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(18) He who is free from egotistic notion, whose mind is not tainted, — though he kills these creatures, he kills not, he is not bound.

(6) The Perfections, Charity, and the rest, are of an ascending order of excellence; he will not forsake a more excellent for another, save in respect of the dyke of virtue. Thus minded, he will be always active for the welfare of others; even a forbidden deed is permitted to him in his kindliness, if he foresees a good result. He will give of his alms to the fallen, the masterless, and the religious, and eat himself but a moderate portion; he will surrender everything but his three robes. He will not for slight purpose afflict his body, which is in the service of the Good Law; for thus it will speedily fulfil the desires of living beings. And therefore he will not cast away his life for one whose spirit of mercy is impure, but only for one whose spirit is like his own; and thus naught is lost....

(6) He never cherishes resentment or harbours a grudge against any one, though deserving of hatred for his conduct. For he worships the Maker, and loves him, who shares life, pitying and praying for him on account of his ignorance. He indeed partakes of the affections of the body, to which, susceptible as it is of suffering by nature, he is bound. But in sensation he is not the primary subject of it.

(33) “Again he abides not in the uncreated as he is endowed with a stock of merit; he abandons not the created as he is endowed with wisdom; he abides not in the uncreated as he possesses the great mercy and compassion; he abandons not the create as he fulfils the original vow; he abides not in the uncreated as he accumulates the medicine [of the law] ; he abandons not the created as he distributes the medicine [of the law] ; he abides not in the uncreated as he knows the maladies of beings; he abandons not the created as he extirpates the maladies of beings;

(5) In heedlessness, wrath, or lust for women and other things beyond their reach, men bring themselves into distress from thorns, lack of food, and the like. Some destroy themselves by hanging, springing down from a height, taking poison or unwholesome measure of food, or doing unrighteousness. Since under the sway of the passions they harm thus their own persons, which they love, how can they spare the bodies of others? Maddened by passions, striving for their own destruction, there can be only pity for them; how should we be angered? If it is the nature of fools to hurt their fellows, it is as wrong for me to feel anger against them as it is to be wroth with the fire which naturally burns me; and if again it is a passing frailty, and creatures are upright of nature, then it is as wrong to be angered against them as against the air when smoke fills it.

(12) He who hates no single being, who is friendly and compassionate to all, who is free from attachment and egoism, to whom pain and pleasure are equal, who is enduring, ever content and balanced in mind, self-controlled, and possessed of firm conviction, whose thought and reason are directed to Me, he who is (thus) devoted to Me is dear to Me.

(3) Eager to escape sorrow, men rush into sorrow; from desire of happiness they blindly slay their own happiness, enemies to themselves; they hunger for happiness and suffer manifold pains; whence shall come one so kind as he who can satisfy them with all manner of happiness, allay all their pains, and shatter their delusion — whence such a friend, and whence such a holy deed? He who repays good deed with good deed is praised; what shall be said of the Son of Enlightenment, who does kindness unsought? He who sets a banquet before a few is called a " doer of righteousness," and is honoured by the world, because in his pride he entertains men for half a day with a brief largesse of mere food; but what of him who bestows on a measureless number of creatures a satisfaction of all desires unbounded in time and perishing not when the world of heaven perishes? Such is the Master of the Banquet, the Son of the Conqueror; whosoever sins in his heart against him, saith the Lord, shall abide in hell as many ages as the moments of his sin. But he whose spirit is at peace with them shall thence get abundant fruit; and truly, wrong to the Sons of the Conqueror can be done only by great effort, but kindness towards them is easy. I do homage to the bodies of them in whom has arisen the choice jewel of the Thought, and even the ill-treatment of whom leads to happiness; in these mines of bliss I seek my refuge.

(20) Moreover, what perfect reparation can be made to these Kinsmen without guile, these doers of immeasurable kindness, save the service of creatures? They tear their own bodies, they go down into the hell Avichi, all for the welfare of others; then even to them who most sorely wrong us we must do all manner of good. How dare I shew pride, instead of a slave's humbleness, towards those masters for whose sake my Masters are heedless of their own lives? When they are happy, the Saints are rejoiced, and wroth when they are distressed; in their gladness is the gladness of all the Saints; when they are wronged, wrong is done to the Saints. As one whose body is entirely in flame finds no comfort in any things of desire, so when creatures are distressed these beings of mercy have no way to find pleasure. Forasmuch then as I have done hurt to all these most compassionate beings by doing hurt to living things, I confess now my sin; may the Saints pardon me for the wrong that I have done them! To win the grace of the Blessed Ones to-day I make myself utterly the slave of the world. Let the crowds of living beings set their feet upon my head, or smite me, and the Lord of the World be glad! Beyond all doubt these Merciful Ones have made the whole universe their own; truly it is our Lords who shew themselves in the form of creatures, and dare we despise them? It is this that moves the Blessed to grace, this that wins my true end, this that wipes away the misery of the world; then be this my vow!

