Last month I introduced the ten rakshasis and their mother, Hariti. Now to finish up the chapter:
Having sung these gathas, the raksasis said to the Buddha:
World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who keeps, reads and recites this sutra, and acts according to it so that he may be peaceful, that he may have no trouble, and that poison taken by him may be neutralized.
The Buddha said to the raksasis:
Excellent, excellent! Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Needless to say, so will be your merits when you protect the person who keeps the sutra itself, and makes to a copy of this sutra hundreds of thousands of offerings such as flowers, incense, necklaces, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, streamers, canopies, music, and various lamps like lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of perfumed oil, lamps of sumanas-flower oil, lamps of campaka flower oil, lamps of varsika-flower oil, and lamps of utpala-flower oil. Kunti! You [raksasis] and your attendants should protect this teacher of the Dharma.
I would like to think that I enjoy the protection of these deities, especially Plunderer of Energy of All Beings.
In my attempt to limit myself to a single topic on each day I have to resist the temptation to talk only about my favorite topic each time. In Chapter 26, Dharanis, what I always want to discuss are the ten rakshasis and their mother, Hariti.
After offering their dharanis, they explain:
Anyone who does not keep our spells
But troubles the expounder of the Dharma
Shall have his head split into seven pieces
Just as the branches of the arjaka-tree [are split].
Anyone who attacks this teacher of the Dharma
Will receive the same retribution
As to be received by the person who kills his parents,
Or who makes [sesame] oil without taking out worms [from the sesame],
Or who deceives others by using wrong measures and scales,
Or by Devadatta who split the Samgha.
Rakshasas are a kind of flesh eating, blood drinking, or spirit draining demon or spirit. The tamer ones are known as yakshas and are the spirits of the trees, forests, and villages. They are considered a powerful type of hungry ghost. They appear as beautiful women (though they are sometimes shown with fangs) in courtly attire bearing various weapons or other symbolic objects. 10 Rakshasas Daughters from book Lotus WorldHariti, also known as Kishimojin
Kunti carries a spear.
Insatiable carries a curved scepter in her right hand, while her left hand holds a flower vase.
Black Teeth carries a banner in her left hand.
Crooked Teeth carries a tray of flowers.
Lamba holds a sword in her right hand and a sutra in her left.
Plunderer of Energy of All Beings holds a staff with rings.
Necklace Holding holds a garland in both hands.
Many Hairs carries a banner in both hands.
Flower Teeth carries the cintamani, or “wish-fulfilling gem.”
Vilamba carries cymbals.
The ten rakshasis and their mother, Hariti, appear in Chapter 26 of the Lotus Sutra and together offer dharanis for the protection of the teacher of the Lotus Sutra.
When the Buddha is asked by Medicine-King Bodhisattva how many merits will be given to the “good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,” the Buddha replies:
“Suppose some good men or women make offerings to eight hundred billion nayuta Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. What do you think of this? Are the merits given to them many or not?”
“Very many, World-Honored One!” The Buddha said: “More merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read or recite even a single gatha of four lines of this sutra, understand the meanings of it or act according to it.”
And following this Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva, Vaisravana Heavenly-King, World-Holding Heavenly-King and the 10 raksasis daughters, their mother and attendants offer dharanis to protect the teacher of the Dharma.
Back in May I wrote: “Only two of these – Medicine-King Bodhisattva and the 10 raksasis daughters and their mother – are singled out to receive merit for their efforts by the Buddha.”
In re-reading the chapter today I realized I was mistaken. Unlike the raksasis daughters and their mother, whose “merits will be immeasurable” in exchange for their protection, Medicine-King Bodhisattva will not receive, but he “will be able to give many benefits to all living beings.”
Yes, being able to give merits to others is a merit for oneself, but that doesn’t make my earlier post any less mistaken. The whole point of reading and then re-reading and then re-reading is to understand.
Last month I commented on the fact that the Dharanis are not given for the purpose of gaining merit. They will protect the teacher of the Dharma.
The Daily Dharma from Nov. 29, 2015, offers an interesting perspective on this.
Thereupon Medicine-King Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! Now I will give dhāraṇī-spells to the expounder of the Dharma in order to protect him.”
