Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 7
7.1 At that time, a bodhisattva great being called Discriminating Intellect was seated before the blessed, thus-gone [F.250.a] Glorious and Brilliantly Shining Jewel, not far from the blessed, thus-gone Śākyamuni. For a short time he was in the guise of Brahmā, before instantaneously appearing in the form of Māra. He likewise briefly appeared in the forms of Śakra, as well as a lord of the gods in the heavens of Making Use of Others’ Emanations, Delighting in Emanations, Tuṣita, Free from Strife, and the Four Great Kings, as well as in the form of Maheśvara, and also as a yakṣa, an asura, a garuḍa, a kinnara, a mahoraga, a rākṣasa, a preta, a piśāca, a kumbhāṇḍa, a kṣatriya, a brahmin, a vaiśya, a śūdra, a lion, an elephant, a buffalo, and myriad other species of the animal realm. Instantaneously he appeared in the form of a bird, a tree, a mountain, fruit, clothing, bedding, heavy cloth, a vase, ornaments, jewelry, medicinal herbs, and a jewel. Instantaneously he also appeared in the form of a monk, a nun, and a buddha. Instantaneously he appeared in eighty-four different colors, characteristics, shapes, and forms.
7.2 Then Pūrṇa, the son of Maitrāyaṇī, asked the thus-gone Śākyamuni, “Blessed One, what is the cause and what are the conditions {TK198} of this noble son shifting his appearance among eighty-four different colors, characteristics, shapes, and forms?”
7.3 “Venerable Pūrṇa, this noble son has incredibly great power,” responded the Blessed One. “The bodhisattva great being Discriminating Intellect matures beings while abiding by the power of his pledge. With the unobscured eyes of insight, in countless infinite buddha fields throughout the ten directions, both pure and impure, he can see beings and their kinds of thoughts, intentions, actions, and illnesses and where [F.250.b] they go for refuge. Abiding in this type of absorption, he adopted forms ranging from bodhisattvas to buddhas as well as colors, characteristics, actions, shapes, and forms as was necessary to guide beings and establish them at the point where they will not revert from the three vehicles. To ensure that beings who are overwhelmed by their desire, hankering after all kinds of possessions and enjoyments, could eliminate their attachment, he gave them possessions and established them at the point of irreversibility. He distributed medicine to those who were afflicted with illness and desired a cure, and he established them at the point of irreversibility. The bodhisattva Discriminating Intellect freed beings as numerous as the grains of sand in the Gaṅgā in a single day. This power of his pledge to establish {TK199} them at the point where they will not revert from the three vehicles is not the domain of the hearers or solitary buddhas. They do not reach this far.”
7.4 “Blessed One, how long has this noble son exercised this great power for the sake of bringing beings to maturity?” asked Pūrṇa.
“This noble son developed the mind directed toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening in the furthest reaches of eons past,” answered the Blessed One. “It was countless eons ago—as many as there are particles of dust in all the buddha fields. By now, sixty-four immeasurable eons have passed since the eon when that bodhisattva Discriminating Intellect began exercising this power by means of the strength of his absorption.”
7.5 “How long will it be until he fully awakens to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood?” Pūrṇa asked.
The Blessed One answered, “After two million six hundred thousand great eons have passed, in a great eon called Liberation,415 there will be a buddha field called Heart of the Jewel. [F.251.a] There the lifespan of beings will be forty thousand years. He will fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood among beings {TK200} who are inclined toward acts ranging from those of immediate retribution up until the ten nonvirtuous actions. He will be known as the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha Light of the Limitlessly Blossoming Flower. He will perform all the deeds of a buddha without exception for forty thousand years. He will mature beings in the three vehicles so that they may reach parinirvāṇa, following which he himself will enter parinirvāṇa in the expanse of nirvāṇa without the remainder of the aggregates.”
7.6 Pūrṇa then asked, “From where do this sublime being’s deeds that mature beings manifest?”
“This great being’s aspirations are without bias,” answered the Blessed One. “He made this aspiration: ‘The blessed buddhas clearly see as many buddha fields as there are particles of dust in all the buddha fields in each of the ten directions. Therefore, I too will not fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood until I see those beings that I, while I previously practiced awakened conduct, caused to initially arouse the mind set on unsurpassed and perfect awakening, {TK201} take hold of it, practice the six perfections, and fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood in buddha fields in each of the ten directions. Through this type of power, based on absorption, may all beings in all buddha fields—as many as there are atoms in all the buddha fields in each of the ten directions—and in any other realm [F.251.b] who are inclined toward acts ranging from those of immediate retribution and doubt up until the ten nonvirtuous actions, be reborn in my buddha field after they pass away. Then, may I always use this great power to manifest as a bodhisattva in order to arouse roots of virtue in these beings, establish each of them at the level of irreversibility, and ensure that they fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood.’ ”
7.7 Then the bodhisattvas who had congregated from buddha fields in the ten directions {TK202} said, “Those bodhisattvas who have come to this buddha field have gladdened such teachers. Seeing this great assembly of bodhisattvas endowed with great compassion, we have received an excellent and unprecedented opportunity to receive the blessings of the blessed buddhas of the past, present, and future. Thus, we received this Dharma method, this exposition of the dhāraṇī-seal, including its verbal formula, which is called the terminator of birth based on the essential nature of phenomena in their vajra-like indivisibility. How fortunate we are!”
7.8 This concludes the chapter on upholding the sacred Dharma, the seventh in the “Ratnaketu” section of the Great Collection. {TK203}
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