Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism

Mahāyānasūtras – 88
in the midst of our text there is the recurring mention of the
preaching and the exposition of the book by the Buddha and its
propagation by the preceptors. Thus in Chapter XI, Śākyamuni
causes to appear in the air a stūpa and from inside the stūpa is heard
a voice of a Buddha dead for myriads of ages; “Excellent, excellent,
exalted Śākyamuni, thou hast well uttered this sermon of the Lotus
of the good Religion; yea, it is so, it is so, exalted, blessed Lord.”
Time and again the merit of the preacher of the Lotus and the
faithful listeners of this exhortation is praised. It is cited in Chapter
XXII.
In praise of the Sūtra
The sermon of the Lotus is like fire for those who are benumbed,
like clothing to the naked, like a leader to the caravan, a mother to
children, a boat to those who would cross the river, a taper for the
dispelling of darkness. He who writes down this book or causes it to
be [71] written acquires endless merit. The female creature that
hears it has lived for the last time as a female. He who listens to the
sermon of the Lotus and declares his agreement with it shall always
have a sweet breath as if issuing from a lotus and from his body will
flow the fragrance of sandal.
Persistence of Purāṇic influence
All this immoderation of language and especially the laudation of
the text in the text itself are as peculiar to the Mahāyāna sūtras as to
the Purāṇas. The Amitayurdhyāna Sūtra lays down: “When a person
has committed much evil, but has not spoken ill of the great
Vaipulya Sūtras, and if he be a very stupid man, who neither feels