The Stem Array · Gaṇḍavyūha

Sudhana went to the householder Sucandra, bowed his head to the feet of the householder Sucandra, stood before him, and, with his palms together in homage, said, “Ārya, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it. Ārya, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas. I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

When he had said that, the householder Sucandra said, “Noble one, I know the bodhisattva liberation called the stainless light of wisdom.

“Noble one, I know only this bodhisattva liberation called the stainless light of wisdom. How could I know the conduct or describe the qualities of the bodhisattvas who have attained countless liberations?

“Depart, noble one. In this southern region there is a town called Roruka. There resides a householder by the name of Ajitasena. Go to him and ask him, ‘How should a bodhisattva train in and practice bodhisattva conduct?’ ”

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, bowed his head to the feet of the householder Sucandra. He circumambulated the householder Sucandra many hundreds of thousands of times, keeping him to his right, and, looking back at him again and again, he departed from the householder Sucandra.