The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā

Translation of འཕགས་པ་བ་མ་ཟླ་མཆག་ལང་བསྟན་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད (འཕགས་པ་བུ་མོ་ཟླ་མཆོག་ལུང་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ)

Language: English
Translator: Annie Bien
Extent: 104 passages, 13,721 words
Text: complete digital text
Source: 84000 · Published by 84000 (v 1.0.1 2025). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha,… · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha). Shown whole and unaltered, with its notes, on a…

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84000's introduction

intro.1

In Vaiśālī, a daughter is born to the wealthy Licchavī couple Vimalakīrti and his beautiful wife, Vimalā. All around the city, men are besotted with the idea of marrying her. To defuse the situation, the girl promises to go out into the city after seven days and choose a husband. Before this she takes the eight-branched purification vows, whereupon a lotus with an emanation of a thus-gone one seated upon it miraculously appears in her hand. The emanation tells her about the Buddha Śākyamuni, and she resolves to meet him. When she leaves the house on the seventh day, she is mobbed by a crowd of would-be suitors. She evades them by rising into the air, and from there delivers a teaching on the futility of lust and desire. She then calls upon the crowd of men to join her in going to meet the Buddha. On the way, they meet Śāriputra and other elders. The elders question her and are impressed by the profundity and eloquence of her answers. When she arrives in the presence of the Buddha himself, numerous bodhisattvas ask her further questions. The Buddha is delighted by her answers, and after she makes the aspiration to seek awakening for the benefit of all beings, he smiles. When Ānanda asks what his smile means, the Buddha predicts her future awakening.

intro.2

The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā takes place in the city of Vaiśālī, and its main protagonist is the young daughter of the wealthy Licchavī couple Vimalakīrti and his wife Vimalā. Although this appears to refer to the same Vimalakīrti who is the main protagonist of the well-known Great Vehicle scripture The Teaching of Vimalakīrti,¹ no mention is made of Vimalakīrti at this time being a follower of the Buddha.

intro.3

As soon as the couple’s daughter is born, she appears to be about eight years old, and speaks eloquently in verse about her former lives. She is so magnificently beautiful and radiant that her light “far surpassed the radiance of the moon,” earning her the name Candrottarā (“Exceeding the Moon”). Men of all social statuses from around the city are besotted by the girl and obsessed with marrying her, and they pursue her father for favor.² Some follow him around and lavish gifts on him, while others threaten him and plot her abduction. Her father is distraught, but the girl remains undaunted and promises to go out into the city after seven days in retreat to make her choice. On the sixth day, she takes the eight-branched purification vows, whereupon an extraordinary jeweled lotus with an emanation of a thus-gone one seated upon it miraculously appears in her hand. She speaks to this apparition, which informs her that he has been sent by the Buddha, the Lion of the Śākyas. She questions the emanation about this Buddha, and resolves to meet him. On the seventh day, she leaves the house as planned, and is mobbed by a crowd of lustful would-be suitors. She evades this boisterous crowd by rising into the air to the height of a palm tree, and from there, still holding the lotus with the thus-gone one seated upon it, she delivers a teaching on the futility of lust and desire. When the crowd has been pacified by this, she asks them to join her in going to meet the Buddha at Kūṭāgāraśālā in the Great Forest near Vaiśālī where he is staying.

intro.4

On the way there, they meet a group of elders who are walking to the city to collect alms. Śāriputra questions the girl, and the elders are impressed by the profundity of her answers and the confident eloquence with which she speaks, so they decide to accompany her back to Kūṭāgāraśālā. When she arrives in the presence of the Buddha himself, numerous bodhisattvas ask her further questions. Śāriputra then resumes his questioning, at which the girl extols the superiority of the complete awakening of a bodhisattva over the limited awakening of a hearer like him.

intro.5

The Buddha praises her answers, whereupon the thus-gone one seated on the girl’s lotus rises and dissolves into the Buddha’s navel. At this, the Buddha manifests a miraculous display in which innumerable similar jeweled lotuses, each with a thus-gone one seated upon it, spring from every pore of his body and fill the great trichiliocosm with the light of the Dharma. The girl is delighted by this, and throws her lotus toward the Blessed One as an offering with the aspiration that she too may become a teacher of the Dharma. Mid-air, the flower transforms into a huge pavilion of flowers that hovers over the Buddha’s head. Another lotus then appears in her hand, and she throws this too, with a further aspiration to teach the Dharma for the benefit of beings. It too transforms into a pavilion of flowers that hovers above the first. In the same way, further lotuses keep appearing in her hand, she keeps throwing them with further aspirations to teach the Dharma, and they keep transforming into pavilions of flowers that hover above the last, until the tenth flower, when she makes the aspiration to reach complete awakening. At this point, the stacked pavilions of flowers reach all the way up the brahmā heavens above, and great myriads of gods gather to bear witness.

intro.6

Just then, the Buddha gives one of his cosmically radiant smiles. When Ānanda asks what the smile means, the Buddha prophesies Candrottarā’s future lives and eventual complete awakening as a buddha. When she hears this prophecy, Candrottarā is overjoyed, and rises into the sky to the height of seven palm trees. There, she transforms her female form into that of a boy, who, when he descends, touches the Buddha’s feet and requests to go forth as a renunciant in the Buddha’s dispensation. After the child’s parents give their consent for this, the sūtra concludes with the boy’s verses of praise for the Blessed One.

