Translated in the Northern Qi Dynasty by the Tripiṭaka Master Narendrayaśas
Part Ten: The Prediction of Yakṣas
At that time there were again eight hundred million yakṣas who, upon seeing the asuras, garuḍas, nāga maidens, nāga kings, kumbhāṇḍas, gandharvas, and others make offerings to the Tathāgata and then hear the conferral of prophecy, all the yakṣas rejoiced and leapt with delight. Their minds were satisfied and fulfilled. They gave rise to a sense of rarity and felt an experience never before encountered. They understood that the wisdom of the Buddha, the World-Honored One, is inexhaustible, supremely noble, supremely excellent, unobstructed, and inconceivable. They also obtained the opportunity to hear the Dharma Gate taught in progressive sequence. Toward the Buddha, the World-Honored One, they gave rise to the conception of a guide, and toward the Buddha they also gave rise to the conception of infinite wisdom. After those yakṣas understood that the Buddha’s wisdom has no limit, they gave rise to a mind of love and delight toward the Buddha’s True Dharma. Having deeply loved and delighted in the Buddha-Dharma, for the sake of making offerings they aroused diligent effort, and they also praised him in verses, saying:
“Now we praise the Buddha who benefits the world, because the power of the Buddha’s wisdom is already perfectly complete.
Like the great ocean, it is inexhaustible and immeasurable. Thus the Lion among humans is without comparison.
One may know the heaviness or lightness of Mount Sumeru, one may measure the vastness or narrowness of empty space,
But the power of wisdom possessed by the Tathāgata cannot be measured by any living being.
The Buddha knows the sincere minds of reverence and faith arising in beings, and thus all who should be guided have already been guided.
With regard to those already guided, he also knows where they proceed. Therefore the Buddha is without comparison and without equal.
In accordance with the wholesome and unwholesome karmic causes created by beings, in every place of birth they receive corresponding bodily forms.
He knows the faculties of beings and the teachings their faith and understanding can receive. Therefore the Buddha is without comparison and without equal.
Acts of greed and desire, acts of hatred, and acts of delusion, the Buddha knows them all.
He likewise knows arrogance and jealousy. Therefore the Buddha is without comparison and without equal.
Beings are greatly confused in these respects, yet the Tathāgata skillfully knows the karmic paths they follow.
The World-Honored One understands these with utmost swiftness and clarity. Therefore the Buddha is without comparison and without equal.
The Sugata clearly sees all worlds, and fully illuminates, without remainder, the faults of beings in every direction,
As well as the harms that arise from speech.
How long beings dwell within the six destinies, how much suffering they endure according to their karmic power,
And the various bodily forms they receive, the World-Honored One knows and sees them all.
The guide fully knows the actions, karmic methods that arise in accordance with the power of afflictions,
and the various sufferings undergone according to karma.
Those who, in accordance with the liberation Path they seek, renounce the household life within the Buddhadharma,
Diligently cultivate the noble Path, and afterward completely cut off all afflictions, the Buddha knows them all.
Within the Buddhadharma there are ordinary beings who, although they renounce the household life, do not understand true meaning,
And who slander the subtle True Dharma spoken by the wise. The World-Honored One likewise skillfully sees them.
Those who slander the True Dharma experience various sufferings brought about by their karmic actions.
Whether they dwell long or briefly within the hells, the Tathāgata is also able to know this completely.
After giving rise to deep reverence and faith toward the Buddha, they renounce the household life and uphold the treasury of the True Dharma,
Observe that all dharmas are empty in nature, and cut off all paths leading to the various states of existence.
They do not crave any bodily form in the various destinies, they observe this body as being like an illusion, and understand that all sounds are likewise like echoes.
Those who abide in firm resolve upon the Path, the Buddha likewise knows them.
We praise the incomparable great guide. May the accumulation of merit we have now obtained
Be dedicated, through this merit, to the attainment of Buddhahood, and we also pray that all beings accomplish liberation according to their own nature.”
At that time, the World-Honored One, knowing that the yakṣas had already attained deep faith, manifested a gentle smile. At that time, the venerable Aśvajit bhikṣu asked in verses, saying:
“The smile manifested by the Lion among humans, I pray that you will explain the causes and conditions of this smile.
