Chapter 7 : The Parable of the Conjured City

The Buddha declared to the bhikshus, “Long ago, beyond incalculable, limitless, inconceivable and unutterable asamkhyeya kalpas, at that time there was a Buddha named Victorious through Great Penetrating Wisdom (Mahabhijnajnanabhibhu). His domain was named Goodly City (Sambhava). His kalpa was named Great Appearance (Maharupa). O, bhikshus! Since that Buddha passed into extinction, the time has been great and long indeed. For example, suppose a hypothetical man took all the kinds of earth there are in the three-thousand-great-thousandfold world and ground them to dust, and after carrying the powder eastward through a thousand lands at last deposited a bit the size of a particle of dust, then after passing through another thousand lands deposited another particle, and so on depositing them a bit at a time until all the particles had been exhausted. In your opinion, how would it be? Where these lands are concerned, could an abacus master or his disciple ever reach the limit of these lands and know their number, or could he not?”

“He could not, O, World-honoured One!”

“O, bhikshus! If the lands this man passed through, whether he made a deposit in them or not, were all ground to dust, and if each grain of dust were to equal one kalpa, the time since that Buddha's passage into extinction would still exceed their full number by incalculable, limitless hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of asamkhyeya kalpas. Thanks to the Tathagata's power of wisdom and insight, I see that time in the remote and distant past as if it were this very day.”

The Buddha declared to the bhikshus, “The Buddha Victorious through Great Penetrating Wisdom had a life span of five hundred and forty myriad millions of nayutas of kalpas. When that Buddha was seated on the Platform of the Path, after having smashed Mara's army, just as he was about to gain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, still the Buddha-dharmas did not appear before him. In this way, from one minor kalpa up through ten minor kalpas he sat cross-legged, body and mind immobile; yet the Buddha-dharmas still did not appear before him.

“At that time, the Trayastrimsa gods prepared for that Bodhisattva, under the bodhi tree, a lion throne, one yojana in height, wishing the Bodhisattva to sit on the throne and to attain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi. Just when the Bodhisattva sat on that throne, the Brahma God Kings rained down a multitude of divine flowers, covering the surface of a hundred yojanas, for full ten minor kalpas ceaselessly paying homage to the Bodhisattva in this way, raining down these flowers until the very moment of his passage into extinction. The gods in the train of the Four Kings as an offering to the Bodhisattva constantly bear divine drums, while the other gods in the very same way played skilful divine music for full ten minor kalpas, until his passage into extinction.

“O, bhikshus! Only after the Bodhisattva Victorious through Great Penetrating Wisdom had passed ten minor kalpas did the Dharma of the Buddhas appear before him and only then did he achieve Anuttarasamyaksambodhi and attain the Buddha Path. O, bhikshus, be it known that before that Buddha left his household he had had sixteen sons. The children each had a variety of rare, precious, excellent playthings. When they heard that their father had been able to achieve Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, they all cast aside the things to which they had attached such great value and went before the Buddha. Their mothers, shedding tears, accompanied them. Their grandfathers, Holy Wheel-rolling Kings, with a hundred great ministers and a hundred thousand of subjects all together surrounding them, accompanied them to the Platform of the Path, to personally approach, pay homage and do honour to him, to revere and praise him. When they arrived, with heads bowed they did obeisance to his feet, and having made procession around him, the sixteen brothers single-mindedly and with palms joined, looked up at the World-honoured One and praised him with gathas, saying:

