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T374 The Nirvana Sutra, Vol. I

Thông tin: BDK America — English Tripiṭaka

THE NIRVANA SUTRA (MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆA-SŪTRA) VOLUME I

Front Matters

BDK English Tripiṭaka Series THE NIRVANA SUTRA (MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆA-SŪTRA) VOLUME I

(Taishō Volume 12, Number 374) Translated from the Chinese by

Mark L. Blum BDK America, Inc. 2013

Copyright © 2013 by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and BDK America, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means —electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— without the prior written permission of the publisher. Second Printing, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-886439-46-7

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2013951304 Published by

BDK America, Inc.

1675 School Street

Moraga, California 94556

Printed in the United States of America

A Message on the Publication of the

English Tripiṭaka

The Buddhist canon is said to contain eighty-four thousand different teachings. I believe that this is because the Buddha's basic approach was to prescribe a different treatment for every spiritual ailment, much as a doctor prescribes a different medicine for every medical ailment. Thus his teachings were always appropriate for the particular suffering individual and for the time at which the teaching was given, and over the ages not one of his prescriptions has failed to relieve the suffering to which it was addressed.

Ever since the Buddha's Great Demise over twenty-five hundred years ago, his message of wisdom and compassion has spread throughout the world. Yet no one has ever attempted to translate the entire Buddhist canon into English throughout the history of Japan. It is my greatest wish to see this done and to make the translations available to the many English-speaking people who have never had the opportunity to learn about the Buddha's teachings. Of course, it would be impossible to translate all of the Buddha's eighty-four thousand teachings in a few years. I have, therefore, had one hundred thirty-nine of the scriptural texts in the prodigious Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon selected for inclusion in the First Series of this translation project. It is in the nature of this undertaking that the results are bound to be criticized. Nonetheless, I am convinced that unless someone takes it upon himself or herself to initiate this project, it will never be done. At the same time, I hope that an improved, revised edition will appear in the future.

It is most gratifying that, thanks to the efforts of more than a hundred Buddhist scholars from the East and the West, this monumental project has finally gotten off the ground. May the rays of the Wisdom of the CompassionateOne reach each and every person in the world.

NUMATAYehan

Founder of the English

August 7, 1991 Tripiṭaka Project

Editorial Foreword

In January 1982, Dr. NUMATAYehan, the founder of Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), decided to begin the monumental task of translating the complete Taishō edition of the Chinese Tripiṭaka (Buddhist canon) into the English language. Under his leadership, a special preparatory committee was organized in April 1982. By July of the same year, the Translation Committee of the English Tripiṭaka was officially convened. The initial Committee consisted of the following members: (late) HANAYAMA Shōyū (Chairperson), (late) BANDŌShōjun, ISHIGAMIZennō, (late) KAMATA Shigeo, (late) KANAOKAShūyū, MAYEDASengaku, NARAYasuaki, (late) SAYEKI Shinkō, (late) SHIOIRIRyōtatsu, TAMARUNoriyoshi, (late) TAMURAKwansei, URYŪZURyūshin, and YUYAMAAkira. Assistant members of the Committee were as follows: KANAZAWAAtsushi, WATA NABEShōgo, Rolf Giebel of New Zealand, and Rudy Smet of Belgium.

After holding planning meetings on a monthly basis, the Committee selected one hundred thirty-nine texts for the First Series of translations, an estimated one hundred printed volumes in all. The texts selected are not necessarily limited to those originally written in India but also include works written or composed in China and Japan. While the publication of the First Series proceeds, the texts for the Second Series will be selected from among the remaining works; this process will continue until all the texts, in Japanese as well as in Chinese, have been published.

Frankly speaking, it will take perhaps one hundred years or more to accomplish the English translation of the complete Chinese and Japanese texts, for they consist of thousands of works. Nevertheless, as Dr. NUMATAwished, it is the sincere hope of the Committee that this project will continue unto completion, even after all its present members have passed away.

Dr. NUMATApassed away on May 5, 1994, at the age of ninety-seven, entrusting his son, Mr. NUMATAToshihide, with the continuation and completion of the Translation Project. The Committee also lost its able and devoted Chairperson, vii

Publisher’s Foreword

Editorial Foreword

Professor HANAYAMAShōyū, on June 16, 1995, at the age of sixty-three. After these severe blows, the Committee elected me, then Vice President of Musashino Women's College, to be the Chair in October 1995. The Committee has renewed its determination to carry out the noble intention of Dr. NUMATA, under the leadership of Mr. NUMATAToshihide. The present members of the Committee are MAYEDASengaku (Chairperson), ICHISHIMAShōshin, ISHIGAMIZennō, KATSURAShōryū, NAMAIChishō, NARA Yasuaki, SAITŌAkira, SHIMODAMasahiro, Kenneth K. Tanaka, WATANABEShōgo, and YONEZAWAYoshiyasu.

The Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research was established in November 1984, in Berkeley, California, U.S.A., to assist in the publication of the BDK English Tripiṭaka First Series. The Publication Committee was organized at the Numata Center in December 1991. In 2010, the Numata Center's operations were merged into Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai America, Inc. (BDK America) and BDK America continues to oversee the English Tripiṭaka project in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee in Tokyo. MAYEDASengaku

Chairperson

Editorial Committee of

the BDK English Tripiṭaka

viii

Publisher's Foreword

On behalf of the members of the Publication Committee, I am happy to present this volume as the latest contribution to the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series. The Publication Committee members have worked to ensure that this volume, as all other volumes in the series, has gone through a rigorous process of editorial efforts. The initial translation and editing of the Buddhist scriptures found in this and other BDK English Tripiṭaka volumes are performed under the direction of the Editorial Committee in Tokyo, Japan. Both the Editorial Committee in Tokyo and the Publication Committee, headquartered in Berkeley, California, are dedicated to the production of accurate and readable English translations of the Buddhist canon. In doing so, the members of both committees and associated staff work to honor the deep faith, spirit, and concern of the late Reverend Dr. Yehan Numata, who founded the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series in order to disseminate the Buddhist teachings throughout the world. The long-term goal of our project is the translation and publication of the texts in the one hundred-volume Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon, along with a number of influential extracanonical Japanese Buddhist texts. The list of texts selected for the First Series of this translation project may be found at the end of each volume in the series.

As Chair of the Publication Committee, I am deeply honored to serve as the fifth person in a post previously held by leading figures in the field of Buddhist studies, most recently by my predecessor, John R. McRae.

In conclusion, I wish to thank the members of the Publication Committee for their dedicated and expert work undertaken in the course of preparing this volume for publication: Senior Editor Marianne Dresser, Dr. Hudaya Kandahjaya, Dr. Carl Bielefeldt, Dr. Robert Sharf, and Rev. Brian Kensho Nagata, President of BDK America.

A. Charles Muller

Chairperson

Publication Committee

A Message on the Publication of the English Tripiṭaka NUMATAYehan v

Editorial Foreword MAYEDASengaku vii Publisher's Foreword A. Charles Muller ix Translator's Introduction Mark L. Blum xiii The Nirvana Sutra, Volume I Fascicle I

Chapter One. Longevity: Part 1 3 Fascicle II

Chapter One. Longevity: Part 2 31 Fascicle III

Chapter One. Longevity: Part 3 Chapter Two. The Adamantine Body Chapter Three. The Virtues of the Name 69 91

103

Fascicle IV

Chapter Four. The Nature of the Tathāgata: Part 1 107 Fascicle V

Chapter Four. The Nature of the Tathāgata: Part 2 135 Fascicle VI

Chapter Four. The Nature of the Tathāgata: Part 3 169 Fascicle VII

Chapter Four. The Nature of the Tathāgata: Part 4 [The Four Inversions] 224 [The Five Parables on Buddha-nature] 201 226

Translator’s Introduction

Contents Fascicle VIII 235

Chapter Four. The Nature of the Tathāgata: Part 5 [The Garland of Letters] 253 Fascicle IX Chapter Four. The Nature of the Tathāgata: Part 6 271 Fascicle X Chapter Four. The Nature of the Tathāgata: Part 7 Chapter Five. The Query of the Entire Assembly 305 313

Notes 339 Glossary 365 Bibliography 375 Index 383 A List of the Volumes of the BDK English Tripiṭaka (First Series) 425 xii

Translator's Introduction

Known in East Asia simply as the Nirvana Sutra,the Mahāparnirvāṇa-sūtrahas been one of the most talked about scriptures in the Chinese Buddhist canon even before it was fully translated. Early in the fifth century, within ten years of each other, two translations based on two different Sanskrit texts were produced, one by Faxian and one by Dharmakṣema. A leading Chinese monk at the time, Daosheng, read the first translation by Faxian and was puzzled by the extremely negative description in the sutra of people called icchantikas, described as individuals who have no faith. Inspired by the universal message of hope embodied in the sutra's doctrine of buddha-nature as a potential for buddhahood existing in all living beings, Daosheng wondered how the sutra could also exclude those called icchantikas from this vision, who not only reject the Buddha's teaching but reject any need for karmically proper behavior, could be described as exceptions. Daosheng publically declared that Faxian must have it wrong, that the sutra would not extol buddha-nature for some but not others, and he was widely ridiculed for taking such a radical position. Dharmakṣema completed his translation a few years later, and while it echoed the rejection of icchantikas in part, it also clarified that icchantikastatus was a state of mind, not karmic destiny, and that buddhanature is present in all living beings without exception; the earlier teaching was just an expedient means (upāya) to make a point in that context. As one might expect, Daosheng became a hero and his writings went on to have a major impact on Chinese and East Asian Buddhism as a whole.

