Buddha Spoken Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra
(Also known as:)
Avalokitesvara-guna-karanda-vyuha Sutra
Karanda-vyuha Sutra
(Tripitaka No. 1050)
Translated during the Song Dynasty by Kustana Tripitaka Master Tin Seek Joy
Chapter 2
The Buddha then said to Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva: "After that Sikhin Buddha, there was another Buddha appeared in the world, whose name is Visvabhu Thus come One, One worthy of offerings, One of proper and pervasive knowledge, One perfect in clarity and practice, Well gone One, Knower of the secular world, Unsurpassed One, Taming and subduing hero, Teacher of gods and humans, Buddha, World honored One."
"Eliminate-Obstructions, at that time I was a forbearing supernatural person (rsi) dwelling in a remote mountain, which was rocky, high and steep, so no one could reach or stay in there for long. At that time I had also heard about the mighty sacrosanct power, merits, and virtues of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva."
"Avalokitesvara had entered into a gold earth and manifested his body, for the sentient beings whose faces were covered, he spoke wonderful Dharmas and revealed the noble eightfold path, and made all of them achieved the stage of Nirvana."
"After going out from the gold earth, he then entered into a silver earth, in which every sentient being has four legs and was standing still. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva saved those sentient beings by speaking Dharma for them: 'You should listen attentively to this correct Dharma, and should arouse your mind to ponder carefully, I am now showing you the fund and provisions for Nirvana.' Those sentient beings stood in front of Avalokitesvara and said to the Bodhisattva:
'For the sentient beings who have no eye,
you save them by bringing light to them and make them see the Way;
For those who have no dependence,
you parent them to make them have dependence;
For those in dark paths,
you light up the bright torch for them and show them the correct Way to liberation;
If a sentient being remember the Bodhisattva's name,
he will gain peace and happiness.
So please save us,
because we are constantly suffering from such afflictions.'
Then, all those sentient beings heard the Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra, and after hearing the Sutra, all of them became peaceful and comfortable, and attained the stage of non-backsliding."
"At that time, after going out from that place, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva then entered into an iron earth, within which a great powerful Asura king was confined. When visiting there, the Bodhisattva was appearing in a Buddha body. At that time, the great powerful Asura king went from a far distance to receive Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva. In the palace of the Asura king, there were innumerable followers, most of who were hunchbacked, short and ugly. Those followers also went together. They presented themselves before Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, bowed to the feet of him, and then the king said a Gatha(verse):
'I have attained the fruit in this lifetime,
for my wish has been fulfilled,
just as what I was longing for,
this is because of my correct view.
Now that we have met the Bodhisattva,
so I and my followers will all gain the peace and happiness.'
Thereupon, the king gave his precious throne to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, joined his palms respectfully and said: 'From the past, we and the followers enjoy sexual misconducts, constantly have anger, and love to kill living beings. Having committed these criminal karma, my heart is anxious and worrying. We are afraid of aging, death, and transmigration, and fear that we will suffer from various afflictions and have no dependence. Please do show mercy, save us, and tell us the way of unlocking this confinement.'"
"Avalokitesvara said: 'Virtuous man, the Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddhas always practice mendicancy (begging for food), if you can give food to them, then the blessings and virtues that you gain will be too many to be spoken. Virtuous man, not only I myself in this Asura cave cannot finish speaking it, even the Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddhas as many as twelvefold Ganges river sands get together in one place, they also cannot finish speaking the number of such blessings and virtues.'"
"'Virtuous man, I can count the number of all atoms, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, I can count all the water drops of a great ocean one by one, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose all men, women, boys and girls plant everywhere in the four great continents, all they plant are nothing but mustard seeds. The dragons make rains seasonably and then the mustards are mature, they then use one whole continent as the field, do all the working procedures and then make a great accumulation. Virtuous man, I can count every grain in such an accumulation one by one, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose there is a Sumeru mountain king, its underwater part is 84 thousand yojana in depth, and its over-water part is 84 thousand yojana in height. Virtuous man, then use such a mountain king to make papers, and use all the water of the great oceans as ink, in this way, all men, women, boys and girls in the four great continents write together, to make their books as height as the Sumeru mountain, and use up all the papers. Then, I can one by one count the number of words that they write, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas. Virtuous man, suppose all those persons who write, have achieved the tenth Bhumi(stage) of Bodhisattva, then the sum of the blessings and virtues of all those Bodhisattvas, is equal to the quantity of the blessings and virtues gained by giving food to a Tathagata once.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, for the great oceans as many as Ganges river sands, I can count all their sands one by one, but Virtuous man, I cannot finish speaking the number of the blessings and virtues gained by giving foods to the Tathagatas.'"
