Chapter 1 : Introduction

Thus have I translated.

Once the Buddha was dwelling in Ragagriha on Mount Grdhrakuta with a great assemblage of bhikshus, twelve thousands in all; all were arhats, faultless, never again subject to anguish, they had achieved their own advantage, emancipated from all bonds of existence, and free in mind. Their names were Ajnata Kaundinya, Maha Kasyapa, Uruvilva Kasyapa, Gaya Kasyapa, Nadi Kasyapa, Sariputra, Maha Maudgalyayana, Maha Katyayana, Aniruddha, Kapphina, Gavampati, Revata, Pilingavatsa, Vakkula, Maha Kaushthila, Nanda, Sundarananda, Purna Maitrayani Putra, Subhuti, Ananda, Rahula - and other well-known arhats as these. In addition, there were two thousand learners of adepts and the Bhikshuni Mahaprajapati, with six thousand followers; Rahula's mother, the Bhikshuni Yasodhara also with her followers. There were eighty thousand bodhisattva-mahasattvas, all non-backsliding in Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, all having mastered the dharanis, and the knowledge of eloquent discourse, and rolling the never-retrogressing Dharma-wheel; having paid homage to countless hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, under whom they had planted all the roots of virtue, constantly being extolled by the Buddhas; cultivating themselves with compassion; having entered well into the wisdom of the Buddha, having penetrated great wisdom, having reached the yonder shore; their fame bruited widely in innumerable worlds; able to save numberless hundreds of thousands of living beings. Their names were Manjusri Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World (Avalokitesvara), the Bodhisattva Gainer of Great Strength (Mahasthamaprapta), the Bodhisattva Ever Zealous (Nityodyukta), the Bodhisattva He Who Does Not Rest (Aniksiptadhura), the Bodhisattva of the Jewelled Palm (Ratnapani), the Bodhisattva Medicine King (Bhaisajyaraja), the Bodhisattva Bold Donor (Pradanasura), the Bodhisattva of the Jewelled Moon (Ratnacandra), the Bodhisattva of Moon Glow (Ratnaprobha), the Bodhisattva of the Full Moon (Purnacandra), the Bodhisattva of Great Strength (Mahavikramin), the Bodhisattva of Infinite Strength (Anantavikramin), the Bodhisattva He Who Transcends the Triple Realm (Trailokyavikramin), the Bodhisattva Bhadrapala, the Bodhisattva Maitreya, the Bodhisattva of the Heap of Jewels (Ratnakara), the Bodhisattva He Who Leads the Multitude (Susarthavaha) - such bodhisattva-mahasattvas as these, eighty thousands in all.

At that time, Sakro Devanam Indrah was there with his followers, consisting of twenty thousand heaven sons; there were also the Heaven Son of the Moon (Candra), the Heaven Son of All-pervading Fragrance (Samantagandha), and the Heaven Son of Glow of Jewels (Ratnaprabha). There were the four great Heaven Kings, together with their retinue of ten thousand heaven sons. There were the Heaven Son of Self-mastery (Isvara) and the Heaven Son of Great Self-mastery (Mahesvara), together with their retinue of thirty thousand heaven sons. There were the Lord of Saha World, the Brahma, the king of the gods; the great Brahma Sikhin; and the great Brahma Bright Luster (Jyotisprabha) and others, together with their retinue of twelve thousand heaven sons. There were eight Dragon Kings (Nagaraja), namely the Dragon King Nanda, the Dragon King Upananda, the Dragon King Sagara, the Dragon King Vasuki, the Dragon King Taksaka, the Dragon King Anavatapta, the Dragon King Manasvin, and the Dragon King Utpalaka, each with several hundreds of thousands of followers. There were four Kinnara Kings, namely, the Kinnara King of Dharma, the Kinnara King of Wonderful Dharma (Sudharma), the Kinnara King of Great Dharma (Mahadharma), and the Kinnara King Dharma-holder (Dharmadhara), each with several hundreds of thousands of followers. There were four Gandharva Kings, namely, the Gandharva King Pleasant (Manojna), the Gandharva King Pleasant Sound (Manojnasvara), the Gandharva King Beauty (Madhura), and the Gandharva King Beautiful Sound (Madhurasvara), each with several hundreds of thousands of followers. There were four Asura Kings, namely, the Asura King Balin, the Asura King Kharaskandha, the Asura King Vemacitrin, and the Asura King Rahu, each with several hundreds of thousands of followers. There were four Garuda Kings, namely, the Garuda King Great Majesty (Mahatejas), the Garuda King Great Body (Mahakaya), the Garuda King Great Full (Mahapurna), and the Garuda King He Who Has His Wish (Maharddhiprapta), each with several hundreds of thousands of followers. There was Vaidehi's son, King Ajatasatru, with several hundreds of thousands of his followers. Each, having worshipped at the Buddha's feet, withdrew and sat to one side.

At that time, the World-honoured One, surrounded, showered with offerings, revered, honoured, and extolled by the fourfold multitude, for the sake of the bodhisattvas, preached the Mahayana sutra called Innumerable Doctrines (Anantanirdesa), the Dharma by which Bodhisattvas are instructed and which the Buddhas watch over and keep in mind. After preaching the sutra, the Buddha sat cross-legged and entered into the Samadhi of the Abode of the Innumerable Doctrines (Anantanirdesapratisthanasamadhi), in which his body and mind were motionless. At this time, Heaven rained down mandarava flowers, maha-mandarava flowers, manjusaka flowers, maha-manjusaka flowers over the Buddha and all the great assembly. The whole Buddha-world trembled in six different ways.

At that time, in the congregation of bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasakas, upasikas, gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, human-like beings (manusyamanusya) as well as minor kings and the Holy Wheel-rolling Kings - these great assemblies felt that this had never happened before, and, joyously folding their palms, single-mindedly they beheld the Buddha.

At that time the Buddha emitted a glow from the tuft of white hair between his brows that illuminated eighteen thousand worlds to the east, omitting none of them, reaching downward as far as the Avici Hell and upward as far as the Akanistha Heaven. In this world, there could be fully seen in those lands all the living beings in the six existence. There could also be seen the Buddhas present in those lands, and there could be heard the sutra-dharma being preached by the Buddhas. There could also be seen those fourfold multitude who through various practices had attained the Path. Further were seen the bodhisattva-mahasattvas, with various causes, various believes and discernment, and various appearances treading the Bodhisattva Path. Likewise were seen those Buddhas who had entered Parinirvana. Further, there could be seen the stupas of seven jewels for Buddha-sarira erected after the Buddhas had entered Parinirvana.

At that time Maitreya Bodhisattva reflected thus, “Now that the World-honoured One shows an appearance so extraordinary. For what cause and reason of this auspicious sign? Now that the Buddha, the World-honoured One has entered into Samadhi and for an inconceivable he shows unprecedented wonders. Of whom shall I ask, and who will be able to answer?” Further he thought, “Here is Manjusri, the son of the Dharma King, who has approached and paid homage to innumerable Buddhas in the past, and who must have witnessed such unprecedented signs as these. Let me now ask him.”

At that time the fourfold multitude, as well as the gods, dragons, ghosts, and the like, reflected thus, “Of whom shall we now inquire concerning this shining transcendental sign of the Buddha?”

At that time, Maitreya Bodhisattva, desiring to resolve his own doubts and observing the thoughts arising in all the assembly of the fourfold multitude, gods, dragons, ghosts, and the like, asked Manjusri, “Manjusri Bodhisattva-mahasattva, what is the reason for the World-honoured One to have this auspicious and transcendental sign, shedding so great a luminous ray, illuminating eighteen thousand lands to the east, revealing in detail the splendour of those Buddha-realms?

“O, Manjusri!
Why does our Master
From the tuft of white hair between his eyebrows
Universally radiate so great a ray?
The rain of mandarava
And manjusaka flowers
And fragrant breezes of sandalwood
Delight many hearts.
By reason of this
The earth is replete with splendour
While this world
Trembles in six different ways.
At this moment the fourfold multitude
Are all full of joy,
Glad in body and in mind
To obtain a sign so unprecedented.
The ray between his brows
Illuminates the east quarter
Of the eighteen thousand lands,
Colouring them all with gold.
From the Avici Hell
Up to the Pinnacle of Existence (Bhavagra),
In the various worlds
The living beings on the six courses,
The progress of those being born and of the dying,
Their good and evil karma and environment,
The retribution, pleasant or unpleasant,
All are seen herein.
I see also the Buddhas,
The Lions among Saintly Lords,
Expounding the sutra,
Mystic and supreme;
Their voices clear and pure
Send forth softly sounding tones,
Teaching the bodhisattvas
In numberless myriad kotis;
Their brahman-sound, subtle and profound,
Cause men to desire to hear it.
Each in his own world
Preaches the True Dharma,
By various causes and conditions
And by resort to numberless parables,
Clarifying the Buddha-dharma
And enlightening the living beings.
If a man, encountering woe,
Sickens of old age, illness, and death,
For his sake they preach Nirvana,
Bringing to an end the uttermost vestige of woe.
If a man has merit,
Formerly having paid homage to Buddhas,
Devoted to seeking the superior dharma,
For these they preach Cause Enlightenment.
If any Buddha-sons
Cultivating many kinds of conduct,
Seeking after the supreme wisdom,
For those they preach the Pure Path.
O, Manjusri!
I, abiding here,
Have seen and heard such things as these
And thousands of kotis of things;
These things so numerous
Let me now briefly describe:
I see in those lands
Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sand of the Ganges,
Through various causes and conditions,
Seeking the Buddha Path.
Some perform the act of giving, presenting
Gold, silver, coral,
Pearls, mani (jewels)
Precious seashells, agate,
Diamonds and other treasures,
Bondmen and bondwomen, wagons and chariots,
Hand-drawn carriages and palanquins ornamented with jewels,
These in joy they give,
Applying them to the Buddha Path
And wishing to attain the Yana,
The supreme in the Triple Realm,
Extolled by the Buddhas.
Besides, there are bodhisattvas by whom
Jewelled four-horse carriages,
With rails and flowered canopies
Arrayed on their seats, are presented.
Also I see bodhisattvas by whom
Bodily flesh, hands and feet,
Even wives and children are presented
To seek after the Supreme Path.
Again, I see bodhisattvas by whom
Heads, eyes, and bodies,
Are joyously presented
To seek after the wisdom of the Buddha.
O, Manjusri!
I see many kings
Going before the Buddhas
To inquire of the Supreme Path.
Then abandoning pleasant lands,
Palaces and halls, courtiers and concubines,
Shaving their beards and hair,
And donning the Dharma-garb.
I see also bodhisattvas
Who become bhikshus,
Dwelling alone in serenity,
Taking pleasure in reciting the sutras.
And I see bodhisattvas
Who in their zeal and earnestness
Entering deep into the mountains
To ponder the Buddha Path.
Again I see them renouncing all desires,
Constantly dwell in desolation and serenity,
Profoundly cultivating Dhyana-concentration
And attaining the five transcendental faculties.
Then again I see bodhisattvas
Secure in Dhyana, their palms joined,
With thousands of myriads of gathas
Extolling the Dharma Kings.
Yet again, I see bodhisattvas,
Profound in wisdom, firm in will,
Able to ask the Buddhas,
Receive and retain all that they hear.
I also see Buddha-sons
Fully endowed with concentration and wisdom
By resort to incalculable parables,
Proclaming the dharma to the multitude,
Taking pleasure in preaching the dharma,
Converting the bodhisattvas,
Smashing Mara's host
And beating the dharma-drum.
Further, I see bodhisattvas,
Calm and silent in their quietude,
Revered by gods and dragons,
Yet taking no pleasure therein.
Again, I see bodhisattvas
Dwelling in forests and emitting radiance
That saves the sufferers from the pains of hell
And cause them to enter the Buddha Path.
Again, I see Buddha-sons
Who have never slept,
Walking about in forest
In earnest quest of the Buddha Path.
I see further those perfect in disciplined conduct,
Faultless in bearing,
Pure as precious pearls,
With these attributes seeking the Buddha Path.
Again, I see Buddha-sons
Dwelling in the strength of forbearance, who,
Though men of the utmost arrogance
Hatefully revile and beat them,
Can bear all, without exception,
Thus seeking the Buddha Path.
Again, I see bodhisattvas
Who have separated themselves from all manner of frivolity,
And from deluded followers,
Single-mindedly removing distractions,
Personally approaching those of wisdom,
On mountain and in forest composing their thoughts
For myriads of kotis of years,
Thereby seeking the Buddha Path.
Also I see bodhisattvas by whom
Delicacies of food and drink
And a hundred varieties of broth and herbs
Are offered to the Buddha and his sangha;
By whom famous robes and superior garments,
Their value in the thousands of myriads,
Or utterly priceless robes
Are presented to the Buddha and his sangha;
By whom thousands of myriads of millions of kinds
Of houses of jewelled sandalwood,
As well as much fine bedding,
Are presented to the Buddha and his sangha;
By whom immaculate gardens and groves,
Their blossoms and fruits in full bloom,
With running springs and bathing ponds,
Are presented to the Buddha and his sangha;
With offerings such as these,
Supremely fine in many ways,
Joyfully without grudging
Seeking after the Supreme Path.
Also there are bodhisattvas
Who preach the Dharma of Nirvana
In various ways instructing
Numberless living beings.
Also I see bodhisattvas
Who view the nature of the dharmas
As unmarked by duality,
Just like the space.
Then I see Buddha-sons,
With minds free from attachments,
By this mystic wisdom
Seeking the Supreme Path.
O, Manjusri,
There are bodhisattvas
Who, after the Buddha's passage into extinction,
Make offerings to his sariras.
Further, I see Buddha-sons
Making stupa-shrines
Innumerable as the sand of the Ganges,
Splendidly adorn the domains,
Jewelled stupas to the wonderful height
Of five thousand yojanas,
Their height and breadth proportionate
Two thousand yojanas,
Each of the stupa-shrines
Having on it a thousand banners and flags,
Curtains with jewels like intermingled dewdrops,
Their jewelled bells chiming in harmony;
Gods, dragons, and other spirits,
Humans and human-like beings
With sweet flowers and skilfully played music
Constantly paying homage.
O, Mansjusri,
The Buddha-sons,
In order to make offerings to the sarira,
So splendidly adorn the stupa-shrines,
That the domains are thereby
Made extraordinary wonderful and fine,
Like the King of Divine Trees
When its blossoms bloom.
The Buddha has emitted a ray whereby
The assembled multitude and I
See this domains and territories,
Variously and peculiarly fine.
The Buddha's supernatural power,
His wisdom, is so rare
That, by emission of a single pure ray,
It illuminates incalculable domains.
We, behold this,
Which has never happened before.
Buddha-son, O, Manju,
Pray resolve the multitude's doubts.
The fourfold multitude, in joyous supplication,
Looks up to you and me.
Why has the World-honoured One
Emitted this ray?
O, Buddha-son, make timely answer
And, resolving doubts, cause joy.
What profit is there
In sending forth this ray?
When the Buddha sat on the Platform of the Path (Bodhimanda),
What subtle dharma he gained,
Because he wished to set them forth,
And in order to confer prophecy (vyakarana),
Emitting this great radiance,
Showing the Buddha-lands,
Adorned and purified with many jewels,
And seeing the Buddhas,
Hearing the dharma being preached.
The reason for all this is not a trifling one.
O, Manju, you must know.
The fourfold multitude, the dragons, and the spirits
Looking up to you,
Wondering what you will say.”