This promise to the Buddha from Medicine-King Bodhisattva comes in Chapter Twenty-Six of the Lotus Sutra. The dhāraṇīs are given in a language that nobody understands any more. But this does not reduce their effectiveness. In the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha declared that his wisdom cannot be reached by understanding alone. There is another, nonverbal aspect of his teaching that we must comprehend. The dhāraṇīs not only give us reassurance that beings we cannot comprehend are helping us to become enlightened, they also remind us to look for the unspoken teachings that are part of the Buddha Dharma.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
But the Dharanis are not given for the purpose of gaining merit. They will protect the teacher of the Dharma.
Thereupon Medicine-King Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! Now I will give dharani-spells to the expounder of the Dharma’ in order to protect him.”
“World-Honored One! These dharanis, these divine spells, have already been uttered by six thousand and two hundred million Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those who attack and abuse this teacher of the Dharma should be considered to have attacked and abused those Buddhas.”
Last month, I covered the merits to be given “to the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.”
The dharani spells are offered by Medicine-King Bodhisattva to “the expounder of the Dharma’ in order to protect him”; by Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva “to protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma; by Vaisravana Heavenly-King, the Protector of the World, to “protect this teacher of the Dharma out of my compassion towards all living beings”; by World-Holding Heavenly-King to “protect the keeper of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma”; and by the 10 raksasis daughters and their mother to protect “the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble.”
Only two of these – Medicine-King Bodhisattva and the 10 raksasis daughters and their mother – are singled out to receive merit for their efforts by the Buddha.
Thereupon Sakyamuni Buddha praised Medicine-King Bodhisattva, saying:
Excellent, excellent, Medicine-King! You uttered these dharanis in order to protect this teacher of the Dharma out of your compassion towards him. You will be able to give many benefits to all living beings.
And in the case of the raksasis daughters and their mother:
The Buddha said to the raksasis:
Excellent, excellent! Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Needless to say, so will be your merits when you protect the person who keeps the sutra itself, and makes to a copy of this sutra hundreds of thousands of offerings such as flowers, incense, necklaces, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, streamers, canopies, music, and various lamps like lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of perfumed oil, lamps of sumanas-flower oil, lamps of campaka flower oil, lamps of varsika-flower oil, and lamps of utpala-flower oil. Kunti! You [raksasis] and your attendants should protect this teacher of the Dharma.
Before getting to the Dharanis and those who offer protective spells, I begin with the answer to Medicine-King Bodhisattva’s question, “How many merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?”
The Buddha said to him:
Suppose some good men or women make offerings to eight hundred billion nayuta Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. What do you think of this? Are the merits given to them many or not?
“Very many, World-Honored One!”
The Buddha said:
More merits will b given to the good men or women who keep, read or recite· even a single gatha of four lines of this sutra, understand the meanings of it or act according to it.”
As a postscript, on my To-Do list is a compilation of all of the references to the number representing sands in the River Ganges, e.g. eight hundred billion nayuta.
Thereupon Medicine-King Bodhisattva rose front his seat, bared his right shoulder, joined his hands together towards the Buddha, and said to him:
“World-Honored One! How many merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of th Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?”
The Buddha said to him:
“Suppose some good men or women make offerings to eight hundred billion nayuta Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. What do you think of this? Are the merits given to them many or not?”
“Very many, World-Honored One!” The Buddha sajd: “More merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read or recite even a single gatha of four lines of this sutra, understand the meanings of it or act according to it.”
And with that we get protective dharanis from Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva. They are followed by Vaisravana Heavenly-King, the Protector of the World and World-Holding Heavenly-King, both of whom are represented on the corners of the Mandala Gohonzon. (See illustration from Lotus World)
Finally we get my favorite protectors, the 10 raksasis daughters; their mother, Hariti, and her other children and their attendants.
Hariti, also known as KishimojinThe daughters are listed in the Lotus Sutra:
Lamba
Vilamba
CrookedTeeth
Flower-Teeth
Black-Teeth
Many-Hairs
Insatiable
Necklace-Holding
Kunti
Plunderer-Of-Energy-Of-All-Beings.
