Brother Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī­putra, having heard directly from the Bhagavān about this wisdom insight into skillful methods, about the teachings with implied meaning, and having heard the prophecies made to the great śrāvakas, and having heard of the connections with the past, and having heard of the preeminence of the Bhagavān, was astonished and amazed, without worldly concerns, and filled with delight and joy. Then with great delight and joy and great reverence for the Dharma, he rose from his seat, bowed down to the feet of the Bhagavān, and thought, “Bhagavān, it is wonderful! Sugata, it is wonderful! The tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas accomplish that which is extremely difficult—they teach the Dharma to beings according to the different concerns of the world, through many wisdom insights into skillful methods, and they liberate beings attached to this and that. Bhagavān, what are we able to do? The Tathāgata is the one who knows our aspirations and our past.”

He bowed down to the Bhagavān’s feet and then sat to one side and with his hands placed together in homage gazed unblinking upon the Bhagavān.

Then the Bhagavān, seeing the thoughts in the mind of Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī­putra, said to the complete saṅgha of bhikṣus, “Bhikṣus, look upon my śrāvaka Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī­putra. He is the best teacher among those who teach the Dharma within my saṅgha of bhikṣus, and he is praised for having many true qualities. He is dedicated to holding the Dharma in many ways within my teaching. He tirelessly teaches the Dharma, bringing joy to the four assemblies, encouraging them, and inspiring them. He is able to teach the Dharma. He is able to aid those who maintain celibacy.

“Bhikṣus, other than the Tathāgata, there is no one who can match Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī­putra in meaning or in words.

“Bhikṣus, what do you think? If you think that he has been a holder solely of my Dharma, bhikṣus, you should not regard him in that way. Why is that? Bhikṣus, I remember that in the past, in a time gone by, he was a holder of the Dharma of nine hundred and ninety million buddhas. Just as he is now the supreme teacher of my Dharma, so he was for all of them. For all of them he was someone who had realized emptiness. For all of them he was someone who had attained discernment. For all of them he was someone who had realized the higher knowledge of a bodhisattva. He was someone who taught the Dharma with complete certainty. He was someone who taught the Dharma free of doubt. He was someone who taught the Dharma in its purity. In the teaching of those buddha bhagavāns he practiced the conduct of celibacy throughout his life, and everywhere he was known as a śrāvaka. By this method, he benefited innumerable, countless hundred thousand quintillions of beings. He ripened innumerable, countless beings for the highest, complete enlightenment. At all times he has served beings through the activity of a buddha. At all times he has been purifying his own buddha realm, and has been dedicated to ripening beings.

“Bhikṣus, he has been the primary teacher of the Dharma for the seven tathāgatas, the first of whom was Vipaśyin and of whom I am the seventh.

“Bhikṣus, in the future in this fortunate eon, this Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī­putra will be the principal teacher of the Dharma within the teachings of the thousand buddhas less four, and he will be a holder of their teaching. In the same way, in the future he will hold the entire Dharma of innumerable, countless buddha bhagavāns. He will benefit innumerable, countless beings. He will ripen innumerable, countless beings for the highest, complete enlightenment. He will be someone who is continuously dedicated. He will be dedicated to purifying his own buddha realm and ripening beings. He will in this way perfect his bodhisattva conduct and after innumerable, countless eons he will attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. He will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Dharmaprabhāsa. He will appear in this very buddha realm.

“Bhikṣus, at that time this buddha realm will be like billion-world world realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River combined into one buddha realm. The ground will be made of the seven precious materials. It will be as level as the palm of a hand. There will be no mountains. It will be filled with kūṭāgāras made of the seven precious materials. The airborne palaces of the devas will be close so that the devas can see the humans, and the humans can see the devas.

“Bhikṣus, at that time, in this buddha realm, there will be no lower existences and there will be no women. All the beings there will be born miraculously. They will practice celibacy with their immaterial bodies. They will emit their own light. They will have miraculous powers. They will fly through the air. They will have diligence. They will have mindfulness. They will have wisdom. They will have golden bodies adorned by the thirty-two signs of a great being.

