Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 13
13.1
At this time, all the blessed buddhas displayed the signs of rising and returning472 to their respective buddha fields. At the same moment, the beings of this entire assembly, who were on earth as well as in the sky, shuddered, and so did the entire earth. A rain of flowers poured from the sky, millions of instruments resounded in midair, and all kinds of fragrances of perfume and incense were released. As the entire buddha field filled with light, those in the assembly pressed their hands together. Then Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, asked the thus-gone Mahācandanagandha, “How many roots of virtue, O Blessed One, will those beings accumulate who in the future uphold and preserve this Dharma discourse—who read it, master it, and teach it authentically and extensively to others? How many roots of virtue will those beings accumulate who set it down in writing and uphold it in writing?473 What qualities will they be rewarded with by the blessed buddhas?”
13.2 Thus addressed, the blessed, thus-gone Mahācandanagandha replied to Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, “Just as the six realms, O Brahmā, have been blessed by all the buddhas in order to fend off the black faction of Māra, to pacify all the negativity of the dark age,474 to bring beings to maturity, to ensure the continuity of this Dharma method {TK266} for a long time, and to purify the path, so too will the beings of the future be blessed by all the buddhas and bodhisattvas with the ten perquisites if they uphold this Dharma discourse [F.275.b] . . . and write it down and preserve it. What are these ten perquisites? {K173}475
13.3 “(1) Through the power of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, O Brahmā, you will duly set these beings apart476 and always protect them from all the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, rākṣasas, and kumbhāṇḍas. (2) You will cause them to turn away from that which is worthless477 and fully engage their body, speech, and mind in that which is wholesome. (3) You will provide them with ample food, drink, comfort, pleasures, good health, and good fortune when they are alive, and support them at the time when they give up their lives. (4) They will become skilled in faultless memory, mental faculties, and eloquence.478 (5) Being free from attachment to sense pleasures and from mental fabrications, they will be at ease and immersed in emptiness. (6) Possessed of equanimous minds merged with the dhāraṇī and of profound acceptance,479 they will engage in the acts of attracting beings. (7) Engaged in wholesome practices, devoting their energy to the body of the assembly, completely free from the three things,480 they will master the conduct of awakening. (8) They will attain the absorption jeweled banner, through which they will become adroit in the insightful knowledge of all absorptions. (9) At the time of dying they will perceive standing in front of them innumerable blessed buddhas, passing their time in the company of their retinues of monks and the hosts of bodhisattvas and explaining the Dharma. They will hear the Dharma that is being thus explained complete with its meaning, words, and letters. [F.276.a] (10) To ensure that they obtain spiritual joy and grace—noble and distinguished in every respect—all the karmic obstacles of nonvirtue {K174} will be extinguished in their last moment of consciousness at the time of dying, in accord with the Dharma. After death they will take miraculous birth, just as they wished, in pure buddha fields. They will live together with other beings established in the Mahāyāna, who possess unobscured knowledge and minds equal to the sky, in any of the buddha fields {TK267} where the blessed buddhas live and pass their time teaching the pure481 Mahāyāna doctrine. Before long, they themselves will acquire the same qualities. They will not be born again in a buddha field afflicted with the five degenerations, unless they aspire to do so. They will swiftly awaken fully and completely to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood.
13.4 “With these ten perquisites the blessed buddhas will bless these beings who, in present and future times, glorify this Dharma method, and uphold, . . . write down, and preserve this Dharma discourse, this dhāraṇī-seal, in the form of a book. These beings, blessed by all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, will become bodhisattva great beings who are freed from all depravities stemming from the afflictions.”
13.5 Now the blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni addressed the world protectors, Śakra and Brahmā:
“Friends, the blessed buddhas here, who have all congregated from the ten directions, have now given this extraordinary and wonderful exposition—this Dharma discourse never heard before on the profound dhāraṇī with its special words. They have given it out of compassion for you and in order to purify the external objects in this world system. [F.276.b] They have taught it in order to bring beings to maturity, show them the conduct leading to awakening, defeat the faction of Māra, raise the banner of Dharma, demonstrate by their own example how to carry out the work of all the buddhas, ensure the continuity of the lineage of the Three Jewels, quell all diseases, restrain all wicked beings, protect from all fear, {K175} cause beings to abandon wrong views and enter the path of awakening, endow them fully with the ten strengths of a thus-gone one, and exhaust all their action and afflictions. They have taught it so that households, villages, towns, districts, . . . and the worlds consisting of four continents, gods, nāgas, yakṣas, human and nonhuman beings, grain, medicinal herbs, leaves, flowers, fruits, crops, Dharma teachers, and Dharma students will be protected. They have taught it to facilitate the attainment of the unobstructed dhāraṇī, the wisdom that is equal to space, {TK268} and the omniscient wisdom particular to the single principle.
