法苑珠林 98.24

98.24

Dwelling securely within this, / all can penetrate and understand the meaning. / In the second hundred years, / there is again firm samādhi. / In the third hundred years, / upholding precepts is also unbroken. / In the fourth hundred years, / there are those capable of great erudition. / In the fifth hundred years, / there are again those capable of dāna. / From then on, the Tathāgata's Dharma / gradually wanes thought by thought, / just as a chariot wheel, having turned, / comes to an end as it rolls. / That the saddharma becomes concealed / is Ānanda's fault, / for having persistently requested the Guide / for women to go forth. / The saddharma should have endured in the world / for a full thousand years; / five hundred have already been diminished, / while the remainder is as originally ordained. / Therefore, in the five hundred years, / five periods of five hundred arise in the world: / liberation, samādhi, upholding precepts, / erudition, and dāna.