Chapter 8 : Receipt of Prophecy by Five Hundred Disciples

At that time, Purna, the son of Maitrayani, who had heard about this wisdom from the Buddha and about these preachings in accord with what is appropriate and by resort to expedient devices, who had heard him confer on the great disciples a prophecy of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, who had heard further the matter of the causes and conditions of bygone ages, and who had heard that the Buddhas have powers of supernatural penetration, powers over which they have perfect mastery, gained something he had never had before, and his heart danced with unsullied joy. Then he rose from his seat, went into the Buddha's presence, and with head bowed did obeisance before his feet. Then he stood off to one side, looking up at the August Countenance, never removing his eyes, and thought, “The World-honoured One is most unique! His deeds are rare! According to the varied natures of worldlings and by resort to wisdom and insight of the expedient decices, for their sake he preaches the Dharma, extricating the living beings from their attachments, wherever they happen to be. In the face of the Buddha's merits, we have not the words with which to express ourselves. Only the Buddha, the World-honoured One, is able to know the vows we once took with deep thought.”

At that time, the Buddha proclaimed to the bhikshus, “Do you see this Purna, the son of Maitrayani, or do you not? I always declare him to be the foremost among those who preach dharma. I am also always sighing in admiration of this manifold merits, of how with pure effort he keeps and helps to propagate my dharma; of how, in the midst of the fourfold multitude, he demonstrates and teaches, thereby affording benefit and joy; of how perfectly he interprets the True Dharma of the Buddha, thereby greatly benefiting those united in brahman-conduct (alam anugrahita sabrahmacarina). Apart from the Tathagata, none can do perfect justice to his talent with words. Do not think that Purna is able to keep and help to propagate my dharma alone. For in the presence of ninety million Buddhas of the past he also kept and helped to propagate the Buddhas' True Dharma, and was the foremost among their dharma preachers as well. Also, with respect to the Dharma of the Emptiness preached by the Buddhas, he has clearly penetrated the teaching, having gained the four kinds of unobstructed wisdom, constantly being able to understand precisely and to preach dharma with purity, having no doubts, having perfected the bodhisattva's strength of supernatural penetration and constantly throughout his life having cultivated brahman-conduct. That Buddha's contemporaries all thought that he was in fact a sravaka. For by this expedient device Purna benefited incalculable hundreds of thousands of living beings. He also converted incalculable asamkhyeyas of men, causing them to establish Anuttarasamyaksambodhi of Ekayana. In order to purify Buddha-land, he constantly did Buddha-deeds, teaching and converting living beings. O, bhiksus! Purna is also the foremost among those who preached dharma in the presence of the seven Buddhas, and now also is the foremost among those who preach dharma in my presence.

In the kalpa Worthy, he shall also befirst among the dharma preachers of Buddhas to come, and shall in every case keep and help propagate the Buddha-dharma. Also in the future, he will keep and help propagate the dharmas of incalculable, limitless Buddhas, and will convert and benefit innumerable living beings, making them establish Anuttarasamyaksambodhi. In order to purify his Buddha-land, he shall constantly persevere with vigour, shall teach and convert the living beings, and shall at length perfect the Bodhisattva Path. After the passage of incalculable asamkhyeya kalpas, in this land he shall attain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi and shall be called Dharma Glow (Dharmaprabhasa), 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 shall have three-thousand-great-thousandfold worlds to the number of the sand of Ganges river for a single Buddha-land, the seven jewels for earth, land as flat as the palm of the hand, without mountains or hills, vales or dales, river basins or hollows, the midst of the land filled with terraces and palaces of the seven jewels, the palaces of its gods in the nearby skies, where men and gods may consort, each able to see each other, with no evil destinies, also without women, all living beings are born by transformation, there being no lewd desires, all having gained great supernatural penetration, their bodies giving off a bright glow, all flying through the space at will, their intentions and resolutions firm, all endowed with vigour and wisdom, all without exception adorned with the thirty-two marks in gold. The living beings of that realm shall constantly subsist on two kinds of food, the one being the food of dharma-joy, the other the food of dhyana-joy. There shall be a bodhisattva-multitude numbering incalculable asamkhyeyas of thousands of myriads of millions of nayutas, who shall gain great supernatural penetration and the four kinds of unobstructed wisdom, and who shall be able to teach and convert well all varieties of living beings. Its multitude of sravakas shall be such that no count or numeration, no measure or calculation, may know it, all of them having gained to perfection the six penetrations, the three clarities, and the eight deliverances. Such shall be the number of incalculable merits with which that Buddha-land is adorned to perfection. The kalpa's name shall be Jewel Glow (Ratnavabhasa) and the name of the realm Well Purified (Suvisuddha). That Buddha's life span shall be incalculable asamkhyeya kalpas, and his Dharma shall persist a very long time. After that Buddha's passage into extinction, there shall be erected a stupa of the seven jewels, which shall fill his domain.