“ ‘O, World-honoured One of great imposing might!
In order to save the living beings,
Only after incalculable millions of years
Did you achieve Buddhahood.
Your vows have now been fulfilled.
Excellent, O, Supremely Virtuous
World-honoured One, you are very rare!
For, once you are seated, for ten minor kalpas
Your body, your arms and legs,
Quiet and calm, do not move;
Your thought, ever serene,
Never suffers any disturbance;
Quiet and extinct to absolute eternity,
You dwell securely in the Dharma free of outflows.
Now that we see the World-honoured One
Serenely achieve the Buddha Path,
We have gained good advantage;
Proclaiming our delight, we are overjoyed.
The living beings, ever tormented by sufferings,
Blind and without a guide,
Do not recognise the Path wherein pain is terminated,
Nor do they know enough to seek deliverance.
Throughout the long night of time they gain in evil destinies
And reduce the ranks of the gods.
From darkness proceeding to darkness,
They never hear the Buddha's name.
Now that the Buddha has gained the supremely
Serene Dharma free of outflows,
We and the gods and men,
In order to gain the greatest advantage,
For this purpose, all bowing our heads,
Submit to the Supremely Venerable One.’

“At that time, the sixteen princes, having praised the Buddha with gathas, pleaded with the World-honoured One to turn the Dharma-wheel, all saying, ‘O, World-honoured One, preach the Dharma, and thus calm, have pity on, and benefit many subjects, divine and human!’

‘Hero of the World, who have no equal,
Self-adorned with a hundred merits,
Who have gained unexcelled wisdom,
We beg you, for the world's sake, to preach,
To ferry to salvation us
And all the other living beings,
For our sake to make explicit revelation,
Thus enabling us to gain this wisdom.
For, if we can attain Buddhahood,
Then so can other living beings.
The World-honoured One knows the living beings'
Deepest constant thoughts;
He also knows the paths they tread;
He knows as well the power of their wisdom,
Their desires and the merits they cultivate,
And also the deeds they did in former lives.
The World-honoured One, knowing all this,
Should turn the Unexcelled Wheel.’”

The Buddha declared to the bhikshus, “When the Buddha Victorious through Great Penetrating Wisdom attained anuttasamyaksambodhi, he emitted a great glow to five hundred myriads of millions of Buddha-worlds of ten directions, trembling all the worlds in six different ways. In the intervals between those lands, dark and obscure places that the glorious light of the sun and moon could not illuminate were all very bright. The living beings within them were all enabled to see one another, and all said, ‘Why has this place suddenly produced living beings?’ Also, the palaces of the gods within the territories of those realms, up through the Brahma palaces, shook in six different ways, and a great light, shining everywhere, filled the world, exceeding the glow of the gods themselves.

“At that time, in five hundred myriads of millions of worlds to the east, the palaces of the Brahma gods were aglow with twice their usual splendour, and the Brahma god kings each had this thought: ‘Now the palaces glow as they never have before. For what reason do they show this portent?’ At that time, the Brahma god kings visited one another and discussed this matter together.

“At that time, among the multitude there was a great Brahma god king named Rescuing All (Sarvasattvatratr), who for the sake of the Brahma multitude proclaimed gathas, saying:

‘Our palaces
Are aglow as never before.
What the reason for this may be,
Each of us should seek to learn.
Is it because a god of great virtue has been born,
Or because a Buddha has emerged in the world,
That this great glow
Shines everywhere, in all ten directions?’

“At that time, the Brahma god kings of five hundred myriads of millions of lands, together with their palaces, each god king putting divine flowers atop a cloth spread, went together to the west to seek this portent. They saw the Tathagata Victorious through Great Penetrating Wisdom on the Platform of the Path under the bodhi tree, seated on a lion throne, the gods, dragon kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, human-like beings and others deferentially surrounding him. They also saw the sixteen princes. Straightaway the Brahma god kings with heads bowed worshipped the Buddha, made procession around him a hundred thousand times, then scattered divine flowers over him, the mound of flowers being like Mount Sumeru. They also made offerings therewith to the Buddha's bodhi tree, the bodhi tree being ten yojanas in height. When they had made flower offerings, each presented a palace to that Buddha, and said, ‘Do but show us compassion and favour! For the palaces presented, deign, we pray you, to accept these and to occupy them!’

