འཕགས་པ་མར་མ་མཛད་ཀྱས་ལང་བསྟན་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 4

4

and one who was dead—and he also set a mendicant among them.¹⁷ Prince Dīpaṅkara, having seen this, asked the charioteer, ‘Hey, charioteer, what are these various sights?’

“The charioteer replied, ‘Youth, these are so-called aging, illness, and death. Youth, as long as there are imputations placed upon the true nature, there will be the phenomena of aging, illness, and death. Youth, it is the same for you and the rest of us, for we are merely the residents of saṃsāra.’

“The youth asked, ‘Charioteer, who is this one whose head is shaven, who has donned maroon robes, and who is pacified and gazes the mere length of a yoke?’

“ ‘Youth, this is a monk,’ said the charioteer. ‘Having relinquished all sin and developed the sense of delight in regard to liberation, he went forth into homelessness.’

“The boy replied, ‘Very good, charioteer! The path of this monk is to be desired,’ and then he turned around and went home.

“Then, Ānanda, right away, Prince Dīpaṅkara went again to the garden. In the garden he saw the seat of awakening, which had supported¹⁸ many hundreds of thousands of buddhas.

“Then, Ānanda, the bodhisattva Dīpaṅkara, having seen that seat of awakening, left behind the entire assembly of men and women a short distance and proceeded in the direction of the seat of awakening. He saw the seat of awakening and circumambulated it three times, and then at the seat of awakening he sat down with his legs crossed. As soon as the bodhisattva Dīpaṅkara took his seat, at that moment, at the first break of dawn, he reached unsurpassed complete and perfect awakening, the highest perfect buddhahood.

“Ānanda, as soon as the Thus-Gone Dīpaṅkara reached unsurpassed complete and perfect awakening, the highest perfect buddhahood,