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.They will practice the path of thebodhisattvas, will take their places upon the seat of Enlightenment, and will have truly entered the domain of the Tathágatas.Lord, the noble sons and daughters who will teach andpractice this exposition of the Dharma will be honored and served by me and my followers.To the villages, towns, cities, states, kingdoms, and capitals wherein this teaching of theDharma will be applied, taught, and demonstrated, I and my followers will come to hear theDharma.I will inspire the unbelieving with faith, and I will guarantee my help and protectionto those who believe and uphold the Dharma."At these words, the Buddha said to Sakra, the prince of the gods, "Excellent! Excellent, princeof gods! The Tathágata rejoices in your good words.Prince of gods, the enlightenment of theBuddhas of the past, present, and future is expressed in this discourse of Dharma.Therefore,prince of gods, when noble sons and daughters accept it, repeat it, understand it deeply, writeit completely, and, making it into a book, honor it, those sons and daughters thereby payhomage to the Buddhas of the past, present and future."Let us suppose, prince of gods, that this billion-world-galactic universe were as full ofTathágatas as it is covered with groves of sugarcane, with rosebushes, with bamboo thickets,with herbs, and with flowers, and that a noble son or daughter were to honor them, reverethem, respect and adore them, offering them all sorts of comforts and offerings for an aeon ormore than an aeon.And let us suppose that, these Tathágatas having entered ultimateliberation, he or she honored each of them by enshrining their preserved bodies in amemorial stupa made of precious stones, each as large as a world with four great continents,rising as high as the world of Brahma, adorned with parasols, banners, standards, and lamps.And let us suppose finally that, having erected all these stupas for the Tathágatas, he or shewere to devote an aeon or more to offering them flowers, perfumes, banners, and standards,while playing drums and music.That being done, what do you think, prince of gods? Would that noble son or daughterreceive much merit as a consequence of such activities?"Sakra, the prince of gods, replied, "Many merits, Lord! Many merits, O Sugata! Were one tospend hundreds of thousands of millions of aeons, it would be impossible to measure thelimit of the mass of merits that that noble son or daughter would thereby gather!"The Buddha said, "Have faith, prince of gods, and understand this: Whoever accepts thisexposition of the Dharma called 'Instruction in the Inconceivable Liberation,' recites it, andunderstands it deeply, he or she will gather merits even greater than those who perform theabove acts.Why so? Because, prince of gods, the enlightenment of the Buddhas arises from the Dharma, and one honors them by the Dharma worship, and not by material worship.Thus it is taught, prince of gods, and thus you must understand it."The Buddha then further said to Sakra, the prince of gods, "Once, prince of gods, long ago,long before aeons more numerous than the innumerable, immense, immeasurable,inconceivable, and even before then, the Tathágata called Bhaisajyaraja appeared in theworld: a saint, perfectly and fully enlightened, endowed with knowledge and conduct, ablissful one, knower of the world, incomparable knower of men who need to be civilized,teacher of gods and men, a Lord, a Buddha.He appeared in the aeon called Vicarana in theuniverse called Mahavyuha."The length of life of this Tathágata Bhaisajyaraja, perfectly and fully enlightened one, wastwenty short aeons.His retinue of disciples numbered thirty-six million billion, and his retinue of bodhisattvasnumbered twelve million billion.In that same era, prince of gods, there was a universalmonarch called King Ratnacchattra, who reigned over the four continents and possessedseven precious jewels.He had one thousand heroic sons, powerful, strong, and able toconquer enemy armies.This King Ratnacchattra honored the Tathágata Bhaisajyaraja and hisretinue with many excellent offerings during five short aeons.At the end of this time, theKing Ratnacchattra said to his sons, 'Recognizing that during my reign I have worshiped theTathágata, in your turn you also should worship him
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