三曼陀跋陀羅菩薩經

THE FIVE COVERINGS (The Five Hindrances: Pañca-āvaraṇāni)

CHAPTER THE FIRST

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling upon the Natural Vajra Throne in the Land of the Pure Dharma within the country of Magadha, his radiant aura exceedingly bright, illuminating everywhere without exception… together with an incalculable number of Bodhisattvas of the assembly of Mahāsattvas all seated together, among whom Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Samanta-bhadra-bodhisatva: the Bodhisattva of Universal Worthiness) and Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva (Maṃjuśrī-bodhisatva: the Bodhisattva of Wondrous Auspiciousness) were foremost (the chief leaders).

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva asked Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, saying: "If there be one who seeks the Path of the Bodhisattva (Bodhisatva-mārga), a good son or a virtuous woman who wishes to attain the purity that is uncovered, then what group's Dharma should they practice in order to reach it of themselves?"

Samantabhadra said to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva: "If there be a good son or a virtuous woman who wishes to seek the Path of the Bodhisattva, then they should arrange their robes and, three times by day and three times by night, bow their heads before the Buddhas of the ten directions, paying homage, repenting their faults, and feeling remorse for the evil deeds they have done. Those things that ought to be borne with patience, they should bear with patience (Kṣānti); the places that ought to be paid homage, they should pay homage; the things that ought to be rejoiced in and aspired to (delighting in and taking pleasure), they should rejoice in and aspire to; those who ought to be exhorted and invited, they should exhort and invite.

In this way, all the Coverings of Sin, all the Coverings of Defilement, all the Coverings of Dharma can be removed. All Merit and Virtue can be made complete.

The Prajñā-pāramitā Sūtra (Prajña-pāramita), the Tathāgata-piṭaka (?Tathāgata-piṭaka: the Sūtra of the Tathāgata Womb-Store), all the Samādhis (Samādhi), all the Dhāraṇīs (Dhāraṇī), all the Upāya-kauśalya (Upaya-kauśaiya: the Surpassing Wisdom of Skillful Means)… This is the Honored One (Nātha) among the Scriptures. By accomplishing such matters in this way, one is able to pay homage to all the Buddhas. That intention is a wholehearted intention indeed."

REPENTANCE OF FAULTS AND ERRORS

CHAPTER THE SECOND

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said: "All persons whose bodies have committed deeds, whose mouths have transgressed, whose minds have thought of evil… and who, in all the Buddha-lands, with respect to the group of Objects (Viṣaya: realms of sense) have given rise to thoughts of all manner of evil deeds… that person (name…) shall, for the sake of this, repent of their sins and faults.

"I (name…) have, according to the deeds I have done, created various evils. Toward the Buddhas (Buddhānāṃ), the Bodhisattvas (Bodhisatva), the Karālamba (?Karālamba: those who give relief and rescue), my father and mother, the Arhats (Arhat), the Pratyeka-buddhas (Pratyeka-buddha)… Within the protection of the Tarṣaka (?Tarṣaka), the temple of the Tarṣaka, the Dharma of the Tarṣaka of the Spirit…. I have committed various evil faults.

"Sukhāvatī (Sukha-vati: Ultimate Bliss) is the Buddha-land of Amitābha Buddha (Amitābha: Immeasurable Light); all the Buddhas, all the Buddha-lands (Buddha-kṣetra), all the Buddha-dharmas (Buddha-dharma)…—if I have harbored doubt or given rise to thoughts of disbelief, then I (name…) shall, for the sake of this, feel remorse and repent of all my sins and faults.

"Toward all the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, the Karālamba, my father and mother, the Arhats, the Pratyeka-buddhas, and all people… I may have been able to slander them. Or I have been wanton in following desire, wanton in following delusion, wanton in following self-will.

Or I have been stubborn and unwilling to converse with others. Or I have been led on by lustful craving. Or I have been led on by stinginess and jealousy.

Or I have been led on by greed. Or I have been led on by flattery, led on by the various Desires… When that mind was confused, I could not be self-possessed, being covered by all manner of coverings, beset by all manner of fears… and so I gave rise to a mind possessed of faults and errors.

