Those Who Uphold This Sūtra
勸持品第十三
Two chapters earlier, suspended together in the open sky with Prabhūtaratna, Śākyamuni asked who would carry this teaching forward after his own parinirvāṇa. This chapter is the answer: bodhisattvas, arhats, and disciples still in training rise one group after another to volunteer, the Buddha's own foster mother and the mother of his son receive predictions of their own, and eighty myriad koṭis of bodhisattvas, met with the Buddha's silence, choose to read that silence as consent — and vow, unasked, to face ridicule, slander, and violence for this sūtra's sake.
- This part covers
- Bhaiṣajyarāja, Mahāpratibhāna, and twenty thousand bodhisattvas vowing to teach this sūtra despite a future age of arrogance and hostility; five hundred already-predicted arhats and eight thousand disciples in training vowing to teach it in other lands, citing the sahā world's own corruption as their reason; the Buddha's foster mother Mahāprajāpatī and Rāhula's mother Yaśodharā receiving individual predictions of their own future buddhahood; and eighty myriad koṭis of bodhisattvas, finding the Buddha silent rather than commanding them, choosing on their own to vow endurance of contempt, slander, and violence for the sake of teaching this sūtra after his parinirvāṇa.
- Why it matters
- Part 12 closed with a question left hanging in the open sky: who will carry this sūtra forward? This chapter is where the sūtra answers its own question — not with a single hero, but with wave after wave of volunteers, culminating in a vow nobody actually asked them to make.
1. Vows from Bhaiṣajyarāja, Mahāpratibhāna, and Twenty Thousand
爾時藥王菩薩摩訶薩及大樂說菩薩摩訶薩，與二萬菩薩眷屬俱，皆於佛前作是誓言：「唯願世尊不以為慮。我等於佛滅後，當奉持、讀誦、說此經典。後惡世眾生，善根轉少，多增上慢，貪利供養，增不善根，遠離解脫。雖難可教化，我等當起大忍力，讀誦此經，持說、書寫、種種供養，不惜身命。」
At that time Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva and Mahāpratibhāna Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, together with a retinue of twenty thousand bodhisattvas, all made this vow before the Buddha: "We beg only that the World-Honored One have no concern over this. After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, we shall uphold, read, recite, and teach this sūtra. Beings in that evil age to come, their good roots growing ever fewer, will be largely arrogant, greedy for gain and offerings, increasing their unwholesome roots, and growing ever more distant from liberation. Though they will be hard to teach and transform, we shall bring forth the power of great forbearance, reading and reciting this sūtra, upholding it, teaching it, copying it, and making every kind of offering to it, without sparing our own bodies or lives."
This chapter opens by answering a question that has hung unresolved since Part 12: suspended in the air alongside Prabhūtaratna, Śākyamuni asked "who is able... to broadly teach the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sūtra?" and the chapter closed without anyone answering him directly. Bhaiṣajyarāja and Mahāpratibhāna are fitting first volunteers — the first, the bodhisattva Part 11 was addressed to throughout its entire discussion of what it means to uphold this sūtra; the second, the bodhisattva whose question first brought the jeweled stūpa's presence to the assembly's attention. Both step forward here, twenty thousand more behind them, without the Buddha needing to ask a second time.
2. Five Hundred Arhats and Eight Thousand More Vow As Well
爾時眾中五百阿羅漢得受記者、白佛言：「世尊！我等亦自誓願，於異國土、廣說此經。」 復有學、無學八千人、得受記者，從座而起，合掌向佛作是誓言：「世尊！我等亦當於他國土廣說此經。所以者何？是娑婆國中，人多弊惡，懷增上慢，功德淺薄、瞋濁諂曲，心不實故。」
At that time, within the assembly, the five hundred arhats who had already received their prediction said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! We too vow, of ourselves, to broadly teach this sūtra in other lands." And there were, besides, eight thousand who had received their prediction, still in training and beyond it, who rose from their seats, joined their palms toward the Buddha, and made this vow: "World-Honored One! We too shall broadly teach this sūtra in other lands. Why is this so? Because in this sahā world, people are largely corrupt and wicked, harboring arrogance, their merit shallow, their minds turbid with anger and flattery, their hearts untrue."
