大寶積經

10. CHAPTER ON THE PROPHECY OF THE YAKSHAS

At that time, another eight hundred million yakshas saw the asuras, garudas, naga maidens, naga kings, kumbhandas, and gandharvas make offerings to the Buddha and receive prophecies. Delighted and exultant, they all gave rise to a rare and unprecedented thought, knowing that the wisdom of the Buddha, the Blessed One, was inexhaustible, supremely honored, supremely excellent, unobstructed, and inconceivable. They also heard the Dharma gates taught in sequence. They regarded the Buddha as the Guide and the one of inexhaustible wisdom, and they developed a loving delight in the Buddha’s true Dharma. Wishing to make offerings, they aroused diligence and spoke these verses of praise:

He knows the reverence and faith in beings’ minds,
And has delivered all those fit to be delivered;
He knows the inclinations of those to be delivered,
Therefore, the Buddha has no equal.

According to the good and evil karma beings create,
And all the forms they assume wherever they are born,
He clearly knows their faculties and the Dharma they can receive;
Therefore, the Buddha has no equal.

According to the power of their arising afflictions,
Their means of acting and creating karma,
And the various sufferings undergone according to karma—
The Guide clearly knows them all.

Within the Buddha-Dharma there are ordinary beings
Who, though gone forth, do not understand its meaning.
They malign the wondrous Dharma of the wise;
The Blessed One clearly knows them as well.

Those who have developed deep reverence and faith in the Buddha,
Gone forth, and upheld the treasury of true Dharma,
Contemplate that all dharmas are empty
And cut off every path of birth and death.

Praising the unequaled Guide,
I now dedicate the accumulation of merit I have gained:
Through this merit, may I attain Buddhahood,
And may sentient beings also attain perfect enlightenment.”

The Blessed One knew the deep faith in the minds of the yakshas and therefore manifested a smile.

The Venerable Bhikshu Ashvajit spoke these verses to inquire:

Who today has manifested great supernormal powers?
Who today has aroused great diligence?
With whom is the Buddha today on intimate terms?
We pray that you reveal this before the great assembly.

Excellent, O Muni who pities the world!
We pray that you dispel all doubts and perplexities.
May the great assembly of devas and humans hear,
And may all today be filled with joy.”

The Blessed One replied to Bhikshu Ashvajit in verse:

“Excellent is Ashvajit’s question;
It will now greatly benefit the world.
Because you have asked the reason for the smile,
I praise you for skillfully understanding the Buddha’s intent.

The yaksha assemblies have minds of reverence and faith,
For they know that bodhi is quiescent extinction.
Having truly praised the Buddha’s virtues,
They direct their minds toward great bodhi.

Because they know all dharmas are empty and quiescent,
They eliminate all illusory characteristics.
Vowing to abandon every form of samsaric existence,
They direct their minds toward great bodhi.

Through the power of meditative concentration, they know the skandhas
Are merely conventional truth and do not cling to them.
Unattached to samsara like a lotus,
They direct their minds through samsara toward great bodhi.

Having known the intrinsic nature of the skandhas as empty and quiescent,
They know the nature of quiescent bodhi is also transcended.
The bodhi practice that is cultivated is also empty;
Ordinary beings do not understand wisdom such as this.

They can contemplate that the nature of wisdom is itself empty,
And that the contemplated objects are all quiescent and extinct.
Those who know the Dharma know that all is empty;
Such people can cultivate the path of bodhi.

One should know that emptiness itself is also intrinsically empty,
And that characteristics and vows also lack intrinsic nature.
If a person can know in this manner,
That person can cultivate the practice of reality.

Having heard this, the great assembly of devas and humans
Give rise to joy and obtain benefit.
Having developed complete reverence and faith in the Buddha,
Their minds abide in quiescent bodhi.

In the future, before many hundreds of millions of Buddhas,
Through supernormal powers, in a single thought,
They will prepare offerings in many Buddha lands
And attain the patient acceptance of dharmas before the Buddhas.

They will not give rise to notions concerning the worlds;
Through supernormal powers, the wise can travel to them.
Contemplating this world as an illusion,
The wise travel freely without grasping.

The valiant yakshas who make offerings to the Buddha
Will attain unsurpassed great bodhi.
They will also attain supremely pure Buddha lands,
Within which they will deliver measureless assemblies.

They will become Knowers of the World,
All sharing the name Boundless Wisdom.
Their names will be heard throughout the ten directions, and they will live a thousand kalpas;
Their wisdom, lifespans, and quiescent extinction will be alike.

