Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1of preservation, the talisman of hundred thousand ko/is, and the talisman of skill in all sounds. Again, Lord, the monks, nuns, male or female lay devotees, who at the end of time, at the end of the period, in the second half of the millennium, shall study this Dharmapary4ya, when walking for three weeks, (or) twenty-one days, to them will I show my body, at the sight of which all beings rejoice. Mounted on that same white elephant with six tusks, and surrounded by a troop of Bodhisattvas, I shall on the twenty-first day betake myself to the place where the preachers are walking; there I shall rouse, excite, and stimulate them, and give them spells whereby those preachers shall become inviolable, so that no being, either human or not human, shall be able to surprise them, and no women able to beguile them. I will protect them, take care of their safety, avert blows’, and destroy poison. I will, besides, O Lord, give those preachers words of talismanic spells, such as, Adazde damndapati, daxd4vartani dandakusale damdasudh4ri dh4ri sudh4rapati, buddhapasyani dharamzi, A4vartani samvartani sanghaparikshite sanghanirghatani dharmapartkshite sarva- that the Bodhisattva entered the womb of his mother Maya Devt in the shape of an elephant with six tusks; see Lalita-vistara, p. 63. According to the description of the elephant, it must, originally, be a name of lightning. 1 Avarta. * Or punishment. XXVI. ENCOURAGEMENT OF SAMANTABHADRA. 435 sattvarutakausalydnugate simhavikriditel. The Bodhisattva Mahdsattva, whose organ of hearing is struck by these talismanic words, Lord, shall be aware that the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Samantabhadra is their ruling power *. Further, Lord, the Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas to whom this Dharmaparydya of the Lotus of the True Law shall be entrusted, as long as it continues having course in Gambudvipa, those preachers, Lord, should take this view: It is owing to the power and grandeur of the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Samantabhadra that this Dharmaparydya has been entrusted to us. Those creatures who shall write and keep this Sdtra, O Lord, are to partake of the course of duty of the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Samantabhadra ; they will belong to those who have planted good roots under many Buddhas, O Lord, and whose heads are caressed by the hands of the Tathagata. Those who shall write and keep this Satra, O Lord, will afford me pleasure. Those who shall write this Sdtra, O Lord, and comprehend it, shall, when they disappear from this world, after having written it, be reborn in the company of the
2Those who shall write and keep this Satra, O Lord, will afford me pleasure. Those who shall write this Sdtra, O Lord, and comprehend it, shall, when they disappear from this world, after having written it, be reborn in the company of the 1 In Burnouf’s translation we find added: anuvarte vartani vartAli svaha. All terms are, or ought to be, vocatives of feminine words in the . singular. Pati,as in Pali pag4pati, Buddhistic Sansk. prag4pati, interchanges with the ending vati; not only in prag4vati (e.g. in Lalita-vistara), but in some of the words occurring in the spell; so for dandapati the Tibetan text has dandavati. As Siva in Mahabharata XII, 10361 is represented as the personified Danda, we may hold that all the names above belong to Siva’s female counterpart, Durga. The epithet of Simhavikridita is but a variation of Simhik4, one of the names of Daksh4yami or Durga in her quality of mother to R&hu. Cf. the remarks on the spells in chap. XXI. * Asthe presiding deity of lightning he is also the lord of flame, of Svaha, identified with Dakshdyani-Durga. Ff 2 436 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. XXVI. gods of paradise, and at that birth shall eighty-four thousand heavenly nymphs immediately come near them. Adorned with a high crown, they shall as angels dwell amongst those nymphs. Such is the mass of merit resulting from writing this Dharmapary4ya; how much greater will be the mass of merit reaped by those who recite, study, meditate, remember it! Therefore, young men of good family}, one ought to honour this Dharmapary4ya of the Lotus of the True Law, and write it with the utmost attention. He who writes it with undistracted attention shall be supported by the hands of a thousand Buddhas, and at the moment of his death he shall see another thousand of Buddhas from face to face. He shall not sink down into a state of wretchedness, and after disappearing from this world he shall enter the company of the Tushita-gods, where the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Maitreya is residing, and where, marked by the thirty-two sublime characteristics, surrounded by a host of Bodhisattvas, and waited upon by hundred thousands of myriads of ko¢is of heavenly nymphs he is preaching the law. Therefore, then, young men of good family, a wise young man or young lady of good family should respectfully write this Dharmapary4ya of the Lotus of the True Law, respectfully recite it, respectfully study it, respectfully treasure it up in his (or her) mind. By writing, reciting, studying this Dharmaparydya, and by treasuring it up in one’s mind, young men of good family, one is to acquire innumerable good qualities, Hence a wise young man or young lady of good * Burnouf’s reading has, O Lord. The reading of the Cambridge MS. is no mere mistake, for we find it repeated in the sequel. XXVI. ENCOURAGEMENT OF SAMANTABHADRA. 437
