Yaśaḥprabha
Chapter 38
Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for these and countless other wonderful1336 and marvelous bodhisattva qualities, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should hear this revealed equality of the nature of all phenomena samādhi and obtain it, understand it, preserve it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, promulgate it,1337 and make it widely known to others. [F.146.a]
38.2 “They should meditate on the strength of patience, rely on patience, and promulgate patience. They should be dedicated to the Dharma, long for the Dharma, possess the Dharma, engage in the Dharma in a way that accords with the Dharma, and apply themselves to making offerings to the buddhas.
38.3 “They should apply themselves to three points. What are the three points? They are ending the kleśas, mastering merit,1338 and generating the roots of goodness out of longing for the wisdom of the buddhas and not out of desire for reaching worldly happiness. Apply yourself to those three points.”1339
38.4 Thereupon the Bhagavān, to explain what this meant, related an account of the past by chanting the following extensive verses to the youth Candraprabha:1340
38.5
“Young man, listen to me as I tell you
How I practiced for thousands of eons.
Seeking this sublime, excellent samādhi,
I made offerings to hundreds of thousands of buddhas. {1}
38.6
“In that way, after countless eons had passed,
As numerous as the grains of sand in a hundred worlds,
When such a number had passed by
There appeared a jina named Gaṇeśvara. {2}
38.7
“There were no fewer than six hundred billion
In the saṅgha of that jina.
All were without ouflows, their kleśas had come to an end,
They had dhyāna, and were established in the eight liberations. {3}
38.8
“At that time the entire surface of this earth
Was pleasant and had good harvests, and no disorder.
All the people were joyful and happy,
And the happiness of humanity was widespread. {4}
38.9
“Everyone possessed the strength of merit.
They were attractive and beloved.
All were rich and possessed much wealth,
And physically they experienced divine pleasures. {5}
38.10
“They were gentle, with good discipline and few kleśas.
They enjoyed1341 the strength of patience and had good features.
They were like devas within the paradises.
They possessed the qualities of correct conduct and understanding. {6}
38.11
“At that time there was a sovereign, [F.146.b]
A king named Varapuṣpasa.
He had no fewer than five hundred sons,
All endowed with mindfulness and realization. {7}
38.12
“That king and his sons offered to the Jina,
To that compassionate one,
Six hundred thousand parks,
All beautified by flowers and fruits,1342 {8}
38.13
“And a hundred thousand various parks
With thousands of walkways, seats, and beds,
And with a trillion Dharma robes
Spread on the ground where they walked and sat. {9}
38.14
“Thus the king with great faith
Presented to that Sugata
In many thousands of ways
Whatever renunciants would enjoy. {10}
38.15
“That king, who followed the path
Of the ten good actions,
Came to see the Guide, accompanied by
A hundred thousand trillion beings. {11}
38.16
“Holding flowers, perfumes, and incense,
Parasols, banners, and musical instruments,
He made offerings to that Jina,
And with his hands in homage sat before him. {12}
38.17
“The thousands of bhikṣus were pleased,
As were the devas, humans, asuras, and yakṣas, wondering,
‘The Jina to whom these offerings were made, will he give a prophecy?
Will this lord of humans teach the Dharma?’ {13}
38.18
“The self-arisen one knew their thoughts
And knew the king’s supreme motivation,
That his aspiration was to the further shore,
And therefore taught him the samādhi of peace. {14}
38.19
“When the Sugata’s voice came forth
The earth and its forests shook.
A rain of flowers fell from the sky
And hundreds of lotuses appeared out of the ground. {15}
38.20
“The Teacher had trained in the words and their meaning,
And the Guide, knowing the king’s thoughts, gave a prophecy.
That lord of men taught the samādhi of peace.
Listen to these words and their meaning. {16}
38.21
“ ‘All existences are nonexistent: they are concepts,
They are insubstantial, they are like mirages and illusions.
They are like lightning and clouds, unstable and empty.1343
All are without a self, without a being, without a soul.1344 {17}
38.22
“ ‘Primordially empty, phenomena do not come. [F.147.a]
They have not come, they are not present, and they have no location.