intro.7

The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā is among a group of Great Vehicle sūtras in which daughters of powerful or wealthy laymen are presented as highly realized and eloquent beings who receive prophecies of future awakening from the Buddha. Several of these sūtras feature the daughters of kings. Both Aśokadattā’s Prophecy (Toh 76)³ and The Questions of Vimalaprabhā (Toh 168) center on daughters of King Ajātaśatru. The daughters of King Prasenajit are the main protagonists in The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā (Toh 84),⁴ The Questions of Vimaladattā (Toh 77), and The Lion’s Roar of Śrīmālādevī (Toh 92).⁵ A point made in many of these discourses, including this one, is that there is no distinction of gender in emptiness. Nevertheless, reflecting the monastic milieu of these Great Vehicle texts, the predictions in each case include the female protagonist transforming into a male form at some stage on the journey to complete awakening.

intro.8

There is no extant Sanskrit for the entirety of The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā, though a fragment of a Sanskrit manuscript dating from circa 500 ce does survive and is preserved as part of the Schøyen Collection. A verse from the text is also cited by Śāntideva (fl. eighth century ce) in his discourse on the folly of lust in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, which is extant in both Sanskrit and in Tibetan translation (Toh 3940). Śāntideva refers to the text as Candrottarādārikāparipṛcchā (“The Girl Candrottarā’s Questions”), which appears to be an alternative title of the same text. The Sanskrit excerpts from both of these sources have been introduced, translated, and carefully compared with the Tibetan and Chinese in Braarvig and Harrison (2002). Based on the similarity in some respects between this sūtra and The Girl Sumati’s Questions (Toh 74), which was translated into Chinese as early as the third century ce, and also on the linguistic evidence of the Sanskrit fragments that are in regular classical Sanskrit rather than the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit of the earliest Great Vehicle sūtras, Braarvig and Harrison have tentatively suggested that the Candrottarādārikāparipṛcchā in its present form reflects Great Vehicle Buddhism in its middle period, and belongs to a cluster of sūtras that appeared around the first half of the third century. ⁶

intro.9

The Chinese translation of the Candrottarādārikāvyākaraṇa/Candrottarādārikāparipṛcchā was made in 591 ce by Jñānagupta (Ch. Shenajueduo), a prominent translator during the Sui dynasty, with the title Yueshangnü jing (Taishō 480). It is closely parallel to the later Tibetan translation, though there are divergences in detail and in the idioms of expression. The sūtra was translated into Korean as Wol sang nyeo gyeong (K415). Sections of the Chinese version have been translated into English by Diana Paul in her work Women in Buddhism (1985),⁷ and a full English translation from the Chinese has been published by Rolf Giebel (2018).⁸

intro.10

The colophon to the Tibetan translation, as found in the various Kangyur recensions, does not explicitly name a translator but says that it was edited and finalized by Jinamitra and Yeshe Dé, perhaps indicating that these translators revised an earlier translation. It is listed in both the Phangthangma and Denkarma imperial-era catalogs of translated texts compiled in the early ninth century.⁹ Butön Rinchen Drup, in his fourteenth century History of Buddhism, attributes the translation directly to Yeshé Dé.¹⁰

intro.11

This English translation is based on the Tibetan as found in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the variant readings listed in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace Kangyur. Where variant readings other than the Degé have been preferred, this has been recorded in the notes. To our knowledge, this is the first full English translation of the sūtra from Tibetan.

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Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing at Kūṭāgāraśālā in the Great Forest at Vaiśālī. He was staying there with a large saṅgha of monks, which consisted of five hundred worthy ones. All of them had thoroughbred minds, had done what they needed to do, and had accomplished their work, put down their burdens, fulfilled their own purpose, completely exhausted the bonds of mundane existence, thoroughly liberated their minds through correct understanding, and reached the sublime perfection of all mental powers.¹¹

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There were also eight thousand¹² bodhisattvas who were renowned for their knowledge, and who had attained recollection and unhindered eloquence,¹³ meditative absorption, and acceptance toward phenomena as nonarising. They were endowed with the five superknowledges, had unobstructed speech,¹⁴ were not hypocritical, and lacked flattery. Their intention was free of desire for selfish profit and they taught the Dharma without regard for worldly things. They had reached the perfection of patience toward the profound Dharma, were endowed with fearlessness, had completely transcended the activities of Māra, had abandoned karmic obscurations, and were without doubts concerning the nature of phenomena. With their aspiration fully formed over countless hundreds of thousands of myriad eons, they were skilled at speaking in melodious verse with a smiling countenance and without frowning. Their minds were not overwhelmed, they had an uninterrupted eloquence, and they had attained acceptance toward the equality of phenomena. They outshone the limitless audience in attendance with their great fearlessness.

They were skilled in the wisdom that with a single word teaches for a hundred thousand myriad eons. They had conviction that every phenomenon that arises in the past, future, and present is like an illusion, a mirage, the moon in water, a dream, a reflection, and an echo—that it is empty, signless, wishless, void, unfluctuating, and ungraspable, like the nature of space. They were skilled in immeasurable insight and wisdom, and skilled in knowing the functioning of the minds of all sentient beings. They were skilled at teaching the Dharma in accordance with the inclinations of sentient beings. Their unobstructed minds were free from craving for phenomena. They had acceptance that was free from secondary afflictions. They were skilled in knowing phenomena as they are. They were thoroughly immersed in the full range of qualities of limitless buddha fields. They could always and continuously realize the meditative absorption that recollects the Buddha. They were skilled in knowing the supplications to limitless buddhas.

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They were skilled in abandoning obsessions, views, afflictions, and latent impulses. By means of every meditative stabilization and meditative absorption they had fully mastered the one-pointed superknowledges.