13.6 “Through this Dharma discourse, my friends, each and everything in this buddha field has been empowered in ten different ways by the blessed buddhas, as a result of their knowledge suffused with great compassion.482
13.7 “(1) Friends, this entire buddha field has been adopted by all the buddhas and bodhisattvas so that it may be blessed with all things virtuous. (2) It has become an object of veneration for all beings born in buddha fields. (3) It represents the teacher. (4) It is generally revered as the spiritual instructor. (5) It is a fitting object of worship. (6) It is a place where even those who have roots of nonvirtue, including the five acts of immediate retribution, can completely purify their karmic obscurations, which would otherwise ripen unpleasantly. (7) Once these karmic obscurations are removed, one can become established in good qualities. [F.277.a] (8) This buddha field, friends, is the maker of great men—the blessed buddhas.483 (9) This buddha field, friends, is the place where you should respect the Dharma, uphold it, and protect it. (10) In this buddha field you should also protect the householders and the wandering mendicants who uphold the Dharma, and persons who have adopted484 the sacred Dharma. This will contribute to your own happiness and prosperity.” {K176}
13.8 Now, to illustrate the good qualities and benefits of this Dharma discourse, the thus-gone Kusumadhvaja said:
“The merit of someone who fills all the fields with gold and offers them To the protectors and guides in order to worship them would be finite; A fearless person who upholds this supreme, important sūtra, however, Would obtain infinite merit.” {13.1} 13.9 The thus-gone Ratnacchatraśrī said: {TK269}
“By teaching this sūtra one accumulates the same merit as by giving to the eminent sages gold coins equal in number to the grains of sand in the Gaṅgā.
13.10 “Merit equal to that gained by upholding this sūtra cannot even be attained By giving to the eminent sages Gold coins equal in number To the grains of sand in the Gaṅgā.”485 {13.2} 13.11 The thus-gone Girikūṭa said:
“Anybody could fill the sky with clouds dense with heaps of the best flowers and parasols And offer them to the buddhas with a joyful mind in order to worship them, But the person who upholds this sūtra later, at a degenerate time full of fear and violence, Would accumulate merit whose extent no being could describe.” {13.3} 13.12 Even the blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni spoke as follows:
“One could, before this sage,486 hold up a burning wick fed with scented oil as big as Mount Meru For the duration of ten million eons, one’s face smiling with devotion, But someone desirous of merit and seeking to reduce hindrances Would gain far greater merit by teaching this sūtra in public during this degenerate time.” [F.277.b] {13.4} 13.13 The thus-gone Akṣobhya said:
“Any intelligent person can always cultivate acceptance and practice diligence. Continually devoted to meditation, mindful of their body, they may develop their insight, {K177} But those who uphold this seal of the sacred Dharma in this world during the dark age Possess unequaled acceptance and diligence, and their insight is also superior.” {13.5} 13.14 The thus-gone Virajasamādhibalavikrāmin487 said:
“It is not possible to describe the merit acquired By someone who propagates this sūtra in this world, upholds it, writes it down, Causes others to learn it by skillfully explaining it again and again, And worships it with incense, flowers, garlands, and the best quality fabrics.” {13.6} {TK270} 13.15 Continuing like this, infinite numbers of blessed buddhas proclaimed the immeasurable virtues, qualities, and benefits of this sūtra. Having then summoned the world protectors, Śakra, and Brahmā, they instructed them, “Please, friends, uphold this Dharma discourse that exhausts all karmic obscurations and the afflictions. By merely hearing this discourse during the later degenerate time, all karmic obscurations and the afflictions of sentient beings will be exhausted.”
13.16 So spoke the Blessed One. The entire assembly and the worlds of gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised this teaching by the Blessed One.
13.17 This concludes the thirteenth chapter, the final in the “Ratnaketu Sūtra,” in the Great Collection of Mahāyāna sūtras. {K178}
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