The Ten Bhūmis
Toh 44-31
Degé Kangyur vol. 36 (phal chen, kha), folios 166.a–283.a
- Yeshé Dé
- Jinamitra
- Surendrabodhi
Imprint
Translated by Peter Alan Roberts
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2021
Current version v 1.0.16 (2025)
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Table of Contents
Summary
After his attainment of buddhahood, the Buddha Śākyamuni is present in many locations simultaneously. The Ten Bhūmis takes place two weeks after his enlightenment, while he is sitting silently in meditation in the central palace in the highest paradise of the desire realm. Countless bodhisattvas have assembled there. Through the power of the Buddha, the bodhisattva Vajragarbha enters samādhi and is blessed by countless buddhas, also named Vajragarbha, to give a Dharma teaching to the bodhisattvas. In response to the questions of the bodhisattva Vimukticandra, Vajragarbha describes successively the ten bhūmis of a bodhisattva. Countless bodhisattvas arrive and report that this same event is occurring simultaneously in the highest paradises of all other worlds. The Buddha is pleased by Vajragarbha’s teaching.
Acknowledgements
Translated from the Tibetan, with reference to the Sanskrit, by Peter Alan Roberts. The Tibetan reviewer was Tulku Yeshi. Emily Bower was the project manager and editor.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Shakya Dewa and family, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
Introduction
A Multitude of Buddhas
The Ten Bhūmis is chapter 31 in the 45-chapter Tibetan version of A Multitude of Buddhas (Buddhāvataṃsaka).1 This is often referred to by its shortened Sanskrit title, Avataṃsaka, and has been translated from the Chinese by Thomas Cleary as The Flower Ornament Scripture. The Ten Bhūmis is one of the most important chapters in A Multitude of Buddhas because its presentation of the ten bhūmis has become the standard presentation in Mahāyāna Buddhism of a bodhisattva’s progress toward buddhahood.
During the course of A Multitude of Buddhas, we find that the Buddha Śākyamuni who lived in our world is just one of countless manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana. Śākyamuni is even referred to as the Buddha Vairocana. Moreover, Śākyamuni is simultaneously present in various locations in our universe—at the Bodhi tree, in the Trāyastriṃśa paradise of Śakra on the summit of Sumeru, in the Yāma and Tuṣita paradises high above Sumeru, and in the highest paradise in the realm of desire—the Paranirmitavaśavartin paradise. Not only is he said to be simultaneously present in all those locations in our world, but he also has similar simultaneous presences in countless other worlds. All these appearances of Śākyamuni, and the gathering of the vast assemblies whom they teach, are the result of prayers he made while he was the Buddha Vairocana. In fact, according to A Multitude of Buddhas, Vairocana is even the source of all buddhas everywhere, and all the bodhisattvas listening to their teachings were pupils of Vairocana in the past.
This depiction of Śākyamuni as an emanation of Vairocana has its precedent in a sūtra that was never translated into Tibetan: the Brahmajālasūtra, which introduces the Buddha Vairocana as the source of ten billion Śākyamunis simultaneously existing in various worlds.2 The Buddha Vairocana would also later become the central buddha in such tantric traditions as Shingon Buddhism of Japan, which is based particularly on the Vairocanābhisambodhi Tantra.3
Almost all the sūtras that make up A Multitude of Buddhas are set in the time when the Buddha Śākyamuni was still remaining silent following his enlightenment and had not yet taught. He is therefore a silent presence in all these different locations. As he does not speak, the teachings are given in his presence by such bodhisattvas as Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra. An exception to this is the final chapter, the well-known Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra, which takes place later in the Buddha’s life at the Jetavana Monastery in Śrāvastī. However, even in that sūtra the Buddha enters a state of meditation, and the teachings are given by others, primarily in South India, far from the physical location of Śākyamuni.
Overview of The Ten Bhūmis
The Ten Bhūmis states that the discourse is taking place during the second week after the Buddha’s enlightenment, and that the teachings occur in the palace of Vaśavartin, the lord of the deities in the Paranirmitavaśavartin paradise. The assembly is composed of the deities dwelling in that paradise, together with bodhisattvas from countless worlds. The teaching is given by the bodhisattva Vajragarbha in response to questions from the bodhisattva Vimukticandra, who is the only bodhisattva listed in the introduction whose name does not end in garbha.
Vajragarbha appears among the lists of bodhisattvas present in other Kangyur texts and is the interlocutor in such sūtras as the Ghanavyūha4 and the Daśacakrakṣitigarbhasūtra.5 In particular, he is the Buddha’s interlocutor in the Hevajra Tantra.6
The ten bhūmis are one of the groups of ten that are a frequent motif in A Multitude of Buddhas. For example, these teachings are said to occur within the Buddha Vairocana’s realm of activity, which is composed of ten vast universes. Several of its individual sūtras also present a set of ten qualities as their principal subjects: for example, the titles of chapters 15, 26, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, and 40 are respectively ten vihāras (“abodes”), ten practices, ten treasures, ten bhūmis, ten samādhis, ten clairvoyances, ten kinds of patience, and ten kāyas (“bodies”) of the Buddha. Within The Ten Bhūmis itself, each of the ten bhūmis is described through successive lists of ten qualities. The Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, the earliest of which were compiled earlier than The Ten Bhūmis, teach just six perfections of generosity, correct conduct, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom. The Ten Bhūmis, however, in accord with A Multitude of Buddhas’ emphasis on groups of ten, and in correlation with the ten bhūmis, contains the first appearance in Mahāyāna texts of the ten perfections, adding the four perfections of skillful method, prayer, strength, and knowledge.
The Doctrine of the Ten Bhūmis
The word bhūmi can mean “ground,” “level,” “stage,” and so on, but as the term ten bhūmis has become familiar to a Buddhist readership, the Sanskrit term has been retained rather than privileging one of the English translations.
The sūtras of the pre-Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions had already described distinct stages of spiritual development, primarily those of stream entrant, once-returner, non-returner, and arhat. A stream entrant will attain nirvāṇa within seven (or fourteen) lifetimes. A once-returner will only be reborn in the desire realm once more. A non-returner will be reborn in the Śuddhāvāsa paradises in the form realm and attain nirvāṇa there. Finally, the arhat will enter nirvāṇa upon death. Moreover, there are the progressive stages of the four dhyānas, which, although often referred to, are not considered to lead on their own to liberation from saṃsāra. Additionally, there are the five paths of accumulation, juncture, insight, meditation, and the stage of no-more-training, which, as we will see below, were adapted by the Mahāyāna tradition.
The Perfection of Wisdom sūtras presented two alternative descriptions of the stages of spiritual development: seven bhūmis and thirteen vihāras, which are correlated in subsequent commentarial works including the Bodhisattvabhūmi.7 A Multitude of Buddhas, however, teaches ten bhūmis as in the chapter translated here, and ten vihāras in the twentieth chapter, The Ten Abodes of Bodhisattvas.8
The Mahāyāna commentarial tradition adapted and developed the earlier teaching of the five paths mentioned above, and these became as widely established as the teaching of the ten bhūmis. The five paths have been correlated with the ten bhūmis: the first two precede the first bhūmi, and the third is equivalent to the first bhūmi, the fourth to the other nine bhūmis, and the fifth to buddhahood.
Influence of The Ten Bhūmis
There are other sūtras that specifically list these ten bhūmis, indicating the direct influence of The Ten Bhūmis, such as the Samādhirājasūtra,9 Saṃdhinirmocana,10 Ratnamegha,11 Ghanavyūha, and Dharmasaṃgītisūtra.12 Perhaps the earliest commentarial witness to the influence of The Ten Bhūmis is the Ratnāvalī of Nāgārjuna.13 Other early Mahāyāna sūtras and commentaries show no such influence from The Ten Bhūmis. The Laṅkāvatārasūtra,14 for example, only mentions seven bhūmis. Similarly, in the commentarial tradition, one finds that in the Bodhisattvabhūmi, which is the fifteenth section of the Yogācārabhūmi, only the seven bhūmis and the thirteen vihāras are taught. The authorship of the Yogācārabhūmi is attributed in China to Maitreyanātha and in Tibet to his successor, Asaṅga. However, it is probably a compilation from various authors. In contrast, in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra,15 which is also attributed to Maitreyanātha, the ten bhūmis are specifically presented.
The principal commentary to The Ten Bhūmis was written in the fourth century by Asaṅga’s successor and half-brother, Vasubandhu.16 That commentary was itself the subject of a commentary by Sūryasiddha,17 who claims that the meaning of the sūtra was revealed solely to Asaṅga, who subsequently transmitted it only to Vasubandhu. These texts do not concern themselves with the introductory section of the sūtra, but a commentary on the introduction was written in the eighth century by Śākyabodhi.18
The Translation of The Ten Bhūmis into Chinese and Tibetan
The Ten Bhūmis first existed as an independent sūtra. Dharmarakṣa from Dunhuang translated this and other sūtras that are chapters in A Multitude of Buddhas into Chinese in the third century ᴄᴇ. The first commentary on it in Chinese had already been composed by 394 ᴄᴇ. In India, Vasubandhu composed his commentary on the sūtra in its independent form, and the sūtra still exists as an independent sūtra in Sanskrit manuscripts.
In the early fifth century, The Ten Bhūmis was translated a second time into Chinese under the direction of the Indian Buddhabhadra (359–429 ᴄᴇ), but this time as a chapter in A Multitude of Buddhas, which in that version was composed of thirty-four sūtras. The translation was completed in 420 ᴄᴇ from a manuscript that had been brought in 392 by Chi Faling from the Buddhist kingdom of Yengchen in Xinjiang, where the sūtra was considered one of the kingdom’s treasures.
According to Chinese legend, A Multitude of Buddhas was preserved in three versions by a nāga king in his realm. The longest had verses as numerous as the atoms in thirteen universes. The middle length version had 1,200 chapters with 498,800 verses, and the shortest form had 48 chapters and 100,000 verses. Nāgārjuna then went to the nāga realm and brought back the shortest version to the human world. However, there is no version of the sūtra in 100,000 verses and 48 chapters.
Paramārtha (499–569) was an Indian monk who came to China in the sixth century and translated Buddhist texts into Chinese. In his writings he states that A Multitude of Buddhas was also called the Bodhisattvapiṭaka. Copies of this sūtra in the Dunhuang caves do indeed bear the title Bodhisattvapiṭaka Buddhāvataṃsaka.
Queen Wu (690–704) of the Tang dynasty, on hearing that there was a version of A Multitude of Buddhas in Khotan that was longer than that of the previous Chinese translations, sponsored its translation under the direction of the Khotanese Śikṣānanda (652–710). It was completed in 699, with the queen supplying a preface and titles. This version was composed of thirty-nine sūtras with The Ten Bhūmis as its twenty-sixth sūtra or chapter. It was this seventh-century version of A Multitude of Buddhas that became the basis for the Huayan School of Chinese Buddhism, huayan being the Chinese translation of avataṃsaka as “flower garland.” In the ninth century, Śīladharma made a new translation in China of The Ten Bhūmis.
A Multitude of Buddhas was translated into Tibetan in the early ninth century. The Tibetan version, even longer than the Chinese, is composed of forty-five sūtras with The Ten Bhūmis as its thirty-first sūtra, or chapter.
In the Chinese version of A Multitude of Buddhas, The Ten Bhūmis retains the traditional beginning of a sūtra: “Thus did I hear…” and so on. However, the version translated into Tibetan was further adapted into being a chapter in a longer work by omitting the traditional opening and by transferring a part of its introduction to its conclusion. Therefore, the Tibetan version of this sūtra begins abruptly.
The Sanskrit Versions
The Sanskrit text referred to for this translation is based on Johannes Rahder’s 1926 edition of the prose passages, which was itself based on two manuscripts from the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris, two manuscripts from Cambridge University Library, one manuscript from the Royal Asiatic Society in London, one manuscript from the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta, and one manuscript from the Royal Library in Nepal. For the verses, the Sanskrit referred to is a 1931 edition, which is an amalgamation of Rahder’s work with Shinryu Susa’s edition based on one manuscript from the Imperial University Library in Kyoto and another from the Imperial University Library in Tokyo.
The Sanskrit version of The Ten Bhūmis is written with numerous nonclassical Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit (BHS) features and vocabulary. In particular, the verses are written in a form of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit that has stronger Prakrit features. They favor the -u ending for the nominative case, where it would be -a in Sanskrit, -e in the ancient northeastern dialect, and -o in that of the northwest (and its continuation in Pali). It is sometimes the case that the verses of a sūtra are older than the prose sections that accompany them. In Sūryasiddha’s commentary, he even mentions the view of some scholars that the verses had been corrupted in form and meaning.20 The difference between the Sanskrit used in the verses and prose sections is not evident in either the Tibetan or this English translation.
The Translation into Tibetan
The Ten Bhūmis is the thirty-first chapter in the Tibetan version of A Multitude of Buddhas and is located in the second of the four Kangyur Multitude of Buddhas volumes. It comprises fascicles 13–21 of the original 115 bundles that constitute the entire sūtra in the Sanskrit manuscript. A Multitude of Buddhas was translated into Tibetan by Yeshé Dé, Jinamitra, and Surendrabodhi during the reign of King Ralpachen (r. 815–36). The former two translators had been working at Samyé Monastery since the reign of King Trisong Detsen (r. 742–98), but Surendrabodhi came to Tibet only after King Ralpachen came to the throne. Therefore, this translation was made sometime between 815 and 836.
In addition to the translation of the sūtra in the Kangyur, most of the sūtra, but not its verses or introduction, appears in Vasubandhu’s Commentary on the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis, in which each passage is followed by an explanation. Vasubandhu’s commentary was presumably translated into Tibetan at some time following the translation of the sūtra. The translators of the commentary were Yeshé Dé, Kawa Paltsek, Prajñāvarman, and Mañjuśrīgarbha. Even though Yeshé Dé was involved in translating both the sūtra and the commentary, the translation in the commentary is of a better quality than that in the Kangyur, which does not appear to have been revised in the light of the translation of the commentary. There are some passages in the translation of the commentary that repeat the Kangyur version word for word, but the majority of the translation differs and is more accurate. The witness of the Sanskrit manuscripts, together with the contents of the Chinese translation, verify that the version in the translation of the commentary is more accurate and preserves certain phrases, or sometimes even entire sentences, that are missing in the Kangyur version, either as a result of omissions in a Sanskrit manuscript that was used as a source or through errors made during the centuries when the translation was preserved only in handwritten copies. This translation into English has been made by generally favoring the version translated within the commentary, with any dissimilarities from the Kangyur version annotated.
Accompanying Yeshé Dé as translator of the commentary was Kawa Paltsek. He had been among the first group to take monastic ordination in the 770s when he was a young man, but he was still active during Ralpachen’s reign and worked with Dānaśīla, who came to Tibet after 815. Another co-translator of the commentary was Prajñāvarman. He was a Bengali who had come to Tibet during Trisong Detsen’s reign and was a prolific translator of Sanskrit texts into Tibetan. He also authored Sanskrit works that were translated into Tibetan and are contained in the Tengyur. The co-translator Mañjuśrīgarbha is a lesser-known figure; he is recorded as being involved in only three translations, two of which are the two commentaries on The Ten Bhūmis.
Sūryasiddha, who wrote the second commentary, A Commentary on the Commentary on the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis, is an otherwise unknown author who lived sometime between the fourth and ninth centuries. This commentary was translated by three of the translators of the Vasubandhu commentary: Prajñāvarman, Kawa Paltsek, and Mañjuśrīgarbha. Yeshé Dé is noticeable by his absence, and Kawa Paltsek has taken over his role of chief editor. It is possible, but by no means certain, that this dates to a time after Yeshé Dé’s passing, which occurred during Ralpachen’s reign. Yeshé Dé’s funerary stūpa is in the environs of Samyé Monastery, where he had spent so many years working on translations. When passages from Vasubandhu’s commentary were found verbatim in Sūryasiddha’s commentary, the translators simply repeated the earlier translation they had made with Yeshé Dé.
The introductory section of the sūtra was not commented upon in either of those two commentaries, but the eighth-century Yogatantra master Śākyabodhi filled this commentarial gap with his A Commentary on the Introduction to the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis, which was translated into Tibetan by Kawa Paltsek and Prajñāvarman and was a useful reference for this translation.
Notes on the Translation
We have translated the title Buddhāvataṃsaka as A Multitude of Buddhas. The title avataṃsaka is derived from avataṃsa. In Classical Sanskrit, avataṃsa describes a garland or any circular ornamentation. For example, karṇāvataṃsa (ear avataṃsa) means “earring.” One Tibetan translation of buddhāvataṃsaka is “the Buddha’s earring” (sangs rgyas kyi snyan gyi gong rgyan). A kusumāvataṃsa (flower avataṃsa) is a flower garland that is worn by a person, hence another Tibetan translation of buddhāvataṃsaka is “the Buddha’s garland,” using an obscure archaic word with various spellings (rmad ga chad, rma ga chad, or rmag chad). Thomas Cleary, translating into English from the Chinese Huayan, calls it Flower Ornament. However, in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, avataṃsaka means “a great number,” “a multitude,” or “a collection.” Therefore, we have the Tibetan version of the title as A Multitude of Buddhas (sangs rgyas phal po che). phal po che is used elsewhere in the Kangyur to translate Classical Sanskrit words meaning “multitude,” such as nicaya; or, for example, mahat janakāya (“a great assembly of beings”) is translated as skye bo phal po che. Although sangs rgyas phal po che is the title given to the sūtra in all Kangyurs, some Kangyurs, such as Degé, Urga, and the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), which is based on Degé, have the title The Mahāvaipulya Sūtra Entitled Buddha Garlands (sangs rgyas rma ga chad) at the conclusion of each fascicle. Perhaps this is the residue of an initial translation, before the title was revised. The Mahāvyutpatti dictionary, compiled by those engaged in the translation of this sūtra, gives phal po che for avataṃsaka, and neither rma ga chad nor its variant forms appear anywhere in that dictionary. This variant title rma ga chad is not found in the conclusion of the chapters in the Lhasa, Stok Palace, Narthang, Lithang, and Shelkar Kangyurs. This translation follows the example of those Kangyurs.
Whatever the original intended meaning of the title, the Tibetan translation as phal po che (“multitude”) is not inappropriate, as A Multitude of Buddhas depicts a multitude of buddhas, including a multitude of Śākyamunis that are all emanations of the Buddha Vairocana.
The sūtra is divided into ten bhūmis, and within each bhūmi there are sets of ten qualities. This has been made evident by the insertion of numbers, as otherwise it might escape attention.
The Tibetan translators appear to have either made unusual choices in the interpretation of the verses in particular, or they may have been using a manuscript with unusual variants. They occasionally translated the same Sanskrit word differently and translated different Sanskrit words with the same Tibetan word. For example, in one passage that in the English translation forms one paragraph, the Tibetan word gnas was used to translate ālaya, niketa, and the suffix -ka. This has caused certain passages in Tibetan to be comparatively obscure, as the specificity of the Sanskrit has been lost.
For this translation, when the Sanskrit words in the prose and accompanying verses correspond, then the English has also been made to match, which the Tibetan translation did not always do.
The use of numbers is unusual in the sūtra. Niyuta and koṭi, “a million” and “ten million” respectively, are usually translated as sa ya and bye ba. However, niyuta or nayuta in BHS can also mean “a hundred thousand million,” which is translated into Tibetan as khrag khrig. The Tibetan translation of the sūtra, however, translates niyuta as “ten million” (bye ba) and koṭi as “a hundred thousand million” (khrag khrig).
There are certain Sanskrit terms translated by words that have a generally known meaning in Tibetan that does not match their context in this sūtra. For example, pratibha here means “brilliance of mind” or “eloquence,” but it is translated as spobs pa. While the Tibetan definitions of this word include shes rab (“wisdom”) and smra nus (“ability to speak,” “eloquence”), this word is primarily defined and known as meaning “confidence,” but this is not the intended meaning here. Adhiṣṭhāna is used in the sūtra to mean “a basis” or “support,” as in the Mahāvyutpatti dictionary’s gzhi or rten. The Tibetan translation uses byin rlabs (“blessing”). Abhiṣekha (literally “sprinkling”) was translated into Tibetan as dbang skur. Both the Sanskrit and Tibetan are known in the West as referring to “empowerment” or “initiation” in the context of tantra, but in this sūtra, as elsewhere in Sanskrit, it specifically refers to the consecration of a crown prince to become a king: the consecration of the bodhisattva by the buddhas, the final stage of the path to buddhahood, is presented as being analogous to the consecration of a crown prince.