“At that time the Brahma god kings straightaway in the Buddha's presence with a single thought and with a common voice praised him, saying:

‘The World-honoured One is very rare;
Only with difficulty can he be encountered.
Fully endowed with incalculable merits,
He can rescue and preserve all.
The great teacher of gods and men,
He takes pity on the world,
And living beings in the ten directions
All everywhere receive his favours.
Whence we have come,
In incalculable myriads of millions of lands,
We have abandoned the joys of deep dhyana-concentration
In order to pay homage to the Buddha.
With our merits of former ages
Are these palaces much adorned.
Now we present them to the World-honoured One,
And beg you mercifully to accept them.’

“At that time, each of the Brahma god kings, having praised the Buddha with gathas, said, ‘We beg the World-honoured One to turn the Dharma-wheel, to rescue the living beings, and to open the Path to nirvana!’ At that time the Brahma god kings with a single thought and with a common voice proclaimed gathas, saying:

‘O, Hero of the World, Dual Abundant Honoured One!
We beg you to set forth the Dharma,
By the might of your great good will and compassion
Saving the woe-beset, agonized living beings!’

“The Brahma god kings of the other nine directions also did in the same manner.

“At that time, the Tathagata Victorious through Great Penetrating Wisdom, entertaining the entreaties of the great Brahma god kings of the ten directions, as well as those of the sixteen princes, at that very time thrice turned the twelve-spoke Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths, which neither sramanas nor brahmans, nor gods, nor Maras, nor Brahmas, nor inhabitants of other worlds can turn, namely: this is woe, this is the collection of woe, this is the extinction of woe, this is the path to that extinction; also the Dharma of the Twelve Causes and Conditions: Inclarity conditions actions, actions condition cognition, cognition conditions name and visible form, name and visible form condition the six entries, the six entries condition contact, contact conditions sensation, sensation conditions greed, greed conditions seizure, seizure conditions having, having conditions being, being conditions old age, death, care, grief, woe, and anguish. When inclarity is extinguished, then old age, death, care, grief, woe, and anguish are extinguished.

“When the Buddha, in the midst of a great multitude of gods and men, was preaching this Dharma, six hundred myriads of millions of nayutas of human beings, because they would not accept any dharmas, had their thoughts freed from all outflows, and all gained profound and subtle dhyana-concentration, the three clarities, and the six penetrations, and were fully endowed with the eight deliverances.

“When he delivered the second, third, and fourth Dharma sermons, living beings equal in number to a thousand myriads of millions, times the number of sand in the Ganges, times a nayuta, because they would not accept any dharmas, also had their thoughts freed from all outflows. Thereafter the multitude of sravakas was incalculable, limitless, not to be counted.

“At that time, the sixteen princes, all as boys, left their household and became sramaneras, their faculties keen and penetrating, their wisdom pellucid, having already paid homage to a hundred thousand myriads of millions of Buddhas, purely cultivated brahman-conduct, and sought Anutarasamyaksambodhi. All spoke to the Buddha thus, ‘O, World-honoured One! All the incalculable thousands of myriads of millions of virtuous sravakas and cause-enlightened ones have succeeded. For our sake, too, you should preach the Anuttarasamyaksambodhi-dharma. When we have heard it, we shall all cultivate and learn together. O, World-honoured One! We aspire to the World-honoured One's wisdom and insight. What our deep thoughts are pondering, of that the Buddha himself has direct knowledge.’

“At that time, the multitudes led by the Holy Wheel-rolling Kings seeing that the sixteen princes had left their household, also sought to leave their households. The kings straightaway allowed them to do so.

“At that time, that Buddha, entertaining the sramaneras' entreaty, when twenty thousand kalpas had passed, in the midst of the fourfold multitude finally, with the subtle sound of the Ekayana, according to the faculties towards the Ekayana with incalculable differences, preached 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.

“When he had preached this sutra, the sixteen sramaneras, for Anuttarasamyaksambodhi's sake, all together received and held it, committed it to memory and recited it, and sharply penetrated its meaning.

“Among the sravakas also were some who were inclined to it. But the remainder of the multitudinous beings, in their thousands of myriads of millions of varieties, all evinced doubts.

