A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.103

v2.c19.s6.t4.103

The Lord said: “Here, O Subhūti, a Bodhisattva, a Great Being, thinks thus: ‘Immeasurable hosts of beings are to be led to complete Nirvāṇa by me, innumerable beings are to be led to complete Nirvāṇa by me.’ Now neither those who are to be led to Nirvāṇa, nor those by whom they are to be led, do exist. He leads so many beings to complete Nirvāṇa, and there is no being which has attained to complete Nirvāṇa, and there is no one by whom such a being has been led to complete Nirvāṇa. And why so? That, Subhūti, is precisely the true nature of phenomena;¹ they are based upon deceptive appearances. Now, Subhūti, supposing a skilful magician or magician's apprentice were to conjure up a large crowd of people at a cross road, and after he had conjured up this large crowd of people, he were to cause it to vanish again,—what do you think, Subhūti, would anyone have been struck down, killed, destroyed, or caused to vanish, by anyone?”