“O, bhikshus, listen with discernment
To the Path trodden by the Buddha-son
Which, because he was well schooled in expedient devices,
Was beyond reckoning and discussion!
Knowing that the multitude craves the lesser Dharma
And fears the great wisdom,
For this reason the bodhisattvas
Appear as sravakas and cause-enlightened ones.
By resort to numberless expedient devices
They convert varieties of living beings,
Saying of themselves that they are sravakas,
Far removed from the Buddha Path.
They rescue an incalculable multitude,
All of whom they enable to achieve perfection,
Even for those of limited desires and of no effort
Shall eventually be enabled to become Buddhas.
Inwardly concealing their bodhisattva-conduct
And outwardly showing themselves as sravakas,
Though of slight desires and disgusted with birth-and-death,
They are in fact purifying Buddha-lands themselves.
Showing the multitude that they themselves have the three poisons,
And also displaying the signs of heretical views,
My disciples, too, in the same way,
By resort to expedient devices rescue the living beings.
If I should fully explain
The various transformed manifestations,
The living beings who heard it
In their hearts would harbour doubts.
Now, this Purna,
In the presence of a thousand millions of former Buddhas,
Cultivated with diligence the Path that he was to traverse,
Propagated and kept the Buddha-dharmas.
In order to seek the unexcelled wisdom,
In the presence of Buddhas
He made a show of being at the head of the disciples,
Where he heard much and acquired wisdom.
In what he preached he was fearless,
Being able to cause the multitude to rejoice,
Never experiencing fatigue or disgust,
And thus aiding the Buddhas' work.
Having already crossed over into great supernatural penetration,
Being fully endowed with the four kinds of unobstructed wisdom
And knowing the keenness and dullness of the multitude's faculties,
He constantly preached the pure dharma.
Propagating such doctrine as this,
He taught thousands of millions of multitudes,
Causing them to dwell in the Dharma of the Ekayana,
And also purified his own Buddha-land.
In time to come he shall also pay homage
To incalculable, innumerable Buddhas,
Guarding and assisting them in their propagation of the True Dharma,
And he shall also purify his own Buddha-land.
By resort to expedient devices, ever
Shall he preach the dharma without fear,
Saving an incalculable multitude
Causing them to achieve omniscience.
Paying homage to Tathagatas
And keeping their dharma-treasury,
He shall thereafter be able to achieve Buddhahood,
Being called by the name of Dharma Glow.
His realm shall be named Well Purified,
Composed of the seven jewels.
The kalpa shall be named Jewel Glow.
The multitude of bodhisattvas being very great,
Their number shall be in the incalculable millions,
All having crossed over into great supernatural penetration,
And the perfect might of their imposing majesty
Shall fill the land.
The sravakas also shall be numberless,
With their three clarities and eight deliverances,
And having attained the four kinds of unobstructed wisdom -
The sangha shall consist of these.
The living beings of that realm
Shall already have detached themselves from their lewd desires.
Born purely of transformation,
With perfect marks they shall adorn their bodies.
Joy in dharma and joy in dhyana shall be their food,
And they shall have no thought of any other nourishment.
There shall be no men and no women,
Nor shall there be any evil destinies.
Purna Bhikshu,
His merit perfect in every way,
Shall gain a pure land such as this,
With a multitude of saints, and sages most numerous.
Incalculable as these things are,
I have now spoken of them but briefly.”

At that time, the five hundred arhats, masters of their own thoughts, had this thought, “We are overjoyed, having gained something we have never had before! If the World-honoured One would confer on each of us a prophecy, as he has done for the other great disciples, would that not be a cause for joy?”

The Buddha, knowing the thoughts in their minds, declared to Mahakasyapa, “On these five hundred arhats I will now manifestly and in order confer a prophecy of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi. Of this multitude, my great disciple, Kaundinya Bhikshu, shall pay homage to sixty-two thousand of millions of Buddhas and, having done so, shall be able to achieve Buddhahood, being called Universally Lustrous, 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. The other arhats, Urubilvakasyapa, Gayakasyapa, Nadikasyapa, Kalodayin, Udayin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphina, Bakkula, Cunda, Svagata, and others, shall all attain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, all of them called by the same name, Universally Lustrous.”

At that time, the World-honoured One, wishing to restate this meaning, proclaimed gathas, saying:

“Kaundinya Bhikshu
Shall see incalculable Buddhas and,
Only after having traversed an asamkhyeya kalpa,
Shall achieve undifferentiating, right and perfect enlightenment.
Ever emitting a great glow,
He shall be perfect with the supernatural penetrations.
His name, bruited about in all ten directions,
Shall be honoured by all.
He shall ever preach the Unexcelled Path,
And hence shall be called Universally Lustrous.
His land shall be pure.
His bodhisattvas, all courageous and mighty,
Shall all mount wondrous towers
And frolic in the realms of the ten directions,
With unexcelled offerings
Make presents to the Buddhas.
When they have made these offerings,
Their hearts shall harbour great joy,
And briefly they shall return to their original realm -
Such are the supernatural powers they shall have.
That Buddha's life span shall be sixty thousand kalpas,
His True Dharma shall last twice that long,
And his Counterfeit Dharma shall, in turn, last twice the length of that.
When that Dharma becomes extinct, gods and men shall mourn.
The five hundred bhikshus
Shall in turn become Buddhas,
Identically named Universally Lustrous.
They shall confer propecies, each on his successor:
‘After my passage into extinction,
Such-a-one shall become a Buddha,
The world that he shall convert
Being like this of mine today.’
The chaste purity of his land,
As well as his powers of supernatural penetration,
His multitudes of bodhisattvas and sravakas,
His True Dharma and Couterfeit Dharma,
And the number of kalpas in his life span
Shall all be as I have just said.
Kasyapa, you now know
All the self-masters.
The multitude of remaining sravakas
Shall also be like this.
As for those not in this assembly,
You must explain it to them.”

