Translated in the Northern Qi Dynasty by the Tripiṭaka Master Narendrayaśas
Part Twelve: The Prediction of Sky-Walking Devas
At that time there were again eighty thousand sky-walking devas. When they saw asuras, garuḍas, nāga maidens, nāga kings, kumbhāṇḍas, gandharvas, yakṣas, kiṃnaras, and others making offerings to the Tathāgata and hearing the bestowal of predictions, they were filled with great joy and leapt with immeasurable delight, giving rise to deep love and joy toward the Buddha Dharma. For the sake of making offerings to the Buddha, they aroused a courageous and vigorous resolve.
Those sky-walking devas, outside the city of Kapilavastu, caused māndāra flowers to rain down throughout the eight directions, covering an area of sixty yojanas. The flowers blanketed the ground everywhere to the height of a human knee. After the māndāra flowers had filled the ground, they took these flowers as offerings to the Buddha, circumambulated the Buddha three times, and then immediately praised the Buddha in verses, saying:
“The faculties are stilled, a gentle smile is revealed, protecting and guarding all sentient beings.
The Sugata is endowed with great compassion; therefore he is the noble Lion among humans in the world.
The Tathāgata together with the great assembly all abide in the Buddha Dharma and in Nirvāṇa.
The supreme and wondrous feet of the World-Honored One, the guiding teacher, I now bow to with my head and face.
Just as the full moon on the fifteenth day is perfectly complete, and people of the world all venerate the bright moon among the stars,
so too do all the celestial hosts, upon seeing the Buddha’s smiling countenance, respectfully bow in reverence.
Having accumulated immeasurable great masses of merit, and having accomplished the body of wisdom,
endowed with immeasurable great majesty and virtue, therefore I bow to the kinsman of the world.
A lofty mountain of merit endowed with the ten powers, fearless with regard to truth, far removed from the three stains,
accomplishing the eighteen unique qualities, clearly seeing without doubt, supreme among expounders.
Adorned with the thirty-two wondrous marks and the eighty subsidiary characteristics,
his lofty mind is like the banner of Indra; therefore I bow to the peerless Buddha.
Having perfected the power of pure discipline, the power of concentration firm and unmoving,
wielding the supreme sword of wisdom, supremely valiant and able to subdue the Māra of the heavens.
Having reached the far shore through the power of wisdom, he tames the minds of Śrāvaka disciples without stinginess,
with a tranquil mind he travels throughout the ten directions, delivering all sentient beings in the heavens and among humans.
The World-Honored One is the supreme Lion among humans, having realized the highest quiescent Dharma.
Truly, O One endowed with the ten powers, may we also realize this supreme and wondrous Dharma.
May I also, among devas and humans, be trusted and joyfully seen by all sentient beings of the world.
May I, like the World-Honored One, fully know the aspirations and inclinations within the minds of sentient beings.
May I be able to benefit all worlds, with a mind of compassion and a mind of great pity,
delivering sentient beings who are submerged in the bitter ocean of birth and death and oppressed by manifold sufferings.
May I, among devas and humans, become an unsurpassed great guiding teacher.
I shall certainly liberate sentient beings from transmigrating through the various destinies, rescuing those oppressed by hundreds of sufferings.”
At that time, the World-Honored One, knowing the profound joy and aspiration in the hearts of the sky-walking devas, manifested a gentle smile. At that time, bhikṣu Aśvajit asked the Buddha in verses, saying:
“O Buddha, King of Munis, you do not manifest signs without cause or condition. You illuminate the three realms with radiance and manifest this smile.
I only pray that the venerable one endowed with the ten powers will explain for me: for the sake of which sentient beings do you display this joyful appearance?
Beholding the Tathāgata’s most supreme countenance, revealing a smiling aspect that brings joy to the assembly,
all the great assembly present give rise to doubt. We pray to hear the Buddha explain the causes and conditions of this smile.
We pray that the great guiding teacher will swiftly explain for us the beneficial matters contained within the causes of this smile.
May you shatter the net of doubts for sentient beings. O king among śramaṇas, please proclaim this for us.
Who is it that can cause the Buddha to manifest a joyful smile? Who has made a supreme offering before the Buddha?
Who will be able to reach the far boundary of birth and death? May the Lion among humans dispel my doubt.
Who today has shaken the palace of Māra, causing the Māra’s mind to become deranged and unsettled?
Who today has caused all the devas to be filled with great joy and exuberant delight?
We only pray that you will quickly proclaim this for us, shattering all the nets of doubt in the world.
If the great assembly can hear the Buddha speak, all will feel incomparable joy.”
