At that time, there were also many gods of the 32 heavens, leaded by Mahesvara(Great unrestricted God) and Narayana, came to join the congregation. They are: Sakra Devanam Indra the god of heavens, Great Brahma god the lord of Saha world, the god of sun, the god of moon, the god of wind, the god of water, and so on.
There were also hundreds of thousands of dragon kings, whose names are: Apalara dragon king, Yilapadri dragon king, Dimingnili dragon king, Earth ruling dragon king, a hundred heads dragon king, Hulusina dragon king, Dechaji dragon king, Ox head dragon king, deer head dragon king, Nanda dragon king, Upandanda dragon king, Fish son dragon king, no hot-anxiety dragon king, Sagharina dragon king, and so on, came to join the congregation.
There were also hundreds of thousands of Gandharva kings, whose names are: drum-sound Gandharva king, dulcet-sound Gandharva king, a thousand arms Gandharva king, heavenly lord Gandharva king, Happy body Gandharva king, Myriad music Gandharva king, Sublime Gandharva king, Appear-as-child Gandharva king, Wonderful arm Gandharva king, Dharma-joy Gandharva king, and so on, came to join the congregation.
There were also hundreds of thousands of Kinnara kings, whose names are: Wonderful mouth Kinnara king, Precious crown Kinnara king, Brightness and joy Kinnara king, Happiness Kinnara king, Wheel sublime Kinnara king, Pearls and jewels Kinnara king, Big paunch Kinnara king, Firm diligence Kinnara king, Wonderful bravery Kinnara king, a hundred mouths Kinnara king, Big tree Kinnara king, and so on, came to join the congregation.
There were also hundreds of thousands of goddesses, whose names are: Uppermost goddess, Wonderful sublime goddess, Gold belt goddess, Sublime goddess, Hearing and upholding goddess, Nectar moon goddess, Pure body goddess, Precious light goddess, Flower body goddess, Heavenly face goddess, the goddess who performs the five music by the mouth, Joy goddess, Golden hair goddess, Green lotus goddess, Dharma sound preaching goddess, Wonderful joy goddess, Joy producing goddess, Wonderful sublime appearance goddess, Firm holding goddess, Donating goddess, Purified goddess, and so on, came to join the congregation.
There were also hundreds of thousands of daughters of dragon kings, whose names are: Wonderful firm holding dragon girl, Muzinina dragon girl, Three hair bun dragon girl, kind countenance dragon girl, Superior luck dragon girl, Electric eyes dragon girl, Electric light dragon girl, Wonderful mountain dragon girl, Hundreds of kinfolks dragon girl, Great medicine dragon girl, Moonlight dragon girl, One head dragon girl, Hundreds of arms dragon girl, Accept and upholding dragon girl, No vexation dragon girl, Virtuous sublime dragon girl, White cloud dragon girl, Vehicle riding dragon girl, Future dragon girl, Plenty of relatives dragon girl, Sea paunch dragon girl, Face covering dragon girl, Dharma throne dragon girl, Wonderful hand dragon girl, Ocean depth dragon girl, Wonderful superior luck dragon girl, and so on, came to join the congregation.
There were also hundreds of thousands of Gandharva girls, whose names are: Lovely face Gandharva girl, Enjoy donating Gandharva girl, Invisible Gandharva girl, Wonderful luck Gandharva girl, Vajra hair Gandharva girl, Wonderful hair Gandharva girl, Forest Gandharva girl, hundreds of kinds of flowers Gandharva girl, Flower opening Gandharva girl, Precious hair Gandharva girl, Wonderful stomach Gandharva girl, Lucky king Gandharva girl, Drum sound Gandharva girl, Wonderful sublime Gandharva girl, Rich gifts Gandharva girl, Dharma enjoying Gandharva girl, Dharma donating Gandharva girl, Green lotus Gandharva girl, Hundreds of hands Gandharva girl, Lotus luck Gandharva girl, Huge lotus Gandharva girl, Pure body Gandharva girl, Free traveling Gandharva girl, Earth donating Gandharva girl, Fruits donating Gandharva girl, Lion steps Gandharva girl, Kumunava Gandharva girl, Wonderful mind Gandharva girl, Kindly donating Gandharva girl, Heavenly language Gandharva girl, Enjoy forbearance Gandharva girl, Enjoy true quietness Gandharva girl, Precious teeth Gandharva girl, Sakra-devanam-Indra joy Gandharva girl, World lord kinfolk Gandharva girl, Deer king Gandharva girl, Transformation and luck Gandharva girl, Flame peak Gandharva girl, Liberate from greed Gandharva girl, Liberate from anger Gandharva girl, Liberate from ignorance Gandharva girl, Good knowing advisors relatives Gandharva girl, Precious throne Gandharva girl, Going and coming Gandharva girl, Fire light Gandharva girl, Moonlight Gandharva girl, Universal illuminating eyes Gandharva girl, Golden shining Gandharva girl, Favor to good knowing advisors Gandharva girl, and so on, came to join the congregation.
There were also hundreds of thousands of Kinnara girls, whose names are: Single mind Kinnara girl, Deep meaning Kinnara girl, Wind traveling Kinnara girl, Water traveling Kinnara girl, Space riding Kinnara girl, Speed Kinnara girl, Riches donating Kinnara girl, Wonderful teeth Kinnara girl, motionless luck Kinnara girl, Defiled realms Kinnara girl, Blazing universal light Kinnara girl, Wonderful luck Kinnara girl, Precious box Kinnara girl, Discern riches Kinnara girl, Beauty and sublime Kinnara girl, Vajra face Kinnara girl, Golden Kinnara girl, extraordinary wonderful sublime Kinnara girl, Wide forehead Kinnara girl, Surrounds good knowing advisors Kinnara girl, Worlds ruling Kinnara girl, Spaces protecting Kinnara girl, Sublime king Kinnara girl, Pearl hair bun Kinnara girl, Total retention pearl Kinnara girl, Surrounded by wise persons Kinnara girl, Hundreds of names Kinnara girl, Lifespan giving Kinnara girl, Buddhist Dharma protecting and upholding Kinnara girl, Dharma realm guarding Kinnara girl, Superior sublime Kinnara girl, Kshana superior Kinnara girl, Seeks for Dharmas and constantly upholding Kinnara girl, Often seen Kinnara girl, Fearless Kinnara girl, Yearn for the liberation Kinnara girl, Always secret Kinnara girl, Total retention driving Kinnara girl, Blade light and flame Kinnara girl, Earth traveling Kinnara girl, Guardian heavenly lord Kinnara girl, Wonderful heavenly lord Kinnara girl, Treasure king Kinnara girl, Forbearance unit Kinnara girl, Practice donating Kinnara girl, Many dwellings Kinnara girl, Weapon holding Kinnara girl, Wonderful sublime Kinnara girl, Wonderful mind Kinnara girl, and so on, came to join the congregation.
There were also hundreds of thousands of Upasaka and Upasika came to join the congregation.
(* Upasaka: layman who accepted and keeps the five precepts;
Upasika: laywoman who accepted and keeps the five precepts)
There were also innumerable monks and laypersons, hundreds of thousands of non-Buddhists such as Nirgranthas (Jain), and so on, came to join the congregation.
At that time, a great brilliant light was emitted from the Great Avichi hell, the light fully illuminated the Jeta grove garden and made the garden become completely purified. Thereupon, the subtle and perfect columns adorned with heavenly Mani treasures appeared, and the huge buildings adorned with gold and treasures appeared. In the buildings, there were some gold rooms with silver doors, some silver rooms with gold doors, some rooms made of interlaced gold and silver, with the doors made of interlaced gold and silver. There were also some precious sublime palaces made of interlaced gold and silver, with the columns made of interlaced gold and silver, and adorned with wonderful treasures. There were also some gold palaces with silver columns, some silver palaces with gold columns, some silver palaces with the columns adorned with myriads of heavenly wonderful treasures.
On the trees in the Jeta grove, myriads of heavenly wonderful treasures appeared adorning the trees. Furthermore, many gold Kalpataru trees with silver leaves, adorned with myriads of treasures, also appeared. Hanging over those trees, there were hundreds of kinds of superior wonderful clothes such as Kausika, etc., and there were hundreds of thousands of precious pearl necklaces interweaving like nets over the trees. Those trees were also adorned with hundreds of thousands of superior wonderful precious crowns, jade ear-ornaments, silk belts, and various tinkling treasures. Adorning those trees, there were also various superior wonderful flowers, superior wonderful beds, and subtle precious boxes. Such myriads of sublime Kalpataru trees, which appeared in the grove, were numbered in hundreds of thousands.
Furthermore, in the
There were also various superior wonderful flowering trees, which are called Campaka flowering trees, Kalavela flowering trees, Patala flowering trees, Wonderful liberation flowering trees, Fragrant rain flowering trees, Wonderful mind flowering trees, etc. Those flowering trees are very pleasing.
When such a rare, pure, wonderful and sublime scene was manifesting in Jeta grove garden, in the midst of the congregation, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva-Mahasattva arose from his seat, uncovered his right shoulder, placed his right knee on the ground, joined his palms respectfully, looked at the face of the Bhagavan with reverence and said to the Buddha: "Rare Bhagavan, now I have a question in my mind, and wish that the Bhagavan can allow me to ask. Bhagavan, now there is a great brilliant light in this place, where did it come from? For what cause and relationship did this rare scene appear?"
The Bhagavan then told Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva: "Virtuous man, all of you should listen attentively, and I am going to analyze and expound for you. This great brilliant light is caused by Arya(sage) Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, because he had just entered into Great Avichi hell to rescue all the sentient beings who were suffering from extreme afflictions and ferry them to the shore of liberation. Having saved those sentient beings, he then entered into a big city to rescue and ferry all the hungry ghosts who were suffering there"
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva Mahasattva then went on to ask the Buddha: "Bhagavan, the Avichi hell is surrounded by iron wall, and its ground is also made of iron. There is no gap on the wall around it. The violent fires are constantly burning fiercely and producing smoke and flames. In such a hell of evil destiny, there was a huge caldron with boiling water in it, hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of sentient beings were all thrown into the caldron, just like the beans being cooked in a boiler. While the water is boiling, they float up and down uninterruptedly and then they will be cooked into mashes. The sentient beings in Avichi hell suffer from such afflictions. Bhagavan, so what method did Arya Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva use to enter it?"
The Bhagavan then told Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva Mahasattva: "Virtuous man, for example, a wheel turning sage king can enter into the heavenly Mani treasures garden, likewise, virtuous man, when Arya Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva was entering into the Great Avichi hell, nothing can obstruct his body. At that time, all the torturing instruments in Avichi hell cannot hurt the Bodhisattva's body, the violent fire were all quenched and became refreshingly cool pools. At that time, the Yama jailers of the hell became more astonished than ever before and thought: 'Why did this place suddenly transform into such a unusual scene?' At that moment, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva had broken into the hell, destroyed the caldron, and quenched the violent fire. The huge fire pits became precious pools, with some lotuses as large as cartwheels in them."
"Having seen these events, the Yama jailors gathered all the punishment instruments include staves, bows, swords, hammers, sticks, arrows, iron wheels, three blades forks, etc., and went to where the Yama king was. Having reached there, they said: 'Oh Great king, you must know that why our territory of karma retributions suddenly vanished completely!' Yama king then said: 'What? How come your territory of karma retributions completely vanished?' The jailors said to Yama king: 'That Great Avichi hell suddenly became refreshingly cool, and when that was happening, a beautiful and sublime person, with heavenly wonderful treasures wearing on his hair bun, and precious crowns adorning his body, had entered into the hell, destroyed the caldron and made the fire pits become pools, in which the lotuses are as large as cartwheels' Yama king then began to think carefully: 'Which heavenly being is so powerful? Is he Mahesvara, Narayana, or whoever? The transformation that he made to the hell is so unimaginable, was it done by the majestic power of a vigorous ten headed Raksa?' Thereupon, Yama king used his heavenly-eye supernatural force to search in the heavens, after searching in the heavens, he then looked into Avichi hell and saw Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva. Having seen that, he went quickly to where Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva was. After reaching there, he bowed at the feet of the Bodhisattva and sincerely glorified the Bodhisattva with a gatha(verse):
Homage to the lotus king,
the great compassionate Avalokitesvara,
the greatly unrestricted and auspicious one.
who can grant wishes for sentient beings,
and has great majestic sacrosanct powers,
to tame and subdue the extreme atrocities.
You are the bright lamp for the dark destinies,
and make all who see you have no fear.
You manifest hundreds or thousands of arms,
so many as your eyes;
and have fully eleven faces;
your wisdom is as vast as the four great oceans.
You treasure the subtle and wonderful Dharmas,
for saving all sentient beings,
including tortoises, fishes, aquatic animals, and so on.
Your uppermost wisdom is like a mountain.
You give treasures to all living beings,
You are the uppermost auspicious one,
and have full of blessings, wisdom and sublime.
When you enter into Avichi hell,
It becomes a refreshingly cool place.
All heavenly beings should make offerings to you,
and bow at your feet,
the one who bestows with no fear.
You expound the six Paramitas,
and constantly keep the torch of Dharma burning.
Your Dharma eyes are brighter than the sun,
your appearance is beautiful, sublime, and wonderful;
your body is like a gold mountain,
and your wonderful stomach is like a deep Dharma ocean.
The true-thus(*) is accordant with your mind,
and the wonderful virtues appear in your mouth.
Having accumulated innumerable hundreds of thousands of Samadhis,
and immeasurable joy,
you are beautiful and sublime,
and are the uppermost immortal one.
Within the horrific evil destinies,
you liberate all living beings from shackles,
and give alms to them with no fear.
The relatives surrounding you,
can always have their wishes fulfilled,
like having Mani pearls.
You demolish the city of hungry ghost,
and open the way to quietness;
you cure illness of the worlds,
like a cover protecting streamers.
Besides your armpits,
there are two dragons: Nanda and Upananda;
holding in your hands,
there is an infallible-lasso (Amogha-pasa).
Manifesting immeasurable majesties and virtues,
you can destroy the horrors of the three realms;
under the power of Diamond hand,
Yaksas, Raksas, Bhutas,
Vitanazini, Kumbhandas, and Apasmara,
are all frightened.