Having heard this, the great assembly of devas and humans
Rejoice for the sake of the path of bodhi.
Their minds become steadfast, and they arouse diligent effort,
Using the power of diligence to preserve their virtuous practices.”

11. CHAPTER ON THE PROPHECY OF THE KINNARA KING

At that time there was an assembly of eight hundred million kinnaras, led by the Kinnara King Great Tree. They saw the arhats, garudas, naga maidens, naga kings, kumbhandas, gandharvas, and yakshas make offerings to the Buddha and receive prophecies. They gave rise to a rare and unprecedented thought: because sentient beings are ungraspable; because there is no living being, no one born, no person, no man, no one who nurtures, no recipient, no self, and nothing belonging to a self.

Beings are designated on the basis of the skandhas, yet all skandhas are also ungraspable. Beings are designated on the basis of the elements of the dhatus, yet all elements of the dhatus are also ungraspable. Beings are designated on the basis of the ayatanas, yet all ayatanas are also ungraspable.

Because there is karma, there are karmic results, yet that karmic activity is also ungraspable. Unsurpassed bodhi is also ungraspable, all bodhisattvas are also ungraspable, and all Buddhas are also ungraspable. Nevertheless, the Blessed One bestows prophecies upon the bodhisattvas.

For what reason does the Tathagata bestow prophecies upon bodhisattvas, announce their names, reveal karmic results, speak of the future assemblies of bodhisattvas, reveal the power of the Buddhas’ supernormal abilities, speak of the power of the true Dharma, reveal the adornments of Buddha lands, proclaim that beings possess karma and its results, speak of the purity of Buddha lands, reveal bodhisattvas journeying from one Buddha land through the various Buddha realms, say that bodhisattvas go there to make offerings, speak of miraculous transformations and excellent offerings, enumerate wondrous and rare articles of offering, say after how many kalpas they will attain Buddhahood, how long each Buddha will remain in the world, how many shravakas that Buddha will have,

and how long that Buddha’s true Dharma will remain in the world following nirvana?

Why does the Tathagata abandon sentient beings and enter great nirvana?

The Kinnara King Great Tree gave rise to these doubts. Together with the assembly of eight hundred million kinnaras, he bowed to the Buddha, joined his palms, and spoke these verses of inquiry:

“Having heard the Buddha bestow prophecies,
Doubts arose in our minds: why does the Great Wise One,
Having spoken of prophecies, also speak of emptiness?
We do not understand these two teachings.

You have said that empty quiescence is free from intrinsic nature,
And that the dharmadhatu is equal and unmoving;
Why, then, does the Tathagata receive offerings?
How can this be, O Blessed One?

The Buddha has taught that dharmas are unborn,
Yet he also speaks of generating the mind of bodhi.
The One of Measureless Wisdom teaches these two doctrines;
We do not understand this secret teaching.

Why does the Blessed One say things are like illusions,
Yet also say that beings are born in the heavenly realms?
The Honored One among Bipeds teaches in this way;
We do not understand this secret Dharma teaching.

Why does the Buddha say that intrinsic nature is empty,
Yet also say that liberation is attained by contemplating emptiness?
We do not understand the meaning of this;
We pray that the Tathagata dispel our doubts.

Why does the Buddha speak of complete cessation,
Yet also say that the nature of dharmas is quiescent extinction?
We look up to the Unsurpassed One and pray
That you clearly explain these secret teachings.

Why does the Blessed One employ verses
To reveal that all dharmas are like empty space,
Yet foolish people who malign the Dharma
Will certainly fall into the great hells after death?

The Great Hero always teaches the good destinies,
Yet he also speaks of other destinies.
Having said that beings arise through created karma,
He also says there is no one who creates karma.

You have said that wholesome karma cannot accumulate,
Yet also say that bodhi is attained through cultivation.
The Dharma King among Shramanas teaches in this way;
We do not understand it.

The Tathagata has spoken of the ultimate reality of dharmas,
Yet also speaks of delusion, giving, and morality.
O clear-eyed one, not blind, who extinguishes offenses,
We pray that you explain this meaning to us.

The Blessed One replied in verse to the Kinnara King Great Tree:

“You ask why I teach emptiness yet bestow prophecies,
And do not understand these two matters.
If dharmas were not empty,
The Buddha would not bestow prophecies upon them.

The dharmadhatu has no characteristic of change.
Regarding every article of offering,
You should examine each of its constituent parts:
In which of those parts does its characteristic exist?

