Gadgadasvara, the Bodhisattva of Wonderful Voice

At that time Śākyamuni Buddha sent forth light from the mark of the fleshly crown atop his head, that of a great being, and light from the white curl of hair between his brows, illuminating entirely a hundred and eight myriad koṭis of nayutas of Ganges-sands of buddha-worlds to the east. Beyond this number, there was a world named Vairocanaraśmipratimaṇḍitā, and in this land was a buddha named Kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly and Fully Awakened, Complete in Understanding and Conduct, Well-Gone, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed Being, Tamer of Those to be Tamed, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, World-Honored One, teaching the Dharma, reverently surrounded by an immeasurable, boundless assembly of great bodhisattvas. Śākyamuni Buddha's white curl of light illuminated this entire land. At that time, within this whole land of Vairocanaraśmipratimaṇḍitā, there was a bodhisattva named Gadgadasvara, who had long ago planted every root of merit, made offerings to and drawn near immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of buddhas, and had thereby accomplished a profound wisdom, attaining the samādhi of the wondrous banner-mark, the Lotus samādhi, the samādhi of pure virtue, the samādhi of the constellation-king's play, the samādhi free of conditions, the samādhi of the wisdom seal, the samādhi of understanding the language of every being, the samādhi that gathers every merit, the samādhi of purity, the samādhi of playing amid spiritual powers, the samādhi of wisdom's torch, the samādhi of the adorning king, the samādhi of pure light, the samādhi of the pure treasury, the samādhi shared with none other, and the samādhi of the sun's revolution — attaining, in this way, hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of Ganges-sands of such great samādhis as these. When Śākyamuni Buddha's light illuminated his own body, he at once said to Buddha Kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña: "World-Honored One! I should now go to the sahā world, to bow before, draw near to, and make offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha, and to see Mañjuśrī, Dharma Prince Bodhisattva, Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva, Pradānaśūra Bodhisattva, Bhadravyūhamati Bodhisattva, Viśiṣṭacintā Bodhisattva, Vyūharāja Bodhisattva, and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata Bodhisattva." At that time Buddha Kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña said to Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva: "Do not look down upon that land, giving rise to any thought of its inferiority. Good son! That sahā world is uneven, high in some places and low in others, filled with earth, stone, and mountains, with every kind of impurity and foulness; its buddha's own body is of modest stature, and the bodies of its bodhisattvas, too, are modest. Your own body is forty-two thousand yojanas tall, and my own body is six million eight hundred thousand yojanas tall; your body is foremost in its uprightness, adorned with hundreds of thousands of merits, its light exceptionally fine and wondrous — for this reason, when you go there, do not look down upon that land, whether toward its buddha, its bodhisattvas, or the land itself, with any thought of its inferiority." Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva said to his own buddha: "World-Honored One! That I now go to the sahā world is entirely due to the Tathāgata's own power, the Tathāgata's own play of spiritual penetration, the Tathāgata's own adornment of merit and wisdom." At this, Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva, without rising from his seat, his body entirely unmoving, entered into samādhi, and, by the power of this samādhi, on Vulture Peak, not far from the Dharma seat, conjured eighty-four thousand jeweled lotus flowers, their stems of Jambūnada gold, their leaves of white silver, their stamens of diamond, their calyxes made of kiṃśuka jewels.

