At the opening of this sūtra, King Ajātaśatru’s son Siṃha and his five hundred attendants approach the Buddha, who is on Vulture Peak. After paying homage and offering golden parasols, Siṃha asks the Buddha a series of questions about the conduct of bodhisattvas. The Buddha answers each of Siṃha’s questions with a series of verses describing the various karmic causes that result in the qualities and attributes of bodhisattvas. Afterward, when Siṃha and his attendants promise to train in this teaching, the Buddha smiles, causing the three-thousandfold world system to quake. When the bodhisattva Ajita asks the Buddha why he smiled, the Buddha explains that Siṃha and all of his companions will become buddhas and establish buddhafields similar to that of Amitābha.
The Translation
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Rājagṛha on Vulture Peak, together with a great saṅgha of 1,250 monks and a great saṅgha of bodhisattvas.8
Knowing all and seeing all,
The Victorious One is a peerless being.9
The son10 of King Ajātaśatru
Accompanied and attended
By five hundred wealthy noblemen,12[F.27.b]
He departed from Rājagṛha
With great royal grandeur.13 {2}
Carrying golden parasols,14
They went before the perfect Buddha.
Bowing their heads to the feet of the Buddha,
They offered the five hundred parasols. {3}
Offering these to the Great Sage,
All of them set out for awakening.
By the power of the perfect Buddha,
They became fearless.15 {4}
Siṃha joined his palms in reverence
And asked the perfect Buddha,
“Will the Guide16 please explain to me
The conduct of bodhisattvas? {5}
“How does one become beautiful?
How does one take miraculous birth?17
How does one remember previous births?
Great Sage, please give your instruction.” {6}
Knowing their pure intentions with his wisdom,
The Buddha gave his instruction:
“I will give a teaching on what you have asked:
The conduct of bodhisattvas.18 {7}
“One becomes beautiful through patience.
One takes miraculous birth by pure conduct.19
One recalls past lives by giving the Dharma.
Youth, know it to be thus!”20 {8}
“How does one manifest
The thirty-two marks, the eighty excellent signs,
And a body radiant like gold21
That delights beings upon seeing?” {9}
“The marks manifest through complete generosity.
Likewise, the excellent signs come to be through love.
The golden radiance of the victorious ones
Manifests by having an attitude of equality toward all beings.”22 {10}
“How is retention attained?
How does absorption arise?
How do statements become acceptable?
Great Sage, please give your teaching!”23 {11}
“Retention is attained through receptivity to the Dharma.
Absorption arises by training the mind.
Statements become acceptable
When one abandons senseless talk.”24 {12}
“How does one become mindful?
O Sage,25 how does one become intelligent?
How does one come to act according to the Dharma?26[F.28.a]
O Holy Being,27 how does one become wise?”28 {13}
“One comes to possess mindfulness by being undeceiving.29
One becomes intelligent by contemplating meaning.
One comes to act according to the Dharma30 by having reverence.
One becomes wise by knowing the characteristics of phenomena.”31 {14}
“By what action is a bodhisattva32 born
In the presence of the guardians of the world?33
How do they come to ask questions
Directly34 before the guardians of the world?”35 {15}
“The one who never obstructs
The giving of Dharma
Will with great swiftness36
Come to meet the guardians of the world.”37 {16}
“How does one relinquish rebirth in inopportune states?
How does one go forth to favorable states?
How does one become heedful
Wherever one takes birth throughout all of one’s lives?” {17}
“Inopportune births are relinquished through faith.38
One goes forth to favorable states through moral discipline.
One becomes always heedful
By becoming familiar with emptiness.”39 {18}
“O Sage,40 how do bodhisattvas41
Purify their karma?
How do they dodge the snares of Māra?
How do they avoid becoming bereft of Dharma?”42 {19}
“Karma is purified through firm resolution.43
Māra is subdued through perseverance.
They avoid becoming bereft of the Dharma44
By acting according to their words.” {20}
“How does one’s voice become like the pleasing song
Of the kalaviṅka bird and like the voice of Brahmā?
O Sage,45 how does one please beings
With their diverse inclinations?”46 {21}
“The voice of Brahmā is obtained by speaking truthfully.
The voice becomes pleasing by abandoning harsh words.47
One pleases beings48
By relinquishing senseless talk and slander.”49 {22}
“How does one come to have a long life?
How does one come to have fewer illnesses?
Does a retinue51 come to be undivided?” {23}
“One comes to have a long life by not killing.
One will have fewer illnesses by causing no harm.52
A retinue comes to be undivided
When one reconciles disputes.” {24}
“How does one obtain wealth?53[F.28.b]
How do possessions cease to diminish?
How does one become distinguished
Wherever one is born?” {25}
“Wealth is obtained through nonattachment.54
Possessions increase by being without stinginess.
