法苑珠林 8.10

8.10

問此賢劫中成壞空劫佛不出世。唯取住劫。此住劫中復未來唯十一小劫。何得須有九百九十六佛一時出世耶。答曰。實如來難。古來諸佛亦有斯妨會意稍難。今依藥王藥上佛名經等。略知途路。且先錄藥王藥上經文。後引佛名經和會。劫有延促不同。故藥王藥上經云。爾時釋迦牟尼佛告大眾言。我曾往昔無數劫時。於妙光佛末法之中。出家學道聞是五十三佛名。聞已合掌心生歡喜。復教他人令得聞持。他人聞已展轉相教。乃至三千人。異口同音一心敬禮。即得超越無數億劫生死之罪。

Question: In this Bhadrakalpa, Buddhas do not appear in the kalpas of formation, destruction, and emptiness, but only in the kalpa of duration. In this kalpa of duration, moreover, only eleven antarakalpas remain in the future. How can nine hundred and ninety-six Buddhas appear in the world at one time? Answer: Truly, the Tathāgata is difficult [to conceive]; the Buddhas of antiquity also presented such difficulties, and harmonizing the meaning is somewhat difficult. Now, relying on the Sutra of Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata and the Sutra of the Names of the Buddhas, the way can be broadly known. Let us first record the text of the Sutra of Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata, and afterwards cite the Sutra of the Names of the Buddhas to harmonize them. Kalpas have differences in length; thus the Sutra of Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata says: At that time, Śākyamuni Buddha addressed the great assembly, saying: "In the past, countless kalpas ago, during the Latter Dharma of the Buddha Prabhāprabhāsa, I left the household to study the Way and heard the names of these fifty-three Buddhas. Having heard them, I joined my palms and rejoiced in my heart. Furthermore, I taught others to enable them to hear and uphold them. Others, having heard them, successively taught one another, reaching up to three thousand persons. With different mouths but the same voice, they single-mindedly paid homage with reverence, and immediately transcended the transgressions of birth and death spanning countless billions of kalpas.