佛臨涅槃記法住經

Thus have I heard. At one time, in the Sala Grove in the land of the Mallas near the city of Kusinagara, the Blessed One was together with immeasurable sravakas, great bodhisattvas, devas, human beings, asuras, and others. The entire great assembly surrounded him.

At that time, as he was about to enter nirvana, the Blessed One, out of compassionate concern for sentient beings, spoke gently to Ananda: “Before long, I shall enter nirvana. All conditioned dharmas are subject to decay, and all the works of a Buddha have been brought to completion. I have taught the Dharma of liberation from birth and death—the subtle, wondrous nectar that is supremely sovereign and brings ultimate peace and bliss.

These dharmas are profound and subtle, difficult to understand and difficult to know. They cannot be reached through reasoning and transcend the realm of reasoning; they are personally realized by the great sages. I have turned three times the unsurpassed Dharma wheel, whose majestic power comprises the twelve aspects.

No sramana, brahmin, deva, Mara, Brahma, or any other being could turn such a true Dharma wheel. For devas and human beings, I have sounded the Dharma conch and beaten the Dharma drum to awaken them from their sleep in the long night of ignorance. I have raised the banner of Dharma and lit the torch of Dharma, illuminating everything and dispelling the darkness.

For sentient beings, I have built the great bridge of Dharma and fashioned the great vessel of Dharma to carry them all across the raging current. I have poured forth the water of Dharma and sent down the rain of Dharma, causing all withered trees to flourish. I have opened the path of liberation to guide those who have lost their way in the world.

Those sentient beings fit to be delivered have already been delivered by me; for those not yet delivered, I have also established the conditions for their deliverance. I have subdued all non-Buddhist teachers, refuted all false doctrines, overthrown the palaces of the Maras, and routed the armies of Mara. With the lion’s roar, I have accomplished the great work of a Buddha.

I have fulfilled the original vows of a great being, preserved the Dharma of patient acceptance so that it will not be destroyed, instructed the sravakas, and bestowed predictions upon bodhisattvas. I have caused the unsurpassed Buddha-eye to shine into future ages, enduring forever without interruption.

“Ananda! With regard to this unsurpassed true Dharma, you must strive diligently to guard and uphold it so that it does not disappear.

“Ananda! I now have nothing further to accomplish. All that remains is to proceed toward nirvana.”

Having heard the Buddha’s words, Ananda was overwhelmed with grief. After choking with emotion for a long while, he addressed him:

“Blessed One! The unsurpassed true Dharma that the Tathagata attained only after diligently undergoing toil and hardship for countless kalpas for the sake of sentient beings—after the Tathagata’s passing, how long will this true Dharma abide in the world, benefiting devas, human beings, asuras, and others, before it declines?”

Once again, the Blessed One spoke lovingly to Ananda:

“The Dharma left behind by all Buddhas follows this same course. Ananda, do not grieve. After my passing, the unsurpassed true Dharma will abide in the world for one thousand years, benefiting devas, human beings, asuras, and others. Thereafter, it will gradually come to an end.

“Ananda, you should know that during the first hundred years after my passing, my teaching will be in the age when the true Dharma remains firmly established. My disciples will be intelligent and wise, learned, eloquent, and unobstructed in debate. They will be able to subdue false doctrines, will possess spiritual powers, and will benefit sentient beings.

“Because of this, devas and nagas will rejoice and diligently guard and uphold the teaching. Kings, ministers, elders, and householders will also recognize the field of merit, possess profound faith, and make offerings to, revere, honor, and praise the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. At the end of that first century, a king named Asoka will appear in the world. Endowed with majestic power, he will rule Jambudvipa and build eighty-four thousand lofty, spacious, and magnificent stupas as offerings to my relics. Immeasurable multitudes who see or hear of them will rejoice, plant wholesome karma, be reborn in the heavens, and attain liberation.

“During the second hundred years after my nirvana, my teaching will be in the age when serenity remains firmly established. My disciples will be intelligent, learned, and wise, worthy of being teachers of devas and human beings. Endowed with majestic virtue, they will benefit many. Because of this, devas and nagas will rejoice and diligently guard and uphold the teaching. Kings, ministers, elders, and householders will also clearly understand the field of merit, possess profound and pure faith, and make offerings to, revere, honor, and praise the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

“During the third hundred years after my nirvana, my teaching will be in the age when right practice remains firmly established. Among my disciples, those who attain liberation through wisdom and liberation in both respects—liberation of mind and liberation through wisdom—as well as those who directly realize the truth and those who attain the path of seeing, will number in the hundreds of thousands. Because many will attain the fruits of the sages, devas and nagas will rejoice and diligently guard and uphold the teaching. Kings, ministers, elders, and householders will also clearly understand the field of merit, possess profound and pure faith, and make offerings to, revere, honor, and praise the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

“During the fourth hundred years after my nirvana, my teaching will be in the age when seclusion remains firmly established. My disciples will delight in dwelling in secluded places and will diligently cultivate meditative concentration. Because of this, devas and nagas will rejoice and diligently guard and uphold the teaching. Kings, ministers, elders, and householders will also clearly understand the field of merit, possess profound and pure faith, and make offerings to, revere, honor, and praise the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

