The bodhisattva Ruciraketu then went to sleep and in a dream saw a golden drum that was shining like the disk of the sun. In all directions there were countless, innumerable buddha bhagavats seated upon precious beryl thrones at the foot of precious wish-fulfilling trees, encircled by assemblies of many hundreds of thousands. Looking straight ahead, they were teaching the Dharma.
As soon as the bodhisattva Ruciraketu awoke from his sleep, he remembered the verses that were taught. Having remembered them, when the night was over, he left the city of Rājagṛha, and together with many thousands of people he went to Vulture Peak Mountain and into the presence of the Bhagavat. He bowed down to the feet of the Bhagavat and circumambulated the Bhagavat three times, keeping him to his right, and then sat down to one side.
Seated to one side, the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, with his palms together in homage, bowed toward the Bhagavat and recited the teaching in verse that he had heard from the sound of the drum in his dream.
“ ‘Through the sound of the great drum of sublime golden light, May all the suffering of the lower existences, The suffering in Yama’s realm, and the suffering of poverty Cease in the three realms within this trichiliocosm.
“ ‘Through the sound and words of the great drum, May all the ignorance in the world cease; Just as the lord of sages is without fear and his fear has ceased, So may all beings be without fear and have their fears cease.
“ ‘Just like the omniscient lord of sages in saṃsāra Possesses all the qualities of the āryas, In that way may beings be oceans of qualities, Possessing the qualities of the branches of enlightenment.
“ ‘Through the sound and words of the great drum, May all beings possess the voice of Brahmā And reach the supreme enlightenment of Sublime buddhahood and turn the good Dharma wheel.
“ ‘May they remain for countless eons. May they teach the Dharma to benefit beings. May they defeat the kleśas and dispel suffering. May desire, anger, and ignorance cease.
“ ‘Those beings who are in the lower realms, Whose skeleton bodies are burning in fire, May they hear the sound of the great drum. May all their suffering cease completely And may they hear the words, “Homage to the buddhas!”
“ ‘May all beings remember hundreds of lifetimes— Thousands of millions of lifetimes. May they always remember the Munīndra, And may they hear his vast teaching.
“ ‘Through the sound and words of the great drum, May they always be together with buddhas And completely forsake bad actions. May they accomplish good actions.
“ ‘May the fires be extinguished For the beings born in the terrible hells, Where their bodies burn completely in fire, And they wander in anguish without a savior.
“ ‘May the sound of the great drum Bring an end to the sufferings of those beings Who are experiencing intense, unendurable suffering In the hells, among the pretas, and in the human world.
“ ‘The buddhas, the supreme among two-legged beings, Who have minds of love and compassion, Who are in the worlds in the ten directions, I pray that you turn your regard upon me.
“ ‘Whatever bad actions I have done, Such as being arrogant with pride in my wealth, Andr arrogant with pride in my family, My possessions, or my youth;
“ ‘Or through my mind being disturbed by kleśas, Because of delighting in amusements, Or through being in misery, being ill, Or through the evil of dissatisfaction with wealth;
“ ‘Whatever bad actions I have done Because of associating with ignoble beings, Or caused by my jealousy and miserliness, Or by my dishonesty and neediness;
“ ‘Whatever bad actions I have done During the times when I was in misfortune, Or through fears concerning my desires, Or when I was parted from my wealth;
“ ‘The bad actions of body, speech, and mind, My accumulation of those three kinds of bad conduct, Whatever I have done of that kind, I make a confession of it all.
“ ‘May I make offerings to those with the ten strengths In the worlds in the ten directions. I will save from all suffering Those worlds in the ten directions.
“ ‘Those who are obscured by bad karma Will quickly become purified of it Through confessing with these confessions Through the good Sublime Golden Light.
“ ‘May I dwell upon the ten bhūmis, The supreme ten that are the source of jewels. May the qualities of a buddha appear And may I liberate others from the ocean of existence.
“ ‘Through the inconceivable qualities of a buddha, The flow of the ocean of buddhahood, And the deep ocean of buddha qualities, May I have the perfection of omniscience.
“ ‘Through a hundred thousand samādhis, Through countless powers of mental retention, And through the strengths, powers, and branches of enlightenment, May I become a sublime one with the ten strengths.
“ ‘I pray that the buddhas look upon me And regard me with their minds. I pray that with their minds of great compassion They apprehend the errors I have made.
