大寶積經

10. THE CHAPTER ON THE PROPHECY FOR THE YAKṢAS

At that time there were also eighty koṭis of Yakṣas who saw the Asuras, the Garuḍas, the Nāga maidens, the Nāga kings, the Kumbhāṇḍas, and the Gandharvas make offerings to the Buddha and receive the prophecy. They rejoiced and were elated, and all gave rise to a sense of wonder, for never before had they known that the Buddha, the World-Honored One, possessed wisdom that is inexhaustible, supremely venerable and supremely victorious—unobstructed wisdom beyond conception. They also got to hear the gradual Dharma gateway. Toward the Buddha they conceived of him as the Guide, as inexhaustible wisdom. Toward the right Dharma of the Buddha they gave rise to a heart of delight. Because of making offerings they aroused vigor and spoke verses of praise, saying:

"We praise the Savior of the world,

For the Buddha is fully endowed with the power of wisdom,

Inexhaustible and immeasurable like the great ocean.

The World-Honored One's excellent body has no equal.

Mount Sumeru can still be known as light or heavy,

Empty space can still be known as broad or narrow,

But the power of the wisdom of the Tathāgata—

None at all can ever measure it.

He knows the reverent faith in the hearts of all beings;

Those who deserve to be liberated have all been liberated;

In those who are liberated he knows their inclinations.

Therefore the Buddha has no one to compare with him.

According to how beings cultivate and create good and evil karma,

In all the places of their birth they take on bodily form;

He clearly knows the faculties and natures that deserve to receive the Dharma.

Therefore the Buddha has no one to compare with him.

Greedy desire and evil conduct, the conduct of anger,

The conduct of delusion and the afflictions—the Buddha knows them all;

Arrogance and jealousy he also knows clearly.

Therefore the Buddha has no one to compare with him.

Beings here have many faults and errors,

But the Tathāgata clearly knows the paths of their karma.

The World-Honored One knows them very swiftly.

Therefore the Buddha has no one to compare with him.

The Well-Gone One clearly sees the various worlds,

According to the regions in which they have faults and errors,

And likewise the errors in their speech and words—

The World-Honored One clearly sees them all.

However long they remain within the six destinies,

According to whether they receive suffering much or little,

And the various kinds of bodies they take on—

The World-Honored One sees and knows them all.

According to the strength of the afflictions they arouse,

The skillful means they fabricate and the karma they create,

And the various kinds of suffering they receive according to their karma—

The Guide knows them all clearly.

According to how they seek the path of liberation,

Having gone forth within the Buddha's Dharma,

And, with vigor, cultivated and learned the noble path,

And cut off all the afflictions—the Buddha knows them all.

Within the Buddha's Dharma there are ordinary persons

Who, though they have gone forth, do not understand the meaning,

And slander the wondrous Dharma of those who are wise.

The World-Honored One also knows them clearly.

Those who slander that right Dharma—

By such karmic conduct they meet with suffering and affliction;

According to how long or short they dwell in the hells,

The Tathāgata also knows them all clearly.

In the Buddha they have attained deep reverent faith,

Have gone forth and uphold the treasury of the right Dharma,

Contemplating that all dharmas are entirely empty,

Cutting off all the paths of birth and death,

Not wishing for any birth-and-death body.

They contemplate this body as being like an illusion,

Knowing that all sounds are like an echo,

And dwell firmly in the path of the Buddha—he knows this too.

We praise the Guide who has no equal.

The mass of merit that I have now attained,

With this merit I vow to become a Buddha,

And I also vow that all beings will accomplish perfect enlightenment."

The World-Honored One, knowing that the assembly of Yakṣas had reverent faith in the depths of their hearts, manifested the sign of a smile.

The Venerable Aśvajit the Bhikṣu spoke a verse to inquire, saying:

"The World-Honored One has manifested the sign of a smile;

We look up, hoping to know the cause and conditions of the smile.

All the Buddhas, never without reason,

Manifest the appearance of such a smile.

Now this great assembly all harbors doubt,

For they have seen the Guide smile.

We look up, hoping the World-Honored One will remove our doubt,

Causing all the assembly to be filled with joy.

Now those who have attained reverent faith in the Buddha,

And those who know the wondrous and subtle right Dharma,

And those whose minds are firm and unmoving—

We pray the Buddha will proclaim and tell it for them to hear.

