“‘Upon hearing this, Prabhacaksuh immediately sold off Her treasured possessions and [used the money to] have Pure-Lotus-Eyes Buddha’s image painted. Then, She made offerings and paid great homage [with most sincere respect] to the painting. All the while, she was often in tears [being concerned over the fate of Her mother]. One night not long afterward, that Buddha manifested His glowing golden body and appeared in Her dream. He was as tall as Mount Sumeru and radiated great Light. He told Prabhacaksuh, “Not long from now, Your mother will be reborn into Your household. After experiencing the suffering of hunger and cold, the infant will be able to speak.”
Days later, a servant woman of Prabhacaksuh’s household gave birth to a son. Two days after his birth, he was able to speak. [Upon seeing Prabhacaksuh], he was in tears. He bowed and said to Prabhacaksuh with great sorrow, “The karmic fruitions of one’s [malicious] deeds in life are endured by him/herself alone. I was your mother. Since our separation, I had fallen into the hell realm and was there for a long time. Now, by the power of your merits, I have been granted this rebirth to be a servant. Yet, my life will be short lasting only thirteen years. Then, I will fall back into the realms of suffering. Do you have some methods of deliverance, so I might escape this fate?”
Upon hearing these words, Prabhacaksuh knew this [infant] was Her mother. She was in such anguish that She was barely able to speak. [Choking back] Her tears, She said to the servant child, “Since you were my mother, do you know what were your sins? What were the malicious deeds that caused you to fall into the realms of suffering?”
The servant’s infant replied, “My negative karma arose from the killing [of those animals that I consumed], and slandering. If it were not for your virtuous deeds and merits [performed on my behalf], I would still be in hell and cannot [even temporarily] be liberated from the suffering.”
Prabhacaksuh then asked, “[O mother] how painful is the suffering in hell?” The infant said, “I cannot endure to retell the sufferings [for it pains my heart too much]. Even for a hundred or a thousand years, I cannot fully express the amount of suffering.”
Upon hearing this, [Prabhacaksuh could bear it no more]. She turned skyward and cried aloud, “I wish my mother is forever liberated from hell. After this 13 years of life, I wish my mother does not suffer any more punishment or fall into any of the three suffering realms. O’ Buddhas of the Ten Directions take pity on me. Listen to my solemn pledge taken on my mother’s behalf. If my mother can forever leave the three realms of suffering, not to be reborn into an impoverish family, and will never even take the form of a woman again, I vow this before the statue of Pure Lotus Eyes Tathagata. From this day forward to all of the trillions of kalpas in the future, I vow I shall liberate all beings in the three realms of sufferings in all of the trillions of worlds. I vow to liberate them all so that all of them leave the agonies of animal, hungry ghost and hell realm. I vow, not until all of them have become Buddhas themselves will I finally realize the Supreme Wisdom.”
Having taken this [solemn] vow, Prabhacaksuh heard Pure-Lotus-Eyes Tathagata say to Her, “Prabhacaksuh, you have great compassion. It is extremely virtuous of you to take such a great vow on your mother’s behalf. I contemplated your mother’s future and see that after reaching thirteen years of age, she will forsake this current form and be reborn as a Brahmacari (religious cultivator) with a life span of one hundred years. After the end of that life, your mother will then be reborn into the Asoka (No-Sorrow) Heaven, having a life-span of countless kalpas. Afterward, she will achieve Buddhahood and deliver as many human beings and devas as all the grains of sands in the Ganges River.”’
The Buddha, said to Samadhisvararaja, ‘The Arahat who delivered Prabhacaksuh [onto the path of Enlightenment] is now Aksayamati (Inexhaustible-Mind) Bodhisattva. Prabhacaksuh’s mother is now Moksa Bodhisattva, and Prabhacaksuh is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
Through countless kalpas of time, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva has demonstrated such profound compassion. He has made the same oath of rendering deliverance to all sentient beings as many times as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River.
In the future, there may be men or women who do not perform any virtuous deeds, who only commit malicious deeds, even do not believe in the laws of cause and effect, who lie and indulge in perverted lusts, who always use foul language and speak ill of people behind their backs, or who defame Mahayana practitioners. These people [who commit these various offenses] will certainly fall into hell. If they encounter a virtuous person who persuades them to seek refuge in the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in the time to snap one’s fingers, then these sinful beings will be liberated from the karmic retributions of their deeds and avoid the realms of suffering. If they would sincerely seek refuge pay homage, praise Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, make offerings of incense, fabrics, various jewels, food and other items, then in the future, they will be reborn into the Heavens for trillions of kalpas and enjoy great happiness. Even if they exhausted their blessings in Heaven and have to be reborn into the human realm, for hundreds of thousand of kalpas, they will often be reborn as kings and be able to remember the karmic cause and effect of their previous lives.
Samadhisvararaja, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva possesses such unimaginable Divine power to render extensive benefits to all sentient beings. You and the other Bodhisattvas must memorize this Sutra and help to spread it far and wide.’”
