&c., all of them bearing the name of Kandrasûryapradîpa, of the sane lineage and family name, to wit, of Bharadvâga[1]. All those twenty thousand Tathâgatas, O Agita, from the first to the last, showed the law, revealed the course which is holy at its commencement, holy in its middle, holy at the end, &c. &c.[2]]
The aforesaid Lord Kandrasûryapradîpa, the Tathâgata, &c., when a young prince and not yet having left home (to embrace the ascetic life), had eight sons, viz. the young princes Sumati, Anantamati, Ratnamati, Viseshamati, Vimatisamudghâtin, Ghoshamati, and Dharmamati. These eight young princes, Agita, sons to the Lord Kandrasûryapradîpa, the Tathâgata, had an immense fortune[3]. Each of them was in possession of four great continents, where they exercised the kingly svay. When they saw that the Lord had left his home to become an ascetic, and heard that he had attained supreme, perfect enlightenment, they forsook all of them the pleasures of royalty and followed the example of the Lord by resigning the world; all of them strove to
- ↑ It is clear that Bharadvâga, a well-known progenitor of one of the Brahmanic families, existed long before the creation, i.e. of the last creation of the world. There can be no question of his being a man, at least in the system of the Lotus.
- ↑ The words in brackets are wanting in one of the MSS.
- ↑ Riddhi is the word used in the text. As an ecclesiastical term it denotes 'magic power,' but that artificial meaning does not suit here.
being perfectly explainable if we consider the narrow relationship of Indian and Iranian mythology. Maitreya is not strictly identical with Mitra, but a younger edition, so to speak, of him; he is the future saviour.
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