曼殊室利咒藏中校量數珠功德經

At that time, Mañjuśrī, the Dharma Prince Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, within the Great Assembly, rose from his seat, arranged his robes, bared his right shoulder, joined his palms together in reverence, and addressed the Buddha, saying: "Now, because I wish to benefit all sentient beings, I shall speak of the merit of receiving and upholding the rosary, comparing the differing benefits of its portions of blessings. I pray that the World-Honored One, out of compassion, will listen and grant his consent."

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: "Excellent! Excellent! You may proclaim it."

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva said: "If there be a good son or a good woman who is able to recite the various Dhāraṇīs together with the names of the Buddhas, because they wish to benefit themselves and to protect others, and to swiftly accomplish the various Dharmas and obtain efficacy, then the method of the rosary should be brought to mind, received, and upheld in this way. Now the substance of these beads is of many different kinds.

If iron be used to make the rosary, reciting and passing through it once will yield blessings five times as many.

If red copper be used to make the rosary, reciting and passing through it once will yield blessings ten times as many.

If the treasures of the class of pearls, coral, and the like be used to make the rosary, reciting and passing through it once will yield blessings a hundred times as many.

If soapberry seeds (Huan-zi) be used to make the rosary, reciting and passing through it once will yield blessings a thousand times as many.

If lotus seeds be used to make the rosary, reciting and passing through it once will yield blessings ten thousand times as many.

If Indrākṣa be used to make the rosary, reciting and passing through it once will yield blessings a million times as many.

If Rudrākṣa be used to make the rosary, reciting and passing through it once will yield blessings ten billion times as many.

If crystal be used to make the rosary, reciting and passing through it once will yield blessings a thousand koṭi times as many.

If Bodhi seeds be used to make the rosary, whether one tells the beads in recitation or merely holds and keeps it, reciting it but once, the blessings thereof are immeasurable, beyond reckoning, and difficult to compare.

If one wishes to vow to be reborn in the various Pure Lands of the Buddhas, one should, in accordance with this Dharma, receive and uphold this rosary."

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva said: "As for the Bodhi seeds: if there be furthermore a person who holds and keeps this rosary of Bodhi seeds, who is unable, in accordance with the Dharma, to recite the names of the Buddhas together with the Dhāraṇīs, but is able only to keep it upon his person—whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, in whatever words he utters, whether good or evil—because this person has held and kept the Bodhi seeds, the merit he attains is no different from reciting the Buddhas and chanting the mantras, and he obtains immeasurable blessings.

That rosary should, of necessity, be fully provided with one hundred and eight beads. If such be difficult to obtain, then fifty-four beads, or twenty-one beads, or even but fourteen beads—the merit of such a rosary will differ accordingly.

For what cause and condition do I now incline toward praising the use of Bodhi seeds as yielding the most supreme benefit?"

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva said: "Long ago, in the past, there was a Buddha who appeared in the world and, right beneath this very tree, accomplished Perfect and Complete Enlightenment (Samyak-saṃbodhi). At that time there was a heretic of false views who harbored in his mind the intent to destroy and to slander and revile the Triple Gem. This person had a son who was suddenly struck dead by a non-human being.

This heretic thought to himself: 'Now I, with my false views, have not yet clearly examined what manner of divine power the Buddhas possess. Now the Tathāgata has, right beneath this very tree, accomplished Perfect and Complete Enlightenment. If it be truly a sacred tree, there must surely be a response.' Thereupon he took his dead son and laid him beneath the Bodhi tree, and spoke thus: 'O Tree of the Buddha, if you are sacred, then cause this dead son of mine to be restored to life.' After the passing of seven days, reciting the name of the Buddha, the son was straightway restored to life.

The heretic, rejoicing, praised it, saying: 'The Buddhas possess great divine power. I have now beheld the tree of the Buddha's accomplishment of the Way manifest a strange and rare wonder; its majestic virtue is vast and great, deep and broad, beyond conception.' At that time the heretics, having heard of this matter, forsook the false and took refuge in the right, gave rise to the Mind of Enlightenment (Bodhicitta), and believed that the Buddha possesses divine power beyond conception.

Because of this cause and condition, the people of the world gave it the name 'Tree of Prolonged Life.'

That Bodhi tree thereupon had two names. The first name is 'Bodhi Tree'; the second name is 'Tree of Prolonged Life.'"

When Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva had finished speaking these words, the Buddha said: "Excellent! Excellent, Mañjuśrī! It is indeed just as you have said."

At that time the Great Assembly, having heard the Sutra on the Merit of Upholding the Rosary, were all greatly delighted; they believed, received, and reverently put it into practice.

THE SUTRA OF MAÑJUŚRĪ ON THE COMPARISON OF THE MERIT OF THE ROSARY (The End)