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 XXIII.
GADGADASVARA.
At
that moment the Lord Sâkyamuni, the Tathâgata, &c.,
darted a flash of light from the circle of hair between
his eyebrows, one of the characteristic signs of a great
man, by which flash of light hundred thousands of myriads
of kotis of Buddha-fields, equal to the sands of eighteen
rivers Ganges, became illuminated. Beyond those
Buddha-fields, equal, &c., is the world called
Vairokanarasmipratimandita (i.e. embellished by the rays
of the sun). There dwells, lives, exists the Tathâgata
named Kamaladalavimalanakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña,
who, surrounded and attended by a large and immense
assembly of Bodhisattvas, preached the law. Immediately
the ray of light flashing from the circle of hair between
the eyebrows of the Lord Sâkyamuni, the Tathâgata,
&c., filled the world Vairokanarasmipratimandita with
a great lustre. In that world Vairokanarasmipratimandita
there was a Bodhisattva Mahâsattva called Gadgadasvara,
who had planted roots of goodness, who had before seen
similar luminous flashes emitted by many Tathâgatas,
&c., and who had acquired many Samâdhis, such as the
Samâdhi Dhvagâgrakeyûra (i. e. bracelet at the upper end
of the banner staff), Saddharma-pundarîka (i. e. the
Lotus of the True Law), Vimaladatta (i.e. given by
Vimala), Nakshatraragâvikrîdita (i.e. sport of the king
of asterisms, the moon god), Anilambha [Of uncertain
meaning], Gñânamudrâ (i.e. the seal of science),
Kandrapradîpa (i.e. moon-light), Sarvarutakausalya (i.e.
skill in all sounds), Sarvapunyasamukkaya (i.e.
compendium or collection of all piety), Prasâdavatî (i.e.
the favourably-disposed lady), Riddhivikrîdita (i.e.
sport of magic), Gñanolkâ (i.e. torch of knowledge),
Vyûharâga (i.e. king of expansions or speculations),
Vimalaprabhâ (i.e. spotless lustre), Vimalagarbha (i.e.
of spotless interior part), Apkritsna [I.e. belonging to
the mystic rite, called Âpokasina in Pali], Sûryâvarta
(i.e. sun-turn); in short, he had acquired many hundred
thousand myriads of kotis of Samâdhis equal to the sands
of the river Ganges. Now, the flash of light came down
upon that Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara. Then the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara rose from his seat,
put his upper robe upon one shoulder, fixed his right
knee on the ground, stretched his joined hands towards
the Lord Buddha, and said to the Tathâgata
Kamaladalavimalanakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña: O Lord, I
would resort to the Saha-world to see, salute, wait upon
the Lord Sâkyamuni, the Tathâgata, &c.; to see and
salute Mañgusrî, the prince royal; to see the
Bodhisattvas Bhaishagyarâga, Pradânasûra,
Nakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña,Visishtakâritra,Vyûharâga,
Bhaishagyarâgasamudgata.
Then the Lord
Kamaladalavimalanakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña, the
Tathâgata, &c., said to the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva
Gadgadasvara: On coming to the Saha-world, young man of
good family, thou must not conceive a low opinion of it.
That world, young man of good family, has ups and downs,
consists of earth, is replete with mountains of Kâla,
filled with gutters. The Lord Sâkyamuni, the Tathâgata,
&c., is short of stature, and so are the Bodhisattvas
Mahâsattvas, whereas thou, young man of good family, hast
got a body forty-two hundred thousand yoganas high, and
myself have got a body sixty-eight hundred thousand
yoganas high. And, young man of good family, thou art
lovely, handsome, of pleasant appearance, endowed with a
full bloom of extremely fine colour, and abundantly blest
with hundred thousands of holy signs. Therefore then,
young man of good family, when you have come to the
Saha-world, do not conceive a low opinion of the
Tathâgata, nor of the Bodhisattvas, nor of that
Buddha-field.
Thus addressed, the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara
said to the Lord
Kamaladalavimalanakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña, the
Tathâgata, &c.: I shall do, Lord, as the Lord
commands; I shall go to that Saha-world by virtue of the
Lord's resolution, of the Lord's power, of the Lord's
might, of the Lord's disposal, of the Lord's foresight.