“Bhikṣus, at that time, in this buddha realm, those beings will have two kinds of food. What will they be? They will be the food of joy in the Dharma and the food of joy in meditation. He will have innumerable, countless hundred thousand quintillions of bodhisattvas. All of them will have attained the higher knowledges, have the realization of the discernments, and be skilled in instructing beings. His śrāvakas will be beyond number and they will all have great miraculous abilities, great power, the eight liberations, and dhyāna. That buddha realm will have limitless qualities of this kind. The eon will be named Ratnāvabhāsa. The world will be named Suviśuddhā. At that time, the lifespan will be innumerable, countess eons. When the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Dharmaprabhāsa has passed into nirvāṇa his Dharma will remain for a long time. That world will be filled with stūpas made of precious materials.

“Bhikṣus, in that way the buddha realm of that bhagavān will have inconceivable qualities.”

That is what the Bhagavān said. The Sugata having spoken these words, the Teacher then pronounced these verses:

“Bhikṣus, listen to me, to this meaning: The way in which my son has practiced conduct, Has trained well in skillful methods, And how he has practiced bodhisattva conduct. {1}

“Knowing that beings here aspire to the inferior And are frightened of the powerful yāna, The bodhisattvas became śrāvakas And manifested the attaining of pratyeka­buddha enlightenment. {2}

“Through many hundreds of skillful methods They ripen many bodhisattvas, Saying, ‘We who are śrāvakas Are far from the supreme, highest enlightenment.’ {3}

“Through practicing that conduct Millions of beings become ripened. Even those with inferior aspiration and laziness All eventually become buddhas. {4}

“They practice their conduct unobserved, Saying, ‘We are śrāvakas with little to accomplish.’ Dismayed by all death and rebirth, They purify their own realms. {5}

“They teach as if they themselves have desire And also have anger and ignorance, Knowing that beings have attachment to views, And so they resort to having those views. {6}

“My śrāvakas have acted in many such ways, Liberating beings through such methods. If I were to teach all of their modes of conduct It would render humans without wisdom insane. {7}

“Bhikṣus, this Pūrna, my śrāvaka, Has practiced under billions of past buddhas; Has been a holder of their Dharma, Seeking for this wisdom of buddhahood. {8}

“At all times he has been their principal śrāvaka, Greatly learned, and fearlessly giving various teachings. He has been continuously joyful and never wearied, Fulfilling always the activities of the buddhas. {9}

“He always has understanding through the great higher knowledges, And has the attainment of the discernments. He knows the scope of the faculties of beings And always teaches the completely pure Dharma. {10}

“He teaches the Dharma that is supreme, Ripens thousands of millions of beings In this supreme, unsurpassable yāna, And is purifying his own realm. {11}

“In a future time, similarly He will make offerings to millions of buddhas, Be a holder of their supreme Dharma, And will be purifying his own realm. {12}

“He always teaches the Dharma fearlessly And through billions of skillful methods, And ripens many beings For immaculate omniscience. {13}

“He will make offerings to the guides of humans And he will always be a holder of the supreme Dharma, And then will become a self-arisen buddha in the world, And will be famous in all directions as Dharmaprabhāsa. {14}

“His realm will be completely pure, Constantly excellent, made of the seven precious materials. That eon will be named Ratnāvabhāsa, And his realm will be named Suviśuddhā. {15}

“There will be many billions of bodhisattvas Who have great higher knowledge and are supremely skilled. They will exist throughout that realm And will have pure minds and great miracles. {16}

“In the same way there will be billions of śrāvakas Who at that time will be the saṅgha of the Guide. They will have the eight liberations, dhyāna, great miracles, And have the realization of the discernments. {17}

“All the beings who will be in that realm Will delight in the practice of celibacy. They will all be golden and be born miraculously, And have bodies that possess the thirty-two signs. {18}

“They will have no concept of food Other than joy in the Dharma and joy in dhyāna. There will be no women there, And no lower existences, no lower realms. {19}

“Pūrna will have that kind of supreme realm That possesses such a perfection of qualities And is completely filled with virtuous beings; I have described just a few of them.” {20}

Then the twelve hundred who had mastered themselves thought, “The Bhagavān has given prophecies to those great śrāvakas, and it would be marvelous and wonderful if the Tathāgata were to give a prophecy to each one of us also.”

