Parinirvana Sutra

In the person of the most exceptional worthy
Who now shall soon enter Nirvana,

You should commiserate with us.

Our only wish is to make haste to and beseech the Buddha

To remain in the world for a long time

And bless the infinite sentient beings

With the thorough praises for the wisdom

Of the unsurpassed sweet Dharma dew.

[612b]

If you do not beseech the Buddha [to do this],
Our lives will not be full.

This is why it should be seen that

We prostrate ourselves to the lion tamer."

At that time, Cunda was elated and danced joyfully. He was like someone whose father and mother’s dead corpses had suddenly returned to life.

Cunda’s elation was also so. He again rose to pay his respects to the Buddha

and proclaimed gathas, saying,

"How delightful it is to obtain one’s own benefit!
Skillfully attaining it in a human body

By abolishing greed and anger,

One forever parts with the three evil paths.

How delightful it is to obtain one’s own benefit!

Coming to attain piles of gold and gems

And encountering the Lion Tamer,

One does not fear falling into [the path] of animals [5].

The Buddha is like the udumbara flower.

Encountering his birth faithfully is difficult. Having encountered him, one sows the good roots, Forever extinguishing the distress of the hungry ghosts.

And, again, one is able to censure and extinguish The species of asuras.

Like mustard seeds landing on a needle point [6]

The Buddha’s appearance is as rare as this.

By perfecting charity (dana)
I shall liberate both men and gods from birth and death.

The Buddha is not defiled by worldly dharmas

Like the lotus flower in a pond.

Skillfully ending existence, the top of its shoot is Forever liberated from the flow of birth and death [beneath]. Birth in the world as a human is difficult.

And meeting the Buddha in the world is as difficult

As a blind turtle in the great ocean
Meeting a floating log with an opening [7].

Now I will hand over these alms,

Vowing to attain the unsurpassed reward

Of destroying and breaking up

all of the bonds of afflictions

I, here and now,

No longer seek the body of a god.

For the minds of those who attempt to obtain that [goal]

Will not be sweetly delighted.

The Tathagata having accepted my offerings

There is no measure for my elation.

It is like the airavana flower

That produces a fragrance of sandalwood.

My body is like that airavana flower.

The Tathagata having accepted my offerings

It is as if it now produces that fragrance of sandalwood.

This is why I am elated.

Now I have attained the manifest reward

Of this most excellent and marvelous place

Where the indra and brahma gods are present

All of whom have come bearing offerings. In myself

And all those of the world

There has arisen a great anguish

[612c]

Because they know that the Buddha, the World Honored One, Now wishes to enter Nirvana.

In a high voice they cry out, saying,
‘The world will be devoid of the [Lion] Tamer!

You should not abandon the sentient beings

You should instead regard each of them like an only child.

Tathagata, remain here with the sangha

And thoroughly expound the unsurpassed Dharma!

Like the jewel mountain of Sumeru,

Or a peaceful spot on the ocean,

Is the Buddha’s knowledge that is able to skillfully end Our ignorance (avidya) and clarify [our minds].

Just as the clouds that arise in the empty sky
Bring a pure refreshment [of rain],

The Tathagata is able to skillfully remove

All of the afflictions.

It is like when the sun rises

And removes the clouds. Its light illuminates everything.

The sentient beings’

Passionate yearning increases and they empathetically wail.

They all are subject to birth and death,
Drifting on its waters of distress.

This is why, World Honored One,

You should remain in the world for a long time

In order to end the suffering of birth and death Of these old and faithful sentient beings.’"

The Buddha addressed Cunda, "So it is, so it is. As you have said, the Buddha’s appearance in the world is rare like that of the udumbara flower.

Meeting the Buddha and giving rise to faith is also most difficult. Giving the very last offerings as the Buddha’s Nirvana nears and so being able to consummate the perfection of giving is, again, very difficult. Now, Cunda, you should not be greatly anguished or distressed. You should instead be elated by your profound fortune to have the opportunity to give the very last offerings to the Tathagata and bringing to fruition the consummation of the perfection of giving. Do not ask the Buddha to remain any longer in the world. Instead, you should regard the Buddha sphere of elements as being impermanent. The nature of his actions are also so." Then the Buddha proclaimed gathas for Cunda, saying,

"All that is born in the world
Will return to death.

