དམ་པའ་ཆས་པད་མ་དཀར་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 2.23

2.23

‘I too therefore shall teach this enlightenment
Of buddhahood divided into three categories.’ {118}

“I contemplated that meaning¹⁶⁰ in this way,
And the other buddhas in the ten directions
Revealed their own bodies to me
And with their voices they declared, ‘Excellent! {119}

“ ‘Excellent,¹⁶¹ Muni, supreme Guide of the World,
Who, having attained the supreme wisdom,¹⁶²
Is contemplating skill in methods,
Following the way of the guides of worlds. {120}

“ ‘We also, having realized the highest state,
Are teaching through a division into three.
Humans with inferior aspiration¹⁶³ and lacking knowledge
Will not believe us if we say, “You shall become buddhas.”¹⁶⁴ {121}

“ ‘Therefore we are employing skill in methods
Through a compilation of causes.
We are inspiring many bodhisattvas
By declaring what is the desired result.’ {122}

“I was filled with joy on having heard
The pleasant voices of the leaders of beings,
And filled with joy I said to those protectors,¹⁶⁵
‘Supreme great rishis, you speak meaningfully. {123}

“ ‘I too will act in the way that the wise ones,
The guides of the world, have described.’¹⁶⁶
I have also been born during this dreadful chaos,
In the midst of the degeneracy of beings. {124}

“And so, Śārisuta, knowing this,
At that time I walked to Vārāṇasī.
There, applying a method, I taught the five bhikṣus
The Dharma that is the state of pacification. {125}

“Then my wheel of the Dharma was turned,¹⁶⁷
And the word nirvāṇa appeared in the world.
The word arhat and likewise the word Dharma
And the word saṅgha also appeared at that time. {126}

“I taught for numerous years,
Explaining the level of nirvāṇa.
At all times I taught in this way:
‘This is the end of saṃsāra’s suffering.’ {127}

“Śāriputra, there came a time
When I saw infinite thousands of quintillions¹⁶⁸
Of offspring of the highest of humans
Who had set out for the supreme, highest enlightenment. {128}