With the Utpala-flower-like eyes,
you are the lord of enlightenment,
who bestows with no fear,
and liberate all living beings from myriads of afflictions.
Entering into the Samadhis as many as atoms in universe,
you reveal myriads of states,
for all living beings in the evil destinies,
to liberate them all,
and make them achieve the
(* True-thus:
(tathata); 'true thusness,' suchness. Things as they are. For something to be as it is. The establishment of reality as empty. 'Reality-nature', the nature of existence.
Universally pervading principle. The existence of the mind as true reality. 'As-it-is-ness.'(tattva) The source of all existence.)
Having made offerings to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva by myriads of glorifications, Yama king circumambulated the Bodhisattva three times, and then went back to his residence."
At that time, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva asked the Buddha again: "Bhagavan, did that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva come to join this congregation after saving those living beings from sufferings?"
The Buddha told Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva: "Virtuous man, having left from the Great Avichi hell, that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva had then entered into the big city of hungry ghost. Inside that city, there were innumerable hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts, with fire flame spurting out from their mouths. Their faces were withered and their bodies were scraggy, their hair were unkempt and their body hair were all sticking up, their stomachs were as large as a mountain and their throats were as thin as a needle. When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva reached that big city of hungry ghost, all the flaming karma fire in the city suddenly quenched and the city became refreshingly cool. At that time, a ghost general who was guarding the city's gate, with a huge body and two deep red eyes, and a hot iron club holding in his hand, aroused a merciful mind: 'From now on, I can not guard this evil karma place.' At that time, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva aroused the great compassionate heart, he issued forth rivers from each of his ten fingertips, issued forth rivers from each of his toes, and issued forth big rivers from every pore on his body. The hungry ghosts then drank the water of the rivers. Having drunk the water, their throats became larger and their bodies and appearances became perfect. Subsequently, they gained various delicious drinks and foods, then all of them ate their fill."
"Having gained these benefits and comforts, each of those hungry ghosts thought carefully: 'Why can people in South Jambudvipa often have refreshing cool, peace, and happiness? Oh, In that place, there are virtuous persons who constantly respect, carry out filial piety, and sustain their parents; there are virtuous persons who are generous in giving and respectfully practice the teachings of good knowing advisors; there are wise and knowledgeable persons who constantly enjoy Mahayana; there are virtuous persons who can practice the eight sage path(noble eightfold path)s; there are virtuous persons who can knock Dharma-drums(ghanta); there are virtuous persons who can repair the damaged monasteries(Samgharama); there are virtuous persons who can repair the damaged temples; there are virtuous persons who can offer, sustain and respect Dharma masters; there are virtuous persons who can see the path of Tathagatas; there are virtuous persons who can see the path of Bodhisattvas; there are virtuous persons who can see the path of pratyeka-buddhas; there are virtuous persons who can see the path of Arhats.' They thought: 'In
"When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva had saved those sufferings, he then went to the worlds of other directions to save sentient beings and ferry them to the liberation."
At that time Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva asked the Buddha again: "Bhagavan, do Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva come to this world to save and ferry sentient beings?"
The Bhagavan said: "Virtuous man, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva is always saving and ferrying immeasurable hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of sentient beings and never rest, his great majestic powers surpass the Tathagatas'."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva asked: "Bhagavan, why does Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva have such great majestic powers?"
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, in the past kalpas, there was a Buddha who appeared in the world, whose name is Vipasyin Thus come One, One worthy of offerings, One of proper and pervasive knowledge, One perfect in clarity and practice, Well gone One, Knower of the secular world, Unsurpassed One, Taming and subduing hero, Teacher of gods and humans, Buddha, World honored One. At that time I was a son named Wonderful fragrance mouth, of a magnate's family. From that Buddha, I had heard about the mighty sacrosanct power, merits, and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said: "Bhagavan, what were the mighty sacrosanct power, merits, and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva that you had heard about?"
The Bhagavan said: "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva gave birth to the sun and the moon from his eyes, gave birth to the Great unrestricted God (Mahesvara) from his forehead, gave birth to the Brahma heaven God from his shoulder, gave birth to Narayana from his heart, gave birth to the Great eloquence God (Sarasvati) from his teeth, gave birth to the god of wind from his mouth, gave birth to the god of earth from his navel, and gave birth to the god of water from his stomach. Having given birth to those gods from his body, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said to the Great unrestricted God: 'At the Dharma ending age in the future, in the realms of sentient beings, there will be some living beings attaching to the erroneous views, saying that you are the great dominator from the beginningless of time and can create all sentient beings. At that time, those living beings, who have lost the Way of Bodhi, are ignorant and perplexed, they will say that:
The universe is a vast body,
and the earth is his throne.
All realms and sentient beings,
were born from this body.'"
"Virtuous man, after I had heard about that from Vipasyin Tathagata, later, there was another Buddha appeared in the world, whose name is Sikhin Thus come One, One worthy of offerings, One of proper and pervasive knowledge, One perfect in clarity and practice, Well gone One, Knower of the secular world, Unsurpassed One, Taming and subduing hero, Teacher of gods and humans, Buddha, World honored One. Eliminate-Obstructions, at that time I was Fearless Bestowing Bodhisattva Mahasattva. From that Buddha, I had also heard about the mighty sacrosanct power, merits, and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva said: "Bhagavan, what were the mighty sacrosanct power, merits, and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva that you had heard about?"
The Buddha said: "At that time, in a congregation of Sikhin Tathagata, all gods, dragons, Yaksas, Asuras, Garudas, Mahoragas, human and non-human beings had assembled. When the Bhagavan was about to speak Dharma in the congregation, he emitted myriads of multicolored light, including green light, yellow light, orange light, white light, red light, Sphatika colored light, golden light. The light universally illuminated all the worlds of the ten directions, and then returned, circumambulated the Buddha three times, and went into his mouth. At that time, a Bodhisattva Mahasattva in the congregation, whose name is Rata-Pani(Treasure-Hand), arose from his seat, uncovered his right shoulder, placed his right knee on the ground, joined his palms respectfully, and said to the Bhagavan: 'For what cause and relationship did this holy scene appear?' That Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, in Utmost Bliss world, there is a Bodhisattva Mahasattva named Avalokitesvara, he is about to come here, so I manifested this holy scene.'"
"When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva was about to come, myriads of Kalpataru trees, flower trees, Kumuda flower trees, and Campaka flower trees appeared. Furthermore, varied flowers, precious pools and trees also appeared. The sky rained down wonderful flowers, various jewels, Manis, pearls, emeralds, spiral shells, jades, corals, and many other treasures. A lot of heavenly clothes were also rained down like masses of cloud. At that time, in the Jeta grove Anathapindika garden, the seven treasures also appeared, their names are: Gold wheel treasure, Elephant treasure, Horse treasure,
"And when Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva was departing from the Utmost Bliss world, the ground was quaking in six different ways. Rata-pani Bodhisattva Mahasattva then asked the Bhagavan again: 'For what cause and relationship did this holy scene appear?'"
"That Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva is coming to here, so this holy scene appeared.' At that time, the sky also rained down comfortable wonderful flowers and wonderful lotuses. Then Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva arrived, with a golden brilliant thousand petals lotus holding in his hand. He bowed at the feet of that Buddha, offered up the lotus to that Bhagavan and said: 'Infinite-Life(Amitayus) Buddha told me to come with this lotus.' The Bhagavan then accept the lotus and placed it on the left side."
"That Buddha said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva: 'Why do you now manifest such sacrosanct power, sublime merits and virtues?' Avalokitesvara said: 'I do it for saving and ferrying all the sentient beings from the evil destinies, including the hungry ghost realms, the Avichi hell, the Black rope hell, the hell of the repetition of painful life, the burning hell, the roasting hell, the caldron hell, the icy water hell, etc. For all the living being in those great hells, I will save all of them and pull them up from the evil destinies, and make them achieve Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi.' When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva finished saying that, he bowed at the feet of the Buddha, and then suddenly disappeared, like a flame vanishing into the space."
"At that time, Rata-pani Bodhisattva said: 'Bhagavan, now I have a question to ask the Tathagata, please explain for me. What merits and virtues does Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva have, so that he can manifest such holy power?'"
"The Buddha said: 'If anyone offers and sustains the Buddhas as many as Ganges river sands, with heavenly wonderful clothes, kasayas, drinks, foods, soups, medicines, seats, beds, etc. The blessings and virtues gained by that is equal to the blessings and virtues of one hair tip of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose the four great continents are always raining, the rain continues for days and nights in all the twelve months in a year, I can count the number of the drops of the rain water one by one, but virtuous man, I can not finish speaking the number of all the blessings and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose there are four great oceans, each is 84 thousand yojana in depth, in width and in length, I can count the number of the water drops of those four oceans one by one, but virtuous man, I can not finish speaking the number of all the blessings and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, for all the four-legged sentient beings in the four great continents, such as lions, elephants, horses, tigers, wolves, bears, deer, cows, sheep, and so on, I can count the number of hair of all their bodies one by one, but virtuous man, I can not finish speaking the number of all the blessings and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, if some person uses heavenly gold and treasures to make Tathagatas' statues as many as atoms in the universe, when done, he then makes all kinds of offerings for one day, I can fully count the number of blessings and virtues that he gains, but virtuous man, I can not finish speaking the number of all the blessings and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, I can count the number of leaves of all forests one by one, but I can not finish speaking the number of all the blessings and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.'"
"'Virtuous man, suppose all the men, women, boys and girls in the four great continents have attained the fruitions of Stream-enterer(Srota-apanna), Once-returner(Sakrd-agami), Non-returner(Anagamin), Arhat, Pratyeka-buddha, and Bodhi, then all those blessings and virtues are equal to the blessings and virtues of one hair tip of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.'"
"Then Ratna-pani Bodhisattva said to the Bhagavan: 'I never saw or heard of any Buddha, Tathagata who has such blessings and virtues. Bhagavan, as a Bodhisattva, how can Avalokitesvara has such blessings and virtues?'"
"That Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, not only me in this realm, even if innumerable Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddhas of other directions all get together in one place, they also cannot finish speaking the blessings and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Virtuous man, if anyone in this world can keep remembering the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, this person will be far away from the sufferings of birth, aging, illness, death and transmigration. He will be reborn quickly in the Utmost Bliss world, just like a goose king traveling by wind, and then personally see the Infinite-Life(Amitayus) Tathagata and hear wonderful Dharmas. Then this person will never suffer from transmigration, greed, anger, ignorance, aging, illness, death, or hungry. By the majestic power of Dharma, he will be born miraculously from a lotus, instead of suffering from being born from a womb. He can always reside in that world to wait for the time that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva have saved and ferried all sentient beings and liberated all of them so that the Bodhisattva's solid vows can be fulfilled.'"
"Then Rata-pani Bodhisattva asked the Bhagavan: 'When will this Avalokitesvara have saved and ferried all sentient beings and liberated all of them, so that his solid vows can be fulfilled?'"
"The Bhagavan said: 'There are infinite sentient beings. They constantly suffer from birth, death and transmigration and have no rest. In order to save and ferry those sentient beings and make them achieve the Bodhi Way, this Avalokitesvara manifests different incarnations to speak Dharmas for different types of sentient beings.'"
"'For those who should be ferried to the shore of liberation through the body of a Buddha, he appears in a Buddha body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of a Bodhisattva, he appears in a Bodhisattva body and speaks Dharmas for them. '"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of a Pratyeka-buddha, he appears in a Pratyeka-buddha body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of a voice-hearer(Sravaka), he appears in a voice-hearer's body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of Mahesvara, he appears in a Mahesvara body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of Narayana, he appears in a Narayana body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of Brahma God, he appears in a Brahma God body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of Sakra devanam Indra, he appears in a Sakra devanam Indra body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of the god of sun, he appears in a body of the god of sun and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of the god of moon, he appears in a body of the god of moon and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of the god of fire, he appears in a body of the god of fire and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of the god of water, he appears in a body of the god of water and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of the god of wind, he appears in a body of the god of wind and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of dragon, he appears in a dragon's body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of Vinayaka, he appears in a Vinayaka's body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of Yaksa, he appears in a Yaksa's body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of the Knowledgeable heavenly king (Vaisravana), he appears in a body of the Knowledgeable heavenly king and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of a human king, he appears in a human king's body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of an officer, he appears in an officer's body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"'For those who should be ferried through the body of the parents, he appears in the parents' body and speaks Dharmas for them.'"
"Virtuous man, in such manners, according to how the sentient beings could be ferried to the liberation, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva manifests various incarnations and speak Dharmas for them, to save all sentient beings and make them achieve the state of the Tathagatas' Nirvana.'"
"Then Rata-pani Bodhisattva said to the Bhagavan: 'I never saw or heard of such unimaginable and rare things. Bhagavan, the abilities of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva are really unimaginable and unprecedented.'"
"The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, in a diamond cave in the southern continent Jambudvipa, there are immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of Asuras. Virtuous man, in that place, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva appeared in an Asura body and spoke this Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra for those Asuras. When those Asuras heard this sutra, they all aroused the merciful heart, they supported the feet of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva with their palms and listened to the correct Dharma, and all gained the Dharma joy.'"
"'If anyone can hear this sutra king, also can read and recite it, then if this person has any of the five heinous sins, those sins will all be eliminated. When he is about to die, there will be twelve Tathagatas who come to receive him, saying: 'Virtuous man, you need not fear, because you had heard the Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra.', and then will reveal various paths to the Utmost Bliss world, in which there are subtle and wonderful covers, heavenly crowns, ear-ornaments, superior wonderful clothes, etc. When such a scene appear, he will surely be reborn in the Utmost Bliss world upon his death.'"
"'So, Rata-pani, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, the greatest matchless one, can also appear in a Asura's body and make the Asuras reach the place of Nirvana.'"
"At that time, Rata-pani Bodhisattva bowed at the feet of the Bhagavan, with his head touching the ground, and then withdrew."
The Buddha then said to Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva: "After that Sikhin Buddha, there was another Buddha appeared in the world, whose name is Visvabhu Thus come One, One worthy of offerings, One of proper and pervasive knowledge, One perfect in clarity and practice, Well gone One, Knower of the secular world, Unsurpassed One, Taming and subduing hero, Teacher of gods and humans, Buddha, World honored One."