All Buddhas do not smile without cause, and now you, the bright moon among humans, have shown a smile.
All the great assembly now present has given rise to doubt, because they have seen the guide smiled.
I pray that the World-Honored One will dispel their doubts, so that all who are present may obtain joy.
Those who now give rise to faith here before the Buddha, and those who understand the subtle True Dharma,
Their minds are firm and unshakable. I pray that the Buddha will proclaim it, so that they may hear.
These assemblies all harbor doubts and gaze intently upon the face of the Tathāgata.
What matter will occur today? I pray that the World-Honored One will cut off their doubts.
Who today has manifested great supernormal power? Who today has aroused great diligence?
With whom has the Buddha today formed close affinity? Within this assembly, I pray that you will reveal it.
Excellent indeed, o Muni, with compassion and pity for the world. I pray that you will sever these many doubts.
If the assemblies of devas and humans are able to hear this, today they will certainly be greatly joyful.”
At that time, the World-Honored One replied to the venerable Aśvajit in verses, saying:
“Excellent, Aśvajit. What you have asked will greatly benefit the world.
Because you are able to inquire into the causes of this smile, I praise you for being skilled in understanding my deep intent.
I shall now explain the meaning in full detail. You should listen attentively with single-minded focus.
After knowing the intentions of the multitude of yakṣas, for the sake of the world I manifested this smile.
Those hosts of yakṣas gave rise to reverent faith in their hearts. Because they understood the quiescent extinction of Bodhi,
After praising the Buddha’s true virtues, they aroused the aspiration to proceed toward great Bodhi.
In order to understand that all dharmas are empty and quiescent, they dispel all existing marks.
Having vowed to abandon the various destinations of cyclic existence, they aroused the aspiration to proceed toward great Bodhi.
By the power of meditative concentration they know the aggregates, seeing them as merely conventional designations of the world, without grasping.
They do not cling to any states of existence, like a lotus emerging from the mud without defilement. They aroused the aspiration to proceed toward great Bodhi.
With regard to obstructive matters within all states of existence, because they see emptiness, they are not bound.
After knowing that the Buddha’s Bodhi is unsurpassed, they are then able to cultivate the practices of Bodhi.
All birth, aging, and death are empty. This is the unsurpassed Path of Bodhi.
After knowing that the nature of dharmas is empty and quiescent, one is then able to realize secure and stable great Bodhi.
After knowing that the aggregates are empty and quiescent in their own nature, even the quiescent nature of Bodhi is transcended.
The Bodhi practices that are cultivated are also empty. This kind of wisdom is not something that ordinary beings can know.
The wisdom that observes has emptiness as its own nature. The objects observed all return to quiescent extinction.
Knowing that even the knower itself is empty, such a person is able to cultivate the Bodhi Path.
You should know that emptiness itself is also empty in nature. Marks and aspirations likewise have no intrinsic self-nature.
If someone is able to know in this way, that person is able to cultivate true practice.
When the assemblies of devas and humans hear these teachings, their hearts give rise to joy and they obtain benefit.
After all assemblies give rise to reverence and faith toward the Buddha, their minds abide in the quiescent expressions of Bodhi.
Now, having completed this supreme offering, the hosts of yakṣas have purified minds.
These wise ones abandon the destiny of spirits And will long enjoy peace and happiness in the wholesome destinations.
In the future, before many billions of Buddhas, by supernormal power, within a single thought-moment,
They will cultivate offerings in many Buddha lands and immediately obtain patient wisdom before the Buddhas.
With regard to all worlds, they give rise to no clinging to marks. The wise are able to go forth by supernormal power,
Observing this world as if it were an illusion. The wise travel without any attachment.
These courageous persons will make offerings to all Buddhas. In the future they will certainly attain unsurpassed great Bodhi.
They will also obtain unsurpassed pure Buddha lands and therein liberate immeasurable beings.
They will become the Knowers of the World. All will share the same name, ‘Boundless Wisdom’.
Their fame will pervade the ten directions. Their lifespan will be a thousand kalpas. Their quiescent extinction, wisdom, and lifespan will be equal.
All of their assemblies of hearers will be like the stars in a still night.