They are always without essence; they have the nature of an illusion.
They are all pure—completely pure like space. {18}
38.23
“ ‘They are neither blue, nor yellow, nor white.
Those are just names, vacuous, with a nature that is just sound.
They are devoid of mind; their nature is not mind.
They are momentary and are devoid of sound. {19}
38.24
“ ‘Words do not go anywhere if spoken.
Words are not diminished if not spoken.
Words do not go in any direction.
Words do not come from anywhere.1345 {20}
38.25
“ ‘Words do not perish, cease, or end,
Whether they are spoken or unspoken.
Words are said to be always unceasing.
Those who know that will be unceasing. {21}
38.26
“ ‘In the past, hundreds of thousands of buddhas
Have taught the Dharma hundreds of thousands of times.
But the Dharma does not cease; words do not cease,
And as there is no arising, there is no cessation. {22}
38.27
“ ‘Those who know the unceasing Dharma
Will always know the unceasing Dharma.
Having taught a hundred thousand sūtras,
They know that the Dharma is devoid of words.1346 {23}
38.28
“ ‘The Dharma that the jinas have taught
Is unceasing and therefore is not seen.
The Dharma is primordially without a self, without a being.
Although1347 it is taught, it does not cease. {24}
38.29
“ ‘The wise teach using all words,
But their minds are not captivated by the words.
All words are like echoes on a mountain,
So therefore never have attachment to words. {25}
38.30
“ ‘The Dharma is taught through illusory words
And all those words cease in that instant.
That which is the characteristic of those words
Is the characteristic that all phenomena have. {26}
38.31
“ ‘All phenomena have no characteristics, are devoid of characteristics;
They all have no characteristics, and are pure of characteristics.
They are always empty, and they are as pure as space.
In brief, they cannot be enumerated. {27}
38.32
“ ‘They are devoid of “composite” or “noncomposite,”
And the sages have no concepts concerning them;
They have arrived at the noncomposite in all the existences of beings
And are always devoid of contrived views. {28}
38.33
“ ‘The one whose mind is at rest in that nature
Is always without desire, anger, and ignorance.
The one who knows phenomena in that way [F.147.b]
Becomes strong with the strength of samādhi. {29}
38.34
“ ‘Just as echoes are created through conditions
In caves, mountains, and canyons,
All that is composite is known to be the same:
The entire world is like an illusion, a mirage. {30}
38.35
“ ‘This samādhi of peace is taught by one
Who has the strength of wisdom, the qualities of the Dharma,
Who with the strength of knowledge has the higher cognitions of the sages,
And who has skill in methods of speech and knows the definitions of words. {31}
38.36
“ ‘The appellations that are spoken are merely appellations;
Within saṃsāra there is no end to be found.
That which was in the past is devoid of characteristics,
And one should be certain that the future is the same. {32}
38.37
“ ‘Through engaging in creating karma
There will be the best and the worst.
Knowing that all things are always empty,
Empty by nature, and that all things are without a self, {33}
38.38
“ ‘The Jina thus teaches the relative Dharma:
Regard the composite and noncomposite in that way.
There truly is no self and no human.
That is the characteristic of all beings. {34}
38.39
“ ‘Good and bad karma are indestructible.
Whatever I have created I will have to experience;
The result of one’s actions cannot be transferred to others.
Nothing is experienced without a cause.1348 {35}
38.40
“ ‘All existences are illusory and powerless,
As insubstantial and insignificant as foam.
They are always empty, like illusions and mirages.1349
They are taught through words, but are devoid of them. {36}
38.41
“ ‘Understand in that way without having pride.
Have correct conduct but without attachment,
With the power of patience have no conceptualization,
And, practicing in that way, rest in equanimity.’ {37}
38.42
“The king understood the Dharma
That was taught by the Jina.