At that time, the World-Honored One replied to Aśvajit in verses, saying:
“Aśvajit, you now ask me about the matter of the bestowal of prediction to the sky-walking devas.
Your present question is able to bring immense benefit to immeasurable devas and humans in the world.
If the Lion endowed with the ten powers is not questioned, he does not speak of bestowing predictions upon the Buddha’s sons.
Today you question the Tathāgata for the sake of broadly benefiting all worlds.
These sky-walking devas made offerings to me with joyful minds.
After the passage of time exceeding asaṃkhyeya kalpas, they will extinguish afflictions and will attain Buddhahood.
After departing from this place at the end of their lives, they will immediately be reborn in the supremely wondrous realms of the heavens.
In the abodes of immeasurable koṭis of Buddhas, they will cultivate practice by making offerings of incense and flowers.
In the presence of those Buddhas they will arouse the aspiration for the Path and further increase their resolve for Bodhi.
With countless kinds of supremely wondrous verses, they will praise the innate wisdom of the Lion among humans.
These devas, in future ages, in the abodes of immeasurable and boundless Buddhas,
will make offerings to the Buddhas with excellent incense and flowers, and will also praise the Buddha with wondrous verses.
Those Bodhisattvas possessing bodies like that of Nārāyaṇa, after making offerings to and praising the Buddhas,
will in a future age, during the Joyful Kalpa, realize the most supreme and unsurpassed wisdom.
The name of that Buddha will be Flower Banner Honored One, a name universally heard and free from all disparagement.
Those eighty thousand devas will all attain Buddhahood in that same kalpa.
In that Buddha land there will be no hells, no hungry ghosts, and no animals.
That land will also have no asura realm, and no obstacles such as the eight difficult conditions.
When these sky-walking devas accomplish the Buddha Path, all the people in that land, all those sentient beings,
will have immeasurable lifespans, and their karmic rewards will be like those of Trāyastriṃśa Heaven.
In that country the names of the evil destinies will not even be heard, how much less would there be anyone who truly commits unwholesome actions.
At that time, all sentient beings will act in accordance with the Dharma. All will be a disciplined assembly of noble ones.
The number of people liberated by that Buddha will be immeasurable billions, their number exceeding the sands of the Ganges.
For them he will proclaim the wondrous Dharma of non-reliance and non-attachment, and with the ten powers he will deliver those sentient beings.
After that Buddha enters PariNirvāṇa, relics will be widely distributed and stūpas erected.
Within each single relic of that Buddha, the form of the Buddha’s body will appear.
Those relics of the Buddha’s body, whose name is free from all disparagement, will manifest supernormal transformations for the sentient beings of that land.
Immeasurable billions of sentient beings will all give rise to the mind of Unsurpassed Bodhi”
Thus did the guiding teacher, by such wisdom and skillful means, bestow a prediction upon those sky-walking devas.
When all the great assembly heard this bestowal of prediction, they were all filled with joy and leapt with exuberant delight.
Part Thirteen: Prediction of the Four Great Kings
At that time, ninety thousand multitudes of devas of the Heaven of Four Great Kings saw asuras, garuḍas, nāga maidens, nāga kings, kumbhāṇḍas, gandharvas, yakṣas, and Kiṃnaras making offerings to the Tathāgata and heard the bestowal of prediction upon the sky-walking devas. They were all filled with great joy, leaping with immeasurable delight, and gave rise to deep faith and delight in the Buddha Dharma. It was like a person who boards an earthenware boat and enters a river, thinking to himself, “This earthen boat will soon break apart. Before it sinks, I must quickly cross to the shore to avoid the danger of drowning.” These ninety thousand devas of the Four Great Kings were just like this. Witnessing the Buddha’s mighty supernormal power, and for the sake of obtaining the Buddha Dharma, they gave rise to deep faith and joyful longing, aroused a courageous resolve, and made offerings to the Tathāgata.
At that time, the devas together with the Four Great Kings manifested ninety thousand wondrous canopies made of the seven treasures, variegated in many colors, upright, marvelous, vast, and magnificently adorned. Among them were many canopies of red true pearls, canopies of fire-jewel treasures, canopies of lapis lazuli, canopies of celestial golden color, and canopies of vajra jewels. After manifesting these ninety thousand canopies of the seven treasures, they circumambulated the Buddha three times in the sky.
