佛說百佛名經

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary, in the Jeta Grove near the city of Śrāvastī, together with the great bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, upāsikās, the great Bodhisattvas, the great devas, Śakra the Lord of Devas, the Great Brahmā Heavenly King, the Four Great Heavenly Kings, gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans. At that time, an immeasurable hundred thousand of the great assembly surrounded the Buddha in front and behind, reverently making offerings, honoring, and praising him.

At that time, the World-Honored One expounded the wondrous Dharma for the sake of the great assembly. Then the Venerable Śāriputra rose from his seat, arranged his robes, knelt with his right knee to the ground, joined the ten fingers of his palms, and said to the Buddha:

"World-Honored One! I respectfully beseech you to proclaim the names of the present Buddhas throughout the worlds of the ten directions.

Why is this so? Because if there are good sons or good daughters who hear these names of the present Buddhas, it will cause them to give rise to great merit, cause them to bring forth the mind of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment, attain the stage of non-retrogression, and likewise will cause them swiftly to accomplish Supreme Perfect Enlightenment."

Then the Buddha said to Śāriputra:

"Excellent, excellent! You now, wishing to bring benefit and peace to the great assembly, wishing out of compassion to protect all beings,

wishing to fulfill the longings of all beings, wishing to cause all to give rise to joyful hearts, and likewise wishing to increase the wholesome roots of the Bodhisattvas in the ages to come.

Excellent, excellent! You now, having given rise to wholesome awareness and contemplation, are able to ask in this way. Whoever is able to ask in this way, you should know, does so entirely through the might and spiritual power of the Tathāgata.

Śāriputra! Listen now attentively! If there are good sons or good daughters who hear these names of the present Buddhas, it will cause all the hosts of Māra to be unable to seize the advantage and gain entry wherever such persons dwell; all evildoers likewise will be unable to seize the advantage and gain entry. Those who uphold them will obtain immeasurable, boundless, and profound merit; wherever they are born, they will be fully endowed with the conduct of a Bodhisattva, attain the knowledge of former lives, possess a countenance upright and proper, and the marks complete in every way. They will always draw near to make offerings to the Buddhas, and even swiftly accomplish Supreme Perfect Enlightenment.

Why is this so, Śāriputra? Because if anyone hears these names of the Buddhas, then upholds, reads, and recites them, reverently bows and pays homage, transcribes and makes offerings to them, and in turn teaches and instructs others, then the merit obtained will be immeasurable and boundless."

At that time, the World-Honored One then spoke in verse, saying:

They will behold the golden-hued light of great wisdom,
The thirty-two marks of the Dharma Kings;
When they have come face to face with the Buddhas,
They make offerings to those immeasurable Buddhas.

Their eyes will not be blind, nor red nor yellow,
Their bodies not hunched, not crooked, not one-eyed;
They attain the body of mighty Nārāyaṇa—
Such is the reward for upholding the Buddhas' names.

They are ever attended by gods, nāgas, and yakṣas,

Therefore you now, with single-minded heart, listen:
The great Dharma Kings of the worlds of the ten directions
Skillfully draw out the thorns of beings' afflictions,
Just as a medicinal tree dispels the calamity of illness;
For foolish, blind, and ordinary worldlings,
They bestow the eye of wisdom of the Bodhisattvas.

Again, suppose the Bodhisattva Conduct-of-Giving Supreme,
Throughout immeasurable thousand-koṭi worlds as many as Ganges' sands,
Filled to overflowing with Jambū gold,
Day and night through the six periods, without ever ceasing,
Bestowed it in giving—a great compassionate, great Guide.

Again, taking sandalwood filling a hundred realms,
Banners, canopies, and garments as many as Ganges' sands,
Through immeasurable thousand-myriad koṭi kalpas,
With single-minded heart took them up and gave them in alms.

Again, suppose that within a single Buddha-realm
One built and filled it everywhere with Buddha-stūpas,
And for ten kalpas made offerings
To Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River.

Hundreds of worlds, the Buddha-lands of the Buddhas.

With pearls and necklaces used as adornment,
Their number as many as the sands of the Ganges River;
And in the sky again one made golden canopies,
Their number likewise as the sands of the Ganges River.

To perform such meritorious deeds as those above
Is not equal to skillfully bringing forth the Bodhi mind;
And bringing forth the Bodhi mind in this way,
Keeping the precepts pure without negligence,
Is not equal to one who upholds these names of the Buddhas.

To uphold these names of the Buddhas in such a way,
And again with compassion to pity all beings,
Spreading them widely everywhere,
Teaching others to uphold the names of the Buddhas—
Among all beings,
Such a one becomes a field of merit like the Tathāgata."

At that time, the Buddha said to Śāriputra:

"If anyone with single-minded heart upholds, reads, recites, and remembers without forgetting these names of the Buddhas, then their greed, hatred, delusion, and all fears will at once be eradicated. And as for those in whom greed, hatred, delusion, and all fears have not yet arisen, it will cause them not to arise."