Among those eight thousand bodhisattvas were the bodhisattva great beings Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Durabhisambhava, Gandhahastin, Anikṣiptadhura, Sūryagarbha, Dhāraṇīśvararāja, Emitting the Light of Incense, Sound of Thunder, King of Definite Golden Luster, Nārāyaṇa,¹⁵ Ratnapāṇi, Ratnamudrāhasta, Gaganagañja, Amśurāja, Priyadarśana, Liberator of Beings, Nityodyukta, Nityaprahasitapramuditendriya, Apāyajaha, Vanquishing Vajra State, Vanquishing the Three Worlds State, Vanquishing Unwavering State, Amoghadarśin, Śrīgarbha, Padmaśrī, Gajagandhahastin, Gambhīrapratibhāna, Mahāpratibhāna, Dharmodgata, Without Doubting the Nature of Phenomena, Moves with the Strength of a Lion, Removing All Fear, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, Loud Roar of the Great Lion, Inexpressible, Pratibhānakūṭa, and the bodhisattva great being Maitreya.

Then the kings and eminent persons, city and country folk, attendants, brahmins, kṣatriyas, and householders all paid their respects to the Blessed One. They revered him, worshiped him, and made offerings to him during his stay at Kūṭāgāraśālā in the Great Forest at the great city of Vaiśālī.

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At that time, in the great city of Vaiśālī, there lived a Licchavī known as Vimalakīrti. He was rich and wealthy, an opulently wealthy and prosperous man, with many treasuries and storehouses. His wife, Vimalā, was beautiful, lovely to behold, with a full figure and good complexion. After nine months passed, she gave birth to a daughter with a fine body, beautiful, lovely to behold, with perfect limbs, fingers, and toes. As soon as this daughter was born, their entire home was suffused with a great light, and the earth trembled. Outside, the gutters above the doors dripped with ghee and oil, and those who were weak, defenseless, hungry, and impoverished were satisfied. In the great city of Vaiśālī, large drums, clay drums, gongs, cymbals, and tambourines all resounded without being struck, and a great rain of flowers came down. In the four corners of the house, four large treasure chests filled with a variety of precious gems appeared and then opened, shining light everywhere.

As soon as she was born, the girl neither wailed nor shed tears. Instead, she placed her ten fingers and palms together and spoke these verses:

“Committing wrong deeds does not lead to
Pleasant rebirth in an immaculate body.
Committing wrong deeds does not lead to
Households like this with enjoyments and riches.

“Through generosity, discipline, restraint, heedfulness,
And respectful devotion to the guru—
Through such deeds, excellent in nature—
One is born in an eminent person’s home.

“When the guide, the Victor Kāśyapa,
Entered the city of Vaiśālī for alms,
I saw him from the top of the mansion,
And when I saw him, I remembered my devotion for him.

“Then, with utter devotion,

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I thought, ‘I have no flowers, ointments,
Powdered incense, food, or drink,
So with what can I make an offering to the teacher?’

“Then I heard a voice: ‘A buddha acts
Without concern for reward, but for the sake of liberating beings.
Engendering compassion out of love for the world,
A buddha graces the world by accepting alms.

“ ‘If you wish to worship such victors,
Make the aspiration yourself for buddhahood.
There is no offering in the three worlds
Greater than the resolute development of the mind of awakening.’

“After I heard that voice from the sky,
And saw that buddha adorned with the supreme marks,
I produced an unwavering mind set on awakening,
And I jumped from the building.

“Hovering in the sky at the height of a palm tree,
I saw the buddhas who dwell in the ten directions,
With forms just like that of the Victor Kāśyapa,
Great jeweled mountains like Mount Meru.

“Through the power of that victor, in the palm of my hand
There appeared a great bowl of mandārava flowers.
I scattered them over Kāśyapa,
And the flowers hung in the sky as a canopy.

“As I gazed upon limitless buddhas in the ten directions,
Their bodies adorned with signs,
Flowers formed canopies over them,
Just as they did for Kāśyapa.

“While hovering in the sky, I spoke these words:
‘I will practice for as many eons as there are atoms of water.
I will never give up until I reach awakening.
May I become a buddha, the foremost of human beings.’

“When that lion’s roar of mine¹⁶ was heard,
Twelve thousand devas, humans,
Asuras, yakṣas, and rākṣasas
Entered into the Buddha’s supreme awakening.

“After that, I was born as a celestial in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three,
And because my good karma had not been exhausted,
When I died and transmigrated from there, I came here to Jambudvīpa.
So, people, make merit!

“When I dwelt in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three,
I worshiped the Victor Śākyamuni.

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I had no interest in desire and physical pleasures.
But worshiped the victors again and again.

“Now, I have seen the merit ripen.
I can recall a hundred lifetimes like a single day.
If my good fortune is to be reborn here,
Then what wise person would not develop respect for the victors?”

Having spoken these verses, the girl said no more.

Due to the ripening of roots of virtue acquired during previous lives, her body appeared as if it was dressed in precious celestial garments, and from her body there radiated extraordinary golden-colored light that far surpassed the radiance of the moon. For that reason, her parents named her Candrottarā.

Then at that instant, that moment, that very second, it appeared to everyone as if the girl Candrottarā had already reached the age of eight, and wherever she stood, or walked, or sat, or took a rest, it was as if the ground beneath her was illuminated by a golden-colored light, a fragrance of the finest sandalwood rose from every pore of her body, and from her mouth came the scent of the blue utpala flower.

When merchants, householders, princes, and others from important families and high-ranking castes in the city of Vaiśālī heard about this girl Candrottarā’s physical form and her perfect complexion, their minds were ensnared by lustful desire, and they thought, “How good it would be if she were to become my wife.”

Whereupon a great number of men set about trying to obtain her.

Some among them made approaches to the Licchavī Vimalakīrti, staying close to him and venerating him. Some tried to rouse his interest by making gifts of jewels, gold, silver, diamonds, beryl, cat’s-eye, sapphire, conch, crystals, and coral, as abundant as grains of sand.