"Having heard those words, the great powerful Asura king wept sorrowfully, with tear flowing on his face. Being remorseful and choking with sobs, he sighed and said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva: 'I had practiced giving in the past, but the circumstance that I practice giving was defiled, black, and was not according to the correct Dharma. Due to those giving practices, now contrariwise, I and my followers are confined in this evil destiny and are suffering from these karma retributions. We did not know that only a little food giving to a Tathagata would become refreshingly cool dews.'"
"'From the past, I was ignorant and have no wisdom, and had been practicing the exterior path - the Brahmans' Dharma. Once there was a short and ugly person, who came to my home and begged for his wants.'"
"'At that time, I had prepared many precious crowns, gold and silver earrings, superior wonderful clothes, precious adornments, and argha vessels, also had prepared hundreds of thousands of precious elephant-carts and horse-carts, adorned with pearls, precious necklaces and precious nets, and decorated with various wonderful tassels hanging over them, and covered by various precious canopies, precious nets and silk gauzes over them, and with various precious tinkling bells tied on them.'"
"'I had also prepared one thousand yellow cattle, their hair colors were especially fine, their hooves were adorned with silvers, their horns were decorated with gold, and their whole bodies were adorned with pearls and various treasures.'"
"'I had also prepared one thousand girls, their figures were especially wonderful, and their visages were elegant and beautiful, just like heavenly girls. Their heads were wearing heavenly crowns, and their bodies were adorned with various treasures, including gold precious ear-ornaments, various wonderful clothes, interlaced precious belts, finger rings, precious bracelets, precious necklaces, exquisite, delicate and wonderful flower-ornaments (kusumamala), etc.'"
"'I had also prepared innumerable hundreds of thousands of various precious thrones, and immeasurable accumulated gold, silvers and various treasures. I had also prepared hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of herds of cattle, innumerable herders, many drinks and foods as fragrant and delicious as heavenly tastes, innumerable precious bells, innumerable gold and silver lion-thrones, innumerable wonderful whisks with gold handles, and innumerable precious umbrellas adorned with the seven treasures.'"
"'When I had prepared such substances for a great offering, hundreds of thousands of petty kings came and got together, hundreds of thousands of Brahmanas also came and got together, innumerable Ksatriya also came and got together.'"
"'Then I became suspicious and surprised. At that time I was in the highest position. I had great influence, and was ruling the earth. I planned to follow the Brahman method to repent especially the evil karma of the previous lifetimes, so I wish to kill those Ksatriya and their wives, sons and relatives, dissect their bodies and get their hearts and livers to offer sacrifices to the heaven, in order to clear the sins.'"
"'Then, I shackled those hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of Ksatriya petty kings and imprisoned them in a copper cave, in which innumerable hundreds of thousands of outlying-region (mleccha) persons were also imprisoned. I used thick iron pegs connecting with iron chains to shackle those Ksatriya on their wrists and legs, and made some doors in the cave. The first door was made of normal wood, the second door was made of Khadira wood, the third door was made of iron, the fourth door was made of wrought copper, the fifth door was made of pig copper, the sixth door was made of silver, and the seventh door was made of gold. Furthermore, I installed 500 locks on each of these seven doors to reinforce them, and placed one mountain in front of each of the doors.'"