This translation is of the Dharmakṣema version of the text. Whether the result of differences in their recensions or in their understandings of the sutra's language, the Faxian and Dharmakṣema translations consistently differ on this point. Not surprisingly, it was Dharmakṣema's translation that subsequently impacted East Asian Buddhism so fundamentally, completely overshadowing Faxian's work. There are basically three notions of nirvāṇa in Buddhism: 1) Nirvāṇais a state of religious attainment in which the craving for future existence is extinguished; this is defined as a nontranscendental,

"ethical state" in the Theravāda tradition

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Translator's Introduction

(according to the Pāli Text Society's Pāli-English Dictionary, pp. 362-363) but is generally seen in spiritual terms in Mahāyāna Buddhism. 2) Parinirvāṇa, "final extinction,

" is emancipation defined as the final or complete extinction of the kleśas (defilements or afflictions) and release from the cycle of rebirth, saṃsāra. Most commonly this refers to the death of someone who has either already attained nirvāṇa or is seen as attaining it at death, and includes the meaning of a transcendental postmortem existence without rebirth. But parinirvāṇa can also be attained before death, and can be of two types, with the physical support of one's body while still living, and without the body, thus indicating death. 3) Mahāparinirvāṇa,

"great final extinction,

" refers to the death of a

buddha, specifically the death of Śākyamuni in early Buddhist literature. Although, as the name indicates, this particular sutra is ostensibly focused on the last of these meanings, in fact all three are examined in the discourse. One of the characteristic features of the Mahāparnirvāṇa-sūtrais its highly critical stance toward Buddhism as a whole, exhibiting a surprising sense of responsibility to redefine a wide range of what appears to have become institutionalized interpretations, practices. and beliefs, the notion of nirvāṇa among them. The history of the sutra is somewhat confusing because there are in fact two quite different scriptures with the identical Sanskrit name, Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra.Based on the above standard usage, the first Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, known in the Pāli as Mahāparinibbāna-suttanta,is about the circumstances under which Śākyamuni Buddha died, his last sermon, and how the community dealt with his remains.

1This early, pre-Mahāyāna version of the sutra was translated repeatedly into Chinese, and six of those translations are extant in the Chinese Buddhist canon today. Although sculpted and painted depictions of the dramatic scene of the Buddha's final demise can be seen throughout the Buddhist world, outside the visual arts the influence seen in Theravāda countries of this original version of the sutra is largely absent in East Asia. In contrast, the MahāyānaMahāparinirvāṇa-sūtraquickly became one of the most influential Buddhist scriptures in the Chinese canon after its introduction in the early fifth century. Compared with the first sutra of the same name, the MahāyānaMahāparinirvāṇa-sūtrais a relatively long, fully realized Mahāyāna text, full of typical Mahāyāna elements such as mythic imagery, miracles (though there is a description in the earlier version of the Buddha miraculously moving a huge boulder), a fully transcendent notion of "buddha,

" metaphysics, and the

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Translator's Introduction

rich philosophical language of emptiness. It begins with the setting of the Buddha's imminent disappearance from this world in the town of Kuśinagara, as in the earlier version, but it is immediately apparent that this is a very different sort of sermon. After a long, dramatic discussion of all the many beings that bring their last offerings to the Buddha, followed by the appearance of the blacksmith Cunda, there is a series of impassioned pleas for the Buddha not to die. In response, however, the Buddha launches into a long discussion on the nature of buddhas in general, and himself in particular. He makes it clear that while he will disappear from their sight he is not going to die, because in fact he was never born in the first place. In other words, buddhas are not created phenomena and therefore have no beginning and no end.

This leads into the core theme of the sutra—tathāgatagarbha.The Nirvana Sutra—note that the name Nirvana Sutraonly refers to the Mahāyāna Mahāpari nir vāṇa-sūtra2 —expresses the term tathāgatagarbhain a unique way, calling it "buddha-nature,

" "tathāgata-nature,

" or "hidden treasury,

" and expounds the

doctrine that this quality is not only common to buddhas but to all living beings as well. Moreover, it is eternal, blissful, characterized by a personal self, and pure. Thus everyone has the potential for liberation, for realizing nirvāṇa and buddhahood. The sutra expresses this idea in a variety of ways, but one of the most striking is its use of the idea of nonemptiness standing alongside emptiness as an expression of absolute truth. Thus, though we have essentially the same circumstances of the Buddha's demise as the setting for the sutra in both the early and later versions, the Mahāyāna version raises such questions as "What is the nature of buddha?" "What is the nature of nirvāṇa?" "How is it possible that an unenlightened individual could actually become a buddha?" "What does the teaching of nonself really mean" "How can those who commit crimes turn themselves around so a proper life becomes possible again?" , and so forth, all

of them topics not raised in the original version of the sutra. Once the listener (now the reader!) has some sense of what buddha-nature is and how it functions, the perspective of the entire sutra becomes clear. Buddhanature is discussed often, in different contexts with different analogies, showing not only how central this teaching is but how difficult it is to grasp as well. Is it a tiny quantity of "buddha"

-ness existing within every living being, or is it

the inherent potential for becoming a buddha, or is it the full presence of "buddha" within the makeup of all living beings, regardless of their relative degree of xv

Translator's Introduction

spiritual awakening or confusion? Essentially the Buddha asks his audience to accept the existence of buddha-nature on faith, and since everyone there manifestly knows they are not yet buddhas, the importance of faith in the teachings of the Nirvana Sutraas a whole must not be overlooked.

The flip side of the universality of the buddha-nature teaching is the notion of the icchantika,mentioned above, a category of people who have little or no chance of liberation. Just who are the icchantikas and what is their fate? This is a highly complex issue within the Nirvana Sutraitself, and the issue is discussed numerous times in different ways, but the common factor of all such discussions is that such an individual does not believe one or more of the core values represented by the sutra: standards of morality, the interdependence of life, the doctrines of karma and buddha-nature, and the superiority of the Mahāyāna sutras. Because the sutra comments on the problem of the icchantikaso frequently, it does seem ambivalent on whether or not icchantikas can attain buddhahood. This problem has led some scholars to speculate that the sutra was written over a long period of time by different people, perhaps even in different places. There is only fragmentary evidence of the sutra in Sanskrit, and the translations from Sanskrit in the two Chinese works and one in Tibetan all clearly represent different Sanskrit recensions or exemplars, so we will probably never know the answer to this question. But it is worth noting that other Buddhist scriptures in which the icchantika problem is discussed, such as the Śrīmālādevī-sūtraand the Mahāyāna sūtrālaṃkāra,expound somewhat different notions of icchantikas. One of the most radical teachings of the sutra grows out of the buddha-nature idea, namely, a seeming reversal of what had become the sacrosanct Buddhist doctrine of nonself. For the Nirvana Sutra,nonself is treated like another negative expression of truth, emptiness. That is, nonself is a very important doctrine to be expounded when the listener is attached to his or her notion of selfhood or personality, because it deconstructs that object of attachment, revealing its nature as a fantasy. Emptiness likewise performs the function of deconstructing attachments to notions of identity in things or ideas. But both are merely tools, or upāya(skillful means), and not final truths in and of themselves. Regarding emptiness, we find a strong assertion of the sacred nature of nonemptiness, meaning the world as it is. Emptiness, therefore, must be studied alongside nonemptiness, or the student will end up with a skewed view of things. In a similar vein, the sutra's stance toward nonself and self expresses the complaint that many xvi

Translator's Introduction

Buddhists have lost their way precisely because they have simply traded one attachment for another: proudly renouncing self, they are now attached to nonself, clinging to the concept as if it can liberate them. Although the discursive, evaluating self is fiction, there does exist a genuine self and that, according to the sutra, is precisely the buddha-nature. This of course raises a paradox: if this is the only true self, how can it help me, since I am unable to perceive my own buddha-nature? To this the sutra responds that this is precisely what the study of the Buddha's dharma should be about—

"seeing" the buddha-nature within

oneself.

Another important theme is the nature of the Tathāgata, the Buddha himself. The Nirvana Sutraoffers a much more unambiguous statement of the eternal, unchanging nature of "buddha" than what was presented in, for example, the Lotus Sutra(Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra). In fact, we know that the Nirvana Sutrawas written after the Lotus Sutrabecause it quotes the latter scripture by name, and also because it echoes many Lotusthemes. One area of commonality is the nature of the Buddha as something much more than the earthly existence "portrayed" by Śākyamuni for the eighty years of his life. The Lotusintimates that all buddhas are eternal but in fact only states that their lives are very, very long. In the Nirvana Sutrathe buddha is and always has been eternal and unchanging. He appears on earth as he did, going through the motions of being born as prince and renouncing the household life, only to "correspond to the ways of the world" (Skt. lokānuvartana;Ch. suishun shijian隨順世間). In other words, if he had not taken these elaborate steps, the people of Jambudvīpa (i.e., India) would not have trusted him as a genuine saint. He took on this human form so that people would pay attention to his message.

This change in the nature of "buddha" reflects a change representative of this stratum of Mahāyāna Buddhist sutras. The Nirvana Sutrarepresents what is probably a middle period of Mahāyāna development in that it betrays a conscious knowledge of the contents of the early Mahāyāna sutras and is often reacting to that content by commenting on it. These comments are generally expansions and clarifications rather than critiques. Criticism is reserved for non-Buddhists and those Buddhists who refuse to recognize the validity of the Mahāyāna sutras and their teachings, especially the Nirvana Sutraitself. In fact, in many ways the Nirvana Sutraappears as a kind of higher critique, a meta-discourse,on how the religion had developed in the probably five to six hundred years since the xvii

Translator's Introduction

passing of the founder Śākyamuni. This is seen most clearly in critiques of some of the doctrinal developments in the Abhidharma (specifically the Sarvāsti vādin Abhidharma) and the monasticism practiced under interpretations of Vinaya literature.

In addition to the fact that three Chinese versions of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtrawere produced within forty years, the sutra has a rather unusual provenance in the Chinese canon. These are all collected in volume twelve of the Taishō canon: Taishō no. 376, translated by Faxian in six fascicles and dated 416-418 C.E.;Taishō no. 374, translated by Dharmakṣema in forty fascicles and dated 420-431,

3 which is the source text of this translation; and Taishō no. 375, a version of the Dharmakṣema translation re-edited to make it more accessible, dated sometime between 433 and 452. The Chinese Buddhist communities— and the Korean and Japanese as well—for the most part ignored the Fa xian version in favor of the Dharmakṣema translation, which is generally richer in imagery, more explicit or at least more elaborate when it comes to difficult philosophical points, and presumed to be complete (in contrast to Faxian's work, which is only one-quarter of its length). Testimony of the immediate impact of the sutra when it appeared is that although it was well read, many found Dharmakṣema's sentences hard to follow either because of odd syntax or obscure vocabulary. In addition, the chapter divisions were not well thought out, either too long or too short, and therefore not of much use. For this reason, the traditional way of citing the Dharmakṣema translation in commentaries throughout East Asia was to reference the fascicle number, which total forty, rather than by chapter. By contrast, Fa xian's chapters are of similar length and reflect a more rational and useful organizing framework.