One will be distinguished wherever one is born
By being without jealousy.”55 {26}
“How does one obtain divine sight?
How does one obtain divine hearing?
And how, O Guide, does one know
The dying, transmigration, and rebirth of beings?”56 {27}
“Divine sight is obtained by giving lamps.
The ear is purified57 by giving music.
The dying, transmigration, and rebirth of beings are known through wisdom.58
Thus do these accomplishments arise.” {28}
“O Guide, how do the defilements of bodhisattvas59
Come to be exhausted?
How do they recollect previous lives?
How do they obtain miraculous powers?”60 {29}
“The miraculous powers are obtained by offering vehicles.
The recollections are gained by cultivating61mindfulness.
They reach the cessation of defilements
By fully abandoning the two extremes.” {30}
“How is the buddhafield perfected?
How is its saṅgha perfected?
How does its light shine perfectly
Such that the ten directions are illuminated?”62 {31}63
“The buddhafield is perfected through aspiration.
The saṅgha is perfected by magnetizing disciples.64
The ten directions are illuminated brightly
By offering jeweled canopies.” {32}
“By what quality65 does one attain
The embodiment66 of all qualities,
So that a bodhisattva67 will be dear to beings
Wherever they are born?”68 {33}
“By surrendering the mind to the purpose of awakening
In order to liberate all beings,69
They attain the embodiment of all qualities
And will thus be held dear.” {34}
“In what instruction should one train,
And how should one cultivate the mind,
To become an omniscient teacher
Like you, Great Sage?” {35}70
“If one trains in being impartial
To all beings without exception,
And if the mind is cultivated in that impartiality,
One will become an all-surpassing victorious one.” {36}
“Throughout all one’s lives,
How will the mind of awakening
Never be abandoned even in a dream, [F.29.a]
Let alone while awake?”71 {37}72
“In whatever region one dwells,
Whether a village or a city,
By correctly guiding others toward awakening,
The mind of awakening is not abandoned.” {38}
“Wherever one is born,73
How can one acquire great strength
And always be elevated with power
So that even ten million māras can do no harm?”74 {39}
“In this life, if one offers the five essences75
And gives courage to those who are afraid,
Then wherever one is born76
One will also have great strength,
Always be elevated with power,
And be unharmed even by ten million māras.”77 {40}78
Having heard this teaching
On the conduct of bodhisattvas79
Directly from the Guardian of the World,
Siṃha80 was overjoyed.81 {41}82
He and his companions
Spoke the following words:83
“We will train
In this teaching on conduct.”84 {42}
Then the Buddha smiled,
And the trichiliocosm quaked.85
Ajita then asked the Buddha
The following question:
“Why did you smile?
Great Sage,86 please explain this!”87 {43}88
And so to Ajita
The Buddha replied,
“Ajita, please listen to the reason
That I smiled.89 {44}
“Previously,90 these boys91 assembled before
Eight hundred million buddhas and a quadrillion more.92
For the purpose of awakening,
They made offerings to those guides of humans.93 {45}
“Since the time of94Dīpaṅkara—
The perfect buddha,95 supreme among people96—
I have been ripening
These brahmin boys.97 {46}
“When the splendid98 eon called
Great Illumination99 arises,
In that single eon
They will all become guides.100 {47}101
“They will become guides for the world
Named Jñānaketudhvaja,102
And their array will be
Just like that of Amitābha. {48}
“From the time of Maitreya
Through three hundred full eons, [F.29.b]
They will always
Meet with buddhas.103 {49}
“Moreover, whoever hears but the name
Under which they attain awakening
Shall, without exception, become incomparable
And omniscient beings in the world.104 {50}
“Whoever, on hearing this prophecy,105
Becomes inspired
Will have merit unparalleled
Throughout these three worlds. {51}
“Consider someone who for six thousand eons
Filled up all the buddhafields106
With jewels and offered them
For the purpose of awakening.107 {52}
“The tally of that person’s merit
Could never match or compare to
Hearing this Dharma presentation108
And setting out for the sake of awakening.”109 {53}
When this Dharma had been expounded,
By the power of the Protector of the World,110
The gods brought down a rain of flowers,
And the trichiliocosm quaked. {54}
Siṃha, along with his companions,111
Obtained the five superknowledges and,
Having made offerings for one week,
Took ordination in the teaching.112 {55}
All of them obtained absorption
And inexhaustible113retention.
Wishing to accomplish114 the welfare of beings,
They brought them to115 the Dharma of the buddhas.116 {56}
When this Dharma presentation was taught, eight hundred million beings set out for supreme awakening.117 When the Blessed One had spoken, Siṃha, along with his companions and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.118
This concludes the thirty-seventh chapter, “Siṃha’s Questions,” from the eleven hundred chapters of the Dharma presentation of The Noble Great Heap of Jewels.