ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 8.24

8.24

be able to approach the ascetics and brahmins from time to time with offerings that bequeath good fortune, ripen into happiness, and cause you to be reborn in heaven in the next life!’ At that, the worldly people who wished for wealth—which was almost everyone—climbed aboard the ship, until the ship was not able to hold them all.

“Then the captain wondered, ‘What’s going to happen now if I send them away?’ With this in mind, he said to the navigators, ‘Tell them the ways in which the great ocean is not so wonderful.’

“And the navigators announced, ‘Pay heed, merchants of Jambudvīpa! Upon this great ocean lurk such terrors as these: fearsome fish, fearsome timiṅgila fish that might swallow you, fearsome timiṅgilagila fish that could swallow you whole, terrifying waves, terrifying expanses, terrifying kumbhīra sea monsters, terrifying śiśumāra sea monsters, as well as the threat of wrecking into mountains beneath the water, and black winds most treacherous!⁷⁹ Then there are pirates garbed in blue and black who come to plunder your wealth and butcher those who try to escape them! So let those among you set out upon this great ocean who are willing to give up their parents, children, and spouses; their servants both male and female; and their laborers, other paid help, friends, ministers, and relatives both young and old!’ Since there were few brave people and many cowards most of them fled, so the boats were able to hold those who remained.

“The navigators cried out three times and the first anchor was loosed, then the second, and then the third. Then, the ship was carried forth by powerful winds caught by the head navigator and set sail like a great cloud. It proceeded with excellent wind conditions and arrived at Ratnadvīpa.