The structural problems in the Dharmakṣema translation coupled with the high interest in the sutra led to a group of scholars re-editing the Dharmakṣema translation into a more accessible text, refashioning some of the sentences into more readable language and using Faxian's chapter divisions. This is Taishō no. 375. In content, this text is very close to the original Dharmakṣema translation, but there were some revisions that have no basis in an Indic text, and there is no evidence that the editors worked with any source material other than the two Chinese translations. This edition is different enough to warrant its own place in the canon, and many medieval scholars cite both editions, though Taishō no. 375 circulated more widely, with its use of a more standard Classical Chinese xviii

Translator's Introduction

syntax and more commonly known characters. Because this text was not a new translation but merely a new edition of the existing Dharmakṣema translation, the two texts were traditionally distinguished in East Asian literature as the northern, or beiben北本, edition (original Dharmakṣema translation, or Taishō no. 374); and the southern, nanben南本, (reworked) edition, or Taishō no. 375. Among these three Chinese editions the Dharmakṣema translation has the greatest historical significance due to its comprehensive length and the presumption that it was based on one or more Indic texts.

It would be difficult to overstate the impact of Nirvana Sutrain East Asian Buddhism. Not only did it inspire numerous commentaries on the sutra itself in China, Korea, and Japan, it is cited extensively in the works of of untold numbers of Buddhist writers and frequently appears in "secular" literature as well. In terms of its influence on Buddhist schools, it played a large if indirect role in the formation of the Chan school and also in the Pure Land tradition. Although Chan writers do not often cite it, the very idea of Chan without the concept of buddha-nature is unthinkable. Chan writers were much more comfortable with the Awakening of Faith(Qixinlun), another tathāgatagarbhatext that was probably written in China under influence of the Nirvana Sutra. On the Pure Land side, the biographies of its early systematizers, Tanluan, Daochuo, and Shandao, reveal that all were students of the Nirvana Sutra.And in Japan, the impact of this sutra on Shinran and Nichiren was substantial.

Zhiyi (538-598), founder of the Tiantai sect, was perhaps the most influential person to study and quote the Nirvana Sutra.It is often overlooked that the identification of the Tiantai tradition with the Lotus Sutra was the product of Zhanran (711-782), the sixth Tiantai patriarch. By contrast, it can be argued that Zhiyi regarded both sutras as of equal authority. This is reflected in his historical classification of sutras and teachings, which asserts that the Buddha taught his sutras in a particular order so as to prepare his audience for deeper and more difficult teachings in a gradual manner, an idea no doubt taken from the Nirvana Sutraitself. In Zhiyi's interpretation, the Buddha's career culminated in his final dispensations before he passed into parinirvāṇa:the Lotus Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra. In principle I have included in the Glossary technical terms that recur in the sutra. Note that the term fannao,generally presumed to translate kleśaor some form of that term, is nearly always rendered in this translation as "the defilements, " taking advantage of the slight awkwardness of this expression as English xix

Translator's Introduction

in order to indicate the meaning of this term to the reader. I have consulted and considered the Sanskrit fragments, the Faxian translation, and occasionally the much later ninth-century Tibetan translation from Sanskrit by Jinamitra, Jñānagarbha, and Devacandra (Peking No. 788, Derge No. 120) throughout, but also wish to make clear that this translation makes no attempt to create a critical edition of the MahāyānaMahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra.This work should be regarded, therefore, only as an English translation of Dharmakṣema's rendering of the text in Chinese, but one that is informed by these other relevant materials. I have prepared notes pertaining to comparisons between these different recensions but by and large they are not included here, for they are numerous and detailed, and await a separate publication. Most of the notes retained are explanatory by nature, although there are cases when a note will document a reading from another recension that has played a role in deciphering a difficult passages in Dharmakṣema's text. Because of the scattered nature of the Indic materials, I follow the numbering system for Sanskrit fragments established by Habata Hiromi in her enormously helpful Die zentralasiatischen Sanskrit-Fragmente des Mahāparinirvānạ-Mahāsūtra(2007), the most comprehensive work to date on this subject. In interpreting the Chinese text according to Sanskrit and, when needed, Tibetan sources, this translation contains a bit more than what the usual reader of Buddhist sutras in the Chinese canon would have seen. On the other hand, the vast majority of people trying to make sense of this sutra today do not have the benefit of the oral interpretive traditions that greatly aided students in medieval China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam who read and still read this sutra in Chinese.

As one of the most influential tathāgatagarbhatexts in East Asia, the particular way in which this concept is expressed in the Chinese translation of the Nirvana Sutrais noteworthy. Although the garbhain tathāgatagarbhameans fetus, embryo, womb, or the inside of something, Dharmakṣema typically renders tathāgatagarbhaas rulai mizang如來祕藏 or simply mizang, translated here as the tathāgata's "hidden treasury.

" We never see a word that specifically means

embryo or womb used for garbhain either Chinese translation of this sutra. Although the term mizangcan be found throughout the Chinese canon, unless the text is linked to the Nirvana Sutra,it rarely stands for garbha.In chapter four of Kumārajīva's translation of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra,for example, the phrase "the mizangof all the buddhas" appears but there mizangtranslates xx

Translator's Introduction

guhyasthānaand suggests secret matters relating to buddhas, but not tathāgatagarbha. 4

What we are in fact seeing in the Nirvana Sutrawith mizangis not a translation but a gloss: specifically, a gloss of the notion of tathāgatagarbhaitself as wondrous, somewhat mysterious, liberating truth about buddhas that is hidden from normal view but nonetheless knowable. At the root of this "hidden treasury" is the notion of allusiveness as expressed in the term saṃdhāvacana,which occurs at least three times in the Sanskrit fragments. Rendered by Dharmakṣema as mi jiao密教, mi yu密語, or wei mi zhi jiao微密之教, I have translated these forms as "recondite teachings/language.

" That is, the Buddha's language often alludes

to things he does not mention at that moment. As explained in the opening section of fascicle five, what may appear to the listener to be a certain opaqueness is not the result of any intention on the Buddha's part to conceal anything. Despite the similarity in terms, these teachings are not esoteric in the sense that they are only available to a limited group of cognoscenti, they simply appear to be abstruse because they require a more demanding sensitivity.

This meta-hermeneutic is expressed in the context of tathāgatagarbhabut the way that other topics are broached or analyzed suggests it may be applicable to the sutra as a whole. An example of this approach is the manner in which the sutra redefines the meanings of a number of verses quoted from earlier texts, in essence advancing its own paradigm by means of re-contexualizating them. In this way the audience of the Nirvana Sutralearns that (a) the occasion when the Buddha said something matters, and should be taken into consideration in interpreting it, and (b) the Buddha taught his doctrines in stages as a means to gradually lift up his students to higher and higher reaches of liberation. Both these points explain why the Mahāyāna teachings were initially held back from his immediate voice-hearing disciples, the śrāvakas, who would be unable to grasp the more profound teachings and might react with scorn. This was itself a relatively new doctrine, and though not necessarily unique to this sutra, the popularity of using the Nirvana Sutra's simile of the five stages of milk preparation shows how influential its presentation was. The Nirvana Sutra often mentions the principle of lokānuvartana,mentioned above in reference to Śākyamuni's worldly life, but in this context underlying the very structure of the Buddhist teachings as taking the shape they do in response to how people understand them. This temporal paradigm became the seed for what developed into xxi

Translator's Introduction

the many panjiaosystems developed among Chinese exegetes that organized the most salient sutras and teachings into a rational progression over the course of the Buddha's preaching career. Indeed it was no accident that the first panjiao was developed by Daosheng himself.

Finally, note that this volume covers the first ten fascicles of the Dharma kṣema text as presented in the Taishō canon, which comprises one-fourth of the entire sutra. Volume I will be followed by three more volumes to be published as the translation work proceeds.

xxii

THE NIRVANA SUTRA VOLUME I

Fascicle I

Chapter One

Longevity: Part 1

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was between a pair of sal trees by the banks of the Ajiravatī River in Kuśinagara, the native land of the Malla people.

5At that time the World-Honored One was together with monks numbering what seemed like eight trillion and surrounding him on all sides. It was the fifteenth day of the second month, and he was about to pass into nirvāṇa. Using his supernatural powers, the Buddha spoke out in a great voice so loud that it filled the world, reaching even to the highest heaven in the triple world.

6 Projecting a variety of sounds, he spoke to living beings in every quarter, saying:

Today, the Tathāgata, the One Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, is filled with compassion toward living beings, protects living beings, and looks equally upon [all] living beings as if he were looking upon his own son Rāhula. He creates rooms and houses of refuge for them.

The World-Honored One of the great enlightenment is about to enter nirvāṇa. If there is anyone among you with doubts [regarding the teachings], you should ask your questions now, as this will be your last opportunity for questions. At that time, in the early morning, the World-Honored One emitted from his mouth a variety of rays of light. This light was multicolored: blue, yellow, red, white, crystal, and emerald, and it shone throughout the three thousandgreat thousand buddha worlds, reaching similarly into all ten directions. Living beings in all six realms that encountered it had their trans gressions, impurities, and defilements eliminated entirely.

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Those who saw and heard these things felt great sorrow. Simultaneously they raised their voices in a doleful cry,

"O compassionate father! How distressing, how awful this is!" Some raised their hands in the air, slapped their foreheads, pounded their chests, and screamed. Others felt their bodies tremble, some cried, and others were choked with tears. At that time the earth, mountains, and great oceans all began shaking. The people said to each other:

For the time being, let us restrain ourselves and not grieve so. Rather, we should go quickly to Kuśinagara, the land of the Mallas, and upon reaching the Tathāgata, bow our heads in respect and beseech him, saying, "O Tathāgata! Please do not pass over into parinirvāṇa! Stay in the world for one more kalpa,at least something close to a kalpa. "

They joined hands and exclaimed:

The world will become empty, living beings will find their blessings depleted and impure karma will only increase. Everyone, let us go quickly, quickly! The Tathāgata will surely enter nirvāṇa before long. . . . They said this as well:

The world is empty, the world is empty! From now on we will have no one to rescue us, no one to honor. We will be destitute and defenseless. Once the peerless World-Honored One is gone, to whom will we direct our questions should doubts arise?