The Bhagavān knew the thoughts that were in the minds of those great śrāvakas and said to Brother Mahākāśyapa, “Kāśyapa, I shall next give prophecies to these twelve hundred who have mastered themselves and are in my presence.

“Kāśyapa, the great śrāvaka bhikṣu Kauṇḍinya, after sixty-two hundred thousand quintillion buddhas, and even further beyond that, will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Samanta­prabhāsa.

“Kāśyapa, there will be five hundred tathāgatas who have that same name. Five hundred great śrāvakas will be next after Kauṇḍinya to attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood and all of them will have the name Samanta­prabhāsa. They are Gayākāśyapa, Nadīkāśyapa, Uru­vilvā­kāśyapa, Kāla, Kālodāyin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphiṇa, Bakkula, Cunda, Svāgata, and the rest of the five hundred who have gained mastery over themselves.”

Then the Bhagavān recited these verses:

“Kauṇḍinyagotra, this śrāvaka of mine, Will become a tathāgata, a lord of the world. In a future time, after endless eons, He will guide billions of beings. {21}

“He will become a jina named Samantaprabha. His realm will be completely pure, After endless eons, in a future time, After seeing many, endless buddhas. {22}

“He will shine and have the strengths of a buddha. His words will be renowned in the ten directions. Billions of beings will be in his presence And he will teach them the supreme, highest enlightenment. {23}

“There the dedicated bodhisattvas Will enter their airborne palaces And they will dwell there in contemplation, Always with pure conduct and excellent behavior. {24}

“They will listen to the Dharma of the supreme human And also constantly travel to other realms Where they will praise thousands of buddhas And make vast offerings to them. {25}

“In an instant they will also return To the realm of the Guide. That supreme human, named Prabhāsa, Will have that kind of powerful conduct. {26}

“The lifespan of that sugata Will be a full sixty thousand eons. And when that protector has passed into nirvāṇa. His Dharma will remain for twice as long. {27}

“The outer form of his Dharma, too, Will remain for a duration three times as long. When the Dharma of that protector has disappeared, Devas and humans will be in suffering. {28}

“There will then be, in succession, A full five hundred guides, Supreme humans, jinas, With the same name: Samantaprabha. {29}

“All of them will have the same manifestation Of miraculous powers and a buddha realm. Their assemblies and their Dharma will be the same, And the duration of their Dharma will also be the same. {30}

“Their names and their worlds with their devas Will all be exactly the same as What I have previously described For the supreme human Samanta­prabhāsa. {31}

“These compassionate benefiters Will successively prophesy the others, Saying, ‘After me, it will be Just as I have taught to all the world.’ {32}

“Kāśyapa, from today you should hold in this way These who have mastered themselves, who number No less than five hundred, and also others of my śrāvakas, And you should speak of this to other śrāvakas also.” {33}

Then those five hundred arhats, on hearing the prophecy of their attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, felt contented, delighted, elated, and joyful. With happiness and gladness they approached the Bhagavān, bowed their heads to his feet, and said to him, “Bhagavān, we confess this offence of ours: we have been always continuously thinking, ‘This is our nirvāṇa,’ or, ‘We have attained nirvāṇa.’ Bhagavān, we lacked understanding, lacked skill, and lacked knowledge. Why is that? We thought, ‘There is the attainment of buddhahood through the wisdom of the tathāgatas, but we are satisfied with a limited wisdom.’