“During the fifth hundred years after my nirvana, my teaching will be in the age when the meaning of the Dharma remains firmly established. My disciples will delight in the true Dharma, diligently cultivate and study it, and know how to discern correctly when engaging in discussion. Because of this, devas and nagas will rejoice and diligently guard and uphold the teaching. Kings, ministers, elders, and householders will also clearly understand the field of merit, possess profound and pure faith, and make offerings to, revere, honor, and praise the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

“During the sixth hundred years after my nirvana, my teaching will be in the age when the scriptural teachings remain firmly established. Most of my disciples will diligently read and recite my teachings without weariness of mind, and they will often benefit immeasurable sentient beings. Because of this, devas and nagas will rejoice and diligently guard and uphold the teaching. Kings, ministers, elders, and householders will also clearly understand the field of merit, possess profound and pure faith, and make offerings to, revere, and honor the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; yet most will harbor doubts concerning the meaning and principles of the teachings.

“During the seventh hundred years after my nirvana, my teaching will be in the age when material gain and support remain firmly established. Devas, nagas, yaksas, asuras, and others will make offerings to, revere, honor, and praise the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Most of my disciples will be attached to material gain, support, reverence, and praise, and will not diligently cultivate the higher trainings in ethical discipline, concentration, and wisdom.

“During the eighth hundred years after my nirvana, my teaching will be in the age when contention remains firmly established. Most of my disciples will be jealous and envious, collude with evil people, gather in factions, slander and revile those who uphold the precepts, and scorn the learned. They will not remain mindful of the Dharma of the six principles of harmony, but will think only of disputes.

They will display unwholesome deceit, show no reverence for their teachers and elders, and fail to live according to right knowledge. Deceitful and obsequious, they will speak coarse and vile words like candalas. Relying upon the power of kings, officials, and elders, they will use every means to squander the property of the Three Jewels, associate with evil companions, and divide virtuous friends.”

In the ninth century after my nirvana, my teaching will be in the period of steadfast worldly activity. Most of my disciples will sustain themselves by engaging in worldly occupations such as commerce, cultivation, buying and selling, conducting transactions, serving as emissaries, and so forth, while treating lightly and violating the precepts established by the Tathagata.

In the tenth century after my nirvana, my teaching will be in the period of steadfast frivolous discourse. Most of my disciples will diligently study various kinds of frivolous discourse, abandoning the supramundane true Dharma of the Buddhas, namely: Sutras, Geyas, Vyakarana, Gathas, Udanas, Nidanas, Avadanas, Jatakas, Itivrttakas, Vaipulya, Adbhutadharma, and Upadesa. They will diligently study only worldly discourses, namely: discourses on kings, thieves, warfare, food, drink, medicine, vehicles, the self, sexual desire, men, women, the capitals of various countries, and rivers and seas.

Because they delight in these kinds of frivolous discourse, the sramanas and brahmins will disparage them and keep their distance from my noble teaching. Within my Dharma and discipline there will be evil bhiksus and bhiksunis such as these, who fail to cultivate properly morality, concentration, and wisdom, and merely engage among themselves in contentious debate, scheming, and slander. They will crave fine robes and bowls, dwellings, and bedding, and assemble together with evil companions.

Although they may have upheld the pure precepts for many years, in a single moment they will violate and destroy them all. Likewise, although they may have cultivated roots of virtue for many years, through much anger and distress they will immediately lose them. Because of this, devas and nagas will be grieved and distressed, and will cease to protect them.

Kings, ministers, elders, and householders will no longer give rise to pure faith; they will slander, disparage, and scorn the Three Jewels, causing the true Dharma to perish.

Thereafter, the evil committed by the bhiksus will grow ever more profound, and kings, ministers, elders, and householders will become increasingly disrespectful. Yet the awe-inspiring power of the Three Jewels will still not have vanished. Therefore, there will be bhiksus and bhiksunis who have few desires and know contentment, guard the precepts, practice in purity, delight in extensive learning, uphold the Tathagata’s teachings of the Tripitaka, and discern and expound them extensively for the fourfold assembly, bringing benefit and happiness to immeasurable sentient beings.

There will also be kings, ministers, elders, and householders who cherish the true Dharma, make offerings to, revere, honor, and praise the Three Jewels, and protect and establish them without regret. Know that all of them are inconceivable bodhisattvas who, through their original vows, will protect the Tathagata’s unsurpassed true Dharma in that age and bring great benefit to all sentient beings.

At that time, the Venerable Ananda, the sravakas, bodhisattvas, devas, nagas, yaksas, humans, nonhumans, and the entire great assembly heard the Blessed One’s prophecy concerning the duration of the true Dharma in the future and his detailed account of the differing conduct and karma of the bhiksus. They praised it all the more, accepted it in faith, and reverently practiced it.

The Sutra of the Buddha’s Approach to Nirvana, Foretelling the Abiding of the Dharma