“ ‘I am tormented by a sorrowful mind, By wretchedness, misery, and terror Concerning the bad actions I have done In the past, throughout a hundred eons.
“ ‘I make the commitment that I will not do again All the wrong actions that I have done. I will not conceal those bad actions, Those wrong actions that I have done.
“ ‘There are three kinds of physical actions; There are four kinds of verbal actions; There are three kinds of mental actions— I make a confession of them all.
“ ‘Those actions done physically, those done verbally, And those done mentally— The ten kinds of karma I have created— I make a confession of them all.
“ ‘Having forsaken the ten bad actions, I will practice the ten that are good. I will dwell upon the ten bhūmis And be endowed with the ten supreme strengths.
“ ‘Whatever dreadful bad actions have been made By a foolish mind distressed within existences, I confess each one of those bad actions Before the unequaled one with the ten strengths.
“ ‘I confess whatever bad karma I have accumulated In dangerous lives, in dangerous existences, In dangerous worlds with a dangerous and unstable mind, Through various kinds of dangerous physical behavior.
“ ‘In the presence of the unequaled jinas, I confess every single bad action I have done Because of perilous, foolish stupidity and kleśas, Because of perilous association with wicked friends,
“ ‘Because of perilous saṃsāra and perilous desire, Because of perilous anger and perilous ignorance, Because of perilous fatigue and perilous times, And because of a perilous lack of producing merit.
“ ‘I praise the buddhas, who are like shining golden mountains— Who are like Sumeru, and like oceans of qualities. I go for refuge to those jinas And bow my head to all those jinas.
“ ‘Golden in color, stainless gold, golden light, With the feature of eyes of pure, stainless beryl— A buddha sun, the source of glorious brilliance and blazing fame Dispels deep darkness with the light rays of compassion.
“ ‘With perfectly stainless, very beautiful, excellent limbs, The buddha sun’s limbs are as if covered with stainless gold. The light rays of the muni moon bring pleasure To minds pained by the fires of the kleśas, which are like blazing fires.
“ ‘With faculties and limbs beautified by the thirty-two supreme signs, Limbs beautified by the excellent features, And with a net of light rays producing blazing, glorious, brilliant merit, You are present like the sun in the darkness of the three worlds.
“ ‘Body aspects the color of vast, beautiful, stainless beryl; The red of dawn, silver, crystal, and copper-red; Adorned by a net of light rays of various colors, You, great Muni, are beautiful like the sun.
“ ‘The multitude of light rays from the sun of the sugatas dry up The intensely fierce and violent ocean of suffering. Falling into the river of distress, the great river of saṃsāra, Waters of death and waves of aging churn with misery.
“ ‘I praise the buddhas, who have golden bodies, The source of wisdom, supreme within the three worlds. Their limbs shine with the color of gold; Their limbs are adorned by beautiful signs.
“ ‘Just as the water of the ocean is immeasurable, Just as the particles in the earth are infinite, Just as there is no end of stones in Meru, And just as there is an endless extent to space,
“ ‘The qualities of a buddha are similarly infinite. There is no one among all beings who can know them. Even if they examined and contemplated for many eons, They still would not know the end of those qualities.
“ ‘By counting for eons one may know how many measures, Each the size of a drop of water on the tip of a hair, There are in the earth, with its stones, mountains, and oceans, But one could never perceive a limit to the qualities of a buddha.
“ ‘May all beings become like that, With those qualities, colors, fame, and renown, With bodies adorned by the signs of goodness And beautified by the eighty features.
“ ‘May I, through this good karma, Become before long a buddha in the world. May I teach the Dharma for the benefit of beings, And may I free beings afflicted by many sufferings.
“ ‘May I be victorious over powerful Māra and his army. May I turn the good wheel of the Dharma. May I remain for countless eons, And may I satisfy beings with the water of amṛta.
“ ‘May I bring to completion the supreme six perfections, Just as the jinas of the past have completed them. May I destroy the kleśas, clear away suffering, And bring desire, anger, and ignorance to an end.
“ ‘May I always remember lifetimes— A hundred lifetimes, ten billion lifetimes. May I constantly recollect the lords of munis, And may I listen to their vast speech.
“ ‘May I through these good actions Always succeed in meeting with buddhas. May I completely forsake bad actions And may I practice good actions, the source of merit.
“ ‘May all the bad karma of all beings In every realm come to an end in their worlds. May those beings with impaired faculties and defective limbs All possess complete faculties on this day.