“As an analogy, imagine if there were a man who went to a friend’s home, and became drunk or fell asleep. Then the friend sews a priceless jewel into the hem of his clothing, saying, ‘This is a precious jewel!’ The man then rises from his seat and leaves. He goes to another country and there he runs into misfortune. He undergoes great difficulties and hardship in his search for food and clothing. When he finds just a little food he is delighted and overjoyed.

“Bhagavān, then that man’s old friend who had sewn the priceless jewel in the hem of that man’s clothing sees him, and says to him, ‘Oh, my friend! Why are you undergoing this hardship seeking for food and clothing? I sewed a precious jewel, a priceless jewel that could fulfill all your desires, into the hem of your clothes so that you could live happily. My friend, I have given you that precious jewel. My friend, I have sewn that precious jewel in the hem of your clothing. My friend, you have not looked for it at all, wondering, “When was it sewn in? Who sewed it in? Why did he sew it in?” Oh my friend, you are a fool that you have accepted to undergo such hardship in searching for food and clothing! My friend, take this precious jewel and go to the big city, and in the big city with that jewel obtain all the wealth that you want!’

“Bhagavān, it is likewise that the Tathāgata has previously taught the practice of bodhisattva conduct and the aspiration for omniscience, but we did not know it, we did not understand it.

“Bhagavān, therefore our thoughts were of nirvāṇa, the level of the arhat. Bhagavān, we have lived in great hardship. Bhagavān, we have been content to seek limited wisdom. Because we have never ceased from our prayers for omniscient wisdom, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata has made us understand, saying, ‘You bhikṣus, do not think that this is nirvāṇa! Bhikṣus, there are the roots of merit in your beings that I have ripened in the past. It was through my skillful method that through my teaching and speaking of the Dharma you came to think, “This is nirvāṇa!” ’

“In that way the Bhagavān has made us understand, and today has given us the prophecy of our attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment.”

At that time, Ājñāta­kauṇḍinya and the five hundred who had gained mastery over themselves recited these verses:

“We are delighted and overjoyed to have heard Such a supreme reassurance as this, The prophecy of our highest, complete enlightenment. We pay homage to you, the Guide with infinite vision. {34}

“We confess our fault in your presence: We were foolish, unwise, and unknowing, And within the teachings of the Sugata We were content with mere nirvāṇa. {35}

“It is as if there were a man Who went into the home of his friend. His friend was someone who was very wealthy And gave him much to eat and drink. {36}

“Having satisfied him with food He gave him a jewel of great value, Sewing it into the hem of his upper robe, And he was happy to have given it to him. {37}

“Then that fool, he departed. He left and went to another town. He fell into hardship, was destitute and in need, Searching for food in a state of distress. {38}

“He gained relief from misery through finding food, But he did not think of obtaining a great amount to eat. He had forgotten that he possessed the jewel. He did not remember that it was in the hem of his clothing. {39}

“Then when his old friend saw him, The friend duly admonished him that he possessed The jewel that he had given him, back in his house, And showed him the jewel in the hem of his clothing. {40}

“The jewel had such power That when the man saw it he became supremely happy; He became very wealthy, had the power of treasure, And obtained the pleasures of the five senses. {41}

“Bhagavān, we are just like that: We are unaware of the past prayers That the Tathāgata has given us In many lifetimes in the past, a long time ago. {42}

“Bhagavān, we have the understanding of fools. Within the Sugata’s teaching we are without knowledge. We were content with nirvāṇa alone, And did not think of any higher goal. {43}

“The friend to the world has made us realize, ‘There is no nirvāṇa such as this.’ It is the supreme wisdom of the highest beings That nirvāṇa is the supreme bliss. {44}

“We have heard this supreme prophecy That is vast, extensive, and diverse. Lord, these successive prophecies Have made us happy, delighted, and overjoyed.” {45}