CHAPTER XVI.
OF PIETY.
While this exposition of the duration of the Tath&gata's lifetime was being given, innumerable, countless creatures profited by it. Then the Lord addressed the Bodhisattva Mah&sattva Maitreya : While this exposition of the duration of the Tathdgata s lifetime was being given, Afita, sixty-eight hundred thousand myriads of ko/is of Bodhisattvas, comparable to the sands of the Ganges 1 , have acquired the faculty to acquiesce in the law that has no origin. A thousand times more Bodhisattvas Mahdsattvas have obtained Dhdrawl 2 ; and other Bodhisattvas Mah&sattvas, equal to the dust atoms of one third of a macrocosm, have by hearing this Dharmapary&ya obtained the faculty of unhampered view. Other Bodhisattvas Mah&sattvas again, equal to the dust atoms of two-third parts of a macrocosm, have by hearing this Dharmaparydya obtained the Dh&ra#t that makes hundred thousand ko/is of revolutions.
Ash&shash/indfli Gangd Bodhisatvako/inayutajatasahasi£«£/w. Burnouf connects ash/ashash/fn&m with Gahgd, and translates, ' soixante huit Ganges.' His version is justified by the analogy of other passages.
Dharani usually denotes a magic spell, a talisman. Here and there it interchanges with dh£ra»&, support, the bearing in mind, attention. The synonymous rakshd embraces the meanings of talisman and protection, support. It is not easy to decide what is intended in the text.
