The Lotus Sutra
Translated by Burton Watson
- Chapter Twenty-three
- The Former Deeds of Bodhisattva Medicine King
At that time bodhisattva Constellation King Flower spoke to the Buddha,
saying: "World-Honored One, how does the bodhisattva Medicine King come and go in the
saha world? World-Honored One, this bodhisattva Medicine King has carried out some
hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of difficult practices, arduous
practices.. Very well, World-Honored One, could I ask you to explain a little? The
heavenly beings, dragons, gods, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahrogas,
human and nonhuman beings, and the bodhisattvas who have come from other lands and the
multitude of voice-hearers, will all be delighted to hear you."
At that time the Buddha addressed the bodhisattva Constellation King
Flower, saying: "Many kalpas in the past, immeasurable as Ganges sands, there was a
Buddha named Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue Thus Come One , worthy of offerings, of right and
universal knowledge, perfect clarity and conduct, well gone, understanding the world,
unexcelled worthy, trainer of people, trainer of heavenly and human beings, Buddha,
World-Honored One. This Buddha had eighty million great bodhisattvas and mahasattvas and a
multitude of great voice-hearers equal to the sands of seventy-two Ganges. This Buddha's
life span was forty-two thousand kalpas, and the life span of the bodhisattva's was the
same. In his land there were no women, hell dwellers, hungry spirits, beasts or asuras,
and no kind of tribulation. The ground was as level as the palm of a hand, made of lapis
lazuli and adorned with jeweled trees. Jeweled curtains covered it over, banners of
jeweled flowers hung down, and jeweled urns an incense burners filled the land everywhere.
There were daises made of the seven treasures, with a tree by each dais, the tree situated
an arrow-shot length from the dais. These jeweled trees all had bodhisattvas and
voice-hearers sitting under them, and each of the jeweled daises had hundreds of millions
of heavenly beings playing on heavenly instruments and singing the praises of the Buddha
as an offering.
"At the time, for the sake of the bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All
Living Beings and the other numerous bodhisattvas and multitude of voice-hearers, the
Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra. This bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Living Beings
delighted in carrying out arduous practices. In the midst of the Law preached by the
Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue he applied himself diligently and traveled about here
and there, single-mindedly seeking Buddhahood for a period of fully twelve thousand years.
After that he was able to gain the samadhi in which one can manifest all physical forms.
Having gained this samadhi, his heart was filled with great joy and he thought to himself:
My gaining the samadhi in which I can manifest al physical forms is due entirely to the
fact that I heard the Lotus Sutra. I must now make an offering to the Buddha Sun Moon Pure
Bright Virtue and to the Lotus Sutra!
"Immediately he entered the samadhi and in the midst of the sky
rained down mandarava flowers, great mandarava flowers, and finely ground, hard black
particles of sandalwood; they filled the whole sky like clouds as they came raining down.
He also rained down the incense of the sandalwood that grows by the southern seashore. Six
taels of this incense is worth as much as the saha world. All these he used as an offering
to the Buddha.
"When he had finished making this offering, he rose from this
samadhi and thought to himself: Though I have employed my supernatural powers to make this
offering to the Buddha, it is not as good as making an offering of my own body.
"Thereupon he swallowed various perfumes, sandalwood, kunduruka,
turushka, prikka, aloes, and liquidambar gum, and he also drank the fragrant oil of
champaka and other kinds of flowers, doing this for a period of fully twelve hundred
years. Anointing his body with the fragrant oil, he appeared before the Buddha Sun Moon
Pure Bright Virtue, wrapped his body in heavenly jeweled robes, poured fragrant oil over
his head and, calling on his transcendental powers, set fire to his body. The glow shown
forth, illuminating worlds equal in number to the sands of eighty million Ganges. The
Buddhas in these worlds simultaneously spoke out in praise, saying: 'Excellent, excellent,
good man! This is true diligence. This is what is called a true Dharma offering to the
Thus Come One. Though one may use flowers, incense, necklaces, incense for burning,
powdered incensed, paste incense, heavenly silken banners and canopies, along with the
incense of the sandalwood that grows by the southern seashore, presenting offerings of all
such things as these, he can never match this! Though one may make donations of his realm
and cities, his wife and children, he is no match for this! Good men, this is called the
foremost donation of all. Among all donations, this is most highly prized, for one is
offering the Dharma to the Thus Come One'
"After they had spoken these words, they each fell silent. The
body of the bodhisattva burned for twelve hundred years, and when that period of time had
passed, it at last burned itself out.
