འཕགས་པ་ཤན་ཏ་རྒྱས་པ་ཆན་པའ་སྡ་ཉ་མའ་སྙང་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་མད 4.10

4.10

A bodhisattva great being named Ākāśagarbha was present in that assembly in order to listen to the Dharma. At one point, he looked in the sky above and saw an innumerable and limitless number of bodhisattva great beings departing from the north and proceeding toward the south. When he looked in the southern direction, he saw a brilliant light. He then bowed down with his palms joined together in the direction of the Buddha Glorious Essence of Flowers and said, “Respected Blessed One, when I recently arose from the practice of absorption, I saw in the sky above an innumerable and limitless number of bodhisattva great beings departing from the north and going toward the south. Then, respected Blessed One, as I looked toward the south, I saw a brilliant light and wondered, ‘Why is this so?’ ”

The thus-gone Glorious Essence of Flowers replied to the bodhisattva great being Ākāśagarbha, “Noble son, in the southern direction, beyond buddha realms as numerous as the grains of sand in eighty Ganges Rivers, there is a buddha realm ripe with the five degenerations called Sahā, where the thus-gone, worthy, perfect Buddha Śākyamuni resides. He thrives, lives well, and to a great assembly he now reveals Dharma teachings that are the gateways to the ascertainment of the three vehicles, to ensure that the Dharma way endures for a long time and that those who abide by the Dharma of the lineage of the Three Jewels remain without interruption. In that buddha realm of Sahā,