XXVI.
‘What do you think then, O Subhûti, is the Tathâgata to be seen (known) by the possession of signs?’ Subhûti said: ‘Not indeed, O Bhagavat. So far as I know the meaning of the preaching of the Bhagavat, the Tathâgata is not to be seen (known) by the possession of signs.’ Bhagavat said: ‘Good, good, Subhûti, so it is, Subhûti; so it is, as you say; a Tathâgata is not to be seen (known) by the possession of signs. And why? Because, O Subhûti, if the Tathâgata were to be seen (known) by the possession of signs, a wheel-turning king also would be a Tathâgata[1]; therefore a Tathâgata is not to be seen (known) by the possession of signs.’ The venerable Subhûti spoke thus to the Bhagavat: ‘As I understand the meaning of the preaching of the Bhagavat, a Tathâgata is not to be seen (known) by the possession of signs.’ Then the Bhagavat at that moment preached these two Gâthâs:
They who saw me by form, and they who heard me by sound,
They engaged in false endeavours, will not see me.A Buddha is to be seen (known) from the Law; for the Lords (Buddhas) have the Law-body;
And the nature of the Law cannot be understood, nor can it be made to be understood.