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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
11 Hence it follows that Mafigusri is eternally young, like the rising sun, like Mithra, and like the Arhatém deva, the latest, or youngest, of the Arhats or Ginas. * The rendering of vipratyanika, var. lect. vipratyantyaka, is doubtful. Burnouf, who translates it by ‘avec laquelle (le monde entier) doit étre en désaccord,’remarks in his comment (Lotus, p. 323) that the Tibetan version assigns to pratyaniyaka the meaning of ‘accordance, concord.’ It is, however, extremely doubtful whether such a word as pratyantyaka exists at all, and if pratyantka should really be used in the sense of ‘concord,’ notwithstanding its generally occurring in the sense of ‘opposition,’ we must suppose that from the notion of ‘an opposite party’ has developed that of a party, paksha, in general. On that assumption we can account for vipratyanika being used in the sense of vipaksha, repugnant, contrary, belonging to a different party. As to vipratyantyaka, also Lalita-vistara, p. 513, this may be a wrongly Sanskritised vippa&kaniyaka, to which would answer a Sanskrit vipratyanikaka. [21] c 18 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. I. I remember, young men of good family, that in the days of yore, many immeasurable, inconceivable, immense, infinite, countless AZons, more than countless /Eons ago, nay, long and very long before, there was born a Tathagata called Xandrasfryapradipa!, an Arhat, &c., endowed with science and conduct?, a Sugata, knower of the world, an incomparable tamer of men, a teacher (and ruler) of gods and men, a Buddha and Lord. He showed the law; he revealed the duteous course which is holy at its commencement, holy in its middle, holy at the end, good in substance and form, complete and perfect, correct and pure. That is to say, to the disciples he preached the law containing the four Noble Truths, and starting from the chain of causes and effects, tending to overcome birth, decrepitude, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, woe, grief, despondency, and finally leading to Nirvaza; and to the Bodhisattvas he preached the law connected with the six Perfections*, and terminating in the knowledge of the Omniscient, after the attainment of supreme, perfect enlightenment. [Now, young men of good family, long before the time of that Tathagata andrasdryapradipa, the Arhat, &c., there had appeared a Tathagata, &c., likewise called Aandrasfryapradipa, after whom, O Agita‘, there were twenty thousand Tathagatas, ? Tie. having the shine of moon and sun. ? Otherwise, with light and motion. * The six Paramitds, viz. of almsgiving, morality, patience, zeal or energy, meditation, and wisdorh. ‘ Te. invincible, invictus. The palpable connection between Maitreya Agita and Mithras Invictus is no proof of the Buddhists having borrowed the figure from the Persians; the coincidence I. INTRODUCTORY. 19
2of almsgiving, morality, patience, zeal or energy, meditation, and wisdorh. ‘ Te. invincible, invictus. The palpable connection between Maitreya Agita and Mithras Invictus is no proof of the Buddhists having borrowed the figure from the Persians; the coincidence I. INTRODUCTORY. 19 &c., all of them bearing the name of Kandrasiryapradipa, of the same lineage and family name, to wit, of Bharadv4ga’. All those twenty thousand Tathagatas, O Agita, from the first to the last, showed the law, revealed the course which is holy at its commencement, holy in its middle, holy at the end, &c. &c.?] The aforesaid Lord andrasdryapradipa, the Tathagata, &c., when a young prince and not yet having left home (to embrace the ascetic life), had eight sons, viz. the young princes Sumati, Anantamati, Ratnamati, Viseshamati, Vimatisamudghatin, Ghoshamati, and Dharmamati. These eight young princes, Agita, sons to the Lord Kandrasfryapradipa, the Tathagata, had an immense fortune*, Each of them was in possession of four great continents, where they exercised the kingly sway. When they saw that the Lord had left his home to become an ascetic, and heard that he had attained supreme, perfect enlightenment, they forsook all of them the pleasures of royalty and followed the example of the Lord by resigning the world; all of them strove to being perfectly explainable if we consider the narrow relationship of Indian and Iranian mythology. Maitreya is not strictly identical with Mitra, but a younger edition, so to speak, of him; he is the future saviour. 1 It is clear that Bharadvaga, a well-known progenitor of one of the Brahmanic families, existed long before the creation, i.e. of the last creation of the world. There can be no question of his being a man, at least in the system of the Lotus. ? The words in brackets are wanting in one of the MSS. 3 Riddhi is the word used in the text. As an ecclesiastical term it denotes ‘ magic power,’ but that artificial meaning does not suit here. C2 20 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. I reach superior enlightenment and became preachers of the law. While constantly leading a holy life, those young princes planted roots of goodness under many thousands of Buddhas.