At that time there were innumerable great disciples [of the Buddha] present, including Venerable Mahākātyāna, Venerable Vakkula, and Venerable Upananda. When they encountered the radiance of the Buddha, the bodies of these great bhikṣus began to quiver until they were seized by an uncontrollable shaking.Their minds grew turbid, they became disoriented, and they raised their voices in a loud cry. They were stricken with a variety of troubles like this.

At the time eight million monks were also assembled, and all were arhats. Their minds were freed, their tasks were accomplished, they were free of the defilements, and they had tamed their cognitive senses. Like the great dragon kings, they possessed great spiritual power. Accomplished in the wisdom of emptiness (śūnyatā), what they had gained personally was akin 4

Fascicle I

to a sandalwood grove with rows of sandalwood trees in every direction; they were like lion kings surrounded by prides of lions. Thus it can be said that these monks had achieved an incalculable amount of merit and virtue, and every one of them was a true child of the Buddha.

As the sun began to rise in the early morning sky, the monks emerged from their lodgings and were cleaning their teeth when they came upon the Buddha's light. They said to each other,

"Quickly, rinse your mouths and

wash your hands!" After this exchange, their hair stood on end all over their bodies, and their blood flowed so strongly that they looked like the [scarlet] palāśaflower.

7Tears filled their eyes and they felt great discomfort. Wanting to give blessings and peace of mind to living beings, to accomplish the primary Mahāyāna practice of emptiness, to reveal the recondite teaching (saṃdhāvacana) that is the Tathāgata's skillful means, to prevent the extinction of his sermons, and to provide causes and conditions for living beings to discipline themselves, the monks rushed to where the Buddha was and bowed down at his feet. Circumambulating him one hundred thousand times, they then placed their palms together in reverence, withdrew, and sat at one side. At that time from among the *Kuṇḍala women, Subhadrā, Upanandā, Sāgaramatī, and six billion other nuns were present. All of them were also great arhats: their contaminants were exhausted, their minds were freed, their tasks were accomplished, they were free of the defilements, and they had tamed their cognitive senses. They were like huge dragons in possessing great spiritual power, and were accomplished in the wisdom of emptiness. Just like [the monks], when the sun began to rise in the early morning, the hair of these nuns stood on end all over their bodies and their blood flowed so strongly that they looked like the palāśaflower. Tears filled their eyes and they felt great discomfort. Wanting to give blessings and peace of mind to living beings, to accomplish the primary Mahāyāna practice of emptiness, to reveal the hidden teaching that is the Tathāgata's skillful means, to prevent the extinction of his sermons, and to provide causes and conditions for living beings to discipline themselves, they rushed to where the Buddha was and bowed down at his feet. Circumambulating him one hundred thousand times, they then placed their palms together in reverence, withdrew, and sat at one side. In this gathering of nuns, they were all bodhisattvas, dragons among the people, for in rank they were firmly settled within the ten stages (daśabhūmi) 5

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from which they could not be moved. Having taken on female bodies in order to spiritually transform living beings, they were constantly cultivating the four immeasurable minds8 and had attained positions where they were freely able to attain buddhahood.

Also at that time there were bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as numerous as grains of sand in the Ganges River. They, too, were dragons among the people, and in rank they were firmly settled within the ten stages from which they could not be moved. Through their power of using expedient means, they manifested themselves in their present bodies with names such as the bodhisattva Oceanlike Virtue (*Samudradatta) and the bodhisattva Imperishable Resolve (Akṣayamati). Such bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as these led this group. Their thoughts were filled with reverence for the Mahāyāna: they were firmly settled in the Mahāyāna, they deeply appreciated the Mahāyāna, they longed for the Mahāyāna, and they were unwaveringly devoted to the Mahāyāna. In skillfully adapting to the ways of the whole world, each made the following pledge: I will enable all those who have not yet reached the other shore to do so. Throughout innumerable past kalpas, I have upheld the pure precepts, maintained well the practices, and liberated those who had not yet been liberated, [thereby] binding together the Three Jewels to prevent their dissolution. In the future I shall turn the wheel of the dharma, enhance it myself with great adornments, achieving innumerable merits. I will look upon all living beings equally, regarding them all as if they were my only child.

When the sun began to rise early in the morning on that day, they likewise encountered the Buddha's radiance. Their hair stood on end all over their bodies, and their blood flowed so strongly that they looked like the palāśa flower. Tears filled their eyes and they felt great discomfort. Wanting to give benefits and peace of mind to living beings, to accomplish the primary Mahāyāna practice of emptiness, to reveal the recondite teaching that is the Tathāgata's skillful means, to prevent the extinction of his sermons, and to provide causes and conditions for living beings to discipline themselves, they rushed to where the Buddha was and bowed down at his feet. Circumambulating him one hundred thousand times, they then placed their palms together in reverence, withdrew, and sat at one side.

Fascicle I

At that time male lay followers (upāsakas) as numerous as the sands of two Ganges Rivers were also present. They upheld the five precepts (pañca śīla) and their conduct was impeccable. Among them were the upāsakaKing *Tejovimalakīrti and the upāsaka*Pradānaśūra, who served as leaders. They came with keen anticipation to observe methods that would serve to resolve problems for them. That is, they were concerned about pleasure and pain, permanence and impermanence, purity and impurity, self and nonself, real and unreal, taking refuge and not taking refuge, living beings and nonliving beings, eternal and noneternal, calmed and not calmed, created and uncreated, relinquished and not relinquished, nirvāṇa and nonnirvāṇa, and superlative and nonsuperlative. They constantly sought to observe the gate containing the curative effect of dharmas like these, and they wanted to partake in hearing the unsurpassed Mahāyāna and to be able to explain what they had heard to others.

They skillfully kept the pure precepts and were exhilarated by the Mahāyāna. Having achieved satisfaction themselves, they sought to satisfy the aspirations of others in this way as well. They were proficient in encompassing the unsurpassed spiritual wisdom of prajñā.They longed for the Mahāyāna, were unwaveringly devoted to the Mahāyāna, and skillfully adapted to the ways of the whole world in ferrying over those who had not yet reached the other shore, liberating those who had not yet been liberated, and binding together the Three Jewels to prevent their dissolution. In the future they will turn the wheel of the dharma and enhance it themselves with great adornments. They will always be deeply absorbed in savoring the moral practice of the pure precepts, and they will all achieve merit in this way. Their thoughts will be filled with great compassion toward all living beings equally and without discrimination, regarding them as one would look upon one's only child.

When the sun began to rise in the early morning, each person gathered bundles of fragrant woods, such as brown sandalwood, agarwood, oxhead sandalwood, and other natural woods and fragrances, for the cremation of the Tathāgata's body. The carvings, rough and fine, as well as the natural bark of the wood, all shone with the wondrous light of seven jewels. By the power of the Buddha, they were like an array of multicolored paintings that held an array of marvelous colors in blues, yellows, reds, and whites, to the visual 7

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delight of living beings. The pieces of wood all had various fragrant coatings of saffron, aloe, sal resin, and so forth. Flowers were strewn to adorn [this collection], including the utpala(blue lotus), kumuda(yellow lotus), padma (red lotus), and puṇḍarīka(white lotus). And above these fragrant woods were hung five-colored banderoles made of a soft, sheer fabric like that used by the gods, kauśeyasilk, or multicolor brocades woven with linen. The fragrant wood was placed on jeweled carts that gave off either blue, yellow, red, or white light. The wheel shafts were all inlaid with seven jewels as well; each cart had four horses attached to it, and each of these horses ran as fast as the wind. On the front of each cart were erected fifty-seven jeweled banderoles with nets woven of pure gold thrown over them. Each jeweled cart also had fifty lovely jeweled umbrellas, and from the top of each cart were hung flowered garlands of blue, yellow, red, and white lotus blossoms. These flowers were uniformly made up of pure gold leaves and diamond calyxes, and numerous black bees frolicked among these calyxes, amusing themselves. In the process, the bees emitted a wonderful sound that intoned [the teachings of] impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and nonself, and the sound also expounded events from past [lives] in the career of the Bodhisattva. In addition there was an assortment of song and dance performances and the playing of zithers, bamboo flutes, horizontal harps, bamboo panpipes, grand zithers, hand drums, and wind instruments. Included within this music were the words "Dreadful, positively dreadful! The world is hollow. " Before

each cart lay followers held up four jeweled stands, all of which were covered with blue, yellow, red, and white lotus blossoms, as well as saffron and other perfumes, ideal in their subtle fragrance.

These laymen took care of all necessary arrangements to provide meals for the Buddha and the sangha. All used fragrant sandalwood and agarwood for fuel and cooked with water that had each of the eight ideal qualities. 9The

food was delicious, containing the six flavors of bitter, sour, sweet, spicy, salty, and plain. The food also had three other qualities: it was tender, it was pure, and it accorded with the dharma.

Having put together these various adornments, the laymenarrived at a grove of sal trees in the land of the Malla clan. There they went on to spread gold dust on the ground, and then covered the gold dust with cloth made of 8

Fascicle I

kaliṅgayarn, kaṃbalayarn, and yarn-dyed silks. The area covered in this way reached fully twelve yojanas in size.

There they constructed seven-jeweled lion seats for the Buddha and the sangha. These seats towered in the air like Mount Sumeru and were decorated by hanging jeweled curtains on all sides. And from the many sal trees were also hung an assortment of fabulous banderoles and coverings. A variety of fragrant scents were smeared on the trunks of those trees and brightly colored flowers strewn on the ground between them. Each of the upāsakas present had these thoughts:

If there are any among these living beings who are impoverished, I can help them. To those who seek food I shall give them food, to those who seek drink I shall give them drink, to those who seek [the ability to use their] heads I shall give them [intelligence in their] heads, to those who seek [the ability to use their] eyes I shall give them [insight through their] eyes. Whatever these living beings need shall be provided. For when I give in this way I free myself from any defiled, poisonous thoughts of greed or enmity. Any lingering thoughts of mine that yearn for worldly happiness or personal comfort disappear, and I am left with naught but an expectation of pure bodhi (religious awakening).