They also manifested ninety thousand celestial musical ensembles, likewise revolving in the sky and circumambulating the Buddha three times. They further manifested māndārava flowers, mahā-māndārava flowers, mañjūṣaka flowers, mahā-mañjūṣaka flowers, karkarava flowers, and mahā-karkarava flowers. Holding these manifested flowers, they scattered them above the Buddha, again circumambulated three times, and then immediately praised the Buddha in verses, saying:
“Ninety thousand devas gather together at the place of the guiding teacher.
All join their palms with single-minded focus, delighting in and revering the Buddha’s virtues.
Buddha has no distraction and no sinking, no craving and no remorse,
neither raised up nor cast down; therefore I bow to the Honored One among two-footed beings.
He cuts off all seeds of the realms of existence and extinguishes the darkness of ignorance.
He pulls out the poisonous thorns of affliction and can shatter the high mountain of pride.
The Buddha skillfully removes poisonous arrows and is able to eliminate all sores and swellings.
He excels in cultivating the practice of heedfulness. His bodily marks are complete, without diminution.
He extinguishes all afflictions and liberates all bonds,
cuts off all kinds of fetters, and departs from clamor and confusion.
Emptiness and signlessness are the spheres in which the Buddha practices.
Within all realms of existence, his mind has no craving or seeking.
He cuts off the root of thirst and abandons the darkness of ignorance.
With regard to the four inverted views, he is entirely free from them.
The Buddha is able to realize and know ultimate reality, yet in the world there is none who understands it.
Ordinary beings, upon hearing of it, give rise to fear, like herds of deer startled by a hunter.
Beings who have fallen into identity view are unable to understand emptiness.
Covered and obscured by ignorance, they cling to the various bonds of the world.
He truly realizes and sees suchness and contemplates the world as an empty fist.
For the sake of the world, he reveals true wisdom, by which sentient beings obtain the pure Dharma eye.
He proclaims that the five aggregates are empty, and name-and-form are also thus.
The intrinsic nature of the elements is not existent, and the six sense bases are likewise so.
This Dharma and all other dharmas are spoken of in dependence on names.
All dharmas denoted by these names, the Buddha declares, are entirely empty.
It is like a great illusionist who conjures various forms.
There is no designation of a sentient being, no life-principle, and no person.
In this way the five aggregates, the elements, the sense faculties, and the twelve sense bases all arise from illusion.
Thus does the Tathāgata teach.
It is like a skillful painter who paints the form of a white elephant.
The limbs and joints are exquisitely lifelike, with rises and hollows vividly depicted.
In reality, there are no such rises or hollows. It merely confuses the eyes of the foolish.
The Dharma realm is originally equal, yet the foolish give rise to confusion in their own minds.
The Buddha reveals it to them all, like an āmalaka fruit held in the palm, clearly visible.
The wise are no longer confused and skillfully cultivate the teachings of the Buddhas.
The Tathāgata possesses great wisdom and is the torch of wisdom for the world.
He turns the wondrous wheel of Dharma and teaches all sentient beings.
May I be awakened to the unsurpassed, quiescent Bodhi.
May I turn the wondrous wheel of Dharma just as the Buddha turns it today.
May we proclaim the wondrous Dharma to those in the world who have lost the path,
just as the Buddha now proclaims it.”
At that time, the World-Honored One knew the deep thoughts in the minds of those devas of the Heaven of Four Great Kings, and he manifested a smile. From the Buddha’s mouth there issued various kinds of five-colored light. At that time, Aśvajit asked the Tathāgata in verses, saying:
“The Buddha does not manifest a smile without cause or condition.
O Great Hero, Buddha, World-Honored One, we pray that you will explain to us the reason for this smile.
When the assembly beholds the Buddha manifest a smile, all who are present harbor deep doubt.
The Honored One among humans should surely know this.
Who today has shattered the hosts of Māra? Who today has been able to dispel doubt?
Who has obtained decisive faith and understanding in the Dharma? We pray that the Honored One of humans and devas will proclaim this for the assembly.
Who today has made offerings to the Buddha? Who has practiced in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings?
The assembly here is filled with uncertainty. We pray that the guiding teacher will explain this for us.
When sentient beings hear the prediction proclaimed by the Honored One among two-footed beings,
then, upon hearing them, sentient beings will all be able to shatter their nets of doubt. We pray that the guiding teacher will proclaim this for us.
Moreover, it will enable sentient beings to follow the Path of all-knowledge and swiftly realize Bodhi.
For this reason, please bestow predictions upon them.”
At that time, the World-Honored One replied to Aśvajit in verses, saying:
“Excellent, Aśvajit. For the sake of the assembly, you ask the Buddha to explain the causes and conditions of this smile.
Listen attentively, and I shall explain it for you.
