“At that time there was a Bodhisattva called Virtue-Store. Sun-Moon-Light Buddha assured him of his future Buddhahood. The Buddha said to the bhikṣus, ‘This Virtue-Store Bodhisattva will become a Buddha immediately after me. He will be called Pure-Body, the Tathagata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha.’

“Having assured him of his future Buddhahood, the Buddha then entered into the Nirvāṇa-without-remainder at midnight. “

[Consequently] they sought for the Dharma earnestly with the utmost effort. The motive for [the Buddha’s] gift to Womb of Excellence (Śrīgarbha) of the prophecy that he would later become a Buddha is to attract those with [excessive] self-esteem. If they hear suddenly that the Buddha is about to [enter] nirvāṇa, which means that there will be no Sage [to guide them] from then on, they will then immediately stop their journey in the middle of the path they have trodden. Another reason [the Buddha] conferred the prophecy of his future Buddhahood on Womb of Excellence is because people of the world, seeking after fame and profit, tend to be very fond of holding on to what is near while rejecting that which is far off, and he wanted to admonish them from such proclivities.