“ ‘May those in the ten directions who have no protector, And are sick, weak, and feeble in body, All be quickly freed from illness And gain health, strength, and their faculties.
“ ‘May those whose lives are endangered by attacks from kings and robbers, And are in distress from hundreds of various kinds of suffering— All those beings in misfortune and who are suffering— Become freed from hundreds of the greatest, most dreadful terrors.
“ ‘Those who are beaten, who are in painful bondage, Who remain in various kinds of distress, Who are disturbed by thousands of tribulations And meet various kinds of dreadful terrors and miseries,
“ ‘May they all become free from their bonds. May those who are beaten be freed from beatings. May those who are to be killed gain their lives, And may they be free from all distress and fear.
“ ‘May the beings who are pained by hunger and thirst Obtain various kinds of food and drink. May the blind see the variety of forms. May the deaf hear pleasant sounds.
“ ‘May the naked find a variety of clothes. May poor beings discover treasures. May all beings become happily possessed Of many kinds of wealth, grain, and jewels.
“ ‘May no one be afflicted with the experience of suffering. May all beings become beautiful, With excellent, attractive, pleasant bodies, And always fully possess many kinds of happiness.
“ ‘May beings, completely endowed with merit, have food and drink As soon as they think of them. May they have melodious vīnas, mṛdaṅga drums, and paṭaha drums; Springs, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs,
“ ‘With golden lotuses, and blue and red lotuses; Food and drink, clothes, wealth, pearls, jewels, and other treasures; And jewelry of gold and various other jewels and beryls— May they have them all as soon as they are thought of.
“ ‘May the word suffering not exist in any world. May not a single inimical being be seen. May they all have an illustrious color And may they illuminate each other.
“ ‘May that which is perfect in the human world, And arises in the minds of beings, Be complete as the result of their merit As soon as they have wished for it.
“ ‘May various perfumes, garlands, ointments, Clothes, powders, and flowers Rain down from trees throughout the three times, And may beings obtain them and be made happy.
“ ‘May they make offerings in the ten directions To all the countless tathāgatas, Perfect bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, And the eternal, spotless, stainless Dharma.
“ ‘May they always avoid lower existences, May they transcend the eight unfortunate states, May they attain the king of fortunate states, And may they always reach the presence of the buddhas.
“ ‘May they always be born into a high family. May they possess a treasure of wealth and grain. May they be perfectly adorned throughout many eons By fame, renown, and excellent bodies and color.
“ ‘May all women always be males, Who are heroic, courageous, and wise. May they all practice for the sake of enlightenment And may they practice the six perfections.
“ ‘May they see the buddhas in the ten directions Seated blissfully on thrones of beryl jewels Beneath supreme, precious trees, And may they hear their teaching of the Dharma.
“ ‘The bad karma that I have created In perilous lifetimes I previously obtained, And the undesirable results accrued by bad karma, May all of that vanish without any remainder.
“ ‘All those beings who are in the bondage of existence, Tightly bound by the noose of saṃsāra, May the hands of wisdom untie their bonds, And may they attain freedom from suffering.
“ ‘Through the merit that is created By my rejoicing in body, speech, and mind, May I reach the spotless, highest enlightenment, The result and fulfillment of my prayers.
“ ‘Someone who pays homage and praises With a mind that is always clear, pure, and unstained, Will through this recitation of a dedication Avoid the lower realms for sixty eons.
“ ‘The men, women, brahmins, and kṣatriyas Who praise the jinas, with palms together in homage, Through the recitation of these verses Will remember their lifetimes in all their lives.
“ ‘Their limbs will be adorned by all aspects and attributes. They will be endowed with various merits and qualities. They will be continually offered to by kings, the lords of men. That is what they will be like wherever they are.
“ ‘Those into whose ears the sound of this confession has entered Have not accomplished goodness in the presence of only one buddha, Nor in the presence of only two, or four, or five, or ten, But rather have accomplished goodness in the presence of a thousand buddhas.’ ”
At that time, the Bhagavat, having listened to those verses, said to the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, “Well done! Well done! Noble one, know that all those who hear these praises of the true qualities of the tathāgatas, and the confession of bad actions that came from a golden drum in your dream, possess a vast aggregation of merit. They will benefit many beings, will bring them the satisfaction of happiness, and will be purified of all obscurations. All of these who possess this kind of special conduct have heard those verses because they have previously, in past times, praised the tathāgatas, made vast prayers, and received the blessing of the tathāgatas.”