At that time Mañjuśrī, Dharma Prince Bodhisattva, seeing these lotus flowers, said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! By what cause and condition does this auspicious sign appear first — these several thousand myriad lotus flowers, their stems of Jambūnada gold, their leaves of white silver, their stamens of diamond, their calyxes made of kiṃśuka jewels?" At that time Śākyamuni Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: "This is Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, wishing to come here from the land of Buddha Kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña, together with eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas surrounding him, to this sahā world, to make offerings to me, to draw near to me, and to bow before me, and wishing, too, to make offerings to and hear the Lotus Sūtra." Mañjuśrī said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! What good root has this bodhisattva planted, what merit has he cultivated, that he should possess such great spiritual power as this? What samādhi does he practice? I beg you to tell us the names of these samādhis, for we too wish to diligently practice and cultivate them — practicing these samādhis, we might then be able to see this bodhisattva's own form, whether great or small, and his majestic bearing, his advancing and his stillness. I beg only that the World-Honored One, by the power of spiritual penetration, cause this bodhisattva to come, so that we may see him." At that time Śākyamuni Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: "Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata, extinguished so long ago, shall now, for your sake, cause his form to appear." At that time Prabhūtaratna Buddha said to that bodhisattva: "Good son, come — Mañjuśrī, Dharma Prince Bodhisattva, wishes to see your form." At this, Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva vanished from that land, and, together with eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas, set out together. Every land he passed through shook in six ways, and everywhere rained down lotus flowers of the seven jewels; hundreds of thousands of heavenly instruments sounded of themselves, without being played. This bodhisattva's eyes were like the broad petals of the blue lotus; even were a hundred thousand myriad moons combined together, his countenance's own uprightness would still surpass them; his body was the color of true gold, adorned with immeasurable hundreds of thousands of merits, his majestic virtue blazing forth, his light shining brilliantly, every mark complete upon him, his body as firm and unbreakable as Nārāyaṇa's own. Entering a platform of the seven jewels, he rose into the sky, seven tāla trees above the earth, the assembly of bodhisattvas reverently surrounding him, and came in this way to Vulture Peak in this sahā world. Having arrived, he descended from the platform of the seven jewels, and, taking up a necklace worth hundreds of thousands in value, carried it to where Śākyamuni Buddha was, bowed his head to the Buddha's feet, offered up the necklace, and said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Buddha Kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña greets the World-Honored One, and asks: are you free of illness, free of affliction, are your movements and rest at ease, do you dwell in peace? Are the four elements in harmony within you? Are worldly affairs bearable? Are beings easily brought across? Are they free of excessive greed, anger, folly, envy, and stinginess and pride? Are they free of disrespect toward their parents, disrespect toward renunciants, wrong views, unwholesome hearts, and a failure to govern the five senses? World-Honored One, are beings able to subdue every demon and enemy? Does Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata, extinguished so long ago, come to hear the Dharma from within his stūpa of the seven jewels? And he asks, too, after Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata: is he at peace, free of affliction, able to endure and remain long in the world? World-Honored One! I now wish to see Prabhūtaratna Buddha's own form — I beg only that the World-Honored One show him to me, and let me see him." At that time Śākyamuni Buddha said to Prabhūtaratna Buddha: "This Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva wishes to see you face to face." At that time Prabhūtaratna Buddha said to Gadgadasvara: "Excellent, excellent! That you should come here for the sake of making offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha, and hearing the Lotus Sūtra, and seeing Mañjuśrī and the others."

