Saddharma Pundarika

SR No.: 007677
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

Page 481

XXVI. ENCOURAGEMENT OF SAMANTABHADRA.
437
family ought to keep this Dharmaparyâya of the Lotus of the True Law. I myself, O Lord, will superintend this Dharmaparyâya, that through my superintendence it may here spread in Gambudvipa.
Then the Lord Sâkyamuni, the Tathagata, &c., expressed his approval to the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Samantabhadra : Very well, very well, Samantabhadra. It is happy that thou art so well disposed to promote the weal and happiness of the people at large, out of compassion for the people, for the benefit, weal, and happiness of the great body of men; that thou art endowed with such inconceivable qualities, with a mind so full of compassion, with intentions so inconceivably kind, so that of thine own accord thou wilt take those preachers under thy protection. The young men of good family who shall cherish the name of the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Samantabhadra may be convinced that they have seen Säkyamuni, the Tathagata, &c.; that they have heard this Dharmaparyâya of the Lotus of the True Law from the Lord Sâkyamuni; that they have paid homage to the Tathagata Sakyamuni; that they have applauded the preaching of the Tathagata Sâkyamuni. They will have joyfully accepted this Dharmaparyâya; the Tathagata Sâkyamuni will have laid his hand upon their head, and they will have decked the Lord Sâkyamuni with their robes. Those young men or young ladies of good family, Samantabhadra, must be held to have accepted the command of the Tathagata". They
1 If I rightly understand these cautious and veiled words, the meaning is that such persons, though no Buddhists, must be held in equal esteem as if they were. The persons alluded to are, not unlikely, Saiva monks or devotees, who, if leading a pious life, have
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