Where the bodhisattvas of the previous section volunteered without qualification, these disciples — the very ones this site's commentary has followed by name since Part 4's prediction for Śāriputra, through Part 7's four elders and Part 10's five hundred — volunteer specifically for other lands, and give a plain reason: the sahā world's own people are too corrupt to be worth the attempt, at least by them. The distinction is worth noting rather than smoothing over. It is the bodhisattvas of unlimited resolve, not the newly-confirmed future buddhas among the historical disciples, who commit in this chapter to staying and teaching here, in the world the sūtra itself calls the harder assignment.
3. Mahāprajāpatī and Yaśodharā Receive Their Predictions
爾時佛姨母摩訶波闍波提比丘尼，與學、無學比丘尼六千人俱，從座而起，一心合掌，瞻仰尊顏，目不暫捨。於時世尊告憍曇彌：「何故憂色而視如來，汝心將無謂我不說汝名，授阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記耶？憍曇彌！我先總說一切聲聞皆已授記，今汝欲知記者，將來之世，當於六萬八千億諸佛法中為大法師，及六千學、無學比丘尼俱為法師。汝如是漸漸具菩薩道，當得作佛，號一切眾生喜見如來、應供、正遍知、明行足、善逝、世間解、無上士、調御丈夫、天人師、佛、世尊。憍曇彌！是一切眾生喜見佛及六千菩薩，轉次授記得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 爾時羅睺羅母耶輸陀羅比丘尼作是念：「世尊於授記中，獨不說我名。」 佛告耶輸陀羅：「汝於來世百千萬億諸佛法中修菩薩行，為大法師，漸具佛道。於善國中當得作佛，號具足千萬光相如來、應供、正遍知、明行足、善逝、世間解、無上士、調御丈夫、天人師、佛、世尊。佛壽無量阿僧祇劫。」 爾時摩訶波闍波提比丘尼及耶輸陀羅比丘尼，并其眷屬，皆大歡喜，得未曾有，即於佛前而說偈言： 「世尊導師， 安隱天人， 我等聞記， 心安具足。」 諸比丘尼說是偈已，白佛言：「世尊！我等亦能於他方國土廣宣此經。」
At that time the Buddha's aunt, the nun Mahāprajāpatī, together with six thousand nuns, still in training and beyond it, rose from their seats, joined their palms with one mind, and gazed up at the Buddha's honored countenance without turning their eyes away. At that time the World-Honored One said to Gautamī: "Why do you gaze at the Tathāgata with such a look of sorrow? Could it be that your heart supposes I have not spoken your name, and bestowed on you a prediction of unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening? Gautamī! I have already said, in general terms, that every śrāvaka has received a prediction; if you now wish to know your own, then, in the age to come, you shall be a great teacher of the Dharma in the presence of sixty-eight thousand koṭis of buddhas, and the six thousand nuns, in training and beyond it, shall together be teachers of the Dharma with you. In this way, gradually becoming complete in the bodhisattva path, you shall attain buddhahood, named Sarvasattvapriyadarśana 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. Gautamī! This Buddha Sarvasattvapriyadarśana, and the six thousand bodhisattvas, shall, one after another, bestow this same prediction, attaining unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening." At that time the nun Yaśodharā, Rāhula's mother, thought to herself: "Among all these predictions, the World-Honored One alone has not spoken my name." The Buddha said to Yaśodharā: "In the age to come, in the presence of hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of buddhas, you shall practice the bodhisattva path, and be a great teacher of the Dharma, gradually becoming complete in the buddha-path. In a good land, you shall attain buddhahood, named Tathāgata Complete with a Thousand Myriad Marks of Light, 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. That buddha's lifespan shall be immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas." At that time the nun Mahāprajāpatī and the nun Yaśodharā, together with their own followers, were all filled with great joy, having gained what they never had before, and at once spoke before the Buddha in verse: "World-Honored One, our guide, who brings peace to gods and humans — hearing this prediction, our hearts are at ease, and fully satisfied." Having spoken this verse, the nuns said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! We too are able to broadly proclaim this sūtra in other lands."
