Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/383

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xvii.
MERITORIOUSNESS OF JOYFUL ACCEPTANCE.
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11. His tongue is never sore; his teeth shall never fall out, never be black, yellow, unequal; his lips never become loathsome;

12. His face is not wry, nor lean, nor long; his nose not flat; it is well-shaped, as well as his forehead, teeth, lips, and round face.

13. His aspect is ever pleasant to men; his mouth is never fetid, it constantly emits a smell sweet as the lotus.

14. If some wise man, to hear this Sûtra, goes from his home to a monastery and there listen, were it but for a single moment, with a placid mind, hear what results from it.

15. His body is very fair; he drives with horse-carriages, that wise man, and is mounted on elevated carriages drawn by elephants and variegated with gems.

16. He possesses litters covered with ornaments and carried by numerous men. Such is the blessed fruit of his going to hear preaching.

17. Owing to the performance of that pious work he shall, when sitting in the assembly there, obtain seats of Indra, seats of Brahma, seats of kings[1].


  1. The purport of this passage seems to be that lay devotees who are regular in attending the sermon, besides receiving terrestrial blessings, will rank high as churchwardens and be entitled to conspicuous places apart in the chapel. The gist of the whole chapter, at any rate, is that it is highly meritorious to come to church.