Having heard of your longevity,
They obtained these effects and rewards,
Pure, immeasurable, and without āsravas.

[This refers to] the Buddha’s wisdom-life. Now because hearing about [the Buddha’s long] life-span is equivalent to practicing [the pāramitā of] prajña or wisdom intensively, here it thus is said that the merit one can achieve by practicing the five pāramitās for [many] nayutas of kalpas may not equal [even the tiniest] part [of the merit one can achieve by hearing about the Buddha’s long life-span]

Needless to say, so will be the merits of the person
Who keeps this sūtra, gives alms, observes the precepts,
Practices patience, prefers dhyāna-concentrations,
And does not get angry or speak ill of others.

The meaning of what has been said in the preceding is found here. When one holds the wondrous understanding within, and outwardly practices the six pāramitās, one has advanced [toward enlightenment], in both [inner] thought and its [outer] practical ramifications (shih); and so one’s right enlightenment (samyaksaṃbodhi) is [so imminent that it can come at any moment] in the morning or evening.

Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after eight rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas four times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after four rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas three times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after three rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas twice the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after two rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi immediately after this life. Living beings as many as the particles of earth of eight Sumeru-worlds aspired for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

In [the phrase] were destined after eight rebirths to gain the unexcelled bodhi (Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi), this [eight rebirths] refers to the eighth stage. Because for one who is beyond the eighth stage there is no more reincarnation, how can it be known whether his wisdom is bright or dark? Therefore, by resorting to eight rebirths [instead of “stages”], [the Buddha makes beings] realize that the Buddha shall have been gone a long time before. “One rebirth” is the number through which Maitreya, for example, is destined to go. Likewise there may be two [rebirths] or three, up to eight. Eight refers to many births. Many births, hence, they know, or they may also be ignorant of it. [The Buddha] does not speak of ten rebirths, because ten is one ultimate of numbers, with the meaning of “a great many,” and he intends to show that the bodhisattvas still have some delusions and instigators of depravities left, a little short [of annihilation]. Hence, eight is resorted to. [The Buddha] goes directly to “four births” without mentioning six [rebirths], wishing to demonstrate that the sūtra is so profound and deep, darkly drawing one to enlightenment and entrance into reality. [The bodhisattvas who are in the stages] from transcendence to four rebirths reveal this intent. The fact that from four rebirths to one rebirth they proceed by degrees without skipping steps has the implication that li becomes [increasingly] wondrous [as they proceed]. That those who are enlightened also [gradually] become less [in number], and that it is hard to quickly attain [enlightenment], attests to this idea.

Cause and effect entail each other. Faith is [related to the process] like shadow [is to the object] and echo [is to sound]. In the preceding they heard [the Buddha] preaching [his unlimited] life-span and so they have been doing their utmost in seeking advantages; by availing themselves of this [opportunity] to obtain the effect, they will reap the reward bountifully. Now [the Buddha] is going to distinguish its difference. Accordingly the chapter is entitled “Discrimination of Merits.”

Ajita

In the Chinese language, it means “[the one] not conquered” Maitreya is his style.

When I said that the duration of my life was so long, six hundred and eighty billion nayuta living beings, that is, the living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, obtained the truth of birthlessness {unborn dharmas}.

Why is there any need for talking about those who have been really enlightened? The purpose of citing broadly those who obtained enlightenment is to glorify this sūtra, [helping] to generate and accumulate the various [stages of] understanding, so that by catering to the [need and situations of] beings in endlessly varied ways [the Buddha] may secretly exhort those seekers [of enlightenment] to keep this Dharma Blossom. When one has not yet seen li, there is a need for the ferry of words; for one who has witnessed li, what is the use of words? They are like the fish trap and snare for catching fish and rabbits: when fish and rabbits have been already caught, what use do they have? [It is said here that] once hearing the sūtra [preached], they immediately reach the one-birth-bound [stage] or [the state of] the forbearance of dharmas. Yet, li certainly should not be so. If originally there is no understanding, what can words add? The view that there are progress and regress [in the realization of li] is groundless. Yet, this is said in the writings to be so. [Why?] Because li, as enunciated by the sūtra, espouses the ten stages. Even though it is not something to resort to, it yet is put in the position of something to resort to; knowledge of the sūtra has no use, and yet it is said to possess the capacity for use. Through this demonstration [the Buddha] is able to make [past] facts of [attainment] manifest the meaning of the sūtra. If one follows and knows it, how can one be finished [as a practitioner]!

I know who is practicing the Way and who is not.
Therefore I expound various teachings
To all living beings
According to their capacities.

What is chanted here is concordant with [what is said in the prose section] that he preached the subtle, [wondrous Dharma].

I am always thinking:
“How shall I cause all living beings
To enter into the unsurpassed Way
And quickly become Buddhas?”

This is largely concordant with [what is said] likewise [in the prose section].

