Toh 103The Noble Account of Dharma “The Teaching by the Child Inconceivable Radiance”

Summary

This sūtra is a story in which the spiritual realization of the child
Inconceivable Radiance is revealed through a dialogue with the Buddha Śākyamuni.
The Buddha furthermore recounts events from the child’s past lives to illustrate
how actions committed in one life will determine one’s future circumstances. The
teaching concludes with the Buddha prophesying how the child Inconceivable
Radiance will eventually fully awaken in the future.

Acknowledgements

This sūtra was translated by members of the Blazing Wisdom Translation
group, Tulku Sherdor and Virginia Blum, under the guidance of Khenpo Sonam
Tobgyal and with help from Meghan Howard regarding Sanskrit terms.

Introduction

The Teaching by the Child Inconceivable
Radiance presents the remarkable account of an abandoned child
who is discovered calmly sitting alone in a derelict dwelling in the town of
Śrāvastī, licked and nuzzled by wild animals while the townsfolk gawk. The
Buddha Śākyamuni, who is in residence nearby, sends Ānanda to investigate,
although he knows that the child is an incarnation of a great bodhisattva
whose remaining karmic obscurations are now on the verge of exhaustion. The
Buddha’s action triggers a chain of events that completes this purification
and launches the bodhisattva to the next great stage of his spiritual path.
This is therefore a story of the bodhisattva’s spiritual journey that spans
countless eons.

This sūtra also serves as a framework for various types of Dharma
instruction. When he first meets the child, the Buddha’s blessings, coupled
with the child’s own merit and wisdom gathered in previous lifetimes, spur a
polemical dialogue in metered verse in which the child challenges the Buddha
to reconcile his realization of emptiness with his compassionate teaching
activity. The child adopts a nihilistic viewpoint as a rhetorical strategy
for eliciting an explanation from the Buddha of the relation between
ultimate and relative truth. The Buddha responds that it is the buddhas’
realization of how things truly are, which produces spontaneous and
nonconceptual compassionate activity for others because the buddhas respond
to the suffering of sentient beings’ confused misapprehension of how things
truly are. A buddha knows that appearances are not real, while sentient
beings do not. A sentient being’s perception of appearances is compared to
clouds in the sky and characterized as imaginary imputation, since the
luminous, profound stillness that is mind’s true nature is not realized.
This exchange is therefore a pithy elucidation of the core principles of the
Mahāyāna Buddhist teachings: the view of emptiness suffused with compassion
that inspires one to produce boundless teaching activity that in turn
instills that same view in others.

Shortly after this exchange Śakra appears, drawn by lights that
radiate from the child’s body throughout the universe, and offers the child
a set of divine clothes to cover his naked body. A sermon from the child
follows, in which he explains to Śakra all the fine qualities that adorn
bodhisattvas such that no further superficial covering of their physical
forms is required. With this show of miracles and moving sermon, the child
is proclaimed by all present to be an advanced bodhisattva who is
inconceivably radiant, and he is so named with great rejoicing.

The next episode in this account takes place in the home of the
child’s mother, where the Buddha has escorted him. At first the child’s
mother is ashamed to face the Buddha, but the child respectfully urges his
mother to make offerings to the Buddha and generate the resolve for
awakening before him, and she proceeds to do so. This act on both their
parts completely purifies the residual negative karma they shared.

King Prasenajit of the state of Kośala, one of the Buddha’s
principal sponsors, then comes to visit him at his monastic compound outside
of town, having heard of the child’s miraculous feats. Upon first seeing the
child, the king wonders what kinds of deeds he must have performed in the
past to have such a perfect physical form. Inconceivable Radiance, through
the power of the Buddha and his own past roots of virtue, knows
clairvoyantly what King Prasenajit has realized about him, which prompts him
to teach the king about how pure actions result in a pure physical form. The
king then asks the Buddha to explain how the child, with obvious great
virtues and merit, could end up in the unfortunate situation of being
abandoned by his unwed mother. The Buddha responds by telling the story of a
previous life, long ago, when this bodhisattva (then named Earth) insulted
and cursed his mentor in retaliation for being chastised for weakness in his
practice, and how the very words of this curse continued to ripen for Earth
in lifetime after lifetime, until this very life. Throughout his many
lifetimes of being orphaned, abandoned, and eaten by wild predators, the
bodhisattva Earth nonetheless never renounced the awakening mind, until
finally his positive merit led him to the auspicious circumstances that
unfold, with the Buddha’s guidance, in this account.

In response, the king demonstrates his understanding to the Buddha
by offering his own homily about how one should serve a spiritual master and
lead a virtuous life, and the benefits that will ensue. The Buddha confirms
that the king has spoken truthfully, meaning that the king has spoken Dharma
with his blessing.

Finally, prompted by the child Inconceivable Radiance, the Buddha
presents his own teaching on five sets of four dharmas
(here meaning spiritual qualities, practices, or realizations) that
bodhisattvas must possess in order to awaken to buddhahood by virtue of
gaining acceptance of even the most profound Dharmas. In other words,
bodhisattvas should practice the ability to face the profound truth of
emptiness without fear, the third and most difficult component of the
transcendent virtue of acceptance within the schema of six or ten
transcendent virtues.

