Guardian Spells, and a King Won Back

At that time Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, joined his palms toward the Buddha, and said: "World-Honored One! Should a good son or good daughter be able to uphold this Lotus Sūtra, reading and reciting it fluently, or copying the sūtra scroll, how much good fortune do they gain?" The Buddha said to Bhaiṣajyarāja: "Suppose a good son or good daughter were to make offerings to eight hundred myriad koṭis of nayutas of Ganges-sands of buddhas. What do you think — is the good fortune they gain great?" "Very great indeed, World-Honored One." The Buddha said: "Should a good son or good daughter be able, with regard to this sūtra, to uphold even a single four-line verse of it, reading, reciting, and understanding its meaning, and practicing exactly as it teaches, their merit is greater still." At that time Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! I shall now give a dhāraṇī spell to teachers of this Dharma, to protect them." He then spoke this spell — a string of protective syllables, transmitted here, as throughout this sūtra's textual history, in Kumārajīva's own Chinese phonetic transliteration rather than translated for meaning. Reconstructing its underlying Sanskrit or Prakrit with real confidence is a specialized task of historical phonology beyond the scope of this translation; this site presents the dhāraṇī as the received Chinese text preserves it, in the original characters, rather than offer an uncertain reconstruction as though it were settled. "World-Honored One! This dhāraṇī spell has been taught by sixty-two koṭis of Ganges-sands of buddhas — should anyone do violence to this teacher of the Dharma, they shall have done violence to these very buddhas." At that time Śākyamuni Buddha praised Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva, saying: "Excellent, excellent, Bhaiṣajyarāja! That out of pity you should protect this teacher of the Dharma by teaching this dhāraṇī, greatly benefiting beings in this way." At that time Pradānaśūra Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! I too shall speak a dhāraṇī to protect those who read, recite, and uphold the Lotus Sūtra. Should this teacher of the Dharma possess this dhāraṇī, no yakṣa, rākṣasa, pūtana, kṛtya, kumbhāṇḍa, or hungry ghost, watching for some fault to exploit, shall ever find their opportunity." He then spoke this spell before the Buddha, likewise transliterated rather than translated. "World-Honored One! This dhāraṇī spell has been taught by Ganges-sands of buddhas, who have all rejoiced in it as well — should anyone do violence to this teacher of the Dharma, they shall have done violence to these very buddhas." At that time Vaiśravaṇa, heavenly king and guardian of the world, said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Out of pity for beings, I too shall speak this dhāraṇī, to protect this teacher of the Dharma." He then spoke this spell. "World-Honored One! By this spell I protect the teacher of the Dharma — and I myself shall protect whoever upholds this sūtra, so that within a hundred yojanas, no harm shall come to them." At that time Dhṛtarāṣṭra, heavenly king, present in this assembly, together with thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of gandharvas reverently surrounding him, came forward before the Buddha, joined his palms, and said: "World-Honored One! I too, with a dhāraṇī spell, shall protect those who uphold the Lotus Sūtra." He then spoke this spell. "World-Honored One! This dhāraṇī spell has been taught by forty-two koṭis of buddhas — should anyone do violence to this teacher of the Dharma, they shall have done violence to these very buddhas." At that time there were rākṣasī sisters — the first named Lambā, the second Vilambā, the third Crooked Teeth, the fourth Flowery Teeth, the fifth Black Teeth, the sixth Much Hair, the seventh Insatiable, the eighth Necklace-Bearer, the ninth Kuntī, and the tenth Stealer of the Vital Essence of All Beings — these ten rākṣasī sisters, together with Hārītī, the mother of demon children, and her own children and retinue, came together before the Buddha, and said with one voice: "World-Honored One! We too wish to protect those who read, recite, and uphold the Lotus Sūtra, removing every harm from them. Should anyone watch for a fault in this teacher of the Dharma to exploit, we shall not let them find their opportunity." They then spoke this