地藏菩薩本願經 白話全本

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “Spiritual Powers in the Palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the first chapter of Fascicle One, from the title at the head of the fascicle down to “the brahmin woman was none other than Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the sūtra and its translator〕（0777c08）The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Fascicle One.（0777c10）Translated by Śikṣānanda (in the Tang tongue, Delight-in-Learning), Tripiṭaka śramaṇa of the country of Khotan under the Tang (a country of the Western Regions; the name is properly pronounced Kusatana, and in the Tang tongue means Earth-Milk).

〔2 · The title of the chapter〕（0777c11）Spiritual Powers in the Palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, Chapter One.

〔3 · The witness of one who heard · the time and place of the teaching〕（0777c12）Thus it was that I myself heard. At one time the Buddha was in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (the text transcribes the name here as Daoli; further down in this chapter it uses the rendering “the Thirty-Three Heaven”), teaching the Dharma for his mother.

〔4 · The buddhas of the ten directions gather and praise〕（0777c12）At that time, out of the measureless worlds of the ten directions, all the buddhas — inexpressible, inexpressible in number — together with the great bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, came and gathered in assembly. They praised Buddha Śākyamuni (Śākya is the clan name, rendered of old as Able in Humaneness; Muni is the style-name, rendered of old as Silent and Still) for being able, in the evil world of the five turbidities (throw dust and earth into clear water and the look of it grows muddied — this is what is called turbidity; and turbidity is of five kinds: the turbidity of the kalpa, the turbidity of views, the turbidity of the afflictions, the turbidity of beings, the turbidity of lifespan), to manifest the inconceivable power of great wisdom and spiritual penetration, taming beings hard and stubborn and hard to transform, so that they might come to know the dharma of suffering and of pleasure. Each of those buddhas sent his attendant to ask after the World-Honored One’s welfare.

〔5 · Ten great light-clouds are sent forth〕（0777c17）At this time the Tathāgata, a smile upon his face, sent forth a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of great light-clouds — namely: the great light-cloud of Complete Fullness, the great light-cloud of Kindness and Compassion, the great light-cloud of Wisdom, the great light-cloud of Prajñā, the great light-cloud of Samādhi, the great light-cloud of Auspiciousness, the great light-cloud of Blessed Merit, the great light-cloud of Merit and Virtue, the great light-cloud of Refuge, the great light-cloud of Praise.

〔6 · Sixteen subtle and wondrous sounds come forth〕（0777c22）Having sent forth light-clouds such as these, inexpressible in number, he then gave forth every kind of subtle and wondrous sound — namely: the sound of the dāna-pāramitā (dāna: giving), the sound of the śīla-pāramitā (śīla: keeping the precepts), the sound of the kṣānti-pāramitā (patience under insult), the sound of the vīrya-pāramitā (vigor), the sound of the dhyāna-pāramitā (meditative concentration), the sound of the prajñā-pāramitā (wisdom), the sound of kindness and compassion, the sound of joy and equanimity, the sound of liberation, the sound of the uncontaminated, the sound of wisdom, the sound of great wisdom, the sound of the lion’s roar, the sound of the great lion’s roar, the sound of cloud and thunder, the sound of great cloud and thunder.

〔7 · The heavenly host gathers like clouds〕（0777c27）Having given forth sounds such as these, inexpressible, inexpressible in number, from the Sahā world and from the lands of other quarters there were measureless koṭis of devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits who likewise gathered to the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Namely: the Heaven of the Four Great Kings, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the Suyāma Heaven, the Tuṣita Heaven, the Heaven of Delighting in Emanation, the Heaven of Mastery over Others’ Emanations (these six heavens belong to the realm of desire); the Heaven of Brahmā’s Retinue, the Heaven of Brahmā’s Ministers, the Great Brahmā Heaven, the Heaven of Lesser Light, the Heaven of Measureless Light, the Heaven of Radiant Sound, the Heaven of Lesser Purity, the Heaven of Measureless Purity, the Heaven of Universal Purity, the Heaven of Merit-Born, the Heaven of Merit-Love, the Heaven of Vast Fruit, the No-Thought Heaven, the Unafflicted Heaven, the Heaven of No Heat, the Heaven of Good Sight, the Heaven of Good Appearance, the Akaniṣṭha Heaven, the Maheśvara Heaven (these belong to the realm of form); and on up to the Heaven of the Sphere of Neither-Perception-nor-Non-Perception (the summit of the formless realm) — the whole host of devas, the host of nāgas, the host of ghosts and spirits, all came and gathered in assembly.

〔8 · The spirits gather〕（0778a06）Furthermore, from the lands of other quarters and from the Sahā world there came the sea spirits, the spirits of the great rivers, the spirits of the rivers, the tree spirits, the mountain spirits, the earth spirits, the spirits of streams and marshes, the spirits of the crops, the spirits of the day, the spirits of the night, the spirits of empty space, the spirits of the heavens, the spirits of food and drink, the spirits of grass and trees — spirits such as these all came and gathered in assembly.

〔9 · The great ghost kings assemble〕（0778a09）Furthermore, from the lands of other quarters and from the Sahā world there came the great ghost kings — namely: the ghost king Evil-Eyed, the ghost king Blood-Devourer, the ghost king Devourer of Vital Essence, the ghost king Devourer of Embryos and Eggs, the ghost king Spreader of Sickness, the ghost king Gatherer of Poison, the ghost king Kindly-Hearted, the ghost king Blessing and Benefit, the ghost king Great Love and Reverence — ghost kings such as these all came and gathered in assembly.

〔10 · The Buddha asks Mañjuśrī the number of the assembly〕（0778a13）At that time Buddha Śākyamuni said to Mañjuśrī, Prince of the Dharma, bodhisattva-mahāsattva: “Look at all these buddhas and bodhisattvas, and at the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits — those of this world and those of other worlds, those of this land and those of other lands — who have come and gathered in assembly today in this way, arriving at the Heaven of the Thirty-Three: do you know their number?”

〔11 · Mañjuśrī says of himself that he cannot know it〕（0778a17）Mañjuśrī said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! If I were to take the measure of it with my own spiritual power for a thousand kalpas, I still could not know it.”

〔12 · Even seen with the buddha-eye the number is not exhausted〕（0778a19）The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: “Even when I look with the buddha-eye, the count of them is still not exhausted. All these are ones whom Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, over kalpas long past, has already delivered, is now delivering, and has yet to deliver; whom he has already brought to accomplishment, is now bringing to accomplishment, and has yet to bring to accomplishment.”

〔13 · Mañjuśrī asks for the practice and vows of the causal ground〕（0778a21）Mañjuśrī said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I in the past have long cultivated roots of goodness and have realized unobstructed wisdom; hearing what the Buddha says, I straightway believe and accept it. But the śrāvakas of the lesser fruit, the eightfold host of devas and nāgas, and the beings of ages to come — though they hear the Tathāgata’s truthful words, they will surely harbor doubt; and even if they force themselves to receive it upon their heads, they will hardly escape giving rise to slander. I pray only that the World-Honored One will expound at length: what practice did Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva perform, and what vow did he set up, on the ground of the cause, that he could accomplish a thing so inconceivable?”

〔14 · The simile of the motes and the kalpas〕（0778a27）The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: “Suppose that all the grasses and trees and thickets and groves, the rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds, the mountains, stones, and fine motes of dust in the great trichiliocosm were each reckoned as one item and each item as one number; and each such number reckoned as one Ganges; and every grain of sand in one Ganges reckoned as one world; and every mote of dust within one world reckoned as one kalpa; and then the number of motes accumulated within one kalpa taken in its entirety as so many kalpas over again. Since Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva realized the fruit-position of the tenth ground, it has been a thousand times longer than the above simile; and how much longer still if one counts back to when Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva was on the grounds of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha. Mañjuśrī! The awesome spiritual power and the vow of this bodhisattva are inconceivable.

〔15 · The benefit of hearing the name and venerating〕（0778b04）If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who hears the name of this bodhisattva, and who either praises him, or gazes upon him and bows, or calls his name, or makes offerings, or even paints and draws, carves and engraves, sculpts and lacquers his image, that person shall gain the recompense of being born a hundred times over in the Thirty-Three Heaven and returning again, and shall never fall into the evil destinies.

〔16 · Past life one · the elder’s son makes his vow〕（0778b07）Mañjuśrī! This Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, in the past, kalpas long ago, inexpressible, inexpressible kalpas ago, was in his person the son of a great elder.（0778b09）At that time there was a buddha in the world whose name was the Tathāgata Lion’s Swiftness, Complete in the Myriad Practices. At that time the elder’s son, seeing the marks and excellences of that buddha and the adornment of his thousandfold blessings, asked that buddha: ”What practice, and what vow, gains one marks such as these?“ At that time the Tathāgata Lion’s Swiftness, Complete in the Myriad Practices, said to the elder’s son: ”If you would realize a body such as this, you must for a long time deliver all beings who undergo suffering.“（0778b14）Mañjuśrī! At that time the elder’s son thereupon made a vow, saying: ”From this day forth, throughout kalpas to come beyond all reckoning, for the sake of these beings of the six destinies who are guilty and suffering I shall set out every kind of skillful means, and only when they have all been brought to liberation shall I myself accomplish the way of a buddha.“ Because he set up this great vow before that buddha, to this day, through a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of nayutas of inexpressible kalpas, he is still a bodhisattva.

〔17 · Past life two · the Tathāgata Flower of Awakening, King Sovereign in Samādhi, and the brahmin woman〕（0778b18）Again, in the past, inconceivable asaṃkhyeya kalpas ago, there was a buddha in the world whose name was the Tathāgata Flower of Awakening, King Sovereign in Samādhi. That buddha’s lifespan was four hundred thousand myriad koṭis of asaṃkhyeya kalpas.（0778b20）In the time of the Semblance Dharma there was a brahmin woman whose blessings from former lives were deep and abundant, and whom all men revered; walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, she was guarded by the gods. Her mother believed in wrong teachings and constantly slighted the Three Jewels. At that time this holy woman set out every kind of skillful means, exhorting and drawing on her mother, so that she might give rise to right view; yet this woman’s mother did not come to complete faith, and before long her life ended, and her spirit fell into the Avīci Hell.

〔18 · She sells the house and makes offerings · the buddha’s voice in the air〕（0778b26）At that time the brahmin woman, knowing that her mother in life had not believed in cause and effect, reckoned that she must have followed her karma and been born into an evil destiny; so she sold her house and lands, sought out incense and flowers in abundance and all manner of offering-implements, and made a great offering in the stūpa-monastery of that former buddha. She saw the image of the Tathāgata Flower of Awakening, King Sovereign in Samādhi, in one of the monasteries, its awesome countenance sculpted and painted, upright and dignified and complete in every part. At that time the brahmin woman gazed upon that honored countenance and bowed, and her reverence and longing grew twofold, and she thought within herself: ”A buddha’s name is Great Awakening, and he is complete in all wisdom. Had he been in the world at the time, then when my mother died, if I had come and asked the Buddha, he would surely have known where she had gone.“ At that time the brahmin woman wept and let her tears fall for a long while, gazing up and yearning toward the Tathāgata.（0778c03）Suddenly she heard a voice in the air that said: ”Weeping holy woman! Do not be so grieved; I shall now show you where your mother has gone.“ The brahmin woman joined her palms toward the empty air and said to the air: ”Whose divine virtue is this, that relieves my anxiety? Since I lost my mother, day and night I have remembered and yearned for her, and there was nowhere I could ask to learn into what realm my mother had been born.“ At that time the voice in the air answered her again: ”I am the one upon whom you gazed and bowed, the past Tathāgata Flower of Awakening, King Sovereign in Samādhi. Seeing that you remember your mother beyond the measure of an ordinary being’s feeling, I have come to tell you.“ When the brahmin woman heard this voice, she threw her whole body down upon the ground, and every limb and joint was injured. Those beside her supported her, and after a long while she revived; and again she said to the air: ”I pray that the Buddha in his compassion may pity me and quickly tell me into what realm my mother has been born. My own body and mind now will not be long before they die.“ At that time the Tathāgata Flower of Awakening, King Sovereign in Samādhi, said to the holy woman: ”When you have finished your offerings, only go home early, sit upright with your body composed, and think upon my name; then you will know where your mother has been born.“

〔19 · She sits upright and recollects the buddha · her body comes to the sea of karma〕（0778c14）At that time the brahmin woman, having bowed to the Buddha, went straight back to her house. Because she remembered her mother, she sat upright with her body composed and recollected the Tathāgata Flower of Awakening, King Sovereign in Samādhi, through one day and one night. Suddenly she saw her own body arrive at the shore of a sea. The waters of that sea surged and boiled, and there were many evil beasts, all of them with bodies of iron, flying and running above the sea and chasing one another east and west. She saw too a great many men and women, in the hundreds of thousands of myriads, rising and sinking in the sea, seized and devoured in the scramble by those evil beasts. She saw too yakṣas, each of a different shape — some with many hands and many eyes, many feet and many heads, the teeth of their mouths thrusting outward, keen as sword-blades — driving those guilty ones on so as to bring them near the evil beasts; and the yakṣas would also strike and seize them themselves, wrenching head and foot together. Those shapes were of ten thousand kinds, and she did not dare to look long. At that time the brahmin woman, by the power of her recollection of the Buddha, was naturally without fear.

〔20 · The questions and answers of the ghost king Poisonless〕（0778c23）There was a ghost king named Poisonless who bowed his head and came forward to meet her, and said to the holy woman: ”Excellent! Bodhisattva, by what cause have you come here?“ At that time the brahmin woman asked the ghost king: ”What place is this?“ Poisonless answered: ”This is the first of the seas on the western side of the Great Iron Ring Mountains.“ The holy woman asked: ”I have heard that within the Iron Ring the hells are to be found. Is that so in fact?“ Poisonless answered: ”There are indeed hells.“ The holy woman asked: ”How is it that I have been able to reach the place of the hells?“ Poisonless answered: ”If it is not by awesome spiritual power, then it must be by the power of karma; without one of these two things, one can never arrive.“ The holy woman asked again: ”By what cause do these waters surge and boil? And why are there so many guilty ones, and evil beasts as well?“ Poisonless answered: ”These are the beings of Jambudvīpa who have done evil and have newly died; after forty-nine days have passed, if there is no descendant after them to perform meritorious deeds on their behalf and rescue them from their suffering and hardship, and if in life they had no wholesome causes either, then according to the hell that their own karma has called forth, they naturally cross this sea first. A hundred thousand yojanas to the east of this sea there is another sea, and the suffering there is twice this one’s; and to the east of that sea there is yet another sea, and the suffering is doubled again. What the evil causes of the three kinds of karma — of body, speech, and mind — have called down upon them is together named the sea of karma, and this is that place.“ The holy woman asked the ghost king Poisonless again: ”Where are the hells?“ Poisonless answered: ”Within the three seas are the great hells, and their number is in the hundreds of thousands, each of them distinct. Of those called great, there are eighteen; next there are five hundred, whose suffering and poison are measureless; next there are a thousand and a hundred, and their suffering too is measureless.“ The holy woman asked the great ghost king again: ”My mother died not long ago; I do not know to what destiny her spirit has gone.“ The ghost king asked the holy woman: ”The bodhisattva’s mother — what deeds did she practise while she lived?“ The holy woman answered: ”My mother held wrong views and mocked and slandered the Three Jewels; and even if now and then she believed for a moment, straightway she was disrespectful again. Though the days since her death are few, I do not know where she has been born.“ Poisonless asked: ”The bodhisattva’s mother — what was the family and clan name?“ The holy woman answered: ”My father and my mother were both of the brahmin caste. My father’s name was Śīla Shanxian, my mother’s name Yuedili.“ Poisonless joined his palms and said to the bodhisattva: ”May the Holy One return to her own place; grieve and remember and pine no more. It is now three days since the guilty woman Yuedili was born into the heavens. It is said to be because a filial child made offerings for her mother and cultivated blessings, giving alms to the stūpa-monastery of the Tathāgata Flower of Awakening, King Sovereign in Samādhi. Not the bodhisattva’s mother alone won release from the hells; on that day the guilty ones of the Avīci Hell should all have received bliss, and were born away together.“ The ghost king finished speaking, joined his palms, and withdrew.

〔21 · The holy woman makes her great vow〕（0779a25）The brahmin woman then returned as from a dream. Having understood this matter, she thereupon set up a great vow before the stūpa and image of the Tathāgata Flower of Awakening, King Sovereign in Samādhi: “I vow that throughout kalpas to come, for whatever beings there are who are guilty and suffering, I shall set out every kind of skillful means and cause them to be liberated.””

〔22 · Past and present joined〕（0779a26）The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: ”The ghost king Poisonless of that time is the present Bodhisattva Foremost in Riches; and the brahmin woman was none other than Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.“

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Assembly of the Divided Bodies” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the second chapter of Fascicle One, from the title of the chapter down to “the wide deliverance nearly done, he will straightway realize bodhi.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0779a29）The Assembly of the Divided Bodies, Chapter Two.

〔2 · The divided bodies of Kṣitigarbha all come and gather〕（0779b01）At that time, out of a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of worlds — beyond thought, beyond discussion, beyond measure, beyond expression, measureless asaṃkhyeyas of them (asaṃkhyeya: here it means a number without limit) — from every place where there was a hell, the divided bodies of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva all came and gathered in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.

〔3 · Each leads the beings he has transformed and holds flowers in offering to the Buddha〕（0779b03）By reason of the Tathāgata’s spiritual power, each of them, together with those transformed in his own quarter — those who had won liberation and come forth out of the paths of karma, and these too were a thousand myriad koṭis of nayutas in number — held incense and flowers together and came to make offerings to the Buddha.

〔4 · All who came together are irreversible through Kṣitigarbha’s teaching〕（0779b05）All those who came together in this way were, by reason of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s teaching and transforming, forever irreversible from unsurpassed perfect awakening (a: un-; uttara: surpassed; samyak: right; sam: universal, and also equal; bodhi: awakening — together, unsurpassed, right, universal and equal awakening).

〔5 · Adrift through long kalpas · each gains the fruit of realization〕（0779b07）These multitudes, over kalpas long past, had drifted in birth-and-death, undergoing suffering in the six destinies, with never a moment’s rest. By reason of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s vast kindness and compassion and his deep vows, each of them had gained the fruit of realization.

〔6 · Having reached the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, they gaze and do not turn away〕（0779b09）Having reached the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, their hearts leapt within them, and they gazed up at the Tathāgata, their eyes not leaving him for a moment.

〔7 · The World-Honored One stretches out his arm and strokes the crowns of the divided bodies〕（0779b10）At that time the World-Honored One stretched forth his golden-hued arm and stroked the crowns of the divided-body Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of worlds — beyond thought, beyond discussion, beyond measure, beyond expression, measureless asaṃkhyeyas of them.