3The reading of the Cambridge MS. is no mere mistake, for we find it repeated in the sequel. XXVI. ENCOURAGEMENT OF SAMANTABHADRA. 437 family ought to keep this Dharmaparydya of the Lotus of the True Law. I myself, O Lord, will superintend this Dharmapary4ya, that through my superintendence it may here spread in Gambudvtpa. Then the Lord Sakyamuni, the Tathagata, &c., expressed his approval to the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Samantabhadra : Very well, very well, Samantabhadra. It is happy that thou art so well disposed to promote the weal and happiness of the people at large, out of compassion for the people, for the benefit, weal, and happiness of the great body of men; that thou art endowed with such inconceivable qualities, with a mind so full of compassion, with intentions so inconceivably kind, so that of thine own accord thou wilt take those preachers under thy protection. The young men of good family who shall cherish the name of the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Samantabhadra may be convinced that they have seen Sdkyamuni, the Tathagata, &c.; that they have heard this Dharmapary4ya of the Lotus of the True Law from the Lord SAékyamuni ; that they have paid homage to the Tath4gata S4kyamuni; that they have applauded the preaching of the Tathagata Sakyamuni. They will have joyfully accepted this Dharmapary4ya; the Tathagata SAkyamuni will have laid his hand upon their head, and they will have decked the Lord SAakyamuni with their robes. Those young men or young ladies of good family, Samantabhadra, must be held to have accepted the command of the Tathagata’. They 1 If I rightly understand these cautious and veiled words, the meaning is that such persons, though no Buddhists, must be held in equal esteem as if they were. The persons alluded to are, not unlikely, Saiva monks or devotees, who, if leading a pious life, have 438 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA, XXVI. will have no pleasure in worldly philosophy’; no persons fondly addicted to poetry will please them ; no dancers, athletes, vendors of meat, mutton butchers, poulterers, pork butchers, or profligates will please them. After having heard, written, kept, or read such Satrantas as this, they will find no delight in those persons. They must be held to be possessed of natural righteousness?; they will be right-minded from themselves, possess a power to do good of their own accord, and make an agreeable impression on others. Such will be the monks who keep this Satranta. No passionate attachment will hinder them, no hatred, no infatuation, no jealousy, no envy, no hypocrisy, no pride, no conceitedness, no mendaciousness, Those preachers, Samantabhadra, will be content with what they receive. He, Samantabhadra, who at the end of time, at the end of the period, in the second half of the millennium, sees a monk keeping this Dharmapary4ya of the Lotus of the True Law, must think thus: This young man of good family will reach the terrace of enlightenment; this young man will conquer the troop of the
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1of preservation, the talisman of hundred thousand ko/is, and the talisman of skill in all sounds. Again, Lord, the monks, nuns, male or female lay devotees, who at the end of time, at the end of the period, in the second half of the millennium, shall study this Dharmapary4ya, when walking for three weeks, (or) twenty-one days, to them will I show my body, at the sight of which all beings rejoice. Mounted on that same white elephant with six tusks, and surrounded by a troop of Bodhisattvas, I shall on the twenty-first day betake myself to the place where the preachers are walking; there I shall rouse, excite, and stimulate them, and give them spells whereby those preachers shall become inviolable, so that no being, either human or not human, shall be able to surprise them, and no women able to beguile them. I will protect them, take care of their safety, avert blows’, and destroy poison. I will, besides, O Lord, give those preachers words of talismanic spells, such as, Adazde damndapati, daxd4vartani dandakusale damdasudh4ri dh4ri sudh4rapati, buddhapasyani dharamzi, A4vartani samvartani sanghaparikshite sanghanirghatani dharmapartkshite sarva- that the Bodhisattva entered the womb of his mother Maya Devt in the shape of an elephant with six tusks; see Lalita-vistara, p. 63. According to the description of the elephant, it must, originally, be a name of lightning. 1 Avarta. * Or punishment. XXVI. ENCOURAGEMENT OF SAMANTABHADRA. 435 sattvarutakausalydnugate simhavikriditel. The Bodhisattva Mahdsattva, whose organ of hearing is struck by these talismanic words, Lord, shall be aware that the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Samantabhadra is their ruling power *. Further, Lord, the Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas to whom this Dharmaparydya of the Lotus of the True Law shall be entrusted, as long as it continues having course in Gambudvipa, those preachers, Lord, should take this view: It is owing to the power and grandeur of the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Samantabhadra that this Dharmaparydya has been entrusted to us. Those creatures who shall write and keep this Sdtra, O Lord, are to partake of the course of duty of the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Samantabhadra ; they will belong to those who have planted good roots under many Buddhas, O Lord, and whose heads are caressed by the hands of the Tathagata. Those who shall write and keep this Satra, O Lord, will afford me pleasure. Those who shall write this Sdtra, O Lord, and comprehend it, shall, when they disappear from this world, after having written it, be reborn in the company of the