spell before the Buddha. "Let them climb upon our own heads rather than trouble this teacher of the Dharma. Whether yakṣa, rākṣasa, hungry ghost, pūtana, kṛtya, vetāla, skanda, umāraka, apasmāra, human-possessing yakṣa, or human-possessing kṛtya, whether a fever lasting one day, two days, three days, four days, up to seven days, or a fever that never ceases, whether it takes the form of a man, a woman, a boy, or a girl — even in dreams, let none of these ever trouble him." They then spoke this verse before the Buddha: "Should anyone fail to heed our spell, and trouble or disturb a teacher of the Dharma, their own head shall split into seven pieces, like the branches of the arjaka tree. Their offense shall be as the offense of killing one's own father or mother, or the offense of the oil-press that crushes life to increase its yield, or the offense of cheating others with false scales and measures, or the offense of Devadatta, who split the monastic community apart. Whoever offends against this teacher of the Dharma shall incur a calamity exactly such as this." Having spoken this verse, these rākṣasī sisters said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! We too shall, with our own bodies, protect anyone who upholds, reads, recites, and practices this sūtra, causing them to dwell in peace, free of every harm, and dispelling every poison." The Buddha said to these rākṣasī sisters: "Excellent, excellent! That you should be able to protect even those who merely uphold the Lotus Sūtra's own name is already merit beyond measure — how much more so, protecting those who uphold it in full, making offerings to the sūtra scroll with flowers, incense, necklaces, powdered incense, ointment incense, burning incense, banners, canopies, and music, and lighting every kind of lamp — lamps of ghee, of oil, of every fragrant oil, of sumanā-flower oil, of campaka-flower oil, of vārṣika-flower oil, of blue-lotus oil — and every other kind of offering such as these, hundreds and thousands of kinds. Kuntī! You and your whole retinue should protect a teacher of the Dharma such as this." When this Dhāraṇī chapter was taught, sixty-eight thousand people attained the acceptance that things are unborn.

At that time the Buddha said to the great assembly: "Long ago, past immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable asaṃkhyeya kalpas, there was a buddha named Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly and Fully Awakened, whose land was named Adorned with Light, and whose kalpa was named Delight in Seeing. Within this buddha's own teaching there was a king named Śubhavyūha, whose queen was named Vimaladattā, and who had two sons, the first named Vimalagarbha, and the second Vimalanetra. These two sons possessed great spiritual power, merit, virtue, and wisdom, and had long practiced the bodhisattva's own path — the perfections of giving, moral discipline, forbearance, diligence, meditative concentration, wisdom, and skillful means, loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, and had, further, thoroughly mastered the thirty-seven factors that aid the path. They had, besides, attained the bodhisattva's pure samādhi, the samādhi of sun and constellations, the samādhi of pure light, the samādhi of pure form, the samādhi of pure illumination, the samādhi of lasting adornment, and the samādhi of the treasury of great majestic virtue, and had thoroughly mastered these samādhis as well. "At that time, this buddha, wishing to guide King Śubhavyūha, and out of pity for beings, taught this Lotus Sūtra. At that time the two sons, Vimalagarbha and Vimalanetra, went to their mother, joined the tips of their ten fingers, and said: 'We beg our mother to go to where Buddha Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña is — we too shall attend upon him, draw near to him, make offerings to him, and bow before him. Why is this so? Because this buddha teaches the Lotus Sūtra before the whole assembly of gods and humans, and it is fitting that we should hear and receive it.' Their mother said to her sons: 'Your father believes in and accepts a teaching of other paths, deeply attached to the brahmins' own doctrine — you should go and tell your father, and go there together with him.' Vimalagarbha and Vimalanetra joined the tips of their ten fingers and said to their mother: 'We are the sons of the Dharma-king, yet we were born into this house of wrong views.' Their