polluted minds, and who have minds of anger understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on kindness. May those beings who kill understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on compassion. May the beings who are overcome by envy and greed understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on rejoicing. May those whose minds are intoxicated by the intoxication of forms and the formless understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on equanimity.

“ ‘May those whose minds are intoxicated by the intoxication of desire for the desired understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on unpleasantness.321 May those beings who follow the Mahāyāna, whose minds are agitated, understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on the mindfulness of inhalation and exhalation. May the beings who have poor wisdom understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on dependent origination. May those with little learning understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on not forgetting what one has learned and not losing one’s memory.

“ ‘May those who are in difficulties due to wrong views understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on emptiness. May those who are afflicted by the engagement of conceptualization understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on featurelessness. May those who are afflicted by the impurity of being without aspiration understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on aspirationlessness.

“ ‘May those whose motivation is impure understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on pure motivation. May those who are afflicted by inconstant conduct understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on never forgetting the aspiration for enlightenment. [F.231.a] May those who are afflicted by the heat of practicing forbearance322 understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on noncontrivance. By the thorough training in higher motivation, may the beings who are afflicted understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on baselessness.

“ ‘Similarly, may those whose minds are afflicted understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on a virtuous mind. May those whose minds are forgetful of virtue understand it to be giving the teaching on illumination. May those who are dedicated to the actions of Māra understand it to be giving the teaching on emptiness. May those who are engaged in attacking others323 understand it to be giving the teaching on being elevated. May those whose minds are tormented by the various kleśas understand it to be giving the teaching on being free of them. May those who have entered an uneven path understand it to be giving the teaching on turning back from it. May those whose minds are curious about the Mahāyāna understand it to be giving the teaching on reversal. May the bodhisattvas who are weary of saṃsāra understand it to be giving the teaching on delight. May those who have not come to know of good actions, the bhūmis, and knowledge understand it to be giving the teaching on not being ignorant of them.

“ ‘May those who are content with one another’s good roots324 understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on listening to the Dharma. May those whose minds are not in harmony with each other understand it to be giving the teaching on the unimpeded light rays.325 May those who are engaged in difficult actions understand it to be giving the teaching on engaging in what is to be done. May those who have a fear of assemblies understand it to be giving the teaching on the emblem of the lion.326 May those whose minds are overcome by the four māras understand it to be giving the teaching on heroism. May those beings for whom the buddha realms are not illuminated understand it to be giving the teaching on the array of light.327 May those who have attachment and aversion understand it to be giving the teaching on the mass of a mountain. May those who are overwhelmed by the radiance of the Buddha’s Dharma understand it to be giving the teaching on the victory banner’s crest ornament.328 May those who do not have great wisdom understand it to be giving the teaching on the falling meteor.329 May those who are in the darkness of ignorance [F.231.b] understand it to be giving the teaching on the lamp of the sun.330

“ ‘May those who are engaged in the interpretation of the word termination understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on the source of qualities.331 May those who long for the self, which is like a lump of foam, understand it to be giving the teaching on Nārāyaṇa.332 May those whose minds are fickle understand it to be giving the teaching on endowed with the essence.333 May those who are looked down upon334 understand it to be giving the teaching on the victory banner of Mount Meru.335 May those who have broken their previous promises understand it to be giving the teaching on possession of the essence. May those who have lost their clairvoyance understand it to be giving the teaching on the vajra words. May those who long for the essence of enlightenment understand it to be giving the teaching on the vajra essence. May those who aspire to all Dharma teachings understand it to be giving the teaching on the resemblance to a vajra.336

“ ‘May those who do not understand the conduct of beings understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on the possession of virtuous conduct.337 May those who do not know of the higher and lower powers understand it to be giving the teaching on the lamp of wisdom. May those who do not comprehend each other’s words understand it to be giving the teaching on entering sound.338 May those who have not339 attained the dharmakāya understand it to be giving the teaching on the meditation on dharmakāya.340 May those who are bereft of seeing the Tathāgata understand it to be giving the teaching on having unblinking eyes. May those who are exposed to all objects of perception understand it to be giving the teaching on solitude. May those who aspire to turning the wheel of the Dharma understand it to be giving the teaching on the stainless wheel.341 May those who have followed the knowledge that there is no cause understand it to be giving the teaching that accords with reliance on knowledge. May those who have an eternalist view of this single buddha realm understand it to be giving the teaching on the collection of good actions. May those who have planted the seeds for the signs and indications understand it to be giving the teaching on being adorned by them. May those who are incapable of differentiating between words and sounds understand it to be giving the teaching on elucidation.

“ ‘May those who aspire to the wisdom of omniscience understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on the undisturbed nature of phenomena. May those who are revolving in the phenomena of the present [F.232.a] understand it to be giving the teaching on stability. May those who do not understand the nature of phenomena understand it to be giving the teaching on clairvoyances. May those who let their wisdom decline understand it to be giving the teaching on constancy. May those who have gone astray from the path understand it to be giving the teaching on immutability. May those who long for the knowledge that is like space understand it to be giving the teaching on nothingness.

“ ‘May those who have completed the perfections understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on the foundation that is completely pure. May those who have not perfected the activities that gather beings understand it to be giving the teaching on having been well gathered. May those who are seeking the brahmavihāras understand it to be giving the teaching on equal application. May those who have not perfected the precious factors for enlightenment understand it to be giving the teaching on steadfast dedication to liberation. May those who have forgotten the wisdom that was well taught342 understand it to be giving the teaching on the symbol of the ocean. May those who are astonished by the forbearance that comes from realizing the birthlessness of phenomena understand it to be giving the teaching that there is no mind. May those who have forgotten the Dharma they have heard understand it to be giving the teaching on there being no loss of what one has heard. May those who are displeased by each other’s good advice understand it to be giving the teaching on having no clouded vision.

“ ‘May those who have not343 gained faith in the Three Jewels understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on the increase344 of merit. May those who are not satisfied by a rainfall of Dharma entranceways understand it to be giving the teaching on the rainclouds of the Dharma. May those who hold the view that the Three Jewels have ceased to exist understand it to be giving the teaching the display of jewels. May those who engage in activities bereft of knowledge understand it to be giving the teaching on the incomparable. May those who are bound by all the fetters understand it to be giving the teaching on the entrance into the sky. May those who think that the Dharma teachings are all the same understand it to be giving the teaching on the seal of wisdom. May those who have not completed the qualities of a tathāgata understand it to be giving the teaching on that which is not345 directly perceived by mundane knowledge. May those who have not346 served previous buddhas well [F.232.b] understand it to be giving the teaching on definitive miracles. May those who have taught one Dharma entranceway at the end of the eon understand it to be giving the teaching on the way of all Dharma teachings. May those who have347 conviction in all the sūtras understand it to be giving the teaching on the sameness of the nature of all phenomena. May those who have forsaken the six conducive qualities348 understand it to be giving the teaching on the way of all phenomena.

“ ‘May those who are committed to the motivation to attain liberation understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on the play of clairvoyances. May those who consider entering into the secret of the tathāgatas understand it to be giving the teaching on nondependence on others. May those who are not engaged in the conduct of a bodhisattva understand it to be speaking about the attainment of wisdom. May those who have the outlook of longing for family understand it to be giving the teaching on following everyone. May those who have not completed the conduct of the bodhisattva understand it to be giving the teaching on consecration. May those who have not completed the ten strengths of a tathāgata understand it to be giving the teaching on invincibility. May those who have not attained the four fearlessnesses understand it to be giving the teaching on inexhaustibility. May those who have not attained the distinct qualities of a buddha understand it to be giving the teaching on inviolability. May those whose listening and seeing are not unfailing understand it to be giving the teaching on prayer. May those who through discontinuity do not understand all the Dharma entranceways of the Buddha understand it to be giving the teaching on the stainless ocean. May those whose omniscient wisdom is incomplete understand it to be giving the teaching on the complete buddhahood of a buddha. May those who have not attained that which is intended by all the tathāgatas understand the Dharma that is taught to be giving the teaching on reaching the furthest limit.

“ ‘May I, through speaking one word to the countless, innumerable bodhisattvas who are not deceitful, who are not deceptive, who are upright and are of an upright nature, and who have truly entered the Mahāyāna, [F.233.a] establish in their minds these qualities of 84,000 doors of the Dharma, 84,000 doors of samādhis, and 75,000 doors of dhāraṇīs. Through that, may the bodhisattva mahāsattvas become armored with the great armor. May they rise higher through inconceivably special prayers. May they become adorned with the vision of inconceivable knowledge and the sublime qualities of enlightenment. This means may their bodies become adorned with the signs and indications of great beings. May they become adorned with excellent speech so that through such speech they satisfy beings in accord with their dispositions. May they become adorned with learning for the sake of wordless samādhi. May they become adorned with recollection so that they will have mental retention that is never lost. May they become adorned with a virtuous mind and adorned with nirvāṇa so that they have a definite understanding of wrong paths. May they become adorned with motivation so that they have firm vows. May they become adorned with application so that they carry out their vows. May they become adorned with altruistic motivation so that they ascend from level to level. May they become adorned with generosity so that they give away everything. May they become adorned with good conduct so that they are stainless in what was well listened to and understood. May they become adorned with patience so that they have no hostility toward any being. May they become adorned with diligence so that they gather all the accumulations. May they become adorned with meditation so that they enjoy all meditation states and the clairvoyances. May they become adorned with wisdom so that they understand completely the latencies of kleśas. May they become adorned with kindness so they take care of all beings. May they become adorned with compassion so that they never abandon beings. [F.233.b] May they become adorned with rejoicing so that they never have doubts about any teachings. May they become adorned with impartiality so that they make no distinction between superior and inferior. May they become adorned with clairvoyance so that they enjoy all clairvoyances.

