འཕགས་པ་གང་པས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 1.16

1.16

since they did not read, recite, or expound those teachings, at the time when the sublime Dharma was about to vanish during the final age, only the discourses and the aphorisms remained from among the many sections of this buddha’s teachings.“At that time, there was a Dharma-preaching monk called Mahāsthāmaprāpta. The Dharma preacher Mahāsthāmaprāpta had developed great powers and his erudition was vast. He was an excellent Dharma teacher, he was eloquent, and he had clearly realized the meaning of the Dharma. Through the miraculous power of the Thus-Gone One, he always devoted himself to spreading previously unheard Dharma teachings in order to protect the sublime Dharma within the world. While he was spreading the Dharma, most beings would deprecate and oppose him.

The Dharma-preaching monk Mahāsthāmaprāpta therefore thought, ‘When such beings hear these Dharma teachings that they have never heard before, they do not believe in them, so they also show no interest in listening to them or adopting them. Even when they hear these teachings, they do not comprehend their meaning, and therefore they do not follow them. Instead, they oppose and deprecate these teachings. Many monks say, “These are not the words of the Buddha; these are not the teachings of the Great Teacher! How do we know? Because we have never heard such discourses from any teacher or preceptor before. Furthermore, no elder monks from older generations have ever said that they received such a transmission from any teacher or preceptor.” So since no other teachings now remain besides those of the discourses and those of the aphorisms, should I perhaps leave for a solitary place and remain there alone?’

“Pūrṇa, after having reflected in that way, the Dharma-preaching monk Mahāsthāmaprāpta left for a mountain cave, where he remained in solitude.

At that time, within the world, during the formative eon, there were sixty-eight thousand great cities that were twelve leagues long and seven leagues wide. They were built beautifully, their roads were straight, they were filled with many beings, their harvests were good, and everyone was happy. Later on, eight hundred forty million smaller cities were built. Some measured seven leagues