All these male lay followers were well established in the bodhisattva path. Then they thought,

"After the Tathāgata accepts our meal, he will enter

nirvāṇa.

" But upon thinking this, their hair stood on end all over their bodies and their blood flowed so strongly they looked like palāśaflowers. Tears filled their eyes and they became very upset.

Now each of these people carried the materials for their offerings. On jeweled carts they loaded fragrant woods, banderoles, banners, jeweled umbrellas, and food and drink. They then hurried to where the Buddha was and bowed down at his feet. With the preparations they had brought, they thereupon made formal offerings to the Tathāgata and made circumambulations around him one hundred thousand times, raising their voices in such a sorrowful wail that heaven and earth were moved. They pounded their chests, letting out a roar, their tears falling like rain. And they said to each other, "Listen, this is dreadful! The world is hollow, the world is hollow!" 367a

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They then threw themselves before the Tathāgata, and blurted out: "All we ask, O Tathāgata, is that you have pity on us and accept our final offerings. "

The World-Honored One, understanding the occasion, remained silent and did not accept their offerings. They beseeched him in the same way three times, but each time they were all refused. Their wishes unfulfilled, the laymenfelt dejected and anxious, remaining in silence. It was as if a loving father had only one child who suddenly fell ill and died, and after the remains were buried, that father returned home in disappointment, grief, and pain. The male lay followers were grieved and upset in much the same way. They then took what they had brought and put it all in one place, withdrew, sat off to one side in silence.

At that time there were also female lay followers (upāsikās), present in numbers that totaled the sands of three Ganges Rivers. They upheld the five precepts and their conduct was impeccable. The female lay followers Dignity of Life (Jīvaśrī), Garland of Dignity (*Śrīmālā), and *Viśākhā were the leaders among their group of eighty-four thousand, all of whom capably maintained the true-dharma (saddharma) with tenacity. In order to lead innumerable hundreds of thousands of living beings to the other shore they manifested themselves in female bodies, yet they disparaged the domestic dharma [pertaining to women].

They meditated on their own bodies as four poisonous snakes, contemplating in this manner: This body is being constantly nibbled at by innumerable small organisms. This body is foul smelling and unclean, shackled in a prison of greed. This body is as loathsome as a dead dog. This body is impure with its nine holes from which matter continuously flows. This body is like a walled city in which blood, muscle, tendon, bone, and skin form its outer surface, in which hands and legs form its defense towers, in which the eyes are its windows, the head its palace with its mind king dwelling within. A bodycity like this is precisely what the buddhas, the world-honored ones, have abandoned and in what ordinary ignorant people always indulge themselves, where demons of craving, anger, and delusion reside. This body is not solid, much like marsh reeds, the castor oil plant, water bubbles, or the banana tree. This body is impermanent: from one thought to the next, nothing is ever settled. It is like lightning, flooding water, or an illusory heat shimmer. 10

Fascicle I

It is like painting something on water: no sooner has the form been inscribed by the brush than it is absorbed by the water. This body disintegrates easily, like a towering tree on the steep bank of a river. This body will not last long; soon it will be devoured by foxes, wolves, kites, eagles, owls, crows, magpies, or hungry dogs. What intelligent person would take delight in the body? It would be easier to put the waters of an ocean into the footprint of an ox than to fully explain how impermanent, impure, and odious this body is. It would be easier to roll up the earth into the size of a date, or to continue rolling it more and more until it is reduced to the size of a mustard seed,

11than to try and explain everything about the faults of this body. Therefore it is to be dispensed with, as one would expectorate saliva.

With this reasoning these upāsikās were continuously engaged in cultivating their thinking on the teachings of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness. They deeply sought to delve into the Mahāyāna scriptures, and after hearing them they would expound them for others. They kept their vows and disdained their female bodies, regarding them as loathsome and their gender as insubstantial. Mentally they were always focused on proper contemplations like this, [seeking to] destroy their endless transmigration through saṃsāra. They were intoxicated with the Mahāyāna, and as they drew from it to satisfy their own thirst they also satisfied the thirst of others. For they held a deep longing for the Mahāyāna and were unwaveringly devoted to it. Although presently in female bodies, in fact they were bodhisattvas who skillfully adapted to the ways of the whole world in ferrying over those who had not yet reached the other shore. They bound together the Three Jewels to prevent their dissolution and in the future they will turn the wheel of the dharma and enhance it themselves with marvelous adornments, rigorously keeping the precepts. All of them will achieve merit in this way, bringing forth a mind of great compassion toward all living beings equally and without discrimination, looking upon each of them as one would look upon her only child.

When the sun began to rise in the early morning, they spoke to each other, saying,

"Today we should go to the sal grove.

" Offerings were prepared by

these female followers and brought to where the Buddha was. They bowed down at the Buddha's feet, circumambulated him one hundred thousand times, and then said to him:

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World-Honored One, we have prepared these offerings for the Buddha and for the sangha. All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity upon us and accept our donations.

But the Tathāgata remained silent and did not give his permission. Their wishes unfulfilled, all the female lay followers felt sad and disappointed. They withdrew and sat off to one side.

On that occasion the Licchavi people from the city of Vaiśālī were also present.

12They numbered as many as the grains of sand in four Ganges Rivers. There were men, women, boys, girls, and mothers with children together with their families, as well as various rulers with their kinsmen from throughout the Jambudvīpa continent. Because they sought the dharma, they properly cultivated the precepts and practices [taught by the Buddha] and were thus endowed with a dignified bearing that discouraged those from other schools of thought who denigrate the true-dharma. These people often said to each other: We should take our stores of gold and silver and use them to ensure that the profound treasury of the sweet, inexhaustible true-dharma remains in this world long into the future. We hope we will always be able to practice and study [the dharma]. If anyone maligns the true-dharma of the Buddha, we shall cut off his tongue.

They also made this vow:

If any monastic violates the precepts, we will detain that person, return him to lay status, and put him to work. If there are those who deeply rejoice in and protect the true-dharma, we will respect them deeply just as we respect our fathers and mothers. If there are any monastics that are able to practice the true-dharma, we will celebrate them to give them strength. Since they were ever eager to listen with rapt attention to Mahāyāna scriptures and, after doing so, then worked to spread these teachings to others, each of them succeeded in accomplishing merit in this way. Among them were Licchavi children called Pure Unstained Treasure (*Viśuddhivimalagarbha), Pure and Disciplined (*Viśuddhyachanda), and Permanently Unstained Pure Ablution (*Vimalagaṅgodakadāyaka).

They said to each another: "Let us hurry to where the Buddha is right now. "

In the process they prepared a variety of offerings. Each of the Licchavis 12

Fascicle I

participated in decorating eighty-four thousand grand elephants and preparing wagons drawn by teams of four horses that totaled eighty-four thousand, adorned with eighty-four thousand bright jewels. They collected bundles of fragrant woods such as sandalwood and agarwood; each of these bundles included eighty-four thousand pieces. In front of each elephant were hoisted ornamented banners, banderoles, and umbrellas. Even the smallest umbrella measured a full yojanain breadth, and the shortest banderole reached thirtytwo yojanas in length, and even the plainest of the streamers was one hundred yojanas in height.

All these offerings were brought to where the Buddha resided. The Licchavis bowed down at the Buddha's feet and circumambulated him one hundred thousand times before speaking: World-Honored One, we have prepared these offerings for the Buddha and the sangha. All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity on us and accept our donations.

But the Tathāgata remained silent and did not give his permission. Their wishes unfulfilled, the Licchavis felt disheartened. Then, by means of the Buddha's supernatural powers, the Licchavis were raised above the earth to a height of seven palmyra trees, and there in the sky they remained in silence. At that time there were also important state officials and other distinguished lay followers who collectively numbered as many as the sands contained in five Ganges Rivers. They revered the Mahāyāna, and when people from other religious schools of thought repudiated the true-dharma, these leaders used their power to break these people down just as a hailstorm crushes plants and trees. The principals in this lay group were known as the eminent Sunlight (*Vairocana), the eminent Protector of the World (*Loka pāla), and the eminent Protector of the Dharma (*Dharmapāla). The offerings of this group totaled five times what had previously been given. They brought them into the area among the sal trees [where the Buddha sat] and, bowing down at the Buddha's feet, circumabulated him one hundred thousand times before addressing him, saying:

World-Honored One, we have prepared these offerings for the Buddha and the sangha. All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity on us and accept our donations.

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But the Tathāgata remained silent and did not accept their gifts. Their wishes unfulfilled, these distinguished individuals felt disheartened. Then, by means of the Buddha's supernatural powers, they were raised above the earth to a height of seven palmyra trees, and there in the sky they remained in silence.

At that time there was another group that included the king of Vaiśālī, his queen, consorts, and their retinue from court, together with all the other kings of Jambudvīpa, excluding Ajātaśatru and the people in his capital and the villages under his control. Among these kings was Unstained Moon (*Vimalacandra). Each felt the need to journey to the Buddha's location, bolstered by four military divisions, resulting in each king arriving with one hundred and eighty trillion people in their entourage. The soldiers rode in chariots drawn by elephants and horses, the elephants had six tusks and the horses were as fast as the wind. Their offerings were beautiful and were six times the amount of what been brought previously. The smallest of their jeweled umbrellas was fully eight yojanas across, the shortest of their banderoles was sixteen yojanas long, and the poorest specimen of their ornamented banners still reached thirty-six yojanas in length. These kings resided comfortably within the true-dharma, reviling [other] dharmas that are base and corrupt. They revered the Mahāyāna; they cherished the Mahāyāna. They felt sympathy toward living beings, regarding them like their own children. The fragrance wafting from the food and drink they carried filled the air for four yojanas. As the sun began to rise in the early morning, they too brought their assortment of culinary creations to that place between the two trees, where they found the Tathāgata and addressed him, saying:

World-Honored One, we have provided these offerings for the Buddha and the sangha. All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity on us and accept our last offerings.

But the Tathāgata, well aware of the situation, once again did not give his permission. Their wishes unfulfilled, the kings felt disheartened and withdrew to one side, where they remained.