〔8 · The Buddha tells for himself how he tames the hard and stubborn of a turbid age〕（0779b13）And he spoke thus: “In the evil world of the five turbidities (throw dust and earth into clear water and the look of it grows muddied — this is what is called turbidity; and turbidity is of five kinds: the turbidity of the kalpa, the turbidity of views, the turbidity of the afflictions, the turbidity of beings, the turbidity of lifespan) I teach and transform beings hard and stubborn such as these, so that their minds are tamed and they forsake the wrong and return to the right. In one or two out of ten, the evil habits are still there.

〔9 · The Buddha too divides his body · four grades of capacity〕（0779b15）“I too divide my body into a thousand hundred koṭis and set out every kind of skillful means. Some are of keen faculties and believe and accept as soon as they hear. Some have wholesome fruits and are brought to accomplishment by earnest exhortation. Some are dull and dim and turn back only after long transforming. Some are heavy with karma and give rise to no reverence.

〔10 · Each of them different · the body is divided to deliver them〕（0779b18）“Beings of these several sorts, each of them different — and so I divide my body and deliver them.

〔11 · Manifesting bodily form in every way〕（0779b19）“Sometimes I manifest the body of a man, sometimes the body of a woman, sometimes the body of a deva or a nāga, sometimes the body of a spirit or a ghost; sometimes I manifest a mountain, a forest, a stream, a plain, a river, a pool, a spring, a well — whatever brings benefit to people, all of it I use to deliver them. Sometimes I manifest the body of a lord of the devas, sometimes the body of a Brahmā king, sometimes the body of a wheel-turning king (the Sanskrit name is transcribed cakra-varti-rāja), sometimes the body of a householder (the Sanskrit is kulapati), sometimes the body of a king of a country, sometimes the body of a chief minister, sometimes the body of an official, sometimes the body of a bhikṣu (the sense is ‘mendicant,’ and it is rendered also ‘remover of dearth’), a bhikṣuṇī, an upāsaka (upāsaka, in the Tang tongue, a man in close attendance), an upāsikā (upāsikā, a woman in close attendance), and on to the bodies of śrāvakas, arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas, and by these I transform and deliver. It is not that the buddha-body alone appears before them.

〔12 · Behold my toil through accumulated kalpas〕（0779b26）“Behold my toil and hardship through accumulated kalpas, delivering beings such as these, hard to transform, hard and stubborn, guilty and suffering. As for those not yet tamed, they follow their karma and undergo its requital.

〔13 · Remember the entrustment in the palace of heaven〕（0779b27）“If they fall into an evil destiny and are undergoing great suffering, then you should remember that I, in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, earnestly entrusted this to you: to bring it about that the beings of the Sahā world, from now until Maitreya (Maitreya, in the Tang tongue, the Kindly One) comes forth into the world, are all brought to liberation, forever parted from every suffering, and meet a buddha who confers on them the prediction.”

〔14 · The divided bodies join again into one form〕（0779c01）At that time the divided bodies of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva from all the worlds joined again into one form, and weeping tears in grief and longing said to their Buddha:

〔15 · Taken in hand by the Buddha · gaining penetration and complete in wisdom〕（0779c03）“From kalpas long past I have been taken in hand and led on by the Buddha, so that I gained inconceivable spiritual power and was made complete in great wisdom.

〔16 · Bodies divided through worlds as sands · delivering people into refuge in the Three Jewels〕（0779c04）“The bodies I have divided fill a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of worlds numerous as the sands of the Ganges. In every one of those worlds I transform myself into a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of bodies. Every one of those bodies delivers a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of people, causing them to take refuge in and revere the Three Jewels, to be forever parted from birth-and-death, and to reach the bliss of nirvāṇa.

〔17 · Even a hair’s worth or a drop’s worth of good is delivered by degrees〕（0779c07）“Only let there be, within the Buddha’s Dharma, a good deed done — one hair, one drop, one grain of sand, one mote of dust, or so much as a hair’s breadth — and I will deliver such a one by degrees and cause him to gain great benefit.

〔18 · Said three times · may the World-Honored One not be anxious〕（0779c09）“I pray only that the World-Honored One will not be anxious over the beings of later ages who do evil karma.” Thus three times he said to the Buddha: “I pray only that the World-Honored One will not be anxious over the beings of later ages who do evil karma.”

〔19 · The Buddha praises Kṣitigarbha〕（0779c11）At that time the Buddha praised Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, saying: “Excellent! Excellent! I join in your gladness. You are able to bring to accomplishment the great vow you set up in kalpas long past; and the wide deliverance nearly done, you will straightway realize bodhi.”

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “Contemplating the Karmic Conditions of Beings” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the third chapter of Fascicle One, from the title of the chapter down to “when Lady Māyā had heard this, she joined her palms in sorrow and care, bowed her head to the ground, and withdrew.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0779c14）Contemplating the Karmic Conditions of Beings, Chapter Three.

〔2 · The holy mother opens the questioning〕（0779c15）At that time the Buddha’s mother, Lady Māyā (in Sanskrit Mahāmāyā, rendered of old as Great Art, and rendered also as Great Illusion), reverently joined her palms and asked Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva: “Holy One (in Sanskrit ārya, rendered ‘holy one’; the sense is that there is nothing in affairs he does not penetrate)! The beings of Jambudvīpa make karma each differently, and as for the requital they undergo — how does that matter stand?”

〔3 · The realms are not alike, and the requital of guilt is not of one grade〕（0779c17）Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva answered: “In a thousand myriad worlds, and on to a thousand myriad lands, some have hells and some have no hells; some have women and some have no women; some have the Buddha’s Dharma and some have no Buddha’s Dharma; and so too, on to śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, it is likewise unfixed whether they are there or not. It is not the hells alone: the requital of guilt too is not of one grade.”

〔4 · She asks again for the requital of guilt in Jambudvīpa〕（0779c20）Lady Māyā said to the bodhisattva a second time: “I pray only to hear of the requital of guilt in Jambudvīpa, and of the evil destinies it calls forth.”

〔5 · He consents, and first says that he will speak coarsely〕（0779c21）Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva answered: “Holy mother! I pray only that you will hear and receive it; I shall speak of it coarsely.” The Buddha’s mother said: “I pray that the Holy One will speak.”

〔6 · Setting out in sum the names of the requital of guilt〕（0779c23）At that time Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva said to the holy mother: “The requital of guilt in southern Jambudvīpa — its names are these:

〔7 · Guilt one · unfilial toward father and mother〕（0779c24）“If there be beings unfilial toward father and mother, or who go so far as to kill them, they shall fall into the Avīci Hell (the name means Uninterrupted), and through a thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas they shall seek to come out with no term of coming out.

〔8 · Guilt two · drawing the Buddha’s blood, slandering the Three Jewels〕（0779c25）“If there be beings who draw blood from the Buddha’s body, who slander the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṃgha, the Three Jewels, and who do not revere the honored scriptures, they too shall fall into the Avīci Hell, and through a thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas they shall seek to come out with no term of coming out.

〔9 · Guilt three · encroaching on the Permanent Property, defiling monks and nuns〕（0779c28）“If there be beings who encroach upon and damage the Permanent Property (in Sanskrit saṃghika — that is, what the saṃgha of the ten directions holds in common), who defile bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs, or who within a monastery (in Sanskrit saṃghārāma, rendered ‘the assembly’s garden’ — that is, the dwelling of the saṃgha) give free rein to lust, or who kill or do harm — people of this sort shall fall into the Avīci Hell, and through a thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas they shall seek to come out with no term of coming out.

〔10 · Guilt four · falsely acting the śramaṇa, breaking up and using the Permanent Property〕（0780a01）“If there be beings who falsely act the śramaṇa (the general designation for one who has left the household) while in mind they are no śramaṇa, who break up and use the Permanent Property, who cheat and deceive the white-robed laity, who go against the precepts and the discipline, and who do evil in every kind of way — people of this sort shall fall into the Avīci Hell, and through a thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas they shall seek to come out with no term of coming out.

〔11 · Guilt five · stealing the goods of the Permanent Property〕（0780a04）“If there be beings who steal the goods and property of the Permanent Property, its grain and rice, its food and drink, its clothing, and on to any who take one single thing that is not given, they shall fall into the Avīci Hell, and through a thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas they shall seek to come out with no term of coming out.”

〔12 · The conclusion · the fivefold Avīci Hell〕（0780a06）Kṣitigarbha said: “Holy mother! If there be beings who commit guilt such as this, they shall fall into the fivefold Avīci Hell, and though they seek that the suffering stop for a while, they shall not get so much as the space of a single thought.”

〔13 · She asks again about the name Uninterrupted〕（0780a08）Lady Māyā said to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva a second time: “Why is it named the Uninterrupted Hell?”

〔14 · The sum of all the hells〕（0780a09）Kṣitigarbha said: “Holy mother! All the hells there are lie within the Great Iron Ring Mountains (in Sanskrit cakra, rendered Wheel Mountain; the ring of the name has the sense of a wheel). Of these the great hells are eighteen in number; next there are five hundred, and their names are each distinct; next again there are a thousand and a hundred, and their names too are each distinct.

〔15 · The measure of the walled city of the Avīci〕（0780a12）“As for the Avīci hell, the walled city of that hell is more than eighty thousand li about; the city is of solid iron and ten thousand li in height; upon the walls the fires gather in heaps, and there is little in the way of empty gap. Within that walled city the several hells stand joined one to another, and their names are each distinct.

〔16 · One hell alone · fire, and the iron snakes and dogs〕（0780a14）“There is one hell alone, and its name is Uninterrupted. That hell is eighteen thousand li about, and the wall of the hell is a thousand li high, and it is all made of iron; the fire above pierces down below, and the fire below pierces up above. Iron snakes and iron dogs spew fire and chase one another, running east and west upon the wall of the hell.

〔17 · The bed within the hell〕（0780a17）“Within the hell there is a bed, and it stretches to the full ten thousand li. When one person undergoes his guilt there, he sees his own body lying stretched out and filling the whole bed; and when a thousand myriad people undergo their guilt, each of them likewise sees his own body filling the bed.

〔18 · What the manifold karma calls forth〕（0780a19）“What the manifold karma calls forth: such is the requital obtained.

〔19 · Yakṣas and evil ghosts〕（0780a20）“Further, those guilty ones undergo every kind of suffering to the full. There are a thousand hundred yakṣas, and evil ghosts besides, the teeth of their mouths like sword-blades, their eyes like the flash of lightning, and their hands moreover with claws of bronze, dragging and hauling the guilty ones. And there are yakṣas who take up great iron halberds (a weapon: the single-branched is called a dagger-axe, the double-branched a halberd) and strike the bodies of the guilty ones, or strike them in the mouth and nose, or strike them in the belly and back, tossing them into the air and catching them again on the turn of the hand, or laying them upon the bed.

〔20 · Iron eagles and iron snakes, and the manifold sufferings〕（0780a24）“And there are iron eagles that peck and devour the eyes of the guilty ones. And there are iron snakes that coil about the necks of the guilty ones. Within their hundred limbs and joints long nails are driven throughout; the tongue is drawn out and plowed like a field; the bowels are pulled forth and hacked and chopped; molten copper is poured into the mouth; and heated iron is wound about the body.

〔21 · Ten thousand deaths and a thousand births · lodged on from place to place〕（0780a26）“Ten thousand deaths and a thousand births: such is what karma calls forth. At the least stirring, koṭis of kalpas are passed through, and they seek to come out with no term of coming out. When this world is destroyed, they are lodged in another world; when that other world is destroyed in its turn, they are shifted and lodged in another quarter; and when that other quarter is destroyed, they are passed on and lodged from one to the next in this way. After this world is formed again, they come back once more. Such is the matter of the requital of guilt in the Avīci.

〔22 · Five matters that karma calls forth〕（0780b01）“Further, there are five matters that karma calls forth, and therefore it is called Uninterrupted. What are the five?

〔23 · The first · no time at which it is interrupted or severed〕（0780b01）“First: day and night they undergo their guilt, on to the number of the kalpas, and there is no time at which it is interrupted or severed; and therefore it is called Uninterrupted.

〔24 · The second · one person also fills it, many people also fill it〕（0780b02）“Second: one person also fills it, and many people also fill it; and therefore it is called Uninterrupted.

〔25 · The third · the implements of suffering with no break〕（0780b03）“Third: the implements of guilt — forks and cudgels; eagles, snakes, wolves, and dogs; pestle and mill, saw and chisel; chopper and hatchet and cauldron of boiling water; iron nets and iron ropes; iron asses and iron horses; the head bound about with raw hide; heated iron poured over the body; iron pellets swallowed down when hungry; iron liquor drunk when thirsty. From the year through to the end of the kalpa, to the number of nayutas (nayuta, the name of a very great number), the torments follow one upon another with no break at all; and therefore it is called Uninterrupted.

〔26 · The fourth · without asking of what kind〕（0780b07）“Fourth: without asking whether man or woman; without asking whether Qiang, Hu, Yi, or Di (the peoples of the far regions of the four quarters); without asking whether old or young, noble or base; and whether nāga or spirit, or god or ghost — what the deeds of guilt call forth is undergone by all alike; and therefore it is called Uninterrupted.

〔27 · The fifth · ten thousand deaths and ten thousand births〕（0780b09）“Fifth: if one falls into this hell, then from the moment of first entering, on to a hundred thousand kalpas, within one day and one night there are ten thousand deaths and ten thousand births; and though one seek to stay a while, the space of a single thought, one cannot. Only when the karma is exhausted may one come to be born again. Because it runs on unbroken in this way, therefore it is called Uninterrupted.”

〔28 · What cannot be told to the end〕（0780b12）Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva said to the holy mother: “The Avīci Hell, coarsely spoken of, is such as this. If one were to speak at length of the names of the implements of guilt in the hells and of the manifold matters of suffering, then in the space of a whole kalpa one would seek to tell it and not come to the end.”

〔29 · The holy mother bows and withdraws〕（0780b14）When Lady Māyā had heard this, she joined her palms in sorrow and care, bowed her head to the ground, and withdrew.

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Karmic Impulsions of the Beings of Jambudvīpa” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the fourth chapter of Fascicle One, from the title of the chapter down to “the four heavenly kings, having heard it, wept and sighed in grief, joined their palms, and withdrew.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0780b16）The Karmic Impulsions of the Beings of Jambudvīpa, Chapter Four. (Jambudvīpa is the name of the southern continent, which takes its name from the jambu tree that grows upon it; karmic impulsion is what the karma of beings calls forth.)

〔2 · Kṣitigarbha restates the entrustment · by the Buddha’s power he divides his body〕（0780b17）At that time Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Because I am upheld by the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha, the Tathāgata, I go throughout a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of worlds, dividing this bodily form of mine, and rescue and draw out all beings who undergo the requital of karma. Were it not for the power of the Tathāgata’s great kindness, I could not work transformations such as these.

〔3 · Entrusted by the Buddha to deliver the beings of the six destinies〕（0780b20）Now I have received the Buddha’s entrustment besides: that until Ajita (the clan name of Maitreya, rendered of old as Unconquerable) shall have become a buddha, the beings of the six destinies are all committed to me, that I may cause them to be delivered.

〔4 · Kṣitigarbha sets the Buddha’s mind at rest〕（0780b22）Yes indeed, World-Honored One: I pray that you will have no anxiety.”

〔5 · The Buddha shows that the nature-consciousness has no fixity〕（0780b22）At that time the Buddha said to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva: “Of all beings, those who are not yet liberated — their nature-consciousness has no settled measure. Evil habits knot into karma, good habits knot into fruit; doing good and doing evil alike arise following upon whatever situation is met with. They turn about in the five destinies without a moment’s rest, and pass through kalpas as many as motes of dust, hemmed in by delusion and by obstruction and hardship.

〔6 · The simile of the fish that swims into the net〕（0780b25）It is like a fish swimming into a net and borne along in that long current: it seems to have slipped out, it gets out for a moment, and then it meets the net again.

〔7 · The Buddha holds beings in his anxious thought〕（0780b26）For beings such as these I must be anxious and hold them in mind.

〔8 · Since you have vowed to deliver the guilty, what have I to be anxious about〕（0780b27）Since you have already fulfilled the vows of former ages, and through kalpas upon kalpas have pledged yourself again and again, delivering at large the company of the guilty — what have I still to be anxious about?”

〔9 · King Sovereign in Samādhi asks about the original vows of kalpas past〕（0780b28）While these words were being spoken, there was in the assembly a bodhisattva-mahāsattva named King Sovereign in Samādhi, who said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, through kalpas upon kalpas, has made what vows, each in its turn? And now he has the World-Honored One’s earnest praise. I pray only that the World-Honored One will speak of them in brief.”

〔10 · The Buddha bids him listen and consents to speak〕（0780c02）At that time the World-Honored One said to the Bodhisattva King Sovereign in Samādhi: “Listen well! Listen well! Think upon it and bear it well in mind, and I shall expound it to you point by point.

〔11 · Past life one · the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom and the king of a small country〕（0780c04）Long ago in the past, measureless asaṃkhyeya nayutas of inexpressible kalpas ago, there was in that time a buddha whose name was the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom — Worthy of Offerings, Rightly and Universally Awakened, Complete in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, World-Honored One (the ten epithets of a tathāgata); and that buddha’s lifespan was sixty thousand kalpas.（0780c07）Before he had left the household life he was, in his person, the king of a small country, and he made a friend of the king of a neighboring country, and together they practised the ten good acts and benefited beings.

〔12 · The two kings make their vows〕（0780c09）Within that neighboring country all the people were doing much evil of every kind. The two kings took counsel and reckoned together, and set out every kind of skillful means.（0780c10）One king vowed: to accomplish the way of a buddha early, and then to deliver such a company as this and leave none of them over. One king vowed: if I do not first deliver to the end those who are guilty and suffering, and bring them to peace and cause them to reach awakening, I will to the end not vow to become a buddha.”

〔13 · Past and present of the two kings joined〕（0780c12）The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva King Sovereign in Samādhi: “The king who vowed to become a buddha early is the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom. The king who vowed to deliver the beings who are guilty and suffering forever, and would not first become a buddha, is Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.

〔14 · Past life two · the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes〕（0780c15）Again, in the past, measureless asaṃkhyeya kalpas ago, there was a buddha who appeared in the world named the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes, and that buddha’s lifespan was forty kalpas.

〔15 · The arhat and Bright Eyes〕（0780c17）In the time of the Semblance Dharma there was an arhat who delivered beings by means of blessings.（0780c18）Teaching and transforming as he came to each in turn, he met with a woman whose name was Bright Eyes, and she prepared food and offered it to him.（0780c19）The arhat asked her: “What is it that you would ask for?” Bright Eyes answered: “On the day my mother died I set about rescuing and drawing her out by the blessings I could raise; only I do not know into what destiny my mother has been born.”

