CHAPTER XII.
EXERTION.
Thereafter the Bodhisattva Bhaishagyarâga and the Bodhisattva
Mahâpratibhâna, with a retinue of twenty hundred thousand Bodhisattvas,
spoke before the face of the Lord the following words: Let the Lord be
at ease in this respect; we will after the extinction of the Tathâgata
expound this Paryâya to (all) creatures, though we are aware, O Lord,
that at that period there shall be malign beings, having few roots of
goodness, conceited, fond of gain and honour, rooted in unholiness,
difficult to tame, deprived of good will, and full of unwillingness.
Nevertheless, O Lord, we will at that period read, keep, preach, write,
honour, respect, venerate, worship this Sûtra; with sacrifice of body
and life, O Lord, we will divulge this Sûtra. Let the Lord be at ease.
Thereupon five hundred monks of the assembly, both such as were under
training and such as were not, said to the Lord: We also, O Lord, will
exert ourselves to divulge this Dharmaparyâya, though in other worlds.
Then all the disciples of the Lord, both such as were under training and
such as were not, who had received from the Lord the prediction as to
their (future) supreme enlightenment, all the eight thousand monks
raised their joined hands towards the Lord and said: Let the Lord be at
case. We also will divulge this Dharmaparyâya, after the complete
extinction of the Lord, in the last days, the last period, though in
other worlds. For in this Saha-world, O Lord, the creatures are
conceited, possessed of few roots of goodness, always vicious in their
thoughts, wicked, and naturally perverse.
Then the noble matron Gautamî, the sister of the Lord's mother, along
with six hundred nuns, some of them being under training, some being
not, rose from her seat, raised the joined hands towards the Lord and
remained gazing up to him. Then the Lord addressed the noble matron
Gautamî: Why dost thou stand so dejected, gazing up to the Tathâgata?
(She replied): I have not been mentioned by the Tathâgata, nor have I
received from him a prediction of my destiny to supreme, perfect
enlightenment. (He said): But, Gautamî, thou hast received a prediction
with the prediction regarding the whole assembly. Indeed, Gautamî, thou
shalt from henceforward, before the face of thirty-eight hundred
thousand myriads of kotis of Buddhas, be a Bodhisattva and preacher of
the law. These six thousand nuns also, partly perfected in discipline,
partly not, shall along with others become Bodhisattvas and preachers of
the law before the face of the Tathâgatas. Afterwards, when thou shalt
have completed the course of a Bodhisattva, thou shalt become, under the
name of Sarvasattvapriyadarsana (i. e. lovely to see for all beings), a
Tathâgata, an Arhat, &c., endowed with science and conduct, &c.
&c. And that Tathâgata Sarvasattvapriyadarsana, O Gautami, shall
give a prediction by regular succession to those six thousand
Bodhisattvas concerning their destiny to supreme, perfect enlightenment.
Then the nun Yasodharâ, the mother of Rahula, thought thus: The Lord
has not mentioned my name. And the Lord comprehending in his own mind
what was going on in the mind of the nun Yasodharâ said to her: I
announce to thee, Yasodharâ, I declare to thee: Thou also shalt before
the face of ten thousand kotis of Buddhas become a Bodhisattva and
preacher of the law, and after regularly completing the course of a
Bodhisattva thou shalt become a Tathâgata, named
Rasmisatasahasraparipûrnadhvaga, an Arhat, &c., endowed with science
and conduct, &c. &c., in the world Bhadra; and the lifetime of
that Lord Rasmisatasahasrapariptirnadhvaga shall be unlimited.
When the noble matron Gautami, the nun, with her suite of six
thousand nuns, and Yasodhara, the nun, with her suite of four thousand
nuns, heard from the Lord their future destiny to supreme, perfect
enlio,htenment, they uttered, in wonder and amazement, this stanza:
1. O Lord, thou art the trainer, thou art the leader; thou art the
master of the world, including the gods; thou art the giver of comfort,
thou who art worshipped by men and gods. Now, indeed, we feel satisfied.
After uttering this stanza the nuns said to the Lord: We also, O
Lord, will exert ourselves to divulge this Dharmaparyâya in the last
days, though in other worlds.
Thereafter the Lord looked towards the eighty hundred thousand
Bodhisattvas who were gifted with magical spells and capable of moving
forward the wheel that never rolls back. No sooner were those
Bodhisattvas regarded by the Lord than they rose from their seats,
raised their joined hands towards the Lord and reflected thus: The Lord
invites us to make known the Dharmaparyâya. Agitated by that thought
they asked one another: What shall we do, young men of good family, in
order that this Dharmaparyâya may in future be made known as the Lord
invites us to do? Thereupon those young men of good family, in
consequence of their reverence for the Lord and their own pious vow in
their previous course, raised a lion's roar before the Lord: We, O Lord,
will in future, after the complete extinction of the Lord, go in all
directions in order that creatures shall write, keep, meditate, divulge
this Dharmaparyâya, by no other's power but the Lord's. And the Lord,
staying in another world, shall protect, defend, and guard us.
Then the Bodhisattvas unanimously in a chorus addressed the Lord with the following stanzas:
2. Be at ease, O Lord. After thy complete extinction, in the horrible
last period of the world, we will proclaim this sublime Sûtra.
3. We will suffer, patiently endure, O Lord, the injuries, threats, blows and threats with sticks at the hands of foolish men.
4. At that dreadful last epoch men will be malign, crooked, wicked,
dull, conceited, fancying to have come to the limit when they have not.
5. 'We do not care but to live in the wilderness and wear a patched
cloth; we lead a frugal life;' so will they speak to the ignorant.
6. And persons greedily attached to enjoyments will preach the law to
laymen and be honoured as if they possessed the six transcendent
qualities.
7. Cruel-minded and wicked men, only occupied with household cares,
will enter our retreat in the forest and become our calumniators.
8. The Tîrthikas, themselves bent on profit and honour, will say of
us that we are so, and-shame on such monks!-they will preach their own
fictions.
9. Prompted by greed of profit and honour they will compose Sûtras of
their own invention and then, in the midst of the assembly, accuse us
of plagiarism.
10. To kings, princes, king's peers, as well as to Brahmans and commoners, and to monks of other confessions,
11. They will speak evil of us and propagate the Tîrtha-doctrine. We will endure all that out of reverence for the great Seers.
12. And those fools who will not listen to us, shall (sooner or
later) become enlightened, and therefore will we forbear to the last.
13. In that dreadful, most terrible period of frightful general revolution will many fiendish monks stand up as our revilers.
14. Out of respect for the Chief of the world we will bear it,
however difficult it be; girded with the girdle of forbearance will I
proclaim this Sûtra.
15. I do not care for my body or life, O Lord, but as keepers of thine entrusted deposit we care for enlightenment.
16. The Lord himself knows that in the last pericd there are (to be) wicked monks who do not understand mysterious speech.
17. One will have to bear frowning looks, repeated disavowal (or
concealment), expulsion from the monasteries, many and manifold abuses.
18. Yet mindful of the command of the Lord of the world we will in
the last period undauntedly proclaim this Sûtra in the midst of the
congregation.
19. We will visit towns and villages everywhere, and transmit to those who care for it thine entrusted deposit, O Lord.
20. O Chief of the world, we will deliver thy message; be at ease then, tranquil and quiet, great Seer.
21. Light of the world, thou knowest the disposition of all who have
flocked hither from every direction, (and thou knowest that) we speak a
word of truth.
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