(10) It is unmeet for me to hate them that destroy or revile images, sanctuaries, or the Good Law; for the Enlightened and their company thereby take no hurt. If men wrong thy dear ones, masters, brothers, and the rest, know as before that outer forces are working, and restrain thy wrath. Whether it be wrought by a thing with or without thought, suffering is assured to living beings; it is found in whatever has thought; then bear with it. Some in their blindness do wrong, others in their blindness are wroth with them; whom of these may we call blameless, or whom guilty? Why hast thou of old done so that thou art thus afflicted now by others?

(30) when these things are practised by a Bodhisattva, he is said not to have abandoned the created.

(5) Living beings are of diverse character; not even the Conquerors can content them, much less simple souls such as I. Then why think of the world? They blame a fellow-creature who gains naught, they scorn him who gains something; being thus by nature unpleasant companions, what happiness can come from them? The Blessed Ones have said that the fool is no man's friend; for the fool has no love save where his interest lies. The love that rests on interest is but selfish, even as grief at loss of wealth springs from loss of pleasure.

(2) Manjusri then asked : “ When a Bodhisattva regards [all beings thus], how can he practise mercy? ”

(4) Let me not despair that the Enlightenment will come to me; for the Blessed One, the speaker of truth, has revealed this truth, that they who by force of striving have gained hard-won supreme Enlightenment have been erstwhile gnats, gadflies, flies, and worms. Now I am a man by birth, able to know good and evil: why shall I not win the Enlightenment by following the rule of the All-knowing? If I am afraid when I think that I must give my hand or foot, it is because in my heedlessness I confound things of great and of small weight. I may be cleft, pierced, burnt, split open many and many a time for countless millions of aeons, and never win the Enlightenment. But this pain that wins me the Enlightenment is of brief term; it is like the pain of cutting out a buried arrow to heal its smart. All physicians restore health by painful courses; then to undo much suffering let us bear a little. But even this fitting course the Great Physician has not enjoined upon us; he heals them that are grievously sick by tender treatment. At first our Lord ordains gifts only of herbs and the like, and then in due course brings men at last to surrender even their own flesh. When there comes to man the spirit that looks upon his flesh as no more than herbs, what hardship is it for him to surrender his flesh and bone? He is not hurt, for he has cast off sin, nor sad, for knowledge is his; for distress comes in the mind from false imaginations, and in the body from sin. The body is made happy by righteous works, the spirit by knowledge; what can vex the compassionate one who remains in embodied life only for the welfare of others? Annulling his former sins, amassing oceans of righteousness, by the power of his Thought of Enlightenment he travels more swiftly than the Disciples. Having thus in the Thought of Enlightenment a chariot that removes all vexation and weariness, travelling from happiness to happiness, who that is wise will despair?

(28) Again, a Bodhisattva who is sick should cherish such thoughts as these. This sickness of mine is neither real nor existent and the sickness of all beings is also neither real nor existent. When he thinks thus, if he cherished a compassion born of passion, it should be abandoned. And why ? Exterminating all passions which are like external dusts a Bodhisattva should awake great compassion. So far as the compassion born of passion is concerned, there is in his mind abhorence of birth and death. If he is free from [passion] there is no more abhorence. And whatever birth he may undergo he is never affected by his passion. As his birth is free from bondage he is able to preach the law to all beings and make them free; as Buddha taught: it is untrue to say that one who is bound can make another free from his bondage. It is true to say that one who is not bound can free another from his bondage.