The great assembly here all harbors doubt,

All gazing up at the face of the Tathāgata.

What sort of matters will there be today?

We only pray the World-Honored One will cut off our doubt.

Who today manifests great spiritual power?

Who today arouses great vigor?

With whom today is the Buddha intimately friendly?

We ask that it be revealed within this great assembly.

How good it is, O Muni who pities the world!

We look up, hoping you will eliminate our doubts and perplexities,

So that the great assembly of gods and humans may all hear,

And today all be filled with great joy."

The World-Honored One answered Aśvajit the Bhikṣu, saying:

"How good is the question of Aśvajit!

Now it will be of great benefit to the world.

Because you have asked about the cause and conditions of the smile,

I praise you for well understanding the Buddha's intent.

Now the Buddha will answer all that meaning;

You should single-mindedly and attentively listen.

Knowing the minds and intentions of the Yakṣas,

The Buddha manifests a smile for the sake of the world.

The assembly of Yakṣas, with reverent faith,

Because they know that bodhi is quiescent and extinguished,

And having praised the true and real merits of the Buddha,

Have aroused the mind that aspires to great bodhi.

Because they know that all dharmas are empty and still,

And eliminate and dispel all false appearances,

They vow to forsake all kinds of birth and death,

And arouse the mind that aspires to great bodhi.

By the power of meditative concentration they know that the aggregates

Are merely conventional truth, and they cling to nothing;

Not attached to birth and death, like the lotus flower,

They arouse, amid birth and death, the mind of great bodhi.

The various hindrances within birth and death—

They see them as empty and are not bound;

Knowing the supreme bodhi of the Buddha,

They are able to cultivate the practice of bodhi.

Birth, aging, and death are all empty;

This is the supreme path of bodhi.

Knowing that the self-nature of dharmas is empty and still,

They now attain great bodhi, peaceful and secure.

Knowing that the self-nature of the aggregates is empty and still,

Bodhi is quiescent, and its nature too is departed;

The bodhi-practice that is cultivated is likewise empty.

Such wisdom and knowledge the ordinary do not understand.

One able to contemplate that the nature of wisdom is itself empty—

The realms contemplated are all quiescent and extinguished;

One who knows that the dharmas to be known are all empty—

This person is able to cultivate the path of bodhi.

One must know that emptiness too is itself empty in nature,

And that signs and vows have no essential nature either.

If a person is able to know it thus,

This person is able to cultivate the true and real practice.

When the great assembly of gods and humans have heard this,

They give rise to a heart of joy and gain benefit.

When all have given the Buddha reverent faith,

Their minds abide in the phrase 'bodhi, quiescent and still.'

Now, having made this supreme offering,

The minds of the assembly of Yakṣas are all pure.

These wise ones cast off the path of ghosts

And enjoy the bliss within the wholesome destinies.

Among the many koṭis of Buddhas in the future,

They will, by spiritual power, in a single thought-moment,

Provide offerings throughout many Buddha-lands,

And in the presence of the Buddhas attain the patience with regard to dharmas.

In all the worlds they do not arouse any sign;

These wise ones are able to come by their spiritual power,

Contemplating this world as an illusory transformation.

These wise ones roam without grasping or attachment.

The valiant Yakṣas who make offerings to the Buddha

Will attain unsurpassed great bodhi,

And will also attain unsurpassed, pure Buddha-lands;

Therein they will liberate immeasurable beings.

Those beings will become Knowers of the World;

All will share the same title, 'Boundless Wisdom.'

Their fame will be heard in the ten directions for a thousand kalpas;

Their wisdom and their lifespans, equal in quiescent extinction.

Those Buddhas will have assemblies of Śrāvakas

Like the stars in the still of night.

That assembly will easily attain great bodhi,

And all will be without the affliction of suffering.

When the great assembly of gods and humans have heard this,

For the sake of the path of bodhi their hearts are joyful.

Their minds being firm, they arouse vigorous diligence,

And by the power of vigor they guard their practice and conduct."

