“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created numerous different roots of virtue in order to understand ignorance. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of ignorance.

“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a sage named Knower of the Vedas. The sage had knowledge of all the Vedas and he was a master of all the treatises. Possessing knowledge of all issues, he had great miraculous powers and splendor, and had attained freedom from attachment to pleasures by means of the outer path.

“At that time the lifespan of people was ninety thousand years. Once, when the sage had lived eighty thousand years he sat up, feeling sad and unable to sleep. He wondered, ‘From where does suffering come? Suffering is due to nothing but ignorance. Ignorance sustains the continuity of cyclic existence. Through knowledge and perception cyclic existence can be reversed.’

“As he correctly contemplated in this way, eight hundred million gods of the pure abodes gathered in formation in the sky before him. Three times they proclaimed the following:

“ ‘Ah lion, great lion, Fearless lion of sentient beings, With a lion’s thought and attention You have become a lion guide.

“ ‘Eight hundred million gods Have gathered here in the sky. With joined palms we pay homage To he who roars with a fearless lion’s voice.’

“ ‘Throughout the boundless buddha realms In all the ten directions You cast your mind’s light And thus you have cultivated all realms.

“ ‘A great elephant of the finest breed, Hard to subdue and hard to serve, You are the guide of all beings, Supreme among all who walk on two feet.

“ ‘Just like the buddhas of the past, The guides who have truly awoken, Guide, you possess the very same qualities And so, supreme person, you will become a buddha.’

“While remaining in equipoise, the sage wondered, ‘What is this light?’

“The gods of the pure abodes then told him, ‘Friend, your own light illumines ineffably many buddha realms throughout the ten directions.’

“As he heard the gods’ words, the sage acquired a particular root of virtue, and by the power of that root of virtue he now ascended into the sky up to the height of seven palm trees. Seated there in the sky at the height of seven palm trees, he now saw blessed buddhas throughout the universes of the ten directions. Some were taking birth, others were taking the seven steps, others were becoming renunciants, others were awakening to unsurpassed and perfect awakening, others were turning the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma, others where relinquishing the physical body, and others again were passing beyond suffering within the field of nirvāṇa free from any remainder of the aggregates. The sage saw all those blessed buddhas, and he also heard their Dharma teachings. Then he spoke the following verses to the gods of the pure abodes:

“ ‘Friends, when searching throughout the past We do not find any beginning of cyclic existence. Sadly, our streams of being Have been bereft of the peace of awakening.

“ ‘For the sake of supreme awakening We don this armor, Which we shall bear Throughout incalculable eons.

“ ‘Perceptible in the sky before me Are arrays of divine beings With loving hearts and true objectives, Recollecting the victorious ones of the past.

“ ‘The Dharma of the buddhas is delightful— Why do you not pursue it? Why do you leave it aside? This is the word of Knower of the Vedas.

“ ‘For the sake of the liberation of all beings During unfathomable millions of ages, Throughout incalculable eons We shall bear this armor.

“ ‘For the sake of the Dharma of the buddhas I will have no concern For my body and life, And instead rouse diligence.

“ ‘The world is enveloped In darkness, dense darkness. With the Dharma of the buddhas as cause I shall let this light shine.

“ ‘Within our own awakening We realize the domain of the buddhas. The beings bound to the domain of the māras We shall set on the path and liberate.’

“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the sage Knower of the Vedas was anyone else, do not think so. In those days I was the sage Knower of the Vedas. Due to my light innumerably many tens of thousands of beings became irreversible. Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattva great beings who wish to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood must develop special devotion for such light.

“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created numerous different roots of virtue in order to understand the origin as related to knowledge of the defilement of ignorance. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of the origin as related to knowledge of the defilement of ignorance.

“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a sage named Traveler on the Path of Goodness. This sage had great miraculous powers and splendor, had attained freedom from attachment to pleasures by means of the outer path, and he had accomplished the absorption that is equal to all virtuous qualities.

“The sage asked himself, ‘What must a bodhisattva train in to be certain to accomplish this absorption that is endowed with all virtuous qualities? For that to happen the bodhisattva must achieve the absorption that does not act on any phenomenon. And why? Because all phenomena are beyond creation; they have never been created.’

“When he arose from his absorption of proper mindfulness, the sage began to travel throughout the universes in the ten directions, teaching, ‘Since all phenomena are beyond creation, they have never been created.’ Thus, as others heard his teaching of the Dharma, innumerably many tens of thousands of beings gained acceptance that phenomena are unborn.

“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the sage Traveler on the Path of Goodness was anyone else, do not think so. In those days I was the sage Traveler on the Path of Goodness. I traveled throughout all those universes, bringing the message that because all phenomena are beyond creation, they have never been created. As they heard my teaching, innumerably many tens of thousands of beings gained acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattvas must rely on, train in, and increase the understanding that because all phenomena are beyond creation, they have never been created.

