觀世音菩薩往生淨土本緣經

Thus indeed have I heard: During the time when the Buddha, together with the great bhikṣus, the great bodhisattvas, and the eightfold assembly of devas, nāgas, and others, was dwelling on the summit of Gṛdhrakūṭa (Vulture Peak) at the city of Rājagṛha, one day, as the assembly of disciples surrounded him and reverently listened to the Buddha expound the causes and conditions of the great bodhisattvas, suddenly a radiant mass of light appeared before him, shining throughout Jambudvīpa, and then gradually illuminating the other realms. From within that mass of light there rang out a verse:

He who has accomplished the gate of liberation through great compassion

Forever abides on Potala, in the Sahā world

Day and night, through the six periods, he observes the world

By the causes and conditions of his original vows, he rescues the myriad beings.

The great assembly, seeing the light and hearing the verse, all regarded it as something never before seen. With doubt in their hearts, they questioned one another in turn, but none of them knew. At that time, from within the assembly, the bodhisattva Dhāraṇī-Īśvara (Total Retention and Sovereign Mastery) rose and addressed the Buddha:

"World-Honored One! By what causes and conditions has this mass of light appeared, and by whom was it emitted? We have seen the light and heard the verse spoken, yet we do not know why. We humbly beg the World-Honored One to teach us, that we may understand!"

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Dhāraṇī-Īśvara:

"Excellent! Excellent! All of you, listen attentively, and I shall explain!

From here, traveling toward the west, passing through twenty Ganges' sands of Buddha-realms, one comes upon a world named Sukhāvatī (Ultimate Bliss). The beings living therein have no sufferings of any kind and enjoy only happiness in full. The teaching master of that realm is the Buddha Amitābha, with an incalculable number of holy ones of the Three Vehicles abiding everywhere throughout it.

Among them is a bodhisattva of the stage of One-Life-Remaining named Avalokiteśvara (Contemplating the Sounds of the World, the Sovereign Master). This being planted roots of goodness from a very distant past and has already accomplished the practice and vow of great compassion. Today this being will come here to set forth in full the causes and conditions of rebirth in Sukhāvatī.

Now that the light has already illuminated the whole world, surely it will not be long before the bodhisattva arrives. At that time, all of you should ask about the causes and conditions of the verse."

As soon as the Buddha had finished speaking, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, together with a hundred thousand great bodhisattvas, arrived at the same moment at the summit of Vulture Peak. They bowed, praised, and made offerings to the Buddha, then sat to one side. Then the bodhisattva Dhāraṇī-Īśvara, relying on the Buddha's majestic power, drew near to the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. After the two had exchanged greetings, the bodhisattva Dhāraṇī-Īśvara asked the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara:

"Venerable one! Within the mass of light you emitted, a wondrous verse was spoken. We do not yet know its causes and conditions or its meaning. Please expound it, that the great assembly may understand!"

The bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara replied to the bodhisattva Dhāraṇī-Īśvara:

"In the past, indescribable asaṃkhyeya kalpas ago, in the land of Tianzhu (India) in the southern continent of Jambudvīpa, there was a country named Maṇiabhadra. In this country there was a brahmin sage named Cāraṇa, and his wife was named Manasā. This elder was very wealthy, but he had no son to continue his lineage. The husband and wife often lamented: 'Although we possess a great deal of wealth and have nothing further to worry about, our only regret is that we have no son to carry on our line.' Thereafter, the husband and wife sincerely made offerings to the heavenly spirits and earnestly prayed to obtain a son. Before long the wife conceived. When the months and days were complete, she gave birth to a baby boy of incomparably beautiful appearance.

When this child was three years old, she gave birth to a second baby boy. Having obtained two sons, the brahmin sage and his wife were exceedingly joyful, and they invited a physiognomist to come and examine them. After examining them, the physiognomist revealed an unhappy expression. He was silent for a long while, then said:

"Although these two children are beautiful and upright in appearance, before long they will become separated from their father and mother. Therefore, name the elder one Early Separation, and the younger one Swift Separation."

