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Vimalakirti replied in the following gathas: “ Prajnaparamita is the mother of the Bodhisattva; Upaya is his father; all the leaders of men are born of such [parents], “ The joy of hearing the law is his wife: the mind of mercy and compassion is his daughter; and to possess good will and sincerity is his son; absolute emptiness is his house. “Passions are his disciples; they are obedient to the intentions of his will; the [thirty-seven] branches of knowledge are his friends by whom he attains to supreme enlightenment. “ All the Paramitas are his friends of righteousness; the four acceptances are his singing maidens who sing in concert the song of the law. ‘ ‘ There are the gardens of the Dharmas; the trees of the law far above passion, the pure and excellent flowers of the mind of Bodhi, and the fruits of wisdom of emancipation. “ There in the bathing lake of the eightfold deliverance the water of meditation runs over, strewn with the flowers of the sevenfold purity. * Those who bathe [in that water] are men free from the filth of passion.

The Lord Buddha replied to Subhuti, saying: “Truly a most excellent theme! As you affirmed, I preserve in the faith, and instruct in the Law, this...