Bibliotheca Polyglotta

sadāpraruditaparivartastriṃśattamaḥ |

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Chapter XXX Sadaprarudita

punar aparaṃ subhūte tatheyaṃ prajñāpāramitā paryeṣṭavyā, yathā sadāpraruditena bodhisattvena mahāsattvena paryeṣitā, ya etarhi bhīṣmagarjitanirghoṣasvarasya tathāgatasyārhataḥ samyaksaṃbuddhasyāntike brahmacaryaṃ carati | evam ukte āyuṣmān subhūtir bhagavantam etad avocat - kathaṃ bhagavan sadāpraruditena bodhisattvena mahāsattveneyaṃ prajñāpāramitā paryeṣitā? evam ukte bhagavān āyuṣmantaṃ subhūtim etad avocat - sadāpraruditena subhūte bodhisattvena mahāsattvena pūrvaṃ prajñāpāramitāṃ paryeṣamāṇena kāye ’narthikena jīvitanirapekṣeṇa lābhasatkāraślokeṣvaniśritena paryeṣamāṇena paryeṣitā | tena prajñāpāramitāṃ paryeṣamāṇenāraṇyagatenāntarīkṣān nirghoṣaḥ śruto ’bhūt - gaccha tvaṃ kulaputra pūrvasyāṃ diśi | tataḥ prajñāpāramitāṃ śroṣyasi | tathā ca gaccha, yathā na kāyaklamathamanasikāram utpādayasi, na styānamiddhamanasikāram utpādayasi, na bhojanamanasikāram utpādayasi, na pānīyamanasikāram utpādayasi, na rātrimanasikāram utpādayasi, na divasamanasikāram utpādayasi, na śītamanasikāram utpādayasi, noṣṇamanasikāram utpādayasi | mā ca kvacic cittaṃ praṇidhāḥ adhyātmaṃ vā bahirdhā vā | mā ca kulaputra vāmenālokayan gāḥ, mā dakṣiṇena, mā pūrveṇa, mā paścimena, mottareṇa, mordhvam, mādhaḥ, mā cānuvidiśam avalokayan gāḥ | tathā ca kulaputra gaccha, yathā nātmato na satkāyataś calasi | yathā na rūpataś calasi, yathā na vedanāto na saṃjñāto na saṃskārataḥ, yathā na vijñānataś calasi | yo hy ataś calati, sa vitiṣṭhate | kuto vitiṣṭhate? buddhadharmebhyo vitiṣṭhate | yo buddhadharmebhyo vitiṣṭhate, sa saṃsāre carati | yaḥ saṃsāre carati, sa na carati prajñāpāramitāyām | sa prajñāpāramitāṃ nānuprāpnotīti ||

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1. Sadaprarudita sets out to find perfect wisdom Furthermore, Subhuti, one should search for perfect wisdom as the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita has done, who at present leads the holy life in the presence of the Tathagata Bhishmagarjitanirghoshasvara. Subhuti: How then did the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita search for the perfection of wisdom? The Lord: First of all Sadaprarudita, the Bodhisattva, searched for perfect wisdom in such a way that he did not care for his body, had no regard for his life, and gain, honour and fame did not interest him. He found himself in the seclusion of a remote forest, and a voice up in the air said to him: Go East, son of good family! There you shall hear the perfection of wisdom! And on your way you must not pay any attention to the weariness of your body, you must not give in to any fatigue, you must pay no attention to food or drink, to day or night, to cold or heat. You must not make any definite plans, either about inward, or about outward things. You must not look to the left or right, to the South, East, West or North, upwards or downwards, or in any of the intermediate directions. And you must not allow yourself to be shaken by self or individuality, or by form or the other skandhas. (482) For one who is shaken by those, he is turned away from the Buddha-dharmas. When he is turned away from the Buddha-dharmas, then he wanders in birth-and-death. And when he wanders in birth-and-death, then he does not course in perfect wisdom, then he cannot reach the perfection of wisdom.

evam ukte sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas taṃ nirghoṣam etad avocat - evaṃ vai kariṣyāmi | tat kasya hetoḥ? ahaṃ hi sarvasattvānām ālokaṃ kartukāmo buddhadharmān samudānetukāma iti | evam ukte sa nirghoṣaḥ sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam etad avocat - sādhu sādhu kulaputra sadāprarudita ||

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Sadaprarudita said to the voice: That is how I shall act. Because I want to bring light to all beings, because I want to procure the dharmas of a Buddha. The Voice answered: Well spoken, son of good family!

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ punar api śabdam aśrauṣīt | evaṃ cāśrauṣīt - śūnyatānimittāpraṇihiteṣu ca tvayā kulaputra sarvadharmeṣv adhimuktim utpādya prajñāpāramitā paryeṣṭavyā | nimittaparivarjitena bhāvaparivarjitena sattvadṛṣṭiparivarjitena ca tvayā bhavitavyam | pāpamitrāṇi ca tvayā kulaputra parivarjayitavyāni | kalyāṇamitrāṇi ca tvayā sevitavyāni bhaktavyāni paryupāsitavyāni, yāni ca śūnyatānimittāpraṇihitānutpādājātāniruddhābhāvāḥ sarvadharmā iti dharmaṃ deśayanti | evaṃ tvaṃ kulaputra pratipadyamāno nacireṇa prajñāpāramitāṃ śroṣyasi pustakagatāṃ vā dharmabhāṇakasya bhikṣoḥ kāyagatām | yasya ca tvaṃ kulaputrāntikāt prajñāpāramitāṃ śṛṇuyāḥ śāstṛsaṃjñā tvayā tatrotpādayitavyā | kṛtajñena ca tvayā bhavitavyaṃ kṛtavedinā ca - eṣa mama kalyāṇamitraṃ yasyemāṃ prajñāpāramitām antikāc chṛṇomi | yām ahaṃ śṛṇvan (239) kṣipram evāvinivartanīyo bhaviṣyāmy anuttarāyāḥ samyaksaṃbodheḥ, āsannaś ca bhaviṣyāmi tathāgatānām arhatāṃ samyaksaṃbuddhānām | tathāgatāvirahiteṣu buddhakṣetreṣūpapatsye | akṣaṇāṃś ca vivarjayiṣyāmi | kṣaṇasaṃpadaṃ ca ārāgayiṣyāmīti | imās tvayā kulaputrānuśaṃsāḥ paritulayamānena dharmabhāṇake bhikṣau śāstṛsaṃjñotpādayitavyā | na ca tvayā kulaputra lokāmiṣapratisaṃyuktayā cittasaṃtatyā dharmabhāṇako bhikṣur anubaddhavyaḥ | dharmārthikena ca tvayā dharmagauraveṇa dharmabhāṇako bhikṣur anubaddhavyaḥ | mārakarmāṇi ca tvayā avaboddhavyāni | asti hi kulaputra māraḥ pāpīyān dharmabhāṇakasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya rūpaśabdagandharasasparśānupasaṃharati sevituṃ bhaktuṃ paryupāsitum | tāṃś cāsāv abhibhūya upāyakauśalyena parisevate bhajate paryupāste | tatra ca tvayā kulaputra dharmabhāṇake bhikṣau nāprasādacittam utpādayitavyam | api tvevaṃ cittam utpādayitavyam - nāhaṃ tad upāyakauśalyaṃ jāne, yad eṣa upāyakauśalyaṃ prajānāti | eṣa sattvavinayena sattvānāṃ kuśalamūlaparigraham upādāya enān dharmān pratisevate bhajate paryupāste | na hi kvacid bodhisattvānāṃ mahāsattvānāṃ saṅgo vā ārambaṇaṃ vā saṃvidyate | tatkṣaṇaṃ ca tvayā kulaputra dharmāṇāṃ bhūtanayaḥ pratyavekṣitavyaḥ | katamaś ca kulaputra dharmāṇāṃ bhūtanayaḥ? yad uta sarvadharmā asaṃkleśā avyavadānāḥ | tat kasya hetoḥ? sarvadharmā hi svabhāvena śūnyāḥ | sarvadharmā hi niḥsattvā nirjīvā niṣpoṣā niṣpuruṣā niṣpudgalā māyopamāḥ svapnopamāḥ pratiśrutkopamāḥ pratibhāsopamāḥ | evaṃ tvaṃ kulaputra sarvadharmāṇāṃ bhūtanayaṃ pratyavekṣamāṇo dharmabhāṇakam anubadhnan nacireṇa prajñāpāramitāyāṃ niryāsyasi | aparam api tvaṃ kulaputra mārakarma samanvāhareḥ | sacet kulaputra dharmabhāṇakaḥ prajñāpāramitārthikaṃ kulaputram avasādayati, na samanvāharati, tatra tvayā kulaputra na prativāṇiḥ kartavyā | api tu dharmārthikenaiva dharmagauraveṇaivānirviṇṇamānasena dharmabhāṇako bhikṣur anubaddhavyaḥ ||

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Thereupon the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita again listened to the voice, and what he heard was this: Son of good family, you should search for perfect wisdom after you have produced the firm conviction that all dharmas are void, signless and wishless. You must shun signs, existence, and the false view that there are beings. You must shun bad friends. Good friends, however, you should tend, love and honour. They are those who demonstrate dharma, and who teach that “all dharmas are void, signless and wishless, not produced, not stopped and non-existent.” When you progress like this, you shall before long be able to study the perfection of wisdom either from a book, or from the mouth of a monk who preaches dharma. And you should treat as the Teacher that person from whom you may come to hear the perfection of wisdom, you should be grateful and thankful, and you should think (483,1): “This is my good friend. When I have heard the perfection of wisdom from him, I shall soon become irreversible from full enlightenment, shall be quite near the Tathagatas, shall be reborn in Buddha-fields in which Tathagatas are not lacking, and, avoiding the unfortunate rebirths, I shall accomplish an auspicious rebirth!” When you weigh up these advantages, you are bound to treat that monk who preaches dharma as the Teacher. You should not follow him with motives of worldly gain, but from desire for dharma, out of respect for dharma. You must also see through Mara’s deeds. For there is always Mara, the Evil One, who may suggest that your teacher tends, enjoys and honours things that can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched, when in actual fact he does so from skill in means, and has really risen above them. You should therefore not lose confidence in him, but say to yourself: “I do not know that skill in means as he wisely knows it. He tends, enjoys and honours those dharmas, in order to discipline beings, in order to win wholesome roots for them. For no attachment to objective supports exists in Bodhisattvas.” After that you should contemplate the true reality of dharmas, i.e. that all dharmas are without defilement and purification. For all dharmas are empty in their own-being (484,1), they have none of the properties of a living being, they have no life, no individuality, no personality, they are like an illusion, a dream, an echo, a reflected image. When you thus contemplate the true reality of all dharmas, and follow the preacher of dharma, you shall before long go forth into the perfection of wisdom. But you must watch out for yet another deed of Mara. If the preacher of dharma should dishearten you by what he says, that should not make you averse to the perfection of wisdom; but with a mind that desires only dharma, that respects only dharma, you should, unwearied, follow the monk who preaches dharma.