〔16 · The arhat enters concentration and sees her mother〕（0780c20）The arhat took pity on her and entered concentration for her sake and contemplated, and saw that the mother of the woman Bright Eyes had fallen into an evil destiny and was undergoing the utmost suffering.（0780c22）The arhat asked Bright Eyes: “What deeds did your mother practise while she was alive? She is now in an evil destiny, undergoing the utmost suffering.”

〔17 · Bright Eyes tells what her mother was habituated to〕（0780c23）Bright Eyes answered: “What my mother was habituated to was this: she liked nothing so much as eating fish and turtles. Of the fish and turtles she ate, it was mostly their young that she ate; now she had them fried, now boiled, eating as her appetite pleased. Reckon up the number of those lives, and it is a thousand myriads and doubled again. Venerable one, in your kindness and pity, how may she be saved?”

〔18 · The arhat teaches her to recollect the Buddha and to make an image〕（0780c26）The arhat took pity on her and set out a skillful means for her, exhorting Bright Eyes: “With utmost sincerity you may recollect the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes, and sculpt and paint his image besides; the living and the dead alike will obtain the fruit of it.”

〔19 · Bright Eyes paints the image and makes offerings and bows〕（0780c28）When Bright Eyes had heard this, she straightway gave up what she loved, and straightway had the buddha’s image painted and made offerings to it; and with a reverent mind besides, weeping and grieving, she gazed upon it and bowed.

〔20 · By night she sees the Buddha in a dream〕（0781a01）Suddenly, after nightfall, she saw in a dream the body of the Buddha, golden in color and shining bright, like Mount Sumeru, sending forth a great light;（0781a02）and he said to Bright Eyes: “Your mother will before long be born in your own house; as soon as she feels hunger and cold she will speak.”

〔21 · The bondmaid’s child speaks · it declares that it is the mother〕（0781a03）After this, within the house, a bondmaid bore a son; and before three days were out he spoke. He bowed his head, wept in grief, and said to Bright Eyes: “The karmic conditions of birth and death — the fruit of them is borne by oneself. I am your mother, and long I have dwelt in the dark and the gloom. Since I parted from you I have fallen again and again into the great hells. Upheld by the power of your blessings, I have at last been able to take birth; but as a person of low station, and short-lived besides — my years are to be thirteen, and then I shall fall into the evil destinies again. Have you any means by which I may be got free?”

〔22 · Bright Eyes asks closely after the root of the guilt〕（0781a08）When Bright Eyes heard him speak so, she knew beyond doubt that it was her mother; choking and sobbing in grief, she said to the bondmaid’s son: “Since you are my mother, you must know the guilt that is your own. What deeds did you do, that you fell into the evil destinies?”（0781a10）The bondmaid’s son answered: “It was by the two deeds of killing and harming, and of abusing and reviling, that I underwent this requital. Had I not been upheld by the power of blessings and rescued and drawn out of my hardship, then by reason of that karma I should not yet have been fit for liberation.”

〔23 · She turns and asks about the requital of guilt in the hells〕（0781a12）Bright Eyes asked: “The requital of guilt in the hells — what sort of thing is that?” The bondmaid’s son answered: “The matter of that guilt and that suffering I cannot bear to speak of; a hundred thousand years would not be enough to tell it to the end.”

〔24 · Bright Eyes makes her vow toward the air · that the requital of the present birth be escaped〕（0781a14）When Bright Eyes had heard it, she wept aloud and let her tears fall, and said toward the empty air: “I vow that my mother be free of the hells forever; that when these thirteen years are full she may have no grave guilt again, and pass through the evil destinies no more.

〔25 · That the requital of the births to come be escaped〕（0781a16）Buddhas of the ten directions, in kindness and compassion take pity on me and hear the vast vow I make for my mother’s sake: if my mother may be parted forever from the three evil paths (the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals), and from this body of low station, and even from the body of a woman, never through eternal kalpas to undergo them again —

〔26 · Before the buddha’s image she sets up her great vow〕（0781a18）then I vow that from this day forth, before the image of the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes, throughout the hundred thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas hereafter, for all the beings who are guilty and suffering in all the hells and in the three evil destinies of whatever worlds there are, I vow to rescue and draw them out, and to cause them to leave the hells, the evil destinies, the animals, the hungry ghosts, and the rest. Only when all such people of karmic requital have finished becoming buddhas shall I then accomplish right awakening.”

〔27 · The Buddha sanctions her and tells of the turning of the requital〕（0781a23）When she had made the vow, she heard in full the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes saying to her: “Bright Eyes! Great is your kindness and pity, that you can so well make a great vow such as this for your mother’s sake. I contemplate your mother: when the thirteen years are full, she will lay down this body of requital and be born a brahman (properly rendered Pure Progeny; that is, a brahmin), with a lifespan of a hundred years; and when that requital is past she will be born into the Land Without Sorrow, with a lifespan of kalpas beyond reckoning; and afterward she will accomplish the fruit of buddhahood and deliver gods and humans at large, in numbers like the sands of the Ganges.””

〔28 · Past and present joined〕（0781a28）The Buddha said to King Sovereign in Samādhi: “The arhat of that time, who delivered Bright Eyes by means of blessings, is Bodhisattva Inexhaustible Intention. The mother of Bright Eyes is Bodhisattva Liberation. The woman Bright Eyes is Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.

〔29 · The great vow pointed out in sum〕（0781b01）In kalpas long past he was thus kind and pitying, and made vows as many as the sands of the Ganges, delivering beings at large.

〔30 · Those who do evil are liberated by taking refuge and paying reverence〕（0781b03）In ages to come, if there be a man or a woman who does no good, who does evil, or who does not so much as believe in cause and effect, who commits wrong lust and false speech, who speaks with a double tongue and with harsh words, who slanders the Great Vehicle — beings of such deeds as these will surely fall into the evil destinies.（0781b06）But if they should meet a good friend who exhorts them to take refuge in Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva in the space of a single snap of the fingers, these beings straightway obtain liberation from the requital of the three evil destinies.

〔31 · Those who serve him with a whole mind receive blessings〕（0781b07）And if any can take refuge and pay reverence with a whole mind, and gaze upon him and bow and praise him, with incense, flowers, clothing, and jewels of every kind, or with food and drink besides — those who serve him thus shall, through the hundred thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas to come, dwell always among the gods and receive surpassing and wondrous bliss. And when their blessings among the gods are spent and they are born below among humankind, they shall still for a hundred thousand kalpas be kings and emperors, able to recall the lives of former ages and the whole course of cause and effect.

〔32 · The spiritual power shown in conclusion · the charge to transmit the sūtra〕（0781b11）King Sovereign in Samādhi! Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva is thus, and has an inconceivable and great awesome spiritual power such as this, and benefits beings at large. You bodhisattvas should bear this sūtra in mind and proclaim it and spread it abroad.”

〔33 · King Sovereign in Samādhi accepts the charge〕（0781b14）King Sovereign in Samādhi said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I pray that you will have no anxiety. We thousand myriad koṭis of bodhisattva-mahāsattvas will surely be able, upheld by the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power, to expound this sūtra at large throughout Jambudvīpa and benefit beings.”

〔34 · Having spoken, he reverently withdraws〕（0781b16）When the Bodhisattva King Sovereign in Samādhi had spoken thus to the World-Honored One, he joined his palms in reverence, made obeisance, and withdrew.

〔35 · The four heavenly kings raise their question〕（0781b18）At that time the heavenly kings of the four quarters rose together from their seats, joined their palms in reverence, and said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva has from kalpas long past made a great vow such as this. How is it that to this day he has still not finished delivering, and pledges himself yet again with a vast vow? We pray only that the World-Honored One will explain it for us.”

〔36 · The Buddha consents to speak for them〕（0781b21）The Buddha said to the four heavenly kings: “Excellent! Excellent! Today, for your sakes and for the sakes of the hosts of gods and humans to come and now present, and for the sake of benefiting at large, I shall speak of the skillful means whereby Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, in the Sahā world, within Jambudvīpa, upon the road of birth and death, in kindness and pity rescues and draws out and delivers all the beings who are guilty and suffering.”

〔37 · The four heavenly kings wish to hear〕（0781b25）The four heavenly kings said: “Yes indeed, World-Honored One! We wish and are glad to hear it.”

〔38 · The reason for the renewed vow shown in brief〕（0781b25）The Buddha said to the four heavenly kings: “From kalpas long past down to this day, Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, in delivering beings, has not yet fulfilled his vow. He takes pity in kindness upon the beings of this world who are guilty and suffering, and he contemplates besides the measureless kalpas to come, in which the causes spread like vines and are not cut off; and for this reason he has pledged himself again with a further vow.

〔39 · The skillful means shown in sum〕（0781b29）Thus this bodhisattva, in the Sahā world, within Jambudvīpa, teaches and transforms by a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of skillful means.

〔40 · Karma and requital set side by side · three items, the three deeds of the body〕（0781c01）Four heavenly kings! If Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva meets one who kills living beings, he speaks for him of the requital of calamity from former lives and of a short life; if he meets one who steals and robs, he speaks for him of the requital of poverty and bitter hardship; if he meets one who commits wrong lust, he speaks for him of the requital of being born a peacock, a dove, or a mandarin duck.

〔41 · Two items, the deeds of speech〕（0781c03）If he meets one who speaks harshly, he speaks for him of the requital of kin who quarrel and contend among themselves; if he meets one who slanders, he speaks for him of the requital of having no tongue and of sores in the mouth.

〔42 · Three items, the deeds of mind〕（0781c05）If he meets one who is wrathful and hateful, he speaks for him of the requital of an ugly appearance and a body crippled and maimed; if he meets one who is miserly and grudging, he speaks for him of the requital of what he seeks going against his wish; if he meets one who eats and drinks without measure, he speaks for him of the requital of hunger and thirst and of disease in the throat.

〔43 · Five items, miscellaneous deeds〕（0781c07）If he meets one who hunts and gives free rein to his impulses, he speaks for him of the requital of fright and madness and the loss of life; if he meets one who defies and rebels against father and mother, he speaks for him of the requital of calamity from heaven and earth that kills; if he meets one who sets fire to the trees of mountain and forest, he speaks for him of the requital of madness and bewilderment that takes his own death upon him; if he meets one who bears venom toward the children of a former or a later marriage, or toward a stepfather or stepmother, he speaks for him of the requital of being flogged in return, undergone in this present life; if he meets one who nets and traps newly hatched fledglings, he speaks for him of the requital of flesh and bone parted from one another.

〔44 · Four items, the Three Jewels〕（0781c11）If he meets one who slanders the Three Jewels, he speaks for him of the requital of blindness, deafness, and dumbness; if he meets one who makes light of the Dharma and slights the teaching, he speaks for him of the requital of dwelling in the evil destinies forever; if he meets one who destroys or takes to his own use what belongs to the permanent abode, he speaks for him of the requital of turning in the hells for koṭis of kalpas; if he meets one who defiles those of pure conduct and falsely accuses the saṃgha, he speaks for him of the requital of being among the animals forever.

〔45 · Six items, miscellaneous deeds〕（0781c15）If he meets one who harms living beings with scalding water, with fire, or with hacking and cutting, he speaks for him of the requital of repaying it turn by turn through the round of rebirth; if he meets one who breaks the precepts and violates the fast, he speaks for him of the requital of hunger as a bird or a beast; if he meets one who wantonly ruins and squanders what is for use, he speaks for him of the requital of what he seeks being wanting and cut off; if he meets one who clings to self and is haughty and overweening, he speaks for him of the requital of being a menial of low station; if he meets one who sets others at odds with a double tongue and stirs up strife, he speaks for him of the requital of having no tongue, or of having a hundred tongues; if he meets one who holds wrong views, he speaks for him of the requital of being born in a borderland.

〔46 · The differences that karma calls forth, shown in conclusion〕（0781c19）Beings of Jambudvīpa such as these, in the three deeds of body, speech, and mind, have their evil habits knot into evil fruit, and a hundred thousand requitals answer to them; today I have told it only coarsely and in brief. The differences that the karma of beings of Jambudvīpa such as these calls forth — Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva teaches and transforms them by a hundred thousand kinds of skillful means.

〔47 · The charge to protect the people and protect the country〕（0781c22）These beings first undergo requitals such as those spoken of above, and only then fall into the hells, passing through kalpas without number, with no time appointed for coming out. Therefore you are to protect the people and protect the country, and not let these several karmas delude beings.”

〔48 · The four heavenly kings withdraw in grief〕（0781c25）When the four heavenly kings had heard it, they wept and sighed in grief, joined their palms, and withdrew.

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Names of the Hells” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the fifth chapter of Fascicle One, from the title of the chapter down to “were it explained at large, kalpas would run out before it was done.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0781c26）The Names of the Hells, Chapter Five.

〔2 · Samantabhadra asks that the names of the hells be spoken〕（0781c27）At that time Samantabhadra Bodhisattva-mahāsattva said to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva: “Benevolent one! I pray that for the fourfold host of devas and nāgas (the devas, the nāgas, and the two other kinds who make up the four classes of hearers in the assembly), and for all beings of ages to come and of the present age, you will speak of the places where the beings of the Sahā world and of Jambudvīpa who are guilty and suffering undergo their requital — the names of the hells, and the matter of their evil requital and the rest — so that the beings of the last age of the Dharma in ages to come may know that these are the fruits of their deeds.”

〔3 · Kṣitigarbha, upheld by the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power, consents to speak〕（0782a02）Kṣitigarbha answered: “Benevolent one! Today, upheld by the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power and by the strength of the great being (an honorific for Samantabhadra), I shall speak in brief of the names of the hells and of the matter of the requital of guilt and of evil.

〔4 · The place of the hells shown in sum · the Iron Ring Mountains〕（0782a03）Benevolent one, in the east of Jambudvīpa there is a mountain called the Iron Ring (in Sanskrit cakra, rendered by sense as Wheel Mountain; the ring is precisely the sense of a wheel). That mountain is black and deep, and has no light of sun or moon.

〔5 · The two great hells that are the principals〕（0782a05）There is a great hell called Utmost Uninterrupted. There is also a hell named Great Avīci (a- has the sense of no, and -vīci the sense of screening off, some giving it as saving — taken together, no screening off and no saving).

〔6 · The twenty-two names of the retinue hells〕（0782a06）There is a further hell called Four-Cornered (four walls of iron, with fire and iron raining down from above). There is a further hell called Flying Blades (that is, the hell of the blade-wheels; the blade-wheels come down out of the air one after another like drops of rain). There is a further hell called Fire Arrows (one trip of the mechanism beneath the iron bed, and ten thousand koṭis of iron crossbows loose their bolts together). There is a further hell called Crushing Mountains (two mountains close upon each other of themselves, like a millstone). There is a further hell called Piercing Spears (the spear is a lance, a long pike; the whole way is spread with sword-blades on the ground, and to walk over it is to be bored and pierced at every step). There is a further hell called Iron Carts. There is a further hell called Iron Bed. There is a further hell called Iron Ox. There is a further hell called Iron Garments (garments of iron heated red drop out of the air and wrap themselves about the skin and flesh). There is a further hell called A Thousand Blades (upon the great sword-bed a hundred koṭis of sword-blades, and every blade gives out fire). There is a further hell called Iron Donkey. There is a further hell called Molten Copper (molten, that is, made to run; molten copper is poured into the mouth). There is a further hell called Embracing the Pillar (a pillar of copper heated red, which the guilty are made to embrace). There is a further hell called Flowing Fire. There is a further hell called Ploughing the Tongue (the tongue is drawn out and an ox is set to plough it). There is a further hell called Chopping the Head (to chop is to cut to pieces; his head is cut to pieces). There is a further hell called Burning Feet (seen from without it looks like a level stretch of open ground, but it is hot ash; set one foot down on it and the skin and flesh are at once destroyed). There is a further hell called Devouring the Eyes (to devour is to eat; birds with beaks of iron peck out and eat both eyes of the guilty). There is a further hell called Iron Pellets. There is a further hell called Contention. There is a further hell called Iron Axe (the fu is an axe). There is a further hell called Much Anger.”

〔7 · The number of the hells is without limit〕（0782a17）Kṣitigarbha said: “Benevolent one! Within the Iron Ring Mountains there are hells such as these, and their number is without limit.

〔8 · Twenty-two hells whose names are different〕（0782a18）There are besides the Hell of Wailing, the Hell of Tongue-Pulling, the Hell of Dung and Urine, the Hell of Copper Locks, the Hell of Fire Elephants, the Hell of Fire Dogs, the Hell of Fire Horses, the Hell of Fire Oxen, the Hell of Fire Mountains, the Hell of Fire Stones, the Hell of Fire Beds, the Hell of Fire Beams (a beam is a roof-beam; the beams and pillars of iron are every one of them fire, and one is either hung from a beam and burned or pressed under it and burned), the Hell of Fire Hawks, the Hell of Sawing the Teeth, the Hell of Flaying the Skin, the Hell of Drinking Blood, the Hell of Burning Hands, the Hell of Burning Feet (this one shares its name with the one above but is not of the same tier: that one is hot ash, while this one is the portion in which, within a burning that scorches the whole body, the hands and feet alone are burned), the Hell of Inverted Thorns (trees of iron whose thorns grow downward, and as one is drawn up and down the thorns turn about with the motion), the Hell of Fire Houses, the Hell of Iron Houses, the Hell of Fire Wolves.

〔9 · Each has smaller hells within it again〕（0782a23）Within hells such as these there are again, each and all, many smaller hells — one or two, three or four, on up to a hundred thousand. And the names within them are each and all different.”

〔10 · Karma calls them forth thus〕（0782a25）Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva said to Samantabhadra Bodhisattva: “Benevolent one! All these are the beings of southern Jambudvīpa who do evil, and karma has called them forth to be as they are.

〔11 · The power of karma is very great〕（0782a27）The power of karma is very great: it can match Sumeru, it can outgo the great sea in depth, it can obstruct the holy path.

〔12 · Make no light of small evil · none is willing to undergo it in another’s stead〕（0782a28）Therefore let beings not make light of small evil and think that it carries no guilt; after death there is requital, and it is undergone down to the finest hair. Father and son are the closest of kin, yet at the parting of the ways each goes his own; and though they should meet, not one is willing to undergo it in the other’s stead.

〔13 · He asks that these words be heard a while〕（0782b01）Today, upheld by the Buddha’s awesome power, I speak in brief of the matter of the requital of guilt in the hells. I pray only that the benevolent one will hear these words a while.”