mother said to her sons: 'You should show concern for your father, and manifest spiritual transformations for his sake — should he see them, his heart will surely become pure, and he may permit us to go to where the buddha is.' At this, the two sons, for their father's sake, leapt into the sky, rising seven tāla trees high, and manifested every kind of spiritual transformation — walking, standing, sitting, and lying down in the air; water issuing from the upper part of their bodies and fire from the lower, water from the lower and fire from the upper; manifesting a great body filling the whole sky, and then manifesting a small one, the small body becoming great once more; vanishing in the sky, and suddenly appearing on the ground; sinking into the earth as though it were water, and walking upon water as though it were solid ground. Manifesting every kind of spiritual transformation such as this, they caused their father the king's heart to become pure, and to believe and understand. At that time, their father, seeing his sons' spiritual power to be such as this, was filled with great joy, having gained what he had never known before, and, joining his palms toward his sons, said: 'Who is your own teacher? Whose disciples are you?' The two sons said: 'Great King! That Buddha Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña now sits upon the Dharma seat beneath a bodhi tree of the seven jewels, broadly teaching the Lotus Sūtra before the whole assembly of gods and humans in the world — he is our own teacher, and we are his disciples.' The father said to his sons: 'I too now wish to see your own teacher — let us go there together.' At this, the two sons descended from the sky, went to their mother, joined their palms, and said to her: 'Our father the king now believes and understands, and is capable of bringing forth the resolve for unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening. We have already accomplished this buddha-work for our father's sake — we beg our mother to permit us to go forth from home and cultivate the path at that buddha's own place.' "At that time the two sons, wishing to proclaim their own intent once more, said to their mother in verse: 'We beg our mother to release us, to go forth from home and become renunciants; buddhas are exceedingly difficult to encounter, and we wish to follow and study under a buddha. Like the udumbara flower, encountering a buddha is difficult in just this way, and escaping every difficulty is difficult too — we beg you to permit us to go forth.' "Their mother then said: 'I permit you to go forth. Why is this so? Because a buddha is difficult to encounter.' "At this, the two sons said to their father and mother: 'Excellent, father and mother! We beg you to go at once to where Buddha Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña is, and draw near to him and make offerings to him. Why is this so? A buddha is as difficult to encounter as the udumbara flower, or as a one-eyed turtle finding the single hole in a floating log — yet our own good fortune from a former life is deep indeed, that we should be born to encounter the Buddha's own Dharma. For this reason, father and mother, you should permit us to go forth. Why is this so? Because buddhas are difficult to encounter, and the right time for it is difficult to meet as well.' "At that time, eighty-four thousand people within King Śubhavyūha's own harem were all capable of upholding this Lotus Sūtra. Vimalanetra Bodhisattva had already, long before, thoroughly mastered the Lotus samādhi; Vimalagarbha Bodhisattva had already, across immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas, mastered the samādhi of freedom from every evil destiny, wishing to cause every being to be free of the evil destinies. The king's own queen had attained the samādhi of the buddhas' own gathering, able to know the secret treasury of every buddha. "The two sons, by skillful means such as this, well transformed their father, causing his heart to believe and understand, and to delight in the Buddha's own Dharma. At this, King Śubhavyūha, together with his ministers and retinue, Queen Vimaladattā, together with the women of the harem and their retinue, and the king's two sons, together with forty-two thousand people, all at once went together to where the buddha was. Having arrived, they bowed their heads to his feet, circled the buddha three times, and withdrew to one side."

