The Lotus Sutra
Chapter 23: History of Bodhisattva Medicine King
Overview Summary
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Paragraphs 1─18 |
Bodhisattva Flower King of Constellation asks Shakyamuni Buddha about the background of Bodhisattva Medicine King.
In the remote past, Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings (previous incarnation of Bodhisattva Medicine King) was eternally grateful to hear the Lotus Sutra from Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha. He made many offerings but felt they were not sufficient. Therefore, he decided to sacrifice his life by setting his body ablaze as an offering to that Buddha.
When he passed on, he was reborn via metamorphosis in the family of King Pure Virtue. Yet he continued giving offerings to Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha.
When Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha was about to enter parinirvana, Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings was aggrieved. He collected the Buddha’s relics and built eighty-four thousand pagodas to keep the relics. Still, he was not contented with his offerings. Hence, he burnt both his arms as an offering to the Buddha. His disciples and followers were devastated when they saw their teacher’s arms being burnt. However, owing to the great vow of attaining Buddhahood by the bodhisattva, his arms were regenerated back to their original conditions.
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| Section 2:
Paragraphs 1─21 |
The Buddha teaches that although the merits of sacrificial offerings surpass that of material offerings, they still cannot surpass the merits of those who accept and embrace the Lotus Sutra. Even if a person accepts only one stanza of the entire Lotus Sutra, he or she has the foremost in blessing and benefit, far surpassing that of any sacrificial or material offering.
The superiority of the Lotus Sutra as the King of all Sutras is further elaborated and illustrated through multiple comparisons. Those who embrace the Lotus Sutra are the most supreme; they are comparable only with Tathagata.
The Buddha entrusts this chapter to Bodhisattva Flower King of Constellation, who is instructed to protect and propagate the Lotus Sutra across all of Jambudvipa.
Key Messages The Lotus Sutra is the King of all Sutras. No merits from a sacrificial or material offering is comparable to the merits received from embracing and expounding the Lotus Sutra.
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Section 1: Paragraphs 1─18
1.1 At that time, Bodhisattva Flower King of Constellation asked the Buddha: “O Lord of the World! Why does Bodhisattva Medicine King travel around the Saha world? O Lord of the World! This Bodhisattva Medicine King has carried out hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of nayuta of arduous and ascetic practices. How wonderful! I entreat the Lord of the World to explain a little of his background. Heavenly gods, dragons, spirits, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, humans, and non-human beings, the bodhisattvas who arrive from the other lands, and the community of shravakas were rejoiced upon hearing this.”
1.2 Thereupon, the Buddha spoke to Bodhisattva Flower King of Constellation: “In the remote past, there was a Buddha known as Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Tathagata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfect in True Wisdom and Enlightenment, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Liberated, the Omniscient, the Almighty, Master Trainer, Teacher of Heavenly Gods and Humans, Buddha-Lord of the World. That Buddha had eight billion great bodhisattvas-mahasattvas and a great assembly of shravakas as numerous as seventy-two Ganges’s sands. The lifetime of that Buddha was forty-two thousand kalpas and so were the lifetimes of his bodhisattvas.
1.3 “His land had no women, no hells, no hungry spirits, no beasts, no asuras, and no catastrophes. Made of lapis lazuli, the ground of the land was as level as one’s palm. Everywhere in the land was adorned with jeweled trees, jeweled vases, and censers and covered with jeweled canopies that were festooned with garlands of precious flowers. Each of the seven-treasure terraces had one tree and the distance of the tree to the terrace was a distance of a full arrow’s flight. Bodhisattvas and shravakas were seated under these jeweled trees. On each of the jeweled terraces were hundreds of billions of heavenly gods performing celestial music and singing hymns as offerings to the Buddha.
1.4 “Meanwhile, that Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra to Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings and all other bodhisattvas and shravakas. Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings was cheerfully carrying out the ascetic practices during the Dharma of Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha. Advancing diligently in his practice, he single-mindedly sought the way of Buddhahood for a full twelve thousand years before attaining the Samadhi of Revelation of All Forms.
1.5 “Overjoyed at having attained the samadhi, he thought: ‘My accomplishment of the Samadhi of Revelation of All Forms is entirely due to the power of hearing the Lotus Sutra! Allow me to pay homage by giving offerings to Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha, and the Lotus Sutra.’
1.6 “Shortly after he entered the samadhi, mandarava flowers, great mandarava flowers, and fine powder of the ebony sandalwood were rained down from the sky, resembling the clouds filling the entire sky. Incense of sandalwood from the inner seashore of Mount Sumeru was also rained down. The value of six karshas of this particular incense was equivalent to the entire Saha world. All this was done for the purpose of giving offerings to that Buddha.