Although they heard the physiognomist speak thus, the brahmin sage and his wife still loved and raised the children without the slightest aversion. In the year when Early Separation was seven and Swift Separation was five, one day Lady Manasā suddenly fell gravely ill. Her body became emaciated, and she was oppressed by pain so that she could neither sit nor lie down, and she gave up both drink and food. As she was about to die, the brothers Early Separation and Swift Separation stood by the bed, gazing upon their mother's body with sorrow in their hearts, crying and weeping piteously. Hearing her two sons lamenting so mournfully, with tears of blood streaming down, she forced herself to sit up, stretched out both hands to stroke the heads of the two brothers, and said:

"No one can escape the destruction of birth and death, just as the physiognomist said before. My only regret is that you have not yet reached the age of maturity, and I am leaving you. What sin and retribution do I bear? Why should you be so unfortunate?"

Hearing his mother say this, Early Separation fainted and fell beside his mother's bed. After a long while he revived, and again he cried out to Heaven in lament and reproach:

"We today are still young and ignorant, knowing nothing yet. If we have no mother, who will teach us the supreme Way? Heaven and earth are truly vast, yet our minds and spirits truly have no place of refuge. Why has our mother suddenly abandoned us and departed?"

The mother hastened to console them:

"The dharma of the worldly realm is just so: wherever there is birth, there must be cessation, like a rushing torrent, the waters pouring forth ceaselessly without a moment's rest. Hearing your mournful weeping, my heart again grieves and resents this illness of mine."

Swift Separation, being still young, only knew to embrace his mother's withered, thin neck with both hands and weep. Then Lady Manasā said to her two sons:

"If you wish to understand the supreme Way, there is nothing greater than to give rise to the bodhi-mind. The bodhi-mind is precisely the mind of great compassion. If, upon reaching maturity, you wish to repay the four kinds of grace, then you should give rise to the bodhi-mind. Now you should weep no more! Though I depart, you can still live together with your father."

Having instructed her sons, she summoned her husband, the brahmin sage Cāraṇa, and admonished him: 'You and I are like the two wheels of a single cart, like the two wings of a single bird. We have two sons; now that I am departing, you who remain should love and care for them as when I was alive. If you should follow a new affinity, even so, do not change this heart.'

Hearing his wife's words, the brahmin sage fainted and fell to the ground. After a long while he revived and said:

"If a cart lacks a single wheel, it cannot move even an inch; if a bird loses a single wing, it can in no way fly, even a few spans. Now that you are about to enter the realm of death, with whom shall I care for and nurture our two young sons? The parting of husband and wife, the love and affection, are truly mournful and grievous. Now I no longer delight in the worldly realm; I shall cast off my life to die together with you!"

The wife hastened to say:

"The two sons were born of you and me. I beg you not to die along with me, but to remain and nurture them."

Having spoken, she closed her eyes and departed this life. The brahmin sage and his two sons, in accordance with her last words, buried her and then returned home. Then the elder child sat upon his right knee, his face sorrowful with longing for his mother; the younger child sat upon his left knee, crying for food, his heart full of grief. He thought: 'I do not have the strength; perhaps I must find a wife to come and raise my two young sons.'

At that time, the brahmin sage Vīra had a daughter of pure and gentle nature, and so he went and asked to marry her as his wife. Some time later, the country suffered famine, and the money, wealth, and grain in his house were gradually used up, and the granary too became empty. Not knowing how to make a living, he said to his second wife:

"I have heard that if one travels north for seven days' journey, one reaches Mount Daṇḍala. In the mountain there are sweet and delicious Zhentou fruits. I shall go to that mountain to gather sweet fruits and bring them back to provide for you and the two children. While I am away from home, please take care of them."

The wife, heeding her husband's words, loved and cared for the two children as if they were her own. The brahmin sage went alone to Mount Daṇḍala, but fourteen days passed and still he had not returned. Then the wife gave rise to a malicious heart, and she thought: 'If Cāraṇa goes to that mountain and does not return, how shall I nurture these two children? Even if he should gather sweet fruits and bring them back, he would give them to the two sons he loves, and I would have no share at all! Now let me find a way to get rid of them.' So she first spoke with a seafarer, fixing a time for the journey. After that she said to the two children:

"I do not have the strength to nurture you two, and your father has not yet returned. From here, traveling not far toward the south, there is an island; upon the shore of that deserted sea there are sweet fruits, and on the empty strand there are green vegetables. Let us, you and I, go and live on that deserted island."

So she brought the two children to the seafarer, and the three of them boarded a boat and set out for the deserted island. When they reached the island, she said to the two children:

"You two go down first and play on the sand! I will stay behind on the boat to arrange provisions, and then I will come down afterward, so that together with you we may go and search for vegetables and fruits."