When they see me seemingly pass away,
And make offerings to my śarīras,
And adore me, admire me,
And become devout, upright and gentle,
And wish to see me
With all their hearts
At the cost of their lives,
I reappear on Mt. Sacred Eagle
With my Saṃgha,

The Buddha is at the stage of beginning to feel (kan) [the need of beings]: he “emerges. ”

I can do all this by my supernatural powers.
I live on Mt. Sacred Eagle
And also in the other abodes
For asaṃkhya kalpas.

The [perverted] people think:
“This world is in a great fire.
The end of the kalpa [of destruction] is coming.”
In reality this world of mine is peaceful.
It is filled with gods and men.
The gardens, forests and stately buildings
Are adorned with various treasures;
The jeweled trees have many flowers and fruits;
The living beings are enjoying themselves;
And the gods are beating heavenly drums,
Making various kinds of music,
And raining mandārava-flowers on the great multitude and me.

The Buddha who was seen earlier is absent because of the multitudinous beings’ impurity and evil. The Buddha is absent because of [beings’] impurity, which means that in the state of purity, [the Buddha] must be present. [Only] when there is no impurity is [the Buddha] positively present. Hence, he clearly shows it by resort to the seven treasures, which implies that there is no impurity of [the land of] stones and sands. [The Buddha] himself did not [specifically] mention that its substance (t’i) is not impure. When it comes to talking about the formless (wu-hsiang, arūpa), how can it also be different from the basic substance (chih) of impurity? Hence, undefiled purity has the [real] meaning of no land. Through land, he refers to no; hence, he speaks of the Pure Land. In that case, the purity of “no land” must be none other than that in which the Dharma-body finds representation. When impurity and evil are burned [away] it is retribution for the sin of living beings. Also, how can [burning] harm the omnipresent and absolutely pure? Therefore, living beings see it being burned, and yet the “Pure Land” is not ruined, and it makes them feel delighted in what is beautiful and esteem what they delight in. If they hear that the Pure Land is not ruined, they will then nurture longings in the depths of their thoughts. They are greatly benefitted by [the Buddha’s attempt to make them] penetrate the darkly profound [realm] through [his own] example.

I will tell you a parable. There was once an excellent and wise physician. He was good at dispensing medicines and curing diseases. He had many sons, numbering ten, twenty, or a hundred.

This example symbolizes the Buddha who exists [forever] in reality but who says he will soon be extinguished. Living beings formerly received [from him] transformative teaching; they are “sons” born of the bodhisattva. Twenty refers to the two vehicles. Hundred or more indicates “many.” He who cures diseases on the basis of the [sufferer’s] present [condition) is a “physician.”

[One day] he went to a remote country on business.

Having transformed this [realm], he must also transform that [realm], without taking any rest.

After he left home, the sons took poison. The poison passed into their bodies, and the sons writhed in agony, rolling on the ground.

Their understanding is small and they suffer from delusion; they are likened to those who “drink poisonous medicines.” “Going astray from li,” they belong to the “other.” The condition (pratyaya) of delusion arises: “The medicines start becoming effective.” Having received consciousness of death and birth, they are likened to being in “agonized pain and confusion.” [Being in the cycle of] birth and death, they are “rolling about on the earth.”

At that time the father returned home.

The li underlying the former transformative teaching is true; it is “home.” The condition for receiving teaching overcomes them and they return to the city of Gayā and recognize it; they “return.”

Some sons had already lost their right minds while the others still had not.

Ever since they received the teaching, [some of] them have practiced the right path all the time: they “have not lost their sanity.” Going astray from it, [some of] them “have lost [their sanity].”

All the sons saw their father in the distance and had great joy.

Conditions develop in such a way that they overcome their ignorance, on a shallow level, and approach li, gradually, little by little: They “see from afar.” But as they see that form [incarnated] in response [to the different needs of individual beings] they are all “[over]joyed,” and there is no one who does not offer alms to him and praise him.

They begged him on their knees, saying, ‘You came back safely. We were ignorant. We took poison by mistake.

The process of overcoming [ignorance] having been started, the true reveals the erroneous. What is said here is an unreal, tentative statement.

Cure us, and give us back our lives!’

They have appealed to him to heal them; he “heals” them, that is, he revives their wisdom-life. This also is an unreal, tentative statement.

Seeing his sons suffering so much, the father consulted books of prescriptions, and collected good herbs. having a good color, smell and taste. He compounded a medicine by pounding and sieving the herbs, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is a very good medicine. It has good color, smell and taste.’

All that the Buddha has preached about the Dharma, in accordance with the way [beings] respond, has the same goal: it is “tasty.” The words describe their external joy: they are “colorful.” They have had their thought rectified inside and outside: it is “fragrant.” The [Buddha’s] teaching manifests the ultimate consequence, unity in the markless (wu-hsiang/animitta): he “pounded, sifted, and blended them.”