(10) By pondering in such wise upon the excellences of solitude a man stills vain imaginations and strengthens his Thought of Enlightenment. First he will diligently foster the thought that his fellow-creatures are the same as himself. " All have the same sorrows, the same joys as I, and I must guard them like myself. The body, manifold of parts in its division of members, must be preserved as a whole; and so likewise this manifold universe has its sorrow and its joy in common. Although my pain may bring no hurt to other bodies, nevertheless it is a pain to me, which I cannot bear because of the love of self; and though I cannot in myself feel the pain of another, it is a pain to him which he cannot bear because of the love of self. I must destroy the pain of another as though it were my own, because it is a pain; I must show kindness to others, for they are creatures as I am myself.... Then, as I would guard myself from evil repute, so I will frame a spirit of helpfulness and tenderness towards others."

(2) residing in Vaisali only for the sake of the necessary means for saving creatures, abundantly rich, ever careful of the poor, pure in self-discipline, obedient to all precepts, removing all anger by the practice of patience, removing all sloth by the practice of diligence, removing all distraction of mind by intent meditation, removing all ignorance by fullness of wisdom; though he is but a simple layman, yet observing the pure monastic discipline; though living at home, yet never desirous of anything; though possessing a wife and children, always exercising pure virtues; though surrounded by his family, holding aloof from worldly pleasures; though using the jewelled ornaments of the world, yet adorned with the spiritual splendour; though eating and drinking, yet enjoying the flavour of the rapture of meditation; though frequenting the gambling house, yet leading the gamblers into the right path ; though coming in contact with heresy, yet never letting his true faith be impaired; though having a profound knowledge of worldly learning, yet never finding pleasure in things of the spirit as taught by Buddha; revered by all as the first among those who were worthy of reverence ; governing both the old and young as a righteous judge ; though profiting by all the professions, yet far above being absorbed by them; benefiting all beings, going wheresoever he pleases, protecting all beings as a judge with righteousness; leading all with the doctrine of the Mahayana when in the seat of discussion; ever teaching the young and ignorant when entering the hall of learning; manifesting to all the error of passion when in the house of debauchery; persuading all to seek the higher things, when at the shop of the wine dealer; preaching the law, when among wealthy people as the most honourable of their kind; dissuading the rich householders from covetousness, when among them as the most honourable of their kind; teaching Kshatriyas patience when among them, as the most honourable of their kind ; removing arrogance when among Brahmans as the most honourable of their kind; teaching justice to the great ministers when among them as the most honourable of their kind; teaching loyalty and filial piety to the princes when among them as the most honourable of their kind; teaching honesty to the ladies of the court when among them as the most honourable of their kind ; persuading the masses to cherish the virtue of merits when among them as the most honourable of their kind; instruct the highest wisdom to the Brahman gods when among them as the most honourable of their kind; showing the transient nature of the world to the Sakra gods when among them as the most honourable of their kind; protecting all beings when among the guardians as the most honourable of their kind; — thus by such countless means Vimalakirti, the wealthy householder, rendered benefit to all beings.

(2) He does not think, nor speak, nor act for the welfare (nadûkîh) of the creatures of Aûharmazd; and his business is unmercifulness and the destruction of this welfare, so that the creatures which Aûharmazd shall increase he will destroy; and his eyesight (kashm mîkisn) does not refrain from doing the creatures harm.

(21) Whoever has given anything to that person whose opinion is this, and who says, that it is not necessary to have a snake-killer (mâr-van), then Aharman, with the foregoing demons, is propitiated by him; this is said of him who, when he sees a noxious creature, does not kill it.

(26) This sick Bodhisattva receives sense-impressions as if he did not. Not being endowed yet with the Buddha’s law he does not exterminate sensations to attain to the state of enlightenment. If he suffers he should cherish the great compassion comparing himself with those who are in the unhappy [states of] existence. [And he should dwell upon such a thought as this:] Having conquered myself I will cause all beings to conquer themselves. He ought only to remove his disease but not things themselves. In order to exterminate the origin of disease it should be taught [thus]: What is the origin of disease? It is bondage. Where there is bondage there is disease. By what is it bound? It is bound by the three states of existence. How is it exterminated? It is exterminated by [the thought of] nothing to obtain. Where there is nothing to obtain there is no bondage. What is [the meaning of] nothing to obtain? It is to be free from the two [opposing] heresies. They are [false ideas] of both things within and things without; they are nothing.

(17) He, like Mount Sumeru, unmoved by worldly fame or slander, shows mercy equally to the good and the wicked; his mind, like the sky, shows no partiality. Who reveres not this jewel among men ?