The White Lotus of the Good Dharma
The Prophecy to the Five Hundred
Bhikṣus
Toh 113
Degé Kangyur, vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1.b–180.b
Translated by Peter Alan Roberts
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2018
Current version v 1.2.12 (2022)
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Table of Contents
Summary
The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, popularly known as the Lotus Sūtra, is taught by Buddha Śākyamuni on Vulture Peak to an audience that includes bodhisattvas from countless realms, as well as bodhisattvas who emerge from under the ground, from the space below this world. Buddha Prabhūtaratna, who has long since passed into nirvāṇa, appears within a floating stūpa to hear the sūtra, and Śākyamuni enters the stūpa and sits beside him. The Lotus Sūtra is celebrated, particularly in East Asia, for its presentation of crucial elements of the Mahāyāna tradition, such as the doctrine that there is only one yāna, or “vehicle”; the distinction between expedient and definite teachings; and the notion that the Buddha’s life, enlightenment, and parinirvāṇa were simply manifestations of his transcendent buddhahood, while he continues to teach eternally. A recurring theme in the sūtra is its own significance in teaching these points during past and future eons, with many passages in which the Buddha and bodhisattvas such as Samantabhadra describe the great benefits that come from devotion to it, the history of its past devotees, and how it is the Buddha’s ultimate teaching, supreme over all other sūtras.
Acknowledgements
The White Lotus of the Good Dharma Sūtra was translated from Tibetan with reference to the Sanskrit by Peter Alan Roberts. Ling Lung Chen was the consultant for the Chinese versions. Emily Bower was the project manager and editor. Ben Gleason was the proofreader.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of May & George Gu, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
The Prophecy to the Five Hundred Bhikṣus
Brother Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, having heard directly from the Bhagavān about this wisdom insight into skillful methods, about the teachings with implied meaning, and having heard the prophecies made to the great śrāvakas, and having heard of the connections with the past, and having heard of the preeminence of the Bhagavān, was astonished and amazed, without worldly concerns, and filled with delight and joy. Then with great delight and joy and great reverence for the Dharma, he rose from his seat, bowed down to the feet of the Bhagavān, [F.75.b] and thought, “Bhagavān, it is wonderful! Sugata, it is wonderful! The tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas accomplish that which is extremely difficult—they teach the Dharma to beings according to the different concerns of the world, through many wisdom insights into skillful methods, and they liberate330 beings attached to this and that.331 Bhagavān, what are we able to do? The Tathāgata is the one who knows our aspirations and our past.”
He bowed down to the Bhagavān’s feet and then sat to one side and with his hands placed together in homage gazed unblinking upon the Bhagavān.
Then the Bhagavān, seeing the thoughts in the mind of Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, said to the complete saṅgha of bhikṣus, “Bhikṣus, look upon my śrāvaka Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra. He is the best teacher among those who teach the Dharma within my332 saṅgha of bhikṣus, and he is praised for having many true qualities. He is dedicated to holding the Dharma in many ways within my teaching. He tirelessly teaches the Dharma, bringing joy to the four assemblies, encouraging them, and inspiring them. He is able to teach the Dharma. He is able to aid those who maintain celibacy.
“Bhikṣus, other than the Tathāgata, there is no one who can match Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra in meaning or in words.
“Bhikṣus, what do you think? If you think that he has been a holder solely of my Dharma, bhikṣus, you should not regard him in that way. Why is that? Bhikṣus, I remember that in the past, in a time gone by, he was a holder of the Dharma of nine hundred and ninety million buddhas. Just as he is now the supreme teacher of my Dharma, [F.76.a] so he was for all of them. For all of them he was someone who had realized emptiness. For all of them he was someone who had attained discernment. For all of them he was someone who had realized the higher knowledge of a bodhisattva. He was someone who taught the Dharma with complete certainty. He was someone who taught the Dharma free of doubt. He was someone who taught the Dharma in its purity. In the teaching of those buddha bhagavāns he practiced the conduct of celibacy throughout his life, and everywhere he was known as a śrāvaka. By this method, he benefited innumerable, countless hundred thousand quintillions of beings. He ripened innumerable, countless beings for the highest, complete enlightenment. At all times he has served beings through the activity of a buddha. At all times he has been purifying his own buddha realm, and has been dedicated to ripening beings.
“Bhikṣus, he has been the primary teacher of the Dharma for the seven tathāgatas, the first of whom was Vipaśyin and of whom I am the seventh.333
“Bhikṣus, in the future in this fortunate eon, this Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra will be the principal teacher of the Dharma within the teachings of the thousand buddhas less four, and he will be a holder of their teaching. In the same way, in the future he will hold the entire Dharma of innumerable, countless buddha bhagavāns. He will benefit innumerable, countless beings. He will ripen innumerable, countless beings for the highest, complete enlightenment. He will be someone who is continuously dedicated. He will be dedicated to purifying his own buddha realm and ripening beings. He will in this way perfect his bodhisattva conduct [F.76.b] and after innumerable, countless eons he will attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. He will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Dharmaprabhāsa. He will appear in this very buddha realm.
“Bhikṣus, at that time this buddha realm will be like billion-world world realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River combined into one buddha realm. The ground will be made of the seven precious materials. It will be as level as the palm of a hand. There will be no mountains. It will be filled with kūṭāgāras made of the seven precious materials. The airborne palaces of the devas will be close so that the devas can see the humans, and the humans can see the devas.