Now I (name…) shall, for the sake of this, feel remorse for all my sins and faults.

"I (name…), from incalculable Kalpas (asaṃkhyeya), have given rise to evil intentions toward the Buddha, or have sown discord among the assembly of Bhikṣus (Bhikṣu-saṃgha: the Community of Monks), or have harmed Arhats (Arhat), or have harmed my father and mother, or upon seeing the True Dharma (Saddharma) have called it Non-Dharma (A-dharma), or upon seeing the Non-Dharma have called it Dharma (Dharma), or have laughed at and mocked the mindful recollection of others, constantly keeping company with the affairs of Non-Dharma.

Or there are the faults and errors of other transgressions committed, whether wishing to transgress, or having already transgressed. Or I have transgressed against the Precepts that the Tathāgata taught. In this life or in former lives, when I knew not the Buddha, the Dharma, or the assembly of Bhikṣus, then the evil faults that were committed—now I beg to repent of them all, all my sins and faults.

"The intentions of jealousy and partiality that I have created are such as these: when there was a Buddha, I would judge and obstruct people, causing them not to be able to see and hear him. If there was one who clearly understood the Scriptures and expounded the Dharma, I would judge and obstruct people, causing them not to be able to see and hear him. If there was a Karālamba, I would judge and obstruct people, causing them not to be able to dwell in the assembly. If there were people who had performed various Merits and Virtues—giving robes (Civara: garments), rice, food, beds, articles for lying and resting, medicines to cure sickness and emaciation—I would scold and obstruct them, causing them not to be able to give.

"Performing innumerable such deeds without ceasing, turning and giving rise one to another to every manner of sin. Now I (name…) beg to repent of them all, all my sins and faults.

"The sins I have created are such as these: upon seeing another commit a sin, I would stand beside them and encourage and assist them, and because of this I am dragged along by that sin to be born in the Age of the Last Dharma, or born into a poor and destitute household, or parted from the Karālamba; and if there be a Buddha, I shall not be able to behold him. If there be Bodhisattvas and Karālamba, I shall not be able to gather together with them, nor be able to hear the Scriptural Dharma. Because of the evils I have created, I shall not be able to encounter or behold the persons of those Sages and Worthies.

"Now I (name…) beg to repent of them all, all my sins and faults.

"The sins I have created are such as these: that I shall not be able to hear the Dharma in time; or, hearing the Dharma, that my mind shall not be able to receive and accept the Dharma; or, having received it, that I shall forget it and not be able firmly to hold the Dharma, not be able carefully to retain the Dharma, but rather be base, weak, and feeble, unable to see far; that this form and appearance shall not be able to attain to uprightness; that the place where I am born shall ever lack wealth and treasure;

that I shall not be able to attain the Practice of Dhāraṇī, not be able to attain the Practice of No-Thought Wisdom, not be able to attain the Practice of Prajñā-pāramitā, not be able to attain the Practice of Samādhi, not be able to attain the Wisdom into which Upāya-kauśalya (Upaya-kauśaiya: the Surpassing Wisdom of Skillful Means) has entered, not be able to attain the Wisdom into which the Tathāgata-piṭaka (Tathāgata-piṭaka), which has no obstruction, has entered.

All these sins that have been created—I shall not be able to keep pace with that. Now I beg to repent of them all, all my sins and faults.

"The sins I have created are such as these: that I shall not be able to attain all the Merit and Virtue of the Wisdom into which the Practice of Dharma has entered, not be able to attain all the Merit and Virtue of the Wisdom into which the minds of others have entered, not be able to attain all the Merit and Virtue of the Wisdom into which a person enters by means of the five Faculties, not be able to attain all the Merit and Virtue of that into which the Wisdom of the Discipline of a person has entered, not be able to attain all the Merit and Virtue into which the Wisdom of Dharma has entered, not be able to attain all the Merit and Virtue of the Wisdom of one who has attained Nirvāṇa (one who has realized Nirvāṇa).

