Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month heard Śākyamuni’s prediction for Ānanda, we repeat Śākyamuni’s prediction for Ānanda in gāthās.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Now I announce to the Saṃgha:
Ānanda, the keeper of the Dharma,
Will make offerings to Buddhas,
And then attain perfect enlightenment.He will be called
Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King.
His world will be pure, and called
Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory.He will teach as many Bodhisattvas
As there are sands in the River Ganges.
He will be exceedingly powerful and virtuous.
His fame will extend over the worlds of the ten quarters.The duration of his life will be immeasurable
Because he has compassion towards all living beings.
His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life;
The counterfeit of them, for twice as long as his right teachings.Under him, as many living beings
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Will obtain the seeds
Of the enlightenment of the Buddha.
Lacking any other comment on this section, I’m going to take this opportunity to reprint the Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism entry on Ānanda:
Ānanda. One of the Buddha’s chief disciples and his first cousin, his father being a brother of Suddhodana, the Buddha’s father. It appears that he entered the Order (Samgha) in the second year of the Buddha’s ministry and was ordained by the Buddha himself. According to the Pāli accounts, after twenty years in which he did not have the same personal attendant all the time, the Buddha made known his wish for a permanent one. All the great disciples offered their services, but Ānanda, not initially seeking the position, was eventually selected by the Buddha. He agreed to serve the teacher, provided a series of conditions were fulfilled. On one hand Ānanda requested not to receive any extra benefits as a result of his position, such as choice clothes or food, separate lodgings, or the inclusion in the invitations accepted by the Buddha. On the other hand, he asked to be allowed to accept invitations on behalf of the Buddha, to bring to the Buddha those who came to see him from afar, to place before the Buddha all his perplexities, while the Buddha was to repeat to him any doctrine taught in his absence.
Ānanda was highly regarded by his colleagues who often consulted him and it is said that sometimes the monks, having heard a sermon from the Buddha, would ask Ānanda to give them a more detailed exposition since he had a reputation of being able to explain the doctrine clearly. Ānanda’s championship of the cause of women is also well known. In particular, he is especially recognized for his role in the establishment of an order of nuns. Ānanda was also revered for his powerful memory. For this reason, when the First Council was called in Rājagṛha, following the Buddha’s death, he was chosen by Mahākāśyapa, president of the Council, to recite all of the sermons preached by the Buddha, thus establishing the canonical record known as the Sūtra Pitaka, or ‘Basket of Discourses’. Ānanda lived to be very old, spending his last years teaching and preaching. The details of his death are not reported in the Pāli Canon.