As for the use of pronouns, “he” is frequently used in referring to a bodhisattva in the translation, as the Sanskrit pronoun is specifically male, for in the context of a number of Mahāyāna sūtras and commentaries the advanced bodhisattva, like a buddha, has to be male.
There are numerous lists of qualities, often in sets of tens. The groupings of these qualities are clear in Sanskrit, but in the Tibetan version it is unclear where one set ends and the other begins. In this translation the lists have been separated by formatting, and each successive quality has been numbered.
Synopsis of The Ten Bhūmis
The Ten Bhūmis begins with a description of the Buddha’s presence at the palace of Vaśavartin in the Paranirmitavaśavartin paradise, where bodhisattvas from countless other universes, including the bodhisattvas Vajragarbha and Vimukticandra, have gathered.
Through the power of the Buddha, Vajragarbha enters a samādhi called the radiance of the Mahāyāna, and as a result, an inconceivable number of buddhas, all of whom are named Vajragarbha, appear to him and bless him. They say that because of the prayers he made in the past, the Buddha Vairocana is now manifesting in the form of Śākyamuni in various locations. The buddhas named Vajragarbha place their hands on the bodhisattva Vajragarbha’s head, giving him a blessing that will enable him to give a teaching that will enable bodhisattvas to ascend through the ten bhūmis.
Vajragarbha comes out of that samādhi and addresses the assembled bodhisattvas. He lists the names of the ten bodhisattva bhūmis, which he says are taught by all buddhas, and then remains silent.
Vimukticandra, on behalf of all the assembled bodhisattvas, asks Vajragarbha why he does not teach these ten bhūmis. He assumes Vajragarbha does not do so because beings will not believe the teaching, but Vimukticandra states that this is an assembly of highly realized bodhisattvas who will believe what Vajragarbha teaches.
Vajragarbha answers that he did indeed remain silent out of compassion for lesser beings who would reject the teaching, because this rejection would cause them to be reborn in the lower realms.
Vimukticandra repeats his request, stating that the teaching of the ten bhūmis is essential for attaining buddhahood, from the very beginning of the path to its conclusion, just as the alphabet is crucial for all writing.
At this point, a ray of light accompanied by hundreds of thousands of light rays shines from Śākyamuni’s ūrṇā hair, the coil of white hair between his eyebrows. The light rays illuminate all worlds everywhere and darken the realms of the māras. All buddhas everywhere are illuminated. These buddhas in turn shine light rays from their own ūrṇā hairs, illuminating all worlds; in particular, the Buddha Śākyamuni and the bodhisattva Vajragarbha form an assembly hall of light in the sky above them. From that assembly hall of light comes a voice instructing Vajragarbha to teach the ten bhūmis.
First Bhūmi
Vajragarbha begins with a description of the initial motivation to attain buddhahood, which leads to the first bhūmi, Perfect Joy. He describes the nature of the joy experienced upon attaining that bhūmi, and also the other qualities that are gained, which are presented as sets of ten qualities. He contrasts these qualities with the suffering of beings, which is the result of the consecutive phases of dependent origination. The bodhisattva on the first bhūmi has compassion for these beings, performs great acts of generosity, and learns all that needs to be learned in this world. Many buddhas appear to him, and he serves the buddhas and ripens beings, as he will do on each successive bhūmi.
The qualities of each bhūmi are expressed by an analogy referring to gold, and the first bhūmi is said to be like refined gold.
From among the ten perfections, the bodhisattva on the first bhūmi practices the perfection of generosity. Like a caravan leader who must first learn about the route on which he will lead others, he learns about all ten bhūmis.
Vajragarbha concludes by stating that this is just a brief description of the first bhūmi, as a full description would take eons. He adds that the bodhisattvas on the first bhūmi become rulers of Jambudvīpa, become supreme among humans, and use this position to benefit humans. In a single instant they gain twelve qualities, such as the ability to see a hundred buddhas, manifest a hundred bodies, cause a hundred worlds to shake, and so on. This set of twelve qualities will be described for each bhūmi, with the number of buddhas, and so on, becoming progressively greater.
Vajragarbha repeats this teaching in verse.
At the conclusion of the teaching, the assembled bodhisattvas rise into the air, scatter flower petals, and praise Vajragarbha.
Second Bhūmi
Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to teach the second bhūmi. Vajragarbha describes the ten kinds of thought that enable the bodhisattva to reach the second bhūmi, which is called Stainless. The bodhisattva on the second bhūmi practices the ten good actions and avoids the ten bad actions. He contemplates the results of bad and good actions, which range from rebirth in the lower realms to the attainments of a bodhisattva. He resolves to bring beings onto the path of good actions, to liberation from saṃsāra, and to enlightenment.
The bodhisattva on the second bhūmi is like gold that has had all impurities removed by green vitriol.
From among the ten perfections, he practices the perfection of good conduct. Bodhisattvas on the second bhūmi become cakravartin kings who rule all four continents and use their power to lead beings onto the path of good actions. In each instant they see a thousand buddhas, illuminate a thousand worlds, causes a thousand worlds to shake, and so on.
Vajragarbha repeats the teaching in verse.
The overjoyed bodhisattvas let fall clouds of flowers and praise Vajragarbha.
Third Bhūmi
Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to teach the third bhūmi. Vajragarbha describes the ten kinds of mental orientation that enable the bodhisattva to ascend to the third bhūmi, which is called Shining. The bodhisattva on the third bhūmi contemplates the wisdom of the buddhas and how its absence causes beings to suffer in saṃsāra. The bodhisattva therefore diligently works to enable beings to practice meditation and attain wisdom so that they will be liberated. He practices generosity with diligence. He is so devoted to the Dharma that he would jump into a pit of fire in order to receive just one word of the Buddha’s teaching. He is diligent in cultivating the four dhyānas and the four formless states. He obtains miraculous powers such as clairvoyance, the ability to remember millions of previous lifetimes, and the ability to know what karma sentient beings have accumulated.
The bodhisattva on the third bhūmi is like gold perfected by a skilled goldsmith.
Of the ten perfections, he primarily practices the perfection of patience. Most of the bodhisattvas on the third bhūmi become an Indra, the deity of the paradise on the summit of Sumeru, a paradise that exists in every world of four continents. In each instant the bodhisattva sees a hundred thousand buddhas, illuminates a hundred thousand worlds, causes a hundred thousand worlds to shake, and so on.
Vajragarbha repeats the teaching in verse.
The overjoyed bodhisattvas scatter flowers on Vajragarbha and praise him. Vaśavartin scatters jewels and praises Vajragarbha’s teaching.
Fourth Bhūmi
Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to teach the fourth bhūmi. Vajragarbha describes the ten attainments through insight into the Dharma that enable a bodhisattva to ascend to the fourth bhūmi, which is called Brilliance. Upon attaining this bhūmi, the bodhisattva becomes a member of the family of the buddhas. He develops the five powers, the five strengths, the four bases of miraculous powers, and the factors for enlightenment, including the noble eightfold path. He eliminates the view of self.
The bodhisattva on the fourth bhūmi is like gold that has been made into supreme jewelry.
From the ten perfections he primarily practices the perfection of diligence. Most of the bodhisattvas on the fourth bhūmi become a Suyāma, the deity who is the lord of a Yāma paradise. In each instant the bodhisattva sees ten million buddhas, illuminates ten million worlds, causes ten million worlds to shake, and so on.
Vajragarbha repeats the teaching in verse.
The overjoyed bodhisattvas scatter flowers on Vajragarbha and praise him. Vaśavartin and his deities scatter flowers on the Buddha and praise Vajragarbha’s teaching.
Fifth Bhūmi
Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to teach the fifth bhūmi. Vajragarbha describes ten kinds of sameness of thought that enable the bodhisattva to ascend to the fifth bhūmi, which is called Difficult to Conquer. The bodhisattva on the fifth bhūmi attains various kinds of wisdom, and seeing that beings are in a state of ignorance, he has compassion for them. He is wise in worldly knowledge such as mathematics, medicine, poetry, music, history, architecture, and so on, through which he brings happiness to beings.
The bodhisattva on the fifth bhūmi is like gold adorned with white coral.
From the ten perfections he primarily practices the perfection of meditation. Most of the bodhisattvas on the fifth bhūmi become a Saṃtuṣita, the deity who is the lord of a Tuṣita paradise. In each instant the bodhisattva sees ten billion buddhas, illuminates ten billion worlds, causes ten billion worlds to shake, and so on.
Vajragarbha repeats the teaching in verse.
The overjoyed bodhisattvas scatter flowers and jewels upon the Buddha, and the deities scatter garlands, parasols, banners, and so on upon the Buddha and praise the teaching.
Sixth Bhūmi
Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to teach the sixth bhūmi. Vajragarbha describes the ten kinds of equality of phenomena that enable a bodhisattva to ascend to the sixth bhūmi, which is called Manifested. The bodhisattva on the sixth bhūmi attains the wisdom that sees the twelve phases of dependent origination and has compassion for beings who are under the power of dependent origination. He attains the three doors to liberation.
The bodhisattva on the sixth bhūmi is like gold adorned with beryl.
From the ten perfections he primarily practices the perfection of wisdom. Most of the bodhisattvas on the sixth bhūmi become a Sunirmita, the deity who is the lord of a Nirmāṇarati paradise. In each instant the bodhisattva sees a trillion buddhas, illuminates a trillion worlds, causes a trillion worlds to shake, and so on.
Vajragarbha repeats the teaching in verse.
The overjoyed deities scatter clouds of incense and light and praise the teaching.
Seventh Bhūmi
Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to teach the seventh bhūmi. Vajragarbha describes the ten kinds of engagement with the path that enable a bodhisattva to ascend to the seventh bhūmi, which is called Gone Far. The bodhisattva on the seventh bhūmi apprehends countless worlds, buddhas, and eons, the thoughts and motivations of countless beings, and so on. All the factors for enlightenment are complete in each instant, and he has pure bodhisattva conduct. Nevertheless, he cannot be said to be completely free of the kleśas, because he still desires buddhahood. He attains cessation in each instant, but instead of merging into that cessation he takes rebirth in the three realms and engages in worldly activities in order to benefit beings.
The bodhisattva on the seventh bhūmi is like gold adorned with every jewel.
From the ten perfections he primarily practices the perfection of skill in methods. Most of the bodhisattvas on the seventh bhūmi become a Vaśavartin, the deity who is the lord of a Paranirmitavaśavartin paradise, the highest paradise in the desire realm. In each instant the bodhisattva sees a quintillion buddhas, illuminates a quintillion worlds, causes a quintillion worlds to shake, and so on.
Vajragarbha repeats the teaching in verse.
The overjoyed deities scatter banners, parasols, jewelry, and so on as offerings to the Buddha and the bodhisattvas, and they sing praises of the buddhas.
Eighth Bhūmi
Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to teach the eighth bhūmi. Vajragarbha describes the acceptance of the birthlessness of phenomena through which a bodhisattva attains the eighth bhūmi, which is called Unwavering. The bodhisattva on the eighth bhūmi has no conceptuality. He sees the suffering of beings and therefore strives for enlightenment like a person trying to wake himself from a nightmare. He has no dualistic effort or dualistic engagement in any kind of activity. He has knowledge of all universes, the elements, and atoms. He takes birth in countless universes, taking on whatever form is necessary to guide beings.
The bodhisattva on the eighth bhūmi is like a golden adornment on the head or throat of a ruler of Jambudvīpa.
From the ten perfections he primarily practices the perfection of aspiration. Most of the bodhisattvas on the eighth bhūmi become a Brahmā, a ruler of a billion-world universe, who teaches the perfections to beings. In each instant the bodhisattva sees as many buddhas as there are atoms in a million universes, illuminates as many worlds as there are atoms in a million universes, causes as many worlds to shake as there are atoms in a million universes, and so on.
Vajragarbha repeats the teaching in verse.
Millions of realms shake, and light from the Buddha illuminates all realms. The bodhisattvas, Vaśavartin, and the deities make offerings, and goddesses sing praises to bodhisattvas.
Ninth Bhūmi
Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to teach the ninth bhūmi. Vajragarbha describes the ten qualities through which a bodhisattva attains the ninth bhūmi, Perfect Understanding. The bodhisattva on the ninth bhūmi has perfect knowledge of all kinds so that he can guide beings in various ways. He can teach simultaneously in all worlds and in all languages. He can cause all sounds to be the teaching of the Dharma and all Dharma teachings to come from one syllable. He can answer the simultaneous questions of all beings in the universe at the same time.
The bodhisattva on the ninth bhūmi is like a gold adornment on the head or throat of a cakravartin who rules the four continents.
From among the ten perfections, he primarily practices the perfection of strength. Most of the bodhisattvas on the ninth bhūmi become a great Brahmā, a ruler of two universes, who teaches the perfections to beings. In each instant, the bodhisattva sees as many buddhas as there are atoms in countless millions of universes, illuminates as many worlds as there are atoms in countless millions of universes, causes to shake as many worlds as there are atoms in countless millions of universes, and so on.
Vajragarbha repeats the teaching in verse.
A million deities from the form realm, the bodhisattvas, Vaśavartin, and the Paranirmitavaśavartin deities make offerings to the Buddha, and goddesses sing praises to the Buddha.
Tenth Bhūmi
Finally, Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to teach the tenth bhūmi. Vajragarbha describes the ten attainments through which a bodhisattva attains the tenth bhūmi, Cloud of Dharma. A bodhisattva on the tenth bhūmi enters millions of samādhis, concluding with the samādhi called the unique consecration for omniscient wisdom. At that moment there appears a precious lotus the size of a million billion-world universes. The bodhisattva has a proportionally vast body and is seated upon that lotus. Other bodhisattvas seated upon lotuses encircle him, gazing at him. Light rays radiate from various parts of his body, which manifest the Dharma in various realms and bring an end to suffering. Light rays from the top of his head honor and make offerings to buddhas and bodhisattvas in all worlds. All bodhisattvas from the first to the ninth bhūmi come to this bodhisattva and make offerings to him. Light rays from the heart region of all those bodhisattvas enter the bodhisattva’s heart. Light rays from the ūrṇā hairs of all buddhas enter the bodhisattva’s head. As a result of this consecration his ten strengths become complete, and he is numbered among the samyaksambuddhas. This is compared to the consecration of a crown prince who becomes a cakravartin.
The bodhisattva on the tenth bhūmi has knowledge of the creation and destruction of all worlds, of enlightenment and the qualities of enlightenment, and of the nature of time. He attains ten liberations. He receives from countless buddhas all the Dharma teachings that only a tenth-bhūmi bodhisattva is capable of receiving. His teaching pervades countless worlds in a single instant. He accomplishes all the deeds of the life of a buddha, from the descent from Tuṣita to passing into nirvāṇa. He has the miraculous power to create and transform worlds. He can place all beings within one hair on his body, and so on.
Vimukticandra tells Vajragarbha that the assembly is doubtful that a bodhisattva truly has such qualities and asks him to demonstrate an example of them. Vajragarbha then enters samādhi and moves the entire assembly into his body, where they see a Buddha seated under a vast Bodhi tree, and then he returns them back to where they were before, outside his body.
Vajragarbha states that these qualities of a tenth-bhūmi bodhisattva are an incalculably small fraction of a buddha’s qualities.
The bodhisattva on the tenth bhūmi is compared to a bejeweled gold ornament on the head or throat of a Vaśavartin, the supreme deity in a realm of desire.
Of the ten perfections, he primarily practices the perfection of knowledge. Most of the bodhisattvas on this bhūmi become great Brahmās, rulers of two billion-world universes, who teach the perfections to beings. In each instant, the bodhisattva sees as many buddhas as there are atoms in countless quintillions of universes, illuminates as many worlds as there are atoms in countless quintillions of universes, causes as many worlds to shake as there are atoms in countless quintillions of universes, and so on.
Vajragarbha teaches that the ten bhūmis lead inevitably to buddhahood, just as rivers lead to the ocean. The ten bhūmis are like the ten great mountains, for they are each the source of specific qualities and attainments. The ten bhūmis arise from omniscience just as the ten mountains arise from the ocean. The bodhisattva conduct on the ten bhūmis is like the ten qualities of the ocean. The bodhisattva’s aspiration to omniscience is like a purified supreme jewel placed on the tip of a banner.
Vajragarbha teaches that only a bodhisattva can receive and follow this teaching.
Millions of buddha realms shake, and through the power of the buddhas there is a rain of parasols, banners, and so on, along with the sound of music and songs of praise.
Countless bodhisattvas, who are all named Vajragarbha, come from countless realms, all named Vajraśrī, where each buddha is named Vajradhvaja. They proclaim that the same teaching is occurring in every Vaśavartin’s palace in every world in the ten directions. Vajragarbha observes all these other assemblies throughout the entire realm of phenomena and repeats the teaching in verse.
The Buddha, who is seated on a dais in the palace of Vaśavartin the second week after his enlightenment, is pleased by Vajragarbha’s teaching, and the entire assembly rejoices.
Text Body
Chapter 31: The Ten Bhūmis
The Translation
[B13] [F.166.a]
Then21 the Bhagavat was in the deva king Vaśavartin’s divine palace of precious jewels, together with a great saṅgha of bodhisattvas. They were all irreversible and one lifetime away22 from attaining the highest complete enlightenment.23 They had gathered there from various worlds. They dwelled in the attainment of the scope and range of the wisdom of all bodhisattvas. They maintained the range of activity that approaches and enters the scope of the wisdom of all tathāgatas. [F.166.b] They were skilled in manifesting at the proper moment in time all the activities of unimpeded blessings that would ripen and guide all beings. They had a range of activity that continually fulfilled the prayers of all bodhisattvas, and they continued in their conduct throughout eons, realms, and times. They had completed the accumulations of the merit, wisdom, and miraculous powers of all24 bodhisattvas, and they had unceasingly cared for all beings. They had attained the highest perfection of the wisdom and methods of all bodhisattvas. They had unceasing accomplishment of bodhisattva conduct, manifesting the doorways of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. They were skilled in manifesting all the activities25 that come from being adept in the dhyānas, liberations, samādhis, samāpattis, clairvoyances, and wisdom26 of all bodhisattvas.
They had attained mastery of the miraculous powers27 of all bodhisattvas. Without performing any action, they went in a mind’s instant to the assemblies of the followers of all tathāgatas as individuals who would be their foremost interlocutors. They maintained the Dharma wheels of all tathāgatas. They engaged in a multitude of offerings and acts of service to the buddhas. They manifested the appearance of bodies in all worlds and with equanimity engaged in undertaking the activities of all bodhisattvas. The unimpeded sound of their voices resounded throughout the entire realm of phenomena so that the three times were pervaded by the scope of the unimpeded wisdom of their minds. They had the perfection of the acquisition28 of the qualities of all bodhisattvas and taught them continuously for uncountable eons by unceasingly expressing praises of these qualities. [F.167.a]
These bodhisattvas were the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Ratnagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Padmagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Śrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Padmaśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Sūryagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Śucigarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Kṣitigarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Śaśivimalagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Sarvavyūhālaṃkārapratibhāsasaṃdarśanagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Jñānavairocanagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Ruciraśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Candanaśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Puṣpaśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Kusumaśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Utpalaśrīgarbha,29 the bodhisattva mahāsattva Devaśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Puṇyaśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Anāvaraṇajñānaviśuddhigarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Guṇaśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Nārāyaṇaśrīgarbha, [F.167.b] the bodhisattva mahāsattva Amalagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vimalagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vicitrapratibhāṇālaṃkāragarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Mahāraśmijālāvabhāsagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vimalaprabhāsaśrītejorājagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Suvarṇabhadravimalavasucitratejolalitagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Sarvalakṣaṇapratimaṇḍitaviśuddhiśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajrārciḥśrīvatsālaṃkāragarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Jyotirjvalanārciḥśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Nakṣatrarājaprabhāvabhāsagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Gaganakośānāvaraṇajñānagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Anāvaraṇasvaramaṇḍalamadhuranirghoṣagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Dhāraṇīmukhasarvajagatpraṇidhisaṃdhāraṇagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Sāgaravyūhagarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Meruśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Sarvaguṇaviśuddhigarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Tathāgataśrīgarbha, the [F.168.a] bodhisattva mahāsattva Buddhaśrīgarbha, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vimukticandra, and so on. These boundless, innumerable, countless, inconceivable, unequaled, measureless, infinite, endless, unlimited, and most indescribable of indescribable bodhisattva mahāsattvas such as Vajragarbha had all gathered there from various buddha realms.
Then at that time the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragarbha, through the power of the Buddha, entered the samādhi called the radiance of the Mahāyāna.
