佛說大乘大方廣佛冠經

Furthermore, O Kāśyapa! To the South, beyond thirty thousand worlds away from this Buddha-realm, there is a world named Pleasing Pure Sound, wherein dwells a Buddha named Boundless Footstep Trace, the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, who presently abides there teaching and transforming beings, bringing them benefit.

O Kāśyapa! If there be any good men or good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who, hearing the name of Boundless Footstep Trace, the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, are able to invoke it, uphold and retain it, then such persons in lives to come shall attain the knowledge that recollects former lives, and shall attain the Bodhisattva's samādhi called Pure Moon-Disk.

Having abided in this samādhi, they shall themselves behold, in the East, Buddhas, World-Honored Ones numerous as the sands of the Gaṅgā. In this same manner, in the South, the West, the North, the four intermediate directions, above and below, throughout all the ten directions—in each and every one of those directions there are Buddhas, World-Honored Ones numerous as the sands of the Gaṅgā—all of whom they shall behold; and in the presence of those Buddhas, World-Honored Ones they shall hearken to the expounding of the Dharma and be able to understand it clearly.

Ever shall they meet Buddhas appearing in the world; at no time whatsoever shall they be parted, even briefly, from the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, until they realize the utmost and final Bodhi; and with regard to Supreme Perfect Enlightenment they shall forever be irreversible. For thirty-five thousand kalpas they shall turn their backs upon birth-and-death and shall be able to receive measureless merit.

Furthermore, O Kāśyapa! In the South, beyond thirty-five worlds away from this Buddha-realm, there is a world named Wondrous Fragrance, Supreme Fragrance, wherein dwells a Buddha named Boundless Fragrance Supreme King, the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, who presently abides there teaching and transforming beings, bringing them benefit.

O Kāśyapa! That Tathāgata Boundless Fragrance Supreme King, in ages past when he was cultivating the Bodhisattva path, made this great vow: "May it be that in a future age, when I have attained Buddhahood, if there be any good men or good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who, hearing my name, are able to invoke it, uphold and retain it, then such persons shall reap manifold merits and virtues—that is to say, in all the places wherein they are born they shall attain the knowledge that recollects former lives, their pure conduct shall be perfectly fulfilled, and they shall be fully endowed with the thirty-two marks of a Great Person adorning their bodies.

Moreover, in the various other Buddha-realms, by the radiance shining upon them, all shall arrive and (the beings) shall be gathered together, and for the sake of those persons I shall cause them to fulfill all the supreme practices of Bodhi. Furthermore, were it thus, then the great earth and the great fire would brim and overflow, burning everywhere. When the fire has finished its burning, the great earth shall display all manner of precious treasures, and those who come to beg shall all be supplied to the full, yet among all those persons there shall not be even the smallest part of disparity between one and another.

With regard to Supreme Perfect Enlightenment they shall be irreversible; for thirty thousand kalpas they shall turn their backs upon birth-and-death and shall be able to gather in measureless merit."

Furthermore, O Kāśyapa! In the South, beyond worlds numerous as the sands of one Gaṅgā away from this Buddha-realm, there is a realm wherein dwells a Buddha named Jewel-Supreme Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, who presently abides there teaching and transforming beings, bringing them benefit.

O Kāśyapa! If there be any good men or good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who, hearing the name of that Jewel-Supreme Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, can invoke it, uphold and retain it, such persons in lives to come shall attain the knowledge that recollects former lives. Moreover, even in this present life, while still within the mother's womb, they shall straightway behold the Buddha. That Buddha shall exhort and praise them thus: "O good man! You shall ripen unto Supreme Perfect Enlightenment, therefore you should swiftly come forth from the mother's womb; for a thousand kalpas you shall turn your back upon birth-and-death and shall be able to gather in measureless merit."

Furthermore, O Kāśyapa! In the West, beyond worlds numerous as the sands of three Gaṅgās away from this Buddha-realm, there is a world named Unknowing yet All-Knowing, wherein dwells a Buddha named Great Radiance Illuminating, the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, who presently abides there teaching and transforming beings, bringing them benefit.

O Kāśyapa! If there be any good men or good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who, hearing the name of that Great Radiance Illuminating, the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, constantly invoke it, uphold and retain it, then such persons in lives to come shall attain the knowledge that recollects former lives, and shall attain the samādhi called Supreme Sun-Disk Radiance. Having abided in this samādhi, they shall behold Buddhas, World-Honored Ones numerous as the sands of the Gaṅgā, such as the Invincible One and the rest; and the great Bodhisattvas who have attained merit and virtue shall likewise praise the merit and virtue of these persons.

Furthermore, O Kāśyapa! If there be any woman who, while within her mother's womb, hears the name of that Tathāgata, then such a person in lives to come shall no longer return to the form of a woman; once her present karmic recompense is exhausted, she shall become a man. Why is this so?—Because, having heard the name of this Tathāgata of great spiritual power and great majestic virtue, she is able to uphold and retain it.

At that time, the World-Honored One thereupon spoke these verses:

Furthermore, O Kāśyapa! If there be any good men or good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who, hearing the name of that Tathāgata, can invoke it, uphold and retain it, then such persons for asaṃkhyeya kalpas shall turn their backs upon birth-and-death and shall be able to gather in measureless merit, realizing the fruit of Supreme Perfect Bodhi.

Furthermore, O Kāśyapa! In the North, beyond forty thousand worlds away from this Buddha-realm, there is a world named Having-Jewels, wherein dwells a Buddha named Jewel-Opening-Flower Universal Wondrous Auspiciousness, the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, who presently abides there teaching and transforming beings, bringing them benefit.