Out of compassion for all worlds, you should listen with single-minded focus.
The hosts of devas number a full ninety thousand. All are abiding before me with pure faith.
In the past they have made offerings to Buddhas,
and they have also praised them with verses, understood all dharmas as empty,
obtained decisive faith and understanding in the Dharma, and abide within my teaching.
These devas have previously made offerings to eight hundred million Buddhas.
Moreover, in future ages, in the presence of immeasurable billions of Buddhas,
they will again make offerings to those Buddhas, seeking the unsurpassed Buddha Path.
If, in the presence of immeasurable billions of Buddhas, they had not made offerings,
they would never sit beneath the Bodhi tree and realize awakening.
In future ages, they will accomplish the Buddha Path.
Their name will be Great Upholder, and they will be most supreme in the world.
Those lamps of the world will each have noble assemblies of Śrāvakas and will conduct eighty great Dharma assemblies.
The knowledge and vision of those disciples will be without obstruction.
After those Buddhas have attained Buddhahood, all sentient beings in their Buddha land
will each have a lifespan of a full eight hundred million years.
Those Buddhas will be endowed with immeasurable wisdom.
They will have innumerable billions of bhikṣus, all free from dust and defilement, all abiding in their final body.
After those Buddhas pass into extinction, for those endowed with merit, they will adorn that Buddha land
and construct immeasurable jeweled stūpas.
Immeasurable thousands, and hundreds of nayutas of sentient beings,
will make offerings to those stūpas and shrines, benefiting people of the world.
Some will give rise to the Bodhi mind, and some will realize Nirvāṇa.
After those Buddhas pass into extinction, the True Dharma will abide long in the world,
enduring for eight hundred million years.
Those immeasurable nayutas of sons of the Dharma King will receive, uphold, and protect the True Dharma.”
After the devas of the Four Great Kings received this bestowal of prediction from the Buddha,
given for the benefit of the world and the maturation of sentient beings,
the great assembly, upon hearing it, was filled with great joy.
They leapt with immeasurable delight and devoted themselves to practicing in accordance with the Tathāgata’s teachings.
Part Fourteen: Prediction of Devas of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three
At that time there were again eight hundred million Trāyastriṃśa devas, with the Heavenly Lord Śakra as their foremost leader. When they saw asuras, garuḍas, nāga maidens, nāga kings, kumbhāṇḍas, gandharvas, yakṣas, Kiṃnaras, sky-walking devas, and even the devas of the Four Great Kings making offerings to the Tathāgata and heard the bestowals of prediction, they were all filled with great joy and leapt with immeasurable delight. Toward the Buddha Dharma they gave rise to deep faith and joyful devotion.
After giving rise to this deep faith and joy, Śakra together with the Trāyastriṃśa devas aroused a courageous resolve to make offerings to the Tathāgata. They then manifested eight hundred million multi-storied pavilions made of the seven treasures, adorned with many kinds of variegated colors, upright and extraordinary, exquisitely subtle and rare. All of them were hung with necklaces of red pearls, necklaces of lapis lazuli, necklaces of assorted treasures, and necklaces of fire-jewel treasures. Each pavilion had a hundred tiers of magnificently adorned gateway banners. On each tier there were four smaller pavilions, decorated with windows, lion thrones, banners, canopies, jeweled bells, and jeweled nets. Celestial maidens of peerless and dignified appearance stood in attendance at the pavilions and beside the lion thrones, performing various kinds of celestial music.
They further manifested eight hundred million well-trained chariots, adorned with all kinds of celestial ornaments, namely jeweled banners, canopies, and various musical instruments. Throughout the great city of Kapilavastu, extending in all directions for a span of sixty yojanas, they caused māndārava flowers, mahā-māndārava flowers, mañjūṣaka flowers, mahā-mañjūṣaka flowers, karkarava flowers, mahā-karkarava flowers, vārsika flowers, and mahā-vārsika flowers to rain down, covering the ground everywhere to the height of a human knee.
At that time Śakra further manifested eight hundred million Airāvaṇa nāga-elephants. Each nāga-elephant had eight hundred million heads. Each elephant head had six tusks. On each tusk there were seven lotus ponds. In each pond there were seven lotus flowers. Each lotus flower had a thousand petals. Within each petal there were seven celestial maidens, and each celestial maiden had seven attendant maidens, all adorned with various ornaments.