All these sins that have been created—I shall not be able to keep pace with that. Now I beg to repent of them all, all my sins and faults.

"The sins I have created are such as these: that I shall not be able to see through and penetrate all things and to hear with perfect clarity, not be able to attain Supernatural Flight by Spiritual Powers, not be able to attain the knowing of my own former lives, not be able to attain the knowing of the affairs of the past, not be able to attain the voice of Brahmā, not be able to attain the Merit and Virtue of body, mouth, and mind, not be able to attain the lofty and pure Conduct, not be able to attain completeness in the place of Merit and Virtue. All these sins that have been created—I shall not be able to keep pace with that. Now I beg to repent of them all, all my sins and faults.

"If another should give rise to evil intentions directed toward me, whether they have a host of soldiers; or if I should give rise to a Mind of Loving-kindness directed toward another, whether they have a host of soldiers, or should let all manner of fears cover and obstruct me… I gather together before the Buddhas, in the presence of that which the Eye-Truth of Wisdom, the All-Pervading Truth, has spoken—namely, the Truth of Feeling and Receiving. Before that Truth I, with shame and remorse, turn back and repent (returning in confession), and again declare and set it forth of myself. Having declared it of myself, I then repent and reproach myself, not daring to conceal anything, and from this day forth I dare not transgress again.

ADMIRATION AND DELIGHT (Rejoicing in Aspiration)

CHAPTER THE THIRD

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said: "The good son or virtuous woman who seeks the Bodhisattva Path (Bodhisatva-mārga) should make this admiration and delight (rejoicing in aspiration): 'Now I take refuge of myself in the One Who Understands All (?the one who understands all things). Toward the Buddhas Who Understand (?those of transcendent Wisdom-Awakening), the Bodhisattvas, the Karālamba, together with my father and mother, the Arhats, the Pratyeka-buddhas, and all people, with wholehearted mind I beg for their compassion and pity. That which I have not yet been able to understand, now let me understand it all, even as the Buddhas have known it. Such a One is a place in which one may take refuge of oneself, for he is worthy of self-refuge.'

"Furthermore, now I… pay homage to all the Buddhas. To all the Bodhisattvas, all the Karālamba, my father and mother, together with the Arhats and the Pratyeka-buddhas, I beg to pay homage.

"The supreme among the utmost, the Brightness among brightnesses unsurpassed, without a second and beyond all comparison… even as the Buddhas have known it. Such a place is a place where one should pay homage, for it is worthy of homage.

"Furthermore, now I vow to pay homage to the Merit and Virtue of the Buddhas, the Merit and Virtue of the Bodhisattvas and the Karālamba, the Merit and Virtue of the Arhats and the Pratyeka-buddhas, together with the Merit and Virtue that all people of the ten directions have performed… even as the Buddhas have known it. Such a place is a place where one should pay homage to the Merits and Virtues, for it is worthy of homage.

"This indeed is the Wisdom of the Bodhisattva. If a good son or virtuous woman possesses that Merit and Virtue, I vow to rejoice and delight in assisting them, that they may attain joy. If there be one who awaits the Wisdom of the Buddha, who is one to be admired and delighted in, then I shall admire and delight in them all. That one who has not yet performed Merit and Virtue but who now performs Merit and Virtue—then I… shall vow to admire and delight in them all.

EXHORTATION AND INVITATION

CHAPTER THE FOURTH

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said: "The good son or virtuous woman who seeks the Bodhisattva Path should make this exhortation and invitation:

"'I (name…), with wholehearted mind, exhort and invite all the Buddhas. Now the Buddha of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, presently, even unto the Abhisaṃbuddha (manifesting Perfect and Equal Enlightened Awareness, another name for the Wisdom of the Buddha), the One who has attained Complete and Equal Knowing but has not yet turned the Wheel of the Dharma—now I exhort and invite the Buddhas to turn the Wheel of the Dharma.