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tasya nirghoṣasyāntikād imām anuśāsanīṃ pratigṛhya yena pūrvā dik tena pratikrāmati sma | aciraprakrāntasya cāsyaitad abhūt - na mayā sa nirghoṣaḥ paripṛṣṭaḥ - kiyad dūraṃ mayā gantavyam iti | sa tatraiva pṛthivīpradeśe sthito ’bhūt | tatra rudan krandan śocan paridevamānaḥ evaṃ cintayati sma - asminn eva pṛthivīpradeśe ekaṃ vā rātriṃdivam atināmayiṣyāmi, dve vā, trīṇi vā, catvāri vā, pañca vā, ṣaḍ vā, sapta vā rātriṃdivāny atināmayiṣyāmi | na kāyaklamathamanasikāram utpādayiṣyāmi | na styānamiddhamanasikāram utpādayiṣyāmi | na bhojanamanasikāram utpādayiṣyāmi | na pānīyamanasikāram utpādayiṣyāmi | na rātrimanasikāram utpādayiṣyāmi | na divasamanasikāram utpādayiṣyāmi | na śītamanasikāram utpādayiṣyāmi | noṣṇamanasikāram utpādayiṣyāmi, yāvan na prajñāpāramitāṃ śroṣyāmīti | tadyathāpi nāma subhūte kaścid eva puruṣaḥ ekaputrake kālagate mahatā duḥkhadaurmanasyena samanvāgato ’bhavat, tasya putraśokena nānyaḥ kaścin manasikāraḥ pravartate, api tv ekaputrakamanasikāra eva pravartate | evam eva subhūte sadāpraruditasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya tasmin (240) samaye nānyaḥ kaścin manasikāraḥ pravartate sma, api tu kadā nāmāhaṃ tāṃ prajñāpāramitāṃ śroṣyāmīti ||

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After receiving this admonition from the voice, the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita journeyed East. Before long it occurred to him that he had not asked the voice how far he ought to go. He stood still just where he was, cried, sorrowed and lamented. For seven days he stayed in that very spot waiting to be told where he could hear the perfection of wisdom, and all that time he paid no attention to anything else, and took no food, but simply paid homage to perfect wisdom. A man, Subhuti, who had lost his only child, would be very sad and unhappy, (485) and he could think of one thing only, his son and the sorrow he feels from him. Even so the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita could at that time think of nothing else, except “when then shall I hear this perfection of wisdom?”

atha khalu subhūte sadāpraruditasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya tathotkaṇṭhitasya tathāgatavigrahaḥ purataḥ sthitvā sādhukāram adāt - sādhu sādhu kulaputra, yas tvam enāṃ vācaṃ bhāṣase | evaṃ hi kulaputra paurvakair api tathāgatair arhadbhiḥ samyaksaṃbuddhaiḥ pūrvaṃ bodhisattvacaryāṃ caradbhiḥ prajñāpāramitā paryeṣitā, yathā tvam etarhi paryeṣase | tena hi tvaṃ kulaputra etenaiva vīryeṇa etenaivotsāhenaṃ etayaivārthikatayā etayaiva cchandikatayā anubadhya pūrvām eva diśaṃ gaccha | asti kulaputra itaḥ pañcabhir yojanaśatair gandhavatī nāma nagarī saptaratnamayī, saptabhiḥ prākārair anuparikṣiptā, saptabhiḥ parikhābhiḥ saptabhis tālapaṅktibhir anuparikṣiptā, dvādaśa yojanāni āyāmena, dvādaśa yojanāni vistāreṇa, ṛddhā ca sphītā ca kṣemā ca subhikṣā ca ākīrṇabahujanamanuṣyā ca pañcabhir antarāpaṇavīthiśatair ālekhyavicitrasadṛśair darśanīyair nirviddhā asamasamair anutpīḍajanayugyayānasaṃkramaṇasthānasthāpitaiḥ sumāpitā | samantataḥ prākārāś ca tasyā nagaryāḥ saptaratnamayāḥ | teṣāṃ ca saptaratnamayānāṃ prākārāṇāṃ jāmbūnadasya suvarṇasya khoḍakaśīrṣāṇi pramāṇavanty upodgatāni | sarvasmiṃś ca khoḍakaśīrṣe saptaratnamayo vṛkṣo jāto nānāvicitrai ratnamayaiḥ phalaiḥ phalavān | sarvataś ca khoḍakavṛkṣād ratnamayaṃ sūtraṃ dvitīyaṃ khoḍakavṛkṣāntaramavasaktam | sarvāvatī ca sā nagarī sauvarṇena kiṅkiṇījālena praticchannā | tasya ca kiṅkiṇījālasya vāteneritasya valgurmanojño rañjanīyaḥ śabdo niścarati | tadyathāpi nāma pañcāṅgikasya tūryasya sametya saṃgītyāṃ kuśalair gandharvaiḥ saṃpravāditasya valgurmanojño rañjanīyo nirghoṣo niścarati, evam eva tasya kiṅkiṇījālasya vāteritasya valgurmanojño rañjanīyo nirghoṣo niścarati | tena ca śabdena te sattvāḥ krīḍanti ramante paricārayanti | samantāc ca tasyā nagaryāḥ parikhā vāriparipūrṇā anusārivārivāhinyo vāriṇo nātiśītasya nātyuṣṇasya pūrṇāḥ | tasmiṃś ca vāriṇi nāvaḥ saptānāṃ ratnānāṃ vicitrā darśanīyās teṣām eva sattvānāṃ pūrvakarmavipākenābhinirvṛttāḥ, yāsu te sattvā abhiruhya krīḍanti ramante paricārayanti | sarvaṃ ca tadvāri utpalapadmakumudapuṇḍarīkasaṃchāditam, anyaiś cābhijātābhijātaiḥ sugandhagandhibhiḥ puṣpaiḥ saṃchāditam | nāsti sā kācit trisāhasramahāsāhasre lokadhātau puṣpajātiryā tatra nāsti | samantāc ca tasyā nagaryāḥ pañcodyānaśatāni | sarvāṇi tāni saptaratnamayāni vicitrāṇi darśanīyāni | ekaikasmiṃś codyāne pañca pañca puṣkariṇīśatāni | krośaḥ krośaḥ pramāṇaṃ samantāttatpuṣkariṇīnām | sarvāsu tāsu puṣkariṇīṣu saptaratnamayāni vicitrāṇi darśanīyāni utpalapadmakumudapuṇḍarīkāṇi jātāni, yais tad udakaṃ saṃchāditam | sarvāṇi ca tāny utpalapadmakumudapuṇḍarīkāni śakaṭacakrapramāṇapariṇāhāni sugandhāni nīlāni nīlavarṇāni nīlanidarśanāni nīlanirbhāsāni, pītāni pītavarṇāni pītanidarśanāni pītanirbhāsāni, lohitāni lohitavarṇāni lohitanidarśanāni lohitanirbhāsāni, avadātāni avadātavarṇānyavadātanidarśanānyavadātanirbhāsāni | sarvāś ca tāḥ puṣkariṇyo haṃsasārasakāraṇḍavakrauñcacakravākopanikūjitāḥ | (241) sarvāni ca tāny udyānāni amamāny aparigrahāṇi, teṣām eva sattvānāṃ pūrvakarmavipākenābhinirvṛttāni, yathāpi nāma dīrgharātraṃ prajñāpāramitāyāṃ caritavatāṃ buddhanetrīcitrīkārānugatasugataśrutacittānāṃ sattvānāṃ dīrgharātraṃ gambhīreṣu dharmeṣv adhimuktānām | tatra ca kulaputra gandhavatyāṃ nagaryāṃ madhye śṛṅgāṭakasya dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya gṛhaṃ yojanaṃ samantāt | saptānāṃ ratnānāṃ citraṃ darśanīyam | saptabhiḥ prākāraiḥ saptabhis tālapaṅktibhir anuparikṣiptam | tasmiṃś ca gṛhe catvāry udyānāni gṛhaparibhogopabhogaparibhogāya | nityapramuditaṃ ca nāmodyānam | aśokaṃ ca nāma śokavigataṃ ca nāma puṣpacitraṃ ca nāmodyānam | ekaikasmiṃś codyāne ’ṣṭāvaṣṭau puṣkariṇyo yad uta bhadrā ca nāma, bhadrottamā ca nāma, nandā ca nāma, nandottamā ca nāma, kṣamā ca nāma, kṣamottamā ca nāma, niyatā ca nāma, avivāhā ca nāma | tāsāṃ ca khalu puṣkariṇīnām ekaṃ pārśvaṃ sauvarṇamayaṃ dvitīyaṃ pārśvaṃ rūpyamayaṃ tṛtīyaṃ pārśvaṃ vaidūryamayaṃ caturthaṃ pārśvaṃ sphaṭikamayam | adhobhūmiḥ karketanamayī, suvarṇavālukās tīrṇā | ekaikasyāṃ ca puṣkariṇyām aṣṭāvaṣṭau sopānāni nānāvicitrai ratnamayaiḥ sopānaphalakaiḥ pratimaṇḍitāni | sarvasmiṃś ca sopānaphalakavivarāntare jāmbūnadasya suvarṇasya kadalīvṛkṣo jātaḥ | sarvāś ca tāḥ puṣkariṇyo nānotpalapadmakumudapuṇḍarīkasaṃchāditasalilā haṃsasārasakāraṇḍavakrauñcacakravākopakūjitāḥ | samantāc ca tāsāṃ puṣkariṇīnāṃ nānācitrāḥ puṣpavṛkṣā jātāḥ | teṣāṃ puṣpavṛkṣāṇāṃ vāteneritāni puṣpāṇi puṣkariṇīṣu patanti | sarvāsu ca tāsu puṣkariṇīṣu candanagandhikaṃ vāri, varṇopetaṃ rasopetaṃ sparśopetam | tatra ca dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ saparivāro ’ṣṭaṣaṣṭayā strīsahasraiḥ sārdhaṃ pañcabhiḥ kāmaguṇaiḥ samarpitaḥ samanvaṅgībhūtaḥ krīḍati ramate paricārayati | ye ’pi tatra nagare anye sattvā vāstavyāḥ, striyaś ca puruṣāśca, te ’pi sarve nityapramuditodyāneṣu puṣkariṇīṣu ca pañcabhiḥ kāmaguṇaiḥ samarpitāḥ samanvaṅgībhūtāḥ krīḍanti ramante paricārayanti | sa khalu punar dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ sārdhaṃ parivāreṇa tāvatkālaṃ krīḍati ramate paricārayati, tatastrikālaṃ prajñāpāramitāṃ deśayati | ye ’pi te sattvās tatra gandhavatyāṃ nagaryāṃ vāstavyāḥ te ’pi madhye nagaraśṛṅgāṭakasya dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya āsanaṃ prajñapayanti, suvarṇapādakaṃ vā rūpyapādakaṃ vā vaiḍūryapādakaṃ vā sphaṭikapādakaṃ vā, tūlikāstīrṇaṃ vā, goṇikāstīrṇaṃ vā, uparigarbholikaṃ vā, kāśikavastrapratyāstaraṇaṃ vā ardhakrośamuccaistvena | upariṣṭāc cāntarīkṣe cailavitānaṃ muktāvicitritaṃ samaṃ sahitā niratāḥ kimayaṃ saṃsthita iti susaṃsthitavicitravipākatayā dhārayanti | samantāc ca taṃ pṛthivīpradeśaṃ pañcavarṇikaiḥ kusumair abhyavakiranti saṃpravikiranti | nānāgandhadhūpadhūpitaṃ ca taṃ pṛthivīpradeśaṃ kurvanti, yathāpīdaṃ dharmāśayaviśuddhyā tasya dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya dharmagauraveṇa ca | tatra dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvo niṣaṇṇaḥ prajñāpāramitāṃ deśayati | evaṃrūpeṇa kulaputra dharmagauraveṇa dharmāṇāṃ saṃniśrayatayā (242) śraddheyaśraddadhānatayā śraddhotpādanena te sattvā dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasyāntikāt prajñāpāramitāṃ śṛṇvanti | tatra ca bahūni prāṇiśatāni bahūni prāṇisahasrāṇi bahūni prāṇiśatasahasrāṇi saṃnipatitāni devamanuṣyāṇāṃ śṛṇvanti | tato ’nye kecid uddiśanti, kecit svādhyāyanti, kecil likhanti, kecid yoniśo manasikāreṇānugacchanti | sarvaṃ ca te sattvā avinipātadharmāṇo ’vinivartanīyā anuttarāyāḥ samyaksaṃbodheḥ | tasya tvaṃ kulaputra dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasyāntikaṃ gaccha | tataḥ śroṣyasi prajñāpāramitām | sa hi tava kulaputra dīrgharātraṃ kalyāṇamitraṃ saṃdarśakaḥ samādāpakaḥ samuttejakaḥ saṃpraharṣako ’nuttarāyāḥ samyaksaṃbodheḥ | tenāpi kulaputra pūrvam evaṃ prajñāpāramitā paryeṣitā, yathā tvam etarhi paryeṣase | gaccha tvaṃ kulaputra rātriṃdivam adhiṣṭhitamanasikāram utpādayamāno nacireṇa prajñāpāramitāṃ śroṣyasi ||