"Eliminate-Obstructions, at that time I was a forbearing supernatural person (rsi) dwelling in a remote mountain, which was rocky, high and steep, so no one could reach or stay in there for long. At that time I had also heard about the mighty sacrosanct power, merits, and virtues of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva."
"Avalokitesvara had entered into a gold earth and manifested his body, for the sentient beings whose faces were covered, he spoke wonderful Dharmas and revealed the noble eightfold path, and made all of them achieved the stage of Nirvana."
"After going out from the gold earth, he then entered into a silver earth, in which every sentient being has four legs and was standing still. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva saved those sentient beings by speaking Dharma for them: 'You should listen attentively to this correct Dharma, and should arouse your mind to ponder carefully, I am now showing you the fund and provisions for Nirvana.' Those sentient beings stood in front of Avalokitesvara and said to the Bodhisattva:
'For the sentient beings who have no eye,
you save them by bringing light to them and make them see the Way;
For those who have no dependence,
you parent them to make them have dependence;
For those in dark paths,
you light up the bright torch for them and show them the correct Way to liberation;
If a sentient being remember the Bodhisattva's name,
he will gain peace and happiness.
So please save us,
because we are constantly suffering from such afflictions.'
Then, all those sentient beings heard the Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra, and after hearing the Sutra, all of them became peaceful and comfortable, and attained the stage of non-backsliding."
"At that time, after going out from that place, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva then entered into an iron earth, within which a great powerful Asura king was confined. When visiting there, the Bodhisattva was appearing in a Buddha body. At that time, the great powerful Asura king went from a far distance to receive Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva. In the palace of the Asura king, there were innumerable followers, most of who were hunchbacked, short and ugly. Those followers also went together. They presented themselves before Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, bowed to the feet of him, and then the king said a Gatha(verse):
'I have attained the fruit in this lifetime,
for my wish has been fulfilled,
just as what I was longing for,
this is because of my correct view.
Now that we have met the Bodhisattva,
so I and my followers will all gain the peace and happiness.'
Thereupon, the king gave his precious throne to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, joined his palms respectfully and said: 'From the past, we and the followers enjoy sexual misconducts, constantly have anger, and love to kill living beings. Having committed these criminal karma, my heart is anxious and worrying. We are afraid of aging, death, and transmigration, and fear that we will suffer from various afflictions and have no dependence. Please do show mercy, save us, and tell us the way of unlocking this confinement.'"
"Avalokitesvara said: 'Virtuous man, the Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddhas always practice mendicancy (begging for food), if you can give food to them, then the blessings and virtues that you gain will be too many to be spoken. Virtuous man, not only I myself in this Asura cave cannot finish speaking it, even the Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddhas as many as twelvefold Ganges river sands get together in one place, they also cannot finish speaking the number of such blessings and virtues.'"
"'Virtuous man, I can count the number of all atoms, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, I can count all the water drops of a great ocean one by one, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose all men, women, boys and girls plant everywhere in the four great continents, all they plant are nothing but mustard seeds. The dragons make rains seasonably and then the mustards are mature, they then use one whole continent as the field, do all the working procedures and then make a great accumulation. Virtuous man, I can count every grain in such an accumulation one by one, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose there is a Sumeru mountain king, its underwater part is 84 thousand yojana in depth, and its over-water part is 84 thousand yojana in height. Virtuous man, then use such a mountain king to make papers, and use all the water of the great oceans as ink, in this way, all men, women, boys and girls in the four great continents write together, to make their books as height as the Sumeru mountain, and use up all the papers. Then, I can one by one count the number of words that they write, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas. Virtuous man, suppose all those persons who write, have achieved the tenth Bhumi(stage) of Bodhisattva, then the sum of the blessings and virtues of all those Bodhisattvas, is equal to the quantity of the blessings and virtues gained by giving food to a Tathagata once.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, for the great oceans as many as Ganges river sands, I can count all their sands one by one, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas.'"
"Having heard those words, the great powerful Asura king wept sorrowfully, with tear flowing on his face. Being remorseful and choking with sobs, he sighed and said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva: 'I had practiced giving in the past, but the circumstance that I practice giving was defiled, black, and was not according to the correct Dharma. Due to those giving practices, now contrariwise, I and my followers are confined in this evil destiny and are suffering from these karma retributions. We did not know that only a little food giving to a Tathagata would become refreshingly cool dews.'"
"'From the past, I was ignorant and have no wisdom, and had been practicing the exterior path - the Brahmans' Dharma. Once there was a short and ugly person, who came to my home and begged for his wants.'"
"'At that time, I had prepared many precious crowns, gold and silver earrings, superior wonderful clothes, precious adornments, and argha vessels, also had prepared hundreds of thousands of precious elephant-carts and horse-carts, adorned with pearls, precious necklaces and precious nets, and decorated with various wonderful tassels hanging over them, and covered by various precious canopies, precious nets and silk gauzes over them, and with various precious tinkling bells tied on them.'"
"'I had also prepared one thousand yellow cattle, their hair colors were especially fine, their hooves were adorned with silvers, their horns were decorated with gold, and their whole bodies were adorned with pearls and various treasures.'"
"'I had also prepared one thousand girls, their figures were especially wonderful, and their visages were elegant and beautiful, just like heavenly girls. Their heads were wearing heavenly crowns, and their bodies were adorned with various treasures, including gold precious ear-ornaments, various wonderful clothes, interlaced precious belts, finger rings, precious bracelets, precious necklaces, exquisite, delicate and wonderful flower-ornaments (kusumamala), etc.'"
"'I had also prepared innumerable hundreds of thousands of various precious thrones, and immeasurable accumulated gold, silvers and various treasures. I had also prepared hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of herds of cattle, innumerable herders, many drinks and foods as fragrant and delicious as heavenly tastes, innumerable precious bells, innumerable gold and silver lion-thrones, innumerable wonderful whisks with gold handles, and innumerable precious umbrellas adorned with the seven treasures.'"
"'When I had prepared such substances for a great offering, hundreds of thousands of petty kings came and got together, hundreds of thousands of Brahmanas also came and got together, innumerable Ksatriya also came and got together.'"
"'Then I became suspicious and surprised. At that time I was in the highest position. I had great influence, and was ruling the earth. I planned to follow the Brahman method to repent especially the evil karma of the previous lifetimes, so I wish to kill those Ksatriya and their wives, sons and relatives, dissect their bodies and get their hearts and livers to offer sacrifices to the heaven, in order to clear the sins.'"
"'Then, I shackled those hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of Ksatriya petty kings and imprisoned them in a copper cave, in which innumerable hundreds of thousands of outlying-region (mleccha) persons were also imprisoned. I used thick iron pegs connecting with iron chains to shackle those Ksatriya on their wrists and legs, and made some doors in the cave. The first door was made of normal wood, the second door was made of Khadira wood, the third door was made of iron, the fourth door was made of wrought copper, the fifth door was made of pig copper, the sixth door was made of silver, and the seventh door was made of gold. Furthermore, I installed 500 locks on each of these seven doors to reinforce them, and placed one mountain in front of each of the doors.'"
"'Then one day, Narayana suddenly transformed himself into a fly and came to spy, then another day, he transformed into a bee and came again; then another day, he transformed into a pig and came; and another day, he transformed into a non-human being. In such a manner, he came to visit day after day, with different appearances. At that time I was thinking of launching the Brahman method. When Narayana saw this, he came to the copper cave to wreck it. He removed all the seven mountains in front of the doors, threw them to other places, and called out loudly to the prisoners: 'Supreme kings, what a great affliction you are suffering from! Are you alive or dead now?' Having heard the calling and the asking, the prisoners replied: 'We are still alive now, Narayana, the heavenly honored one, the great powerful diligent one, please save us from the suffering!' Narayana then destroyed the seven doors in the copper cave, and then those petty kings in the cave were all released from the shackles, and saw Narayana. They then thought severally: 'Is the great powerful Asura king dead? Or is he dying now?' The Ksatriya said: 'We would rather die by fighting against him than die by the imprisonment. We now should follow the Ksatriya's law to fight against him, if we die in his territory we will be reborn in heaven.' Then, those petty kings rode the arranged chariots and saddled horses severally from their houses, with weapons holding in their hands, preparing for a great fighting.'"
'"At that time, Narayana transformed into a Brahman, whose body was short and ugly, with deerskin winding on his armpits, and a three-forked staff held in his hand, and came to the door of my dwelling. At that time, the guardian of the door said to him: 'Do not enter this door, you short ugly person, stop, do not enter!' The Brahman said: 'I came here from a far distance.' The guardian asked the Brahman: 'Where are you from?' The Brahman said: 'I am a great supernatural person (rsi/rishi), come from the palace of the king of Kusana state.' The guardian then went to say to the great powerful Asura king: 'Now here came a Brahman, whose body is short and ugly.' The great powerful Asura king said: 'What does this person come for? What does he need?' The guardian said: 'I do not know what he need.' The great powerful Asura king said: 'Go to call this Brahman in.' Having received the order, the guardian then called the Brahman in. Having seen him, the great powerful Asura king vouchsafed the precious throne to the Brahman and let him sat.'"
"'Before that, the great powerful Asura king's teacher, who was called Gold-Star, and was being offered and sustained by the king, has already told him: 'Now this Brahman is a evil person, he come here to destroy your plan.' 'Master, why do you know that?' The teacher said: 'I certainly know it. Do you know who he really is? He is Narayana.' Having heard that, the king began to think: 'I practice giving without regression, why does he come to obstruct and destroy my plan now? I should use my eloquence to question him.''"
"'Then the great powerful Asura king asked the Brahman: 'Now why do you come to my dwelling? What do you want?' The Brahman said: 'I wish to beg for two steps' land.' The Asura said to the Brahman: 'You need some land and said two steps, well, I will grant you the land of three steps.' He then use a gold bottle to grant some clean water to the Brahman, saying: 'If you need some land, you just take it.' The Brahman accepted and made a wish: 'May you be peaceful and have a long life.' Then, the short and ugly body of the Brahman suddenly disappeared. Gold-Star then told the Asura king: 'You are going to accept the retribution of your evil karma.''"
"'Subsequently, Narayana suddenly manifested his body, with the sun and the moon carrying on his shoulders, and the weapons such as sharp sword, wheel, staff, bow, arrow, etc, holding in his hands. When the great powerful Asura king suddenly saw this, he became frightened and trembling, and then tumbled, and fell in a faint. A long time later, the king woke up and said: 'What should I do now? Perhaps I should take some poison to end my life?' Then, Narayana began to measure the land with his steps, just two steps, and there was no remaining land.' 'It is not sufficient for three steps, so this cannot fulfill the previous promise.' The king said: 'What can I do now?' Narayana said to the king: 'Now you should follow my teaching.' The great powerful Asura king then said: 'Yes, I will follow your teaching.' Narayana said: 'Will you really do?' The great powerful Asura king said: 'Yes I really do. These words are honest, and I have neither regret nor parsimony in my mind.' Thereupon, I follow the teaching, completely destroyed all the places made for launching the Brahman method, and gave all the gold, silver, treasures, beautiful girls, clothes, precious bells, umbrellas, wonderful whisks, lion precious thrones, the yellow cattle adorned with treasures, and the other treasures and adornments to those petty kings, and released them from the method-launching place of the great powerful Asura king.'"
"The great powerful Asura king said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva: 'I now realized that, because in the past, I followed the Brahman method to setup a great assembly of offering, the circumstance that I practice giving was defiled, black, and impure, therefore, I and my followers are being confined in this iron cave and are suffering from the great affliction. Avalokitesvara, now I pay homage to you, please take pity on us, liberate us from this suffering.' and glorified:
'Homage to the greatly compassionate lotus hand,
the great lotus king, the great propitious one,
whose wonderful body is adorned with various treasures;
whose head bun is wearing a heavenly crown adorned with various jewelries;
who wears the universal wisdom of Amitabha on the head,
who saves innumerable sentient beings.
Whenever the suffering people seek for peace and happiness,
the Bodhisattva manifests his body to be a medicine king.
the supreme pure, delicate and wonderful eyes,
which are brighter than the sun,
illuminate the sentient beings and liberate them;
Having achieve the liberation,
they then will be accordant with the wonderful Dharma,
will be like wish-fulfilling Mani pearls,
will be able to protect the wonderful Dharma-Store of reality,
will constantly speak the six Paramita,
praising that these Dharma have great wisdom.
Now I sincerely, honestly pay homage to,
and glorify the greatly compassionate Avalokitesvara.
Any sentient being who remembers the Bodhisattva's name,
will get away from suffering and gain the peace.
For those who have fallen into the Black-rope hell,
unto the great Avichi hell,
because of the evil karma that they committed;
for all the existences,
all hungry ghost,
all those in the suffering life forms,
once they speak the Bodhisattva's name,
they will all be liberated from the horrors,
and these sentient beings in evil paths,
will all get away from suffering and gain peace and happiness.
If anyone can constantly keep remembering the name of the great hero(Mahasattva),
he will be reborn in Utmost Bliss World,
will personally see the Tathagata Infinite-Life (Amitayus),
hear the wonderful Dharma and attain the stage of non-born.'"
"At that time, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva granted the insignia to the great powerful Asura king: 'In the future, you will become a Buddha, named Auspiciousness Thus come One, One worthy of offerings, One of proper and pervasive knowledge, One perfect in clarity and practice, Well gone One, Knower of the secular world, Unsurpassed One, Taming and subduing hero, Teacher of gods and humans, Buddha, World honored One. At that time you will achieve the Total-retention door of Six-Words-Great-Enlightenment. And all the sentient beings now in here, Asura king, you will save and ferry all of them, so that all the sentient beings in your Buddha worlds will never hear of the sound of greed, anger or ignorance.'"
"Having heard the prediction, the great powerful Asura king held a pearl necklace worth hundreds of thousands of gold, and hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of heavenly crowns and ear-ornaments, adorned with various wonderful treasures, and offered up them to the Bodhisattva, saying: 'Please show your mercy and accept them.' Then Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva said to the great powerful Asura king: 'Now I will speak Dharma for you, you should listen attentively and ponder it. A living being is impermanent, is an illusory transformation, and it is difficult for him to keep his life lasting for long. You people are always thinking of and are greedy for great fortunes, love to have slaves and underlings, so as to paddies, wheat, storehouses, great precious deposits, etc. You are often attached to your parents, wives, children, relatives, and so on. Though you are always attached to those things, they are just like what you visualize in the dream, when you are about to die, none of them can save you, make you avoid the death and keep living in this southern continent Jambudvipa.'"
