ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 31.19

31.19

superknowledges, and discriminations. They had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. They became objects of offering, veneration, and respectful address by Indra, Upendra, and the other gods.

“Lord,” the monks requested of the Blessed Buddha, “tell us why the five hundred merchants entrusted themselves to the captain, and the Blessed One granted them refuge from fear and established them in the unsurpassed, supreme welfare of nirvāṇa.”

“Not only now,” the Blessed One explained, “but in times past as well, and in the same way, all five hundred merchants entrusted themselves to that captain, and I granted them refuge from fear and placed them in the four meditative states and the five superknowledges. Listen well!

“Monks, in times gone by, in the city of Vārāṇasī there lived in a place devoted to austerities a certain sage who had all the five superknowledges, a person of great miracles and great power, whom the inhabitants of Vārāṇasī held in high esteem and revered, and to whom they offered honor and worship.

“One day some five hundred merchants who held the sage in high esteem set out on the great ocean. After they completed their crossing to Ratnadvīpa and were returning to Jambudvīpa, their ship ran aground because of the ocean’s tide. They were terrified, and thinking, ‘There’s no way we’ll survive,’ they began praying to the deities. Then the captain said, ‘What need is there to pray to other deities? It’s to the sage we should go for refuge. He will grant us refuge from meeting with misfortune, suffering, and harm. He will save our precious lives.’ No sooner had