Chapter 12 : Exhortation to Hold Firm

At that time, the Bodhisattva-mahasattva Medicine King (Bhaisajyaraja) and the Bodhisattva-mahasattva Great Eloquence, together with a retinue of two myriads of bodhisattvas, in the Buddha's presence took this vow, saying, “Be please, O, World-honoured One, to be without anxiety! After the Buddha's extinction, we will reverently exalt, read and recite, and preach this scriptural canon. Though the living beings of the latter evil age shall be of ever slighter wholesome faculties, though they shall have much overweening pride and shall covet offerings, though their unwholesome faculties shall increase, though they shall keep themselves away from the deliverance, and they shall be hard to teach and convert, yet we, rousing the strength of great forbearance, will read and recite this sutra, keep and preach it, write and copy it, and in a variety of ways pay homage to it, not begrudging even bodily life.”

At that time, five hundred arhats within the multitude who had received prophecies said to the Buddha, “O, World-honoured One! We, too, vow to preach this sutra broadly in other lands.” Again, there were learners of adepts, eight thousand in number, who had received prophecies, and who, rising from their seats and facing the Buddha with palms joined, took this vow, saying, “O, World-honoured One! We, too, will preach this sutra broadly in other lands. Wherefore? In the midst of this Saha realm, most men are evil, harbouring thoughts of overweening pride, their merit shallow and thin, irascible, muddied, sycophantic, and crooked, their hearts not true.”

At that time, the Buddha's maternal aunt, the Bhikshuni Mahaprajapati, and bhikshuni learners of adepts, six thousand in number, rose from their seats and single-mindedly with palms joined looked up at the August Countenance, her eyes not turning aside even for a moment. At that time, the World-honoured One asked Gautami, “Why, with sad countenance, do you gaze at the Tathagata? Are you not thinking that I have not mentioned your name nor predicted you to the attainment of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi? O, Gautami! I have already inclusively announced that all the sravakas will become Buddhas which is my prophecy. Now you, who desire to know your future destiny, shall in the worlds to come become a great Dharma-teacher of sixty-eight thousand kotis of Buddhas. And these your six thousand bhikshuni learners of adepts will become Dharma-teachers. Thus you will gradually become perfect in the Bodhisattva Path, and will become a Buddha entitled Seen with Joy by All Living Beings, 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-honoured One. O, Gautami! This Buddha Seen with Joy by All Living Beings and six thousand bodhisattvas, one by one, shall confer a prophecy of the attainment of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi.”

At that time, Rahula's mother, the Bhikshuni Yasodhara, thought, “In the course of his prophecies the World-honoured One failed to mention only my name.” The Buddha declared to Yasodhara, “In time to come, you shall perform bodhisattva-conduct with respect to the Dharma of a hundred thousand myriads of millions of Buddhas and become a great Dharma-teacher. At length you shall perfect the Buddha Path, and in the realm Goodly shall contrive to become a Buddha named the Perfect Myriad-rayed Mark, 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-honoured One. That Buddha's life span shall be incalculable asamkhyeya kalpas.”

At that time, the Bhikshuni Mahaprajapati and the Bhikshuni Yasodhara, together with their retinues, were overjoyed, having gained something they had never had before, and straightaway in the Buddha's presence proclaimed a gatha, saying:

“O, World-honoured Guide!
You put gods and men at their ease.
Having heard your prophecy, we
Are perfectly at ease in our hearts.”

Having proclaimed this gatha, the bhikshunis spoke to the Buddha, “O, World-honoured One! We, too, can proclaim this sutra broadly in other lands.”

At that time, the World-honoured One looked at the eighty myriads of millions of nayutas of bodhisattva-mahasattvas. These bodhisattvas were all avaivartikas, turning the unreceding Dharma-wheel and having attained the dharanis, straightaway, rising from their seats, they went into the Buddha's presence, single-mindedly joined palms, and thought, “If the World-honoured One command us to keep and expound this sutra, then in obedience to the Buddha's instructions, we will proclaim broadly this Dharma.” Then they thought, “The Buddha is now silent, issuing no commands. What should we do now?” At that time the bodhisattvas were respectfully obedient to the Buddha's intentions, and at the same time wished to fulfil their original vows. Then in the Buddha's presence, with a lion's roar they uttered a vow, saying, “O, World-honoured One! After the extinction of the Tathagata, we shall go round and about and back and forth in the worlds of all ten directions and shall be able to cause the living beings to write and copy this sutra, to accept and keep it, to read and recite it, to explain its meaning, to put it into practice in accordance with the Dharma, and to be rightly mindful of it - and all this shall be thanks to the majestic might of the Buddha. We beg that the World-honoured One, while dwelling in another quarter, may grant us his protection from afar.

“Be pleased to be without enxiety!
After the Buddha's extinction,
In the dreadful evil age,
We will proclaim broadly.
Though in their ignorance, many
Will curse and abuse us
And beat us with swords and staves,
We will endure it all.
Bhikshus in the evil age will be
Heretical, suspicious, warped,
Claiming to have attained when they have not,
And with minds full of arrogance.
Others in the aranya
Will wear patched garments in seclusion,
Pretending that they walk the true path
And scorning other people:
‘Greedily attached to gain and offering,
They will preach the Dharma to the white-robed laymen
And be revered by the world
As arhats of the six penetrations’;
These men, cherishing evil minds,
Ever thinking of earthly things,
Assuming the name of aranyas,
Will love to calumniate us,
Saying such things of thus
‘All these men of heresy,
From love of gain,
Preach heretical doctrine;
They have themselves composed this sutra
To delude the people of the world;
For the sake of acquiring fame,
They make a specialty of this sutra.’
Always in the assemblies,
In order to ruin us,
To kings and ministers,
To Brahmans and householders,
And to the other multitudes of bhikshus,
They will slanderously speak evil of us,
Saying, ‘These are men of heresy,
Who proclaim heretical doctrines.’
But we, from reverence for the Buddha,
Will endure all these evils.
By them we shall be addressed with derison:
‘You are all Buddhas!’
Such words of derision as these
We will all endure with patience.
In the evil age of the corrupt kalpa,
Abounding in fear and dread,
Devils will take possession of them
To curse, abuse, and insult us.
But we, revering and believing in the Buddha,
Will wear the armour of perseverance;
For the sake of preaching this sutra
Endure all these hardships.
We will not love our body and life,
But only care for the Supreme Dharma.
We will, throughout all ages to come,
Guard what the Buddha bequeaths.
O, World-honoured One! You must know,
In the corrupt age, vicious bhikshus,
Knowing not by expedient devices
The dharmas appropriately preached by the Buddha,
Will abuse and frown upon us;
Repeatedly shall we be driven out,
And exiled afar from the monasteries.
Such shall the many evils be;
But, mindful of the Buddha's commands,
We will all endure these things.
Wherever in villages and cities
There be those who seek after the Dharma,
We will go there and
Preach the Dharma bequeathed by the Buddha
We are the World-honoured One's apostles
And, amidst a multitude having nothing to fear,
We will rightly preach the Dharma.
Be pleased, O, Buddha, to abide in peace.
In the presence of the World-honoured One
And the Buddhas of the ten directions,
We thus make our vow,
And the Buddha know our hearts.”