All of them will easily realize great Bodhi, and none will have any matters of suffering.”
When the assemblies of devas and humans heard these teachings, for the sake of Bodhi their hearts leapt with joy.
Their minds became firm and they aroused diligent effort, and by the power of diligence they upheld the various practices.
Part Eleven: The Prediction of Kiṃnaras
At that time there were again eight hundred million kiṃnaras, with the Great Tree Kiṃnara King as their leader. When they saw the asuras, garuḍas, nāga maidens, nāga kings, kumbhāṇḍas, gandharvas, yakṣas, and others make offerings to the Tathāgata and then hear the conferral of prophecy, they gave rise to an extremely strong sense of rarity and of something never before encountered. They reflected in this way: “This is truly rare, truly unprecedented. For sentient beings are unattainable. There is no living being, no born being, no person, no māṇava, no nurturer, no lifespan holder, no self, and no possession of self. It is on account of the aggregates that one is named a sentient being. Yet all aggregates are also unattainable. It is on account of the elements that one is called a sentient being; yet all these elements are also unattainable. It is on account of the sense bases that one is named a sentient being. Yet all sense bases are also unattainable. Because there is karmic force, there is the obtaining of results. But those karmic actions that are created are also unattainable. Unsurpassed Bodhi is unattainable. All Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas are unattainable. All Buddhas are unattainable.
Although the World-Honored One speaks in this way, he nonetheless confers prophecies upon the Bodhisattvas. What is the meaning of this? The Tathāgata confers prophecies upon the Bodhisattvas, reveals their names, manifests karmic retribution, and proclaims their future affairs. The assemblies of Bodhisattvas also manifest the Buddhas’ supernormal powers, proclaim the power of the True Dharma, manifest the adornment of Buddha lands, proclaim that sentient beings have karma and retribution, and also proclaim pure Buddha lands. They demonstrate Bodhisattvas traveling through Buddha lands, moving from one Buddha land to another. They also expound Bodhisattvas going forth to make offerings, speak of the supreme miraculous transformations of offerings, and enumerate the subtle and rare offering implements. They further proclaim that after a certain number of kalpas they will become Buddhas, that those Buddhas will abide in the world for a certain number of kalpas, that those Buddhas will have a certain number of Śrāvaka disciples, and that after those Buddhas pass into extinction, the True Dharma will abide in the world for a certain number of kalpas. Why then does the Tathāgata again abandon sentient beings and enter PariNirvāṇa?”
At that time, after the Great Tree Kiṃnara King had produced these doubts, he and the eight hundred million kiṃnaras rose from their seats, bared their right shoulders, knelt on their right knees, joined their palms toward the Buddha, and posed their questions in verses, saying:
“After hearing the Buddha’s conferral of prophecy, we have given rise to great doubt, O One of Great Wisdom!
You speak both of prophecy and of emptiness, yet we cannot understand these two teachings.
You say that all is empty and quiescent, free from intrinsic nature, that the Dharma realm is equal and without change,
Yet the Tathāgata again accepts offerings. How is this so, O Moon among humans?
The Buddha says there is no arising, yet also speaks of arousing the Bodhi mind.
With regard to immeasurable wisdom, there are two explanations. These words are subtle and hidden; we do not understand them.
Why is it said that ‘extinction’ is unattainable, yet the Lion among humans again speaks of death?
We pray that you will speak to us in accordance with reality, completely cutting off our doubts without remainder.
Why does the Buddha say that all dharmas are like illusions, yet also say that practicing good leads to birth among the devas?
The Śākya Lion proclaims thus; This secret teaching we cannot comprehend.
The Buddha says that all dharmas have no support,yet also says that one should rely upon good spiritual friends.
This is the World-Honored One’s secret speech. O Hero among humans, we truly do not understand.
Why is it said that there is no independently capable agent, yet sentient beings are taught to cultivate various karmas?
O Heavenly Honored One who subdues enemies, this secret teaching we do not understand.
Why does the Buddha say that intrinsic nature is originally empty, yet also say that contemplating emptiness yields liberation?
We now cannot understand this. We pray that the One of Boundless Wisdom will remove our doubts.
Why does the Buddha say that all matters are completely extinguished, yet also say that the nature of all dharmas is originally quiescent extinction?