“ ‘May they become adorned with merit so that they obtain in their hands the jewel of unending enjoyments. May they become adorned with knowledge so that they fully understand the workings of the minds of all beings. May they become adorned with intelligence so that they are skilled in making all beings understand the Dharma. May they become adorned with light so that they attain the light of the eyes of wisdom. May they become adorned with analytical knowledge so that they gain the analytical knowledges of meanings, Dharma teachings, definitions, and eloquence. May they become adorned with fearlessness so that they are not overcome by opposing disputers or any māras. May they become adorned with qualities so that they attain the qualities of the buddhas. May they become adorned by the Dharma so that they teach the Dharma to beings with continuous and unimpeded eloquence.

“ ‘May they become adorned with light so that they are in the brightness of the Dharma of all the buddhas. May they become adorned with radiance so that they are in the brightness of all buddha realms. May they become adorned with the miraculous power of foretelling so that they make faultless prophecies. May they become adorned with the miraculous power of instruction so that they bestow the appropriate instruction. May they become adorned with the miracle of miraculous powers so that they attain the highest perfection in the four bases of miraculous powers. May they become adorned with the blessing of all the tathāgatas so that they enter the secret of all the tathāgatas. May they become adorned with sovereignty in the Dharma so that they attain the wisdom that is not dependent on others. May they become adorned with the essence of the practice of all good qualities so that they always practice what they preach and so will never be defeated by anything. [F.234.a]

“ ‘Thus, may I, by saying one word to the countless, innumerable beings who have entered the Mahāyāna, bring them satisfaction through great good actions, purification, and accumulation. Thereby, may those bodhisattva mahāsattvas attain the wisdom of all dharmas, which is not dependent on others. May they become endowed with the great radiance of the Dharma. May they quickly attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, those beings in other world realms who have committed the actions that have an immediate result at death, those who have made the error of the root downfalls, and those whose minds are burning‍—whether they are of the Śrāvakayāna, the Pratyekabuddhayāna, or the unsurpassable Mahāyāna‍—may they through the power of prayer be reborn in my buddha realm.

“ ‘May I teach extensively the thoughts and words of the 84,000 Dharma teachings to those beings who are endowed with bad roots, who are rough, who wish to commit bad actions, who have fierce, uncontrollable natures, who have perverse minds, and who are miserly. May I teach extensively the 84,000 Dharma teachings to beings who are lazy. May I teach extensively the Dharma of the six perfections to those beings who follow the unsurpassable Mahāyāna. May I extensively teach the perfection of generosity, and so on, up to and including the perfection of wisdom.

“ ‘May I establish in taking refuge those beings who are of the Śrāvakayāna or of the Pratyekabuddhayāna, those beings who have not planted good roots, those who are not interested in śāstras, and may I afterward bring them to the practice of the six perfections. May I cause those who have a love for violence to give up killing. [F.234.b] May I cause those who are overcome by powerful desire to give up taking what has not been given. May I cause those who have a passion for unrighteous pleasures to give up sexual misconduct. May I cause those who tell each other lies to give up lying. May I cause those who enjoy being intoxicated to give up enjoying intoxicating alcoholic drinks. May I cause those beings who commit the five errors to give up the five errors and be established in the upāsaka vows.

“ ‘May I cause those beings who take no delight in good qualities to keep the correct conduct of the eight vows day and night. May I bring into the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya those beings who take delight in even limited good roots and establish them in the vows of ordination, the ten bases of the training, and the practice of celibacy. May I bring those beings who seek good qualities to the accomplishment of good qualities, and may I establish them in the complete observance of celibacy. May I teach the Dharma through many various kinds of meanings, sentences, words, and miracles for the sake of beings who have committed the actions that have an immediate result at death, and so on, up to and including those who are miserly. May I teach impermanence, suffering, no self, emptiness, the aggregates, sensory elements, and sensory bases, and may I establish beings in the good, in the tranquil, in the auspicious, in the peaceful, in the city of fearlessness, in nirvāṇa.

“ ‘In that way, may I teach the Dharma to the fourfold assembly of bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, [F.235.a] upāsakas, and upāsikās. May I show the science of debating in accordance with the Dharma to those who wish to debate. May I assign duties to those who do not take pleasure in virtuous qualities. May I give the condensed teaching of emptiness and the path of liberation through meditation to those who delight in daily recitation. May I walk many hundreds of thousands of yojanas for the sake of each single being. May I exert myself unwearyingly through many various kinds of meanings, sentences, words, methods, and miracles, until I establish them in nirvāṇa.

“ ‘May I cast aside through the power of samādhi a fifth of this life’s activities. At the time of parinirvāṇa, may I divide my body into pieces the size of mustard seeds. May I afterward make myself pass into parinirvāṇa out of compassion for beings. When I have passed into parinirvāṇa, may my good Dharma remain for one thousand years. May the outer appearance of the good Dharma remain for another five hundred years.

“ ‘After I have passed into parinirvāṇa, if beings delight in making offerings to my relics, either with jewels or music, even if they say just once the name of the buddhas, or do one prostration or one circumambulation, or place their hands together in homage once, or make an offering of just one flower, may they all attain irreversibility through the three yānas according to their dispositions.

“ ‘After I have passed into parinirvāṇa, those beings who adopt even one basis of training in my teachings and who undertake and abide by it just as I have taught it, and so on‍—even down to [F.235.b] those who comprehend just one four-line verse, recite it, and teach it to others, or even those who listen to it and have faith in it, or make an offering to the Dharma reciter of just one flower or one prostration‍—may they all attain irreversibility through the three yānas according to their dispositions.

“ ‘When the Dharma has ceased to exist, when the torch of the Dharma has gone out, when the victory banner of the Dharma has fallen, may my relics sink down as far as the golden disk and remain there. When jewels have become scarce in the Sahā buddha realm, may my relics become beryl jewels called ketumati349 that are as bright as fire.350 May they rise upward until they reach the Akaniṣṭha paradise, and from there may they fall as a rain of various flowers‍—coral tree flowers, great coral tree flowers, night-flowering jasmine, mañjuśaka, mahāmañjuśaka, roca, mahāroca, mānapūrṇā, and candravimalā‍—with a hundred petals, with a thousand petals, with a hundred thousand petals,351 completely bright, completely aromatic, very beautiful, always with seed, bringing joy to the eyes and heart, as bright as stars, the color of stars, with infinite scent, and with infinite radiance.352 May there be a great rain of such flowers.

“ ‘May that rain of flowers emit the sound of various words, such as the word Buddha, the word Dharma, the word Saṅgha, the words the upāsaka vows, the words the observance of the noble eightfold upoṣadha, the words the ten vows that are the training foundations of monastic ordination, [F.236.a] the word generosity, the words good conduct, the words the complete brahmacarya, the words complete monastic ordination with full celibacy, the word instruction, the word reading, the word memorizing, the word withdrawal, the words complete attention, the word unpleasant, the words mindfulness of breathing, the words the state of neither perception nor nonperception, the words the state of nothingness, the words the state of infinite consciousness, the words the state of infinite space, the words the state of subjugation, the words the state of totality, the words śamatha and vipaśyanā, the word emptiness, the word fixedless, the word signless, the words dependent origination, and the words the entire piṭaka of the śrāvakas. May it emit the words the entire piṭaka of the pratyekabuddhas. May those flowers disseminate the words of the entire teaching of the Mahāyāna and the six353 perfections.

“ ‘May all the devas in the form realm hear those words. May they each remember the good roots they have created in their past lives. May those great beings not turn away from all the good qualities, but descend from that paradise and enjoin all the humans in the Sahā world realm to the path of the ten good actions and establish them therein. [F.236.b]

“ ‘In the same way, may the devas who are inhabitants of the desire realm hear those words. May they end all their mental activities of craving, indulgence in pleasures, and enjoyment of delights. May they all remember the good roots they have planted in their past lives. May they descend from the deva realms and encourage all the humans in the Sahā world realm to the ten good courses of action and establish them therein.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, may those flowers in the air transform into various precious materials: a precious rain of silver, cowries, gold, gems, pearls, beryl, conch, crystal, coral, golden objects and silver objects, emeralds, and rightward-spiraling conch shells that fall over the entire Sahā buddha realm. May conflict, fighting, dispute, famine, disease, enemy armies, harsh speech, unkindness, and poison completely cease to exist everywhere throughout the Sahā buddha realm. May there be happiness, no disease, no conflict, no fighting, no dispute,354 no being held in bondage, and abundant food everywhere throughout the entire Sahā buddha realm. And when those beings see those precious things, touch them, enjoy them, or use them, may they all attain irreversibility in the three yānas. Then may my relics again descend to the golden disk and remain there. [B11]

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, in the same way, during the intermediate eon of weapons, may my relics become precious sapphire jewels, and may they ascend to the Akaniṣṭha paradise. May they fall as a rain of various flowers: coral tree flowers, great coral tree flowers, night-flowering jasmine, and so on, as previously described, up to and including all with infinite radiance. May that rain of flowers emit pleasant words: the word Buddha, the word Dharma, the word Saṅgha, and so on, as previously described. [F.237.a] Then may my relics again descend to the golden disk and remain there.

