“Kauśika, those sons or daughters of good families will fall asleep easily and they will awaken easily. Their bodies will have a vitality. They will not have a strong attachment to the basic necessities: they will not have a strong attachment to food, they will not have a strong attachment to clothing, and they will not have a strong attachment to medications used to treat ill health. They will think about the basic necessities less: they will think about food less, they will think about clothing less, and they will think about medications used to treat ill health less. To illustrate, Kauśika, it is just like the mind of a monk who practices yoga, on arising from meditative stability, saturated with attention. It does not have a strong attachment to food; it thinks about food less. Similarly, Kauśika, those sons or daughters of good families will also not have a strong attachment to food and will think about food less.
“If you ask why, Kauśika, it is because nonhumans supply the bodies they have with vitality. As many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the eastern direction, they all supply their bodies with vitality. As many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the southern direction, they all supply their bodies with vitality. As many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the western direction, they all supply their bodies with vitality. As many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the northern direction, they all supply their bodies with vitality. As many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the intermediate northeastern direction, they all supply their bodies with vitality. As many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the intermediate southeastern direction, they all supply their bodies with vitality. As many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the intermediate southwestern direction, they all supply their bodies with vitality. As many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the intermediate northwestern direction, they all supply their bodies with vitality. As many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the direction below, they all supply their bodies with vitality. And as many lord buddhas as there are, as many bodhisattvas as there are, and as many gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas as there are in the direction above, they all supply their bodies with vitality.
“Kauśika, those sons or daughters of good families who want to acquire these good qualities right here in this lifetime should earnestly listen to, take up, uphold, recite, master, and focus their attention correctly on this very perfection of wisdom. They should not be separated from the mind of all-aspect omniscience.
“Kauśika, even if those sons or daughters of good families have not taken up, have not upheld, have not recited, have not mastered, and have not focused their attention correctly on this perfection of wisdom, those sons or daughters of good families should commit this perfection of wisdom to writing and make it into a book, and serve, respect, honor, and worship it with flowers, garlands, perfumes, unguents, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, flags, and various musical instruments. In that manner, Kauśika, those sons or daughters of good families will have undertaken something for the benefit of many beings and for the happiness of many beings.746
“Kauśika, if any son or daughter of good family were to take up, uphold, recite, master, and focus their attention correctly on this perfection of wisdom, and, having committed it to writing, were to serve, respect, honor, and worship it with flowers, garlands, perfumes, unguents, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, flags, and various musical instruments, the merit of that son of good family or daughter of good family would increase even more than if they did that, while it would not do so were they even, for the duration of their lives, to have served, respected, honored, and worshiped the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas, along with their communities of śrāvakas residing in the world systems of all the ten directions, with many of the basic necessities: food, bedding, medications used to treat ill health, and even also, for the duration of their lives, were they to have served, respected, honored, and worshiped stūpas made of the seven precious materials with flowers, garlands, perfumes, unguents, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, flags, and various musical instruments, after those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas, along with their communities of śrāvakas, had passed into nirvāṇa.”
This completes the twenty-first chapter from “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.”