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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
12 8 DESCRIPTION OF SUKHAVAt!, §12, that Tathdgata passed away, nor has he not yet come, but the Tathdgata, the holy, after having obtained the highest perfect knowledge, dwells now, remains, supports himself, and teaches the Law, in the western quarter, in the Buddha country, distant from this world by a hundred thousand niyutas of ko/is of Buddha countries, in the world which is called Sukhavati, being called Amitabha, the Tathdgata, holy and fully enlightened. He is surrounded by innumerable Bodhisattvas, and worshipped by endless .Sravakas, and in possession of the endless perfection of his Buddha country. J 12. 'And his light is immeasurable, so that it is not easy to know the limit of its measure, saying, he stands illuminating so many hundreds of Buddha countries, so many thousands of Buddha countries, so many hundred thousands of Buddha countries, so many ko/is of Buddha countries, so many hundred ko/is of Buddha countries, so many thousand ko/is of Buddha countries, so many hundred thousands of ko/ls of Buddha countries, so many hundred thousands of niyutas of ko/is of Buddha countries. l)ut indeed, O Ananda, to put it briefly, a hundred thousand niyutas of ko/is of Buddha countries, equal to the sands of the river Ganga, are always lighted up in the eastern quarter, by the light of that Bhagavat Amitdbha. Thus on every side in the southern, western, northern quarter, in the zenith and nadir, in every one of these quarters, there are a hundred thousand niyutas of ko/is of Buddha countries, like the sands of the river Gangd, always lighted up by the light of that Bhagavat Amitabha, excepting the Buddhas, the Bhagavats, who, through the practice of their former
2§ 12. THE LAND OF BLISS. 29 prayers, have lighted up the world by their own light, which is a fathom in length, or by their light which is one, two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty yq^^anas in length, or a hundred or thousand or hundred thousand yo^anas in length, until their brightness reaches many hundred thousand niyutas of ko/is of yo^anas in length. There is not, O Ananda, any case of likeness, by which the extent of the liorht of that Tathacjata Amitabha could be understood. Hence, O Ananda, for that reason that Tathagata is called Amitabha (possessed of infinite light), and he is called Amitaprabha (possessed of infinite splendour), Amitaprabhasa (possessed of infinite brilliancy), Asamaptaprabha (whose light is never finished), Asaiigataprabha (whose light is not conditioned), Prabha- ^ikhotsr/sh/aprabha (whose light proceeds from flames of light), Sadivyama;nprabha (whose light is that of heavenly jewels), Apratihatara^miragaprabha (whose light has the colour of unimpeded rays), Ra^aniyaprabha (possessed of beautiful light), Prema/^iyaprabha (possessed of lovely light), Pramodaniyaprabha (possessed of delightful light), Sahgamaniyaprabha (possessed of attractive light), Uposha?ayaprabha (possessed of pleasant light), Anibandhaniyaprabha ^ (possessed of light that cannot be stopped), Ativiryaprabha (possessed of extremely powerful light), Atulyaprabha (possessed of incomparable light), Abhibhilyanarendrabhutrayendraprabha^ (possessed of light greater than that of ' This seems better than nibandhaniyaprabha, as printed in the text. "^ This reading is conjectural and the translation doubtful. Perhaps the te.xt was anabhibhijyanarendrabhutrayendra-prabha//.
3^O DESCRIPTION OF SUKHAVAT?, § 12. the lords of men, nay, the lords of the three worlds), 6'rantasa7^/('ayendusurya^ihmikara;/aprabha (possessed of light which bends the full moon and the sun), Abhibhuyalokapala.s-akrabrahmajuddhavasamahe^-varasarvadeva^ihmikarawaprabha (possessed of light which bends all the conquered gods, Mahervara, the ^'uddhdvdsas, Brahman, ^akra, and the Lokapalas), ' This splendour of the Arya (noble) is pure, great, producing bodily pleasure, happiness of mind, producing happiness, delight, and joy for men and notmen, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, Garurt'as, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Nagas, Asuras, and Devas ; and producing the pleasure of beings of good disposition \ ' And in this manner, O Ananda, the Tathagata ^ might speak for a whole kalpa on the work of the Tathagata Amitabha, beginning with his light, and yet he would not be able to reach the end of the virtues of that light of that Tathagata, neither would there be any failure of the self-confidence in the Tathagata himself. And why ? Because, O Ananda, both these things are immeasurable, innumerable, inconceivable, and endless, viz. first, the greatness of the excellence of the light of that Tathagata Amitdbha, the Bhagavat, and secondly, the unsurpassed lii^ht of the knowledge possessed by the Tathagata (by myself). ' Here the text adds (p. 30, 1. 4), kalyakujalamimiwevadvipramodyakarawi. The whole sentence is unintelli},nble. ' This refers to the lihagavat 6'akyaniuni himself, who speaks of himself as the Tathagata. What he means to say is that the light of Amitabha is infinite and that therefore even the Tathagata could not finish the description of it. Yet this would not detract from the infinite power of the Tathagata or diminish his vai^aradya because that power too is infinite.
