Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 21.djvu/70

22 night, in the middle watch, will the Tathâgata, by entering the element of absolute Nirvâna, become wholly extinct.

Thereupon, Agita, the Lord Kandrasûryapradîpa, the Tathâgata, &c, predestinated the Bodhisattva called Srîgarbha to supreme, perfect enlightenment, and then spoke thus to the whole assembly: O monks, this Bodhisattva Srîgarbha here shall immediately after me attain supreme, perfect enlightenment, and become Vimalanetra, the Tathâgata, &c.

Thereafter, Agita, that very night, at that very watch, the Lord Kandrasûryapradîpa, the Tathâgata, &c, became extinct by entering the element of absolute Nirvâna. And the afore-mentioned Dharmaparyâya, termed 'the Lotus of the True Law,' was kept in memory by the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Varaprabha; during eighty intermediate kalpas did the Bodhisattva Varaprabha keep and reveal the commandment of the Lord who had entered Nirvâna. Now it so happened, Agita, that the eight sons of the Lord Kandrasûryapradîpa, Mati and the rest, were pupils to that very Bodhisattva Varaprabha. They were by him made ripe for supreme, perfect enlightenment, and in after times they saw and worshipped many hundred thousand myriads of kotis of Buddhas, all of whom had attained supreme, perfect enlightenment, the last of them being Dîpaṅkara, the Tathâgata, &c.

Amongst those eight pupils there was one Bodhisattva who attached an extreme value to gain, honour and praise, and was fond of glory, but all the words and letters one taught him faded (from his memory), did not stick. So he got the