妙法蓮華經 7.84

7.84

samādhi. He ascended instantly into the air to a height of seven tāla trees and addressed the Buddha, saying:

O Bhagavat! My two sons have done the Buddha’s work. Through

their miracles they have reformed my erring mind so that I dwell in

the Buddha-Dharma. These two sons are my good friends; they enabled

me to see the Bhagavat. It was because they wanted to nurture the roots

of good merit accumulated in my past and benefit me that they were

born in my house.

“Then the Buddha Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña addressed King Śubhavyūha, saying:

Exactly! Exactly! It is exactly as you have said. If the sons and daugh-

ters of a virtuous family make good friends throughout many lives,

after having planted roots of good merit, those good friends will per-

form the Buddha’s work, illuminating, teaching, benefiting, and glad-

dening them, and will cause them to enter highest, complete enlight-

enment. O great king! You should know that a good friend is indeed

the great spur that brings inspiration to others, causing them to meet

a buddha and the thought of highest, complete enlightenment to awaken

in them. O great king! Do you see these two sons? These two sons

have already paid homage to buddhas equal in number to the sands of

sixty-five hundred thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of Ganges

Rivers, closely attended the buddhas with respect, accepted the Lotus

Sutra in their presence, and, in their compassion, caused sentient beings

with false views to dwell in right views.

“Immediately after that, King Śubhavyūha descended from the air and

addressed the Buddha, saying:

O Bhagavat! The Tathāgata is extraordinary. Because he is endowed

with merits and wisdom, his topknot is brilliantly illuminated, his deep

blue eyes are long and wide, the tuft of hair between his eyebrows is

white like the bright moon, his white teeth are even and always shin-

ing, and his scarlet lips are like the bimba fruit in their beauty.

“At that time King Śubhavyūha praised immeasurable hundreds of thou-

sands of myriads of koṭis of qualities of the Buddha like these and, again, whole-

heartedly addressed the Buddha with his palms pressed together, in the pres-

ence of the Tathāgata, saying:

O Bhagavat! This is unprecedented. The Tathāgata’s Dharma is

endowed and perfected with inconceivable subtle qualities. His teach-

ing, integrity, and deeds are serene and comfortable. From today on

we shall never act selfishly and the wrongful thoughts of false views,

pride and anger shall never awaken in us.

“Having spoken these words he bowed to the Buddha and went away.”

The Buddha addressed the great assembly, saying: “What do you think

about this? Is King Śubhavyūha someone unknown? He is none other than

this Bodhisattva Padmaśrī. His Queen Vimaladatta is none other than this

Vairocanaraśmipratimaṇḍitādhvajarāja now in the presence of the Buddha.

Because she had compassion for King Śubhavyūha and his retinue, she was

born here. These two sons are none other than Bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja and

Bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyasamudgata. These bodhisattvas Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣa-

jyasamudgata perfected great qualities such as these and, having planted many

roots of good merit under the guidance of innumerable hundreds of thousands