Toh 189 — The Prediction for Brahmaśrī

F.199.b Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Śrāvastī, in Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, together with a great assembly of monks. At that time, one morning the Blessed One put on his lower robe and his upper robe, took his begging bowl, and walked toward the city of Śrāvastī to collect alms. F.200.a

At that same time, on the outskirts of Śrāvastī, there was a group of children sitting and playing with houses of sand, surrounding walls of sand, and pavilions of sand. The group of children saw the Blessed One approaching from afar. As soon as they saw him, they were elated, delighted, and glad at heart, and they continued sitting there and playing.

Then, out of compassion for those children, the Blessed One went over to where they were sitting and playing. Among the children, there was one boy named Brahmaśrī, who bowed at the feet of the Blessed One and sat right down in front of him.

Even though he already knew what they would say, the Blessed One asked the children, “What are you doing, children?”

“Blessed One,” the children replied, “we are sitting here playing with these houses of sand, these surrounding walls of sand, and these pavilions of sand.”

The boy Brahmaśrī then said to the Blessed One, “Out of compassion for me, Blessed One, please accept this pavilion of sand.”

The Blessed One knew the lofty ambition and exuberance in the mind of the boy Brahmaśrī and accepted the pavilion of sand out of compassion for him.

Then, through the power of the Buddha, the pavilion of sand was instantaneously transformed into a pavilion made of the seven precious jewels, and it stood there right in front of the Blessed One. On its eastern side were 84,000 pillars of gold; on its southern side were 84,000 pillars of silver; on its western side were 84,000 pillars of beryl; and on its northern side were 84,000 pillars of crystal. F.200.b

When the boy Brahmaśrī saw this wondrous display of extraordinary power, he became even more elated. The most immense joy welled up inside him, and he addressed the Blessed One with these verses:

Then, at that moment, the Blessed One displayed a smile and various multicolored rays of light issued from the Blessed One’s mouth in such a way that blue, yellow, red, white, rose madder, crystalline, and silvery rays of light spread throughout endless, limitless world systems, reaching as far as the Brahmā realm, and then they returned, circled the Blessed One three times, and disappeared into the Blessed One’s uṣṇīṣa.

The venerable Ānanda then addressed the Blessed One with this verse:

When this had been said, the Blessed One answered the venerable Ānanda, “Ānanda, do you see this boy Brahmaśrī?”

“Yes, Blessed One, I see him,” he replied. F.201.a

“Ānanda,” said the Blessed One, “as a result of this root of virtue and this aspiration in his mind, this boy will not become a hell being for 3,200 eons, and then, once he has achieved awakening, he will be a tathāgata, a worthy one, a perfect and completely awakened buddha named The One Exalted above All the Worlds.”

The Blessed One then addressed the venerable Ānanda with these verses:

After the Blessed One had spoken these words, the venerable Ānanda and the boy Brahmaśrī were delighted and they rejoiced at what the Blessed One had said.