“Bhikṣus, at that time, in this buddha realm, there will be no lower existences and there will be no women. All the beings there will be born miraculously. They will practice celibacy with their immaterial bodies. They will emit their own light. They will have miraculous powers. They will fly through the air. They will have diligence. They will have mindfulness. They will have wisdom. They will have golden bodies adorned by the thirty-two signs of a great being.
“Bhikṣus, at that time, in this buddha realm, those beings will have two kinds of food. What will they be? They will be the food of joy in the Dharma and the food of joy in meditation. He will have innumerable, countless hundred thousand quintillions of bodhisattvas. All of them will have attained the higher knowledges, have the realization of the discernments, and be skilled in instructing334 beings. His śrāvakas will be beyond number and they will all have great miraculous abilities, great power, the eight liberations, and dhyāna. That buddha realm will have limitless qualities of this kind. The eon will be named Ratnāvabhāsa. The world will be named Suviśuddhā. [F.77.a] At that time, the lifespan will be innumerable, countess eons. When the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Dharmaprabhāsa has passed into nirvāṇa his Dharma will remain for a long time. That world will be filled with stūpas made of precious materials.
That is what the Bhagavān said. The Sugata having spoken these words, the Teacher then pronounced these verses:
Then the twelve hundred who had mastered themselves thought, “The Bhagavān has given prophecies to those great śrāvakas, and it would be marvelous and wonderful if the Tathāgata were to give a prophecy to each one of us also.”
The Bhagavān knew the thoughts that were in the minds of those great śrāvakas and said to Brother Mahākāśyapa, “Kāśyapa, I shall next give prophecies to these twelve hundred who have mastered themselves and are in my presence.
“Kāśyapa, the great śrāvaka bhikṣu Kauṇḍinya, after sixty-two hundred thousand quintillion buddhas, and even further beyond that, will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Samantaprabhāsa.
“Kāśyapa, there will be five hundred tathāgatas who have that same name. Five hundred great śrāvakas will be next after Kauṇḍinya to attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood and all of them will have the name Samantaprabhāsa. They are Gayākāśyapa, Nadīkāśyapa, Uruvilvākāśyapa, Kāla, Kālodāyin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphiṇa, Bakkula, Cunda, [F.78.b] Svāgata, and the rest of the five hundred who have gained mastery over themselves.”
Then those five hundred arhats, on hearing the prophecy of their attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, felt contented, delighted, elated, and joyful. With happiness and gladness they approached the Bhagavān, bowed their heads to his feet, and said to him, “Bhagavān, we confess this offence of ours: we have been always continuously thinking, ‘This is our nirvāṇa,’ or, ‘We have attained nirvāṇa.’ Bhagavān, we lacked understanding, lacked skill, and lacked knowledge. Why is that? We thought, ‘There is the attainment of buddhahood through the wisdom of the tathāgatas, but we are satisfied with a limited wisdom.’
“As an analogy, imagine if there were a man who went to a friend’s home, and became drunk or fell asleep. Then the friend sews a priceless jewel into the hem of his clothing, saying, ‘This is a precious jewel!’ The man then rises from his seat and leaves. He goes to another country and there he runs into misfortune. He undergoes great difficulties and hardship in his search for food and clothing. When he finds just a little food he is delighted and overjoyed. [F.79.b]
“Bhagavān, then that man’s old friend who had sewn the priceless jewel in the hem of that man’s clothing sees him, and says to him, ‘Oh, my friend! Why are you undergoing this hardship seeking for food and clothing? I sewed a precious jewel, a priceless jewel that could fulfill all your desires, into the hem of your clothes so that you could live happily. My friend, I have given you that precious jewel. My friend, I have sewn that precious jewel in the hem of your clothing. My friend, you have not looked for it at all, wondering, “When was it sewn in? Who sewed it in? Why did he sew it in?” Oh my friend, you are a fool that you have accepted to undergo such hardship in searching for food and clothing! My friend, take this precious jewel and go to the big city, and in the big city with that jewel obtain all the wealth that you want!’
“Bhagavān, it is likewise that the Tathāgata has previously taught the practice of bodhisattva conduct and the aspiration for omniscience, but we did not know it, we did not understand it.
“Bhagavān, therefore our thoughts were of nirvāṇa, the level of the arhat. Bhagavān, we have lived in great hardship. Bhagavān, we have been content to seek limited wisdom. Because we have never ceased from our prayers for omniscient wisdom, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata has made us understand, saying, ‘You bhikṣus, do not think that this is nirvāṇa! Bhikṣus, there are the roots of merit in your beings that I have ripened in the past. It was through my skillful method that through my teaching and speaking of the Dharma you came to think, “This is nirvāṇa!” ’
“In that way the Bhagavān has made us understand, and today has given us the prophecy of our attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment.” [F.80.a]
At that time, Ājñātakauṇḍinya and the five hundred who had gained mastery over themselves recited these verses:
This concludes “The Prophecy to the Five Hundred Bhikṣus,” the eighth chapter of the Dharma teaching of “The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.”
Colophon
Translated, revised, and finalized by the Indian Upādhyāya Surendrabodhi and the chief editor Lotsawa Bandé Nanam Yeshé Dé.
Bibliography
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