陀羅尼雜集 3.50

3.50

This great dhāraṇī-mantra was spoken by past buddhas [as numerous as] the sands of twenty Gaṅgā rivers. I obtained this dhāraṇī from those buddhas, and since then, for a hundred asaṃkhyeya kalpas, I have possessed great spiritual power and supernormal freedom, roaming through the ten directions and serving the buddhas, constantly taming and subduing sentient beings with affectionate and gentle speech, beneficial actions, and common goals. Toward sentient beings I am like a loving father; my mind is vast and broad like the great ocean, containing and accepting sentient beings with nothing excluded, capable of bearing immeasurable heavy burdens, pitying suffering sentient beings and bestowing peace and security upon them. If sentient beings come seeking something, I grant their wishes without defying their intent: those seeking office receive rank and position, those seeking great wealth are granted treasures, and those who are ill are granted peace and recovery. If kings wish to attain their desires, I grant them all without defying their intent: those seeking long life are given long life; if they wish for their realm to be free from disasters, with rains falling in season—neither drought nor flood, just right—without blights or frosts, with grains ripening abundantly, the people peaceful and happy, and pestilence not arising, their wishes will be fulfilled without ever contravening their intent. If this king can then read and recite the phrases of the dhāraṇī spoken above and also transform the people through the ten virtuous deeds, practicing the meritorious virtues I described above, that king should practice in this manner. Having practiced thus and furthermore reading and reciting this dhāraṇī, the extremely heavy evil karma committed in past kalpas will all be eliminated without remainder. When that king's sinful defilements have been eradicated, his mind will be peaceful and at ease, free from all troubles and afflictions, regarding enemies and haters with equanimity, without partiality. He should regularly bathe and observe the precepts on the eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days of the month; at dawn before the sun rises, either in the main palace hall or in a high tower, facing directly east, he should recite this dhāraṇī-mantra seven times, burn white sandalwood and agarwood incense, and scatter flowers of seven colors to make offerings to the buddhas of the ten directions. He should then call upon my name three times: 'Nāga King Utpala, fulfill my wishes!' Having spoken thus three times, he should immediately recite the phrases of this dhāraṇī seven times and then stop. Because the king is earnest at that time, the buddhas of the ten directions, the great bodhisattvas, Śakra, Brahmā, the Four Heavenly Kings, the eight great nāga kings, and I, the nāga king Utpala, will shelter his realm with a canopy of loving-kindness and compassion, sprinkle his kingdom with ambrosia water, and cause illnesses, pestilence, and evil vapors all to be eliminated. This is called the power of the great dhāraṇī-mantra, which fulfills wishes without fail.