do, Lord; I do, Sugata.' The Lord proceeded: All these two thousand monks, Ânanda, shall simultaneously accomplish the course of Bodhisattvas, and after honouring, respecting, venerating, worshipping Buddhas as numerous as the atoms of fifty worlds, and after acquiring the true law, they shall, in their last bodily existence, attain supreme and perfect enlightenment at the same time, the same moment, the same instant, the same juncture in all directions of space, in different worlds, each in his own Buddha-field. They shall become Tathâgatas, Arhats, &c, by the name of Ratnaketurâgas[1]. Their lifetime shall last a complete Æon. The division and good qualities of their Buddha-fields shall be equal; equal also shall be the number of the congregation of their disciples and Bodhisattvas; equal also shall be their complete extinction, and their true law shall continue an equal time.
And on that occasion the Lord uttered the following stanzas:
12. These two thousand disciples, Ânanda, who here are standing before me, to them, the sages, I now predict that in future they shall become Tathâgatas.
13. After having paid eminent worship to the Buddhas, by means of infinite comparisons and examples, they shall, when standing in their last bodily existence, reach my extreme enlightenment.
14. They shall all, under the same name, in every direction, at the same moment and instant, and
- ↑ In astrological works, in the enumeration of Grahas (sun, moon, planets, &c.), the Ketus are constantly named after Râhu. It is hardly fortuitous that here we find these 'kings of Ketus' mentioned immediately after Râhula.
