[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Buddhist Sanskrit literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit) › [Mahāyāna sūtras](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra) › [Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika) › [དམ་པའི་ཆོས་པད་མ་དཀར་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika*bo) › [The White Lotus of the Good Dharma](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika*bo~en-84000) › 8.15 # དམ་པའ་ཆས་པད་མ་དཀར་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 8.15 The White Lotus of the Good Dharma 8.15 - **Language:** English ### [8.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika*bo~en-84000.8.15) the perfection of diligence, and the perfection of meditation, without the perfection of wisdom, and, Ajita, if there were a noble man or noble woman who had one time developed aspiration, developed motivation, or gained faith when this Dharma teaching that teaches the extent of the lifespan of the Tathāgata was taught, then that former accumulation of the roots of merit—the merit accumulated by completing the five perfections during eight hundred thousand quintillion eons—would not equal a hundredth part, not a thousandth, not a hundred thousandth, not a ten millionth, not a thousand millionth, not ten thousand millionth, not a million millionth, and not even a hundred thousand quintillionth part. The merit could not be calculated; even a fraction of it could not be calculated—there is no suitable analogy for it, and there is no suitable simile for it. “Ajita, it is impossible for the progress toward the highest, complete enlightenment made by a noble man or noble woman who possesses such an accumulation of merit to be reversible.” Thereupon the Bhagavān spoke these verses: “If a person were to make the commitment To practicing the five perfections In order to seek this wisdom, Buddhahood’s unsurpassable wisdom, {17} “And were even to practice them For an entire eighty billion eons, Repeatedly making gifts To the buddhas and śrāvakas, {18} “Pleasing pratyeka­buddhas And millions of bodhisattvas With food and drinks to eat and drink, And also clothing and bedding and seats, {19} “Building dwellings and temples That were made from sandalwood, And delightful gardens And beautiful walking areas, {20} “Giving these kinds of gifts That are of many different kinds For thousands of millions of eons, Giving them in dedication to enlightenment; {21} - [Previous: 8.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika*bo~en-84000.8.14) - [Next: 8.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika*bo~en-84000.8.16) - [Up: 8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika*bo~en-84000.8) ## Linked texts (1) - [དམ་པའི་ཆོས་པད་མ་དཀར་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika*bo.8.15) — Classical Tibetan --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika*bo~en-84000.8.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.mahayanasutra.saddharmapundarika*bo~en-84000.8.15) · Pramāṇa