Nāga-elephants were placed among the multi-storied pavilions, and jeweled chariots followed behind, all as offerings to the Tathāgata. From the celestial pavilions there rained down celestial sandalwood powder, celestial aloe-wood powder, and celestial refined gold powder. There also rained down celestial māndārava flowers, mahā-māndārava flowers, mañjūṣaka flowers, mahā-mañjūṣaka flowers, vārsika flowers, mahā-vārsika flowers, karkarava flowers, mahā-karkarava flowers, golden flowers, silver flowers, vaiḍūrya flowers, and various multicolored pāṭalī flowers. In this way they manifested all kinds of supremely wondrous jeweled flowers and scattered them above the Buddha. Those celestial maidens either played music, sang, danced, or moved their bodies, just as described in detail in the offerings made by the asuras. They further manifested eight hundred million well-trained kings of horses, adorned with various ornaments, and rode upon them. They also scattered various kinds of celestial offering implements above the Buddha.
Moreover, there arose eight hundred million celestial musical performances, spontaneously sounding in the sky. Upon each of the eight hundred million jeweled chariots there was one manifested celestial maiden. Those eight hundred million celestial maidens either sang, danced, played music, or moved their bodies, just as described in detail in the asura offerings. The celestial maidens manifested from the heads of the Airāvaṇa nāga-elephants all likewise played music, just as described in detail in the asura offerings. At that time, the eight hundred million celestial maidens all made offerings to the Buddha.
At that time, those eight hundred million celestial multitudes thought as follows: “These manifested celestial maidens make manifested offerings to the Tathāgata. All dharmas are likewise so, exactly as the Buddha has taught.” Having understood that all dharmas are like illusory transformations, they no longer had any net of doubt regarding dharmas.
After attaining freedom from doubt in all dharmas, they circumambulated the Buddha three times, bowed their heads to the Buddha’s feet, and then withdrew to one side and remained there. Having understood that all dharmas are like illusory transformations, they also understood that their own bodies are the same as illusory transformations. They understood that those offerings and the Tathāgata himself are likewise illusory transformations, and that the Dharma spoken by the Buddha is also the same. After gaining freedom from doubt regarding all illusory dharmas, they immediately praised the Buddha in verses, saying:
“These manifested persons make offerings; all other people are likewise.
Śakra and the various devas, as well as all dharmas, are entirely just like illusory transformations.
The Tathāgata, the guiding teacher, is also like an illusion. The assembly of Śrāvakas is born from the Dharma.
They have no doubt at all regarding the teachings spoken by the Buddha, and are able to comprehend and awaken to the Tathāgata’s bestowal of prediction.
The Dharma spoken by the Tathāgata, the World-Honored One, cannot be clearly understood by ignorant ordinary beings.
All the various dharmas spoken by the Tathāgata are entirely like illusory transformations.
Whether those in training or those beyond training, and the assemblies of Buddha’s disciples who have been tamed,
these too are likewise just like illusory transformations. Regarding this Dharma, I have no doubt at all.
World-Honored One, if there are those who delight in quiescence and silent stillness, dwelling alone without affliction like a Kilin,
all of these too are the same as illusory transformations. Regarding this Dharma, I likewise have no doubt.
If one practices the conduct of the Buddha and the conduct of Bodhisattvas, benefiting sentient beings without negligence,
that person is a Bodhisattva, a son of the Tathāgata. All of this is entirely like illusion and transformation.
The Sugata’s natural wisdom, the ten powers, great compassion, and immeasurable wisdom,
wisdom’s mastery as supreme in the world, that Buddha too is just so, likewise like an illusory transformation.
Just as the Dharma spoken by the Buddha, the World-Honored One, is cool, quiescent, and without reliance,
the Dharma of realizing Nirvāṇa and Nirvāṇa itself are likewise just like illusory transformations.
The Sugata and the Dharma are without any substantial existence. All is of the nature of illusion and transformation.
Regarding this Buddha Dharma and this wisdom, we have no doubt whatsoever.
We constantly vow to be like the Buddha, thoroughly seeing that all dharmas are also like illusory transformations.
We practice this Buddha’s sphere of realization, vowing to become Buddhas without any doubt.”
At that time, the World-Honored One, knowing the profound joy and aspiration in the hearts of the eight hundred million devas of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, manifested a gentle smile. At that time, the venerable Aśvajit asked the Buddha in verses, saying:
“O Tathāgata, whose fame is unequaled and who is endowed with all virtues, you manifest a smile not without cause.
Why does the Tathāgata smile today? We pray that you will explain this for us and dispel my doubt.
When the assembly sees the Tathāgata manifest a smile, after seeing it all harbor hesitation in their hearts.
We pray that you will shatter the doubts of the assembly and cause the multitudes no longer to harbor various nets of doubt.
