DESCRIPTION

In this chapter, the Buddha tells the story of the ‘bodhisattva bhikṣu’ Sadāparibhūta (’never disparaging’). This bhikṣu, whenever he saw any bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas or upāsikās, would bow to them in reverence and praise them, saying, ‘I deeply respect you all and dare not belittle you. Why? Because you are all practicing the bodhisattva path and will attain Buddhahood.’

The arrogant reviled and insulted him, but the bodhisattva never disparaged them.

The buddha reveals that he was Sadāparibhūta in a past life, and that the arrogant disparagers were the five hundred bodhisattvas headed by Bhadrapāla, the five hundred bhikṣus headed by Siṃhacandra, and the five hundred upāsakas headed by Nityodukta.