The two children obeyed, and at once left the boat and went up onto the shore. Then they ran east and dashed west, playing to their heart's content, no longer thinking of anything else. Thereupon the stepmother quietly returned home by that same boat.

When the two children came back to the former spot, the boat was no longer there to be seen, and they did not know where their stepmother had gone either. So they ran and called out until their strength was exhausted and their breath was spent, yet no one answered. All that day and night, the two children cried and wept most piteously.

Early Separation lamented again: 'Our kind mother left us early and departed, never to return; our revered father went to Mount Daṇḍala and has not come back; and our stepmother abandoned us on this deserted island and quietly slipped away. How can we preserve our lives?' Suddenly Early Separation recalled the words his mother had admonished him with before her death, and so he thought: 'I should give rise to the supreme mind of the Way, accomplish the bodhisattva's mind of great compassion, cultivate the gate of liberation, first delivering all people, and only then becoming a Buddha.

If it be for those who have no father and mother, then I shall manifest the form of their father and mother. If it be for those who have no original teacher, then I shall manifest for them the body of their original teacher. If it be for those who are poor and suffering, then I shall manifest a body of wealth and nobility.

And so on—if it be for kings, officials, elders, lay devotees, ministers, brahmins, the four assemblies, and the eightfold assembly, in each case I shall accordingly manifest those bodily forms. I vow to abide forever upon this island and bestow peace and bliss upon all sentient beings throughout the realms of the ten directions. I further vow to transform into mountains, rivers, the earth, trees, the five grains, and sweet fruits, so that whoever partakes of them shall swiftly escape birth and death.

I also vow to be born in the place where my mother was born, and not to depart from the place where my father was born.' The brothers, the two of them, made one hundred vows such as these, and then passed away.

Meanwhile, back in his homeland, the brahmin sage Cāraṇa returned home from Mount Daṇḍala, carrying the Zhentou fruits. First he asked after his two sons, and his wife said that the two children had gone out today to beg for food and had not yet returned. The brahmin sage then went to the house of a close friend to look for the children. That friend said:

"You have been away for more than fourteen days, and their stepmother took them out and abandoned them on a deserted island in the southern sea. They must surely have starved to death by now!"

Hearing his friend's words, Cāraṇa sighed and reproached himself: 'I went to Mount Daṇḍala to gather sweet fruits to provide for my two sons. What sin and offense of mine is it that I should suddenly have to endure two pains of separation? Before, I could not bear the pain of parting from my kind wife, and now I must endure on top of it the parting while still living. I truly cannot resign myself to it!'

He then found a small boat and rowed out alone to the deserted island to search, but he saw only white bones gathered in one place, while clothing was scattered along the shore. Knowing these were the remains of his children, he wept and lamented in anguish. He wrapped them up in cloth and then made a vow:

"I vow to deliver all evil and wicked sentient beings, helping them swiftly to accomplish the Buddha-path. I vow to transform into the earth, or to transform into water, fire, and wind, or to transform into grasses, trees, and dense forests, serving as a place of refuge for sentient beings. Or I shall transform into the five grains to nourish and grow the bodies of sentient beings, or transform into devas, humans, spirits, and bodily forms of every kind, both noble and humble, manifesting throughout all the Buddha-lands."

He made five hundred great vows such as these, and then further vowed to abide forever in the Sahā world, expounding the Dharma and teaching and transforming sentient beings. Thereafter, he fasted for a period and then passed away. At that moment the earth quaked violently, the devas gathered and assembled, the birds and beasts grew agitated and cried out mournfully, the birds flew about in confusion through the air, and then destroyed themselves in offering to those white bones.

Then the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara continued, saying:

"The brahmin sage Cāraṇa is none other than Śākyamuni Tathāgata today. Lady Manasā is none other than Amitābha Tathāgata of the west. Early Separation is none other than I myself; Swift Separation is the bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta; Cāraṇa's friend is none other than the bodhisattva Dhāraṇī-Īśvara.

Mount Daṇḍala of old is none other than Vulture Peak today. That deserted island is none other than Mount Potalaka today. During the kalpa of destruction, although the whole world is destroyed, yet when the kalpa of formation comes, this mountain appears first of all.

