妙法蓮華經 3.28

3.28

dust were equal to one kalpa. The time since the parinirvāṇa of this buddha surpasses this number by immeasurable, limitless, incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas; and through the power of the Tathāgata’s wisdom and insight, I can see his distant past, as if it were today.”

Thereupon the Bhagavat, wanting to elaborate on the meaning of this

I recall that in the past,

Immeasurable kalpas ago,

There was a buddha, the most honored among two-legged beings,

Called Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū.

Suppose there was a man

Who vigorously ground up in its entirety

The earth of the great manifold cosmos

And turned it all to powdered ink.

After passing through one thousand worlds,

He let fall one particle of ink;

And in this way

He continued to let fall particles

Until he had used up all the ink.

If all these worlds,

Those where he let fall a particle

And those where he did not,

Were to be ground into specks of dust,

And one speck of dust were equal to a single kalpa,

Their number would be surpassed

By the number of kalpas

That have passed since that buddha’s parinirvāṇa,

So incalculable has this number of kalpas been.

With the Tathāgata’s unobstructed wisdom,

I know of these bodhisattvas and śrāvakas

And the parinirvāṇa of this buddha;

It is as if I see his parinirvāṇa today.

O monks, you should know

That with the knowledge of the Buddha,

Which is pure and subtle,

Incorrupted and without obstructions,

I perceive what happened immeasurable kalpas ago.

The Buddha addressed the monks, saying: “The lifespan of this buddha Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū was five hundred and forty myriads of koṭis of nayutas of kalpas. When that buddha was seated on the terrace of enlightenment after having defeated Māra’s army, he tried to obtain highest, complete enlightenment, yet the Dharma of the buddhas did not appear to him. In this way, even after having sat cross-legged for one to ten intermediate kalpas,

undisturbed in body and mind, the Dharma of the buddhas still did not appear to him.

“At that time a group of thirty-three devas first prepared for that buddha a lion seat one yojana in height under the bodhi tree, for this buddha was to attain highest, complete enlightenment on that seat. As soon as the Buddha sat on this seat, all the Brahmas rained down various heavenly flowers for a hundred yojanas around; periodically a fragrant breeze would blow away the withered flowers and they would rain down fresh ones.

“In this way they unceasingly paid homage to the Buddha for a full ten intermediate kalpas, raining down these flowers continuously until his parinirvāṇa. The devas of the four quarters constantly struck heavenly drums