Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/465

 27. He, so compassionate for the world, shall once become a Buddha, destroying all dangers and sor- rows 1 ; I humbly bow to Avalokitcrvara.

28. This universal Lord, chief of kings, who is a (rich) mine of monastic virtues, he, universally wor- shipped, has reached pure, supreme enlightenment, after plying his course (of duty) during many hun- dreds of iEons.

29. At one time standing to the right, at another to the left of the Chief Amitdbha, whom he is fan- ning, he, by dint of meditation, like a phantom, in all regions honours the <7ina.

30. In the west, where the pure world Sukhikara 2 is situated, there the Chief AmitAbha, the tamer of men 3, has his fixed abode.

31. There no women are to be found; there sexual intercourse is absolutely unknown ; there the sons of Gina, on springing into existence by appari- tional birth, are sitting in the undefiled cups of lotuses.

32. And the Chief Amitibha himself is seated on a throne in the pure and nice cup of a lotus, and shines as the .SSla-king 4. The present will make room for the future, life will end in death ; the living Avalokitcrvara will pass into the state of Buddha, al. Dharmara^a, i.e. Death, the great physician.

I.e. procuring bliss or tranquillity; the more common name is Sukhavati. In Greek and Roman mythology we find the Insulae Fortunatae and the gardens of the Hesperidae lying in the same quarter. From this it appears that Amitdbha or Amitayus is but another name of Yama, and just as Yama also governs the planet Saturn, it may be held that Amitibha, as one of the five Dhydni-Buddhas, among his other offices, is invested with the dignity of being the ruler of Saturn.

I do not understand the meaning of this compound. In the