At that time all the imperial consorts, excluding only the consorts of King Ajātaśatru,also came together and their numbers equaled the grains of sand in seven Ganges Rivers. They had taken female forms for the purpose of 14

Fascicle I

ferrying living beings to the other shore, and were ever mindful of their behavior, having purified their minds by practicing the teachings on emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness. Among them were the [well-known] consorts Beautiful Woman of the Triple World (*Trilokasundarī) and Beloved Virtue (*Priyaguṇa), but all these imperial women abided comfortably within the true-dharma. They practiced the precepts that endowed them with a bearing most dignified. Filled with compassion for living beings as if each was their only child, they said to each other,

"Let us now make haste and pilgrimage

to where the Buddha resides.

" The offerings prepared by these royal consorts

totaled seven times what had been brought previously. They included fragrant flowers, ornamented banners, colored silk brocades, banderoles, umbrellas, and a superb assortment of food and drink. Among their jeweled umbrellas, the smallest reached sixteen yojanas across; the shortest of their banderoles measured thirty-six yojanas; and the most mediocre of their ornamented banners was sixty-eight yojanas in length. The fragrance from their food and drink filled the air for eight yojanas. Carrying these offerings, they went to the Tathāgata and after making their obeisances at his feet, circumambulated him one hundred thousand times before addressing the Buddha, saying: World-Honored One, we have provided these offerings for the Buddha and the sangha. All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity on us and accept these, our last offerings.

But the Tathāgata, well aware of the occasion, was silent and did not accept their gifts. Their wishes unfulfilled, the consorts then felt distraught, pulling out their hair, pounding their chests, and screaming like someone who had just lost a beloved child. Eventually they withdrew to one side and remained there in silence.

At that time female deities also appeared, their numbers equaling the grains of sand in eight Ganges Rivers. Their leader was the goddess Wide Eyes (*Virūpākṣā).

13 She said the following:

Sisters! Look carefully, look carefully. All these wonderful offerings have been provided by these people who hope to serve the Tathāgata and the sangha. We, too, should decorously provide marvelous things as offerings to the Tathāgata. After the Tathāgata accepts them, he will enter into nirvāṇa. Sisters, it is extremely rare for these buddha tathāgatas to appear 15

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in the world. This final offering should be twice as unusual as any other. When the Buddha passes into nirvāṇa, the world will be hollow. All these female deities cherished the Mahāyāna and thus looked forward to hearing more about it. Whenever they had an opportunity to listen to Mahāyāna teachings, they would then turn around and explain them to others. They were intoxicated with the Mahāyāna, and as they satisfied their own thirst they also satisfied the thirst of others. They were unwaveringly devoted to the Mahāyāna—whenever they encountered folowers of other teachings who felt jealousy and resentment toward the Mahāyāna, these deities vigorously crushed them, just as hail knocks down grass. They maintained the precepts and were thus endowed with dignified bearing. In skillfully adapting to the ways of all worlds, they ferried over to the other shore those who had not yet reached it, and liberated those not yet liberated. In the future they will turn the wheel of the dharma, binding together the Three Jewels to prevent their dissolution. Studying the Mahāyāna, they will enhance it themselves with great adornments, in this way achieving immeasurable merit, and regarding all living beings with equal compassion, viewing each as if he or she was her only child.

As the sun began to rise in the early morning, the female deities brought an assortment of fragrant wood, incense, and the like in a quantity double [that brought by] the human pilgrims. The perfume from their wood was capable of eliminating a variety of the foul smells found among humans. These deities rode on white chariots topped with white canopies and drawn by teams of four white horses. From the top of each chariot hung white curtains that stretched around the vehicle, and on all four sides hung gold bells. The chariots were also filled with various fragrant flowers, fancy banners, banderoles, umbrellas, superbly prepared foods, and theatrical performances. Each had set up a lion's seat [for the Tathāgata], the four feet of which were made of the pure blue vaiḍūryagem. Behind each seat was a backrest decorated with seven jewels, and in front of each seat was a golden armrest. These seven jewels looked like a forest of lights in which the different precious stones all shone like lanterns. Marvelous heavenly flowers covered the ground where the female deities laid out their offerings. When they were finished they felt overwhelmed with sadness; their tears flowed and flowed, producing great discomfort among them.

Fascicle I

In order to bring blessings and peace of mind to living beings, to accomplish the primary Mahāyāna practice of emptiness, to reveal the hidden teaching that is the Tathāgata's skillful means, to prevent the extinction of his sermons, they approached the location of the Buddha, made obeisance at his feet, and circumambulated him one hundred thousand times before addressing him, saying: "World-Honored One. All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity on us and accept these, our last offerings.

But the Tathāgata understood the situation and remained silent without accepting their gifts. Their wishes unfulfilled, all the female deities felt agitated and distressed. They withdrew to one side and there they sat in silence.

At that time all the nāgarājadragon kings residing in the four directions came together, totaling a number equal to the grains of sand in nine Ganges Rivers. Their leaders were known as the dragon kings *Vāsuki, *Nanda, and

*Upananda. As the sun began to rise in the early morning, these dragon kings prepared their own offerings, doubling the amount of those previously brought by humans and gods. Carrying them to the Buddha's presence, they made obeisance at his feet and circumambulated him one hundred thousand times before addressing him: "All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity on us and accept these, our last offerings.

The Tathāgata, however, knowing the occasion, remained silent and did not accept their gifts. Their wishes unfulfilled, the dragon kings felt dejected, withdrew, and took their seats off to one side.

At that time all the yakṣademigod kings led by King Vaiśravaṇa gathered in numbers equal to the grains of sand in ten Ganges Rivers. They said to each other,

"Let us hurry to where the Buddha is!" And preparing double the offerings brought by the dragon kings, they then carried these to the Buddha's presence. Making obeisance at his feet, they circumambulated him one hundred thousand times before addressing the Buddha: "All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity on us and accept these, our last offerings. "

The Tathāgata, however, understood the situation and remained silent without giving his permission. Their wishes unfulfilled, the demigod kings felt disheartened, withdrew, and took their seats off to one side. At that time there were also garuḍabird kings totaling a number equal to the grains of sand in twenty Ganges Rivers; they were led by the bird 17

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king *Ariṣṭa. There were also gandharvacelestial musician kings totaling a number equal to the grains of sand in thirty Ganges Rivers, led by King Nārada. There were also kiṃnaracelestial chorister kings as numerous as the grains of sand in forty Ganges Rivers, led by King *Sudarśana. There were mahoragaserpent kings as numerous as the sands of fifty Ganges Rivers, led by King *Mahāsudarśana. There were asuratitan kings as numerous as the sands of sixty Ganges Rivers, led by King *Śaṃbara. There were dānava demon kings as numerous as the sands of seventy Ganges Rivers, led by King *Gaṅgāvimalodaka and King *Bhadradatta.

There were also rākṣasademon kings as numerous as the sands of eighty Ganges Rivers, led by King Terrifying One (*Bhīma). Having abandoned their evil mentality and no longer devouring people, these demons produced thoughts of compassion within their menacing nature. Although they had been ugly in appearance, through the Buddha's supernatural powers they had all became handsome. There were also tree-spirit kings as numerous as the sands of ninety Ganges Rivers, led by King Fond of Fragrance (*Gandha priya), as well as spell-casting kings as numerous as a thousand Ganges Rivers who were led by King *Mahāmāyā Vidyādhara. There were also formcraving sprites as numerous as the sands of one hundred million Ganges Rivers, led by their king *Sudarśana. There were also apsarasky nymphs as numerous as the sands of ten billion Ganges Rivers, led by *Rambhā, *Urvaśī,

*Tīrṇā, and *Viśākhā.

There were also bhūtaspirit kings from the earth as numerous as the sands of one hundred billion Ganges Rivers, led by King White Moisture (*Śuklār dra). There were also lokapālaworldly kings, heavenly kings, and heavenly guardians of the four directions who were as numerous as the sands of ten trillion Ganges Rivers. And there were wind deities of the four directions who were also as numerous as the sands of ten trillion Ganges Rivers. They blew seasonal and unseasonal flowers over the tops of the trees, scattering them throughout the grove of trees [where the Buddha was]. There were also deities who ruled the clouds and the rain as numerous as the sands of ten trillion Ganges Rivers. They were all thinking: When, upon his nirvāṇa the Tathāgata's body is set alight for cremation, we shall pour rain from the sky and cause that fire to be extinguished. In this way those in the crowd that are burning with agony shall be refreshed. 18

Fascicle I

In addition, there were great fragrant elephant kings as numerous as the sands in twenty Ganges Rivers. They were led by the elephant kings Rāhu, *Suvarṇa,

*Madhu,

*Abhinīlanetra, and *Ghanda mādana. They revered and

longed for the Mahāyāna. Understanding that it would not be long before the Buddha passed into nirvāṇa, they each gathered superb lotus flowers in innumerable, endless quantities and journeyed to where the Buddha sat. Bowing their heads in respect, they then withdrew to one side. There were also lions, king of beasts, whose numbers equaled the grains of sand in twenty Ganges Rivers, led by King *Siṃhanāda. The lion kings bestowed fearlessness upon all living beings, and bringing a variety of flowers and fruits to the Buddha, they bowed down at his feet and repaired to one side.

There was also a variety of flying bird kings as numerous as the sands of twenty Ganges Rivers. Their group included wild ducks, wild geese, mandarin ducks, peacocks, kādaṃbadark grey geese, kāraṇḍavaducks, mynah birds, parrots, black cuckoos, bāhīkaherons, kalaviṅkaweavers, and jīvaṃ jīvaka pheasants. All these various birds brought flowers and fruit to the Buddha. After making obeisance at his feet, they repaired to one side. There were also water buffalo, cows, and goats as numerous as the sands of twenty Ganges Rivers. They walked to where the Buddha was and then produced wonderfully fragrant milk in such quantity that it filled the canals in the town of Kuśinagara. The color, smell, and flavor of this milk were all ideal. After completing their task they then withdrew and took their places off to one side.

In addition, the seers who inhabited the four continents surrounding Mount Sumeru were also present, their numbers as numerous as the sands of twenty Ganges Rivers. Their leader was Kṣāntivādin. They brought incense, flowers, and sweet fruit on their pilgrimage to where the Buddha resided. Making obeisance at the Buddha's feet, they circumambulated him three times before addressing him: "All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity on us and accept these, our last offerings.