11. THE CHAPTER ON THE PROPHECY FOR THE KIṂNARA KING

At that time there were eighty koṭis of Kiṃnaras, with the Kiṃnara King Druma as their chief, who saw the Arhats, the Garuḍas, the Nāga maidens, the Nāga kings, the Kumbhāṇḍas, the Gandharvas, and the Yakṣas make offerings to the Buddha and receive the prophecy. They gave rise to a sense of wonder, never had before, because beings are unobtainable—for there is no living being, no one who is born, no person, no man, no one who is nourished and reared, no one who experiences, no self, and nothing belonging to a self.

By reason of the aggregates one speaks of "beings"; yet all the aggregates too are unobtainable. By reason of the elements and their kinds one speaks of "beings"; yet all the elements and their kinds too are unobtainable. By reason of the sense-bases one speaks of "beings"; yet all the sense-bases too are unobtainable.

Because there is karma there is karmic retribution, yet that karmic conduct too is unobtainable. Unsurpassed bodhi too is unobtainable; all Bodhisattvas too are unobtainable; all the Buddhas too are unobtainable. And yet the World-Honored One bestows the prophecy upon the Bodhisattvas.

For what reason does the Tathāgata bestow the prophecy upon the Bodhisattvas—declaring their names, revealing their karmic retribution, speaking of the great assembly of Bodhisattvas to come, also revealing the spiritual powers of the Buddhas, also speaking of the power of the right Dharma, also revealing the adornment of the Buddha-lands, proclaiming that beings have karma and have retribution, also speaking of the purity of the Buddha-lands, also revealing how Bodhisattvas roam through the various Buddha-realms from one Buddha-land, also speaking of how the Bodhisattvas arrive there and make offerings, also speaking of supreme offerings by spiritual transformation, and further setting forth subtle and wondrous, rare offering-articles,

and further speaking of after how many kalpas they will become Buddhas, how long such a Buddha will remain in the world, how many Śrāvakas such a Buddha will have, and after his passing into extinction how long the right Dharma of such a Buddha will remain in the world—why does the Tathāgata forsake beings and enter great Nirvāṇa?

The Kiṃnara King Druma, having given rise to such a doubting thought, then together with the eighty koṭis of Kiṃnaras paid homage to the Buddha, joined his palms, and spoke a verse to inquire, saying:

"We have heard the Buddha bestow the prophecy,

And our hearts give rise to doubt and perplexity—how is it, O Great Wisdom,

That having spoken of the prophecy, you again speak of emptiness?

Between these two teachings I do not understand.

You have said that, empty and still, it departs from self-nature,

That the Dharma-realm is equal and without change;

Yet how does the Tathāgata receive offerings?

How is this matter, O World-Honored One?

The Buddha has spoken of the Dharma of non-arising,

Yet again speaks of arousing the bodhi-mind.

The one of immeasurable wisdom speaks two teachings;

That teaching is secret—I do not understand.

The World-Honored One says the Dharma has no extinction,

Yet how again does he say there is death?

We look up, hoping you will tell it truly and clearly,

So that, ending all my doubting heart, I may rejoice.

Why does the World-Honored One say it is like an illusion,

Yet again say that one is born in the heavens?

The Two-Footed Honored One speaks thus;

The secret teaching I do not understand.

The Buddha says all dharmas have no support,

Yet again says to rely on the good and wise friend.

This is the secret speech of the World-Honored One;

Truly I do not understand it, O Tathāgata.

Why does the Buddha say there is nothing done,

Yet again teach beings to cultivate the practice of karma?

O Tamer of Beings, Teacher of Gods and Humans,

This secret speech I do not understand.

Why does the Buddha say that the nature is itself empty,

Yet again say that contemplating emptiness, one attains liberation?

In this meaning I do not understand;

We look up, hoping the Tathāgata will cut off our doubt.

Why does the Buddha speak of utter extinction,

Yet again say that the nature of all dharmas is quiescent extinction?

We look up, hoping the Unsurpassed One

Will clearly explain those secret teachings.

Why does the World-Honored One, with verses,

Reveal that all dharmas are like empty space,

Yet the foolish and deluded slander the Dharma,

And after death surely fall into the great hells?

The Great Hero ever speaks of the wholesome destinies,

Yet again speaks of the other destinies.

Having said that the various species come about by creating karma,

He again says that there is no one who creates karma.

The Unsurpassed Honored One constantly proclaims

Various differing teachings that cannot be known.