As soon as the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragarbha entered the samādhi called the radiance of the Mahāyāna, buddha bhagavats who all had the name Vajragarbha and were as numerous as the atoms in a hundred million buddha realms, who were from beyond worlds in the ten directions as numerous as the atoms in a hundred million buddha realms, appeared to him. Those buddha bhagavats said these words:
“O noble son! It is excellent, excellent that you have entered the samādhi called the radiance of the Mahāyāna. In this way, noble son, the buddhas, the bhagavats in the ten directions, who are as numerous as the atoms in a hundred million buddha realms, and who all have the same name as you, which is Vajragarbha, because of the blessing of the previous prayers of this bhagavat tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddha30 Vairocana31 [F.168.b] and because of your particular wisdom,32 give you their blessing so that through your teaching all bodhisattvas will (1) enter the bhūmis of the wisdom of the radiance of the Buddha’s inconceivable Dharma, (2) completely accumulate all roots of goodness, (3) become skilled in examining the entire Dharma of the Buddha, (4) possess a vast wisdom of the entire Dharma, (5) teach the perfectly preserved Dharma, (6) have the purified wisdom of indivisibility,33 (7) be unstained by all worldly qualities, (8) purify the transcendent roots of goodness, (9) realize the scope of inconceivable wisdom, and (10) ultimately attain the scope of omniscient wisdom.
“This is for the purpose of commencing upon and attaining34 the ten bhūmis of the bodhisattvas35 through (1) the teaching that presents the bodhisattva bhūmis, (2) a focus on the entire Dharma of the Buddha, (3) meditation on the different kinds of immaculate qualities,36 (4) skill37 in the great light of wisdom that has analyzed the perfectly analyzed,38 (5) entry through the door of knowledge through perfect examination,39 (6) the bright40 illumination41 of the eloquence of42 explaining every kind of opposing43 standpoint, (7) the realization of the level of great discerning knowledge, (8) the continuous remembering of bodhicitta, (9) the ripening of all realms of beings, and (10) the acquisition of skillfulness through certainty in the comprehension of everything.44 [F.169.a]
“Therefore, noble son, be eloquent45 in this Dharma teaching, which is being skillful in the different doors of the Dharma,46 so that through the power of the buddhas and the blessing of the light of the wisdom of the tathāgatas there will be (1) the complete purification of your roots of goodness, (2) the complete purification of the essence of phenomena,47 (3) benefit for all the realms of beings, (4) the dharmakāya, which is the body48 of wisdom, (5) the consecration received from all the buddhas, (6) the appearance of a body in all worlds, (7) the transcendence of all worldly existences, (8) the complete purification of the way of world-transcending qualities, and (9) the perfection of omniscient wisdom.”49
Then those buddha bhagavats provided the bodhisattva Vajragarbha with (1) an unsurpassable body, (2) unimpeded eloquence in teaching, (3) the process of analysis through completely purified wisdom, (4) the blessing of unfailing memory, (5) skill in definitive understanding,50 (6) the judgment that is never lost in any situation,51 (7) the invincible strengths52 of a complete buddha, (8) the strengths53 and confidences of the tathāgatas, who will never be discouraged, (9) the accomplishment of the different aspects of the Dharma through the discerning knowledge of omniscient wisdom, and (10) the adornment of the unique aspects of the body, speech, and mind of the tathāgatas. [F.169.b]
Why did this happen? It was because he (1) had attained the intrinsic nature of that samādhi, (2) had accomplished a previous prayer,54 (3) had perfectly purified higher motivation, (4) had the perfectly clarified circle55 of wisdom, (5) had perfectly accumulated the accumulations, (6) had become perfectly immaculate,56 (7) had become a vessel for limitless memory, (8) had the purity of clear motivation, and (9) had perfectly realized the distinct57 doors of retention, and because he had (10) applied the seal of the knowledge of the essence of the Dharma.
Those buddha bhagavats who were present there extended their right hands through their miraculous power and stroked the bodhisattva Vajragarbha’s head.
As soon as the bodhisattva Vajragarbha was touched by those buddha bhagavats, he arose from that samādhi and said to the bodhisattvas, “O jinaputras! This bodhisattva aspiration (1) is perfectly certain,58 (2) is not separate,59 (3) cannot be viewed,60 (4) is the vast essence of the Dharma,61 (5) extends to the limits of space,62 (6) reaches the ultimate conclusion,63 and (7) is the protection of the realm of beings.64
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva mahāsattvas enter the wisdom bhūmis of the buddha bhagavats of the past. They enter the wisdom bhūmis of the buddha bhagavats of the future. They enter the wisdom bhūmis of the buddha bhagavats of the present. [F.170.a]
“O jinaputras! There are ten bodhisattva bhūmis that are entering the wisdom bhūmis of the buddha bhagavats.65
“O jinaputras! What I say to you is what the buddha bhagavats of the past, future, and present have taught, will teach, and are teaching.
“What are these ten? They are the following: (1) Perfect Joy is the first bhūmi of the bodhisattva, (2) Stainless is the second bhūmi of the bodhisattva, (3) Shining is the third bhūmi of the bodhisattva, (4) Brilliance is the fourth bhūmi of the bodhisattva, (5) Difficult to Conquer is the fifth bhūmi of the bodhisattva, (6) Manifested is the sixth bhūmi of the bodhisattva, (7) Gone Far is the seventh bhūmi of the bodhisattva, (8) Unwavering is the eighth bhūmi of the bodhisattva, (9) Perfect Understanding is the ninth bhūmi of the bodhisattva, and (10) Cloud of Dharma is the tenth bhūmi of the bodhisattva.
“O jinaputras! These are the ten bodhisattva bhūmis of the bodhisattvas that the buddha bhagavats of the past, future, and present have taught, will teach, and are teaching.
“O jinaputras! I see that throughout all buddha realms there are no tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas who do not teach these ten bodhisattva bhūmis. Why is that? O jinaputras! The light from this doorway to the Dharma of purifying the bodhisattva path of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas is called most excellent. It is an inconceivable presentation of the classification of the ten bhūmis of the bodhisattvas. [F.170.b] O jinaputras! That is this level of the knowledge of the bhūmis.”66
Thus the bodhisattva Vajragarbha spoke merely the names of these ten bodhisattva bhūmis, became silent, and did not elucidate any further. All the bodhisattvas of the assembly heard just the names of the ten bodhisattva bhūmis with no further elucidation or description. Therefore, they yearned for that, thinking, “The bodhisattva Vajragarbha thus spoke just the names of the ten bodhisattva bhūmis and said no more. What is the cause and condition for his not giving any further elucidation?”
At that time, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vimukticandra was present in that gathered assembly of bodhisattvas. The bodhisattva Vimukticandra, knowing what was being thought in the minds of the assembly of bodhisattvas, addressed these questions in verse to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha:
Then the bodhisattva Vimukticandra spoke these words to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha: “O jinaputra! This is a very pure assembly of gathered bodhisattva mahāsattvas who (1) have very pure higher motivation, (2) have very pure thoughts, (3) have practiced excellent conduct, (4) have served excellently many trillions68 of buddhas, (5) have excellently gathered the accumulations,69 (6) possess limitless qualities and wisdom, (7) are free of doubt and uncertainty, (8) are free of blemish, (9) are resolute in their motivation and aspiration, [F.171.b] and (10) are within the Dharma of the buddhas and do not rely on anything else.
“O jinaputra, through the blessing of the tathāgatas teach well all these bodhisattvas who are present before you in this place.”
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra, in order to repeat his meaning clearly, recited these verses to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha:70
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said these words to the bodhisattva Vimukticandra: “O jinaputra, this very pure assembly of gathered bodhisattva mahāsattvas (1) has very pure higher motivation, (2) has very pure thoughts, (3) has practiced excellent conduct, (4) has excellently served trillions of buddhas, (5) has excellently gathered the accumulations,72 (6) possesses limitless qualities and wisdom, (7) is free of doubt and uncertainty, (8) is free of blemish, (9) is resolute in its motivation and aspiration, and (10) is within the Dharma of the buddhas and does not rely on anything else.
“However, other beings with lesser aspiration will have doubts and uncertainty if they hear such inconceivable subjects as these, which for a long time will not bring them benefit but will harm them and cause them unhappiness. Therefore, I remained silent out of compassion for them.” [F.172.a]
Then Vajragarbha recited these verses in order to make his meaning clear:
Then the bodhisattva Vimukticandra repeated this request to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha: “O jinaputra! Teach it well. Through the power of the tathāgatas these inconceivable subjects will be well protected74 and will be believed in. Why is that? O jinaputra! When you give this teaching on the bhūmis to these jinaputras, there will be an understanding of the true nature, which is what all buddhas are intent upon, and all the bodhisattvas will long to protect this wisdom bhūmi. Why is that? Because this is both the initial conduct and complete attainment75 of the Buddhadharma.
“O jinaputra! By analogy, the alphabet precedes the teaching of written letters and words.76 Without the alphabet being learned, written letters and words cannot be taught.
“O jinaputra! In the same way, through the accomplishment of conduct the bhūmis precede all the qualities of buddhahood, and self-arisen wisdom is attained through the conclusion of the bhūmis. [F.172.b] Therefore, O jinaputra, give your teaching! The tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas will oversee77 its protection.”
Then the bodhisattva Vimukticandra, in order to repeat this clearly, recited these verses to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha:
Then all the bodhisattvas sang together in one voice, making a request to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha through the verses of a song:
Then at that time, there shone from the Bhagavat Śākyamuni’s ūrṇā hair a light ray called the light of bodhisattva power accompanied by a retinue of countless hundreds of thousands of light rays. They illuminated all infinite worlds in the ten directions, ended the suffering of all beings in the lower existences, darkened all the palaces of the māras, illuminated the gathered assemblies of all tathāgatas, revealed the range of activity of the buddhas, illuminated the bodhisattvas who had been authorized with the authorization to teach in all the gathered assemblies of tathāgatas in every world throughout all the ten directions, revealed countless manifestations of buddhas, and then formed a network of clouds of light rays as vast kūṭāgāra halls situated in the sky.
Then there shone from the ūrṇā hairs of the buddha bhagavats light rays called the light of bodhisattva power, which illuminated the bodhisattvas who had been authorized with the authorization to teach in all the gathered assemblies of tathāgatas in every world throughout all the ten directions; revealed countless manifestations of buddhas; [F.173.b] illuminated this Sahā universe; illuminated the gathered assembly of this tathāgata, the Bhagavat Śākyamuni; illuminated the body and seat of the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragarbha; and formed a network of clouds of light rays as a great kūṭāgāra hall situated in the sky.
From that kūṭāgāra hall made of a network of clouds of light rays, there came these words through the power of the Buddha:
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha looked into the ten directions and spoke these verses so that the assembly would have faith: [F.174.a]
“O jinaputras! The aspiration for enlightenment is developed by bodhisattvas who have (1) perfectly accumulated the roots of goodness, (2) perfectly practiced conduct,103 (3) perfectly accumulated the accumulations, (4) perfectly served the appearance of buddhas, (5) perfectly amassed pure qualities, (6) perfectly acquired kalyāṇamitras, (7) perfectly purified their intentions, (8) developed a vast higher motivation, (9) created the aspiration to the sublime, and (10) manifested kindness and compassion.
“That motivation is developed by the bodhisattvas in order to (1) desire the wisdom of buddhahood, (2) acquire the power of the ten strengths, (3) acquire the great confidences, (4) attain the equality of the Buddhadharma,104 (5) protect all beings, (6) have pure kindness and compassion, (7) have knowledge of all in the ten directions, (8) purify without impediment all buddha realms, (9) know in one instant all the three times, and (10) become confident in turning the great Dharma wheel.
“They have (1) great compassion that precedes all actions, (2) the power of knowledge and wisdom, (3) the acquisition of skillful means, (4) the support of intention and higher intention, (5) the measureless powers of the tathāgatas, (6) perfect analysis through analyzing with the power of courage105 and the power of intelligence, and (7) the continuous manifestation of wisdom; and they (8) have become conducive106 to self-arising wisdom, (9) have received107 the instructions for knowledge and wisdom in the Buddhadharma, [F.175.a] and (10) are in the supreme essence of the Dharma, in the realm of space, the final highest point.
“Simultaneous with developing that motivation, the bodhisattva mahāsattva becomes transcendent, for he (1) rises above the level of ordinary beings, (2) becomes an immutable108 bodhisattva, (3) becomes faultless within the family of the sugatas, (4) has gone beyond caste identification, (5) has transcended all worldly ways, (6) follows the way that transcends the world, (7) remains perfectly in the nature of a bodhisattva, (8) has the unchanging possession of the bodhisattva state, (9) is in the lineage of the tathāgatas of the three times, and (10) is destined for buddhahood.109
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva established in the Dharma resides unshakably upon the bodhisattva bhūmi named Perfect Joy.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who is on the Perfect Joy bodhisattva bhūmi has (1) a plenitude of joy, (2) a plenitude of admiration,110 (3) a plenitude of happiness,111 (4) a plenitude of rapture,112 (5) a plenitude of pleasure,113 (6) a plenitude of delight,114 (7) a plenitude of enthusiasm,115 (8) a plenitude of calmness,116 (9) a plenitude of harmlessness,117 and (10) a plenitude of freedom from anger.118
“O jinaputras! In that way, the bodhisattva who resides on the Perfect Joy bodhisattva bhūmi has (1) perfect joy thinking of the buddha bhagavats, (2) perfect joy thinking of119 the Buddhadharma, (3) perfect joy thinking of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas, [F.175.b] (4) perfect joy thinking of bodhisattva conduct, (5) perfect joy thinking of the pure perfections, (6) perfect joy thinking of the different bodhisattva bhūmis, (7) perfect joy thinking of the preeminence of the bodhisattvas, (8) perfect joy thinking of the instructions taught120 by the tathāgatas, (9) perfect joy thinking of the accomplishment of the benefit of beings, and (10) perfect joy thinking of accomplishing entry into the wisdom of all tathāgatas.
“Perfect Joy arises as he thinks, ‘(1) I have departed from the scope of the world, (2) I have approached the level of buddhahood, (3) I have withdrawn from the level of ordinary childlike beings, (4) I am near to the level of wisdom, (5) I am separated from falling into any lower existence, (6) I have become a refuge for all beings, (7) I am close to seeing all the tathāgatas, (8) I have arisen within the purview of all buddhas, (9) I have become equal to all bodhisattvas, and (10) I am free from all fear, alarm, and terror.’121
“Why is that? O jinaputras! As soon as the bodhisattva attains the Perfect Joy bodhisattva bhūmi in this way, all these fears cease: (1) fear of the loss of livelihood, [F.176.a] (2) fear of a bad reputation, (3) fear of death, (4) fear of the lower existences, and (5) fear from nervousness in an assembly.
“Why is that? He has no fear, alarm, terror, or horripilation122 (1) because he is free from the perception of a self and therefore has no attachment to the self, so how could he have attachment to material things? Therefore he has no fear of loss of livelihood; (2) because he does not have the slightest expectation of a reward from whomever he helps, but thinks, ‘My possessions are for sharing with beings’ and therefore has no fear of a bad reputation; (3) because he does not have the view of a self and therefore does not have the perception of a self and therefore has no fear of death; (4) because he thinks, ‘Even though I die, I will definitely be inseparable from the buddhas and bodhisattvas,’ and therefore has no fear of the lower existences; (5) because he thinks, ‘There is no one in the world whose motivation is even equal to mine, so how could they be higher?’ and therefore has no fear from being nervous in an assembly.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who has first developed compassion, with unimpaired,123 uncommon124 higher motivation, is dedicated more than ever before to accumulating roots of goodness. This is because (1) he has the power of faith, (2) he has an abundance of admiration, (3) he has pure motivation,125 (4) he has an abundance of certainty,126 (5) he has developed kindness and compassion, (6) he has generated great love, (7) he has a resolute127 mind, (8) he is adorned by a sense of shame and conscience, (9) he possesses patience and gentleness,128 and (10) he has respect and reverence129 for the teachings of the tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas. [F.176.b]
“(1) He accumulates roots of goodness day and night without ever being satisfied; (2) he is devoted to kalyāṇamitras; (3) he enjoys the delights of the Dharma; (4) he seeks to hear Dharma teachings without ever being satisfied; (5) he thoroughly examines the Dharma he has heard; (6) he has no mental fixation;130 (7) he has no attachment to acquisitions, honors, and praise; (8) he has no attachment to delight in material things; (9) he accomplishes, without ever being satisfied, the development of the motivation that is like a jewel; and (10) he aspires to the bhūmi of omniscience.131
“(1) He has the strengths, confidences, and distinct qualities of the tathāgatas as his goal; (2) he seeks the perfections without impediment; (3) he has forsaken deception and deceit; (4) he practices what he preaches; (5) he always keeps to speaking the truth; (6) he creates no blemish in the family of the tathāgatas; (7) he never abandons the training of the bodhisattva and, like the great lord and king of mountains, is unshakable from the omniscient mind;132 (8) he has no desire for worldly activities and follows the path of renunciation133 that transcends the world; (9) he accumulates, without ever being satisfied, the accumulation of the factors for enlightenment; and (10) he continuously, without interruption, always seeks to progress higher and higher.
“O jinaputras!134 The bodhisattva mahāsattva who is on the Perfect Joy bodhisattva bhūmi is endowed with those kinds of qualities of a pure bhūmi.
“He who is on the Perfect Joy bodhisattva bhūmi accomplishes great prayers, great efforts, and great accomplishments in these ways: [F.177.a]
1. “In order to offer to and serve all buddhas without exception, without remainder, the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that he may render great service and make great offerings to all buddhas who will appear in all eons.
2. “In order to possess the Dharma taught by all the tathāgatas, in order to obtain the enlightenment of all the buddhas,135 and in order to preserve the teachings of all the samyaksambuddhas, the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that he may possess the Dharma taught by all the tathāgatas.
3. “In order that during the lives of all the buddhas in infinite worlds without exception, from when they are in the divine palace in Tuṣita onward—their departure from there, descent, entering a body, being born, enjoying youth, living with a retinue of queens, abandoning the lay life, practicing asceticism, going to the bodhimaṇḍa, subjugating the māras, attaining buddhahood, receiving a supplication, turning the great Dharma wheel, and demonstrating passing into the great nirvāṇa—and in order that they may come into their presence, make offerings to them, serve them, receive the Dharma, [F.177.b] and so on, the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that he may be in the presence of all buddhas until they pass into nirvāṇa.
4. “In order to accomplish the immeasurable vast extent of bodhisattva conduct without omission, accumulating all the perfections and refining all the bhūmis, and in order to acquire the aggregation of all the main and subsidiary factors for enlightenment—with the principal and various signs, dissolution, transformation, and all that is in the conduct of the bodhisattva, the teaching on the path of the bhūmis, the support and gift of the teaching and instruction on training in the perfections, and attaining the development of the motivation to buddhahood—the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that he may throughout all eons accomplish the development of the motivation to buddhahood.
5. “In order that all the worlds of beings, without exception or remainder, who make up the three realms, who are within the six kinds of existence—those with form and the formless, those with perception and those without perception, those who are not those with perception and also those who are not those without perception, those born from eggs, those born from wombs, those born from warm moisture, those born miraculously—in order that all these beings, all those realms of beings, be ripened completely, [F.178.a] enter the Buddha’s Dharma, follow the path without interruption, and be brought to the bhūmi of omniscience, the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that he may throughout all eons ripen the nature of all beings.
6. “In order that his miraculous emanations may enter equally and separately into every assembly in every single world in the ten directions while having the wisdom that perceives their dissimilarities—the wide worlds and the narrow, the vast and immeasurable, the subtle and the gross, the inverted and the upside down—the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that he may throughout all eons enter those worlds for the sake of purification.
7. “In order for all purified realms to be in one realm and one realm in all realms, for there to be limitless purified buddha realms, beautified by adorning arrays of a multitude of lights, where there is the attainment of the path of purification that removes all kleśas, realms that are filled by countless beings who are the source of wisdom and that are the entirety of the vast fields of activity of the buddhas that satisfy with teachings the wishes of beings, [F.178.b] the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that he may throughout all eons purify buddha realms.
8. “In order to be dedicated to the one intention of all bodhisattvas; in order to individually accumulate the roots of goodness; in order to have the same goal as all bodhisattvas; in order to be always inseparably accompanied by bodhisattvas; in order for the buddhas to teach him whatever he wishes; in order to obtain, through his motivation to buddhahood, the scope, power, and wisdom of all the tathāgatas; in order to attain imperishable, ever-present clairvoyance; in order to move throughout all worlds; in order for his form to appear among the assembled pupils of all buddhas and for all buddhas to teach him; in order for his bodies to continue in all his rebirths; in order to obtain the inconceivable Mahāyāna; and in order to have the uninterrupted practice of bodhisattva conduct, the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that he may throughout all eons accomplish the Mahāyāna in all his conduct.