At that time, Manjusri said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahasattva and the sundry great worthies, “O, good men! I surmise that now the Buddha, the World-honoured One, intending to preach the great Dharma, to pour down the great Dharma-rain, to blow the great Dharma-conch, to beat the great Dharma-drum, to expound the great Dharma-doctrine. All of you, good men, once before, in the presence of the ancient Buddha, I saw this portent. When the Buddha had emitted this light, straightaway he preached the great Dharma. Because of this, know that now the Buddha, having displayed this ray, is also like this. He intends to cause all living beings to hear and know the Dharma which all the worlds will find it hard to believe. That is why he displays this portent.

“O, good men! It was just like in time of yore, infinite, boundless, inconceivable asamkhyeya kalpas ago. At that time there was a Buddha styled Sun Moon Glow, who expounded the True Dharma of the commencement period, middle period and end period; which is profound in meaning, subtle and refined in the words, pure and unadulterated, fully endowed with the marks of pure, white brahman-conduct (brahmacarya). For those who sought to be sravakas he preached with respect to the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths for the overcoming of birth, old age, illness, and death, and attaining nirvana; for those who sought pratyekabuddhahood, he preached with respect to the Dharma of the Twelve Causes and Conditions; for the bodhisattvas he preached with respect to the Six Paramitas to cause them to attain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi and to perfect the Wisdom of All Modes.

“Next again there was a Buddha, also named Sun Moon Glow. Next again there was a Buddha, also named Sun Moon Glow. And in like manner there were twenty thousand Buddhas all bearing the same name, to wit Sun Moon Glow, all belonging as well to the same class, namely, that of Bharadvaja. Know, O, Maitreya! All these Buddhas, from the first to the last, bore the same name, to wit, Sun Moon Glow. The Dharma which they preached was of comencement, middle and end period.

“Before the last of these Buddhas left his household, he had eight royal sons. These eight princes in their honourable estate were independent, each having dominant over four continents. All these princes, hearing that their father after leaving the household had attained Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, renounced the royal position and, following him, left household, resolute on the Mahayana. They were constantly cultivating brahman-conduct and all became Dharma-masters, having planted all roots of goodness under thousands of myriads of Buddhas.

“At that time the Buddha Sun Moon Glow, after preaching the Dharma for a long time, amidst the great assembly, preached the Mahayana sutra called the Innumerable Doctrines, the Dharma by which the Bodhisattvas are instructed and which the Buddhas watch over and keep in mind. Having preached this sutra, he at once, amidst the great assembly, sat cross-legged and entered into the Samadhi of the Abode of Innumerable Doctrines, in which his body and mind were motionless. At this moment the rain of mandarava, maha-mandarava, manjusaka, and maha-manjusaka flowers from the sky covered the Buddha and all the great assembly, while the universal Buddha-world trembled in six different ways.

“At that time, the fourfold multitude, gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, human-like beings, as well as minor kings and the Holy Whell-rolling Kings - these multitudes, having gained something they had never had before, folded their hands in joy and single-mindedly beheld the Buddha.

“At that time, the Tathagata emitted a glow from the tuft of white hair between his brows that illuminated eighteen thousand Buddha-lands to the east, omitting none of them, just like the Buddha-lands being seen now.

“Know, O, Maitreya! At that time in the assembly there were twenty kotis of bodhisattvas who joyfully desired to hear the Dharma. All these bodhisattvas, beholding this ray of light illuminating the Buddha-lands universally, and obtaining that which they had never had before, desired to know the causes of and reasons for that ray.

“At that time there was a bodhisattva named Mystic Light (Varaprabha), who had eight hundred disciples. When the Buddha Sun Moon Glow arose from his Samadhi, for the sake of the Bodhisattva Mystic Light, he preached the Mahayana sutra called the Lotus Blossom of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma by which Bodhisattvas are instructed and which the Buddhas watch over and keep in mind. During sixty minor kalpas he rose not from his seat. The hearers in that assembly remained seated in their places, for sixty minor kalpas, motionless in body and mind, listening to the Buddha's preaching and deeming it but the length of a meal. During that time there was no one in the assembly who felt fatigue in either body or mind.

“The Buddha Sun Moon Glow, for sixty minor kalpas having preached this sutra, in the midst of the multitudes of Brahmas, Maras, Sramanas, Brahmans, as well as gods, men and asuras, declared, ‘Today, at midnight, will the Tathagata enter the Nirvana of No Remains.’

“At that time, there was a bodhisattva name Virtue Treasury. The Buddha Sun Moon Glow straightaway conferred upon him a prophecy, announcing to the great assembly, ‘This Bodhisattva Virtue Treasury shall next become a Buddha named Pure Body, Tathagata, Arhat, Samyaksambuddha.’

“When the Buddha had conferred this prophecy, he then, at midnight, entered Nirvana of No Remains. After the Buddha's passage into extinction, the Bodhisattva Mystic Light kept the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Dharma, which for full eighty minor kalpas he expounded to others. The eight sons of the Buddha Sun Moon Glow all took Mystic Light as their teacher. Mystic Light taught and instructed them to solidify their Anuttarasamyaksambodhi. These princes, having paid homage to innumerable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of Buddhas, all achieved the Buddha Path. The last to achieve Buddhahood was named Torch-burner (Dipamkara).

“Among the eight hundred disciples was one named Seeker of Fame (Yasaskama), who craved advantage and profit. Though he read and recited many sutras, none of them penetrated and stuck, completely forgetting most - for which reason he was called Seeker of Fame. This man also, since he had planted roots of goodness, was able to meet incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of Buddhas, to pay homage, to revere and honour them, and to extol them. Know, O, Maitreya! The Bodhisattva Mystic Light of that time, was it for other person? It was I myself. You yourself were the Bodhisattva Seeker of Fame. Now we see this portent, is no difference from the former one. For this reason I surmise that the Tathagata will today preach the Mahayana sutra named the Lotus Blossom of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma by which Bodhisattvas are instructed and which the Buddhas watch over and keep in mind.

“I remember a past age,
Infinite and numberless kalpas ago;
There was a Buddha, the most honoured of men,
Named Sun Moon Glow.
That World-honoured One preached the Dharma
To save innumerable living beings
Incalculable millions of bodhisattvas
And cause them to enter the Buddha-wisdom.
Before the Buddha left his household
The eight princes born to him,
Having seen the Great Saint leave his household,
Also followed him in cultivation of Brahman-conduct.
At that time that Buddha preached the Mahayana,
The sutra called Innumerable Doctrines,
Amongst the hosts of great multitudes,
And in detail defined it to them.
Having preached this sutra, the Buddha,
Straightaway, atop the Dharma-throne,
Crossing his legs, sat in a Samadhi
Named the Place of the Innumerable Doctrines.
The Heaven rained down mandarava flowers,
The heavenly drums resounded of their own accord,
All the gods, dragons, ghosts and spirits
Worshipped the supreme among men.
All of the Buddha-lands
At that moment trembled greatly.
The ray sent forth from the Buddha's brows
Revealed unprecedented wonders.
This ray, illuminating the eastern quarter
Of eighteen thousand Buddha-lands,
Showed everywhere all living beings
In the state of birth, death, and retribution for deeds.
Some of the Buddha-lands were seen
Adorned with various jewels,
Many hued with lapis lazuli and crystal,
From the shining of the Buddha's ray.
Besides, I saw gods, men,
Dragons, spirits and yaksas,
Gandharvas and kinnaras,
Each of them worshipping that Buddha.
Further I saw Tathagatas
Who of themselves had accomplished the Buddha Path,
Their appearance like mountains of gold,
Very wonderful in their majesty.
As within pure lapis lazuli
A real golden image is made apparent,
So the World-honoured One in the great assembly
Expounded the meaning of the profound Dharma.
In each of the Buddha-lands
Were sravakas innumerable;
By the shining of the Buddha's ray
Their great host was completely visible.
Besides, there were the bodhisattvas
Who, having dwelt in the mountains and forests,
Had zealously advanced and kept the pure commandments
As if they were protecting bright jewels.
And I also saw bodhisattvas
Who practised donations and perseverance,
As the sand of the Ganges in number,
By the radiance of the Buddha's ray.
I also saw bodhisattvas
Who, deeply entering into various dhyana-concentrations
Were at rest, motionless in body and mind,
Seeking the Unexcelled Path.
Again, I saw bodhisattvas
Who, knowing the nirvana-nature of the dharmas,
Each in his own domain
Preached the dharma and sought the Buddha Path.
Thereupon all of the fourfold assembly
Seeing the Buddha Sun Moon Glow
Demonstrate great transcendental powers,
With joy in all their minds
Each asked one another,
‘For what reason are these things?’
He who is honoured by gods and men
Soon rose from his Samadhi,
Extolling the Bodhisattva Mystic Light,
‘You are the eyes of the world,
Believed by all,
Are able to keep the dharma-treasury.
Such a Dharma as I preach,
Only you alone are able to bear it witness.’
The World-honoured One had thus praised him,
Buddha knew his mind
Was able to keep the treasury of the Wonderful Dharma.
To cause Mystic Light to rejoice,
He preached this Dharma Blossom Sutra
During full sixty minor kalpas,
Never rising from his seat.
The supreme and wonderful Dharma so preached,
This Mystic Light, Teacher of the Dharma,
Was wholly able to receive and retain.
When the Buddha had preached this Dharma Blossom
And caused all of the multitude to rejoice,
Then, he, on that very day,
Announce to the hosts of gods and men:
‘The Truth of the Reality of the Wonderful Dharma
Has just been preached for all of you.
I now, at midnight,
Must enter into Nirvana.
Do you, with all your mind, advance zealously
And depart from all slackness;
Buddhas are too rarely to be encountered;
In kotis of kalpas but one is met.’
The sons of the World-honoured One,
Hearing that the Buddha was entering Nirvana,
Every one felt grieved and distressed:
‘How sudden is the Buddha's extinction!’
The Holy Lord, the King of the Dharma,
Comforted the countless multitude:
‘Even when I am extinct,
Be not sad and afraid!
This Bodhisattva Virtue Treasury,
In the realization of faultlessness,
Has gained complete understanding.
He will become the next Buddha,
Whose name will be called Pure Body;
He, too, will save innumerable multitude.’
That night the Buddha crossed to extinction,
As when firewood is finished the fire dies out.
His sariras were distributed
And innumerable stupas erected.
Those great multitude who received prophecy,
Numerous as the sand of the Ganges,
Doubled their exertions,
Seeking the Supreme Path.
This Mystic Light, Teacher of the Dharma,
Reverently kept the treasury of the Buddha's Dharma,
During eighty minor kalpas
Widely proclaimed the Dharma Blossom Sutra.
All these eight princes,
Enlightened and converted by Mystic Light,
Solidified the Supreme Path
And would see countless Buddhas.
Having paid homage to the Buddhas
And followed them, walking the Great Path,
In succession they could become Buddhas,
And one by one they received prophecies.
The last, the god of gods,
Was called the Buddha Torch-burner.
He, the leader of all the seers,
Saved innumerable living beings.
This Mystic Light, Teacher of the Dharma,
At that time had a disciple
Who was always of a lazy spirit,
Greedily attached to fame and gain,
Tireless in seeking fame and gain,
Who often frequented the homes of the great clans,
Casting aside what he had learned,
Forgetting everything and dull of apprehension.
For this reason
He was called Fame Seeker.
He also by performing good deeds
Was able to see numberless Buddhas
Also to pay homage to Buddhas
And to follow them, walking the Great Path,
Perfecting the deeds of bodhisattvas,
And now has seen Sakya, the Lion,
He will become the next Buddha,
He will be named Maitreya,
Who shall widely save living beings
Countless in number.
After the extinction of that Buddha,
The slothful one was yourself.
And Mystic Light, Teacher of the Dharma,
Was I myself who now am here.
Having seen the Buddha of Glow
Of the same sort of light and portent,
I therefore know that the present Buddha
Desires to preach the Dharma Blossom Sutra.
The present sign is like the former portent;
It is the tactful method of Buddhas.
Now the Buddha sent forth a ray
To help reveal the Truth of Reality.
Be aware, all of you!
Fold your hands and with all your mind await!
The Buddha will pour the rain of Dharma
To satisfy those who seek the Path.
If those who seek after the Triple Yana,
Have any doubts or regrets,
The Buddha will rid them of them
So that none whatever shall remain.”