"After the bodhisattva Gladly Seen By All Living Beings had made
this Dharma offering and his life had come to an end, he was reborn in the land of the
Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue, in the household of the King Pure Virtue. Sitting in
cross-legged position, he was suddenly born by transformation, and at once for the benefit
of his father he spoke in verse form, saying:
Great king, you should now understand this.
Having walked about in a certain place,
I immediately gained the samadhi
that allows me to manifest all physical forms.
I have carried out my endeavors with great diligence
and cast aside the body that I loved.
"When he had recited this verse, he said to his father: 'The
Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue is still present at this time. Previously I made an
offering to this Buddha and gained a dharani that allows me to understand the words of all
living beings. Moreover I have heard this Lotus Sutra with its eight hundred, thousand,
ten thousand, millions of nayutas, kankaras, vivaras, akshobhyas of verses6
Great king, I must now once more make on offering to this Buddha.
"Having said this, he seated himself on a dais made of the seven
treasures, rose up into the air to the height of seven tala trees and, proceeding to the
place where the Buddha was, bowed his head to the ground in observance to the Buddha's
feet, put the nails of his ten fingers together and spoken this verse in praise of the
Buddha:
The countenance so rare and wonderful,
its bright beams illuminating the ten directions!
At a previous time I made an offering.
And now once more I draw near.
"At the time, after the bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Living
Beings had spoken this verse, he said to the Buddha: 'World-Honored One, is the
World-Honored One still present in the world?'
"At that time the Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue said to the
bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Living Beings: 'Good man, the time has come for my nirvana.
The time has come for extinction. You may provide me with a comfortable couch, for tonight
will be my parinirvana.'
"He also commanded the bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Living
Beings, saying: 'Good man, I take this Law of the Buddha and entrust it to you. In
addition, the bodhisattvas and great disciples, along with the Law of
anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, and the thousand-millionfold seven-jeweled world, with its
jeweled trees and jeweled daises and heavenly beings who wait on and attend them - all
these I hand over to you. I also entrust you the relics of my body that remain after I
have passed into extinction. You must distribute them abroad and arrange for offerings to
them far and wide. You should erect many thousands of towers [to house them].'
"The Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue, having given these
commands to the bodhisattva Gladly Seen by Living Beings, that night, in the last watch of
the night, entered Nirvana.
"At that time the bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Living Beings,
seeing the Buddha pass into extinction, was deeply grieved and distressed. Out of his
great love and longing for the Buddha he at once prepared a pyre made of sandalwood from
the seashore, and with this as an offering to the Buddha's body, he cremated the body.
After the fire had burned out, he gathered up the relics, fashioned eighty-four thousand
jeweled urns, and built eighty-four thousand towers, high as the three worlds, adorned
with central poles, draped with banners and canopies and hung with a multitude of jeweled
bells.
"At that time the bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Living Beings
once more thought to himself: 'Though I have made these offerings, my mind is not yet
satisfied. I must make some further offering to the relics.
"Then he spoke to the other bodhisattvas and great disciples, and
to the heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas, and all the members of the great assembly,
saying, 'You must give your undivided attention. I will now make an offering to the relics
of the Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue.'
"Having spoken these words, immediately in the presence of the
eighty-four thousand towers he burned his arms, which were adorned with a hundred
blessings, for a period of seventy-two thousand years as his offering. This caused the
numberless multitudes who were seeking to become voice-hearers, along with an immeasurable
asamkhya of persons, to conceive the desire for anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, and all of them
were able to dwell in the samadhi where one can manifest all physical forms.
"At that time the bodhisattvas, heavenly and human beings, asuras
and others, seeing that the bodhisattva had destroyed his arms, were alarmed and saddened
and they said: 'This bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Living Beings is our teacher,
instructing and converting us. Now he has burned his arms and his body is no longer
whole!'
