Selected Expositions from the Pitāputrasamāgama Sūtra

Original text: Great King. In the past, immeasurable koṭis of nayutas of kalpas ago, there was a Wheel-Turning King named Boundless Renown. He was wealthy, noble, and at ease, possessing great majestic virtue. He had elephants, horses, chariots, and carriages adorned with various treasures, along with the supreme wheel treasure that none could destroy. He had already drawn near to and made offerings to immeasurable Buddhas, planting numerous roots of goodness at the places of those Buddhas. Whatever he willed in his mind, he attained accomplishment.

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, countless, boundless kalpas in the past, there was a Wheel-Turning Sage King named Boundless Renown. He was extremely wealthy and noble, living at ease with great majestic power. He possessed elephants, horses, chariots, carriages adorned with all kinds of precious jewels, complete with the seven treasures, and the supreme wheel treasure that no one could destroy. This King Boundless Renown had already drawn near to and made offerings to immeasurable Buddhas in the past, planting vast roots of goodness at the places of so many Buddhas. Due to the blessings and virtues summoned by these roots of goodness, whatever arose in his mind was accomplished; all his thoughts were fulfilled.

The World-Honored One recounted this story to instruct and alert King Śuddhodana, urging him not to cling to wealth, honor, and pleasures, for those whose minds know no contentment will inevitably face future troubles. The story illustrates the karmic retribution of greedily clinging to the world without satisfaction, and the consequences of an insatiable human mind. This story indeed proves that the human mind is never satisfied; those who have not eradicated greed find it difficult to know contentment with the five desires and six dusts. Even King Boundless Renown, who had planted roots of goodness at the places of immeasurable Buddhas, was no exception.

The Indian phrase "koṭis of nayutas of kalpas" refers to an immensely long, distant period of time. The formation, abiding, destruction, and emptiness of one Earth constitute one great kalpa, equivalent to 80 times 16.8 million years. Immeasurable great kalpas ago, there was a Wheel-Turning King named Boundless Renown. Wheel-Turning Kings are divided into four types: Golden Wheel King, Silver Wheel King, Copper Wheel King, and Iron Wheel King. The lowest-ranking Iron Wheel King rules only one great continent, such as specifically governing Jambudvīpa (the southern continent) on Earth, or solely presiding over Purvavideha (the eastern continent). The Copper Wheel King rules two continents, the Silver Wheel King rules three, and the Golden Wheel King rules all four continents. Around the foot of Mount Sumeru, there are four great continents in total. Every Mount Sumeru in all small worlds is surrounded by these four great continents. In our Saha World, there are a total of one billion Mount Sumerus. This means that in the trichiliocosm of Śākyamuni Buddha’s Saha World, there are one billion Earths, one billion Jambudvīpas, one billion Purvavidehas, one billion Aparagodānīyas (western continents), and one billion Uttarakurus (northern continents). Thus, there would be one billion Golden Wheel Kings, while Copper and Iron Wheel Kings would number even more than one billion. The blessings attained by these Wheel-Turning Sage Kings all resulted from making offerings to immeasurable thousands of koṭis of nayutas of Buddhas. These are worldly blessings within the scope of conventional Dharma.