The Tathāgata, however, understood the situation and remained silent without giving his permission. Thereupon the seers, their wishes unfulfilled, felt disheartened, withdrew, and found a place off to one side. 19

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In Jambudvīpa the bee kings were led by King Fine Sound. Bringing a variety of flowers, they made a pilgrimage to the Buddha's location. Making obeisance at the Buddha's feet, they withdrew to take their places off to one side. At that time all the monks and nuns of Jambudvīpa were assembled, with the exception of the two groups of followers traveling with Venerable Mahā kāśyapa and Venerable Ānanda. Also present were mountains as numerous as the sands of immeasurable asaṃkhyeyaGanges Rivers contained in the world including Jambudvīpa. With Mount Sumeru the most prominent among them, these mountains were adorned with forests in luxuriant growth. Their trees were so numerous and the branches so plentiful that they obscured the sunlight. A wide variety of exquisite flowers could be found in every direction, and the water flowing in their springs and rivers was pure, fragrant, and clear. The mountains were filled with deities (devas), dragons (nāgas), demigods (yakṣas), celestial musicians (gandharvas), titans (asuras), birds (garuḍas), celestial choristers (kiṃnaras), great serpents (mahoragas), saints (ṛṣis), spell-casters (vidyā dharas), and sky nymphs (apsarases). All these spiritual beings of the mountains likewise made a pilgrimage to see the Buddha. Making obeisance at the Buddha's feet, they then withdrew to take their places off to one side. There were also deities from the four oceans, as well as deities residing in rivers who together were as numerous as the sands of innumerable Ganges Rivers. They possessed great supernatural power that comes from great spiritual power. The offerings they prepared were twice anything that had been brought up to that point. The light emanating from their divine bodies shone [like] stage lighting, so brightly that it obstructed the sun and moon, making those heavenly bodies disappear. They scattered aśokaflowers over the Hiraṇyavatī River14 and then came to the location of the Buddha, where they made obeisance at his feet and removed themselves to one side. At that time the grove of sal trees in Kuśinagara turned white, appearing like a flock of white cranes. In the sky there suddenly appeared a hall made with seven jewels, carvings, engravings, and figured silk decorations, all of which could be clearly seen. A parapet containing an assortment of jewels surrounded the hall, and below it water flowed from a number of springs into a bathing pool, the top of which was filled with magnificent lotus flowers. It looked like something from Uttarakuru, that land to the north, or like Indra's pleasure garden Nandanavana in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven.

15 Now at that

Fascicle I

time, the sal grove had been decorated in a number of ways and it struck those who looked upon it as quite lovely. The gods and asuras [there] could all see the signs of the Tathāgata's imminent nirvāṇa and, without exception, each felt sad, forlorn, and unhappy.

At that time the guardian deities of the four directions and Śakra, lord of the gods (Śakra Devānām Indra), said to each other:

Look! See how both heavenly and worldly beings and evenasuras have made such great preparations, hoping to present their final offerings to the Tathāgata. We should also make an appropriate offering. If we can manage this final offering, the perfection of charity will become completely accomplished without difficulty. So the guardian deities of the four directions then prepared offerings that were twice what had been presented previously. They brought mandārava flowers, mahāmandāravaflowers, kakkolakaflowers, mahākakkolakaflowers, mañjūṣakaflowers, mahāmañjūṣakaflowers, saṃtānakaflowers, mahāsaṃtānakaflowers, senna (*manojñā) flowers, grand senna flowers, universal brilliance (*samantaprabha) flowers, grand universal brilliance flowers, clove (*lavaṃga) flowers, grand clove flowers, fragrant city flowers, grand fragrant city flowers, flowers of joy (*sumana), grand flowers of joy, desire-arousing lilies (*saugandhika), grand desire-arousing lilies, intoxicated-with-fragrance (*gandhamādana) flowers, grand intoxicated-with-fragrance flowers, universal fragrance (*samantagandha) flowers, grand universal fragrance flowers, divine gold leaf (*divyasuvarṇapattra) flowers, dragon flowers, flowers from pārijāta trees, and flowers from kovidāratrees.

They also brought a variety of superbly prepared foods, and when they reached the Buddha they first made obeisance at his feet. The illumination of all these heavenly beings was so bright that the sun and moon became invisible in the sky. Holding what they had brought, they then endeavored to be allowed to present their offerings to the Buddha. But the Tathāgata, understanding the occasion, remained silent, thereby not accepting their gifts. Their wishes unfulfilled, these gods then felt disheartened and distressed, and withdrew to take their places off to one side.

At that time Śakra and the other gods from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven prepared offerings twice what had been brought previously and the flowers they brought 21

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were also of that scale. They had wondrous and extremely appealing perfumes and incense. Carrying Śakra's Vaijayanta palace16 and a host of smaller halls, when they arrived where the Buddha was residing, they first bowed down at his feet to make their salutations and then addressed him, saying: "World-Honored One, we deeply appreciate the Mahāyāna and affectionately defend it. All we ask is that the Tathāgata take pity on us and accept our food. "

But the Tathāgata, understanding the occasion, remained silent and thereby did not accept their gifts. Then Indra and the other gods, unable to realize their wish, felt disheartened. They withdrew to wait off to one side. All the way up to the sixth meditative heaven, the gods in the realm of desire (kāmadhātu) prepared offerings, each in turn surpassing what had appeared before. These decorated banners, banderoles, and umbrellas were so large that even the smallest jeweled umbrella covered the four continents of the earth, the shortest banderole stretched across four oceans, and the most inferior banner reached up to the heaven of Maheśvara. 17 Whenever even a

slight breeze blew against the banderoles, they produced a sound that was sublime. Carrying the sweetest dishes of food, they journeyed to where the Buddha was and, ceremoniously bowing at his feet, addressed him in this way: "World-Honored One, all we ask is that the Tathāgata take pity on us and accept these, our final offerings.

But the Tathāgata, understanding the occasion, remained silent and did not accept. Realizing that their wishes would not be fulfilled, these gods felt disheartened and withdrew to wait off to one side.

Above the world of sense pleasure, all those residing in the Brahmā world at the peak of material existence in the realm of form only (rūpa dhātu)18 also gathered together. At that time a Mahābrahmā king and his retinue of Brahmā deities emitted a light that permeated the four continents. It was so bright that it rendered the light given off by the sun and moon, and the people and gods of the realm of desire invisible. These gods also brought decorated banners, colored silk brocades, banderoles, and umbrellas. The absolutely shortest banderole extended from the Brahmā's palace all the way to this space within the sal forest. They made a pilgrimage to the Buddha's location, made their obeisance, and then addressed him, saying: "World-Honored One, all we ask is that the Tathāgata take pity on us and accept these, our final offerings. "

Fascicle I

But the Tathāgata, understanding the occasion, remained silent and did not accept their gifts. Their wishes unfulfilled, these Brahmā gods then felt disheartened, and withdrew to take their places off to one side. At that time Vemacitra, king of the asuras, together with innumerable other asuras and a large retinue, [were also present]. The light that shone from their bodies surpassed even that of the gods in the Brahmā Heaven. They also brought decorated banners, colored silk brocades, banderoles, and umbrellas. Even the smallest of their umbrellas could cover a thousand worlds. With the most sublime of sweet dishes, they made a pilgrimage to where Buddha was and, bowing at his feet, spoke these words: "All we ask is that the Tathāgata take pity on us and accept these, our final offerings. "

But the Tathāgata, understanding the occasion, remained silent and did not accept. Their wishes unfulfilled, theasuras felt disheartened, withdrew, and remained off to one side.

At that time king Māra Pāpīyas19 of the realm of desire, together with the innumerable, endless asaṃkhyeyahordes of beings belonging to his retinue, including gods and their female attendants, opened the gates of the hells and dispensed pure, cold water to those inhabitants. As a consequence of this, he then announced to them:

You feel you are unable to do anything [about your situation]. But if you will, just concentrate on the Tathāgata, the One Worthy of Oblations, the Perfectly Enlightened One, and set forth your final offerings to express your joy in his virtuous accomplishments. This will bring you peace through the long night [that you must endure].

While in the hells, Māra Pāpīyas removed the instruments of torture and the many painful poisons; on the fiery flames he poured rainwater, extinguishing them. Then, by means of the Buddha's supernatural powers, he found himself thinking:

I will make everyone in my retinue throw down their knives and swords, longbows and crossbows, armor and other hardware, halberds and lances, crescent bladed halberds, metallic bludgeons, broadaxes and hatchets, combat rings, and lasso ropes.

The offerings brought by his group exceeded by twofold everything previously presented by humans and gods. Even the smallest of the umbrellas 23

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covered a thousand worlds. When they arrived at the Buddha's location, they bowed at his feet and said:

We now long for the Mahāyāna, and are unwaveringly devoted to the Mahāyāna. World-Honored One, there may be good men or good women who accept the Mahāyāna because they seek to provide offerings, or because they are afraid, or because they intend to deceive others, or because of the prospect of financial gain, or because they are merely following others, and so they may regard it as true or as false. When this occurs, in order to eliminate the fears of such people, we teach them the following mantra: ṭarki ṭaṭṭara ṭarki lohare mahālohare āra cara tara svāhā Now for those who have lost their good intentions, for those tormented by fear, for those preaching the dharma (dharma-kathika), or for those preventing the dissolution of the true-dharma, this mantra is effective in overcoming rivals in heretical schools, in protecting oneself, in protecting the true-dharma, and in protecting the Mahāyāna. Anyone who uses the mantra properly will have no fear of mad elephants. Whenever they find themselves in a broad open field, or an endless swamp, or a place with precipitous slopes, with this spell they will feel no fear. And water, fire, lions, tigers, wolves, thieves, and troubles with kings—World-Honored One, if one can hold onto this mantra that person will be able to elminate completely any fear associated with these things. World-Honored One, whosoever holds on to this mantra we will protect just as a tortoise guards his six extremities. World-Honored One, we do not speak of this to curry favor. We will faithfully increase the power of anyone who sustains this mantra. All we ask, Tathāgata, is that you take pity and accept these, our last offerings.

At that moment the Buddha said these words to Māra Pāpīyas: I cannot accept your offerings of food and drink. But I have accepted the mystical mantra that you have explained, for I want serene bliss for all living beings, including the four groups [of my followers]: monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen.