We, regarding them, give rise to doubt and perplexity;

We look up, hoping the World-Honored One will remove it.

You have said that wholesome karma cannot be gathered together,

Yet again say that by cultivation one attains bodhi.

The Śramaṇa, the Dharma King, speaks thus;

We, regarding it, cannot understand.

Why do you say the Dharma is inexhaustible,

Yet say that the one who slanders can have his offense exhausted?

O one of immeasurable wisdom, we beg you to reveal it;

We, regarding it, have very great doubt.

The Tathāgata has spoken of the Dharma of the true limit,

Yet again speaks of inversion, and of giving and precepts.

O one of clear, undimmed eyes who extinguishes offenses,

We look up, hoping that for our sake you will explain that meaning.

Apart from the Buddha there is no one for us

Who can explain these matters of doubt;

Only the Tathāgata is able to remove them.

For this reason I revere the One of Great Enlightenment."

The World-Honored One spoke a verse in reply to the Kiṃnara King Druma, saying:

"You ask: having said 'empty,' you again bestow the prophecy;

Between these two matters you do not understand.

If dharmas were not empty,

Then the Buddha would not bestow the prophecy upon them.

For what cause and condition is it said thus?

If dharmas had a separate essential nature,

Then they would abide forever and could not be transformed;

They must neither decrease nor increase.

But the essential nature of dharmas is fundamentally empty,

Like the surface of a mirror, level, clean, and bright,

Which can manifest all the various forms and images.

You must know that all dharmas are thus.

The Dharma-realm has no sign of change or difference.

Among all your offering-articles,

You should examine each and every part:

In which of those parts is there a sign?

The Dharma-realm abides constantly without changing or differing.

The wise should contemplate it thus.

The ordinary people are all deluded and confused;

Because they lack wisdom, they do not understand.

You ask: the Buddha says it is non-arising,

Yet again says to arouse the mind—so it is hard to understand.

You all must now single-mindedly listen.

The one of ten powers speaks the secret meaning.

The ordinary are submerged and drowned in the river of birth and death,

And are still bound, grasping at that place;

Their minds constantly embrace inverted notions,

So they undergo the sufferings and afflictions of birth and death.

From the past until now they have not heard the Dharma;

If the Buddha were definitively to speak it for them,

The foolish and deluded ordinary, regarding that Dharma,

Would only further increase their doubts and perplexities.

When they hear of the great benefit of bodhi,

Their minds become intent upon that fruit;

Their minds then give rise to craving and attachment,

And the naturally supreme wisdom cannot break through.

You ask: there is no extinction, yet again there is death;

These two matters you cannot know.

In this you must single-mindedly listen;

The Buddha, for your sake, will speak the truth.

For the sake of those beings who grasp at permanence,

The Tathāgata therefore speaks the meaning of extinction:

Always seeing that whatever exists all decays and perishes,

There is not a single dharma that is permanent.

You ask: dharmas are like a dream and an illusion,

Yet again you speak of birth in the heavens, so we doubt.

The trainees and the ordinary, the wholesome and evil destinies—

That Dharma is indefinite, and therefore illusory.

You ask: the Buddha says there is no support,

Yet again says to rely on the good and wise friend.

For the sake of those who seek to forsake reliance,

The good friend speaks of having no support.

You ask: ultimately there is no agent of action,

Yet again it is said there is action, so you do not understand.

You should look at that cart with its many component parts,

And also contemplate that the cart has its functions.

If, moreover, there is a person who grasps at a self,

And also takes the various deeds as belonging to a self,

The Buddha, for the sake of such people, says there is no agent;

Yet even so, it is not that there is no function.

You ask: the nature of all is itself empty,

Yet doubt that contemplating emptiness attains liberation.

The person without wisdom, foolish and inverted,

Cannot know the essential nature of emptiness.

From discriminating false thoughts they arise,

And by false grasping at conditions they are bound.

In order to liberate such beings,

The World-Honored One says the nature is not existent.

As you ask about utter extinction:

The nature of all dharmas too is extinguished.

Beings, deluded and without wisdom,

Because of false discrimination, thirst with craving.

Like one who is thirsty seeing a mirage,

Because of remembering and imagining, he thirsts all the more.