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Some showed off¹⁷ their wealth in cattle, grain, houses, luxuries, and food. Some showed their ferocity by killing, binding, and beating male and female slaves, workers, and laborers. Some threatened Vimalakīrti, saying, “If you do not give us the girl Candrottarā, then we will cause great suffering and will inflict great harm upon you.”

The Licchavī Vimalakīrti thought, “Right now, armed groups are on their way to arrest and overthrow me. They will surely kidnap my daughter and kill me too!” At this thought, he panicked and with his hair standing on end, was immobilized by fear. Losing his mindfulness, and intimidated by others, he wept in distress, staring without blinking at his daughter.

When the girl Candrottarā saw her father crying, his face covered in tears and ashamed, she asked him, “Father, why are you weeping and staring like this?”

The Licchavī Vimalakīrti replied to his daughter Candrottarā, “Daughter, do you not understand that you will be kidnapped, and that there will be fighting and conflict everywhere in this city on account of you? Because of you, there are armies approaching, and we will be destroyed. If I thought you wouldn’t be captured, I would not weep so.”

The girl Candrottarā then spoke to her father in verse:

“Even if all the beings in the world
Were as vigorous as Nārāyaṇa
And rushed at me wielding weapons,
Still, they would not be able to harm me.

“Neither poison nor weapons can strike those with a loving heart,
Nor do vetālas and other frightful things arise.
Since a loving mind has neither harshness nor hatred,
Others can do no harm to a mind with love.

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“Father, I have great love for those of the world.
Little as I am, I delight in beings.
Since I have never brought suffering on others,
Suffering does not befall me, Father.

“Without desire, there is no attraction;
By cultivating love, there is no aversion.
Since I am without attraction, aversion, and ignorance,
Others cannot assail me, Father.

“My love for all beings
Is just like the love for my father and mother.
Father, those who love worldly beings like this
Will never be harmed by others.

“It might be possible to confine the sky within a narrow gorge,
Or Mount Meru within a mustard seed,
Or the expanse of the ocean within the hoofprint of a cow,
But it is impossible to destroy me, Father.”

After speaking these verses, the girl Candrottarā then told her parents, “Father, Mother, I request that bells be rung and that this be proclaimed on every road and at every crossroads and intersection: ‘In seven days from now, the girl Candrottarā will come out, and when she comes out, she will choose for herself whichever husband she wishes. You should prepare for this: decorate the roads, crossroads, and intersections in all directions with ornaments; sweep them and ritually cleanse them with flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, and ointments.’ ”

Then both parents of¹⁸ Candrottarā came out from their home and announced, “Seven days from now, Candrottarā will come out, and when she comes out, our daughter will choose whichever husband she wishes. You should prepare for this: decorate the roads, crossroads, and intersections in all directions with ornaments; sweep them and ritually cleanse them with flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, and ointments.”

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This they proclaimed to all.

Everyone heard it, and a great number of men in Vaiśālī then set about decorating every road, crossroad, and intersection accordingly, but each was scheming in his mind, “How can I, and no one else, win the girl Candrottarā?” So they competed with one another to beautify themselves. Merchants and householders, ministers, brahmins, and princes, all the way down to workers, washed themselves thoroughly, rubbed their bodies well, dressed in fine clothing, and adorned themselves with various kinds of jewelry. They told their servants, “Be attentive! If the girl Candrottarā looks like she will not come with us of her own accord, we will have to take her by force.”

And so, seven days passed, and a large crowd of men, enthralled and amazed, gathered to see the girl Candrottarā.

Then, on the sixth day, during the full moon, the girl Candrottarā took the full eight-branched purification vows. That night, just as people were going to sleep, she went to the roof of the mansion and sat down. Then, by the power of the Buddha, a lotus appeared in the right hand of the girl Candrottarā. It was beautiful to behold and radiated clear light. Its stalk was gold, its petals silver, its anthers beryl, its center emerald, and it had many hundreds of thousands of petals. In the middle of this lotus appeared the figure of a thus-gone one, the color of whose body was like gold, and blazed with splendor. He was fully adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great being and further by the eighty excellent marks. Seated in full lotus posture, light rays from the thus-gone one’s body illuminated the entire house, making everything clearly visible.

When the girl Candrottarā

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saw the lotus and saw the figure of the thus-gone one, she rejoiced with great delight. Elated, joyful, and happy, she spoke the following verses to that figure of the thus-gone one:

“You who have such splendor,
What are you? Are you a god? Or if not, a nāga?
Are you an asura? A guhyaka? A kinnara?
Who are you? Please answer the question clearly.

“Your golden-colored body radiates a light
That is impossible to describe.
One moment it is gold, then rose,
Then swiftly it resembles crystal light.

“Henceforth, with this little body of mine,
Without perceptions, my mind shall not waver.¹⁹
Just to see your form, Protector,
Makes me feel expansive joy.

“Your glorious form blazes like fire,
Your beauty is as exalted as the greatest of mountains,
You are present just as you are beheld.²⁰
Where have you come from, and where will you go?”

The figure of the thus-gone one then spoke these verses to Candrottarā:

“I am neither god nor nāga;
I am neither kinnara nor yakṣa.
I have been sent to you
By the Buddha, the Lion of the Śākyas.

“I am neither god nor yakṣa;
I am neither nāga nor kinnara.
The phenomenon of my arising here today is because of you—
It was instructed for the sake of taming gods and humans.”²¹

The girl Candrottarā replied to the figure of the thus-gone one in verse:

“That awakened one you call ‘Buddha’—
Tell me, what is his color like?
Tell me about his marks and form.
To hear this will help me understand.

