Chapter 4
At that time, Eliminate-Obstructions(Sarva-nivaraNaviskambhin) Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: "Bhagavan(World Honored One), now how can I get this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani? Anyone who has it will be accordant with innumerable Dhyanas and Samadhis. Having this Dharani is the same as attaining Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi. It leads us to the door of liberation and reveals the state of Nirvana. It eliminates greed, angers and ignorance forever and perfects the Dharma-Stores. It breaks transmigrations in the five destinies and purifies all hells. It eliminates all afflictions and saves all animals. Its perfect Dharma-Flavor cannot be fully proclaimed even by Universal-Wisdom(sarva-jnana). Bhagavan, I need this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani. For this Dharani, I can fill the four great continents with treasures and donate all of them in order to write it down. Bhagavan, if there is not enough ink, paper or pen, I can prick my body to take out my blood and use it as the ink, I can peel off my skin and use it as the paper, and I can crack my bone and use it as the pen. Bhagavan, I am not miserly and will never regret for doing so, I respect this Dharani as if it is my parent."
(* The four great continents are:
1) The Southern Continent of Jambudvipa;
2) The Eastern Continent of Purva-videha;
3) The Western Continent of Avara-godaniya;
4) The Northern Continent of Uttara-kuru)
Then the Buddha told Eliminate-Obstructions Bodhisattva: "Virtuous man, I remember that in the past, for this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, I had been to as many worlds as there are atoms in the universe, and had offered and sustained countless hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of Tathagatas. But I had never gained or heard this Dharani in any of the worlds of those Tathagatas. Afterward, there was a Buddha named Treasure-Supremacy (Ratnottama), Thus-Come One, worthy of offerings, of right and universal knowledge, perfect clarity and conduct, well gone, understanding the world, unexcelled worthy, taming and subduing hero, teacher of heavenly and human beings, Buddha, World-Honored One."
"At that time, I wept sorrowfully in front of that Buddha, and then that Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha told me: 'Virtuous man, do not weep so sorrowfully. Virtuous man, you should go there, go to the world of Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha. That Buddha knows this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani.'"
"Virtuous man, I then said farewell to Treasure-Supremacy Tathagata, left his world, and went to the Buddha-World of Lotus-Supremacy (Padmottama) Tathagata. Having arrived there, I bowed to the feet of the Buddha, with my joining palms ahead, I said: 'Bhagavan, please give me the Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, which is the king of True-Words(mantra), being mindful of even its name can eliminate sins and filth and make us attain Bodhi quickly. I am tired, because I had been to innumerable worlds but could not get it, and I am finally here now.'"
"Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata then told me the merits and virtues of this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani: 'Virtuous man, I can count the number of all atoms of the universe, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani just once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, I can count all the sands in the great oceans one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose there is a storehouse made by heavenly beings, it is 1000 yojana in length, 1000 yojana in width and 100 yojana in height, it is filled with sesame seeds and has no extra space for even one needle. The guardian of this storehouse will not become old and will not die; he throws one sesame seed out every 100 kalpas, in such a manner, he throws out all the sesame seeds in the storehouse, I can count that number, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, there are various paddies, wheat, etc. planted all over the four great continents, dragon kings make the rain fall down and then all plants are matured. People harvest all the crops and get all grains, and spread them all over the southern continent (Jambudvipa). Virtuous man, I can count all those grains one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, in the southern continent (Jambudvipa), all the great rivers that are flowing day and night are: Sido river, Kiga river, Yamuna river, Vachu river, Siadarunra river, Candana-bhaga river, Ahravadi river, Sumagata river, Simahagarasunali river, etc. Those rivers, each along with their 5000 branch rivers, are flowing into oceans day and night. Virtuous man, I can count the drops of water of all those great rivers one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, for all four-feet sentient beings in the four great continents, such as lions, elephants, horses, yaks, buffalos, tigers, wolves, monkeys, deer, goats, sheep, jackals, rabbits, and so on. I can count all the hair of them one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose there is a Diamond-hook (Vajrankusa) mountain king, which is 99 thousand yojana in height, 84 thousand yojana in depth, 84 thousand yojana in length and 84 thousand yojana in width. And a person who will never become old and will never die has to spend one kalpa to circumambulate that mountain once. For such a mountain king, I can use a Kausika-cloth(a heavenly extremely thin cloth) to wipe it off, but if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani one time, I cannot fully tell how many merits and virtues he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, suppose there is a huge ocean which is 84 thousand yojana in depth, and its surface area is immeasurable. I can dip a single tip of hair in that ocean repeatedly to use up all the water, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot fully tell how many merits and virtues he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, I can count up all leaves of the great Srisa forest one by one, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, I cannot fully tell how many merits and virtues he gains.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, if all men, women and children in the four great continents become Bodhisattvas of the seven Bhumi(stage), then the sum of their merits and virtues is equal to the merits and virtues gained by chanting Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, if it rains days and nights for fully one kalpa, I can count the drops of those rainwater one by one; but if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani once, the number of the merits and virtues that he gains are much more than the number of those drops.'"
