འཕགས་པ་ངན་འགྲ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཡངས་ས་སྦྱང་བ་གཙག་ཏར་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་གཟངས 8

8

who adorns it with flowers, incense, perfumes, flower garlands, scented salves, parasols, banners, pendants, and ornaments—not to mention builds a caitya at a crossroads, places this dhāraṇī there, and joins their palms together or prostrates or circumambulates it—you should know, Śakra, that this being is indeed a great being! Know them to be a child of the tathāgatas. Know them to be an abode of the Dharma. Know them to be a caitya of the tathāgatas.”

Then, as that evening passed and dawn began to break, Dharmarāja Yama arose, went before the Blessed One, worshiped the Blessed One with divine flowers, cloth, ornaments, and other things, and respectfully circumambulated the Blessed One seven times. Then he touched the Blessed One’s feet and said, “Blessed One, this dhāraṇī is very powerful. It is very beneficial. Blessed One, I will also continually pursue the benefit of those beings, and I will always remain here to protect and defend them.⁴⁴ I will turn those beings away from all hell realms. Blessed One, I will do what I know is right, and I will not do what I know is not right.”

Then the Four Great Kings circumambulated the Blessed One three times and said to him, “Blessed One, please give an extensive explanation of the detailed rite for this dhāraṇī and the way to perform the rite.”

The Blessed One then addressed the Four Great Kings, “Listen, and I will explain the way to perform the rite of this dhāraṇī.

“To help a being with a short lifespan, a son or daughter of noble family