“When you spoke that name ‘Buddha’ just now,
You did not mention his color, marks, or form.
What is the conduct that befits this Buddha?
Have confidence to speak here of his peerless deeds.”

Then that figure of the thus-gone one replied to the girl Candrottarā in verse:

“The color of his body is like gold,
He has the thirty-two supreme marks,
He is a basis of worship for all sentient beings—
For these reasons, he is called ‘Buddha.’

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“He understands, with his focused mind,
All deeds in which sentient beings are engaged,
Whether noble or ignoble.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“There is not the slightest thing he does not know
About every phenomenon in every aspect.
He has reached the perfection of wisdom.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“With his focused mind, though he has understood
The minds of every sentient being,
He never looks down
On the minds of others.

“The Buddha’s conduct is ennobled by generosity,
Ennobled in the highest by discipline,
Manifestly ennobled by patience and perseverance,
Perfectly ennobled by meditative stability and insight.

“Well trained in every craft,
There is nothing at all he does not know.
He has perfect love and compassion.
For these reasons, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“He turns the unsurpassed wheel,
The wheel of the Dharma.
He discerns ten million buddha fields
And gives teachings on the absence of self.

“His voice²² pervades
Hundreds, thousands, hundreds of billions
Of buddha fields.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“Its melodious sound brings understanding
To tens of billions of buddha fields
As numerous as the grains of sand of the River Ganges.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“In just one of his hands, the Guide can hold
Tens of millions of buddha fields,
And dwell in them for ten million eons.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“However many Mount Merus there are
In thousands of myriad buddha fields,
He could gather them up with a single strand of hair
And cast them into ten million buddha fields.

“He is naturally present in all dharmas.
Abiding there, he delights in the supreme state,²³
And in sentient beings loosening their bonds.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“Powerful and endowed with the ten powers,
He has taken to heart the realization that is fearless,
Without any hesitation about the qualities of buddhahood.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“Invisible from view is his uṣṇīṣa.

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Endowed with the five pure eyes,
He is in full command of the five faculties and the five powers,
And remains on the path of the branches of awakening.²⁴

“His disposition is good, he is easy to befriend,
He is unsurpassable in peace and discipline,
He is unwavering, honest, and clear.
For these reasons, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“He is always in meditative equipoise,
Not subject to distraction.
He speaks at the right time for the needs of beings.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“Excellent, endowed with all good qualities,
The basis of worship for migrating beings,
He is all-knowing and all-seeing.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’

“I could speak for an eon,
Or even for a billion eons,
Of the significance of this Buddha.
For that reason, he is called ‘Buddha.’ ”

At this, the girl Candrottarā was delighted and she rejoiced. She was delighted, ecstatic, and joyful, and the sight of the thus-gone one made her thirst for more.

In response, she spoke these verses to the figure of the thus-gone one:

“What wise person, when they hear this Dharma,
Or about the abilities of a perfectly awakened one
With good qualities such as these,
Would be happy to stay at home, even for a few moments?

“Until I see the Well-Gone One,
I will abandon torpor and sleep.
I will seek neither food nor drink,
Nor will I remain upon this mat!

“Seeing you, I have become blissful,
Just hearing of these good qualities.
To see the eminent Buddha directly
Would bring me further incomparable joy.

“In over a billion eons it is extremely rare
To see supreme beings in this world.
Having now heard the name of the Worthy One,
I would see the Victor who has found great fortune.”

The emanation then said to her:

“The supreme being resides in the Great Forest.
His saṅgha, eight thousand strong, are courageous,
They are without vice,
And they have renounced the impure.

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“Each could hold up, in just one hand,
The billionfold universe of buddha fields for many eons.
They have attained meditative absorption, the superknowledges, and eloquence.
They listen without agitation, like an ocean.

“In order to worship the victors, with magical powers
They proceed in moments to limitless buddha fields.
There, they worship myriad buddhas,
And within moments those steadfast ones return again.

“With no concept of ‘self,’ no concept of ‘buddha,’
With no concept of ‘buddha field’ and no concept of ‘sentient being,’²⁵
Not veiled by any diverse conceptual elaborations,²⁶
They work for the benefit of the great host of beings.

“If you wish to see that Subduer of Foes²⁷ and bodhisattva,
And likewise his saṅgha of monastics,
If you wish to hear the supreme Dharma before the Lord of Sages,
Then go to the Great Forest where the Teacher is staying.”

Then²⁸ the girl Candrottarā, holding that very lotus with the figure of the thus-gone one seated upon it, descended from the roof of the mansion, went before her own father and mother, and spoke to her parents in the following verses:

“Father, look! In my right hand
Is a beautiful golden-stalked lotus, pleasing to behold.
Mother, look at the figure of this holy being.
Once seen, who would not take refuge in him?

“Mother, I see our entire home illuminated
By light the color of gold.
In an instant, the color transforms in many ways;
The measure of his image cannot be grasped!

“So, Mother, let us go before the Victor,
To the Great Forest, to see the Victor Gautama!
Let us bring flowers and the finest incense
To venerate the Thus-Gone One.”

Candrottarā’s father and mother,²⁹
On hearing such pleasing words, said, “Good!”
Taking clothing, incense, perfumes,
Flowers, garlands, and ointments too,

Carrying large drums, clay drums, flat bells,³⁰ parasols,
Conch shells, victory

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banners, flutes, vīṇās,
And jeweled cymbals pleasing to hear,
They emerged from the house.³¹

At that time, on the seventh day, many hundreds of thousands of people gathered to see the girl Candrottarā. Among them, some had minds completely ensnared by lust, some just wanted to look at her, and some had the idea to decorate the entire great city of Vaiśālī with ornaments. Boys and girls also came out to watch from the platforms, gatehouses, pediments, windows, balustrades, and roofs of the manors and mansions.

