The Questions of Ratnacandra

Homage to the Omniscient One.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in Rājagṛha, on Vulture Peak Mountain, together with a large community of 7,200,000 monks, including Śāriputra and Maudgal­yāyana. There were also 90,000 bodhisattvas, including the bodhisattva great being Maitreya, the bodhisattva great being Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva great being Akṣaya­mati, the bodhisattva great being Sāgara­mati, the bodhisattva great being Ananta­mati, the bodhisattva great being Dṛḍhamati, the bodhisattva great being Dispeller of the Three Realms, the bodhisattva great being Ratnapāṇi, the bodhisattva great being Vaidyarāja, the bodhisattva great being Ratnākara, and the bodhisattva great being Joy and Sorrow. There were also many billions of gods, including the Four Great Kings; Śakra, king of the gods, along with his millions of divine attendants; and Brahmā, lord of the Enduring world, along with his millions of divine attendants from the Brahmā realm. There were also millions of nāgas, including the nāga king Sāgara, the nāga king Anavatapta, the nāga king Elapatra, and the nāga king Renowned. Along with them were millions of yakṣa generals, such as Āṭavaka, [F.160.b] Sucīromā, Oṣadhi, and Gardabhaka.

One morning the Blessed One put on his lower garments and monk’s robes, took his alms bowl, and left for his alms round in Rājagṛha. At the same time Prince Ratna­candra, son of King Bimbisāra, left the city of Rājagṛha riding an elephant known as Eight-Trunked. It was adorned with seven kinds of precious materials and covered with golden latticework. Small bells were tied onto the elephant, which was further ornamented with tassels of golden brocade. As the prince emerged incense was burned, flower petals were scattered, and banners and flags were unfurled. After riding through the city, which was decorated with parasols and fences, beautified with precious trees, and encircled by seven pavilions, he rode out of the capital displaying both royal wealth and power.

As Prince Ratna­candra was handing out alms to everyone present, he noticed the Blessed One walking in the distance. He was handsome and gracious, with peaceful faculties and mind. He had the most exquisite color. He was perfectly gentle and peaceful, the perfection of a gentle and peaceful being. He had a great presence and was restrained and calm. Like a lake, he was clear and pristine. Like a golden reliquary, his noble body was adorned with the thirty-two major marks and the eighty minor marks of a great being. Due to his supreme splendor, he was shining, bright, and resplendent.

Upon seeing the Blessed One, Ratna­candra was moved to faith. Filled with faith, he immediately alighted from the elephant and approached the Blessed One. Prostrating at the feet of the Blessed One, he circumambulated him three times and sat to one side with deference and respect. [F.161.a] Ratna­candra, son of King Bimbisāra, folded his palms together and bowed toward the Blessed One and spoke to him, “O Blessed One, it is said that a faithful noble son or daughter who has heard the names of the ten thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddhas who dwell in the ten directions will not fall back from the unsurpassed and perfect state of awakening. Blessed One, please speak of this. Thus-Gone One, please tell us about this.”

In response, the Blessed One said to Ratna­candra, son of King Bimbisāra, “Prince, well done! Well done indeed. Prince, you ask this in order to benefit many beings and bring them happiness. You do so out of love for the world and for the welfare of many beings, to benefit and bring happiness to gods and humans alike, and to assist the bodhisattvas of the present and the future. Prince, it is excellent you thought to ask the thus-gone, worthy, perfect Buddha about this point. Prince, your request is excellent, and it is virtuous that you were moved to articulate it. Therefore, Prince, listen carefully and keep this teaching in mind. Listen to me with one-pointed concentration and reflect on what I say as I explain this teaching to you.”

Ratna­candra, son of King Bimbisāra, replied to the Blessed One, “Excellent!” And he listened as the Blessed One had directed.