"'Furthermore, when those Buddhas have wished to enter Nirvāṇa, then I exhort and invite them to refrain for a time from Parinirvāṇa (Parinirvāṇa: final extinction). For the sake of all people, let them dwell of themselves for a time through incalculable Kalpas, abiding by the Dharma-body (Dharma-kāya) as an abiding that has no abiding, that the Scriptural Dharma which has been spoken may cause all people to attain that place, may cause all to be valiant and bold, complete in the Dharma-conduct of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva; may cause all people to take this as their root, all attaining peace and security;

and that, amid the various hardships and toils within the paths of the Devas (Deva), the Dragons (Nāga), the Ghost-Spirits, the Gandhāras (Gandhāra), the Asuras (Asura), the Garuḍas (Garuḍa), the Kiṃnaras (Kiṃnara), the Mahoragas (Mahoraga), Humans (Manuṣya), Non-humans (Amanuṣya), the Hells (Niraya: Niraya), the Hungry Ghosts (Preta: starving ghosts), and the beasts (the kinds of birds and animals)…, they may swiftly attain liberation.

Those who have no understanding—cause them to relinquish their deluded minds and first attain a right and proper mind, entering the Path of the Buddha. Those who do what is false and wrong—cause them all to relinquish what is false and wrong and to enter the Right Path, all abiding in the Dharma of Original Non-being.'"

_Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said: "The good son or virtuous woman who seeks the Bodhisattva Path should make this bestowal (giving and dedication).

"The Merit and Virtue of that which I have been able to repent of. The various Merits and Virtues of that which I have been able to bear with patience, that which I have been able to pay homage to, that which I have been able to rejoice in and aspire to, that which I have been able to exhort and invite… whether wishing to do, or just doing, or having already done. The various Merits and Virtues that have been performed, let them all be gathered together and accomplished into a single taste of Blessedness, like the Dharma of the Buddhas, even as the Buddha has known it.

This Merit and Virtue may then be the place from which Wisdom is born, the marks of the Buddhas, and may attain the Dharma of Pravāraṇa (Pravāraṇa: fulfillment, joyous gladness, matters that accord with one's wish…). The various places in which there has been giving, in which the gift has been received and a gift has been made—this giving is the right and proper giving, in which there is nothing cut off. I uphold this Dharma to bestow Merit and Virtue, that all people may attain the Dharma of bestowal, that all may be caused to give rise to the Mind, like the group of bestowals of Sarvajña (Sarva-jña: the Wisdom of All-Knowing).

"Now I bestow, even as that which Samantabhadra Bodhisattva has practiced, upholding that Merit and Virtue so that all may be granted that I shall not fall into the Hells (Niraya), the Hungry Ghosts (Preta), the beasts, nor be born amid the hardships and toils of the eight evil paths; that all may be born in a place where there is a Buddha, where there are Bodhisattvas; that all may be born in Sukhāvatī (Sukha-vati: the World of Ultimate Bliss), the land of Amitābha Buddha (Amitābha-buddha: the Buddha of Immeasurable Light).

"I uphold this Merit and Virtue, by reason of my good mind, complete and all-pervading, giving rise to the Mind of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi (Anuttara-samyaksaṃbuddhi-citta: the Mind of Supreme, Perfect, and Right Enlightenment).

"I uphold the bestowed Merit and Virtue of this Dharma, becoming for all people a house, becoming a place of help and support, receiving that self-refuge as a place of transformation and deliverance. Within the realm of darkness I become a light, the brightest within the light. Within Upholding (preservation) I become Upholding, the Honored Upholding within Upholding. All people who have not yet been delivered, I shall transform and deliver; those who have not yet been freed, I shall help to be freed; those who have not yet attained Parinirvāṇa, I shall cause to attain Parinirvāṇa. I shall act so that all people are caused to give rise to the Mind of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi (the Mind of Supreme, Perfect, and Right Enlightenment).

