Chapter 43: Gaṅgadevī
Then a woman named Gaṅgadevī who was present in that assembly rose from her seat, and with her upper robe over one shoulder rested her right knee on the ground. Placing her hands together in the gesture of homage toward the Blessed One, she bowed toward the Blessed One and said, “Blessed Lord, Sugata, I too will complete the six perfections and acquire such a buddhafield as has been described by the Tathāgata, Arhat, perfectly complete Buddha in this Perfection of Wisdom.”
Then that woman took golden flowers, silver flowers, flowers that grow in water, flowers that grow on land, every kind of ornament, and double lengths of fine, golden-colored cotton cloth,1002 and she scattered them toward that place where the Blessed One was. Immediately after she had scattered those flowers, ornaments, and double lengths of fine cotton cloth, by the power of the Buddha they appeared and remained in the sky directly above the head of the Blessed One as an equidimensional, perfectly proportioned, delightful, and pleasant mansion supported by four columns. Then that woman, making common cause with all beings, dedicated that mansion to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment.
At that time the Blessed One understood the aspiration of that woman and smiled. The reality of phenomena as it pertains to the lord buddhas is that when he smiled, many multicolored rays of light issued forth from the Blessed One’s mouth—blue, yellow, red, white, crimson, crystalline, and silver. They extended through infinite and limitless world systems, and then returned, circumambulating the Blessed One clockwise three times before vanishing into the crown of the Blessed One’s head.
Then the venerable Ānanda, rising from his seat, with his upper robe over one shoulder, rested his right knee on the ground, and, placing his hands together in the gesture of homage toward the Blessed One, bowed toward the Blessed One and asked, “Blessed Lord, since the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly complete buddhas do not smile without reason or circumstances, what is the reason and what are the circumstances for your smile?”
“Ānanda,” replied the Blessed One, “this sister named Gaṅgadevī will in the future, in the eon called Tārakopama, appear in the world as the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha named Suvarṇapuṣpa. Ānanda, this is her last birth in a female form. Ānanda, this sister, after this present female form has expired, will acquire a male form and take birth in the realm of Abhirati, the buddhafield of the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Akṣobhya. There he will be chaste in conduct. Ānanda, the name of that bodhisattva great being will also be Suvarṇapuṣpa. Ānanda, when that bodhisattva great being named Suvarṇapuṣpa has died there, he will proceed from buddhafield to buddhafield, and he will never be separated from the lord buddhas. Ānanda, just as a wheel-turning emperor, while he is alive, until the time of his death, may move from palace to palace without his two feet touching the ground, in the same way, Ānanda, the bodhisattva great being Suvarṇapuṣpa will also proceed from buddhafield to buddhafield, until he has fully awakened to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment.”
Then the venerable Ānanda thought, “All the bodhisattva great beings, as many as there are gathered in that buddhafield, should be regarded as a congregation of tathāgatas.”
The Blessed One, comprehending the thoughts in the mind of the venerable Ānanda, then said to the venerable Ānanda, “Ānanda, it is so! It is just as you have thought. All the bodhisattva great beings, as many as there are gathered in the buddhafield of the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Suvarṇapuṣpa, should be regarded as a congregation of tathāgatas. His community of monks will also be immeasurable. It will be impossible to determine the extent of his community of monks by saying that there are so many hundreds of śrāvakas in his community of monks, or that there are so many thousands of śrāvakas in his community of monks, or that there are so many hundreds of thousands of śrāvakas in his community of monks, or that there are so many tens of millions of śrāvakas in his community of monks, or that there are so many billions of śrāvakas in his community of monks, or that there are so many tens of billions of śrāvakas in his community of monks, or that there are so many trillions of śrāvakas in his community of monks, or that there are so many millions of trillions of śrāvakas in his community of monks. Rather, they will number countless, incalculably many hundreds of billions of trillions. Ānanda, in that buddhafield where the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Suvarṇapuṣpa will fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment, all the faults that are taught about in this Perfection of Wisdom will not arise. They will be totally nonexistent.”
Ānanda then asked, “Blessed Lord, having worshiped which tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha, and generated the roots of virtue, did this sister then irreversibly set her mind?”
“Ānanda,” replied the Blessed One, “it was in the presence of the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Dīpaṃkara that this sister generated the roots of virtue, set her mind on unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment, and dedicated those roots of virtue to unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment. And it was also toward the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Dīpaṃkara that she scattered golden flowers in order to strive for unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment.
“Ānanda, at that time, when I scattered five blue lotuses toward the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Dīpaṃkara in order to strive for unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete Buddha Dīpaṃkara knew that I had the roots of virtue, and prophesied that I would attain unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment. At that time, this sister also heard the prophecy about me and set her mind, thinking, ‘Just as it has been prophesied of this brahmin child, may I too in the future be prophesied to attain unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment.’ Ānanda, so it was that this sister initially set her mind on unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment in the presence of that tathāgata, arhat, perfectly complete buddha.”
“Blessed Lord, this sister has made refinements for the sake of unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment,” said Ānanda.
“It is so, Ānanda, it is so!” replied the Blessed One. “It is just as you have said. Ānanda, this sister has made refinements for the sake of unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment.”
This completes the forty-third chapter, “Gaṅgadevī,” from “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.”