"At that time, in the midst of the great assembly, the bodhisattva
Gladly Seen by All Living Beings made this vow, saying: 'I have cast away both my arms.
I'm certain to attain the golden body of a Buddha. If this is true and not false, then may
my two arms become as they were before!'
"When he had finished pronouncing this vow, his arms reappeared of
themselves as they had been before. This came about because the merits and wisdom of this
bodhisattva were many-fold and profound. At that time the thousand-million-fold world
shook and trembled in six different ways, heaven rained down jeweled flowers, and all the
heavenly and human beings gained what they had never had before."
The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Constellation King Flower:
"What do you think? Is this bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Living Beings someone
unknown to you? He is in fact none other than the present bodhisattva Medicine King! He
cast aside his body as an offering in this fashion immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten
thousands, millions of nayutas of times.
"Constellation King Flower, if there are those have made up their
minds and wish to gain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, they would do well to burn a finger or
one toe of their foot as an offering to the Buddha towers. It is better than offering
one's realm and cities, wife and children, or the mountains, forests, Rivers, and lakes in
the 'lands of thousand-million-fold world, or all their precious treasures. even if a
person were to fill the whole thousand-million-fold world with the seven treasures as an
offering to the Buddha and the great bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas and arhats, the
benefits gained by such a person cannot match those gained by accepting and upholding this
Lotus Sutra, even just one four-line verse of it! The latter brings the most numerous
blessings of all.
"Constellation King Flower, among all the rivers, streams, and
other bodies of water, for example, the ocean is foremost. And this Lotus Sutra is
likewise, being the most profound and greatest of the sutras preached by the Thus Come
Ones. Again just as among the Dirt Mountains, Black Mountains, Small Iron Encircling
Mountains, Great Iron Encircling mountains, Ten Treasure Mountains and all the other
mountains, Mount Sumeru is foremost, so this Lotus Sutra is likewise. Among all the
sutras, it holds the highest place. And just as among all the stars and their like, the
moon, a god's son, is foremost, so this Lotus Sutra is likewise. For among all the
thousands, ten thousands, millions of types a sutra teachings, it shines the brightest.
And just as the sun, a god's son, con banish all darkness, so too this sutra is capable of
destroying the darkness of all that is not good.
"As among the petty kings the wheel-turning sage king is foremost,
so this sutra is the most honored among all the many sutras. As the lord Shakra is king
among the thirty-three heavenly beings, so this sutra likewise is king among all the
sutras. And as the heavenly king, great Brahma, is the father of all living beings, so
this sutra likewise is father of all sages, worthies, those still learning, those who have
completed their learning, and those who set their minds on becoming bodhisattvas. And as
among all the ordinary mortals, the srotaapanna, sakridagamin, anagamin, arhats and
pratyekabuddhas are foremost, so this sutra likewise is foremost among all the sutra
teachings preached by all the Thus Come Ones, preached by all the bodhisattvas, or
preached by all the voice-hearers and pratyekabuddhas, and in the same way this sutra is
foremost among all the sutra teachings. As the Buddha is king of the doctrines, so
likewise this sutra is king of the sutras.
"Constellation King Flower, this sutra can save all living beings.
The sutra can cause all living beings to free themselves from suffering and anguish. The
sutra can bring great benefits to living beings and fulfill their desires, as a clear pond
can satisfy all those who are thirsty. It is like a fire to one who is cold, a robe to one
who is naked, like a band of merchants finding a leader, the child finding its mother,
someone finding a ship in which to cross the water, a sick man finding a doctor, someone
in darkness finding a lamp, the poor finding riches, the people finding a ruler, a
traveling merchant finding his way to the sea. It is like a torch that banishes darkness,
Such is this Lotus Sutra. It can cause living beings to cast off all distress, all
sickness and pain. It can unloose all the bonds of birth and death.
"If a person is able to hear this Lotus Sutra, if he copies it
himself or causes others to copy it, the benefits he gains thereby will be such that even
the Buddha wisdom could never finish calculating their extent. If one copies these sutra
scrolls and uses flowers, incense, necklaces, incense for burning, powdered incense, paste
incense, banners, canopies, robes, various kinds of lamps such as lamps of butter oil, oil
lamps, lamps with various fragrant oils, lamps of champaka oil, or lamps of navamalika oil
to make offerings to them, the benefits that he acquires will likewise be immeasurable.
