The Tathagata Buddha then gave the two of them a decree, saying, "I order you two to follow the Great Sun Tathagata to India and assist him in establishing the Indian Buddhist kingdom."
"We obey the command of the Dharma." Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and Bhaisajyaguru Bodhisattva bowed and accepted the command.
"Go." The Buddha Tathagata pointed his finger slightly and said slowly.
Vairocana Tathagata, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and Bhaisajyaguru Bodhisattva immediately performed eleven bows together, then the lotus platform under their feet slowly rose up and flew out of Lingshan in a dazzling Buddha light.
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After receiving the Buddha's order, Shariputra immediately led the twenty gods to the sky above Jambudvīpa.
In Buddhism, "heaven" has three meanings: heaven, heavenly king, and heavenly being.
In Buddhism, heaven is the most wonderful, kindest, and happiest place for sentient beings. Only those who practice the ten good deeds can be reborn in heaven.
However, although "heaven" is in the highest and most superior position among all sentient beings and can obtain all kinds of enjoyment, it has not yet escaped from the cycle of reincarnation. Once the previous karma is exhausted, it will fall into the cycle of reincarnation again.
At the same time, the Buddha established the "Twenty Heavenly Gods", which are similar to the Zhoutian Emperor in the Heavenly Court, and are in charge of the operation of all things in the Three Realms.
The so-called "Twenty Devas" are: Brahma, Indra, Vaisravana, Dhritarashtra, Virūdhaka, Virūpākṣa, Mahāsravaka, Sanzhimajiang, Mahamudra, Mahamudra, Skanda, Kṣaṭaka, Bodhi Tree, etc.
God, Ksitigarbha, Marichi, the King of the Sun Palace, the King of the Moon Palace, the Dragon King of Sāgara, and the King Yama.
These twenty gods are equivalent to the Four Great Emperors of Heaven, the Five Great Emperors of Mountains, the Great Emperor of Fengdu, the Five Great Emperors of Ghosts, etc. in Buddhism.
Their magical powers and authority are the same as above. If they are Buddhist disciples, their souls will be reincarnated in these twenty heavens after death.
In other words, Buddhism has the right to reincarnate its disciples. Although they also have to go through the six realms of reincarnation, Buddhist disciples are guided by Buddhist teachings when they reincarnate, which is completely different from the reincarnation of Taoism, immortals, and mortals.
However, Buddhism can only guide those disciples who are devout believers in Buddhism and have entered the path of Buddhism in this life. They cannot guide other souls.
Therefore, when the stars in the sky stopped protecting the Buddhist disciples for a thousand years, the Buddha ordered Sariputra to lead twenty gods to come to Jambudvīpa. Naturally, he wanted to use his great magic power to temporarily imitate the movement of the stars in the sky to guide the evacuation of the Buddhist disciples of the Tang Dynasty.
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