The Great Congregation

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sakyans, near Kapilavatthu in the Great Wood, together with a large Saṅgha of around five hundred mendicants, all of whom were perfected ones. And most of the deities from ten solar systems had gathered to see the Buddha and the Saṅgha of mendicants.

Then four deities of the Pure Abodes, aware of what was happening, thought: “Why don’t we go to the Buddha and each recite a verse in his presence?”

Then, as easily as a strong person would extend or contract their arm, they vanished from the Pure Abodes and reappeared in front of the Buddha. They bowed to the Buddha and stood to one side. Standing to one side, one deity recited this verse in the Buddha’s presence:

“There’s a great congregation in the woods,
a host of gods have assembled.
We’ve come to this righteous congregation
to see the invincible Saṅgha!”

Then another deity recited this verse in the Buddha’s presence:

“The mendicants there are immersed in samādhi,
they’ve straightened out their own minds.
Like a charioteer who has taken the reins,
the astute ones protect their senses.”

Then another deity recited this verse in the Buddha’s presence:

“Having cut the stake and cut the bar,
they’re unstirred, with boundary pillar uprooted.
They live pure and immaculate,
the young dragons tamed by the seer.”

Then another deity recited this verse in the Buddha’s presence:

“Anyone who has gone to the Buddha for refuge
won’t go to a plane of loss.
After giving up this human body,
they swell the hosts of gods.”

1. The Gathering of Deities
Then the Buddha said to the mendicants:

“Mendicants, most of the deities from ten solar systems have gathered to see the Realized One and the mendicant Saṅgha. The Buddhas of the past had, and the Buddhas of the future will have, gatherings of deities that are at most like the gathering for me now. I shall declare the names of the heavenly hosts; I shall extol the names of the heavenly hosts; I shall teach the names of the heavenly hosts. Listen and pay close attention, I will speak.”

“Yes, sir,” they replied.

The Buddha said this:

“I shall invoke a paean of praise!
Where the earth-gods dwell,
there, in mountain caves,
resolute and composed,

dwell many like lonely lions,
who have mastered their fears.
Their minds are bright and pure,
clear and undisturbed.”

The teacher knew that over five hundred
were in the wood at Kapilavatthu.
Therefore he addressed
the disciples who love the teaching:

“The heavenly hosts have come forth;
mendicants, you should be aware of them.”
Those monks became keen,
hearing the Buddha’s instruction.

Knowledge manifested in them,
seeing those non-human beings.
Some saw a hundred,
a thousand, even seventy thousand,

while some saw a hundred thousand
non-human beings.
But some saw an endless number
spread out in every direction.

And all that was known
and distinguished by the Seer.
Therefore he addressed
the disciples who love the teaching:

“The heavenly hosts have come forth;
mendicants, you should be aware of them.
I shall extol them for you,
with lyrics in proper order.

There are seven thousand spirits,
earth-gods of Kapilavatthu.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

From the Himalayas there are six thousand
spirits of different colors.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

From Mount Sātā there are three thousand
spirits of different colors.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

And thus there are sixteen thousand
spirits of different colors.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

From Vessamittā there are five hundred
spirits of different colors.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

And there’s Kumbhīra of Rājagaha,
whose home is on Mount Vepulla.
Attended by more than
a hundred thousand spirits,
Kumbhīra of Rājagaha
also came to the meeting in the wood.

King Dhataraṭṭha rules
the eastern quarter.
Lord of the fairies,
he’s a great king, glorious.

And he has many mighty sons
all of them named Indra.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

King Virūḷha rules
the southern quarter.
Lord of the goblins,
he’s a great king, glorious.

And he has many mighty sons
all of them named Indra.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

King Virūpakkha rules
the western quarter.
Lord of the dragons,
he’s a great king, glorious.

And he has many mighty sons
all of them named Indra.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

King Kuvera rules
the northern quarter.
Lord of spirits,
he’s a great king, glorious.

And he has many mighty sons
all of them named Indra.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

Dhataraṭṭha in the east,
Virūḷhaka to the south,
Virūpakkha to the west,
and Kuvera in the north.

These Four Great Kings,
all around in the four quarters,
stood there dazzling
in the wood at Kapilavatthu.

Their deceitful bondservants came,
so treacherous and crafty—
the deceivers Kuṭeṇḍu, Viṭeṇḍu,
with Viṭucca and Viṭuḍa.

And Candana and Kāmaseṭṭha,
Kinnughaṇḍu and Nighaṇḍu,
Panāda and Opamañña,
and Mātali, the god’s charioteer.

Cittasena the fairy came too,
and the kings Nala and Janesabha,
as well as Pañcasikha,
Timbaru, and Suriyavacchasā.