Then the World-Honored One spoke the names of the Buddhas:

"♪ Homage to Moonlight Buddha

♪ Homage to Immovable Buddha

♪ Homage to Great Adornment Buddha

♪ Homage to Tagara-Fragrance Buddha

♪ Homage to Great-Mindfulness Buddha

♪ Homage to Flower-Casting Buddha

♪ Homage to Great-Ocean Buddha

♪ Homage to Great-Offering-Virtue Buddha

Therefore these names of the Buddhas
Can save and protect the world.

At that time, the Heavenly Lord Śakra—the king of the thirty-three heavens—arranged his robes, knelt upon both knees, joined his palms, and said to the Buddha:

"World-Honored One! We will always guard and protect those who uphold the names of the Buddhas. Moreover, the Four Great Heavenly Kings will also always protect such a person. As for one who upholds the names of the Buddhas—save only for determinate karma, which cannot be averted—among all the ranks of gods and humans, none will be able to inflict evil upon them."

At that time, the One of All-Knowing Wisdom sent forth a great and wondrous sound—eight kinds of voices, harmonious, true and good, and melodious—causing all who heard to delight in it. Thereupon, he addressed the whole great assembly, saying: "Swiftly uphold these names of the Buddhas, and then everywhere throughout the worlds of the ten directions spread them widely, so as to make a great gift of Dharma and sever the doubts and confusion of beings."

When the Great Sage Śākyamuni had finished expounding this Dharma, three hundred bhikṣus attained the exhaustion of the outflows and liberation of mind.

There were also forty bhikṣuṇīs who utterly eradicated all the dharmas of outflow and attained the path of Arhatship.

There were also five thousand upāsakas who abided in a supremely joyful mind and realized the fruit of Srotāpanna.

There were also one thousand one hundred upāsikās who, all far removed from the dust and defilement, attained the pure Dharma-eye.

There were also the great heavenly kings, together with immeasurable thousand-myriad heavenly hosts, who attained the pure Dharma-eye within the Dharma of the Dharma King.

Suppose one took the number of grains of sand in a single Ganges River and divided them into three parts. The number of Bodhisattvas who realized the Forbearance of the Non-Arising of Dharmas equaled one part of that number.

At that time, the Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold World quaked in six ways. The mountains, the high peaks, and the great earth all shook and trembled. And in the sky there rained down wondrous heavenly flowers. The joyful sounds of the gods, nāgas, and the ranks of nonhumans resounded everywhere.

Then the Heavenly Lord Śakra, Maudgalyāyana, Revata, Cūḍapanthaka, Mahākapphiṇa, Mahākātyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, and also Nadī-Kāśyapa, Pūrṇa-Maitrāyaṇīputra, Subhūti, Aniruddha, Ānanda, Bhadrika, and Dravya-Mallaputra—all such ranks of the great assembly, twenty-five thousand in all, with one voice said to the Buddha:

"Śākya Lion Dharma King! I will exhaust the full strength of my diligence—without leaving the slightest remainder—and using every spiritual power throughout immeasurable worlds, I will conjure immeasurable bodies, and then pass through immeasurable Buddha-fields, always proclaiming these names of the Buddhas and likewise expounding what the Buddha has taught."

At that time, the Buddha, the World-Honored One, wishing to cause the great assembly to behold, manifested a great spiritual power. By the spiritual power of the Buddha, he revealed immeasurable koṭi of lands. Then the great assembly all saw the Śākya Lion Dharma King pervading all those lands, expounding this sūtra and likewise the teachings of the Buddhas of the past—all of them without the slightest difference.

The Buddha said to the great assembly:

"For a long time, throughout immeasurable kalpas, I have well cultivated spiritual powers. Concerning this unsurpassed Buddha-Dharma, let the great assembly resolutely give rise to no doubt or confusion. Because I wish for beings to be at peace and secure, I have therefore swiftly proclaimed these names of the Buddhas. In this way it will cause all beings forever to leave behind the calamitous suffering of birth and death."

At that time, the Buddha said to the Venerable Śāriputra:

"If there are good sons or good daughters who, having heard these names of the Buddhas, then with deep, pure faith bring forth the Bodhi mind and cherish and uphold them; if day and night, with diligence, they read, recite, transcribe, and expound them widely for others, then they will obtain immeasurable, boundless, vast, and great merit, attain the stage of non-retrogression, even swiftly accomplish Supreme Perfect Enlightenment, and all the hosts of Māra will be unable to disturb or trouble them."

When the Buddha had finished expounding this sūtra, the Venerable Śāriputra, Śakra, the Brahmā Kings, the Four Great Heavenly Kings, the bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, upāsikās, the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and asuras—the entire great assembly, having heard this Dharma, all gave rise to hearts of great joy.

The Buddha Speaks the Sūtra of the Names of the Hundred Buddhas