Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra), Part Two

King Śuddhodana Praises the Rare and Hard-to-Encounter Buddha-Dharma

Original text: 尔时净饭王。并诸营从眷属等。见诸阿修罗王。乃至外道婆罗门。蒙佛授记。发希有心。叹未曾有。世尊言音。美妙清澈。一切世间。闻者忻悦。时净饭王。始见如来。以爱恋故。情意殷勤。

尔时世尊。知彼父王。心之所念。而告之曰：大王。我所说法。初中后善。其义巧妙。清净一相。梵行圆满。今正说者。所谓分别。六界差别。分位法门。王当谛听。善思念之。时净饭王。即白佛言。善哉世尊。愿乐欲闻。为我宣说。忆持信受。

Explanation: King Śuddhodana, together with his family members, relatives, and the trusted ministers around him, at this Dharma assembly, saw the World-Honored One give predictions of future buddhahood even to the Asura kings and even to some non-Buddhist Brahmins, and thus gave rise to a sense of the rare and extraordinary, exclaiming that they had never encountered such a magnificent assembly. The World-Honored One's voice when expounding the Dharma was so beautiful and clear that everyone in all worlds felt happy and joyful upon hearing it. Because King Śuddhodana had only just seen the World-Honored One, he still cherished loving affection in his heart for his former son, and his feelings remained deeply earnest.

At this point, the World-Honored One knew what the father-king facing him was thinking in his heart, and said to him: Great King, the Dharma I teach is good in the beginning, in the middle, and at the end; its meaning is ingenious and skillful, employing all kinds of similes and parables so that sentient beings can understand, accept, and have faith in it; it is of pure marks, with the pure conduct brought to perfection. What I am now expounding is the so-called dharma gate of discerning the distinctions and stages of the six elements. Great King, you should listen carefully and be skillful in contemplating these teachings. At that time, King Śuddhodana said to the Buddha: Excellent, World-Honored One! I earnestly desire to hear the World-Honored One expound it for me; I will commit it to memory, accept it with faith, and put it into practice.

At this great assembly, the devas of the six heavens of the desire realm, the eighteen heavens of the form realm, and the four heavens of the formless realm—twenty-eight heavens in total—the lords of these heavens, as well as the non-humans, all received predictions from the Buddha. King Śuddhodana saw that the Buddha had given predictions of future buddhahood to so many humans and non-humans, and even to non-Buddhists; he had never heard of or witnessed such a scene, and he exclaimed in praise that it was rare and hard to encounter.