〔14 · Samantabhadra answers · that they may be turned toward the Buddha〕（0782b03）Samantabhadra answered: “I have long known the requital of the three evil destinies. I look to hear the benevolent one speak of it only so that the beings of ages to come, in the last age of the Dharma, who do every kind of evil, may hear the benevolent one speak and be turned toward the Buddha.”

〔15 · The requital of guilt in the hells, fourteen things〕（0782b05）Kṣitigarbha said: “Benevolent one! The requital of guilt in the hells — the matter of it is as follows. There are hells where the tongue of the guilty is taken and an ox is set to plough it. There are hells where the heart of the guilty is taken and a yakṣa eats it. There are hells where a cauldron of soup is brought to the boil and the bodies of the guilty are cooked in it. There are hells where a pillar of copper is heated red and the guilty are made to embrace it. There are hells where many fires are set burning and run the guilty down and drive them on (to run down is to chase and to follow after). There are hells where there is nothing from end to end but cold ice. There are hells where there is nothing but dung and urine without limit. There are hells where nothing flies but iron 𨪏鏫 (a spiked implement of the caltrop kind, which of old was buried at the four corners of a camp on campaign to wound those who came upon it). There are hells where fire-spears are massed in numbers (of one kind with the Piercing Spears above, save that there is fire besides). There are hells where nothing is done but the striking of chest and back. There are hells where nothing is burned but the hands and feet. There are hells where iron serpents coil and knot about one. There are hells where iron dogs drive one to and fro. There are hells where all alike are made to ride iron mules.

〔16 · The four materials of the implements of suffering〕（0782b14）Benevolent one, of requitals such as these — in each and every hell there are a hundred thousand kinds of implement belonging to the paths of karma, and there is not one that is not copper, or iron, or stone, or fire. These four things are called forth by the karmic acts of beings.

〔17 · Thus much is said in brief〕（0782b16）Were the matter of the requital of guilt in the hells and the rest to be spoken of at large, there would be in each and every hell a hundred thousand kinds of bitter torment besides — how much more when the hells are so many. Today, upheld by the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power and prompted by the benevolent one’s asking, I have spoken in brief thus much. Were it explained at large, kalpas would run out before it was done.”

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Tathāgata’s Praise” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the sixth chapter of Fascicle One, from the chapter title down to the end of Fascicle One. The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0782b20）The Tathāgata’s Praise, Chapter Six.

〔2 · He raises his whole body and sends forth light · he gives forth a great sound〕（0782b21）At that time the World-Honored One raised his whole body and sent forth a great light, illumining everywhere the buddha-worlds as many as a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of sands of the Ganges; and he gave forth a great sound, proclaiming to all the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of every buddha-world, and to the devas, nāgas, ghosts, spirits, humans, non-humans, and the rest: “Listen to me today as I extol and praise Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva: how in the worlds of the ten directions he manifests the great and inconceivable power of awesome spiritual might and of compassion, and rescues and guards in every matter of guilt and suffering.

〔3 · After my extinction, guard this sūtra〕（0782b26）After my extinction, you bodhisattvas and great beings, and the devas, nāgas, ghosts, spirits, and the rest, are to set out every kind of skillful means and guard this sūtra, so that all beings may realize the bliss of nirvāṇa.”

〔4 · Universally Broad asks him to speak of the causes and fruits that benefit humans and gods〕（0782b28）When these words had been spoken, there was in the assembly a bodhisattva named Universally Broad, who joined his palms in reverence and said to the Buddha: “Today I have seen the World-Honored One praise Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva as having such inconceivable and great awesome spiritual virtue. I pray only that the World-Honored One will expound, for the beings of ages to come in the time of the Dharma’s ending, the matters of the causes and fruits by which Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva benefits humans and gods, so that the eightfold host of devas and nāgas, and the beings of ages to come, may all receive the Buddha’s words upon their heads.”

〔5 · He enjoins them to listen and consents to speak · they gladly wish to hear〕（0782c04）At that time the World-Honored One said to the bodhisattva Universally Broad and to the fourfold assembly and the rest: “Listen closely! Listen closely! I shall speak for you in brief of the matters of the blessed merit by which Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva benefits humans and gods.”（0782c06）Universally Broad said: “Yes indeed, World-Honored One! We gladly wish to hear.”

〔6 · The blessing of hearing the name, joining the palms, praising, bowing, and yearning〕（0782c07）The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Universally Broad: “In ages to come, if there be a good man or a good woman who hears the name of this Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva — whether one who joins the palms, or one who praises, or one who bows, or one who yearns in longing — that person passes beyond thirty kalpas of offences.

〔7 · Sculpting and painting the image · one gaze, one bow〕（0782c10）Universally Broad! If there be a good man or a good woman who either paints his image in colors, or who with earth, stone, glue, and lacquer, with gold, silver, copper, and iron, fashions this bodhisattva — let such a one but gaze upon him once and bow to him once, and that person shall be born a hundred times over in the Thirty-Three Heaven and return again, and shall never fall into the evil destinies. Should the blessings of the heavens be spent, he will be born down among humans and still be a king, and will not lose the great benefit.

〔8 · Weary of a woman’s body · making offerings day after day without falling back〕（0782c14）If there be a woman who is weary of the body of a woman and with all her heart makes offerings to a painted image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and to images of earth, stone, glue, lacquer, copper, iron, and the rest, doing so day after day without falling back, and constantly making her offerings with flowers, incense, food and drink, clothing, silk damask (damask of the five colors), banners and pennants (the larger sort of pennant is called a banner; both are implements of offering), money, and treasures —

〔9 · When the woman’s body of this one recompense is spent〕（0782c17）this good woman, when the woman’s body of this one recompense is spent, shall through a hundred thousand myriad kalpas never again be born in a world that has women in it — how much less receive a woman’s body again?

〔10 · Unless it be by the power of a compassionate vow〕（0782c19）Unless it be by reason of the power of a compassionate vow, that she must take a woman’s body in order to deliver beings. By the strength of such offering to Kṣitigarbha, and by the strength of that merit, for a hundred thousand myriad kalpas she does not receive a woman’s body.

〔11 · Weary of being ugly and much sick · gazing and bowing with wholehearted mind〕（0782c21）Again, Universally Broad! If there be a woman weary of being ugly and much sick, let her only gaze and bow with a wholehearted and sincere mind before an image of Kṣitigarbha for the space of a single meal (shiqing: the time of taking one meal — the short is used to set off the long), and that person, through a thousand myriad kalpas, shall be full and complete in the features of every body she receives.

〔12 · Not weary of a woman’s body · always a king’s daughter〕（0782c23）This ugly woman, if she is not weary of a woman’s body, shall then through a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of births constantly be a king’s daughter, and a king’s consort, and a daughter of the great clans of ministers and of great elders; upright in the birth she receives, and full and complete in every feature. Because of her wholehearted and sincere mind, she gazes upon Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva and bows, and the blessing she gains is such as this.

〔13 · Music and songs of praise · ghosts and spirits guard day and night〕（0782c27）Again, Universally Broad! If there be a good man or a good woman able to make every kind of music before the bodhisattva’s image, and to sing praises, and to make offerings of incense and flowers, and even to exhort one person or to exhort many — persons such as these, in the present age and in ages to come, shall constantly have a hundred thousand ghosts and spirits guarding them day and night, who will not let an evil matter so much as reach their ears; how much less shall they in their own persons meet with any sudden calamity?

〔14 · The marks of mockery and slander〕（0783a02）Again, Universally Broad! In ages to come, if there be an evil person, or an evil spirit, or an evil ghost, who sees a good man or a good woman take refuge in, make offerings to, praise, and gaze upon and bow to the image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and who then idly gives rise to mockery and slander, saying that there is in it no merit and no benefit; or who bares the teeth in a laugh; or who complies to the face and objects behind the back; or who exhorts others to object along with him; or who objects alone; or who objects together with many; or who, for the space of even a single thought, gives rise to mockery and slander.

〔15 · The recompense of mockery and slander · Avīci and the three evil destinies〕（0783a07）A person such as this — though the thousand buddhas of the Worthy Kalpa should all pass into extinction, the recompense of his mockery and slander would still be in the Avīci Hell, where he receives the heaviest of offences.（0783a09）When that kalpa has passed, only then does he receive the body of a hungry ghost; and after a further thousand kalpas, he receives the body of an animal; and after yet another thousand kalpas, he at last obtains a human body. And though he receives a human body, he is poor and lowly, not whole in his faculties, and for the most part evil karma comes and knots up his mind, so that before long he falls into the evil destinies again.

〔16 · A closing “how much more” · how much more one who gives rise to evil views besides〕（0783a12）Therefore, Universally Broad! If mocking and slandering another’s offering gains a recompense such as this, how much more one who gives rise besides to evil views and destroys?

〔17 · Long sickness and its evil signs〕（0783a13）Again, Universally Broad! If in ages to come there be a man or a woman who lies long upon bed and pillow, seeking to live and seeking to die and getting neither; or who dreams at night of evil ghosts and of the kin of his own household; or who roams in dream upon perilous roads; or who is often held down in sleep (to be pressed down while lying asleep and unable to wake is called yanmei), roaming in company with ghosts and spirits; and as the days and months and years go deep, grows ever more wasted and worn, crying out in pain in his sleep, wretched and without joy.

〔18 · The confrontation upon the paths of karma · worldly eyes cannot tell〕（0783a17）All this is a confrontation upon the paths of karma where the heavier and the lighter have not yet been settled, so that either it is hard for him to let go of his lifespan, or he cannot be healed. The worldly, fleshly eyes of men and women cannot tell such a matter apart.

〔19 · Before the images, read this sūtra aloud once〕（0783a19）One should only, before the images of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, read this sūtra aloud once through.

〔20 · Giving away the sick person’s goods · calling it out aloud〕（0783a20）Or take what the sick person holds dear, or clothing and treasures, gardens and estates, houses and dwellings, and before the sick person call out aloud: “I, so-and-so, and the rest, for the sake of this sick person, before the sūtra and the images give away these things: whether in making offerings to the sūtra and the images, or in making images of buddhas and bodhisattvas, or in building stūpas and monasteries, or in lighting oil lamps, or in giving to the permanent dwelling (giving to the resident saṃgha of a monastery).”

〔21 · Declaring it three times to the sick person · aloud within seven days〕（0783a24）Declare it thus three times to the sick person, and let him hear it and know it. Even should his several consciousnesses be already scattered and his breath already spent, then for one day, two days, three days, four days, and on to seven days, one need only declare it aloud and read the sūtra aloud. After this person’s life ends, the heavy offences of calamitous recompense from former lives, and even the five offences of uninterrupted retribution, are forever released; and in the places where he is born he will always know his former lives.

〔22 · How much more one who writes this sūtra himself · sculpts and paints the image himself〕（0783a28）How much more the good man or good woman who writes out this sūtra himself, or teaches another to write it, or himself sculpts and paints the bodhisattva’s image, or even teaches another to sculpt and paint it: the recompense he receives must gain the great benefit.

〔23 · Exhorting those who read, recite, praise, and revere〕（0783b02）Therefore, Universally Broad! If you see anyone reading and reciting this sūtra, or praising this sūtra for the space of even a single thought, or revering it, you must with a hundred thousand kinds of skillful means exhort such persons to be diligent of mind and not to fall back, so that they may gain, in ages to come and in the present, a thousand myriad koṭis of inconceivable merit.

〔24 · Seeing ghosts and spirits and every kind of shape in dream and sleep〕（0783b05）Again, Universally Broad! If in ages to come beings of every sort, whether in dream or in sleep, see ghosts and spirits of every kind and shapes of every kind, now grieving, now weeping, now sorrowing, now sighing, now in dread, now in terror.

〔25 · Kin of former lives in the evil destinies seeking to be rescued〕（0783b07）All these are the fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, younger brothers and sisters, husbands and wives and kinsfolk of one life, ten lives, a hundred lives, a thousand lives past, who are in the evil destinies and have not yet been able to get out, and who have nowhere to look for a power of blessing to rescue them; and so they come to tell their own flesh and blood of former lives, wishing them to devise some means whereby they may leave the evil destinies.

〔26 · Send them to read this sūtra three times or seven times〕（0783b10）Universally Broad! Use your spiritual power to send these kinsfolk, and have them, before the images of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, read this sūtra themselves with a wholehearted and sincere mind, or request another to read it; and the number of readings is three, or else seven. Kinsfolk such as these who are in the evil destinies, once the sound of the recitation has filled out that number, shall thereupon gain release; and even in dream and sleep they shall never be seen again.

〔27 · The lowly and those who are not their own masters · repenting and calling the name〕（0783b14）Again, Universally Broad! If in ages to come there be persons of every sort who are lowly, whether bondmen or bondwomen, and even persons of every sort who are not their own masters, and if, becoming aware of the karma of their former lives, they wish to repent, let them gaze and bow with a wholehearted and sincere mind before the image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and within a single seven days call the bodhisattva’s name to the full ten thousand times. Persons such as these, when this one recompense is spent, shall through a thousand myriad births be constantly born into honorable houses, and shall never again pass through the suffering of the three evil destinies.

〔28 · A household newly delivered of a child · reading the sūtra and calling the name within seven days〕（0783b19）Again, Universally Broad! If in ages to come, within Jambudvīpa, among the kṣatriyas (the royal caste), the brahmins, the elders, the laymen of standing, all people whatsoever, and the clans of other surnames, there be one newly delivered of a child, whether a boy or a girl, let them within seven days and early read and recite this inconceivable scripture for the child, and further call the bodhisattva’s name for it to the full ten thousand times. This newborn child, boy or girl, if he has calamitous recompense from former lives, shall thereupon gain release, and be at ease and easy to rear, and his lifespan shall increase; and if he is one born upon the strength of blessings, then his ease and his lifespan shall be increased the more.

〔29 · The ten fast days · the several offences are gathered together〕（0783b25）Again, Universally Broad! If in ages to come beings, on the first day of the month, the eighth day, the fourteenth day, the fifteenth day, the eighteenth day, the twenty-third, the twenty-fourth, the twenty-eighth, the twenty-ninth day, and on to the thirtieth day — on these days and the like, the several offences are gathered together and their heaviness and lightness settled.

〔30 · Every stirring, every rising thought · nothing that is not karma〕（0783b28）The beings of southern Jambudvīpa, in every stirring of movement and every rising of a thought, have nothing that is not karma and nothing that is not offence; how much more when they give free rein to their feelings and kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, and speak falsely, making a hundred thousand kinds of offence?

〔31 · Reading the sūtra on the ten fast days · no calamity within a hundred yojanas〕（0783c01）If one is able on these ten fast days to read this sūtra once through before the images of the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the worthies and sages, then east, west, south, and north within a hundred yojanas there will be no calamity of any kind. In that household, both old and young, in the present and in ages to come, through a hundred thousand years, will forever be free of the evil destinies.

〔32 · One reading each time · no sudden sickness in the present life〕（0783c04）If one is able on the ten fast days to read it through once each time, then in this present life that household will be without any sudden sickness, and clothing and food will be abundant and to spare.

〔33 · Summing up the great awesome spiritual power〕（0783c06）Therefore, Universally Broad! You should know that Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva has such matters of benefit as these, from a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of great awesome spiritual power, inexpressible in number.

〔34 · Those of Jambudvīpa have the affinity · hearing the name, seeing the image, three characters or five〕（0783c08）The beings of Jambudvīpa have a great affinity with this great being. Of these beings, those who hear the bodhisattva’s name, who see the bodhisattva’s image, or who hear even three characters or five characters of this sūtra, or a single verse or a single line, gain in the present a rare and wondrous ease, and in ages to come, through a hundred thousand myriad births, are constantly upright in form and born into honorable houses.”

〔35 · Universally Broad asks the name of the sūtra〕（0783c11）At that time the bodhisattva Universally Broad, having heard the Buddha Tathāgata extol and praise Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva to the end, knelt in the Hu manner with palms joined (hugui is also rendered “alternate kneeling,” the name coming from the three places that rise up — the two knees and the head; that is, the right knee is set to the ground), and said again to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I have long known that this great being has such inconceivable spiritual power and such power of great vows. It was for the sake of the beings of ages to come, that they might know the benefit, that I asked the Tathāgata; yes indeed, I receive it upon my head. World-Honored One! By what name should this sūtra be called? How am I to spread it abroad?”

〔36 · The three names of this sūtra · spread it according to his vow〕（0783c16）The Buddha said to Universally Broad: “This sūtra has three names: one name is the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha, another the Original Practice of Kṣitigarbha, another the Sūtra of the Power of Kṣitigarbha’s Original Pledge. Because this bodhisattva, over kalpas long past, has made great and weighty vows to benefit beings, you are therefore to spread it abroad according to his vow.”

〔37 · He bows and withdraws〕（0783c19）When Universally Broad had heard this, he joined his palms in reverence, bowed, and withdrew.

〔38 · The title at the end of the fascicle〕（0783c21）The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Fascicle One.

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “Benefiting the Living and the Dead” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the first chapter of Fascicle Two, from the title at the head of the fascicle down to “the elder Great Eloquence bowed and withdrew.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title at the head of the fascicle and its translator〕（0783c24）The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Fascicle Two.（0783c26）Translated by Śikṣānanda (in the Tang tongue, Delight-in-Learning), Tripiṭaka śramaṇa of the country of Khotan under the Tang (a country of the Western Regions; the name is properly pronounced Kusatana, and in the Tang tongue means Earth-Milk).

〔2 · The title of the chapter〕（0783c27）Benefiting the Living and the Dead, Chapter Seven.

〔3 · Every stirring of the mind and rising of a thought is offence〕（0783c28）At that time Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I look upon the beings of Jambudvīpa, and in every stirring of the mind and every rising of a thought there is nothing that is not offence. If by chance they get some benefit from the good, for the most part they lose again the mind they began with; and if they meet with an evil condition, then thought upon thought it grows and increases.

〔4 · The simile of walking upon a muddy road〕（0784a01）People of this kind are like one walking upon a muddy road with a heavy stone upon his back: the further he goes the wearier he grows, the longer he carries it the heavier it grows, and his steps sink ever deeper.

〔5 · Meeting a good friend who takes the load〕（0784a03）If he is able to meet a good friend who takes off part of the burden for him, or who takes the whole burden upon himself — this being because that friend has great strength — and who further supports and helps him and exhorts him to set his feet firm; and if he reaches level ground, then he should look back upon that evil road and not travel it a second time.”

〔6 · Practising evil, from a hair’s breadth to the measureless〕（0784a05）“World-Honored One! Beings who practise evil begin from a hair’s breadth and come to the measureless.

〔7 · At the end of life the kin should set up blessings〕（0784a06）These beings having such habits, at the time when life comes to its end their parents and kin should set up blessings for them, to provision the road ahead.