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.
12 8 DESCRIPTION OF SUKHAVAt!, §12, that Tathdgata passed away, nor has he not yet come, but the Tathdgata, the holy, after having obtained the highest perfect knowledge, dwells now, remains, supports himself, and teaches the Law, in the western quarter, in the Buddha country, distant from this world by a hundred thousand niyutas of ko/is of Buddha countries, in the world which is called Sukhavati, being called Amitabha, the Tathdgata, holy and fully enlightened. He is surrounded by innumerable Bodhisattvas, and worshipped by endless .Sravakas, and in possession of the endless perfection of his Buddha country. J 12. 'And his light is immeasurable, so that it is not easy to know the limit of its measure, saying, he stands illuminating so many hundreds of Buddha countries, so many thousands of Buddha countries, so many hundred thousands of Buddha countries, so many ko/is of Buddha countries, so many hundred ko/is of Buddha countries, so many thousand ko/is of Buddha countries, so many hundred thousands of ko/ls of Buddha countries, so many hundred thousands of niyutas of ko/is of Buddha countries. l)ut indeed, O Ananda, to put it briefly, a hundred thousand niyutas of ko/is of Buddha countries, equal to the sands of the river Ganga, are always lighted up in the eastern quarter, by the light of that Bhagavat Amitdbha. Thus on every side in the southern, western, northern quarter, in the zenith and nadir, in every one of these quarters, there are a hundred thousand niyutas of ko/is of Buddha countries, like the sands of the river Gangd, always lighted up by the light of that Bhagavat Amitabha, excepting the Buddhas, the Bhagavats, who, through the practice of their former
2§ 12. THE LAND OF BLISS. 29 prayers, have lighted up the world by their own light, which is a fathom in length, or by their light which is one, two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty yq^^anas in length, or a hundred or thousand or hundred thousand yo^anas in length, until their brightness reaches many hundred thousand niyutas of ko/is of yo^anas in length. There is not, O Ananda, any case of likeness, by which the extent of the liorht of that Tathacjata Amitabha could be understood. Hence, O Ananda, for that reason that Tathagata is called Amitabha (possessed of infinite light), and he is called Amitaprabha (possessed of infinite splendour), Amitaprabhasa (possessed of infinite brilliancy), Asamaptaprabha (whose light is never finished), Asaiigataprabha (whose light is not conditioned), Prabha- ^ikhotsr/sh/aprabha (whose light proceeds from flames of light), Sadivyama;nprabha (whose light is that of heavenly jewels), Apratihatara^miragaprabha (whose light has the colour of unimpeded rays), Ra^aniyaprabha (possessed of beautiful light), Prema/^iyaprabha (possessed of lovely light), Pramodaniyaprabha (possessed of delightful light), Sahgamaniyaprabha (possessed of attractive light), Uposha?ayaprabha (possessed of pleasant light), Anibandhaniyaprabha ^ (possessed of light that cannot be stopped), Ativiryaprabha (possessed of extremely powerful light), Atulyaprabha (possessed of incomparable light), Abhibhilyanarendrabhutrayendraprabha^ (possessed of light greater than that of ' This seems better than nibandhaniyaprabha, as printed in the text. "^ This reading is conjectural and the translation doubtful. Perhaps the te.xt was anabhibhijyanarendrabhutrayendra-prabha//.
3^O DESCRIPTION OF SUKHAVAT?, § 12. the lords of men, nay, the lords of the three worlds), 6'rantasa7^/('ayendusurya^ihmikara;/aprabha (possessed of light which bends the full moon and the sun), Abhibhuyalokapala.s-akrabrahmajuddhavasamahe^-varasarvadeva^ihmikarawaprabha (possessed of light which bends all the conquered gods, Mahervara, the ^'uddhdvdsas, Brahman, ^akra, and the Lokapalas), ' This splendour of the Arya (noble) is pure, great, producing bodily pleasure, happiness of mind, producing happiness, delight, and joy for men and notmen, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, Garurt'as, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Nagas, Asuras, and Devas ; and producing the pleasure of beings of good disposition \ ' And in this manner, O Ananda, the Tathagata ^ might speak for a whole kalpa on the work of the Tathagata Amitabha, beginning with his light, and yet he would not be able to reach the end of the virtues of that light of that Tathagata, neither would there be any failure of the self-confidence in the Tathagata himself. And why ? Because, O Ananda, both these things are immeasurable, innumerable, inconceivable, and endless, viz. first, the greatness of the excellence of the light of that Tathagata Amitdbha, the Bhagavat, and secondly, the unsurpassed lii^ht of the knowledge possessed by the Tathagata (by myself). ' Here the text adds (p. 30, 1. 4), kalyakujalamimiwevadvipramodyakarawi. The whole sentence is unintelli},nble. ' This refers to the lihagavat 6'akyaniuni himself, who speaks of himself as the Tathagata. What he means to say is that the light of Amitabha is infinite and that therefore even the Tathagata could not finish the description of it. Yet this would not detract from the infinite power of the Tathagata or diminish his vai^aradya because that power too is infinite.
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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