Chapter 2 : Expedient Devices

At that time, the World-honoured One rose serenely from his Samadhi and proclaimed to Sariputra, “The Buddhas' wisdom is profound and incalculable. The gateways of their wisdom are hard to understand and hard to enter. Wherefore? In former times the Buddha, personally approaching hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of innumerable Buddhas, practised exhaustively the Dharmas of those Buddhas' incalculable paths. He is bold and earnest. His fame spreads everywhere. He achieves profound Dharmas that have never been before. What he preaches accords with what is appropriate, but the end point of its meaning is hard to understand, neither the sravakas nor the pratyekabuddhas can apprehend it. Sariputra, since achieving Buddhahood I have, by a variety of means and by resort to a variety of parables, broadly discoursed and set forth the doctrine, by countless devices leading the living beings and enabling them to leave their encumbrances. Wherefore? The Tathagata's expedient devices, his wisdom and insight, and his paramitas have all been acquired to the fullest measure.

“Sariputra, the Tathagata's wisdom and insight are broad and great, profound and recondite. Immeasurable are his non-impediment, might, fearlessness, Dhyana-concentration, deliverance, Samadhi, all have deeply penetrated the limitless. He has perfected all the dharmas that have never been before. Sariputra, by making a variety of distinctions, the Tathagata can skilfully preach the dharmas. His words are gentle, gladdening many hearts. Sariputra, essentially speaking, for the immeasurable, unlimited dharmas that have never been before, the Buddha has perfected them all. Cease, Sariputra, there is no need to say more. Wherefore? Concerning the prime, rare, difficult-to-understand dharmas, which the Buddha has perfected, only a Buddha and a Buddha can fathom the reality of all dharmas, namely all dharmas have such a form, such a nature, such an embodiment, such a potency, such a function, such a cause, such a condition, such an effect, such a retribution, such a beginning, ending, perfection and others.

“The Heroes of the World cannot be fathomed.
Among gods, worldlings,
And all varieties of living beings,
None can know the Buddhas,
As to the Buddhas' strengths, their sorts of fearlessness
Their deliverances, and their Samadhis,
As well as the other dharmas of the Buddhas,
None can fathom them.
Formerly, following numberless Buddhas,
He fully trod the various paths,
Those dharmas profound and subtle,
Hard to see and hard to understand.
Throughout countless millions of kalpas
After treading these various paths,
On the Platform of the Path he was able to achieve the Fruit:
This I fully know.
As to such great fruits and retributions as these,
Such varied meanings of nature and forms
I and the Buddhas of the ten directions
Are the only ones who can know these things.
These Dharmas cannot be demonstrated,
Words and phrases which are only signs, are quiescent in them.
Among the remaining kinds of living beings
None can understand them,
Except for the multitude of bodhisattvas,
Whose power of faith is firm.
The multitude of the Buddhas' sravakas
Formerly paid homage to the Buddhas,
And had ended all their faults,
They inhabit this last bodily state,
Such men as these,
Their strength is of no avail.
Though the world were full
Of beings like Sariputra,
And if, exhausting their thoughts, all calculated together,
Could not fathom the Buddha's wisdom.
Indeed, though the ten directions were full
Of beings like Subhuti,
And the remaining disciples,
If, further, filling the ksetras of the ten directions
And exhausting their thoughts, they were to calculate together,
They still could not know it.
If pratyekabuddhas of keen intelligence
Inhabiting a final body without faults
Were to fill even the spheres of the ten directions
In their number like bamboo groves,
And if, putting their minds together
For millions of incalculable kalpas
They wished to think on the real wisdom of the Buddha,
None could know a slight portion thereof.
Though newly vowed bodhisattvas
Who have paid homage to countless Buddhas,
Who understand completely the direction of the various doctrines,
And who also can preach the Dharma well
Were, in the manner of stalks of hemp, bamboo, and reed,
To fill the ksetras of the ten directions
And if, with one mind and by resort to their subtle wisdom,
For kalpas numerous as the sand of the Ganges
They were all to think and calculate together,
Still they could not understand the Buddha's wisdom.
If bodhisattvas who do not backslide,
In number like the sand of the Ganges,
Were with one mind to think and seek together,
They still could not know it.”
Further proclaim to Sariputra,
“The faultless and inscrutable,
Profound and subtle Dharma
I now have wholly attained.
Only I know these forms,
As also do the Buddhas of the ten directions.
Know, Sariputra!
The words of Buddhas do not differ.
In the Dharmas preached by the Buddha
Should beget great strength of faith,
For at length after the Buddha's teaching
He must proclaim the perfect Truth.
Address to all the sravakas,
Bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas and others,
I cause to free from the bonds of suffering
And attain nirvana.
The Buddha employs his tactful powers,
He demonstrated the Triple Yana teachings.
All living beings have various attachments,
He leads them to obtain escape.”

At that time, in the midst of the great multitude there were sravakas and faultless arhats, Ajnatakaundinya and other twelve hundred persons, as well as those fourfold multitude who have vowed to be sravakas and pratyekabuddhas, each of whom thought, “Now, why has the World-honoured One so earnestly extolled the Buddha-wisdom? And said that the Dharma which the Buddha has gained is very profound and difficult to comprehend. That which he proclaims has a meaning and an objective so hard to understand that all the sravakas and pratyekabuddhas are unable to attain it. The Buddha has preached the doctrine of unique deliverance, and we, too, gaining this Dharma, reach nirvana. Yet now we do not know where this doctrine tends.”

At that time, Sariputra, knowing the doubts in the minds of the fourfold multitude, and himself not yet fully understanding, spoke to the Buddha, “O, World-honoured One! For what cause and reason have you earnestly praised the Buddhas' prime, profound, subtle, and difficult-to-understand Dharma? From of yore, I have never heard from the Buddha such a preaching as this. Now the fourfold multitude all have doubts. Will the World-honoured One be pleased to explain these things, why the World-honoured One extol so earnestly the very profound, subtle and difficult-to-understand Dharma?

“O, Wisdom Sun! Great Holy Honoured One!
At length you have preached this Dharma,
Declared yourself to have obtained such
Powers, fearlessness, and Samadhis,
Dhyana-concentration, deliverance, and other
Inconceivable dharmas.
On the Dharma obtained on the Platform of the Path
No one has been able to utter any question,
And I find it hard to fathom
And also am unable to ask questions.
Without being asked, you yourself have spoken,
Extolling the path you have trodden,
And your most subtle wisdom
Which the Buddhas have obtained.
All the faultless arhats
And those who are seeking after nirvana
Have now fallen into nets of doubt.
Why does the Buddha speak thus?
Seekers after pratyekabuddhahood,
Bhikshus and bhikshunis,
All gods, dragons, and spirits,
Gandharvas and other beings
Look at each other in perplexity,
And look expectantly to the Dual Abundant Honoured One.
What may be of this matter?
We wish the Buddha to explain.
In this assembly of sravakas
The Buddha say I am the chief,
But I, now, of my own wisdom
Am in doubt and cannot understand
On the ultimate Dharma
On the Path that trodden.
The sons born of the Buddha's mouth
With folded hands wait expectantly.
Be pleased to send forth the mystic sound
And timely proclaim the truth as it is.
All the gods, dragons, spirits, and others,
Numerous as the sand of the Ganges;
Bodhisattvas aspiring to be Buddhas,
Fully eighty thousand in number;
Also, from myriads of kotis of countries,
Holy Wheel-rolling Kings arrived here,
With folded hands and reverent hearts,
Desiring to hear the perfect Path.”

At that time, the Buddha proclaimed to Sariputra, “Cease, Cease! There is no need to speak further. If I speak of this matter, gods and men in all the worlds shall be startled and perplexed.”

Sariputra again said to the Buddha, “O, World-honoured One! Be pleased to preach it, be pleased to preach it! Wherefore? The numberless hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of asamkhyeyas of living beings in this assembly have seen the Buddhas before. Their perceptions are keen and their wisdom is pellucid. If they hear the Buddha's preaching, they shall be able to put reverent faith in it.

“O, King of the Dharma, Venerable One among the Unexcelled,
Be pleased to explain without misgiving,
In this assembly of incalculable multitude
There are those who can put reverent faith.”

The Buddha again restrained, saying, “Sariputra, if I preach this matter, all the gods, men, and asuras in all the worlds shall be startled and perplexed, and the arrogant fourfold multitude shall fall into a great pit.

“Cease, cease! No need to speak.
My Dharma is subtle and inscrutable.
Those of overweening pride,
If they hear it, shall surely neither revere it nor believe in it.”

At that time, Sariputra again said to the Buddha, “O, World-honoured One! Be pleased to expound it, be pleased to expound it! In the present assembly, beings like me, numbering a hundred thousand myriads of millions, in successive incarnations have followed the Buddhas and have been converted by the Buddhas. Such men as these shall surely be able to revere and believe. Throughout the long night of time, they shall be secure, deriving much benefit therefrom.

“O, Supremely Dual Abundant Honoured One,
Be pleased to preach the Prime Dharma!
I am the eldest Buddha-son,
Condescend to preach explicitly.
Incalculable multitudes in this assembly
Can revere and believe this Dharma.
The Buddha has already, in successive incarnations,
Taught and converted many like these.
All of one mind, with palms joined,
Wish to listen to the Buddha's word.
There are twelve hundred of us
And others aspiring to be Buddhas
Be pleased, for the sake of this multitude,
To deign to preach explicitly.
If they hear this Dharma,
Then they shall beget great joy.”

At that time, the World-honoured One declared to Sariputra, “Since you have now thrice earnestly besought me, how can I not preach? Do you now listen attentively to, ponder, and remember it! I will state it explicitly to you.”