At the conclusion of this teaching, Ānanda kneels down, joins his
palms together, and, singing a hymn of praise to the Buddha, requests an
explanation of this auspicious encounter with the child Inconceivable
Radiance. The Buddha then prophesies the child’s eventual full awakening as
the buddha bhagavān Inconceivable Radiance at the end of a future dark age
in which no other buddha has ever appeared. The Buddha’s final counsel is
that no higher virtue exists than retaining, applying, realizing, and
sharing with others this noble account of Dharma of the child Inconceivable
Radiance.

The Tibetan canonical version of the sūtra, translated by the Indian
paṇḍita Surendrabodhi and the Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé (ye shes sde), has come down to us in two
generally homologous recensions, one titled ’phags
pa khye’u snang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pas bstan pa zhes bya ba’i chos
kyi rnam grangs, and the other ’phags
pa snang ba bsam gyi mi khyab pa bstan pa zhes bya ba’i chos kyi rnam
grangs. Though this
translation is not listed in the imperial period Tibetan catalogs,
Surendrabodhi and Yeshé Dé were frequent collaborators on translations
recorded therein, so we can reasonably date their translation to the early
ninth century. The English translation presented here is
based on a comparison of several versions of the canonical Tibetan
translation representing both the Tshalpa (tshal
pa) and Thempangma (them spangs
ma) recension groups, with the Degé version taken as the
primary witness. Substantial variation between the versions was minimal, and
such instances have been noted below.

There is also a unique version of the sūtra preserved among the
cache of manuscripts discovered at Dunhuang. Bearing the title The Scripture of Inconceivable Radiance (snang ba bsam du med pa zhes bya’i chos kyi
gzhung), the manuscript contains a different translation than is
found in the Kangyur, one that appears to be based on a different recension
of the sūtra. Unfortunately, the final folios of the manuscript are missing
and with them the colophon that would provide more precise information on
the manuscript’s textual and translation history. We can, with some
confidence, date the manuscript, if not the translation it contains, to a
period between the mid-eighth and mid-ninth centuries, the time when
Dunhuang was under Tibetan control.
The translation was certainly completed prior to the eleventh century, when
the manuscript depositories at Dunhuang were sealed. Because it is an entirely different translation from the
canonical version taken as the basis here, only the most significant
variations have been noted.

There is no extant version of this text available in Sanskrit, but
the sūtra was translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva in the early decades of
the fifth century.
The Chinese translation was consulted to clarify difficult points in this
translation. There are no known Indian or Tibetan commentaries on this
sūtra, and the text seems not to have been frequently cited by either Indian
or Tibetan masters, so little is known about the circulation and popularity
of the text in South Asia and Tibet. Western scholarship has similarly taken
little notice of this sūtra, and there are no previous English translations
available.

The Translation

The Noble Account of Dharma

The Teaching by the Child Inconceivable

Radiance

Homage to all buddhas and
bodhisattvas!

Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was residing in Śrāvastī,
in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, together with a great saṅgha of
one thousand two hundred and fifty bhikṣus and a full five hundred
additional bodhisattvas.

While the Bhagavān was residing in the town of Śrāvastī, its king
and his senior ministers, the brahmins, householders, and people from the
greater township, along with their families, paid respect, offered reverence
and veneration, and presented offerings to the Bhagavān so that he received
much fine food, drink, and other items to be eaten and sipped.

He was a blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha, one with
perfect knowledge and conduct, a well-gone one, a knower of the world, a
charioteer who tamed beings, an unexcelled being, and a teacher of gods and
humans. The Blessed Buddha was renowned for his outstanding caste,
outstanding clan, outstanding patrilineage, outstanding discipline,
outstanding absorption, outstanding insight, outstanding liberation, and
outstanding wisdom vision of liberation. The Bhagavān’s fame and renown was thus
widespread throughout the world.

The Well-Gone One, the knower of the world, the charioteer who tames
beings, the unexcelled being, the teacher of gods and humans, the blessed
Buddha, was also teaching the Dharma. That is, he was genuinely and fully
teaching the sanctified conduct: what is virtuous at first, in the interim,
and in the end, what has excellent meaning and excellent words, and what is
unadulterated, perfect, pure, and
cleansed.

He was also in possession of the five eyes, namely the eye of flesh,
the divine eye, the eye of Dharma, the eye of insight, and the eye of a
buddha. The Bhagavān had soundly defeated non-Buddhist schools such as the
carakas, the parivrājakas, and the followers of the Nirgrantha Jñātiputra.
Gods and humans wholly adopted the Bhagavān’s teachings and so they spread
everywhere.

Early one morning, the Bhagavān dressed in his Dharma robes and
skirt and took up his alms bowl. The assembly of bhikṣus, the saṅgha of
bhikṣus, along with the bodhisattva mahāsattvas, surrounded him and
accompanied him. He was beautiful to behold from the front, the right, and
the left; his strides were beautiful. Wearing the Dharma robes—the outer
robe, the upper robe, and the inner robe—and the strainer and the alms bowl,
he was beautiful. His complexion was golden, and he radiated an aura of
light a full arm span around him. It was like a mass of fire amidst the
darkness of night, like the full moon on the fifteenth lunar day, and like
the shining of the sun. He possessed the thirty-two signs of a superior
being.