“That Buddha preached this sutra for eight thousand kalpas, never resting or tiring. When he had finished preaching this sutra, straightaway he entered a quiet room, where he remained in dhyana-concentration for eighty-four thousand kalpas.

“At that time, each of the sixteen bodhisattva-sramaneras, knowing that the Buddha had entered his room, where he was quietly concentrated in dhyana, ascended a Dharma-throne, where he also, throughout eighty-four thousand kalpas and with all subtle voices for the sake of the four assemblies, broadly explained and set forth distinctly the Sutra of the Blossom of the Wonderful Dharma, each conveying to salvation living beings equal in number to the sand of six hundred myriads of millions of nayutas of Ganges rivers, demonstrating and reaching, giving profit and joy, and enabling them to evince the Anuttarasamyaksambodhi-mind.

“When the Buddha Victorious through Great Penetrating Wisdom had passed through eighty-four thousand kalpas, he arose from his samadhi and approached his Dharma-throne, where he sat in composure. Then he declared equally to all the great multitude, ‘These sixteen bodhisattva-sramaneras are exceedingly rare. Their faculties are penetrating and keen and their wisdom is pellucid. They themselves have already paid homage to countless thousands of myriads of millions of Buddhas, in whose presence they were constantly cultivating brahman-conduct, receiving and keeping Buddha-wisdom, manifesting it to living beings and causing them to enter into it. You must all time and again approach them and pay homage to them. Wherefore? Because if any sravaka, or pratyekabuddha, or bodhisattva, who are able to believe in the sutra-dharmas preached by these sixteen bodhisattvas, can receive and hold them without maligning them, that person shall in every case attain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, the wisdom of the Tathagata’”

The Buddha declared to the bhikshus, “These sixteen bodhisattvas constantly wished to preach the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Dharma. The living beings, equal in number to the sand of six hundred myriads of millions of nayutas of Ganges rivers, who were converted by each of these bodhisattvas, were born generation after generation together with the bodhisattvas. Having heard the Dharma from them, all were able to believe and understand. By this cause and condition, they were able to encounter four myriads of millions of Buddhas, the World-honoured Ones, and to this very moment it is not finished.

“O, bhikshus! I now declare this to you: the sixteen sramanera-bodhisattvas of that Buddha, now having all gained Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, are at present preaching the Dharma in the lands of the eight directions, having incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of bodhisattvas and sravakas as their retinue. Two of the sramaneras have become Buddhas in the east, one named Aksobhya, dwelling in the Land of Joy (Abhiratir lokadhatuh), the second named Sumeru Peak (Sumerukuta). In the south-east there are two Buddhas, one named Lion Sound (Simhaghosa), the second named Lion Sign (Simhadhvaja). In the south there are two Buddhas, one named Space-Dweller (Akasapratisthita), the second named Ever Extinguished (Nityaparinirvrta). In the south-west there are two Buddhas, one named Sovereign Sign (Indradhvaja), the second named Brahma Sign (Brahmadhvaja). In the west there are two Buddhas, one named Amitayus, the second named Saviour of All Worlds from Pain and Woe. In the north-west there are two Buddhas, one named Supernatural Penetration of the Fragrance of Tamalapatra and Candana (Tamalapatracandanagandhabhijna), the second named Sumeru Sign (Merukalpa). In the north there are two Buddhas, one named Cloud Self-master, the second named King of the Cloud Self-Masters. In the north-east there is a Buddha named He Who Demolishes the Fears of All the Worlds (Sarvalokabhyacchambhitatvavidvamsanakara). The sixteenth is I myself, Sakyamuni Buddha, who in the Saha land have achieved Anuttarasamyaksambodhi.