2Those who shall write and keep this Satra, O Lord, will afford me pleasure. Those who shall write this Sdtra, O Lord, and comprehend it, shall, when they disappear from this world, after having written it, be reborn in the company of the 1 In Burnouf’s translation we find added: anuvarte vartani vartAli svaha. All terms are, or ought to be, vocatives of feminine words in the . singular. Pati,as in Pali pag4pati, Buddhistic Sansk. prag4pati, interchanges with the ending vati; not only in prag4vati (e.g. in Lalita-vistara), but in some of the words occurring in the spell; so for dandapati the Tibetan text has dandavati. As Siva in Mahabharata XII, 10361 is represented as the personified Danda, we may hold that all the names above belong to Siva’s female counterpart, Durga. The epithet of Simhavikridita is but a variation of Simhik4, one of the names of Daksh4yami or Durga in her quality of mother to R&hu. Cf. the remarks on the spells in chap. XXI. * Asthe presiding deity of lightning he is also the lord of flame, of Svaha, identified with Dakshdyani-Durga. Ff 2 436 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. XXVI. gods of paradise, and at that birth shall eighty-four thousand heavenly nymphs immediately come near them. Adorned with a high crown, they shall as angels dwell amongst those nymphs. Such is the mass of merit resulting from writing this Dharmapary4ya; how much greater will be the mass of merit reaped by those who recite, study, meditate, remember it! Therefore, young men of good family}, one ought to honour this Dharmapary4ya of the Lotus of the True Law, and write it with the utmost attention. He who writes it with undistracted attention shall be supported by the hands of a thousand Buddhas, and at the moment of his death he shall see another thousand of Buddhas from face to face. He shall not sink down into a state of wretchedness, and after disappearing from this world he shall enter the company of the Tushita-gods, where the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Maitreya is residing, and where, marked by the thirty-two sublime characteristics, surrounded by a host of Bodhisattvas, and waited upon by hundred thousands of myriads of ko¢is of heavenly nymphs he is preaching the law. Therefore, then, young men of good family, a wise young man or young lady of good family should respectfully write this Dharmapary4ya of the Lotus of the True Law, respectfully recite it, respectfully study it, respectfully treasure it up in his (or her) mind. By writing, reciting, studying this Dharmaparydya, and by treasuring it up in one’s mind, young men of good family, one is to acquire innumerable good qualities, Hence a wise young man or young lady of good * Burnouf’s reading has, O Lord. The reading of the Cambridge MS. is no mere mistake, for we find it repeated in the sequel. XXVI. ENCOURAGEMENT OF SAMANTABHADRA. 437
3The reading of the Cambridge MS. is no mere mistake, for we find it repeated in the sequel. XXVI. ENCOURAGEMENT OF SAMANTABHADRA. 437 family ought to keep this Dharmaparydya of the Lotus of the True Law. I myself, O Lord, will superintend this Dharmapary4ya, that through my superintendence it may here spread in Gambudvtpa. Then the Lord Sakyamuni, the Tathagata, &c., expressed his approval to the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Samantabhadra : Very well, very well, Samantabhadra. It is happy that thou art so well disposed to promote the weal and happiness of the people at large, out of compassion for the people, for the benefit, weal, and happiness of the great body of men; that thou art endowed with such inconceivable qualities, with a mind so full of compassion, with intentions so inconceivably kind, so that of thine own accord thou wilt take those preachers under thy protection. The young men of good family who shall cherish the name of the Bodhisattva Mahdsattva Samantabhadra may be convinced that they have seen Sdkyamuni, the Tathagata, &c.; that they have heard this Dharmapary4ya of the Lotus of the True Law from the Lord SAékyamuni ; that they have paid homage to the Tath4gata S4kyamuni; that they have applauded the preaching of the Tathagata Sakyamuni. They will have joyfully accepted this Dharmapary4ya; the Tathagata SAkyamuni will have laid his hand upon their head, and they will have decked the Lord SAakyamuni with their robes. Those young men or young ladies of good family, Samantabhadra, must be held to have accepted the command of the Tathagata’. They 1 If I rightly understand these cautious and veiled words, the meaning is that such persons, though no Buddhists, must be held in equal esteem as if they were. The persons alluded to are, not unlikely, Saiva monks or devotees, who, if leading a pious life, have 438 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA, XXVI. will have no pleasure in worldly philosophy’; no persons fondly addicted to poetry will please them ; no dancers, athletes, vendors of meat, mutton butchers, poulterers, pork butchers, or profligates will please them. After having heard, written, kept, or read such Satrantas as this, they will find no delight in those persons. They must be held to be possessed of natural righteousness?; they will be right-minded from themselves, possess a power to do good of their own accord, and make an agreeable impression on others. Such will be the monks who keep this Satranta. No passionate attachment will hinder them, no hatred, no infatuation, no jealousy, no envy, no hypocrisy, no pride, no conceitedness, no mendaciousness, Those preachers, Samantabhadra, will be content with what they receive. He, Samantabhadra, who at the end of time, at the end of the period, in the second half of the millennium, sees a monk keeping this Dharmapary4ya of the Lotus of the True Law, must think thus: This young man of good family will reach the terrace of enlightenment; this young man will conquer the troop of the
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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