Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/264

Rh complete Nirvâ'na, may be deemed to have appeared 1 in the predicament of a Tathâgata 2, such a one, Bhaishagyarâga, be it a young man or a young lady of good family, must be held to perform the function of the Tathâgata, to be a deputy of the Tathâgata. As such, Bhaishagyarâga, should be acknowledged the young man or the young lady of good family, who communicates this Dharmaparyiya, after the complete NirvA^a of the Tathâgata, were it but in secret or by stealth or to one single creature that he communicated or told it.

Again, Bhaishagyarâga, if some creature vicious, wicked, and cruel-minded should in the (current) Age speak something injurious in the face of the Tathâgata, and if some should utter a single harsh word, founded or unfounded, to those irreproachable preachers of the law and keepers of this Sdtrdnta, whether lay devotees or clergymen, I declare that the latter sin is the graver. For, Bhaishagyarâga, such a young man or young lady of good family must be held to be adorned with the apparel of the Tathâgata. He carries the Tathâgata on his shoulder, Bhaishagyarâga, who after having copied this Dharmaparydya and made a volume of it, carries it on his shoulder. Such a one, wherever he goes, must be saluted by all beings with joined hands, must be honoured, respected, worshipped, venerated, revered by gods and men with flowers, incense, perfumed garlands, ointment, powder, clothes, umbrellas, flags, banners, musical instruments, with Upapanna, an ambiguous term ; it may also mean ' fit.'

Tathâgata-bhuta; a var. lect. has Tathâgata-dut a, a messenger, a deputy of the Tathâgata.