Vajrakkhedika (Diamond Cutter) · 12 of 19 · tr. E.B. Cowell, F. Max Müller, and J. Kakakusu
Section 1l
All these beings, O Subhûti, will equally remember the Bodhi (the highest Buddha-knowledge), will recite it, and understand it.
And why?
Because it is not possible, O Subhûti, that this treatise of the Law should be heard by beings of little faith, by those who believe in self, in beings, in living beings, and in persons.
It is impossible that this treatise of the Law should be heard by beings who have not acquired the knowledge of Bodhisattvas, or that it should be learned, remembered, recited, and understood by them.
The thing is impossible.
'And again, O Subhûti, that part of the world in which this Sûtra will be propounded, will have to be honoured by the whole world of gods, men, and evil spirits, will have to be worshipped, and will become like a K aitya (a holy sepulchre).' (15) XVI.
And, O Subhûti, sons or daughters of a good family who will learn these very Sûtras, who will remember them.
recite them, understand them, thoroughly take them to heart, and fully explain them to others, they will be overcome, they will be greatly overcome.
And why?
Because, O Subhûti, whatever evil deeds these beings have done in a former birth, deeds that must lead to suffering, those deeds these beings, owing to their being overcome, after they have seen the Law, will destroy, and they will obtain the knowledge of Buddha.
'I remember, O Subhûti, in the past, before innumerable and more than innumerable kalpas, there were eighty-four hundred thousands of niyutas of ko t îs of Buddhas following after the venerable and fully enlightened Tathâgata Dîpankara, who were pleased by me, and after being pleased were not displeased.
And if, O Subhûti, these blessed Buddhas were pleased by me, and after being pleased were not displeased, and if on the other hand people at the last time, at the last moment, in the last 500 years, during the time of the decay of the good Law, will learn these very Sûtras, remember them, recite them, understand them, and fully explain them to others, then, O Subhûti, in comparison with their stock of merit that former stock of merit will not come to one hundredth part, nay, not to one thousandth part, not to a hundred thousandth part, not to a ten millionth part, not to a hundred millionth part, not to a hundred thousand ten millionth part, not to a hundred thousands of niyutas ten millionth part.
It will not bear number, nor fraction, nor counting, nor comparison, nor approach, nor analogy.
'And if, O Subhûti, I were to tell you the stock of [1.
Paribhûta is explained by despised, but the sense, or even the non-sense, is difficult to understand.] merit of those sons or daughters of good families, and how large a stock of merit those sons or daughters of good families will produce, and hold fast at that time, people would become distracted and their thoughts would become bewildered.
And again, O Subhûti, as this treatise of the Law preached by the Tathâgata is incomprehensible and incomparable, its rewards also must be expected (to be) incomprehensible.' (16) XVII.
The cosmic law that manifests as each being's own duty — right order known not as abstract truth but as the specific obligation of one's nature and station (svadharma), so that maintaining the cosmos and performing one's proper work are one act; the Gita's 'one's own duty, though defective, is better than another's well performed.' Sits beside asha_cosmic_order and maat_cosmic_order as a right-order concept but is distinct in individuating the order into personal vocation; distinct from good_thought_word_deed (ethical triad) in binding duty to cosmic station.
The 'treatise of the Law' (Dharma) is the central object of the passage, and the 'decay of the good Law' frames the eschatological context in which the Sutra's practice is most meritorious.
A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).
The reference to the chain of Buddhas 'following after the venerable and fully enlightened Tathagata Dipankara' establishes a historical lineage of transmission across innumerable kalpas.
Sacred knowledge transmitted as living speech rather than fixed writing — scripture carried in memory, song, and telling, renewed in each generation; the unwritten canon of a tradition.
The repeated emphasis on 'remember, recite, understand, and fully explain to others' frames the Sutra's transmission as a living oral practice of memorization and recitation rather than mere written study.
The passage explicitly references 'evil deeds these beings have done in a former birth' and their karmic consequences, affirming transmigration across lives.
The Buddhist doctrine that all phenomena lack independent self-nature; emptiness as the positive recognition that things arise only in dependence on conditions — distinct from kenoma's mere deficiency.
[auto] The passage explicitly negates belief in self, beings, living beings, and persons, which is the core definition of emptiness (anatta) in Mahayana Buddhism.