When he spoke these words, in the assembly, there were bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasakas, upasikas and the like, to the number of five thousand, with the Buddha's mighty power, straightaway rose from their seats and, doing obeisance to the Buddha, withdrew. Wherefore? This group had deep and grave roots of sin and overweening pride, imagining they had attained what they had not yet attained and had proved what they had not yet proved. Having such faults as these, therefore they did not stay. The World-honoured One was silent and did not stop them.

The Buddha declared to Sariputra, “Now my congregation is free from twigs and leaves, and has nothing but all that are purely the true and real. Sariputra, it is just as well that such arrogant ones as these have withdrawn. Now listen well, for I will preach to you.”

Sariputra said, “So be it, O, World-honoured One; I desire joyfully to listen.”

The Buddha declared to Sariputra, “A subtle Dharma such as this, the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, preach but occasionally, as the udumbara blossom appears but once in a while. Sariputra, you should believe that in what the Buddha says, the words are not false. Sariputra, the Buddhas preach the Dharma appropriately; their purport is hard to understand. Wherefore? By resort to numberless expedient devices and to various means, parables, and phrases, do the Buddhas proclaim the dharmas. The purport cannot, by powers of thought or discriminatory reasoning, be understood. Only Buddhas can discern it. Wherefore? The Buddhas, the World-honoured Ones, for one great reason alone appear in the world. Sariputra, what do I mean by ‘The Buddhas, the World-honoured Ones, for one great reason alone appear in the world’? The Buddhas, the World-honoured Ones, appear in the world because they wish to cause the living beings to open the Buddhas' wisdom and insight and thus enable them to gain purity. They appear in the world because they wish to show the Buddhas' wisdom and insight to the living beings. They appear in the world because they wish to cause the living beings to apprehend the Buddhas' wisdom and insight. They appear in the world because they wish to cause the living beings to enter into the path of the Buddhas' wisdom and insight. Sariputra, this is the one great reason for which the Buddhas appear in the world.”

The Buddha declared to Sariputra, “The Buddhas, the Tathagatas, teach the bodhisattvas merely that whatever they do is for one purpose, namely, to reveal and make intelligible the Buddha's wisdom and insight to the living beings. Sariputra, the Tathagata, by resort to the Eka Buddha Yana alone preaches the Dharma to the living beings. There are no other yanas, whether two or three.

“Sariputra, all the Buddhas of the ten directions, their Dharmas are also like this.

“Sariputra, the Buddhas of the past by resort to incalculable and numberless expedient devices and to various means, parables, and phrases proclaimed the dharmas to the living beings. These dharmas are for the Eka Buddha Yana. These living beings, hearing the Dharma from the Buddhas, all attain thoroughly to the Wisdom of All Modes (sarvakarajnata).

“Sariputra, future Buddhas shall come into the world, and they, too, by resorting to incalculable and numberless expedient devices and to various means, parables, and phrases, shall proclaim the dharmas to the living beings. These dharmas shall all be directed towards the Eka Buddha Yana. These living beings, hearing the Dharma from the Buddhas, shall all attain thoroughly to the Wisdom of All Modes.

“Sariputra, the Buddhas, the World-honoured Ones, in the incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of Buddha-lands of the ten directions of present time have many living beings whom they benefit and put at their ease. These Buddhas also, by resort to incalculable and numberless expedient devices and to various means, parables, and phrases, proclaim the dharmas to the living beings. These dharmas are all directed towards the Eka Buddha Yana. These living beings, hearing the Dharma from the Buddhas, shall all attain thoroughly to the Wisdom of All Modes.

“Sariputra, these Buddhas teach the bodhisattvas merely because they wish to reveal the Buddha's wisdom and insight to the living beings, because they wish to enlighten the living beings with the Buddha's wisdom and insight, because they wish to cause the living beings to enter into the Buddha's wisdom and insight.

“Sariputra, I, now, am also like this. Knowing that the living beings have various desires and attachments deep in their minds, according to their basic natures, by resort to the expedient power of various means, parables, and phrases, I preach the dharma to them. Sariputra, I do this only in order that they may gain the Eka Buddha Yana and the Wisdom of All Modes. Sariputra, in the worlds of the ten directions, there are not even two yanas, how much more can there be three!

“Sariputra, the Buddhas appear in an evil world stained with five defilements, to wit, the defilement of the kalpas (kalpakasaya), the defilement of the agonies (klesakasaya), the defilement of the living beings (sattvakasaya), the defilement of views (drstikasaya), and the defilemant of the life span (ayuskasaya). Sariputra, when the kalpa defilement is in chaos, the stains of the living beings run deep, and with greed and envy they complete unwholesome roots. Therefore, the Buddhas, with their expedient powers, conceal the Eka Buddha Yana, discriminate and expound the three. Sariputra, if my disciples called themselves arhats or pratyekabuddhas, neither have heard nor known of these matters that the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, teach the bodhisattvas, they are not the Buddha's disciples nor arhats nor pratyekabuddhas! Again Sariputra, if these bhikshus or bhikshunis claim that they have already attained arhatship, they are in their last bodily states, the perfect nirvana; because of this they do not seek further the Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, be it known that this lot are all persons of overweening pride. Wherefore? There is no such thing as a bhikshu who has really obtained arhatship if he has not believed this Dharma. There is an exceptional case when, after the Buddha's extinction, there is no other Buddha present. Wherefore? After the Buddha's extinction it is hard to find persons who can receive and keep, read and recite, and explain the meaning of such sutras as these. If they encounter other Buddhas, they shall then get decisive instruction concerning this Dharma. Sariputra, you must all single-mindedly believe, understand, receive, and keep the Buddha's words; for in the words of the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, there is nothing either vain or false. There are no other yanas; there is only the Eka Buddha Yana.

