The bodhisattva great being Padmottara having thus inquired, the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Padmaśrī, replied to him, “Child of a good family, in the direction of the zenith, beyond world systems numerous as the grains of sand of the river Gaṅgā, there is a world system called Patient Endurance. There a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha named Śākyamuni resides and maintains himself at present. He is teaching the perfection of wisdom to bodhisattva great beings. Such is his power.”
Then the bodhisattva great being Padmottara said to the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Padmaśrī, “Blessed Lord, I too will go to that world system of Patient Endurance to behold the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni, to pay homage and respect to him, and also to see all those bodhisattva great beings, most of whom are crown princes who have acquired the dhāraṇīs and exact knowledges, and have mastered all the meditative stabilities and absorptions.”
The Blessed One, the Tathāgata Padmaśrī, then replied, “Go then to that world system of Patient Endurance, child of a good family, if you think it is timely.”
Then the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Padmaśrī, gave the bodhisattva great being Padmottara a thousand lotus flowers, made of diverse jewels, golden in color, each with a thousand petals and instructed him, “Child of a good family, strew these over the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni, and inquire of the Blessed One in my words, ‘I trust you are free from sickness, free from all harms, in good spirits, have your physical strength, and are comfortable and well?’ Child of a good family, you should conduct yourself with care in that buddhafield. If you ask why, it is because bodhisattva great beings who are born in that world system are hard to satisfy. So, beware of harm there.”
Then the bodhisattva great being Padmottara received from the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Padmaśrī, those golden thousand-petaled lotuses. Accompanied by many hundreds of thousands of tens of millions of billions of bodhisattvas in the form of householders, those gone forth, young men, and young women, he vanished from that buddhafield. After serving, respecting, honoring, and worshiping all the blessed lord buddhas residing and maintaining themselves in the direction of the nadir, as many as there were, with flowers, perfumes, incense, garlands, unguents, powders, robes, ornaments, parasols, victory banners, and flags, through the bodhisattvas’ great miraculous ability and the bodhisattvas’ great power he arrived at the place where the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni resided.
Arriving there, he bowed his head toward the feet of the Blessed One and took a place to one side. Having taken a place to one side, the bodhisattva great being Padmottara then addressed the Blessed One as follows: “The Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Padmaśrī, has inquired of the Blessed One, ‘I trust you are free from sickness, free from all harms, in good spirits, have your physical strength, and are comfortable and well?’ And the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Padmaśrī, has sent these golden-colored, thousand-petaled lotuses as an offering to you, Blessed Lord.”
The Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni, took those lotuses and scattered them into all the world systems in the direction of the nadir, numerous as the grains of sand of the river Gaṅgā, where the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas resided. Then those lotuses fully covered those world systems, and upon those lotuses many bodies of the tathāgatas were seated, teaching the doctrine that takes these very six perfections as its point of departure. All the beings who heard that teaching of the Dharma also became assured of reaching unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment. And those bodhisattva great beings in the form of householders, those gone forth, young men, and young women also served, respected, honored, and worshiped the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni, through the roots of their respective virtuous actions.
Now then, beyond all the world systems in the direction of the zenith, more numerous than the grains of sand of the river Gaṅgā, there is the world system called Nandā. There the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha called Nandaśrī resides and maintains himself, teaching this very perfection of wisdom to bodhisattva great beings. Now then, in that world system there was a bodhisattva great being named Nandadatta who, on beholding that great light, the great trembling of the earth, and the body of the Tathāgata, looked upon him insatiably, and set out for the place where the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Nandaśrī, was residing. Going there, he inquired of the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Nandaśrī, “Blessed Lord, what are the causes and what are the conditions for such a great light to manifest in the world, for the earth to tremble in this manner, and for the body of a tathāgata, such as this, to be present?”
The bodhisattva great being Nandadatta having thus inquired, the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Nandaśrī replied to him, “Child of a good family, in the direction of the nadir, beyond world systems numerous as the grains of sand of the river Gaṅgā, there is a world system called Patient Endurance. There a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha named Śākyamuni resides and maintains himself at present. He is teaching the perfection of wisdom to bodhisattva great beings. Such is his power.”
Then the bodhisattva great being Nandadatta said to the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Nandaśrī, “Blessed Lord, I too will go to that world system of Patient Endurance to behold the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni, to pay homage and respect to him, and also to see all those bodhisattva great beings, most of whom are crown princes who have acquired the dhāraṇīs and exact knowledges, and have mastered all the meditative stabilities and absorptions.”
The Blessed One, the Tathāgata Nandaśrī, then replied, “Go then to that world system of Patient Endurance, child of a good family, if you think it is timely.”
Then the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Nandaśrī, gave the bodhisattva great being Nandadatta a thousand lotus flowers, made of diverse jewels, golden in color, each with a thousand petals, and instructed him, “Child of a good family, strew these over the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni, and inquire of the Blessed One in my words, ‘I trust you are free from sickness, free from all harms, in good spirits, have your physical strength, and are comfortable and well?’ Child of a good family, you should conduct yourself with care in that buddhafield. If you ask why, it is because bodhisattva great beings who are born in that world system are hard to satisfy. So, beware of harm there.”
Then the bodhisattva great being Nandadatta received from the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Nandaśrī, those golden thousand-petaled lotuses. Accompanied by many hundreds of thousands of tens of millions of billions of bodhisattvas in the form of householders, those gone forth, young men, and young women, he vanished from that buddhafield. After serving, respecting, honoring, and worshiping all the blessed lord buddhas residing and maintaining themselves in the direction of the zenith, as many as there were, with flowers, perfumes, incense, garlands, unguents, powders, robes, ornaments, parasols, victory banners, and flags, through the bodhisattvas’ great miraculous ability and the bodhisattvas’ great power he arrived at the place where the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni resided.
Arriving there, he bowed his head toward the feet of the Blessed One and took a place to one side. Having taken a place to one side, the bodhisattva great being Nandadatta then addressed the Blessed One as follows: “The Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Nandaśrī, has inquired of the Blessed One, ‘I trust you are free from sickness, free from all harms, in good spirits, have your physical strength, and are comfortable and well?’ And the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Nandaśrī, has sent these golden-colored, thousand-petaled lotuses as an offering to you, Blessed Lord.”
The Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni, took those lotuses and scattered them into all the world systems in the direction of the zenith, numerous as the grains of sand of the river Gaṅgā, where the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas resided. Then those lotuses fully covered those world systems, and upon those lotuses many bodies of the tathāgatas were seated, teaching the doctrine that takes these very six perfections as its point of departure. All the beings who heard that teaching of the Dharma also became assured of reaching unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment. And those bodhisattva great beings in the form of householders, those gone forth, young men, and young women also served, respected, honored, and worshiped the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Śākyamuni, through the roots of their respective virtuous actions.
Thereupon, at that moment, minute, and second, the great billionfold world system was completely transformed into the nature of gemstones, replete with scattered flowers, and completely bedecked with tassels and bundles of silk. Various kinds of incense wafted from various containers, and it was completely adorned with wish-fulfilling trees with the tips of their branches bent down with ornaments and various fruits, and with flower trees, fruit trees, fragrance trees, garland trees, powder trees, and incense trees, just like, to illustrate, the world system of Padmavatī, the buddhafield of the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha Samantakusuma, where Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta resides alongside Susthitamati Devaputra and other bodhisattva great beings of mighty splendor.
This completes the first chapter, “Introduction,” from The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.