The bodhisattva Ruciraketu then went to sleep and in a dream saw a golden drum that was shining like the disk of the sun. In all directions there were countless, innumerable buddha bhagavats seated upon precious beryl thrones at the foot of precious wish-fulfilling trees, encircled by assemblies of many hundreds of thousands. Looking straight ahead, they were teaching the Dharma.
As soon as the bodhisattva Ruciraketu awoke from his sleep, he remembered the verses that were taught. Having remembered them, when the night was over, he left the city of Rājagṛha, and together with many thousands of people he went to Vulture Peak Mountain and into the presence of the Bhagavat. He bowed down to the feet of the Bhagavat and circumambulated the Bhagavat three times, keeping him to his right, and then sat down to one side.
Seated to one side, the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, with his palms together in homage, bowed toward the Bhagavat and recited the teaching in verse that he had heard from the sound of the drum in his dream.
“ ‘Through the sound of the great drum of sublime golden light, May all the suffering of the lower existences, The suffering in Yama’s realm, and the suffering of poverty Cease in the three realms within this trichiliocosm.
“ ‘Through the sound and words of the great drum, May all the ignorance in the world cease; Just as the lord of sages is without fear and his fear has ceased, So may all beings be without fear and have their fears cease.
“ ‘Just like the omniscient lord of sages in saṃsāra Possesses all the qualities of the āryas, In that way may beings be oceans of qualities, Possessing the qualities of the branches of enlightenment.
“ ‘Through the sound and words of the great drum, May all beings possess the voice of Brahmā And reach the supreme enlightenment of Sublime buddhahood and turn the good Dharma wheel.
“ ‘May they remain for countless eons. May they teach the Dharma to benefit beings. May they defeat the kleśas and dispel suffering. May desire, anger, and ignorance cease.
“ ‘Those beings who are in the lower realms, Whose skeleton bodies are burning in fire, May they hear the sound of the great drum. May all their suffering cease completely And may they hear the words, “Homage to the buddhas!”
“ ‘May all beings remember hundreds of lifetimes— Thousands of millions of lifetimes. May they always remember the Munīndra, And may they hear his vast teaching.
“ ‘Through the sound and words of the great drum, May they always be together with buddhas And completely forsake bad actions. May they accomplish good actions.
“ ‘May the fires be extinguished For the beings born in the terrible hells, Where their bodies burn completely in fire, And they wander in anguish without a savior.
“ ‘May the sound of the great drum Bring an end to the sufferings of those beings Who are experiencing intense, unendurable suffering In the hells, among the pretas, and in the human world.
“ ‘The buddhas, the supreme among two-legged beings, Who have minds of love and compassion, Who are in the worlds in the ten directions, I pray that you turn your regard upon me.
“ ‘Whatever bad actions I have done, Such as being arrogant with pride in my wealth, Andr arrogant with pride in my family, My possessions, or my youth;
“ ‘Or through my mind being disturbed by kleśas, Because of delighting in amusements, Or through being in misery, being ill, Or through the evil of dissatisfaction with wealth;
“ ‘Whatever bad actions I have done Because of associating with ignoble beings, Or caused by my jealousy and miserliness, Or by my dishonesty and neediness;
“ ‘Whatever bad actions I have done During the times when I was in misfortune, Or through fears concerning my desires, Or when I was parted from my wealth;
“ ‘The bad actions of body, speech, and mind, My accumulation of those three kinds of bad conduct, Whatever I have done of that kind, I make a confession of it all.
“ ‘May I make offerings to those with the ten strengths In the worlds in the ten directions. I will save from all suffering Those worlds in the ten directions.
“ ‘Those who are obscured by bad karma Will quickly become purified of it Through confessing with these confessions Through the good Sublime Golden Light.
“ ‘May I dwell upon the ten bhūmis, The supreme ten that are the source of jewels. May the qualities of a buddha appear And may I liberate others from the ocean of existence.
“ ‘Through the inconceivable qualities of a buddha, The flow of the ocean of buddhahood, And the deep ocean of buddha qualities, May I have the perfection of omniscience.
“ ‘Through a hundred thousand samādhis, Through countless powers of mental retention, And through the strengths, powers, and branches of enlightenment, May I become a sublime one with the ten strengths.
“ ‘I pray that the buddhas look upon me And regard me with their minds. I pray that with their minds of great compassion They apprehend the errors I have made.
“ ‘I am tormented by a sorrowful mind, By wretchedness, misery, and terror Concerning the bad actions I have done In the past, throughout a hundred eons.