On the northern side of this mountain there is a cave like vajra, within which there is a great stone slab named Ratnakarma (Jewel Deed). I often sit upon this stone slab and expound the gate of liberation through the practice of great compassion, helping sentient beings to accomplish the work of the Way; this is the place where, long ago, Early Separation made his great vows. At the summit of this mountain there is a palace of the seven jewels, adorned and wondrous; I often abide in this palace, instructing for the sake of benefit and joy; this is precisely the place where, long ago, Early Separation called out to his father and mother.

Relying upon that place, I attained rebirth in the Pure Land and reached the stage of Non-retrogression. Now, recalling the casting off of my body long ago, I therefore abide forever upon this mountain. The birds and beasts that I converted and delivered long ago now appear as grasses and trees, whose branches and leaves all bend toward the place where I cast off my body.

You should all know that the four lines of verse that rang out within the mass of light contain the whole of these causes and conditions."

Then Śākyamuni Tathāgata praised the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara:

"Excellent, excellent! It is just as you have said; the causes and conditions of former days were all exactly so. You should all know that today, both I and the Buddha Amitābha, from first to last, have but a single Dharma of teaching and transformation.

It is like a father and mother who have a single young child, who unfortunately falls into a deep well. The father hastens down into the well, draws the child up, and sets it upon the bank. The mother takes it up to care for and nurture it.

Relatives assist the mother in fostering the child's resolve, and then form bonds of friendship with it, so that it never again falls into the dangerous deep well. You should all know! I am like the compassionate father; the sentient beings in the age of the five turbidities are like the child fallen into the deep well; Amitābha Tathāgata is like the kind mother; the bank of the well is like the Pure Land.

Avalokiteśvara and the others are like the friends. Attaining the stage of Non-retrogression is like never again having to fall back into the deep well. I enter the Sahā world, filled with the five turbidities, to teach and transform the foolish sentient beings in the six paths; now that they are born into the Pure Land, the Buddha Amitābha always receives and guides them, never abandoning them.

Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta assist and protect them so that they do not regress. All of this accords with the causes and conditions of the vows made in the past."

When Śākyamuni Tathāgata had finished speaking these words, the Buddha Amitābha, together with an incalculable hundred thousand holy assembly, appeared in empty space and spoke a verse:

Excellent! Śākyamuni!

In the age of the five turbidities you deliver the living

Whoever hears your name and sees your form

Will surely accomplish the Buddha-path

By reason of the causes and conditions of former days

Now I appear within empty space

Whoever wishes to be born in my realm

I shall surely come to welcome.

Śākyamuni Tathāgata spoke a verse in praise of the Buddha Amitābha:

Excellent! Two-Footed Honored One!

You bring benefit to this realm

Bearing witness to the true Dharma

With compassion you bestow upon all

If there be those of heavy karmic obstructions

Without the cause for birth in the Pure Land

Relying on the power of Amitābha's vows

They will surely attain rebirth.

If a person has committed many sins

Such that he ought to fall into hell

Yet as soon as he hears the name of Amitābha

The furnace of fire becomes a lotus pond.

If one is mindful of Amitābha

At once immeasurable sins are dissolved

In the present life one attains peace and joy

And hereafter is born in the Pure Land.

Then the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara rose from his seat and spoke a verse:

The two Buddhas are like the sun

Dispelling the darkness of birth and death

Setting forth the causes and conditions of former days

Through countless kalpas, undiminished.

I recall, immeasurable kalpas ago

Upon that deserted island

The causes and conditions when I gave rise to the mind

I vowed to abide forever on Potala

In days of old, still within birth and death

The two Buddhas were my mother and father

Now, in the realms of the Pure and the Defiled

We help one another to deliver the world.

The bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta spoke a verse:

When I first gave rise to the mind

I followed the two Buddhas, never parting

Now, hearing the causes and conditions of old

I know that the affinity is not lost

When I move but a single foot

The afflictions of the three paths are cut off

If anyone is born in the Pure Land

I extend my hand to receive and guide them.

The bodhisattva Dhāraṇī-Īśvara-rāja also spoke a verse:

Of old I was the friend

Only today do I come to know it

Hereafter, whoever hears the name

Will surely be born in the Western Region.

Then the Buddha Amitābha suddenly vanished. The great assembly in the place of the Way rejoiced, paid homage to the Buddhas, and then returned to their own dwelling places.

Notes:

[1] Brahmin sage: that is, brahmacārin.

[2] Instructing for the sake of benefit and joy (示教利喜): To point out the meaning, to teach the practice and cultivation, to set forth the benefits of accomplishment through cultivation, and to praise so that people may rejoice.