Those celestial multitudes are filled with joy, praising the Tathāgata and making offerings.
For whose sake does the Tathāgata manifest a smile today? We pray that the Buddha will explain this for us and gladden the assembly.
O Worthy of Offerings, whose merit and purity are like the bright moon, we pray that you will explain this for us.
If they hear the Dharma spoken by the Tathāgata, these beings will rejoice and will attain Buddhahood.
Thus these celestial multitudes and assembled hosts have understood that all dharmas are like illusory transformations.
The devas cultivate the Buddha Dharma without obstruction. We pray that the one who endowed with the ten powers will explain this matter.
If all the assembly can eliminate doubt, they will cultivate Bodhi with joyful minds,
giving rise to superior aspirations rather than inferior ones. When the assembly hears this, they will immediately arouse courageous resolve.”
At that time, the World-Honored One replied to Aśvajit in verses, saying:
“Aśvajit, you now question the Tathāgata. This is precisely timely and brings great benefit.
Knowing that the celestial multitudes have given rise to joy, the cause and condition for my manifesting a smile I shall now explain for you.
You question the cause of the smile for the sake of the celestial multitudes. This will now greatly benefit all sentient beings.
I now explain the cause of the smile for you. You should listen carefully with a pure mind.
Thus these celestial multitudes and human beings have understood that all dharmas are like illusory transformations.
Endowed with immeasurable, unobstructed knolwedge, vision, and wisdom, in the future they will certainly depart from the darkness of delusion and attain Buddhahood.
In the past, while circulating in birth and death, they made offerings to Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.
In the presence of those Buddhas they repeatedly cultivated practice, understanding that all dharmas are like illusory transformations.
Now again they make supreme offerings to me and likewise understand that all dharmas are illusory transformations.
These beings have deep faith and joyful devotion toward the Buddha Dharma. In future ages they will certainly become Buddhas.
The merit created within this Buddha Dharma will not be lost, nor will there be any obstruction.
After the celestial multitudes make offerings to me and understand that all dharmas are like illusory transformations,
In a future kalpa, they will become the supreme ones, foremost among expounders.
Those endowed with excellent merit will all share the same name, called Indra-Banner King Buddha.
That Buddha will proclaim the Dharma of illusion, delivering immeasurable koṭis of sentient beings.
Therefore, you should abandon negligence and cultivate the principle that all dharmas are like illusory transformations.
Those who are not negligent are those I teach. In order to perfect the factors of Bodhi,
be diligent as though rescuing one’s head from burning, and swiftly seek quiescent, supreme Bodhi.”
Part Fifteen: Prediction of Yāma Devas
At that time there were again four hundred million Yāma devas. When they saw asuras, garuḍas, nāga maidens, nāga kings, kumbhāṇḍas, gandharvas, yakṣas, Kiṃnaras, sky-walking devas, the devas of the Four Great Kings, and the Trāyastriṃśa devas making offerings to the Tathāgata and heard the bestowals of prediction, they were all filled with great joy and leapt with immeasurable delight.
At that time, the Yāma devas knew that the Buddha Tathāgata had, with unobstructed wisdom, bestowed predictions upon those previously mentioned beings. Immediately, they gave rise to faith and joyful devotion toward the Buddha Dharma. After giving rise to this faith and joy, they thought as follows:
“This Buddha Dharma is truly extraordinarily rare and wondrous. For one who realizes the Buddha Dharma, there is nothing that is not known, nothing that is not seen, nothing that cannot be discerned, and nothing that cannot be realized. With regard to what has arisen, what has not yet arisen, and what is presently arising; or what has already ceased, what will cease, and what is presently ceasing; with regard to karma and its retribution, all can be known truthfully and as they are.
How extraordinary this is. The Tathāgata is able to know worldly truth and ultimate truth, and is skilled in knowing these two truths, with nothing beyond them. The Buddha, the World-Honored One, is well able to know and see emptiness, well able to discern it, and well able to realize it in accordance. Therefore he is named Sarvajña.
What is worldly truth? It is all matters carried out within worldly birth and death. With regard to these various dharmas, he is able to know them all. What is ultimate truth? It is that which has no verbal expression and no knower, and is not an activity of the mind. Because there is no condition of knowing, there is also no speaker, no revealer, no expounder, and no hearer. Because there is no verbal expression, there is likewise no knower. There is no arising and no manifestation, and no one who sees.
