(5) Maitreya Bodhisattva having heard these words spoke to Buddha and said.- “O Blessed One, I have never heard the like before. It is indeed as Buddha has spoken. I will remove with my utmost effort such false conceptions as these and hold fast on the works of supreme enlightenment, which were accumulated by Tathagata during these countless Asamkhyeya kalpas of the past. If there be in the future a son or daughter of a noble family who shall seek the Mahayana I will enable them to put even in their own hands this scripture, so that they can hold it, recite it, and fully explain it for the sake of others.

(1) At that time Buddha spoke to Maitreya and said: “O Maitreya I now give over to thee the Sutra leading to supreme enlightenment, which I have gathered during countless millions of Asamkhyeya kalpas of the past. In the generations that follow after the passing of Buddha, ye should all widely proclaim and propagate this scripture through your supernatural powers m this Jambudvipa and never permit it to become extinct. And why? If there be in the later generations, either sons or daughters of a noble family, or deities or serpent-gods, or goblins, or Gandharvas, or Rakshasas, who cherishing the thought of supreme enlightenment, find pleasure in the great law, but fail to hear such scripture as this, great benefits would be lost to them. Such men as these, hearing such scriptures, will surely entertain great faith in them, cherish the rare thought [or enlightenment] , and reverently preach them in detail to all beings so that they will derive benefits therefrom.

(22) but all beings who even hear this scripture in the present age or after passing of Buddha will also obtain excellent profit. How much more meritorious would it be for them who having heard it, would comprehend, hold, recite, preach, and practise it according to the law. If there be one who has held this scripture in his hand he is said to obtain the mine of the law-treasure. When he recites or explains the meaning of it and practises it according to the doctrine, he will be protected by all the Buddhas. If there be one who honours such a man, he is said to honour the Buddha. If there be one who copies and holds this scripture, his room will be inhabited by the Tathagata. If there be one who rejoices in heating this scripture, he will attain omniscience. If he comprehends even one Gatha of four lines of this scripture and preach it to others, he will receive from Buddha the assurance of attaining supreme enlightenment.”

(1) Then Sakra, the king of deities, who was among the assembly spoke to Buddha and said: “Though I have heard several hundred thousands of scriptures while I was waiting on Buddha and Manjusri, yet have I never heard such a scripture as this— the Sutra of ultimate reality ascertained by the supernatural faculty of Inconceivable Self-Existence. If I understand the meaning proclaimed by Buddha rightly, he who hears, comprehends, holds, and recites this scripture will obtain the law without fail; how much more would it be to practise according to the doctrine! He can close [the gate of] the unhappy existences; he is protected by all the Buddhas; he can repress all the heresies, conquer the enmity of evil, realise the Bodhi, abide in the Bodhi-mandala, and walk in the path along which Tathagata has walked.

(4) Therefore, O king of deities, he who holds, recites, and reveres the scripture is said to honour all the Buddhas of the past, the present, and the future. "O king of deities, if there be many Tathagatas so many in number even as the bushes, whether of sugar-cane, bamboo, reed, paddy, or hemp, and the three great Chiliocosms may be full of them, and a son or daughter of a noble family will honour, revere, praise, and pay homage to them and dedicate their dwellings to them for the space of one kalpa or thereabout, and after the passing of those Buddhas, he or she will elect a Stupa of seven jewels containing the perfect body of each of the Tathagatas as wide as the four worlds and as high as the heaven of Brahman, erecting a pole adorned with all magnificence and do homage to them with all the rarest flowers, all kinds of incense, garlands, banners and music, for the space of one kalpa or thereabout; what dost thou think, O king of deities, is the merit planted by this man much or little?”