"'Then one day, Narayana suddenly transformed himself into a fly and came to spy, then another day, he transformed into a bee and came again; then another day, he transformed into a pig and came; and another day, he transformed into a non-human being. In such a manner, he came to visit day after day, with different appearances. At that time I was thinking of launching the Brahman method. When Narayana saw this, he came to the copper cave to wreck it. He removed all the seven mountains in front of the doors, threw them to other places, and called out loudly to the prisoners: 'Supreme kings, what a great affliction you are suffering from! Are you alive or dead now?' Having heard the calling and the asking, the prisoners replied: 'We are still alive now, Narayana, the heavenly honored one, the great powerful diligent one, please save us from the suffering!' Narayana then destroyed the seven doors in the copper cave, and then those petty kings in the cave were all released from the shackles, and saw Narayana. They then thought severally: 'Is the great powerful Asura king dead? Or is he dying now?' The Ksatriya said: 'We would rather die by fighting against him than die by the imprisonment. We now should follow the Ksatriya's law to fight against him, if we die in his territory we will be reborn in heaven.' Then, those petty kings rode the arranged chariots and saddled horses severally from their houses, with weapons holding in their hands, preparing for a great fighting.'"
'"At that time, Narayana transformed into a Brahman, whose body was short and ugly, with deerskin winding on his armpits, and a three-forked staff held in his hand, and came to the door of my dwelling. At that time, the guardian of the door said to him: 'Do not enter this door, you short ugly person, stop, do not enter!' The Brahman said: 'I came here from a far distance.' The guardian asked the Brahman: 'Where are you from?' The Brahman said: 'I am a great supernatural person (rsi/rishi), come from the palace of the king of Kusana state.' The guardian then went to say to the great powerful Asura king: 'Now here came a Brahman, whose body is short and ugly.' The great powerful Asura king said: 'What does this person come for? What does he need?' The guardian said: 'I do not know what he need.' The great powerful Asura king said: 'Go to call this Brahman in.' Having received the order, the guardian then called the Brahman in. Having seen him, the great powerful Asura king vouchsafed the precious throne to the Brahman and let him sat.'"
"'Before that, the great powerful Asura king's teacher, who was called Gold-Star, and was being offered and sustained by the king, has already told him: 'Now this Brahman is a evil person, he come here to destroy your plan.' 'Master, why do you know that?' The teacher said: 'I certainly know it. Do you know who he really is? He is Narayana.' Having heard that, the king began to think: 'I practice giving without regression, why does he come to obstruct and destroy my plan now? I should use my eloquence to question him.''"
"'Then the great powerful Asura king asked the Brahman: 'Now why do you come to my dwelling? What do you want?' The Brahman said: 'I wish to beg for two steps' land.' The Asura said to the Brahman: 'You need some land and said two steps, well, I will grant you the land of three steps.' He then use a gold bottle to grant some clean water to the Brahman, saying: 'If you need some land, you just take it.' The Brahman accepted and made a wish: 'May you be peaceful and have a long life.' Then, the short and ugly body of the Brahman suddenly disappeared. Gold-Star then told the Asura king: 'You are going to accept the retribution of your evil karma.''"
"'Subsequently, Narayana suddenly manifested his body, with the sun and the moon carrying on his shoulders, and the weapons such as sharp sword, wheel, staff, bow, arrow, etc, holding in his hands. When the great powerful Asura king suddenly saw this, he became frightened and trembling, and then tumbled, and fell in a faint. A long time later, the king woke up and said: 'What should I do now? Perhaps I should take some poison to end my life?' Then, Narayana began to measure the land with his steps, just two steps, and there was no remaining land.' 'It is not sufficient for three steps, so this cannot fulfill the previous promise.' The king said: 'What can I do now?' Narayana said to the king: 'Now you should follow my teaching.' The great powerful Asura king then said: 'Yes, I will follow your teaching.' Narayana said: 'Will you really do?' The great powerful Asura king said: 'Yes I really do. These words are honest, and I have neither regret nor parsimony in my mind.' Thereupon, I follow the teaching, completely destroyed all the places made for launching the Brahman method, and gave all the gold, silver, treasures, beautiful girls, clothes, precious bells, umbrellas, wonderful whisks, lion precious thrones, the yellow cattle adorned with treasures, and the other treasures and adornments to those petty kings, and released them from the method-launching place of the great powerful Asura king.'"