Whereon the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara, without
leaving that Buddha-field and without leaving his seat,
plunged into so deep a meditation that immediately after,
on a sudden, there appeared before the Tathâgata on the
Gridhrakûta-mountains in the Saha-world eighty-four
hundred thousand myriads of kotis of lotuses on gold
stalks with silver leaves and with cups of the hue of
rosy lotuses and Butea Frondosa.
On seeing the appearance of this mass of lotuses the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Mañgusrî, the prince royal, asked
the Lord Sakyamunî, the Tathâgata, &c.: By what cause
and by whom, O Lord, have been produced these eighty-four
hundred thousand myriads of kotis of lotuses on gold
stalks with silver leaves and with cups of the hue of
rosy lotuses and Butea Frondosa; Whereon the Lord replied
to Mañgusrî, the prince royal: It is, Mañgusrî, the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara, who accompanied and
attended by eighty-four hundred thousand myriads of kotis
of Bodhisattvas arrives from the east, from the world
Vairokanarasmipratimandita, the Buddha-field of the Lord
Kamaladalavimalanakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña, the
Tathâgata, &c., at this Saha-world to see, salute,
wait upon me, and to hear this Dharmaparyâya of the Lotus
of the True Law. Then Mañgusrî, the prince royal, said to
the Lord: What mass of roots of goodness, O Lord, has
that young man of good family collected, that he has
deserved to obtain such a distinction? And what
meditation is it, O Lord, that the Bodhisattva practises;
Let us also learn that meditation, O Lord, and practise
that meditation. And let us see that Bodhisattva, Lord;
see how the colour, outward shape, character, figure, and
behaviour of that Bodhisattva is. May the Lord deign to
produce such a token that the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva be
admonished by it to come to this Saha-world.
Then the Lord Sâkyamuni, the Tathâgata, &c., said to
the Lord Prabhûtaratna, the Tathâgata, &c., who was
completely extinct: Produce such a token, Lord, that the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara be admonished by it
to come to this Saha-world. And the Lord Prabhûtaratna,
the Tathâgata, &c., who was completely extinct,
instantly produced a token in order to admonish the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara (and said): Come,
young man of good family, to this Saha-world; Mañgusrî,
the prince royal, will hail thy coming. And the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara, after humbly
saluting the feet of the Lord
Kamaladalavimalanakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña, the
Tathâgata, &c., and after three times
circumambulating him from left to right, vanished from
the world Vairokanarasmipratimandita, along with
eighty-four hundred thousand myriads of kotis of
Bodhisattvas who surrounded and followed him, and arrived
at this Saha-world, among a stir of Buddhafields, a rain
of lotuses, a noise of hundred thousands of myriads of
kotis of musical instruments. His face showed eyes
resembling blue lotuses, his body was gold-coloured, his
person marked by a hundred thousand of holy signs; he
sparkled with lustre, glowed with radiance, had limbs
marked by the characteristic signs, and a body compact as
Nârâyana's. Mounted on a tower made of seven precious
substances, he moved through the sky to a height of seven
Tâlas [Or spans]. There are seven regions of winds. Vâyu,
the god of wind or air, is nearly akin to Indra and
Vishnu], surrounded by a host of Bodhisattvas, in the
direction of this Saha-world, and approached the
Gridhrakûta, the king of mountains. At his arrival, he
alighted from the tower, and went, with a necklace of
pearls worth a hundred thousands, to the place where the
Lord was sitting. After humbly saluting the feet of the
Lord, and circumambulating him seven times from left to
right, he offered him the necklace of pearls in token of
homage, whereafter he said to the Lord: The Lord
Kamaladalavimalanakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña, the
Tathâgata, &c., inquires after the Lord's health,
welfare, and sprightliness; whether he feels free from
affliction and at ease. That Lord has also charged me to
ask: Is there something thou hast to suffer or allow? the
humours of the body are not in an unfavourable state; thy
creatures are decent in manners, tractable, and easy to
be healed; their bodies are clean; They are not too
passionate, I hope, not too irascible, not too unwise in
their doings? They are not jealous, Lord, not envious,
not ungrateful to their father and mother, not impious,
not heterodox, not unsubdued in mind, not unrestrained in
sexual desires; Are the creatures able to resist the Evil
One; Has the Lord Prabhûtaratna, the Tathâgata, &c.,
who is completely extinct, come to the Saha-world in
order to hear the law, sitting in the centre of a Stûpa
made of seven precious substances; And as to that, Lord
Prabhûtaratna, the Tathâgata, &c., the Lord
Kamaladalavimalanakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña, inquires:
Is there something that the Lord Prabhûtaratna, &c.,
has to suffer or allow; Is the Lord Prabhûtaratna,
&c., to stay long; We also, O Lord, are desirous of
seeing the rudimentary frame [Dhâtuvigraha, the frame of
the elementary parts, or the bone relics.] of that Lord
Prabhûtaratna, the Tathâgata, &c. May the Lord
therefore please to show us the rudimentary frame of the
Lord Prabhûtaratna, the Tathâgata, &c.