O Kāśyapa! If there be any good men or good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who, hearing the name of that Jewel-Opening-Flower Universal Wondrous Auspiciousness, the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, constantly invoke it, uphold and retain it, then such persons in lives to come shall attain the knowledge that recollects former lives, and shall attain the Jewel-Moon Bodhisattva samādhi.

Having abided in this samādhi, they shall be able to understand clearly all the speech and sounds of sentient beings; sustained by the Buddha's grace, they shall accomplish unobstructed eloquence in speech. If there be any sentient beings who delight in seeking to behold that person, in the midst of empty space, proclaiming and expounding the various dharmas, then that person at that very moment can, according to their wish, manifest accordingly.

Moreover, all the sentient beings throughout this Jambudvīpa, in accordance with whatsoever they delight in and seek to give voice to, this person can in each and every case know it clearly.

Furthermore, if all the sentient beings throughout the three-thousand-great-thousandfold world, in accordance with what they delight in and seek, give voice to all manner of speech and sounds and the like, then this person knows them all clearly, and in accordance with the faith and understanding of those beings expounds the Dharma for them, causing them to become irreversible with regard to Supreme Perfect Enlightenment; for sixty thousand kalpas they shall turn their backs upon birth-and-death.

Furthermore, O Kāśyapa! In the East, beyond sixty thousand worlds away from this Buddha-realm, there is a world named Multitude-of-Jewels, wherein dwells a Buddha named Jewel-Store Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, who presently abides there teaching and transforming beings, bringing them benefit.

O Kāśyapa! If there be any good men or good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who, hearing the name of that Jewel-Store Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, constantly recite it, uphold and retain it, then such persons in lives to come shall attain the knowledge that recollects former lives, and shall accomplish the dharma of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment.

Furthermore, O Kāśyapa! In the East, beyond asaṃkhyeya worlds away from this Buddha-realm, there is a world named Jewel-Wonder, wherein dwells a Buddha named Jewel-Victory, the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, who presently abides there expounding the Dharma, bringing benefit.

O Kāśyapa! If there be any good men or good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who, hearing the name of that Jewel-Victory Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, constantly invoke it, uphold and retain it, then such persons can give rise to manifold merits.

O Kāśyapa! Suppose there be good men or good women abiding in the Bodhisattva Vehicle who amass precious treasures, the amount of that hoard being like Sumeru, king of mountains, and who, using such wealth, perform acts of giving, presenting vast offerings to the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, performing such acts of giving continuously throughout myriads of koṭis of nayutas of hundreds of thousands of years without ever ceasing.

Yet if there be a person who, hearing the name of that Jewel-Victory Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened One, can constantly invoke it, uphold and retain it, then the measureless merit of the giving described above, compared with this merit, does not equal one hundredth part, does not equal one thousandth part, does not equal one hundred-thousandth part; it does not equal one asaṃkhyeya part, nor any fraction by calculation or by analogy—it does not equal even one part.

At that time, the World-Honored One spoke these verses:

There are Buddha-realms in the Eastern quarter,
In the South, in the West, and in the North;
In every direction World-Honored Ones abide,
Shining upon sentient beings, bringing them benefit.
Whether the time is fitting or unfitting, this you should know:
Day and night ever give rise to thoughts of reverence;
Joining your palms in homage, rouse a sincere heart,
With faith bow down to the Most Supreme One in the world.
Whosoever clearly understands and knows the names,
Their heart mindful, revering and serving the Honored One Among Humankind—
For it is so that within a thousand kalpas
It is most rare to meet a Buddha appearing in the world.
If you wish to revere the Buddhas,
Because you seek the unsurpassed Bodhi,
Hearing the Buddha proclaim the names of the Buddhas,
You should then and there ever take refuge.
I now seek nothing else whatsoever;
I seek only to be born within the wisdom of the Buddhas.
Therein attaining all wholesome roots,
I dedicate them to the inconceivable wisdom of the Buddha.
Whosoever wishes to make offerings to the Buddhas,
Ever bearing this in mind: the Buddha is inconceivable—
Having heard the names of those Buddhas,
They shall, for the sake of others, expound them widely.
Wishing that myriads of koṭis of classes of sentient beings
May come forth from the three realms and attain liberation—
Once the names of those Buddhas have been heard
And upheld, one is not born again in the human realm.
Wishing to cause myriads of koṭis of Buddha-realms
To be shaken by a single toe—
Once the names of those Buddhas have been heard
And upheld, one widely expounds them for many people.
If one has formerly made offerings to the Buddhas,
Then, hearing the Buddhas' names, one upholds and retains them—
Not for one, nor for ten, nor for twenty lifetimes:
This indeed is the planting of wholesome roots through many lives.
If one hears the Buddhas' names and can uphold them,
Or offers up treasures numerous as the sands of the Gaṅgā,
Compared with the one who upholds and retains the Buddhas' names,
The accumulated merit does not equal one hundredth part.
Whosoever hears the Buddhas' names and upholds and retains them
Shall attain the bodily marks of the Most Supreme Among Humankind,
With beautiful form, upright and dignified, in the world;
Going forth into homelessness, they receive the offerings of gods and humans.

When the Buddha had finished expounding this sūtra, the assemblies of bhikṣus, the assemblies of great Bodhisattvas, and the rest, having heard the Buddha's exposition, all rejoiced greatly; they received it in faith and reverently put it into practice.

THE MAHĀYĀNA GREAT

VAIPULYA SŪTRA OF THE BUDDHA'S RADIANCE, SPOKEN BY THE BUDDHA

End of the lower fascicle (the complete work)