The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī
Chapter 3

While the Ratnaketu dhāraṇī was being recited by the thus-gone Śākyamuni, the entire Sahā world became clearly visible, illuminated by a powerful light. The one hundred billion lords of sensual pleasure, each one a māra active in one of the one hundred billion worlds of four continents in this buddha field of Śākyamuni, became alarmed by this display of the Buddha’s power and directed their eyes toward this world of four continents. “Where is this light emanating from?” they wondered. “Surely this must be through the power of Māra, the evil one, who lives in that particular world of four continents. He is stronger, mightier, and more powerful than us.”

As they looked, however, the māras saw Māra, the evil one, overcome with grief151 and utterly dejected. So the one billion māras went to the world of four continents where Māra, the evil one, lived and asked, “Why is it, O lord of sensual pleasures, that you are just sitting there, miserable and overcome with grief, when your entire world sphere is awash with light?” {K53}

Māra, the lord of sensual pleasures, {TK66} then explained the matter at length to the one hundred billion māras:

“As you know, friends, there is a monk from the Śākya clan, [F.208.a] a trickster and rogue of the worst kind. As soon as he was born here, the entire Sahā152 world became filled with light, shook, and trembled. Whatever intelligent beings there were in this entire world sphere‍—the lords of brahmās, nāgas, yakṣas, asuras, mahoragas, garuḍas, kinnaras, and other intelligent human and nonhuman beings‍—all went to him to offer worship for the last six years. Sitting alone on his seat, without a companion, he has been creating inauspicious illusions.

“I, for my part, desirous to make a show of my military might, approached him in the company of soldiers numbering three hundred sixty billion and surrounded him with displays of power, valor, magical skill, and transformations of my entire army, but I was unable to stir or disturb even a single hair on his body, let alone dislodge him from his seat or assault him some other way. That villain, however, displayed the magical power that he did and made the earth tremble.

“Defeated along with my military, I was like a cut-down tree, prostrate upon the surface of the earth, while he, {K54} sitting there on his seat, produced inauspicious illusions {TK67} of such a kind that my entire domain was overpowered. Having accomplished the knowledge he sought, he rose from his seat and started instructing beings. Thereupon, all the learned and knowledgeable beings in this world of four continents became astounded, so that I am unable to divine their thoughts or their future destiny within the six realms. I am unable to stir or disturb even a single hair of those who took refuge with him, let alone mislead them about him, or pry them away from him.

“And now my five hundred daughters with their retinues, as well as my twenty thousand sons with their followers, have taken refuge with that villainous monk, Gautama, and sit in front of him in order to listen to the Dharma,153 while I no longer have the power to persuade them to leave him. For this reason, [F.208.b] you, being powerful, full of merits, knowledgeable, and mighty, must help me. We need to stamp the life out of that villainous son of the Śākyas. And whatever beings have taken refuge with him, we must annihilate them too. {K55} We will defeat the black faction of that deceitful monk, and bring glory to the white faction of Māra. We will then be able to live happily ever after.”

Now, the māra Jyotiṣprabha looked toward Jambudvīpa where the Thus-Gone One {TK68} was sitting and teaching the Dharma. When he saw the Blessed One’s body and heard the sound of his Dharma talk, he was awed and the thrill of it caused the hairs on his body to stand on end. He said to Māra, the evil one:

Then another māra, Sannimika by name, addressed Māra, the evil one, thus:

The evil one replied:

The māra Navarāja said this to Māra, the evil one:

The māra Khaḍgasoma said:

The evil one replied:

The māra Kṣititoya said:

The evil one replied:

The māra Tṛṣṇājaha said:

The evil one replied:

The māra Bodhākṣa asked:

The evil one replied:

The māra Durdharṣa said:

The evil one replied:

And so this exchange between the evil one and the other māras continued until ten million stanzas were spoken by the ten million māras, after which all the māras spoke with a single voice:

“So be it! We will go! We will now go to our individual abodes, don our armor, and come along with our military cohorts. {K60} Whatever magical powers we have at our disposal, we will display them all. You will then know for yourself, at that time, what valor the monk Gautama will exhibit.”160

These tens of millions of māras {TK72} then departed for their respective homes to don their armor, each māra accompanied by tens of thousands of millions of followers. All of them donned their coats of mail, armed themselves with different types of weapons, and girded themselves with different types of body armor. As night fell, they traveled to Jambudvīpa and arrayed themselves in the sky above Aṅga-Magadha.

