The Past of King Śubhavyūha

25.1Then the Bhagavān said to the all-inclusive assembly of bodhisattvas, “Noble ones, in the past, in a time gone by, countless eons ago, at that time, in that era, in an eon named Priyadarśana, in a world named Vairocana­raśmi­prati­maṇḍitā, there appeared in that world the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the one who knows the world’s beings, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­.

“During the time of the teaching of Tathāgata Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­, there was a King Śubhavyūha.

25.2“Noble ones, King Śubhavyūha had a wife named Vimaladattā.

“Noble ones, King Śubhavyūha had two sons. One was named Vimalagarbha and one was named Vimalanetra . Those two boys had miraculous power, wisdom, merit, and knowledge. They were dedicated to the practices of a bodhisattva, which means they were dedicated to the perfection of generosity, the perfection of good conduct, the perfection of patience, the perfection of diligence, the perfection of meditation, the perfection of wisdom, and the perfection of skillful method, love, compassion, rejoicing, equanimity, and the thirty-seven factors for enlightenment. They had perfected them all. They had perfected the samādhi stainless. [F.170.a] They had perfected the samādhi of the constellations, stars, and the sun. They had perfected the samādhi of stainless light. They had perfected the samādhi of bright, stainless light. They had perfected the samādhi of glorious adornment. They had perfected the samādhi of the essence of great brilliance.

25.3“At that time, during that period, the Bhagavān, with compassion for beings and with compassion for King Śubhavyūha, taught this Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.

25.4“Then, noble ones, the boy Vimalagarbha and the boy Vimalanetra went to their birth mother and, with their ten fingers and palms placed together in homage, they said to their birth mother, ‘Mother, please come into the presence of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­, so as to see, pay homage to, and honor the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­. For what reason? Mother, it is because the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­ is teaching extensively the Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma to the world and its devas, and we are going to listen to it.’

25.5“Noble sons, when they had said that, Queen Vimaladattā replied to Vimalagarbha and Vimalanetra , ‘Noble ones, your father, King Śubhavyūha, has faith in the brahmins; therefore you will not be given permission to see the Tathāgata.’

“Then, noble ones, the boy Vimalagarbha and the boy Vimalanetra , [F.170.b] with their ten fingers and palms placed together in homage, said, ‘We have been born into a family that holds the wrong view; we are not sons of a Dharma king.’

25.6“ ‘Then, noble ones,’ Queen Vimaladattā said to the boys, ‘perform some miracle, so that your father, King Śubhavyūha, will be sympathetic toward you. It is possible that he will be favorably inclined toward you. If he is favorably inclined, he will give us permission to go to the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­.’

25.7“Then, noble ones, at that time the boy Vimalagarbha and the boy Vimalanetra rose into the air to the height of seven palm trees, and so that King Śubhavyūha would be sympathetic toward them they together performed miracles that are permitted by the Buddha. Having gone up into the air, they lay down there, they walked in the air, they shook themselves free of dust in the air, and then while in the air, the lower half of their bodies emitted streams of water, and the upper half of their bodies blazed with fire, and then the lower half of their bodies blazed with fire, and the upper half of their bodies emitted streams of water. Up in the air they became huge and then became small; they became small and then became huge. Up in the air they vanished and appeared down on the ground. After appearing on the ground they rose up into the air.

25.8“Noble ones, those two boys, through performing those miracles, guided their father, King Śubhavyūha.

“Noble ones, when King Śubhavyūha saw the miracles that those two boys performed, he was pleased, delighted, overjoyed, joyful, and experienced happiness and pleasure. He placed his ten fingers and palms together in homage and asked those boys, [F.171.a] ‘Noble ones, who is your teacher? Whose students are you?’

25.9“Then, noble ones, those two boys said to King Śubhavyūha, ‘Great King, the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­ is alive, present, and remaining in this world. He sits upon a Dharma seat at the foot of a precious Bodhi tree. Before the world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, he is teaching extensively the Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma. That Bhagavān is our teacher. Great King, we are his students.’

25.10“Then, noble ones, King Śubhavyūha said to the two boys, ‘Noble ones, I also shall go before the Bhagavān and see your teacher.’

25.11“Then, noble ones, the two boys descended from the sky, and went to where their birth mother was, and having arrived, placed their ten fingers and palms together in homage, and they said to their birth mother, ‘Mother, we have guided our father toward the highest, complete enlightenment. We have performed the role of teacher for our father. Therefore, Mother, it is now appropriate for you to let us go. We shall become renunciants under the Bhagavān.