When the king had heard this Dharma from the Jina,
Together with his entourage he took up the training. {38}
38.43
“The king, having heard this samādhi,
Joyous and happy, said these words:
‘This samādhi you have taught is excellent
And I bow down to your feet.’ {39}
38.44
“Eighty thousand beings who were there [F.148.a]
Had heard this excellent nature of phenomena,
This teaching on the ultimate truth,
And attained the acceptance of birthlessness. {40}
38.45
“A person has no origination or cessation,
And likewise these phenomena have always been empty.
When that is known there is no loss,
And the king attained the acceptance of birthlessness. {41}
38.46
“The king1350 renounced his kingdom
And entered homelessness in that Jina’s teaching.
And all five hundred princes, no less,
Followed him into the homeless state. {42}
38.47
“When the king and his princes had entered homelessness,
Many thousands of other beings also at that time
Entered homelessness in the presence of the Sugata,
Seeking to receive the Dharma of that Jina. {43}
38.48
“For a full two thousand years
The Jina taught the Dharma.
And the king, his sons, and the people
Practiced the Dharma for those two thousand years. {44}
38.49
“And then at a later time
The Jina passed into nirvāṇa.
The Jina’s śrāvakas also passed away
And his Dharma became diminished. {45}
38.50
“At that time there was a prince,1351
Puṇyamatin, who had faith and trust.
There was a bhikṣu connected with his family
Who taught to him this samādhi of peace. {46}
38.51
“The bhikṣu was gentle and mild,
Honored by a hundred thousand beings,
Was followed by a billion devas,
And was praised when he came to the city. {47}
38.52
“He had recollection and realization.
He was disciplined, compassionate, and he delighted in correct conduct.
His lovely voice was not harsh but gentle,
And he had attained the power of knowledge of the sensory constituents. {48}
38.53
“That bhikṣu was named Yaśaḥprabha.
He received a billion Dharma robes.
Unable to endure the strength of his merit
A thousand monks became jealous of him. {49}
38.54
“He had the strength of merit and the strength of body,
The strength of wisdom and the strength of miracles,
The strength of correct conduct, the strength of samādhi,
And the strength of the Dharma, and therefore was a superior bhikṣu. {50}
38.55
“He delighted and was beloved by people.
Bhikṣus, upāsakas, and bhikṣuṇīs,
Those beings who had faith in the Jina’s teaching, [F.148.b]
Made offerings to him and honored him. {51}
38.56
“The one who was the king’s son was there,
Puṇyamatin, who had constant faith and trust.
When he knew that many bhikṣus had wickedness in mind,
He became a protector for his teacher. {52}
38.57
“Five hundred thousand people,
Armored and holding swords and clubs,
Constantly surrounded the bhikṣu
Who taught the conduct that is endlessly correct. {53}
38.58
“He taught to his followers the Dharma
That phenomena are empty, with no self and no soul.
Those who were fixated on objects and were attached to a self
Did not approve of the bhikṣu’s teaching. {54}
38.59
“Those bhikṣus rose up and took up weapons,
As they did not approve of emptiness and peace.
They said, ‘What this bhikṣu is teaching is not the Dharma,
It will be meritorious if we kill him.’ {55}
38.60
“The bhikṣu was not afraid when he saw their weapons.
He was aware of the emptiness of phenomena,
That there was no being or man there to be killed,
That these phenomena were as insubstantial as plaster. {56}
38.61
“The bhikṣu placed his hands together upon his head
And spoke these words of homage to the jinas:
‘Through the truth of the emptiness of phenomena
May these weapons become coral tree flowers!’ {57}
38.62
“He possessed the conduct and discipline of the Sage
And as soon as he spoke those words and no others,
The earth and its forests shook
And the weapons became coral tree flowers. {58}
38.63
“At that time, the bhikṣus who believed in objective reality
And who were holding weapons became ill-shaped in body.
They could not approach any nearer
And became frightened and greatly amazed. {59}
38.64
“Those who had faith and trust in the Lord of sages,
Those who delighted in emptiness and peace,
They cried out ‘A la la!’1352 a thousand times,
And presented the bhikṣu with hundreds of lengths of cloth. {60}
38.65
“The bhikṣu had love for them
And said to all the people before him,
‘I will practice bodhisattva conduct
For the sake of those beings who are angry with me.’ {61}
38.66
“Then for no fewer than eighty years
He taught emptiness, the treasure of the jinas.
