Lotus Sutra
Account of the Past Deeds
of the Bodhisattva Medicine-King
At that time, the Bodhisattva Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations addressed Buddha [Shakyamuni] saying, "World-honored one, how is it that the Medicine-King Bodhisattva continues his sojourn in this world? He has performed incalculably numerous meritorious deeds at great suffering to himself. Please, World-honored one, please explain this - it will cause great rejoicing to all the gods, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, mahoragas, humans and non-humans as well as the bodhisattvas who have come here from other lands and all the assembled shravakas."
The Buddha [Shakyamuni] declared to the Bodhisattva Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, "In times long past, kalpas more numerous than the Ganges' sands, there was a Buddha named Pure-and-Bright-Excellence-of-Sun-and-Moon (Candrasuryavimalaprabhashri), a Thus-come-one worthy of offerings, of right and universal knowledge, of perfect clarity and conduct, well gone, understanding the world, an unexcelled Worthy, a master of great men, a teacher of gods and men, a Buddha, a World-honored one. That Buddha had in his retinue 80,000,000 great bodhisattva-mahasattvas and a great multitude of shravakas equal in number to the sands of 72 Ganges Rivers. That Buddha's life span was 42,000 kalpas, and so was the life-span of his bodhisattvas.
"In that Buddha's realm there was no distinction of gender, no hell-dwellers, no hungry ghosts, no beats, no fighting spirits, no discord of any kind. His Pure Land was as flat as the palm of your hand and made of vaidurya; it was adorned with jewelled trees with jewelled canopies and jewelled floral banner draperies. Jewelled pots and censers bordered its circumference; its terraces were made of the seven precious jewels. Trees alternated with terraces at the distance of an arrow-shot. All the jewelled trees had bodhisattvas and shravakas sitting under them. Above each of the jewelled terraces were 100,000,000 gods making divine music and singing the praises of the Buddha Pure-and-Bright-Excellence-of-Sun-and-Moon as offerings. At that time, the Buddha expounded the Teaching of the Lotus-Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma to the Bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings (Sarvasattvapriyadarshana) as well as to the myriad bodhisattvas and the multitude of shravakas. This bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings, wishing earnestly to cultivate the most difficult of supreme practices under the teaching of the Buddha Pure-and-Bright-Excellence-of-Sun-and-Moon went about persevering with earnest and singleminded dedication for 12,000 years in order to attain buddhahood.
"After making this offering, the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings arose from his samadhi and thought to himself, "Although I have resorted to supernatural powers to make offering to the Buddha, that offering is not of my own body." Whereupon he applied to his body various scents of candana, kunduruka, two kinds of frankincense, trigonella, the scent that sinks in water, and the sent of pine tar. He also drank the fragrant oils of campaka-flowers. When a thousand and two hundred years had past in this way, he then painted his body with fragrant oil and in the presence of the Buddha Pure-and-Bright-Excellence-of-Sun-and-Moon he wrapped his body in a garment adorned with sacred jewels, annointed himself with fragrant oils, and with the force of supernatural insight he took a vow to establish a spiritual foundation.
That done, the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings burned his own body, the glow from which illumined a myriad worlds, as numerous as the sands of 80,000,000 Ganges Rivers. From those worlds, the Buddhas in them together and at once praised this bodhisattva by saying, 'Excellent! Excellent! Good man, you are truly persevering with vigor in the practice known as the true Dharma-offering to the Thus-come-one. If with floral scent, necklaces, burnt incense, powdered scents, paint-scents, divine fabric, banners, parasols, the aroma of the candana of the near seashore, and a variety of such things one were to make offerings, still they could not equal this act which you have fulfilled. Even were one to give kingdoms, fortified cities, wives and children, they would still not equal your deeds. Therefore, Good man, yours is called the Prime Gift. Among the various gifts to Buddhas, this is the most honorable, the highest of all, because it is an offering of Dharma to the Thus-come-ones.' When the buddhas had finished saying this they all became silent.