They went to receive alms in the town of Śrāvastī, and at the very
moment that the Bhagavān set his foot down at the threshold of the gate,
reaching the town, some magnificent, amazing, miraculous feats took place. I
shall recount the incredible, great miracles that occurred when the holy
being, the Guide, arrived, so listen with a most faithful heart.

Those who were blind were able to see. Those who were deaf were able
to hear. The naked found clothing. Those with mental illness regained their
faculties. All the townsfolk joined their palms in reverence, offering
homage to the Well-Gone One. The pleasant sounds of great gongs, earthen
drums, and steel drums were audible, although none were struck. Ducks,
geese, herons, peacocks, parrots, and cuckoos voiced their delightful songs. Those who had lost their
fortunes recovered them. Vessels made of gold and silver rang out, although
none were struck.

The earth itself rumbled and shook six
times, and no beings were left without refuge, as their minds were filled
with sincere trust. Wherever strode the feet of the most eloquent and holy
Buddha, there appeared immaculate lotuses in elegant arrangements.

Those beings born in the animal realm who saw him found happiness
and would be reborn in the higher realms. Those women who were pregnant gave
birth, without the slightest discomfort, to fine-featured, attractive
babies. No beings harmed one another out of attachment, aversion, or
indifference. They spoke to one another in the most non-aggressive manner,
the way a father or mother would speak to an only child.

The sides of the road became beautifully decorated. All the gods
dwelling in the heavens above copiously tossed flower petals. There were no
beings left who underwent suffering. Beings who had been ill became free
from illness and so felt happy.

As the Well-Gone One passed by, each person wondered, “Is the Tathāgata
looking at me alone?” They each thought, “I shall make my own offering of
alms and so reap the exact result of offering alms to the guide of humans.”
It was not at all easy to fathom what occurred just from him passing
by.

Then, the Bhagavān went out to receive alms, making his rounds
through the town of Śrāvastī. The Bhagavān reached a place near the center
of town where a fine-figured, lovely, and attractive child had been left all
alone inside a deserted dwelling. The child was sitting there sucking on his
right thumb. A number of dogs, or jackals, had gathered inside the empty
house and were approaching the child and
licking him. However, due to his past virtues, these animals caused no harm
to the young child. Some of the townsfolk were also going in and out of the
deserted building.

Seeing the townsfolk coming and going, the Bhagavān knowingly
directed Venerable Ānanda, “Ānanda, go and see what is inside that deserted
house, the one all those townsfolk are entering and leaving.” As he had been
commanded by the Bhagavān, Venerable Ānanda went to the deserted house, and
upon arriving saw a fine-figured child, beautiful and lovely to behold,
sitting there sucking on his right thumb and staring openly at the crowd of
people around him.

After seeing this, Venerable Ānanda returned to the Bhagavān and
reported, “Bhagavān, inside that deserted house is an abandoned child whose
body is well formed, beautiful, and attractive, like a precious jewel. He
sits there gazing with wide eyes at all the people gathered around him.”

The Bhagavān thought, “Aha! This child, through his outstanding
training in previous lives, has the ability to understand the meaning of my
teachings, and so is most fortunate!” Out of
affection for that child, and in order to lead the common folk to
virtue, he went to the deserted
dwelling.

When the Bhagavān reached the dwelling, he entered and took a seat
to the side of the child and then addressed the following verse to him:

“Frequented by snakes and yakṣas,

This charnel ground is most frightening.

How could a child not be frightened here?

And yet, here you are now, all alone!”

Through the power of the Buddha and as a result of his own prior
roots of virtue, the child then responded to the Bhagavān with these
verses:

“Mighty Sage, who should feel fear

Toward phenomena that
have no self-identity?

Omniscient One, supreme speaker,

Whatever the action through which I came to be here,

“There is no self nor something done by a self.

For the self does not belong to anything at all;

I see no self belonging to someone,

Nor do I see someone belonging to a self.”

The Bhagavān replied:

“Evil actions performed in the past

Have ripened in this way.

Abandoned in this deserted house,

Surely you are experiencing feelings of suffering.”

The child asked:

“Gautama, do you still perceive

That there is a deserted house?

Didn’t you fully understand perception

While on the seat of awakening?”

The Bhagavān answered:

“I fully understand perception,

And I myself have no perceptions.

Rather, it is out of love for you

That I have come to this deserted house.”

The child asked:

“When, no matter how hard you look,

Sentient beings are never to be found,

Where does compassion arise?

Toward whom is your love directed?”

The Bhagavān answered:

“These beings do not know emptiness,

The peace of no self-identity;

And so, out of love for those very beings,

I engage in meritorious action.”

The child asked:

“Although he has fathomed the empty and tranquil,

And realized tranquil emptiness,

Could it be that the Tathāgata

Still has not rid himself of error?”

The Bhagavān answered:

“Having realized the peace of emptiness,

The Guide delivers this Dharma teaching

In order to mature beings.

That is the compassion of the buddhas.”

The child asked:

“Tathāgata, yet again,

You have not rejected your error.

If there is no perception of beings,

Where could compassion possibly arise?”

The Bhagavān answered:

“Having embraced well the awakening mind,

Superior people don their armor

And naturally bestow blessings

Upon nonexistent beings.”

The child said:

“Since nowhere is an entity observed,

All armor, in fact, is unreal.