The foolish are thus harmed by what is false and empty,

Giving rise to discrimination amid what has no existence.

The thirsty, with deluded perception, see the sign of water,

But in that mirage there fundamentally is no water.

False thought harms all beings:

In what is impure, they perceive it as pure.

The foolish ordinary are bound by craving;

In that defilement and foulness the nature is not clean.

Like that mirage resembling the sign of water,

But in the essential nature of the sunlight there truly is no water—

Just so, within the body there is no clean form;

The body and form too are by nature not clean.

The foolish ordinary, with inverted sight,

Falsely perceive it as clean, and so are bound.

Though it is said that all dharmas are like empty space,

It is also said that slandering casts one into the hells.

The foolish, hearing this, give rise to fear,

But the wise, though they hear it, are at peace in mind.

The essential nature of the world is itself empty and still,

But the foolish and witless imagine there is a self.

If those people hear the teaching of emptiness,

They are afraid and unable still to take rebirth.

Those people slander the empty nature of dharmas,

All because they cling to the view of a self.

Like a person who binds himself within empty space,

That witless person falls into the hells.

The Buddha has indeed spoken of the wholesome destinies,

And for the sake of the world has spoken of the various destinies,

Saying that there is karma created which is not lost,

And also dispelling the grasping at there being an agent of action.

All the destinies are like the realm of a dream;

The Buddha, for your sake, says to know it thus.

In a dream there is no sign of going and coming;

The one who sees with inversion grasps at going and coming.

The Buddha has expounded that there is karma but no agent of action;

Search the ten directions—there is no agent.

For it is like a great wind blowing on dry wood:

That wood, rubbing together, gives rise to fire.

That wind and that wood have no thought or notion,

'We can produce that fire';

Yet even so the fire arises.

You must know there is karma without an agent.

You ask: merit does not accumulate,

So how, gathering the wholesome, is the fruit of bodhi attained?

Now the Buddha truly speaks for your sake;

You must diligently and wholeheartedly listen.

It is like a worldly person who attains long life,

Whose lifespan reaches more than a hundred years;

In that number of years there is no accumulating;

All conditions gathering together are likewise so.

You ask: dharmas have no exhaustion,

So why does the Buddha again say that karma can be ended?

For one who contemplates that the empty Dharma has no end,

It is according to worldly Dharma that karma can be ended.

Though the Buddha speaks of there being a Dharma of the true limit,

Inversion too is not outside the true limit.

The class of beings, foolish and inverted,

Cannot clearly know the true and real limit.

Kiṃnara King, you must listen carefully.

For the one who is vigorous and fully endowed with vigor:

All the various signs are one sign,

That is, signlessness—this you should know.

If one is able to understand the letter 'one,'

The Buddha, for the wise, expounds bodhi.

All the various signs are one sign,

That is, signlessness—this you should know.

If one is able to understand the letter 'one,'

The Buddha, for the wise, expounds bodhi.

All dharmas are without any doing;

This is called the dhāraṇī gateway of the letter 'A.'

The practice cultivated by all Bodhisattvas,

The boundless aspects of practice, the Buddha has expounded.

This too is the means of entering all dharmas;

This is the dhāraṇī gateway of the letter 'A.'

All dharmas are quiescent and extinguished;

The teaching of the gateway of the letter 'A' causes one to realize and enter.

Kiṃnara King, you should know,

This too is the dhāraṇī gateway of the letter 'A.'

All dharmas are without discrimination;

Entering this Dharma gateway, the Buddha has expounded.

Kiṃnara King, you should know,

This too is the dhāraṇī gateway of the letter 'A.'

All dharmas are without self-nature;

The teaching of the gateway of the letter 'A' causes one to clearly enter.

Kiṃnara King, you should know,

This too is the dhāraṇī gateway of the letter 'A.'

All dharmas are empty and boundless;

By means of the gateway of the letter 'A' the dharmas are expounded.

Kiṃnara King, you should know,

This too is the dhāraṇī gateway of the letter 'A.'

The Dharma, exhaustible and inexhaustible, the Buddha has expounded;

One should say that all dharmas are inexhaustible.

All the Tathāgatas, fully endowed with the ten powers,

Have expounded the inexhaustible dhāraṇī gateway.