Any gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, and kumbhāṇḍas in this world of four continents who harbored ill will toward the Blessed One and who had not attained respect and devotion for him and were also ill-disposed toward the Dharma and the Saṅgha were all mobilized under the command of the evil Māra for the sake of killing the Blessed One. Brandishing various weapons and types of armor, they hovered there in the sky. Māra, too, went to one side of the Himalaya Mountains where there lived, [F.210.a] with a retinue of five hundred, the sage Jyotīrasa, a devotee of Maheśvara who was accomplished in the eighteen branches of knowledge and who had attained excellence in the field of magical arts. Having assumed the form of Maheśvara, Māra stood before the sage and said:

Having spoken this stanza, Māra, the evil one, disappeared right there and, having gone to his abode, declared the following to his retinue of māras:

Another māra said:

Another māra said:

And, as far as the extent of the māras’ magical power would allow, they enacted everything in full. The Blessed One, however, turned this entire world sphere‍—the great trichiliocosm‍—into diamond. Subsequently no māras were able to make any sounds, and no mountains of fire stood in the four directions. [F.210.b] There were no black clouds {TK75} and no unseasonable winds. No nāga was able to send even a single drop of rain‍—all this through the power of the Buddha’s blessing.

Around that time, in the morning, four great hearers put on their lower garments and robes and, bearing their alms bowls, entered the great city of Rājagṛha to beg alms. Venerable Śāriputra entered the city through the southern gate to beg alms. {K63} There, in the city, fifty māra youths, endowed with supreme youthful beauty, attired to resemble sons of distinguished personages, roamed about dancing and singing. They seized Venerable Śāriputra by both hands and pranced along the street. Dancing and singing, they urged him, “Dance, monk! Sing, monk!”

Śāriputra replied, “Listen, friends, as I sing you a song that you have not heard before.”

All the māra youths, moving onward, then sang the following in unison with Śāriputra:

“The mantra is:

Elder Śāriputra sang this stanza and recited the words of the mantra while bounding along with the fifty māra youths, who, supremely thrilled and kindly disposed, said: {K64}

They all bowed their heads to the feet of Śāriputra [F.211.a] and sat down in front of him, in the middle of the street, to hear the Dharma.

Around the same time, the great Venerable Maudgalyāyana entered the great city of Rājagṛha through the eastern gate, in order to beg alms. But as before, fifty māra youths sang the following in unison with Maudgalyāyana:164

“The mantra is:

The great Maudgalyāyana sang these stanzas and recited the words of the mantra to the sons of Māra while bounding along with them. Subsequently, the fifty māra youths, supremely thrilled and kindly disposed, said:

The fifty māra youths bowed their heads to the feet of Venerable Maudgalyāyana and sat down in front of him, in the middle of the street, to hear the Dharma.

Around the same time, Venerable Pūrṇa, the son of Maitrāyaṇī, entered the city through the northern gate to beg alms. {K66} As before, fifty māra youths sang in unison with him: [F.211.b] {TK78}

“The mantra is:

Venerable Pūrṇa sang these stanzas and recited the words of the mantra to the sons of Māra while bounding along with them. Subsequently, the fifty māra youths, supremely thrilled [F.212.a] and kindly disposed, said:

All fifty of the māra youths bowed their heads to the feet of Venerable Pūrṇa and sat down in front of him, in the middle of the street, to hear the Dharma.

Around the same time, Venerable Subhūti entered the great city of Rājagṛha through the western gate {TK81} to beg alms. There, at the gate to the city, fifty māra youths, endowed with supreme youthful beauty, attired to resemble sons of distinguished personages, gallavanted about, dancing and singing. They seized Venerable Subhūti by both hands and, prancing along the street, urged him, “Dance, monk! Sing, monk!”

Subhūti replied, “Listen, friends, as I sing you a song that you have not heard before.”

