大通方廣懺悔滅罪莊嚴成佛經 2.48

2.48

At that time the World-Honoured One said to the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Ākāśagarbha: "Good son, I remember that in the past, in a former kalpa named Viśuddha, during this kalpa I made offerings to ninety-two billion nayutas of Buddhas. Because I practiced the Hīnayāna, I had many transgressions and offences and broke precepts countlessly; these Tathāgatas did not grant me vyākaraṇa. Passing beyond this kalpa, there was a kalpa named Supriya; during this kalpa I made offerings to forty-two billion Tathāgatas, and these Tathāgatas also did not grant me vyākaraṇa. Passing beyond this kalpa, there was a kalpa named Brahmaghoṣa; during this kalpa I made offerings to twenty-two billion Tathāgatas, and these Tathāgatas also did not grant me vyākaraṇa. Passing beyond this kalpa, there was a kalpa named Tuṣṭicitta; during this kalpa I made offerings to eighty-four thousand Tathāgatas, and these Tathāgatas also did not grant me vyākaraṇa. Passing beyond this kalpa, there was a kalpa named Duḥkhapramocana; the land was named Alaṃkāra, and the Buddha was named Mahādāna Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyaksambuddha, complete with the ten epithets. During this kalpa I made offerings to forty billion Buddhas and was able to hear this sūtra; my afflictions were permanently eradicated, yet I had not personally seen [the fruit]. At that time, I made offerings to them using all kinds of offering implements, but these Tathāgatas also did not grant me vyākaraṇa. Good son, throughout many kalpas in the past, I made offerings to many Tathāgatas, honouring and praising them, so that my afflictions were eradicated. I was fully endowed with the deportment and prohibitive precepts of a śrāvaka, cultivated pure conduct, trained in and practiced giving, held all precepts, practiced dhūtas, was free from arrogance, anger, and delusion, cultivated forbearance and a compassionate mind, preached according to what I had heard, diligently practiced vigor, retained without loss everything that I heard, lived in solitude and seclusion, entered various dhyānas, and upon emerging from dhyāna, read, recited, and contemplated in accord with the wisdom heard; yet these Tathāgatas also did not grant me vyākaraṇa. Why is this? Because the prohibitive precepts I had received were frequently broken and violated, because I was deeply attached to the practices of the śrāvaka and two vehicles, and because I had not heard the Great Universal Vaipulya sūtras. For this reason, if bodhisattva-mahāsattvas and others stay far away from the practices of the two vehicles and cultivate and gather the Mahāyāna vaipulya scriptures, they will receive vyākaraṇa. If I were to spend a kalpa, or less than a kalpa, proclaiming the names of these Buddhas, I could not exhaust them. Good son, after this had passed, I met Dīpaṃkara Buddha, who was expounding this Great Universal Vaipulya of the Mahāyāna to an immeasurable great assembly. At that time, I heard and saw what that Buddha preached, received, retained, read, and recited it, and contemplated its meaning, whereupon I attained anutpattikadharmakṣānti. Dīpaṃkara Tathāgata then granted me vyākaraṇa: 'In a future age, you shall become a Buddha named Śākyamuni Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyaksambuddha.' Therefore, good son, one who receives and upholds this sūtra quickly reaches the stage of Buddhahood, not to mention being worthy of consuming the offerings of humans and devas of the worldly realm. Good son, therefore the power of the Mahāyāna scriptures bestows an inconceivable treasure-trove, conferring upon the destitute who have broken the precepts the precious jewel of reliance and proper deportment. / Good son: / The Mahāyāna is like the great ocean; / the Hīnayāna is water in an ox's footprint. / The Mahāyāna is like Mount Sumeru; / the Hīnayāna is an anthill. / The Mahāyāna is like the sun and moon; / the Hīnayāna is a falling star. / This vehicle is named the Mahāyāna, / the inconceivable vehicle. / It accommodates all sentient beings, / just like empty space. / Among all vehicles, / this vehicle is the foremost. / Such a Mahāyāna / surpasses all vehicles. / The Hīnayāna is limited; / it cannot deliver all. / Only this supreme vehicle / can deliver all sentient beings. / If one practices this immeasurable / Mahāyāna that is like empty space— / empty space has no measure, / nor does it have shape or colour; / the Mahāyāna is also like this, / immeasurable and unobstructed. / All sentient beings / who ride upon this Mahāyāna / should contemplate the characteristics of this vehicle, / vast and broadly accommodating. / If during immeasurable kalpas / one were to speak of the merits of the Mahāyāna / and of those who ride this vehicle, / they could never be exhausted. / Among all vehicles, / the Mahāyāna is the most supreme; / with utmost sincerity receiving the Mahāyāna, / one reaches the Bodhi tree. / Unbound and unobstructed, / now this supreme vehicle / can surpass the inferior vehicles. / Sitting beneath the tree of