藥師經疏 1.88

1.88

Sūtra: “One should fashion […] forty-nine feet.” / Sixth, fashioning banners. That is to say, fashioning five-coloured life-prolonging spiritual banners forty-nine feet in length. Therefore, the Suiyuan wangsheng jing says: “Having made offerings of banners and canopies, according to what one’s heart wishes, up to attaining bodhi: even when the banner, turning with the wind, is torn to pieces and completely exhausted, down to becoming fine dust, and the wind blows the banner's dust, the merit is immeasurable. When the banner turns once, [one attains] the rank of a wheel-turning king, down to the dust being blown [granting] the rank of a minor king; the merit is immeasurable.” Question: The two editions of the Tang and Song specify liberating forty-nine [living beings]; why does this text alone omit and not record it? Answer: This textual difference lies with the translators; according to the meaning, it should properly be present.