འཕགས་པ་སྙང་རྗ་པད་མ་དཀར་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 264

264

and until my passing into parinirvāṇa, pay homage to me, saying the words “Homage to the Tathāgata Śākyamuni,” will have all their karmic obscurations extinguished, and in the end will enter parinirvāṇa through the unsurpassable parinirvāṇa of the Buddha.’

“Then, noble son, the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha extended his right hand, stroked the head of the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika with the palm of his hand, and said, ‘Excellent, worthy being, excellent! This prayer of yours is virtuous, good, and well considered! Thus, worthy being, through those five noble qualities, your red and orange robes will be of sustenance to beings!’

“Dear noble son, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika was filled with joy to receive that prophecy and congratulations, and because of his faith, because of being covered by the meritorious, long fingers of the Tathāgata, because of the touch of the soft, youthful palm of his hand, he became transformed into a youth with the appearance of a twenty-year-old.

“Moreover, noble son, the entire assembly, along with the devas, gandharvas, humans, and asuras, applied themselves to making offerings to the bodhisattva mahāsattva³⁹³ Mahākāruṇika. They made offerings of flowers and music to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika, praised him with various eulogies and verses, and remained there with palms placed together in homage.”

Chapter 5

The Practice of Generosity

“Noble son, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahākāruṇika bowed down the five points of his body to the feet of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha. He then sat down in front of the Tathāgata Ratnagarbha