“ ‘I make the commitment that I will not do again All the wrong actions that I have done. I will not conceal those bad actions, Those wrong actions that I have done.
“ ‘There are three kinds of physical actions; There are four kinds of verbal actions; There are three kinds of mental actions— I make a confession of them all.
“ ‘Those actions done physically, those done verbally, And those done mentally— The ten kinds of karma I have created— I make a confession of them all.
“ ‘Having forsaken the ten bad actions, I will practice the ten that are good. I will dwell upon the ten bhūmis And be endowed with the ten supreme strengths.
“ ‘Whatever dreadful bad actions have been made By a foolish mind distressed within existences, I confess each one of those bad actions Before the unequaled one with the ten strengths.
“ ‘I confess whatever bad karma I have accumulated In dangerous lives, in dangerous existences, In dangerous worlds with a dangerous and unstable mind, Through various kinds of dangerous physical behavior.
“ ‘In the presence of the unequaled jinas, I confess every single bad action I have done Because of perilous, foolish stupidity and kleśas, Because of perilous association with wicked friends,
“ ‘Because of perilous saṃsāra and perilous desire, Because of perilous anger and perilous ignorance, Because of perilous fatigue and perilous times, And because of a perilous lack of producing merit.
“ ‘I praise the buddhas, who are like shining golden mountains— Who are like Sumeru, and like oceans of qualities. I go for refuge to those jinas And bow my head to all those jinas.
“ ‘Golden in color, stainless gold, golden light, With the feature of eyes of pure, stainless beryl— A buddha sun, the source of glorious brilliance and blazing fame Dispels deep darkness with the light rays of compassion.
“ ‘With perfectly stainless, very beautiful, excellent limbs, The buddha sun’s limbs are as if covered with stainless gold. The light rays of the muni moon bring pleasure To minds pained by the fires of the kleśas, which are like blazing fires.
“ ‘With faculties and limbs beautified by the thirty-two supreme signs, Limbs beautified by the excellent features, And with a net of light rays producing blazing, glorious, brilliant merit, You are present like the sun in the darkness of the three worlds.
“ ‘Body aspects the color of vast, beautiful, stainless beryl; The red of dawn, silver, crystal, and copper-red; Adorned by a net of light rays of various colors, You, great Muni, are beautiful like the sun.
“ ‘The multitude of light rays from the sun of the sugatas dry up The intensely fierce and violent ocean of suffering. Falling into the river of distress, the great river of saṃsāra, Waters of death and waves of aging churn with misery.
“ ‘I praise the buddhas, who have golden bodies, The source of wisdom, supreme within the three worlds. Their limbs shine with the color of gold; Their limbs are adorned by beautiful signs.
“ ‘Just as the water of the ocean is immeasurable, Just as the particles in the earth are infinite, Just as there is no end of stones in Meru, And just as there is an endless extent to space,
“ ‘The qualities of a buddha are similarly infinite. There is no one among all beings who can know them. Even if they examined and contemplated for many eons, They still would not know the end of those qualities.
“ ‘By counting for eons one may know how many measures, Each the size of a drop of water on the tip of a hair, There are in the earth, with its stones, mountains, and oceans, But one could never perceive a limit to the qualities of a buddha.
“ ‘May all beings become like that, With those qualities, colors, fame, and renown, With bodies adorned by the signs of goodness And beautified by the eighty features.
“ ‘May I, through this good karma, Become before long a buddha in the world. May I teach the Dharma for the benefit of beings, And may I free beings afflicted by many sufferings.
“ ‘May I be victorious over powerful Māra and his army. May I turn the good wheel of the Dharma. May I remain for countless eons, And may I satisfy beings with the water of amṛta.
“ ‘May I bring to completion the supreme six perfections, Just as the jinas of the past have completed them. May I destroy the kleśas, clear away suffering, And bring desire, anger, and ignorance to an end.
“ ‘May I always remember lifetimes— A hundred lifetimes, ten billion lifetimes. May I constantly recollect the lords of munis, And may I listen to their vast speech.
“ ‘May I through these good actions Always succeed in meeting with buddhas. May I completely forsake bad actions And may I practice good actions, the source of merit.
“ ‘May all the bad karma of all beings In every realm come to an end in their worlds. May those beings with impaired faculties and defective limbs All possess complete faculties on this day.