"'Virtuous man, for another example, if one billion Tathagatas stay together in one place, any some person offers and sustains them with various clothes, drinks, foods, seats, beds, soup, medicine, and many other goods, in such a way those Tathagatas count the merits and virtues of this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani together for one heavenly kalpa, but they cannot figure out the sum.'"
"'I also cannot figure out that not only when I am now in this world, but also when I am in Samadhi.'"
"'Virtuous man, this Dharma is delicate and wonderful, it corresponds to all preparative practices, analytical meditations and wisdom. You will gain this delicate and wonderful Heart-Dharma in the future. That Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is expert at this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani. Virtuous man, in the past, after the preparative practices, I had been to countless hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of worlds, and finally I arrived the world of Infinite-Life(Amitayus) Tathagata. For this Dharma, I joined my palms together, wept and cried in front of him.'"
"'At that time, because Infinite-Life Tathagata knows my present and future, he said to me: 'Virtuous man, do you need this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King-Meditation-and-Practice-Yoga?' I then replied: 'Yes I need this Dharma, Bhagavan, I need this Dharma, Sugata(well gone). I need it like a thirsty person needs water. Bhagavan, in order to learn this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, I had been to innumerable worlds, had offered and sustained innumerable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of Tathagatas, but I have not gained this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King-Dharani. Bhagavan, please heal my foolishness, just like making a poor person rich, like telling the correct way for a person who lost his way, like planting Sala-trees beside the thoroughfare to make shelters under the flaming sun. Bhagavan, I am thirsty for this Dharma, please teach me, to make me stay in the ultimate enlightenment and wear the Vajra-Armor.''"
"'At that time, Infinite-Life Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with the Kalavinka
sound: 'Virtuous man, do you see that, for this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, this Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha have traveled throughout innumerable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of worlds. Virtuous man, you should tell him this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani, because this Tathagata comes for it.'"
(* Kalavinka: A kind of bird. Kalavinkas are good at singing, their sound are extremely dulcet.)
"'Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said to the Bhagavan: 'Anyone who did not see the Mandala(altar) cannot gain this Dharma, much less to know the Lotus Mudra(gesture), Mani-Holding Mudra, Universal-King Mudra, and the pure nature of the Mandala. The appearance of the Mandala is: The Mandala is five-elbows in length and five-elbows in width, there is an image of Amitabha(Infinite-Life) Buddha at the center of the Mandala; Indranila Curna(aromatic powder), Padmaraga Curna, Marakata Curna, Sphatika Curna, and Suvarnarupya Curna are scattered. On the right side of Amitabha Tathagata, there is an image of Maha-Mani-Dhara (Great-Mani-Holding) Bodhisattva, On the left side of the Buddha, there is an image of Six-Words-Great-Enlightenment(Four arms Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva). For the four arms image, the skin color is as white as the moon, and the body is decorated with various jewels; His left hand is holding a lotus, on the lotus there is a Mani pearl; His right hand is holding a rosary(prayer beads); His lower two hands are making a Universal-King Mudra. Under the feet of Six-Words-Great-Enlightenment, there are some heavenly beings decorated with various jewels. Each of those heavenly being is holding an incense burner in his right hand, and holding a bowl filled with treasures in his left hand. At the four corners of the Mandala, there are the four guardian gods who are holding various weapons and staffs. At the four outer corner of the Mandala, there are four merit-bottles(purna-ghata/kalasa) filled with various Mani jewels. If any virtuous man or woman is ready to enter this Mandala, he can write down the names of all his relatives onto a paper, and throw the paper into the Mandala, then all those relatives will attain the Bodhisattva position, will get away from sufferings and attain Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi quickly. Acarya(teacher)s should not teach this method indiscreetly. If there are some persons who are good at teaching others with expedient and skillful means, trustfully believe in Mahayana, diligent in preparative practices, and willing to seek for liberation, for such persons, Acarya(teacher)s should teach them this Dharma and should not teach them any Exterior-Paths theories.''"
"'At that time, Amitabha Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva: "Virtuous man, if the virtuous men or women have those five kinds of Curnas, then they can set up this Mandala; but if they are poor or unable to get those Curnas, what should they do?' Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva replied: 'Bhagavan, as an expedient means, they can use various colored materials, and make offerings with various fragrant flowers. If they can not even do that, or when they are in lodgings, journeys, or when they are walking, the Acarya(teacher)s can create the Mandala with their mental power and make the Acarya Mudra.''"
"At that time, Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak-sambuddha said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva: 'Virtuous man, please tell me this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-King-Dharani, I request it for the sake of innumerable hundreds of thousands of millions of kotis of nayutas of sentient beings, to make them escape from the sufferings of transmigrations and attain Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi quickly.' Thereupon, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva told this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani to Lotus-Supremacy Tathagata:
Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum