Ch.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
CHAPTER XII.
EXERTION.
Thereafter
the Bodhisattva Bhaishagyarâga and the Bodhisattva
Mahâpratibhâna, with a retinue of twenty hundred thousand
Bodhisattvas, spoke before the face of the Lord the
following words: Let the Lord be at ease in this respect;
we will after the extinction of the Tathâgata expound
this Paryâya to (all) creatures, though we are aware, O
Lord, that at that period there shall be malign beings,
having few roots of goodness, conceited, fond of gain and
honour, rooted in unholiness, difficult to tame, deprived
of good will, and full of unwillingness. Nevertheless, O
Lord, we will at that period read, keep, preach, write,
honour, respect, venerate, worship this Sûtra; with
sacrifice of body and life, O Lord, we will divulge this
Sûtra. Let the Lord be at ease.
Thereupon five hundred monks of the assembly, both such
as were under training and such as were not, said to the
Lord: We also, O Lord, will exert ourselves to divulge
this Dharmaparyâya, though in other worlds. Then all the
disciples of the Lord, both such as were under training
and such as were not, who had received from the Lord the
prediction as to their (future) supreme enlightenment,
all the eight thousand monks raised their joined hands
towards the Lord and said: Let the Lord be at case. We
also will divulge this Dharmaparyâya, after the complete
extinction of the Lord, in the last days, the last
period, though in other worlds. For in this Saha-world, O
Lord, the creatures are conceited, possessed of few roots
of goodness, always vicious in their thoughts, wicked,
and naturally perverse.
Then the noble matron Gautamî, the sister of the Lord's
mother, along with six hundred nuns, some of them being
under training, some being not, rose from her seat,
raised the joined hands towards the Lord and remained
gazing up to him. Then the Lord addressed the noble
matron Gautamî: Why dost thou stand so dejected, gazing
up to the Tathâgata? (She replied): I have not been
mentioned by the Tathâgata, nor have I received from him
a prediction of my destiny to supreme, perfect
enlightenment. (He said): But, Gautamî, thou hast
received a prediction with the prediction regarding the
whole assembly. Indeed, Gautamî, thou shalt from
henceforward, before the face of thirty-eight hundred
thousand myriads of kotis of Buddhas, be a Bodhisattva
and preacher of the law. These six thousand nuns also,
partly perfected in discipline, partly not, shall along
with others become Bodhisattvas and preachers of the law
before the face of the Tathâgatas. Afterwards, when thou
shalt have completed the course of a Bodhisattva, thou
shalt become, under the name of Sarvasattvapriyadarsana
(i. e. lovely to see for all beings), a Tathâgata, an
Arhat, &c., endowed with science and conduct, &c.
&c. And that Tathâgata Sarvasattvapriyadarsana, O
Gautami, shall give a prediction by regular succession to
those six thousand Bodhisattvas concerning their destiny
to supreme, perfect enlightenment.
Then the nun Yasodharâ, the mother of Rahula, thought
thus: The Lord has not mentioned my name. And the Lord
comprehending in his own mind what was going on in the
mind of the nun Yasodharâ said to her: I announce to
thee, Yasodharâ, I declare to thee: Thou also shalt
before the face of ten thousand kotis of Buddhas become a
Bodhisattva and preacher of the law, and after regularly
completing the course of a Bodhisattva thou shalt become
a Tathâgata, named Rasmisatasahasraparipûrnadhvaga, an
Arhat, &c., endowed with science and conduct, &c.
&c., in the world Bhadra; and the lifetime of that
Lord Rasmisatasahasrapariptirnadhvaga shall be unlimited.
When the noble matron Gautami, the nun, with her suite of
six thousand nuns, and Yasodhara, the nun, with her suite
of four thousand nuns, heard from the Lord their future
destiny to supreme, perfect enlio,htenment, they uttered,
in wonder and amazement, this stanza:
1. O Lord, thou art the trainer, thou art the leader;
thou art the master of the world, including the gods;
thou art the giver of comfort, thou who art worshipped by
men and gods. Now, indeed, we feel satisfied.
After uttering this stanza the nuns said to the Lord: We
also, O Lord, will exert ourselves to divulge this
Dharmaparyâya in the last days, though in other worlds.
Thereafter the Lord looked towards the eighty hundred
thousand Bodhisattvas who were gifted with magical spells
and capable of moving forward the wheel that never rolls
back. No sooner were those Bodhisattvas regarded by the
Lord than they rose from their seats, raised their joined
hands towards the Lord and reflected thus: The Lord
invites us to make known the Dharmaparyâya. Agitated by
that thought they asked one another: What shall we do,
young men of good family, in order that this
Dharmaparyâya may in future be made known as the Lord
invites us to do? Thereupon those young men of good
family, in consequence of their reverence for the Lord
and their own pious vow in their previous course, raised
a lion's roar before the Lord: We, O Lord, will in
future, after the complete extinction of the Lord, go in
all directions in order that creatures shall write, keep,
meditate, divulge this Dharmaparyâya, by no other's power
but the Lord's. And the Lord, staying in another world,
shall protect, defend, and guard us.
Then the Bodhisattvas unanimously in a chorus addressed
the Lord with the following stanzas:
2. Be at ease, O Lord. After thy complete extinction, in
the horrible last period of the world, we will proclaim
this sublime Sûtra.
3. We will suffer, patiently endure, O Lord, the
injuries, threats, blows and threats with sticks at the
hands of foolish men.
4. At that dreadful last epoch men will be malign,
crooked, wicked, dull, conceited, fancying to have come
to the limit when they have not.
5. 'We do not care but to live in the wilderness and wear
a patched cloth; we lead a frugal life;' so will they
speak to the ignorant.
6. And persons greedily attached to enjoyments will
preach the law to laymen and be honoured as if they
possessed the six transcendent qualities.
7. Cruel-minded and wicked men, only occupied with
household cares, will enter our retreat in the forest and
become our calumniators.
8. The Tîrthikas, themselves bent on profit and honour,
will say of us that we are so, and-shame on such
monks!-they will preach their own fictions.
9. Prompted by greed of profit and honour they will
compose Sûtras of their own invention and then, in the
midst of the assembly, accuse us of plagiarism.
10. To kings, princes, king's peers, as well as to
Brahmans and commoners, and to monks of other
confessions,
11. They will speak evil of us and propagate the
Tîrtha-doctrine. We will endure all that out of reverence
for the great Seers.
12. And those fools who will not listen to us, shall
(sooner or later) become enlightened, and therefore will
we forbear to the last.
13. In that dreadful, most terrible period of frightful
general revolution will many fiendish monks stand up as
our revilers.
14. Out of respect for the Chief of the world we will
bear it, however difficult it be; girded with the girdle
of forbearance will I proclaim this Sûtra.
15. I do not care for my body or life, O Lord, but as
keepers of thine entrusted deposit we care for
enlightenment.
16. The Lord himself knows that in the last pericd there
are (to be) wicked monks who do not understand mysterious
speech.
17. One will have to bear frowning looks, repeated
disavowal (or concealment), expulsion from the
monasteries, many and manifold abuses.
18. Yet mindful of the command of the Lord of the world
we will in the last period undauntedly proclaim this
Sûtra in the midst of the congregation.
19. We will visit towns and villages everywhere, and
transmit to those who care for it thine entrusted
deposit, O Lord.
20. O Chief of the world, we will deliver thy message; be
at ease then, tranquil and quiet, great Seer.
21. Light of the world, thou knowest the disposition of
all who have flocked hither from every direction, (and
thou knowest that) we speak a word of truth.