“ ‘In the same way, during the intermediate eon of famine, may those relics ascend to the Akaniṣṭha paradise and then fall as a rain of flowers, and so on, as previously described.

“ ‘In the same way, may what has been described occur during the intermediate eon of illness. May I manifest these relics after my passing into parinirvāṇa in the great Bhadraka eon so that innumerable disciples will be established in irreversibility through the three yānas.

“ ‘In the same way, until as many great eons as there are particles in five buddha realms have passed, may my relics establish beings in irreversibility through the three yānas.

“ ‘May those beings whom I first encourage, guide, and establish in the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment, when I am a bodhisattva performing the bodhisattva conduct for attaining the highest, most complete enlightenment, and whom I encourage, guide, and establish in the practice of the six perfections, become, after as many eons as there are grains of sand in a thousand Ganges Rivers have passed, bhagavat buddhas in this and that world‍—in numberless, countless worlds in the ten directions.355

“ ‘Also, after I have attained enlightenment, may I encourage, guide, and establish beings in the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment, and upon passing into parinirvāṇa, through the manifestation of my relics may those who develop the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment [F.237.b] become bodhisattva mahāsattvas, and after as many eons as there are grains of sand in a thousand Ganges Rivers have passed, attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in numberless, countless worlds in the ten directions. May they then praise me and declare and proclaim, “A long time ago, when there was the Bhadraka eon, there was the fourth sun-like jina, the tathāgata, whose name was…” and so on. “He was the one who first encouraged, guided, and established us in the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment. We had minds that were burning, we were engaged in planting bad roots, we had committed actions with immediate result at death, and we had wrong views. He encouraged, guided, and established us in the six perfections. Because of that we are now omniscient ones who turn the Dharma wheel that possesses all aspects of the Dharma. We reverse the wheel of becoming and bring many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of beings to the result of the higher existences and liberation.”

“ ‘When those who are seeking enlightenment hear from those tathāgatas those praises of me and of my fame and renown, may they ask those tathāgatas, “With what purpose in mind did that bhagavat, that tathāgata, pray, ‘May I attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood during a kaliyuga at the time of the five degeneracies’?”

“ ‘May those tathāgatas then describe to [F.238.a] those noble sons or noble daughters who are seeking enlightenment how I first developed my aspiration with great compassion, and describe the qualities of my buddha realm and my prayer.

“ ‘Then may the noble sons or noble daughters who seek enlightenment be astonished. Then may they too develop a vast aspiration. May they have a similar great compassion for beings. May they pray that during a kaliyuga in a buddha realm when the kleśas are powerful and the five degeneracies are powerful that they will have as disciples those who have committed actions with immediate result at death, and so on, up to and including those who have committed bad actions.

“ ‘May those buddhas, those bhagavats, also prophesy to those noble sons or noble daughters who seek enlightenment and have prayed to be in a kaliyuga when the five degeneracies and the kleśas are powerful, that for those noble sons or noble daughters who seek enlightenment and have great compassion it will be exactly as they have wished.

“ ‘May other bhagavat buddhas also say to noble sons or noble daughters who seek enlightenment, “A long time ago, there was a sun-like jina whose name was…” and so on. “After he passed into parinirvāṇa, his relics manifested various kind of miracles and manifold transformations for the sake of beings in suffering. It was the transformation of those relics that first inspired us toward the highest, most complete enlightenment and to first develop the aspiration for enlightenment, to plant good roots in order to attain the highest, most complete enlightenment, and to dedicate ourselves to these perfections.” May they in that way teach in detail what occurred with my relics as was previously described.’ [F.238.b]

“Then the brahmin Samudrareṇu, the principal royal priest, in the presence of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and for the sake of all beings, including devas, gandharvas, and humans, made those five hundred prayers with great compassion. Then he said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if my aspirations are to be completely fulfilled, such that I will be there in a future time in the Bhadraka eon, during the kaliyuga when there are powerful kleśas, strife, and degeneracies, and beings are in the darkness of the suffering from wrong views, are without guides, are without a leader, have committed the actions with immediate results at death, and so on, as previously described‍—if I am able to accomplish the entirety of such activity of a buddha as I have prayed for, then I will not abandon my prayer for enlightenment and I will not dedicate my good roots for another realm. Bhadanta Bhagavat, such is my resolve.

“ ‘And through these good roots, I do not pray for the Pratyekabuddhayāna. I do not pray for the Śrāvakayāna. I do not pray to be a king among devas or humans. I do not pray for lordship in the deva or human worlds. I do not pray for the enjoyment of the five sensory pleasures. I do not pray to be reborn as a deva. I do not pray to be reborn as a gandharva, asura, yakṣa, rākṣasa, nāga, or garuḍa. I do not dedicate my good roots to this.

“ ‘Bhagavat, you have said, “Generosity leads to great wealth. Correct conduct leads to rebirth in higher existences. Listening to the Dharma leads to great wisdom. Meditation leads to liberation.” [F.239.a] Bhagavat, you have also said, “The intentions and aspirations of beings who have merit will be fulfilled through dedicating their good roots.”

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I have acquired the merit that comes from generosity, from good conduct, from listening, and from meditation. If my aspirations are to be completely fulfilled as I have prayed for, then I dedicate all those good roots to the beings in hell, to those beings who experience severe and fierce suffering in the Avīci hell. Through these good roots, may they rise from those hells and attain a human existence in this buddha realm. May they accomplish the Dharma and Vinaya as taught by the Tathāgata, and being at the highest level, may they enter parinirvāṇa.

“ ‘If those beings will not have their karmic results eliminated, then may I die now and be reborn in a great hell. May I have as many bodies as there are particles comprising a buddha realm.356 May each body be the size of Sumeru, the king of mountains. May each of those bodies be able to experience the same intense suffering as my current body can.357 May each of my bodies, as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, experience the powerful, fierce, harsh injuries that a being in hell experiences.

“ ‘At present, in the buddha realms in the ten directions, [F.239.b] which are as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, there are beings who have committed the actions that have immediate results at death, and so on, up to and including beings who have created the karma for going to the Avīci hell. In the future, during the passing of as many great eons as there are particles in a buddha realm, there will be beings who will be born into the buddha realms in the ten directions, which are as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, and they will be seized and hurled by that karma that has an immediate result at death. For the sake of all those beings, may I, as the result of their karma, reside in and experience the great Avīci hell, and through that may those beings never be reborn in hell. May all those beings please the bhagavat buddhas. May they transcend saṃsāra. May they enter the city of nirvāṇa. And then, after that long time has passed, may I be released from hell.

“ ‘In the buddha realms in the ten directions, which are as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, there are beings who are similarly seized and hurled by karma, are bound to that experience, and are going to be reborn in the Pratāpana hell, and so on, as previously described. In the same way there are those who are going to be reborn in the Saṃtāpana, Mahāraurava, Saṃghāta, Kālasūtra, and Saṃjīvana hells. In the same way there are those who are going to be reborn as various animals, there are those who are going to be reborn in the world of Yama, there are those who are going to be reborn as poor yakṣas, and there are those who are going to be reborn as kumbhāṇḍas, piśācas, asuras, and garuḍas. There will be beings subject to karma in the same way in other worlds in the ten directions, which are as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm. [F.240.a]

“ ‘In the same way, there will be those born as humans who will be either deaf or blind, without a tongue, without arms, without legs, or with no memory, or who will eat filth. May I, as I have previously described, be reborn in the Avīci hell for the sake of all those beings.

“ ‘If my aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment is not fulfilled, then may I suffer, as previously described, the various kinds of sufferings of hell beings, animals, pretas, yakṣas, asuras, rākṣasas, and so on, up to and including humans, for as long as beings in saṃsāra possess aggregates, sensory elements, and sensory bases.

“ ‘If my previously described aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment is completely fulfilled, then may the bhagavat buddhas be my witnesses. May the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain, teaching the Dharma in other countless, innumerable worlds in the ten directions, also be my witnesses, and have this knowledge of me.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, give me your prophecy of the highest, most complete enlightenment, that I may become, in the Bhadraka eon, at the time when beings live for 120 years, a tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha, endowed with wisdom and virtuous conduct, and so on, up to and including a buddha, and a bhagavat, so that I be able to accomplish such activity of a buddha as I have promised.’ [F.240.b]

“At that time, the entire assembly‍—apart from the Tathāgata‍—and the world with its devas, humans, and asuras, on the ground or in the sky, shed tears and bowed down the five points of their bodies to Samudrareṇu’s feet and said, ‘Excellent, excellent, you who have great compassion! Your mindfulness is profound, your great compassion for beings is profound, and the great prayer you have made is profound. With your exceptional motivation, with great compassion for all beings, you have taken as your disciples those who were hidden from view, those who have committed many actions that have immediate results at death, and so on, up to and including those who have engaged in bad roots. We know through the prayer that you made when you first developed the aspiration to attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood that you will become a medicine, a refuge, and a protector for beings. You have prayed to free beings from suffering‍—may your wishes be completely fulfilled! And may the Bhagavat give you the prophecy of your highest, complete enlightenment!’