For phenomena that have no substance,

There is no armor to be found.”

The Bhagavān answered:

“Although phenomena have no substance,

This Dharma taught to living creatures

Is the vibrant display of compassion

Of the lord protectors of the world.”

The child asked:

“As for Dharma, if words do not exist,

Where else could instructions be?

Might you be misleading worldly beings?

Or are you teaching Dharma that is not Dharma?”

The Bhagavān answered:

“I do not deceive the world.

Nor do I profess what is not Dharma.

What I do is remove the mental disturbances

Of mistaken beings.”

The child asked:

“As a root of mental disturbances does not exist,

They have no location,

Neither inside nor outside.

So how can mental disturbances be purified?”

The Bhagavān answered:

“Things that arise from error

Are born entirely of imputation;

And so, to rid them of all concepts,

I teach the Dharma to living beings.”

The child said:

“No matter how many imputations you seek,

Mind is by nature luminosity

In which mental disturbance does not occur

And which never becomes disturbed.”

The Bhagavān answered:

“It is just as you say—

Mind is ever luminous, and yet

Provisional, proximal disturbances

Disturb the minds of ordinary beings.”

The child asked:

“If mental disturbances are not there to see

And are not present from their own side,

How can they be provisional?

That is the question; please explain this to me.”

The Bhagavān answered:

“Consider how clouds appear in the sky,

But are not as they appear.

The arising of mental disturbances is like that;

They too appear, yet are not that way.”

The child said:

“Any phenomenon unmistaken in nature

Simply remains that way; that is how it is.

No mistaken nature can be seen

In a phenomenon whose nature is unmistaken.”

The Bhagavān answered:

“It is those with childish perception

Who falsely conceive such things to be,

And tathāgatas who appear in order

To bring their minds to realization.”

The child asked:

“Considering they are not born,

Which perfect buddhas could appear?

The appearance of a buddha makes no sense

Where phenomena themselves have no birth.”

The Bhagavān answered:

“The appearance of a buddha

Is explained as birthless birth,

A conventional designation

That ultimately does not exist.”

The child said:

“You still have two perceptions,

One conventional and one ultimate,

Which contradicts the path of one vehicle

That you profess, Gautama.”

The Bhagavān answered:

“I do not transgress the path;

I remain without contradiction and, moreover,

Bring discordant beings into harmony.

That is how you should understand it, child.”

The child asked:

“If those beings are not perceived,

Then to whom, Gautama, are you bringing harmony?

When you look at the past of phenomena—

To whom has affliction arisen?”

The Bhagavān answered:

“Having comprehended the past, the future,

And likewise what transpires right now,

Having realized sacred awakening,

I teach the Dharma to living creatures.”

The child said:

“You proclaim yourself the perfect Buddha,

And proclaim your own understanding;

Promoting yourself in this manner,

Your pride must be truly exceptional!”

The Bhagavān answered:

“I do not laud myself,

Nor do I belittle others.

I clearly reveal how things truly are,

And so am called the Tathāgata.”

The child said:

“If how things truly are is inexpressible

And without a true nature,

Then don’t speak contrary to your own understanding,

Using terminology for what has no words, no language.”

The Bhagavān answered:

“Although all those phenomena are contrary,

They still arise from the natural state of things.

Because I have realized how things truly are,

I possess neither faults nor qualities.”

The child said:

“Through the power of the Tathāgata,

My confidence has grown,

And so I ask forgiveness of the perfect Buddha

For all these answers I have requested.”

Then, the Bhagavān drew his right hand, golden in color, from his
Dharma robe and reached out toward the child, who took hold of the finger of
the Bhagavān’s hand and stood up. The Bhagavān carried the child out of the
empty house and set him down on the road.

The people gathered there thought, “This child was disturbed in
just this way, and yet he was able to engage in such a debate regarding the
qualities of the great being. The blessed buddhas truly are remarkable!” And
as it was indeed remarkable, they offered sincere homage to the
Bhagavān.

The Bhagavān then spoke the following words to the child: “Child,
since your obscuration of karma has been exhausted, remember your previous
roots of virtue and make them known to this great crowd of people. Show them
a great miraculous feat!”

The child then floated up from the ground to the height of about
seven persons, and from his body streamed light, which spread until it
illuminated all of Śrāvastī, and the world of Jambudvīpa in its
entirety.

The light drew the rapt attention of Śakra, Brahmā, the guardians
of the world, and many hundreds of thousands of other gods, all of whom in
that second, in that very moment, in that instant, went to where the
Bhagavān was and bowed their heads to his feet in homage.

They tossed divine flowers to the Bhagavān and proclaimed: “O
Bhagavān! This bodhisattva is inconceivably radiant such that he illuminates
this buddhafield with light, and so he serves the welfare of innumerable
beings!”

That is how that child came to be named Inconceivable Radiance. The
Bhagavān also said, “Let this child be
called Inconceivable Radiance,” and so he rejoiced in that name for the
child.

The child Inconceivable Radiance then descended from the sky and
came to rest on the ground. Through the power of the Buddha and his own
prior roots of virtue, what transpired next happened like this: by the time
he took a seat, the child’s body had grown to that of an eight-year-old
child.

Then, the lord of gods Śakra presented the child with a bolt of
heavenly fabric, saying, “Dear child, out of loving concern for me, wear
this length of fabric. Don’t remain naked!”