While their life spans may be measureless

It is necessary that they have an end.

The sage, too, must have his waning.

What comes together and assembles must break apart And so the healthy years eventually come to a end.

The prosperous form is transgressed by disease

And life is swallowed up by death.

There is nothing (no dharma) that lasts forever.

The power of the Kings who have attained sovereignty,

Who have no comparison,

They all pass on and perish.
[My] life span is also so.

The myriad sufferings turn without end

Flowing round without cease or respite.

[613a]

The three realms are all impermanent
And all existences are unhappy.

What has paths, roots, natures, and signs

All these are empty and non-existent.

Such destructible things (dharmas) flow round

Always having sorrow, anxiety,

Fear, and advancing evils.

Old age, disease, and death are the decline into distress.

These are without bounds

That are transgressed by change, destruction, and bitterness.
The afflictions that are the bondages

Are just like the silkworm’s cocoon.

Why would anyone with wisdom

Be happy in this place?

This body is a collection of sorrows

All of which are impure.

Stopping the bonds and tumors

The roots of which are without righteousness or blessing.

Going up to the heavenly body [8]

Is also so.

The desires are all impermanent
And that is why I do not covet attachments.

Departing from desires, skillfully contemplating [things], And realizing the true Dharma:

This is the ultimate cutting off of existence.
Today I shall go into Nirvana,

Crossing over to that other shore

And leaving behind all of the suffering.

This is why on this day

You should only feel a marvelous happiness."

At that time, Cunda said to the Buddha, "So it is, World Honored One, so it is. Sincerely, the sage says, ‘I am now in possession of the wisdom that is fine and straightforward.’ Being like the mosquitoes, how can we conceive of the meaning of the Tathagata’s Nirvana at its very core? World Honored One, I have now been with the great nagas, these bodhisattva-mahasattvas, who have cut away the bonds of defilement, who are the likes of Manjusri. World Honored One, I am like a youth who first leaves the household, but who has not yet fulfilled the precepts. Because of the spiritual power of the Buddha and bodhisattvas and because of being with such a number of bodhisattvas, I now wish to cause the Tathagata to remain in the world and not enter Nirvana. Like a starved person who can no longer produce saliva, my only wish for the World Honored One is also so. Remain forever in the world and do not enter Nirvana!"

At that time, the Dharma prince Manjusri addressed Cunda, "Cunda, you should not say that you wish the Tathagata to remain in the world forever and forgo Nirvana, being like a starved person who can no longer produce saliva. You should, instead, regard the nature and signs of his actions. Thus regarding his actions, you should fulfill the samadhi of emptiness. Wishing to seek the true Dharma, [613b] thus you should train."

Cunda asked, "Manjusri, the Tathagata is the most honored and most excellent among the beings in the heavens above. How can such a Tathagata’s actions be so? If the person acting is something (a dharma) subject to birth and death, then he would be like water bubbles, arising quickly and quickly perishing, coming and going, spinning round like a cart wheel. And all of his actions would also be so. I have heard that the life span of gods is extremely long. How could the life span of the World Honored One, who is a god among gods, be hurried and not even fill the span of a hundred years? Like a chief of a village whose power has reached sovereignty. And so with that sovereign power, he is able to govern other people. After this person’s merit is exhausted, he will become an impoverished person who is taken lightly by other foremen [9]. And why is that? It is because he has lost his power. The World Honored One would also be so. The same would be his actions and the person acting. And then he would not be called a god among gods. And why? Because then his actions would be things (dharmas) subject to birth and death. This is why, Manjusri, that I do not regard the Tathagata as the same as his actions.

"Furthermore, Manjusri, knowing [him] and speaking, not knowing [him] and speaking [10], and the words of the Tathagata would also be the same as his actions. Supposing that the Tathagata is the same as the person who acts, he would not then be said to be the sovereign Dharma king, a god among the gods in the three realms. He is just like a human king who has great champions, and so his power will be a thousand times again [a single man’s] and cannot be defeated. Therefore it is held that these champions cause this single person to have the power of a thousand [men]. Thus, the king of the champions is fondly mindful of them. He is inclined to bestow noble titles and award fiefs to them, and so the champions themselves come to be held as the equals of a thousand [men]. The Tathagata is also so. He has defeated the mara of afflictions, the mara of skandhas, the heavenly maras, and the mara of death. This is why the Tathagata is called the Honored One of the three realms. Like that one warrior, who is equal to a thousand, he has become so through the causes and conditions of bringing to fruition the consummation of a variety of infinite and real virtues. This is why he is proclaimed the Tathagata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened.