This is worth reading in direct succession with the previous part of this project, not in isolation. Part 13 recorded, without softening it, a passage in which Śāriputra dismisses the possibility of swift female buddhahood on doctrinal grounds this site presented alongside their classical justification, and in which the dragon girl's own path to buddhahood runs through a transformation into a male body that the tradition treated as necessary. Here, in the very next chapter, the Buddha's own foster mother — who raised him after his own mother's death, and who tradition remembers as the first woman ordained in his monastic community — and the mother of his only son each receive an individual prediction of buddhahood, by name, with a land, a title, and a lifespan of their own, and with no obstruction, no five-fold restriction, and no transformation mentioned at all. The sūtra does not comment on the juxtaposition, and neither will this site's commentary attempt to resolve it into a single consistent position. Both passages are part of the same text, separated by a single chapter break.
4. The Bodhisattvas' Great Vow, and the Verse of Endurance
爾時世尊視八十萬億那由他諸菩薩摩訶薩。是諸菩薩——皆是阿惟越致，轉不退法輪，得諸陀羅尼——即從座起，至於佛前，一心合掌，而作是念：「若世尊告勅我等持說此經者，當如佛教，廣宣斯法。」復作是念：「佛今默然，不見告勅，我當云何？」時諸菩薩敬順佛意，并欲自滿本願，便於佛前，作師子吼而發誓言：「世尊！我等於如來滅後，周旋往返十方世界，能令眾生書寫此經，受持、讀誦，解說其義，如法修行，正憶念，皆是佛之威力。唯願世尊，在於他方遙見守護。」 即時諸菩薩俱同發聲、而說偈言： 「唯願不為慮， 於佛滅度後， 恐怖惡世中， 我等當廣說。 有諸無智人， 惡口罵詈等， 及加刀杖者， 我等皆當忍。 惡世中比丘， 邪智心諂曲， 未得謂為得， 我慢心充滿。 或有阿練若， 納衣在空閑， 自謂行真道， 輕賤人間者。 貪著利養故， 與白衣說法， 為世所恭敬， 如六通羅漢。 是人懷惡心， 常念世俗事， 假名阿練若， 好出我等過， 而作如是言： 『此諸比丘等， 為貪利養故， 說外道論議； 自作此經典， 誑惑世間人， 為求名聞故， 分別於是經。』 常在大眾中， 欲毀我等故， 向國王大臣， 婆羅門居士， 及餘比丘眾， 誹謗說我惡， 謂是邪見人， 說外道論議。 我等敬佛故， 悉忍是諸惡。 為斯所輕言， 汝等皆是佛， 如此輕慢言， 皆當忍受之。 濁劫惡世中， 多有諸恐怖， 惡鬼入其身， 罵詈毀辱我。 我等敬信佛， 當著忍辱鎧， 為說是經故， 忍此諸難事。 我不愛身命， 但惜無上道， 我等於來世， 護持佛所囑， 世尊自當知。 濁世惡比丘， 不知佛方便， 隨宜所說法， 惡口而顰蹙， 數數見擯出， 遠離於塔寺。 如是等眾惡， 念佛告勅故， 皆當忍是事。 諸聚落城邑， 其有求法者， 我皆到其所， 說佛所囑法。 我是世尊使， 處眾無所畏， 我當善說法， 願佛安隱住。 我於世尊前， 諸來十方佛， 發如是誓言， 佛自知我心。」
At that time the World-Honored One gazed upon eighty myriad koṭis of nayutas of bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. These bodhisattvas — every one of them avaivartika, turning the wheel of the Dharma that never turns back, having attained every dhāraṇī — at once rose from their seats, went before the Buddha, joined their palms with one mind, and thought: "If the World-Honored One should command us to uphold and teach this sūtra, we shall, according to the Buddha's own instruction, broadly proclaim this Dharma." They thought further: "The Buddha is now silent, and has given us no such command — what should we do?" At that time these bodhisattvas, respectfully following the Buddha's own intent, and wishing besides to fulfill their own original vow, then, before the Buddha, roared a lion's roar and spoke this vow: "World-Honored One! After the Tathāgata's parinirvāṇa, we shall travel throughout the worlds of the ten directions, and cause beings to copy this sūtra, to uphold, read, and recite it, to explain its meaning, to practice according to the Dharma, and to hold it rightly in mind — all of this by the Buddha's own majestic power. We beg only that the World-Honored One, from another land, watch over and protect us from afar." At once these bodhisattvas together, with one voice, spoke in verse: "We beg you, have no concern over this: after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, in an age of fear and evil, we shall broadly teach this sūtra. There will be people without wisdom, who revile and curse us with foul words, and even strike us with swords and staves — all of this we shall bear with patience. In that evil age, there will be monks of false wisdom, their minds flattering and crooked, who claim to have attained what they have not attained, their hearts filled with arrogance. There will be those who dwell in forest hermitages, wearing patched robes in solitary places, who suppose themselves to be practicing the true path, and who look down with contempt on those who live among people. Greedily attached to gain and support, they will teach the Dharma to laypeople, and be