"It indeed, Sariputra, is a most difficult deed
of mine, that in the Saha World, having accom-
plished Proper, Equal, Right Enlightenment, I
reluctant to believe, in the kalpa turbidity,
have taught the Dharma which all the world is
the views turbidity, the afflictions turbidity,
the living beings turbidity, and the life-span
turbidity."

     Sakyamuni Buddha now confirms what the
Buddhas of the six directions have said concern-
ing him, telling his disciple Sariputra Ibn "it"
api "indeed" ("is" is understood;  api is a
particle attached to the word that comes before
it) parama "(a) most " duskaram  "difficult deed"
(discussed in detail in VBS #166) mama "of mine"
The Buddha goes on to specify what that deed is
with the word yan "that" (relative pronoun whose
antecedent is tan) followed by almost the same
sentence that appeared previously as what the
Buddhas of the six directions said.  The only
difference is that the Buddha now says maya "by
me," instrumental singular masculine of the
personal pronoun first person singular, and
expressing the agent of the passive construction.
(See previous lesson in VBS #167 for details).

     The five turbidities (panca-kasayah) were
mentioned but not explained in the previous text.
The word kasaya is a masculine noun which means
"sediment" and so "dirt, filth, or stain"--
hence "turbidity."  The first is the kalpa
"kalpa/aeon/time division" turbidity. The second
is the drsti "views" turbidity, (from root /drs-
"see").  The third is the klesa "afflictions"
turbidity.  The masculine noun klesa derives
from  the  root /klis- "trouble/torment/afflict."
The fourth is the sattva "(living) beings"
turbidity, and the sixth is the ayus "life-spans"
turbidity.  One often finds the phrase panca-
kasaya-kale "in the (evil) time of the five
turbidities," kala meaning "time," appearing
in the locative singular as kale "in the time."
Each turbidity in the text in this lesson is in
the locative singular, and so ends in -e, with
the exception of when kasaye comes before the
word ayus, which begins with a vowel.  In that
case,  external sandhi takes place, and final
-e becomes -a.

    Because it is very hard to accomplish
Buddhahood in a world like the Saha World with
its five unclarities that make it turbid, the
Buddha agrees that it is a very difficult deed
he has done.  And to speak the Dharma for the
beings in that world is an even more difficult
thing to do, for they find the Dharma most hard
to believe.

CORRECTION TO THE SANSKRIT LESSON IN VBS #l66:
Page 22,  paragraph two, line 5, through
paragraph three, line 5, should be moved to
right before the fourth line from the end of
paragraph three.