We only pray that the Buddha without equal or comparison will reveal and clarify these secret teachings.
Why does the upright Sugata say that all dharmas are like empty space,
Yet ignorant people who slander the Dharma must fall into the great hell after death?
The Great Hero speaks of the heavenly paths and also of the other destinations.
He says that all these arise from karmic action, yet also says that there is no agent of action.
The various distinctions proclaimed by the Unconquerable One are impossible for us to comprehend.
We have now given rise to doubt in our hearts, and we pray that the World-Honored One will cut it off for us.
You say that wholesome karma cannot be accumulated, yet also say that cultivation leads to Bodhi.
The Dharma King among śramaṇas proclaims thus; This too we cannot understand.
Why is it said that the Dharma cannot be exhausted, yet also said that the evil karma of slanderers can come to an end?
We pray that the One of Immeasurable Wisdom will instruct us. Regarding this, we have great doubt.
The Tathāgata speaks of the Dharma of true suchness and ultimate reality, yet also speaks of inverted false thoughts and of giving and the like.
O Pure Eye without obstruction, O Destroyer of sins, we pray that you will explain this meaning for us.
No one else can explain such matters of doubt for us.
Only the Tathāgata can cut off these doubts. Therefore we pay homage to the All-Knowing One.”
At that time, after the World-Honored One heard the Great Tree Kiṃnara King and the others raise these various doubts, he replied in verses, saying:
“You say that emptiness is taught, and yet conferral of prophecy is also taught, and you cannot understand these two matters.
If all dharmas were not empty, the Buddha would not speak conferral of prophecy for them.
Why is this so? If all dharmas possessed a substantial intrinsic nature,
Then all would abide permanently, never changing, neither decreasing nor increasing.
The intrinsic nature of all dharmas is originally empty, like a level and immaculate mirror that can reflect all images.
All dharmas should be understood in just this way.
The Dharma realm has no mark of change. You should carefully examine every part of all offering objects
And see which part possesses a real characteristic.
The Dharma realm abides permanently without change. The wise contemplate it in this way,
While ordinary beings, lacking wisdom, are confused and deluded.
You have mentioned that the Buddha says there is no arising, yet also says to arouse the aspiration for the Buddha path. This is difficult to understand.
Now you should listen attentively to the secret meaning spoken by the One of Ten Powers.
Ordinary beings sink into the river of birth and death. Their minds still cling there,
Constantly holding inverted and false conceptions, and thus they undergo the many sufferings of birth and death.
They have never heard the True Dharma. If I were to speak the Dharma for them in a definitive manner,
Foolish ordinary beings would instead increase their doubts about this Dharma.
When they hear of the supreme benefits of Bodhi, their minds focus upon that result,
And craving arises again. Their minds again become attached to its savor; naturally arisen supreme wisdom is unsurpassed.
You also say, ‘there is no extinction, yet there is death, we do not understand these two.’
You should listen attentively, and I shall explain this truthfully for you.
For the sake of those beings who cling to permanence, the Tathāgata teaches extinction.
This is because he sees that all things regarded as permanent are in fact decaying. There is not a single dharma that is eternally unchanging.
You say that all dharmas are like illusions, yet also speak of birth in the heavens, and this seems doubtful.
This is because, for trainees and ordinary beings, even the wholesome destinations are uncertain, and thus are like illusions.
As you have said, ‘There is nothing to rely upon’,Yet it is also said, ‘Rely upon good spiritual friends.’
Because they seek to relinquish dependence, good spiritual friends teach freedom from all dependence.
You say, ‘Ultimately there is no independently capable agent, yet there is conditioned action, and we do not understand this.’
You should observe that a cart is composed of many parts, and also observe that the cart has its function.
If someone clings to a self And also clings to actions as belonging to that self,
For such persons I teach that there is no capable sovereign. Even though this is so, it does not mean that there is no conditioned action.
You say,’All dharmas are empty in intrinsic nature,’ yet you doubt that contemplating emptiness can bring liberation.
Inverted and foolish persons lacking wisdom are unable to understand intrinsic emptiness.
They arise from false conceptual discrimination and are bound by illusory grasping.
In order to liberate such beings, the Sugata teaches that intrinsic nature is non-existent.