"I uphold the bestowed Merit and Virtue of this Dharma, that all people and my own body, in all the places where they are born, may be able to give rise to the intention ever to make offerings to the Buddhas and to make offerings to the Bodhisattvas. By the offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas made aforetime, may all people, together with my own body, not be parted from the Bodhisattva Dharma; not be parted from the Karālamba, from Mañjuśrī, together with Vimalakīrti (Vimala-kirti) and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva…

That which these Bodhisattvas have practiced is complete in Dhāraṇī (Dhāraṇī) and in pure Samādhi (Samādhi); single-minded and unwavering, they have all accomplished that which the Prajñā-pāramitā has practiced, have all clearly understood Upāya-kauśalya (Upaya-kauśaiya), have entered into all things, and amid the various differing Dharmas, may they cause all people, together with me, to attain completeness in the Wisdom-Conduct of these Bodhisattvas.

"I uphold the bestowed Merit and Virtue of this Dharma, that all those bound and fettered in the Hells (Niraya), the Hungry Ghosts (Preta), and the Beasts… may attain liberation. Those without eyes may attain eyes; those who are deaf may attain hearing; those amid such hardship and toil may all attain peace and security. Whether in this Buddha-land or in the Buddha-lands of other quarters, below even unto the Avīci Hell (the Hell Avīci: Avīci), above even unto the limitless.

In the space between, the squirming and moving creatures that have feet and that have no feet. Whether yet to come, whether moisture-born or transformation-born; whether having form or without form, whether having thought or without thought, together with all people and Non-humans… When the turning marks and clinging attachments have ended, then may they uphold and preserve the Eye of the Buddha, seeing and knowing all things with understanding, that all may attain the human form, enter the Path of the Buddha, hear the Dharma and surely understand it clearly, and, receiving it, all attain the Mind of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

"I uphold the bestowed Merit and Virtue of this Dharma, that all people, together with me, who preserve this Merit and Virtue may all attain the group of Conducts of the Buddhas, the group of Conducts of the Bodhisattvas, the Conducts of the Karālamba… that all people may come to make offerings and give rise to the vow to attain the Buddha-lands, and so cause them to be pure. With respect to the Dharma of the three times, may they clearly understand and fully know it, just as the Vajra has no place that it cannot pierce through, that all people, together with me, may attain the Wisdom of the Buddha, and then be complete in all the places of moving response, fully knowing all.

With respect to the various profound Wisdoms, may they attain them all. With respect to the various Dharmas, may they have no doubt.

"Preserving this Merit and Virtue so that I may be complete in my vows, even as the Dharma-conduct of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, may the ten kinds of powers of the Grounds all be attained.

"By this as witness, preserving this Merit and Virtue, I vow that all people, together with me, may all be caused to attain Blessedness.

THE PARABLE OF BLESSEDNESS

CHAPTER THE FIFTH

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva asked Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, saying: "If there be a good son or virtuous woman who wishes to seek the Bodhisattva Path, who daily, three times, repents of their sins and faults and exhorts delight in the Dharma-conduct as has been spoken above, then what shall that Blessedness be like?"

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva: "If there be a good son or virtuous woman who reverently practices the Bodhisattva Path, who takes the seven treasures filling the whole of the land of Jambudvīpa (Jambu-dvīpa) and makes offerings to the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Perfectly Enlightened Buddha, this is not equal to that good son or virtuous woman who, three times by day and three times by night, exhorts delight in the Dharma-conduct—repenting where repentance is needed, bearing patiently where patience is needed, paying homage where homage is needed, rejoicing in aspiration where aspiration is needed, exhorting and inviting where exhortation is needed, bestowing where bestowal is needed… and day and night reverently practicing in accordance with the Teaching above.

That Blessedness surpasses the offering of the seven treasures filling Jambudvīpa to the Tathāgata by a hundredfold, a thousandfold, a ten-thousandfold, a hundred-million-fold, a hundred-thousand-million-ten-thousand-fold… beyond all comparison, beyond all reckoning, beyond all parable."

When this Dharma was spoken, an incalculable number of the Devas dwelling in the empty void took up incense, flowers, and skillful music and scattered them above the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas.

When Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva had finished speaking this Sūtra, the Devas, the Dragons, the Ghost-Spirits, the Asuras, Humans, and Non-humans who heard the Sūtra… rejoiced greatly, came before the Buddha, paid homage, and withdrew.

THE SŪTRA OF SAMANTABHADRA BODHISATTVA The End