“ ‘May those in the ten directions who have no protector, And are sick, weak, and feeble in body, All be quickly freed from illness And gain health, strength, and their faculties.
“ ‘May those whose lives are endangered by attacks from kings and robbers, And are in distress from hundreds of various kinds of suffering— All those beings in misfortune and who are suffering— Become freed from hundreds of the greatest, most dreadful terrors.
“ ‘Those who are beaten, who are in painful bondage, Who remain in various kinds of distress, Who are disturbed by thousands of tribulations And meet various kinds of dreadful terrors and miseries,
“ ‘May they all become free from their bonds. May those who are beaten be freed from beatings. May those who are to be killed gain their lives, And may they be free from all distress and fear.
“ ‘May the beings who are pained by hunger and thirst Obtain various kinds of food and drink. May the blind see the variety of forms. May the deaf hear pleasant sounds.
“ ‘May the naked find a variety of clothes. May poor beings discover treasures. May all beings become happily possessed Of many kinds of wealth, grain, and jewels.
“ ‘May no one be afflicted with the experience of suffering. May all beings become beautiful, With excellent, attractive, pleasant bodies, And always fully possess many kinds of happiness.
“ ‘May beings, completely endowed with merit, have food and drink As soon as they think of them. May they have melodious vīnas, mṛdaṅga drums, and paṭaha drums; Springs, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs,
“ ‘With golden lotuses, and blue and red lotuses; Food and drink, clothes, wealth, pearls, jewels, and other treasures; And jewelry of gold and various other jewels and beryls— May they have them all as soon as they are thought of.
“ ‘May the word suffering not exist in any world. May not a single inimical being be seen. May they all have an illustrious color And may they illuminate each other.
“ ‘May that which is perfect in the human world, And arises in the minds of beings, Be complete as the result of their merit As soon as they have wished for it.
“ ‘May various perfumes, garlands, ointments, Clothes, powders, and flowers Rain down from trees throughout the three times, And may beings obtain them and be made happy.
“ ‘May they make offerings in the ten directions To all the countless tathāgatas, Perfect bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, And the eternal, spotless, stainless Dharma.
“ ‘May they always avoid lower existences, May they transcend the eight unfortunate states, May they attain the king of fortunate states, And may they always reach the presence of the buddhas.
“ ‘May they always be born into a high family. May they possess a treasure of wealth and grain. May they be perfectly adorned throughout many eons By fame, renown, and excellent bodies and color.
“ ‘May all women always be males, Who are heroic, courageous, and wise. May they all practice for the sake of enlightenment And may they practice the six perfections.
“ ‘May they see the buddhas in the ten directions Seated blissfully on thrones of beryl jewels Beneath supreme, precious trees, And may they hear their teaching of the Dharma.
“ ‘The bad karma that I have created In perilous lifetimes I previously obtained, And the undesirable results accrued by bad karma, May all of that vanish without any remainder.
“ ‘All those beings who are in the bondage of existence, Tightly bound by the noose of saṃsāra, May the hands of wisdom untie their bonds, And may they attain freedom from suffering.
“ ‘Through the merit that is created By my rejoicing in body, speech, and mind, May I reach the spotless, highest enlightenment, The result and fulfillment of my prayers.
“ ‘Someone who pays homage and praises With a mind that is always clear, pure, and unstained, Will through this recitation of a dedication Avoid the lower realms for sixty eons.
“ ‘The men, women, brahmins, and kṣatriyas Who praise the jinas, with palms together in homage, Through the recitation of these verses Will remember their lifetimes in all their lives.
“ ‘Their limbs will be adorned by all aspects and attributes. They will be endowed with various merits and qualities. They will be continually offered to by kings, the lords of men. That is what they will be like wherever they are.
“ ‘Those into whose ears the sound of this confession has entered Have not accomplished goodness in the presence of only one buddha, Nor in the presence of only two, or four, or five, or ten, But rather have accomplished goodness in the presence of a thousand buddhas.’ ”
At that time, the Bhagavat, having listened to those verses, said to the bodhisattva Ruciraketu, “Well done! Well done! Noble one, know that all those who hear these praises of the true qualities of the tathāgatas, and the confession of bad actions that came from a golden drum in your dream, possess a vast aggregation of merit. They will benefit many beings, will bring them the satisfaction of happiness, and will be purified of all obscurations. All of these who possess this kind of special conduct have heard those verses because they have previously, in past times, praised the tathāgatas, made vast prayers, and received the blessing of the tathāgatas.”
Sutraya