..续本文上一页ti, even though the number of kushala mulas and virtues planted by those kulaputras on behalf of the Buddhas is incalculable, it does not come to a hundredth or a thousandth or any possible calculable fraction of the number of virtues attained by the kula putra and duhita who revere the ”Tathagatagarbha Sutra”."

　　At that point, the Bhagavan expressed himself in gatha, saying:

　　"If there is a person seeking perfect Bodhi

　　Who listens to and accepts this sutra,

　　And who copies and reveres

　　Even a single gatha,

　　The subtle, profound Tathagatagarbha

　　Will instantly come forth, accompanied with elation.

　　If you give yourself to this true teaching

　　Your virtues will be incalculable.

　　If there is a person seeking Sambodhi

　　Who has attained great spiritual powers,

　　And who desires to make an offering

　　To the Buddhas of the ten directions

　　And to the bodhisattvas and shravakas of the assembly,

　　The number of which is greater

　　Than the sands of the Ganga,

　　A hundred million times incalculable;

　　If for each of the Buddhas

　　He constructed a marvellous jewelled stupa

　　Ten yojanas in height

　　And a breadth of forty li,

　　Within which he would bestow a seven-jeweled seat,

　　With all the marvels

　　Appropriate for the august Teacher,

　　Covered with pine pictures and cushions,

　　Each one with its own unique designs;

　　If he offered to the Buddhas and the Sangha

　　An incalculable number of these,

　　More than the sands of the Ganga,

　　And if he offered them

　　Without ceasing day or night

　　For hundreds and thousands

　　And tens of thousands of kalpa,

　　The virtues he would obtain in this manner

　　Could not be compared with

　　The far greater virtues of

　　The wise person who listens to this sutra,

　　Who accepts even a single metaphor from it

　　And who explains it for the benefit of others.

　　Beings who take refuge in it

　　Will quickly attain the unexcelled path.

　　Bodhisattvas who devote their thought

　　To the deep Tathagatagarbha,

　　Know that all beings possess it

　　And quickly attain the unexcelled."

　　At that time the Bhagavan again addressed Bodhisattva Vajramati, saying, "An incalculable time far back in the distant past, longer ago than many inconceivable asamkhyeykalpa there was a buddha who was called the King of Bestowing Eternal Light, Tathagata, Arhat, Samyaksambuddha Vidya-carana-sampanna Sugata Lokavit Anuttara-purusha-damya-sarathi Shasta-deva-manushyanam Buddha Bhagavan. Vajramati, why was he called the King of Bestowing Eternal Light

　　 When that Buddha was originally practicing the bodhisattva path and descended as a spirit into the womb he always gave off light which penetrated and illuminated in an instant even the tiniest atoms of all the thousands of Buddha worlds in the ten directions. Any being who saw this light was filled with joy. His kleshas were destroyed; he became endowed with the power of form; his wisdom was perfected; and he attained an eloquence which knew no obstacle. If a hell-being, preta-bhuta (hungry ghost), tiryagyoni (animal), Yama King, Lord of the Dead, or an asura saw this light, all of his rebirths in evil realms were cut off and he was born as a deva. If any deva saw this light, he attained irreversibility in the highest path and was endowed with the five abhijna. If anyone who had attained irreversibility saw this light, he attained Anutpattika-dharma-kshanti (endurance of the nonproduction-dharma) and the fifty virtues dharani. Vajramati, all the lands illuminated by that light became stately and pure, like translucent porcelain, with golden cords marking out the paths, luxuriant with the fragrance of various kinds of jewelled trees, flowers, and fruits. Light breezes blew gently through them, producing soft, subtle sounds that expounded freely and unrestrainedly the Triple Jewel, the bodhisattva virtues, the power of kushala mula…

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