honored by the world as though they were arhats possessed of the six spiritual powers. Such people, harboring evil in their hearts, constantly thinking of worldly matters, falsely bearing the name of forest-dwellers, will delight in exposing our own faults, saying: 'These monks, out of greed for gain and support, teach the doctrines of other paths; they have made up this sūtra themselves, to deceive and confuse the people of the world, and, seeking fame, distinguish and expound this sūtra.' Constantly, in the midst of great assemblies, wishing to destroy us, they will go before kings, ministers, brahmins, and householders, and before the rest of the monks besides, slandering and speaking evil of us, calling us people of wrong view, teaching the doctrines of other paths. But we, out of reverence for the Buddha, shall bear every one of these evils. When despised and told, in scorn, 'You are all so-called buddhas' — even words of contempt such as this, we shall bear and accept. In the turbid kalpa, in this evil age, there will be much to fear; evil spirits will possess people's bodies, and they will curse and revile and insult us. But we, revering and trusting the Buddha, shall put on the armor of patience, and, for the sake of teaching this sūtra, shall bear every one of these difficult things. We do not cling to our own bodies or lives, but only cherish the unsurpassed path; in the age to come, we shall protect and uphold what the Buddha has entrusted to us, and the World-Honored One himself shall know this. Evil monks of that turbid age, not knowing that the Buddha teaches the Dharma by skillful means, according to what is fitting, will revile us with foul words and scowl at us, and again and again we shall be driven out, cast far from the stūpas and temples. Every evil such as this, mindful of the Buddha's own command, we shall bear. In every village, town, and city, wherever there are those who seek the Dharma, we shall go to them, and teach the Dharma the Buddha has entrusted to us. We are the World-Honored One's own emissaries; standing before any assembly, we shall be without fear, and shall teach the Dharma well — may the Buddha dwell in peace. Before the World-Honored One, and before every buddha who has come here from the ten directions, we now speak this same vow — the Buddha himself already knows what is in our hearts."
The small hesitation the text records before this vow is worth not passing over: eighty myriad koṭis of advanced bodhisattvas, ready to act the moment the Buddha commands them, are met instead with silence — "the Buddha is now silent, and has given us no such command." Rather than waiting for an instruction that never comes, they choose to read the silence itself as its own kind of permission, and volunteer unprompted. It is the same structure this chapter has repeated at every scale since Bhaiṣajyarāja's opening vow: the Buddha asked a question in Part 12 and did not, in the end, need to ask anyone twice.
What these bodhisattvas describe enduring is worth being precise about, since the passage names several distinct and escalating threats rather than one generic hostility: ordinary people without wisdom, who curse and strike out physically; monks who falsely claim attainment they do not have, arrogant within the tradition itself; forest ascetics who cultivate an outward appearance of humility while actively working, through slander brought before kings and officials, to have genuine teachers of this sūtra expelled from their own temples. The vow's own logic is stated plainly at its center: not that these things will not happen, but that they will be borne — "we do not cling to our own bodies or lives, but only cherish the unsurpassed path." Read against Part 12's closing verse, which measured every conceivable feat of cosmic strength against the plainer difficulty of ordinary transmission "after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, in an evil age," this chapter is where that abstract difficulty is finally given a face, a voice, and eighty myriad koṭis of volunteers willing to meet it.