1.7 “Having made these offerings, he rose from his samadhi and reflected: ‘Although I have given offerings to the Buddha by means of my divine powers, this could not match the offerings of my own body.’ Thereafter, he consumed various kinds of incense—sandalwood, olibanum, frankincense, clove, aloe, and resin incense—and drank the essential oils of campaka and other flowers. For a full twelve hundred years, he anointed his body with perfumed oils, wrapped himself in the heavenly jeweled robes, and bathed in fragrant oils. In the presence of Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha, he sacrificed himself by setting his body afire through his divine powers, thus illuminating an equivalent of eight billion Ganges’s sands of worlds in the Universe.
1.8 “There were Buddhas who extolled him in unison, saying: ‘Excellent, excellent! O virtuous man! This is indeed true diligence that is called Offerings of the True Dharma to Tathagata. Offerings such as flowers, incense, necklaces, burning incense, powdered incense, paste incense, heavenly silk, streamers and canopies, and incense of sandalwood from the inner seashore of Mount Sumeru are incomparable, nor could the giving of countries, lands, wives, children, and alms compare. O virtuous man! This is known as the Foremost in Offerings. Among all offerings, it assumes the highest and most honorable place because the Dharma was offered to pay homage to the Tathagata.’ Having made this statement, all of them became silent. His body continued to burn for twelve hundred years before coming to an end.
1.9 “After the death of Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings, as a result of giving offerings to the Dharma, he was reborn through sudden metamorphosis in the family of King Pure Virtue in the land of Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha. Sitting cross-legged, he spoke in stanzas to his father:
‘O Mighty King!
Now you should know that I pass by this place
and attain, in an instant,
the Samadhi of Revelation of All Forms.
With diligence I advance greatly
by sacrificing my beloved body.
I give offerings to the Lord of the World
solely to seek the unsurpassed wisdom!’
1.10 “Having finished speaking in stanzas, he said to his father: ‘Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha is now present in the world! As a result of my offerings to the Buddha, I have acquired the Dharani of Understanding Languages of All Living Beings. Furthermore, I have heard eight hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of nayuta, kankara, bimbara, and akshobhya of the Lotus Sutra spoken in stanzas. O Mighty King! I shall now return to give offerings to this Buddha.’
1.11 Having said this, he sat at once on the seven-treasure terraces and ascended to the open sky as high as the seven tala trees. Upon reaching the Buddha’s abode, he greeted the Buddha by performing a full prostration, pressed his ten fingers together, and praised the Buddha through stanzas:
‘Your countenance of the most rare and magnificent!
Your light of the most brilliance
that illuminates the ten directions!
I paid homage to you now and before,
I shall return to behold you once more!’
1.12 “Having finished speaking in stanzas, Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings said to the Buddha: ‘O Lord of the World! The Lord of the World is still present in the world!’
1.13 “Meanwhile, Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha spoke to Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings: ‘O virtuous son! Here comes the time of my nirvana; here comes the time of my extinction. I ask you to start preparing my bed because by midnight, I shall enter parinirvana.’ Again he declared to Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings: ‘O virtuous son! I shall entrust the Buddha-Dharma—the Dharma of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment, together with trichiliocosm of the Seven Treasures, jeweled trees, jeweled terraces, and heavenly attendants—to you as well as all bodhisattvas and great disciples. After my parinirvana, I shall entrust all my relics to you as well. You ought to distribute the relics broadly, build thousands of pagodas, and give offerings to the relics widely.’ After Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha made the declaration to Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings, he entered nirvana at midnight.
1.14 “Thereafter, Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings was deeply grieved and distressed when he witnessed the parinirvana of the Buddha. Because of his admiration and adoration of the Buddha, he immediately prepared a pyre made of sandalwood of the inner seashore of Mount Sumeru as an offering to the Buddha before setting it on fire. After the fire had died out, he collected the relics and used them to make eighty-four thousand precious urns. He also commissioned the construction of eighty-four thousand pagodas as high as trichiliocosm for the urns. The pagodas were adorned with streamers, canopies, and an array of jeweled bells.
1.15 “Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings then pondered: ‘Although I have given offerings, my mind is still not yet satisfied. I shall now give more offerings to the relics.’ Following this, he declared to his great disciples of bodhisattvas as well as heavenly gods, dragons, yakshas, and the rest of the multitudes: ‘Focus your mind now! For I am going to give offerings to Virtues as Pure and Brilliant as the Sun and Moon Buddha.’