All dharmas have no gateway;

This has been called the inexhaustible dhāraṇī gateway.

All dharmas have no gateway,

And therefore one should not manifest non-existence.

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway,

Whereby one is able to enter the gateway of the letter 'A.'

As for the dharmas beyond conception,

The Buddhas, knowing them truly, are able to reveal them.

Kiṃnara King, you should know,

This too is the dhāraṇī of the letter 'A.'

All dharmas have nothing to be received;

The Buddha, for the wise, expounds bodhi.

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway,

The gateway of the letter 'A,' into which one should enter.

All dharmas have no coming;

If a person does not cultivate, then he does not attain.

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway,

The gateway of the letter 'A,' into which one should enter.

The provisional names of dharmas will all exist,

But searching for their self-nature, it cannot be obtained.

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway,

The gateway of the letter 'A,' into which one should enter.

All dharmas are without self-nature;

Searching for their self-nature, it cannot be obtained.

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway,

The dhāraṇī spoken by the Buddha.

All dharmas are unobtainable,

Because the self-nature of dharmas is empty.

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway,

The dhāraṇī spoken by the Well-Gone One.

Kiṃnara King, listen carefully:

All dharmas are apart from thought and recollection.

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway,

The gateway of the letter 'A,' into which one should enter.

The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, have revealed it:

Because the Dharma is unreal and without hindrance,

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway;

One should enter the dhāraṇī of the letter 'A.'

All dharmas are without hindrance;

There is nothing that can hinder the dharmas.

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway,

Entering the gateway of the letter 'A,' the Buddha has expounded.

All dharmas have no arising;

The wise should know there is only one sign.

All those dharmas are non-arising;

You should know that this Dharma has no name.

All dharmas have no arising;

That arising is fundamentally unobtainable.

This too is precisely the dhāraṇī gateway,

The gateway of the letter 'A,' into which one should enter.

If a dharma is unreal and unarisen,

It cannot be seen and cannot be pointed out.

The self-nature of dharmas is unobtainable,

And therefore there is no one who can see it.

All dharmas have no arising,

And so are one sign, without sign.

Just as empty space has no equal,

All dharmas too are likewise.

All dharmas neither increase nor decrease,

Neither one nor two, neither hot nor afflicting,

Neither cold nor hot,

For not being existent, they cannot be seen.

There is no sign of crookedness, no sign of straightness,

And also no sign of light or sign of darkness,

Nor any of the signs of seeing, hearing, and the rest.

This is the dhāraṇī of non-existence.

It is neither flattering and crooked nor upright and straight;

It has none of the signs of contraction and extension and the like,

And also no anger and no joy,

And further no arising of action and no quiescent extinction.

It has no sign of entering and no sign of exiting,

No advancing, no retreating, no coming or going,

And also no sleeping and no waking.

Apart from the signs of awareness and knowing, one must understand.

It is neither seen by the eye nor blind;

It has no faculty of seeing and no dark obstruction,

And also no sign of opening and no sign of closing.

It is neither tamed nor untamed,

Neither stirring in motion nor coming to rest,

Neither of the world nor of Nirvāṇa,

Neither true and real nor false and empty.

You must know that the Buddha's realm is thus.

Wishing to tame the various worlds,

I cut off and remove your doubts:

In the supreme truth, apart from the Buddha,

There is no one at all who can remove doubt."

The Kiṃnara King Druma, having heard the Buddha speak the dhāraṇī gateway, was greatly joyful in heart and aroused vigorous and valiant vigor. He then conjured up eighty koṭis of pavilions. Those pavilions were either upon trees, upon lotus flowers, or upon mountains, all adorned with the seven treasures, having canopies of the seven treasures, banners of the seven treasures, tassels of jeweled flowers, and tassels of multicolored silk to adorn them.

The Kiṃnara King Druma, together with the eighty koṭis of Kiṃnaras, took up the various flowers upon the ground and beneath the waters at the Fragrant Mountain and scattered them over the Buddha; then all

Ascended the pavilions of the seven treasures and flew around the Buddha three times, again scattered flowers over the Buddha, and then circled the Buddha three more times.