“Bhikshus and bhikshunis
Obsessed by utmost arrogance,
Upasakas with self-conceit,
Upasikas of no faith,
Fourfold multitude such as these,
Five thousand in number,
Perceiving not their own faults,
Having flaws in their discipline,
Guarding their blemishes,
Such small wit they showed,
These chaff of the assembly, who
Because of the Buddha's splendid virtue withdrew;
These men of little merit and virtue,
Are incapable of receiving this Dharma.
There are no twigs and leaves in this assembly,
But only those who are true and real.
O, Sariputra! Listen carefully
The dharmas obtained by the Buddhas,
So innumerable, profound and subtle,
Which cannot be discriminated,
Only by resort to the tactful powers,
They expound to all living beings.
What the living beings have in their minds,
The various paths they tread,
The nature of their several desires,
And their former karmas, good and evil,
The Buddha knows all these perfectly.
With various means and parables,
Phrases and tactful powers,
He causes them all to rejoice.
He preaches either sutras,
Or gathas, or former things,
Or former lives, or the unprecedented,
And also preaches the causes and conditions
Parables and geyas,
And upadesa scriptures.
The dull who delight in petty dharmas
Who are greedily cling to birth and death
Who, under innumerable Buddhas,
Do not tread the profound and mystic Path,
Who are harassed by all the sufferings -
Because of these I preach nirvana.
I have set up such expedient devices
To enable them to enter the Buddha-wisdom.
I have never said, ‘You all
Shall accomplish the Buddha Path.’
The reason why I have never said
Is that the time for saying it had not yet arrived.
Now is the very time,
And I have resolved to preach the Ekayana.
These nine divisions of my Dharma,
Which are preached according to the capacity of all living beings,
Keeping the entry into the Ekayana as the basis,
Hence I preach this sutra.
While I was on the Platform of the Path,
Before men and heavenly beings gathered together,
There are Buddha-sons whose minds are pure,
Who are gentle and clever-natured,
And who, in innumerable Buddha-regions,
Have trodden the profound and mystic Path;
For the sake of these Buddha-sons
I preached the Lotus Blossom Sutra.
And I predicted that such men as these
In the world to come will accomplish the Buddha Path
Because they are deep-hearted mindful of the Buddha
Practise and keep the pure Dharma.
These, hearing that they may become Buddhas,
Were filled throughout with great joy.
The Buddha knew their mind and conduct,
And therefore preached to them the Ekayana.
If sravakas and bodhisattvas
Hear the Dharma which I am preaching now
Even for but one gatha
All, without doubt, will become Buddhas.
In the Buddha-lands of the ten directions
There is only the Ekayana Dharma,
Neither a second nor a third,
Except the tactful teachings of the Buddha,
By provisional names and words
Leading all living beings,
For the sake of revealing the Buddha-wisdom.
The Buddhas appear in the world,
Only this One is the real fact,
For the other two are not true.
They never by the Triple Yana
Save all living beings.
The Buddha himself abides in the Ekayana
In accordance with the Dharma he has attained,
Adorned with the strength of concentration and wisdom,
And by it he saves all living beings.
He himself bears witness to the Supreme Path
The Ekayana, the undifferentiating Dharma,
If I convert by the Triple Yana,
Even but one man,
I shall fall into grudging -
A thing that cannot be.
If men turn in faith to the Buddha,
The Tathagata will not deceive them,
And he has no covetous and envious desires
And is free from all the sins of the laws.
So the Buddha, in the ten directions,
Is the one being perfectly fearless.
I, by my sign-adorned body,
With its shining illuminates the world,
And am honoured by countless multitudes,
For whom I preach the seal of reality.
Know, Sariputra!
Of yore I made a vow,
Wishing to cause all living beings
To rank equally without difference with me.
According to the vow I made of old,
Now all has been perfectly fulfilled:
Converting all living beings
And leading them to enter the Buddha Path.
Whenever I meet any living beings
I teach them all by the Buddha Path.
The unwitting confused
And, going astray, never accept my teaching.
I know that all these living beings
Have never practised the wholesome goodness,
Are firmly attached to the five desires,
And through infatuation and greed, they are in distress.
By reason of these desires,
They have fallen into the three evil destinies;
Transmigrating in the six states of existence,
They suffer the utmost misery.
Received into the womb in minute form,
Life after life their sufferings increase and grow,
That men of slight virtue and little merit,
Are oppressed by all the distresses;
They have entered the thickets of heretical views,
Such as ‘existence’ or ‘non-existence’ or the like;
Relying on these false views,
Altogether sixty-two,
They are deeply attached to these false dharmas,
Firmly holding, unable to give them up,
Self-sufficient and self-inflated,
Sycophantic, crooked, and insincere in mind;
During thousands and millions of kalpas
They have not heard the name of a Buddha,
Nor have they heard the True Dharma;
Men such as these can hardly be saved.
For this reason, Sariputra,
I set up a tactful way for them,
Proclaiming the way to end sufferings,
Revealing it through nirvana.
Though I proclaim nirvana,
Yet it is not real extinction.
The Buddha-wisdom, from the very beginning
Is ever of the quiet extinction nature.
The Buddha-sons have trodden the path,
In a world to come they become Buddhas.
I, having the power of tactfulness
Set forth the Dharma of the Triple Yana.
All the World-honoured Ones
Expound the Ekayana Path.
Now these great multitudes
Are all to purge their doubts and perplexities.
The Buddhas do not differ in their statements;
There is one only and no second yana.
In the past countless kalpas,
Innumerable extinct Buddhas,
In hundreds, thousands, and milliards,
Whose numbers cannot be counted,
All such World-honoured Ones as these
With various means and parables
And innumerable tactful powers
Have proclaimed the various nature of the dharmas.
All these World-honoured Ones
Proclaimed the Ekayana Dharma,
Converting numberless living beings
To enter the Buddha Path.
Also, the great Holy Masters,
Knowing all the worlds
The varieties of gods, men, and other creatures
The desires in their deepest thoughts,
By resort to other varying devices
Assist in revealing the Path of Ekayana.
If there are any living beings
Who have met the former Buddhas,
If, having heard the Dharma, they have given donations;
Or, if they have kept the discipline or endured ignomity
Advanced with vigour, cultivated dhyana or wisdom
Have in various ways cultivated merit and wisdom,
Such men as these
Have all attained the Buddha Path.
After the extinction of the Buddhas,
Men with good and gentle minds,
Such living beings as these
Have all attained the Buddha Path.
After the extinction of the Buddhas,
Those who worshipped their sarira
And built many kotis of sorts of stupas,
With gold, silver, and crystal,
With moonstone and agate,
With jasper and lapis lazuli,
Clearly and broadly decorated,
Handsomely displayed on every stupa;
Or those who built stone shrines
Of sandalwood and aloes,
Eaglewood and other woods,
Of brick, tiles, clay, and the like;
Or those who in the open fields
Heaped up earth for Buddhas' shrines;
Even children, in their play,
Who gathered sand for a Buddha's stupa:
All such men as these
Have attained the Buddha Path.
If men for the sake of Buddhas
Have erected various images
Carved the multitudinous marks,
Have all attained the Buddha Path.
Or those who with the precious seven,
With brass, red and white copper,
With white tin, wax, lead, and tin,
With iron, wood, and clay,
Or with resin, lacquer and cloth
Have adorned and made Buddhas' images,
All such men as these
Have attained the Buddha Path.
Those who have colour-painted Buddhas' images
With the hundred blessing-adorned signs,
Whether done by themselves or employing others,
Have all attained the Buddha Path.
Even boys in their play
Who with reeds, sticks, or brushes
Or with their fingernails,
Have drawn Buddhas' images,
All such men as these,
Gradually accumulating merit
And perfecting hearts of great compassion,
Have attained the Buddha Path,
Converting the bodhisattvas,
Saving countless living beings.
If men to the stupas and shrines,
To the precious images and paintings,
With flowers, incense, flags, and umbrellas
Have paid homage with respectful hearts;
Or employed others to perform music,
Beat drums, blow horns and conchs,
Panpipes and flutes, play lutes, harps,
Pipas, gongs and cymbals,
Such beautiful sounds as these,
All played as offerings;
Or with joyful hearts
By singing to extol the merits of Buddhas
Even though in but a low voice,
Have attained the Buddha Path.
Even anyone who, with distracted mind,
With but a single flower
Has paid homage to the painted images
Shall gradually see countless Buddhas.
Or those who have offered worship,
Be it by merely folding the hands,
Or even raising a hand,
Or slightly bending the head,
By thus paying homage to the images
Gradually see innumerable Buddhas,
They themselves will attain the Supreme Path,
Extensively save countless living beings,
And enter the formless nirvana,
As when firewood is finished the fire dies out.
If any, even with distracted mind,
Enter a stupa or temple
And salute but one ‘Namah Buddha’,
They have attained the Buddha Path.
If any from the Buddhas of the past,
Whether in existence or already extinct,
Have heard this Dharma of varying devices
They have all attained the Buddha Path.
All the future World-honoured Ones,
Infinite in their number,
All these Tathagatas,
Also by tactful ways preach the Dharma.
All of the Tathagatas
By infinite tactful ways
Save all living beings
To enter the Buddha's faultless wisdom.
Of those who hear the Dharma of the varying devices
Not one fails to become a Buddha.
The original vow of the Buddhas:
‘By the Buddha Path which I tread,
I desire universally to cause all living beings
To attain the same Path as mine.’
Though the Buddhas in future ages
Proclaim hundreds, thousands, kotis,
Countless dharma-gateways
Is in fact, for the sake of Ekayana.
The Buddhas, the Dual Abundant Honoured Ones,
Know that the dharmas are ever without a nature of their own
And that Buddha-seeds spring from a cause,
So they reveal the Ekayana.
The dharmas abide in their fixed order,
In the world ever abiding -
Having come to know these on the Platform of the Path,
For the living beings are dull in their capacities
Who cannot believe the Ekayana,
The leader proclaims it in tactful ways.
Whom gods and men pay homage to,
The present Buddhas in the ten directions,
Whose number is as numerous as the sand of the Ganges,
And who appear in the world
For the relief of all living beings,
They also proclaim such a Dharma as this.
Knowing the supreme quiet extinction,
Not proclaiming it to them
But by tactful powers
They proclaim various paths.
Though showing various paths,
Really they are for the Buddha Yana.
Knowing the conduct of all living beings,
The thoughts in their deepest minds,
The karma they have developed in the past,
Their inclinations and zeal,
And their capacities, keen or dull,
With various kinds of means,
Parables, also words and phrases,
Preaching expediently in accord with what is appropriate.
Now I also in like manner
For the relief of all living beings
By various dharma-gateways
Reveal the Buddha Path.
I, by my power of wisdom,
Knowing the natures and inclinations of the living beings,
Tactfully proclaim the dharmas
Cause all to obtain gladness.
Know, Sariputra!
Before the Tathagata appear in the world,
Often, thinking of the bodhisattvas,
I then observe with the Buddha's eyes.
See the bodhisattvas in the six destinies,
Poor and without merit and wisdom.
In the dangerous path of the mortality,
In continuous, unending suffering,
Firmly attached to the five desires
Like the yak caring for its tail,
Smothered by greed and infatuation,
Blind and seeing nothing;
They seek not the mighty Buddha,
And the Dharma to end sufferings,
But deeply fall into heresies,
And seek by suffering to get rid of suffering.
For the sake of all these living beings,
My heart is stirred with great compassion.
I showed that by various practices
After incalculable kalpas
Then only can attain the Buddha Path,
Rise and roll the Dharma-wheel.
When I first sat on the Platform of the Path,
Looking at that tree and walking about
During thrice seven days,
I pondered such matters as these:
‘The wisdom which I have obtained
Is wonderful and supreme,
But all living beings are dull in their capacities,
Pleasure-attached and blind with delusion.
Such classes of beings as these,
How can they be saved?’
Thereupon all the Brahma kings
And the chiefs of the gods, the sakras,
The four heavenly kings who protect the worlds,
Also the God Great Sovereign
And all the other heavenly beings,
With hundreds of thousands of myriads of followers,
Respectfully saluted with folded hands,
Entreating me to roll the Dharma-wheel.
Then I pondered within myself:
‘If I only extol the Buddha Yana,
All living beings, being sunk in suffering,
Will not be able to believe this Dharma.
Reviling the Dharma and not believing it
Will fall into the three evil paths.
I would rather not preach the Dharma,
But instantly enter nirvana.’
Then, on remembering what former Buddhas
Performed by their tactful powers,
The Path which I have attained
I must also preach the Triple Yana.
When I had had this thought,
All the Buddhas of the ten directions appeared
And, with sacred voice, cheered me in response:
‘Excellent, Sakyamuni!
The first of Leaders!
Having attained this Supreme Dharma
Following after our mind
In using tactful powers.
We, too, have all attained
This most wonderful, supreme Dharma,
But for the sake of the many kinds of living beings,
Discriminate and preach the Triple Yana.
Those of little wisdom delight in petty dharmas,
Not believing that they can become Buddhas,
Hence we, by expedient devices,
Discriminate and preach the fruitations.
Though we also proclaim the Triple Yana,
It is only for teaching the bodhisattvas.’
Know, Sariputra!
Hearing the voices of the Holy Lions,
Profoundly pure and mystic,
I saluted them, ‘Namah Buddhas’,
And again reflected thus:
‘Having come forth into the defiled and evil world,
I, according to the Buddhas' behest,
Will also obediently proceed.’
Having finished pondering this matter,
Straightaway I went to Varanasi.
Since the quiet and extinct natures of the dharmas
Cannot be proclaimed in words,
Concealing the real doctrine
Following the Buddhas
By resort to the power of expedient devices
I preached to the five bhikshus.
This is called turning the Dharma-wheel.
Then there was the sound ‘nirvana’,
As well as ‘arhat’,
‘Dharma’, and ‘sangha’ - several and distinct names such as these.
Since remote kalpas
I have set forth with praise the dharma of nirvana;
‘The woes of birth and death are forever terminated!’ -
It is thus that I ever preached.
Know, Sariputra!
I see the Buddha-sons,
Those who aspire to the Buddha Path,
In incalculable thousands of myriads of millions,
All with deferential mind,
All coming before the Buddha,
Having former heard from the Buddhas
The dharmas preached by resort to expedient devices.
Then I had this thought:
‘The reason a Tathagata emerges
Is to preach Buddha-wisdom.
Now is the very time for it!’
Know, Sariputra!
Men of dull capacities and slight wisdom,
They who cling proudly to signs,
Cannot believe in Ekayana.
Now I, joyfully and fearlessly,
In the midst of the multitudes,
Frankly casting aside my expedient devices,
Merely preach the Unexcelled Path.
When the bodhisattvas hear this Dharma,
The net of their doubts is all cleared away.
A thousand two hundred arhats
Shall also become Buddhas, every one of them.
As has been, for the Buddhas of the three ages,
The manner in which they preach the Dharma,
So I, too, now
Preach a Dharma without distinctions.
Buddhas emerge in the world
At remote intervals, and to encounter them is difficult.
Even when they do emerge in the world,
To preach this Dharma is also difficult.
Throughout incalculable and countless kalpas,
To hear this Dharma is no less difficult.
And, as for one who can listen to this Dharma,
Such a person, too, is rare.
This udumbara flower, for example,
Is loved and desired by all,
Regarded as rare by both gods and men,
Appearing only once at great intervals of time.
One who, hearing the Dharma, in joy and praise
Utter so much as a single word
Has already paid homage
To all the Buddhas in the three ages.
Such a person is very rare,
Rarer even than the udumbara flower.
You shall have no doubts.
I, being the King of the Dharma,
Universally address the great multitudes,
Having recourse only to the Path of the Ekayana,
Teaching and converting bodhisattvas,
And having no Triple Yana disciples.
All of you, Sariputra,
Sravakas and bodhisattvas alike,
Are to know that this wonderful Dharma
Is the secret essential of the Buddhas.
Being in the evil world of the five defilements
Long for and cling to their desires alone,
Such living beings as these
Shall never seek the Buddha Path;
Those Triple Yana believers of the future
Greedily attached to the Triple Treasury
Considering it to be the truth
Hearing the Buddha preach the Ekayana
Gone astray and perplexed and neither believing nor accepting,
Shall malign the Dharma and fall into evil destinies.
For men such as these
Don't ever preach this sutra.
If there shall be those who disgrace and are pure
Aspirants to the Buddha Path;
Must, for these beings
Broadly praise the Path of the Ekayana.
Know, Sariputra!
The Buddhas' Dharma is like this,
By resort to myriads of millions of expedient devices
Preach the Dharma in accord with what is appropriate for the situation.
Those who have not studied and learned it
Would not know this.
All of you, knowing now that
The Buddhas, the Teachers of the Worlds,
Their matter of expedient devices in accord with what is appropriate,
Need have no more doubts or uncertainties.
Your hearts shall give rise to great joy,
Since you know that you yourselves shall become Buddhas.”

Chapter 3 : The Parable

At that time Sariputra danced for joy, then straightaway rose and, joining his palms and looking reverently at the August Countenance, spoke to the Buddha, “Now that I have heard this Dharma-sound from the World-honoured One, I have in my heart the thought of dancing for joy. I have gained something I never had before. Wherefore? Formerly, when I heard the Mahayana Dharma from the Buddha, I saw the bodhisattvas receive the prophecy that they should become Buddhas; but I had no part in this. I was sore grieved that I was to miss the profound wisdom of the Tathagata. O, World-honoured One! In the past I have dwelt alone in mountain forests and at the foot of trees; and, whether sitting or walking, I always had this thought, ‘These boddhisattvas and I entered the Dharma-nature of non-existence. How is it that the Tathagata shows us salvation by resort to the Hinayana Dharma.’ Today then only I know that this is our fault, not that of the World-honoured One. Wherefore? Had we waited for him to preach that on which the achievement of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi is based, then the Tathagata should have saved us with Mahayana. However, since we did not understand that the preaching had been based on expedient devices and accorded with what was appropriate, when we first heard the Buddha's dharma, directly we believed it, accepted it, had thoughts about it, and had attainment on it. What a pity!

“O, World-honoured One! From of old, day long and into the night I have been reproaching myself. But now that I have heard from the Buddha what I had never heard before, a Dharma that has never been before, I have cut off my doubts and second thoughts; my body and mind are at ease, and happily I have gained peace. Today, at long last, I know that I am truly a Buddha-son, born of the Buddha's mouth and born of Dharma-transformation. I have gained a portion of the Buddha's Dharma.

