SADDHARMA-PUNDARÎKA
OR
THE LOTUS OF THE TRUE LAW.
HOMAGE TO
ALL THE BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Thus have I heard. Once upon a time the Lord was staying at Râgagriha, on the Gridhrakûta[1] mountain, with a numerous assemblage of monks, twelve hundred monks, all of them Arhats, stainless, free from depravity, self-controlled[2], thoroughly emancipated in thought and knowledge, of noble breed, (like unto) great elephants, having done their task, done their duty, acquitted their charge, reached the goal; in whom the ties which bound them to existence were wholly destroyed, whose minds were thoroughly emancipated by perfect knowledge, who had reached the utmost perfection in subduing all their thoughts; who were possessed of the transcendent faculties[3];