“King Amṛtaśuddha358 also wept and bowed down the five points of his body to the brahmin’s feet and said:

“In the same way, Avalokiteśvara said:

“In the same way, Mahāsthāmaprāpta said:

“In the same way, the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī said:

“In the same way, the bodhisattva Gaganamudra said:

“Also, the bodhisattva Vajraccheda­prajñā­vabhāsaśrī said:

“The bodhisattva Vegavairocana said:

“Siṃhagandha said:

“The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said:

“Akṣobhya said:

“Gandhahasti said:

“Ratnaketu said:

“Vigatabhayasaṃtāpa said:

“Utpalahasta said:

“Jñānakīrti said:

“Dharaṇīmudra said:

“Utpalacandra said:

“Vimalendra said:

“Mahābalavegadhārin said:

“Jyotipāla said:

“The bodhisattva mahāsattva Balasandarśana, weeping, bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the brahmin, and with his palms placed together he said:

“Noble son, the entire assembly with its devas, gandharvas, and humans bowed down the five points of their bodies to the feet of the brahmin, [F.242.a] and with palms placed together they stood and praised him with verses that contained various words and meanings.

“Noble son, when the brahmin Samudrareṇu knelt on his right knee before the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, at that moment the earth shook strongly, and in the buddha realms in the ten directions, as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, the ground shook, shook strongly, shook intensely; shuddered, shuddered strongly, shuddered intensely; quaked, quaked strongly, quaked intensely; and rumbled, rumbled strongly, and rumbled intensely. There also shone a great light, and there fell a rain of various flowers‍—coral tree flowers, great coral tree flowers, and so on, up to and including flowers with infinite radiance.

“In the ten directions, in world realms as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, there were bhagavat buddhas, who resided, lived, and remained, teaching the Dharma to beings in pure buddha realms and in impure buddha realms. There were also bodhisattva mahāsattvas who were sitting in the presence of those bhagavat buddhas in order to listen to the Dharma. Those bodhisattva mahāsattvas saw the ground shake, and they asked the bhagavat buddhas, ‘Bhagavat, for what reason did the great earth shake, a light shine, and a great rain of flowers fall?’

“At that time, in the eastern direction from this buddha realm, beyond as many buddha realms as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, there was a world realm called Ratnavicayā. [F.242.b] In the Ratnavicayā buddha realm there resided, lived, and remained a tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Ratnacandra, and, surrounded and attended by countless, innumerable bodhisattvas, he taught the Dharma with a talk on the Mahāyāna.

“In that buddha realm there were the bodhisattva mahāsattvas Ratnaketu and Candraketu. Those two bodhisattvas bowed down with palms together toward the Tathāgata Ratnacandra and asked, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, why did the great earth shake, a light shine, and a great rain of flowers fall?’

“The Tathāgata Ratnacandra answered, ‘There is, noble sons, in the western direction from this buddha realm, beyond as many buddha realms as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, a world realm called Saṃtīraṇa. In the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa there resides, lives, and remains the tathāgata, and so on, up to and including the bhagavat buddha, Ratnagarbha, and he prophesies the highest, most complete enlightenment to many tens of millions of bodhisattvas while he gives them the Dharma discourse on the array of prayers that demonstrate the range of bodhisattva activity, the range of samādhis, and the array of dhāraṇī entrances. Present there is a certain bodhisattva mahāsattva, Mahākāruṇika. He has uttered a prayer that is suffused with362 great compassion.

“ ‘The bodhisattvas there who have been given prophecies of their highest, most complete enlightenment prayed to bring many tens of millions of beings to enlightenment, have chosen the qualities of their buddha realms, and have prayed for the kinds of beings who will be the disciples they train. [F.243.a]

“ ‘Among them all, that one great bodhisattva who is endowed with great compassion has outshone the entire assembly, for he will take as his disciples those in a buddha realm that has the five degeneracies during the kaliyuga of obscuring kleśas. Those disciples will have minds that are burning and will have committed the bad actions with immediate results at death, and so on, up to and including having engaged in creating bad roots.

“ ‘The entire assembly, and the world with its devas, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, have turned from the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and are engaged in making offerings afterward to Mahākāruṇika. They have bowed down the five points of their bodies, placed their palms together, and praised him. That mahāsattva has knelt down before that bhagavat, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, to listen to his prophecy. When that mahāsattva knelt on his right knee before that bhagavat, the bhagavat smiled, and in the worlds in the ten directions, which are as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, the ground shook and a rain of flowers fell. He performed these miracles so as to awaken the bodhisattva mahāsattvas in all those buddha realms, to reveal the activity of the compassionate bodhisattva’s prayer, so that bodhisattva mahāsattvas would come from those buddha realms as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, and so that the bodhisattva mahāsattvas would be given the Dharma discourse on the fearless conduct that reveals the entrance to samādhi.’ [F.243.b]

“Noble son, the two bodhisattvas asked the Tathāgata Ratnacandra, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, this bodhisattva mahāsattva who has great compassion, who has chosen a world with the five degeneracies in the time of the kaliyuga in which kleśas and conflicts are strong, and who has chosen as his disciples those whose minds are burning, who have committed the bad actions with immediate results at death, and so on, up to and including those who are engaged in bad roots, how long has it been since he developed the aspiration for enlightenment? How long has he been practicing the conduct of enlightenment?’

“ ‘Noble sons,’ said the Tathāgata Ratnacandra, ‘that bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika has now, for the first time, developed the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment. Noble sons, you should go to the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa in order to see, pay homage to, and honor the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Ratnagarbha, and listen to him give the Dharma discourse on the fearless conduct that reveals the entrance to samādhi. You should address363 the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika with these words of mine: “Worthy being, the Tathāgata Ratnacandra addresses you. He has sent you these flowers, which are as stainless as the moon’s radiance, and he congratulates you.

“ ‘Good man, you, who are called Mahākāruṇika, have developed the first aspiration for enlightenment that expresses great compassion in such a way that the sound of your name has filled the buddha realms among the world realms in the ten directions, which are as numerous as the number of particles in a buddha realm. Therefore, everywhere you have acquired the name Mahākāruṇika.

“ ‘Therefore, you, good man, [F.244.a] through your compassionate words, will excellently raise again and again the victory banner of kindness toward future bodhisattva mahāsattvas.

“ ‘Therefore, good man, during countless future eons, as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, word of your fame and renown will furthermore fill world realms in the ten directions as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm.

“ ‘You have made many hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of beings aspire to the highest, most complete enlightenment and caused them to enter into and be established in that aspiration. You have brought them before364 the Bhagavat and established them in irreversibility from the highest enlightenment. Some will, through prayer, choose an array of buddha-realm qualities, and afterward will receive the prophecy. Those whom you have directed toward enlightenment will attain buddhahood in world realms in the ten directions as numerous as the number of particles in a buddha realm, after as many innumerable eons have passed as there are particles in a buddha realm, and they will turn the wheel of the Dharma and speak their praise of you. Therefore, it is for those three reasons, worthy being, that we should say, “Well done!” ’

“At that time 920,000,000 bodhisattvas said in one voice, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, we will also go to the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa in order to pay homage to and honor the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Ratnagarbha, and to see that worthy being to whom the Tathāgata sends a message of threefold congratulations and gives these flowers, which are as stainless as the moon’s radiance.’ [F.244.b]

“Noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnacandra said, ‘Noble sons, knowing that the time has come, you should go there and receive from the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha the Dharma discourse on the fearless conduct that reveals the entrance to samādhi.’

“Then, noble son, Ratnaketu and Candraketu received from the Tathāgata Ratnacandra the flowers that were as stainless as the moon’s radiance, and together with the 920,000,000 bodhisattvas they stood up in the world realm Ratnavicayā and like lightning disappeared from that assembly of bodhisattvas in the buddha realm Ratnavicayā and arrived at the Jambūvana Park in the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa. They went to where the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha was, approached him, bowed their heads down to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, and made offerings to him through their various miraculous bodhisattva powers. They saw the brahmin in the presence of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and saw the entire assembly of bodhisattvas with palms placed together, praising him. The two bodhisattvas thought, ‘This must be the one with great compassion to whom the Tathāgata Ratnacandra has sent these flowers, which are as stainless as the moon’s radiance.’

“Then the two bodhisattvas turned from the Bhagavat, offered the flowers to the brahmin, and said, ‘Worthy being, the Tathāgata Ratnacandra has sent you these flowers, which are as stainless as the moon’s radiance, and he has sent you his congratulations, worthy being,’ and so on, as previously described. [F.245.a]

“In the same way, bodhisattva mahāsattvas from countless, innumerable buddha realms in the eastern direction came to the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa carrying flowers that were as stainless as the moon’s radiance. They too brought the flowers to the brahmin and gave the message of threefold congratulation, as previously described.

“In the same way, in the southern direction from this buddha realm, beyond ninety-seven hundred million trillion buddha realms, there was the Niryūhavijṛṃbhita realm. In the Niryūhavijṛṃbhita realm there resided, lived, and remained a tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Siṃha­vijṛmbhiteśvara­rāja, and he taught the Dharma with a pure talk on the Mahāyāna to pure bodhisattva mahāsattvas. In that assembly there were two bodhisattva mahāsattvas, one named Jñānavajraketu and the other named Siṃhavajraketu. Those two bodhisattva mahāsattvas asked the Tathāgata Siṃha­vijṛmbhiteśvara­rāja, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, what is the cause, what is the reason of the occurrence of a great earthquake and of the great rain of flowers?’ and so on, as previously described, until the point where countless, innumerable hundreds of millions of trillions of bodhisattva mahāsattvas came from countless, innumerable buddha realms in the southern direction and arrived in the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa, and so on, as previously described.