25.12“Then, noble ones, at that time the boy Vimalagarbha and the boy Vimalanetra recited these verses to their birth mother:

25.14“Queen Vimaladattā replied: [F.171.b]

25.15“Noble sons, when those boys had recited those verses, they said to their father and mother, ‘Father, Mother, this is excellent. Come, and together with you we shall go into the presence of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­, in order to see the Bhagavān, pay homage to him, and honor him. For what reason? Because, Father, Mother, it is as difficult to find the appearance of a buddha as a flower on a fig tree, or for a turtle to put its neck through the hole of a yoke. Father, Mother, it is difficult to find the appearance of a buddha bhagavān and therefore, Father, Mother, based upon the highest merit, we have been born in the time of this teaching. Father, Mother, it is excellent that you let us go. We shall leave, we shall become renunciants under the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­. For what reason? It is difficult to obtain the sight of a tathāgata, it is difficult to find a king of the Dharma such as this in the present time, and because it is extremely difficult to attain being endowed with this kind of opportunity.’

25.16“Noble ones, at that time King Śubhavyūha, together with his harem numbering eighty-four thousand, became recipients for the Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.

“The boys Vimalagarbha and Vimalanetra practiced this Dharma teaching for a hundred thousand quintillion eons, thinking, ‘How can we eliminate the lower existences?’ [F.172.a] They practiced the samādhi of eliminating the lower existences of all beings.

25.17“Queen Vimaladattā, the mother of those boys, understood what is taught by all the buddhas, and the secret parts of the Dharma of all the buddhas.

25.18“Then, noble ones, those two boys guided King Śubhavyūha into the teaching of the Tathāgata, and caused him to follow it, and become completely ripened together with all his court. Together with Queen Vimaladattā and her courtiers, the two sons of King Śubhavyūha, forty-two thousand people, the harem, and the ministers, they all went into the presence of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­. When they had arrived, they bowed their head to the Bhagavān’s feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān seven times, and sat down to one side.

25.19“Then, noble ones, the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­, knowing that King Śubhavyūha had arrived, taught them through speaking excellently about the Dharma, causing them to engage in it, encouraging them, and delighting them.

25.20“Then, noble ones, when the Bhagavān taught King Śubhavyūha by speaking excellently about the Dharma, causing him to engage in it, encouraging him, and delighting him, the king became pleased, delighted, and overjoyed; he became joyful, and felt happiness and pleasure. He bound his turban on his younger brother’s head and made him king. [F.172.b] Then together with his court, Queen Vimaladattā, the entire retinue of a crowd of women, and the two boys, accompanied by eighty-four thousand other beings, they became renunciants, leaving home for homelessness within the teaching of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­.

25.21After becoming renunciants, King Śubhavyūha and his followers diligently contemplated, meditated on, and studied the Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma for eighty-four thousand years.

25.22“Then, noble ones, after eighty-four thousand years had passed, King Śubhavyūha attained the samādhi called the array of all adorning good qualities. As soon as he attained that samādhi, King Śubhavyūha rose in the air up to the height of seven palm trees.

25.23“Then, noble ones, in the middle of the sky King Śubhavyūha said these words to the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­: ‘Bhagavān, my two sons are teachers. Through their miracles they turned me away from severe false doctrines and brought me into the Tathāgata’s teaching. They ripened me and caused me to practice. They inspired me to come see and pay homage to the Bhagavān. Bhagavān, these two boys are my kalyāṇamitras, who in order to make me remember my past roots of merit were born in my family in the form of boys.’

25.24“The bhagavān tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­ [F.173.a] said to King Śubhavyūha, ‘Great King, it is so. It is as you have said. The noble men or noble women who have planted roots of merit, even though they are born in all the states where they come into existence and die and pass away, they will easily find a kalyāṇamitra, they will be near someone who will act as a teacher, and they will be given a prophecy of the highest, complete enlightenment, be guided toward it and ripened for it. In that way, Great King, it is a great occasion for someone to be cared for by a kalyāṇamitra and guided to see a tathāgata. Great King, do you see these two boys?’

“ ‘I see them, Bhagavān,’ the king replied. ‘I see them, Tathāgata.’

25.25“ ‘Great King,’ said the Bhagavān, ‘these two boys have made offerings to as many tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas as there are grains of sand in sixty-five Ganges Rivers. Because of their compassion for beings, and in order to cause beings who have wrong views to be dedicated to the true view, they will be holders of this Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.’