"'Due to such inversion, after the persons' death, they will see the great Nai river with full of pus and blood flowing, and see huge trees with raging fire burning fierily. Having seen these things, they will be frightened. And then, Yama jailors will truss up them with ropes, and will be pulling them hastily alone a wide road of blades. On raising and putting down the feet, they will be scratched, stabbed or cut, and innumerable black eagles, Kurara birds, and fierce dogs will eat the flesh. They would also suffer from extreme afflictions in the great hells.'"
"'On the bladed great road for the walking, there are also many thorns, which are 16 finger-joints in length. In each step, 500 thorns thrust into the feet, which make the persons cry and sob sorrowfully, saying: 'We sentient beings commit sinful karma all because of love(desire), now we are suffering from the great affliction, what can we do?' The Yama jailors then would say: 'From the past, you have never given any food to sramana(monks), have never heard the sound of Dharma drums(ghanta), and have never circumambulated the towers or the statues.' Then the criminals would say to the Yama jailors: 'Due to our sins and obstacles, we did not understand, believe in, or respect to the Buddhas, the Dharmas, and the Sanghas, but always kept ourselves away from them.' The jailors would say: 'Because of the evil karma that you yourselves have committed, now you get this suffering retribution.''"
"'The jailors then will bring the criminals to where Yama king is. Having reached there, Yama king will say: 'Bring them to the places of karma retributions.' Then, the Yama jailors will drive and lead the criminals to where the Black Rope Great Hell is, and throw the criminals one by one into the hell. Having been thrown into the hell, the body of each of the criminals will be thrust by one hundred spears, but they will not die; and then, two hundred big spears will thrust the body of each of them, but they will still be alive; and then, three hundred huge spears will synchronously thrust the body of each of them, and they also will not die.'"
"'Having recovered, they will then be thrown into a huge fire pit, and they also will not die. Then, the jailors will put some hot iron balls into their mouths and make them ingest the balls, which will make their lips, teeth, gums, mandibles, and throats completely burnt out, make their hearts, intestines, and stomachs fired boiling, and make their whole bodies burnt out. When suffering from such afflictions, no one can save them, so you should know it.'"
"'Now I have spoken such Dharma for you, you people should diligently cultivate blessings.' Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said to the great powerful Asura king: 'I now wish to go to Jeta Grove garden, today there is a great congregation.'"
"At that time, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva emitted innumerable lights of various colors, including green light, yellow light, red light, white light, Sphatika colored light, golden light, etc. These lights went forth to the frontage of Visvabhu Tathagata. At that moment, the gods, dragons, Yaksas, Raksas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, and other people had joined the congregation; innumerable Bodhisattva Mahasattvas had also joined the congregation. In the midst of the congregation, there was a Bodhisattva named Akasa-garbha (Space-Store), he arose from his seat, tidied up his clothes, uncovered his right shoulder, placed his right knee on the ground, respectfully joined his palms towards the Buddha, and said to the Buddha: 'Bhagavan, where do these lights come from?'"
"The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, these lights are come from a great powerful Asura king's palace, emitted by Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.'"
"Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva then said to the Bhagavan: 'Now by which means can I see that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva?'"
"The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, that Bodhisattva will also come here.'"
"When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva was departing from the great powerful Asura king's palace, suddenly in the Jeta Grove garden, there appeared some heavenly wonderful flower trees and heavenly kalpataru trees, adorned with innumerable various heavenly treasures of various fresh wonderful colors. Hanging over the trees, there were hundreds of kinds of pearl necklace, Kausika clothes, and other various clothes. The trunks and branches of those trees were carmine, and their leaves were made of gold and silver. There were also innumerable delicate and wonderful fragrant trees, superior wonderful flower trees, and innumerable precious pools, with hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of multicolored flowers filled inside them."
"When those things appeared, Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva asked the Bhagavan again: 'Why is it, that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva still have not come yet?'"
"The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva have left the great powerful Asura king's palace. And there is another place that no one can reach, which is called Darkness. Virtuous man, both sunlight and moonlight cannot reach that dark place, but there is a wish-fulfilling treasure named Comply-Wishes, which constantly emits light and shines. Inside it there are innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of Yaksas dwelling. When the Yaksas saw Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva entered into it, they became very happy. With joyful enthusiasm, they ran to receive Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, bowed to his feet and greeted: 'Bodhisattva, are you free from tiredness now? You have not been to this dark place for long.' Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said: 'Because I need to save and ferry the sentient beings.' Those Yaksas and Raksas then offered a heavenly gold treasure lion throne to the Bodhisattva and asked him to sit."
"The Bodhisattva then spoke Dharma for those Yaksas and Raksas: 'You should listen attentively. There is a Mahayana sutra, named Sublime Treasure King. If anyone can hear as few as four lines of gatha (verse) from it, can accept, uphold, read, recite, expound its meanings, and can constantly ponder on it, the blessings and virtues that he gains will be limitless.'"
"'Virtuous man, I can count the number of all atoms, but virtuous man, if anyone can accept and uphold four lines of gatha from this Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra, I cannot count the number of the blessings and virtues that he gains.'"
"For all the water in the great oceans, I can count the number of their drops one by one; but if anyone can accept and uphold four lines of gatha from this sutra, I cannot count the number of the blessings and virtues that he gains. Not only that I cannot finish speaking of it all completely in this dark place, even if the Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddhas as many as twelve-fold Ganges river sands, all get together for 12 kalpas, and some person constantly offers and sustains those Buddhas with clothes, drinks, foods, beds, soup, medicine, and other materials, they also cannot finish speaking the number of such blessings and virtues.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose every people in the four great continents rebuilds the house that he lives in to a monastery, and build one thousand stupa (sharira tower) with heavenly gold treasures inside it. They accomplish all the works in one day, and then make various offerings. However, the blessing and virtues gained by them are fewer than the blessing and virtues gained by accepting and upholding four lines of gatha from this sutra.'"
"'Virtuous man, for example, the five great rivers flow into the great oceans, the flowing will never end; likewise, if anyone can uphold four lines of gatha from this Mahayana sutra, the blessings and virtues that he gains are like the flowing rivers, and will never end too.'"
"Then those Yaksas and Raksas asked Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva: 'If any sentient being can write this Mahayana sutra, how many blessings and virtues he will gain?'"
"'Virtuous man, the blessings and virtues that he gains are limitless. If anyone can write this sutra, it is the same as writing 84 thousand Dharma-Stores, he will become a Wheel Turning Sage King, who rules the four great continents and has unrestricted majesty and virtues. His face will be handsome and elegant, he will be surrounded by one thousand sons, and all enemies of other directions will naturally acknowledge allegiance to him.'"
"'If anyone can just keep remembering the name of this sutra, he will be quickly liberated from the suffering of transmigration, and will get far away from the worry and affliction of aging and death. Upon his succeeding rebirth, this person will be able to remember his past lifetimes, his body will often has the fragrance of Ox-headed sandalwood (Gosirsaka-candana), his mouth will often emits the fragrance of green lotus, and his body and appearance will be perfect and very powerful.'"
"When such Dharma was being spoken, some of those Yaksas and Raksas attained the fruition of stream-enterer (srota-apanna), and some of them attained the fruition of once-returner (sakrd-agamin). They said: 'Bodhisattva, please stay in here, do not go to anywhere else. Now in this dark place, we are building the stupa with heavenly gold treasures, and are building the walking (cankramana) area with gold and treasures.'"
"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva replied: 'In order to save and ferry innumerable sentient beings, and make all of them achieve the Bodhi Way, I wish to go to other places.'"
"Then those Yaksas and Raksas lowered their heads individually, with their hands supporting their cheeks, they thought over and over and then said: 'Now Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva is going to leave this place, henceforth, who can speak delicate and wonderful Dharma for us?'"
"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva then started to leave, all those Yaksas and raksas followed him to send him off. Later, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva said to them: 'You are already far from your home, you should return now.' Thereupon, those Yaksas and Raksas bowed towards the feet of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, with their heads touching the ground, and then returned to their dwelling."
"At that time, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva flew upwards to the sky, just like a fire flame, and went forth to the heavenly palaces. Having arrived at the heaven, he transformed himself into a Brahman. Among the heavenly people, there was a god named Wonderfully Adorned Ear, who was constantly suffering from the retribution of poverty. At that time, the Brahman that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva had transformed into, went to where the god was and said to him: 'I am suffering from hunger, tiredness, and thirst.' The god wept and told the Brahman: 'Now I am so poor that have nothing to offer you.' the Brahman said: 'In order to do my work, you should donate at least something, no matter how little it is.' The god then went into his palace, and searched up and down to find something. Suddenly, he found some huge precious containers filled with rare treasures, and some other precious containers filled with superior delicious drinks and foods, and moreover, plenty of superior wonderful clothes for adorning bodies, had also appeared in the palace."
"The god then thought: 'The Brahman now outside the door must be an unimaginable person, so that he can make me gain this especially extraordinary blessing.' Thereupon, the god invited the great Brahman to his palace, and offered him with the heavenly wonderful treasures and heavenly superior delicious foods and drinks. Having accepted the offerings, the Brahman made a wish: 'May you live in peace and comfort, and have a long life.' Then the god asked the Brahman: 'Sage, where do you come from?' The Brahman said: 'I come from the great sublime abode of Jeta Grove.' The god asked: 'How is that place?' The Brahman said: 'In the great sublime abode in Jeta Grove, the ground is pure, many kalpataru trees adorned with heavenly Mani treasures appeared, various wish-fulfilling Mani pearls appeared, various precious pools appeared, innumerable great people, who have majestic virtues of precept-keeping and have great wisdom, are present too, and there is a Buddha named Visvabhu Tathagata. In that place, where sages and heavenly people are staying, there are such miraculous transformations and manifestations.' Then the god said: 'Sage, who are you great Brahman? Please tell me honestly, are you a god or a human? Sage, why is such a holy scene manifesting now?' Then the Brahman said: 'I am neither a god nor a human, I am a Bodhisattva, who wish to save and ferry all sentient beings, to make them all get to see the great
I have met the ground of merits and virtues,
which is free from sins and filths,
just now I have sowed the seed in the field of supremacy,
and instantly gained the fruit of repayment.
When the god was speaking this gatha, the Brahman's mission of enlightening and ferrying had been accomplished, so he left the heavenly palace and went to a state named Lion. Having arrived, he stood in the presence of many Raksa girls, while the body and the visage that he was manifesting was very beautiful, sublime, and rare. When the Raksa girls saw that appearance, they aroused thought of desire. With joy and love in their heart, they walk close to the Bodhisattva and said: 'You can be my husband, I am a virgin who was not betrothed, please be my husband. Now that you are here, so do not go anywhere else. Just like making decisions for those who cannot decide, and like lighting up a bright torch for a dark room. Now my place has drinks, foods, clothes, and abundant reserves, and also has delightful gardens and joyful ponds.'"
"The Bodhisattva said to the Raksa girls: 'You should now listen to me.' The Raksa girls said: 'Yes, we will be glad to hear, what are you going to say?' The Bodhisattva then spoke the correct eightfold path, and the four noble truths (arya-satya) for them. Having heard the Dharma, the Raksa girls achieved different fruitions individually. Some of them achieved the fruition of stream-enterer, and some of them achieved the fruition of once-returner. They became free from the sufferings of greed, anger and ignorance, would no longer arise evil thought in their mind, would no longer willing to kill, and their hearts became fond of Dharma and fond of keeping precepts. They said: 'From now on we will never kill any living being, just like the precept-keeping people in southern continent Jambudvipa, who live on pure and clean drinks and foods. From now on we will live the same lives as them.'"
Having made the Raksa girls no longer commit any evil karma and accept and uphold the virtuous Dharma, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva left the Lion state, and went to a filthy and disgusting place in
"Having saved and ferried those sentient beings, the Bodhisattva left
"Thereupon, all the people in Magadha state became more astonished then ever before, they got together in a place, and said individually: 'What is the cause of this miracle? Was it caused by the power of heaven?' At that time, among the crowd there was an elder, who was hunchbacked and was holding a crutch, and was uncountable hundreds of thousands of years old. He told the people: 'This is not the power of heaven, the things that happened just now, must be created by the majestic power of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.' Those people asked: 'Why can Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva manifest such a holy scene?' The elder then said: 'The merits and virtues, and the sacrosanct power of the Arya Avalokitesvara, can be a bright lamp for those who are blind, can be a shelter from flaming fire, can create rivers for those who are thirsty, can bestow in horrible situations to make living beings fearless, can be the medicine for those who are suffering from illnesses, can be the parent for the suffering sentient beings, can make the sentient beings in Avichi hell see the Way to Nirvana, can make all sentient beings in the worlds gain merits, virtues, benefits, peace, and happiness. If anyone is mindful of the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, he will get far away from all the sufferings of transmigration.' Having heard that, all those people said: 'How virtuous!' The elder went on: 'If anyone can setup a square Mandala in front of a statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and constantly make offerings to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with fragrance and flowers, he will become a Wheel Turning Sage King, with fully the seven treasures, which are: Gold wheel treasure, Elephant treasure, Horse treasure, Pearl treasure, Goddess treasure, Repository mastering treasure, and Army mastering treasure. Besides, if anyone can make offering to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with a single flower, he will get a body emitting wonderful fragrance, and wherever he will be reborn, his body and appearance will be perfect.' After the elder had spoken the merits, virtues, and sacrosanct power of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, those people returned to their homes individually, and the elder also returned to his home."
"Then, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva flew upwards into the sky and thought: 'I have not seen Visvabhu Tathagata for a long time, now I should go to the sublime abode in Jeta Grove to see that Bhagavan. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva then got to that sublime abode, and saw that innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of gods, dragons, Yaksas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, human and non-human beings, and innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of Bodhisattvas had assembled."
"At that time, Akasa-garbha (Space-Store) Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: 'Bhagavan, who is the Bodhisattva that came just now?' The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, he is Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva.' Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva then stayed there silently."