〔8 · The five things by which blessings are set up〕（0784a07）Whether by hanging up pennants and canopies and lighting oil lamps; or by reading through the honored scriptures; or by making offerings to images of the buddhas and to the images of the sages. And even by calling the names of buddhas, of bodhisattvas, and of pratyekabuddhas (the Sanskrit is transcribed bizhijialuo, rendered by sense as one awakened through conditions; because such a one awakens to the Way by contemplating causes and conditions, he is also rendered solitarily awakened) — one name, one title, passing through the ear-faculty of the dying person, or heard down into his root-consciousness (the eighth consciousness).

〔9 · All the many offences are extinguished〕（0784a10）The evil karma these beings have made, if one reckons the fruit it stirs up, must bring them down into the evil destinies; but because the kin have cultivated these holy causes for the dying person, the many offences such as these are all extinguished.

〔10 · Within the seven times seven days, making much of every good deed〕（0784a13）And if besides, within the seven times seven days — the forty-nine days after his body has died — they make much of every kind of good deed, they can cause these beings forever to leave the evil destinies, and to be born among humans and gods and receive a rare and wondrous joy; and the benefit gained by the kin now living is beyond all measure.”

〔11 · Take the greatest care not to kill, nor to sacrifice to ghosts and spirits〕（0784a15）“Therefore I now, before the Buddha, the World-Honored One, and before the eightfold host of devas, nāgas, and the rest, and humans and non-humans, exhort the beings of Jambudvīpa: on the day when life comes to its end, take the greatest care not to kill any living thing, and not to make an evil condition — sacrificing to ghosts and spirits, and begging of the wangliang sprites (goblins formed out of the essences of miscellaneous things, which roam about the villages of men, and having nothing to eat work all manner of prodigies to stir up people’s minds).

〔12 · Neither killing nor sacrificing benefits; both increase offence〕（0784a18）Why so? Because such killing, and even such sacrificing, has not a hair’s breadth of power to benefit the one who has died; it only knots up the conditions of offence, and makes them deeper and heavier instead.

〔13 · Even one who had a portion of the holy is dragged into it〕（0784a20）Suppose that in a life to come, or in this present life, he could have obtained a portion of the holy (the seven limbs of awakening, the eight limbs of the holy path, the portion that is a bodhisattva’s fruit) and been born among humans and gods; only because at the end of his life his kin made this evil cause, that person whose life has ended is also dragged into the calamity and must go to be confronted and argue his case, and is late in being born into a good place.

〔14 · One with no roots of goodness has karma added to him besides〕（0784a22）How much more the person at the end of life who, while alive, had not the least root of goodness, and who according to his own karma goes of himself to receive the recompense of the evil destinies — how could one bear that his kin should add yet more karma to him?

〔15 · The simile of the man three days without food〕（0784a24）It is as though a man came walking from a far country, three days now without food, and what he carried and bore came to a little more than a hundred catties. Suddenly he meets a neighbor, who puts a few more things upon him; and for that reason he grows wearier and more heavily burdened still.

〔16 · A single hair, a single drop — all of it gained by oneself〕（0784a26）World-Honored One! I look upon the beings of Jambudvīpa: if only they can, within the teaching of the buddhas, do even one good deed — as little as a single hair, a single drop, a single grain of sand, a single mote of dust — the benefit of it is all gained by themselves.”

〔17 · The elder Great Eloquence raises his question〕（0784a28）While these words were being spoken, there was in the assembly an elder named Great Eloquence (eloquence is the talent of speech, turning and turning without hindrance and distinguishing things plainly, and so it is called unobstructed eloquence; eloquence is of four kinds: in meaning, in dharma, in wording, and in delight in speaking) — this elder had long since realized the unborn (that dharmas do not arise), and transforms and delivers in the ten directions, manifesting the person of an elder — who joined his palms in reverence and asked Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva: “Great being! When the beings of this southern Jambudvīpa come to the end of life, and kin great and small cultivate merit for them, and even set out a vegetarian feast and make every kind of good cause — can this person whose life has ended gain the great benefit, and release?”

〔18 · Kṣitigarbha consents to speak〕（0784b04）Kṣitigarbha answered: “Elder! I now, for all beings of ages to come and of the present, and upheld by the Buddha’s awesome power, will speak of this matter in brief.

〔19 · Hearing a name at the end of life, all gain release〕（0784b06）Elder, if beings of ages to come and of the present, on the day when life comes to its end, are able to hear the name of one buddha, the name of one bodhisattva, or the name of one pratyekabuddha, then whether they have offences or have none, they all gain release.”

〔20 · Of seven parts he gains but one〕（0784b08）“If there be a man or a woman who while alive did not cultivate good causes and made many offences of every kind, then after life has ended, though kin great and small make blessing and benefit for him and perform every holy work, of seven parts he gains but one, and the merit of six parts is the benefit of the living themselves.

〔21 · Cultivate while still sound of hearing · every part is one’s own〕（0784b11）For this reason, good men and good women of ages to come and of the present should cultivate for themselves while their hearing is still sound and strong, and part by part it is all gained by themselves.

〔22 · Within the seven times seven days, as if dull, as if deaf〕（0784b12）The great ghost of impermanence arrives without appointing a day; the spirit roaming in the dark does not yet know its own offences or blessings, and within the seven times seven days it is as if dull-witted, as if deaf. Or it is among the several offices (the various bureaus of the dark realm), where the fruits of karma are argued out; and only when the case has been examined and settled does it go according to its karma to receive birth. In the interval before that is determined there are already a thousand myriad sorts of sorrow — how much more when one falls into the several evil destinies?

〔23 · Looking to the kin to make blessings and rescue him〕（0784b16）This person whose life has ended has not yet received birth, and within the seven times seven days, thought upon thought, he looks to his own flesh and blood among the kin to make a power of blessing for him and rescue him.

〔24 · After those days, recompense follows the karma〕（0784b18）After those days have passed, he receives recompense according to his karma. If he is one with offences, then at the very least he passes a thousand or a hundred years with no day of release. If it is the five offences of uninterrupted retribution (the highest grade among the ten evils), he falls into the great hells, and through a thousand kalpas and ten thousand kalpas forever receives every kind of suffering.”

〔25 · The method of preparing the feast and guarding purity〕（0784b20）“Furthermore, Elder! When beings who have made karmic offences such as these have come to the end of life, and their flesh and blood among the kin prepare a vegetarian feast for them to provision their path of karma: while the food of the feast has not yet been eaten to the end, and while the feast is being prepared, the water in which the rice is washed and the leaves of the vegetables are not to be thrown away upon the ground (they should be kept in a vessel and given to the animals after the feast). And so long as none of the food has yet been offered to the Buddha and the saṃgha, it may not be eaten first.

〔26 · According to the Dharma, and not according to the Dharma〕（0784b23）If there be any who transgress by eating first, and who are not diligent and earnest, then this person whose life has ended gets no strength from it at all. If they are diligent and earnest, and guard purity, and offer it up to the Buddha and the saṃgha, then this person whose life has ended may gain one part out of seven.

〔27 · Concluding: the living and the dead both gain benefit〕（0784b25）Therefore, Elder! If the beings of Jambudvīpa are able, for their fathers and mothers and even their kin, after life has ended, to set out a vegetarian feast as an offering, wholehearted in mind and earnest without slackening — persons such as these bring benefit both to the living and to the dead.”

〔28 · The ghosts and spirits arouse the resolve · the elder bows and withdraws〕（0784b28）While these words were being spoken, in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three a thousand myriad koṭis of nayutas of ghosts and spirits of Jambudvīpa all aroused a measureless resolve for awakening. The elder Great Eloquence bowed and withdrew.

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Praise of King Yama and His Multitude” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the eighth chapter, in Fascicle Two, from the chapter title down to “the devas and humans he has delivered are likewise beyond all reckoning.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0784c02）The Praise of King Yama and His Multitude, Chapter Eight.

〔2 · The ghost kings and Yama, Son of Heaven, go together to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three〕（0784c03）At that time, within the Iron Ring Mountains, there were measureless ghost kings who went together with Yama, Son of Heaven, to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and came to the place where the Buddha was.

〔3 · The ghost kings listed by name · the first twenty-eight named by sense〕（0784c04）Namely: the ghost king Evil and Poison (evil and poison: the ten evils and the three poisons; the three poisons belong to the mind, and are the root of the seven evils of body and speech), the ghost king Many Evils (a single thought already holds all the evils within it, and spread out they become measureless in number; outwardly he shows the wrathful marks of evil, inwardly he raises the good heart of compassion), the ghost king Great Contention (contention is strife; by the Dharma-gate of great contention he leads people into non-contention), the ghost king White Tiger (the tiger is a mountain beast, also called the great worm, fierce and full of awe, arrogant and given to violence; the white tiger is the beast of the west), the ghost king Blood Tiger (his mouth is like a basin of blood), the ghost king Red Tiger (his fur is red as fire — these three ghosts have heads like a tiger’s, and so each is named with the tiger), the ghost king Scatterer of Calamity (calamity is fault, is disaster), the ghost king Flying Body (of the sort of the flying yakṣas), the ghost king Lightning Flash (the light of his eyes flickers like lightning, and frightens those who see it), the ghost king Wolf-Fang (this ghost’s fangs point outward, like the fangs of a wolf), the ghost king Thousand Eyes (Avalokiteśvara’s thousand eyes are set in the hands, the hell-warden’s sixty-four eyes are set in the horns; where this ghost’s thousand eyes are set, the ancients had no settled account), the ghost king Devourer of Beasts (this ghost feeds upon beasts), the ghost king Bearer of Stones (of the sort that bear stones and carry sand to fill up rivers and block up seas), the ghost king Master-of-Wasting (wasting and calamity are two things that follow upon each other: it is handed down that heaven and earth have a spirit who keeps account of transgressions, and who takes years from a person’s reckoned span according to the weight of what he has committed; and when the reckoning is cut down, he grows poor and wasted), the ghost king Master-of-Calamity (with Master-of-Wasting, two faces of one and the same matter), the ghost king Master-of-Food (food is the emolument of a people’s livelihood; the good enjoy it, and for the evil it is diminished), the ghost king Master-of-Wealth (the court of the Sacred Peak has a case-officer in charge of wealth, who guards people’s goods), the ghost king Master-of-Livestock (livestock are of the four births, and their dwellings are of three places), the ghost king Master-of-Birds (what flies is called a bird, and this is the general name of the feathered kind), the ghost king Master-of-Beasts (what runs is called a beast, and this is the general name of the furred kind — and these birds and beasts each have their ghost king in charge of them), the ghost king Master-of-Sprites (a sprite is a hill-goblin, an aged thing of essence), the ghost king Master-of-Birthing (master over people’s giving birth), the ghost king Master-of-Life (according to the scriptures, Vaiśravaṇa is master over the guarding of the lives of the people of the four continents), the ghost king Master-of-Sickness (master over sickness and disease; the ancients gloss this one with two words only, “as above,” and set out no separate account), the ghost king Master-of-Perils (high mountains and steep ranges, the great sea and the deep abyss — these places of peril and hardship are where body and life hang; those who ought to die he enters in the register, and those who ought not to die he guards), the ghost king Three Eyes (between the two eyes a third stands upright, after the fashion of Maheśvara), the ghost king Four Eyes (upon the forehead two more open crosswise), the ghost king Five Eyes (in the middle, between the ones above and the ones below, yet another grows upright).

〔4 · The six that follow, named by sound〕（0784c11）The six that follow are called king only, and not ghost king, in the text of the sūtra; they are transcriptions of a Sanskrit sound: the king Qilishi〔祁利失〕, the king Great Qilishi〔大祁利失〕, the king Qilicha〔祁利叉〕, the king Great Qilicha〔大祁利叉〕, the king Anazha〔阿那吒〕, the king Great Anazha〔大阿那吒〕. (Three times over this string the ancients say that they do not know: that for Qilishi and the rest no translation has been found; that the character 失 within it is not ascertained; that Anazha cannot be pointed to for certain. For that reason only the sound as it was handed down in the Chinese lands is kept, and no reconstruction into Sanskrit is made.)

〔5 · Each has what he holds, each has what he is master of〕（0784c12）Great ghost kings such as these, each of them with a hundred thousand lesser ghost kings, all dwell in Jambudvīpa; each has what he holds in charge, each has what he is master of.

〔6 · They come by the power of the Buddha and of Kṣitigarbha〕（0784c14）These ghost kings, together with Yama, Son of Heaven, receiving the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha and the strength of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, went together to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and stood to one side.

〔7 · The Son of Heaven states why he has come, and asks leave to question〕（0784c16）At that time Yama, Son of Heaven, knelt upon one knee with palms joined and said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! We today, together with the ghost kings, have been able to come to this great assembly in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three by receiving the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha and the strength of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva; and this too is because we have gained a good benefit. I have today a small matter of doubt, and make bold to ask the World-Honored One; I pray only that the World-Honored One will in his compassion expound it.”

〔8 · The Buddha grants the question〕（0784c20）The Buddha said to Yama, Son of Heaven: “Ask as you please; I will explain it for you.”

〔9 · The Son of Heaven first praises Kṣitigarbha’s spiritual powers〕（0784c21）At this time Yama, Son of Heaven, gazed up and bowed to the World-Honored One, and turned his head back to look at Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and then said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I see that Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, within the six destinies, with a hundred thousand skillful means delivers those beings who are guilty and suffering, and never excuses himself for weariness. This great bodhisattva has matters of spiritual power as inconceivable as these.

〔10 · And then he brings out his doubt〕（0784c25）And yet those beings, once they have got free of the retribution for their guilt, fall into the evil destinies again before long. World-Honored One! Since this Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva has spiritual power so inconceivable as this, why is it that beings do not rest upon the good destinies and take liberation once and for all? I pray only that the World-Honored One will explain it for me.”

〔11 · The Buddha shows in sum that beings are hard and stubborn and difficult to tame〕（0784c28）The Buddha said to Yama, Son of Heaven: “The beings of southern Jambudvīpa are hard and stubborn in their nature, difficult to tame and difficult to subdue. This great bodhisattva, through a hundred thousand kalpas, rescues such beings one head at a time and would have them liberated early. Even when these people who undergo the retribution of guilt fall into the great evil destinies, the bodhisattva uses the power of skillful means and draws out the root of their karmic conditions, and makes them awaken to the matters of their former lives. Yet the beings of Jambudvīpa have knotted their evil habits deep; no sooner are they out than they turn back in, and they put this bodhisattva to labor through long kalpas at the work of delivering them.”

〔12 · The simile · one loses his own home and strays into a road of peril〕（0785a05）The Buddha then spoke a simile. Suppose there were a man who lost his own home and strayed by mistake into a road of peril. On that road of peril there are many yakṣas, and tigers, wolves, lions, vipers, snakes, adders, and scorpions. A man lost in this way, on the road of peril, in the space of a moment meets with all the poisons.

〔13 · The simile · a good friend calls him back from his straying〕（0785a08）There is a good friend who understands many great arts and is skilled at binding these poisons, and the yakṣas and every such evil poison as well. He suddenly meets the man who has lost his way just as that man is about to go on into the road of peril, and says to him: “Hey there! Good man! For what cause do you take this road? What uncommon art have you, that you could subdue all the poisons?”

〔14 · The simile · the lost man steps back and seeks a way out〕（0785a11）The man who had lost his way, hearing these words all at once, then knew that it was a road of peril, and straightway stepped back and sought to get out of that road.

〔15 · The simile · he is led to the good road, and charged not to enter again〕（0785a13）This good friend took him up and took him by the hand, and led him out of the road of peril, and spared him all the evil poisons, and brought him to a good road, and made him find peace and ease; and he said to him: “Hey there! You who have lost your way! From this day on, do not tread this road again. Those who go in by this road find it hard to get out on a sudden, and they lose their very lives besides.” And the man who had lost his way felt gratitude weighty within him.

〔16 · The simile · at parting he is charged to pass the word on〕（0785a16）At the time of parting the good friend spoke again: “If you see those you know and are close to, and travelers upon the road, whether men or women, tell them that on this road there are many poisons and evils, and that they will lose their lives. Do not let these people take their own death upon themselves.”

〔17 · The Dharma matched to the simile〕（0785a19）Therefore Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, being complete in great kindness and compassion, rescues the beings who are guilty and suffering, and would have them born among devas and humans and there receive wondrous bliss. These guilty multitudes, once they have known the suffering of the paths of karma, get out of it and never pass through it again — like the man who lost his way and strayed into the road of peril, who met a good friend and was led out, and never went in again; and who, meeting others, exhorted them too not to go in, saying of himself: “It was by reason of this one straying that I came to be liberated, and I shall never go in again.”

〔18 · If he treads it again he abides in hell forever〕（0785a24）If he should tread it again, he goes astray just as before, and does not perceive that this is the road of peril he once fell into; and he may thereby lose his life, just as one falls into the evil destinies. Because of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s power of skillful means they are liberated and born among devas and humans; and in the turn of an eye they go in again, and if the knot of their karma is deep and heavy they abide in hell forever, with no time of liberation.

〔19 · The ghost king Evil and Poison tells where his kind go〕（0785a27）At that time the ghost king Evil and Poison joined his palms in reverence and said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! We ghost kings are measureless in number, and in Jambudvīpa some of us benefit people and some of us harm people, each differing from the other. Yet it is the retribution of karma that makes my kindred roam through the world with much of evil in them and little of good.

〔20 · The good they come upon〕（0785b02）Passing the courtyards of people’s houses, or their walled towns and villages, their manors and dwellings, if there be a man or a woman who cultivates a good deed as small as a hair or a strand of down, or who so much as hangs up one banner or one canopy, a little incense or a little flower, and makes offerings to an image of a buddha or an image of a bodhisattva, or who reads a venerable sūtra aloud and burns incense in offering to a single line or a single verse —

〔21 · They revere him as they revere the buddhas of the three times, and send guards to turn evil away〕（0785b05）— we ghost kings revere that person as we revere the buddhas of the past, the present, and the future. And we charge the lesser ghosts, who have each of them great strength and each of them their own allotted stretch of land, to stand guard over him, and not to let evil happenings or freak happenings, evil sicknesses or freak sicknesses, or anything at all that runs contrary to his wish, come near that house or its precincts — how much less come in at the gate?”

〔22 · The Buddha praises the ghost kings〕（0785b09）The Buddha praised the ghost kings, saying: “Excellent! Excellent! That you and Yama are able to guard good men and good women in this way — I too shall tell the Brahmā King and Śakra to stand guard over you.”