The Blessed One then said, “Prince, east of this buddha realm, past countless, inconceivably many, limitless billions of buddha realms, there is a realm [F.161.b] called Sorrowless. You may wonder how many boundless buddha realms one must pass through to reach that realm. Well, Prince, suppose the entire trichiliocosm was completely filled with sand, all the way to its summits. If a person were to remove the sand, grain by grain, and place one grain of sand in each buddha realm toward the east until every single grain of sand was placed in a buddha realm in that direction, one would still not have reached the extent and limit of those buddha realms. The realm called Sorrowless lies farther away than such boundless and countless billions of buddha realms. That realm is as flat as the palm of the hand, is beautifully decorated with seven kinds of precious substances, and has a ground made of gold. It is laid out in a checkered pattern and ornamented with precious trees. There are no hell beings, animals, hungry spirits, or asuras there, and it is free of grass, dried sticks, thorns, stones, pebbles, gravel, ravines, and precipices. Instead, the ground is covered in flower petals.

“There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Bhadraśrī resides and lives surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He is learned and venerable, a blissful one, a knower of the world, a steersman who guides beings, an unexcelled one, a teacher of gods and humans, a blessed buddha. His body, which is adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great being, is like purified and refined gold adorned with precious ornaments. Sitting beautifully amidst the gathering, he teaches a Dharma that is virtuous in the beginning, virtuous in the middle, and virtuous in the end. [F.162.a] He teaches as follows: ‘In this way the earth element will not become nonexistent, nor will the water element, the fire element, or the wind element. Likewise, Brahmā who is the lord of beings will not become nonexistent, and the same applies to form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness.’6 Prince, it has been six hundred million eons since the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Bhadraśrī fully awakened to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood.

“Prince, in that buddha realm there are no words for day and night, and there is nothing analogous to that calculation of time used in our world. The entire buddha realm is permanently illuminated with the light of the thus-gone one. Moreover, Prince, every teaching given by the thus-gone one establishes countless billions of beings at the level of unborn phenomena. He establishes twice as many beings in each of the three types of acceptance. Furthermore, Prince, sentient beings who served past buddhas in other buddha realms and produced roots of virtue with them will attain acceptance that phenomena are unborn when touched by the light born from the power generated from the past aspirations of this thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha. Prince, any noble son or daughter who hears the name of the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Bhadraśrī will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening.

“Prince, south of here, past as many countless billions of buddha realms as mentioned before, there is a realm called Joy. That realm is as flat as the palm of the hand and has all the other qualities previously described.7 [F.162.b] There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Candanaśrī resides and lives surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He teaches them a Dharma that is virtuous in the beginning, virtuous in the middle, and virtuous in the end. He also teaches the same Dharma mentioned previously, up until ‘consciousness.’ Prince, what do you think? Why is the thus-gone one called Candanaśrī? The entire buddha realm of the thus-gone one is filled with houses built of sandalwood. Therefore, the thus-gone one is called Candanaśrī.8 Any noble son or daughter who hears the name of that thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening.

“Prince, west of here, past as many countless billions of buddha realms as mentioned before, there is a realm called Excellence. That realm is as flat as the palm of the hand and has all the other qualities described above. There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Amitābha resides and lives surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He teaches them a Dharma that is virtuous in the beginning, virtuous in the middle, and virtuous in the end. He also teaches the same Dharma mentioned previously, up until ‘consciousness.’ Prince, any noble son or daughter who hears the name of that thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening and will experience that light. [F.163.a]

“Prince, north of here, past as many countless billions of buddha realms as mentioned before, there is a realm called Without Conflict. That realm is as flat as the palm of the hand and has all the other qualities described above. There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Floral Splendor resides and lives surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He teaches them a Dharma that is virtuous in the beginning, virtuous in the middle, and virtuous in the end. He also teaches the same Dharma mentioned previously, up until ‘consciousness.’ Prince, any noble son or daughter who hears the name of that thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening and will become like a victory banner for the world along with its gods.

