འཕགས་པ་ཀླའ་རྒྱལ་པ་མ་དྲས་པས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 1

1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying at Vulture Peak Mountain near Rājagṛha with a great saṅgha of one thousand two hundred fifty monks and many bodhisattva great beings. At that time, while the Blessed One was teaching the Dharma to an audience of many hundreds of thousands, the nāga king Anavatapta, escorted by a retinue of six million eight hundred thousand nāga kings and eighty-four thousand nāga maidens playing instruments and singing songs, approached the Blessed One.

Through their great powers and miraculous abilities, those nāgas arrived bearing flowers, perfumes, incense, garlands, ointments, powders, garments, parasols, banners, and flags. When they came before the Blessed One, they bowed their heads at the Blessed One’s feet, circumambulated the Blessed One three times, and offered the Blessed One all the flowers, perfumes, incense, garlands, ointments, powders, garments, parasols, banners, flags, instruments, and drums that they had brought. Then, with respect and with reverence, the nāga king and his retinue of beings sat to one side. Once seated, the nāga king addressed the Blessed One with his palms joined together: “Were the Blessed One to grant me some time for instruction concerning my inquiries, there are some topics on which I would like to question the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfect Buddha.”