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2. Description of Gandhavati, and of Dharmodgata’s life When Sadaprarudita thus sorrowed and pined away, a Tathagata-frame [suddenly] stood before him, gave his approval and said: Well spoken, son of good family! For the Tathagatas of the past, when they were Bodhisattvas, have also searched for perfect wisdom in the same spirit in which you just now search for it. In this same spirit of vigour and determination, of zeal and zest, - do you go East! There, five hundred leagues away from here, is a town called Gandhavati. It is built of the seven precious things. It is twelve leagues long and twelve leagues broad, and enclosed by seven walls, seven moats and seven rows of palm trees. It is prosperous and flourishing, secure from attack, contains abundant provisions and is full of beasts and men. Five hundred rows of shops run through the town from one end to the other, beautiful to behold like a well-coloured painting, arranged one by one in regular succession, and in between them well-constructed sites and passages are erected, respectively for vehicles drawn by animals, for palanquins, and for pedestrians, so that there is plenty of room for all. The walls all round that town are made of the seven precious substances. (486) Their well-founded copings slope into the golden river Jambu. And on each coping grows a tree, made of the seven precious things, laden with various fruits, also made of precious things. All around, between each tree and the next, hangs a string, also made of precious substances. A network of small bells in fastened on the strings, and thus surrounds the entire city. When stirred by the wind, the small bells give out a sweet, charming and delightful sound, just like the sound from the five musical instruments when they are played in harmony by the Gandharvas, skilled in songs. And that sound causes those beings to divert, enjoy and amuse themselves. The moats all around the city are full of water which flows gently along, neither too cold nor too hot. The boats on that river are brilliant with the seven precious things, beautiful to behold, and their existence is a reward of the past deeds of the inhabitants who, aboard them, divert, enjoy and amuse themselves. The water is everywhere covered with blossoms of the blue lotus, of the pink lotus, of the white lotus, and with other most beautiful and fragrant flowers. There is no species of flowers in the great trichiliocosm that is not found there. All around that city there are five hundred parks, beautiful to behold, brilliant with the seven precious things. (487) Each park has five times five hundred large lotus ponds, covered with beautiful blossoms, each of the size of a cartwheel, fragrant, - blue, yellow, red and white. The sounds of geese, cranes, ducks, curlews and other birds fill the air over the ponds. And the existence of those parks which they do not regard as their own private property is a reward for the past deeds of those beings, for they had coursed for a long time in the perfection of wisdom, their minds faithfully devoted to the Guide of the Buddhas and bent on listening to her and understanding her, and for a long time they had been intent on deep dharmas. And there, in that city of Gandhavati, at a place where four roads meet, is the house of the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata, - one league all round, bright with the seven precious things, beautiful to behold, enclosed by seven walls and seven rows of palm trees. There are four parks near the house, for the enjoyment of those who live in it. They are called Nityapramudita, Asoka, Sokavigata, and Pushpacitra. Each park has eight lotus ponds, called Bhadra, Bhadrottama, Nandi, Nandottama, Kshama, Kshamottama, Niyata and Avivaha. One side of each pond is of gold, the second of silver, (488) the third of vaidurya, the fourth of crystal. The ground at the bottom consists of quartz, with golden sand over it. Each pond has eight stairs to it, decorated with steps, made of variegated jewels. In the gaps between the steps, inside the golden river Jambu, grows a plantain tree. The ponds are covered with various kinds of water flowers, and the air above them is filled with the sounds of various birds. Round these ponds grow various flowering trees, and when they are stirred by the wind, their flowers drop into the ponds. The water in the ponds has the scent, colour, taste and feel of sandalwood. In this mansion lives the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata, with his retinue, among them sixty-eight thousand women. He diverts, enjoys and amuses himself, he feels and tastes the five kinds of sense-pleasure. All the inhabitants of that city, both women and men, divert, enjoy and amuse themselves, they have constant joy in the parks and on the ponds and they feel and taste the five kinds of sense-pleasure. The Bodhisattva Dharmodgata, however, with his retinue, diverts, enjoys and amuses himself only for a certain time, and thereafter he always demonstrates the perfection of wisdom. And the citizens of that town built a pulpit for the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata in the central square of the town. It has a golden base, then a cotton mattress is spread on that, then a woollen cover, a cushion and a silken cloth are put on top of that. High up in the air, half a Kos high, there is an awning, shining with pearls, even and firm. All (489) round that pulpit flowers of the five colours are strewed and scattered, and the pulpit itself is scented with various perfumes. So pure is the heart of Dharmodgata, so great the respect of his hearers for dharma. Seated on that pulpit the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata demonstrates the perfection of wisdom. The citizens of that town listen to his teaching with great respect for dharma, with trust in dharma, with faith in what is worthy of faith, with minds that are lifted up in faith. In addition many hundreds, many thousands, many hundreds of thousands of living beings, Gods and men, assemble there to listen. Some of them explain the perfection of wisdom, some repeat it, some copy it, some follow it with wise attention. All those beings are no longer doomed to fall into the states of woe, and they are irreversible from full enlightenment. Son of good family, go to that Bodhisattva Dharmodgata! From him you shall hear the perfection of wisdom. For he has been for a long time your good friend, he has summoned, instigated and encouraged you to win full enlightenment. He also has, in the past, searched for the perfection of wisdom in the same way in which just now you search for it. Go forth, son of good family, go on day and night, giving your undivided attention to the task! Before long you shall hear the perfection of wisdom!

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ idaṃ śrutvā tuṣṭa udagra āttamanaskaḥ pramuditaḥ prītisaumanasyajāto ’bhūt | tadyathāpi nāma puruṣaḥ saviṣeṇa śalyena viddho nānyaṃ manasikāram utpādayati, api tu kadā nāmāhaṃ śalyahartāraṃ vaidyaṃ lapsye yo mamedaṃ śalyam uddhariṣyati, yo mām ito duḥkhān mocayiṣyatīti | evam eva sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tasmin samaye nānyaṃ kaṃcid dharmaṃ manasikaroti, api tu kadā nāmāhaṃ taṃ kulaputraṃ drakṣyāmi yo māṃ prajñāpāramitāṃ śrāvayiṣyati, yan mama dharmaṃ śrutvopalambhamanasikārāḥ prahāsyanta iti ||

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When the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita had heard this, he became contented, elated, joyful, overjoyed and jubilant. (490) A man, hit with a poisoned arrow, could not think of anything else except: “Where shall I find a surgeon, a skilled physician, who can pull out this arrow, and free me from this suffering.” Just so the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita at that time pays no attention to any dharma except: ”When then shall I see that son of good family from whom I shall hear the perfection of wisdom? When I have heard that dharma, I shall forsake all attentions to a basis.”

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tasminn eva pṛthivīpradeśe sthitaḥ tasya dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya prajñāpāramitāṃ deśayataḥ śṛṇoti sma |

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Without leaving the place where he was Sadaprarudita then heard the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata demonstrating the perfection of wisdom.

śṛṇvaṃś ca sarvadharmeṣv aniśritasaṃjñām utpādayati sma | tasyānekāni samādhimukhāny āmukhībhūtāny abhūvan | tadyathā sarvadharmasvabhāvavyavalokano nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmasvabhāvānupalabdhir nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmasvabhāvajñānanirgamo nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmanirnānātvo nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmanirvikāradarśī nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmāvabhāsakaro nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmatamopagato nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmajñānavidhvaṃsano nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmavidhūnano nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmānupalabdhir nāma samādhiḥ | kusumābhikīrṇo nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmātmabhāvābhinirhāro nāma samādhiḥ | māyāvivarjito nāma samādhiḥ | ādarśamaṇḍalapratibhāsanirhāro nāma samādhiḥ | sarvasattvarutanirhāro nāma samādhiḥ | rajopagato nāma samādhiḥ | sarvasattvābhipramodano nāma samādhiḥ | sarvasattvarutakauśalyānugato nāma samādhiḥ | nānārutapadavyañjanābhinirhāro nāma samādhiḥ | astambhito nāma samādhiḥ | prakṛtyavyavahāro nāma samādhiḥ | anāvaraṇavimokṣaprāpto nāma samādhiḥ | rājopagato nāma samādhiḥ | nāmaniruktipadavyañjano nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmavipaśyano nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmaviṣayāpagato nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmānāvaraṇakoṭirnāma samādhiḥ | gaganakalpo nāma samādhiḥ | vajropamo nāma samādhiḥ | āsannarūparājo nāma samādhiḥ | asapatnarājo nāma samādhiḥ | jayalabdho nāma samādhiḥ | avivartyacakṣurnāma samādhiḥ | dharmadhātuniyato nāma samādhiḥ | dharmadhātunirgato nāma samādhiḥ | āśvāsadātā nāma samādhiḥ | siṃhābhigarjito (243) nāma samādhiḥ | sarvasattvābhibhavano nāma samādhiḥ | vigatarajo nāma samādhiḥ | asaṃkliṣṭo nāma samādhiḥ | padmavyūho nāma samādhiḥ | kāṅkṣocchedano nāma samādhiḥ | sarvasārānugato nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmābhyudgato nāma samādhiḥ | abhijñābalavaiśāradyaprāpto nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmanirvedhako nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmavibhavamudrā nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmavibhavasamudro nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmanirviśeṣadarśī nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadṛṣṭikṛtagahanavivarjito nāma samādhiḥ | tamopagato nāma samādhiḥ | sarvadharmanimittāpagato nāma samādhiḥ | sarvasaṅgavimukto nāma samādhiḥ | sarvakausīdyāpagato nāma samādhiḥ | gambhīradharmaprabhākaro nāma samādhiḥ | merukalpo nāma samādhiḥ | asaṃhāryo nāma samādhiḥ | māramaṇḍalavidhvaṃsanakaro nāma samādhiḥ | trailokyānabhiniviṣṭo nāma samādhiḥ | raśminirhāro nāma samādhiḥ | tathāgatadarśano nāma samādhiḥ | sarvatathāgatadarśī nāma samādhiḥ | sa eṣu samādhiṣu sthitaḥ san daśadiśi loke buddhān bhagavataḥ paśyati smāprameyān asaṃkhyeyān imām eva prajñāpāramitāṃ prakāśayato bodhisattvebhyo mahāsattvebhyaḥ | te ca tathāgatāḥ sādhukāraṃ dadati sma, svāsanaṃ cāsya kurvanti sma | evaṃ cāvocan - asmābhir api kulaputra pūrvaṃ bodhisattvacaryāṃ caradbhir evam eva prajñāpāramitā parigaveṣitā | parigaveṣamāṇaiś ca ete eva samādhayaḥ pratilabdhāḥ, ye tvayaitarhi pratilabdhāḥ | enāṃś ca samādhīn pratilabhya gatiṃgatāḥ saṃvṛttāḥ, prajñāpāramitāyām avinivartanīyeṣu buddhadharmeṣu pratiṣṭhitāḥ | te vayam eteṣām eva samādhīnāṃ prakṛtiṃ svabhāvaṃ vyavalokayan tas taṃ dharmaṃ na samanupaśyāmo yaḥ samāpadyate vā vyuttiṣṭhate vā, yo bodhāya caret, yo vā anuttarāṃ samyaksaṃbodhim abhisaṃbudhyeta | iyaṃ sā kulaputra prajñāpāramitā, yā na kenacid dharmeṇa manyamānatā | amanyamānatāsthitair asmābhir iyam evaṃrūpā kāyasya suvarṇavarṇatā pratilabdhā | dvātriṃśac ca mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇāni | aśītiś cānuvyañjanāni | vyāmaprabhatā ca | acintyaṃ cānuttaraṃ buddhajñānaṃ buddhaprajñā, anuttaraś ca buddhasamādhiḥ, sarvabuddhadharmaguṇapāramitā cānuprāptā yasyā guṇapāramitāyā na śakyaṃ tathāgatair eva tāvat pramāṇaṃ grahītuṃ paryanto vā nidarśayitum, kiṃ punaḥ śrāvakapratyekabuddhaiḥ? tasmāt tarhi kulaputra eteṣv eva tvayā dharmeṣu gauravam utpādayitavyaṃ bhūyasyā mātrayā arthikatayā chandikatayā ca | arthikasya hi kulaputra chandikasya ca na durlabhā bhavaty anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhiḥ | kalyāṇamitreṣu ca tvayā kulaputra tīvraṃ gauravam utpādayitavyam, prema ca karaṇīyam, prasādaś ca karaṇīyaḥ | kalyāṇamitraparigṛhītā hi bodhisattvā mahāsattvāḥ kṣipram evānuttarāṃ samyaksaṃbodhim abhisaṃbudhyante ||

