འཕགས་པ་སྒྲ་ཆན་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.2

intro.2

The Great Rumble is a short Mahāyāna sūtra that details the benefits to be derived from the construction and worship of stūpas and statues of the buddhas. The sūtra begins in Śrāvastī where Ānanda is on an alms round and notices an immaculate palace. He wonders whether it would be more meritorious to offer such an enormous palace to the monastic community or to enshrine buddha relics within tiny stūpas and create miniature statues of the buddhas. He poses this question to the Buddha, who responds that the latter would be of greater merit due to the immeasurable qualities of the buddhas. The Buddha’s answer asserts the superiority of buddhas over stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, and arhats—those who have attained the four results of the śrāvaka path. It also emphasizes the benefits to be gained generally from the creation and worship of stūpas.