“O, bhikshus! When we were sramaneras, each of us had taught the living beings, in number as the sand of incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of Ganges rivers. They listened to the Dharma from me because of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi. I used to teach Anuttarasamyaksambodhi. Because the living beings were lazy and forgetful, I used expedient devices to lead them out from greed and attachment. Some of those living beings are now sravakas. Those persons shall, by virtue of this Dharma, at length enter into the Buddha Path. Wherefore? Because the Tathagata's wisdom is hard to believe and hard to understand. The living beings who were converted at that time, as numerous as the sand of incalculable Ganges rivers, are bhikshus you yourselves, and the Triple Yana disciples who shall be in time to come, after my extinction.

“After my extinction there shall again be disciples who, not having heard this sutra and not knowing, nor being aware of, the Ekayana bodhisattva-conduct, shall entertain the notion of extinction with regard to the merits attained by themselves and shall enter nirvana. I will become a Buddha in another realm, having again a different name. Though these persons may evince the notion of extinction and enter nirvana, yet in that land, they shall be able to hear this sutra, to seek the Buddha-wisdom, and to hear that it is only with the Buddha Yana that one can gain extinction; that there is no other yana, except for the dharmas preached by the Tathagatas as a matter of expedient device. O, bhikshus! When the Tathagata himself knows that his time of nirvana has arrived, and also that his multitude is pure, that their inclinations are firm, and that, having arrived at an understanding of the Dharma of Emptiness, have profoundly entered into dhyana-concentration, he then assembles the bodhisattvas and the multitude of sravakas and for their sake preaches this sutra. There are not in the world two yanas by which one can gain extinction. There is only one Buddha Yana by which one can gain extinction, and that is all. O, bhikshus, know that the Tathagata's expedient devices is such that he profoundly enters into the living beings' natures. Knowing that they aspire to a lesser dharma and that they are profoundly attached to the five desires, for their sake he preaches nirvana. These persons, when they hear the preaching, believe and accept it.

“I now, in addition, use a parable to make clear the meaning: Suppose, there is a steep, difficult, very bad road, five hundred yojanas in length, empty and devoid of human beings - a frightful place. There is a great multitude wishing to traverse this road to arrive at a cache of precious jewels. There is a guide, perceptive and wise, of penetrating clarity, who knows the hard road, its passable and impassable features. He wishes to lead the multitude to get through these hardships. The multitude being led, after passing three hundred yojanas, wants to turn back midway. They say to the guide, ‘We are exhausted and also frightened. It is still a long way off. We cannot go on and we now wish to turn back.’ The guide, being a man of many expedient devices, thinks, ‘These wretches are to be pitied! How can they throw away a fortune in jewels and wish instead to turn back?’ When he has had this thought, with his power of expedient devices he conjures up on that steep road a city. He then declares to the multitude, ‘Have no fear! There is no need to turn back! Here is the great city. You may stop in it and do as you please. If you enter the city, you can quickly gain your composure. If you then feel able to proceed to the jewel cache, you will also be free to leave.’

“At that time, the exhausted multitude enter the city immediately. They, overjoyed at heart, sigh at something they have never had before, saying, ‘We have escaped that bad road, and shall quickly regain our composure.’ Thereupon the multitude proceeds to enter the conjured city, and before long some have the notion that they are saved and evincing a feeling of composure. They have no intention of proceeding to the jewel cache. At that time, the guide, knowing that the multitude has rested and is no longer fatigued, straightaway dissolves the conjured city and says to the multitude, ‘All of you, come on! The jewel cache is near. The great city of a while ago was conjured up by me for the purpose of giving you a rest, nothing more.’

“O, bhikshus! The Tathagata is also like this. He functioned as a great guide for you all in the past. He knows that the evil road of the agonies of birth and death is steep and hard, long and far-reaching, but that it must be crossed over and left behind. If the living beings do but hear of the Eka Buddha Yana, they will have no wish to see the Buddha or to approach him, thinking, ‘The Buddha Path is long and far off. It is only by long submission to diligence and suffering that one can achieve it.’ The Buddha, knowing this state of mind to be coward and mean, by resort to his power of expedient devices preached the three nirvanas midway for the purpose of giving them rest. When the living beings take up residence in these three lands, then the Tathagata preaches to them, ‘What you have to do is not yet done. The lands in which you dwelt were near to Buddha-wisdom. You must observe and consider, weigh and measure. The nirvana you have gained is not the real one. This is simply the Tathagata's power of expedient devices: concealing the Eka Buddha Yana he speaks of three distinctions. He is like that guide, who, to give the travellers rest, conjures up a great city, but who, when he knows they are rested, declares to them, ‘The jewel cache is near. This city is not real, being nothing more than a magical creation of mine.’