25.26“Then, noble ones, King Śubhavyūha descended from the sky, and with his ten fingers and palms placed together in homage, he said to the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­, ‘Bhagavān, what kind of wisdom does the Tathāgata possess, by which the Bhagavān, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha has a beautiful uṣṇīṣa, stainless eyes, a beautiful ūrṇā hair between the eyebrows that is as white and beautiful as the moon or a conch, the beautiful rows of teeth in his mouth that are even and perfectly aligned, [F.173.b] the Sugata’s lips that are as red as the bimbā fruit, and the Sugata’s beautiful eyes? I request the Tathāgata to teach this.’

25.27“Noble ones, King Śubhavyūha, having praised the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­ through describing those qualities, then praised the Bhagavān through describing another hundred thousand quintillion qualities. At that time, he said to the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­, ‘Bhagavān, it is marvelous how much great benefit there is in the teaching of the Tathāgata, how the guidance of the Dharma taught by the Bhagavān is endowed with inconceivable qualities, and how excellent is the training of the Tathāgata. Bhagavān, from today onward, I will never again fall under the power of my mind. I will never again fall under the power of wrong views. I will never again fall under the power of anger. I will never again fall under the power of the arising of wicked thoughts. Bhagavān, if I again possess these bad qualities, I will not seek to come before the Bhagavān.’

25.28“Then he bowed his head to the feet of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­ and rose up into the air and remained there.

“Then King Śubhavyūha and Queen Vimaladattā cast into the air above the Bhagavān a string of pearls worth a hundred thousand silver coins. As soon as they threw that string of pearls, it transformed into a kūṭāgāra in the air above the Bhagavān, [F.174.a] which was made of strings of pearls, was quadrangular, with four pillars, well proportioned, symmetrical, and beautiful. In that kūṭāgāra appeared a throne spread with many hundreds of thousands of calico cloths. The Tathāgata appeared sitting cross-legged upon that throne.

25.29“Then King Śubhavyūha thought, ‘This wisdom of buddhahood is very powerful. The Tathāgata has inconceivable qualities so that in this way the Tathāgata’s body is within the kūṭāgāra and is resplendent, beautiful, and has the perfect color.’

“Then the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Jala­dhara­garjita­ghoṣa­susvarana­kṣatra­rāja­saṃkusumitābhi­jña­ asked that fourfold assembly, ‘Bhikṣus, do you see King Śubhavyūha roaring the lion’s roar in the middle of the sky?’

“ ‘We see him,’ they answered.

25.30“ ‘Bhikṣus,’ said the Bhagavān, ‘King Śubhavyūha, having become a bhikṣu within my teaching, will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Śālendrarāja, in an eon named Abhyudgatarāja, in the world realm Vistīrṇavatī.

“ ‘Bhikṣus, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Śālendrarāja will have an innumerable saṅgha of bodhisattvas and an innumerable saṅgha of śrāvakas. The world realm Vistīrṇavatī will be as level as the palm of a hand. In that way, that tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha will have inconceivable qualities.’ [F.174.b]

25.31“Noble ones, if you are uncertain, unsure, or undecided, thinking that King Śubhavyūha at that time, on that occasion was someone else, do not have such a view. Why is that? This bodhisattva mahāsattva Padmaśrī was at that time, on that occasion, King Śubhavyūha.

25.32“Noble ones, if you are uncertain, unsure, or undecided, thinking that Queen Vimaladattā at that time, on that occasion was someone else, do not have such a view. Why is that? This bodhisattva mahāsattva Vairocana­raśmi­prati­maṇḍita­dhvaja­rāja was at that time, on that occasion, Queen Vimaladattā, who out of compassion for King Śubhavyūha and those beings had made a commitment to become the wife of King Śubhavyūha.

25.33“Noble ones, if you are uncertain, unsure, or undecided, thinking that the two boys at that time, on that occasion were someone else, do not have such a view. Why is that? It is Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajya­samudgata who at that time, on that occasion, were the sons of King Śubhavyūha.

25.34“Therefore, noble ones, both Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajya­samudgata possess inconceivable qualities. They have planted roots of merit under many hundred thousand quintillions of buddhas. These higher beings are both truly superior through their inconceivable qualities. The world and its devas will pay homage to those who possess the names of these two high beings.”

25.35When this chapter on the past was taught, [F.175.a] eighty-four thousand beings gained pure, immaculate, stainless Dharma eyes.

25.36This concludes “The Past of King Śubhavyūha,” the twenty-fifth chapter of the Dharma teaching of “The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.”