"At that time this buddha taught the king the Dharma, revealing, teaching, benefiting, and delighting him, and the king was filled with great joy. At that time King Śubhavyūha and his queen removed the pearl necklace from their own necks, worth a hundred thousand pieces, and scattered it over the buddha, and in the sky it transformed into a jeweled platform on four pillars, and within this platform was a great jeweled couch, spread with hundreds of thousands of myriads of heavenly garments, and upon it sat a buddha, cross-legged, sending forth great light. At that time King Śubhavyūha thought to himself: 'This buddha's own body is rare indeed, upright and dignified beyond compare, accomplished with the finest and most subtle form.' At that time Buddha Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña said to the fourfold assembly: 'Do you see this King Śubhavyūha, standing with joined palms before me? This king shall, within my own teaching, become a monk, diligently cultivating and practicing what aids the buddha-path, and shall attain buddhahood, named Śālendrarāja, his land named Great Light, his kalpa named Great Lofty King. This Buddha Śālendrarāja shall have an immeasurable assembly of bodhisattvas and an immeasurable assembly of śrāvakas, his land level and upright, its merit exactly as I have described.' The king at once handed over his kingdom to his younger brother, and, together with his queen, his two sons, and his whole retinue, went forth from home within the buddha's own teaching, to cultivate the path. "Having gone forth, the king, for eighty-four thousand years, constantly and diligently cultivated and practiced the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sūtra. After this time had passed, he attained the samādhi of every pure merit's adornment, and at once rose into the sky, seven tāla trees high, and said to the buddha: 'World-Honored One! These two sons of mine have already accomplished this buddha-work, using spiritual transformation to turn my own wrong-thinking heart, causing me to come to dwell at peace within the Buddha's own teaching, and to be able to see the World-Honored One. These two sons are my own good spiritual friends, who, wishing to awaken the good roots of my former lives and greatly benefit me, came to be born into my own house.' "At that time Buddha Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña said to King Śubhavyūha: 'Just so, just so! Exactly as you have said. Should a good son or good daughter, on account of the good roots they have planted, gain a good spiritual friend in life after life, that good spiritual friend is able to accomplish buddha-work, revealing, teaching, benefiting, and delighting them, causing them to enter unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening. Great King! You should know that a good spiritual friend is a great cause and condition, namely, one who guides and transforms another, causing them to come to see a buddha, and to bring forth the resolve for unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening. Great King! Do you see these two sons? These two sons have already made offerings to sixty-five hundred thousand myriads of koṭis of nayutas of Ganges-sands of buddhas, drawing near to them and revering them, upholding the Lotus Sūtra in the presence of these buddhas, out of pity for beings of wrong view, causing them to abide in right view.' King Śubhavyūha then descended from the sky, and said to the buddha: 'World-Honored One! The Tathāgata is rare indeed — by the power of his own merit and wisdom, the fleshly crown atop his head shines with light, his eyes long and broad, the color of dark blue lotus petals, the curl of hair between his brows white as the moon's own pearl, his teeth white, even, and closely set, constantly shining with light, his lips red and fine as the bimba fruit.' "At that time King Śubhavyūha, having praised the buddha for merits such as these, immeasurable, hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of them, joined his palms before the Tathāgata with a single mind, and said further: 'World-Honored One! This is unprecedented indeed. The Tathāgata's own Dharma is complete and accomplished with inconceivable, subtle merit; its teachings and precepts, and the conduct they prescribe, bring peace and true excellence. From this day forward, I shall no longer follow my own heart's own inclinations, and shall give rise to no wrong view, no arrogance, no anger, nor any other evil thought.' Having said this, he bowed to the buddha and departed." The Buddha said to the great assembly: "What do you think — was King Śubhavyūha at that time some other person? He is none other than Padmaśrī Bodhisattva of today. His queen, Vimaladattā, is none other than the bodhisattva now before the Buddha, Illuminated-and-Adorned-in-Appearance, who, out of pity for King Śubhavyūha and his whole household, was born among them. His two sons are none other than Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata Bodhisattva of today. These bodhisattvas Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata, having accomplished merit as great as this, have already, in the presence of immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of buddhas, planted every root of merit, and accomplished inconceivable, wholesome merit of every kind. Should anyone come to know the names of these two bodhisattvas, every god and human in the whole world should bow before them as well." When the Buddha taught this chapter on King Śubhavyūha's former life, eighty-four thousand people became free of dust and defilement, and attained the pure Dharma eye with regard to every teaching.