1.16 “Immediately after his declaration, he gave offerings to the Buddha by burning his arms, which were adorned by hundreds of blessings, before the eighty-four thousand pagodas. His arms burnt for seventy-two thousand years. In this way, he inspired immeasurable asamkhya of shravakas to aspire for Supreme Perfect Enlightenment, thus enabling them to achieve the Samadhi of Revelation of All Forms.
1.17 “Meanwhile, the bodhisattvas, heavenly gods, humans, asuras, and the rest were devastated when they saw him without arms. They said: ‘This Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings is our teacher who guides and transforms us. But now, his arms are all burnt and his body is deformed!’
1.18 “Thereupon, Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings made this vow in the midst of the assembly: ‘Having sacrificed both my arms, I will definitely be able to obtain the golden body of a Buddha! If this is absolutely true, then both my arms shall be restored as before.’ As soon as he made his vow, both his arms were regenerated spontaneously. This was due to the profound blessings, virtues, and wisdom of the bodhisattva. At that moment, trichiliocosm trembled in six different ways and the sky rained down various precious flowers. All humans and heavenly gods gained an unprecedented experience.”
Section 2: Paragraphs 1─21
2.1 The Buddha spoke to Bodhisattva Flower King of Constellation: “Who do you think Bodhisattva Joyfully Seen by All Living Beings was? He was none other than the present Bodhisattva Medicine King! His offerings of self-sacrifice amount to immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of nayuta of numbers.
2.2 “O Flower King of Constellation! If there are people who aspire to attain Supreme Perfect Enlightenment and are able to burn their fingers or toes as offerings to the pagodas of the Buddhas, the value of these offerings will surpass the offerings of countries, cities, wives, and children as well as all the mountains, forests, rivers, ponds, and other precious treasures in the trichiliocosm.
2.3 “Furthermore, if there are people who give trichiliocosm overflowing with seven treasures as offerings to the Buddhas, great bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and arhats, their merits gained could not surpass that of someone who accepts and embraces the Lotus Sutra, even if it is only one stanza consisting of four lines in the entire sutra. In other words, the one who embraces the Lotus Sutra has the most blessings.
2.4 “O Flower King of Constellation! Suppose among brooks, streams, rivers, canals, and all other waters, ocean is the foremost. So is the Lotus Sutra; among all sutras expounded by Tathagatas, it is the most profound and the greatest! Among the mountains—Earth Mountain, Black Mountain, Small Iron Circle Mountain, Great Iron Circle Mountain, Ten Treasures Mountain, and all other mountains—it is Mount Sumeru that is the most supreme. So is the Lotus Sutra; among all sutras, it is the foremost!
2.5 “Among all constellation of stars, Heavenly Son of the Moon is the foremost. So is the Lotus Sutra; among the thousands of millions of billions of sutras, it is the most illuminating! Just as Heavenly Son of the Sun is able to dispel all darkness, so is the Lotus Sutra; it is able to eliminate all unwholesome darkness!
2.6 “Among the minor kings, the Holy King of Wheel-Turning is the foremost. So is the Lotus Sutra; among all sutras, it is the most honorable! Just as Lord Shakra is the foremost among the gods of Thirty-Three heaven, so is the Lotus Sutra; it is the King of all Sutras! Just as Heavenly King Great Brahma is the father of all living beings, so is the Lotus Sutra; it is the father of the worthy, the holy, the apprentice, the proficient, and those who aspire for the bodhisattva!
2.7 “Among the ordinary people—stream-winner, once-returner, non-returner, and arhat—the pratyekabuddha is the foremost. So is the Lotus Sutra; among all sutras expounded by Tathagatas, bodhisattvas or shravakas, it is the foremost! Similarly, among all living beings, people who are able to accept and embrace the Lotus Sutra are the foremost!
2.8 “Among all shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas are the foremost. So is the Lotus Sutra; among all sutras, it is the foremost!
Just as the Buddha is the Dharma King, so is the Lotus Sutra; it is the King of all Sutras!
2.9 “O Flower King of Constellation! The Lotus Sutra is able to save all living beings. The Lotus Sutra is able to deliver all living beings from excruciating pains and bitter suffering. The Lotus Sutra is able to bring abundant benefits and blessings to all living beings, fulfilling their desires, hopes, and dreams.
2.10 “Just as the clear and cooling pool is able to quench thirst, just as the fire giving warmth to those suffering from the cold, just as the robe for the naked, just as the leader for a caravan of merchants, just as the mother for her children, just as the boat for someone needing to cross a river, just as the doctor for the sick, just as the lamp for someone in the dark, just as the treasures for the poor, just as the king for the ordinary citizens, just as the sea for the traders, just as the torch dispelling all darkness, so is the Lotus Sutra; it is able to end all sorts of suffering, illnesses, and pains of living beings by breaking the bondage of birth and death.