9. “In order to practice the sublime bodhisattva conduct that resides within the irreversible wheel; in order for there to be the fruitful activities of body, speech, and mind [F.179.a] that bring conviction in the Buddhadharma as soon as the body is seen, that bring attainment of wisdom as soon as the voice speaks, and that bring freedom from kleśas as soon as there is faith; in order to attain the motivation that is like the great king of medicines; in order to attain a body that is like a wish-fulfilling jewel; and in order to practice all the conduct of the bodhisattvas, the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that throughout all eons all his practice of the wheel of irreversibility will be fruitful.
10. “In order to attain buddhahood, unsurpassable complete enlightenment, in all worlds; in order that there will be, for each childlike being without a hairsbreadth of difference, birth,136 enjoying youth, living with a retinue of queens, abandoning the lay life, practicing asceticism, going to the bodhimaṇḍa, subjugating the māras, attaining buddhahood, receiving a supplication, turning the great Dharma wheel, and demonstrating passing into the great nirvāṇa;137 in order to obtain the Buddha’s great scope, powers, and wisdom; in order to manifest as a buddha in all the realms of beings in accordance with his wishes, and in each instant manifest buddhahood and the attainment of peace; in order that one buddhahood will fill the entire expanse of phenomena with emanations; in order that speaking in one voice will completely satisfy the minds and wishes of all the realms of beings; in order to manifest passing into the great nirvāṇa and the continuous practice of conduct; [F.179.b] in order to teach the presentation of all the qualities in the bhūmis of great wisdom;138 and in order to emanate throughout all worlds the clairvoyance that is the power of the Dharma of wisdom, the bodhisattva continuously makes great prayers, perfect in all aspects, that have the complete purity of a vast aspiration, are as vast as the realm of phenomena, reach the ends of space, and extend to the end of time, so that he may throughout all eons have the clairvoyance of great wisdom in the attainment of buddhahood.
“O jinaputras! Those are their great prayers, great scope, and great diligence. They make these ten doorways of prayer, and the bodhisattva on the Perfect Joy bodhisattva bhūmi fulfills these ten prayers countless hundreds of thousands of times.
“These ten great prayers have ten conclusions. What are these ten? They are (1) the conclusion of beings, (2) the conclusion of worlds, (3) the conclusion of space, (4) the conclusion of phenomena, (5) the conclusion of nirvāṇa, (6) the conclusion of the appearance of buddhas, (7) the conclusion of the wisdom of the tathāgatas, (8) the conclusion of the mind’s objectives, (9) the conclusion of entering the wisdom of buddhahood, and (10) the conclusion of the continuation of worlds, the continuation of the Dharma, and the continuation of wisdom. [B14] [F.180.a]
“He makes a perfect prayer, saying, ‘In that way, may the conclusion of these great prayers of mine be at the end of (1) beings, (2) worlds, (3) space, (4) phenomena, [386] (5) nirvāṇa, (6) the appearance of the buddhas, (7) the wisdom of the tathāgatas, (8) the mind’s objectives, (9) the accomplishment of wisdom, (10) the continuity of worlds, the continuity of the Dharma, and the continuity of wisdom. (1) Just as there is no end to beings, may my roots of goodness never be concluded. (2) Just as there is no end to worlds, (3) space, (4) phenomena, (5) nirvāṇa, (6) the appearance of buddhas, (7) the wisdom of the tathāgatas, (8) the mind’s objectives, (9) the accomplishment of wisdom, and (10) the continuity of worlds, the continuity of the Dharma, and the continuity of wisdom, may my roots of goodness never be concluded!’
“He makes that prayer with (1) an altruistic mind, (2) a gentle mind, (3) an adept mind, (4) a peaceful mind, (5) a tamed mind, (6) a deeply peaceful mind, (7) a flexible mind, (8) a loving mind, (9) an undisturbed mind, and (10) an untroubled mind.139
“He has many excellent realizations and has faith: (1) He has faith in the accomplishment of conduct by all the previous tathāgata arhat bhagavat samyaksambuddhas. [F.180.b] (2) He has faith in their attainment of the perfections. (3) He has faith in their attainment of the various bhūmis. (4) He has faith in their accomplishment of the strengths. (5) He has faith in their perfection of the confidences. (6) He has faith in their unsurpassable, unique buddha qualities. (7) He has faith in their inconceivable buddha qualities.140 (8) He has faith in their accomplishment of the purview of a buddha, which has no center or edge. (9) He has faith in their entering and following the immeasurable scope of activity of the tathāgatas. (10) He has faith in their accomplishment of the result.
“In brief, they have faith in all bodhisattva conduct and so on, up to the authority of the teaching on the wisdom of the bhūmi141 of the tathāgatas.
“He thinks, ‘These buddha qualities are thus (1) vast, (2) profound, (3) singular, (4) peaceful, (5) empty, (6) featureless, (7) aspirationless, (8) desireless, (9) stainless, and (10) limitless, and these buddha qualities are difficult to attain. However, these children, these ordinary beings, have (1) minds that have fallen into bad views and the thick darkness of ignorance and dimmed sight, which obscures their minds. (2) They have thoughts that raise the victory banner of pride. (3) Their minds are never satisfied. (4) They are caught in the net of craving. (5) They have minds that engage in the darkness of deceit and deception. [F.181.a] (6) They are completely encircled by thoughts of envy and avarice, so that within the continuum of the path they are completely connected to birth. (7) They accumulate karma from being engaged in desire and hatred and ignorance. (8) Their anger and enmity create a blazing fire in their minds. (9) They perform erroneous actions. (10) They have the seeds of minds, mentation, and consciousnesses that are under the influence of ignorance and the view of desire and becoming. They generate the seedling of the suffering of rebirth as the simultaneous birth and inseparable arising of name-and-form in the three realms. That name-and-form increases so that the collection of the six bases of sensory perception is created. When the bases of sensory perception have appeared there occur the sensations from their mutual contact and combining. When there is the repeated enjoyment of sensation, craving and grasping increase. Through the increase of that grasping there occurs becoming. When becoming has occurred, there is the manifestation of birth, old age, death, misery, wailing, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbances of mind. A mass of suffering is created in that way for those beings, while plants, trees, walls, wheel tracks, illusions, and the like are devoid of me and mine, and they are vacant, hollow, empty, inactive, motionless, and inanimate and therefore do not have that kind of awareness.’
“When the bodhisattva sees that those beings are not free from that mass of suffering, great compassion arises in him for those beings. He thinks, ‘I shall protect these beings, liberate them, and bring them to ultimate happiness,’ and great love develops within him. [F.181.b]
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who is on the first bodhisattva bhūmi is endowed with that kind of compassion and love, that superior motivation. He has rejected the mind that is directed toward all things, aspires to the wisdom of buddhahood, and with a mind with powerful faith is dedicated to great generosity in the following way: He gives away wealth, stores of grain, and property. He gives away pure gold, jewels, pearls, beryls, conch, coral, and gold or silver coins.142 He gives away precious jewelry and ornaments. He gives away horses, elephants, chariots, drivers, and steeds. He gives away male servants and female servants. He gives away villages, towns, lands, palaces, and capitals. He gives away parks of fruit tree orchards, groves for ascetics, and temples.
“He gives away wives, sons, and daughters. He gives away all beautiful and pleasant things. He gives away his head, ears, nose, hands, feet, and eyes, his limbs, and his entire body. He has no attachment to any of those things he gives away, and he gives them away with a mind that has faith in and aspiration for the wisdom of the Buddha.
“Thus he practices great generosity when he is on the first bodhisattva bhūmi.
“In that way he has a motivation of compassion, love, and generosity, and in order to protect all beings more than ever before he is intently engaged in seeking both worldly and transcendent benefits. [F.182.a] He is indefatigable when he intently engages in seeking those benefits, and he therefore has indefatigability. As he is indefatigable, he becomes proficient143 in all learning. Therefore, he becomes one who knows all learning. As someone who has obtained learning in that way, with the understanding of what is to be done and not to be done, he behaves144 appropriately145 toward higher, middling, and lower levels of beings according to146 his own power and their suitability.147 Therefore he knows the world. Because he knows the world he acts in accord with the times. He is adorned with a sense of shame and conscience and engages in benefiting himself and others. That being so, he has a sense of shame and conscience and engages in that kind of conduct. He is unaffected by worldly concerns, will not turn away from enlightenment, and therefore gains the power of stability.148 Having acquired the power of stability he applies himself to serving and making offerings to the tathāgatas and is dedicated to their teachings.
“In that way these are the qualities of that purified bhūmi: (1) faith, (2) compassion, (3) love, (4) generosity, (5) indefatigability, (6) knowledge of the teaching, (7) knowledge of the world, (8) a sense of shame and conscience, (9) the power of stability, and (10) serving and making offerings to the tathāgatas. [F.182.b]
“When in that way he is on the Perfect Joy bodhisattva bhūmi, because of his vast view and the power of his prayers many buddhas will appear to him. Because of his vast view and the power of his prayers many hundreds of buddhas, many thousands of buddhas, many hundreds of thousands of buddhas, many millions149 of buddhas, many tens of millions150 of buddhas, many billions of buddhas, many tens of billions of buddhas, many trillions of buddhas, and many quintillions of buddhas151 will appear to him. He will see those tathāgatas, those arhats, those samyaksambuddhas, and with a vast motivation he will serve them, worship them, honor them, make offerings to them, supply them with robes, alms, bowls, beds, medicine for when they are ill, and implements. He will also offer all the articles that bring happiness to a bodhisattva. He will also offer to the assemblies of the Saṅgha. He will dedicate all those roots of goodness to the highest complete enlightenment.
“In that way, he will make offerings to those bhagavats and will thereby accomplish the activity of ripening beings. Through the methods for gathering pupils, generosity and pleasant words in particular, he will ripen beings. Through the strength of the power of his aspiration, he will also accomplish the two higher methods of gathering pupils, but he does not have the comprehension of everything without exception. From among the ten perfections, the perfection of generosity predominates, and the other perfections are not accomplished fully and completely.
“As he engages in making offerings to the buddha bhagavats and engages in ripening beings, he acquires the qualities of the purified bhūmi. [F.183.a] Those roots of goodness, dedicated to omniscience, become even more purified and effective just as he wishes them to be.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, a skilled smith refines gold in fire so that it becomes purified and useful just as he wishes it to be.
“O jinaputras! In the same way, as the bodhisattva engages in making offerings to the buddha bhagavats and engages in ripening beings, he acquires the qualities of the purified bhūmi. Those roots of goodness, dedicated to omniscience, become even more purified and effective just as he wishes them to be.
“O jinaputras! Moreover, the bodhisattva mahāsattva who is on the first bodhisattva bhūmi investigates and questions the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and kalyāṇamitras about the features, attainments, and results of the first bodhisattva bhūmi. He is never content in perfecting the aspects of that bhūmi. In the same way, he investigates and questions the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and kalyāṇamitras about the features, attainments, and results of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth bodhisattva bhūmis, and he is never content with accomplishing the various aspects of these ten. [F.183.b]
“He becomes learned about what accords with and what is contrary to the bhūmis. He becomes learned about what develops and what counters the bhūmis. He becomes learned about the features and consequences of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about the attainments and meditations of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about the refinement of the resultant features of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about the attainment and cultivation of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about purifying the features of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about ascending from one bhūmi to another. He becomes learned about being on the various bhūmis. He becomes learned about passing from one bhūmi to another. He becomes learned about the differences between the bhūmis. He becomes learned about knowing the irreversibility of the attainment of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about ascending to the tathāgata bhūmi through refining the bodhisattva bhūmis.
“O jinaputras! In that way the bodhisattva mahāsattva who is learned in the accomplishment of the features of the bhūmis ascends without disturbance from the first bhūmi and reaches the tenth bhūmi without impediment. Through the light of the wisdom of the bhūmis he attains the light of the wisdom of buddhahood.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, a wise great caravan leader wishes to lead the travelers and wants to bring them to a great city. First he inquires and finds out about the good qualities of the route, the dangers of straying from the route, the differences between the stations along the route, the dangers of not knowing the stations along the route, what should and should not be done on the journey, and what provisions should be prepared. He learns well all about the first station of the journey and so on, up to arriving at the city. [F.184.a] Before leaving the first station of the journey, he has examined and learned all this and has a vast accumulation of provisions, so that the numerous travelers will reach the great city without harm. In that way he ensures that no harm will come to himself or his travelers in the deserts and uninhabited lands.
“O jinaputras! In the same way, the bodhisattva mahāsattva is like a wise caravan leader. When he is on the first bodhisattva bhūmi he becomes learned about what accords with and what is contrary to the bhūmis. He becomes learned about what develops and what counters the bhūmis. He becomes learned about the features and results of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about the attainments and meditations of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about the refinement of the resultant features of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about the attainment and cultivation of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about purifying the features of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about ascending from one bhūmi to another. He becomes learned about being on the various bhūmis. He becomes learned about passing from one bhūmi to another. He becomes learned about the differences between the bhūmis. He becomes learned about knowing the irreversibility of the attainment of the bhūmis. He becomes learned about ascending to the tathāgata bhūmi through refining the bodhisattva bhūmis.
“At that time, he obtains the provisions of a great accumulation of merit and has the thorough examination of a great accumulation of wisdom. He has the motivation to lead the beings who are traveling this route and wishes to bring them to the great city of omniscience. [F.184.b]
“At the beginning, he questions and finds out from buddhas, bodhisattvas, and kalyāṇamitras about the path through the bhūmis, the qualities of the path through the bhūmis, the dangers of straying from the path through the bhūmis, the differences between the stations along the path through the bhūmis, and the dangers of not knowing the stations along the path through the bhūmis, and he prepares a great accumulation of merit as provisions.
“He learns well everything from the first station of the path up to arriving at the city of omniscience. He has the intelligence of the discrimination of wisdom and the perfect provisions of a vast accumulation of merit and wisdom, so that by ripening a great multitude of beings he will accomplish the difficult journey of crossing the deserts and empty lands of saṃsāra and arrive at the great city of omniscience, and he ensures for himself and the others on the route that there will be no harm from the dangers of saṃsāra’s deserts and empty lands.
“O jinaputras! Therefore, the bodhisattva mahāsattva is indefatigable in his preparation for the different bhūmis. He becomes learned about them all, up to reaching the bhūmi of the wisdom of all the tathāgatas.
“O jinaputras! That is the brief teaching on entering through the doorway of Perfect Joy, the first bodhisattva bhūmi of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas.
“If I were to teach it in detail, I would not come to an end in countless hundreds of thousands of eons. The teaching would not be fully completed until the end of an asaṃkhyeya eon.152
“The bodhisattva mahāsattva on that bhūmi predominantly becomes a ruler of Jambudvīpa; he attains the state of sovereignty with great power and becomes a protector of the Dharma, becomes wise and powerful in the methods of attracting beings through great generosity, [F.185.a] becomes wise in dispelling from beings the stain of avarice, and does not become disheartened in accomplishing great generosity; and in whatever roots of goodness he practices through generosity, kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, among all beings he becomes supreme, the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on.
“His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects.
“If he wishes to, he can apply himself153 in such a way that in just one instant, in one moment, he can give up his entire family, wife, and possessions and be ordained in the Tathāgata’s teaching. Having been ordained, in just one instant he will attain and rest in a hundred samādhis, see a hundred buddhas and know their blessings, cause a hundred worlds to shake, go to a hundred buddha realms, [F.185.b] illuminate a hundred worlds, ripen a hundred beings, remain for a hundred eons, enter a hundred previous eons and a hundred future eons, open a hundred Dharma doors, manifest a hundred bodies, and manifest each body having a retinue of a hundred bodhisattvas.
“From this time onward the bodhisattvas who have the power of prayer can through particular prayers manifest bodies, light, miracles, sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, for hundreds of eons, for thousands of eons, for hundreds of thousands of eons, and for a quintillion154 eons.”
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha, in order to examine and teach the meaning of this bhūmi, recited these verses:
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! When the bodhisattva has perfectly mastered the first bhūmi, he aspires to the second bhūmi. There are ten kinds of thought that arise in his mind. What are these ten? They are (1) straightforward thought,179 (2) serene thought,180 (3) capable thought, (4) tamed thought, (5) peaceful thought, (6) virtuous thought, (7) distinctive thought,181 (8) independent thought,182 (9) sublime thought,183 and (10) exalted thought.184
“Those are the ten kinds of thought that arise. Through those he will be on Stainless, the second bodhisattva bhūmi.
“O jinaputras, the bodhisattva who is on the Stainless bodhisattva bhūmi will naturally possess the path of ten good actions. What are these ten?185
1. “He does not kill: He forsakes clubs, forsakes swords,186 forsakes revenge, [F.188.a] feels shame, and is compassionate, and toward all living beings he has a loving mind and wishes to bring them benefit and happiness. He does not even have thoughts of harming beings, let alone of consciously causing physical harm to other beings, knowing that they are beings.
2. “He also does not take what is not given: He is content with his own possessions and does not desire the possessions of others. He perceives that things owned by others are the property of others and has a definite understanding of what is theft. He will not take even a blade of grass or a leaf that is not given, let alone that which sustains life.
3. “He also does not practice sexual misconduct: He is content with his own wife and does not desire the wife of another. He does not even have desire toward women who belong to others, toward the wives of others, or toward those prohibited because of family, signs,187 or Dharma,188 let alone have sexual intercourse with them.
4. “He also does not lie: He speaks the truth, says what has occurred, speaks at the right time, speaks the right amount, and does what he says he will do. He does not even tell a lie in his dreams, let alone tell a lie deliberately.
5. “He also does not slander: He does not cause division and vexation between people and he does not repeat to one person what he has heard from another, nor does he then repeat what that person tells him back to the other. He does not drive apart those who are in harmony. He does not increase conflict. He does not enjoy disharmony and does not delight in disharmony. He does not speak words that will create disharmony whether they are true or not.
6. “He also does not speak harsh words: His speech is not disturbing, abusive, rough, [F.188.b] hurtful, wounding, criticizing, accusing, low, vile, worthless, unpleasant, filled with anger or rage, a cause for heartache, disagreeable, or destructive to his own mind and the minds of others. He speaks words that are gentle, agreeable, pleasant, delightful, favorable, charming, respectable, valuable, clear, comprehensible, worth hearing, dependable, pleasing to many, agreeable to many people, and praised by the wise, and words that bring benefit and happiness to all beings, make the mind happy, bring the mind satisfaction, calm his own and others’ minds, and eliminate desire, anger, ignorance, and all kleśas.
7. “He has also forsaken idle talk: He gives answers well, speaks at the appropriate time, speaks truthfully, speaks meaningfully, speaks of the Dharma, speaks logically, speaks with control, speaks with cause, and pays attention to the time. He even avoids telling stories that should not be told, let alone distracting speech.
8. “He is also not covetous: He does not covet the wealth of others, the pleasures of others, the utensils of others, or the property of others. He does not wish for, hope for, or desire them, thinking, ‘May what is theirs be mine.’ [F.189.a]
9. “He also has no malice: Toward all beings his mind has love, altruism, kindness, happiness, gentleness, the wish to benefit the entire world, and the wish to compassionately benefit all beings. He is without anger, enmity, the stain of hardheartedness, malevolence, rage, and so on. His contemplations are contemplations and examinations that are beneficial, loving, and bring benefit and happiness to beings.
10. “He has the true view: He follows the correct path, which is marvelous, fortunate, and free of bad views. He has correct views, is without deception, is without duplicity, and has certainty in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha.
“He always continuously maintains this path of the ten good actions.
“He has these thoughts in his mind: ‘All the falling of beings into the lower existences, the lower realms, is caused by adopting the path of the ten bad actions. Oh! I shall myself maintain correct conduct, make others maintain correct conduct, and teach correct conduct to others. What would make that impossible? If I myself maintain wrong conduct, there will be no possibility for me to establish others in correct conduct.’
“He contemplates in this way: ‘Following these paths of the ten bad actions causes beings to be reborn in the hells, as animals, and in Yama’s realm. [F.189.b] Following the paths of the ten good actions causes beings to be reborn as humans and so on, up to the highest of existences.
“ ‘Higher than that, those who follow the path of the ten good actions but with a limited motivation and with a mind terrified of the three realms are without great compassion, and they meditate on the wisdom gained through following what they have heard from others who are practicing the Śrāvakayāna.
“ ‘Higher than that, those who do not rely on others, attain enlightenment by themselves, are without great compassion and method, and gain realization through realizing profound dependent origination are practicing the Pratyekabuddhayāna.