"Then, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva circumambulated the Buddha three times, and sat on the left side. The Bhagavan then comforted him by asking: 'Are you free from tiredness? Virtuous man, how are the enlightenments that you have given in other places?' Avalokitesvara then spoke the previous events about enlightening sentient beings: 'I have saved and ferried such and such sentient beings...' Having heard that, Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva became more astonished then ever before: 'Now I see this Avalokitesvara, who, being a Bodhisattva, can save and ferry such worlds and sentient beings and make them get to see the Tathagatas, and make all the sentient beings in those worlds become Bodhisattvas.' Then, Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva stood in the presence of Avalokitesvara, and inquired after Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva: 'Having done so much enlightening and ferrying, are you free from tiredness?' Avalokitesvara said: 'I am not tired.' Having inquired that, Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva then stayed there silently."
"Then the Bhagavan said: 'Virtuous man, you all should listen attentively, I am now speaking for you the Dharma of the Six Paramita. Virtuous man, to become a Bodhisattva, one should first practice the Donating Paramita, and then practice the Precept-Keeping, Forbearance, Diligence, Dhyana, and Prajna Paramita, in such a way, they can all be perfectly achieved.' Having spoken the Dharma, the Buddha stayed there silently. The people of the assembly then returned individually to their homes, and those Bodhisattvas also returned to their own Buddha-Worlds."
At that time, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva said to the Bhagavan: "We have already heard from the Buddha about the past deeds of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Then, what Dharma-Gates of Samadhi does that Bodhisattva have? Bhagavan, please expound for us."
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, the Dharma-Gates of Samadhi that he has are called: With-Shapes Samadhi, No-Shape Samadhi, Vajra-Creation Samadhi, Sunlight Samadhi, Vastness Samadhi, Sublime Samadhi, Banners and Flags Samadhi, Sublime Producing Samadhi, Sublime King Samadhi, Illuminating the Ten Directions Samadhi, Wonderful Eyes and Wishes Fulfilling Samadhi, Dharma Holding Samadhi, Wonderful Uppermost Samadhi, Love Giving Samadhi, Vajra-Flag Samadhi, Discerning All Worlds Samadhi, Joyous Well Gone One Samadhi, Supernatural Power Karma Samadhi, Buddha Summit Wheel Samadhi, Wonderful Eyed Moon Samadhi, Understanding Many Relatives Samadhi, Heavenly Eye Samadhi, Brilliantly Shining Kalpa Samadhi, Transforming and Manifesting Phenomena Samadhi, Lotus Superior Samadhi, Superior King Samadhi, Purifying Avichi Samadhi, Faith Characters Samadhi, Heavenly Wheel Samadhi, Refreshingly Cool Dew Sprinkling Samadhi, Wheel Light Samadhi, Ocean Depth Samadhi, Plenty of Palaces Samadhi, Kalavinka Sound Samadhi, Green Lotus Fragrance Samadhi, Conveying Samadhi, Vajra-Armor Samadhi, Eliminates Worries Samadhi, Lion Walk Samadhi, Unsurpassed Samadhi, Subduing Samadhi, Wonderful Moon Samadhi, Light Shining Samadhi, Hundreds of Light Samadhi, Flaming Light Samadhi, Brilliance Karma Samadhi, Marvelous Attributes Samadhi, Persuading Asura Samadhi, Palaces Samadhi, Manifesting Nirvana Samadhi, Great Lamp Light Samadhi, Lamp Light King Samadhi, Saving Transmigration Samadhi, Literal Using Samadhi, Gods Appearing Samadhi, Corresponding Karma Samadhi, Experiencing the True-Thus Samadhi, Electric Light Samadhi, Dragon Sublime Samadhi, Lion's Rousing Samadhi, Sadhimin Samadhi, To And Fro Samadhi, Awakening Transformation Samadhi, Mindfulness Root Growing Samadhi, Formless Liberation Samadhi, Supremacy Samadhi, Enlightening Samadhi."
"Virtuous man, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva has not only these Samadhis. In each of his hair pores, there are hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of Samadhis. Virtuous man, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, as a Bodhisattva, has such merits and virtues, even the Buddhas, the Tathagatas also highly praise that such merits and virtues are unprecedented."
"Virtuous man, once in the past, when I was a Bodhisattva, I and five hundred merchants wished to go to Lion state, to trade our vehicles, pack horses, camels, cattle, and so on. for their treasures. We prepared the goods and set out, passed along villages, encampments, cities, states, and hamlets, and then we arrived at a shore and intended to embark. Having gotten on a Kusing ship, I asked the ship owner: 'Could you observe the direction of the wind, from which direction did it come? Which direction is it going to? Is it blowing towards Treasure continent, Jva state, or Raksa country? The ship owner then observed the direction of the wind, and said: 'Now by this wind we can get to Lion state.' Thereupon, we went by the wind towards Lion state."
"In that state, there were five hundred Raksa women, who suddenly created a violent windstorm. The windstorm created violent waves and destroyed the ship, and made those merchants fall into the water. By floating and swimming, the merchants finally reached the shore and went onto the land. Having seen those merchants, the five hundred Raksa women shook their bodies severally and made horrible sounds. They transformed into girls and came to where the merchants were, and gave some clothes to the merchants. The merchants then wore those clothes, twist their wet clothes and exposed them to the sun to make them dry, and left that place, went to a Campaka tree and rested under it. When resting, they said to each others: 'Now what can we do? We are at the end of our wits.' and then became silent. At that time, the Raksa women came in front of the merchants again, saying: 'We have no husband, could you be our husbands? In our places, we have drinks, foods, clothes, reserves, gardens, and bath pools.' Then, each of those Raksa women brought one merchant to her home."
"Among the Raksa women, there was a woman called Tigalam, who was the great master. She brought me to her home, and offered me superior delicious drinks and foods. I ate my fill and became satisfied, feeling that I was as happy as when I was in human worlds. Having stayed in there for 42 days, suddenly, I saw the Raksa Tigalam smiled agreeably. I then became suspicious of it - for I had never seen or heard that before. So, when the Raksa woman was smiling in such a manner, I asked: 'Why are you now smiling like this?' The Raksa woman said: 'This Lion state is the home of Raksa women, I am afraid that you will be killed.' I asked: 'Why do you know it?' The Raksa woman said: 'Do not step into the way to the south, because there is an iron castle, which has no door on anywhere of it. Inside it there are innumerable merchants, many of whom have been eaten, with only the bones left. Now you see the living people so you would not believe that, you may follow that way to there, then you will believe me.'"
"Thereafter, I waited till the woman fell asleep, at the midnight, I went to the south, with a moonlight sword holding in my hand. When I got to the iron castle, I walked around it and looked about, but could not find any door or window. Beside that iron castle, there was a Campaka tree. I climbed up the tree and called out loudly. The merchants in the iron castle then replied to me: 'Worthy great merchant master, do you know that, we are imprisoned in this iron castle by the Raksa women, they eat one hundred of us every day!' and then they stated the past things in detail. Having heard that, I went down from the Campaka tree, follow the original way and quickly went back the Raksa woman's home. The woman asked me: 'Worthy great merchant master, have you seen the iron castle that I mentioned? You should tell me honestly now.' I said: "I have seen it", and went on to ask the woman: 'By which means can I leave this place?' the Raksa woman then told me: 'There is a great means, which can make you gain peace and rest, bring you out from this Lion state, to return to the southern continent Jambudvipa.' Hearing that, I asked that woman again: 'How can I leave this state?' The Raksa Tigalam told me: 'There is a Holy(Arya) Horse King, who can save and ferry all sentient beings.'"
"Afterwards, I caught an opportunity and went to where the Holy Horse King was. At that time he was eating White Medicine Herbs. After eating, he rolled on the gold sanded ground, and then stood up, shook the hair on his body, and said: 'Who wishes to get to the other shore?' He repeated three times and went on: 'Anyone who wishes to go should say it himself.' Then I said to the Holy Horse King: 'Now I wish to go there.' Having said that, I returned to the Raksa woman's home and went to sleep." Then, when the Raksa woman awakened from her sleep, she became regretful and asked me: 'Merchant master, why is your body so cold?' I knew that she did not want me to go, thus I said to the woman with an excuse: 'Just now I have been out of the city for a while, and then returned, therefore my body is cold.' The woman then said to me: 'Sleep then.'"
"I slept until the sun rose, and then called the merchants together: 'Now it is the time to go outside of this city.' Then, the merchants all went out of the city, got together at a place to rest, and said to each others: 'Now, in the midst of us, whose wife loves him most? What did he see? And how are things going?' Thereupon, someone in the crowd said: 'She offers superior delicious drinks and foods to me.' Some other said: She offers various clothes to me.' Some other said: 'She offers heavenly crowns, ear-ornaments, and clothes to me.' Some other said: 'I gained nothing but dissatisfaction.' Some other said: 'She offers me various fragrances of dragon, musk, and sandalwood.' After the merchants had said that, I told them: 'You are now in trouble and should seek for liberation, how come you be attached to the Raksa women?' Having heard that, the merchants were frightened. They asked: 'Great merchant master, is it true?' I then told them: 'This Lion state is the home of Raksa women. They are not human beings, but Raksa women.' and swore: 'The Buddhas, the Dharmas, and the Sanghas can know that they are Raksa women.' The merchants then said to me: 'By which means can we be free from this misfortune?' I told them: 'In this Lion state there is a Holy Horse King, who can save all sentient beings. Once when he had eaten great White Medicine Herbs, rolled on the gold sanded ground, and then stood up, shook his body and said three times: 'Who wishes to get to the other shore?' then I had told the Horse King that I wish to get to the other shore.' The merchants asked again: 'So, at which day should we go?' I told them: 'Three days later, we must go. We should prepare materials and foodstuffs.' After the conversation, we went back into the city, and returned severally to the Raksa women's home."
"When the woman saw that I was returned, she inquired after me: 'Are you tired now?' I asked the Raksa woman: 'I have not seen your joyful gardens and bath pools, do they really exist?' The Raksa woman told me: 'Great merchant master, there are various joyful gardens and bath pools in this Lion state.' I said to her: 'Then please prepare some materials and foodstuffs for me, I wish to go on a tour of those various gardens, pools and swamp, and view the famous flowers, and then I will come back home with various flowers.' The Raksa woman then said to me: 'Great merchant master, I will prepare materials and foodstuffs for you.' 'If the Raksa woman knows my stratagem, she will surely kill me." Thinking of this, I kept silence."
"Then, The Raksa woman prepared some fine drinks and foods and asked me to eat. After eating, I sighed. The woman asked: 'Great merchant master, why did you sigh like that?' I then told the woman: 'I was originally a people of Southern continent Jambudvipa, I miss my homeland.' The woman said to me: 'Great merchant master, do not miss your homeland. In this Lion state, there are various drinks, foods, clothes, reserves, various joyful gardens and bath pools, you enjoy myriads of happiness here, how come you miss the Southern continent Jambudvipa?' I then kept silence."
"In the second day, the woman had prepared drinks, foods and materials for me, the other merchants had also prepared their materials and foodstuffs, and were waiting for the third day."
"At the third day, when the sun just rose, we all left the city. Outside the city, we discussed together: 'Now we should leave quickly, and should not look back on the Lion sate.' After these words, the merchants and I ran quickly towards where the Holy Horse King was. Having reached there, we saw that the Horse king was eating the herbs. After the eating, he arose, and shook the hair on his body. At that time, all the ground of Lion state became quaky. The Horse King asked three times: 'Now who wish to go to the other shore?' The merchants said: 'We now wish to go to the other shore.' The Holy Horse King shook his body and said: 'You all should go forth, do not look back on the Lion sate.' After the Holy Horse King had said that, I climbed onto the Horse King first, and then the five hundred merchants also climbed onto the horse."
"At that time, the Raksa women in Lion state suddenly heard that the merchants had left, they made heartbroken sounds, and ran out to pursue. Crying out sorrowfully, they went after the merchants. Having heard the sound, the merchants looked back, and then fell off unconsciously. Their bodies fell into the water, and then the Raksa got them and ate the fleshes of their bodies. Thereupon, only one person--myself went on going towards Southern continent Jambudvipa."
"When the Holy Horse King reached the shore, I got off from him, circumambulated the Holy Horse King three times, and left. Then, I found the road to my original home and walked on, and finally arrived my home. When my parents saw that I was returned, they hugged me delightedly, and then wept sorrowfully. Because of this, my parents' eyes, which had become dim because they had been weeping constantly with tears for me, were recovered and became as bright as before. At that time, when both the parents and the son were together, I told them in detail the past hard things that I had undergone. After hearing that, my parents said to me: 'You can save your life and come back safely today, it really comforts us, so we are no longer worried. We do not need the treasures that you earned. Since we know that we are old and weak now, we need you to support us with hand, to help us in and out. We are going to die, and you will be the host and will send off and bury our bodies.' The parents of my past lifetime had said those words to comfort me. Eliminate-Obstructions, at that time when I was a merchant master, I had undergone such dangerous and worrying things."
The Buddha told Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva: 'The Holy Horse King at that time, was Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva indeed, who had saved me from the danger and the fear of death. Eliminate-Obstructions, now I cannot speak in detail about the merits and virtues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, so I just speak briefly about the merits and virtues of the hair pores on the body of Avalokitesvara."
"Eliminate-Obstructions, on the body of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, there is a Gold hair pore, inside which there are innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of Gandharvas. They do not suffer from transmigration, but are always enjoying the supreme bliss. The heavenly substances for their uses are limitless. They are free from the mind of evil, hate, and jealousness, and have no greed, anger or ignorance. They constantly practice the noble eightfold path, and are always enjoying the Dharma-Joy. Eliminate-Obstructions, in this Gold hair pore, there is also an illuminant Wish-fulfilling precious pearl, which fulfills all the needs of those Gandharvas according to their wishes. Inside that Gold hair pore, the things are thus."
"Moreover, there is a Black hair pore, inside which there are innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of kotis of nayutas of immortals (rsi) who have supernatural powers. Some of them have one kind of supernatural power; some of them have two, three, four, or five supernatural powers; and some of them have fully the six supernatural powers. Inside that hair pore, there is also a silver ground with a gold mountain on it. The peak of the mountain is made of silver, and 37 Love-Defiled Lotus treasures are adorning the mountain. Inside that mountain, there are 84 thousand immortals (rsi). Besides the place of those immortals, there are some kalpataru trees, with the trunks of deep red, and the branches and leaves made of gold or silver. The trees are emitting precious light."