3C2 20 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. I reach superior enlightenment and became preachers of the law. While constantly leading a holy life, those young princes planted roots of goodness under many thousands of Buddhas. It was at that time, Agita, that the Lord Xandrasdryapradipa, the Tathagata, &c., after expounding the Dharmapary4ya called ‘the Great Exposition,’ a text of great extension, serving to instruct Bodhisattvas and proper to all Buddhas, at the same moment and instant, at the same gathering of the classes of hearers, sat cross-legged on the same seat of the law, and entered upon the meditation termed ‘the Station of the exposition of Infinity ;’ his body was motionless, and his mind had reached perfect tranquillity. And as soon as the Lord had entered upon meditation, there fell a great rain of divine flowers, Mandaravas and great Mandaravas, Mazgishakas and great Mazig(shakas, covering the Lord and the four classes of hearers, while the whole Buddha-field shook in six ways; it moved, removed, trembled, trembled from one end to the other, tossed, tossed along. Then did those who were assembled and sitting tagether at that congregation, monks, nuns, male and female lay devotees, gods, Nagas, goblins, Gandharvas, demons, Garudas, Kinnaras, great serpents, men and beings not human, as well as governors of a region, rulers of armies and rulers of four continents, all of them with their followers gaze on the Lord in astonishment, in amazement, in ecstasy. And at that moment there issued a ray from within the circle of hair between the eyebrows of the Lord. It extended over eighteen hundred I. INTRODUCTORY. 21 thousand Buddha-fields in the eastern quarter, so that all those Buddha-fields appeared wholly illuminated by its radiance, just like the Buddha-fields do now, O Agita. [At that juncture, Agita, there were twenty kof/is of Bodhisattvas following the Lord. All hearers of the law in that assembly, on seeing how the world was illuminated by the lustre of that ray, felt astonishment, amazement, ecstasy, and curiosity 1] Now it happened, Agita, that under the rule of* the aforesaid Lord there was a Bodhisattva called Varaprabha, who had eight hundred pupils. It was to this Bodhisattva Varaprabha that the Lord, on rising from his meditation, revealed the Dharmaparydya called ‘the Lotus of the True Law.’ He spoke during fully sixty intermediate kalpas, always sitting on the same seat, with immovable body and tranquil mind. And the whole assembly continued sitting on the same seats, listening to the preaching of the Lord for sixty intermediate kalpas, there being not a single creature in that assembly who felt fatigue of body or mind.
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.
11 Hence it follows that Mafigusri is eternally young, like the rising sun, like Mithra, and like the Arhatém deva, the latest, or youngest, of the Arhats or Ginas. * The rendering of vipratyanika, var. lect. vipratyantyaka, is doubtful. Burnouf, who translates it by ‘avec laquelle (le monde entier) doit étre en désaccord,’remarks in his comment (Lotus, p. 323) that the Tibetan version assigns to pratyaniyaka the meaning of ‘accordance, concord.’ It is, however, extremely doubtful whether such a word as pratyantyaka exists at all, and if pratyantka should really be used in the sense of ‘concord,’ notwithstanding its generally occurring in the sense of ‘opposition,’ we must suppose that from the notion of ‘an opposite party’ has developed that of a party, paksha, in general. On that assumption we can account for vipratyanika being used in the sense of vipaksha, repugnant, contrary, belonging to a different party. As to vipratyantyaka, also Lalita-vistara, p. 513, this may be a wrongly Sanskritised vippa&kaniyaka, to which would answer a Sanskrit vipratyanikaka. [21] c 18 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. I. I remember, young men of good family, that in the days of yore, many immeasurable, inconceivable, immense, infinite, countless AZons, more than countless /Eons ago, nay, long and very long before, there was born a Tathagata called Xandrasfryapradipa!, an Arhat, &c., endowed with science and conduct?, a Sugata, knower of the world, an incomparable tamer of men, a teacher (and ruler) of gods and men, a Buddha and Lord. He showed the law; he revealed the duteous course which is holy at its commencement, holy in its middle, holy at the end, good in substance and form, complete and perfect, correct and pure. That is to say, to the disciples he preached the law containing the four Noble Truths, and starting from the chain of causes and effects, tending to overcome birth, decrepitude, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, woe, grief, despondency, and finally leading to Nirvaza; and to the Bodhisattvas he preached the law connected with the six Perfections*, and terminating in the knowledge of the Omniscient, after the attainment of supreme, perfect enlightenment. [Now, young men of good family, long before the time of that Tathagata andrasdryapradipa, the Arhat, &c., there had appeared a Tathagata, &c., likewise called Aandrasfryapradipa, after whom, O Agita‘, there were twenty thousand Tathagatas, ? Tie. having the shine of moon and sun. ? Otherwise, with light and motion. * The six Paramitds, viz. of almsgiving, morality, patience, zeal or energy, meditation, and wisdorh. ‘ Te. invincible, invictus. The palpable connection between Maitreya Agita and Mithras Invictus is no proof of the Buddhists having borrowed the figure from the Persians; the coincidence I. INTRODUCTORY. 19