“ ‘Higher than that, those who have vast, immeasurable motivation, great kindness and compassion, possess skillful methods, make great prayers, do not abandon all beings, have the goal of the vast wisdom of buddhahood, and purify the bodhisattva bhūmis are practicing the vast, pure conduct of the perfections.
“ ‘Higher than that, those who purify themselves in the supreme way on the path of the ten good actions will attain the power of the ten strengths and the four confidences and will accomplish the supreme qualities of buddhahood. Therefore, I shall dedicate myself to the accomplishment of supreme purification in the practice of the ten good actions.’
“He teaches in this way: ‘Following, furthering, and practicing a great deal of these paths of the ten bad actions is the cause for beings to be reborn in the hells. [F.190.a] Following, furthering, and practicing a medium amount of these paths is the cause for rebirth as an animal. Doing the least amount is the cause for rebirth in Yama’s realm.
“ ‘Through killing, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: a short life and many illnesses.
“ ‘Through taking what has not been given, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: little wealth and its being used by others.
“ ‘Through sexual misconduct, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: a quarrelsome wife and troublesome servants.
“ ‘Through lying, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: much denigration and being deceived by others.
“ ‘Through slandering, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. [F.190.b] Even if born as a human, there will be two of results of that karma: conflict among servants and bad servants.
“ ‘Through harsh speech, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: hearing unpleasant words and quarrelsome words.
“ ‘Through idle speech, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: ignoble words and lack of eloquence.
“ ‘Through avarice, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will two results of that karma: dissatisfaction and great desire.
“ ‘Through malice, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: seeking opportunities to harm and being tormented by others.
“ ‘Through wrong views, beings will be taken to hell, will be led to rebirth as an animal, will be led to Yama’s realm. Even if born as a human, there will be two results of that karma: falling into bad views and being deceptive.
“ ‘Therefore as these paths of the bad actions gather an immeasurable great mass of suffering, I shall reject these paths of the ten bad actions and remain happy in enjoying the delights of the pleasure of the Dharma. I shall reject these paths of the ten bad actions, and I shall remain on the paths of the ten good actions and bring others onto them.
“ ‘Toward those beings I will first develop a motivation to benefit them, to bring them happiness, love, compassion, and kindness, to take care of them, to protect them, to be their teacher, and to be their instructor.’
“He also thinks, ‘Alas! These beings who have fallen into evil views have aberrant understanding, have aberrant motivation, and move through the darkness of an evil path. [F.191.a] Therefore I shall bring them to the path of the truth, the path of the correct view, the true nature exactly as it is.
“ ‘Oh! These beings are in conflict, quarrel and fight, and are continuously burning with anger and enmity. Therefore I shall bring them to the accomplishment of the highest great love.
“ ‘Alas! These beings are unsatisfied and crave for the wealth of others and are endlessly engaged in gaining a livelihood. Therefore, I shall establish them in livelihood through the purity of the body, speech, and mind’s actions.
“ ‘Alas! These beings have desire, anger, and ignorance, which are the causes of existence, and they are continuously burning in the flames of the various kleśas but do not seek the method that would free them from that. Therefore I shall bring them to the cessation of all kleśas, [410] to freedom from harm, to nirvāṇa.
“ ‘Alas! These beings are enveloped in the darkness of ignorance, the loss of sight, and the blindness of ignorance; the light of wisdom is far away, and they work in the vast desert of saṃsāra, carrying out actions in the vast desert of bad views. Therefore, I shall do whatever I can to purify their wisdom eyes of obscurations so that they will gain an unobscured understanding, not dependent on others, of the true nature of all phenomena.
“ ‘Alas! These beings accomplish actions in the vast desert and wasteland of saṃsāra and are looking down into the abyss of the hells, rebirth as animals, and Yama’s realm. [F.191.b] They are caught in the unending net of wrong views, they are enveloped in the darkness of ignorance, they have gone astray on the incorrect path, they are blind and without the guide of virtue, they see as salvation that which is not salvation, they are bound in the noose of Māra, they are seized by the bandit of perceptions, they are sunk in the darkness of the motivation of Māra, and the motivation of buddhahood is far away. Therefore, I shall become a protector for them in that saṃsāra, I will lead them across that desert that is difficult to cross, and I shall bring them to the city of omniscience, which is free of fear and free from harm.
“ ‘Alas! These beings are drowning in a great river, having entered the river of desire, ignorance, existence, and views; having been caught in the current of saṃsāra, swept away by the river of existence, tossed around by its great waves, and overcome by the power of desire and craving, they are devoid of the power of contemplation and engage in desire, malice, violence, and many thoughts, and they are captured by the river monster of the view of a self, caught in the whirlpool of the darkness of pleasures, sunk in the swamp of craving for pleasures, lost in the dry wasteland of great egotism, without support, unable to escape from the city of sensory perceptions, and without the liberation of good actions. Therefore, I shall free them through the power of great compassion and the strength of good actions, and bring them to the precious island of omniscience, which is free of harm, free of dirt, peaceful, happy, and without fear.
“ ‘Alas! These beings are tormented by the many sufferings and unhappinesses of the three realms; [F.192.a] they are in the bondage of desire and anger, of pleasure and sorrow; they wail in misery; they are held in the chains of craving, enveloped in the darkness of ignorance, and in conflict with one another.189 Therefore I shall bring them all to unobscured nirvāṇa, which is distinct from the three realms.190
“ ‘Alas! These beings are fixed upon belief in self and ownership, and they do not depart from the dwelling that is the skandhas; they enter into the four misconceptions, live within the empty town of the six sensory bases, are injured by the snakes of the four great elements, are attacked by the murderers and bandits of the skandhas, and experience immeasurable suffering. Therefore, I shall bring them to sublime happiness that is free of any abode: the nirvāṇa of unobscured omniscience.
“ ‘Alas! These beings aspire to what is inferior, weak, and incapable. Even though from the Mahāyāna there arises the irreversible sublime mind of omniscient wisdom, they have śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha mentalities. Therefore, I shall bring them to the unsurpassable Mahāyāna, which has the immense motivation and vast realization of buddhahood, by teaching them about omniscient wisdom.’
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who has that power and might of correct conduct, who is skilled in the accomplishment of compassion and love, is a good friend who is not under the control of all beings, who does not forsake all beings, who is skilled in knowing what is and is not to be done. [F.192.b] He who is on the Stainless bodhisattva bhūmi will, because of his vast view and the power of his prayers, have many buddhas appear to him. Because of his vast view and the power of his prayers, many hundreds of buddhas, many thousands of buddhas, many hundreds of thousands of buddhas, many millions of buddhas, many tens of millions191 of buddhas, many billions of buddhas, many tens of billions of buddhas, many trillions of buddhas, and many quintillions of buddhas will appear to him. He will see those tathāgatas, those arhats, those samyaksambuddhas, and with a vast motivation he will serve them, worship them, honor them, make offerings to them, and supply them with robes, alms, bowls, beds, medicine for when they are ill, and implements. He will also offer all the articles that bring happiness to a bodhisattva. He will also offer to the assemblies of the Saṅgha. He will dedicate all those roots of goodness to the highest complete enlightenment.
“He also respectfully receives from those tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas these paths of the ten good actions, and having received them he does not abandon them or let them go to waste. For many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, many millions of eons, many tens of millions of eons, many billions of eons, many tens of billions of eons, many trillions of eons, and many quintillions of eons, he remains practicing generosity and pure conduct without the fault of miserliness or the stain of bad conduct. [F.193.a]
“O jinaputras! It is like this: to give an analogy, if gold is put into green vitriol, all its impurities are removed.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the Stainless bodhisattva bhūmi, for many eons and so on, up to many quintillions of eons, remains practicing generosity and pure conduct without the fault of miserliness or the stain of bad conduct. From among the four methods of attracting beings, he primarily practices kind words. From among the ten perfections, the perfection of good conduct predominates, and the other perfections are not accomplished fully and completely.
“O jinaputras! This was a brief teaching of the bodhisattva bhūmi named Stainless, which is the second bodhisattva bhūmi.
“The bodhisattva mahāsattva who is on that bhūmi predominantly becomes a cakravartin king with power over the four continents. Through the Dharma he attains sovereignty and becomes endowed with the seven precious possessions. He is skilled and has the ability to eliminate the fault of miserliness and the stain of bad conduct in all beings. He is very skilled in bringing beings onto the path of the ten good actions.
“He does not become weary of accomplishing great generosity, and in whatever roots of goodness he practices through kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, among all beings he becomes supreme, [F.193.b] the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on. His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects.
“If he wishes to, he can apply himself in such a way that in just one instant he can abandon his entire family, wife, and possessions and is ordained in the Tathāgata’s teaching. Having been ordained, in just one instant he attains and rests in a thousand samādhis, sees a thousand buddhas and knows their blessings, causes a thousand worlds to shake, goes to a thousand buddha realms, illuminates a thousand worlds, ripens a thousand beings, remains for a thousand eons, enters a thousand previous eons and a thousand future eons, opens a thousand Dharma doors, manifests a thousand bodies, and manifests each body having a retinue of a thousand bodhisattvas. From this time onward the bodhisattvas who have the power of prayer through particular prayers manifest bodies, light, miracles, [F.194.a] sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, and so on, until many quintillions of eons, which are difficult to enumerate.”
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha, in order to teach the meaning of this bhūmi and to analyze it, recited these verses:
The bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! In that way through purifying his higher motivation on the second bodhisattva bhūmi he ascends to the third bhūmi. He ascends through ten kinds of focusing on his mind’s orientation. What are those ten? They are (1) focusing on the orientation of a pure mind, (2) focusing on the orientation of a stable mind, (3) focusing on the orientation of a disenchanted mind, (4) focusing on the orientation of a mind without desire, (5) focusing on the orientation of an irreversible mind, (6) focusing on the orientation of a resolute mind, (7) focusing on the orientation of a refined mind, (8) focusing on the orientation of an insatiable mind, (9) focusing on the orientation of a sublime mind, and (10) focusing on the orientation of an exalted mind.
“O jinaputras, the bodhisattva who is on the third bodhisattva bhūmi realizes correctly, just as it is, that (1) all that is composite is impermanent. (2) He sees the nature of that which is composite to be suffering,196 (3) unpleasantness, (4) unreliability, (5) destruction, (6) transitoriness, (7) momentary arising and ceasing, (8) nonarising in the past, (9) nontransference into the future, [F.196.a] and (10) nonpresence in the present.
“When he sees in that way the nature of composite phenomena, he sees that they are accompanied by (1) destruction, (2) weeping, (3) misery, (4) wailing, (5) distress, (6) bondage by pleasure and displeasure, (7) great suffering, unhappiness, and distress, (8) being nonaccumulative,197 (9) the burning fires of desire, anger, and ignorance, (10) and numerous various illnesses.
“He elevates his motivation, more than ever before, higher than composite phenomena, and he aims for the wisdom of the tathāgatas.
“He sees the wisdom of the tathāgatas as (1) inconceivable, (2) unequaled, (3) unfathomable, (4) hard to obtain, (5) unique, (6) invulnerable, (7) undisturbed, (8) having arrived at the city of no fear, (9) irreversible, (10) and protecting many beings.
“In that way, he sees the wisdom of the tathāgatas as beyond measure and sees that composite phenomena have numerous misfortunes. More than ever before he develops ten perceptions of all beings. What are these ten? (1) He perceives them as being without a protector, without a refuge, and without a support; (2) as being continually destitute; (3) as burning with the fires of desire, anger, and ignorance; (4) as being imprisoned in the dungeon of existence; (5) as being continuously enveloped in the darkness of the kleśas; (6) as having the thoughts of a mind that does not have the power to examine; [F.196.b] (7) as having no aspiration to good qualities; (8) as having gone astray from the entire Dharma of the Buddha; (9) as being swept along in the current of saṃsāra; and (10) as being terrified by the path to liberation. Those are the ten perceptions he acquires.
“Then, seeing that the realm of beings has many misfortunes, he engages in this kind of diligence: (1) ‘I will protect these beings, (2) I will liberate them, (3) I will purify them, (4) I will raise them up, (5) I will establish them,198 (6) I will make them stable,199 (7) I will satisfy them,200 (8) I will nurture them, (9) I will tame them, and (10) I will cause them to enter nirvāṇa.’
“He is thus disenchanted with the nature of composite phenomena, considers all beings, puts his trust in the wisdom of the tathāgatas as omniscient wisdom, and is dedicated to protecting beings. He considers in this way: ‘Through what method or path can I raise up these beings who have fallen into suffering and the kleśas, and bring them to the ultimate happiness of nirvāṇa?’
“The bodhisattva concludes, ‘That can only come from unobscured wisdom, the state of liberation. Unobscured wisdom, the state of liberation, can only come from the realization of the exact nature of all phenomena. [F.197.a] The realization of the exact nature of all phenomena can only come from the wisdom of nonoccurrence, nonarising. The light of that wisdom can only come from skill in dhyāna and certainty of realization. Skill in dhyāna and certainty of realization can only come from becoming learned through listening.’
“He has that kind of knowledge through examination, and more than ever he is engaged in diligently seeking for the sublime Dharma. He is dedicated to listening to the Dharma day and night, he fulfills his insatiable desire for the Dharma, he is constantly seeking the Buddha’s Dharma, he delights in the Dharma, he enjoys the Dharma, he depends on the Dharma, he is focused on the Dharma, he is intent upon the Dharma, he is predisposed to the Dharma, he is devoted to the Dharma, he clings to the Dharma, he protects the Dharma, and he has the correct practice of the Dharma.
“He is so dedicated to seeking the Dharma that there is nothing precious, no wealth, no riches, no grain store, and no treasury that he will not give away. Because of his delight in the Dharma, he does not perceive it as a hardship. Otherwise, when a dharmabhāṇaka recites even one word he will perceive it as a hardship.
“There is nothing that he has externally acquired that he will not give away for the sake of the Dharma, and there is nothing of himself that he will not give away. What are these? He will give away his servants, [F.197.b] he will give away his kingdom, he will give away his possessions, and he will give away his wealth and grain and his jewels, gold, and treasury. He will give away his horses, elephants, chariots, and steeds. He will give away his precious jewelry and ornaments. He will give away his wives, his sons, and his daughters. He will give away his head, feet, hands, and limbs. He will give away his entire body. There is none of this that he will not give away for the sake of the Dharma.
“There is nothing that he will not do in order to serve and attend the guru. There is nothing that he will not do, eliminating pride and arrogance and serving humbly. There is nothing that would be physically painful that he will not do. He is made happy by hearing one word of Dharma that he has not heard before, and not by great wealth, not by obtaining a mass of jewels that would fill the great universe of a thousand million worlds. He is made happy by hearing one verse of the excellent teaching and not by becoming Śakra, Brahmā, or a cakravartin king for many hundreds of thousands of eons.
“If someone were to declare to him, ‘If you can throw your body into this great pit of fire and experience that vast sensation of physical suffering, I will teach to you one word of the perfect Buddha’s Dharma, which teaches the refinement of the bodhisattva’s conduct,’ then he would think, [F.198.a] ‘In order to receive one word of the perfect Buddha’s Dharma teaching on purifying the bodhisattva conduct, I would leap from the Brahmā realm into a fire that fills the great universe of a thousand million worlds, not to mention throw myself into an ordinary pit of fire like this. I would experience the sufferings of hell in order to seek the Buddha’s Dharma, not to mention experience human suffering.’
“He seeks the Dharma with that kind of dedication. When he has heard the Dharma, he gives it his complete attention. He rejoices in the Dharma that he has heard and reflects on it while remaining in solitude. That is how he contemplates the Dharma.
“His correct practice of the true Dharma is not solely the pure path of the learned words of the Buddha’s Dharma. The bodhisattva who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi called Shining has no desires, has no bad actions or negative qualities, and has contemplation and examination. Solitude brings him joy and bliss, which is attaining and remaining in the first dhyāna.
“Then contemplation and examination cease; there is great internal clarity, the mind becomes one-pointed without contemplation or examination, and there is both the joy and bliss of samādhi, so that he accomplishes and remains in the second dhyāna.
“Then he remains in equanimity with no desire for that joy, so that with mindfulness there is awareness of the bliss, and there is the physical sensation of it. [F.198.b] The equanimity of the noble ones has mindfulness that is without joy but remains in bliss.
“This means that he accomplishes and remains in the third dhyāna.
“Then he eliminates bliss and eliminates suffering. Pleasant and unpleasant states of mind cease so that that he accomplishes and remains in the fourth dhyāna, in which there is no suffering or bliss, and the pure mindfulness of equanimity.
“The perception of forms is transcended, and the perception of obstacles ceases, so that there is no mental engagement with various perceptions, so that there is what is called infinite space. Thus he accomplishes and remains in the āyatana of infinite space. Then that āyatana of infinite space is transcended and there is what is called infinite consciousness, so that he accomplishes and remains in the āyatana of infinite consciousness. Then that āyatana of infinite consciousness is transcended and there is what is called nothingness, so that he accomplishes and remains in the āyatana of nothingness. Then that āyatana of nothingness is transcended and there is what is called neither perception nor nonperception, so that he accomplishes and remains in the āyatana of neither perception nor nonperception.
“Thus he accomplishes the practice of the Dharma’s true Dharma by nothing other than the state of nondelight.
“He has an expansive loving mind that is vast, [F.199.a] nondual, immeasurable, without hostility, nondependent, unobscured, nonharmful, and all-pervading, so that it fills all worlds, the realm of phenomena, reaches the limits of space, and spreads everywhere.
“He demonstrates various miracles. He makes the earth shake, he makes one thing become many and many things become one, he can appear and disappear, he can pass through walls, he can pass through ramparts, he can pass freely through mountains as if they were space, he can sit cross-legged in the air, he can sink into the earth as if it were water, he stands on water as if it were earth, he emits smoke as if he were a fire, he blazes with fire, and rain falls from his body as if he were a great cloud. With his miraculous prowess and his great powers, he can touch the sun and the moon with his hand, and the power of his body extends up to the Brahmā realm. With his superhuman, pure, divine hearing he listens to what both humans and deities say. He hears sounds whether they are faraway or near, even small sounds like those of gnats, mosquito, bugs, and flies.
“He knows exactly what is in the minds of other beings and other individuals. He knows a mind that has desire to be a mind that has desire, knowing it exactly for what it is. [F.199.b] He knows a mind without desire to be a mind without desire, knowing it exactly for what it is. He knows exactly if the mind has anger or is without anger, has ignorance or is without ignorance, has the kleśas or is without the kleśas, is great or small, is wide or narrow, is in meditation or is not in meditation, is liberated or is not liberated, and has faults or is without faults, and he knows a mind that is vast to be vast. He knows a mind that is limited to be a mind that is limited, knowing it to be exactly what it is.
“In that way, he knows perfectly the minds of other beings, the minds of other individuals. He remembers many previous lifetimes: he remembers one previous lifetime, two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and a hundred previous lives. He remembers many hundreds of previous lives, many thousands of previous lives, many hundreds of thousands of previous lives, many hundreds of thousands of millions of previous lives, and many quintillions of previous lives.201 [F.200.a]
“He remembers many eons of creation, many eons of destruction, and many eons of creation and destruction. He remembers many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, many tens of millions202 of eons, many billions of eons, many tens of billions of eons, many trillions of eons, and many quintillions of eons.
“He says, ‘I lived in such and such a place, I had this name, I had this family, I had this clan, I ate this food, my lifetime was this long, I remained for this long, and I experienced this happiness and unhappiness, then when I died I was reborn in such and such a place. Then when I died there, I was reborn in such and such a place.’ In that way he remembers many details of his previous lifetimes, such as his appearance, location, and omens.
“With his superhuman pure divine sight he sees the deaths of beings, their rebirths, their good color or bad color, and whether they go on the path to happiness or to the lower realms, seeing all that is good or bad.
“He knows perfectly what kind of karma beings have created: ‘These beings have done bad actions with their bodies, they have done bad actions with their speech, they have done bad actions with their minds, they have maligned the noble ones, and they have wrong views. As the result of the karma they have acquired by holding wrong views they will acquire a body. After death they will fall into the lower realms, into the bad existences, and be reborn in the hells.
“ ‘These beings have done good actions with their bodies, done good actions with their speech, and done good actions with their minds. They have not maligned the noble ones, and they have correct views. [F.200.b] As the result of the karma they have acquired by holding correct views, they will acquire a body. After death they will be reborn in the higher realms, in happy existences.’