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3. List and significance of concentrations As a result he produced a perception which did not lean on any dharma. And he came face to face with many doors to concentration. The names of the concentrations were as follows: “It surveys the own-being of all dharmas,” “The non-apprehension of the own-being of all dharmas,” "Entrance to the cognition of the own-being of all dharmas," “Non-difference of all dharmas,” “Spectator of the unchangeability of all dharmas,” “Illuminator of all dharmas,” “From all dharmas darkness has vanished,” “It shatters the cognition of all dharmas,” “It tosses all dharmas about,” “The non-apprehension of all dharmas,” “Bedecked with flowers,” “Within its body it consummates all dharmas,” “Having abandoned illusion,” “Calling forth images reflected in a mirror,” “Calling forth the sounds of all beings,” “Without any dirt,” “Gladdening all beings,” “A follower of the vocal sounds of all beings, from skill in means,” (491) “Consummation of the whole variety of letters, words and vocal sounds,” “The state which comes from feeling no rigidity,” “Inexpressible in its essential nature,” “Attainment of unobstructed emancipation,” “Visit from the king,” “Grammatical analysis of speech into words and letters,” “It has insight into all dharmas,” “It has left the sphere of all dharmas behind,” “The unobstructed limit of all dharmas,” “Fashioned like the firmament,” “Like a thunderbolt,” “The king is near,” “The unrivalled king,” “Victorious,” “One cannot avert the eye,” “Fixed on the element of dharma,” “Come out of the element of dharma,” “Granter of consolation,” “It has roared like a lion,” “No world for beings to be reborn in,” “Free from dirt,” “Undefiled,” “Lotus-array,” “Annihilation of hesitation,” “Follower of all substantial excellence,” “Elevated above all dharmas,” “Attainment of the super-knowledges, the powers and the grounds of self-confidence,” “Piercer of all dharmas,” “Seal of the desisting from becoming on the part of all dharmas,” “The ocean in which all dharmas lose their becoming,” “Spectator of all dharmas without distinction,” “It has left behind the jungle of all views and actions,” “Without darkness,” “Without a sign of all dharmas,” (492) “Freed from all attachment,” “Without a trace of laziness,” “It sheds light on deep dharmas,” “Fashioned like Meru,” “Irresistible,” “It shatters the circle of Mara’s army,” “No inclination for anything in the triple world,” “Emission of rays,” “Sight of the Tathagata,” “Spectator of all Tathagatas.” Established in these concentrations, he saw the Buddhas and Lords in the countless worlds in the ten directions, as they revealed this very perfection of wisdom to Bodhisattvas. And those Tathagatas applauded and comforted him, and they said to him: We also have in the past, when we were Bodhisattvas, searched for the perfection of wisdom in just the same way. We also, while we were searching, acquired those concentrations which you have acquired just now. After we had acquired them we have gone on our route, established in the perfection of wisdom and the irreversible dharmas of a Buddha. But when we survey the original essential nature and the own-being of these concentrations, then we do not see any real dharma that enters into them, or that emerges from them, that would course towards enlightenment, or that would know full enlightenment. This absence of imaginings about any dharma whatsoever, that is this perfection of wisdom. Because we have stood firm in the absence of all self-conceited imaginings we have acquired our bodies of golden colour, the thirty-two marks of the superman, the eighty accessory marks, and the splendid haloes around us, and we have reached the unthinkable and supreme cognition of Buddhas, the wisdom of Buddhas, the supreme concentration of Buddhas, and the perfection of all the dharmas and qualities of Buddhas. (493) Even the Tathagatas cannot grasp the measure, nor define the boundary, of that perfection of qualities, - how much less the Disciples and Pratyekabuddhas. You should therefore fill your mind with respect for these dharmas of the Buddhas, so that you should increasingly desire them, so that you should become more and more zealous for them. Because the supreme enlightenment is not hard to get for one who desires it, who is zealous for it. For the good friend also should you arouse intense respect and affection, and serene should be your confidence in him. For it is when they have been taken hold of by the good friend that Bodhisattvas shall quickly know full enlightenment.

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tāṃs tathāgatān etad avocat - ko ’smākaṃ kalyāṇamitram iti? ta enam etad avocan - dīrgharātraṃ tvaṃ kulaputra dharmodgatena bodhisattvena mahāsattvenānuttarāyāṃ samyaksaṃbodhau paripācitaḥ parigṛhītaś ca | prajñāpāramitāyām upāyakauśalye buddhadharmeṣu ca śikṣāpitaḥ | sa tava kulaputra parigrāhakaḥ kalyāṇamitraṃ ca | tat tvayā kṛtajñatayā kṛtaveditayā ca satkṛtya tatkṛtaṃ dhārayitavyam | sacet tvaṃ kulaputra dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ (244) mahāsattvam ekaṃ vā kalpaṃ dvau vā kalpau trīn vā kalpān kalpaśataṃ vā kalpasahasraṃ vā kalpaśatasahasraṃ vā tato vottare cailoṇḍukamiva śirasā parikarṣeḥ, sarvasattvasukhopasthānaṃ cāsyopasthāpayeḥ, yāvantas trisāhasramahāsāhasre lokadhātau rūpaśabdagandharasasparśāḥ, tān sarvān upanāmayeḥ | evam api tvayā kulaputra tasya kulaputrasya naiva kṛtasya pratikṛtaṃ bhavet | tat kasya hetoḥ? tasya hi kulaputra kulaputrasyānubhāvena tavaiṣām evaṃrūpāṇāṃ samādhīnāṃ pratilambhaḥ saṃvṛttaḥ | prajñāpāramitopāyakauśalyaśravaś ca prajñāpāramitāpratilambhaś ca saṃvṛttaḥ ||

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Sadaprarudita asked the Tathagatas: Who is our good friend? The Tathagatas replied: The Bodhisattva Dharmodgata has for a long time matured you for the supreme enlightenment, he has upheld you, he has been your preceptor in perfect wisdom, in skill in means, and in the dharmas of a Buddha. It was he who has upheld you, and for that friendly deed you must honour him in gratitude and thankfulness, and you must bear in mind what he has done for you. If, son of good family, you should for one aeon, or for two aeons, or for up to one hundred thousand aeons, or more, carry about the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata like a turban on your head, would furnish him with everything that makes beings happy, and would present him with as many forms, sounds, smells, tastes and touchables as there are in the great trichiliocosm, (494,1) – even then you would not have repaid that son of good family for what he has done for you. For it has happened through his might that you have acquired these concentrations, that you have heard of the perfection of wisdom and of skill in means, and that you have gained the perfection of wisdom.

atha khalu te tathāgatāḥ sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ samāśvāsyāntarhitā abhūvan | sa ca kulaputras tebhyaḥ samādhibhyo vyudasthāt | vyutthitasya cāsya etad abhūt - kutas te tathāgatāḥ, kva vā te tathāgatā iti | sa tāṃs tathāgatān apaśyan mahatīm utkaṇṭhāṃ paritasanaṃ cāpannaḥ | tasyaitad abhūt - āryo dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvo dhāraṇīpratilabdhaḥ pañcābhijñaḥ pūrvajinakṛtādhikāraḥ mama saṃparigrāhakaḥ kalyāṇamitraṃ ca | dīrgharātraṃ ca mama tenārthaḥ kṛtaḥ | yan nv aham etam arthaṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam abhigamyopasaṃkramya paripṛccheyam - kutas te tathāgatā āgatāḥ, kva vā te tathāgatā gatā iti ||

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4. Sadaprarudita and the merchant’s daughter After the Tathagatas had comforted the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita, they again disappeared. But Sadaprarudita emerged from his concentrations, and asked himself “whence have those Tathagatas come, and whither have they gone?” Since he could no longer see those Tathagatas, he was worried and pined away for them. He thought to himself: “The holy Bodhisattva Dharmodgata has acquired the dharanis, he possesses the five superknowledges, he has performed his duties under the Jinas of the past, he is my patron and good friend, who for a long time has done good to me. When I have come to him I must ask him about this matter, ask him to explain whence those Tathagatas have come, and whither they have gone.”

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvo dharmodgate bodhisattve mahāsattve prema ca prasādaṃ ca citrīkāraṃ ca gauravaṃ ca upasthāpayati | upasthāpya evaṃ prācintayat - kiyad rūpayā nu khalv ahaṃ satkriyayā taṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam upasaṃkrāmeyam? daridraś cāsmi | na ca me kiṃcit tathārūpaṃ vastraṃ vā ratnaṃ vā suvarṇaṃ vā maṇayo vā muktā vā vaidūryaṃ vā śaṅkhaśilā vā pravālaṃ vā rajataṃ vā puṣpaṃ vā dhūpo vā gandho vā mālyaṃ vā vilepanaṃ vā cūrṇaṃ vā cīvaraṃ vā chatraṃ vā dhvajaṃ vā ghaṇṭā vā patākā vā saṃvidyate | kenāhaṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkuryāṃ gurukuryām? na ca mamaitat pratirūpaṃ bhavet, yad aham evam eva dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam upasaṃkrāmeyam | daridraś cāsmi | na ca me prītir vā prāmodhaṃ votpadyate ||

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Sadaprarudita thereupon nursed affection and confidence, esteem and respect for the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata. He then reflected: “With what kind of honoring gift could I now approach the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata? But I am poor, and have nothing of any value (495,1) with which I could express my respect and reverence for him. It would not be seemly for me to come without anything at all. But I am poor, and that now makes me sad and regretful.”

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattva evaṃrūpair guṇair gauravamanasikārair gacchan anupūrveṇānyataraṃ nagaram anuprāpto ’bhūt | tatra tasyāntarāpaṇamadhyagatasya etad abhūt - yan nv aham imam ātmabhāvaṃ vikrīya tena mūlyena dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya satkāraṃ kuryām | dīrgharātraṃ hi mamātmabhāvasahasrāṇi bhagnāni kṣīṇāni niruddhāni vikrītāni | punaḥ punar aparimāṇe saṃsāre aparimāṇāni ca nirayaduḥkhāni mayā kāmahetoḥ kāmanidānam anubhūtāni | na punar evaṃrūpāṇāṃ dharmāṇāṃ kṛtaśa evaṃrūpāṇāṃ vā sattvānāṃ satkārāyeti | atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvontarāpaṇamadhyagataḥ śabdam anuśrāvayāmāsa, ghoṣam udīrayati sma - kaḥ puruṣeṇārthikaḥ, kaḥ puruṣeṇārthikaḥ, kaḥ puruṣaṃ kretum icchatīti ||

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Such were the feelings, such was the attitude of reverence, with which the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita proceeded on his journey. In due course he reached a town, went to the midst of the marketplace, and decided that he would sell his own body, and with the price thereof do honour to the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata. “For through the long night of the past, in the measureless cycle of birth-and-death, thousands of bodies of mine have been shattered, wasted, destroyed and sold, again and again. I have experienced measureless pains in the hells for the sake of sense pleasures, as a result of sense pleasures, but never yet on behalf of dharmas of this kind, never yet for the purpose of doing honour to beings of such a kind.” Sadaprarudita then went to the middle of the marketplace, lifted up his voice, and cried: “Who wants a man? Who wants a man? Who wants to buy a man?”