Then all of them fell silent. Moving along with them, Venerable Subhūti sang the following:

“The mantra is:

Venerable Subhūti sang these stanzas and recited the words of the mantra to the sons of Māra while bounding along with them. {TK83} Subsequently, the fifty māra youths, supremely thrilled and kindly disposed, said:

All fifty of the māra youths bowed their heads to the feet of Venerable Subhūti and sat down in front of him, in the middle of the street, to hear the Dharma. At the same time, through the power of the Buddha, the street appeared stretched to a radius of one hundred leagues. In the middle were seated Elder Śāriputra, {K71} the great Maudgalyāyana, Pūrṇa, and Subhūti, facing north, west, south, and east respectively and positioned at a distance of half a league from one another. In the center of the area between these great four hearers a lotus appeared‍—fifty cubits in diameter, with a golden stalk, petals of blue beryl, stamens of śrīgarbha,173 and a pericarp of pearl.174 {TK84}

From this lotus, which appeared to tower above the street to three times the height of a man, great light streamed forth, visible as far as the gods’ realm of the Four Great Kings, [F.213.a] to whom the lotus appeared to be fifty “celestial leagues” tall. In the realm of the Thirty-Three Gods, it appeared to be one hundred leagues tall. It could be seen as far as the Akaniṣṭha realm, where it appeared to be half a league tall. From the petals of this lotus emanated various stanzas with words rich in meaning.175 All beings on this earth heard the following stanzas: {K72}

The following stanzas, also emanating from the lotus, could be heard as far as the realms of the six classes of the gods of desire.

The following stanzas, also emanating from the lotus, could be heard as far as the sixteen desire god realms. {K75}

While these expressions of the Dharma, pregnant with meaning, were issuing forth from the lotus, the human and nonhuman beings present in this world sphere gathered together in the middle of the street and took their seats around the lotus. They included many beings up to the countless Akaniṣṭha gods, who descended from their realm in infinite numbers and took their seats around the lotus to hear the Dharma.

The same stanzas were overheard by Māra, the evil one. Looking around, he saw, in the middle of the street in the great city of Rājagṛha, the lotus from which these stanzas were issuing {K77} and, seated around the lotus to hear the Dharma, infinite hundreds of thousands of millions of people. He then looked up and saw the same lotus in every abode of the gods throughout the six realms of desire. Those lotuses too were surrounded by infinite numbers of hundreds of thousands of millions of gods, seated in order to hear the Dharma. {TK89}

Consequently, Māra, the evil one, became even more frustrated, upset, and dejected. Covered in goosebumps and sweat, shivering, he flew up into the sky and, in a loud voice, angrily addressed the other māras:

Another māra said to the evil one:

Then another māra, lamenting loudly, his words198 full of utmost indignation, said this to Māra, the evil one:

Other māras said with folded hands:

There was a māra there in the sky called Ghoṣavati. He proposed in a loud voice:

At this moment all the māras descended from the sky and constructed gates to the city of Rājagṛha from the seven gems. Some, taking on the appearance of universal monarchs, {TK91} stood in front of the Blessed One, making every effort to worship him. Some took on the appearance of Brahmā, some of Vaśavartin, some of Maheśvara, some of Nārāyaṇa, some of a Tuṣita god, {K80} some of Yāma, some of Śakra, and some of a god from the realm of the Thirty-Three. Some took on the form of Kumāra, Vaiśravaṇa, Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, or Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and some, the form of the mundane Four Great Kings.202 Some took on the appearance of Sūrya, Candra, or Tāraka; some, the appearance of an asura, garuḍa, kinnara, or mahoraga; and some, the appearance of jewel mountains, golden ornaments, various gems, or jeweled trees. Some took on the appearance of a kṣatriya; some, the appearance of members of religions other than Buddhism; some, the appearance of the precious wheel,203 the precious jewel, the elephant Airāvaṇa, Bālāha the king of steeds, or the precious consort; and some, the appearance of a respected merchant or a royal minister. Magically transformed into these forms, they stood in front of the Blessed One in order to worship him.