“In that way, with divine, superhuman pure sight he sees the death of beings who have passed away, their birth, their good color or bad color, whether they have gone to happy existences or bad existences; he sees all the good and bad, with their dispositions, signs, and omens. He knows exactly what kind of karma beings have to follow.
“He rests in meditation in these dhyānas, liberations, samādhis, and samāpattis and arises from them. He does not fall under their power but sees the completion of the factors for enlightenment.
“When he is on this bodhisattva bhūmi called Shining, many buddhas will appear to him because of his vast view and the power of his prayers, because of his vast view and the power of his prayers. Many hundreds of buddhas, many thousands of buddhas, many hundreds of thousands of buddhas, many millions of buddhas, many tens of millions of buddhas, many billions of buddhas, many tens of billions of buddhas, many trillions of buddhas, and many quintillions of buddhas will appear to him. He will see those tathāgatas, those arhats, those samyaksambuddhas, and with a vast motivation he will serve them, worship them, honor them, make offerings to them, and supply them with robes, alms, bowls, beds, medicine for when they are ill, [F.201.a] and implements. He will also offer all the articles that bring happiness to a bodhisattva. He will also offer to the assemblies of the Saṅgha. He will dedicate all those roots of goodness to the highest complete enlightenment.
“In that way, he will serve those tathāgatas, arhats, samyaksambuddhas and, attending them, will listen to the Dharma, acquire it, and possess it. When they have heard it, in what way do they diligently practice it? He knows that all phenomena do not depart and are not destroyed but arise through dependent origination. Because of this view and understanding, the bondage of desire will become weaker, the bondage of existence will become weaker, the bondage of ignorance will become weaker, and the bondage of views will become more purified. The bodhisattva who is on the Shining bodhisattva bhūmi will forsake and not accumulate incorrect desires for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, many tens of millions203 of eons, many billions of eons, many tens of billions of eons, many trillions of eons, and many quintillions of eons. Those roots of goodness will be purified; they will become completely pure and usable.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, gold to the weight of a dharaṇa in the hands of a skilled goldsmith can be made perfect. [F.201.b] In the same way, the one who is on this Shining bodhisattva bhūmi is unobscured by bad desire, unobscured by bad anger, and unobscured by bad ignorance. The roots of goodness arise, are pure, and are effective. His patience and gentleness are even more purified. He is entirely pleasant to be with. He is never angry. He is never disturbed. He is never unsettled. He is never unstable. He wishes to repay good actions. He is without deception or deceit. He is not incomprehensible.
“From among the four methods of attracting beings, he primarily practices accomplishing benefit.
“From among the ten perfections, the perfection of patience predominates, and the other perfections are not accomplished fully and completely.
“O jinaputras! This is the bodhisattva bhūmi named Shining, which is the third bodhisattva bhūmi.
“The bodhisattva who is on that bhūmi predominantly becomes Indra, king of the devas. He is skilled and has the ability to eliminate the fault of desire and passion in all beings.
“In whatever roots of goodness he accomplishes through kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, [F.202.a] among all beings he becomes supreme, the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on. His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects.
“If he wishes to, he can apply himself in such a way that in just one instant he attains and rests in a hundred thousand samādhis, sees a hundred thousand buddhas and knows their blessings, causes a hundred thousand worlds to shake, goes to a hundred thousand buddha realms, illuminates a hundred thousand worlds, ripens a hundred thousand beings, remains for a hundred thousand eons, enters a hundred thousand previous eons and a hundred thousand future eons, opens a hundred thousand Dharma doors, manifests a hundred thousand bodies, and manifests each body having a retinue of a hundred thousand bodhisattvas.
“From this time onward the bodhisattvas, with the power of prayer [F.202.b] and through particular prayers, manifest bodies, light, miracles, sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, and so on, until many quintillions of eons, which are difficult to enumerate.”
Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragarbha, in order to teach the meaning of this bhūmi and to analyze it, recited these verses:
Vimukticandra then said:
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! In that way the bodhisattva who has perfectly purified insight206 on the third bodhisattva bhūmi Shining ascends to the fourth bodhisattva bhūmi. He ascends because of207 ten attainments through insight into the Dharma. What are these ten? They are (1) attainment through insight in analyzing the realms of beings, (2) attainment through insight in analyzing the element of worlds, (3) attainment through insight in analyzing the element of phenomena, (4) attainment through insight in analyzing the element of space, (5) attainment through insight in analyzing the element of consciousnesses, (6) attainment through insight in analyzing the element of the desire realm, (7) attainment through insight in analyzing the element of the form realm, (8) attainment through insight in analyzing the element of the formless realm, (9) attainment through insight in analyzing the elements of sublime intention and aspiration,208 [F.204.b] and (10) attainment through insight in analyzing the elements of exalted motivation.209
“They ascend because of these ten attainments through insight.
“O jinaputras! When the bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva bhūmi named Brilliance he becomes one of the tathāgata family through attaining its qualities, the ten qualities that ripen wisdom. What are these ten? They are (1) irreversible motivation, (2) attaining the consummate state of stainless faith in the Three Jewels, (3) contemplation210 on the arising and ceasing of composite phenomena, (4) contemplation on natural nonarising, (5) contemplation on the appearance and dissolution of worlds, (6) contemplation on taking birth in an existence through karma, (7) contemplation on saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, (8) contemplation on the karma for beings to be in buddha realms, (9) contemplation on the past and the future, and (10) contemplation on nonexistence and annihilation.
“O jinaputras, the bodhisattva mahāsattva becomes one of the tathāgata family through attaining these qualities, the ten qualities that ripen wisdom.
“O jinaputras, the bodhisattva on the Brilliance bodhisattva bhūmi has dedication, awareness, and mindfulness, has eliminated worldly longing and unhappiness, and maintains the observation of the body based upon the interior of his own body.
“He has dedication, awareness, and mindfulness, has eliminated worldly longing and unhappiness, [F.205.a] and maintains the observation of the body based upon the exterior of his own body.
“He has dedication, awareness, and mindfulness, has eliminated worldly longing and unhappiness, and maintains the observation of the body based upon the exterior and interior of his own body.
“Similarly, he maintains the observation of sensation based upon internal sensation, external sensation, and external and internal sensation.
“Similarly, he maintains the observation of mind based upon internal mind, external mind, and external and internal mind.
“He has dedication, awareness, and mindfulness, has eliminated worldly longing and unhappiness, and maintains the observation of phenomena based upon interior phenomena.
“He has dedication, awareness, and mindfulness, has eliminated worldly longing and unhappiness, and maintains the observation of phenomena based upon external phenomena.
“He has dedication, awareness, and mindfulness, has eliminated worldly longing and unhappiness, and maintains the observation of phenomena based upon exterior and interior phenomena.
“Because he does not give rise to bad, nonvirtuous qualities that have not been created, he gives rise to faith, exerts effort, generates diligence, controls his mind, and focuses211 it correctly.
“Because he eliminates the bad and nonvirtuous qualities that he has previously created, he gives rise to faith, exerts effort, generates diligence, controls his mind, and focuses it correctly.
“Because he creates virtuous qualities that he has not previously created, he gives rise to faith, exerts effort, generates diligence, controls his mind, and focuses it correctly.
“Because the virtuous qualities he has created remain, and because they do not deteriorate but increase, develop even further, are meditated on, and are brought to perfection, [F.205.b] he gives rise to faith, exerts effort, generates diligence, controls his mind, and focuses it correctly.
“He cultivates the foundation for miraculous powers that is the samādhi of aspiration that possesses the mental activity of elimination based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the foundation for miraculous powers that is the samādhi of diligence that possesses the mental activity of elimination based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the foundation for miraculous powers that is the samādhi of motivation that possesses the mental activity of elimination based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the foundation for miraculous powers that is the samādhi of analysis that possesses the mental activity of elimination based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the power of faith based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the power of diligence based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the power of mindfulness based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the power of samādhi based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the power of wisdom based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the strength of faith [F.206.a] based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the strength of diligence based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the strength of mindfulness based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the strength of samādhi based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the strength of wisdom based on detachment, based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the factor for enlightenment that is mindfulness based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the factor for enlightenment that is the analysis of phenomena based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the factor for enlightenment that is diligence based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the factor for enlightenment that is joy based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the factor for enlightenment that is serenity based on detachment, [F.206.b] based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the factor for enlightenment that is samādhi based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates the factor for enlightenment that is equanimity based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates right view based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates right thought based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates right speech based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates right action based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates right livelihood based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates right effort based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates right mindfulness based on detachment, based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“He cultivates right samādhi based on detachment, [F.207.a] based on absence of desire, based on cessation, and developed by renunciation.
“Those come about by regarding all beings, accomplishing past prayers, having all-preceding great compassion, possessing great love, focusing on omniscient wisdom, creating a buddha realm, creating its adornments, accomplishing a tathāgata’s strengths, confidences, unique buddha qualities, body, primary and secondary signs, aspects of voice, and perfect speech, seeking for higher and higher special Dharmas, hearing and comprehending the profound liberation of the Buddhadharma, and becoming adept in wisdom and methods through analysis.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva on the Brilliance bodhisattva bhūmi knows and has eliminated the view of a self and so on: the entire mass of attachments to a self, a being, a soul, a spirit, a person, a human, humanity, skandhas, sensory elements, or sensory bases, and to beginnings and endings, examinations, analyses, numbering, possessions, wealth, and habitations. [F.207.b]
“He avoids whatever actions are condemned by the samyaksambuddhas, any that are endowed with the kleśas. He adopts whatever actions are praised by the samyaksambuddhas. He always practices whatever is conducive to the accumulation of the path to enlightenment.
“Therefore, through following the path he cultivates the aspects of the path212 and the accomplishment of method and wisdom so that (1) his mind is loving, (2) his mind is gentle, (3) his mind is adept, (4) his mind brings benefit and happiness, (5) his mind is not afflicted, (6) his mind aspires higher and higher, (7) his mind desires unique wisdom, (8) his mind protects all beings, (9) his mind has reverence for the gurus, and (10) his mind practices the Dharma he has heard.
“He is (1) appreciative, (2) grateful, (3) pleasant, (4) amiable, (5) candid, (6) tender, (7) sincere, (8) humble, (9) eloquent, and (10) respectful.
“Thus he has patience, restraint, and tranquility. With patience, restraint, and tranquility he focuses on and practices the higher paths of refining the bhūmis.
“He has (1) unceasing diligence,213 (2) unafflicted diligence, [F.208.a] (3) unstoppable diligence,214 (4) vast diligence, (5) endless diligence, (6) refined diligence, (7) unequaled diligence, (8) invincible diligence, (9) the diligence to ripen all beings, and (10) the diligence that differentiates between good and bad conduct.
“More than ever before (1) he has purified the element of intention, (2) he is never apart from the element of superior intention, (3) he has purified the element of motivation, (4) his roots of goodness increase greatly, (5) he has eliminated worldly stains, (6) he has brought uncertainty, equivocation, and skepticism to an end, (7) he becomes completely free from doubts, (8) he becomes completely happy and calm, (9) he is in the presence of the blessings of the tathāgatas, and (10) he perfectly develops an immeasurable motivation in his mind.
“When he has reached the Brilliance bodhisattva bhūmi, because of his vast view and the power of his prayers, many buddhas will appear to him. Because of his vast view and the power of his prayers, many hundreds of buddhas, many thousands of buddhas, many hundreds of thousands of buddhas, many millions of buddhas, many tens of millions215 of buddhas, many billions of buddhas, many tens of billions of buddhas, many trillions of buddhas, and many quintillions of buddhas will appear to him. [F.208.b] He will see those tathāgatas, those arhats, those samyaksambuddhas, and with a vast motivation he will serve them, worship them, honor them, make offerings to them, and supply them with robes, alms, bowls, beds, medicine for when they are ill, and implements. He will also offer all the articles that bring happiness to a bodhisattva. He will also offer to the assemblies of the Saṅgha. He will dedicate all those roots of goodness to the highest complete enlightenment.
“He will honor those tathāgatas, those arhats, those samyaksambuddhas, and he will serve, listen to, and acquire and hold their teachings. Having heard their teachings he will correctly and diligently practice them. Most who have heard those teachings will become ordained within the teaching, and their thoughts, higher motivation, aspiration, and equanimity will be pure.
“The bodhisattva who is on the Brilliance bodhisattva bhūmi will remain in those thoughts, higher motivation, aspiration, and equanimity for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, many millions of eons, many tens of millions of eons, many billions of eons, many tens of billions of eons, many trillions of eons, and many quintillions of eons. All his roots of goodness will be pure and extremely bright.
“O jinaputras, it is like when a skilled smith makes refined gold into jewelry that gold that has not been made into jewelry cannot surpass. [F.209.a] In that same way, the roots of goodness of a bodhisattva who is on the Brilliance bodhisattva bhūmi cannot be superseded or outshone by the roots of goodness of bodhisattvas on the lower bhūmis.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, a brilliant precious jewel that shines with an aura of light rays cannot be surpassed or outshone by other jewels, and neither wind, water, nor rain can stop it from shining.
“O jinaputras! In the same way a bodhisattva who is on the Brilliance bodhisattva bhūmi cannot be surpassed or outshone by bodhisattvas on the lower bhūmis, and neither māras nor beings with kleśas can stop his wisdom.
“From among the ten perfections, the perfection of diligence predominates, and the other perfections are not accomplished fully and completely.
“O jinaputras, this fourth bhūmi of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas is named Brilliance.
“The majority of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas who are on that bhūmi become the deva king Suyāma. He has the power and skill to destroy the view of a self in beings, and in whatever roots of goodness he practices through generosity, kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, [F.209.b] among all beings he becomes supreme, the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on. His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects.
“If he wishes to, he can apply himself in such a way that in just one instant he attains and rests in ten million216 samādhis, sees ten million buddhas and knows their blessings, causes ten million worlds to shake, goes to ten million buddha realms, illuminates ten million worlds, ripens ten million beings, remains for ten million eons, enters ten million previous eons and ten million future eons, opens ten million Dharma doors, manifests ten million bodies, and manifests each body having a retinue of ten million bodhisattvas.
“From this point on the bodhisattvas have the power of prayer, and through their particular prayers they emanate bodies, lights, miracles, sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, [F.210.a] for many hundreds of eons, for many thousands of eons, for many hundreds of thousands of eons, and for many innumerable and many quintillions of eons.”
Then Vajragarbha, in order to analyze and to teach this bhūmi, spoke these verses:
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who has completed the path of the fourth bodhisattva bhūmi enters the fifth bodhisattva bhūmi. He enters it through ten kinds of sameness226 of the mind’s thoughts227 on purity. What are these ten? They are these: (1) the sameness of thoughts of the pure qualities228 of the buddhas of the past; (2) the sameness of thoughts of the pure qualities of the buddhas of the future; (3) the sameness of thoughts of the pure qualities of the buddhas of the present; [F.212.a] (4) the sameness of thoughts of the purity of correct conduct; (5) the sameness of thoughts of the purity of mind;229 (6) the sameness of thoughts of the purity of eliminating views, uncertainty, doubt, and regret;230 (7) the sameness of thoughts of the purity of knowing what is the path and what is not the path; (8) the sameness of thoughts of the purity of knowing diligence and rejection; (9) the sameness of thoughts of the purity of the increasing development231 of all the factors for enlightenment; and (10) the sameness of thoughts of the purity of completely ripening all beings.
“O jinaputras, it is through these ten qualities of the mind’s thoughts on purity that they enter it.
“O jinaputras, the bodhisattva who has reached the fifth bodhisattva bhūmi has accomplished those factors for enlightenment, those aspects of the path, and has a purified higher motivation.
“Therefore he (1) aspires to the subsequent superior path, (2) follows the true nature, (3) establishes the power of prayer, (4) through compassion and love does not abandon any being, (5) has gathered the accumulations of merit and wisdom, (6) is unceasing, (7) has accomplished skill in methods, (8) is focused on the splendor of the higher and higher bhūmis, (9) has received the blessing of the tathāgatas, and (10) through the development of the power of mindfulness, understanding, and discernment has unimpeded attention.
“He knows completely the noble truth of suffering. He knows completely the noble truths of the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering. [F.212.b]
“(1) He is wise in relative truth, (2) he is wise in ultimate truth, (3) he is wise in the truth of characteristics, (4) he is wise in the truth of classification, (5) he is wise in the truth of accomplishment, (6) he is wise in the truth of things,232 (7) he is wise in the truth of generation,233 (8) he is wise in the truth of termination and nonarising,234 (9) he is wise in the truth of entering the wisdom of the path,235 and (10) he is also wise in developing the wisdom of the tathāgatas through accomplishing the transition between the stages of all bodhisattva bhūmis.
“(1) He makes other beings and other individuals happy according to their wishes and therefore knows relative truth perfectly. (2) He gathers all into one way and therefore knows ultimate truth perfectly. (3) He has comprehended the individual236 characteristics of phenomena and therefore knows the truth of characteristics perfectly. (4) He has comprehended the distinct categories of phenomena and therefore knows the truth of classification perfectly. (5) He has comprehended the distinctions of skandhas, sensory elements, and sensory bases and therefore knows the truth of accomplishment237 perfectly. (6) Through unveiling the kleśas of mind and body he knows the truth of things perfectly. (7) Through the connections of transition between existences he knows the truth of generation perfectly. (8) Through the pacification of all disease and pain he knows the truth of termination and nonarising perfectly. (9) Through the accomplishment of nonduality he knows the truth of entering the wisdom of the path perfectly. (10) Through becoming enlightened in all aspects and through accomplishing the transitions between the stages of all bodhisattva bhūmis he knows the truth of developing the wisdom of the tathāgatas perfectly.
“This is from possessing the power of wisdom through aspiration, and not from complete wisdom. [F.213.a]
“Through this realization, this attaining the wisdom that is wise in truth, he perfectly knows that all that is composite is nothing but hollow, worthless, false, unreliable, and that which deceives fools. With increased compassion for beings he manifests compassion toward all beings. He regards beings with compassion even more than before, and the light of his great love shines.
“He has thus gained possession of the power of wisdom, regards all beings, and wishes for the wisdom of buddhahood. He examines all the mental activities concerning the past and the future. He perfectly knows that it is from past ignorance, becoming, and craving that there has arisen the river of saṃsāra in which beings are swept along, in which they do not transcend the dwelling of the skandhas, and in which there has arisen an increasing mass of suffering. He knows that this has no self, no being, no soul, no spirit, no person, and the absence of anything that belongs to a self. In that way he also knows perfectly whether in the future there will or will not be a cessation, an end, and a release from this ignorant longing for the nonexistent.
“He is astonished that childlike ordinary beings are so ignorant and foolish in this way. They have had countless bodies that have been destroyed, are being destroyed, and will be destroyed, but they do not feel revulsion toward these perishing bodies. They greatly increase the machines of torture. They do not stop the rivers of saṃsāra. They do not reject the dwelling of the skandhas. They are not revolted by the serpents of the elements of perception. They do not pull out the painful splinter of arrogant wrong view. [F.213.b] They do not extinguish the flames of desire, anger, and ignorance. They do not dispel the darkness of ignorance. They do not dry up the ocean of craving.238 They do not seek out the caravan leader who is the ten strengths. They are drawn into the dark forests of the thoughts of Māra and are tossed around in the ocean of saṃsāra, the abode of the sea monsters of all kinds of bad thoughts.239 He thinks, ‘Those beings are thus afflicted by suffering; they have no savior, no protector, no refuge, no reliance, no foundation, and no basis; they are blind, within the egg of ignorance, and enclosed in darkness. For them, I alone, with no other, will gather the accumulations of merit and wisdom so that through that correct accumulation of merit and wisdom those beings will attain complete purity and so on, until attaining the unimpeded wisdom of the ten strengths.’
“Whatever roots of goodness he undertakes, with an understanding that is attained by knowledge through examination, he undertakes them for the protection of all beings, for the benefit of all beings, for the happiness of all beings, for kindness to all beings, for there being no misfortune for all beings, for the liberation of all beings, for leading all beings, for developing faith within all beings, for taming all beings, and for the nirvāṇa of all beings. [F.214.a]
“The bodhisattva who dwells on this fifth bodhisattva bhūmi, called Difficult to Conquer, has memory because he has the quality of never forgetting; he has intelligence because of the certainty of his wisdom; he has knowledge240 because he understands the underlying meaning taught in the sūtras; he has a conscience because he guards himself and others; he has steadfastness241 because he does not abandon the conduct of the vows; he has judgment because he has wisely considered well what is possible and what is impossible; he has discernment because he is not led by others; he has knowledge because he is skilled in differentiating between what is and is not the meaning of words; he has attained the accomplishment of clairvoyance because he is skilled in the accomplishment of meditation; he is wise in methods because he acts in accord with the world; he is never satisfied, because he is gathering the accumulation of merit; his diligence is unceasing because he seeks the accumulation of wisdom; he is never wearied in mind because he has accumulated the accumulation of great love and compassion; he is resolutely engaged in his quest because he seeks a tathāgata’s strengths, confidences, and unique buddha qualities; he is intent on accomplishment because he accomplishes the manifestation of buddha-realm adornments; he engages in a variety of good actions because he accomplishes the Buddha’s primary and secondary signs; he applies himself constantly because he seeks the adornments of a tathāgata’s body, speech, and mind; he has a conduct of great respect and service because of his attendance on all bodhisattvas and dharmabhāṇakas; [F.214.b] his mind is unimpeded242 because he wanders through the world furnished with the union of bodhicitta and great skillful methods; and he rejects all other thoughts day and night because he is dedicated to ripening all beings.