“The Buddha Victorious through Great Penetrating Wisdom
For ten kalpas sat on the Platform of the Path,
Yet no Buddha-dharma came to the fore,
Nor was he able to achieve the Buddha Path.
Gods, demons, dragon kings,
A multitude of asuras, and others
Constantly rained devine flowers on him,
Thus paying homage to that Buddha.
The gods beat divine drums
And made many kinds of music.
When ten minor kalpas had passed,
At length he was able to achieve the Buddha Path.
Gods and worldlings
All danced for joy of heart.
That Buddha's sixteen sons,
All accompanied by retinues
In the thousands of myriads of millions, who surrounded them,
Together went before that Buddha.
With heads bowed doing obeisance to the Buddha's feet,
They begged him to turn the Dharma-wheel:
‘May the Dharma-rain of the Sainted Lion
Fill us and all others!
A World-honoured One is very hard to meet with,
In a long time appearing only once and,
For the purpose of enlightening all living beings
Agitating everything.’
In the world-spheres to the east,
In five hundred myriads of millions of lands,
The Brahma palaces gleamed
In a way there had never been before.
The Brahmas, seeing these signs,
Then came before the Buddha,
Where they made him an offering of scattered flowers
And presented palaces to him as well.
They begged the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel,
With gathas praising him.
In three principal and four intermediate directions,
Also upward and downward in the same way,
The World-honoured One, being of incalculable wisdom,
Received the entreaties of that multitude
And for their sake preached a variety of dharmas,
Namely, the Four Truths and the Twelve Conditions:
‘From inclarity to old age and death,
All exist through causes and conditions.
In this way the multitude of faults and grieves
You all should know.’
When he pronounced this Dharma,
Six hundred myriads of millions of billions
Were enabled to exhaust the limits of sundry woes
And all to become arhats.
At the second, third and fourth time of the preaching of the Dharma
A multitude as numerous as the sand of a thousand myriads of Ganges rivers,
Without receiving the dharmas,
Also attained arhatship.
After that, all the sravakas
The number was incalculable,
For one could count them throughout myriads of millions of kalpas
And still be unable to reach their limit.
At that time, the sixteen princes
Left their household and became sramaneras,
And all together besought that Buddha
To preach the Dharma of the Great Yana:
‘May we and our following
All achieve the Buddha Path!
We wish to gain, like the World-honoured One,
The eyes of wisdom, supremely pure.’
The Buddha, knowing the minds of the children
And their deeds in former ages,
Concealing the Buddha's wisdom and insight
Preach not to them the Ekayana.
For the multitude of bodhisattvas,
Those who seek earnestly the Buddha Path,
By resort to incalculable means
And varieties of parables
Preached the six paramitas
And the matters of the various supernatural penetrations.
The Buddha Victorious through Great Penetrating Wisdom,
After twenty thousand kalpas,
Then only purged the expedient devices,
There is only one but no other yanas.
Defining the real Dharma,
The Path trodden by the bodhisattva,
And preaching, of this Sutra of the Dharma Blossom,
Gathas as numerous as the sand of the Ganges.
That Buddha, having preached the sutra,
In a quiet room entered into dhyana-concentration,
Single-mindedly sitting in one place
For eighty-four thousand kalpas.
These sramaneras,
Knowing that the Buddha had not yet emerged from his dhyana,
For the sake of the multitude of incalculable millions
Not yet understood the dharma of Ekayana
Who were still in doubts
Preached the Buddha's unexcelled wisdom.
Each seated on a Dharma-throne,
They preached this sutra of the Great Yana,
After the Buddha's serene quiescence
Propagating and thus aiding conversion through the Dharma.
Each and every sramanera
Conveyed to salvation living beings
Who numbered as many as six hundred myriad million