At that time Padmaśrī Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! What good root has this Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva planted, what merit has he cultivated, that he should possess such spiritual power as this?" The Buddha said to Padmaśrī Bodhisattva: "In the past there was a buddha named Meghadundubhisvararāja Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly and Fully Awakened, whose land was named Manifesting Every World, and whose kalpa was named Delight in Seeing. For twelve thousand years, Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva made offerings to Buddha Meghadundubhisvararāja with a hundred thousand kinds of music, and offered up, besides, eighty-four thousand bowls of the seven jewels. By this very cause and condition and its result, he is now born in the land of Buddha Kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña, possessed of this spiritual power. Padmaśrī, what do you think? Was that Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva, who made offerings of music and bowls of treasure at that time, in the presence of Buddha Meghadundubhisvararāja, some other person? He is none other than this Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva of today. Padmaśrī, this Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva has already made offerings to and drawn near immeasurable buddhas, long ago planting every root of merit, and has, further, encountered Ganges-sands of hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of buddhas. "Padmaśrī! You see only Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva's own body, present here — yet this bodhisattva manifests every kind of body, teaching this sūtra to beings in every place: sometimes manifesting the body of Brahmā, sometimes the body of Śakra, sometimes the body of Īśvara, sometimes the body of Maheśvara, sometimes the body of a great heavenly general, sometimes the body of Vaiśravaṇa, the heavenly king, sometimes the body of a wheel-turning sage-king, sometimes the body of one of the lesser kings, sometimes the body of an elder, sometimes the body of a householder, sometimes the body of a minister, sometimes the body of a brahmin, sometimes the body of a monk, a nun, a layman, or a laywoman, sometimes the body of the wife of an elder or a householder, sometimes the body of the wife of a minister, sometimes the body of the wife of a brahmin, sometimes the body of a boy or a girl, sometimes the body of a god, a nāga, a yakṣa, a gandharva, an asura, a garuḍa, a kiṃnara, a mahoraga, a human or a nonhuman being — and teaches this sūtra in every one of these forms. Every being in the hells, among the hungry ghosts, among the animals, and in every other difficult circumstance, he is able to save and rescue; even within a king's own harem, he transforms into a woman's body, and teaches this sūtra there. "Padmaśrī! This is how Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva is able to save and protect the beings of the sahā world: manifesting himself, transformed into every kind of body such as this, dwelling in this sahā land, teaching this sūtra for the sake of beings, without any diminishment at all to his own spiritual power, his transformations, or his wisdom. This bodhisattva, with manifold wisdom, illuminates the sahā world, causing every being to attain what they need to know; and throughout the Ganges-sands of worlds of the ten directions, it is exactly the same. Should a being be one who is brought across by the form of a śrāvaka, he manifests the form of a śrāvaka and teaches the Dharma; should a being be one who is brought across by the form of a pratyekabuddha, he manifests the form of a pratyekabuddha and teaches the Dharma; should a being be one who is brought across by the form of a bodhisattva, he manifests the form of a bodhisattva and teaches the Dharma; should a being be one who is brought across by the form of a buddha, he manifests the very form of a buddha and teaches the Dharma. In every kind of way such as this, he manifests whatever form is needed to bring each being across, even manifesting the appearance of parinirvāṇa itself, for those who are brought across by that very means. "Padmaśrī! Such is the matter of how Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva has accomplished this power of great spiritual penetration and wisdom." At that time Padmaśrī Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! This Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva has planted good roots deeply indeed. World-Honored One, in what samādhi does this bodhisattva dwell, that he is able, in this way, to manifest himself in whatever place is needed, and bring beings across to liberation?" The Buddha said to Padmaśrī Bodhisattva: "Good son! This samādhi is named the manifesting of every form; Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva, dwelling within this samādhi, is able, in this way, to greatly benefit immeasurable beings." When this chapter on Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva was taught, the eighty-four thousand people who had come together with Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva all attained the samādhi of manifesting every form; and immeasurable bodhisattvas of this sahā world attained this same samādhi, and its dhāraṇī as well. At that time Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, having made his offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha and to Prabhūtaratna Buddha's stūpa, returned to his own land. Every land he passed through shook in six ways, and rained down jeweled lotus flowers, and made hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of every kind of music. Having arrived in his own land, together with the eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas surrounding him, he went to where Buddha Kamaladalavimalanakṣatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña was, and said to the buddha: "World-Honored One! I went to the sahā world to benefit its beings, and saw Śākyamuni Buddha, and saw Prabhūtaratna Buddha's own stūpa, and bowed before them and made offerings; and saw, too, Mañjuśrī, Dharma Prince Bodhisattva, and saw Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva, Pradānaśūravīryabala Bodhisattva, Pradānaśūra Bodhisattva, and others, and caused these eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas, too, to attain the samādhi of manifesting every form." When this chapter on Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva's coming and going was taught, forty-two thousand sons of the gods attained the acceptance that things are unborn, and Padmaśrī Bodhisattva attained the Lotus samādhi."