Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/57

Rh goblins, Gandharvas, demons, Garudas, Kinnaras, great serpents, men, and beings not human, on seeing the magnificence of this great miracle of the Lord, were struck with astonishment, amazement and curiosity, and thought: Let us inquire why this magnificent miracle has been produced by the great power of the Lord.

At the same moment, at that very instant, the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Maitreya knew in his mind the thoughts arising in the minds of the four classes of hearers and he spoke to Ma«£unri, the prince royal: What, O MangMsrl, is the cause, what is the reason of this wonderful, prodigious, miraculous shine having been produced by the Lord? Look, how these eighteen thousand Buddha-fields appear variegated, extremely beautiful, directed by Tathâgatas and superintended by Tathâgatas.

Then it was that Maitreya, the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva, addressed Ma%urrt, the prince royal, in the following stanzas:

1. Why, Maftfiurt, does this ray darted by the guide of men shine forth from between his brows? this single ray issuing from the circle of hair? and why this abundant rain of Mandâravas?

2. The gods, overjoyed, let drop Ma^fishakas and sandal powder, divine, fragrant, and delicious.

3. This earth is, on every side, replete with splendour, and all the four classes of the assembly are filled with delight, while the whole field shakes in six different ways, frightfully.

4. And that ray in the eastern quarter illuminates the whole of eighteen thousand Buddha-fields, simultaneously, so that those fields appear as gold-coloured.