"On each side of the hair pore, there are pools of the four treasures, filled with the waters of the eight merits and virtues. Inside the pools, there are full of wonderful flowers. Beside the banks of the pools, there are heavenly wonderful fragrant trees, and Sandalwood fragrant trees. There are also many sublime kalpataru trees, with sublime heavenly crowns and ear-ornaments hanging over them, which are adorned with especially wonderful precious necklaces. Hanging over those trees, there are also many precious bells, wonderful garments, and Kausika clothes. Under each of those kalpataru trees, there are one hundred Gandharva kings, who constantly perform various music. There are also droves of deer and inspired birds, who ponder when they hear the music: 'Most sentient beings are suffering from transmigration, why do the people in Southern continent Jambudvipa see and suffer from the afflictions such as birth, aging, illness, death, being separated from the persons or things that they love, and so on?' These birds and deer then think of the name of this Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra, thereupon, many heavenly superior delicious drinks and foods, heavenly wonderful fragrances, heavenly wonderful clothes, and so on, will appear and satisfy them, according to their wishes."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said to the Bhagavan: "What I heard just now is really rare, Bhagavan." The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, what do you think then?" Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva said to the Bhagavan: 'Only by being mindful of the name of this sutra, those sentient beings can gain such benefits, peace and happiness, if anyone can hear this sutra, can also write, uphold, read, recite, make offerings to, and honor this sutra, such a person will always in peace and happiness. If any other one can writes even one word in this sutra, he will be free from the sufferings of transmigration, will never be reborn in the families of the inferior classes such as butchers, slaughterers, or the like. The bodies that he will be reborn in will never have the diseased or unhappy aspects such as hunched back, crooked feet and hands, lame leg, ugly lip, disfigurements, scabies, leprosy, and so on. The bodies that he will get will have perfect appearance, with all the faculties(indriya), and great strength. How much more so, of the merits and virtues gained by those who fully uphold, read, recite, write, make offerings to, and honor this sutra!"
The Bhagavan then praised: "Good indeed, Good indeed, Eliminate-Obstructions. You are so virtuous that can speak such Dharma. Now in this congregation, the innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of gods, dragons, Yaksas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, human and non-human beings, Upasakas, Upasikas, and so on, have all heard the Dharma that you spoke. They also got to hear this extensive Dharma-Gate because of your questions."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said to the Bhagavan: "Bhagavan, now please go on to speak this wonderful Dharma, to make the assembly of gods, humans and so forth all arouse the unbreakable faith."
The Bhagavan then praised: "Good indeed, Good indeed, Virtuous man, you can ask repeatedly in such a way, about the merits and virtues manifested inside the hair pores on the body of Avalokitesvara. Eliminate-Obstructions, there is also a Treasure Sublime hair pore, inside which there are innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of kotis of nayutas of Gandharva women, who have beautiful faces and good and wonderful figures, adorned with various ornaments. Their appearances look like heavenly goddesses. They are immune from the afflictions of greed, anger and ignorance, and their bodies do not suffer from even the least afflictions or worrying of the human world. Those Gandharva women recite the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva at the three times(*) of the day, then they get all the necessities they desire."
(* The three times: sunrise, noon, and sunset)
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said to the Buddha: "Bhagavan, I wish to enter into the hair pores to see the things inside."
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, his hair pores have no boundary, just like the space realm, which has no boundary. Virtuous man, such hair pores have neither obstruction nor the trouble of collision.
If Samanta-bhadra(Universal Goodness) Bodhisattva Mahasattva enters into and roams within one of those pores for twelve years, he still cannot reach the boundary of it. Inside each hair pores, he sees that there are Buddha-Units(kulam) dwelling, this is why Samanta-bhadra cannot see the boundaries and distances of the pores. So, how can other Bodhisattvas be able to see the boundaries of them?"
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said to the Buddha: "Bhagavan, if Samanta-bhadra Bodhisattva Mahasattva roams within a pore for twelve years but still cannot see its boundary, and there are one hundred Buddhas inside each of those hair pores, since even Samanta-bhadra Bodhisattva Mahasattva cannot get to see the boundary, how can I be able to do it?"
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, I just do not see such delicacies, wonders and quietude. The Bodhisattva, who is formless actually, manifests the vast body, which has eleven faces, and hundreds of thousands of prefect and great eyes. He had attained the corresponding stage, which is crystal clear and calm. He is greatly wise, and is free from gain and transmigration; He does not see the beings that he saves,(* Seeing is actually a leaking of energy. The Buddhas are non-leaking and motionless, thus they do not see or speak actually. They just manifest that they are doing many things.) and des not discriminate their races; He is free from wisdom and speaking -- all the phenomena, are just like shadows and echo. Virtuous man, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva is free from seeing, hearing, and is free from the Self-Nature, even the Tathagatas are unable to read his mind. Virtuous man, Samanta-bhadra and the other Bodhisattvas, who have unimaginable abilities, also cannot fully know all the transformations and manifestings done by the Avalokitesvara. Virtuous man, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva manifests myriads of things to save and ferry innumerable hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of sentient beings, makes them be reborn in Utmost Bliss World, see the Infinite-Life Tathagata, get to hear the essential of the Dharma, and achieve the Bodhi Way."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said to the Bhagavan: "I wonder, by which means can I see the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva?"
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, that Bodhisattva will come to this Saha World for sure, to see me, pay respect to, and make offerings to me."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said to the Buddha: "Bhagavan, do you know when will this Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva come?"
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, when the roots of the sentient beings in this world are mature, that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva will come here."
Then, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva Mahasattva supported his cheek with a hand and thought: "How come I have such sins and obstructions, that although my lifespan is long, I cannot have the benefit, of seeing the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, to respectfully do obeisance to him? I am just like a blind person walking on a road."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then asked the Buddha again: "Bhagavan, when will that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva come, exactly?"
The Bhagavan then smiled and said: "Virtuous man, the time of the coming of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, is timeless."
"Virtuous man, on the body of that Bodhisattva, there is also a hair pore called Sweet Dew Sprinkling. Dwelling inside this hair pore, there are innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of kotis of nayutas of heavenly people, who have attained the first Bhumi(stage), the second Bhumi, and up to the position of Bodhisattva Mahasattva of the tenth Bhumi. Eliminate-Obstructions, inside that Sweet Dew Sprinkling hair pore, there are sixty precious mountains made of gold and silver. Each of those mountains is 60 thousand yojana in height, has 99 thousand peaks, and is adorned with heavenly wonderful gold and treasures around it. And, dwelling in them, there are many Bodhisattvas, who will become Buddhas in their next lifetimes."
"Further more, innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of kotis of nayutas of Gandharvas are constantly performing music inside that hair pore."
"Eliminate-Obstructions, inside that Sweet Dew Sprinkling hair pore, there are also hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of kotis of nayutas of palaces, adorned with heavenly Mani wonderful treasures around, and decorated with myriads of pearls and necklaces. These make the people who see them feel comfortable. Inside those palaces, there are Bodhisattvas who speak delicate and wonderful Dharmas, and then go outside of the palaces and walk around severally. Within the Walking (cankramana) areas, there are 77 pools, filled with the waters of the eight merits and virtues. Inside those pools, there are full of various flowers, such as Utpala flowers, Padma flowers, Kumuda flowers, Pundarika flowers, TsoGhandaka flowers, Mandara flowers, and Maha-Mandara flowers. Within the Walking-Areas, there are also some pleasing kalpataru trees with their leaves made of heavenly gold and silver, adorned with heavenly crowns, ear-ornaments, rare Jewels, necklaces, and other various treasures hanging over them. Having walked around, at night, those Bodhisattvas recall various Mahayana Dharmas, ponder on the stage of the still quiescence, and ponder on the inferior reincarnations such as hell, hungry ghost, and so forth. Having pondered in such a way, they then enter into the Merciful Heart Samadhi. Eliminate-Obstructions, inside that hair pore, there are such Bodhisattvas."
(* Cankramana: To quietly and slowly walk around a certain area, especially to take a break after eating, hard work or sitting meditation, to clear up drowsiness. Customarily done in between long periods of meditation.)
"Further more, there is a hair pore called Vajra-face, inside which there are innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of Kinnaras. They adorn themselves with various flower-wreaths all over their bodies, and apply wonderful paste-fragrance on their bodies, everybody who sees them feels happy. They are constantly mindful of the Buddhas, the Dharmas, and the Sanghas, have attained the unbreakable faith, and are staying in the Dharmas, the forbearances, and the mercies. They ponder on the still quiescence, and are far away from transmigration. In such a way, virtuous man, those Kinnaras arouse joy from their hearts. Within that hair pore there are innumerable mountains, inside which there are diamond(Vajra) precious caves, gold precious caves, silver precious caves, Sphatika precious caves, Lotus colored precious caves, and Green precious caves. There are also some caves that fully have the seven treasures. Thus, virtuous man, inside that hair pore there are such manifestations."
"Moreover, inside it there are innumerable kalpataru trees, innumerable sandalwood great trees, and delicate wonderful fragrant trees. Appearing inside it, there are also innumerable bath pools, hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of heavenly precious palaces, and the masterly pure and pleasing precious palaces adorned with Sphatika. Such palaces are the dwelling and resting places of the Kinnaras. Having rested, they speak the delicate and wonderful Dharmas, such as the Dharma of Donating Paramita, and the Dharma of precepts keeping, forbearance, diligence, Dhyana, and Prajna Paramita. Having spoken these six Paramitas, they then walk around individually. In that area, there are gold walking (cankramana) paths and silver walking paths, around which there are kalpataru trees with their leaves made of gold and silver, adorned with various heavenly garments, precious crowns, ear-ornaments, precious bells, and necklaces hanging over them."
"In the Walking (cankramana) areas, there are also some pavilions, within which some Kinnaras are walking, pondering on the suffering of being submerged in the repetition of birth, aging, illness, and death, the suffering of poverty, the suffering of being separated from the persons or things that one loves, the suffering of being associated with the persons or things that one dislikes, the suffering of being unable to obtain what one desires, the suffering of falling into the Stung-by-Needles hell, Black ropes hell, Pickles drinking great hell, Extremely hot great hell, or Fire pits hell, and the suffering of falling into the reincarnation of hungry ghost, and so forth. Those Kinnaras ponder on the great afflictions that such sentient beings suffer from. Moreover, virtuous man, those Kinnaras enjoy the extremely profound Dharmas, ponder on the true realm of the perfect quiescence (parinirvana), and are also constantly mindful of the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva. Because of the mindfulness and reciting, they immediately gain all the materials and appliances that they need."
"Virtuous man, even the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva is difficult to encounter. Why? Because he donates to all sentient beings like their great parent, gives fearlessness to all the frightened sentient beings, and acts as a great virtuous friend of all sentient beings to enlighten and lead them."
"Virtuous man, that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva has a Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, which is difficult to encounter. If anyone can recite or be mindful of the name of it, he will be reborn in the hair pores of the Bodhisattva instead of sinking into transmigration, and, when he leaves a hair pore, he will then proceed to another hair pore and live within it. He will go on in such a manner, till he attained the stage of the perfect quiescence."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then asked the Bhagavan: "Bhagavan, where is this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani gained from?"
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani is difficult to encounter, even the Tathagatas also do not know where it is gained from, how can the Bodhisattvas in Cause-Stage know that?"
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva said to the Bhagavan: "For such a Dharani, how come the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, Arhats, Samyak-sambuddhas do not know that?"
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani is the delicate and marvelous essential heart of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, if anyone knows this delicate and marvelous essential heart, it is the same as knowing the liberation."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then asked the Bhagavan: "Bhagavan, are there any sentient beings able to know this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani?"
The Buddha said: "There is no one who can know it. Virtuous man, even innumerable corresponding Tathagatas can hardly know, how can the Bodhisattvas know this delicate and marvelous essential heart of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva? I had been to many worlds of other directions, but no one in those worlds knows this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani. If anyone can constantly accepts and holds this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, whenever he holds and recites it, 99 Ganges-river-sands Tathagatas gets together, the Bodhisattvas as many as atoms of universe also gets together, 32 gods also gets together, and the four heavenly kings guards in the four directions for him. Innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of kotis of nayutas of dragon kings, such as Sagara dragon king, No-affliction-of-hot dragon king, Techaga dragon king, Vasuki dragon king, and so on, also comes and guards this person; and the Yaksas inside the earth, the deities in the space, and so on, also guards this person."
"Virtuous man, the kotis of Tathagatas, who dwell within the hair pores on the body of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, will praise this person: 'Good indeed, Good indeed, virtuous man, you can gain this wish-fulfilling Mani treasure, your seven generations of ancestors will all attain the liberation.' Virtuous man, for that person who holds this Dharani, all the worms inside his stomach will achieve the stage of non-retrograde Bodhisattvas. If there is any other person who wears this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani on his body or neck, virtuous man, seeing this Dharani-wearing person is the same as seeing the Vajra body, also like seeing sharira and Stupa, also like seeing the Tathagata, also like seeing the person who has one-koti wisdoms. If there is any virtuous man or virtuous woman, who can be mindful of this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani according to the Dharma, this person will obtain the limitless eloquence, will gain the pure wisdom, and will gain the great mercy and compassion. Such a person can, every day, fully accomplish the merits and virtues of the six Paramitas. This person will gain the Summit-Infusion (Abhiseka) of Heavenly Turning Wheel. If the breath comes out of his mouth touches the body of another person, the person who is touched will arouse merciful mind and become free from the poison of anger, will become a non-retrograde Bodhisattva, and attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi quickly. If the person, who wears and holds this Dharani, touches the bodies of others with his hand, those who are touched will attain the stage of Bodhisattva quickly. If the person who wears and holds this Dharani, sees any men, women, boys, girls, and even the sentient beings of other forms, those who are seen will all attain the stage of Bodhisattva quickly. Such a person will never suffer from the affliction of birth, aging, illness, death, or the affliction of being separated from the persons or things that he loves, and will gain the unimaginable correspondences by the mindfulness and reciting. Now, these are the consequences of the Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani."
