65O MANICHAEAN LITERATURE
You carried them across the sea of suffering
to the good nirvana.
For those tied to the root of attachment to the world,
you revealed the road to the realm of the Buddhas,^9
you raised a Sumeru mountain^10 of virtue,
you let them find endless happiness.
For those plunged in the water of pride,
you showed the bridge of the true law.
You took understanding of the good law into their hearts.
You entrusted them to the holy assembly.
For those confused by the six organs of perception^11
you showed the rising and falling states of being.
You revealed what is the suffering of those in the Avici,
the deepest Buddhist hell.
You let them be reborn in the blessed fivefold heaven^12 of light.
Look for the ways of salvation,
you crossed lands going to every side.
When you found humans needing salvation,
you rescued all.YOU PREACHED THE JEWEL OF THE GOSPEL
To those like us who were lazy,
you preached details of the jewel of the gospel book.^13
We come on the ways of freedom and salvation
when we know them in the book.
If you hadn't preached the pure law so fully,
wouldn't the world and its thinking beings
have come to an end by now?
After the four Buddhas^14 you went down- Again, the realm of light of the previous prophets.
- The Sumeru mountain is the central mountain of the universe in the Buddhist and Hindu
cosmology. - The six organs of perception (sadayatana) in Buddhism are the five sense organs and
manas, the mind. - The realm of light.
- Probably Mani's Living Gospel.
- The four Buddhas are probably Seth, Zoroaster, Buddha, and Jesus. "Four" is not in the
original text.