“Having heard this Dharma-sound, I
Have gained what I never had before.
My heart harbours a great joy,
And the net of my doubt is completely cleared away.
From of old, having received the Buddha's doctrine,
I have never lost the Mahayana.
The Buddha's voice is very rare,
Able to clear away the agonies of the living beings.
Having already gained the extinction of the outflows,
Upon hearing this I also cleared away my cares and agonies.
Dwelling in mountains and valleys,
Or being at the foot of trees in forests,
Whether seated or walking about,
I constantly thought of these things.
‘Ah!’ said I in profound self-reproach,
‘How can I have so deceived myself?
Though I am a Buddha-son,
Entered alike into dharmas without outflows,
But I shall not be able in the future
To expound the Unexcelled Path.
The golden thrity-two,
The ten strengths, and the various deliverances -
Are all together within one Dharma,
Yet I get none of it.
The eighty kinds of the wondrously good,
The eighteen unshared dharmas,
And such merits as these though there be,
Yet have I missed them all.’
When I go about alone,
I see the Buddha present in the great multitude,
His name being bruited about in all ten directions,
Broadly benefiting the living beings.
I think to myself that I have lost this advantage,
For I imagine I have been deceiving myself.
I constantly, day and night,
Think repeatedly about these things.
I wish to ask the World-honoured One about them,
Whether I have missed them or not.
I constantly see the World-honoured One
Praising the bodhisattvas.
Thus day and night
I constantly weigh and measure matters such as these.
Now I hear the Buddha's voice
With various powers of the expedient devices
Preach the Dharma in accord with what is appropriate,
With the purport of Ekayana.
With what is free of outflows, hard to conceive or to discuss,
He causes the living beings to reach the Platform of the Path.
Formerly I, attached to heretical views,
Was a teacher of Brahmans.
The World-honoured One, knowing my thoughts,
Uprooted the heresy and preached nirvana.
I, completely clearing away my heretical views,
Directly witnessed the Dharma of the Emptiness.
At that time in my heart I said to myself
That I had contrived to reach the passage into extinction.
But now, at last, I am aware
That this is no real passage into extinction.
When I contrive to become a Buddha,
When I am fully endowed with the thirty-two marks,
When a multitude of gods, men, and yaksas,
As well as dragons, spirits, and the like, do me honour,
At that time and not before shall I be able to say
That I am forever and completely extinguished without residue.
The Buddha, in the midst of the great multitude,
Says that I shall become a Buddha.
When I hear a Dharma-sound such as this,
My doubts and second thoughts are completely cleared away.
When I first heard the Buddha's preaching,
In my heart I was greatly alarmed:
‘Surely Mara is playing Buddha,
Confusing my thoughts!’
The Buddha by resort to various means,
Parables and phrases, preaches,
When I hear him, my net of doubt is severed
And the heart is as calm as the sea.
The Buddha says that in ages gone by
Incalculable Buddhas, now passed into extinction,
Dwelling securely in the midst of expedient devices,
Also preached this Dharma, every one of them;
That the Buddhas of the present and the future,
Their numbers past all reckoning,
Also, by resort to expedient devices,
Set forth a Dharma such as this one,
Just as the present World-honoured One,
Beginning with his birth and going through his departure from the household,
His attainment of the Path, and his turning of the Dharma-whell,
Has also preached by resort to expedient devices.
The World-honoured One preaches the Real Path,
While the Mara King has none of this.
By this token I know for a certainty
That this is no Mara playing Buddha,
But that I, having fallen into a net of doubt,
Thought this was the work of Mara.
When I hear the Buddha's gentle voice,
Profound, far removed from the ordinary understanding, and extremely subtle,
Setting forth the pure Dharma,
My heart is overjoyed,
My doubts and second thoughts are cleared away forever,
And I dwell securely in the midst of Ekayana:
Of a certainty I shall become a Buddha,
Revered by gods and men;
I shall turn the unexcelled Dharma-wheel,
Teaching and converting bodhisattvas.”

At that time, the Buddha declared to Sariputra, “I now speak in the midst of the great multitude of gods, men, sramanas, Brahmans, and the like. Formerly I, in the presence of four myriads of millions of Buddhas, for the sake of the Unexcelled Path was constantly teaching and converting you. And you, throughout the long night of time, following me, received my instruction but you have completely forgotten. It is because I led you hither by resort to expedient devices that you have been born into my Dharma. Accordingly, you say to yourself that you have already gained passage into extinction.

“Sariputra, long ago I taught you to aspire to the Ekayana Buddha Path. Now once again, wishing to cause you to recall the path you trod in keeping with your former vow, for those of Triple Yana I preach this sutra of the Mahayana, named the Lotus Blossom of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma by which Bodhisattvas are instructed and which the Buddhas watch over and keep in mind.

“Sariputra, you, in an age to come, beyond incalculable, limitless, inconceivable kalpas, having made offerings to several thousands of myriads of millions of Buddhas, having upheld the True Dharma and having acquired to perfection the limitless Dharma Paths trodden by bodhisattvas, shall be able to become a Buddha named Flower Glow (Padmaprabha), the Tathagata, the Worshipful, the Right and Universal Wise, the Perfectly Enlightened in Conduct, the Well Departed, the Understander of the World, the Unexcelled Worthy, the Controller and Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-honored One.

“That Buddha's domain shall be named Free of Defilements (Viraja). Its land shall be flat and even, clean, well-adorned, tranquil, rich, and abounding in gods and men. It shall have vaidurya for soil in an eightfold network of highways, each bordered with cords of pure gold. At their sides shall be columns of seven-jewelled trees, constantly bearing blossoms and fruits.

“Flower Glow, the Tathagata, shall furthermore by resort to the Triple Yana teach and convert the living beings. Though the time of that Buddha's emergence shall not be an evil age, by reason of his former vow he shall preach the Dharma of the Triple Yana. His kalpa shall be named Adorned with Great Jewels (Maharatnapratimandita). Why shall it be named Adorned with Great Jewels? It is because in that domain bodhisattvas shall be taken for great jewels. Those bodhisattvas shall be incalculable, limitless, past reckoning and discussion, beyond the reach of number or parable, such that, except with the power of Buddha-wisdom, none shall be able to know them.

“When they are about to walk, jewelled blossoms shall spring up to receive their feet. These bodhisattvas shall not have just launched their thoughts, but all shall have long since planted the roots of excellence, and in the presence of incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of Buddhas, shal have cultivated brahman-conduct purely, being constantly the objects of the Buddhas' praise, ever cultivating Buddha-wisdom, acquiring thoroughly great transcendental penetration, knowing well the gateways of all the dharmas, straightforward and honest, without deception, firm in intent and mindfulness. Such bodhisattvas as these shall fill that domain.

“Sariputra, the life span of the Buddha Flower Glow shall be twelve minor kalpas. The life span of the people of his domain shall be eight minor kalpas. Flower Glow, the Tathagata, when twelve minor kslpas have passed, shall present a prophecy of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi to the Bodhisattva Hard-full (Dhrtiparipurna) and tell the great multitude that this Bodhisattva Hard-full shall in turn become a Buddha, who shall be called He Whose Feet Tread Securely on Blossoms (Padmavrsabhavikramin), a Tathagato Rhan Samyaksambuddha.

“Sariputra, after the passage into extinction of this Buddha Flower Glow, his True Dharma shall abide in the world for thirty-two minor kalpas, and his Counterfeit Dharma shall abide in the world also for thirty-two minor kalpas.

“Sariputra, in an age to come
You shall become Buddha, venerable of universal wisdom.
Your name shall be called Flower Glow,
And you shall have incalculable multitudes,
Having made offerings to numberless Buddhas;
Having perfected bodhisattva conduct,
The strengths of dhyana and other such meritorious qualities;
And having borned direct witness to the Unexcelled Path.
When incalculable kalpas have passed,
The kalpa shall be named Adorned with Great Jewels.
The world shall be named Free of Defilement,
Being pure and without blemish,
Having vaidurya for its soil,
Setting off its highways with golden cords,
Its particoloured trees of seven jewels
Constantly blooming and bearing fruit.
The bodhisattvas of that domain
Shall be ever firm of intent and mindfulness,
Their supernatural penetrations and paramitas
All having been thoroughly perfected,
And they themselves, in the presence of numberless Buddhas,
Learned well the Bodhisattva Path.
Great worthies such as these
Shall have been converted by the Buddha Flower Glow.
When a prince, the Buddha,
Forsaking his domain and setting aside his honours,
In his final body
Shall leave the household life and achieve the Buddha Path.
The Buddha Flower Glow shall abide in the world
For a life span of twelve minor kalpas.
The people of his domain
Shall have a life span of eight minor kalpas.
After the Buddha shall have passed into extinction,
His True Dharma shall abide in the world
For thirty-two minor kalpas,
Broadly saving the living beings.
When his True Dharma is completely extinct,
There shall be a Counterfeit Dharma for thirty-two minor kalpas.
His sarira shall be spread far and wide,
Gods and men everywhere shall pay homage to it.
What the Buddha Flower Glow shall do
Shall all be as these.
That Sainted and Venerable Dual Abundant One
Shall be most distinguished, without his like.
He shall be none other than you yourself.
You should and ought to be delighted.”

At that time the fourfold multitude, as well as a great multitude of gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and the like, seeing Sariputra receive in the Buddha's presence a prophecy of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, danced endlessly for joy of heart and, each removing the uppermost garment he was wearing, presented it to the Buddha as an offering. Sakro Devanam Indrah and Brahma, the king of the gods, together with numberless heaven-sons, also paid homage to the Buddha with their fine divine garments, divine mandarava and maha-mandarava flowers. The divine garments they had scattered remained stationary in the open air, then turned about by themselves. The divine beings all together at once made music of a hundred thousand myriads of kinds in the open air and, raining down many divine flowers, spoke these words, “The Buddha in former times in Varanasi first turned the small Dharma-wheel. Now, at long last, he is turning the unexcelled and supremely great Dharma-wheel.

“O, World-honoured One, the Great Dharma King,
One who is perfect in compassion
Formerly, in Varanasi,
You turned the Dharma-wheel of the Four Truths,
With discrimination preaching the dharmas,
The origination and extinction of their five collections.
Now again you are turning the most subtle,
Unexcelled great Dharma-wheel.
This Dharma is profound and recondite,
For few there are who can believe in it.
From of old we
Have often heard the World-honoured One preach,
But have never before heard such
A profound and subtle superior Dharma.
When the World-honoured One preach this Dharma,
We are all delighted accordingly.
The greatly wise Sariputra
Has now been able to receive an august prediction.
We also in this way
Shall certainly be able to become Buddhas,
In all the worlds
Most venerable and having none superior.
The Buddha Path, beyond reckoning and discussion,
Preached appropriately by resort to expedient devices.
What meritorious deeds are ours,
Whether in the present age or in ages gone by,
As well as the merit of having seen Buddhas,
We divert completely to the Buddha Path.”

At that time, Sariputra said to the Buddha, “O, World-honoured One! I now have no more doubts or second thoughts, since I have been personally enabled to receive in the Buddha's presence a prophecy of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi. These twelve hundred who freely control their own thoughts formerly dwelt on the level of learners. The Buddha constantly taught them, saying, ‘My Dharma can separate one from birth, old age, sickness, and death, making possible the complete achievement of nirvana.’ These persons, the learners of adepts, also thought, on the ground that they had separated themselves from the view of ‘I’ and from the view of ‘there is’ and ‘there is not’, that they had attained nirvana. Yet now, in the presence of the World-honoured One, having heard what they had never heard before, they have fallen into doubt and uncertainty. Excellent, O, World-honoured One! I beg you, for their sake, to explain the causes and conditions, thus separating them from their doubts and second thoughts.”

At that time the Buddha declared to Sariputra, “Did I not say formerly that the Buddhas, the World-honoured Ones, by resort to a variety of causes and conditions, parables, words and phrases, and expedient devices preach the Dharma; that all is for the purpose of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi? This is because this preaching is all effected in order to convert bodhisattvas. However, Sariputra, I shall now once again by resort to a parable clarify this meaning. For they who have intelligence gain understanding through parables.

“Sariputra, imagine that in a country, or a city-state, or a municipality, there is an elder, advanced in years and of incalculable wealth, owning many fields and houses, as well as servants. His house is broad and great; it has only one doorway, but great multitudes of human beings, a hundred, or two hundred, or even five hundred, are dwelling in it. The halls are rotting, the walls crumbling, the pillars decayed at their base, the beams and ridgepoles precariously tipped. Throughout the house and all at the same time, quite suddenly a fire breaks out, burning down all the apartments. The elder's sons, ten, or twenty, or thirty of them, are still in the house.

“The elder, sees this great fire breaking out from four directions, is alarmed and terrified. He then has this thought, ‘Though I am able to get out safely from this burning house, yet my sons within the burning house, attached as they are to their games, are unaware, ignorant, unperturbed and unafraid. The fire is coming to press in upon them, the pain will cut them to the quick. Yet at heart they are not horrified, nor have they any wish to leave.’