After explaining this, the Buddha grew silent and accepted nothing further. Māra pleaded with the Buddha three times in the same way, but was refused 24

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each time. His desires unfulfilled, Māra Pāpīyas felt disheartened and withdrew to take his place off to one side.

At that time Heavenly King Maheśvara and his retinue of limitless, innumerable gods prepared offerings the scope of which went beyond what had already been provided by Brahmā, Indra, the Four Guardian Deities, humans, gods, the eight types of beings,

20 and nonhumans. The offerings of Brahmā

and Indra now seemed like a series of black [lines] on the edge of a seashell that is not fully visible. The smallest of their jeweled umbrellas were capable of covering the entire great trichiliocosm. Bringing their offerings to where the Buddha resided, they made obeisance at his feet and then circumambulated him countless times before speaking:

World-Honored One, what we respectfully present to you is trivial, something like what a mosquito might present to one of us, or like a man throwing a scoop of water into the ocean, or lighting one small lantern to add light to that of one hundred thousand suns, or bringing a single flower to increase the bounty of flowers blooming in the spring and summer months, or increasing the size of Mount Sumeru by adding a mustard seed to it. How could one increase the ocean, the sun's brightness, a field of flowers, or Mount Sumeru? World-Honored One, the insignificance of what we provide by way of offerings is much the same. Even if we were to offer to the Tathāgata oblations of incense, flowers, theatrical performances, banners, and umbrellas enough to fill the great trichiliocosm, they would still not be worth mentioning. Why? Because [we know] the Tathāgata is perpetually concerned with taking up the suffering of living beings in the unfortunate hell, hungry ghost, and animal realms. For this reason, World-Honored One, we hope that you may look upon us with pity and take up our offerings.

At that time there was a buddha land in the eastern direction beyond infinitesimal worlds as numerous as the sands of immeasurable, endless asaṃ khyeyaGanges Rivers. This buddha land was called Mind-Pleasing Beautiful Sound (*Manorama-madhurasvara), and the buddha there was known as Equal to Space (*Ākāśasama), Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, of Right and Universal Knowledge, with Clarityand Conduct Perfect, Well-Gone, with Understanding of the World, Unsurpassed Worthy, Tamer of Men, Teacher 25

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of Gods and Humans, Buddha World-Honored One. At that time, the buddha Equal to Space said to his chief disciple:

Good man, you should go now to that world in the west known as Sahā. In that world there is a buddha known as Śākyamuni, Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, of Right and Universal Knowledge, with Clarity and Conduct Perfect, Well-Gone, with Understanding of the World, Unsurpassed Worthy, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha World-Honored One. It will not be long before this buddha will pass into extinction. Good man, you should take him fragrant dishes of food from this world. The food should be aromatic and attractive in appearance, and when eaten should bring peace and comfort. Present this food to that world-honored buddha. When that world-honored one has eaten it, he will enter parinirvāṇa. Good man, you must also show him your deepest reverence and entreat him to resolve your doubts.

Then, having thus received that buddha's teaching, the bodhisattvamahāsattva *Anantakāya rose from his seat, bowed down to the feet of his buddha, and circumambulated him three times with his right shoulder facing the buddha. Then, together with innumerable asaṃkhyeyaof bodhisattvas, he embarked from that land and came to this Sahā world. In response to the occasion, the continents of the great trichiliocosm shook in six different ways. Everyone assembled there, such as Brahmā, Indra, the Four Guardian Deities, Māra Pāpīyas, and Maheśvara, saw the earth move, felt the hair on their bodies stand up, and their throats become dry. They trembled with fright, each wanting to flee in a different direction. Looking at themselves, they noticed that they no longer radiated light; in fact their spiritual powers had vanished without a trace.

At that moment Mañjuśrī, the Dharma Prince, rose from his seat and spoke to the huge crowd:

Good men, have no fear, have no fear! Why? Because to the east of here beyond infinitesimal worlds as numerous as the sands of immeasurable uncountable asaṃkhyeyaGanges Rivers there is a world called Mindpleasing Beautiful Sound. The buddha there is called Equal to Space, Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, of Right and Universal Knowledge, and indeed all the ten epithets of a buddha. There is also a bodhisattva there 26

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called *Anantakāya who, together with innumerable other bodhisattvas, wishes to come here to make offerings to the Tathāgata. It is because of the spiritual power of this bodhisattva that your body's illumination is no longer visible. You should therefore be joyful at what has happened, rather than fearful.

Then the great assembly looked off into the distance and saw the approach of that other buddha's great assembly. It was as if they were looking at their own images reflected in a giant mirror. At that point, Mañjuśrī addressed the crowd once more:

What you now see is the great assembly of that buddha, just as you see this buddha. By means of the supernatural powers of the buddhas you will now be able to see all the countless buddhas in the other nine directions. But the great assembly then remarked to each other,

"Dreadful, positively

dreadful. The world is hollow! The Tathāgata will soon pass into parinirvāṇa. "

Then everyone in the crowd saw the bodhisattva *Anantakāya and his retinue approach. From each and every pore on that bodhisattva's body there arose a large lotus flower, and in each and every lotus flower there were seventy-eight thousand towns. In length and width each town was equal to that of Vaiśālī. They had walls and moats with the seven precious things scattered throughout, and seven rows of bejeweled palmyra trees. The people there were prosperous, lived in peace and security, enjoyed abundant provisions, and were happy.

Gold from the Jambū River was used for the coping of the gate towers, and upon each grew a variety of groves of trees of the seven precious things. These produced flowers and fruit in abundance, which produced a subtle and marvelous sound whenever they were stirred by the wind. This sound was so elegant as to seem like heavenly music, and it gave a sublime sense of pleasure to the people in the city when they heard it.The moats brimmed with superb water that was clear, pure, fragrant, and clean like pure vaiḍūrya. In those waters were boats with the seven precious things in which people rode, at times playing and bathing in the water, enjoying themselves in endless amusement. There were also lotus flowers of an innumerable variety of colors, such as the blue, yellow, red, and white, and the diameter of each was the size of a cartwheel. On the banks of the moats were many parks with trees, and within 27

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each park were five natural ponds. There were also flowers growing within these ponds, namely blue, yellow, red, and white lotuses. They, too, were as big as cartwheels, their scent richly fragrant, and these flowers were loved by everyone. The water in the ponds was clear and as soft as could be, and wild ducks, wild geese, and mandarin ducks frolicked in it. Each of these parks also had a jeweled villa. The length and width of each of these villas were fully four yojanas in size,

21 with walls constructed of the

four precious stones: gold, silver, vaiḍūrya, and crystal. Pure gold formed the edge on the perimeter fences. The ground was made of quartz with gold dust covering it. Within the villas were numerous seven-jeweled bathing ponds filled with water flowing from springs. On the edge of each bathing pond was a golden stairway of eighteen steps [lined with] banana trees made of gold from the Jambū River, and the whole scene resembled the pleasure gardens in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven.

In each town were human kings numbering eighty-four thousand. Each king had innumerable numbers of consorts and female attendants, with whom the king enjoyed and amused himself happily. The other people were similarly [happy], each enjoying himself in his respective abode. Here living beings did not hear of anything else of reknown—they listened solely to the sound of the unsurpassed Mahāyāna.

Within each flower there was also a lion's seat, the four legs of which were all constructed of dark blue vaiḍūrya. Laid on each of these seats was a soft, white fabric more exquisite than anything in the triple world. 22 On

each of these seats sat a king who educated living beings by means of the Mahāyāna teachings. The living beings in attendance engaged in copying, reading and reciting, and practicing what was expounded to them. By doing so they helped spread the Mahāyāna scriptures.

At that time the bodhisattva *Anantakāya pacified the uncountable number of living beings [in the lotus flowers], by moving them to abandon their pursuit of worldly pleasures by themselves. And yet they [too] all exclaimed, "Dreadful, positively dreadful. The world is hollow! The Tathāgata will soon pass into parinirvāṇa.

" Then the bodhisattva *Anantakāya together

with the innumerable other bodhisattvas that surrounded him, manifested his supernatural powers by bringing a variety of offerings, immeasurable in scope, including superbly fragrant and attractive food and drink, and 28

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announced that anyone who could smell the aroma of these foods would have the stains of all their defilements eliminated. And by means of his supernaturalpowers as a bodhisattva, all the living beings [present] were indeed able to see these miraculous transformations. But the body of the bodhisattva *Anantakāya was limitless in size, fully as large as space itself, so, with the exception of the buddhas, no one else was able to see the end point of this bodhisattva's body. It was then that the bodhisattva *Ananta kāya and his retinue took their prepared offerings—twice what had been brought previously—and brought them to where the Buddha was. Making obeisance at his feet, they placed their palms together in reverence and addressed the Buddha, saying,

"World-Honored One, all we ask is that you

take pity on us and accept our food.

" But the Tathāgata understood the occasion and remained silent, not accepting the offering. Then the bodhisattva *Anantakāya and his retinue withdrew and remained off to one side. In the southern, western, and northern directions there were other buddha realms from which innumerable other bodhisattvas of incalculable, boundless size also came, bearing offerings that were twice what had been brought previously. Entering into the august presence of the Buddha, they also ended up withdrawing off to one side, like everyone else.

At that time, the auspicious and felicitous ground of the sal forest was completely filled by the enormous crowd that had now gathered, and even though the forest measured thirty-two yojanas in both length and width, there was not an empty space to be found. The only space where all the boundless body (*anantakāya) bodhisattvas of the four directions and their retinues could sit were often no bigger than the head of an awl, the point of a needle, or a speck of dust. Nonetheless, all the great bodhisattvas of the many buddha realms in all the ten directions, even as small as specks of dust, came and were now assembled, and all living beings in Jambudvīpa had come as well. The only exceptions were the two groups associated with Venerable Mahākāśyapa and Venerable Ānanda, as well as King Ajātaśatru and his retinue. Poisonous snakes that can kill a man on sight, dung beetle vipers, scorpions, and people who have committed the sixteen evil acts—even all these were assembled there. The dānavas and asuras23 completely put aside their harmful thoughts, and instead they all produced minds of compassion. Like fathers, like mothers, like elder sisters, and like younger sisters, all living 29

Nguồn: BDK America — English Tripiṭaka (bdkamerica.org).