The girl Candrottarā then emerged from her home, carrying the figure of the thus-gone one sitting on a lotus, accompanied by her parents and surrounded and escorted by a large retinue who carried flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, ointments, powders, clothing, umbrellas, victory banners, and silk flags, and played a variety of cymbals and drums.

When the many hundreds of thousands of people saw her setting off toward the center of the city, they came running, thinking, “I must catch her!” At that very moment, just as a great crowd of men from the great city of Vaiśālī were rushing at her together, laughing and shouting, “Ha, ha! Come here! Come here!” the girl Candrottarā,³² at that very moment, seeing this large crowd of people running, and still holding in her hand the figure of the thus-gone one sitting upon the lotus, rose into the sky to the height of a palm tree, and remained there. Sitting there, she addressed that crowd of men in verse:

“Behold this captivating body of mine,
Golden in color like flickering flame.
This beautiful body of mine, endowed with patience,
Has not arisen from a mind of lust.³³

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“Those who do not long for the objects of the senses,
And abandon lust, which burns like live coals,
And control the six sense faculties with vows
Lead the pure celibate life.³⁴

“When they see the wives of others,
Those who form the thought, ‘They are my mothers and sisters,’
Will become beautiful and dearly loved,
And always supremely attractive.

“That this entire area is pervaded
By a scent that comes from the pores of my skin
Is not something I achieved through a lustful mind.
Rather, it is the karmic result of generosity and discipline.

“I do not experience desire,
Do not have lust for one who is without desire.
I speak the truth, never what is false.
This lord of sages before me is my witness.³⁵

“In the past, you have been my fathers,
And I too have been your fathers, your brothers,
Your sisters and mothers, over and over again—
Who would feel lustful thoughts toward their mother?

“In the past, I have killed each one of you,
And in the past, you have killed me too.
Since we have all been each other’s mortal enemies,
How can you feel lustful thoughts?

“Lust does not lead to a beautiful body;
The lustful will not be reborn in happy realms.
Those who experience desire will not pass beyond sorrow.
Therefore, you should completely abandon lust.

“The foundation of lust³⁶ leads to hell;
Desire leads to rebirth as pretas or animals.
Those whose minds are ensnared by desire
Will become kumbhāṇḍas, asuras, yakṣas, or piśācas.

“Through desire, they will be reborn one-eyed, lame,
Mute, and ugly to look at.
Those who indulge in base lustful behavior
Will be receptacles for all kinds of faults.

“Anyone who attains the sovereignty of a universal monarch,
Or of Śakra, lord of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three,

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Or the power of mighty Brahmā,
Has practiced celibacy well.

“Those who always long for objects of desire
Will be blind, deaf, simpletons, dogs, pigs,
Camels, donkeys, monkeys, elephants,
Tigers, cattle, horses, locusts, and flies.

“Those who practice celibacy well
Will become joyous lords of the earth,
Merchants, householders, or ministers.
They will find happiness, joy, and peace.

“They will be solitary buddhas and worthy ones,
Clearly embellished by the marks of buddhahood.
Having realized the peace of unexcelled awakening,
They will act for the benefit of the great mass of sentient beings.³⁷

“Those who are enslaved by lust³⁸ are roasted,
Poisoned with smoke, and killed,
Or imprisoned, beaten, and threatened,
And their heads, nose, eyes, ears, and feet will be cut off.³⁹

“Lustful behavior does not lead to just one fault.
Unsuitable desires lead to faults that are utterly limitless.
If you seek to be liberated quickly from that state,
Come! Let’s go to meet the Victor.

“Except for the Buddha, worshiped by gods and humans,
There are no others to serve as a support and final refuge.
Since a victor rarely appears, even in one hundred eons,
Let us all go there together.”

As soon as the girl Candrottarā finished speaking these verses, at that very moment, the great earth trembled and the devaputras, who were residing in the vault of the sky, cried, “How wonderful!” and a great clamor of cheers and laughter erupted from the hundreds and thousands of people there. A rain of flowers also fell, as billions upon billions of cymbals resounded.

This greatly affected the men in the crowd, who were astonished and afraid—it made, so to speak, their hair stand on end. Some of them were thenceforth without desire, hatred, delusion, anger, quarrelsomeness, deceit, malice, and conflict.⁴⁰ All of them were freed from mental obscurations,

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physically refreshed, and freed from all afflictions. The girl Candrottarā became as dear to them as a mother, a sister, or a teacher, and they revered her, showering her with whatever flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, and ointments they were holding. And as they were being strewn, at that very moment, those flowers were transformed through the power of the Buddha into a flowered canopy half a league in size that hovered above the crown of the figure of the thus-gone one. The girl Candrottarā then descended from the sky to hover some four finger-widths above the earth, and walking on air without touching the ground, she left the great city of Vaiśālī. As eighty-four thousand residents of the great city of Vaiśālī followed closely behind the girl Candrottarā, the earth trembled with every rise and fall of their feet.

Early the next morning, the venerable Śāradvatīputra, together with about five hundred monks dressed in their upper and lower robes and carrying alms bowls, entered the great city of Vaiśālī to gather alms. As they approached from afar, these great hearers saw the girl Candrottarā surrounded by that great host of people. Seeing her, the venerable Śāradvatīputra said to the venerable Mahākāśyāpa, “Venerable Mahākāśyāpa, if this girl Candrottarā is to go before the Blessed One, shouldn’t we know whether or not she has attained acceptance? We should ask her some questions.”