"The great powerful Asura king said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva: 'I now realized that, because in the past, I followed the Brahman method to setup a great assembly of offering, the circumstance that I practice giving was defiled, black, and impure, therefore, I and my followers are being confined in this iron cave and are suffering from the great affliction. Avalokitesvara, now I pay homage to you, please take pity on us, liberate us from this suffering.' and glorified:
'Homage to the greatly compassionate lotus hand,
the great lotus king, the great propitious one,
whose wonderful body is adorned with various treasures;
whose head bun is wearing a heavenly crown adorned with various jewelries;
who wears the universal wisdom of Amitabha on the head,
who saves innumerable sentient beings.
Whenever the suffering people seek for peace and happiness,
the Bodhisattva manifests his body to be a medicine king.
the supreme pure, delicate and wonderful eyes,
which are brighter than the sun,
illuminate the sentient beings and liberate them;
Having achieve the liberation,
they then will be accordant with the wonderful Dharma,
will be like wish-fulfilling Mani pearls,
will be able to protect the wonderful Dharma-Store of reality,
will constantly speak the six Paramita,
praising that these Dharma have great wisdom.
Now I sincerely, honestly pay homage to,
and glorify the greatly compassionate Avalokitesvara.
Any sentient being who remembers the Bodhisattva's name,
will get away from suffering and gain the peace.
For those who have fallen into the Black-rope hell,
unto the great Avichi hell,
because of the evil karma that they committed;
for all the existences,
all hungry ghost,
all those in the suffering life forms,
once they speak the Bodhisattva's name,
they will all be liberated from the horrors,
and these sentient beings in evil paths,
will all get away from suffering and gain peace and happiness.
If anyone can constantly keep remembering the name of the great hero(Mahasattva),
he will be reborn in Utmost Bliss World,
will personally see the Tathagata Infinite-Life (Amitayus),
hear the wonderful Dharma and attain the stage of non-born.'"
"At that time, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva granted the insignia to the great powerful Asura king: 'In the future, you will become a Buddha, named Auspiciousness Thus come One, One worthy of offerings, One of proper and pervasive knowledge, One perfect in clarity and practice, Well gone One, Knower of the secular world, Unsurpassed One, Taming and subduing hero, Teacher of gods and humans, Buddha, World honored One. At that time you will achieve the Total-retention door of Six-Words-Great-Enlightenment. And all the sentient beings now in here, Asura king, you will save and ferry all of them, so that all the sentient beings in your Buddha worlds will never hear of the sound of greed, anger or ignorance.'"
"Having heard the prediction, the great powerful Asura king held a pearl necklace worth hundreds of thousands of gold, and hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of heavenly crowns and ear-ornaments, adorned with various wonderful treasures, and offered up them to the Bodhisattva, saying: 'Please show your mercy and accept them.' Then Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva said to the great powerful Asura king: 'Now I will speak Dharma for you, you should listen attentively and ponder it. A living being is impermanent, is an illusory transformation, and it is difficult for him to keep his life lasting for long. You people are always thinking of and are greedy for great fortunes, love to have slaves and underlings, so as to paddies, wheat, storehouses, great precious deposits, etc. You are often attached to your parents, wives, children, relatives, and so on. Though you are always attached to those things, they are just like what you visualize in the dream, when you are about to die, none of them can save you, make you avoid the death and keep living in this southern continent Jambudvipa.'"
"'Due to such inversion, after the persons' death, they will see the great Nai river with full of pus and blood flowing, and see huge trees with raging fire burning fierily. Having seen these things, they will be frightened. And then, Yama jailors will truss up them with ropes, and will be pulling them hastily alone a wide road of blades. On raising and putting down the feet, they will be scratched, stabbed or cut, and innumerable black eagles, Kurara birds, and fierce dogs will eat the flesh. They would also suffer from extreme afflictions in the great hells.'"
