འཕགས་པ་དཔལ་སྦས་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་མད 29

29

He then climbed up onto the tall sacrificial post to share the verse with the crowd:

“ ‘Always take joy in generosity;
Always practice perfect moral conduct;
Always apply supreme diligence—
With wisdom, attain the supreme and holy Dharma.’

“Once he had shared the verse with the crowd, Dharmakāma spoke the following words of truth:

“ ‘Great gods who dwell in this land, please heed me! All nāgas and yakṣas, gandharvas and asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, please heed me! I am performing an act of giving, the greatest act of giving, an extreme act of giving—I am giving myself. The truth and the words of truth with which I give myself away are these: “I do this not to be a king, nor for the sake of wealth or a higher rebirth. I do this not to acquire the kingdom of a universal monarch. Rather, I do this in order to attain supreme and perfect awakening and reach perfect buddhahood, so that I may tame those beings who are not yet tamed, free those who have not yet gone beyond, liberate those not yet liberated, reassure those who need reassurance, and place beyond suffering those who are still suffering.” By this truth, and by these words of truth, may my self-sacrifice not be fruitless!’

“With these words, he hurled himself into the fire pit.

“Monks, as soon as the brahmin boy Dharmakāma jumped into the fire pit, the fire within it died out and became a pool of lotuses. Dharmakāma was teaching the Dharma while on a lotus seat buzzing with bees. He gave instructions to all beings in proper spiritual conduct that were virtuous in the beginning, middle, and end; that were excellent in meaning and in expression; and that were uncontaminated, perfect, pure, and unsullied.

“The brahmin’s entire body