awakening, / contemplating the twelve links of dependent origination, / out of pity for sentient beings, / he expounds the Mahāyāna sūtras for them. / If sentient beings in the ten directions / ride upon the Mahāyāna, / it neither increases nor decreases, / accommodating like empty space. / The Mahāyāna is inconceivable, / endowed with supernatural powers and great wisdom; / therefore, all sentient beings / should diligently cultivate and gather it. / All hosts of devas, / māras, and tīrthikas, / desiring to eliminate the bonds of afflictions, / take refuge in the Mahāyāna. / Endowed with the six supernatural powers, / the three knowledges and the three gateways of penetration, / they can destroy māras and tīrthikas, / as well as all wrong views. / The Mahāyāna is the most essential; / it can shatter all afflictions / and fulfill all roots of goodness; / therefore the power of the Mahāyāna / is truly difficult to conceive. / All worldly dharmas / and supramundane dharmas, / the dharmas of those in training and beyond training, / are subsumed within the Mahāyāna. / If there are sentient beings walking evil paths, / closely associating with wrong views and evil companions, / let them stay far from these and take refuge in the Mahāyāna. / If a person does not delight in seeking the Mahāyāna, / they cannot destroy the fetters of afflictions; / desiring to seek liberation, one should study the Mahāyāna. / If there is a great person who understands the great matter, / and hearing the Mahāyāna expounded feels joy in their heart, / know that they are indeed a person of the Mahāyāna. / Attaining tranquility of mind and endowed with supernatural powers, / all of this is due to adorning oneself through the Mahāyāna. / If someone can practice the great practice, / they do not sever the lineage of the Three Jewels. / If there is someone who tends toward the Mahāyāna, / this person attains immeasurable merit, / can travel to worlds in the ten directions, / and make offerings to immeasurable Buddhas in the ten directions. / Such a Mahāyāna vaipulya sūtra / cannot be surpassed by any worldly vehicle; / fully endowed with majestic virtue, it destroys birth and death; / therefore the Mahāyāna is difficult to conceive. / Attaining mastery over physical power, / fully accomplishing the eternal Dharma body, / if there are those who ride this Mahāyāna, / they experience supreme bliss. / Renouncing one's body in giving and cultivating compassion, / one thereby attains this supreme vehicle; / keeping precepts, advancing with vigor, and cultivating pure conduct, / one can use supernatural powers to eclipse the sun and moon. / All is due to long cultivating the practices of the Mahāyāna; / when one's own mind diligently cultivates and is constantly vigorous, / that person will attain the Mahāyāna. / Retributions of immeasurable suffering and distress that ought to occur / are eliminated by cultivating and gathering the Mahāyāna. / If one can abide securely in the Mahāyāna scriptures, / one will long experience joy like the Buddhas. / Endowed with right mindfulness and diligent vigor, / one obtains the four bases of psychic power; / relying on the true Dharma and the real meaning / is all due to long cultivating the Mahāyāna sūtras. / Endowed with the ten powers and fearlessnesses, / adorned with the thirty-two marks and signs, / the vajra samādhi and all-knowledge, / all come from long cultivating the Mahāyāna. Good son, if someone upholds this Mahāyāna scripture, even a single character, a single phrase, or up to a single gāthā, they will eternally escape all sufferings and difficulties, never fall into the evil destinies, and reach a place of peace and joy. In the evil age to come, if there are those who obtain this sūtra, I will grant them all vyākaraṇa that they shall ultimately accomplish the Buddha path. If someone upholds this sūtra, the Buddha is always close to this person, and this person is always close to the Buddha; this person protects the Buddha-Dharma, and all Buddhas protect this person. They will obtain great supernatural wisdom, be able to turn the great wheel of Dharma, deliver beings from the destinies of birth and death, and destroy the armies of Māra. From Dīpaṃkara Buddha, I heard this expedient sūtra, abided in forbearance, and received vyākaraṇa, being named Śākyamuni. After my parinirvāṇa, if there are those who study this sūtra, I will also grant them vyākaraṇa. If someone in a future age can understand the meaning of this sūtra and expound it for the foolish, even though the Buddha is not in the world, the Three Jewels will not be severed, just as if the Buddha were present. Why is this? I received and upheld this sūtra from immeasurable Buddhas, and in the final kalpa expound it broadly for people; it is because of this that I obtained the thirty-two marks." Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One, all Buddhas also speak of these thirty-two marks. The Buddha now also speaks of the thirty-two marks; by what karmic causes are they accomplished? We only pray that the World-Honoured One will explain this for us."