“At that time, in the western direction from this buddha realm, [F.245.b] beyond ninety-one hundred million trillion buddha realms, there was a buddha realm called Jayāvatī. A tathāgata named Jitendriya­viśāla­netra resided, lived, and remained there, and he taught the Dharma of the three yānas to a fourfold assembly. Present there was a bodhisattva mahāsattva named Bhadravairocana and a second bodhisattva mahāsattva named Siṃhavijṛmbhita.365 Those two worthy beings asked the Tathāgata Jitendriya­viśāla­netra, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, why was there this great earthquake and this great rain of flowers?’ and so on, as previously described.

“Also, at that time, in the northern direction from this buddha realm, beyond ninety trillion myriads of buddha realms, there was a world realm called Kāṣāya.366 A tathāgata, and so on, up to and including a bhagavat buddha, named Lokeśvararāja resided, lived, and remained there, and he taught the Dharma that was purely on the Mahāyāna to pure bodhisattvas who had entered the Mahāyāna. Present there were two bodhisattva mahāsattvas, one named Acalasthāvara and the other named Prajñādhara. They both asked the Tathāgata Lokeśvararāja, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, what was the cause and what was the reason that there was a great earthquake and a great rain of flowers?’ and so on, as previously described.

“Also, at that time, in the downward direction from this buddha realm, beyond ninety-eight hundred million trillion buddha realms, there was a world realm called Vigatatamondhakārā. A tathāgata named Vigata­bhaya­paryutthāna­ghoṣa resided, lived, and remained there, [F.246.a] and he taught the Dharma of the three yānas to a fourfold assembly. In that buddha realm there were two bodhisattva mahāsattvas, one named Arajavairocana and the other named Svargavairocana, and so on, as previously described.

“Also, at that time, in the upward direction from this buddha realm, beyond two hundred thousand buddha realms, there was a world realm called the Saṃkusumitā. A tathāgata, and so on, up to and including a bhagavat buddha, named Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana resided, lived, and remained there, and he taught the Dharma of the three yānas to a fourfold assembly. In that buddha realm there were two bodhisattva mahāsattvas, one named svaviṣayasṃkopitaviṣaya and the other named Dhāraṇī­saṃpraharṣaṇa­vikopita. Those two worthy beings asked the Tathāgata Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, what was the cause and what was the reason that there occurred a great earthquake in the world and a great rain of flowers?’

“The Tathāgata Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana answered, ‘There is, noble sons, in the downward direction from this buddha realm, beyond two hundred thousand buddha realms, a world realm called Saṃtīraṇa. A tathāgata, and so on, up to and including a bhagavat buddha, named Ratnagarbha resides, lives, and remains there, and he has taught the Dharma, giving the Dharma discourse on the array of prayers that demonstrate the range of bodhisattva activity, the range of samādhis, and the array of dhāraṇī entrances, and he prophesies the highest, most complete enlightenment to many tens of millions of bodhisattvas. [F.246.b] Present there is one bodhisattva mahāsattva, Mahākāruṇika. He has made such a prayer that his speech was suffused with367 great compassion. The bodhisattvas there who have been given prophecies of their highest, most complete enlightenment, have prayed to bring many tens of millions of beings to enlightenment, have chosen the qualities of their buddha realms, and have prayed for the kinds of beings who will be the disciples they train.

“ ‘Among them all, that one bodhisattva endowed with great compassion has outshone the entire assembly, for he will take as his disciples those who are in a buddha realm that has the five degeneracies during the kaliyuga of obscuring kleśas. Those disciples will have minds that are burning and will have committed the bad actions with immediate results at death, and so on, up to and including possessing bad roots.

“ ‘That entire assembly, and the world with its devas, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, have turned from the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and are engaged in making offerings to that one with great compassion. They have bowed down the five points of their bodies, placed their palms together, and praised him. That mahāsattva has knelt down before the Bhagavat Tathāgata Ratnagarbha to listen to his prophecy. When that mahāsattva knelt on his right knee before that bhagavat, that bhagavat smiled and in the worlds in the ten directions numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, the ground shook and a rain of flowers fell. [F.247.a] He performed this miracle so as to awaken the bodhisattva mahāsattvas in all those buddha realms, to reveal the activity of the compassionate bodhisattva’s prayer, so that bodhisattva mahāsattvas would come from those buddha realms as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, and so that the bodhisattva mahāsattvas would be given the Dharma discourse on the fearless conduct that reveals the entrance to samādhi.’ [B12]

“Noble son, those two bodhisattva mahāsattvas, Svaviṣaya­saṃkopita­viṣaya and Dhāraṇī­saṃpraharṣaṇa­vikopita, asked the Tathāgata Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, this bodhisattva mahāsattva, who has great compassion, who has chosen a world with the five degeneracies in the time of the kaliyuga in which kleśas and conflicts are strong, and who has chosen as his disciples those whose minds are burning, who have committed the bad actions with immediate results at death, and so on, up to and including those who possess bad roots, how long has it been since he developed the aspiration for enlightenment? How long has he been practicing the conduct of enlightenment?’

“ ‘Noble sons,’ said the Tathāgata Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana, ‘that bodhisattva mahāsattva who has great compassion has now, for the first time, developed the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment. Noble sons, [F.247.b] you should go to the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa in order to see, pay homage to, and honor the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Ratnagarbha, and to listen to him give the Dharma discourse on the fearless conduct that reveals the entrance to samādhi. You should address the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika in this way: “The Tathāgata Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana addresses you, worthy being, and he has sent you these flowers, which are as stainless as the moon’s radiance, and he congratulates you. Worthy being, in this way you have developed for the first time the aspiration for enlightenment and have spoken with great compassion in such a way that the buddha realms in the ten directions as numerous as the number of particles in a buddha realm were filled with your words, and you have acquired the name Mahākāruṇika.

“ ‘Worthy being, through your compassionate words, you will excellently raise again and again the victory banner of kindness toward future bodhisattva mahāsattvas.

“ ‘Worthy being, throughout countless future eons as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm, word of your fame and renown will fill the buddha realms in the ten directions as numerous as the particles in a buddha realm.

“ ‘Good man, you have made many countless hundreds of thousands of millions of trillions of beings aspire to the highest, most complete enlightenment and made them enter into and be established in that aspiration. You have brought them before368 the Bhagavat and established them in irreversibility from the highest enlightenment. Some of them, through a prayer in the presence of the Bhagavat, have chosen the array of qualities of a buddha realm, and will bathe those beings whom they will train with the light rays of their compassion. [F.248.a] Those whom you have directed toward enlightenment and who have not received a prophecy will in the future receive a prophecy. They will all attain buddhahood in buddha realms in the ten directions as numerous as the number of particles in a buddha realm, after as many innumerable eons have passed as there are particles in a buddha field, and they will turn the wheel of the Dharma and speak their praise of you. Therefore, it is for those three reasons, worthy being, that we should say, “Well done!” ’

“At that time many tens of millions of bodhisattvas said in one voice, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, we also will go to the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa in order to pay homage to and honor the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Ratnagarbha, and to see and praise that worthy being, the one to whom the Tathāgata sends a message of threefold congratulations and gives the flowers that are as stainless as the moon’s radiance.’

“Noble son, the Tathāgata Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana said, ‘Noble sons, knowing that the time has come, you should go there and receive from the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha the Dharma discourse on the fearless conduct that reveals the entrance to samādhi.’

“Noble son, then the bodhisattvas Svaviṣaya­saṃkopita­viṣaya and Dhāraṇī­saṃpraharṣaṇa­vikopita received from the Tathāgata Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana the flowers that are as stainless as the moon’s radiance, and together with many tens of millions of bodhisattvas [F.248.b] they were dispatched from the buddha realm Saṃkusumitā, and in an instant they came and arrived at this buddha realm’s Jambūvana Park and went to where the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha was.

“At that time, the entire buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa became filled with noble sons who were bodhisattvas of the Mahāyāna, followers of the Pratyekabuddhayāna, followers of the Śrāvakayāna, devas, and so on, up to and including mahoragas. Just as a thicket of sugarcane, or a thicket of reeds, or a field of sesame plants, or a field of rice is completely filled, in that same way the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa was at that time filled by noble sons of the Mahāyāna, and so on, up to and including mahoragas.

“The bodhisattvas bowed their heads down to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, and they made offerings to him through the power of various samādhis and the miraculous powers of a bodhisattva. Then they saw the entire assembly, with palms placed together, praising the brahmin who was in the presence of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha. The bodhisattvas thought, ‘This must be the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika to whom the Tathāgata Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana has sent these flowers, which are as stainless as the moon’s radiance.’

“The bodhisattvas turned from the Bhagavat, offered the flowers that are as stainless as the moon’s radiance to the brahmin, and said, ‘Worthy being, the Tathāgata Prasphulitakusuma­vairocana has sent you these flowers, which are as stainless as the moon’s radiance, and, worthy being, he conveys his congratulations!’ [F.249.a] And they continued as previously described in conveying the threefold congratulations.