The Kiṃnara King Druma and the assembly of Kiṃnaras descended from the pavilions and walked around the Buddha three times, bowed their heads to the Buddha's feet, single-mindedly joined their palms and gazed up at the World-Honored One without their eyes leaving him for a moment, standing to one side, reflecting upon the immeasurable merits of the Tathāgata in the past and the present.

Knowing the heart's vow of the Kiṃnara King Druma and the eighty koṭis of Kiṃnaras, the World-Honored One manifested the sign of a smile.

The Venerable Aśvajit the Bhikṣu spoke a verse to inquire, saying:

"The Buddha does not smile without cause;

The Teacher of Gods and Humans speaks truly.

The assembly, seeing the Buddha smile, all harbors doubt;

Now they see the Supreme Victor like the new moon.

O World-Honored One, who is it today

That, in the Dharma of non-duality, gives rise to victorious wisdom?

Today I embrace a heart of doubt and perplexity;

We look up, hoping the World-Honored One will remove our doubt.

Who has attained a pure mind in the Buddha's Dharma,

Such that the Tathāgata manifests the sign of a smile?

We look up, hoping the Tathāgata will explain it clearly for us,

So that we, ending our doubt, may rejoice in heart.

At this time all the great assembly,

If they hear the Buddha speak, will all be filled with joy.

We pray you to remove the doubts and perplexities of the great assembly;

According to the Buddha's teaching, all will be able to act.

For this reason, O Two-Footed Honored One,

Cut off and remove the doubts and perplexities, and clearly explain the cause.

We pray, for the sake of the Kiṃnara King and the rest,

And for the sake of all beings."

The World-Honored One spoke a verse in reply to the Venerable Aśvajit, saying:

"How good it is that Aśvajit asks at the right time!

Now the Buddha will, for your sake, discriminate and expound.

Because you have asked, the Buddha reveals it,

And the great assembly will gain the Buddha's merit.

You should purify your mind and be wholly intent;

Hearing of this rare matter, do not let your mind be disordered.

The Well-Gone One has supreme wisdom,

Knowing and seeing broadly and vastly, without hindrance.

He has set forth a question to the Kiṃnaras,

For the benefit of all beings.

Now the Buddha speaks of their fruit to come;

Listen carefully, and the Buddha will cut off your doubt.

The eighty koṭis of Kiṃnaras,

The King and the officials, the people, and all their retinue—

That assembly, having made offerings to the Buddha,

From here, when their lives end, will be born in the heavens.

From then onward, for nine koṭis of kalpas,

They will circulate among humans and gods,

Cultivating and fully attaining the five spiritual powers,

Attaining mastery of wisdom and mastery of mind.

In nayuta Buddha-lands,

It is because the Buddhas dispatch them there.

Their bodies, in the heavenly palaces, are ever unmoving,

Constantly enjoying the bliss of meditative delight, peaceful and secure.

They, for ninety thousand koṭis of kalpas,

Having circulated among gods and humans,

Each within his own Buddha-land,

Will all attain the state of the unsurpassed path.

That kalpa will be named Ever-Shining Splendor;

Within that kalpa they will accomplish the Buddha-path.

These are all of the rank of one-life-bound;

That assembly of wisdom will become Buddhas.

In that Buddha-land there is not a single person

Who is not a practitioner ripened in cultivation;

All are of the rank of one-life-bound.

There is no one who seeks the Śrāvaka or Pratyekabuddha;

All are Great Bodhisattvas.

Those who illuminate the world are all born there;

All are persons of the rank of one-life-bound.

They will all attain the accomplishment of the Buddha-path.

In that land the various Great Bodhisattvas

Abide in the great vows of their vast oath.

Within immeasurable Buddha-lands,

I will set them all in order and make them pure.

Those Bodhisattvas' vows are very vast and great;

Throughout the long night they skillfully consider and reckon.

Because they have the nature of pure vows,

Each separately sets in order his own Buddha-land.

Those Buddha-lands are adorned and beautiful,

Far removed from all the afflictions.

In that land, everywhere there are palaces,

Liberated from all the evil destinies.

However many evil offenses and the eight calamities,

Those Buddha-lands are entirely without them.

Having cultivated and purified the Buddha-lands,

The beings then are easy to tame.

Thus the World-Honored One, God among Gods,

Speaks the prophecy for the Kiṃnaras.

All the great assembly here present,

Having heard, are all filled with very great joy."