And the son of the king protected him
From the thousands of bhikṣus who were his adversaries. {62}
38.67
“During that time he was despised,
And his bhikṣus became few in number.
Evil things were heard said about him, [F.149.a]
But the power of his patience never declined.1353 {63}
38.68
“Then at another time he accomplished
A great benefit for hundreds of beings.
He recollected countless Dharma teachings1354
And at that time Puṇyamatin felt great joy.1355 {64}
38.69
“He1356 respectfully honored the bhikṣu
And then Puṇyamatin said to him,
‘No one at all should do anything
That is displeasing to my teacher.’ {65}
38.70
“He1357 replied, ‘Young prince, listen to me.
It is through the power of patience that buddhas appear.
When someone speaks unpleasantly to me,
Toward him I feel a great love.’ {66}
38.71
“I was that bhikṣu Yaśaḥprabha,
Who meditated on patience in previous lives
Throughout a hundred thousand eons.”
Those were the words Bhagavān Śākyamuni spoke. {67}
38.72
“The prince Puṇyamatin, who was
The protector of Bhikṣu Yaśaḥprabha,
Has been my companion in thousands of lifetimes,
And I prophesy that he will be Buddha Maitreya.1358 {68}
38.73
“The one who made offerings to the teacher Gaṇeśvara,
The one who had built a perfect monastery,
The one who was previously known as Varapuṣpasa1359
Became the Lord of humans Padmottara.1360 {69}
38.74
“In that way, for many endless eons
I held the Dharma of the jinas.
In the past, I accomplished the power of patience.
Young man, having heard this, follow my example. {70}
38.75
“After I have passed into nirvāṇa, in future times
When the Dharma is being destroyed
Bhikṣus will follow the thoughts of tīrthikas
And will forsake my Dharma of peace. {71}
38.76
“They will be arrogant, conceited, wicked, and reckless.
They will associate with sinners and be greedy for food.
They will be attached to their robes and alms bowls, greedy for cloth,
And be devoted to acquisition and forsake the Dharma. {72}
38.77
“They will be aggressive, fierce, and ungrateful.
They will come from vile families, poor families,
Enter homelessness within my teaching
And will reject the Dharma of peace. {73}
38.78
“They will have Māra’s thoughts and will be beings in darkness.
They will be under the power of desire and have strong attachment. [F.149.b]
They will be under the power of ignorance and be ignorant fools,
And they will not delight in the Dharma of emptiness and peace. {74}
38.79
“The bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, and laypeople,
With wicked minds, will be avaricious and stupid.
They will always become overpowered in that way,
And in the later times they will reject enlightenment. {75}
38.80
“Listen, young man, to these my words.
A bhikṣu should always dwell in solitude.
Those who long for peace and emptiness
Should possess this Dharma of the jinas. {76}
38.81
“The one who possesses this samādhi
Has practiced homelessness in my teaching,
Is ordained as a bhikṣu and practices poṣadha,
And eats free of craving, without attachment to food. {77}
38.82
“Forsaking all concern for life and body,
Meditate on emptiness, upon perfect peace.
Meditating with dedication, complete dedication.
Like a deer, live always in the forests. {78}
38.83
“Always make offerings to the jinas1361
With parasols, banners,1362 and with dwellings.1363
Make offerings to stūpas of the sugatas
And quickly attain this samādhi. {79}
38.84
“Develop the aspiration for the state of enlightenment.
Beautify the stūpas of the sugatas,
Adorning them with gold and covering them with silver,
And have beautiful images from precious materials made. {80}
38.85
“Make a commitment to attain enlightenment
And make all the good offerings that there are in the world,
Of all that is pleasing to devas and humans,
And honor the buddhas with desirable offerings. {81}
38.86
“See as the true nature, too, all the lords of humans;
For within the worlds in all ten directions,
The jinas who are present and those who have passed away
Have come to be buddhas through the true nature. {82}
38.87
“Have the aspiration to be generous to all.