"Manjusri, you should not consider and discern the Tathagata to be something (a dharma) the same as its actions. It is like when a wealthy elder has a son and a fortuneteller divines that the child will have a short life. Upon hearing this the mother and father know not to give up on continuing the family lineage or to never again cherish, esteem, or teach the child. Those of short life span do not become shramanas or brahmanas to whom men and women, young and old, are respectful. If it is that the Tathagata is the same as the person who acts, then is it also so that he would not become a sentient being among gods and men who give him respect. The Tathagata has said that the unchanging and unvarying Dharma of reality also is without a receiver. [613c] This is why, Manjusri, that you should not say that the Tathagata is the same as all of his actions.

"Furthermore, Manjusri, it is like an impoverished woman who has no household in which to have shelter. She is subjected to repeated diseases, distress, hunger, and thirst. She goes about begging and stops at a guest house where she stays and gives birth to a child. The landlord of this guest house chases her out and, embracing the child, she wishes to go to another country. On the way she encounters the distress of wickedness, winds, rains, and cold as she went. Many were the hungry noises of the biting mosquitoes, horseflies, and venomous snakes. Passing through the Ganges River, she embraces her child and begins to cross it. Its waters are tumultuous and swift, but she would not let go [of her child]. Both mother and child are drowned. Thus, having been compassionately mindful and virtuous, after the woman’s death she is reborn in the brahma heavens.

"Manjusri, if there is a good son who wishes to protect the true Dharma, he does not say that the Tathagata is the same as his actions. He is not the same as his actions. It may only be if he himself claims that I now am deluded and do not yet possess the wisdom eye. The Tathagata’s true Dharma is inconceivable. This is why it should not be proclaimed that the Tathagata is established to be conditioned, [but] that he is established to be unconditioned. Someone who has the correct view says that the Tathagata is established to be unconditioned. And why? It is because he is able to give rise to the good Dharma for sentient beings, and because he gives rise to the compassionate mind, as did that impoverished woman did in the Ganges river, when she was willing to abandon her own life because of her compassionate mindfulness of her child. Good son, the bodhisattva who protects the Dharma also responds in this way. He would rather give up his life than say that the Tathagata is the same as the conditioned. Instead, he will say that the Tathagata is the same as the unconditioned. Because he says that the Tathagata is unconditioned, he attains the anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, as that woman attained rebirth in the brahma heaven. And why? It is because of his defense of the Dharma. How did he defend it? By that I mean his holding that the Tathagata is the same as the unconditioned. Good son, such a person, while not seeking liberation, liberates himself, just as that impoverished woman did not seek rebirth in the brahma heavens but in fact was as a result of her [actions].

"Manjusri, it is like a person who travels a far distance and on the way grows tired and stops at a guest house. In it he lays down to sleep. And then suddenly a large fire breaks out in the building. He awakens in a fright and attempts to [regain] his concentration, thinking, "I have no doubt that today I shall die." Because he was full of repentance, his body was ensnared by his clothing.

Thereupon, at the end of his life, he was reborn into the Trayas-trimsa heaven. And from there, after fully eighty rebirths, he became a great Brahma king. And after fully 100,000 rebirths, he was born among humans as a wheel turning king. This man was not reborn amidst the three evil destinies, but was always reborn in consecutive places of peaceful happiness because of these causes and conditions. Manjusri, [614a] if a good son is one who repentant, then he should not contemplate the Buddha as being the same as his actions.

"Manjusri, the heretical paths of those with mistaken views may say that the Tathagata is the same as the conditioned. A precept-holding bhiksu, however, should not give rise to such conditioned thinking about the Tathagata. If he were to say that the Tathagata is something conditioned, then that is a deluded statement. It should be known that upon death this person will enter the hells as though his own home. Manjusri, in reality the Tathagata is an unconditioned dharma and should not be said to be conditioned. From this day all in samsara should abandon this deficient understanding and seek the correct knowledge. Then, you will know that the Tathagata is unconditioned. If you can thus regard the Tathagata, then on perfection [of that knowledge] you will attain the thirty-two marks and swiftly realize the anuttara-samyak-sambodhi."