“The elder has the following thought, ‘I am a man of great physical strength. I might, in the folds of my robe or on top of a table, take them out of the house.’ He further thinks, ‘This house has only one doorway, which, furthermore, is narrow and small. The children are young and, as yet having not understanding, are in love with their playthings. They may fall victim to the fire and I can't take them out this way. I must explain the terror of it to them. This house is already on fire. They must make haste and get out in time. I must not let the fire burn them.’ When he has had these thoughts, then in accord with his decision he says explicitly to the children, ‘Get out quickly, all of you!’ Though the father, in his compassion, urges them with explicit words, yet the children, attached as they are to their games, will not deign to believe him or to accept what he says. Unalarmed and unafraid, they have not the least intention of leaving. For they do not even know what a fire is, or what a house is, or what it means to lose anything. All they do is run back and forth, looking at their father, no increase in terror.

“At that time, the elder has this thought, ‘This house is already aflame with a great fire. If we do not get out in time, the children and I shall certainly be burnt. I will now devise an expedient, whereby I shall enable the children to escape this disaster.’ The father knows the children's preconceptions, whereby each child has his preferences, his feelings being specifically attached to his several precious toys and unusual playthings. If they hear what their father promises, they will be very much attached to.

“Accordingly, the father proclaims to them, ‘The things you so love to play with are rare and hard to get. Things like these, a variety of goat-drawn carriages, deer-drawn carriages, and ox-drawn carriages, are now outside the door for you to play with. If you do not get them, you are certain to regret it later. Come out of this burning house quickly, all of you! I will give all of you what you desire.’ The children hear the rare playthings their father says, which are exactly what they desire, the heart of each is emboldened. Shoving one another aside in a mad race, all together in a rush they leave the burning house.

“At this time, the elder, seeing that his children have contrived to get out safely, and that all are seated in an open space at a crossroad, is no longer troubled. Secure at heart, he dances for joy. Then the children all speak to their father, ‘Father, the things you promised us a while ago - the lovely playthings - give us now, if you please.’

“At that time, the elder thinks that since his wealth is limitless, he should give all his sons great carriages. The carriage is high and wide, adorned with a multitude of jewels, surrounded by posts and handrails, little bells suspended on all four sides. Also, on its top are spread out parasols and canopies. Further, it is adorned with an assortment of rare and precious jewels. Intertwined with jewelled cords and hung with flowered tassels, having heaps of carpets decorated with strips of cloth, as well as vermilion-coloured cushions, also with many attendants serving and guarding it. It is yoked to a white ox, whose skin is pure white, whose bodily form is lovely, whose muscular strength is great, whose tread is even and fleet like the wind. Wherefore? Because this elder, of wealth incalculable, his various storehouses all full to overflowing, has this thought, ‘My wealth being limitless, I may not give small, inferior carriages to my children. Now these little boys are all my sons. I love them without distinction. I have carriages such as these, made of the seven jewels, in incalculable numbers. I must give one to each of them with undiscriminating thought. I may not make distinctions. I take these things and distribute them to the whole domain, not stinting even then. How much more should I do so to my own children!’ At this time, the children, each mounting his great carriage, gain something they have never had before, something they have never hoped for.

“Sariputra, what do you think? This elder first promises the three carriages but then gives equally to all his children great carriages adorned with precious jewels, is he guilty of falsehood or not?”

Sariputra said, “No, World-honoured One! This elder has but enabled his children to escape the calamity of fire, thus preserving their bodily lives. He is guilty of no falsehood. Why? Because the preservation of their bodily lives means that they have already received a lovely plaything. How much more so when he has rescued them from that burning house, he gives them jewelled carriages! O, World-honoured One! Had this elder given them not one small carriage, he would still have no guilt. Why? Because this elder first thought, ‘By resort to an expedient device I will enable the children to get out.’ For this reason he is guilty of no falsehood. How much more is this true when the elder, knowing that his wealth is incalculable and wishing to confer advantage on his children, gives to all equally a great carriage!”

The Buddha proclaimed to Sariputra, “Excellent! Excellent! It is as you say! Sariputra, the Tathagata is also like this. That is, he is the Teacher of all the worlds. To fear, terror, debilitation, anguish, care, worry, ignorance, and obscurity he puts an absolute end. Also, completely achieving the incalculable wisdom and insight, might, as well as fearlessness; having great transcendental power and the power of wisdom; perfecting the practical expedients, as well as of great good will and great compassion; constantly unflagging; and constantly seeking the good, he benefits all. Thus he enters this Triple Realm in order to save the living beings from the suffering of birth, old age, sickness, death, worry, grief, woe, agony, folly, delusion, blindness, obscurity, and the three poisons. He then teaches and converts them, enabling them to attain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi. He sees that the bodhisattvas are scorched by birth, old age, sickness, death, care, grief, woe, and anguish. They also, because of fivefold desire for wealth, suffer a variety of woes. Also, since they adhere greedily and seek persistently, they currently suffer many woes, and shall hereafter suffer the woes of hell, beasts, and hungry ghosts or, if they are born in the heavens or in the midst of men, suffer woe in the straits of destitution, or the woe of separation from what they love, or the woe of union with what they hate. It is in the midst of such various woes as these that the bodhisattvas are plunged, yet they cavort in joy, unaware, unknowing, unalarmed, unafraid, neither experiencing disgust or seeking release. In this six destinies of the Triple Realm they run about hither and yon, and, though they encounter great woes, they are not concerned.

“Sariputra, the Buddha, having seen this, then thinks, ‘I am the Teacher of the bodhisattvas; I must rescue them from their woes and troubles and give them the joy of incalculable and limitless Buddha-wisdom, thus causing them to frolic.’

“Sariputra, the Tathagata also has this thought, ‘If merely by resort to my transcendental power and the power of my wisdom, and casting aside expedient devices, for the bodhisattvas' sake I praise the Tathagata's wisdom and insight, might and his fearlessness, the bodhisattvas cannot thereby attain salvation. Wherefore? These bodhisattvas, who have not yet escaped from birth, old age, sickness, death, care, grief, woe, and anguish, how can they understand the Buddha's wisdom?

“Sariputra, just as that elder, though physically strong, did not use his strength, but, by resort to gentle expedient devices, rescued his children from the troubles of the burning house, then gave each of them a great carriage adorned with precious jewels, just so does the Tathagata in the same way, though he has various sorts of might and fearlessness, refrain from using them, but merely, by resort to wisdom and expedient devices, rescue the bodhisattvas from the six destinies of the Triple Realm, preaching to them Triple Yana - Sravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Buddha Yana - and saying to them, ‘You all are to have no desire to dwell in the six destines of the Triple Realm. Have no lust for coarse and broken-down visible matter, sounds, smells, tastes, and tangibles! If, clinging to them greedily, you display lust for them, then you shall be harmed. Quick, get out of the Triple Realm! You shall get Triple Yana - Sravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Buddha Yana. I now guarantee it, and I am never false. All you need to do is strive earnestly with effort and you will attain nirvana.’ By such expedient devices as these the Tathagata attracts and urges the bodhisattvas. He also says, ‘You all are to know that the dharmas of these Triple Yana are praised by the saints, are their own masters, unbound, depending on nothing and seeking nothing. Mounted on these Triple Yana, one gains for oneself the pleasure of faculties, strengths, intuitive perceptions, paths, dhyana-concentrations, deliverances, samadhis, and the like, all without outflows, then gets incalculable tranquil joys’.

“Sariputra, if there are bodhisattvas who have inner wisdom nature; who, having heard the dharma from the World-honoured One, believe and accept it; who, earnestly striving and wishing to leave the Triple Realm, seek nirvana for themselves; this is named Sravaka Yana. They are like those children who left the burning house in quest of goat-drawn carriages. If there are bodhisattvas who, having heard the dharma from the World-honoured One, believe and accept it, know profoundly the causes and conditions of the dharmas; who, earnestly striving and seeking the wisdom which is so of itself, desire the quietude which is content with its own goodness; this is called Pratyekabuddha Yana. They are like those children who left the burning house in quest of deer-drawn carriages. If there are bodhisattvas who, having heard the dharma from the World-honoured One, believe and accept it; who, vigorously practising and striving, seek Wisdom of All Mode, Buddha-wisdom, the wisdom which is so of itself, wisdom without a teacher, the wisdom and insight of the Tathagata, his might, and his fearlessness; who, mercifully recalling and comforting incalculable living beings and benefiting gods and men, convey all to deliverance; this is named Mahayana. It is because the bodhisattvas seek this yana that they are named Mahasattvas. They are like those children who leave the burning house in quest of ox-drawn carriages.

“Sariputra, as the elder, seeing his children leave the burning house tranquilly and reach a safe place, thinking that his wealth is incalculable, gives each of his children a great carriage, just so in the same way does the Tathagata, being the Teacher of all bodhisattvas, when he sees incalculable thousands of millions of bodhisattvas going through the gateway of the Buddha's doctrine off the painful, fearful, and precipitous pathway of the Triple Realm, there to gain the joy of nirvana - just so, does the Tathagata at that time have this thought, ‘I have a treasure house of incalculable, limitless wisdom, might, various sorts of fearlessness, and other such Buddha-dharma treasures. These bodhisattvas are all converted by me. I will give Ekayana equally to all, not allowing any of them to gain passage into extinction for himself alone, but conveying them all to the extinction of the Tathagata.’ To all these bodhisattvas who have escaped the Triple Realm he gives the Buddhas' dhyana-concentration, their deliverances, and other dharmas, all of one appearance, of one kind, all praised by the saints, all able to bring about the prime, pure, and subtle joy. Sariputra, just as that elder, first having enticed his children with three carriages and then having given them only one great carriage, adorned with jewels and supremely comfortable, is yet not guilty of falsehood, just so in the same way is the Tathagata free of falsehood, though he first preached the Triple Yana in order to entice the bodhisattvas, then conveyed them to deliverance by resort to only the Ekayana. Wherefore? Because the Tathagata, having a treasure house of incalculable wisdom, might, various sorts of fearlessness, and other dharmas, is able to give the Dharma of the Ekayana to all bodhisattvas; but they are not all able to accept it. That is why he did not preach it at first. Sariputra, for these reasons be it known that the Buddhas, by resort to the power of expedient devices, conceal the Ekayana and speak of three.