"'On the bladed great road for the walking, there are also many thorns, which are 16 finger-joints in length. In each step, 500 thorns thrust into the feet, which make the persons cry and sob sorrowfully, saying: 'We sentient beings commit sinful karma all because of love(desire), now we are suffering from the great affliction, what can we do?' The Yama jailors then would say: 'From the past, you have never given any food to sramana(monks), have never heard the sound of Dharma drums(ghanta), and have never circumambulated the towers or the statues.' Then the criminals would say to the Yama jailors: 'Due to our sins and obstacles, we did not understand, believe in, or respect to the Buddhas, the Dharmas, and the Sanghas, but always kept ourselves away from them.' The jailors would say: 'Because of the evil karma that you yourselves have committed, now you get this suffering retribution.''"
"'The jailors then will bring the criminals to where Yama king is. Having reached there, Yama king will say: 'Bring them to the places of karma retributions.' Then, the Yama jailors will drive and lead the criminals to where the Black Rope Great Hell is, and throw the criminals one by one into the hell. Having been thrown into the hell, the body of each of the criminals will be thrust by one hundred spears, but they will not die; and then, two hundred big spears will thrust the body of each of them, but they will still be alive; and then, three hundred huge spears will synchronously thrust the body of each of them, and they also will not die.'"
"'Having recovered, they will then be thrown into a huge fire pit, and they also will not die. Then, the jailors will put some hot iron balls into their mouths and make them ingest the balls, which will make their lips, teeth, gums, mandibles, and throats completely burnt out, make their hearts, intestines, and stomachs fired boiling, and make their whole bodies burnt out. When suffering from such afflictions, no one can save them, so you should know it.'"
"'Now I have spoken such Dharma for you, you people should diligently cultivate blessings.' Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said to the great powerful Asura king: 'I now wish to go to Jeta Grove garden, today there is a great congregation.'"
"At that time, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva emitted innumerable lights of various colors, including green light, yellow light, red light, white light, Sphatika colored light, golden light, etc. These lights went forth to the frontage of Visvabhu Tathagata. At that moment, the gods, dragons, Yaksas, Raksas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, and other people had joined the congregation; innumerable Bodhisattva Mahasattvas had also joined the congregation. In the midst of the congregation, there was a Bodhisattva named Akasa-garbha (Space-Store), he arose from his seat, tidied up his clothes, uncovered his right shoulder, placed his right knee on the ground, respectfully joined his palms towards the Buddha, and said to the Buddha: 'Bhagavan, where do these lights come from?'"
"The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, these lights are come from a great powerful Asura king's palace, emitted by Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.'"
"Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva then said to the Bhagavan: 'Now by which means can I see that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva?'"
"The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, that Bodhisattva will also come here.'"
"When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva was departing from the great powerful Asura king's palace, suddenly in the Jeta Grove garden, there appeared some heavenly wonderful flower trees and heavenly kalpataru trees, adorned with innumerable various heavenly treasures of various fresh wonderful colors. Hanging over the trees, there were hundreds of kinds of pearl necklace, Kausika clothes, and other various clothes. The trunks and branches of those trees were carmine, and their leaves were made of gold and silver. There were also innumerable delicate and wonderful fragrant trees, superior wonderful flower trees, and innumerable precious pools, with hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of multicolored flowers filled inside them."
"When those things appeared, Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva asked the Bhagavan again: 'Why is it, that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva still have not come yet?'"
"The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva have left the great powerful Asura king's palace. And there is another place that no one can reach, which is called Darkness. Virtuous man, both sunlight and moonlight cannot reach that dark place, but there is a wish-fulfilling treasure named Comply-Wishes, which constantly emits light and shines. Inside it there are innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of Yaksas dwelling. When the Yaksas saw Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva entered into it, they became very happy. With joyful enthusiasm, they ran to receive Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, bowed to his feet and greeted: 'Bodhisattva, are you free from tiredness now? You have not been to this dark place for long.' Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said: 'Because I need to save and ferry the sentient beings.' Those Yaksas and Raksas then offered a heavenly gold treasure lion throne to the Bodhisattva and asked him to sit."
"The Bodhisattva then spoke Dharma for those Yaksas and Raksas: 'You should listen attentively. There is a Mahayana sutra, named Sublime Treasure King. If anyone can hear as few as four lines of gatha (verse) from it, can accept, uphold, read, recite, expound its meanings, and can constantly ponder on it, the blessings and virtues that he gains will be limitless.'"
