Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/481

Rh plinary regulations ; she shall, in order to save crea- tures, have the thoughts fixed on supreme and perfect enlightenment. These are the four requisites, young man of good family, a female must be possessed of, to whom this Dharmapary&ya of the Lotus of the True Law is to be entrusted.

Then the Bodhisattva Mahisattva Samantabhadra said to the Lord : At the end of time, at the end of the period, in the second half of the millennium, I will protect the monks who keep this Sfltr&nta ; I will take care of their safety, avert blows 1, and destroy poison, so that no one laying snares for those preachers may surprise them, neither M&ra the Evil One, nor the sons of M&ra, the angels called Mirak&yikas, the daughters of Mira, the followers of Mira, and all other servitors to M&ra ; that no gods, goblins, ghosts, imps, wizards, spectres laying snares for those preachers may surprise them. In- cessantly and constantly, O Lord, will I protect such a preacher. And when a preacher who applies him- self to this Dharmaparyiya shall take a walk, then, O Lord, will I mount a white elephant with six tusks, and with a train of Bodhisattvas betake my- self to the place where that preacher is walking, in order to protect this Dharmapary&ya. And when that preacher, applying himself to this Dharmapar- yiya, forgets, be it but a single word or syllable, then will I mount the white elephant with six tusks, show my face to that preacher, and repeat this entire Dharmapary&ya 2. And when the preacher has Or punishment.

Samantabhadra renders the same service to pious and studious preachers as the Buddha himself; see chapter X, especially stanzas 29-31. As to the elephant on which he is mounted, one knows [21]