Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/303

 CHAPTER XII.

EXERTION.

Thereafter the Bodhisattva Bhaishagyarâga and the Bodhisattva Mahâpratibhâna, with a retinue of twenty hundred thousand Bodhisattvas, spoke before the face of the Lord the following words: Let the Lord be at ease in this respect; we will after the extinction of the Tathâgata expound this Paryâya to (all) creatures, though we are aware, O Lord, that at that period there shall be malign beings, having few roots of goodness, conceited, fond of gain and honour, rooted in unholiness, difficult to tame, deprived of good will, and full of unwillingness. Nevertheless, O Lord, we will at that period read, keep, preach, write, honour, respect, venerate, worship this Sûtra; with sacrifice of body and life, O Lord, we will divulge this Sûtra. Let the Lord be at ease.

Thereupon five hundred monks of the assembly, both such as were under training and such as were not, said to the Lord: We also, O Lord, will exert ourselves to divulge this Dharmaparyâya, though in other worlds. Then all the disciples of the Lord, both such as were under training and such as were