At that time, the five hundred arhats, having received a prophecy in the Buddha's presence, danced for joy, then, rising from their seats, went into the Buddha's presence, where with head bowed they did obeisance to his feet, repented of their transgressions, and reproached themselves, saying, “O, World-honoured One! We have been constantly thinking that we had already gained the ultimate passage into extinction. Now that at last we understand it, we know we have been like ignoramuses. Wherefore? We should have gained the Tathagata's wisdom, yet we were content with lesser wisdom.

“O, World-honoured One! Suppose, there is a man who arrives at the house of a close friend. His friend sews a priceless jewel into the inferior of his garment. Then he gets drunk on wine and lies down. At that time, his friend, having official business, goes away. The first man, laid out drunk, is unaware of anything after that. When he has recovered, he sets out on his travels, then reaches another country, where he devotes every effort to the quest for good and clothing. He suffers such hardship that he is content with however little he may get. Then his friend, encountering him by chance, speaks these words to him, ‘Alas, Sir! How can you have come to this for the sake of mere food and clothing? Once, I, wishing to afford you comfort and joy, as well as the natural satisfaction of your five desires, in such-and-such a year, on a certain day of a certain month, gave you a priceless jewel. Surely it is still there. Yet you, not knowing of it, have suffered pain and grief in quest of a livelihood. How foolish you have been! Now you need only take this jewel and by praying it you will have things always as you wish, suffering neither want nor shortage.’

“The Buddha is also like this. When he was a bodhisattva, he taught and converted us, inspiring in us the thought of All-wisdom, but later we forgot, and thus neither understood nor were aware of anything. Having achieved the Path of the arhat, we said to ourselves that this was passage into extinction. We were so hard-pressed to support life that we were satisfied with whatever little we got, though the vow concerning All-wisdom, still there, had never lost its effect. Now the World-honoured One, to make us aware, says to us, ‘O, bhikshus! What you have gained is not ultimate extinction. I have long caused you to plant the wholesome roots of the Buddha, and by resort to an expedient device I made a display of the signs of nirvana. You have been imagining, however, that you had in fact achieved the passage into extinction.’ O, World-honoured One! We now know at last that we are in fact bodhisattvas of the Ekayana, who have gained a prophecy of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, not sravakas who have gained prophecy. For this reason we are very greatly overjoyed, having gained something we had never had before.

“We, having heard the unexcelled
Sound of the prophecy of tranquillity
And being delighted at something we have never had before,
Do obeisance before the Buddha of incalculable wisdom.
Now, in the presence of the World-honoured One,
We freely repent our transgressions and faults,
For in the midst of incalculable Buddha-jewels
We had acquired but a slight share of nirvana.
Like ignorant, foolish men,
We imagined we had enough.
Suppose there is a destitute man
Goes to the house of a close friend.
The house, very great and rich,
Is fully stocked with delicacies.
Taking a priceless jewel,
Giving it to his friend and goes away.
It is attached inside his garment
But, being drunken, he is aware of nothing.
Later, this man, having arisen,
Travels to another country,
Where, seeking food and clothing, he supports himself,
But the maintenance of life is very hard.
He is satisfied with the little he gets,
And has no wish at all for good things.
He is unaware that inside his garment
There is a priceless jewel.
The close friend who gave him the jewel
Later sees this poor man and,
Having sternly rebuked him,
Shows him the jewel tied to the garment.
The poor man, seeing this jewel,
Is overjoyed at heart,
He reverently and diligently prays
And gains whatever he wishes,
In his wealth, he comes to own various precious objects,
Able to satisfy his five desires at will.
We also are thus,
For the World-honoured One throughout the long night of time,
Ever in his pity teaching and converting,
Has caused us to plant the seeds of the unexcelled vow.
Because we were ignorant,
Imperceptive and also unknowing,
Having gained a triffling portion of nirvana
We were satisfied, and sought no further.
Now the Buddha has made us aware,
Saying that this is no real passage into extinction.
We have gained the Buddha's unexcelled wisdom,
Which now for the first time we take to be true extinction.
Now, having heard from the Buddha
The matter of the adornment by prophecy,
As well as of the successive prophecies of each Buddha to his successor,
We are thoroughly delighted in body and mind.”