At that time, Eliminate-Obstructions(Sarva-nivaraNaviskambhin) Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: "Bhagavan(World Honored One), now how can I get this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani? Anyone who has it will be accordant with innumerable Dhyanas and Samadhis. Having this Dharani is the same as attaining Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi. It leads us to the door of liberation and reveals the state of Nirvana. It eliminates greed, angers and ignorance forever and perfects the Dharma-Stores. It breaks transmigrations in the five destinies and purifies all hells. It eliminates all afflictions and saves all animals. Its perfect Dharma-Flavor cannot be fully proclaimed even by Universal-Wisdom(sarva-jnana). Bhagavan, I need this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani. For this Dharani, I can fill the four great continents with treasures and donate all of them in order to write it down. Bhagavan, if there is not enough ink, paper or pen, I can prick my body to take out my blood and use it as the ink, I can peel off my skin and use it as the paper, and I can crack my bone and use it as the pen. Bhagavan, I am not miserly and will never regret for doing so, I respect this Dharani as if it is my parent."
(* The four great continents are:
1) The Southern Continent of Jambudvipa;
2) The Eastern Continent of Purva-videha;
3) The Western Continent of Avara-godaniya;
4) The Northern Continent of Uttara-kuru)
Then the Buddha told Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva: "Virtuous man, I remember that in the past, for this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, I had been to as many worlds as there are atoms in the universe, and had offered and sustained countless hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of Tathagatas. But I had never gained or heard this Dharani in any of the worlds of those Tathagatas. Afterward, there was a Buddha named Treasure-Supremacy (Ratnottama), Thus-Come One, worthy of offerings, of right and universal knowledge, perfect clarity and conduct, well gone, understanding the world, unexcelled worthy, taming and subduing hero, teacher of heavenly and human beings, Buddha, World-Honored One."
"At that time, I wept sorrowfully in front of that Buddha, and then that Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha told me: 'Virtuous man, do not weep so sorrowfully. Virtuous man, you should go there, go to the world of Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha. That Buddha knows this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani.'"
"Virtuous man, I then said farewell to Treasure-Supremacy Tathagata, left his world, and went to the Buddha-World of Lotus-Supremacy (Padmottama) Tathagata. Having arrived there, I bowed to the feet of the Buddha, with my joining palms ahead, I said: 'Bhagavan, please give me the Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, which is the king of True-Words(mantra), being mindful of even its name can eliminate sins and filth and make us attain Bodhi quickly. I am tired, because I had been to innumerable worlds but could not get it, and I am finally here now.'"
"Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata then told me the merits and virtues of this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani: 'Virtuous man, I can count the number of all atoms of the universe, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani just once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, I can count all the sands in the great oceans one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose there is a storehouse made by heavenly beings, it is 1000 yojana in length, 1000 yojana in width and 100 yojana in height, it is filled with sesame seeds and has no extra space for even one needle. The guardian of this storehouse will not become old and will not die; he throws one sesame seed out every 100 kalpas, in such a manner, he throws out all the sesame seeds in the storehouse, I can count that number, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, there are various paddies, wheat, etc. planted all over the four great continents, dragon kings make the rain fall down and then all plants are matured. People harvest all the crops and get all grains, and spread them all over the southern continent (Jambudvipa). Virtuous man, I can count all those grains one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, in the southern continent (Jambudvipa), all the great rivers that are flowing day and night are: Sido river, Kiga river, Yamuna river, Vachu river, Siadarunra river, Candana-bhaga river, Ahravadi river, Sumagata river, Simahagarasunali river, etc. Those rivers, each along with their 5000 branch rivers, are flowing into oceans day and night. Virtuous man, I can count the drops of water of all those great rivers one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, for all four-feet sentient beings in the four great continents, such as lions, elephants, horses, yaks, buffalos, tigers, wolves, monkeys, deer, goats, sheep, jackals, rabbits, and so on. I can count all the hair of them one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose there is a Diamond-hook (Vajrankusa) mountain king, which is 99 thousand yojana in height, 84 thousand yojana in depth, 84 thousand yojana in length and 84 thousand yojana in width. And a person who will never become old and will never die has to spend one kalpa to circumambulate that mountain once. For such a mountain king, I can use a Kausika-cloth(a heavenly extremely thin cloth) to wipe it off, but if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani one time, I cannot fully tell how many merits and virtues he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose there is a huge ocean which is 84 thousand yojana in depth, and its surface area is immeasurable. I can dip a single tip of hair in that ocean repeatedly to use up all the water, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot fully tell how many merits and virtues he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, I can count up all leaves of the great Srisa forest one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot fully tell how many merits and virtues he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, if all men, women and children in the four great continents become Bodhisattvas of the seven Bhumi(stage), then the sum of their merits and virtues is equal to the merits and virtues gained by chanting Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, if it rains days and nights for fully one kalpa, I can count the drops of those rainwater one by one; but if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, the number of the merits and virtues that he gains are much more than the number of those drops.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, if one billion Tathagatas stay together in one place, any some person offers and sustains them with various clothes, drinks, foods, seats, beds, soup, medicine, and many other goods, in such a way those Tathagatas count the merits and virtues of this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani together for one heavenly kalpa, but they cannot figure out the sum.'"
"'I also cannot figure out that not only when I am now in this world, but also when I am in Samadhi.'"
"'Virtuous man, this Dharma is delicate and wonderful, it corresponds to all preparative practices, analytical meditations and wisdom. You will gain this delicate and wonderful Heart-Dharma in the future. That Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is expert at this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani. Virtuous man, in the past, after the preparative practices, I had been to countless hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of worlds, and finally I arrived the world of Infinite-Life(Amitayus) Tathagata. For this Dharma, I joined my palms together, wept and cried in front of him.'"
"'At that time, because Infinite-Life Tathagata knows my present and future, he said to me: 'Virtuous man, do you need this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King-Meditation-and-Practice-Yoga?' I then replied: 'Yes I need this Dharma, Bhagavan, I need this Dharma, Sugata(well gone). I need it like a thirsty person needs water. Bhagavan, in order to learn this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, I had been to innumerable worlds, had offered and sustained innumerable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of Tathagatas, but I have not gained this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King-Dharani. Bhagavan, please heal my foolishness, just like making a poor person rich, like telling the correct way for a person who lost his way, like planting Sala-trees beside the thoroughfare to make shelters under the flaming sun. Bhagavan, I am thirsty for this Dharma, please teach me, to make me stay in the ultimate enlightenment and wear the Vajra-Armor.''"
"'At that time, Infinite-Life Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with the Kalavinka (*) sound: 'Virtuous man, do you see that, for this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, this Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha have traveled throughout innumerable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of worlds. Virtuous man, you should tell him this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, because this Tathagata comes for it.'"
(* Kalavinka: A kind of bird. Kalavinkas are good at singing, their sound are extremely dulcet.)
"'Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said to the Bhagavan: 'Anyone who did not see the Mandala(altar) cannot gain this Dharma, much less to know the Lotus Mudra(gesture), Holding-Mani Mudra, Universal-King Mudra, and the pure nature of the Mandala. So now I am telling you how to set up the Mandala: The Mandala is five-elbows in length and five-elbows in width, place an image of Infinite-Life Buddha at the center of the Mandala, the cloth used should be Indra-Mira precious MO, PadMa-Raga precious MO, Maragada precious MO, Sphatika precious MO, Suvaranarubo precious MO. On the right side of Infinite-Life Tathagata, place an image of Great-Mani-Treasure Bodhisattva, On the left side of the Buddha, place an image of Six-Words-Great-Enlightenment(Four arms Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva). For the four arms image, the skin color is as white as the moon, and the body is decorated with various jewels. The left hand is holding a lotus, on the lotus there is a Mani pearl; the right hand is holding a rosary(prayer beads); the lower two hands are making a Universal-King Mudra. Under the feet of Six-Words-Great-Enlightenment, place some heavenly beings who are decorated with various jewels. Each of those heavenly being is holding an incense burner in his right hand, and holding a bowl filled with treasures in his left hand. At the four corners of the Mandala, place the four guardian gods who are holding various weapons and staffs. At the four outer corner of the Mandala, place four merit-bottles(purna-ghata/kalasa) filled with various Mani jewels. If any virtuous man or woman is ready to enter this Mandala, he can write down the names of all his relatives onto a paper, and throw the paper into the Mandala, then all those relatives will attain the Bodhisattva position, will get away from sufferings and attain Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi quickly. Acarya(teacher)s should not teach this method indiscreetly. If there are some persons who are good at teaching others with expedient and skillful means, trustfully believe in Mahayana, diligent in preparative practices, and willing to seek for liberation, for such persons, Acarya(teacher)s should teach them this method and should not teach them the non-Buddhist theories.''"
"'At that time, Infinite-Life Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva: "Virtuous man, if the virtuous men or women have those five colored precious MOs, then they can set up this Mandala; but if they are poor or unable to get the precious MOs, what should they do?' Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva replied: 'Bhagavan, as an expedient means, they can make those MOs with various colored materials, and make offerings with various fragrant flowers. If they can not even do that, or when they are in lodgings, journeys, or when they are walking, the Acarya(teacher)s can create the Mandala with their mental power and make the Acarya Mudra.''"
"At that time, Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva: 'Virtuous man, please tell me this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King-Dharani, I request it for the sake of innumerable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of sentient beings, to make them escape from the sufferings of transmigrations and attain Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi quickly.' Thereupon, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva told this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani to Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata:
Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum
During the speech of this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, the four great continents and all heavenly palaces were shaking like banana leaves, the four great oceans were chopping and surging, all the obstruction-making beings, including Vinayaka(Pig-head god and Elephant-nose god)s, Yaksas, Raksas, Kumbhanda(energy-eating ghost)s, Maha-kalas, and so on, with their relatives and other demons, were all frightened, they dispersed and escaped hastily."
"At that time, Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha spread his elephant-king-trunk like arm, and gave Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva a jewel-necklace which is worth millions of pearls, as an offering. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva accepted that necklace and presented it to Infinite-Life(Amitayus) Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha. Infinite-Life Buddha accepted, and then presented it back to Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata. Having gained this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, Lotus-Supremacy Buddha then returned to his Buddha-world."
"For this reason, virtuous man, I had heard this Dharani in the world of that Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha in the past."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said to the Buddha: "Bhagavan, now how can I gain this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani? Bhagavan, this accordant Dharani is an Amrita(holy refreshing cool drink) full of virtuous flavors. Bhagavan, if I get to hear this Dharani, I will keep reciting it in my mind, accept and uphold it without laziness, to make all sentient beings hear this Dharani and gain great merits and virtues. So Bhagavan, please tell me."
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, if anyone writes this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, that is equal to writing 84 thousand Dharma-Stores. If anyone uses heavenly gold and jewels to make as many Buddha-statues as there are fine dust in the world and then praises, offers and sustains them for one day, the good results that he will gain are less than the good results gained by writing one of the words of this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani. The merits and virtues of this Dharani is unimaginable, it can lead us to the ultimate liberation. If any virtuous man or virtuous woman read this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani one time in the correct manner, he will achieve these 108 Samadhis including Holding-Mani-Jewels Samadhi, Vast Samadhi, Purify-hells-and-animal-realms Samadhi, Vajra-Armor Samadhi, Wonder-flat-feet Samadhi. Enter-all-expedient-means Samadhi, Enter-all-Dharmas Samadhi, Contemplate-Sublime Samadhi, Dharma-Vehicle-Sound Samadhi, Get-away-from-Greed-Anger-and-Ignorance Samadhi, No-limitation Samadhi, Six-Paramita-Gate Samadhi, Earth-Hold-Great-Wonderful-High Samadhi, Save-all-frightened-beings Samadhi, Reveal-all-Buddha-Worlds Samadhi, Observe-all-Buddhas Samadhi, etc."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then asked the Buddha: "Bhagavan, now where can I get this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani? Please tell me."
The Buddha said: "Virtuous man, in
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva said to the Bhagavan: "So now I wish to go to
The Buddha said: "Good, good, virtuous man, that Dharma-master is uncommon and worshipful, because he can uphold this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, seeing him is the same as seeing the Tathagata, is the same as seeing a mass of blessings and virtues, is the same as seeing an accumulation of treasure, is the same as seeing the Wishes-fulfilling-Mani-pearl, is the same as seeing Dharma Store, and is the same as seeing the savior. Virtuous man, when you see that Dharma-master, you should not despise or doubt him, otherwise I am afraid that you would lose the position of Bodhisattva and fall into the sufferings. Virtuous man, that Dharma-master does not keep precepts perfectly and has a wife, his Kashaya(robe) is stained with feces and urine, and his demeanor is not majestic."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said to the Bhagavan: "It will be as the Buddha taught". Thereupon, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva, together with innumerable Bodhisattvas, monks, nuns, elders, boys, girls, corteges, started off to make offerings. They were holding heavenly umbrellas, various offerings, precious crowns, jewelries, sublime necklaces, finger rings, precious bracelets, Kausika clothes, colorful silk fabrics, and beds. They were also holding various exquisite flowers, including utpala flowers, Wakumuna flowers, Wabunnalika flowers, Mandara flowers, Maha-Mandara flowers, Manjusaka flowers, Maha-Manjusaka flowers, Udumbara flowers, and many tree-flowers, including Campaka flowers, Kalavela flowers, Patala flowers, Ahdhimukdaka flowers, Variska-sawakunda flowers, Somana flowers, Malika flowers. Mandarin ducks, white cranes and saris were flying and following them. They were also holding hundreds kind of leaves of green, yellow, red, white, purple, Sphatika, and many other colors, and holding various rare fruits. With so many offerings, they went to
When they arrived, they bowed at the feet of the Dharma-master, although they saw that the Dharma-master does not keep precepts perfectly and does not behave majestically, they made offerings to him with umbrellas, materials, fragrant flowers, clothes, adornments, etc. Having made so many offerings, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva joined his palms in front of the Dharma-master and said: "The great Dharma store is the store of Amrita(nectar) flavor, it is an extremely deep Dharma-ocean, and is as vast as the universes. It makes all living beings listen to your preaching. When you are preaching Dharmas, Gods, dragons, Yaksas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Mahoragas, human and nonhuman beings all come to listen to your preaching. Those audiences have gained so many blessings and merits, they are like great Vajras who can liberate the sentient beings from the tangles, shackles, and retributions of transmigrations(samsara). Because the people who live in this
At that time the Dharma-master said: "Virtuous man, are you joking or serious? Sage, is your goal to eliminate the sufferings of transmigrations for all worlds? Virtuous man, if anyone gets this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, then the three poisons: greed, anger, and ignorance cannot pollute him. He is like a treasure with pure-gold-violet-tinge color, which cannot to be stained by dust and dirt. Virtuous man, this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani is so sacrosanct, if anyone wears it on his body, holds it or carries it with him, he also will not be polluted by greed, anger, and ignorance."