“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created numerous different roots of virtue in order to understand cessation as related to knowledge of the defilement of ignorance. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of cessation as related to knowledge of the defilement of ignorance.

“Long ago in the limitless, countless, inconceivable, immeasurable, boundless, and inexpressible cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a sage named Unhindered Knowledge. The sage had great miraculous powers and splendor, he had attained freedom from attachment to pleasures by means of the outer path, and he had accomplished the absorption known as not observing an essential nature of any sentient being. Once he had achieved the absorption known as realizing that all phenomena have no essential nature, he spent twenty-four intermediate eons relying on, training in, and increasing the bases of miraculous absorption. He then spent another twenty intermediate eons journeying throughout as many buddha realms as there are subtle particles in inexpressibly many buddha realms. All the while he taught sentient beings the absorption of not observing any essential nature. Thus he established innumerably many tens of thousands of beings in the acceptance that phenomena are unborn.

“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the sage Unhindered Knowledge was anyone else, do not think so. In those days I was the sage Unhindered Knowledge. I relied on, trained in, and increased the bases of miraculous absorption and I traveled throughout numerous buddha realms, establishing innumerably many tens of thousands of beings in the acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattvas must abide by the four bases of miraculous absorption, and they must accept that phenomena are unborn. Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattva great beings who accept that phenomena are unborn will quickly awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood.

“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created boundless roots of virtue in order to understand the path that leads to cessation as related to knowledge of the defilement of ignorance. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of the path that leads to cessation as related to knowledge of the defilement of ignorance.

“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a sage known as Seer of Knowledge Free from Obscuration, who possessed great miraculous powers and splendor, and had attained freedom from attachment to pleasures by means of the outer path. The sage went into solitude and, while thus practicing meditation, he asked himself, ‘What are phenomena, and what are the factors that obscure phenomena?’ He then thought, ‘There are no phenomena at all, nor are there any factors that obscure them. And why is that? Because all phenomena are devoid of essential nature. For example, space does not obscure space. And why is that? Because space is devoid of essential nature.’

“Arising from his absorption of proper mindfulness, the sage proclaimed, ‘Friends, no phenomenon has any essential nature! Therefore, there are no factors that obscure phenomena at all!’ As the sage’s words were spoken, the winds of the four directions took them and carried them everywhere. When they heard that message, innumerably many tens of thousands of beings attained the absorption in which all phenomena lack essential nature.

“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the sage Seer of Knowledge Free from Obscuration was anyone else, do not think so. And why not? Because in those days I was the sage Seer of Knowledge Free from Obscuration. My words were carried everywhere by the winds of the four directions and, upon hearing my message that all phenomena are devoid of essential nature, beings gained acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattvas who wish to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood must pursue the absence of essential nature in all phenomena.” Thus spoke the Blessed One.

At this point venerable Maudgalyāyana said, “Blessed One, it is amazing how profound and vast the wisdom of the blessed buddhas is! As I understand the meaning of what the Blessed One has conveyed here, the buddha realm of the Buddha extends as far as his buddha knowledge, which tames beings in every single buddha realm.

“A noble son or daughter of the Blessed One in pursuit and search of merit may fill universes as numerous as the atoms of ineffably many buddha realms with jewels, and they may offer such jewels to the blessed ones for as many eons as there are atoms in innumerably many buddha realms. Yet their accumulation of merit cannot match what is achieved by retaining, mastering, upholding, and explaining to others this Dharma teaching, which unfolds the wisdom of the Blessed One. Even just writing it down and carrying it will create greater merit.”

The Blessed One replied to Mahā­maudgalyāyana: “Thus it is, Mahā­maudgalyāyana. What you say is true. Maudgalyāyana, think of it this way. Imagine that all beings in as many worlds in the ten directions as there are atoms within ineffably many buddha realms all at once were to become human beings. If these beings were to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood, then each of these thus-gone ones would have as many heads. Each of these blessed buddhas would then have as many mouths as there were heads, and as many tongues as there were mouths. How can this be? Because, Maudgalyāyana, the Thus-Gone One possesses immeasurable wisdom, unfathomable wisdom, incalculable wisdom, inconceivable wisdom, limitless wisdom, and inestimable wisdom. Maudgalyāyana, the thus-gone, worthy, perfect Buddha possesses inexpressible wisdom.”

When the Blessed One had spoken, venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.

This was translated by the Indian preceptor Prajñāvarman and the translator Bandé Yeshé Nyingpo. The text was later edited and finalized by the Indian preceptors Śuddhasiṃha and Sarvajñādeva, together with the translator-editor Bandé Paltsek.