atha khalu mārasya pāpīyasa etad abhūt - ayaṃ sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvo dharmakāmatayā yady ātmānaṃ vikrīya dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya satkāraṃ kariṣyati, (245) prajñāpāramitām upāyakauśalyaṃ ca pariprakṣyati - kathaṃ bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ prajñāpāramitāyāṃ caran kṣipram anuttarāyāṃ samyaksaṃbodhau pariniṣpatsyate iti, tadā śrutasāgaratāṃ cānuprāpsyati, adhṛṣyaś ca bhaviṣyati māreṇa vā mārakāyikābhir vā devatābhiḥ, sarvaguṇapāramitāṃ cānuprāpsyati | tatra ca bahūnāṃ sattvānām arthaṃ kariṣyati | tāṃś ca mama viṣayād atikrāmayiṣyati anyāṃś cānuttarāṃ samyaksaṃbodhim abhisaṃbudhya | yan nv aham asyāntarāyaṃ kuryām iti ||

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Thereupon Mara the Evil One thought to himself: “Let obstruct this Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita. For if he succeeds in selling himself out of concern for dharma, if he then goes on to honour the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata, and to ask him, with regard to the perfection of wisdom and to skill in means, how a Bodhisattva coursing in perfect wisdom may quickly achieve full enlightenment, then he is bound to reach the ocean of sacred knowledge, shall become inaccessible to Mara and his host, (496) and will reach the perfection of all qualities, after which he will work the weal of all beings, and take them away from my sphere, and others again he will take away after he has known full enlightenment.”

atha khalu māraḥ pāpīyāṃs tān brāhmaṇagṛhapatikāṃs tathā pratyutthāpayāmāsa, yathā te taṃ ghoṣaṃ nāśrauṣuḥ sadāpraruditasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya - kaḥ puruṣeṇārthikaḥ, kaḥ puruṣeṇārthikaḥ, kaḥ puruṣaṃ kretum icchatīti | atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvo yadā ātmanaḥ krāyakaṃ na labhate, tadā ekāntaṃ gatvā prārodīt, aśrūṇi prāvartayat | evaṃ cāvocat - aho batāsmākaṃ durlabdhā lābhāḥ, ye vayam ātmabhāvasyāpi krāyakaṃ na labhāmahe - yad vayam ātmabhāvaṃ vikrīya dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkuryāmeti ||

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Mara, the Evil One, thereupon so disposed the Brahmins and householders in that town that they could not hear the voice of Sadaprarudita. When Sadaprarudita could not find a buyer for himself, he went on one side, wailed, shed tears, and said: “Alas, it is hard on us that we do not find a buyer even for our body, so that we could, after selling our body, honour the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata.”

atha khalu śakrasya devānām indrasyaitad abhūt - yan nv ahaṃ sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ tulayeyam - kiṃ nv ayaṃ sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvo ’dhyāśayapratipanna ātmabhāvaparityāgaṃ prati dharmakāmatayā, uta neti | atha khalu śakro devānām indro māṇavakaveṣam abhinirmāya yena sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ, tenopasaṃkrāmati sma | upasaṃkramya sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam etad avocat - kiṃ tvaṃ kulaputra dīnadīnamanotkaṇṭhitamānaso ’śrūṇi pravartayamānaḥ sthitaḥ? sadāpraruditas tam evam āha - ahaṃ māṇavaka ātmānaṃ vikretukāmaḥ | asya cātmabhāvasya krāyakaṃ na labhe | taṃ māṇavakarūpī śakra āha - kasya punas tvaṃ kulaputrārthāya ātmānaṃ vikretukāmaḥ? sadāpraruditas tam āha - ahaṃ māṇavaka dharmakāmatayā imam ātmānaṃ vikrīya dharmapūjāṃ kartukāmaḥ, āryaṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkartukāmaḥ | so ’ham asyātmabhāvasya krāyakaṃ na labhe | tasya me etad abhūt - aho batāham atyalpapuṇyaḥ, yo ’ham asyātmabhāvasyāpi krāyakaṃ na labhe, yena taṃ vikrīya prajñāpāramitāyāḥ pūjāṃ kuryām, āryaṃ ca dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkuryāmiti | atha khalu māṇavakaḥ sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam etad avocat - na khalu mama kulaputra puruṣeṇa kṛtyam | api tu khalu punaḥ pitur me yajño yaṣṭavyaḥ | tatra me puruṣasya hṛdayena kṛtyam, lohitena cāsthimajjayā ca | tad dāsyasi tvaṃ krayeṇa? atha khalu sadāpraruditasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasyaitad abhūt - lābhā me paramasulabdhāḥ, pariniṣpannaṃ cātmabhāvaṃ jāne prajñāpāramitopāyakauśalye buddhadharmeṣu ca, yan mayāyaṃ māṇavakaḥ krāyako labdhaḥ hṛdayasya rudhirasya cāsthimajjāyāś ceti | sa hṛṣṭacittaḥ kalyacittaḥ pramuditacittas taṃ māṇavakam etad avocat - dāsyāmi māṇavaka yena yenaiva te iti ātmabhāvād arthaḥ | sa tam etad avocat - kiṃ te kulaputra mūlyaṃ dadāmi? sa tam etad avocat - yat te māṇavaka parityaktam, tad dehīti | atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tīkṣṇaṃ śastraṃ gṛhītvā dakṣiṇaṃ bāhuṃ viddhvā lohitaṃ niḥsrāvayati sma | dakṣiṇaṃ coruṃ viddhvā nirmāṃsaṃ kṛtvā asthi bhettuṃ kuḍyamūlam upasaṃkrāmati sma | (246) atha khalu anyatarā śreṣṭhidārakopariṣṭātprāsādatalagatābhūt | sā adrākṣīt sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ bāhuṃ viddhvā rudhiraṃ niḥsrāvya ūruṃ nirmāṃsaṃ kṛtvā asthi bhettuṃ kuḍyamūlam upasaṃkrāntam | tasyā etad abhūt - kiṃ nu khalv ayaṃ kulaputra ātmanaivātmanaḥ īdṛśīṃ kāraṇāṃ kārayati? yan nv aham enaṃ kulaputram upasaṃkramya paripṛccheyam | atha khalu sā śreṣṭhidārikā yena sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tenopasaṃkrāntā | upasaṃkramya sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam etad avocat - kiṃ nu khalu tvaṃ kulaputra evaṃrūpām ātmanaḥ prāṇahāriṇīṃ kāraṇāṃ kārayasi? kiṃ cānena rudhireṇa kariṣyasi tvam asthimajjābhyāṃ ca? sadāprarudita āha - asya dārike māṇavakasyāntike idaṃ vikrīya prajñāpāramitāṃ pūjayiṣyāmi, āryaṃ ca dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkariṣyāmi ||

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Thereupon Sakra, Chief of Gods, thought to himself: “Let me weigh up the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita. Will he now, filled with earnest intention, renounce his body out of concern for dharma, or will he not?” Sakra then conjured up the guise of a young man, went to the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita, and said to him: “Why do you, son of good family, stand there dejected, pining away and shedding tears?” (497) Sadaprarudita replied: “I want to sell myself, but I cannot find anyone to buy my body.” Sakra, in the form of the young man, said: “On behalf of what do you want to sell yourself?” Sadaprarudita replied: “From love for dharma I want to sell myself, so as to do worship to dharma, and to honour the holy Bodhisattva Dharmodgata. But I do not find a buyer for this body of mine. I have therefore thought to myself that, alas, I must be a person of exceedingly small merit indeed.” The young man said: “I myself have no need of a man. But my father is due to offer sacrifice. For that I require a man’s heart, his blood and the marrow of his bones. Those you may give me, and I shall pay for them.” Sadaprarudita then thought to himself: “I have exceedingly easily got what I desired. Now I know that my body is sufficiently perfect for me to win perfect wisdom, skill in means and the dharmas of a Buddha, since in this young man I have now found a buyer for my heart, blood and marrow.” With his mind bristling with joy, and all ready, he said: “I will give you my body, since you have need of it!” The young man asked: “What price do I give you?” Sadaprarudita answered: “Give me whatever you will!” (498,1) Sadaprarudita then took a sharp sword, pierced his right arm, and made the blood flow. He pierced his right thigh, cut the flesh from it, and strode up to the foot of a wall in order to break the bone. A merchant’s daughter, from her upper window, saw this, and she thought to herself: “Why should this son of good family do that to himself? Let me go to him, and ask him.” She went up to Sadaprarudita, and said: “Why do you inflict such fatal treatment on yourself? What shall you do with this blood, and with the marrow of your bones?” Sadaprarudita said: “When I have sold them to this young man, I shall go to worship the perfection of wisdom, and to do honour to the holy Bodhisattva Dharmodgata.”

atha khalu sā śreṣṭhidārikā sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam etad avocat - kā punas te kulaputra tato guṇajātir niṣpatsyate guṇaviśeṣo vā, yat tvam ātmano hṛdayaṃ rudhiraṃ cāsthimajjānaṃ ca vikrīya taṃ kulaputraṃ satkartukāmaḥ? sa tāṃ dārikām etad avocat - sa dārike kulaputro ’smākaṃ prajñāpāramitām upāyakauśalyaṃ copadekṣyati | tatra ca vayaṃ śikṣiṣyāmahe | tatra vayaṃ śikṣamāṇāḥ sarvasattvānāṃ pratiśaraṇaṃ bhaviṣyāmaḥ | anuttarāṃ samyaksaṃbodhim abhisaṃbudhya suvarṇavarṇaṃ ca kāyaṃ pratilapsyāmahe | dvātriṃśacca mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇāni aśītiṃ cānuvyañjanāni vyāmaprabhatāṃ cānantaraśmitāṃ ca mahāmaitrī ca mahākaruṇāṃ ca mahāmuditāṃ ca mahopekṣāṃ ca | catvāri vaiśāradyāni pratilapsyāmahe, catasraś ca pratisaṃvidaḥ pratilapsyāmahe, aṣṭādaśa ca āveṇikabuddhadharmān pratilapsyāmahe, pañca cābhijñāḥ, acintyāṃ ca śīlaviśuddhim, acintyāṃ ca samādhiviśuddhim, acintyāṃ ca prajñāviśuddhim, daśa ca tathāgatabalāni pratilapsyāmahe | anuttaraṃ ca buddhajñānam abhisaṃbhotsyāmahe | anuttaraṃ ca dharmaratnaṃ pratilapsyāmahe, yena ca sarvasattvānāṃ saṃvibhāgaṃ kariṣyāma iti ||

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The merchant’s daughter said: “What is the kind of quality, what is the excellence of the qualities, which you will create in yourself by your wish to honour the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata after you have sold your own heart, blood and marrow?” Sadaprarudita replied: “Dharmodgata will explain to me the perfection of wisdom and the skill in means. (499) In them I shall train myself, and, as a result, I shall become a refuge to all beings; and, after I have known full enlightenment, I shall acquire a body of golden colour, the thirty-two marks of the superman, the eighty accessory marks, the splendour of a halo the rays of which extend to infinitude, the great friendliness, the great compassion, the great sympathetic joy, the great impartiality, the four grounds of self-confidence, the four analytical knowledges, the eighteen special dharmas of a Buddha, and I shall acquire the five superknowledges, an unthinkable purity of conduct, an unthinkable purity of concentration, an unthinkable purity of wisdom, and the ten powers of a Tathagata. I shall fully awake to the supreme cognition of a Buddha, and acquire the supremely precious jewel of the dharma, which I shall share with all beings.”

atha khalu sā śreṣṭhidārikā sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam etad avocat - āścaryaṃ kulaputra yāvad udārāḥ praṇītāścāmī tvayā dharmāḥ parikīrtitāḥ | ekaikasyāpi tāvat kulaputra evaṃrūpasya dharmasyārthāya gaṅgānadīvālukopamān api kalpān ātmabhāvāḥ parityaktavyā bhaveyuḥ, prāg eva bahūnām arthāya ekaḥ | tathodārāḥ praṇītāścāmī tvayā dharmāḥ parikīrtitāḥ, yathā mamāpy ete rocante kṣamante ca | api nu khalu punaḥ kulaputra yena yenaivārthena te kṛtyam, tat tat te dāsyāmi suvarṇaṃ vā maṇīn vā muktāṃ vā rajataṃ vā vaidūryaṃ vā musāragalvaṃ vā lohitārkaṃ vā sphāṭikaṃ vā puṣpaṃ vā dhūpaṃ vā gandhaṃ vā mālyaṃ va vilepanaṃ vā cūrṇaṃ vā vastraṃ vā chatraṃ vā dhvajaṃ vā ghaṇṭāṃ vā patākāṃ vā dīpaṃ vā | tena tvaṃ taṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkariṣyasi | mā ca ātmana imām evaṃrūpāṃ kāraṇāṃ kārṣīḥ | vayam api tvayaiva sārdhaṃ gamiṣyāmaḥ, yenāryo dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ | vayam api tvayaiva sārdhaṃ kuśalamūlāny avaropayiṣyāmaḥ, yad uta eṣām evaṃrūpāṇāṃ dharmāṇāṃ pratilambhāyeti ||

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The merchant’s daughter replied: “It is wonderful, son of good family, how exalted and sublime are the dharmas which you have proclaimed. For the sake of even one of these dharmas should one be willing to renounce one’s bodies even for countless aeons, how much more so for the sake of many of them. These dharmas which you have proclaimed please me also, and seem good to me. But see, son of good family, I shall give you whatever you may require, and with that you may (500) then honour that Bodhisattva Dharmodgata! But do not inflict such treatment on yourself! I also will come with you to the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata! I also will, together with you, plant wholesome roots, which will help to win such dharmas!”

