← Scripture
Mahāyāna — Northern Canon · Linh Sơn Vietnamese Mahāyāna Canon
佛說彌勒下生成佛經
Chinese title:佛說彌勒下生成佛經
📖2,846 words · ~11 min read
2
Interpreted by Inti AI (English)
🪷 AI interpretation
Thus have I heard:
At one time, the Buddha was dwelling together with the great Bhikṣus upon Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain near the city of Rājagṛha.
At that time, Śāriputra of great wisdom, the foremost great general in upholding the Dharma, out of compassion for the beings of the world, rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee to the ground, joined his palms reverently, and addressed the Buddha, saying:
"World-Honored One! I now have a small matter about which I wish to inquire. I respectfully beseech the Tathāgata to grant me leave."
The Buddha said to Śāriputra:
"You may ask freely. I shall expound for you in accordance with what you ask."
Then Śāriputra, using verse, inquired of the World-Honored One, saying:
"The Great Master once foretoldA future Buddha to descend and be born,His title shall be Maitreya,As taught within the Sūtras.I respectfully beseech the Honored One Among MenTo expound again in verseHis spiritual powers and majestic virtue;I now rejoice and wish to hear."
The Buddha said to Śāriputra:
"With single-minded attention, listen well.The future Honored One, Maitreya,For your sake I shall broadly proclaim.At that time the great ocean's watersShall gradually diminish by three thousandAnd two hundred yojanas,Revealing the path of the wheel-turning king.The Continent of Jambū, vast and broad,Shall measure ten thousand yojanas.The sentient beings dwelling thereinShall everywhere be fully spread throughout.The lands shall all be prosperous,Without calamity or punishment.The men and women dwelling thereAre all born through wholesome karma.The earth shall have no thorns or brambles,But shall bring forth only soft, supple grassThat supports the feet of those who walk,Pliant as cotton down.Of itself shall grow fragrant rice,Sweet of flavor and abundant.Upon the trees shall grow garments,Silk and brocade used for adornment.The trees are three krośas tall,Their flowers and fruits ever laden.At that time the people of that landShall all live eighty thousand years,Without any disease or suffering,Free of affliction, ever at peace.Upright and dignified, replete with marks,Their complexion and strength all perfected.There are only three ailments:Eating, elimination, and aging.A woman at five hundred years of ageShall then go forth to marry.Should one wish to relieve oneself,The earth opens to receive it.When their lifespan is about to end,Of themselves they go to the grove of joyful union.The city named KetumatīIs the capital of the wheel-turning king,Twelve yojanas in length,And seven yojanas in breadth.Those who dwell within itHave all sown roots of goodness.That city has surpassing virtue,And its people are all joyful.The towers and the pavilionsAre all formed of the seven treasures.The bolts and locks and inner courtyardsAre adorned with every kind of jewel.Upon the walls and around the moats,All wrought of wondrous, precious gems.Beautiful flowers grow everywhere,And rare birds come to alight.Seven rows of palm treesEncircle it all around,Adorned with precious treasures,Each hung with nets of wind-chimes.Gentle breezes blow upon the jeweled trees,Sending forth wondrous sounds,Resembling the resonance of the eight tones,So that those who hear them give rise to joy.Everywhere there are bathing pools,Covered over with flowers of varied hues.Gardens and groves with fragrant blossomsAdorn that walled city.Within the land there is a wheel-turning kingWhose name is called Śaṅkha,A golden-wheel king of the four continents,Valiant, of great majestic power.The king, through karma of merit and virtue,Is brave and strong, possessing the four divisions of the army.The seven treasures are all accomplished,A thousand sons all complete.The four seas all pay him reverence,And there is no calamity of war.With the True Dharma he teaches the beings,Guiding and transforming them all equally.The king has four treasure-storesLocated within the various lands.Each treasure-store containsPrecious gems numbering a hundred koṭis of myriads.In the land of Suraṣṭra,The treasure-store named Piṅgala.In the land of Mithilā,The treasure-store named Pāṇḍuka.In the land of the Fragrant