དམ་པའ་ཆས་པད་མ་དཀར་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 3.9

3.9

They waved¹⁸² divine cloths in the sky above him. They played a hundred thousand divine musical instruments and beat drums in the sky. A great rain of flowers fell and they proclaimed, “The Bhagavān previously turned the wheel of Dharma in the Ṛṣipatana deer forest¹⁸³ in the land of Vārāṇasī, and on this day the Bhagavān has turned the highest Dharma wheel.”

At that time those devas recited these verses:

“Unequaled individual, great hero,
In the land of Vārāṇasī
You turned the Dharma wheel
Of the arising and cessation of the skandhas. {33}

“There took place the first turning
And here, Guide, this is the second.
You have taught today, Leader,
That which is difficult to believe. {34}

“We have heard many dharmas
In the presence of the world’s lord,
But we have never before
Heard a dharma of this kind. {35}

“Great hero, we are overjoyed by
The great rishi’s words with implied meaning.
Just as in the prophecy
To the fearless Ārya¹⁸⁴ Śāriputra, {36}

“May we also in that way become
Unsurpassable buddhas in the world,
And through words with implied meaning
Teach buddhahood’s highest enlightenment. {37}

“Whatever good we do
In this or in other worlds,
And through pleasing the Buddha,
May we aspire for enlightenment.” {38}

Then Brother Śāriputra said to the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, I have directly heard from the Bhagavān the prophecy of my attaining the highest, complete enlightenment. Bhagavān, I have no doubt. I am free of uncertainty.

“Bhagavān, these one thousand two hundred who have gained self-control were previously established as students by the Bhagavān, and were instructed thus, were taught thus: ‘Bhikṣus, the ultimate conclusion of the discipline of the Dharma is the transcendence of birth, aging, sickness, and death,¹⁸⁵ the goal of nirvāṇa, being absorbed in nirvāṇa.’