“And those flowers that rained down in buddha realms that were empty filled those buddha realms with various good words: the word Buddha, the word Dharma, the word Saṅgha, the word light, the word perfection, the word strength, the word confidence, the word clairvoyance, the word uncontrived, the word nonorigination, the word noncessation, the word calmed, the word pacified, the word stilled, the words great kindness, the words great compassion, the words dharmas are without arising, the words the attainment of the level of consecration, and the words a talk on the Mahāyāna.

“Those words from that great rainfall of flowers entirely filled those buddha realms. There were bodhisattva mahāsattvas with great miraculous powers, great might, and the power of profound dharmas who, through the power of prayer, had gone to those empty buddha realms in order to ripen completely the beings there who were to be trained. On hearing those words, through the might of the Buddha, the power of prayer, and the strength of samādhi, those bodhisattvas with miraculous speed, as fast as a strong man extends his arm, left those empty buddha realms and came to the Saṃtīraṇa buddha realm. Those bodhisattvas made offerings through various bodhisattva miracles to the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and to the entire assembly. [F.249.b] Then, in order to listen to the Dharma, they sat wherever they could.

“Noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu, the principal royal priest, offered the flowers that are as stainless as the moon’s radiance to the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, I request that you give me the prophecy of my highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“Noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha then entered the samādhi called the lamp of lightning. Through that samādhi the entirety of the buddha realm Saṃtīraṇa was transformed into the seven jewels. The mountains, trees, grass, wood, and entire ground appeared to be made of the seven jewels.

“All the beings who were gathered there transformed according to the aspect of virtue their minds were engaged in: the bodies of some became yellow, some became white, some became crimson, some became red, some became black, and some became gray. The bodies of some appeared to be made of air, some of fire, and some of space. Some appeared to be mirages; some appeared to be made of water;369 some appeared to be mountains; some appeared to be Brahmās; some appeared to be Śakras; some appeared to be flowers; some appeared to be garuḍas; some appeared to be lions; some appeared to be suns; some appeared to be moons; some appeared to be stars; some appeared to be vultures; and some appeared to have the bodies of jackals. Those beings all appeared in the form of the aspect of virtue in which their minds were engaged as they sat there to listen to the Dharma, and, noble son, those beings perceived the body of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha to be the same as they perceived their own to be.

“Noble son, the brahmin Samudrareṇu, the principal royal priest, [F.250.a] saw before him the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha seated on the pericarp of a thousand-petaled lotus made of the seven jewels. Noble son, all those beings who were seated, who were standing, who were on the ground, or who were in the air, each saw the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha in their own way. They thought, ‘I am seated right in front of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, whose mind knows everything, and he is teaching the Dharma to me alone.’

“Noble son, the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Ratnagarbha said to the brahmin Samudrareṇu, ‘Excellent, excellent, great brahmin of great compassion! You are a compassionate benefactor for countless beings! You appear in the world like the sun!

“ ‘It is like this, brahmin‍—suppose there were a field of flowers, complete with a variety of colors, a variety of fragrances, a variety of textures, a variety of petals, a variety of stalks, a variety of roots, and a variety of medicinal ingredients. Some flowers shine and illuminate a hundred yojanas with their color and scent, some two hundred yojanas, and some three hundred yojanas, and similarly some flowers shine and illuminate with their color and scent the entire world realm of four continents.

“ ‘And when beings who are blind smell that scent of flowers there, they become able to see, the deaf are able to hear, and so on, up to and including those deficient in limbs regain all their limbs. The beings who are afflicted by the 404 kinds of illness become cured of them all when they smell that scent. [F.250.b] Those beings who are intoxicated, unconscious, insane, paralyzed, drowsy, distracted, or who have lost their memory regain all their memory when they smell the scent of those flowers.

“ ‘And in the middle of that field370 of flowers there has appeared a white lotus, firm and solid, made of diamond, with a beryl stalk, gold leaves, an emerald pericarp, and red pearl filaments, that is 84,000 yojanas tall and 100,000 yojanas wide. And the white lotus’s color shines and its scent spreads throughout world realms in the ten directions as numerous as the number of particles in a buddha realm.

“ ‘Brahmin, in world realms in the ten directions as numerous as the number of particles in a buddha realm, there are beings who have physical difficulties, who are afflicted by illness, who are deficient in limbs, who are intoxicated, unconscious, insane, or sleepy, who have lost their memory, and who have distracted minds. When those beings see the light of that white lotus and smell its scent, all their illnesses cease, and they regain their memory.

“ ‘And when the white lotus’s light illuminates or its scent reaches the undestroyed corpses of beings who have recently died in the buddha realms, their corpses come back to life and get up again. And when they see their friends and relatives, they all enter a park and there enjoy the five sensory pleasures. Those who then pass away are reborn in the pure abode of Brahmā. They then live there for a long time‍—with an immeasurable lifespan‍— [F.251.a] [F.251.b]371 and do not pass away from there to be reborn anywhere else.

“ ‘Brahmin, this Mahāyāna assembly is like that field of flowers. Just as, at the time of sunrise, the flowers open up, blossom, radiate, and illuminate‍—some a hundred yojanas high, some a thousand yojanas high‍—and they cure many beings of various illnesses, in the same way, the worthy being, the Tathāgata, the sun-like Buddha has appeared in the world.

“ ‘Just as those flowers are opened by the light rays of the sunrise, and they shine, radiate, and illuminate, and beings who are afflicted by various illnesses are cured, in the same way, worthy being, I have appeared in the world, bathed beings in the light rays of compassion, opening them, bringing beings again and again to the practice of the three activities that generate merit.

“ ‘You have encouraged countless, innumerable beings to aspire to the highest, most complete enlightenment, and you have made them practice it and remain in it. You have brought them to me, and in my presence they have all chosen buddha realms. Some have chosen pure buddha realms. Some have chosen impure buddha realms, and I have prophesied that it will be as they have prayed for.

“ ‘Some worthy beings have in my presence chosen pure realms and chosen beings who have pure motivation, have planted good roots, and are easy to train to be their disciples. Therefore, those bodhisattvas are not called mahāsattvas. They do not have the activity of a great, excellent person. Great compassion does not enter their minds and mental activities. [F.252.a] [F.252.b]372 Those bodhisattvas do not seek enlightenment out of compassion for all beings. The bodhisattvas who have chosen pure realms have cast aside compassion. The bodhisattvas who wish for buddha realms that are bereft of followers of the Śrāvakayāna and of the Pratyekabuddhayāna are not excellent in wisdom and motivation. They pray to attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in a buddha realm without śrāvakas, without pratyekabuddhas, where beings have planted good roots, where there are no women, where there are no hells, where there are no animals, and where there is no world of Yama. They pray to teach only the Mahāyāna to bodhisattvas who have entered the Mahāyāna, and for there to be no śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas. They pray to live for a long time after enlightenment. They pray that they will teach the Dharma for a long time, for many eons, to those who have pure motivation, who have planted good roots, and who are easy to train. The bodhisattvas who pray in that way are not excellent in wisdom and motivation. Those bodhisattvas are not said to be mahāsattvas.’

“Then, noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha extended his hand, and his five fingers emitted light rays of various colors, of many colors‍—of many hundreds of thousands of colors. Those countless, innumerable light rays went into the ten directions and illuminated the buddha realms. There was a world realm called Aṅguṣṭhā. There, in the Aṅguṣṭhā world realm, the lifespan of the people was ten years, they had bad complexion, they were ugly, [F.253.a] they had bad roots, and their height was that of a thumb. There was a tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha named Jyotīrasa. He was one cubit in height; among the people who were one thumb in size, he was seven thumbs in size. That tathāgata resided, lived, and remained there, teaching the Dharma of the three yānas to the fourfold assembly.

“Noble son, the entire assembly saw that buddha realm, those people, and that tathāgata, and the tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha Ratnagarbha said, ‘The Tathāgata Jyotīrasa first developed the aspiration for the highest, most complete enlightenment countless, innumerable eons ago in front of the Tathāgata Ratna­cchatrābhyudgatāva­bhāsa. He guided many millions of trillions of beings to aspire to the highest, most complete enlightenment and made them enter and remain in it. Those beings also made prayers in front of the Tathāgata Ratna­cchatrābhyudgatāva­bhāsa, in accordance with their own wishes. Some chose the array of qualities of a pure buddha realm. Some chose an impure buddha realm that has the five degeneracies.

“ ‘There, that mahāsattva encouraged me to aspire to the highest, most complete enlightenment and made me enter and remain in it. There, in front of the Tathāgata Ratna­cchatrābhyudgatāva­bhāsa, I made the prayer to attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in a buddha realm that has the array of qualities of the five degeneracies. [F.253.b] That tathāgata congratulated me and gave me the prophecy of the highest, most complete enlightenment.

“ ‘The worthy being who was the kalyāṇamitra who made me aspire to enlightenment made a prayer in which he chose a world where the five degeneracies are powerful, in an afflicted buddha realm during a kaliyuga, and he chose as his disciples those whose minds are burning, who have committed the bad actions with immediate results at death, who are engaged in bad roots, and who are in despair within the wilderness of saṃsāra. The bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain in the various, countless, innumerable worlds in the ten directions sent their emissaries to convey their congratulations and gave him the name Mahā­karuṇā­vairocana­saumya. My kalyāṇamitra and benefactor, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahā­karuṇā­vairocana­saumya, is now in the world realm Aṅguṣṭhā, where not long ago he attained complete enlightenment among the thumb-sized people. Being a cubit in height among those thumb-sized people, that tathāgata has turned the Dharma wheel that possesses the Dharma for those people who have a lifespan of ten years.