"'Virtuous man, I can count the number of all atoms, but virtuous man, if anyone can accept and uphold four lines of gatha from this Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra, I cannot count the number of the blessings and virtues that he gains.'"
"For all the water in the great oceans, I can count the number of their drops one by one; but if anyone can accept and uphold four lines of gatha from this sutra, I cannot count the number of the blessings and virtues that he gains. Not only that I cannot finish speaking of it all completely in this dark place, even if the Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddhas as many as twelve-fold Ganges river sands, all get together for 12 kalpas, and some person constantly offers and sustains those Buddhas with clothes, drinks, foods, beds, soup, medicine, and other materials, they also cannot finish speaking the number of such blessings and virtues.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose every people in the four great continents rebuilds the house that he lives in to a monastery, and build one thousand stupa (sharira tower) with heavenly gold treasures inside it. They accomplish all the works in one day, and then make various offerings. However, the blessing and virtues gained by them are fewer than the blessing and virtues gained by accepting and upholding four lines of gatha from this sutra.'"
"'Virtuous man, for example, the five great rivers flow into the great oceans, the flowing will never end; likewise, if anyone can uphold four lines of gatha from this Mahayana sutra, the blessings and virtues that he gains are like the flowing rivers, and will never end too.'"
"Then those Yaksas and Raksas asked Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva: 'If any sentient being can write this Mahayana sutra, how many blessings and virtues he will gain?'"
"'Virtuous man, the blessings and virtues that he gains are limitless. If anyone can write this sutra, it is the same as writing 84 thousand Dharma-Stores, he will become a Wheel Turning Sage King, who rules the four great continents and has unrestricted majesty and virtues. His face will be handsome and elegant, he will be surrounded by one thousand sons, and all enemies of other directions will naturally acknowledge allegiance to him.'"
"'If anyone can just keep remembering the name of this sutra, he will be quickly liberated from the suffering of transmigration, and will get far away from the worry and affliction of aging and death. Upon his succeeding rebirth, this person will be able to remember his past lifetimes, his body will often has the fragrance of Ox-headed sandalwood (Gosirsaka-candana), his mouth will often emits the fragrance of green lotus, and his body and appearance will be perfect and very powerful.'"
"When such Dharma was being spoken, some of those Yaksas and Raksas attained the fruition of stream-enterer (srota-apanna), and some of them attained the fruition of once-returner (sakrd-agamin). They said: 'Bodhisattva, please stay in here, do not go to anywhere else. Now in this dark place, we are building the stupa with heavenly gold treasures, and are building the walking (cankramana) area with gold and treasures.'"
"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva replied: 'In order to save and ferry innumerable sentient beings, and make all of them achieve the Bodhi Way, I wish to go to other places.'"
"Then those Yaksas and Raksas lowered their heads individually, with their hands supporting their cheeks, they thought over and over and then said: 'Now Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva is going to leave this place, henceforth, who can speak delicate and wonderful Dharma for us?'"
"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva then started to leave, all those Yaksas and raksas followed him to send him off. Later, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva said to them: 'You are already far from your home, you should return now.' Thereupon, those Yaksas and Raksas bowed towards the feet of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva, with their heads touching the ground, and then returned to their dwelling."
"At that time, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva flew upwards to the sky, just like a fire flame, and went forth to the heavenly palaces. Having arrived at the heaven, he transformed himself into a Brahman. Among the heavenly people, there was a god named Wonderfully Adorned Ear, who was constantly suffering from the retribution of poverty. At that time, the Brahman that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva had transformed into, went to where the god was and said to him: 'I am suffering from hunger, tiredness, and thirst.' The god wept and told the Brahman: 'Now I am so poor that have nothing to offer you.' the Brahman said: 'In order to do my work, you should donate at least something, no matter how little it is.' The god then went into his palace, and searched up and down to find something. Suddenly, he found some huge precious containers filled with rare treasures, and some other precious containers filled with superior delicious drinks and foods, and moreover, plenty of superior wonderful clothes for adorning bodies, had also appeared in the palace."