"The body of the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings burned a full thousand and two-hundred years and in the end was consumed by fire. Because this bodhisattva had made such a Dharma-offering as this, when his life ended he was born once again into the Pure Land of the Buddha Pure-and-Bright-Excellence-of-Sun-and-Moon in which he was born suddenly by transformation in the household of the King Pure Virtue (Vimaladatta), sitting with his legs in lotus position. To his new father, the King Pure Virtue, he proclaimed a gatha, saying,
"'Oh Great King, let it now be known
that I, having sojourned in that place
Instantly attained the All-body-displaying Samadhi,
by which, striving in great perseverance and vigor,
I cast off the body to which I had been attached.'
"When he had proclaimed this gatha, the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings addressed his father saying, "The Buddha Pure-and-Bright-Excellence-of-Sun-and-Moon is still here. Having made offerings to the Buddha in my previous birth, I have already managed to understand the dharani of the speech of all living beings. I have also heard expounded the Teaching of the Lotus-Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma to the extent of eight hundred thousand myriads of millions of nayutas of kankara, vivara, akshobya, and so on, of gathas. Oh, Great King! I will now go back and make offerings to the Buddha!' Whereupon he sat upon a platform made of the seven precious jewels and flew up into the air to the height of seven tala-trees. He went from there into the Buddha's presence and made obeisance to his feet with head bowed, joined his ten fingers, and with a gatha praised the Buddha:
'Oh, most wonderful and fine of countenance,
Whose bright glow illumines the ten directions,
In the past I made offerings to you,
and now again I have come to behold you in person.'
"At that time the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings, after proclaiming this gatha, addressed the Buddha and said, 'World-honored one, World-honored one, you are still here in this world!' Whereupon the Buddha Pure-and-Bright-Excellence-of-Sun-and-Moon declared to the bodhisattva, 'Good man, my time of nirvana has come, my time of total extinction has arrived. You may lay out my couch and seat, for this night I will enter paranirvana.'
"Again, the Buddha commanded the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings, saying, "Good man, I entrust the Buddha Dharma to you. In addition, bodhisattvas and their great disciples as well as the Dharma of ultimate perfect enlightenment, and the seven-jewelled world-spheres of the thousand-great-thousandfold world, its jewelled trees and jewelled terraces, and the gods who wait upon it - all these I entrust to you. After my passing into extinction, whatever relics there may be I entrust to you as well. You are to spread them around and arrange for offerings to be made to them far and wide. You are to build several thousand stupas.' In this way the Buddha Pure-and-Bright-Excellence-of-Sun-and-Moon, having given his instructions to the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings, entered final nirvana during the last watch of the night.
"Whereupon the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings, seeing that the Buddha had passed into extinction, was deeply moved with sadness and longing for the Buddha. Immediately, using the candana of the near seashore for firewood as an offering to the Buddha's body, he made a pyre and burned it. When the fire was out, the bodhisattva collected the relics from the ashes and, making 84,000 jewelled pots to contain the relics, he build 84,000 stupas the height of three world-spheres, displaying chattras as ornaments, draped with banners and parasols, and decorated with many jewelled bells. Whereupon the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings again thought to himself, 'Though I have made this offering, in my heart I am not content. I will now make further offerings to the relics.' The he said to the other bodhisattvas, their disciples, the gods, dragons, yakshas, and to all the others in the assembled multitude, 'All of you, listen to me with your full attention, for I now will make an offering to the relics of the Buddha Pure-and-Bright-Excellence-of-Sun-and-Moon.' Having said this, immediately in front of the 84,000 stupas he burned his forearm, decorated as it was with a hundred joyful attributes, and made this offering for 72,000 years. This caused innumerable multitudes aspiring to arahanthood and an asamkhya number of other human beings to open themselves to receive final complete enlightenment, enabling them to enter the same samadhi that displays all manner of physical bodies as he had.