The child Inconceivable Radiance then spoke these words to Śakra,
the lord of gods: “Kauśika, it is not by wearing lovely clothes that
bodhisattvas are made beautiful, but rather their beauty comes from bearing
the ornaments of Dharma. Kauśika, it may be obvious, but nonetheless, let me
tell you what the ornamental clothing of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas
is.

“The ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas is the awakening mind, for
it adorns the seat of awakening. The ornaments of modesty and propriety are
the ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas, for they support all beings.

“Observing their commitments is the ornamental clothing of
bodhisattvas, for it perfects their insight. Their intent is the ornamental
clothing of bodhisattvas, for it eliminates deceit and guile.

“Application is the ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas, for it
perfects all virtuous qualities. Superior intention is the ornamental
clothing of bodhisattvas, for it sets them apart from all others.

“Absence of pride is the ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas, for
it perfects their wisdom. Their pursuit of Dharma and longing for Dharma are
the ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas, for these perfect their insight.

“Their lack of parsimony as preceptors is the ornamental clothing
of bodhisattvas, for it perfects their dispassionate wisdom. Their utter
disregard for all wealth is the ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas, for it
perfects their excellent marks and signs.

“Pure discipline is the ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas, for it
brings their aspirations to completion. Acceptance and gentleness are the
ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas, for they become words that resound and
roar like the voice of Brahmā.

“Stable resolve and fortitude are the ornamental clothing of
bodhisattvas, for these fulfill all their goals. Their attainment of
concentrations, liberations, absorptions, and equilibria are the ornamental
clothing of bodhisattvas, for these perfect the wisdom of highly advanced
cognition.

“The insight of knowing how to parse words carefully is the ornamental clothing of the
bodhisattvas, for it eliminates latent tendencies, beliefs, and manifest
afflictions. Great compassion is the ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas,
for they never become discouraged in saṃsāra.

“Bearing no animosity toward any being is the ornamental clothing
of bodhisattvas, for they never lose interest in the welfare of self and
other. Teaching Dharma without material interest is the ornamental clothing of
bodhisattvas, because insight liberates both self and other.

“Accomplishment of Dharma is the ornamental clothing of bodhisattvas, since it removes all
mental disturbances. Kauśika, in this way you must see how bodhisattvas who
possess ornaments of Dharma like these are never naked.”

The lord of gods Śakra was greatly pleased with the child and
trusted in him, and so, addressing the Bhagavān, he asked, “Out
of loving consideration for me, would the Bhagavān please tell him to accept
this length of fabric?”

The child Inconceivable Radiance then went over to the Bhagavān,
knelt with his right knee on the ground, pressed his palms together in
salutation toward him, and then, in his presence, accepted the length of
fabric and put it on.

The Bhagavān then went to receive alms in the town of Śrāvastī. The
men and women, boys and girls, merchants and brahmins, householders, and the
king and his major officials were amazed and assembled there to look upon
the child Inconceivable Radiance, to look upon the Bhagavān, and to show
them honor and homage. The Bhagavān accepted the offering of alms from each
in turn and then went to the home of the mother of the child Inconceivable
Radiance. When he arrived there, however, he said nothing and simply
remained off to one side. Embarrassed, the mother of the child Inconceivable
Radiance did not come out to the entrance to greet the Bhagavān.

The child Inconceivable Radiance went inside his home and then
spoke the following verses to his mother:

“It was due to my own past misdeeds

That I entered your womb,

Not because of any fault of yours, mother;

That being so, don’t feel ashamed!

“Since you created me with love,

I am the one indebted to you.

Don’t be embarrassed or shy away.

Come before the Tathāgata!

“My entry into your womb

Was an endowment you received well.

Come share with the Great Guide as well

The virtuous deeds of your body!”

The child Inconceivable Radiance then spoke to the lord of gods
Śakra, saying, “Kauśika, give me some heavenly mandārava flowers, divine
incense, and godly raiment. I shall give them to this mother who gave birth
to me. By presenting them as a gift to
the Bhagavān, she will generate the mind set on unsurpassed and perfect
awakening.”

And so the lord of gods Śakra gave the child heavenly mandārava
flowers, divine incense, and godly raiment. The child Inconceivable Radiance
then spoke the following verses to his mother:

“Mother, take these heavenly mandārava flowers,

So lovely to behold and enjoyable,

Along with this incense and clothing,

And offer them to this great man, the Buddha.

“Gifts made in this world to one’s parents, such as food and drink,

Money and clothes, are not offerings at all

Compared with what connects them to Dharma;

Therefore, make an offering of these items!

“Make an offering to this holiest of humans,

And firmly aspire to supreme awakening.

Time and again, I have been at your side;

For so very long have I encouraged you!

“Without feeling unworthy or ashamed,

But with a renewed sense of joy and delight,

Proceed to where the genuine Victor awaits,

And offer homage at the feet of this supreme being!

“Handing flowers over to the Lord,

Along with incense and clothing,

Generate the roots of virtue from that Victor,

And generate too the resolve for supreme awakening!

“Having set your resolve for supreme awakening,

Then, as is said, ‘the Lord of the World assures full maturation

To those who, with faith, pay respect to a Victor.’