As you have said, ‘All matters are entirely extinguished, and the nature of all dharmas is also extinguished.’
This is spoken because deluded beings without wisdom, through false discrimination, give rise to craving.
It is like a thirsty person seeing a mirage. Through recollection and imagination, thirst increases.
Foolish beings are harmed by illusion and generate discrimination where there is nothing.
The thirsty person falsely gives rise to the thought of water. At the place of the mirage, there was originally no water.
Beings harmed by delusion generate notions of purity with regard to impure things.
Deluded ordinary beings are bound by craving. Within those defiled things, there is no purity by nature.
Just as a mirage appears to have the form of water, yet in its substance there is truly no water,
So too within the body there is no pure form. The nature of bodily form is not pure.
Yet deluded ordinary beings, through inverted views, falsely conceive purity and are thereby bound.
Although it is said that Dharmas are like empty space, it is also said that slanderers fall into hell.
Such instruction causes foolish beings who hear it to give rise to fear, while wise beings who hear it gain peace of mind.
The nature of the world is originally empty and quiescent. Foolish beings without wisdom falsely give rise to views of self.
When they hear the teaching that intrinsic nature is empty, they fear that they will not be able to take birth again.
They slander the wondrous Dharma of emptiness Due entirely to clinging to the view of a self.
It is like someone attempting to bind empty space. Such unwise persons will fall into hell.
I originally spoke of various wholesome destinations and also taught other paths for the world.
I teach that karmic deeds occur without being lost, while also removing their attachment to the notion of a doer.
I explain this to you as follows. All destinations are like dreams.
Within dreams there is no coming or going. Those with inverted views cling to coming and going.
I have spoken of karma as something created, yet when sought in the ten directions, no creator can be found.
It is like a fierce wind blowing against trees. When trees rub together, fire arises.
Neither the wind nor the trees have the thought,’We can produce fire.’
Yet fire nevertheless arises. Therefore you should know that there is karmic action, but no independent doer.
You say, ‘There is no merit that has be accumulated, yet good conduct can bring the fruit of Bodhi.’
I shall now speak truthfully for you. You should listen attentively.
It is like people in the world attaining long life, their lifespan reaching over a hundred years.
Yet those ‘years’ themselves are not accumulated. The gathering of all conditions is also like this.
You say that dharmas are inexhaustible, yet also say that I teach that karma can be exhausted.
When contemplated from the principle of emptiness, there is no exhaustion. When following conventional truth, there is exhaustion.
Although I speak of ultimate reality, inversion is not outside of ultimate reality.
Deluded and foolish beings are unable to understand true reality.
Great Tree Kiṃnara, you should listen carefully. For those endowed with wisdom and diligent effort,
All manifested characteristics return to a single characteristic, which is signlessness. You should know this.
If one can understand and enter through a single letter, I speak of Bodhi to such a wise person.
All dharmas are entirely uncreated. This is the proclaimed All-Retaining Gate of the letter A.
All the practices cultivated by all Bodhisattvas, Those boundless characteristics I have already explained.
This also accords with entry into all dharmas. This is called the All-Retaining Gate of the letter A.
The intrinsic nature of all dharmas is quiescent extinction. By revealing the Gate of the letter A, one is able to enter it.
Great Tree Kiṃnara, you should know that this too is the All-Retaining Gate of the letter A.
All dharmas are without discrimination. Entry into this Dharma Gate has already been taught.
Kiṃnara King, you should know that this too is the All-Retaining Gate of the letter A.
All dharmas have no intrinsic nature. By revealing the Gate of the letter A, one is able to enter it.
Great Tree Kiṃnara, you should know that this too is the All-Retaining Gate of the letter A.
All dharmas are without boundary. Dharmas are explained by means of the Gate of the letter A.
Kiṃnara King, you should know that this too is the All-Retaining Gate of the letter A.
I have already proclaimed the Dharma principle that reaches the end of the inexhaustible. Now it should also be proclaimed that all dharmas are inexhaustible.
All Tathāgatas in the ten directions have already proclaimed this inexhaustible All-Retaining Gate.
All dharmas have no gate, because things are originally without substance, they appear as not truly existent.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate, by which one may enter the Gate of the letter A.