"Constellation King Flower, if there is a person who hears this
chapter on the Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King, he too will gain
immeasurable and boundless benefits. If there is a woman hears this chapter of the Former
Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King and is able to accept and hold it, that will be
her last appearance in a woman's body and she will never be born in that form again.
"If in the last five hundred year period after the Thus Come One
has entered extinction there a woman who hears this sutra and carries out its practices as
this sutra directs, when her life here on earth comes to an end she will immediately go to
the world of Peace and Delight where the Buddha Amitayus dwells surrounded by the assembly
of great bodhisattvas and there will be born seated on a jeweled seat in the center of a
lotus blossom. He 7 will no longer know the torments of greed, desire, anger, rage,
stupidity or ignorance, or the torments brought about by arrogance, envy or other
defilements. He will gain the bodhisattva's transcendental powers and the truth of the
birthlessness of all phenomena. Having gained this truth, his faculty of sight will be
clear and pure, and with this clear pure faculty of sight he will see Buddhas and Thus
Come Ones equal in number to the sands of Ăven hundred twelve thousand million nayutas of
Ganges.
"At that time Buddhas will join him praising them from afar,
saying: 'Excellent, excellent, good man! In the midst of the Law of Shakyamuni Buddha you
have been able to accept, uphold, read, recite and ponder this sutra and to preach it for
others. The good fortune you gain thereby is immeasurable and boundless. It cannot be
burned by fire or washed away by water. Your benefits are such that a thousand Buddhas
speaking altogether could never finish describing them. Now you have been able to destroy
all devils and thieves, to annihilate the army of birth and death, and all others who bore
you enmity or malice have likewise been wiped out.
"Good man, a hundred, a thousand Buddhas will employ their
transcendental powers to join in guarding and protecting you. Among the heavenly and human
beings of all the worlds, there will been no one like you. With the sole exception of the
Thus Come One, there will be none among the voice-hearer, pratyekabuddhas or bodhisattvas
whose wisdom and ability in meditation can equal yours!'
"Constellation King Flower, such will be the benefits and the
power of wisdom successfully acquired by this bodhisattva.
"If there is a person who, hearing this chapter on the Former
Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King, is able to welcome it with joy and praise its
excellence, then in this present existence this person's mouth will constantly emit the
fragrance of the blue lotus flower, and the pores of his body will constantly emit the
fragrance of ox-head sandalwood. His benefits will be such as have been described above.
"For this reason, Constellation King Flower, I entrust this
chapter on the Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King to you. After I pass into
extinction, in the last five hundred period you must spread it abroad widely throughout
Jambudvipa and never allowed to be cut off, nor must you allow evil devils, the devils'
people, heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas or kumbhanda demons to seize the advantage!
"Constellation King Flower, you must use your transcendental
powers to guard and protect this sutra. Why? Because this sutra provides good medicine for
the ills of the people of Jambudvipa. If a person who has an illness is able to hear this
sutra, then his illness will be wiped out and he will know neither old age or death.
"Constellation King Flower, if you see someone who accepts an
upholds this sutra, you must take blue lotus blossoms, heap them with powdered incense,
and scatter them over him as an offering. And when you have scattered them, you should
think to yourself: Before long this person will pick grasses, spread them as a seat in the
place of practice, and conquer the armies of the devil. Then he will sound the conch of
the Law, beat the drum of the great Law, and free all living beings from the sea of old
age, sickness and death!
"For this reason when those who seek the Buddha way see so someone
who accepts and upholds this sutra, they should approach him with this kind of respect and
reference."
When [the Buddha] preached this chapter on the Former Affairs of the
Bodhisattva Medicine King, eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas gained the dharani that
allows them to understand the words of all living beings. Many Treasures Thus Come One in
the midst of his treasure tower praised the bodhisattva Constellation King Flower, saying:
"Excellent, excellent, Constellation King Flower. You succeeded in acquiring
inconceivable benefits and thus were able to question Shakyamuni Buddha about this matter,
profiting immeasurable numbers of living beings."