Go petition this genuine Victor!”

The woman then went over to the Bhagavān and offered homage by
prostrating to his feet, made offerings to him, and put her request to him
fully and respectfully, just as she had been instructed.

After she had made this request, the Bhagavān told her, “Through
this accomplishment of roots of virtue you shall not go to the lower realms
or an unfortunate state. Having pleased millions upon millions of buddhas,
you shall yourself become a buddha, the holiest of persons.”

When he had finished receiving alms in the town of Śrāvastī, the
Bhagavān, accompanied by the child Inconceivable Radiance and other lay
people, left the town and returned to Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park. The Bhagavān then took his meal, arose from his inner absorption, and readied himself to make the Dharma
heard.

The king of the state of Kośala, Prasenajit, accompanied by his
four military regiments, came to see the Bhagavān in Anāthapiṇḍada’s park.
As he and his men arrived, they offered homage by prostrating to the
Bhagavān’s feet and then sat off to one side.

Once they were seated at his side, the king of the state of Kośala,
Prasenajit, said to the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, where is the child
Inconceivable Radiance, who possesses such wondrous and amazing
qualities?”

The Bhagavān then pointed out the child Inconceivable Radiance, and
King Prasenajit could see at first sight that the child’s physical body was
fully developed, with a complexion superior to that of the gods, and that he
was graced with fearlessness, disciplined conduct, absorption, and insight.
The king therefore thought to himself, “Imagine what kinds of deeds he must
have performed and accumulated in the past to have a pure body like
that!”

The child Inconceivable Radiance, due to the power of the Buddha
and because of his own past roots of virtue, knew in his mind what King
Prasenajit had thought. So he said:

“Those who consistently possess a loving and pure mind,

Are not fractious, but gentle and thoughtful,

As well as well-mannered, honest, and chaste—

It is they who become pure in body.

“Those who abandon and abstain from wrong actions,

Who never devalue but increase virtue,

Who entirely reject malice and hostility—

It is they who become pure in body.

“Those who continually and respectfully make offerings

To the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha

And don’t feel aggression toward or threaten others—

It is they who become pure in body.

“Those who are not jealous,

Miserly, or otherwise prideful toward others

And say nothing when others’ faults arise—

It is they who become pure in body.

“Those who never look to blame,

Reproach, or rebuke others

Or look for a chance to exploit them—

It is they who become pure in body.”

King Prasenajit then said to the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, since this
child Inconceivable Radiance clearly possesses such great qualities, what
sort of obscuration of karma caused him to be born from the womb of a woman
without a husband and later abandoned in that empty dwelling?”

The Bhagavān answered him, “Great king, once, in the distant past,
ninety-one eons ago, the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha, the one with
perfect knowledge and conduct, the well-Gone One, the knower of the world,
the charioteer who tames beings, the unexcelled, the teacher of gods and
humans, the blessed buddha known as Vipaśyin appeared in the world.

“Great king, in those days, at that time, there were two
bodhisattvas, Divine Excellence and Earth, who attended the sublime
discourses of the blessed buddha Vipaśyin. In particular, the bodhisattva
known as Divine Excellence was one who would no longer regress; he had few
pursuits and few activities, enjoyed solitude, and was filled with loving
kindness due to his powers of concentration and advanced cognition.

“As for the bodhisattva known as Earth, he was not very well versed
in the Dharma and so served as the
attendant of Divine Excellence. He frequently went into neighboring
villages, towns, townships, and palaces and there would busy himself with
many tasks and activities. Thus, the bodhisattva Divine Excellence would
reprimand him, saying, ‘Why are you busying yourself with so many tasks and
activities instead of putting your effort into practice and
renunciation?’

“Over and over again Divine Excellence exhorted him, making Earth
irritated and agitated, turning him unpleasant and then abusive, until he
became both physically and mentally malicious. He voiced his vile thoughts
in the coarsest language, saying, ‘You bastard, you son of a whore, your
father was a cuckold. Since you don’t even have a proper father and mother,
it is ridiculous to think that you could have insight or disciplined
conduct.’

“With the worst intentions he spoke these crude words, and without
confession, contrition, or rejection, he held his grudge, continuing to
harbor ill will toward the bodhisattva Divine Excellence, and he had not the
slightest affection for him.

“The bodhisattva Divine Excellence, moreover, thought that Earth
was no longer a fitting vessel and withdrew from him, spurring Earth to think even worse of the bodhisattva Divine
Excellence and to speak to him in the most uncomplimentary, caustic,
unvenerable, and unmeasured terms.

“Because of the karma Earth accumulated and gathered in this way,
his body was ruined, and in the wake of his death, he was reborn to a woman
who gave birth to him out of wedlock. Because he had maintained the
awakening mind, however, his actions did not cause him to take rebirth as a
being in hell.

“As soon as he was born, the woman abandoned him along a major
thoroughfare, where he was eaten by dogs, jackals, and wolves. Great king,
in a similar fashion, over the course of ninety eons, he suffered like this,
in the same miserable way; he died and was reborn and once reborn was
abandoned. The common folk would say, ‘That bastard, that child of a
whore—let the dogs, jackals, and wolves eat him!’