2.11 “If there are people who hear the Lotus Sutra and subsequently copy the sutra themselves or encourage others to copy the sutra, their merits will be so infinite such that even the accumulated wisdom of Buddhas cannot fathom the extent of the merits gained. If there are people who copy the Lotus Sutra and worship it by giving offerings such as flowers, incense, necklaces, burning incense, powdered incense, paste incense, streamers, canopies, and garments as well as various kinds of lamps—ghee lamps, oil lamps, lamps of scented oil, lamps of campaka oil, lamps of sumana oil, lamps of patala oil, lamps of varshika oil, and lamps of navamalika oil—the merits gained by these people are also immeasurable.
2.12 “O Flower King of Constellation! If there are people who hear the chapter of History of Bodhisattva Medicine King, they will also receive immeasurably boundless merits.
2.13 “If there are women, after hearing it, who accept and embrace the chapter of History of the Bodhisattva Medicine King, their present woman’s body will be the last woman’s form. During the last five hundred years after the parinirvana of the Buddha, if there is a woman who hears the Lotus Sutra and practices according to the teaching, when her life comes to an end, she will be and arrive at a land of peace and bliss in which Amida Buddha dwells. Surrounded by great bodhisattvas, she will be born in the middle of the jeweled throne amidst the lotus flowers. She will not be troubled by greed, neither will she be troubled by anger, ego, foolishness, pride, jealousy, or defilement. She will attain divine powers and receive the assurance of non-rebirth. With the assurance, her eyes will be pure. Due to her pure eyesight, she will be able to meet seventy-two millions of billions of nayuta of Ganges’s sand of Buddhas.
2.14 “At that moment, the Buddhas from afar extolled and lauded him in unison, saying: ‘Excellent, excellent! O virtuous man! You are able to accept, embrace, read, recite, and ponder the Lotus Sutra during the Dharma of Shakyamuni Buddha and expound it for others. Your blessings and virtues will be immeasurably boundless! Neither can the fire burn them nor can the water wash them away. Your merits are now beyond the powers of a thousand Buddhas to completely describe all of them.
2.15 “Now, you are able to squash the marauders of devious evils, crush the armies of birth and death, and vanquish the remaining resentment and hostilities. All these are completely annihilated!
2.16 “‘O virtuous man! Hundreds of thousands of Buddhas will protect and guard you with their divine powers. Among all living beings such as heavenly gods and humans, none can equal you except Tathagatas. The wisdom and meditation of shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, or even bodhisattvas cannot match yours.’
2.17 “O Flower King of Constellation! Such is the power of merits and wisdom attained by this bodhisattva. If there are people who are able to joyously accept and extol the chapter of History of Bodhisattva Medicine King upon hearing it, their mouths will always emit the fragrance of a blue lotus flower during their present lifetimes. Their pores will exude the fragrance of ox-head sandalwood and their merits will be as described above.
2.18 “O Flower King of Constellation! I hereby entrust you with the chapter of History of Bodhisattva Medicine King. During the last five hundred years after my parinirvana, you must propagate, proclaim, and spread the teaching far and wide across all of Jambudvipa so that it will not be lost or be cut off. You must not let devilish evils or demons, heavenly gods, dragons, yakshas, kumbhandas, and others get the opportunity of destroying it.
2.19 “O Flower King of Constellation! You should use your divine powers to protect and guard the Lotus Sutra. Why? Because the Lotus Sutra is an outstanding medicine for the illnesses of people in Jambudvipa. Upon hearing the Lotus Sutra, people who are afflicted by ailments will have their illnesses extinguished instantly and they will no longer experience aging or death.
2.20 “O Flower King of Constellation! If you see people who accept and embrace the Lotus Sutra, you should scatter blue lotus flowers and powdered incense on them. After scattering them, you should think as such: ‘Before long, these people will accept the bundles of grass, be seated on the sanctuaries of enlightenment, vanquish the armies of evil, blow the conch of the Dharma, beat the drum of the Great Dharma, and save all living beings from the sea of old age, illness, and death.’ Therefore, anyone who wishes to attain the Buddha-Way should treat those who accept and embrace the Lotus Sutra with hearts of reverence upon seeing them.”
2.21 When the chapter―History of Bodhisattva Medicine King― was expounded, eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas received the Dharani of Understanding Languages of All Living Beings. Abundant Treasures Tathagata, who was seated in the Treasure Pagoda, extolled Bodhisattva Flower King of Constellation, saying: “Excellent, excellent! O Flower King of Constellation! You have accomplished inconceivable merits because you have brought immeasurable benefits to all living beings by asking Shakyamuni Buddha about this matter!”
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