This continues my Office Lens housecleaning and follows my quotes from The Vimalakīrti Sutra here and here.

Today’s quote comes from page 279 of Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression.

Another bodhisattva named Jagatīṃdhara tells of being approached by Māra, the evil tempter spirit, in disguise as Shakra, king of the Indian gods, and accompanied by twelve thousand heavenly maidens. Māra offers the maidens as servants to Jagatīṃdhara, who hastily refuses the offering as unfitting, since he is a monk bodhisattva, vowed to celibacy. Vimalakirti abruptly shows up and reveals to Jagatīṃdhara that this is not Shakra but Māra tempting him. Vimalakirti thereupon requests the maidens for himself from Māra, who is intimidated by the layman and his power. Vimalakirti takes and educates these daughters of gods, leading them to arouse the thought of universal enlightenment and develop bodhisattva qualities. When Māra later demands their return, Vimalakirti complies only after instructing the maidens on how to sustain their illumination and spread it, even after they return to Māra’s palace.