"At that time the bodhisattvas, gods, men, fighting spirits and others, seeing he was now without an arm, were sorrowful and grieved for him, saying, "This bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings is our master, the one who has instructed us and led us to the truth. But now he has burned his forearm. His body is missing a limb!' Whereupon hearing them the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings took an oath in their midst saying, 'I have voluntarily thrown away both of my arms. May I now attain without fail the Buddha's gold-colored body! If this oath is true and real and not in vain, then may both of my arms be restored to what they used to be.' When he took this oath, his arms were restored of themselves, resulting from the purity of this bodhisattva's acquired merit and wisdom. Whereupon the thousand-great-thousandfold world trembled in six ways, the gods rained down jewelled flowers, and all the people and gods gained something they had never had before."
Now, the Buddha Shakyamuni asked the bodhisattva Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, "In your mind, think of this. Can the bodhisattva Seen-with-Joy-by-All-Living-Beings have possibly been anyone else than the present bodhisattva Medicine-King now with us? Gifts of his own body, such as this one, number in the incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of nayutas. Oh, Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, if there is one who, opening up his or her thought wishes to attain ultimate perfect enlightenment, if he can singe but a finger or toe as offering to a Buddha's stupa, that person shall exceed the one who offers an entire kingdom or fortress-city, or wives and children, or even all the countryside with its mountains, forests, rivers, ponds and various precious objects throughout the thousand-great-thousandfold world. Again, if there is one who offers a chiliocosm full of the seven jewels to Buddhas, great bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas and arhants, the merit gained by him will not equal that of the one who holds this Teaching of the Lotus-Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma. or so much as a single four-foot gatha from it - for the latter's merit will be by far the greatest.
"Oh, Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, just as, for instance, the sea is first among all streams, rivers and bodies of water, this Teaching of the Lotus-Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma, in the same way, is the deepest and greatest among the scriptures expounded by the Thus-come-one. And just as Mount Sumeru is the first among the Earth Mountain, the Black Mountain, the lesser Mount Iron-Rim, the great Mount Iron-Rim, the Mount of Ten Jewels and all the rest of the multitudes of mountains, so is this Teaching of the Lotus-Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma foremost among all the teachings. And just as the sun, the child of the gods, can clear away all darkness, so does this teaching in the same way destroy the darkness of all kinds of defilement. And just as the wheel-turning sage-king is foremost among the lesser kinds, this teaching in the same way is most honorable among the multitude of teachings. Just as the god Shakra is king among the thirty-three gods, so in the same way is this teaching the king among the teachings. And just as the great Brahma god-king father of all living beings, this teaching in the same way is father of all saints and sages, of all learners and of those who have nothing more to learn, and of all who have entered the bodhisattva way. And just as the shrota'apanna, shakridagamin, anagamin, arhant and pratyekabuddha are first among all ordinary people, this teaching in the same way is first and foremost among all the Dharma teachings, whether expounded by the Thus-come-one or by bodhisattvas or by shravakas.
"If anyone can accept and hold this teaching, that one in the same way shall be first among all living beings. Among all shravakas and pratyekabuddhas the bodhisattva is first, and in the same way this teaching is first and foremost among all the sacred teachings. Just as the Buddha is the king of the dharmas, so in the same way is this teaching the king of the sacred teachings.
"Oh, Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, this teaching can save all living beings. This teaching can enable all living beings to separate themselves from pain and suffering. This teaching can greatly benefit all living beings, fulfilling their aspirations. Like a clear, cool pond, it can slake the thirst of all beings. As a chilled person finds a hearth, as a naked person finds clothing, as a merchant finds a major customer, as a trader finds the sea, as a candle dispels the darkness, so does this Teaching of the Lotus-Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma, in the same way enable beings to separate themselves from all woes, from all sickness and pain, and it can loose all the bonds of birth-and-death.
"If one manages to hear this Teaching of the Lotus-Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma, and if he or she writes it down himself or causes another to write it, then that person will acquire merit whose extent cannot be imagined even in the mind of a Buddha. If having written down this teaching in a scroll a person makes offerings with floral scent, necklaces, burned incense, powdered incense, perfumed paint, banners, parasols, garments and various torches burning sesame, oil, fragrant oil, campaka-oil, sumana-oil, trumpet-flower oil, varsika and navamalika jasmine oils, the merit such a person gains shall also be incalculable.