Then the Lord Sâkyamuni, the Tathâgata, &c., said to
the Lord Prabhûtaratna, the Tathâgata, &c., who was
completely extinct: Lord, the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva
Gadgadasvara here wishes to see the Lord Prabûtaratna,
the Tathâgata, &c., who is completely extinct.
Whereon the Lord Prabhûtaratna, the Tathâgata, &c.,
spoke to the Bodhisattva Maliasattva Gadgadasvara in this
strain: Well done, well done, young gentleman, that thou
hast come hither in the desire to see the Lord Sâkyamuni,
the Tathâgata, &c.; to hear this Dharmaparyâya of the
Lotus of the True Law, and see Mañgusrî, the prince
royal.
Subsequently the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Padmasrî said to
the Lord: What root of goodness has the Bodhisattva
Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara formerly planted; And in presence
of which Tathâgata; And the Lord Sâkyamuni, the
Tathâgata, &c., said to the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva
Padmasrî: In the days of yore, young man of good family,
at a past period there appeared in the world a Tathâgata
called Meghadundubhisvararâga (i.e. the king of the
drum-sound of the clouds), perfectly enlightened, endowed
with science and conduct, a Sugata, &c., in the world
Sarvabuddhasandarsana (i. e. sight or display of all
Buddhas), in the Æon Priyadarsana. To that Lord
Meghadundubhisvararâga the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva
Gadgadasvara paid homage by making resound hundred
thousands of musical instruments during twelve thousand
years. He presented to him also eighty-four thousand
vessels of seven precious substances. Under the preaching
of the Tathâgata Meghadundubhisvararâga, young man of
good family, has the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara
obtained such a beauty as he now displays. Perhaps, young
man of good family, thou hast some doubt, uncertainty or
misgiving, (and thinkest) that at that time, that epoch,
there was another Bodhisattva Mahâsattva called
Gadgadasvara, who paid that homage to the Lord
Meghadundubhisvararâga, the Tathâgata, and presented him
the eighty-four thousand vessels. But, young man of good
family, do not think so. For it was the very same
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara, young man of good
family, who paid that homage to the Lord
Meghadundubhisvararâga, the Tathâgata, and presented to
him the eighty-four thousand vessels. So, young man of
good family, the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara has
waited upon many Buddhas, has planted good roots under
many Buddhas, and prepared the soil under each of them.
