Bodhisattva Kasyapa said to
the Buddha: "Oh World Honored One! Sooner or later,
people will slander this sutra. Oh, World Honored One! What good and pure
people will come and save those who commit such slanders?"
The Buddha said to Kasyapa: "Oh good man! For 40 years after my entering Nirvana, this sutra will flourish in Jambudvipa. Then, it will disappear. Oh, good man! For example, in a land where one can get sugar cane, rice, rock candy, butter, cream and sarpirmanda, people will say: 'This is the best of all flavors’. Or there may be people who are living amid a field of millet and barnyard grass, and which may say that what they eat is the best of all foods. These are people of bad luck, due to their karmic retribution. The ears of the fortunate ones will never hear of millet or barnyard grass. What they will hear will be rice bran, sugar cane, rock candy and sarpirmanda. The same is the case with this wonderful Great Nirvana Sutra. Those born dull minded and unfortunate will not wish hear it, just like those dull and little-fortunate people who hate rice bran and rock candy. It is thus with the people of the two vehicles (Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas) which will hate this unsurpassed Nirvana Sutra.
But there are people who feel gratified on hearing this sutra and who, having heard it, feel pleased and do not slander. They are like those people of good luck who eat rice bran. Oh, good man! For example, there is a king who lives in the depths of the mountains, a place located on a cliff, difficult to access. He has sugar cane, rice bran and rock candy, but since these things are difficult to obtain, he bargain and stores them, and does not eat them. Fearing that they may finish, he only eats millet and barnyard grass. Then, the king of a different land, hearing about this and feeling pity, sends rice bran and sugar cane to him. The king receives and divides them amongst the people of his land, who eat them. After eating them, they are all gladdened and say: 'Because of that king, now we are blessed with this food’. Oh, good man! It is the same with the four kinds of people. They become the generals of this great teaching. One of the four kinds of people sees that countless Bodhisattvas of others countries study, copy, or have other copies of Mahayana sutras of this kind to achieve gains, fame, knowledge, expertise, or to deal with others sutras, but they do not speak of them (the Mahayana sutras) to others. Hence, he takes this all-wonderful sutra and gives it to the Bodhisattvas, so that they might aspire to unsurpassed Bodhichitta and rest peacefully in the Enlightenment. A Bodhisattva, obtaining this sutra, speaks about it to others who, through it, become blessed with the amrta ['amrta' - Ambrosia - the state of immortality] of the Mahayana teaching. All of this is what has been brought forth by this single Bodhisattva. He enables others to hear what they have not heard before. This is like the people who, through the power of that king, enjoy rare dishes. The case is similar.
Also, Oh good man! Wherever this All-Wonderful Great Nirvana Sutra goes, that place - you should know - is indestructible. The people who live there are also adamantine. Anyone who hears this sutra will attain unsurpassed Enlightenment, and never draws back from it. Such people will gain whatever they wish to have. Oh, you Bhiksus! Uphold well what I say to you today. Any people who do not hear this sutra are, you should know, much to be pitied. Why is so? Because such people cannot uphold the deep meaning of a Mahayana Sutra like this."
The Buddha said to Kasyapa: "Oh good man! For 40 years after my entering Nirvana, this sutra will flourish in Jambudvipa. Then, it will disappear. Oh, good man! For example, in a land where one can get sugar cane, rice, rock candy, butter, cream and sarpirmanda, people will say: 'This is the best of all flavors’. Or there may be people who are living amid a field of millet and barnyard grass, and which may say that what they eat is the best of all foods. These are people of bad luck, due to their karmic retribution. The ears of the fortunate ones will never hear of millet or barnyard grass. What they will hear will be rice bran, sugar cane, rock candy and sarpirmanda. The same is the case with this wonderful Great Nirvana Sutra. Those born dull minded and unfortunate will not wish hear it, just like those dull and little-fortunate people who hate rice bran and rock candy. It is thus with the people of the two vehicles (Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas) which will hate this unsurpassed Nirvana Sutra.
But there are people who feel gratified on hearing this sutra and who, having heard it, feel pleased and do not slander. They are like those people of good luck who eat rice bran. Oh, good man! For example, there is a king who lives in the depths of the mountains, a place located on a cliff, difficult to access. He has sugar cane, rice bran and rock candy, but since these things are difficult to obtain, he bargain and stores them, and does not eat them. Fearing that they may finish, he only eats millet and barnyard grass. Then, the king of a different land, hearing about this and feeling pity, sends rice bran and sugar cane to him. The king receives and divides them amongst the people of his land, who eat them. After eating them, they are all gladdened and say: 'Because of that king, now we are blessed with this food’. Oh, good man! It is the same with the four kinds of people. They become the generals of this great teaching. One of the four kinds of people sees that countless Bodhisattvas of others countries study, copy, or have other copies of Mahayana sutras of this kind to achieve gains, fame, knowledge, expertise, or to deal with others sutras, but they do not speak of them (the Mahayana sutras) to others. Hence, he takes this all-wonderful sutra and gives it to the Bodhisattvas, so that they might aspire to unsurpassed Bodhichitta and rest peacefully in the Enlightenment. A Bodhisattva, obtaining this sutra, speaks about it to others who, through it, become blessed with the amrta ['amrta' - Ambrosia - the state of immortality] of the Mahayana teaching. All of this is what has been brought forth by this single Bodhisattva. He enables others to hear what they have not heard before. This is like the people who, through the power of that king, enjoy rare dishes. The case is similar.
Also, Oh good man! Wherever this All-Wonderful Great Nirvana Sutra goes, that place - you should know - is indestructible. The people who live there are also adamantine. Anyone who hears this sutra will attain unsurpassed Enlightenment, and never draws back from it. Such people will gain whatever they wish to have. Oh, you Bhiksus! Uphold well what I say to you today. Any people who do not hear this sutra are, you should know, much to be pitied. Why is so? Because such people cannot uphold the deep meaning of a Mahayana Sutra like this."
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