“Great king, if you are uncertain, if you entertain doubt as to
whether the one known as the bodhisattva Earth in those days, at that time,
may have been someone else, you need not
wonder any longer. If you ask, ‘Why is that?’ Well, it is because this child
Inconceivable Radiance was the one known in those days, at that time, as the
bodhisattva Earth.

“Great king, his obscuration of karma has now been exhausted. His
impure mind has been purified. He has pleased the Tathāgata. Cutting off
rebirth in all the lower realms, this child Inconceivable Radiance has
pleased sixty-four million buddhas, has honored them, venerated them, and
revered them, and has conducted himself with sanctity before them. He has
been diligent in the dedicated pursuit of Dharma as well.

“Great king, through his past roots of virtue, he has achieved this
illustrious state. Great king, in this way, black deeds and white deeds are
never squandered. Great king, since that is the case, the wise are
circumspect about their physical, verbal, and mental acts, abstaining from
evil even at the cost of their lives.”

The king of the state of Kośala, Prasenajit, then asked the
Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, the bodhisattva who was called Divine Excellence—did he
ever attain unsurpassed and perfect awakening? Or is he still, even now,
engaging in the conduct of a bodhisattva?”

The Bhagavān answered him, “Great king, the bodhisattva mahāsattva
Divine Excellence conducts himself with sanctity in the buddha realm of the
tathāgata Akṣobhya, where he is known as the bodhisattva mahāsattva
Śrīsambhava.”

The king of Kośala, Prasenajit, then said to the Bhagavān:
“Bhagavān, a noble son or daughter is supposed to act respectfully, to serve
spiritual masters, to attend them, and to venerate them. One may ask, ‘What
is the value of doing so?’

“Bhagavān, if one attends, serves, and venerates a spiritual
master, one acquires virtuous qualities.
Through acquiring virtuous qualities, one’s frame of mind becomes virtuous.
When one’s frame of mind is virtuous, one trains in virtue.

“Through training in virtue, one performs virtuous deeds. Through
virtuous deeds, one will have a virtuous existence. Due to a virtuous
existence, one enjoys virtuous companions. In virtuous company, sinful acts
are not performed. One will not engage in sinful acts.

“By abstaining from sinful acts and engaging in virtue, one will
not be tormented, and others will not be tormented. Through affording
protection to oneself and others, the path to awakening will be
completed.

“By staying on the path to awakening, one will have the ability and
opportunity to effectively serve the welfare of beings who have embarked on
inferior paths.”

The Bhagavān remarked, “Great king, well said! Well said! You have
spoken well! Great king, by serving one’s spiritual master, one will perfect
all the qualities that characterize a bodhisattva mahāsattva.”

The child Inconceivable Radiance then said to the Bhagavān,
“Bhagavān, what are the various qualities a bodhisattva should possess in
order to swiftly awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and to gain
acceptance of even the most profound Dharmas?”

The Bhagavān responded, “Child, a bodhisattva who possesses four
qualities will swiftly awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and gain
acceptance of even the most profound Dharmas. What are these four?

“They are comprehension of interdependence; rejection of
eternalism and nihilism; the understanding that there are no beings, no
living creatures, and
no persons; and an interest in and experience of emptiness.

“A bodhisattva who possesses these four qualities will swiftly
awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and gain acceptance of even the most profound
Dharmas.

“Child, in addition, a bodhisattva who possesses four other
qualities will swiftly awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood. What
are these four?

“Leaving the past behind, not projecting into the future, knowing
how to extinguish what arises right now, and knowing the sameness of the
three times—those are the four.

“There is yet another set of four. What are the four? Physical
isolation, mental isolation, isolation from phenomena, and isolation from
action—those are the four.

“There are another four. What are they? Seeing the Buddha as
reality itself and not as a form; seeing the Dharma as detachment from
desire and not as terms and definitions; seeing the saṅgha as noncomposite
and not as an assemblage; and purification of the eyes of insight—those are
the four.

“There are four more. What are they? They are perfecting the six
transcendent virtues by not relinquishing the modes of attraction; expertise
in insight and skillful means; precise discernment that there are no beings;
and great compassion.

“Child, a bodhisattva who possesses these four qualities will
swiftly awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and gain acceptance of
even the most profound Dharmas.”

As the Bhagavān gave this teaching presenting the fourfold
attainments, the child Inconceivable Radiance gained acceptance of the fact
that phenomena do not arise and was so joyous, so overjoyed, that he himself
actually floated up into the sky to the height of seven palm trees. At that
point, the Bhagavān smiled.

As is the nature of things when blessed buddhas smile, lights of
various colors radiated from the mouth of the Bhagavān. The lights appeared
in many different colors, such as blue, yellow, red, white, violet, and
silver. Those multicolored lights illuminated the infinite and boundless worlds of the universe,
manifesting even as far as Brahmā’s domain and making the very sun and moon
seem lackluster. The lights then reversed course and vanished into the crown
of the Bhagavān’s head.

Venerable Ānanda then rose from his seat, draped his shawl over one
shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. Joining his palms, he bowed toward
the Bhagavān. In the rhythm of verse, he requested an explanation of the
meaning of this from the Bhagavān:

“Your figure is lovely and worthy to
behold,

Gracefully adorned with marks and signs most fine,

And shining beautifully within a circle of lights.

Please explain your smile to me!

