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.