(247) atha khalu śakro devānām indro māṇavakaveṣam antardhāpayitvā svakenātmabhāvena sadāpraruditasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya purato ’sthāt, idaṃ cāvocat - sādhu sādhu kulaputra, yasya te iyam evaṃrūpā dṛḍhasamādānatā | evaṃrūpayā ca dharmārthikatayā pūrvakair api tathāgatair arhadbhiḥ samyaksaṃbuddhaiḥ pūrvaṃ bodhisattvacaryāṃ caradbhiḥ prajñāpāramitām upāyakauśalyaṃ ca paripṛcchadbhir anuttarā ca samyaksaṃbodhir abhisaṃbuddhā, dharmaratnaṃ ca pratilabdham | tan na mama kulaputra hṛdayena kāryam, na rudhireṇa, nāsthimajjābhyām, api tu khalu punar ahaṃ tvām eva mīmāṃsitukāma ihāgataḥ | vṛṇīṣva kulaputra varam | kiyad rūpaṃ te varaṃ dāsyāmi_ti? sa tām āha - anuttarān me śakra buddhadharmān dehīti | devendra āha - na mamātra kulaputra viṣaye viṣayitā | buddhānāṃ punar bhagavatām atra viṣaye viṣayitā | anyaṃ varaṃ vṛṇīṣveti | sadāprarudita āha - alpotsukas tvaṃ devendra bhavātra sthāne mamātmabhāvaparipūrim upādāya | svayam evāham atra devendra satyādhiṣṭhānaṃ kariṣyāmi | yenāhaṃ satyenāvinivartanīyo ’nuttarāyāḥ samyaksaṃbodher vyākṛtas tathāgatair arhadbhiḥ samyaksaṃbuddhaiḥ, jñātaś cāsmy aśāṭhyenādhyāśayena, tena devendra satyena satyavacanena mama yathāpaurāṇo ’yam ātmabhāvo bhavatu | atha khalu tatkṣaṇaṃ tallavaṃ tanmuhūrtaṃ sadāpraruditasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya buddhānubhāvena āśayapariśuddhyā ca yathāpaurāṇo ’sya kāyaḥ saṃsthito ’bhūt, arogo nirupadravaś ca | atha khalu śakro devānām indro māraś ca pāpīyān niṣpratibhānaḥ sadāpraruditasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasyottare pratibhānam apratipadyamānas tatraivāntarhito ’bhūt ||

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Sakra, Chief of Gods, thereupon threw off his disguise as a young man, and in his own proper body he stood before the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita, and said to him: “I applaud your firm sense of obligation. In the past also the Tathagatas have had so great a desire for dharma, and it was that which helped them to know full enlightenment and to gain the precious jewel of the Dharma, after they had first coursed in the course of a Bodhisattva, and asked questions about the perfection of wisdom and skill in means. I have no need of your heart, blood or marrow. I only came here to test you. Now choose a boon. I shall give you any boon whatever!” Sadaprarudita answered: “Give me the supreme dharmas of a Buddha!” Sakra, Chief of Gods, replied: “That lies not within my province. That lies within the province of the Buddhas, the Lords. Choose another boon!” Sadaprarudita replied: “Do not trouble your mind about the mutilated condition of my body! I shall myself now make it whole again by the magical power of my enunciation of the Truth. As I am in truth irreversible, have been predicted to full enlightenment, and am known to the Tathagatas by my unconquerable resolution, - may through this Truth, through this utterance of the Truth this my body be again as it was before!” (501,1) That very moment, instant and second, through the Buddha’s might and through the perfect purity of the Bodhisattva’s resolution, the body of the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita became again as it had been before, healthy and whole. And Sakra, Chief of Gods, and Mara, the Evil One, reduced to silence, just vanished from that place.

atha khalu sā śreṣṭhidārikā sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam etad avocat - ehi tvaṃ kulaputra | yenāsmākaṃ niveśanam, tenopasaṃkrāma | ahaṃ te mātāpitṝṇām antikāt tad dhanaṃ dāpayiṣyāmi, yena tvaṃ tāṃ prajñāpāramitāṃ pūjayiṣyasi, taṃ cāryaṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkariṣyasi, yad uta dharmakāmatayā | atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ sārdhaṃ tayā śreṣṭhadārikayā yenāsyāḥ svakaṃ niveśanaṃ tenopasaṃkrāmati sma | upasaṃkramya dvāramūle ’sthāt ||

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The merchant’s daughter then said to Sadaprarudita: “Come on, son of good family, let us go up to my house. I shall ask my parents to give you the riches with which you can express your desire to worship that perfection of wisdom, and to honour that Bodhisattva Dharmodgata, a desire which is due to your love for dharma.” The Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita and the merchant’s daughter went together to her house. When they got to it, Sadaprarudita remained standing on the threshold,

atha khalu sā śreṣṭhidārikā svakaṃ niveśanaṃ praviśya svāṃ mātaraṃ pitaraṃ caitad avocat - amba tāta daddhvaṃ hiraṇyaṃ suvarṇaṃ ratnāni maṇīn vastrāṇi puṣpadhūpagandhamālyavilepanacūrṇacīvaracchatradhvajaghaṇṭāpatākāḥ | nānāvidhāś ca divyā vādyaprakṛtīr utsṛjata, mām api sārdhamebhiḥ pañcabhir dārikāśatair yā mamopasthāyikā yuṣmabhir eva dattāḥ | gamiṣyāmy aham api sadāpraruditena bodhisattvena mahāsattvena sārdhaṃ dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasyāntikaṃ tasya pūjārthaṃ ca | so ’smākaṃ dharmaṃ deśayiṣyati | tena vayaṃ buddhadharmān pratilapsyāmahe | atha khalu tau tasyā dārikāyā mātāpitarau tāṃ dārikām etad avocatām - kaḥ punar eṣa dārike sadāprarudito nāma bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ, kva vā sa etarhi tiṣṭhati? dārikā āha - eṣa kulaputro ’smākam eva niveśanadvāramūle ’vasthitaḥ | eṣa ca kulaputro ’dhyāśayenānuttarāṃ samyaksaṃbodhim abhisaṃboddhuṃ saṃprasthitaḥ, yad uta sarvasattvān aparimāṇataḥ saṃsāraduḥkhān mocayitukāmaḥ, sarvadharmakāmatayātmānaṃ (248) vikrīya prajñāpāramitāṃ pūjayitukāmaḥ, āryaṃ ca dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkartukāmaḥ | tasya cātmabhāvasya kaṃcit krāyakaṃ na labhate | alabhamānaḥ san duḥkhito durmanāḥ pradhyāyan dīnamanā aśrūṇi pravartayamānaḥ sthitaḥ | sa śakreṇa devānām indreṇa māṇavakarūpam abhinirmāyoktaḥ - kiṃ tvaṃ kulaputra duḥkhī durmanāḥ pradhyāyan dīnamānaso ’śrūṇi pravartayamānaḥ sthita iti? sa tam āha - ātmānaṃ vikretukāmo ’ham | tasya ca krāyakaṃ na labhe | māṇavakarūpī śakras tam āha - kasya punas tvaṃ kulaputrārthāyātmānaṃ vikretukāmaḥ? sadāpraruditenoktaḥ - prajñāpāramitāṃ pūjayiṣyāmi, āryaṃ ca dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkariṣyāmi yad uta dharmakāmatayā | tatra pratibaddhāś ca me buddhadharmā iti | māṇavakarūpī śakras tam āha - na mama kulaputra tvayārthaḥ | api tu khalu punaḥ pitur me yajño bhaviṣyati | tatra me puruṣasya hṛdayena rūdhireṇāsthimajjābhyāṃ ca kṛtyam iti | tata eṣa kulaputro ’viṣaṇṇamānasa āha - dāsyāmīti | sa tīkṣṇaṃ śastraṃ gṛhītvā ātmano bāhuṃ viddhvā lohitaṃ niḥsrāvya ūruṃ ca nirmāṃsaṃ kṛtvā asthi bhettuṃ kuḍyamūlam upasaṃkrāntaḥ ekānte sthitvā asthi bhittvā majjānaṃ ca dāsyāmīti | ahaṃ cainaṃ kulaputram upariṣṭāt prāsādatalagatā kṣaradrudhiram adrākṣam | tasyā mamaitad abhūt - kiṃ nu khalv ayaṃ puruṣa ātmanaivātmana evaṃrūpāṃ kāraṇāṃ kārayatīti? tam enam aham upasaṃkramyaivam avocam - kim arthaṃ tvayā kulaputra ātmanaivātmana evaṃ kṣaradrūdhiraṃ śarīraṃ vikṛtaṃ kṛtam? tata eṣa mām evam āha - asya dārike māṇavakasya lohitaṃ hṛdayamasthi majjānaṃ ca dāsyāmīti | tat kasya hetoḥ? na mamānyat kiṃcid dhanaṃ saṃvidyate | daridro ’smīti | tam enam aham evam avocam - kiṃ punas tvaṃ tena dhanena kariṣyasīti? sa eṣa mām etad avocat - prajñāpāramitāṃ pūjayiṣyāmi, taṃ cāryaṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkariṣyāmi yad uta dharmakāmatayeti | tam enam aham evam avocam - kā punas te kulaputra tato guṇajātir bhaviṣyati guṇaviśeṣo veti? tataḥ so ’cintyān me buddhaguṇān varṇayati saṃprakāśayati, aprameyāṃś ca buddhadharmān - eṣām evaṃrūpāṇāṃ buddhadharmāṇāṃ me tata āgamo bhaviṣyatīti | tasya me mahattaraṃ prītiprāmodyam utpannaṃ tān acintyān buddhaguṇān śrutvā | evaṃ ca me ’bhūt - āścaryaṃ yāvad duṣkarakārakaś cāyaṃ kulaputro ’tīva dharmakāmaśca, yo ’yam evaṃrūpam ātmanaḥ śarīrasya pīḍāsthānam utsahate | ayaṃ hi nāma kulaputro dharmakāmatayā ātmānaṃ parityajati | kasmād asmābhir dharmo na pūjayitavyaḥ? evaṃrūpeṣu ca sthāneṣu praṇidhānaṃ na kartavyaṃ syāt, yeṣām asmākaṃ prabhūtā vipulāś ca bhogāḥ saṃvidyante iti | sāham enaṃ kulaputram etad avocam - mā mā tvaṃ kulaputra imām evaṃrūpām ātmanaḥ prāṇahāriṇīṃ kāraṇāṃ kārṣīḥ | ahaṃ te prabhūtaprabhūtaṃ dhanam anupradāpayiṣyāmi yena tavārthaḥ | tena tvaṃ tam āryaṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkariṣyasi gurukariṣyasi | aham api tvayaiva sārdhaṃ yena dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ tenopasaṃkramiṣyāmi | aham api tasya kulaputrasya pūjāṃ kariṣyāmi | vayam apy evaṃrūpān dharmān niṣpādayiṣyāmo yad utānuttarān buddhadharmān ye tvayā parikīrtitā iti | tan mām amba tātānujānīta | prabhūtaprabhūtaṃ ca me dhanaskandhaṃ daddhvam, yenāham etenaiva kulaputreṇa sārdhaṃ gatvā āryaṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ pūjayiṣyāmi ||