Take it! It will remove the pain at once and you will not suffer any more.’

He meant “to order them to take.” This also is an unreal, tentative statement.

The sons who had not lost their right minds saw that this good medicine had a good color and smell, took it at once, and were cured completely.

They apprehended [the Buddha’s] purport: they “took it.” They had their delusions removed: they were “healed.”

But the sons who had already lost their right minds did not consent to take the medicine given to them, although they rejoiced at seeing their father come home and asked him to cure them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.

Although they knew that it was a medicine, they remained ignorant of its purpose; thus it was “no good.”

He said to them, ‘Know this! Now I am old and decrepit. I shall die soon.

Likewise, the Buddha’s age was eighty; his form was like a worn-out vehicle. He was just about to enter parinirvāṇa.

I am leaving this good medicine here. Take it! Do not be afraid that you will not be cured!

If the Great Dharma of the six pāramitās is not kept, it will disappear. li is not subject to destruction; when practiced, it will remain.

Having thus advised them, he went to a [remote] country again. Then he sent home a messenger to tell them, ‘Your father has just died.’

[The Buddha] carried out again [his mission] to convert the rest; he “went again to another realm,” He entered nirvāṇa under the twin trees; his words and traces were completely extinguished: he “sent a messenger back to declare, ‘Your father is dead.’ ”

Having heard that their father had passed away from this world, leaving them behind, they felt extremely sorry. They thought, ‘If our father were alive, he would love and protect us. Now he has deserted us and died in a remote country.’

They felt lonely and helpless because they thought that they were parentless and shelterless. Their constant sadness finally caused them to recover their right minds. They realized that the medicine had a good color, smell and taste. They took it and were completely cured of the poison.

Seeing the Buddha entering nirvāṇa, they were awakened to the fact that [the Buddha] did not exist eternally. They began to realize what the Buddha had said: it turned out to be “tasty.” They apprehended the purport: they “took it.”

On hearing that they had recovered their health, the father returned home, and showed himself to them.

They comprehended the profound meaning. They were beginning to see the Buddha, [yet] there were those who had not seen the Buddha in corporeal form. To them he also “came back.”

Good men! What do you think of this? Do you think that anyone can accuse this excellent physician of falsehood?

The [Buddha’s] intention was to make beings gain consciousness [of reality], and the result was that he saved beings. Even though the [Buddha’s] words are lacking in consistency, [the underlying] li does not contradict the truth. Although [the Buddha] preached all day long, by preaching he did not commit “the sin of willfully false speech.”

The duration of my life, which I obtained by the practice of the way of Bodhisattvas, has not yet expired.

When he was treading the bodhisattva path in the past, his lifespan “was twice the preceding [number].” It should be known, therefore, that though [his life-span] was compared to the number of grains of sand, the tiniest part of it has not yet been exhausted. Now the Buddha is described by way of a bodhisattva; the Buddha’s life-span is long [in comparison with the bodhisattva’s].

All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is.

He who has seen Reality never again sees what is not real. [The Buddha’s] original intention was to ferry them over to Reality and awaken them to it. Thus, in accordance with the way they responded he devised expedients. Even though these are not identical their imports are not different. However, it is said here that [the Thus Come One] sees only “[the marks of] the triple sphere.” He has already seen something more than that. Because [everything] he says contains his original [intention] he seeks to find the words and expressions in various forms [that would suit the existential situations of beings].

The number of the kalpas which have elapsed since I became the Buddha is on hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhyas larger than the number of the particles of the dust thus produced.

The Form-body (rūpakāya) of the Buddha must be something visible and existent but without real form. If he is not real, how can he be spoken of in terms of life-span? However, the [different] modes and forms [of manifestation] are directed to arrive at the same [goal]. He is one throughout the past and the present; the past also is the present, and vice versa. There is no time when he is not existent. There is no place where he is not present. If there are times when something is not existent and there are places when something is not present, it applies only to beings, but not to the Sage. For the reason, ultimately [the Sage] establishes the eternity [of the Buddha], suggesting that Gayā is (a part of) it. If Gayā is [a part of] it, there is no more Gayā. Because there is no more Gayā, how can eternity exist alone? [Therefore], eternity and shortness are not [separately] existent; this is the reason why both eternity and shortness remain existent.

Thereupon the Buddha aid to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, “Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!” {the true speech of the Thus Come One}.

They beg for it three times, also expressing how intense is their aspiration.

The gods, men and asuras in the world think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gayā, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [forty and odd years ago].

Here is the point of which many are doubtful. Thus, he points it out to dispel the doubts. This day [the Buddha] proves that his long life-span is real, thereby showing that [his enlightenment at] Gayā is unreal. If one perceives that Gayā is untrue, one also knows that [a] long or short [life-span] applies to beings, whereas the Sage is ever in the unconditioned state (wu-wei, asaṃskṛta).