“He who is thus engaged also ripens beings through generosity, kind words, actions that benefit others, practicing what he preaches,243 manifesting a physical body, teaching the Dharma, promulgating the conduct of a bodhisattva, describing the greatness of the tathāgatas, teaching the faults of saṃsāra, proclaiming the qualities of a buddha’s wisdom, and engagement in the activity of accomplishing miracles and transformations. He who is thus engaged in ripening beings has a mind dedicated to the wisdom of buddhahood, is irreversibly engaged in the roots of goodness, and is dedicated to seeking the unique Dharma.
“With compassion for beings, in order to gradually lead them to the Buddha’s Dharma, he is accomplished in writing, treatises, hand calculation,244 the calculation of numbers,245 the abacus, and so on; the science of minerals246 and the science of medicine; driving out consumption,247 epilepsy,248 and possession;249 repelling the use of poison and vetālas; entertainment through poetry, dance, storytelling, music, and histories; the creation of villages, towns, parks, rivers, lakes, ponds, lotus pools, flowers, fruits, herbs, and groves; revealing the sources of gold, silver, [F.215.a] jewels, pearls, beryls, conch, bitumen, coral, and jewels; determining omens through the moon, the sun, the planets, the stars,250 the constellations, earthquakes, wild animals, birds,251 and dreams; the portents of the larger and smaller parts of the body,252 and the omens of ways of walking;253 the vows, the conduct, the dhyānas, the clairvoyances, the immeasurables, and the formless states; and also all other kinds of activities that are not injurious to beings and bring benefit and happiness to all beings.
“When the bodhisattva is on Difficult to Conquer, the fifth bodhisattva bhūmi, many buddhas will appear to him because of his vast view and the power of his prayers. Many hundreds of buddhas, many thousands of buddhas, many hundreds of thousands of buddhas, many millions of buddhas, many tens of millions of buddhas, many billions of buddhas, many tens of billions of buddhas, many trillions of buddhas, and many quintillions of buddhas will appear to him because of his vast view and the power of his prayers. He will see those tathāgatas, those arhats, those samyaksambuddhas, and with a vast motivation he will serve them, worship them, honor them, make offerings to them, supply them with robes, alms, bowls, beds, medicine for when they are ill, and implements. [F.215.b] He will also offer all the articles that bring happiness to a bodhisattva. He will also offer to the assemblies of the Saṅgha. He will dedicate all those roots of goodness to the highest complete enlightenment. He serves those tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas and he listens to the Dharma, acquires it, and retains it with respect, reverence, and honor. When he has heard it, he accomplishes it through practicing it fully and perfectly. He enters mendicancy within the teaching of many of those tathāgatas. Having become a mendicant he becomes a dharmabhāṇaka who has attained the power to remember all that he has heard.
“The roots of goodness of the bodhisattva who resides on the Difficult to Conquer bodhisattva bhūmi become purer, clearer, and brighter over many eons. They become purer, clearer, and brighter over many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, many trillions of eons, many tens of trillions of eons, many quadrillions of eons, many tens of quadrillions of eons, many quintillions of eons, and many tens of quintillions of eons.
“O jinaputras! When gold is adorned with white coral it becomes clearer, purer, and brighter.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the roots of goodness of the bodhisattva who is on Difficult to Conquer, the fifth bodhisattva bhūmi, become purer, clearer, and brighter through examination by method and wisdom, [F.216.a] and through attaining the qualities of the application of wisdom, they have the perfect examination that cannot be sullied.
“O jinaputras! It is like this: to give an analogy, the bright radiance of the divine palaces of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the constellations cannot be sullied by the circles of air, because it is distinct from the air.
“O jinaputras! In that same way the bodhisattva who is on Difficult to Conquer, the fifth bodhisattva bhūmi, has roots of goodness that are accompanied by an examining mind that has method, wisdom, and knowledge, that cannot be sullied by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and that is distinct from that which is mundane.
“From among the ten perfections, the perfection of meditation predominates, and the other perfections are not accomplished fully and completely.
“O jinaputras! That in brief is Difficult to Conquer, the bodhisattva’s fifth bodhisattva bhūmi. The bodhisattva who is on that bhūmi usually becomes the deva king Saṃtuṣita, who is wise and powerful in turning beings away from tīrthikas.254
“In whatever roots of goodness he accomplishes through generosity, kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, he becomes supreme, the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on. His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, [F.216.b] focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects.
“If he wishes to, he can apply himself in such a way that in just one instant he attains and rests in ten billion255 samādhis, sees ten billion buddhas and knows their blessings, causes ten billion worlds to shake, goes to ten billion buddha realms, illuminates ten billion worlds, ripens ten billion beings, remains for ten billion eons, enters ten billion previous eons and ten billion future eons, opens ten billion Dharma doors, manifests ten billion bodies, and manifests each body having a retinue of ten billion bodhisattvas.
“From this time onward the bodhisattvas who have the power of prayer through particular prayers manifest bodies, light, miracles, sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, [F.217.a] many hundreds of thousands of eons, and so on, until many quintillions of eons, which are difficult to enumerate.”
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha, in order to teach the meaning of this bhūmi and to analyze it, recited these verses:
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who has completed the path of the fifth bodhisattva bhūmi enters the sixth bodhisattva bhūmi. He enters it through the ten kinds of sameness of phenomena. What are these ten? He enters the sixth bhūmi through these ten kinds of sameness: (1) the sameness of all phenomena in being without features; (2) the sameness of all phenomena in being without characteristics; (3) the sameness of all phenomena in being without birth; (4) the sameness of all phenomena in being without production; (5) the sameness of all phenomena in being isolated; (6) the sameness of all phenomena in being primordially pure; (7) the sameness of all phenomena in being without elaboration; (8) the sameness of all phenomena being without adoption and without rejection;290 (9) the sameness of all phenomena in being like illusions, dreams, hallucinations, echoes, the moon on water, reflections, and apparitions; and (10) the sameness of all phenomena in being without the duality of existence and nonexistence.291 [F.219.b]
“He examines that nature of all phenomena, clarifying it,292 being in concord with it, and not contradicting it.293 He attains the sixth bodhisattva bhūmi, Manifested, through this sharp concordant patience but has not yet attained entry into the true patience that comes from knowing phenomena to be unproduced.
“He observes that nature of phenomena, and with increased all-preceding compassion and mastery of compassion, he looks at the origination and destruction of the world in order to fully perfect compassion.
“When he looks at the origination of the world, he thinks, ‘All the activities that arise in every world are produced by attachment to the self. If attachment to the self were to cease, there would be no arising of these activities in the world.’
“He thinks, ‘These beings with childlike understanding have attachment to the self, are enclosed in the darkness of ignorance, and wish for existence and nonexistence; their attention is devoted to the meaningless; they follow wrong paths, seek that which is false, and accumulate meritorious, nonmeritorious, and motionless formations.294 Tainted mental seeds, which are endowed with grasping, are planted295 by those formations, which result in the future generation of birth, old age, death, and rebirth. The basis of the field of karma, the darkness of ignorance, the oil of craving, the water of egotism, and the vast net of false views produce the sprouts of “name-and-form.” Once produced, they develop. When name-and-form have developed there is the generation of the five senses. The coming together of the five senses creates contact. [F.220.a] The occurrence of contact generates sensation. Sensation is followed by yearning. From yearning and craving comes the development of grasping. When grasping has developed, becoming occurs. When becoming has occurred, the five skandhas manifest. The manifested five skandhas eventually decay in the five existences. Having decayed, they expire. Through their decay and expiration there is the torment of sorrow. The torment of sorrow causes all misery, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and distress to arise, but no one makes them occur.296 They cease naturally and effortlessly; there is no one who makes them cease.’
“The bodhisattva mahāsattva297 examines in that way the natural succession of dependent origination.
“He thinks in this way: ‘Ignorance of the ultimate is due to not understanding the truths. Formations are the ripening of the karma created by ignorance. Consciousness is the first mind that is supported by the formations. Connate with consciousness are the four perpetuating skandhas, which are called name-and-form.
“ ‘The development of name-and-form is the six sensory bases. The tainted meeting of sensory faculty, object, and consciousness is contact. Connate298 with contact is sensation. Clinging to sensations is craving. Craving develops into grasping. The tainted karma that comes from grasping is becoming. The natural result of the karma is birth. Birth is the arising of the skandhas. [F.220.b] The ripening of the skandhas is aging. The breaking apart of the skandhas through aging is death. Separation, bewilderment,299 clinging, and anguish at death is misery.300 Expressing words that arise from misery is lamentation. When the five sense faculties are affected, that is suffering. When this affects the mind’s view, that is unhappiness. When much suffering and unhappiness occur, there is distress. In that way this entire mass of suffering, this tree of suffering, is produced. It is devoid of a doer or an experiencer.’301
“He thinks, ‘When there is the mistaken belief in a doer, there is the conception of actions. Where there is no doer, actions also cannot ultimately be found.’
“He thinks, ‘These three realms are mind only. These twelve components of becoming, the division into which was taught by the Tathāgata, are also all based in a single302 mind. Why is that? Consciousness is the arising of a mind joined by desire to an object. The object is a formation. Delusion concerning that formation is ignorance. Connate with a mind of ignorance is name-and-form. The development of name-and-form results in the six sensory bases. The connection with the six sensory bases is contact. Connate with contact is sensation. A lack of satisfaction with sensation is craving. Oppressed by craving, clinging to what is accumulated is grasping. The combination303 of these components is becoming. The emergence of becoming is birth. The ripening of birth is aging. The termination of aging is death. [F.221.a]
“ ‘Ignorance has two kinds of activity: it causes beings to be deluded concerning objects of perception, and it provides the cause for the production of formations. Formations also have two kinds of activity: they establish the production of future ripening, and they provide the cause for the production of consciousness. Consciousness also has two activities: it creates the transition to becoming, and it provides the cause for the production of name-and form. Name-and-form also has two activities: it creates mutual dependence, and it provides the cause for the production of the six sensory bases. The six sensory bases also have two activities: they reveal the distinctions between their own ranges of perception, and they provide the cause for the production of contact. Contact also has two activities: it creates contact with the object, and it provides the cause for the production of sensation. Sensation also has two activities: it creates experiences that are pleasant, unpleasant, or neither, and it provides the cause for the production of craving. Craving also has two activities: it creates desire for attractive sensory objects, and it provides the cause for the production of grasping. Grasping also has two activities: it creates the bondage by the kleśas, and it provides the cause for the production of becoming. Becoming also has two activities: it creates the basis for another state of existence, and it provides the cause for the production of birth. Birth also has two activities: [F.221.b] it creates the emergence of the skandhas, and it provides the cause for the production of aging. Aging also has two activities: it creates change in the faculties, and it provides the cause for the production of death. Death also has two activities: it creates the destruction of composite304 phenomena, and it provides the cause for the uninterrupted continuity of the lack of understanding.
“ ‘It is said, “the formations are dependent upon ignorance,” which means that ignorance as a condition is the continuation of the formations and a basis for the formations. It is said, “consciousness is dependent upon the formations,” which means that the formations as a condition are the continuation of consciousness and a basis for consciousness. It is said, “name-and-form are dependent upon consciousness,” which means that consciousness as a condition is the continuation of name-and-form and a basis for name-and-form. It is said, “the six sensory bases are dependent upon name-and-form,” which means that name-and-form as a condition is the continuation of the six sensory bases and a basis for the six sensory bases. It is said, “contact is dependent upon the six sensory bases,” which means that the six sensory bases as a condition are the continuation of contact and a basis for contact. It is said, “sensation is dependent upon contact,” which means that contact as a condition is the continuation of sensation and a basis for sensation. It is said, “craving is dependent upon sensation,” which means that sensation as a condition is the continuation of craving and a basis for craving. It is said, “grasping is dependent upon craving,” which means that craving as a condition is the continuation of grasping and a basis for grasping. It is said, “becoming is dependent upon grasping,” which means that grasping as a condition is the continuation of becoming and a basis for becoming. It is said, “birth is dependent upon becoming,” which means that becoming as a condition is the continuation of birth and a basis for birth. It is said, “aging and death is dependent upon birth,” which means that birth as a condition is the continuation of aging and death and a basis for aging and death. [F.222.a]
“ ‘It is said, “Through the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of the formations,” which means that when there is no ignorance as a condition, there is the discontinuity of the formations and the absence of a basis for formations. It is said, “Through the cessation of formation there is the cessation of consciousness,” which means that when there is no formation as a condition, there is the discontinuity of consciousness and the absence of a basis for consciousness. It is said, “Through the cessation of consciousness there is the cessation of the six sensory bases,” which means that when there is no consciousness as a condition, there is the discontinuity of the six sensory bases and the absence of a basis for the six sensory bases. It is said, “Through the cessation of the six sensory bases there is the cessation of contact,” which means that when there are no six sensory bases as a condition, there is the discontinuity of contact and the absence of a basis for contact. It is said, “Through the cessation of contact there is the cessation of sensation,” which means that when there is no contact as a condition, there is the discontinuity of sensation and the absence of a basis for sensation. It is said, “Through the cessation of sensation there is the cessation of craving,” which means that when there is no sensation as a condition, there is the discontinuity of craving and the absence of a basis for craving. It is said, “Through the cessation of craving there is the cessation of becoming,” which means that when there is no craving as a condition, there is the discontinuity and lack of support for becoming. It is said, “Through the cessation of becoming there is the cessation of birth,” which means that when there is no becoming as a condition, there is the discontinuity and lack of support for birth. It is said, “Through the cessation of birth there is the cessation of aging and death,” which means that when there is no birth as a condition, there is the discontinuity and lack of support for aging and death.
“ ‘Ignorance, craving,305 and grasping are the uninterrupted presence306 of the kleśas. Formation and becoming are the uninterrupted presence of karma. [F.222.b] The others are the uninterrupted presence of suffering.
“ ‘In terms of this subdivision, when there is the cessation of that which precedes and that which succeeds, their presence is discontinued. In that way these three processes have no self, no being, no soul, no spirit, and no person, and there is the absence of anything that belongs to a self and there is nothing that pertains to a self. They arise and cease. They are like a bundle of reeds.307
“ ‘Also, when it is said, “The formations have ignorance as their condition,” it means that they are related to the past. Consciousness, name-and-form, the six sensory bases, contact, and sensation are related to the present. Craving, grasping, becoming, and birth are related to the future. It is said, “This continues onwards.” It is said, “Through the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of the formations,” which means that the relationship is discontinued.
“ ‘Moreover, the three sufferings arise in the twelve components of existence. Ignorance, the formations, consciousness, name-and-form, and the six sensory bases are the suffering of composite phenomena. Contact and sensation are the suffering of suffering. Craving, grasping, becoming, birth, and so on, up to distress, are the suffering of change.
“ ‘It is said, “Through the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of the formations,” which means that the continuity of the three sufferings ceases.
“ ‘It is said, “The formations have ignorance as their condition,” which means that the formations arise from cause and condition. It is the same for the rest.
“ ‘It is said, “Through the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of the formations,” which means the extinction of the formations. It is the same for the rest. [F.223.a]
“ ‘It is said, “The formations have ignorance as their condition,” which means this is a connection through production. It is the same for the rest.
“ ‘It is said, “Through the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of the formations,” which means this is a connection through elimination. It is the same for the rest.
“ ‘It is said, “The formations have ignorance as their condition,” which means an analysis of progressive generation. It is the same for the rest.
“ ‘It is said, “Through the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of the formations,” which means an analysis of progressive termination and elimination. It is the same for the rest.’
“He thus investigates ten aspects of dependent origination in their progressive development and negation: he investigates (1) the sequential connection of the components of existence; (2) their combination in one mind; (3) each having its own distinct activity; (4) their not being separate from one another; (5) their following the three processes; (6) their relationship to the past, the present, and the future; (7) their aggregation of the three sufferings; (8) their arising from causes and conditions; (9) their connection through generation and elimination; and (10) the process of becoming308 and of termination.
“In that way, through his examination of the ten aspects of dependent origination, he examines no self, no being, no soul, no person, emptiness by nature, and the natural absence of a doer or experiencer,309 and there arises the door to liberation that is emptiness.
“In that way he comes near to liberation through the cessation of the nature of the components of existence, and there arises the door to liberation that is featurelessness.
“In that way he comprehends310 emptiness and featurelessness; there does not arise any desire whatsoever other than for ripening beings, which is preceded by compassion, and there arises the door to liberation that is aspirationlessness. [F.223.b]
“He who meditates on these three doors to liberation is freed from the identifications of self and other, freed from the identifications of doer and experiencer, and freed from the identifications of existence and nonexistence. With all-preceding great compassion there is even greater application, and the incomplete factors for enlightenment are completed.
“He thinks, ‘When there are combinations,311 composite phenomena arise. When there are no combinations, they do not arise. When there are entireties,312 composite phenomena arise. When there is the absence of the entirety of necessary factors, composite phenomena do not arise. We, thus knowing that composite phenomena are guilty of having many faults, shall put an end to313 their combinations and entireties, but in order to ripen beings we will not manifest the complete cessation of composite phenomena.’
“O jinaputras! In that way, while comprehending the nature of that which is composite to be guilty of many faults, to be devoid of an inherent nature, and to be without birth or termination, he develops great compassion, he does not abandon beings, and by engaging with manifestation he manifests the state of the perfection of wisdom, which is called the manifestation of unimpeded wisdom.
“He who has that kind of wisdom, who manifests being in the state of the perfection of wisdom, accumulates the conditions for acquiring the factors for enlightenment. He does not remain in involvement with that which is composite. He regards the cessation that is the nature of composite phenomena, [F.224.a] but he does not remain absorbed within that, so as not to be lacking in the factors for enlightenment.
“When the bodhisattva is on the Manifested bodhisattva bhūmi, there arises the samādhi named entering emptiness.314 There also arise the samādhis named emptiness of inherent nature, ultimate emptiness, supreme emptiness,315 great emptiness, emptiness of engagement,316 emptiness of accomplishment, emptiness of correct comprehension, emptiness of dependency, emptiness of separation, and emptiness of nonseparation. There also manifest hundreds of thousands of other entrances into the samādhi of emptiness. In that way there also manifest hundreds of thousands of entrances into the samādhi of featurelessness and hundreds of thousands of entrances into the samādhi of aspirationlessness.
“Even more, the bodhisattva residing on this Manifested bodhisattva bhūmi completely attains undivided motivation. He completely attains definite contemplation, good contemplation, profound motivation, irreversible motivation, uninterrupted motivation, stainless motivation, infinite motivation, motivation that aspires to wisdom, and motivation that has method and wisdom. Those ten motivations of the bodhisattva are in accord with the enlightenment of a tathāgata.
“He cannot be countered by any opposing teacher;317 he reaches the bhūmi of wisdom; he turns away from the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha bhūmis; he solely manifests the wisdom of the buddhas; he cannot be surpassed by any of the activities of the māras or kleśas; [F.224.b] he remains in the light of a bodhisattva’s wisdom; he is completely immersed in the practice of the Dharma of emptiness, featurelessness, and aspirationlessness; he is engaged in analysis through method, wisdom, and knowledge; and he is permeated by the accomplishment of the factors for enlightenment.
“Thus when he is on the Manifested bodhisattva bhūmi, there arises a superior state of the perfection of wisdom, and with the third sharp concordant patience he acts in accord with these qualities and not contrary to them.