Grove,The treasure-store named Elāpattra.In the land of Mṛgadāva,The treasure-store named Śaṅkha.These four great treasure-storesAll belong to King Śaṅkha—The hundredfold merit sown of old,Whose fruits and rewards are now accomplished.The great minister who assists the realmIs the Brahmin Subrahmā,Versed in all the four Vedas,Of vast learning, serving as royal preceptor.Profoundly versed in the various treatises,Skilled in teaching, retaining what he has heard,In exposition and in phoneticsThere is nothing he does not clearly comprehend.The lady named Brahmāvatī,Consort of Subrahmā,Of fragrant renown and dignified mien,Whom all who behold rejoice to see.The great hero, Maitreya,Departing from Tuṣita Heaven,Descended in spirit into the consort,Taking birth in his final body.The Great Sage within his mother's wombRemained complete for ten full months.At that time the mother of the Honored MaitreyaWent to the Garden of Wondrous Flowers.When she came within that garden,Neither sitting nor lying down,She leisurely took hold of a flowering tree,And suddenly gave birth to the Honored Maitreya.Then the Most Victorious Honored OneDescended and was born from her right side,Like the sun parting from the clouds that veil it,Emanating everywhere great radiant light.Untainted by contact with the womb,Like a lotus emerging from the water,Illuminating all throughout the Three Realms,Beheld in his great compassionate light.At the moment the Buddha descended and was born,Śakra, Lord of the divine eye,Bowed down in reverence to the Bodhisattva,Joyfully welcoming the Honored One of Two Feet.At that time the BodhisattvaOf himself walked seven steps,And in the places his feet passed over,There sprang up precious lotus flowers.He gazed throughout the ten directionsAnd declared to the devas and humans:'I, in this my final body,Without further birth, shall realize Nirvāṇa.'The dragons rained down cool, refreshing water,Bathing his body of great compassion.The devas scattered exquisite flowersThat fell throughout the open sky.The devas bore white canopies,Holding them aloft over the Honored One of great loving-kindness.Each and every heart was filled with delight,Following and guarding the Bodhisattva.The wet-nurse cradled the Bodhisattva,Whose body bore the thirty-two marks,Complete with every radiant light,And carried him to present to the holy mother.The bearers of the royal palanquin arrived,The palanquin adorned with jewels.Mother and child stepped within,And the devas all accompanied them.A thousand kinds of wondrous musicLed the way back to the palace.As Maitreya entered the capital city,Celestial flowers fell like rain.On the day the Honored Maitreya was born,The women who were then with childAll obtained bodies of peace and ease,And each gave birth to a son of wisdom.Subrahmā, father of the Honored Maitreya,Beheld that wondrous countenanceComplete with the thirty-two marks,And his heart gave rise to great joy.The father, according to the canon, examined the marksAnd knew his son bore two destinies:In the worldly course, to be a wheel-turning king;Going forth from home, to attain perfect enlightenment.The Bodhisattva, having accomplished this,With compassion for all the beingsAmid the evils and sufferings of perilous straits,Whirling in saṃsāra without ever ceasing—His golden complexion shines with radiant light,His voice like the sound of Brahmā,His eyes blue as the blue lotus,His body altogether perfected.His body is eighty cubits tall,The breadth of his shoulders twenty cubits,His face wide as half the breadth of his shoulders,Dignified as the full moon.Penetrating all the arts and skills,Well taught are those who study under him.Those who turn to him to seek instructionNumber eighty-four thousand persons.King Śaṅkha at that timeHad erected a banner of the seven treasures,A banner seventy fathoms in heightAnd sixty fathoms in breadth.When the jeweled banner had been completed,The king gave rise to a heart of great relinquishment,Bestowing it upon the Brahmins,Setting forth a great offering of the Dharma.At that time the Brahmins,Numbering altogether a thousand persons,When they received this jeweled banner,Divided it apart in but a moment.When the Bodhisattva beheld this,He reflected that worldly life is likewise so:Birth and death are sufferings that bind;Wishing to think upon liberation therefrom,He aspired to