"The god then thought: 'The Brahman now outside the door must be an unimaginable person, so that he can make me gain this especially extraordinary blessing.' Thereupon, the god invited the great Brahman to his palace, and offered him with the heavenly wonderful treasures and heavenly superior delicious foods and drinks. Having accepted the offerings, the Brahman made a wish: 'May you live in peace and comfort, and have a long life.' Then the god asked the Brahman: 'Sage, where do you come from?' The Brahman said: 'I come from the great sublime abode of Jeta Grove.' The god asked: 'How is that place?' The Brahman said: 'In the great sublime abode in Jeta Grove, the ground is pure, many kalpataru trees adorned with heavenly Mani treasures appeared, various wish-fulfilling Mani pearls appeared, various precious pools appeared, innumerable great people, who have majestic virtues of precept-keeping and have great wisdom, are present too, and there is a Buddha named Visvabhu Tathagata. In that place, where sages and heavenly people are staying, there are such miraculous transformations and manifestations.' Then the god said: 'Sage, who are you great Brahman? Please tell me honestly, are you a god or a human? Sage, why is such a holy scene manifesting now?' Then the Brahman said: 'I am neither a god nor a human, I am a Bodhisattva, who wish to save and ferry all sentient beings, to make them all get to see the great Bodhi Way.' Having heard that, the god then held up the heavenly wonderful precious crowns and beautiful ear-ornaments to make an offering, and said a gatha(verse):
I have met the ground of merits and virtues,
which is free from sins and filths,
just now I have sowed the seed in the field of supremacy,
and instantly gained the fruit of repayment.
When the god was speaking this gatha, the Brahman's mission of enlightening and ferrying had been accomplished, so he left the heavenly palace and went to a state named Lion. Having arrived, he stood in the presence of many Raksa girls, while the body and the visage that he was manifesting was very beautiful, sublime, and rare. When the Raksa girls saw that appearance, they aroused thought of desire. With joy and love in their heart, they walk close to the Bodhisattva and said: 'You can be my husband, I am a virgin who was not betrothed, please be my husband. Now that you are here, so do not go anywhere else. Just like making decisions for those who cannot decide, and like lighting up a bright torch for a dark room. Now my place has drinks, foods, clothes, and abundant reserves, and also has delightful gardens and joyful ponds.'"
"The Bodhisattva said to the Raksa girls: 'You should now listen to me.' The Raksa girls said: 'Yes, we will be glad to hear, what are you going to say?' The Bodhisattva then spoke the correct eightfold path, and the four noble truths (arya-satya) for them. Having heard the Dharma, the Raksa girls achieved different fruitions individually. Some of them achieved the fruition of stream-enterer, and some of them achieved the fruition of once-returner. They became free from the sufferings of greed, anger and ignorance, would no longer arise evil thought in their mind, would no longer willing to kill, and their hearts became fond of Dharma and fond of keeping precepts. They said: 'From now on we will never kill any living being, just like the precept-keeping people in southern continent Jambudvipa, who live on pure and clean drinks and foods. From now on we will live the same lives as them.'"
Having made the Raksa girls no longer commit any evil karma and accept and uphold the virtuous Dharma, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva left the Lion state, and went to a filthy and disgusting place in Varanasi big city. Dwelling in that place, there were innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten-thousands of sentient beings of the kinds of worms and maggots. In order to save and ferry those sentient beings, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva transformed into a bee and went there, uttering the sound: 'Namo Buddhaya.' Those worms and maggots all followed what they had heard to chant the phrase. By the power of that, the body-view (View of a self in the body) that those sentient beings were attaching to, which was like mountains and peaks though, together with their various objective-delusions, were all completely destroyed by the Vajra wisdom pestle. Thereupon, all of them were reborn in Utmost Bliss world and became Bodhisattvas, with a same name 'Wonderful fragrance mouth'."