Ganges rivers of sand;
After that Buddha's passage into extinction,
These persons who heard the Dharma,
In whatever Buddha-land they might happen to be,
Were born together with their Teacher.
These sixteen sramaneras,
Having perfectly trodden the Buddha Path,
Now in the eight directions
Have each been able to achieve Perfect Enlightenment.
At that time, those who hear the Dharma,
Each before different Buddhas,
And who have taken the stand of the sravakas
Shall be taught gradually by recourse to the Buddha Path.
I, numbering among the sixteen,
In time past did also preach for you.
Because you were indolent
Forgetting all of the path that you have trodden
Thus, by resort to expedient devices
I drew you toward Buddha-wisdom.
It is through these former causes and conditions
That I now preach the Sutra of the Dharma Blossom,
Causing you to enter the Buddha Path.
Be on your guard against fear and alarm.
For example, suppose that there were a bad, steep road,
Empty and devoid of human beings
Remote, steep
And with many harmful beasts,
Also without water or grass,
A place feared by men.
A multitude of innumerable thousands of myriads
Wish to traverse this dangerous road,
But the roadway is vast,
Extending for five hundred yojanas.
At that time there is a guide,
Firm of memory and endowed with wisdom,
A man of clarity whose mind is fixed,
And who in the midst of dangers can save men from many troubles.
The multitude, all tired and disgusted,
Said to the guide:
‘We are now exhausted,
And at this point wish to turn back.’
The guide has this thought:
‘This lot is much to be pitied.
How can they wish to turn back
And lose these most precious jewels?’
At that moment he thinks of an expedient device,
Whereby, through resort to the power of supernatural penetration,
He conjures up a great city, with inner and outer walls,
One with houses beautifully adorned,
Surrounded by parks and groves,
By moats and pools,
By layered gates and tall towers,
Full of men and women.
When he has conjured up this creation,
He comforts the multitude, saying, ‘Fear not!
When you enter this city,
Each may do as he pleases.’
These persons, having entered the city,
Are all delighted at heart,
They attached to it greedily, wish not giving away,
All realising composure
And saying to themselves that they have been saved,
They do not intend to proceed to the jewel cache.
The guide, knowing that they are at rest,
Dissolves the conjured city,
And assembles the multitude and announces,
‘You are now to go forward.
Making up your mind for the jewel cache
This is only a magically created city.
When I saw how exhausted you were,
How you wished to turn back midway,
Then, by resort to my power of supernatural penetration,
In the emergency I conjured up this city.
You are now to make every effort
To reach the jewel cache together.’
I, too, am like this,
For I am the Guide of all.
Since I see the seekers of the Path
Exhausted and disgusted in mid-course,
Unable to transcend birth and death
Or the steep road of agony,
Therefore by resort to the power of expedient devices,
In order to give them rest, I preach nirvana to them,
Saying, ‘Your suffering is at an end.
What was to be done you have already achieved.’
When I know that, having reached nirvana,
They have all attained arhatship,
Only then do I gather the multitude
And for them preach the real Dharma.
The Buddhas, by their power of expedient devices,
Create distinctions, preaching the three yanas,
But there is in fact only the Eka Buddha Yana
And by expedience that the three are preached.
Now for your sake I preach the reality,
For what you have gained is not extinction.
For the sake of Buddha-omniscience
You must put forth great and vigorous effort,
For only when you gain All-wisdom
Deliverance and others of Buddha-dharmas
And in full possession of the good marks,
Shall you have real extinction.
The Buddhas as Great Guides
Preach nirvana in order to give rest.
Once they know that the living beings are at rest,
They lead them into Buddha-wisdom.”