"Oh, Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, if one hears this Account of the Past Deeds of the Bodhisattva Medicine-King, that person shall gain incalculable, limitless merit. A woman hearing this Account of the Past Deeds of the Bodhisattva Medicine-King and who accepts and keeps it will not be born again in a female body. After the extinction of the Thus-come-one, within the last 500 years [of the Age of Declining Dharma] there is a woman who hears this teaching and follows it as taught, at the end of her life she will immediately be born in the Pure Land of Sukhavati, Land of Bliss, the abode of the Buddha Amida (Amitayus) who is surrounded by a great retinue of bodhisattvas; there she will be reborn on a jewelled throne among lotus blossoms, never again to be tortured by greed, anger, foolishness, pride, envy or any other defilement. In that birth, such a person will gain the bodhisattva's supernatural insights, the acceptance of the principle of unarising dharmas, and the faculty of the pure eye. By this faculty of the pure eye, such a person will see Tathagatas equal to the number of sands of seven hundred myriad two-thousand-millions of nayutas of Ganges Rivers.
"And at that time the Buddhas will praise this person in unison saying, 'Excellent, excellent! Good one, you have been enabled, through this wonderful teaching of Buddha Shakyamuni, to receive and hold, to read and recite, and to think on this teaching as well as to expound it to others. The merit you have obtained is incalculable and limitless, and fire cannot burn it nor floods wash it away. Your merits are such that a thousand Buddhas acting as one could not exhaust naming them. You have now proven yourself able to smash Mara's assorted henchmen, to destroy the army of birth-and-death. The remaining enemies you have utterly annihilated. Good one, a hundred thousand Buddhas acting as one with their power of supernatural insights will protect you. There is no one among the gods and men in all the worlds your equal but the Thus-come-one. Among the shravakas and pratyekabuddhas and the bodhisattvas as well, there is none equal to your wisdom and meditative concentration.' Such was the merit-power and wisdom attained by this bodhisattva!
"If there is a man who, hearing this Account of the Past Deeds of the Bodhisattva Medicine-King, can rejoice appropriately and praise it as good, this man in the present age shall always breathe out the fragrance of pure lotus-blossoms, and shall emit from the pores of his skin the scent of ox-head candana flowers. The merits he obtains shall be as stated as above [for women].
"For this reason, Oh, Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, I entrust this Account of the Past Deeds of the Bodhisattva Medicine-King to you. After my passage into extinction, within the last five-hundred years [of the Age of Declining Dharma], broadly proclaim and propagate it in Jambudvipa, never permitting it to be taken away or to fall into the hands of Mara's evil host or gods, or dragons, or yakshas, or kumbhandas or the like.
"Oh, Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, with the power of supernatural insight, you are entrusted to protect this teaching. Why is this? Because this teaching is a good medicine for the sicknesses of the people of Jambudvipa. If anyone has an illness and can hear this teaching [of the Account of the Past Deeds of the Bodhisattva Medicine-King], the illness will clear up. That person will transcend birth-and-death.
"Oh, Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, if you see that there is anyone who accepts and holds this teaching, then you must heap powdered incense in a green lotus blossom and scatter it on top of that person as homage and then, having done so, say to yourself, 'This person indeed, in a short while, will cut grass, sit on the Platform of the Dharma after spreading the grass upon it, and thence smash the host of Mara. That person shall blow the conch of the Dharma, beat the drum of the Dharma, and ferry all sentient beings over the sea of birth, old age, sickness and dying. For this reason, whenever anyone aspiring to the Buddha Way sees that there is a person who accepts and keeps this sacred teaching, such person is to produce in this way a thought of humble reverence."
When this Account of the Past Deeds of the Bodhisattva Medicine-King had been expounded, 84,000 bodhisattvas attained the dharani enabling them to understand the speech of all living beings, and the Thus-come-one Many-Jewels within the jewelled stupa praised the bodhisattva Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations, saying in unison, "Excellent, excellent, Oh Beflowered-by-the-King-of-Constellations! Because you have attained merits beyond reckoning and beyond saying, you are able to ask the Buddha Shakyamuni about these matters and thereby to benefit the totality of all sentient beings."
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