Have pure conduct and a stable mind.
Delight in patience and always delight in kindness,
And know that all phenomena are empty. {83}
38.88
“Develop diligence confidently and fearlessly.
Delight in dhyāna and delight in solitude.
Develop wisdom, completely pure wisdom,
And quickly become compassionate. {84} [F.150.a]
38.89
“Always pacify desire through contemplating ugliness,
Overcome anger with the power of patience,
Overcome ignorance with the power of wisdom,
And attain the enlightenment praised by the jinas. {85}
38.90
“The body has no essence; it is like foam.
It creates suffering, and is putrid and foul smelling.
Know all aggregates to be insubstantial
And quickly attain the highest wisdom. {86}
38.91
“Never hold views that give rise to bad actions:
That there is a self, an individual, and a soul.
Know that all phenomena are empty
And quickly reach the highest enlightenment. {87}
38.92
“Never have yearning for possessions.
Do not be distressed if you do not obtain alms,
Be unmoved by praise or blame,
And be as unshakable as Mount Meru. {88}
38.93
“With veneration seek the Dharma;
Having heard it then become that.
Maintain the conduct of the jinas
And quickly go to the realm of Sukhāvatī. {89}
38.94
“Be even-minded toward all beings.
Do not have likes or dislikes in your mind.
Do not long for gain and fame,
And quickly become a buddha, a lord of sages. {90}
38.95
“Always describe the qualities of the buddhas
Correctly through their definitions,
So that the beings who hear about the qualities will have faith
And you cause them to aspire to the qualities of a buddha. {91}
38.96
“Always venerate your teacher,
Your parents, and similarly all beings.
Do not fall under the power of pride,
And attain the thirty-two signs of a great being. {92}
38.97
“Avoid all crowds without exception,
And always delight in solitude.
Always be pleasant, disciplined, and peaceful.
Be beneficial for yourself and beneficial to other beings. {93}
38.98
“Cultivate kindness and compassion,
And always aspire to rejoicing and equanimity.
Always follow the teaching of the jinas
And quickly become one who benefits the world. {94}
38.99
“Never gain wicked friends;
Have friends who are noble.1364 [F.150.b]
Those who long for emptiness and peace
Are established in the path to supreme enlightenment. {95}
38.100
“Do not train on the level of the śrāvakas,
And do not delight in their practice.
Do not turn your mind away from the buddha qualities
And quickly become a buddha, a lord of jinas. {96}
38.101
“Always speak pure, true words.
Do not speak harshly or tell lies.
Always speak gently and pleasantly
And obtain the speech of the world’s teacher. {97}
38.102
“Do not be concerned with your life and body.
Do not criticize others and praise yourself.
Accomplish your own good qualities
And have equanimity toward the conduct of others. {98}
38.103
“Always delight in the liberations and emptiness.
Do not make prayers for rebirth in the realms of beings.
Abandon all concepts without exception
And always abide in a state without concepts. {99}
38.104
“Reject the extremes at all times.
Do not follow nihilism or eternalism.
Always know that everything is dependent,
And in that way become such a teacher. {100}
38.105
“Reject delighting in the pleasures of desires,
Reject the stains of rigid anger,
Reject all the darkness of ignorance,
And become a lion among men, delighting in peace. {101}
38.106
“Always see that the permanent is impermanent.
Be liberated from the happiness and suffering of all existences.
See that self and purity are nonself and impure.
Meditate and become a lord of men. {102}
38.107
“The jinas, the lamps for the world,
Taught whatever Dharma would be beneficial.
They defeated the armies of the māras
And attained the supreme, highest enlightenment. {103}
38.108
“I have taught the good qualities that there are
And described hundreds of faults.
Reject the faults and practice the qualities.
Then, young man, in this life you will become a buddha.” {104}
38.109
Conclusion of the thirty-eighth chapter, “Yaśaḥprabha.”1365 [B14]