You ask why the Buddha teaches that things are unborn
Yet also speaks of generating the mind, which is difficult to understand.
All of you should now listen single-mindedly
As the One Possessing the Ten Powers explains the secret meaning.

Ordinary beings sink within the river of samsara,
Bound and fettered, clinging to that place.
Their minds constantly embrace inverted conceptions,
And therefore they undergo the sufferings of samsara.

Hearing of the great benefit of bodhi,
They focus their minds upon that result;
Yet their minds still give rise to craving and attachment,
And they cannot penetrate naturally victorious wisdom.

Because certain sentient beings cling to permanence,
The Tathagata therefore teaches the meaning of extinction.
All conditioned things are constantly seen to decay;
There is not a single dharma that is permanent.

You ask why all dharmas are like dreams and illusions,
Yet beings are said to be born in heaven, and so you doubt.
For trainees and ordinary beings, the good and evil destinies
Are unstable dharmas and therefore illusory.

You ask why the Buddha says there is no support,
Yet also speaks of relying upon good spiritual friends.
To those seeking to relinquish dependence,
Good spiritual friends teach nondependence.

You ask why ultimately there is no capacity for action,
Yet action is also taught, and thus you do not understand.
One should observe that a cart consists of many parts,
And also observe that the cart performs functions.

If a person clings to a self
And regards various deeds as performed by that self,
The Buddha teaches such people that there is no agent;
Nevertheless, this does not mean there is no function.

Their deluded conceptual distinctions arise,
And through false grasping at conditions they become bound.
To deliver sentient beings such as these,
The Blessed One teaches that intrinsic nature does not exist.

Foolish ordinary beings are bound by craving;
Within that foul impurity, there is no purity.
Just as a mirage resembles the appearance of water,
Yet within the nature of sunlight there is truly no water,

Though all dharmas are said to be like empty space,
It is also said that those who malign them fall into hell.
Fools become frightened when they hear this;
The wise remain peaceful even upon hearing it.

The intrinsic nature of the world is empty and quiescent,
Yet fools without wisdom imagine a self.
If such people hear teachings on the empty nature,
They become frightened and cannot continue to take birth.

The Buddha has taught the various good destinies,
And for the world has also taught the other destinies.
He says that created karma is never lost,
And also eliminates clinging to the existence of an agent.

All destinies are like scenes in a dream;
The Buddha tells you to understand them in this way.
Within a dream there is no characteristic of going or coming,
Yet those who see invertedly cling to going and coming.

The Buddha has taught that karma is performed,
Yet when one searches the ten directions, no agent is found.
It is like a great wind blowing against dry trees,
Causing them to strike together and produce fire.

You ask why merit does not accumulate,
Yet assembled goodness yields the fruit of bodhi.
The Buddha will now truly explain this to you;
You should diligently and wholeheartedly listen.

It is like a person in the world who obtains longevity
And whose life extends beyond one hundred years;
Those years do not accumulate in one place.
The conjunction of all conditions is also like this.

You ask why dharmas have no exhaustion,
Yet the Buddha says karma can be exhausted.
For one contemplating emptiness, dharmas have no end;
According to worldly dharmas, karma comes to an end.

Although the Buddha teaches the Dharma of ultimate reality,
Inversion also does not lie outside ultimate reality.
Foolish and deluded sentient beings
Cannot clearly know ultimate reality.

Kinnara King, you should listen:
This is for diligent people endowed with diligence.
All characteristics are a single characteristic;
Know that this is the absence of characteristics.

If one can understand the single syllable,
The Buddha teaches bodhi for that wise person.
All characteristics are a single characteristic;
Know that this is the absence of characteristics.

All dharmas are quiescent and extinct;
The gate of the syllable A is taught to enable realization and entry.
Kinnara King, you should know
That this is also the dharani gate of the syllable A.

All dharmas are without discrimination;
The Buddha has taught entry into this Dharma gate.
Kinnara King, you should know
That this is also the dharani gate of the syllable A.

All dharmas lack intrinsic nature;
The gate of the syllable A is taught to enable realization and entry.
Kinnara King, you should know
That this is also the dharani gate of the syllable A.

All dharmas are neither existent nor bounded;
The various dharmas are taught through the gate of the syllable A.
Kinnara King, you should know
That this is also the dharani gate of the syllable A.

The Buddha has taught the exhaustion and inexhaustibility of dharmas;
One should say that all dharmas are inexhaustible.
All Tathagatas endowed with the ten powers
Have taught the inexhaustible dharani gate.