“You are engaged in exemplary conduct with superior discipline,

And with the light of wisdom gathered from absorption and insight,

And the strength of the essence of liberation, you see perfectly.

Please explain your smile to me!

“With the strength of the power of acceptance

And diligence eminently superior and unwavering,

You are pleasing to the eye and behold the four truths.

Please explain your smile to me!

“You have a vajra body, hard, stable, and indestructible,

As mighty as Nārāyaṇa—even greater than Nārāyaṇa.

Your voice is gentle, the sweet voice of Brahmā.

Please explain your smile to me!

“Brahmā and likewise the other gods who have gathered

Behold you with reverence, yet even though the Tathāgata is seated

They cannot see the summit of your crown.

Please explain your smile to me!

“You turn the sacred wheel of Dharma.

The message of impermanence deeply moves

Gods, asuras, nāgas, and yakṣas alike.

Please explain your smile to me!

“You have discovered
radiance and removed all darkness,

You abide in equanimity with eyes that take in all,

Possess superior qualities, and display essential qualities.

Please explain your smile to me!”

With those words he made his request. The Bhagavān then answered
the venerable Ānanda, “Ānanda, do you see the child Inconceivable Radiance
hovering in the space above, at the height of seven palm trees?”

Ānanda replied, “Yes, Bhagavān, I do see him.”

The Bhagavān said, “Ānanda, this bodhisattva mahāsattva
Inconceivable Radiance, after one hundred incalculable eons, in the eon
called Universal Illumination, in the realm known as Fully Cleansed,
will make his appearance in the world as the thus-gone,
worthy, perfect buddha, the one with knowledge and good conduct, the
well-Gone One, the knower of the world, the charioteer who tames beings, the
unexcelled, the teacher of gods and humans known precisely as the blessed
buddha Inconceivable Radiance.

“Ānanda, that realm Fully Cleansed will become utterly pure in the
following way: as a comparison, it will be like what is enjoyed and
experienced by the Paranirmitavaśavartin gods. That tathāgata will remain
there for twenty intermediate eons. He will have a saṅgha of eighty thousand
listeners. There will be a bodhisattva saṅgha of thirty-two thousand.

“Ānanda, you may wonder why that realm will be called Fully
Cleansed and the eon Universal Illumination. Ānanda, over the course of
hundreds and thousands of prior intermediate eons, no tathāgata ever appears
in that buddhafield. It is there that Inconceivable Radiance, the Tathāgata,
will appear; it is there where the Śuddhāvāsa gods say, ‘This eon lacks
universal illumination. It lacks universal
illumination, so may a tathāgata appear!’ His appearance is due to their
giving voice to this purposeful interjection.”

When this statement of prophecy about the bodhisattva Inconceivable
Radiance was spoken, and this account of
Dharma was taught, thirty-two thousand beings, gods and humans alike,
generated the mind set on unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Sixty
bodhisattvas developed acceptance of the fact that phenomena do not arise.
Five hundred listeners completely freed their minds from defilement, without
any further grasping.

The Bhagavān then said to venerable Ānanda: “Ānanda, you must
retain my sacred Dharma. For the benefit of present bodhisattvas, and for
those yet to come, you must retain this account of Dharma.”

Ānanda replied, “Bhagavān, when I retain this account of Dharma,
what is the name of this account of Dharma? How shall it be remembered?”

“Ānanda, some people may spend their entire lives respecting,
revering, venerating, and worshiping all the tathāgatas, offering them
ground floral incense strewn as high as Mount Meru, as well as fragrances,
powders, balms, robes, parasols, victory banners, and pennants, and also
many other varieties of divine and human offerings. Compared to them, a
noble son or daughter who retains and reads this account of Dharma taught by
Inconceivable Radiance, who fully comprehends it and makes it widely and
perfectly known to others, and who likewise assiduously applies it—such a
person generates a vastly greater collection of merit.

“Ānanda, since that is the case, those who wish to honor the
Tathāgata with the offering of Dharma and those who wish to create the great
radiance of insight should retain this account of Dharma, read it,
accomplish it with diligence, and make it widely and perfectly known to
others.”

When the Bhagavān had spoken these words, the venerable Ānanda, the
bodhisattva mahāsattva Inconceivable Radiance, the king of Kośala,
Prasenajit, along with his entourage, the lord of gods Śakra, the master of
the Sahā world system Brahmā, and the four guardians of the world, along
with everyone else in attendance as well as the gods, humans, asuras, and
gandharvas of this world, rejoiced and greatly extolled what the Bhagavān
had said.

This completes the noble account of Dharma, “The Teaching by the Child Inconceivable
Radiance.”

Colophon

The Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the chief translator-editor
Bandé Yeshé Dé translated, corrected, and finalized this text.

Notes

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Universal Illumination

kun tu snang byed
ཀུན་ཏུ་སྣང་བྱེད།

Divine Excellence

lha bzang
ལྷ་བཟང་།

Earth

sa
ས།

Fully Cleansed

rnam par sbyong ba
རྣམ་པར་སྦྱོང་བ།

Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park
jetavanam anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ
rgyal bu rgyal byed kyi tshal mgon med zas sbyin gyi kun dga’ ra ba
རྒྱལ་བུ་རྒྱལ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཚལ་མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན་གྱི་ཀུན་དགའ་ར་བ།