“ ‘When he attained enlightenment, the buddha bhagavats whom he first encouraged to aspire to the highest, most complete enlightenment and made enter and remain in that aspiration, who then dwelled, lived, and remained in countless, innumerable buddha realms in the ten directions, sent him emissaries to make offerings to him. [F.254.a] The buddha bhagavats whom he first introduced to the perfection of generosity, and so on, up to and including the perfection of wisdom, and whom he caused to enter and remain in the perfection of wisdom, remembering what he had done, sent flowers to that tathāgata.

“ ‘Brahmin, see how those bhagavat buddhas carry out the deeds of a buddha in pure buddha realms where beings have long lives and pure motivation and live happily. See how the Tathāgata Jyotīrasa made a special prayer and chose to attain buddhahood in a very bad buddha realm with the five degeneracies, in which he would perfectly accomplish the activity of a buddha, teach the Dharma without leaving aside śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, have a short life, and be among beings who have planted bad roots and committed the bad actions with immediate results at death.

“ ‘Likewise, worthy being, you have outshone this entire assembly of bodhisattvas and you have made the most outstanding prayer in which you chose a very bad buddha realm with the five degeneracies. You have done so for your disciples, beings who have committed the bad actions with immediate results at death, and so on, up to and including those who have created bad roots.

“ ‘The bodhisattvas chose pure buddha realms that have no hells, no animals, no śrāvakas, and no pratyekabuddhas, and they chose disciples who have planted good roots, have pure motivation, and are well disciplined. Those beings are said to be like the flowers. Those who accomplish the activity of a buddha among beings who have planted good roots and are well disciplined are not bodhisattva373 mahāsattvas like the white lotus.

“ ‘Brahmin, there are four cases of laziness of bodhisattvas. What are these four? Praying for a pure buddha realm; praying to accomplish the activity of a buddha among beings with pure thoughts; [F.254.b] praying that after enlightenment they will not teach the Śrāvakayāna or the Pratyekabuddhayāna; and praying that after enlightenment they will have a long life. These are the four cases of laziness of bodhisattvas. Thereby they are said to be bodhisattvas who are like flowers, not like the white lotus; they are not said to be mahāsattvas. An example of this, brahmin, is this assembly of bodhisattvas‍—except for Vāyuviṣṇu, because he chose an impure buddha realm and chose beings disturbed by the kleśas who are guidable‍—as well as some noble sons of the Bhadraka eon.

“ ‘There are four cases of applied diligence of bodhisattva mahāsattvas. What are these four? Praying for an impure buddha realm; praying to accomplish the activity of a buddha among beings with impure thoughts; praying that after enlightenment they will teach the Śrāvakayāna and Pratyekabuddhayāna; and praying that after enlightenment they will not have a very long or a very short but a medium-length life. These are the four cases of applied diligence of bodhisattva mahāsattvas. Thereby those bodhisattvas are said to be like the white lotus and not like flowers; those bodhisattvas are said to be mahāsattvas. An example of this is you, brahmin, who now amid countless, innumerable bodhisattvas have received an excellent prophecy in front of a tathāgata; you have appeared as a white lotus of compassion because of the power of your prayer.

“ ‘When you spoke with great compassion, choosing as your disciples those who have committed the bad actions with immediate results at death, and so on, up to and including those who engaged in bad roots, and when you chose a buddha realm in which the five degeneracies are strong, [F.255.a] the bhagavat buddhas in the ten directions, as numerous as the number of particles in a buddha realm, congratulated you, worthy being, and sent emissaries to you and gave you the name Mahākāruṇika. This entire assembly engaged in making offerings to you.

“ ‘You, Mahākāruṇika‍—after an incalculable eon has passed, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, during a second such incalculable eon, in which there are as many years as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River; in the great Bhadraka eon; in the Sahā realm, when the lifespan of beings is 120 years; in a buddha realm with much old age, death, and so forth; in a world of darkness; in a world filled with beings without a guide, who have not planted good roots, who are lost on a bad path, who are in great despair, who have committed the acts with immediate results at death, who malign the noble ones, who reject the good Dharma, who have committed the root downfalls, and so on, as previously described‍—will be a tathāgata who has wisdom and virtuous conduct, and so on, up to and including a buddha bhagavat, who has reversed the wheel of existence, who has turned the wheel of the Dharma, who has repelled the māra of power and the māra of kleśas, whose fame will resound through the endless, infinite buddha realms in the ten directions, and around whom there will be a great gathering of disciples, that is, of 1,250 bhikṣus. And just as you prayed, you will completely accomplish such all-encompassing activity of a buddha during a period of forty-five years.

“ ‘Just as this great king Amṛtaśuddha374 will become Amitābha and accomplish the activity of a buddha over countless eons, at that time, Mahākāruṇika, [F.255.b] in the great Bhadraka eon, in the Sahā realm, when the lifespan of beings is 120 years, you will be a tathāgata named Śākyamuni and in forty-five years will accomplish such complete activity of a buddha. Worthy being, when you have passed into the highest parinirvāṇa, your good Dharma will remain for a thousand years. Worthy being, when your good Dharma has come to an end, the relics from your body will, just as you have prayed, accomplish such manifold activity of a buddha. Just as you yourself have prayed, you will thus guide beings for a long time, as previously described.’

“Noble son, at that time Brahmā Ketapuri375 said, ‘Worthy being, while you perform bodhisattva conduct throughout countless eons, may I attend upon you as a permanent attendant, as an assistant who is kindly at your service. When you are in your last life, may I be your father.376 Worthy being, when you have attained enlightenment, may I be your supreme patron, and may you give me the prophecy of my attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“Also at that time there was a sea goddess named Vinītabuddhi who said, ‘While you perform bodhisattva conduct throughout countless eons, and so on, up to and including when you are in your last life, may I be your mother.377 Mahākāruṇika, when you have attained enlightenment, may you give me the prophecy of my attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“There was a goddess named Varuṇa­cāritra­nakṣatrā378 who said, ‘While you perform bodhisattva conduct throughout countless eons, and so on, up to and including when you are in your last life, may I be your wet nurse.379 Mahākāruṇika, when you have attained enlightenment, [F.256.a] may you give me the prophecy of my attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“A śakra380 named Sanema and another śakra named Pāracintin both said, ‘Dear Mahākāruṇika, may we too, and so on, up to and including when you have attained enlightenment, be your disciples, one with wisdom and one with miraculous powers.’381

“Also, another śakra named Cāritra­caraṇa­sudarśayūthika said, ‘Mahākāruṇika, may I, and so on, up to and including when you are in your last life, be your son.’382

“Also, a mountain goddess named Saurabhyākiṃśukā said, ‘Mahākāruṇika, may I be your wife in those lifetimes,383 and when you have attained enlightenment, may you give me the prophecy of my attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“Also, a lord of the asuras named Kaduścara said, ‘Mahākāruṇika, while you, worthy being, perform bodhisattva conduct throughout countless eons, may I attend upon you as a servant, as an assistant who is kindly at your service. When you are in your last life, may I be your attendant.384 Worthy being, when you have attained enlightenment, may I supplicate you to turn the Dharma wheel that possesses the Dharma teaching. When you have taught the Dharma, may I be the first to practice it and attain a result. May I drink the elixir of the Dharma. May I obtain the medicine385 of deathlessness. May I attain arhathood in order to eliminate all kleśas.’

“In the same way, devas, nāgas, and asuras as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River prayed to become followers of Mahākāruṇika and were established as his disciples. [F.256.b]

“There was an ājīvika named Saṃjñāvikaraṇa­bhīṣma386 who said, ‘Dear great brahmin, I will be an assistant who provides much service. Throughout countless eons may I always be your kinsman who supports your fruitful conduct. May I always come before you in order to ask for things. May I ask you for your bed, your seat, your clothing, your elephant, your horse, your chariot, your village, your town, your city, your family, your son, your daughter, your flesh, your blood, your skin, your bones, your hands, your legs, your tongue, your ears, your nose, your eyes, and your head. Great brahmin, may I thus be an assistant to you in the perfection of generosity, and so on, up to and including an assistant to you in the perfection of wisdom. Great brahmin, may I thus be an assistant to you in the six perfections as you perform bodhisattva conduct. When you have attained enlightenment, may I be your disciple. May I learn the 80,000 collections of Dharma teachings. May I subsequently become one who teaches the Dharma. And may you give me the prophecy of my attainment of the highest, most complete enlightenment.’

“Noble son, the brahmin Mahākāruṇika heard that, and he bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, called over the ājīvika Saṃjñāvikaraṇa­bhīṣma, and said to him, ‘Worthy being, it is excellent, excellent that you will be my assistant for unsurpassable conduct. For countless, innumerable thousands of trillions of lifetimes, whenever you come to me to ask for something, may I give it to you with a serene mind, and may you never accrue demerit.’