〔23 · The ghost king Master-of-Life tells what he is master of〕（0785b11）While these words were being spoken, there was in the assembly a ghost king named Master-of-Life, who said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Because of my own original karmic conditions I am master over the lifespans of the people of Jambudvīpa; at the time of birth and at the time of death, I am master of both. In my original vow I greatly desire to benefit them; but beings do not take my meaning, and so neither their living nor their dying comes to any peace.

〔24 · At the time of birth, only do good deeds〕（0785b15）Why is this? When the people of Jambudvīpa are first born, whether boy or girl, or when the birth is about to come, let them only do good deeds and so add to the increase of the household; then of themselves the earth spirits are gladdened beyond measure, and guard the child and the mother, who gain great peace and ease, and the whole kindred is benefited. Or when the child is already born, take the greatest care not to kill and harm living things, taking their fresh flavors to set before the mother who has given birth; nor to gather the kindred together in numbers to drink wine and eat meat, with singing and music of strings and pipes — for this can make both child and mother fail of peace and ease.

〔25 · At the hard hour of birth the evil ghosts would eat the raw blood〕（0785b20）Why is this? At that hard hour of birth there are numberless evil ghosts and goblins and sprites of essence that would eat the raw blood. It is I who early on charge the house and the numinous powers of that soil to bear the child and the mother up (to bear up: as one bears a thing upon one’s back, which must not be let fall), so that they may be at peace and ease and gain the benefit.

〔26 · Turning instead to killing, both child and mother are harmed〕（0785b23）Such people as these, seeing that all is at peace and ease, ought by rights to set out blessings and requite the earth spirits; and instead they turn to killing and harming and gather their kindred together. For this cause the calamity they commit falls upon themselves, and child and mother are both harmed.

〔27 · Those who come to the end of life, be they good or evil〕（0785b25）Again, of the people of Jambudvīpa who come to the end of life, be they good or evil, it is my wish that this person at the end of life should not fall into the evil destinies — how much more when he himself cultivates roots of goodness and so adds to my strength. Of the people of Jambudvīpa who do good, even these, at the time when life ends, have a hundred thousand ghosts and spirits of the evil destinies about them, who may take the shape of father and mother, or of any of the kindred, to lead the dying away and make him fall into the evil destinies — how much more one who has all along done evil?

〔28 · The spirit-consciousness grows dim · the kindred should set out a great offering〕（0785c01）World-Honored One! Such men and women of Jambudvīpa as these, at the time when life ends, have their spirit-consciousness dimmed and clouded, and cannot tell good from evil, and even with eye and ear there is no more seeing or hearing. Their kindred ought to set out a great offering, to read the venerable sūtras aloud, and to recite the names of the buddhas and the bodhisattvas. Good conditions such as these can make the dead one leave all the evil destinies, and all the demons, ghosts, and spirits scatter and withdraw.

〔29 · Hearing one buddha’s name or one bodhisattva’s name, they are straightway liberated〕（0785c05）World-Honored One! When all beings come to the end of life, if they can but hear the name of one buddha or the name of one bodhisattva, or a single line or a single verse of a Mahāyāna scripture, I see that people of this kind, apart from the sins of the five Uninterrupted deeds and of killing and harming, have their small evil deeds — those that ought to have made them fall into the evil destinies — straightway loosed.”

〔30 · The Buddha praises and exhorts the ghost king Master-of-Life〕（0785c08）The Buddha said to the ghost king Master-of-Life: “Because of your great kindness you are able to make a great vow such as this, and to guard all beings in the midst of birth and death. If in ages to come there be a man or a woman who reaches the hour of birth and death, do not withdraw this vow of yours, but bring them all to liberation and to peace and ease forever.”

〔31 · The ghost king receives the charge〕（0785c12）The ghost king said to the Buddha: “I pray that you may have no anxiety. To the end of this form of mine, thought after thought I shall guard the beings of Jambudvīpa, so that at the time of birth and at the time of death they may both find peace and ease. I pray only that all beings may believe and accept my words in the hour of birth and death; then there will be none who is not liberated, and they will gain the great benefit.”

〔32 · The Tathāgata discloses his original ground · the prediction of the Tathāgata Signless〕（0785c15）At that time the Buddha said to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva: “This great ghost king Master-of-Life has already through a hundred thousand lives been a great ghost king, guarding beings in the midst of birth and death. This great being, by reason of his vow of compassion, manifests the body of a great ghost, and is in truth no ghost at all. A hundred and seventy kalpas hence he shall attain buddhahood, and his name shall be the Tathāgata Signless; the kalpa shall be named Peace and Ease, and the world Pure Abiding. That buddha’s lifespan shall be kalpas beyond all reckoning. Kṣitigarbha! The affairs of this great ghost king are inconceivable in this way, and the devas and humans he has delivered are likewise beyond all reckoning.”

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “Reciting the Names of the Buddhas” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the ninth chapter, in Fascicle Two, from the chapter title down to “how much more when beings call and recite for themselves: the blessings gained are measureless, and the sins extinguished are measureless.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0785c22）Reciting the Names of the Buddhas, Chapter Nine.

〔2 · Kṣitigarbha asks leave to set forth matters of benefit〕（0785c23）At that time Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I would today, for the beings of ages to come, set forth matters of benefit, so that in the midst of birth and death they may gain great benefit. I pray only that the World-Honored One will grant me leave to speak of it.”

〔3 · The Buddha urges him to speak quickly〕（0785c25）The Buddha said to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva: “You would today raise up kindness and compassion and rescue all the guilty and suffering beings of the six destinies, and set forth inconceivable matters — now is just the time; only speak of it quickly. I am about to enter nirvāṇa, so that you may finish this vow of yours the sooner; and then I shall have no anxiety for any being of the present or of ages to come.”

〔4 · The first · the Tathāgata Boundless Body〕（0785c29）Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Measureless asaṃkhyeya kalpas ago there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named Boundless Body Tathāgata (all three bodies carry the sense of the boundless: the dharma-body is complete in boundless true merits, the reward-body arises out of boundless true merits, and the response-body appears as things require and is everywhere). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha and gives rise to reverence for even a moment, that one at once passes beyond the grave sins of birth and death of forty kalpas. How much more one who sculpts and paints his image and makes offerings and praises him? The blessings such a person gains are measureless and boundless.

〔5 · The second · the Tathāgata Jewel Nature〕（0786a04）“Again, kalpas as many as the sands of the Ganges ago, there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named Jewel Nature Tathāgata (jewels are of seven kinds, and gold stands at the head of them; the ancients took gold’s four senses — that its color does not alter, that its substance takes no stain, that it may be worked into anything without hindrance, and that it makes a man rich — as the figure of the four virtues of the dharma-body: permanence, purity, self, and bliss; and that is the jewel that lies in the nature). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha and in the space of a finger-snap raises the thought and takes refuge, that person shall never fall back upon the unsurpassed way.

〔6 · The third · the Tathāgata Red Lotus Supreme〕（0786a07）“Again, in the past there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named Red Lotus Supreme Tathāgata (the first part of the name transcribes a sound, 波頭摩, also written 鉢特摩, which is rendered in this land as red lotus; among the four kinds of lotus the red lotus is supreme, and hence the name Red Lotus Supreme). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha, so that it does no more than pass through the faculty of hearing, that person shall gain the recompense of being born a thousand times over among the six heavens of desire and returning again. How much more one who recites it with the whole of his mind?

〔7 · The fourth · the Tathāgata Lion’s Roar〕（0786a10）“Again, inexpressible, inexpressible asaṃkhyeya kalpas ago, there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named Lion’s Roar Tathāgata (when the Tathāgata expounds the Dharma at length in the midst of a great assembly he is sovereign and without fear, and therefore he is named the lion; this name takes precisely the mark of the expounding of the Dharma). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha and takes refuge in a single thought, that person shall meet with measureless buddhas who lay their hands upon his head and give him the prediction.

〔8 · The fifth · the Buddha Krakucchanda〕（0786a13）“Again, in the past there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named the Buddha Krakucchanda (Krakucchanda is a Sanskrit name, rendered in this land as What Ought to Be Cut Off, and rendered again as Adornment of Function). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha, and gazes and bows with the whole of his mind, or praises him besides, that person shall be a Great Brahmā King in the assembly of the thousand buddhas of the Worthy Kalpa, and shall receive the highest prediction.

〔9 · The sixth · Vipaśyin〕（0786a16）“Again, in the past there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named Vipaśyin (also called Weiwei, and rendered in this land as Supreme Contemplation. The sūtra text here brings out the name alone, and attaches to it neither Tathāgata nor Buddha — of the nineteen buddha-names in this chapter, this one alone is so). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha, he shall never fall into the evil destinies, but shall always be born among humans and gods and there enjoy supreme and wondrous bliss.

〔10 · The seventh · the Tathāgata Jewel Supreme〕（0786a18）“Again, measureless and numberless kalpas as many as the sands of the Ganges ago, there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named Jewel Supreme Tathāgata (the Sanskrit name is 囉怛曩毗婆 — 囉怛曩 being rendered as jewel and 毗婆 as supreme). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha, he shall in the end not fall into the evil destinies, but shall always be in the heavens and there enjoy supreme and wondrous bliss.

〔11 · The eighth · the Tathāgata Jewel Mark〕（0786a21）“Again, in the past there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named Jewel Mark Tathāgata (this too takes the jewel upon the side of marks as the figure of the jewel that lies in the nature; the ancients said: the dharma-nature and the mark of reality neither go nor come, and the mark of reality is honored, and so the name is Jewel Mark). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha and gives rise to a heart of reverence, that person shall before long gain the fruit of an arhat.

〔12 · The ninth · the Tathāgata Kāṣāya Banner〕（0786a23）“Again, measureless asaṃkhyeya kalpas ago, there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named Kāṣāya Banner Tathāgata (the kāṣāya is the very mark of the Tathāgata’s jewel banner; to think of it as a jewel banner when one puts it on can extinguish the multitude of sins and give birth to all blessings, and it is like armor besides, so that the poisoned arrows of the afflictions cannot wound). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha, he shall pass beyond the sins of birth and death of a hundred great kalpas.

〔13 · The tenth · the Tathāgata Great Universal Mountain King〕（0786a25）“Again, in the past there was a buddha who appeared in the world, named Great Universal Mountain King Tathāgata (the mountain king is Mount Sumeru, which the seven golden mountains encircle and which stands up alone in the midst of the sea, and so it is called king in particular; great speaks of its height of eighty-four thousand yojanas, and universal of its brightness shining on all four sides — and this is the figure of the reward-body buddha). If there be a man or a woman who hears the name of this buddha, that person shall meet with buddhas as many as the sands of the Ganges, who will expound the Dharma at length for him, and he shall certainly accomplish awakening.

〔14 · The remaining nine buddhas, and the buddhas beyond all telling〕（0786a28）“Again, in the past there were the Buddha Pure Moon (the Buddha’s true dharma-body is like empty space, and appears in form as things require, like the moon in water), the Buddha Mountain King (the Sanskrit name is 勢禮捺囉惹, rendered in this land as mountain king), the Buddha Wisdom Supreme (that is, the wisdom of all modes; since it knows every kind and every aspect of things, it is called supreme among the wisdoms), the Buddha Pure Name King (the afflictions of the five abodes and the two kinds of birth-and-death are purified away entirely, and there is sovereignty, and so this supreme name is set up), the Buddha Wisdom Accomplished (both wisdoms, the expedient and the real, are brought to accomplishment), the Buddha Unsurpassed (a title of the utmost honor; one who still has something to cut off is called one with something above him, and one who has nothing left to cut off is called unsurpassed), the Buddha Wondrous Sound (in mountain valleys and open wastes there are many kalaviṅka birds that give out a wondrous sound, which neither gods and men nor kiṃnaras can match — the Tathāgata’s voice alone excepted), the Buddha Full Moon and the Buddha Moon Face (these two buddhas are much the same in sense — like the moon of the fifteenth day, round and full and complete, king among the host of stars; and so too is a buddha’s face, pure and round and full), and buddhas such as these, beyond all telling.

〔15 · One name and many names〕（0786b01）“World-Honored One! Among all the beings of the present and of ages to come, whether god or human, whether man or woman, if one can but recite the name of a single buddha, the merit of it is already measureless — how much more the reciting of many names?

〔16 · At the time of birth and at the time of death they gain great benefit of themselves〕（0786b03）“Such beings as these, at the time of birth and at the time of death, gain great benefit of themselves, and in the end do not fall into the evil destinies.

〔17 · At the end of life another recites one buddha’s name for him〕（0786b04）“If there be a person coming to the end of life, and among the kindred in his house there be even one who recites aloud the name of a single buddha for this sick person, then for this person at the end of life the sins of the five Uninterrupted deeds are taken away, and the remaining karmic retributions and the rest of them are all extinguished.

〔18 · Even the sins of the five Uninterrupted deeds are gradually extinguished〕（0786b07）“These sins of the five Uninterrupted deeds, though they are heavy in the utmost degree, and though a koṭi of kalpas may pass and one still cannot get out of them at all, yet by the strength of another’s calling and reciting a buddha’s name for him at the end of life, even within these sins there is a gradual extinguishing.

〔19 · How much more when he calls and recites for himself〕（0786b09）“How much more when beings call and recite for themselves? The blessings gained are measureless, and the sins extinguished are measureless.”

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “Weighing the Merit and Conditions of Giving” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the tenth chapter of Fascicle Two, from the title of the chapter down to “the causes and conditions of giving — the matter is just so.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0786b11）Weighing the Merit and Conditions of Giving, Chapter Ten.

〔2 · Kṣitigarbha’s doubt and request〕（0786b12）At that time Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, sustained by the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power, rose from his seat, knelt on his right knee with palms joined, and said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I observe the beings within the paths of karma, and weigh against one another the acts of giving they perform: some are light and some are heavy. There are those who receive blessings for one life, those who receive blessings for ten lives, and those who receive great blessing and benefit for a hundred lives and a thousand lives. How does this come about? I pray only that the World-Honored One will explain it for me.”

〔3 · The Buddha enjoins him to listen and consents to speak〕（0786b16）At that time the Buddha said to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva: “Here and now, in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, before the whole multitude gathered in assembly, I shall speak of the giving done in Jambudvīpa and weigh the heavier and the lighter of its merit. You should listen closely; I shall speak it for you.”

〔4 · He asks to hear because he doubts〕（0786b18）Kṣitigarbha said to the Buddha: “I have a doubt about this matter, and would gladly hear it.”

〔5 · The first weighing · giving to the lowest and poorest and to those whose faculties are not whole〕（0786b19）The Buddha said to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva: “In southern Jambudvīpa there are kings of states, chief ministers of the court, great elders, great kṣatriyas (kṣatriya: the caste of kings), great brahmins (the caste of pure conduct), and the like; and if they meet with the lowest and poorest, and even with the infirm (a wasting sickness: the spine humped and the movements hindered), the maimed (the limbs not whole), the mute (the mouth unable to speak), the deaf (the ear unable to hear), the witless (the mind unable to discriminate), and the eyeless (the eye unable to see things) — with all such people as these, whose bodily faculties are not complete.

〔6 · The giver’s mind and the blessing he obtains〕（0786b22）“When these great kings and the rest would give, if they can be complete in great kindness and compassion, lowering the mind and with a smile upon the face, giving with their own hands to all alike, or else sending someone to give in their stead, comforting and instructing with gentle words — the blessing and benefit these kings and the rest obtain is as the benefit of the merit of giving to buddhas as many as the sands of a hundred Ganges.

〔7 · The reason, unfolded〕（0786b26）“Why is this? Because these kings and the rest, facing these poorest and lowliest ones and those whose bodily faculties are not complete, have aroused the mind of great kindness; and therefore their blessing and benefit has a recompense such as this: through a hundred thousand lives they are constantly complete in the seven jewels — how much more so in the use of clothing and food?

〔8 · The second weighing · giving to the stūpas and monasteries of the Buddha and to holy images〕（0786b28）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! If in ages to come there be kings of states, and so on down to brahmins, who meet with a stūpa or monastery of the Buddha, or with an image of the Buddha, or even with an image of a bodhisattva, a śrāvaka, or a pratyekabuddha, and who see to it in their own persons, making offerings and giving — these kings and the rest shall gain the body of Śakra for three kalpas and enjoy surpassing and wondrous bliss.

〔9 · Dedicating it to the dharma-realm: ten kalpas as the Great Brahmā Heavenly King〕（0786c03）“If they can take the blessing and benefit of this giving and dedicate it to the dharma-realm, these great kings and the rest shall through ten kalpas constantly be the Great Brahmā Heavenly King.

〔10 · The third weighing · repairing stūpas, shrines, scriptures, and images fallen into ruin〕（0786c05）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! If in ages to come there be kings of states, and so on down to brahmins, who meet with the stūpas and shrines of former buddhas, or with scriptures and images, ruined and broken and fallen away, and are yet able to bring forth the resolve to repair them — these kings and the rest may see to it in their own persons, or exhort others, even a hundred thousand persons, to give together and form a bond with them.

〔11 · For themselves and for others, kingship through a hundred thousand lives〕（0786c08）“These kings and the rest shall through a hundred thousand lives constantly be in the body of a wheel-turning king; and those others who came and gave along with them shall through a hundred thousand lives constantly be in the body of a lesser king of a state.

〔12 · Arousing the mind of dedication: all accomplish the way of a buddha〕（0786c10）“And if they are further able, before the stūpa and shrine, to arouse the mind of dedication — kings such as these, and those other persons too, shall all accomplish the way of a buddha; and by this recompense, measureless and boundless.

〔13 · The fourth weighing · giving to the aged, the sick, and women in childbirth〕（0786c12）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! In ages to come there will be kings of states and brahmins and the rest who see the aged, the sick, and women in the very act of giving birth; and if within the space of a single thought they are complete in the mind of great kindness, and give medicine, food and drink, and bedding, so as to bring them ease and joy —

〔14 · The fruit obtained〕（0786c15）“the blessing and benefit of this is of all things the most inconceivable: through a hundred kalpas they shall constantly be lord of the Pure Abodes heavens; through two hundred kalpas they shall constantly be lord of the six heavens of desire; in the end they shall become buddhas; they shall never fall into the evil destinies; and even through a hundred thousand lives their ears shall not hear the sound of suffering.

〔15 · The recompense of giving with dedication, concluded〕（0786c17）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! If in ages to come there be kings of states and brahmins and the rest who can give in this way, the blessings they obtain are measureless; and if they are further able to dedicate them, then no question is asked how much or how little — in the end they shall become buddhas. How much more, then, the recompense of Śakra, of Brahmā, or of a wheel-turning king?

〔16 · The charge to exhort all universally〕（0786c20）“Therefore, Kṣitigarbha! Exhort beings universally to learn in just this way.