accomplish the Way of quiescent extinction,To go forth from home, leaving the worldly life behind,And amid birth, aging, sickness, and deathTo rescue and deliver beings, causing them to depart afar.When the Honored Maitreya made his solemn vow,Eighty-four thousand personsTogether gave rise to a heart of weariness,And followed him to cultivate pure conduct.Giving rise to that aspiration in the first watch of the night,He renounced the worldly life and went forth.That very same night, at midnight,He ascended to the stage of Perfect Enlightenment.Then there was a Bodhi treeNamed the Dragon-Flower Tree,Four yojanas in height,Luxuriant and most flourishing,Its branches spreading all around,Its shade covering six krośas.The Honored Maitreya of great compassionAccomplished the Way beneath this tree.The Most Victorious Honored One Among Men,Complete with the eight kinds of Brahmā-voice,Expounded the Dharma to deliver beings,Causing them to depart afar from every affliction.Suffering, calamity, and the places of suffering—All of these were utterly extinguished.Well cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path,They reached the shore of Nirvāṇa.For the sake of the good sons,He expounded the Four Noble Truths.Having heard such a Dharma as this,With utmost sincerity they upheld it.Within the Garden of Wondrous Flowers,The great assembly gathered like clouds,Spreading across a hundred yojanas,The retinue everywhere filling it throughout.That wheel-turning king Śaṅkha,When he heard the profound and wondrous Dharma,Relinquished all his precious treasures,Seeking to be allowed to go forth.Not clinging to his jeweled palaces,With resolve he sought to depart and leave them behind.Eighty-four thousand personsIn his retinue together went forth.Another eighty-four thousand,The Brahmin youths,Hearing that the king had renounced the worldly dust,Also came to seek to go forth.The elder, master of the treasure-store,Whose name was called Sudāna,Together with a thousand of his retinue,Also came to seek to go forth.The jewel-maiden, Mṛgāramātṛ,Together with her attendant women,Eighty-four thousand persons,Also came to seek to go forth.And further, more than a hundred thousand in number,Good men and faithful women,Hearing the Buddha proclaim the wondrous Dharma,Also came to seek to go forth.The Honored One of devas and humans,The Holy Lord of great loving-kindness and compassion,Gazed throughout the minds of the great assembly,And then expounded the essentials of the Dharma:'You all should know thatThe compassionate and Mighty One of Loving-KindnessTaught you to cultivate the Right Path,That you might be born here within My Dharma.Or by means of garlands and incense,Banners, pennants, and adorning canopies,Making offerings to the Mighty One of Loving-Kindness,You are born here within My Dharma.Or by saffron and aloeswood,And fragrant unguents used for anointing,Making offerings to the stūpa of the Mighty One,You are born here within My Dharma.Or by taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha,Reverently and ever drawing near,Diligently cultivating all wholesome deeds,You are born here within My Dharma.Or by, within the Buddha's Dharma,Receiving and upholding the study of the Sūtras and precepts,Well guarding them without breach or transgression,You are born here within My Dharma.Or by making offerings to the Saṅgha,Of garments and of food and drink,Together with the offering of precious healing medicines,You are born here within My Dharma.Or by, on the four days of abstinence,Together with the three months of fasting,Receiving the Eight Precepts of the Uposatha Fast,You are born here within My Dharma.Or by means of the three kinds of penetrating powers—The supernatural, the mind-reading, and the instructive—Transforming and guiding the assembly of Śrāvakas,Causing them to remove the defilements and afflictions.'At the first assembly where he expounded the Dharma,He broadly delivered the Śrāvakas—Ninety-six koṭis of persons—Out of the hindrance of the afflictions.At the second assembly where he expounded the Dharma,He broadly delivered the Śrāvakas—Ninety-four koṭis of persons—Beyond the ocean of ignorance.At the third assembly where he expounded the Dharma,He broadly delivered the Śrāvakas—Ninety-two koṭis of persons—Causing their minds to be well tamed and subdued.When the threefold turning of