XIX
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Soothill, William Edward and Kumārajīva
All the Brahma heavens above,
From Light-Sound and Universal-Purity
To the Heaven of the Summit of Existence,—
The sounds of their conversation,
The Preacher here abiding,
Hears them in every detail.
All the hosts of bhikshus
And of bhikshunis
Reading or reciting the Sutra,
Or preaching it to others,
The Preacher here abiding
Hears them in every detail.
Also the Bodhisattvas
Who intone this Sutra-Law,
Or preach it unto others,
Collating and expounding its meaning,—
All such sounds as these,
He hears in every detail.”
The eight hundred powers of his organ of smell are so enhanced that, by means of his serene organ, the fragrance of the world is his. He can also discern everything by their odour—elephants, cattle, men, grasses, the gods in their heavens, even Brahma; “from afar he will smell all these and know where they abide.” Nevertheless, “though he smell these odours, yet his organ of smell will not be injured, nor will he make any error; and if he wishes to define and tell them to others, his meaning will not err.”
.....
“The gods, whether walking or seated,
Their rambles and magic powers,
He who keeps this Law-Flower
By smell can know them all.
. . . . .
Lions, tigers, wolves, elephants,
Bisons, buffaloes and their kind,
He by smell knows their place.
If there be a woman with child,
Who discerns not yet its sex,
Male, female, organless, or inhuman,
He by smell can discern it.
By his power of smell
He knows if the newly pregnant
Will succeed or not in being
Joyfully delivered of happy children.
By his perceptive power of smell
He knows the thoughts of men and women,
Their lusts, foolishness or anger,
And also the maintainers of goodness.