〔17 · The blessings of giving for good men and women · planting a small root of goodness within the Buddha-dharma〕（0786c21）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who plants within the Buddha-dharma a root of goodness so small as a hair or a mote of sand, the blessing and benefit received cannot be told by any simile.

〔18 · Meeting four kinds of image and giving and making offerings〕（0786c23）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who meets with an image of the Buddha, an image of a bodhisattva, an image of a pratyekabuddha, or an image of a wheel-turning king, and gives and makes offerings, that one obtains measureless blessings and is constantly among humans and gods, enjoying surpassing and wondrous bliss. And if able to dedicate it to the dharma-realm, that person’s blessing and benefit cannot be told by any simile.

〔19 · Meeting the scriptures of the Great Vehicle and praising and making offerings〕（0786c27）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who meets with the scriptures of the Great Vehicle, or merely hears one verse or one line of them, and arouses an earnest and weighty mind, praising and revering, giving and making offerings — the great fruit of recompense this person obtains is measureless and boundless. And if able to dedicate it to the dharma-realm, that one’s blessing cannot be told by any simile.

〔20 · What is new, given and offered to; what is old, repaired and set in order〕（0787a02）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who meets with a stūpa or monastery of the Buddha, or with scriptures of the Great Vehicle, that are new, and gives and makes offerings, gazing and bowing, praising, joining palms in reverence; and who, meeting with what is old or what has been ruined, repairs and sets it in order, whether arousing the resolve alone or exhorting many to arouse it together — such people as these shall through thirty lives constantly be lesser kings of states; and the one who is the donor, the lord of the gift, shall constantly be a wheel-turning king, and shall further teach and transform those lesser kings of states with wholesome dharmas.

〔21 · Dedicating it to the dharma-realm: the highest and most wondrous bliss for a hundred thousand lives〕（0787a08）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who plants roots of goodness within the Buddha-dharma — whether by giving and making offerings, or by repairing stūpas and monasteries, or by mounting and setting in order the scriptures, down to a single hair, a single mote, a single grain of sand, a single drop — if only such wholesome deeds as these can be dedicated to the dharma-realm, this person’s merit shall through a hundred thousand lives receive the highest and most wondrous bliss.

〔22 · Dedicating it only to one’s own household: bliss for three lives〕（0787a12）“If it is dedicated only to one’s own household and kin, or to the benefit of one’s own person, then the fruit of this is bliss received for three lives: one part given away, ten thousand parts of recompense obtained.

〔23 · The closing statement〕（0787a14）“Therefore, Kṣitigarbha! The causes and conditions of giving — the matter is just so.”

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Earth Spirit’s Protection of the Dharma” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the eleventh chapter of Fascicle Two, from the title of the chapter down to “for this reason he gains the great guarding.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0787a15）The Earth Spirit’s Protection of the Dharma, Chapter Eleven.

〔2 · The earth spirit Firm-and-Stable tells of those she venerated in the past〕（0787a16）At that time the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable (the spirit who has charge of the earth of one quarter; the Sanskrit name was transcribed of old as Nielichu, and rendered into Chinese as Firm-and-Stable. Spoken of on the side of phenomena, the name is taken from her power to bear up and to bring forth, to enrich the savor of the earth, to nourish the myriad people and to settle the kinds of beings; spoken of on the side of the Dharma, it is taken from the gate of the perfection of wisdom, constant and unchanging) said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! From times long past I have gazed up at and bowed my head to measureless bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and all of them possess vast and inconceivable spiritual power and wisdom, and deliver beings far and wide.

〔3 · Praising Kṣitigarbha, whose vow is deep and weighty · his great bond with Jambudvīpa〕（0787a18）“This Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, among all the bodhisattvas, has a vow the deepest and the weightiest. World-Honored One! This Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva has a great bond of causes with Jambudvīpa (this continent of ours, where we dwell).

〔4 · Four great beings raised for comparison〕（0787a20）“Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, and Maitreya likewise each manifest a hundred thousand kinds of body and form and deliver beings in the six destinies; yet their vows still have an end at which they are done.

〔5 · Displaying that his teaching and transforming cannot be measured〕（0787a21）“This Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, teaching and transforming all beings of the six destinies, has vowed for kalpas as many as the sands of a hundred thousand koṭis of Ganges rivers.

〔6 · A niche-chamber made in the south · an image sculpted and offerings made〕（0787a23）“World-Honored One! I observe the beings of ages to come and of the present age: in the place where such a one dwells, upon clean ground to the south, with earth and stone, bamboo and wood, he makes a niche-chamber (a niche was glossed of old as a dragon’s den, taking the sense of lying hidden with the door shut, still to the utmost degree). Within it he is able to sculpt and to paint, and even with gold, silver, bronze, or iron to make an image of Kṣitigarbha, burning incense and making offerings, gazing and bowing and praising.

〔7 · The ten benefits marked out〕（0787a26）“The dwelling place of such a person then obtains ten kinds of benefit.

〔8 · The ten named one by one〕（0787a27）“What are the ten? First, the soil is rich and abundant — the land where he dwells is fertile (abundant means full and great; in glossing the soil, the reading handed down cites that soft earth without clods is called loam, that is, earth soft and free of clods). Second, house and home are at peace forever — household and dwelling are settled and quiet for long. Third, those who have died before are born into the heavens — the forebears already departed are born above. Fourth, those now living have their lifespan increased — those alive at present gain added years. Fifth, what is sought is fulfilled according to one’s wish — whatever is asked for accords with the heart (glossed of old as: to follow one’s intent is to have it fulfilled). Sixth, there are no calamities of water or fire — neither flood nor fire befalls. Seventh, waste and loss are warded off — waste (the old reading cites that what is much and disordered is called waste, a diminishing and dissipating) is driven away. Eighth, bad dreams are cut off — evil dreams are cut off and do not arise. Ninth, going out and coming in one is guarded by spirits — leaving the door and entering it, one has the gods for escort. Tenth, one often meets with holy causes — one meets again and again with the causes of becoming holy.

〔9 · Concluding: the cause cultivated and the benefit obtained〕（0787b02）“World-Honored One! If in ages to come, and among the beings of the present, one can in the quarter where he dwells make offerings in this way, he obtains benefits such as these.”

〔10 · Reciting the scripture and making offerings to the image · untimely disasters extinguished〕（0787b04）The earth spirit Firm-and-Stable said to the Buddha again: “World-Honored One! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who, in the place where he dwells, has this scripture and an image of the bodhisattva, and if that person is further able to recite the scripture aloud and make offerings to the bodhisattva, I shall constantly, by day and by night, with my own spiritual power guard and protect that person, so that flood, fire, robbers and thieves, great untimely disasters and lesser untimely disasters, and all evil things whatsoever shall be extinguished entirely.”

〔11 · The Buddha praises the earth spirit’s spiritual power〕（0787b08）The Buddha said to the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable: “Your great spiritual power is such as few among the spirits can match.

〔12 · Unfolding what she has charge of〕（0787b09）“Why is this? The soil of Jambudvīpa is wholly under your protection; and on down to grass and trees, sand and stones, rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds, grain and rice, treasures and shells — whatever comes to be from the earth, all is by your power.

〔13 · Confirming her praising of his deeds of benefit〕（0787b11）“And you constantly praise and proclaim Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s deeds of benefit; your merit, and your spiritual penetration too, are a hundred thousand times those of an ordinary earth spirit.

〔14 · Good men and women who make offerings and recite · practicing by relying on this one thing alone〕（0787b12）“If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who makes offerings to the bodhisattva and recites this scripture aloud, one who practices by relying on this single matter, the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha, alone —

〔15 · The earth spirit is charged to guard and to remove calamity〕（0787b15）“then with your own spiritual power do you guard and protect him. Do not let any calamity, nor any matter that goes against his wish, so much as reach his ear — how much less let him undergo it?

〔16 · The gods too guard this person〕（0787b16）“And it is not that you alone protect this person: there are also the retinues of Śakra and of Brahmā, and the retinues of the gods, who guard this person.

〔17 · The meaning of the guarding explained〕（0787b18）“Why does he gain the guarding of such holy and worthy ones? It is all because he gazes upon and bows to the image of Kṣitigarbha and recites aloud this Sūtra of the Original Vows. Such a person of himself, and without fail, comes out of the sea of suffering and realizes the bliss of nirvāṇa. For this reason he gains the great guarding.”

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Benefit of Seeing and Hearing” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the twelfth chapter of Fascicle Two, from the chapter title down to “therefore, Avalokiteśvara, you should know: proclaim it everywhere to lands as many as the sands of the Ganges.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0787b21）The Benefit of Seeing and Hearing, Chapter Twelve.

〔2 · From the gate at the crown, thirty-two hair-mark lights are sent forth〕（0787b22）At that time the World-Honored One, from the gate at the crown of his head (the crown: the Sanskrit name is uṣṇīṣa, rendered by sense as the buddha-crown; and it is called a gate because an old sūtra divides the human body into three parts, the head being the hall and the crown the gate of heaven), sent forth a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of great hair-mark lights (the hair-mark: the mark of the white hair between the Buddha’s brows. The hair-mark is one; the colors of its light are each distinct) — namely: the White hair-mark light, the Great White hair-mark light, the Auspicious-Sign hair-mark light (auspicious sign: a token of jade offered as a pledge, and also the sense of a good omen), the Great Auspicious-Sign hair-mark light, the Jade hair-mark light, the Great Jade hair-mark light, the Purple hair-mark light (purple: the Sanskrit name is transcribed Luocha, also written Lecha, a color between black and red), the Great Purple hair-mark light, the Blue hair-mark light (blue: the Sanskrit name is transcribed Niluo), the Great Blue hair-mark light, the Azure hair-mark light (azure: a deep blue), the Great Azure hair-mark light, the Red hair-mark light (red: the Sanskrit name is transcribed Aluna, the color red), the Great Red hair-mark light, the Green hair-mark light (green: a color between blue and yellow), the Great Green hair-mark light, the Gold hair-mark light (gold: the Sanskrit name is transcribed Yiniyan), the Great Gold hair-mark light, the Felicitous-Cloud hair-mark light (an auspicious cloud of five colors is called a felicitous cloud), the Great Felicitous-Cloud hair-mark light, the Thousand-Wheel hair-light, the Great Thousand-Wheel hair-light, the Jeweled-Wheel hair-light, the Great Jeweled-Wheel hair-light, the Sun-Wheel hair-light, the Great Sun-Wheel hair-light, the Moon-Wheel hair-light, the Great Moon-Wheel hair-light, the Palace hair-light, the Great Palace hair-light, the Sea-Cloud hair-light, the Great Sea-Cloud hair-light (the first twenty kinds are called hair-mark lights; the last twelve — the lights of the wheels, of the palace, and of the sea cloud — are called hair-lights. The sūtra text divides them into two forms of its own accord; they are not one name).

〔3 · Subtle and wondrous sounds come forth · five matters announced to the assembly〕（0787c02）Having sent forth from the gate at the crown of his head hair-mark lights such as these, he gave forth a subtle and wondrous sound and said to the great assembly, to the eightfold host of devas and nāgas, and to humans, nonhumans, and the rest: “Hear me today, in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, extol and praise the matters of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s benefit and the like among humans and gods, the matters beyond conceiving, the matters of the cause that surpasses toward sagehood (the cause by which one goes beyond the station of an ordinary being and heads for the fruit of a sage), the matters of realizing the ten grounds, and the matters of never in the end falling back from anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi (anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi: unsurpassed perfect awakening).”

〔4 · Avalokiteśvara rises from his seat and asks for the teaching〕（0787c07）While these words were being spoken, there was in the assembly a bodhisattva-mahāsattva named Avalokiteśvara, in Chinese the Contemplator of the World’s Sounds (the Sanskrit name is transcribed Anapoloujidishu. Contemplating is the wisdom that contemplates; the world’s sounds are the object contemplated; object and wisdom are joined to make the designation), who rose from his seat, knelt with the right knee to the ground and his palms joined (that manner of kneeling: a kneeling in which the right knee is set upon the ground), and said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! This Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva is complete in great kindness and compassion; he pities the beings who undergo the suffering of their guilt, and in a thousand myriad koṭis of worlds he manifests a thousand myriad koṭis of bodies. As for all his merit and the inconceivable power of his awesome spiritual might, I have heard the World-Honored One together with the measureless buddhas of the ten directions praise Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva with one voice out of different mouths, saying: even were the buddhas of the past, the present, and the future to speak of his merit, they still could not exhaust it. And just now the World-Honored One has announced to the whole assembly that he would extol the matters of Kṣitigarbha’s benefit and the like. I pray only that the World-Honored One will, for all beings present and to come, extol the inconceivable matters of Kṣitigarbha, so that the eightfold host of devas and nāgas may gaze upon him and bow and gain blessings.”

〔5 · The Buddha praises Avalokiteśvara for his great affinity with the Sahā world〕（0787c17）The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara: “You have a great affinity with the Sahā world. Whether deva or nāga, whether man or woman, whether spirit or ghost, and on down to the beings of the six destinies who undergo the suffering of their guilt — those who hear your name (the sūtra here uses the older word for ‘your’), those who see your form, those who long for you, those who praise you: these beings shall certainly not fall back on the unsurpassed way, but shall constantly be born among humans and gods and receive wondrous pleasure in full; and when cause and fruit are about to ripen, they will meet a buddha and receive his prediction. You are now complete in great kindness and compassion, and pity beings and the eightfold host of devas and nāgas; hear me proclaim the matters of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s inconceivable benefit. Listen closely; I shall now speak of it.”

〔6 · Avalokiteśvara is glad to hear〕（0787c24）Avalokiteśvara said: “Even so, World-Honored One! I should be glad to hear it.”

〔7 · The first matter · a deva’s five marks of decline, and seeing and hearing turn his blessings〕（0787c25）The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara: “In the worlds to come and the worlds present there are devas whose heavenly blessings have been used up, who have the five marks of decline appear before them (the marks of decline that appear when a deva is about to die. Of old the treatises divide them into two kinds, the lesser five and the greater five; this sūtra says only that the five marks of decline appear, and does not divide them into greater and lesser), and some of whom fall into the evil destinies. Devas such as these, whether male or female, if at the time when those marks appear they either see the image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva or hear the name of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and gaze once and bow once — these devas will thereby have their heavenly blessings increased, will receive great joy, and will never fall to the recompense of the three evil destinies.

〔8 · How much more so for the first matter · the merit of giving and making offerings is boundless〕（0788a01）How much more so if, seeing and hearing the bodhisattva, they also give and make offerings of every kind of incense, flower, garment, food and drink, jewel, and necklace: the merit and the blessed benefit they obtain will be measureless and boundless.

〔9 · The second matter · at the end of life, one sound passing through the ear〕（0788a03）“Furthermore, Avalokiteśvara! If in the worlds to come and the worlds present the beings of the six destinies, at the time when their lives are ending, are able to hear the name of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, one sound of it passing through the faculty of the ear, these beings shall never pass through the suffering of the three evil destinies.

〔10 · How much more so for the second matter · family sculpt and paint, and the recompense is turned〕（0788a06）How much more so if at the time when the life is ending the parents and family take the house and lands, the goods, the jewels, and the garments of the one whose life is ending, and with them sculpt and paint an image of Kṣitigarbha. Or else, before the sick person’s life has ended, they cause him with his own eyes and ears to see and hear, and to know that his family are taking house and jewels and the rest to sculpt and paint an image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva for his own sake. If this person is one who by the recompense of his deeds ought to undergo a grave illness, then by the strength of this merit he is straightway cured and his lifespan increased. And if this person is one whose lifespan by the recompense of his deeds is spent, and who with all the obstructions of guilt and of deeds that must be his ought to fall into an evil destiny, then by the strength of this merit, after his life ends, he is born straightway among humans and gods, receives surpassing and wondrous pleasure, and all the obstructions of guilt are utterly extinguished.

〔11 · The third matter · losing father and mother in childhood, and remembering one’s family〕（0788a14）“Furthermore, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara! If in ages to come there be a man or a woman who, while still at the breast, or at three years old, or five, or ten, or under, lost father and mother, and even lost elder and younger brothers and sisters: when this person has grown up and thinks back upon his father and mother and upon all his family, not knowing into which destiny they have fallen, into what world they were born, into which heaven they were born —

〔12 · The third matter · sculpting, painting, gazing, and bowing, and the family are set free〕（0788a18）if this person is able to sculpt or paint an image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, or even to hear his name and gaze once and bow once, from one day up to seven days, not falling back from that first mind, hearing the name and seeing the form, gazing and bowing and making offerings — then as for this person’s family, if by borrowing from the causes of their deeds they have fallen into an evil destiny, the number of kalpas they ought to undergo is reckoned, and by the merit of this man or woman or brother or sister who sculpts and paints the image of Kṣitigarbha and gazes and bows, they are straightway set free and born among humans and gods; and as for those who have already been born among humans and gods and are receiving surpassing and wondrous pleasure, they by the strength of this merit have their holy causes increased and receive measureless pleasure.

〔13 · The third matter · reciting the name for three times seven days, and a boundless body is manifested〕（0788a24）If this person is further able, within three times seven days, to gaze single-mindedly upon the image of Kṣitigarbha and bow to it and recite his name, filling out ten thousand recitations, then he will obtain a manifestation of the bodhisattva’s boundless body, which will tell him in full the realm into which his family have been born; or else within a dream the bodhisattva will manifest great spiritual power and personally lead this person through the worlds to see all of his family.

〔14 · The third matter · a thousand recitations a day up to a thousand days〕（0788a28）If he is further able each day to recite the bodhisattva’s name a thousand times, up to a thousand days, then this person will obtain from the bodhisattva a dispatching of the local earth-lord and the spirits of the place where he dwells to guard him for the whole of his life; in this present world his clothing and food will be abundant and to spare, he will have no sickness or pain, and violent misfortune will not so much as enter his door, how much less come upon his person. And this person will in the end obtain the bodhisattva’s touch upon the crown of his head and his prediction.

〔15 · The fourth matter · arousing a vast mind of kindness, and what is wished for is swiftly accomplished〕（0788b03）“Furthermore, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who wishes to arouse a vast mind of kindness and deliver all beings; who wishes to cultivate unsurpassed awakening; who wishes to go forth from the three realms — if such persons see the image of Kṣitigarbha and hear his name, take refuge in him with utmost mind, and make offerings and gaze and bow with incense and flowers, garments, jewels, and food and drink, then these good men and good women will have what they wish for swiftly accomplished and will never have obstruction.

〔16 · The fifth matter · seeking a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of wishes〕（0788b08）“Furthermore, Avalokiteśvara! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who wishes to seek a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of wishes present and to come, a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of affairs, he need only take refuge in, gaze upon and bow to, make offerings to, and praise the image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and what he wishes and what he seeks in this way will all be accomplished. And if he further wishes that Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, complete in great kindness and compassion, may guard him forever, then this person, within his sleep and dreams, will obtain the bodhisattva’s touch upon the crown of his head and his prediction.