These and other kings there were,
the fairies with their kings.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

Then came dragons from Nābhasa,
and Vesālī, with the Tacchakas.
The Kambalas and Assataras came
from Pāyāga with their kin.

From Yamunā the Dhataraṭṭha
dragons came, so glorious.
And Erāvaṇa the great dragon
also came to the meeting in the wood.

Those who seize the dragon kings by force—
divine, twice-born birds with piercing vision—
swoop down to the wood from the sky;
their name is ‘Rainbow Phoenix’.

But the dragon kings remained fearless,
for the Buddha kept them safe from the phoenixes.
Introducing each other with gentle words,
the dragons and phoenixes took the Buddha as their refuge.

Defeated by Vajirahattha,
the demons live in the ocean.
They’re brothers of Vāsava,
powerful and glorious.

There’s the terrifying Kālakañjas,
the Dānaveghasa demons,
Vepacitti and Sucitti,
Pahārāda with Namuci,

and a hundred of Bali’s sons,
all named after Veroca.
Bali’s army armed themselves
and went up to the auspicious Rāhu, saying:
‘Now is the time, sir,
for the meeting of mendicants in the wood.’

The gods of Water and Earth,
and Fire and Wind came there.
The Varuṇa and Vāruṇa gods,
and Soma together with Yasa.

A host of the gods of Love
and Compassion came, so glorious.
These ten hosts of gods
shone in all different colors.

They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

The Veṇhu and Sahali gods,
and Asama, and the twin Yamas came.
The gods living on the moon came,
with the Moon before them.

The gods living on the sun came,
with the Sun before them.
And with the stars before them
came the silly gods of clouds.

And Sakka came, the stronghold-giver,
known as Vāsava, the first of the Vasus.
These ten hosts of gods
shone in all different colors.

They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

Then came the Sahabhū gods,
blazing like a crested flame;
and the Ariṭṭhakas and Rojas too,
and the gods hued blue as flax.

The Varuṇas and Sahadhammas,
the Accutas and Anejakas,
the Sūleyyas and Ruciras all came,
as did the Vāsavanesi gods.
These ten hosts of gods
shone in all different colors.

They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

The Samānas, Mahāsamānas,
Mānusas, and Mānusuttamas all came,
and the gods depraved by play,
and those who are malevolent.

Then came the Hari gods,
and the Lohitavāsīs.
The Pāragas and Mahāpāragas came,
such glorious gods.
These ten hosts of gods
shone in all different colors.

They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

The Sukkas, Karumhas, and Aruṇas
came along with the Veghanasas.
And the Odātagayhas came as chiefs
of the Vicakkhaṇa gods.

The Sadāmattas and Hāragajas,
and the glorious Missakas;
Pajjuna came thundering,
he who rains on all quarters.

These ten hosts of gods
shone in all different colors.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

The Khemiyas, Tusitas, Yāmas,
and the glorious Kaṭṭhakas came;
The Lambītakas, Lāmaseṭṭhas,
those called the Jotis and Āsavas.
The Gods Who Love to Create came too,
and those who delight in the Creations of Others.

These ten hosts of gods
shone in all different colors.
They’re powerful and brilliant,
so beautiful and glorious.
Rejoicing, they’ve come forth
to the meeting of mendicants in the wood.

These sixty hosts of gods
shone in all different colors.
They came in order of their names,
these and others likewise, thinking:

‘We shall see those rid of rebirth, kind,
the undefiled ones who have crossed the flood,
and the dragon who brought them across,
who like the Moon has overcome darkness.’

Subrahmā and Paramatta came,
with sons of those powerful ones.
Sanaṅkumāra and Tissa
also came to the meeting in the wood.

Of a thousand Brahmā realms,
the Great Brahmā stands forth.
He has arisen, resplendent,
his formidable body so glorious.

The ten Issarās came there,
each one of them wielding power,
and in the middle of them came
Hārita with his following.”

When they had all come forth—
the gods with their Lord, and the Brahmās—
Māra’s army came forth too:
see the stupidity of the Dark Lord!

“Come, seize them and bind them,” he said,
“let them be bound by desire!
Surround them on all sides,
don’t let any escape!”

And so there the great general
sent forth his dark army.
He struck the ground with his fist
to make a horrifying sound

like a storm cloud shedding rain,
thundering and flashing.
But then he retreated,
furious, out of control.

And all that was known
and distinguished by the Seer.
Therefore he addressed
the disciples who love the teaching:

“Māra’s army has arrived;
mendicants, you should be aware of them.”
Those monks became keen,
hearing the Buddha’s instruction.
The army fled from those free of passion,
and not a single hair was stirred!

“All are triumphant in battle,
so fearless and glorious.
They rejoice with all the spirits,
the disciples well-known among men.”