2of almsgiving, morality, patience, zeal or energy, meditation, and wisdorh. ‘ Te. invincible, invictus. The palpable connection between Maitreya Agita and Mithras Invictus is no proof of the Buddhists having borrowed the figure from the Persians; the coincidence I. INTRODUCTORY. 19 &c., all of them bearing the name of Kandrasiryapradipa, of the same lineage and family name, to wit, of Bharadv4ga’. All those twenty thousand Tathagatas, O Agita, from the first to the last, showed the law, revealed the course which is holy at its commencement, holy in its middle, holy at the end, &c. &c.?] The aforesaid Lord andrasdryapradipa, the Tathagata, &c., when a young prince and not yet having left home (to embrace the ascetic life), had eight sons, viz. the young princes Sumati, Anantamati, Ratnamati, Viseshamati, Vimatisamudghatin, Ghoshamati, and Dharmamati. These eight young princes, Agita, sons to the Lord Kandrasfryapradipa, the Tathagata, had an immense fortune*, Each of them was in possession of four great continents, where they exercised the kingly sway. When they saw that the Lord had left his home to become an ascetic, and heard that he had attained supreme, perfect enlightenment, they forsook all of them the pleasures of royalty and followed the example of the Lord by resigning the world; all of them strove to being perfectly explainable if we consider the narrow relationship of Indian and Iranian mythology. Maitreya is not strictly identical with Mitra, but a younger edition, so to speak, of him; he is the future saviour. 1 It is clear that Bharadvaga, a well-known progenitor of one of the Brahmanic families, existed long before the creation, i.e. of the last creation of the world. There can be no question of his being a man, at least in the system of the Lotus. ? The words in brackets are wanting in one of the MSS. 3 Riddhi is the word used in the text. As an ecclesiastical term it denotes ‘ magic power,’ but that artificial meaning does not suit here. C2 20 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. I reach superior enlightenment and became preachers of the law. While constantly leading a holy life, those young princes planted roots of goodness under many thousands of Buddhas.
3C2 20 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. I reach superior enlightenment and became preachers of the law. While constantly leading a holy life, those young princes planted roots of goodness under many thousands of Buddhas. It was at that time, Agita, that the Lord Xandrasdryapradipa, the Tathagata, &c., after expounding the Dharmapary4ya called ‘the Great Exposition,’ a text of great extension, serving to instruct Bodhisattvas and proper to all Buddhas, at the same moment and instant, at the same gathering of the classes of hearers, sat cross-legged on the same seat of the law, and entered upon the meditation termed ‘the Station of the exposition of Infinity ;’ his body was motionless, and his mind had reached perfect tranquillity. And as soon as the Lord had entered upon meditation, there fell a great rain of divine flowers, Mandaravas and great Mandaravas, Mazgishakas and great Mazig(shakas, covering the Lord and the four classes of hearers, while the whole Buddha-field shook in six ways; it moved, removed, trembled, trembled from one end to the other, tossed, tossed along. Then did those who were assembled and sitting tagether at that congregation, monks, nuns, male and female lay devotees, gods, Nagas, goblins, Gandharvas, demons, Garudas, Kinnaras, great serpents, men and beings not human, as well as governors of a region, rulers of armies and rulers of four continents, all of them with their followers gaze on the Lord in astonishment, in amazement, in ecstasy. And at that moment there issued a ray from within the circle of hair between the eyebrows of the Lord. It extended over eighteen hundred I. INTRODUCTORY. 21 thousand Buddha-fields in the eastern quarter, so that all those Buddha-fields appeared wholly illuminated by its radiance, just like the Buddha-fields do now, O Agita. [At that juncture, Agita, there were twenty kof/is of Bodhisattvas following the Lord. All hearers of the law in that assembly, on seeing how the world was illuminated by the lustre of that ray, felt astonishment, amazement, ecstasy, and curiosity 1] Now it happened, Agita, that under the rule of* the aforesaid Lord there was a Bodhisattva called Varaprabha, who had eight hundred pupils. It was to this Bodhisattva Varaprabha that the Lord, on rising from his meditation, revealed the Dharmaparydya called ‘the Lotus of the True Law.’ He spoke during fully sixty intermediate kalpas, always sitting on the same seat, with immovable body and tranquil mind. And the whole assembly continued sitting on the same seats, listening to the preaching of the Lord for sixty intermediate kalpas, there being not a single creature in that assembly who felt fatigue of body or mind.
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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