"Having saved and ferried those sentient beings, the Bodhisattva left Varanasi big city and went to Magadha state. At that time, that state was in a serious drought that had been lasting for fully twenty years, those people and sentient beings, who were being driven by hunger and worry, were eating the bodily flesh of each others. Seeing that situation, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva thought: 'By what expedient means can these sentient beings be saved?' Then, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva made several rains. He first rained down water to relieve the ravages of the drought, and then rained down various containers, each containing full of superior delicious drinks and foods. Thereupon, all those people gained the drinks and foods and ate their fill. And then, the Bodhisattva rained down many materials, rice, millets, beans, etc., so that all the needs of those people were fulfilled just as their wishes."
"Thereupon, all the people in Magadha state became more astonished then ever before, they got together in a place, and said individually: 'What is the cause of this miracle? Was it caused by the power of heaven?' At that time, among the crowd there was an elder, who was hunchbacked and was holding a crutch, and was uncountable hundreds of thousands of years old. He told the people: 'This is not the power of heaven, the things that happened just now, must be created by the majestic power of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.' Those people asked: 'Why can Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva manifest such a holy scene?' The elder then said: 'The merits and virtues, and the sacrosanct power of the Arya Avalokitesvara, can be a bright lamp for those who are blind, can be a shelter from flaming fire, can create rivers for those who are thirsty, can bestow in horrible situations to make living beings fearless, can be the medicine for those who are suffering from illnesses, can be the parent for the suffering sentient beings, can make the sentient beings in Avichi hell see the Way to Nirvana, can make all sentient beings in the worlds gain merits, virtues, benefits, peace, and happiness. If anyone is mindful of the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, he will get far away from all the sufferings of transmigration.' Having heard that, all those people said: 'How virtuous!' The elder went on: 'If anyone can setup a square Mandala in front of a statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and constantly make offerings to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with fragrance and flowers, he will become a Wheel Turning Sage King, with fully the seven treasures, which are: Gold wheel treasure, Elephant treasure, Horse treasure, Pearl treasure, Goddess treasure, Repository mastering treasure, and Army mastering treasure. Besides, if anyone can make offering to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with a single flower, he will get a body emitting wonderful fragrance, and wherever he will be reborn, his body and appearance will be perfect.' After the elder had spoken the merits, virtues, and sacrosanct power of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, those people returned to their homes individually, and the elder also returned to his home."
"Then, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva flew upwards into the sky and thought: 'I have not seen Visvabhu Tathagata for a long time, now I should go to the sublime abode in Jeta Grove to see that Bhagavan. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva then got to that sublime abode, and saw that innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of gods, dragons, Yaksas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, human and non-human beings, and innumerable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of Bodhisattvas had assembled."
"At that time, Akasa-garbha (Space-Store) Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: 'Bhagavan, who is the Bodhisattva that came just now?' The Buddha said: 'Virtuous man, he is Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva.' Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva then stayed there silently."
"Then, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva circumambulated the Buddha three times, and sat on the left side. The Bhagavan then comforted him by asking: 'Are you free from tiredness? Virtuous man, how are the enlightenments that you have given in other places?' Avalokitesvara then spoke the previous events about enlightening sentient beings: 'I have saved and ferried such and such sentient beings...' Having heard that, Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva became more astonished then ever before: 'Now I see this Avalokitesvara, who, being a Bodhisattva, can save and ferry such worlds and sentient beings and make them get to see the Tathagatas, and make all the sentient beings in those worlds become Bodhisattvas.' Then, Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva stood in the presence of Avalokitesvara, and inquired after Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva: 'Having done so much enlightening and ferrying, are you free from tiredness?' Avalokitesvara said: 'I am not tired.' Having inquired that, Akasa-garbha Bodhisattva then stayed there silently."
"Then the Bhagavan said: 'Virtuous man, you all should listen attentively, I am now speaking for you the Dharma of the Six Paramita. Virtuous man, to become a Bodhisattva, one should first practice the Donating Paramita, and then practice the Precept-Keeping, Forbearance, Diligence, Dhyana, and Prajna Paramita, in such a way, they can all be perfectly achieved.' Having spoken the Dharma, the Buddha stayed there silently. The people of the assembly then returned individually to their homes, and those Bodhisattvas also returned to their own Buddha-Worlds."
(End of Chapter 2)
(Last revised: Apr/10/2006)
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