Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/458

 the Bodhisattva Mahcisattva Akshayamati said to the Lord : Great, O Lord, great, O Sugata, is the pious merit which that young gentleman or young lady will produce in consequence of it. The Lord proceeded : Now, young man of good family, the accumulation of pious merit produced by that young gentleman paying homage to so many Lords Buddhas, and the accumulation of pious merit produced by him who performs were it but a single act of adoration to the Bodhisattva Mahcisattva Avalokitesvara and cherishes his name, are equal. He who adores a number of Lords Buddhas equal to sixty-two times the sands of the river Ganges and cherishes their names, and he who adores the Bodhisattva Mahcisattva Avalokite^vara and cherishes his name, have an equal accumulation of pious merit ; both masses of pious merit are not easy to be destroyed even in hundred thousands of myriads of ko/is of iEons. So immense, young man of good family, is the pious merit resulting from cherishing the name of the Bodhisattva Mah&sattva Avalokitesvara.

Again the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Akshayamati said to the Lord : How, O Lord, is it that the Bodhisattva Mahcisattva A valokite^vara frequents this Sahaworld ? And how does he preach the law ? And which is the range of the skilfulness of the Bodhisattva MahAsattva Avalokitervara ? So asked, the Lord replied to the Bodhisattva Mahcisattva Akshayamati: In some worlds, young man of good family, the Bodhisattva Mahcisattva Avalokitervara preaches the law to creatures in the shape of a Buddha;