Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/440

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392
SADDHARMA-PUNDARÎKA.
xxii.

of grass[1] on the terrace of enlightenment; he will put to flight the party of Mâra, blow the conch trumpet of the law, beat the drum of the law, cross the ocean of existence. Thus, Nakshatrarâgasaṅkusumitâbhia, should a young man of good family, striving to reach the goal in the vehicle of Bodhisattva, reflect when seeing a monk who keeps this Sûtra, and he will acquire such advantages as have been indicated by the Tathâgata.

While this chapter of the Ancient Devotion of Bhaishagyarâga was being expounded, eighty-four thousand Bodhisattvas attained the spell connected with skill in all sounds. And the Lord Prabhûtaratna, the Tathâgata, &c., intimated his approval (by saying): Well done, well done, Nakshatrarâgasaṅkusumitâbhia; thou hast done well in thus questioning the Tathâgata, who is endowed with such inconceivable qualities and properties.


  1. This is an allusion to the bundles of grass the Bodhisattva received from Svastika, the grass-cutter, when he was on his way to occupy his seat at the foot of the Bo tree; see Lalita-vistara, p. 357; Gâtaka I, p. 70 (English translation by Professor Rhys Davids, p. 95).