With regard to various inconceivable dharmas, the Buddhas are able to reveal them in accordance with true reality.
Great Tree Kiṃnara, you should know that this too is the Dhāraṇī of the letter A.
All dharmas have no destination. I explain Bodhi in this way for those with wisdom.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate. The Gate of the letter A should be entered.
All dharmas have no coming. If one does not cultivate and realize, one cannot see this.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate. The Gate of the letter A should be entered.
All dharmas exist only through provisional designation by name. When their intrinsic nature is examined, it is unattainable.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate. The Gate of the letter A should be entered.
All dharmas have no independent and unchanging intrinsic nature. When their intrinsic nature is examined, it is unattainable.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate. This is the Dhāraṇī spoken by the Buddha.
All conditioned matters and dharmas are unattainable, because dharmas are without intrinsic nature.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate. The Gate of the letter A should be entered.
Great Tree Kiṃnara, you should listen. All dharmas are far removed from thought and conceptualization.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate. This is the Dhāraṇī spoken by the Sugata.
The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, have already revealed that because dharmas have no substance, there is no obstruction.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate. One should enter the Dhāraṇī of the letter A.
All dharmas have no obstruction, and there is nothing that can obstruct dharmas.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate. Entry into the Gate of the letter A has already been explained.
All dharmas have no arising. Those with wisdom should know there is only one characteristic.
Because all dharmas have no arising, you should know that this Dharma has no name.
All dharmas have no arising. Their arising is originally unattainable.
This too is the All-Retaining Gate. The Gate of the letter A should be entered.
If dharmas have no substance and no arising, they cannot be seen or grasped and shown to others.
Since the intrinsic nature of dharmas is unattainable, there is also no subject capable of seeing.
All dharmas have nothing to be compared with. Thus the single characteristic is precisely signlessness.
Just as empty space has nothing equal to it, all dharmas are likewise so.
All dharmas have no increase and no decrease. They are not one and not two, not burning affliction
Not heat and not cold, because they are not truly existent, they cannot be seen.
There is no characteristic of crookedness or straightness, no characteristic of light or darkness,
Nor characteristics such as seeing or hearing. This is the Dhāraṇī of Non-existence.
Neither flattering nor upright, without contraction or expansion and other such characteristics,
Without anger or hatred, and without joy or delight, without arising and activity or quiescent extinction,
Without entering or exiting, without advancing or retreating, without coming or going,
Without sleep and without awakening. You should understand this as being free from the characteristics of cognition.
Neither an eye nor blindness, without a seeing subject or dark obstruction,
Without opening or closing, neither tamed nor untamed,
Neither agitation nor complete cessation, neither worldly nor Nirvāṇa,
Neither real nor unreal. You should understand the Buddha’s domain in this way.
For the sake of taming the world, I cut off your doubts. I have no doubts.
In ultimate truth, no person is able to sever the entire net of doubts of others.”
At that time, the Great Tree Kiṃnara King heard the Buddha proclaim the Gate of All-Retaining, and his mind was filled with great joy. After rejoicing, he aroused a courageous and vigorous resolve and immediately manifested eight hundred million multi-storied pavilions. Some of these pavilions were upon trees, some upon lotus flowers, and some upon mountains. All were adorned with the seven treasures. Each pavilion was ornamented with canopies made of various precious substances and with banners of many kinds of jewels. They were further embellished with jeweled flower tassels and with tassels of multicolored silken fabrics.
At that time, the Great Tree Kiṃnara King together with eight hundred million Kiṃnaras held in their hands all the aquatic and terrestrial flowers found in the Fragrant Mountain and scattered them upon the Buddha’s body. After scattering flowers in offering to the Buddha, each of them ascended a pavilion made of the seven treasures, circumambulated the Buddha three times, again scattered all aquatic and terrestrial flowers upon the body of the Tathāgata, and again circumambulated him three times. At that time, the Great Tree Kiṃnara King and the eight hundred million Kiṃnara assembly descended from the pavilions and once more circumambulated three times. They bowed their heads to the Buddha’s feet, joined their palms with single-minded focus, gazed upon the World-Honored One without letting their eyes depart even for a moment, and then withdrew to one side and remained there, recollecting the immeasurable merits of the Tathāgata in the past and present.