So the venerable Śāradvatīputra, together with those monks, approached the girl Candrottarā and asked, “Where are you going, girl?”

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“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “you ask, ‘Where are you going, girl?’ Elder, wherever you are going, I am going too.”

“Girl, I am going to Vaiśālī, and you are coming from Vaiśālī,” said Śāradvatīputra. “How does it make any sense for you to say, ‘Elder, wherever you are going, I am going too’?

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “where do you raise your feet and where do you lower them?”

“Girl,” replied Śāradvatīputra, “I raise my feet in space and lower them in the same space.”

The girl continued, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, I too raise my feet in space and lower them in space. In the element of space there is not even the slightest difference, so for that reason, Honorable Śāradvatīputra, I say, ‘Wherever you are going, I am going too.’ Honorable Śāradvatīputra, where are you going?”

“Girl, I am going to nirvāṇa,”⁴¹ replied Śāradvatīputra.

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” said the girl, “since all dharmas are in nirvāṇa,⁴² I am already there.”

Śāradvatīputra then asked, “Girl, if all dharmas go to parinirvāṇa,⁴³ then why are you not going to parinirvāṇa?”

“Honorable Śāradvatiputra,” replied the girl, “that which is in parinirvāṇa does not pass into parinirvāṇa, for that which is in parinirvāṇa has no arising and no disintegration. So apart from that which is in parinirvāṇa, there is nothing at all that can become in parinirvāṇa. Why is that? Because that which is in parinirvāṇa is itself parinirvāṇa.”

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Thus she spoke, and the venerable Śāradvatīputra then asked the girl Candrottarā, “So, girl, are you a follower of the Hearer Vehicle, a follower of the Solitary Buddha Vehicle, or a follower of the Great Vehicle?”

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “you have asked me what vehicle I follow. Honorable Śāradvatīputra, ask yourself! Begging your forbearance, may I ask,⁴⁴ Honorable Śāradvatīputra, what is the Dharma that you realize? Are you a follower of the Hearer Vehicle? Or a follower of the Solitary Buddha Vehicle? Or a follower of the Great Vehicle?”

“Girl, I am none,” replied Śāradvatīputra. “Why? Because in the Dharma, there are no concepts or elaborations, and there is neither difference, nor identity, nor diversity.”

The girl continued, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, for that reason, with regard to all dharmas—nonexistent conceptualizations, nonexistent elaborations, all nonexistent phenomena that are distinguished, anything that is dwelt upon, or phenomena that are completely beyond suffering—there is nothing to be apprehended.”

“Girl, your eloquence is a marvel,” said Śāradvatīputra. “How many thus-gone ones have you served?”

The girl replied, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, you have asked me how many thus-gone ones I have served. As many as there are in suchness and the realm of phenomena.”

“Girl, how many are there in suchness and the realm of phenomena?” asked Śāradvatīputra.

The girl replied, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, there are as many as there are in ignorance and craving for existence.”

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“Girl, how many are there in ignorance and craving for existence?” asked Śāradvatīputra.

The girl replied, “As many, Honorable Śāradvatīputra, as there are in the realms of sentient beings.”

“Girl, how many are there in the realms of sentient beings?” asked Śāradvatīputra.

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “they are as numerous as the realms of blessed buddhas of the past, future, and present.”

“Girl, what are these answers you give?” asked Śāradvatīputra.

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra, I have answered whatever question the elder has asked me!” she replied.

“Girl, what have I asked?” said Śāradvatīputra.

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” she replied, “the words with which you questioned were certainly instructive.”

“Girl, words are inherently limited because they do not designate anything, so they cannot be ‘certainly instructive,’” said Śāradvatīputra.

“Likewise, Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “the one who asks about all dharmas being unproduced, lacking cessation, and being without characteristics, and the one who gives answers—neither is apprehended.”

“Girl,” said Śāradvatīputra, “in this way you have attained patience and have the pure form of a bodhisattva, so it will not be long before you reach complete buddhahood in unexcelled and perfectly complete awakening.”

The girl replied, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, the word ‘awakening’ is a conceptual elaboration, ‘reach complete buddhahood’ is a conceptual elaboration, and ‘near’ and ‘far’ are conceptual elaborations as well.

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra, you said,

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‘It will not be long before you reach complete buddhahood in unexcelled and perfectly complete awakening.’ Honorable Śāradvatīputra, because awakening is unexcelled and completely perfected, it is unproduced, lacks cessation, lacks annihilation, lacks permanence, is not a unity nor a multiplicity, lacks coming, lacks going, is inexpressible, lacks arising, and lacks an intrinsic nature, so any complete buddhahood is not apprehended. Why? Because awakening cannot be defined dualistically, because awakening is not dual and is free from duality.”

Then the honorable Śāradvatīputra said to the girl Candrottarā, “Girl, you should go before the Thus-Gone One. We are also going there to listen to the Dharma.”

The girl Candrottarā replied to the elder Śāradvatīputra, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, the Thus-Gone One does not teach the Dharma to those who wish to listen.”

“Well then, girl, to whom does the Thus-Gone One teach the Dharma?” asked Śāradvatīputra.

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “to those who, though they listen, are not pleased—to those who are not really pleased.”

“Girl,” said Śāradvatīputra, “many sentient beings have gone before the Thus-Gone One for the purpose of listening to Dharma teachings. Does the Thus-Gone One not teach the Dharma to them?”

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “those sentient beings who maintain an idea of the Thus-Gone One or who believe the Dharma has an intrinsic identity think, ‘This is the Thus-Gone One,’ ‘He teaches us the Dharma,’ and ‘This is the Dharma that he teaches.’

