and the force of a pious vow. They shall dwell apart in the convents of the Tathâgata, Bhaishagyarâga, and shall have their heads stroked by the hand of the Tathâgata, those young men and young ladies of good family, who after the complete extinction of the Tathâgata shall believe, read, write, honour this Dharmaparyâya and recite it to others.
Again, Bhaisha^ yarS^a, on any spot of the earth where this Dharmaparyâya is expounded, preached, written, studied, or recited in chorus, on that spot, Bhaisha^yari^a, one should build a Tathâgata-shrine, magnificent, consisting of precious substances, high, and spacious; but it is not necessary to depose in it relics of the Tathâgata. For the body of the Tathâgata is, so to say, collectively deposited there. Any spot of the earth where this Dharmaparyâya is expounded or taught or recited or rehearsed in chorus or written or kept in a volume, must be honoured, respected, revered, worshipped as if it were a Stftpa, with all sorts of flowers, incense, perfumes, garlands, ointment, powder, clothes, umbrellas, flags, banners, triumphal streamers, with all kinds of song, music, dancing, musical instruments, castanets[1] and shouts in chorus. And those, Bhaisha^*yar^a, who approach a Tathâgata-shrine to salute or see it, must be held to be near supreme and perfect enlightenment. For, Bhaisha^yarifa, there are many laymen as well as priests who observe the course of a Bodhisattva without, however, coming so far as to see, hear, write or worship this Dharmaparyâya. So long as they do not hear this Dharmaparyâya, they are not
yet proficient in the course of a Bodhisattva. But
- ↑ Tâdâvakara.
