The History of Buddhist Thought c22.21

c22.21

Buddha tells how when he was a king he passed a thousand years as servant to a monk in order to learn the Lotus. This monk was Devadatta, and it was in his service that Buddha acquired the Perfections. Therefore, some day Devadatta will become a Buddha. Mañjuśrī comes from the ocean, where he has been converting numberless beings. A nāga girl of eight years appears, she is ready for enlightenment, but cannot attain it because of her sex. Then she presents a jewel to Buddha, her sex changes, she becomes a bodhisattva, and goes away to the south to preach (ch. 11).