A Poor Man Who Has Found a Treasure
The prince returns to the palace with news of the buddha, and his father's joy at hearing it — likened to a poor man stumbling on a hidden fortune — is enough to make him hand over the entire throne before he has even left the room.
A Poor Man Who Has Found a Treasure
The prince's report to his father sets off a chain reaction — disbelief, an answer, and then a joy so immediate it ends in abdication before the scene is even over.
「時，彼太子與妙德女并其眷屬，頂禮佛足，遶無數匝，辭退還宮；詣父王所，拜跪畢已，奉白王言：『大王當知，勝日身如來出興於世，於此國內法雲光明菩提場中成等正覺，于今未久。』爾時，大王語太子言：『是誰為汝說如是事？天耶？人耶？』太子白言：『是此具足妙德女說。』時，王聞已，歡喜無量，譬如貧人得大伏藏，作如是念：『佛無上寶難可值遇，若得見佛，永斷一切惡道怖畏。佛如醫王，能治一切諸煩惱病，能救一切生死大苦；佛如導師，能令眾生至於究竟安隱住處。』作是念已，集諸小王、群臣、眷屬，及以剎利、婆羅門等一切大眾，便捨王位，授與太子；灌頂訖已，與萬人俱，往詣佛所；到已禮足，遶無數匝，并其眷屬悉皆退坐。
At that time, the prince, together with the maiden Wondrous Virtue and their attendants, bowed at the buddha's feet, circled him countless times, and took their leave to return to the palace. He went to his father the king, and having finished bowing and kneeling, respectfully said to the king: "Great King, you should know that the tathāgata Victorious Sun Body has appeared in the world, and within this very kingdom, at the awakening-site of Dharma-Cloud Light, has accomplished perfect and complete awakening — and it has not yet been long." At that time, the great king said to the prince: "Who told you of such a thing? Was it a deva, or was it a human?" The prince respectfully answered: "It was this maiden, Perfect Wondrous Virtue, who told me." At that time, when the king had heard this, he was filled with measureless joy, just like a poor man who has found a great hidden treasure, and he thought to himself: "The buddha, an unsurpassed treasure, is exceedingly difficult to encounter; if one is able to see a buddha, one forever cuts off every fear and dread of the evil destinies. The buddha is like a King of Physicians, able to cure every sickness of every affliction, able to save one from the great suffering of birth-and-death; the buddha is like a guide, able to lead every being to the ultimate abode of security and peace." Having thought this, he gathered every lesser king, minister, and attendant, together with every kṣatriya, brāhmaṇa, and the whole great assembly, and thereupon relinquished the throne, bestowing it upon the prince. Once the consecration was complete, he went, together with ten thousand people, to the place of the buddha; and having arrived, he bowed at his feet, circled him countless times, and, together with his attendants, all withdrew and took their seats.
佛無上寶難可值遇⋯佛如醫王⋯佛如導師 — the buddha, an unsurpassed treasure, is exceedingly difficult to encounter⋯the buddha is like a King of Physicians⋯the buddha is like a guide. Three similes, stacked one after another, are what it takes to move the king to abdicate — and he does not deliberate between them and the act. The text moves directly from 作是念已 ("having thought this") to gathering his court and handing over the throne, no gap at all between the thought and the deed.
Part 1220 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle seventy-five. Part 1221 turns to the buddha's own response to the newly arrived king and his court.