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while the merchant’s daughter went into the house, and said to her parents: “Mummy and daddy, you must give me a part of your wealth! I want to go away with the five hundred maidens you gave me for servants! Together with the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita I want to go to the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata, in order to worship him. And he shall demonstrate dharma to us, and that way we shall acquire the dharmas of a Buddha.” (502,1) Her parents replied: “Who then is this Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita, and where is he just now?” The merchant’s daughter said: “This son of good family stands at the threshold of the door to our house. And he has set out determined to know full enlightenment, in other words, he wants to set all beings free from the immeasurable sufferings of birth-and-death.” And she told them all that she had seen and heard, (503) how Sadaprarudita had sold his body, and mutilated it, and how she asked him for his reason, and how he praised and revealed to her the unthinkable qualities of a Buddha and the immeasurable dharmas of a Buddha, which he had in mind as his goal. She went on to say that “When I had heard of those unthinkable qualities of a Buddha, I felt an exceeding joy and elation. And I thought to myself: ‘It is wonderful to what an extent this son of good family is a doer of what is hard, and how much he must love the dharma to endure oppression and pain in his body. For it is from love for dharma that he renounced himself. How can we fail to worship dharma, and to make a vow to reach such stations, we who have vast and abundant possessions?’ (504,1) So I said to that son of good family: ‘Do not inflict such fatal treatment on yourself! I shall give you abounding riches, which you may use to worship and honour that holy Bodhisattva Dharmodgata, I also shall go together with you to that Bodhisattva, and I shall worship him, too. I also shall accomplish those supreme dharmas of a Buddha which you have proclaimed!’ Mummy and daddy, allow me to go, and give me the riches I have asked for!”

(249) atha khalu tau tasyā dārikāyā mātāpitarau tāṃ dārikām etad avocatām - āścaryaṃ yāvad duṣkaraṃ ca tvam etasya kulaputrasya sthānam ācakṣe | ekāṃśenaiva te dharmā acintyāḥ, sarvalokaviśiṣṭāḥ sarvasattvasukhāvahāś ca, yeṣām eṣa kṛtaśaḥ kulaputro duṣkaraṃ sthānam evam utsahate | anujānīva āvāṃ tvāṃ dārike | āvayor apy avakāśaṃ kuru, yad āvām api gacchāvas tvayaiva sārdhaṃ taṃ dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ draṣṭuṃ vandituṃ paryupāsituṃ pūjayituṃ ca ||

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Her parents replied: “It is wonderful how well you have related the hardships of that son of good family. Unthinkable, for sure must be the dharmas for the sake of which he endures these hardships, they must be the most distinguished in the whole world, a source of happiness to all beings! We will give you our permission to go. We also should like to come with you, to see, to salute, to honour, to worship that Bodhisattva Dharmodgata.”

atha khalu sā śreṣṭhidārikā dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya pūjārthaṃ satkārārthaṃ ca prasthitāṃ svāṃ mātaraṃ pitaraṃ ca viditvā etad avocat - amba tāta evaṃ kuruta, yathā vadata | nāhaṃ kasyacit kuśalapakṣasyāntarāyaṃ karomi |

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The daughter replied: “Do as you say. I would not oppose those who are on the side of what is right.”

ity uktvā evaṃ sā śreṣṭhidārikā dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya pūjārthaṃ satkārārthaṃ ca prasthitā babhūva ||

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5. The meeting with Dharmodgata It was thus that the merchant’s daughter set out to worship and honour the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata.

atha khalu sā śreṣṭhidārikā pañca rathaśatāny alaṃkārayāmāsa | tāni ca pañca dārikāśatāny alaṃkārayāmāsa | alaṃkṛtya nānāvarṇāni vicitrāṇi puṣpāṇi gṛhītvā nānāraṅgāṇi vastrāṇi puṣpadhūpagandhamālyavilepanacūrṇacīvaracchatradhvajaghaṇṭāpatākāś ca gṛhītvā nānāratnāni ca vicitrāṇi nānāratnamayāni ca vicitrāṇi puṣpāṇi gṛhītvā prabhūtaprabhūtaṃ khādanīyaṃ bhojanīyaṃ svādanīyaṃ ca gṛhītvā ekaṃ rathaṃ sadāpraruditena bodhisattvena mahāsattvena sārdham abhiruhya taiḥ pañcabhī rathaśataiḥ pañcadārikāśatābhir ūḍhaiḥ parivṛttā puraskṛtā mahatā ca parivāreṇa mātāpitṛpūrvaṃgamā yena pūrvā dik tena prakrāntā | anupūrveṇa ca gacchan sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvo ’drākṣīd dūrād eva tāṃ gandhavatīṃ nagarīṃ saptānāṃ ratnānāṃ citrāṃ darśanīyāṃ saptabhiḥ prākāraiḥ saptaratnamayair anuparikṣiptāṃ saptabhis toraṇaiḥ saptabhiḥ parikhābhiḥ saptabhis tālapaṅktibhir anuparikṣiptāṃ dvādaśa yojanāni vistāreṇa dvādaśa yojanānyāyāmena ṛddhāṃ sphītāṃ ca kṣemāṃ ca subhikṣāṃ ca ākīrṇabahujanamanuṣyāṃ ca pañcabhir antarāpaṇavīthīśatair ālekhyavicitracitrasadṛśair darśanīyair nirviddhāṃ samasamair anutpīḍajanayugyayānasaṃkramaṇasthānasthāpitaiḥ sumāpitāṃ ca | madhye ca nagaraśṛṅgāṭakasyādrākṣīd dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ dharmāsanagatam anekaśatayā parṣadā anekasahasrayā anekaśatasahasrayā parṣadā parivṛttaṃ puraskṛtaṃ dharmaṃ deśayantam | sahadarśanenaiva ca tasya evaṃrūpaṃ sukhaṃ saṃpratilabhate sma tadyathāpi nāma prathamadhyānasamāpanno bhikṣur ekāgreṇa manasikāreṇa | dṛṣṭvā cāsya etad abhūt - na mama pratirūpam etad bhavet, yad ahaṃ rathagata eva dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam upasaṃkrāmeyam | yan nv ahaṃ rathād avatareyam | sa tato rathād avātarat | tāny api pañca dārikāśatāni śreṣṭhidārikayā saha rathebhyo ’vateruḥ | atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ śreṣṭhidārikāpūrvaṃgamaiḥ pañcabhir dārikāśataiḥ parivṛtaḥ puraskṛto ’parimāṇapūjāvyūhena yena dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ tenopasaṃkrāmati sma ||

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(505) She took five hundred carriages and ordered her five hundred servant girls to get ready. She took abundant riches, and ample provisions, mounted one carriage together with the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita, and proceeded East, surrounded by the five hundred maidens on their five hundred carts, accompanied by a huge retinue, and preceded by her parents. After some time the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita saw the city of Gandhavati from afar. In the middle of the marketplace he saw the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata on his pulpit, demonstrating dharma, surrounded and revered by an assembly of many hundreds, of many thousands, of many hundreds of thousands. The moment he saw him he was filled with that kind of happiness (506) which a monk feels when with one-pointed attention he has obtained the first trance. He looked upon him and thought to himself: “It would not be seemly for me to approach the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata seated on a carriage. Let me therefore alight from it!” Thereupon he alighted from his carriage, and the merchant’s daughter with her five hundred maidens followed suit. Sadaprarudita, with the merchant’s daughter and her five hundred maidens then went up to where the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata sat amidst a magnificent display of religious aspirations.

tena khalu punaḥ samayena dharmodgatena bodhisattvena mahāsattvena prajñāpāramitāyāḥ kṛtaśaḥ saptaratnamayaṃ kūṭāgāraṃ kāritam abhūt lohitacandanālaṃkṛtaṃ muktājālaparikṣiptam | caturṣu kūṭāgārakoṇeṣu maṇiratnāni sthāpitāni, yāni pradīpakṛtyaṃ kurvanti sma | catasraś ca dhūpaghaṭikā (250) rūpamayyaś caturdiśam avasaktāḥ, yatra śuddhaṃ kṛṣṇāguru dhūpyate sma yad uta prajñāpāramitāyāḥ pūjārtham | tasya ca kūṭāgārasya madhye saptaratnamayaḥ paryaṅkaḥ prajñapto ’bhūt | caturṇāṃ ratnānāṃ peḍā kṛtā, yatra prajñāpāramitā prakṣiptā suvarṇapaṭṭeṣu likhitā vilīnena vaidūryeṇa | tac ca kūṭāgāraṃ nānācitrapaṭṭadāmabhiḥ pralambamānair alaṃkṛtam abhūt ||

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For the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata had at that time created, for the perfection of wisdom, a pointed tower, made of the seven precious substances, adorned with red sandalwood, and encircled by an ornament of pearls. Gems were placed into the four corners of the pointed tower, and performed the functions of lamps. Four incense jars made of silver were suspended on its four sides, and pure black aloe wood was burning in them, as a token of worship for the perfection of wisdom. And in the middle of that pointed tower a couch made of the seven precious things was put up, and on it a box made of four large gems. Into that the perfection of wisdom was placed, written with melted vaidurya on golden tablets. And that pointed tower was adorned with brightly coloured garlands which hung down in strips.

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ sārdhaṃ śreṣṭhidārikā pūrvaṃgamaiḥ pañcadārikāśataiḥ taṃ kūṭāgāram adrākṣīd aparimāṇena pūjāvyūhena pratimaṇḍitam | anekāni ca tatra devatāsahasrāṇy adrākṣīt, śakraṃ ca devānām indraṃ divyair māndāravapuṣpair divyaiś candanacūrṇair divyaiś ca suvarṇacūrṇair divyaiś ca rūpyacūrṇais taṃ kūṭāgāram avakirantam abhyavakirantam abhiprakirantam | divyāni ca vādyāny aśrauṣīt | dṛṣṭvā śrutvā ca sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ śakraṃ devānām indram etad avocat - kim arthaṃ tvaṃ devendrānekair devatāsahasraiḥ sārdham idaṃ ratnamayaṃ kūṭāgāraṃ divyair māndāravaiḥ puṣpair divyaiś candanacūrṇair divyaiḥ suvarṇacūrṇair divyaiś ca rūpyacūrṇair avakirasi abhyavakirasi abhiprakirasi? imāni ca divyāni vādyāni devair upary antarīkṣe pravāditāni? evam ukte śakro devānām indraḥ sadāpraruditaṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam etad avocat - na tvaṃ kulaputra jānīṣe? eṣā hi sā prajñāpāramitā bodhisattvānāṃ mahāsattvānāṃ mātā pariṇāyikā, yatra śikṣamāṇā bodhisattvā mahāsattvāḥ sarvaguṇapāramitānugatān sarvabuddhadharmān sarvākārajñatāṃ ca kṣipram anuprāpnuvantīti | evam ukte sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ śakraṃ devānām indram etad avocat - kvāsau kauśika prajñāpāramitā, yā bodhisattvānāṃ mahāsattvānāṃ mātā pariṇāyikā? śakra āha - eṣā kulaputrāsya kūṭāgārasya madhye suvarṇapaṭṭeṣu vilīnena vaidūryeṇa likhitvā āryeṇa dharmodgatena bodhisattvena mahāsattvena saptabhir mudrābhir mudrayitvā sthāpitā | sā na sukarā asmābhis tava darśayitum | atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ sārdhaṃ śreṣṭhidārikāpramukhaiḥ pañcabhir dārikāśataiḥ samagrībhūtaiḥ, yāny anena puṣpāṇi gṛhītāni mālyadāmāni ca vastraratnāni ca dhūpagandhamālyavilepanacūrṇacīvaracchatradhvajaghaṇṭāpatākāś ca suvarṇarūpyamayāni ca puṣpāṇi, taiḥ prajñāpāramitāyāḥ pūjām akārṣuḥ, anyatarānyataraṃ ca tataḥ pratyaṃśaṃ sthāpayāmāsuḥ yad uta dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya satkārāya ||

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The Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita and the merchant’s daughter with her five hundred maidens looked upon that pointed tower, so magnificently decorated as a display of religious aspirations. They saw thousands of Gods, with Sakra, Chief of Gods, scattering over that pointed tower heavenly Mandarava flowers, heavenly sandalwood powder, heavenly gold dust, and heavenly silver dust, (507,1) and they heard the music of heavenly instruments. Sadaprarudita then asked Sakra, Chief of Gods: “For what purpose do you, together with many thousands of Gods, scatter over that pointed tower, which consists of precious substances, heavenly Mandarava flowers, etc., and why do the Devas up in space play heavenly music or their instruments?” Sakra answered: “Do you not know the reason, son of good family? This is the perfection of wisdom, the mother and guide of the Bodhisattvas. When Bodhisattvas train in it, they soon reach the perfection of all qualities, and, consequent on that, all the dharmas of a Buddha and the knowledge of all modes.” Sadaprarudita replied: “Where is this perfection of wisdom, the mother and guide of the Bodhisattva?” Sakra answered: “The holy Bodhisattva Dharmodgata has placed it in the middle of this pointed tower, after he had written it on golden tablets with melted Vaidurya, and sealed it with seven seals. We cannot easily show it to you.” Thereupon the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita and the merchant’s daughter, with her five hundred maidens, all paid worship to the perfection of wisdom – with the flowers which they had brought along, and with garlands, wreaths, raiment, jewels, incense, flags and golden and silvery flowers (508) and, one after another, they deposited their portion in front of it, for the greater honour of the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata.