There is no designation, no grasping, no cognition, no one who arrives and nothing arrived at, no one who approaches, no one who measures, no establishment, no abandonment, no action and no agent, no praise and no blame, no benefit and no decline, no commendation and no ridicule, no suffering and no pleasure. It is neither form nor non-form, neither number nor non-number, neither clarity nor non-clarity, neither afflicted nor free from affliction, neither worldly nor Nirvāṇa, neither awareness nor examination, neither advancing nor retreating, unmoving and without action. There is no conceptual proliferation, transcending all conceptual proliferation.
The characteristics of form are unobtainable. Feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are also unobtainable. The characteristics of the eye are unobtainable, and those of the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are likewise so. The characteristics of form are unobtainable. The characteristics of sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects are unobtainable. The characteristics of visual consciousness are unobtainable, and those of auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental consciousness are likewise unobtainable. The characteristics of visual contact are unobtainable, and those of auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental contact are likewise so. Feeling produced by visual contact is unobtainable, and feeling produced by contact of the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind is likewise unobtainable. The characteristics of conceptualization with regard to form are unobtainable, and up to conceptualization with regard to mental objects they are likewise unobtainable. The characteristics of mind are unobtainable. The characteristics of emptiness are unobtainable. The earth element, water element, fire element, wind element, and consciousness element are also unobtainable. The characteristics of the desire realm are unobtainable. The characteristics of the form realm are unobtainable. The characteristics of the formless realm are unobtainable. The characteristics of the conditioned are unobtainable, and the characteristics of the unconditioned are likewise unobtainable.
Dharmas of this kind and of many other kinds have no speaker in verbal expression. Dharmas such as these are called inexpressible dharmas. The Buddha Dharma is most supreme. Because ignorant ordinary beings who have not heard it are unable to understand it, when they hear it they become frightened. They give rise to fear toward the Buddha Dharma, and immediately retreat from all-knowledge. Devas and humans should give rise to compassion. Such beings constantly abide in birth and death and are continually oppressed by suffering.”
At that time, the Yāma devas, after observing sentient beings in the world who are afflicted by defilements, aroused a courageous resolve for the sake of realizing the Buddha Dharma and for the sake of making offerings to the Tathāgata. The offerings they prepared surpassed those of Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, and they made offerings to the Buddha. After making offerings to the Buddha, they bowed their heads to the Buddha’s feet, circumambulated to the right three times, and then withdrew to one side and remained there. At that time, the Yāma devas then praised the Buddha in verses, saying:
“The Buddha contemplates the five aggregates as all empty and quiescent.With regard to the elements and the sense bases, it is likewise so.
All accumulations of the sense faculties are devoid of form and characteristics. The Tathāgata truly knows them all as they are.
Worldly sages, with regard to True Dharma, do not rely on hearing from others but naturally awaken and understand.
What are called conventional truth and ultimate truth, apart from these there is no third Dharma.
The Tathāgata, out of compassion for all sentient beings, speaks conventional truth for the benefit of the world.
The Tathāgata proclaims the Dharma within the world to reveal to sentient beings the six paths of transmigration.
Hells, animals, and hungry ghosts, the paths of humans and devas and that of asuras,
lowly households and honored households, all poor families and wealthy families,
servants and maidservants, male and female kinds, and those of two organs,
all the six paths in the world, the Buddha, with his unequaled body, has fully proclaimed them all.
After observing the dharmas of conventional truth, the Buddha speaks them for the benefit of the world.
Sentient beings delight in clinging to birth and death and are unable to escape the eight worldly conditions,
namely gain and loss, slander and praise, commendation and ridicule, suffering and pleasure.
When they gain, their minds give rise to joy. When they lose, their minds give rise to anger and distress.
The remainder should be understood as stated. The world entirely follows these eight conditions.
Those who grasp conventional truth as real should be understood to hold inverted views.
In the impure they speak of purity and pleasure. In the selfless they cling to a self.
In impermanent dharmas they cling to permanence. Abiding in such false appearances, they grasp and cling.
When they hear the Dharma taught by the Tathāgata, they become fearful, slander it, and refuse to accept it.
After slandering the True Dharma of the Tathāgata, they fall into extremely painful hells.
Ignorant ordinary beings, because of craving for worldly pleasures, in turn undergo boundless and manifold sufferings.
If there is someone within the Buddha Dharma who observes truthfully and without inversion,
abandons all becoming and enters Nirvāṇa, it is like a snake shedding its old skin.
The intrinsic nature of all dharmas is originally nonexistent. Emptiness, devoid of characteristics, is the ultimate meaning.
If one hears this Dharma and gives rise to joy and delight, one will certainly attain unsurpassed, supreme Bodhi.
The Tathāgata truthfully proclaims this Dharma to cut off and eliminate all doubts of the celestial multitudes.