Some of them, who were blue with a blue complexion, magically adorned their bodies with white ornaments.204 In order to worship the Blessed One they floated in the sky at the height of a palm tree, [F.215.b] holding red parasols, banners, flags, and strings of pearls. Some were dazzling white with a white complexion and adorned with bright red ornaments;205 they floated in the sky holding yellow parasols, {TK92} banners, flags, and strings of pearls.206 {K81} Some were bright red with a red complexion and adorned with ornaments207 of a golden color. They floated aloft, holding blue parasols, banners, and flags. Some were red with a red complexion and rained down white pearls. Some were white with a white complexion and rained down red pearls. Some, magically appearing as celestial ṛṣis, rained flowers from the sky in great profusion. Some, appearing as the Blessed One’s hearers, rained divine fragrances of various kinds from the sky. Some, appearing as gandharvas, strummed various divine instruments. Some, appearing as celestial nymphs, sprinkled the ground with perfumed water from vessels made of various gems. Some, of obsidian-black complexion, burned incense of various fragrances. Some, appearing as gods, danced and sang. Some, of varying complexion, praised the Blessed One with their folded hands directed toward him. Some māras, and even their retinues, turned to face the direction where the Blessed One resided and, holding various jewels, offered them to him in worship. Some, having placed themselves by the upper windows of houses and buildings along the street or upon gateways, tall buildings, houses at crossroads of three or four roads, gates, trees, or palaces, were sitting there for the purpose of worshiping the Blessed One.

When Māra, the evil one, saw all those māras with their retinues going for refuge in the monk Gautama, he became even more rattled, frightened, and confused. Wailing aloud, he said: {K82}

Having thus made up his mind, Māra, the evil one, descended from the sky, fast as wind, to the street where the lotus was, and, having crept up to its stalk, tried to uproot it but could not even touch it. He tried to cut the petals but could not even see them. He also tried to smash the pericarp with his fist but could not even grasp it. Just as lightning, or a shadow, can be seen but not grasped, in the same way he could see the lotus but not grasp it.

When he thus saw the lotus without being able to touch it or seize it, he tried to let loose a most horrific deafening cry in order to frighten the entire congregation, but this too he was unable to do. He tried further, with great vehemence and force, to strike the great earth with both his hands to make it shake, but was unable, in this case too, to touch it or to seize it. Just as someone wanting to hit the sky cannot reach it, in the same way Māra, the evil one, saw the earth but could not touch it or seize it.

He then thought, “If I could only punch the beings assembled here, or distract their minds.”208 But while he could see these beings, {TK94} he was unable to touch or seize even one of them. Then Māra, the evil one, wept bitterly. Through the power of the Buddha, his entire body shook like a tree. {K83} With a tear-streaked face he looked in the four directions and lamented:

But even though he tried to go home, he could not. Frightened still more, he could only weep. He thought, “I am deprived of my magical power completely. Woe is me! May I not fall under the control of the monk Gautama! And may I now disappear, so that I do not die in front of him, my enemy. [F.216.b] As no being should see me die in his buddha field, may I die as soon as I am out of the Sahā world buddha field.”

But still, he was unable to disappear from sight or flee in any direction, cardinal or intermediate. Instead, he perceived himself, still at the same location, tied around the neck with a fivefold noose,210 and became even more upset and frightened. Howling in a raucous voice, he lamented, “Woe is me! I will never again see my dear sons or kinsmen.”

Then the māra by the name Ghoṣavati, seated in the manner of a universal monarch, asked Māra, the evil one: {K84}

Māra, the evil one, then thought, “If I approach the monk Gautama, with pleasing words, to take refuge, I would then be freed from these fetters.” {TK95}

Bowing with folded hands toward the Blessed One, he said, “Homage to you, the most eminent person and the ultimate deliverer from birth,212 aging, disease, and death! I herewith go to the Blessed Buddha to take refuge.”

Then he continued:

When Māra, the evil one, thus took refuge in the Blessed Buddha, saying pleasant words, he had the sense that he was released. But when he had the thought to escape from the assembly, he had the sense that his neck was once again bound by a fivefold noose. {K85} [F.217.a] When he was again unable to go anywhere and thought, once again, of seeking refuge and protection from the Blessed One, he had the sense that he was released. Staying right in that spot, he had the sense of being bound and released seven times over.