At that time, the Dharma prince Manjusri praised Cunda, saying, "Excellent, good son, excellent! You have now created the causes and conditions for a long life span, for you are able to understand that the Tathagata is eternally abiding, an unchanging dharma, and a dharma of the unconditioned. You have now well overturned the appearance of the Tathagata being conditioned. You are like that person who burned and because of his good thought of repentance at his clothed body was born in the Trayas-trimsa heaven, and again as a brahma king, and a wheel-turning king, never returning to the evil destinies, and always experiencing peaceful happiness. You are also so, since you have skillfully overturned the Tathagata’s appearance of being conditioned. In a future life, it must be that you will attain the thirty-two marks, the eighty excellencies, the eighteen special qualities, an infinite life span, not existing in samsara, and always experiencing peaceful happiness. It is not long now before you will realize the Arhat’s perfect enlightenment.

"Cunda, those who follow after the Tathagata [is gone], they will say, ‘Company of ours, together you also must overturn [the view] that the Tathagata is conditioned or conditioned to be unconditioned, and moreover all of you must stop having such a view yourselves. You may, following this day, make haste to give food and drink. The giving of such gifts is the best. Whether it is bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, or upasikas, when they go on distant travels and grow weary for the need of things, should they not bath the following day and be furnished with them? Thus, quickly giving it to them is the consummation of the root seed of the perfection of charity (dana-paramita).’ Cunda, so it is if someone makes the very last offerings to the Buddha and the sangha, whether the offerings are many or few, whether sufficient or not, fitting or timely. The Tathagata is truly so and shall enter parinirvana."

Cunda replied, "Manjusri, why do you now covet these alms and say ‘many, few, sufficient, or insufficient’ in order to lead me to give on this day. Manjusri, the Tathagata in the old days practiced asceticism for six years and honored only what his arms held. How could he on this day be in need [of more] for an instant? Manjusri, do you really mean to say that the Tathagata who is truly awakened has accepted these alms? Verily, I resolutely know that the body of the Tathagata is the essential body (dharma-kaya) and not an alms-eating body."

At that time, the Buddha addressed Manjusri, saying, "It is so, it is so."

He likewise said to Cunda, "Excellent, Cunda! You have brought to fruition the subtle and wondrous great knowledge and skillfully entered the most profound Mahayana scriptures."

Manjusri said to Cunda, "You have stated that the Tathagata is the unconditioned, that the body of the Tathagata has a long life span. Have you come to the knowledge of the Buddha’s bliss?"

Cunda replied, "The Tathagata does not only bring bliss for me, but also for all sentient beings."

Manjusri said, "The Tathagata brings bliss for you and I as well as all other sentient beings?"

Cunda replied, "You should not say that the Tathagata brings bliss. The blissful person is a mistaken idea. If there are mistaken ideas then there is birth and death. When there is birth and death, then there are conditioned things (dharmas). This is why, Manjusri, that one is not to state that the Tathagata is conditioned. If it is said that the Tathagata is conditioned, I and the sages together would be practicing in delusion. Manjusri, the Tathagata does not have the idea of being compassionately mindful. Compassionate mindfulness is like the cow being compassionately mindful of its calf. Although it may be hungry or thirsty, the cow goes in search of water and grass, whether it is sufficient or not, and then immediately returns [once obtaining it]. The Buddhas, the World Honored Ones, have no such mindfulness, seeing clearly all [beings] to be like Rahula. Such mindfulness, then, is the perspective of the Buddhas’ wisdom.

"Manjusri, it is just like a country’s king who tames a team of four horses, wishing to have draft horses to pull his chariot, and then orders them to go nowhere. The sages and I are also so. We wish to go to the deepest core of the Tathagata’s subtle esoterica, which has no location. Manjusri, he is like a golden winged bird that flies up into empty space and looks down at the ocean from an infinite number of yojanas . It sees all the beings contained in the waters; including the fish, fresh-water turtles, sea turtles, and nagas. And seeing their shapes is like looking into a bright mirror and seeing the images of their forms. Ordinary men of little knowledge are unable to comprehend such a perspective. The sages and I are also so, unable to comprehend the wisdom of the Tathagata.