At that time, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva held the feet of the Dharma-master and said: "I have not yet attained the clear eyes, and I have lost the wonderful way, who can be my guide? Now I am thirsty for Dharma and willing to taste the flavors of Dharma. Now I have not yet achieve the peerless correct perfect enlightenment(Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi), please make us excel at cultivating the Dharma-seed of Bodhi, purify our material bodies, make all our virtues indestructible, and let all sentient beings know this Dharma."
The great congregation then said together: "Please do not keep it to yourself, Dharma-master, please give us this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King Dharma, to make us achieve Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi quickly, to make us able to turn the twelve Dharma-Wheels, relieve the sufferings of all sentient beings, and liberate them from the transmigrations. We have never heard of this Great-Enlightening-King before. Now please give us this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King Dharani, to make us able to be refuges for all those who are helpless and have no dependence, to ignite the brilliant torch in the dark night."
The Dharma-master said: "This Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King Dharani is difficult to encounter, it is as indestructible as the Vajra. Having it is like seeing the utmost wisdom, the endless wisdom, and the Tathagata's pure wisdom; is like entering the supreme liberation, which is far apart from greed, anger, ignorance, and the sufferings of transmigrations; it is like Dhyana, liberation, Samadhi, and Samapatti; is like entering all Dharmas, so that one will constantly be liked by sages."
"Suppose there are virtuous persons, in order to seek for liberation, they pay homage to and practice various non-Buddhist dharmas in many places. They may worship Sakra-devanam-indra(God of the 33 heavens), or worship laymen, or worship green-robe people, or worship God of the sun, or worship Mahesvara(The Greatest god of three-realms), or worship the Narayana God; and they may stay among Garudas or naked-heretics(Nirgrantha). They love those places, but they cannot be liberated from the ignorance and falsehood. They only have the name of cultivating but moil in vain. In fact, all heavenly beings, including the Great-Brahma God, Sakra-devanam-indra, Narayana God, Mahesvara, Gods of suns, Gods of moons, Gods of wind, Gods of water, Gods of fire, Yama dharma king, the four great heavenly kings, are constantly seeking for my Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King, because if they get my Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King, they will all be liberated."
"This Dharani eliminates all obstructions, it is the mother of all Tathagata's Prajna Paramita. When proclaiming this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King, all Tathagatas, Arhats, Samyak-sambuddhas and Bodhisattvas should respectfully join their palms and pay homage to it. Virtuous man, this Dharma is the most supreme, quintessential, pure, delicate and wonderful Dharma in Mahayana. Why? Because it is come from all Mahayana Sutras, Geya(repeating verse)s, Vyakarana(insignia-awarding)s, Gatha(verse)s, Avadana(parable)s, Jataka(Causal-stage life)s, Vaipulya(corrective and extensive)s, Adbhuta(rare)-Dharmas, Upadesa(discuss)s, etc."
(* Note: Sutra, Geya, Vyakarana, Gatha, Avadana, etc. are the twelve traditional genre divisions of the Buddhist canon)
"Virtuous man, having this prime mother, do we need more to achieve the still liberation? For example, someone harvests his fine rice paddies, carries them home, fills his vessels with the paddies, basks them to make them dry, knocks, fans and shucks them and throws away the chaffs, and finally he get the fine grains. Likewise, other Yogas are like those chaffs, and this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King is like the fine grains in the midst of all Yogas. Virtuous man, for the sake of this Dharma, Bodhisattvas practice Donating Paramita, Precepts-keeping Paramita, Forbearance Paramita, Diligence Paramita, Dhyana Paramita, and Prajna Paramita. Virtuous man, this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King is difficult to encounter, chanting it only once can make all Tathagatas make offerings to the practitioner with clothes, drinks, foods, soups, medicines, seats, beds, and other materials."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then said to the Dharma-master: "Please give me this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani." When the Dharma-master was still considering, a voice suddenly came from the sky, saying: "Sage, please give him this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King." The Dharma-master then thought: "Where did this voice come from?" And once again the voice from the sky said: "Sage, now the preparative practices and wishes of this Bodhisattva are coincident with the Dharma, please give him this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King." At that time, the Dharma-master saw that in the sky, Lotus-hand(Padma-pani) Bodhisattva and Lotus- fortune Bodhisattva appeared. Having the autumnal moon like skin color, wearing precious crowns on their head, and with the beautiful topknots, they were representing the universal wisdom which is especially excellent, wonderful and sublime.
Having seen such a manifesting, the Dharma-master said to Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva: "Virtuous man, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva told me to give you the Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King Dharani. You should listen carefully." Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then joined his palms and sincerely listened to the speech of the Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King Dharani:
Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum
During the speech of this Dharani, the earths were shaking in six ways, and afterward, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva gained this Samadhi, and also gained Delicate-and-wonderful Samadhi, Arousing-Mercy-and-Compassion Samadhi, and Corresponding-Practices Samadhi. Having gained those Samadhis, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva made offerings to the Dharma-master with plenty of the seven treasures that can fill up the four great continents.
At that time the Dharma-master said: "Now what you offer are not worth even one word of the Dharani, how can you make offerings to the Six-Words-Great-Enlightening Dharani? I do not accept your offerings. Virtuous man, you are a Bodhisattva, a sage, not a mundane person."
Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva then made offerings to the Dharma-master again with many jewel necklaces each worth millions of pearls. The Dharma-master then said: "Virtuous man, listen to me, you should use these treasures to make offerings to Sakyamuni Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha."
Thereupon, Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva bowed at the feet of the Dharma-master, having done that, he was satisfied and said farewell to the Dharma-master. He then went back to the
At that time the Bhagavan Sakyamuni Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha said: "Virtuous man, I know that you have gained it." "Yes Bhagavan."
Subsequently, at that time, 77 koti Tathagatas, Arhats, Samyak-sambuddhas came and congregated, with one voice, those Tathagatas spoke a Dharani:
Namo saptanam Samyak-sambuddha kotinam tadyata, "Om Cale Cule Cundhi Soha"
The Buddha said: "When those 77 koti Tathagatas, Arhats, Samyak-sambuddhas are speaking this Dharani, in one of the pores on the body of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, which is called sunlight, there are immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of Bodhisattvas. Inside that sunlight pore, there are also 12 thousand gold mountains; each of those mountains has 1200 peaks, and is adorned with lotus and colorful jewels around it. Around those mountains, there are also heavenly Mani pearls and happy gardens. Inside that pore, there are also immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions of golden precious sublime edifices, with hundreds of thousands of clothes, pearls and jade-like jewelries(Keyura) hanging over them. Inside those edifices, there are many delicate and wonderful wish-granting pearls, which offer all needed materials for those Bodhisattvas. At this time, those Bodhisattvas entered into the edifices and chanted the Six-Words-Great-Enlightening Dharani, and then they saw the stage of Nirvana. Having reached the stage of Nirvana, they saw the Tathagata, and also saw Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and then they became joyful. After that, those Bodhisattvas went out from the edifices and walked around the precious gardens, and then went to the bath pools. Afterward, they went to the lotus colored precious mountain, stayed at one side, sat cross-legged in the lotus position, and entered into Samadhi."
"Virtuous man, those are the Bodhisattvas dwelling in that sunlight pore". The Buddha said, "And there is another pore called Sakra-devanam-Indra-king, inside it there are immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of non-retrograde Bodhisattvas. Inside that Sakra-devanam-indra-king pore, there are also 80 thousand heavenly golden precious mountains. In those mountains there is a wish-granting Mani called lotus light, which gives those Bodhisattvas whatever they want according to their thoughts. In those mountains, the Bodhisattvas can get any drinks and foods as long as they have a thought of wanting them. They do not worry about or suffer from transmigration, and constantly concentrate on their bodies, without any other thoughts."
"Virtuous man, there is also a pore named Great-Medicine. Inside it there are immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of Initial-resolve Bodhisattvas. Virtuous man, there are 99 thousand mountains inside that pore, in those mountains, there are Vajra precious caves, gold precious caves, silver precious caves, Indra-nilamukta precious caves, lotus colored precious caves, green precious caves, Sphatika colored precious caves. Each of those mountain-kings has 80 thousand peaks, adorned with myriad of wish-granting Mani and various wonderful jewelries. Inside those peaks, there are many Gandharvas who often perform music. Those Initial-resolve Bodhisattvas often meditate on emptiness, non-form, no-self, the suffering of being born, the suffering of aging, the suffering of having illness, the suffering of death, the suffering of being separated from what we love, the suffering of being associated with what we dislike, the suffering of being fallen into Avici hell, the suffering of the sentient beings in Black-ropes hell, the suffering of the sentient beings in the destinies such as hungry ghost, and so on. When meditating on those things, they are staying at those mountains, sitting cross-legged in the lotus position and then enter into Samadhis."
"Virtuous man, there is another pore named Painting-king. Inside it there are immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of Pratyeka-buddhas, who are emitting flaming light. Inside that pore, there are hundreds of thousands of millions of mountain-kings, which are adorned with the seven jewels. On those mountain kings, there are various Kalpataru trees, their leaves are made of gold or silver, and they are adorned with innumerable hundreds kinds of treasures. Moreover, many precious crowns, jade ornaments, clothes, various precious necklace(keyura), various precious bells, and Kausika clothes are hanging over those trees, and the gold bells and silver bells are tinkling. Those mountains are full of such Kalpataru trees, innumerable Pratyeka-buddhas are dwelling there, constantly expounding the Sutras, Geya(repeating verse)s, Vyakarana(insignia-awarding)s, Gatha(verse)s, Avadana(parable)s, Jataka(Causal-stage life)s, Vaipulya(the corrective and extensive)s, Adbhuta(rare)-Dharmas, Upadesa(discuss)s, etc. Eliminate-Obstructions, at this time, those Pratyeka-buddhas came out of that pore."
"Finally, there is a pore named Streamer-king, which is 80 thousand yojana in width and length. Inside it, there are 80 thousand mountains adorned with various wonderful treasures and wish fulfilling Manis. On those mountains, there are innumerable kalpataru trees, innumerable hundreds of thousands of millions of sandalwood(Candana) trees, and innumerable hundreds of thousands of millions of huge trees. There are also diamond(Vajra) precious grounds, and there are 99 edifices, with hundreds of thousands of millions of gold, treasures, pearls, precious necklace, clothes hanging over them. So this is the scene in that pore."
Having spoken to Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva, the Buddha said to Ananda: "For anyone who does not know the karma retributions of spiting, urinating, defecating, or doing other bad things in sublime abodes(temples, monasteries, etc.), now I am telling you the retributions."
"If anyone spits onto the ground, he will be reborn as a needle-mouth insect in a Sala tree for 12 years."
"If anyone urinates, or defecates onto the ground of Sangha abodes(temples, monasteries, etc.), he will be reborn as a nasty worm in urine or excrements in Varanasi big city."
"If anyone uses the teeth-wood(danta-kastha)s without permission, he will be reborn as a tortoise, fish, or makara fish."
"If anyone steals the oil, hemps, rice, beans or other things of Sangha(monk)s, he will be reborn as a hungry ghost, with unkempt head hair, staring body hair, mountain-like big paunch, needle-like narrow throat, and will be burnt out, with only the bones remain. The retribution of this person is so miserable."
"If anyone despises or disdains Sanghas, he will be reborn in a poor and low family, and wherever he will be born, he will not have a good look or good body. His body will be hunchbacked, bended and short. After the lifetime in such a body, in the next lifetime, he will be thin and will have many illnesses. His arms and feet will be crooked, brimful pus and bloods will be flowing on his body. He will suffer from these miserable retributions for hundreds of thousands of myriads of years."
"If anyone steals Sanghas' lands, he will fall into the great howling hell, swallowing the iron balls, his lips, teeth, palates, and throat will all be burnt out. His heart, liver, intestines, stomach and his whole body will also be burning. Subsequently, a karma wind will blow to him and make him relive, and then Yama jailers will drive and force this sinner. Affected by his own karma, he will has a huge tongue, with hundreds of thousands of myriads of iron ploughs furrowing on it. Having suffered from such miserable retributions for thousands of myriads of years and gotten out of this hell, he will then enter into the great fire caldron hell. In there, the Yama jailers will drive and force the sinner, sting his tongue with hundreds of thousands of myriads of needles. Due to the karma force, he will not die. The jailers then will drive him to the fire pits and throw him into them, and then drive him to the Hopeless-river(Nai He) and throw him into it, and he will not die too. In a similar way, he will pass through many other hells, for three kalpas. Afterward, this person will be born in a poor and low family in the southern continent Jambudvipa, and will be blind. These retributions are really painful, so be careful, do not steal any property of Sanghas."
"For the precept keeping Bhiksus, they should accept and uphold the three robes. When they enter into the kings' palace, they should dress the first great robe; when they are in the assembly of Sanghas, they should dress the second robe; when they are working, in villages, towns, cities, or walking, they should dress the third robe. Bhiksus should accept and uphold the three robes in such a way, then if they attain the precepts they will also attain merits and wisdom. I say that Bhiksus should keep precepts, and should not steal any property of Sanghas. For example, if a person is constantly dwelling in a fire pit, or have taken a heavy burden of poison, he can still be saved; but if he steals the properties of Sanghas, he will not be able to be saved."
At that time, wise-life(Ayusmat) Ananda said to the Bhagavan: "We will fully study and practice as the Buddha taught. Bhiksus should accept and uphold the precepts(pratimoksa), earnestly stay in and protect the teachings of the Bhagavans."
Afterward, wise-life(Ayusmat) Ananda bowed at the feet of the Buddha, circumambulated the Buddha and then withdrew. The great voice-hearers(Sravaka) returned back to their dwellings severally. The gods, dragons, Yaksas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, human and non-human beings of all worlds, hearing what the Buddha had said, were very joyful. They believed and accepted it, made obeisance to the Buddha and withdrew.
(End of Translation)