“Prince, southeast of here, past countless billions of buddha realms, there is a realm called Moonlight. That realm is as flat as the palm of the hand and has all the other qualities described above. Prince, what do you think? Why is that world called Moonlight? It is because the rays of light from its thus-gone one illuminate that entire realm. That is why that world is called Moonlight. There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Aśokaśrī resides and lives surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He teaches them the same Dharma mentioned previously, up until ‘consciousness.’ Any noble son or daughter who hears his name will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening. [F.163.b]

“Prince, southwest of here, past countless billions of buddha realms, there is a realm called Decorated with Banners. That realm is as flat as the palm of the hand and has all the other qualities described above. There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Ratnayūpa resides and lives surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He teaches them the same Dharma mentioned previously, up until ‘consciousness.’ Any noble son or daughter who hears his name will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening and will become as exalted as a jewel in the world.

“Prince, northwest of here, past countless billions of buddha realms, there is a realm called Resounding. That realm is as flat as the palm of the hand and has all the other qualities described above. Prince, what do you think? Why is that world called Resounding? It is because the realm is endowed with the sounds of ‘Buddha,’ ‘Dharma,’ and ‘Saṅgha,’ as well as ‘emptiness,’ ‘signlessness,’ and ‘wishlessness.’ Furthermore, it is endowed with the sounds of ‘generosity,’ ‘discipline,’ ‘patience,’ ‘diligence,’ ‘concentration,’ ‘insight,’ ‘liberation,’ and ‘vision of the wisdom of liberation.’ Prince, since that world is endowed with such sounds, it is called Resounding. There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Kusumaśrī resides and lives [F.164.a] surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He teaches them the same Dharma mentioned previously, up until ‘consciousness.’ Any noble son or daughter who hears his name will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening and, like a flower, will be unstained by nonvirtuous phenomena.

“Prince, northeast of here, past countless billions of buddha realms, there is a realm called Happy. It is affluent, thriving, and happy. It has good harvests and is inhabited by many people. It is as flat as the palm of the hand and has all the other qualities described above. There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Reveling in Lesser, Medium, and Higher Superknowledge resides and lives surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He teaches them the same Dharma mentioned previously, up until ‘consciousness.’ Any noble son or daughter who hears his name will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening, will become skilled in all the actions and ways of bodhisattvas, and will uphold the knowledge of the perfections.

“Prince, below here, past countless billions of buddha realms, there is a realm called Vast Expanse. Prince, what do you think? Why is that world called Vast Expanse? It is because it is as flat as the palm of the hand and it has no mountains, surrounding mountains, or great surrounding mountains. Since even the word mountain [F.164.b] does not exist in that buddha realm, it is called Vast Expanse. There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Prabhāśrī resides and lives surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He teaches them the same Dharma mentioned previously, up until ‘consciousness.’ Any noble son or daughter who hears his name will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening and will be graced with the exhaustion of all their perpetuating afflictions.

“Prince, above here, past innumerable, unfathomable, inconceivable, and immeasurable billions of buddha realms, there is a realm called Moonlit. How many unfathomable buddha realms must one pass through to reach Moonlit? Prince, it is like this. Suppose this trichiliocosm were completely filled with sand, all the way to its summits. If a person were to remove the sand, grain by grain, and place one grain of sand in each buddha realm above until every single grain of sand was placed in a buddha realm in that direction, one would still not have reached the extent and limit of those buddha realms. The realm Moonlit lies farther away than such unfathomable and innumerable billions of buddha realms. That realm is as flat as the palm of the hand, is beautifully decorated with seven kinds of precious substances, and has a ground made of gold. It is laid out in a checkered pattern and ornamented with precious trees. There are no hell beings, animals, hungry spirits, or asuras there, [F.165.a] and it is free of grass, dried sticks, thorns, stones, pebbles, gravel, ravines, and precipices. Instead, the ground is covered in flower petals.