The daughters, their mother and her other children and attendants all vow to protect the teacher of the Dharma:
Anyone who attacks this teacher of the Dharma
Will receive the same retribution
As to be received by the person who kills his parents,
Or who makes [sesame] oil without taking out worms [from the sesame],
Or who deceives others by using wrong measures and scales,
Or by Devadatta who split the Sarngha.
And in response the Buddha praises them:
The Buddha said to the raksasis:
“Excellent, excellent! Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Needless to say, so will be your merits when you protect the person who keeps the sutra itself, and makes to a copy of this sutra hundreds of thousands of offerings such as flowers, incense, necklaces, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, streamers, canopies, music, and various lamps like lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of perfumed oil, lamps of sumanas-flower oil, lamps of campaka flower oil, lamps of varsika-flower oil, and lamps of utpala-flower oil. Kunti! You [raksasis] and your attendants should protect this teacher of the Dharma.”
Before we get to the spells offered to the protection of the teachers of the Lotus Sutra we get reaffirmation of the merits to be given to “the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?”
The Buddha said to Medicine-King Bodhisattva:
“Suppose some good men or women make offerings to eight hundred billion nayuta Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. What do you think of this? Are the merits given to them many or not?”
“Very many, World-Honored One!”
The Buddha said: “More merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read or recite even a single gatha of four lines of this sutra, understand the meanings of it or act according to it.”
Medicine King Bodhisattva offers spells to protect the expounder of the Lotus Sutra and Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva utter dharanis to protect “the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.”
I enjoy the concept of protecting “weak points,” as in:
If he keeps these dharanis, this teacher of the Dharma will not have his weak points taken advantage of by any yaksa, raksasa, putana, krtya, kumbhanda or hungry spirit.
We each have our weak points, the things we are hesitant to do or likely to neglect.
Following the Bodhisattvas, we have the Heavenly Kings offering their protection. This involvement of the gods in protecting those who expound or read the Lotus Sutra is reinforced every time we took at the Great Mandala Gohonzon. Vaisravana, the Heavenly King of the North, is in the upper left corner and World-Holding Heavenly-King is in the upper right corner.
Also appearing in the Mandala Gohonzon and in this chapter of the Lotus Sutra are the 10 raksasis daughters and their mother, the Mother-Of-Devils, Hariti. Of the ten daughters, my favorite is “Plunderer of Energy of All Beings.” Having suffered depression for many years, I feel I’ve known her for a lifetime.
The chapter opens with Medicine-King Bodhisattva asking the Buddha, “How many merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?”
The Buddha said to him:
“Suppose some good men or women make offerings to eight hundred billion nayuta Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. What do you think of this? Are the merits given to them many or not?”
“Very many, World-Honored One!” The Buddha said: “More merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read or recite even a single gatha of four lines of this sutra, understand the meanings of it or act according to it.”
Following this Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva, Vaisravana Heavenly-King, and World-Holding Heavenly-King each offer dharanis spells for the protection of teacher of the Dharma.
Then we are introduced to the 10 raksasas daughters:
Lamba
Vilamba
Crooked-Teeth
Flower-Teeth
Black-Teeth
Many-Hairs
Insatiable
Necklace-Holding
Kunti
Plunderer-Of-Energy-Of-All-Beings
And their mother. Together they vow:
“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”
Their vow of protection warns:
Anyone who attacks this teacher of the Dharma
Will receive the same retribution
As to be received by the person who kills his parents,
Or who makes [sesame] oil without taking out worms [from the sesame],
Or who deceives others by using wrong measures and scales,
Or by Devadatta, who split the Sarngha.
In response, the Buddha promises the demon daughters and their mother:
“Excellent, excellent! Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Needless to say, so will be your merits when you protect the person who keeps the sutra itself, and makes to a copy of this sutra hundreds of thousands of offerings such as flowers, incense, necklaces, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, streamers, canopies, music, and various lamps like lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of perfumed oil, lamps of sumanas-flower oil, lamps of campaka flower oil, lamps of varsika-flower oil, and lamps of utpala-flower oil. Kunti! You [raksasis] and your attendants should protect this teacher of the Dharma.”
