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.”