“There the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Dhanaśrī resides and lives surrounded by a gathering of bodhisattvas who venerate him. He is learned and venerable, a blissful one, a knower of the world, a steersman who guides beings, an unexcelled one, a teacher of gods and humans, a blessed buddha. His body, which is adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great being, is like purified and refined gold adorned with precious ornaments. Sitting beautifully amidst the gathering, he teaches a Dharma that is virtuous in the beginning, virtuous in the middle, and virtuous in the end. He teaches as follows: ‘In this way the earth element will not become nonexistent, nor will the water element, the fire element, or the wind element. Likewise, Brahmā who is the lord of beings will not become nonexistent, and the same applies to form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness.’9 Any noble son or daughter who hears his name will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening and will receive the precious and unsurpassed Dharma.

“Prince, any noble son or daughter who hears the names of these thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddhas, who are endowed with perfect conduct, qualities, wisdom, discipline, absorption, insight, liberation, and the vision of the wisdom of liberation, will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening.

“Prince, long ago in the past, [F.165.b] eons beyond calculation and measure, there was an eon by the name of Ratnākara. In that eon appeared the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Sāgaraśrī. He was learned and venerable, a blissful one, a knower of the world, a steersman who guides beings, an unexcelled one, a teacher of gods and humans, a blessed buddha. At that time, these ten thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddhas came together to generate roots of virtue by making boundless and countless grand offerings of food and drink, flowers, incense, flower garlands, lotions, parasols, banners, and flags to that blessed one. Thereby all of them together generated the mind set upon unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Then, one day, at precisely the same moment, they all achieved acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Thereafter they gradually engaged in bodhisattva conduct and mastered the factors that are conducive for awakening. Then, at precisely the same moment, they all attained unsurpassed and perfect awakening in each of their respective buddha realms. At precisely the same moment, they all turned the wheel of Dharma. They even enjoyed the same lifespan. Prince, these thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddhas will also one day enter into complete nirvāṇa at precisely the same moment.”

Ratna­candra, son of King Bimbisāra, then said to the Blessed One, [F.166.a] “Blessed One, the lifespan of those thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddhas is amazing! Blessed One, out of compassion for sentient beings, those thus-gone ones intentionally live such long lives. Blessed One, how much merit will noble sons or daughters generate if they keep the lifespan of those thus-gone ones in mind and trust in it without disregarding it or ignoring it?”

The Buddha replied, “Prince, one could fill up this entire trichiliocosm, along with the buddha realms of these ten thus-gone ones and the other buddha realms in the ten directions, with the seven precious substances of the gods and make daily offerings of them to the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddhas, continuing this daily offering for countless eons. On the other hand, a noble son or daughter who has heard about the names and lifespan of these buddhas may keep them faithfully in mind without disregarding or disrespecting them and instead trust and agree with them. For that person the heap of merit accrued is far greater than that gathered by the former person. The former does not gather even a hundredth or a thousandth of that. It is, in fact, beyond the scope of illustration.”

Then, in order to venerate this teaching and the ten thus-gone ones, Śakra king of the gods, Brahmā lord of the Enduring world, the Four Great Kings, and the divine sons Īśvara, Maheśvara, Glorious Fortune, Tuṣita, and Santuṣita scattered divine flowers and sandalwood powder upon the Thus-Gone One. Then they spoke these words: “Blessed One, any noble son or daughter who retains, [F.166.b] carries, reads, and recites this teaching is worthy of reverence. Blessed One, merely holding this teaching in their hand, they will never turn back from unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Blessed One, any noble son or daughter who hears this teaching will not fall under the sway of the evil Māra.”

At that point Prince Ratna­candra, son of King Bimbisāra, addressed the following verses to the Blessed One:

Then the Blessed One commended the gods and Ratna­candra, and addressed them with the following verses:

When the Blessed One had spoken these words, the youth Ratna­candra, son of King Bimbisāra, along with all the bodhisattvas, monks, gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, rejoiced in the Buddha’s teaching and offered praise. [F.167.b]