They all give rise to the mind of Unsurpassed Bodhi for the sake of delivering and liberating all sentient beings.
After these celestial multitudes give rise to such resolve, they are all filled with joy and their minds become pure.
Having heard the most supreme and wondrous Buddha Dharma, these celestial multitudes will all be able to become Buddhas.”
At that time, the World-Honored One, knowing the profound joy and aspiration in the hearts of the four hundred million devas of Yāma Heaven, manifested a gentle smile. At that time, Aśvajit asked the Tathāgata in verses, saying:
“The Buddha manifests a smile for the sake of the world. All the assembly present gives rise to doubt.
We only pray that the World-Honored One will explain the causes and conditions of this smile, so that the assembled multitudes may all gain joy.
After hearing that the devas have been bestowed predictions, all the assembly leaps with great delight.
Those with wisdom arouse courageous resolve and practice in accordance with the Buddha Dharma.
The Tathāgata’s noble assembly are fully qualified vessels for the Buddha’s merits.
Excellent, you proclaim wondrous words for the sake of gathering and guiding such assemblies.
Those who hear of the Buddha’s merits and give rise to joy in their hearts will certainly obtain these benefits.
After hearing the Tathāgata’s bestowal of prediction, they should diligently practice in accordance with the proper rite.
Excellent. The Honored One of humans and devas is the most supreme among those who teach the Dharma.
For sentient beings who harbor doubt and dual-mindedness, we pray that the World-Honored One will swiftly explain this for us, for at this time the assembly single-mindedly delights in hearing.
May the Lion among humans swiftly explain for us and bestow a supreme prediction upon those Yāma devas.
These multitudes are all filled with joy, and all have given rise to the Bodhi mind.”
At that time, the World-Honored One replied to Aśvajit in verses, saying:
“For the benefit of the world I manifest this smile. Aśvajit, your timely and skillful question
benefits immeasurable multitudes by enabling them to hear of the Tathāgata’s merits.
Sentient beings who delight in craving and anger have no joy or fondness for the Buddha’s merits.
Their minds are confused and disturbed by ignorance, and they will certainly sink into the great ocean of birth and death.
If there is someone who has deep faith and joy in the Buddha Dharma, who in the presence of past Buddhas has already made inquiries,
and who accords with a mind of great compassion, such a person alone can obtain the Buddha’s merits.
If someone sees sentient beings oppressed by decline and affliction, a superior person gives rise to compassion toward them.
When those sentient beings hear of the Buddha’s merits, they uphold and receive the Buddha’s teaching upon their heads like a flower garland.
My assemblies are extremely pure. In the presence of past Buddhas they cultivated merit.
With regard to the Tathāgata’s merits, they uphold and receive them upon their heads like vārsika flower garlands.
The Yāma devas, in the presence of past Buddhas, cultivated moral discipline and cut off attachment.
They became weary of defilements and purified their minds, and gave rise to compassion toward defiled sentient beings.
In the presence of immeasurable Buddhas they personally drew near and made offerings, their number like the sands of the Ganges.
They cultivated immeasurable wholesome dharmas for the sake of seeking Unsurpassed Bodhi.
Knowing that sentient beings are submerged in afflictions, they give rise to compassion toward those who suffer.
They inquire of the Lion among humans, who benefits the world, regarding immeasurable Dharma Gates.
I now, as the guiding teacher, explain for them. All who hear will attain the Buddha Path.
Knowing that those sentient beings are pulled by the hooks of affliction, I therefore proclaim for them the most supreme and wondrous Dharma.
That victorious great man, the great guiding teacher, proclaims the Dharma of emptiness for those sentient beings.
After hearing what the Buddhas have spoken, they all understand that all dharmas are empty.
This so-called emptiness is the absence of all dharma characteristics, the proclamation of non-self-nature and signlessness.
Thus understanding the meaning of the Buddhas’ Dharma, they all abide within the Buddha’s merits.
These supremely wondrous celestial multitudes make offerings to me, and in accordance with the proper rite each receives a prediction.
In a future age, during the Constellation Kalpa, they will all accomplish unsurpassed Buddhahood.
The number of such Tathāgatas neither increases nor decreases, fulfilling the number of four billion.
All the Buddhas share the same name, called Pure Wisdom Honored One, and they awaken immeasurable sentient beings.”
Thus did the great Seer, the subduer of all enemies, respond to Aśvajit’s inquiry,
fulfill the aspirations of the Yāma devas, and cause the assembly, devas, humans, and worldly beings all to be filled with great joy.
