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IX.
DESTINY OF ANANDA, RÂHULA, ETC.
209
past, he felt pleased, exultant, ravished, joyous, filled with cheerfulness and delight. And at that juncture he remembered the true law of many hundred thousand myriads of kotis of Buddhas and his own vow of yore.
And on that occasion the venerable Ananda uttered the following stanzas :
6. Wonderful, boundless are the Ginas? who remind us of the law preached by the extinct Ginas and mighty saints ? Now I remember it as if it had happened to-day or yesterday 3.
7. I am freed from all doubts; I am ready for enlightenment. Such is my skilfulness, (as) I am the servitor 4, and keep the true law for the sake of enlightenment.
Thereupon the Lord addressed the venerable Rahula-Bhadra in these words : Thou, Rahula, shalt be in future a Tathagata of the name of Saptaratnapadmavikrântagâmin 5, an Arhat, &c., endowed with science and conduct, &c. After having honoured, respected, venerated, worshipped a number of Tathagatas, &c., equal to the atoms of ten worlds, thou shalt always be the eldest son of those Lords Buddhas, just as thou art mine at present. And, Rahula, the measure of the lifetime of that Lord Saptaratnapadmavikrântagâmin, the Tathagata, &c., and the abundance of all sorts of good qualities (belonging to him) shall be exactly the same as of
1 This may be interpreted as being a pluralis majestatis. 2 Tâyin. : Adya svo vâ; cf. note 2, p. 154.
• Parikâraka, synonymous with upasthầyaka, one who is in attendance, in readiness, an attendant, a servitor, a satellite.
So my MSS.; Burnouf has Saptaratnapadmavikrâmin. [21]
Digitized by Google
| SR No. | 007677 |
| Book Title | Saddharma Pundarika |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | H Kern |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1884 |
| Total Pages | 2546 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 46 MB |