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But those who have understood the realm of phenomena do not have any such thoughts of ‘the Thus-Gone One,’ ‘the Dharma,’ or ‘the teaching’ like this.”

Then the elder Mahākāśyapa spoke, addressing his words to the elder Śāradvatīputra: “Venerable Śāradvatīputra, since a girl with such eloquence is going before the Thus-Gone One, there will surely be a great Dharma teaching there, so it would be better for us to cut short our going for food and return. It would not be right if we were absent when such a teaching is heard.”

Those great hearers then turned around and headed back.

The girl Candrottarā proceeded to Kūṭāgāraśālā in the Great Forest. She went to where the Blessed One was, bowed her head at the feet of the Blessed One, circled the Blessed One three times, and presented him with the flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, ointments, powders, clothing, parasols, banners, and flags that she had brought, laying them out before him.

The crowd of men also presented the Blessed One with what they had brought: flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, and ointments. As soon as they laid them out, at that very moment, the flowers transformed into a flower canopy about ten leagues wide. It settled directly above the crown of the Blessed One’s head.

Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta then addressed the girl Candrottarā: “Girl, from where did you die and transmigrate when you came here? And when you die here, where will you go?”

The girl replied, “Mañjuśrī, what do you think? From where did this this figure of a thus-gone one that sits on a lotus in my right hand die and transmigrate when he came here?

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And when he dies here, where do you think he will be reborn?”

“Girl, this is an emanation,” said Mañjuśrī. “As an emanation, he has no death, transmigration, and rebirth.”

“Mañjuśrī,” continued the girl, “all phenomena are by nature just like emanations, and even I have not seen their death, transmigration, and rebirth.”

Then the bodhisattva Amoghadarśin addressed the girl Candrottarā: “Girl, since perfect and complete awakening to buddhahood is not possible in the body of a woman, why do you not transform your female body?”

“Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “all phenomena are characterized by emptiness, and in emptiness there are no changes to be made and no transformation.”

Then the bodhisattva Dharaṇīṃdhara addressed the girl Candrottarā: “Girl, do you see the Thus-Gone One?”

“Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “just as this figure of a thus-gone one sees, so do I see the Thus-Gone One.”

The bodhisattva Pratibhānakūṭa spoke: “Girl, have confidence to tell us about the Dharma.”

“Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “in the realm of phenomena, there is no narrating and no recounting, for the realm of phenomena cannot be enumerated in words.”

The bodhisattva Asaṅgapratibhāna asked, “Girl, what Dharma teachings have you heard in the presence of previous thus-gone ones?”

“Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “if you want to know, look up. A thus-gone one is like the sky; the Dharma taught is just like the thus-gone one, as are those who listen. Son of noble family, all phenomena are just like the sky.”

The bodhisattva Gaganagañja asked, “Girl, how did you make offerings to previous thus-gone ones, and how did you dedicate the merit?”

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“Son of noble family, it is like this,” replied the girl. “If, for example, the emanation of a thus-gone one were to make offerings to a buddha, his saṅgha of monks, and so forth, what would happen?”

“Girl, with an emanation, nothing would happen,” said Gaganagañja.

“Son of noble family, I gave offerings to previous thus-gone ones and dedicated the merit in just that way,” said the girl.

The bodhisattva Asaṅgacitta asked, “Girl, how do you make beings suffused with loving-kindness?”

“Son of noble family, I leave beings just as they are,” replied the girl.

“How are those beings, girl?” he asked.

“Son of noble family,” she said, “there is no past, there is no future, and there is no present. Since the mind too has no past, no future, and no present, the cultivation of loving-kindness cannot be captured by saying ‘it is like this.’ ”

The bodhisattva Prāmodyarāja asked, “Girl, have you obtained the Dharma eye?”

“Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “if I have not even obtained the physical eye, how would I obtain the Dharma eye?”

The bodhisattva Sthiramati asked, “Girl, how long have you been advancing toward unexcelled, perfectly complete awakening?”

“Son of noble family,” replied the girl, “for as long as water advances toward a mirage, that is how long I have been advancing toward awakening.”

Then the bodhisattva Maitreya asked the girl Candrottarā, “Girl, how long will it be before you reach the complete buddhahood of unexcelled, perfectly complete awakening?”

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“As long as it takes the bodhisattva Maitreya to pass beyond the stage of an ordinary being and also pass beyond the stage of a buddha,” replied the girl.

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra addressed the Blessed One: “Blessed One, this sister dons the great armor of a great leader and with her followers speaks with utter fearlessness and without any inferiority—the girl’s eloquence is amazing.”

The girl Candrottarā then said to the venerable Śāradvatīputra, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, it is like this. Take the example of fire—no matter small it is, its nature is to burn, so anything brought close to it will be burned. In the same way, Honorable Śāradvatīputra, since there is not the slightest difference between the bodhisattvas with respect to the course of all the thus-gone ones, all of them stay close in order to burn away all the afflictions of themselves and others.”⁴⁵

“Girl, once you have attained awakening, what will your buddha field be like?” asked Śāradvatīputra.

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra,” replied the girl, “in my buddha field, as in any buddha field, Elder Śāradvatīputra, there would not be any trace whatsoever of those who trust in lesser beings, who have weak insight, who do not look out for the benefit of others, and who follow the Hearer Vehicle—not even their names would be heard.”

“Girl, what are you saying?” asked Śāradvatīputra “If it is said ‘the realm of phenomena is one, suchness is one,’ then how can you see hearers as inferior, and buddhas as superior?”

“Honorable Śāradvatīputra, it is like this,” replied the girl. “To give an analogy, although there is not even the slightest difference between the water in a cow’s hoofprint and the water in an ocean,

First 36 of 106 passages. Read on

The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā

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