“Suppose that, for example, an elder
Has a great house.
The house, since it is old,
Is in a state of collapse:
The halls are lofty and precarious,
The bases of the pillars crumbling and rotten,
The beams and ridgepoles aslant,
The stairways and landings disintegrating,
The walls and partitions crack,
The clay and paint peeling off,
The thatch worn thin and in disarray,
The rafters and eavepoles coming loose,
Totally misshapen
And full of assorted filth.
There are five hundred persons
Dwelling within.
At that time the elder
Is outside of the door.
He sees his sons
Entering the house to play.
The elder sees that the house
With fire breaks out from four sides.
He quickly enters into the house,
Urges his sons to get out.
The children, knowing nothing,
Though they hear their father's admonitions,
Still, addicted as before to their pleasures,
Amuse themselves ceaselessly.
At that time, the elder
Has this thought:
‘The children, being this way,
Make my cares even more acute.
Now this house
Has not one pleasant feature,
Yet the children,
Steeped in their games
And not heeding my instructions,
Will surely be injured by the fire.’
Then straightaway, intentionally
Devising some expedients,
He announces to the children:
‘I have various
Precious playthings,
Lovely carriages adorned with fine jewels,
Goat-drawn carriages, deer-drawn carriages
And carriages drawn by great oxen,
Now outside the door.
Come out, all of you!
For your sake I
Have made these carriages,
Following the desire of your own thoughts.
You may amuse yourselves with them.’
When the children hear him tell
Of carriages such as these,
Straightaway, racing one another,
They run out at a gallop,
Reaching an empty spot
And getting away from woes and troubles.
The elder, seeing his children
Able to get out of the burning house
And abiding at a crossroad,
Sits on his lion throne
And joyfully says to himself,
‘Now I am happy!
These children
Were very hard to bring into the world and raise.
Foolish, and little, and knowing nothing,
They entered a dangerous house,
Where there were raging flames of great fires
Rising up together from all four sides.
Yet these children
Were addicted to their games.
I have already saved them,
Enabling them to escape trouble,
With no obstacle anymore.
I am now happy.’
At that time the children,
Knowing that their father was serenely seated,
All went before their father
And said to their father,
‘We beg you to give us
The three kinds of jewelled chariots
That you promised us a while ago, saying,
“Children, come out!
I will use three kinds of carriages
To accord with your wishes.”
Now is the right time.
Please give them to us!’
The elder, being very rich,
And having treasure houses filled with
Gold, silver, and vaidurya,
Giant clam shells and agate,
From many precious objects
Has several carriages made,
Decked with ornaments,
Surrounded with handrails and shielding,
With little bells hanging from all four sides
And golden cords inter-twined;
With pearl-studded netting
Stretching out over the top,
And gold-flowered tassels
Dropping down here and there;
With assorted ornaments in many colours
Encircling them all around;
With soft and fine silk and cotton
Made into cushions;
With superbly fine mats,
Their value in the thousands of millions,
Pure white and spotlessly clean,
Covering them;
With great white oxen,
Fat, and in the prime of life, and endowed with great strength,
Their physical form lovely,
Yoked to the jewelled carriages;
With many footmen, fore and aft,
Attending them.
These lovely carriages
He gives equally to all the children.
The children at this time,
Dancing for joy
And mounting these jewelled carriages,
Cavort in all four directions,
Playing and enjoying themselves,
Completely at ease and feeling no encumbrances.
Listen, Sariputra:
I, too, am like this,
Being the Most Venerable among many saints,
The teacher of the world.
All the living beings,
Are mostly Buddha-sons,
Retreated from the Bodhi Path
Forgot their great determination and vow
Are profoundly addicted to worldly pleasure
And have no wise thoughts.
The Triple Realm is completely insecure,
Just like a house afire,
Being full of many woes
Most frightful,
Constantly marked by birth, old age,
Sickness, death, and care -
Fires such as these,
Raging without cease,
Being not aware,
Having no intention of going out.
The Tathagata, having already left
The woes of the Triple Realm.
Now this Triple Realm
Is converted by me.
The living beings within
Are all Buddha-sons.
Yet, now these places
Have many cares and troubles,
From which I alone
Can save them.
Even though I teach and command,
Yet they neither believe nor accept,
But to their tainting desires
Are so profoundly addicted that I,
By resort to an expedient device,
Preach the Triple Yana to them,
Causing the bodhisattvas
To know the woes of the Triple Realm
And demonstrating and setting forth
The Supra-mundane Path.
If these bodhisattvas
With fixed thought
Attain to arhat
With peaceful mind and being flawless
Perfecting the three clarities
And the six supernatural penetrations,
They shall include among them those who are cause-enlightened ones
And non-backsliding bodhisattvas.
O, Sariputra!
For your sake, I,
By resort to this parable,
Preach the Eka Buddha Yana;
All of you, if you can
Believe and accept these words,
Shall without exception
Completely attain to the Buddha Path.
This yana is fine,
Supremely pure,
In all the worlds
Having not its master.
It is a thing which the Buddha gladdens,
And all bodhisattvas
Should praise,
To which they should pay homage and do obeisance.
The Buddhas and I
Have perfected
Incalculable thousands of millions
Of might and deliverance,
Dhyana-concentrations and wisdom,
And other dharmas.
Having attained this yana
Night and day, for a number of kalpas,
With bodhisattvas
To mount this jewelled yana
Head directly to the Platform of the Path,
Perfecting the Buddha-wisdom.
For these reasons,
Seek as you will in all ten directions:
There is no other yana,
Apart from the expedient devices of the Buddhas.
I tell you, Sariputra,
You men
Are all Buddha-sons
And I am your Teacher.
For kalpa upon kalpa, you
Have been scorched by multitudinous woes,
And I have saved you all,
Causing you to leave the Triple Realm.
Although earlier I said
That you would pass into extinction,
This was to be a mere end to birth and death,
And no true extinction.
What you should now achieve
Is nothing other than Buddha-wisdom.
If there are bodhisattvas
In the midst of this multitude,
They can listen single-mindedly
To the Buddhas' real Dharma.
Even though the Buddhas, the World-honoured Ones,
Resort to expedient devices,
The living beings whom they convert
Are all bodhisattvas.
If there are persons of slight understanding,
Profoundly addicted to lust and desire,
For their sake
I preach the Truth of Suffering,
And the beings rejoice at heart
That they have gained something they never had before.
The Buddha's preaching of the Truth of Suffering
Is reality without falsehood.
If there are living beings
Who, not knowing the origin of woe,
Are profoundly addicted to the causes of woe,
Unable to cast them off even for a moment,
For their sake,
By resort to an expedient device, I preach the Path:
That the origin of all woes
Is desire, which is their basis.
If one extinguishes desire,
Woes will have nothing on which to rest.
The extinction of woes
Is called the Third Truth.
For the sake of the Truth of Extinction
One cultivates the Path.
Separation from the bonds of woe
Is called the attainment of deliverance.
As for these men, whereby
Do they attain deliverance?
It is the mere separation of self from falsehood
That is called deliverance.
In fact, however, they have not yet attained
The deliverance of the Buddha.
The Buddha says that these men
Are not yet truly extinguished,
For these men have not yet attained
The Unexcelled Path.
At heart I have no wish
To cause them to attain passage into extinction.
I am the Dharma King,
With respect to the Dharma acting completely at will.
To bring the gift of tranquillity to the living beings
Is the reason why I appear in the world.
You, Sariputra!
As for this Dharma-seal of mine,
I wish to benefit the world,
And therefore I preach it.
Wherever you go,
Do not propagate it recklessly.
If there is a listener
Who with appropriate joy receives it upon the crown of his head,
You are to know that this man
Will attain to non-backsliding.
If there is one who believes and accepts
This Sutra-dharma,
That man has already, in times gone by,
Seen Buddhas of the past,
Deferentially made offerings to them,
And also heard this Dharma.
If among men there is one who can
Believe what you preach,
Then it means that he sees me
And also sees you
And the sravakas
As well as the bodhisattvas.
This Sutra of the Dharma Blossom
Is preached for those of profound wisdom;
Those of shallow perception, if they hear it,
Shall go astray and not understand.
For all sravakas
And pratyekabuddhas,
The content of this sutra
Is beyond the reach of their faculties.
Even you, Sariputra,
Where this sutra is concerned,
Gained entry through faith.
How much more so the other sravakas!
Those other sravakas
By virtue of their belief in the Buddha's words
Accept this sutra;
It does not fall within the range of their own wisdom.
Also, Sariputra,
To the proud, arrogant, lazy, and indolent,
To those who reckon in terms of ‘I’,
Do not preach this sutra.
To the ordinary fellow of shallow perception,
Profoundly addicted to the five desires,
Hearing yet unable to understand,
Also do not preach.
If a man, not believing,
Harbours doubts and uncertainties,
And with contorted face,
Maligns this sutra
Then he cuts off all
Worldly Buddha-seeds.
You are now to hear me tell
Of that man's retribution for his sins.
Whether the Buddha be in the world,
Or whether it be after his passage into extinction,
Seeing that there are readers, and reciters,
And copiers, and keepers of this sutra,
Shall, in disparagement, deprecation, hatred, and envy of them,
Harbour grudges against them,
The retribution for these men's sins
You are now to listen.
These men, at the end of their lives,
Shall enter the Avici Hell,
Where they shall fulfil one kalpa.
When the kalpa is ended, they shall be reborn there.
In this way, spinning around
Throughout kalpas unnumbered.
From hell emerging,
They shall fall into the rank of beasts.
If they are dogs or yeh-kan,
Their forms shall be hairless and emaciated,
Spotted and scabbed,
Things from which men shrink.
They shall also by men be
Detested and despised,
Ever suffering from hunger and thirst,
Their flesh and bones dried out and decayed.
While living, they are pricked by poisonous thistles;
When dead, they are covered with tiles and stones.
It is because they have cut off the Buddha-seed
That they suffer these retributions for their sins.
If they become camels,
Or if they are born among donkeys,
On their bodies they shall ever carry heavy loads
And suffer the blows of rods and whips,
Thinking only of water and grass
And knowing nothing else.
For maligning this sutra
They shall suffer punishments such as these.
If they are those who become yeh-kan,
They shall enter human settlements,
Their bodies spotted and scabbed,
Also missing one eye,
By the children
Beaten,
Suffering all manner of woe and pain,
At times to the point of death.
Having died in this form,
They shall then be endowed with the bodies of serpents,
Their forms long and huge,
To the extent of five hundred yojanas,
Deaf, dull, and legless,
Writhing about on their bellies,
By little insects
Pecked at and eaten,
Day and night suffering woe
And enjoying no respite.
For maligning this sutra
They shall suffer punishments such as these.
If they contrive to become humans,
They shall be obscure and dull of faculties,
Short, mean, bent over, and crippled,
Blind, deaf, and hunched.
If they have anything to say,
Men shall neither believe nor accept it.
The breath of their mouths ever stinking,
They shall be possessed by ghosts,
Poor and lowly,
Doing men's bidding,
Much plagued by sickness and emaciation,
Having nothing on which to rely.
Though they may personally attach themselves to men,
Men do not have them in their thoughts.
If they gain something,
Shortly afterward they shall forget and lose it.
If they study medicine
Curing sickness according to the prescription,
The sickness shall be worsening
Or to the extent of killing.
If they themselves have diseases,
No man shall be able to save them;
Even if they take good medicine,
The sickness shall be all the more acute.
If other people cause rebellion,
And plunder and rob,
For such crimes as these
The retribution pervertedly falls on them.
Sinners such as these
Shall never see the Buddha,
The King of the many saints,
Preaching the Dharma, teaching, and converting.
Sinners such as these
Shall ever be born in places of trouble.
Mad, deaf, and confused of thought,
They shall never hear the Dharma.
For kalpas as numberless
As Ganges's sand,
Whenever born, they shall be deaf and dumb,
Of defective faculties,
Ever dwelling in hell
As if amusing themselves in a pleasant garden
Or being in other evil paths
As if in their own homes.
Camels, donkeys, pigs, and dogs -
Is where they dwell.
For maligning this sutra
They shall suffer punishments such as these.
If they contrive to become human beings,
They shall be deaf, blind, and dumb,
Poor, destitute, and in general decrepit,
As their own adornment.
Swollen with water or dried out and wizened,
Scabs, boils,
And ills like these
They shall have for their dress.
Their bodies a constant stench,
Filthy and unclean,
Profoundly addicted to the view of ‘I’,
They shall magnify their anger.
Their lust being acute,
There shall be nothing to choose between them and birds or beasts.
For maligning this sutra
They shall suffer punishments such as these.
I say to you, Sariputra,
Of those who malign this sutra
That, if I were to tell their punishments,
Even if exhausting a kalpa, I will not finish them.
For this reason
I expressly tell you,
In the midst of ignorant men
Do not preach this sutra.
If there are those of keen faculties,
Of knowledge clear and bright,
Of much learning and strong memory,
Who seek the Buddha Path,
For men like these,
And only for them, may you preach.
If a man, having formerly seen
Hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhas,
Has planted seeds of goodness,
His profound thought being firm,
For a man like this,
And only for him, may you preach.
If a man is earnestly,
Constantly cultivating thoughts of good will
And not begrudging his own body or his own life,
Then for him may you preach.
If a man is deferential
And has no other thoughts,
Separating himself from common fools
And dwelling alone in mountains and marshes,
For men like him,
And only for them, may you preach.
Also, Sariputra,
If you see that there is a man
Who rejects evil acquaintances
And approaches wholesome friends,
For men like him,
And only for them, may you preach.
If you see a Buddha-son
Keeping a discipline as pure
As a bright jewel
And seeking the sutras of the Mahayana,
For men like him,
And only for them, may you preach.
If a man, having no anger,
Is honest and gentle,
Ever pitying all
And venerating the Buddhas,
For men like him,
And only for them, may you preach.
Again, there may be a Buddha-son
In the midst of the great multitude
Who, with pure thought
And by resort to various means,
Parables, and phrases,
Preaches the dharma, unobstructed.
For men like him,
And only for them, may you preach.
If there is a Buddha-son
Who for the sake of Wisdom of All Mode
Seeks the Dharma in all four directions,
With joined palms receiving it on the crown of his head,
Desiring merely to receive and keep
The sutras of the Mahayana,
Not accepting so much
As a single gatha from the other sutras,
For men like him,
And only for them, may you preach.
If you see a man
Determining to seek the Mahayana
As a man wholeheartedly
Seeks the Buddha-sarira,
In this way seeking the sutras
And, having found them, receive them on the crown of one's head.
Such a person shall never again
Wish to seek other sutras,
Nor has he ever before thought
Of the books of the heresy.
For men like him,
And only for them, may you preach.
I say to you, Sariputra,
That I, in telling of this sort
Of seekers of the Buddha Path,
Could spend a whole kalpa and still not finish.
If they are men of this sort,
Then they can believe and understand,
And for their sake you may preach
The Sutra of the Wonderful Dharma Blossom.