At that time, the World-Honored One, knowing the profound joy and aspiration in the hearts of the Great Tree Kiṃnara King and the eight hundred million beings, manifested a gentle smile. At that time, the venerable Aśvajit bhikṣu asked in verses, saying:
“The Sugata does not smile without cause or condition. O One worshiped by devas and humans, please explain this truthfully.
When the assembly sees the Buddha smile, all give rise to doubt. When they behold the Supreme Victor, he is like a newly risen moon.
O World-Honored One endowed with wondrous form, who today has given rise to excellent wisdom with regard to the non-dual Dharma?
Today my mind is filled with uncertainty. I only wish that the Honored One among humans will dispel my doubt.
Who has gained pure faith in the Buddha Dharma, such that the Tathāgata manifests this smile on his account?
I pray that the Tathāgata will bestow a prediction upon him and explain it, using supreme words, to cut off my doubt.
At that time, if all the great assembly were to hear the Buddha’s explanation, they would all rejoice.
I pray that all their doubts be removed, so that they may practice in accordance with the Buddha’s teaching.
Therefore, O Most Supreme Honored One among bipeds, please bestow a prediction for the sake of eliminating doubt.
I pray that you will explain it for the Kiṃnara King and the others, and for all sentient beings.”
At that time, the World-Honored One replied to the venerable Aśvajit in verses, saying:
“Excellent, Aśvajit. You have asked at the proper time. I shall now explain this for you in detail.
Because of your question, I am able to expound this teaching, and the assembly will thereby gain the Buddha’s merit.
You should maintain purity, focus your mind single-pointedly, and listen to this rare matter without allowing your thoughts to scatter.
This is the most supreme wisdom of the Sugata, the vast and unobstructed knowledge and vision.
The Great Tree Kiṃnara King raised his question for the benefit of all sentient beings.
I shall now proclaim the future results of these beings. Listen carefully, and I shall dispel your doubt.
The Great Tree Kiṃnara King and the eight hundred million kiṃnaras, together with the kings, ministers, people, and all their retinues
after making offerings to me, will from this point forward, at the end of their lives, be reborn in the heavens.
From then on, for nine hundred million kalpas, they will transmigrate among humans and devas,
fully cultivating the five kinds of supernormal power and attaining mastery of wisdom and mastery of mind.
In nayuta Buddha lands, they will send forth emanated bodies, dispatched by the Lion among humans, to go to all places,
while their own bodies remain peacefully in heavenly palaces, their minds unmoving, constantly enjoying the stable bliss born of meditative joy.
After passing through nine hundred million kalpas of transmigration among humans and devas,
each of them will, in his own Buddha land, attain Unsurpassed Path.
At that time, the kalpa will be named Constant Radiant Illumination, and in that kalpa they will realize Buddhahood.
All of these are Bodhisattvas who are one lifetime away from completion. Those with wisdom will all become Buddhas.
In those Buddha lands, there will not be a single person whose practice is not fully matured.
All will be great beings who are one lifetime away from completion. There will be no one seeking the two vehicles of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.
All will be great Bodhisattvas. Those who serve as lamps of the world will all be born there.
All will be beings one lifetime away from completion, and in the future all will accomplish Buddhahood.
The great assemblies of Bodhisattvas in those lands will abide in vast and profound vows.
They will vow, saying, ‘In immeasurable Buddha lands, I shall cultivate and purify them all.’
The power of these Bodhisattvas’ vows is exceedingly vast. Over the long night, they skillfully contemplate,
and with pure faith and joyful resolve, each cultivates and adorns his Buddha land.
Those Buddha lands will be subtle and marvelously adorned, far removed from all afflictions.
Their grounds will be filled everywhere with palaces and gardens, and beings there will be free from all evil destinies.
All faults and the eight kinds of adverse conditions will be entirely absent from those Buddha lands.
After cultivating and purifying the Buddha lands in this way, the sentient beings therein will be easily tamed.”
Thus, the World-Honored One, the Deva among devas, bestowed this prediction of kiṃnaras.
At that time, when all the great assembly heard this, their hearts were filled with immense joy.