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tāni ca śreṣṭhidārikāpramukhāni pañca dārikāśatāni puṣpadhūpamālyavilepanacūrṇacīvaracchatradhvajaghaṇṭāpatākābhiḥ suvarṇarūpyamayaiś ca puṣpair divyaiś ca vādyaiḥ prajñāpāramitāṃ pūrvaṃ pūjayitvā yena dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tenopasaṃkramya dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ puṣpadhūpagandhamālyavilepanacūrṇacīvaracchatradhvajaghaṇṭāpatākābhiś candanacūrṇaiḥ suvarṇarūpyamayaiś ca puṣpair avākiran abhyavākiran abhiprākiran, divyāni ca vādyāni saṃpravādayati sma dharmapūjām evopādāya ||

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They then worshipped the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata by scattering flowers, etc., over him, and played heavenly music on their instruments – motivated by a desire to worship dharma.

atha khalu tāni puṣpāṇi dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasyopariṣṭān mūrdhni puṣpakūṭāgāraṃ prātiṣṭhan | tāni ca nānāvarṇāni puṣpāṇi suvarṇarūpyamayāni ca puṣpāṇi (251) vihāyasi vitānam iva sthitāni | tāny api cīvarāṇi vastraratnāni cāntarīkṣe nānāratnamayo ’bhramaṇḍapa iva saṃsthito ’bhūt | adrākṣīt khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tāni ca pañca dārikāśatāni śreṣṭhidārikāpramukhāni dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasyedam evaṃrūpam ṛddhiprātihāryam | dṛṣṭvā ca punar eṣām etad abhūt - āścaryaṃ yāvan maharddhikaś cāyaṃ dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvo yāvan mahānubhāvo yāvan mahaujaskaḥ | bodhisattvacaryām eva tāvac carato ’sya kulaputrasyaivaṃrūpā ṛddhivikurvaṇā, kiṃ punar yadāyam anuttarāṃ samyaksaṃbodhim abhisaṃbuddho bhaviṣyatīti ||

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The flowers then rose high above the head of the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata and formed a pointed tower of flowers. And those flowers of various colours, golden and silvery, stood high in the air, like a canopy. And also the robes, raiment and jewels stood high up in the air, like a pavilion in the clouds. When the Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita and the merchant’s daughter with her five hundred maidens beheld this wonder, they thought to themselves: “It is wonderful to see how much wonderworking power this Bodhisattva Dharmodgata possesses, how great a might, how great an influence. So far he courses but in the course of a Bodhisattva, and now already he possesses so much power to work wonders. How much more will he have after he has known full enlightenment!” (509,1)

atha khalu tāni śreṣṭhidārikāpūrvaṃgamāni pañca dārikāśatāni dharmodgate bodhisattve mahāsattve spṛhām utpādya sarvāstāḥ samagrībhūtā adhyāśayenānuttarāyāṃ samyaksaṃbodhau cittam utpādayāmāsuḥ, evaṃ cāvocan - anena vayaṃ kuśalamūlenānāgate ’dhvani tathāgatā arhantaḥ samyaksaṃbuddhā bhavema | bodhisattvacaryāṃ ca vayaṃ carantya eteṣām eva dharmāṇāṃ lābhinyo bhavema, yeṣāṃ dharmāṇāmayaṃ dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvo lābhī | evam eva ca prajñāpāramitāṃ satkuryāma gurukuryāma, yathāyaṃ dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ satkaroti gurukaroti | bahujanasya ca saṃprakāśayema yathāyaṃ dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ saṃprakāśayati | evam eva ca prajñāpāramitayopāyakauśalyena ca samanvāgatā bhavema | pariniṣpadyemahi ca yathāyaṃ dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ prajñāpāramitayopāyakauśalyena ca samanvāgataḥ pariniṣpannaś ca ||

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The merchant’s daughter and the five hundred maidens thereupon felt a longing for the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata. All of one mind, they resolutely raised their hearts to the supreme enlightenment, and said: “May we, through this wholesome root, become Tathagatas in a future period! May we come to course in the course of Bodhisattvas, and may we receive those very dharmas which this Bodhisattva Dharmodgata has received! And may we just so honour and respect the perfection of wisdom as this Bodhisattva Dharmodgata honours and respects it, and may we reveal it to the many just as he has done! And may we become as endowed with perfect wisdom and skill in means, and as accomplished in them as this Bodhisattva Dharmodgata is!”

atha khalu sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvas tāni ca śreṣṭhidārikāpramukhāni pañca dārikāśatāni prajñāpāramitāṃ pūjayitvā dharmodgataṃ ca bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ satkṛtya dharmodgatasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya pādau śirasābhivandya ekānte sagauravāḥ sapratīkṣāḥ prāñjalīn kṛtvātiṣṭhan | ekānte sthitaś ca sadāprarudito bodhisattvo mahāsattvo dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvam etad avocat - ihāhaṃ kulaputra prajñāpāramitāṃ gaveṣamāṇo ’raṇyagato nirghoṣam aśrauṣam - gaccha kulaputra pūrvāṃ diśam | tataḥ prajñāpāramitāṃ śroṣyasīti | so ’haṃ samyak taṃ nirghoṣaṃ śrutvā yena pūrvā dik tena saṃprasthitaḥ | tasya me etad abhūt - samyak ca mayā nirghoṣaḥ śrutaḥ | na ca mayā sa nirghoṣaḥ paripṛṣṭaḥ - kiyad dūraṃ mayā gantavyam, kasya vā antikāt prajñāpāramitāṃ śroṣyāmi lapsye veti | tasya me mahad daurmanasyam abhūt | so ’haṃ tena daurmanasyena mahatīm utkaṇṭhāṃ paritapanaṃ cāpanno ’bhūvam | tasminn eva pṛthivīpradeśe saptarātriṃdivāny atināmayāmi utkaṇṭhitaḥ | nāhārasamudācāram utpādayāmi | api tu prajñāpāramitām eva manasi karomi - kiyad dūraṃ mayā gantavyam, kuto vā prajñāpāramitāṃ lapsye śravaṇāya? na ca mayā sa nirghoṣaḥ paripṛṣṭaḥ iti | tato me tathāgatavigrahaḥ purataḥ prādurbhūtaḥ | sa mām evam āha - gaccha kulaputra itaḥ pañcabhir yojanaśatair anupūrveṇa gandhavatī nāma nagarī | tatra drakṣyasi dharmodgataṃ bodhisattvaṃ mahāsattvaṃ prajñāpāramitāṃ deśayantaṃ prakāśayantam iti | tato ’haṃ mahatodāreṇa prītiprāmodyena samanvāgataḥ | so ’haṃ tenaiva mahatodāreṇa prītiprāmodyena sphuṭas tataḥ pṛthivīpradeśān na calitaḥ, tava ca prajñāpāramitāṃ deśayataḥ śṛṇomi | tasya me śṛṇvato bahūni samādhimukhāni prādurbhūtāni | (252) tatra sthitaṃ māṃ daśadiglokadhātusthitā buddhā bhagavantaḥ samāśvāsayanti, sādhukāraṃ ca dadati - sādhu sādhu kulaputra, ete samādhayaḥ prajñāpāramitānirjātāḥ, yatra sthitair asmābhiḥ sarvabuddhadharmāḥ pariniṣpāditā iti | te māṃ tathāgatāḥ sādhu ca suṣṭhu ca saṃdarśya samādāpya samuttejya saṃpraharṣyāntarhitāḥ | ahaṃ ca tataḥ samādher vyutthitaḥ | tasya me etad abhūt - kuto nu te tathāgatā āgatāḥ, kva vā te tathāgatā gatā iti? tasya ca me etad abhūt - āryo dharmodgato bodhisattvo mahāsattvo dhāraṇīpratilabdhaḥ pañcābhijñaḥ pūrvajinākṛtādhikāro ’varopitakuśalamūlaḥ, prajñāpāramitāyāṃ upāyakauśalye ca suśikṣitaḥ | sa me enam arthaṃ yathāvad vicariṣyati, yatas te tathāgatā āgatā yatra vā te tathāgatā gatā iti | so ’haṃ tasya tathāgatavigrahasya nirghoṣaṃ śrutvā yathānuśiṣṭaṃ yena pūrvāṃ dik tena saṃprasthitaḥ | āgacchaṃś cāhaṃ dūrata evāryam adrākṣaṃ dharmaṃ deśayantam | sahadarśanāc ca mamedṛśaṃ sukhaṃ prādurabhūt, tadyathāpi nāma prathamadhyānasamāpannasya bhikṣor ekāgramanasikārasya | so ’haṃ tvāṃ kulaputra pṛcchāmi - kutas te tathāgatā āgatāḥ, kutra te tathāgatā gatā iti? deśaya me kulaputra teṣāṃ tathāgatānām āgamanaṃ gamanaṃ ca | yathā vayaṃ teṣāṃ tathāgatānāmāgamanaṃ gamanaṃ ca jānīma, avirahitāś ca bhavema tathāgatadarśaneneti ||

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The Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita, and the merchant’s daughter with her five hundred maidens, after they had worshipped the perfection of wisdom and honored the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata with their heads, respectfully saluted him with their folded hands, and stood on one side. The Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita then told the whole story of his quest for the perfection of wisdom, beginning with the voice he had heard in the forest, that bid him go East. (510) He told Dharmodgata how he had stood in many concentrations, and how the Buddhas and Lords of the ten directions had comforted and applauded him, and had said: “Well done, son of good family! These concentrations have issued from the perfection of wisdom. By firmly standing in the perfection of wisdom have we achieved all the dharmas of a Buddha.” He went on to relate that: “The Tathagatas then vanished again, and I emerged from that state of concentration. I then asked myself ‘wherefrom now did these Tathagatas come, and whither have they gone?’ I thought to myself that ‘the holy Bodhisattva Dharmodgata has received the dharanis, (511) he possesses the five superknowledges, he has done his duties under the Jinas of the past, he has planted wholesome roots, and is well trained in perfect wisdom and skill in means. He will explain to me this matter as it really is, and tell me where those Tathagatas have come from and whither they have gone to.’ Now I have come to you, and I ask you, son of good family: ‘Where have those Tathagatas come from, and whither have they gone to?’ Demonstrate to me, son of good family, the coming and going of those Tathagatas, so that we may cognize it, and so that we may become not lacking in the vision of the Tathagatas.”

āryāṣṭasāhasrikāyāṃ prajñāpāramitāyāṃ sadāpraruditaparivarto nāma triṃśattamaḥ || (253)

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