〔17 · The sixth matter · with the sūtras of the Great Vehicle, got and forgotten at once〕（0788b13）“Furthermore, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara! If in ages to come a good man or a good woman conceives a deep and treasuring regard for the sūtras of the Great Vehicle, arouses an inconceivable mind, and wishes to read and to recite them — yet though he meets a clear-sighted teacher who instructs him in reading them and makes him practice them until they are familiar, he gets them and forgets them at once, and though months and years go by, he cannot read or recite them. A good man such as this has an obstruction from the deeds of former lives, not yet dissolved away, and therefore has no capacity for reading and reciting the sūtras of the Great Vehicle.

〔18 · The sixth matter · hearing the name and seeing the image, and setting it forth in reverence〕（0788b18）A person such as this, hearing the name of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva and seeing the image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, should set forth and declare the whole of his own mind in reverence, and further make offerings to the bodhisattva of incense, flowers, garments, food and drink, and every kind of plaything.

〔19 · The sixth matter · one cup of pure water〕（0788b21）Let him take one cup of pure water, set it before the bodhisattva for one day and one night, and then with palms joined ask to drink it, turning his head toward the south; and when the water is about to enter his mouth, let him be of utmost mind and grave in his bearing.

〔20 · The sixth matter · what is to be guarded against, and for how long〕（0788b23）When he has finished drinking the water, let him guard against the five pungent roots (garlic, mountain scallion, onion, leek, and xingqu — the five rank and pungent vegetables), against wine and meat, against wrong sexual conduct and false speech, and against every kind of killing and harm, for one seven-day period, or for three times seven days.

〔21 · The sixth matter · the water of consecration conferred within a dream, and a quick understanding gained〕（0788b24）This good man or good woman will then, within his sleep and dreams, see in full Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva manifesting a boundless body and conferring upon him, in the place where he is, the water of consecration (consecration: the Sanskrit name is transcribed Pisajia; as when a kṣatriya pours water over the head of a prince to establish him, it signifies succeeding to the station of the Dharma King). When this person wakes from his dream he will gain a quick understanding, and whatever sūtras there are, once they have passed through the faculty of his ear, he will remember forever and will not again lose so much as a single line or a single verse.

〔22 · The seventh matter · things not as one would have them, by day and by night〕（0788b27）“Furthermore, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara! If in ages to come there be persons whose clothing and food do not suffice, whose seeking runs contrary to their wish; or who have much illness, or much of calamity and decline; whose houses are not at peace and whose families are scattered; or upon whose persons violent misfortunes of every kind come thick and strike; or who in sleep and dream have much fright and fear —

〔23 · The seventh matter · ten thousand recitations filled out, and these things gradually pass away〕（0788c02）persons such as these, hearing the name of Kṣitigarbha and seeing the form of Kṣitigarbha, with utmost mind and reverence filling out ten thousand recitations: all these things that are not as they would have them will gradually pass away, and they will straightway gain peace and ease, with clothing and food abundant and to spare, and even within sleep and dream all will be peace and ease.

〔24 · The eighth matter · entering the mountain forests, crossing rivers and seas, and going by dangerous roads〕（0788c05）“Furthermore, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who, whether for the sake of a livelihood (managing the business of living), or for public or private affairs, or for matters of birth and of death, or for some urgent matter, enters into the mountain forests, crosses over rivers and seas and great waters, or goes by a dangerous road —

〔25 · The eighth matter · reciting the name ten thousand times, and spirits guard him〕（0788c08）this person should first recite the name of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva ten thousand times, and the ghosts and spirits of the lands he passes through will guard him; walking, standing, sitting, and lying down he will be kept in peace and ease forever. And even if he meets with tigers, wolves, and lions, or with any poisonous harm, they will not be able to injure him.”

〔26 · Summing up · his great affinity with Jambudvīpa〕（0788c10）The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara: “This Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva has a great affinity with Jambudvīpa. Were one to speak of the matters of the benefit that beings gain by seeing and hearing him, a hundred thousand kalpas would not exhaust the telling.

〔27 · Exhorting Avalokiteśvara to circulate this sūtra〕（0788c13）Therefore, Avalokiteśvara, use your spiritual power to circulate this sūtra, so that the beings of the Sahā world may for a hundred thousand myriad kalpas receive peace and ease forever.”

〔28 · Verse 1 · a general praise: his awesome might cannot be exhausted〕（0788c15）At that time the World-Honored One spoke in verse, saying: “I behold the awesome spiritual power of Kṣitigarbha; kalpas as many as the sands of the Ganges could not exhaust the telling; seeing and hearing, gazing and bowing take but a single thought, and the matters of benefit to humans and gods are measureless.

〔29 · Verse 2 · praising the turning of the marks of decline〕（0788c18）Whether man, whether woman, whether nāga or spirit, when the recompense is spent and they must fall to an evil destiny — let them take refuge with utmost mind in the person of the great being, and their lifespan will be increased and the obstruction of their guilt removed.

〔30 · Verse 3 · praising the showing of the realm where the family were born〕（0788c20）One who while young lost the love of father and mother, not knowing in which destiny their spirits are; brothers and sisters and all his kin, whom he has not known since he was born and grew — let him sculpt or paint the person of the great being, and in grief and longing gaze and bow without setting it aside for a moment, and within three times seven days recite his name. The bodhisattva will then manifest a boundless body and show him the realm into which his family were born; and though they had fallen into an evil destiny, they will straightway come forth from it. And if he can keep from falling back from this first mind, he will obtain the touch upon his head and receive the holy prediction.

〔31 · Verse 4 · praising the accomplishing of the wish to deliver beings〕（0788c26）One who wishes to cultivate unsurpassed awakening, and even to go forth from the suffering of the three realms — since this person has aroused the mind of great compassion, let him first gaze upon and bow to the image of the great being; all his wishes will be swiftly accomplished, and no obstruction from his deeds will ever be able to bar the way.

〔32 · Verse 5 · praising the bringing forth of wisdom in this present life〕（0788c29）There is one who arouses his resolve and recites the sūtras, wishing to deliver the throng of the deluded and pass beyond to the further shore;（0789a01）and though he sets up this inconceivable wish, he reads and forgets at once and lets much of it fall away. This person has the obstruction of his deeds and his confusion, and so with the sūtras of the Great Vehicle he cannot hold them in mind. Let him make offerings to Kṣitigarbha with incense and flowers, with garments, food and drink, and every kind of plaything; let him set pure water before the great being and for one day and one night ask to drink it; let him arouse a mind of earnest gravity and guard against the five pungent roots, against wine and meat, wrong sexual conduct and false speech; within three times seven days let him do no killing or harm, and with utmost mind think upon the name of the great being. Then within a dream he will see the boundless one, and when he wakes he will have gained an ear of keen faculty; whatever teachings of the sūtras pass through the hearing of that ear, through a thousand myriad lives he will never forget them. It is because this great being is beyond conceiving that he can cause this person to gain wisdom such as this.

〔33 · Verse 6 · praising the turning of every evil aspect〕（0789a10）Beings who are poor, and those who are sick, whose houses are stricken and in decline and whose families are broken apart, who in sleep and dream are wholly ill at ease, whose seeking runs contrary and who have nothing that answers to their wish — let them with utmost mind gaze upon and bow to the image of Kṣitigarbha, and all evil things will pass away, and even within their dreams they will win peace to the full, with clothing and food in plenty and spirits and ghosts to guard them.

〔34 · Verse 7 · praising the making safe of water, land, and dangerous roads〕（0789a14）One who wishes to enter the mountain forests or to cross the sea, and meets with poisonous and evil birds and beasts, or with evil men, with evil spirits and evil ghosts and evil winds, with every kind of hardship and every kind of distress — let him only gaze upon and bow to and make offerings to the image of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, the great being, and thus, in the mountain forests and in the great sea, whatever evils there are will pass away.

〔35 · Verse 8 · exhorting the Avalokiteśvara to listen with utmost mind〕（0789a18）Avalokiteśvara, listen with utmost mind to what I say: Kṣitigarbha is inexhaustible and beyond conceiving; a hundred thousand myriad kalpas could not tell it out whole; I proclaim at length for you all the power of the great being, such as it is.

〔36 · Verse 9 · a general praise of the pleasure of hearing the name and gazing and bowing〕（0789a20）If a person hears the name of Kṣitigarbha, and even sees his image and gazes and bows to it, and presents in offering incense and flowers, garments, food and drink, then through a hundred thousand lives he will receive wondrous pleasure; and if he can dedicate all this to the dharma-realm, he will at the last become a buddha and pass beyond birth and death.

〔37 · Verse 10 · closing exhortation: proclaim it to all the lands〕（0789a23）Therefore, Avalokiteśvara, you should know: proclaim it everywhere to lands as many as the sands of the Ganges.”

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Entrustment to Humans and Gods” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the thirteenth chapter of Fascicle Two, from the chapter title down to the title at the end of the fascicle, “The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Fascicle Two.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0789a24）The Entrustment to Humans and Gods, Chapter Thirteen.

〔2 · The World-Honored One touches Kṣitigarbha’s crown a second time〕（0789a25）At that time the World-Honored One raised his golden arm and once again touched the crown of the head of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva (in the whole sūtra a crown is touched twice: the first time in the chapter on the assembly of the divided bodies, where the World-Honored One stretched out his golden arm and touched the crowns of all the divided bodies of Kṣitigarbha in a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of measureless worlds; this time what the raised arm touches is the one standing before him).

〔3 · Four things beyond conceiving〕（0789a26）And he spoke thus: “Kṣitigarbha! Kṣitigarbha! Your spiritual power is beyond conceiving; your kindness and compassion are beyond conceiving; your wisdom is beyond conceiving; your eloquence is beyond conceiving.（0789a28）Even were the buddhas of the ten directions together to praise and proclaim these inconceivable matters of yours, through a thousand myriad kalpas they could not reach the end of the telling.

〔4 · Once again humans and gods are entrusted to him〕（0789a29）“Kṣitigarbha! Kṣitigarbha! Remember what I say today: here in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, in the great assembly of a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of inexpressible, inexpressible buddhas and bodhisattvas and of the eightfold host of devas and nāgas,（0789b03）once again I entrust to you the beings of every kind among humans and gods who have not yet gone forth from the three realms and are within the burning house.

〔5 · Do not let them fall into an evil destiny〕（0789b04）“Do not let these beings fall into an evil destiny for so much as one day and one night — how much less fall further into the five hells without interval and the Avīci hell, where at a single stirring a thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas go by with no date of release.

〔6 · The beings of southern Jambudvīpa are unsettled in aim and nature〕（0789b06）“Kṣitigarbha! The beings of this southern Jambudvīpa are unsettled in aim and in nature, and those who are habituated to evil are many; even if they arouse a good mind, in a moment it falls away; and if they meet an evil condition, it grows thought by thought.（0789b08）For this reason I divide this body of mine and by a hundred thousand koṭis of transformations deliver them, delivering each according to the nature of his faculties.

〔7 · Earnestly he entrusts the host of humans and gods〕（0789b10）“Kṣitigarbha! I now with earnest care entrust to you the great host of humans and gods. In the ages to come, if there be a deva, or a good man or a good woman, who within the Buddha’s Dharma has planted so much as a little root of goodness — one hair, one mote, one grain of sand, one drop — you are to use the power of your way to guard this person, so that he may cultivate step by step toward the unsurpassed way and not be made to fall back.

〔8 · Falling into an evil destiny according to the recompense of their deeds〕（0789b13）“Furthermore, Kṣitigarbha! In the ages to come, if a deva or a human, according to the recompense of his deeds, falls into an evil destiny;（0789b14）and if at the time when he is about to fall, or has already come as far as the door, these beings are able to recite the name of one buddha, the name of one bodhisattva, one line or one verse of a sūtra of the Great Vehicle,（0789b16）then these beings you are to rescue with your spiritual power and your skillful means; in the place where such a person is, manifest a boundless body, break the hells to pieces for him, and send him to be born in the heavens and receive surpassing and wondrous pleasure.”

〔9 · The World-Honored One speaks in verse〕（0789b18）At that time the World-Honored One spoke in verse, saying:

（0789b20）“The great host of humans and gods, present and to come — today I entrust them to you in earnestness; with great spiritual penetration and with every kind of expedient means, deliver them, and do not let them fall into the evil destinies.”

〔10 · Kṣitigarbha kneels and receives the charge〕（0789b22）At that time Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva knelt with the right knee to the ground, joined his palms, and said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I pray only that the World-Honored One will not make this his care.

〔11 · One thought of reverence, and swiftly he is set free〕（0789b23）“In the ages to come, if there be a good man or a good woman who within the Buddha’s Dharma gives rise to one thought of reverence, I too shall by a hundred thousand skillful means deliver this person, so that within birth and death he swiftly gains release.（0789b25）How much more so one who hears of every kind of good matter and cultivates it thought after thought? He will of himself never fall back upon the unsurpassed way.”

〔12 · The Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha asks〕（0789b27）While these words were being spoken, there was in the assembly a bodhisattva named Ākāśagarbha, the Store of Empty Space (the Sanskrit name transmitted of old is Gaganagañja; in this land it is rendered the Store of Empty Space),（0789b28）who said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Ever since I came to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three I have heard the Tathāgata praise the awesome spiritual force of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva as beyond conceiving.（0789b29）In the ages to come, if there be a good man or a good woman, and all the devas and nāgas, who hear this sūtra and the name of Kṣitigarbha, or gaze upon his image and bow to it, how many kinds of blessed benefit can they gain?（0789c02）I pray only that the World-Honored One will, for all the multitude to come and present, speak of it in brief.”

〔13 · The Buddha consents to set it out severally〕（0789c03）The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha: “Listen closely! Listen closely! I shall set it out for you severally.

〔14 · Seeing the image, hearing the sūtra, making offerings, praising and bowing · twenty-eight kinds of benefit〕（0789c05）“If in the ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who sees the image of Kṣitigarbha, and hears this sūtra, and even reads and recites it, and who with incense, flowers, food and drink, garments, and precious things gives and makes offerings, and praises and gazes and bows,（0789c07）he can gain twenty-eight kinds of benefit —

First, devas and nāgas guard him and keep him in mind: devas and nāgas constantly come to guard this person and to hold him in mind. Second, the fruits of goodness increase daily: the recompense of goodness grows greater with each day. Third, the superior causes of sagehood are gathered: the superior seeds of cause for becoming a sage are gathered together portion by portion. Fourth, he does not fall back from awakening: upon the path of awakening he turns back no more. Fifth, clothing and food are abundant and sufficient: what he wears and what he eats are never lacking. Sixth, sickness and plague do not come upon him: illness and epidemic will not descend upon his person. Seventh, he is parted from the calamities of water and fire: he is far removed from disaster by flood and by fire. Eighth, no calamity from thieves: there is no calamity of robbers laid upon his person. Ninth, those who see him admire and revere him: others, on seeing him, all admire and respect him. Tenth, spirits and ghosts help and uphold him: ghosts and spirits come to aid and support him. Eleventh, a woman’s body is turned into a man’s: a female body is able to be turned into a male body. Twelfth, she becomes the daughter of a king or a great minister: (if a female body is still received) she can be born a daughter in the house of a king or a great minister. Thirteenth, upright of countenance and well marked: the countenance is upright, and the marks and excellences are complete. Fourteenth, for the most part born up in the heavens: for the greater part he is born up in the heavens. Fifteenth, or he becomes an emperor or a king: or else he is made emperor or king of a country. Sixteenth, wisdom of former lives and penetration of former destinies: the wisdom of former lives and the matters of former destinies alike are penetrated. Seventeenth, whatever he seeks is granted: whatever he asks for answers to his heart. Eighteenth, his family are glad: the family of his household are in concord and glad. Nineteenth, violent misfortunes are dissolved away: calamities of every kind that come upon him without cause are extinguished. Twentieth, the road of deeds is removed forever: the road of contaminated deeds within the three realms is cleared away for good. Twenty-first, wherever he goes the way is open: wherever he goes, in every place he passes through without obstruction. Twenty-second, the dreams of the night are at peace: the scenes of his dreams by night are settled and glad. Twenty-third, the dead who went before are parted from suffering: his kin who died before him are able to leave suffering behind. Twenty-fourth, by the blessings of former lives he takes birth: upon the strength of the blessings of former lives he takes birth in a good destination. Twenty-fifth, the sages praise him: all the sages and worthies come to praise him. Twenty-sixth, quick of hearing and sight, keen in faculty: the ear is sharp and the eye is clear, and the nature of his faculties is keen. Twenty-seventh, rich in a mind of kindness and pity: his mind is rich in kindness, compassion, and pity. Twenty-eighth, at the last he becomes a buddha: at the very end and ultimately he becomes a buddha.

〔15 · Devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits hearing the name and bowing to the form · seven kinds of benefit〕（0789c19）“Furthermore, Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha! If devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits, present or to come, hear the name of Kṣitigarbha, bow to the form of Kṣitigarbha, or hear of the affairs and the practice of Kṣitigarbha’s original vows, and praise and gaze and bow,（0789c21）they can gain seven kinds of benefit —

First, he swiftly surpasses into the ground of the sages: he swiftly passes over into the station and ground of a sage. Second, evil deeds are dissolved away: the evil deeds he has made are dissolved and extinguished to the end. Third, the buddhas guard and look down upon him: the buddhas guard him and keep him in mind, as one who is above and shines down upon what is below. Fourth, he does not fall back from awakening: upon the path of awakening he turns back no more. Fifth, his original power is increased: the power he possesses of himself from the first is made to grow. Sixth, former destinies are wholly penetrated: the matters of former lives are all of them thoroughly known. Seventh, at the last he becomes a buddha: at the very end and ultimately he becomes a buddha.”

〔16 · The holy multitude of the ten directions marvel at what has never been before〕（0789c24）At that time all the inexpressible, inexpressible buddhas and tathāgatas who had come from the ten directions, together with the great bodhisattvas and the eightfold host of devas and nāgas, hearing Buddha Śākyamuni extol and praise the great awesome spiritual power of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva as beyond conceiving, all marvelled at what had never been before.

〔17 · The Heaven of the Thirty-Three makes offerings · palms joined, they withdraw〕（0789c27）At this time the Heaven of the Thirty-Three rained down measureless incense and flowers, heavenly garments and pearl necklaces, in offering to Buddha Śākyamuni and to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.（0789c29）And the whole assembly gazed upon them and bowed once again, joined their palms, and withdrew.

〔18 · The title at the end of the fascicle〕（0790a01）The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Fascicle Two.