the Dharma-wheel was complete,Devas and humans were all made pure.Leading along his disciples,He entered the city to beg for alms.When he had entered that city,The crossroads were all adorned.In order to make offerings to the Buddha,The heavens rained down delightful flowers.The Four Kings and the Brahmā King,Together with the host of devas,Made offerings of garlands and incense,Reverently honoring the Honored One of great compassion.The devas of great majestic virtueScattered down wondrous garments,Resplendent throughout the city and townships,Gazing in reverence upon the Great King of Healing.Fragrant flowers and wondrous jewelsThey scattered down at the crossroads,And the feet that trod upon themWere as pliant as cotton down.Music and banners and pennantsStood in rows along the roads.The devas and humans and Lord ŚakraPraised and extolled the Honored One of great loving-kindness:'Homage to the Honored One Supreme Among the Heavens!Homage to the Victorious One Among Sages!How excellent, O Buddha, World-Honored One,Who with loving-kindness has compassion for the world!'There was a deva of great majestic virtueWho would become the host of the Māra-king;He took refuge, joined his palms in reverence, and paid homage,Extolling and gazing upon the Buddha in reverence.The Brahmā King and the host of devas,With their retinue surrounding them,Each by means of the Brahmā-voiceSet forth and illumined the wondrous Dharma.Within that world,A great many ArhatsCleansed away the deeds with outflows,Forever departing from the suffering of the afflictions.Devas and humans and nāga-spirits,Asuras and gandharvas,Rākṣasas together with yakṣas—All rejoiced and made offerings.At that time the great assemblySevered the hindrances and removed all doubt,Transcending the stream of birth and death,Well cultivating conduct of purity.At that time the great assemblyDeparted from grasping and relinquished wealth and treasures,With minds free of self and of what belongs to self,Well cultivating conduct of purity.At that time the great assemblyDestroyed the net of craving and attachment,Perfected the mind of quiet contemplation,Well cultivating conduct of purity.The Honored Maitreya, Honored One of devas and humans,Out of compassion for all sentient beings,Throughout sixty thousand yearsExpounded the Dharma to deliver beings,Teaching and transforming a hundred thousand koṭis,Carrying them beyond the ocean of afflictions.Those with the karmic affinity were all rescued and delivered,And only then did he enter Nirvāṇa.The Honored Maitreya of great compassion,After he had entered Nirvāṇa,His True Dharma shall abide in the world,Likewise fulfilling sixty thousand years.If, within My Dharma,With single-minded resolve one well receives it in faith,In the time to come, on the day of his descent and birth,One shall serve the Honored One of great compassion.If there be one of penetrating wisdomWho hears such matters expounded,There is none who would not rejoiceAnd vow to meet the Honored Maitreya.If anyone seeks liberationAnd wishes to meet the Dragon-Flower assembly,Let them ever make offerings to the Three Jewels,Pressing onward with diligence and never growing lax."
When the World-Honored One had finished speaking to Śāriputra and the great assembly of these future matters concerning the Honored Maitreya, the Buddha further said to Śāriputra:
"If there be any good man or good woman who hears this Dharma, receives and upholds it, reads and recites it, cultivates and practices it as taught, and expounds it for others, and who further makes offerings of incense and flowers and copies out this Sūtra, then in the age to come such persons shall surely come to meet the Honored Maitreya at his descent and birth, and shall all, by the grace of the Buddha, be rescued and delivered within the three assemblies."
When the Buddha had finished speaking this verse, Śāriputra together with the great assembly all rejoiced, believed reverently, and received it upon their heads to uphold and practice it.
The Buddha Speaks the Sūtra of the Honored Maitreya's Descent and Birth and Attainment of Buddhahood
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Translation source: Linh Sơn Pháp Bảo Đại Tạng KinhLicense: Linh Sơn Pháp Bảo Đại Tạng Kinh (Việt dịch) · nguồn: rongmotamhon.net (Liên Phật Hội)
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