And this Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara had
previously seen Lords Buddhas similar to the sands of the
river Ganges. Dost thou see, Padmasrî, how the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara now looks; Padmasrî
replied: I do, Lord; I do, Sugata. The Lord said: Now,
Padmasrî, this Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara
preaches this Dharmaparyâya of the Lotus of the True Law
under many shapes he assumes; sometimes [or somewhere]
under the shape of Brahma, sometimes under that of Indra,
sometimes under that of Shiva, sometimes under that of
Kubera, sometimes under that of a sovereign, sometimes
under that of a duke, sometimes under that of a chief
merchant, sometimes under that of a citizen, sometimes
under that of a villager, sometimes under that of a
Brâhman. Sometimes again the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva
Gadgadasvara preaches this Dharmaparyâya of the Lotus of
the True Law under a monk's shape, sometimes under a
nun's, sometimes under a male lay devotee's, sometimes
under a female lay devotee's, sometimes under that of a
chief merchant's wife, sometimes under that of a
citizen's wife, sometimes under a boy's, sometimes under
a girl's shape. With so many variations in the manner to
show himself, the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara
preaches this Dharmaparyâya of the Lotus of the True Law
to creatures. He has even assumed the shape of a goblin
to preach this Dharmaparyâya to such as were to be
converted by a goblin. To some he has preached this
Dharmaparyâya of the Lotus of the True Law under the
shape of a demon, to some under a Garuda's, to some under
a Kinnara's, to some under a great serpent's shape. Even
to the beings in any of the wretched states, in the
hells, the brute creation, Yama's realm, the Bodhisattva
Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara is a supporter. Even to the
creatures in the gynæceums of this Saha-world has the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara, after metamorphosing
himself into a woman, preached this Dharmaparyâya of the
Lotus of the True Law. Verily, Padmasrî, the Bodhisattva
Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara is the supporter of the creatures
living in this Saha-world. Under so many shapes, assumed
at will, has the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara
preached this Dharmaparyâya of the Lotus of the True Law
to creatures. Yet, there is no diminution of wisdom, nor
diminution of magic power in that good man. So many,
young man of good family, are the manifestations of
knowledge by which this Bodhisattva Mahâsattva
Gadgadasvara has made himself known in this Saha-world.
In other worlds also, similar to the sands of the river
Ganges, he preaches the law, under the shape of a
Bodhisattva to such as must be converted by a
Bodhisattva; under the shape of a disciple to such as
must be converted by a disciple; under the shape of a
Pratyekabuddha to such as must be converted by a
Pratyekabuddha; under the shape of a Tathâgata to such as
must be converted by a Tathâgata. Nay, he will show to
those who must be converted by a relic of the Tathâgata
himself such a relic, and to those who must be converted
by complete extinction he will show himself completely
extinct. Such is the powerful knowledge, Padmasrî, the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva is possessed of.
Thereafter the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Padmasrî said to
the Lord: The Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara then
has planted good roots, Lord. What meditation is it,
Lord, whereby the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara,
with unshaken firmness, has converted (or educated) so
many creatures; Whereupon the Lord Sâkyamuni, the
Tathâgata. &c.. replied to the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva
Padmasrî: It is, young man of good family, the meditation
termed Sarvarûpasandarsana. By steadiness in it has the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara so immensely promoted
the weal of creatures.
While this chapter of Gadgadasvara was being expounded,
all the eighty-four hundred thousand myriads of kotis of
Bodhisattvas Mahâsattvas who, along with the Bodhisattva
Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara, had come to the Saha-world,
obtained the meditation Sarvarûpasandarsana, and as to
the number of Bodhisattvas Mahâsattvas of this Saha-world
obtaining the meditation Sarvarûpasandarsana, it was
beyond calculation.
Then the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara, after
having paid great and ample worship to the Lord
Sâkyamuni, the Tathâgata, &c., and at the Stûpa of
relics of the Lord Prabhûtaratna, the Tathâgata, &c.,
again mounted the tower made of seven precious
substances, among the stir of the fields, the rain of
lotuses, the noise of hundred thousands of myriads of
kotis of musical instruments [After a last effort the
storm subsides], and with the eighty-four hundred
thousand myriads of kotis of Bodhisattvas surrounding and
following him, returned to his own Buddha-field. At his
arrival there he said to the Lord
Kamaladalavimalanakshatrarâgasankusumitâbhigña, the
Tathâgata, &c.: O Lord, I have in the Saha-world
promoted the weal of creatures; I have seen and saluted
the Stilpa of relics of the Lord Prabhâtaratna, the
Tathâgata, &c.; I have seen and saluted the Lord
Sâkyamuni, the Tathâgata, &c.; I have seen Mañgusri,
the prince royal, as well as the Bodhisattva
Bhaishagyarâga, who is possessed of mighty knowledge and
impetuosity, and the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Pradânasûra;
and these eightyfour hundred thousand myriads of kotis of
Bodhisattvas Mahâsattvas have all obtained the meditation
termed Sarvarûpasandarsana.
And while this relation of the going and coming of the
Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Gadgadasvara was being delivered,
forty-two thousand Bodhisattvas acquired the facultyof
acquiescence in future things, and the Bodhisattva
Mahâsattva Padmasrî acquired the meditation called the
Lotus of the True Law.