“Noble son, the bodhisattva [F.257.a] mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika then said in front of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, during countless, innumerable hundreds of millions of trillions of eons, while I am practicing in order to attain the highest, most complete enlightenment, if a beggar comes before me and asks me for food, whether with pleasant words, harsh words, offensive words, or clear words, Bhadanta Bhagavat, if I become angry with that beggar for even an instant, or if I give through the desire to acquire the results of generosity, then I will have broken my promise to the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain in countless, innumerable realms in the ten directions, teaching the Dharma‍—may I then not attain the complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. Bhadanta Bhagavat, if I give a gift without a serene mind387 to a petitioner, the recipient will lose his trust. May there be no impediment to good qualities. If there is only a hair tip’s worth of impediment, then I will have broken my promise to the bhagavat buddhas. If there is even a hair tip’s worth of impediment to the recipient’s good qualities, then may I be destined for the Avīci hell.

“ ‘As it is for food, so it is for clothes, and so forth, until those beggars who ask for my head, whether they ask for my head with pleasant words, harsh words, offensive words, or clear words. If, [F.257.b] Bhadanta Bhagavat, I become angry with that beggar for even an instant of mind, if I give rise to a mind that is not serene, or if I give my head away with the desire for the ripened results of generosity, I will have broken my promise to the bhagavat buddhas, and so may I then become destined for the Avīci hell. As it is for the abandonment of generosity, so it should be said for the abandonment of good conduct, and so on, up to and including the abandonment of wisdom.’

“Then, noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha congratulated the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika: ‘Worthy being, it is excellent, excellent that you, worthy being, have made this prayer with a mind based on great compassion!’

“Noble son, the entire assembly, and the world with its devas, gandharvas, humans, and asuras, placed their palms together and congratulated him: ‘Worthy being, it is excellent, excellent that you, worthy being, have made a prayer with a mind based on great compassion! You will bring contentment to beings through the six conducive qualities!’

“Noble son, just as the bodhisattva ājīvika Saṃjñāvikaraṇa­bhīṣma had prayed to be a recipient of Mahākāruṇika’s generosity, 84,000 other beings made the same prayer.

“Noble son, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika heard the 84,000 beings make the same prayer that the ājīvika Saṃjñāvikaraṇa­bhīṣma had made. Then Mahākāruṇika, with great joy and happiness, placed his palms together and, looking at the entire assembly, [F.258.a] said with great joy, ‘Aho! It is wonderful that, at the time when there is a famine of the Dharma‍—when it has ceased to be, when there is the conflict of great kleśas, in the kaliyuga when the five degeneracies are prevalent, when the world has no guide‍—that I will be a leader, a maker of light, a lamp, one who shows the way to those who are uncared for, to those who are in the dark, and that, through having developed my aspiration for enlightenment for the first time in this way, I have gained companions in the unsurpassable conduct of enlightenment, who in my future lives will take my head, who will take my eyes, ears, nose, tongue, hands, legs, skin, bones, blood, and so on, up to and including food.’

“Noble son, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika sat before the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha and said, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, in my future lives, during countless, innumerable trillions of eons, until I reach enlightenment, during that time, whenever someone comes before me asking either for food or for drink, and so on, up to and including my head,388 may they receive it. Even if it is only as much as a hair tip’s worth, may they receive it from my hand, until enlightenment. And if, Bhadanta Bhagavat, after having attained the highest, most complete enlightenment, I do not liberate those beings from saṃsāra, or I do not give them prophecies through the Śrāvakayāna, the Pratyekabuddhayāna, or the Mahāyāna, then I will have broken my promise to the bhagavat buddhas who now reside, live, and remain, teaching the Dharma, in the realms in the ten directions. [F.258.b] May I then not attain the complete enlightenment of unsurpassable, perfect buddhahood.’

“Noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha congratulated the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika: ‘Worthy being, it is excellent, excellent that your prayer for the conduct of enlightenment is such! It is just like the prayer for bodhisattva conduct made by the Tathāgata Meruśikhariṃdhara,389 when he first developed the aspiration for enlightenment in the presence of the Tathāgata Lokeśvarajyotiṣa, and just as he had prayed, he performed such bodhisattva conduct. After far more eons than there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, that worthy being attained the highest, most complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in the eastern direction from here, beyond a trillion buddha realms, in the world realm Jvālapratisaṃkhyā, where the lifespan is a hundred years. He became a tathāgata arhat samyaksam­buddha, and so on, up to and including a bhagavat buddha, named Jñāna­kusumavi­raja­samucchraya­bodhīśvara. He accomplished the activity of a buddha for forty-five years and then entered the state of nirvāṇa without any remaining aggregates.

“ ‘Mahākāruṇika, after Jñāna­kusumavi­raja­samucchraya­bodhīśvara passed into parinirvāṇa, the true Dharma remained for a thousand years. The true Dharma then having come to an end, the external image of the Dharma remained for a thousand years. Mahākāruṇika, after the Tathāgata Jñāna­kusumavi­raja­samucchraya­bodhīśvara passed into parinirvāṇa, when the true Dharma and the external image of the Dharma remained, there were bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs who had incorrect conduct, bad qualities, and adverse conduct; [F.259.a] who shamelessly stole wealth from stūpas; who appropriated offerings to the Dharma; who mixed with shameless people; and who appropriated the clothing, food, beds, seats, medicine, and necessities from the saṅghas in the four directions or from their own saṅgha as an individual’s property, either for their own use or to give them to householders.

“ ‘However, Mahākāruṇika, everyone had been successively prophesied through the three yānas by the Tathāgata Jñāna­kusumavi­raja­samucchraya­bodhīśvara. Mahākāruṇika, all those who wore the red or orange robes in that bhagavat’s order had been prophesied to progress irreversibly in the three yānas. Even those bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās who had previously committed the root downfalls were prophesied to be irreversible along the three yānas, because of the ripening of the good roots of perceiving that tathāgata as their teacher.’

“Furthermore, noble son, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika said in front of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha, ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, my prayer is like this: For as long as I am practicing the conduct that leads to the highest enlightenment, may I enjoin beings to the perfection of generosity, make them enter it and be established in it, and so on, up to and including the perfection of wisdom. May I enjoin them to good actions even as small as a hair tip. [F.259.b] If, as I am practicing the conduct of enlightenment, I do not establish those beings in the irreversible stage along the three yānas‍—even just a single being‍—then I will have broken my promise to the bhagavat buddhas who reside, live, and remain in countless, innumerable realms in the ten directions, teaching the Dharma. May I then not attain the complete enlightenment of unsurpassable, perfect buddhahood.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, when I have attained unsurpassable wisdom, those beings who are clothed in the red or orange390 robes in my teaching, if they have committed root downfalls, have adopted bad views, or are mistaken about the Three Jewels and have committed transgressions, when they even for an instant have perceived me as their teacher or respected me, or respected the Dharma or the saṅgha,391 then, Bhadanta Bhagavat, if I do not give them the prophecy of irreversibility through the three yānas‍—even if I were to leave out a single being‍—then I will have broken my promise to the bhagavat buddhas. May I then not attain the complete enlightenment of unsurpassable, perfect buddhahood.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, when I have attained enlightenment, may devas and humans respect, worship, honor, and make offerings to my red and orange robes. When they see orange robes about my neck, may they attain irreversibility in the three yānas. May those beings, even poor yakṣas or the beings in Yama’s realm,392 who have no food or drink, who are hungry and thirsty, [F.260.a] who long for even just four finger-widths of an orange dharma robe, all obtain excellent food and drink and have their wishes fulfilled.

“ ‘May those beings who are frequently hostile and vengeful toward each other and go to war with each other‍—whether devas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, nāgas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, kumbhāṇḍas, piśācas, or humans‍—become compassionate, gentle, forgiving, and skillful when they remember my orange Dharma robes.

“ ‘When beings who, in the midst of battles, arguments, wars, and fighting, obtain a piece of an orange robe in order to protect it, make offerings to it, and honor it, may those beings always be victorious, may they never make a mistake and never be injured, and may they have the good fortune to be freed from battles, arguments, wars, and fighting.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, if my red and orange robes do not have these five noble qualities, then I will have broken my promise to the bhagavat buddhas. May I then not be able to accomplish the entire activity of a buddha, may I forget the Dharma, and may I not be able to overcome opposing tīrthikas.

“ ‘Bhadanta Bhagavat, those beings who, after I have attained complete enlightenment [F.260.b] and until my passing into parinirvāṇa, pay homage to me, saying the words “Homage to the Tathāgata Śākyamuni,” will have all their karmic obscurations extinguished, and in the end will enter parinirvāṇa through the unsurpassable parinirvāṇa of the Buddha.’

“Then, noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha extended his right hand, stroked the head of the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika with the palm of his hand, and said, ‘Excellent, worthy being, excellent! This prayer of yours is virtuous, good, and well considered! Thus, worthy being, through those five noble qualities, your red and orange robes will be of sustenance to beings!’

“Dear noble son, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika was filled with joy to receive that prophecy and congratulations, and because of his faith, because of being covered by the meritorious, long fingers of the Tathāgata, because of the touch of the soft, youthful palm of his hand, he became transformed into a youth with the appearance of a twenty-year-old.

“Moreover, noble son, the entire assembly, along with the devas, gandharvas, humans, and asuras, applied themselves to making offerings to the bodhisattva mahāsattva393 Mahākāruṇika. They made offerings of flowers and music to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika, praised him with various eulogies and verses, and remained there with palms placed together in homage.”