Great Tree, Kinnara King, you should know
That this is also the dharani of the syllable A.
All dharmas have nothing that can be apprehended;
The Buddha teaches bodhi for the wise.

This itself is also the dharani gate;
One should enter through the gate of the syllable A.
All dharmas have no coming;
If one does not cultivate, one will not attain it.

This itself is also the dharani gate;
One should enter through the gate of the syllable A.
All dharmas exist as provisional designations;
When their intrinsic nature is sought, it cannot be found.

This itself is also the dharani gate;
One should enter through the gate of the syllable A.
All dharmas lack intrinsic nature;
When their intrinsic nature is sought, it cannot be found.

This itself is also the dharani gate;
The Buddha has taught entry through the gate of the syllable A.
All dharmas are unborn;
The wise should know their single characteristic.

They also have none of the characteristics of seeing, hearing, and so forth;
This is the dharani of nonexistence.
It is neither deceitful nor upright,
And has none of the characteristics of bending or extending.

It has neither anger nor joy,
Neither arising activity nor quiescent extinction.
It has no characteristic of entering or leaving,
Neither advancing nor retreating, neither coming nor going.

It neither sleeps nor wakes;
Know that it is free from characteristics of awareness and cognition.
It is neither seen by the eye nor blind;
There is neither a seer nor an obscuring darkness.

In ultimate truth, apart from the Buddha,
There is no one who can dispel every doubt.”

When the Kinnara King Great Tree heard the Buddha teach this dharani gate, his mind was filled with joy, and he aroused courageous diligence. He immediately transformed eight hundred million pavilions into existence. Some of these pavilions stood upon trees, some upon lotuses, and some upon mountains. All were adorned with the seven treasures, with canopies of seven treasures, standards of seven treasures, tassels made of jeweled flowers, and tassels of multicolored silk.

The Kinnara King Great Tree and the eight hundred million kinnaras took the various flowers that grew on land and in water upon Fragrant Mountain and scattered them over the Buddha. They then ascended the seven-jeweled pavilions, flew around the Buddha three times, scattered flowers over the Buddha once more, and again circled him three times.

The Kinnara King Great Tree and the kinnara assembly descended from the pavilions and circumambulated the Buddha three times. They bowed at the Buddha’s feet, single-mindedly joined their palms, and gazed upon the Blessed One without allowing their eyes to turn away even for a moment. Standing to one side, they recollected the Tathagata’s measureless virtues of the past and present.

Knowing the aspirations in the minds of the Kinnara King Great Tree and the eight hundred million kinnaras, the Blessed One manifested a smile.

The Venerable Bhikshu Ashvajit spoke these verses of inquiry:

“The Buddha does not smile without a cause;
May the Teacher of Devas and Humans speak the truth.
The assembly has seen the Buddha smile and all harbor doubts;
Now we behold the Supremely Excellent One like the new moon.

Who has attained a purified mind in the Buddha-Dharma,
Thus causing the Tathagata to manifest a smile?
We pray that the Tathagata explain this clearly,
So that our doubts may end and our minds rejoice.

At that time, if the whole great assembly
Hears the Buddha’s teaching, they will all rejoice.
We pray that you dispel the assembly’s doubts,
So they may accomplish all that the Buddha teaches.

The Blessed One replied in verse to the Venerable Ashvajit:

“Excellent, Ashvajit, your question is timely;
The Buddha will now explain it distinctly for you.
Because you have asked, the Buddha will reveal it,
And the great assembly will attain the Buddha’s virtues.

You should purify and single-mindedly concentrate your mind;
Hear this rare event without allowing your thoughts to become distracted.
The Well-Gone One possesses supremely excellent wisdom,
Vast and unobstructed knowledge and vision.

The eight hundred million kinnaras of Great Tree,
The king, his ministers, people, and retinues,
Having made offerings to the Buddha,
Will, when their lives end, be born in the heavens.

Thereafter, for nine hundred million kalpas,
They will revolve within the human and heavenly realms.
They will fully cultivate the five supernormal powers
And attain mastery of wisdom and freedom of mind.

They will travel to nayutas of Buddha lands,
Dispatched there by the Buddhas.
Their bodies will remain unmoving in their celestial palaces,
Constantly enjoying the secure bliss of meditative joy.

The vows of those bodhisattvas will be exceedingly vast;
Throughout the long night, they will skillfully contemplate them.
Because the nature of their vows is pure,
Each will refine and purify their own Buddha land.