“When he is in that way residing on this Manifested bodhisattva bhūmi, many buddhas will appear to him because of his vast view and the power of his prayers. Because of his vast view and the power of his prayers, many hundreds of buddhas, many thousands of buddhas, many hundreds of thousands of buddhas, many millions of buddhas, many tens of millions of buddhas, many billions of buddhas, many tens of billions of buddhas, many trillions of buddhas, and many quintillions of buddhas will appear to him. He will see those tathāgatas, those arhats, those samyaksambuddhas, and with a vast motivation he will serve them, worship them, honor them, make offerings to them, supply them with robes, alms, bowls, beds, medicine for when they are ill, and implements. He will also offer all the articles that bring happiness to a bodhisattva. [F.225.a] He will also offer to the assemblies of the Saṅgha. He will dedicate all those roots of goodness to the highest complete enlightenment. He serves those tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas, and he listens to the Dharma with respect, reverence, and honor and remembers it. Having heard it he correctly applies himself to the light of meditation, wisdom, and knowledge318 and possesses its attainment. He becomes, even more than before, someone who possesses the treasure of the Dharma of the tathāgatas.
“The roots of goodness of the bodhisattva who resides on the bodhisattva bhūmi Manifested become purer, clearer, and brighter over many eons. They become purer, clearer, and brighter over many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, many millions of eons, many tens of millions of eons, many billions of eons, many tens of billions of eons, many trillions of eons, and many quintillions of eons.
“O jinaputras! This is like when gold is adorned with beryl and it becomes clearer, purer, and brighter.
“O jinaputras! In that same way the roots of goodness of the bodhisattva who is on the sixth bodhisattva bhūmi, Manifested, become purer, clearer, and brighter through the analysis of method, wisdom, and knowledge, and furthermore become indestructible peace.
“O jinaputras! It is like this: [F.225.b] to give an analogy, moonlight soothes the bodies of beings and cannot be destroyed by the four circles of the air.
“O jinaputras! In that same way the roots of goodness of the bodhisattva mahāsattva who is on the sixth bodhisattva bhūmi, Manifested, pacify and soothe the fire of the kleśas in many quintillions319 of beings and cannot be destroyed by the activities of the four māras.
“From among the ten perfections, the perfection of wisdom predominates, and the other perfections are not accomplished fully and completely.
“O jinaputras! That in brief is the bodhisattva bhūmi that is the sixth bodhisattva bhūmi, which is named Manifested.
“The bodhisattva who is on that bhūmi usually becomes the deva king Sunirmita. He is wise and powerful in pacifying pride in beings. He is not impeded by questions from any śrāvaka.
“In whatever roots of goodness he accomplishes through generosity, kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, he becomes supreme, the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on. His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, [F.226.a] focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects.
“If he wishes to, he can apply himself in such a way that in just one instant he attains and rests in a trillion samādhis, sees a trillion buddhas and knows their blessings, causes a trillion worlds to shake, goes to a trillion buddha realms, illuminates a trillion worlds, ripens a trillion beings, remains for a trillion eons, enters a trillion previous eons and a trillion future eons, opens a trillion Dharma doors, manifests a trillion bodies, and manifests each body having a retinue of a trillion bodhisattvas.
“From this time onward the bodhisattvas who have the power of prayer through particular prayers manifest bodies, light, miracles, sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, and so on, until many quintillions of eons, which are difficult to enumerate.” [F.226.b]
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha, in order to analyze and teach the meaning of this bhūmi, recited these verses:
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! The bodhisattva on the sixth bhūmi who has in that way completed the bhūmi’s359 path ascends to the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi. He ascends through the ten aspects of engagement in the path, which are accomplished through method and wisdom.360
“What are these ten? They are as follows: (1) He has a mind that meditates perfectly in the samādhis of emptiness, featurelessness, and aspirationlessness but wishes to complete361 a great accumulation of merit and wisdom. (2) He comprehends362 the absence of a self, the absence of a soul, and the absence of a person in all phenomena, but never abandons accomplishing the four immeasurables. (3) He accomplishes the accomplishment of the perfection of a high accumulation of merit but has no attachment toward any phenomenon. (4) He attains detachment from the three realms but accomplishes the accomplishment of establishing himself as an adornment for the three realms. (5) He has the tranquility and absolute peace that comes from the fire of all the kleśas having gone out, but he accomplishes the accomplishment of extinguishing the fire of the kleśas of desire, anger, and ignorance in all beings. [F.229.a] (6) He realizes that like illusions, dreams, hallucinations, echoes, the moon on water, reflections, and apparitions, there is no duality of existence and nonexistence,363 but he accomplishes his aspiration for infinite distinct actions and activities. (7) He has the understanding gained through contemplating that the extent364 of a buddha realm is the same as that of space, but he accomplishes the accomplishment of establishing the adornments of a buddha realm.365 (8) He comprehends the dharmakāya nature of all buddhas but accomplishes the accomplishment of establishing the adornments that are the primary and secondary signs of the rūpakāya.366 (9) He has the certainty that the voice of the tathāgatas has the nature of quietude, is inexpressible, and has no sound, but he accomplishes the accomplishment of the adornments that are the pure distinct aspects of speech.367 (10) He comprehends that the buddha bhagavats know the three times in a single instant but engages with the various characteristics of the different numbers of eons in accordance with the different perceptions of beings.
“O jinaputras! Through these ten distinct undertakings within the path, which are accomplished through method and wisdom, the bodhisattva ascends from the sixth to the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi. [F.229.b]
“O jinaputras, in that way, the bodhisattva mahāsattva ascends to the seventh bhūmi of the bodhisattva by accomplishing the appearance of these different accomplishments through the method and wisdom accumulated on the path.368
“The bodhisattva who is on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi apprehends countless realms of beings. He apprehends the ripening of beings through the guiding activity of countless buddha bhagavats. He apprehends countless universes. He apprehends countless pure realms of the buddhas. He apprehends an immeasurable variety of phenomena. He apprehends the enlightenment through wisdom of countless buddha bhagavats. He apprehends countless eons. He apprehends the realization of the three times by countless buddha bhagavats. He apprehends the different aspirations of countless beings. He apprehends the countless manifestations of the rūpakāyas369 and names370 of the buddha bhagavats. He apprehends the immeasurable variety of thoughts and faculties of beings. He apprehends the ripening of countless beings by the speech of the buddha bhagavats. He apprehends the countless motivations and conducts of beings. He apprehends the comprehension of the immeasurable infinite wisdom of the buddha bhagavats. He apprehends countless aspirations for liberation through the Śrāvakayāna. He aspires to and apprehends the countless teachings of the path by the buddha bhagavats.371 [F.230.a] He apprehends the countless completions of the wisdom of the Pratyekabuddhayāna. He apprehends the countless teachings by the buddha bhagavats for entering the doorway to profound wisdom. He apprehends the dedication of countless bodhisattvas to bodhisattva conduct. He apprehends countless teachings by the buddha bhagavats for apprehending the accomplishment of the Mahāyāna.
“He thinks, ‘The range of activity of the tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas is immeasurable; it cannot be enumerated even in a billion eons, ten billion eons, a trillion eons, and so on, up to a quintillion eons. I will attain that range of activity of the buddha bhagavats and complete it effortlessly and without thought and conceptualization.’
“Thus he has discriminating wisdom and clairvoyance and continuous application, so that he unwaveringly remains in the wisdom of the vast accumulations of the path372 of the cultivation of method and wisdom. He does not for an instant depart from the accomplishment of the path. He is engaged in the accomplishment of wisdom while walking. Even while standing, sitting, lying down, or dreaming, he is free of obscuration; within every kind of activity he always has his mind on that kind of wisdom.373 [F.230.b] With each motivation he accomplishes the bodhisattva’s ten perfections and the ten bodhisattva bhūmis. Why is that? Every motivation of the bodhisattva mahāsattva, which is preceded by great compassion, is focused on the accomplishment of the Buddha’s Dharma and the wisdom of the tathāgatas.
“(1) When he gives his roots of goodness to beings while seeking wisdom, that is his perfection of generosity; (2) when he pacifies all the torment from the kleśas, that is his perfection of conduct; (3) when with compassion he is without anger toward any being, that is his perfection of patience; (4) when he undertakes greater and greater virtue without ever being content, that is his perfection of diligence; (5) when without regret he remains on the path focused upon the wisdom of omniscience, that is his perfection of meditation; (6) when he has acceptance374 in the face of the birthless nature of all phenomena, that is his perfection of wisdom; (7) when he accomplishes limitless wisdom, that is his perfection of skillful methods; (8) when he accomplishes higher and higher prayers and wisdom, that is his perfection of prayer; (9) when all adversaries and all hosts of māras are unable to interrupt the path, that is his perfection of strength; [F.231.a] and (10) his conclusive knowledge of all phenomena is his perfection of knowledge.
“O jinaputras! In that way, the bodhisattva who resides on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi, Gone Far, completes those ten perfections in each instant,375 and he also completes the four modes of attracting beings and the four376 states,377 the thirty-seven factors for enlightenment, the three doors to liberation, and in brief all the factors for enlightenment.”
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra then asked the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragarbha, “O jinaputra! Does the bodhisattva mahāsattva complete these factors for enlightenment in each instant only on this seventh bhūmi, or are they completed in each instant on all ten bhūmis?”
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha answered, “O jinaputras! The bodhisattva’s factors for enlightenment are completed in each instant on all ten bodhisattva bhūmis, but they are particularly completed on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi. Why is that? O jinaputras! It is because on this bodhisattva bhūmi there is the perfection of dedication to conduct and an ascent to wisdom and clairvoyance. [F.231.b]
“O jinaputras, on the first bodhisattva bhūmi the bodhisattva’s factors for enlightenment are complete in each instant because of his exceptional focus on all aspirations.378 On the second bhūmi, it is because of the elimination of the mind’s stains. On the third bhūmi, it is because of the increase of aspiration and attaining the Dharma’s illumination. On the fourth bhūmi, it is because of comprehending the path. On the fifth bhūmi, it is because of conformity with activities in the world. On the sixth bhūmi, it is because of entering the door to the profound Dharma. On this seventh bodhisattva bhūmi all the factors for enlightenment are complete in each instant because of causing the appearance of all the Buddha’s Dharma.
“Why is that? The accomplishments from the first bodhisattva bhūmi until the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi have the factors of dedication to the accomplishment of wisdom. From the eighth bodhisattva bhūmi upward,379 they manifest effortlessly.
“O jinaputras! To give an analogy, it is like two universes: one universe is pure and impure, and one universe is completely pure. It is so difficult to cross between these two universes that one cannot cross from one to the other without the power of aspiration, method, wisdom, and clairvoyance.
“O jinaputras, in the same way, one cannot cross over from mixed bodhisattva conduct to completely pure bodhisattva conduct without the power of aspiration, method, wisdom, clairvoyance, and knowledge.” [F.232.a]
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra asked, “O jinaputra! Is bodhisattva conduct on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi to be known as afflicted by the activity of the kleśas?”
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha answered, “O jinaputras! It should be known that after the first bodhisattva bhūmi, Perfect Joy, is attained, all bodhisattva conduct is free from the stain of the kleśas because of the power of dedication to enlightenment, which is appropriately in accord with the path. However, on the first seven bhūmis, that alone is not said to be transcending the conduct of the kleśas.
“O jinaputras! It is like when a cakravartin mounted on a divine precious elephant travels around the four continents. He perceives all the suffering, poverty, and kleśas of human beings, but he is not defiled by any of those evils. But this alone does not mean that he has transcended being a human. After he has departed from his human body, he is born in the realm of Brahmā, dwells in the divine palace of Brahmā from where he can380 see a thousand universes, goes to them and appears in the form of Brahmā, and is not called a human.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, from the first bodhisattva bhūmi upward, the bodhisattva is mounted on the Pāramitāyāna, goes among all beings, and perceives all the evils of the kleśas, but he is not stained by those kleśas, because he is following the correct path. [F.232.b] However, he is not said to transcend the evils of the kleśas on the seven bhūmis. When he leaves behind all the conduct on the seventh bhūmi that arises from engagement,381 he ascends from the seventh bhūmi to the eighth bodhisattva bhūmi. Then, mounted upon the pure Bodhisattvayāna, he goes among beings and perceives all the evils of the kleśas, but he is not stained by those evils, because he has transcended all worldly activity.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi has greatly transcended desire and all the kleśas. The bodhisattva whose conduct is on this seventh bodhisattva bhūmi, Gone Far, is not said to have kleśas or to not have kleśas. Why is that? He cannot be said to have kleśas because there is no conduct of the kleśas. He cannot be said to be without kleśas because he desires the wisdom of the tathāgatas and because his wish has not been fulfilled.
“In that way the bodhisattva who is on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi has physical actions that are done through a pure motivation. He has vocal actions that are done through a pure motivation. He has mental actions that are done through a pure motivation. He completely transcends the paths of nonvirtue382 that have been condemned by the tathāgatas and are endowed with the kleśas.383 [F.233.a] He continuously follows the paths of virtue384 that have been praised by the tathāgatas. All the accomplishments of the activities of worldly skills on the fifth bodhisattva bhūmi are effortlessly accomplished. He becomes an ācārya for the great billion-world universe. Apart from the tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas and the bodhisattvas who are on the eighth bodhisattva bhūmi and higher, there is no one else who is his equal in thought and deed. He focuses on and accomplishes the meditation of every dhyāna, samādhi, samāpatti, clairvoyance, and liberation, but their ripening is not as complete as they are for the bodhisattva on the eighth bodhisattva bhūmi.
“Thus, whenever the bodhisattva on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi develops an intention, it is fulfilled by the power of wisdom, method, and meditation. More than ever before, he attains the completion of the factors for enlightenment.
“Thus, when he is on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi, he enters (1) the bodhisattva samādhi called the complete differentiation of categories, (2) the bodhisattva samādhi called the thorough contemplation of meaning, (3) the bodhisattva samādhi called the understanding of differences,385 (4) the bodhisattva samādhi called the treasure of differentiated meanings, (5) the bodhisattva samādhi called the exact differentiation of meanings,386 (6) the bodhisattva samādhi called the firmly established root, [F.233.b] (7) the bodhisattva samādhi called the doorway to wisdom and clairvoyance, (8) the bodhisattva samādhi called the purification of the realm of phenomena, (9) the bodhisattva samādhi called the benefits387 of the tathāgatas, (10) the bodhisattva samādhi called the treasure of various meanings that is the doorway to saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, and so on. He enters a million samādhis that are perfected, are doorways to clairvoyance and wisdom, and purify the bhūmi.
“Having attained these samādhis that are purified by method and wisdom, he transcends through the power of compassion and kindness388 the bhūmi of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas and approaches the bhūmi of discrimination by wisdom and knowledge.389
“When he is on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi in this way, there are limitless physical activities that are devoid of features, limitless vocal activities that are devoid of features, and limitless mental activities that are devoid of features, and there is the pure arising of the acceptance of the birthlessness of phenomena.”
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra asked, “O jinaputra! Do not the limitless physical, vocal, and mental actions of the bodhisattva on the first bodhisattva bhūmi also transcend the conduct of all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas?”
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha answered, “O jinaputras! That is so,390 but that is simply because of the power of his focus on the Dharma of the Buddha, and not because of his own understanding’s discernment. [F.234.a] On this seventh bodhisattva bhūmi, however, it is attained through the mind’s analysis of the field of experience, which cannot be superseded by all the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, when a prince is born in a royal family and is endowed with the characteristics of royalty, he is immediately superior to the ministers. This is because of the sovereignty391 of the king, and not because of his own understanding’s discernment. However, when he has become an adult, he transcends the activities of all the ministers through the power of his own intelligence.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, as soon as the bodhisattva has developed his motivation, he surpasses all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. This is because of the greatness of his higher intention and not because of his own understanding’s discernment. The bodhisattva who is on this seventh bodhisattva bhūmi completely surpasses the activities of all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas through the greatness of his own wisdom’s analysis of his field of experience.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva392 on this seventh bodhisattva bhūmi also attains activity of body, speech, and mind that is profound, detached, and does not wander. Furthermore, he does not desist from his perseverance in the excellent path. Through that perseverance on the excellent path he attains cessation, but he does not manifest cessation.” [F.234.b]
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra asked, “O jinaputra! Above which bodhisattva bhūmi does the bodhisattva enter cessation?”
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha replied, “The bodhisattva enters cessation above the sixth bodhisattva bhūmi. The bodhisattva who is on this seventh bodhisattva bhūmi enters and remains in cessation in each instant but does not manifest cessation. Therefore, he is said to possess inconceivable physical, vocal, and mental activity.
“O jinaputras! It is thus wondrous that the bodhisattva dwells in the final conclusion, yet does not manifest cessation.
“O jinaputras! It is like when a clever, wise, learned, intelligent man who knows the qualities of the water, endowed with the power of analysis, sails in great ships upon the great ocean. He is wise concerning the winds and is wise concerning the water. He is not subject to harm from the great ocean’s water.
“O jinaputras! In that same way the bodhisattva393 who is on this seventh bodhisattva bhūmi travels upon the great ocean of omniscient wisdom and sails in the great ship of the perfections, and though he dwells in the final conclusion, he does not manifest cessation.394
“Thus he has attained the strength and power of wisdom, and with the realization obtained through the power of samādhi and wisdom, and with the power of great method and wisdom, he teaches what is the doorway to saṃsāra, but he constantly aspires to nirvāṇa. A great assembly of followers encircles him, but he always maintains a detached mind. Through the power of his aspiration he accomplishes rebirth within the three realms in order to ripen beings,395 [F.235.a] but he is not affected by the harms of the world. He is calm, tranquil, and serene. He is ablaze with methods but is not burned by that blazing. He comprehends the Buddha’s wisdom, and he will not revert to the bhūmi of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. He has reached the center of the Buddha’s realm396 but appears to be in the realm of the māras. He has transcended the paths of the four māras and yet appears to be within the realm and range of activity of the māras. He appears to enter into all religious traditions, but he never abandons the tradition of the Buddha. He appears to engage in all worldly activities, but he follows the way of the Dharma that transcends the world. He attains the creation of an array of realm adornments that surpass those of all devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas,397 humans and nonhumans, Śakra, Brahmā, and all lokapālas, but his mind never ceases rejoicing in the entire Dharma of the Buddha.
“In that way, possessing that kind of wisdom, the bodhisattva who is on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi, Gone Far, because of his vast view and the power of his prayers, will have many buddhas appear to him. Because of his vast view and the power of his prayers, many hundreds of buddhas, many thousands of buddhas, many hundreds of thousands of buddhas, many millions of buddhas, many tens of millions of buddhas, [F.235.b] many billions of buddhas, many tens of billions of buddhas, many trillions of buddhas, and many quintillions of buddhas will appear to him.
“He will see those tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas, and with a vast motivation he will serve them, worship them, honor them, make offerings to them, supply them with robes, alms, bowls, beds, medicine for when they are ill, and implements. He will also offer all the articles that bring happiness to a bodhisattva. He will also offer to the assemblies of the Saṅgha. He will dedicate all those roots of goodness to the highest complete enlightenment.
“He will see and honor those tathāgatas, those arhats, those samyaksambuddhas, and he will serve, listen to, and acquire and hold their teachings. Having heard their teachings, he applies himself to them with the light of correct meditation, wisdom, and knowledge. He maintains them through practice. He becomes a holder of the teachings of the buddha bhagavats. He is not sullied by the stains of the realizations of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. Even more than before, he has the pure patience of phenomena that benefits beings.
“In that way the roots of goodness of the bodhisattva who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi Gone Far will, even more than before, remain pure and purified for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, [F.236.a] many millions of eons, many tens of millions of eons, many billions of eons, many tens of billions of eons, many trillions of eons, and many quintillions of eons.
“O jinaputras! This is like when gold is adorned with all jewels, even more than before: it cannot be equaled by any other adornment, and it becomes brighter and clearer.
“O jinaputras! In that same way the roots of goodness accomplished by method and wisdom by the bodhisattva mahāsattva who is on this seventh bodhisattva bhūmi, Gone Far, become purer, brighter, and clearer. They cannot be taken away by all the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.
“O jinaputras! It is like sunlight, which cannot be surpassed by the light of the stars or the light of the moon, dries everything that is moist in Jambudvīpa,398 and ripens all grains.399
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the roots of goodness of the bodhisattva who is on the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi, Gone Far, will be even more unsurpassable by all the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; and they dry up, even more than before, all the moisture of the kleśas and the four misconceptions.
“From among the ten perfections, the perfection of skill in methods predominates, and the other perfections are not accomplished fully and completely.
“O jinaputras! That, in brief, is Gone Far, the seventh bodhisattva bhūmi of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas. [F.236.b] Most of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas who are on that bhūmi become the deva king Vaśavartin. He is wise and powerful in bringing the wisdom of realization to beings. He is not constrained by questions from any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. He is also skilled in teaching beings without error.
“In whatever roots of goodness he accomplishes through generosity, kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, he becomes supreme, the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on. His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects.
“If he wishes to, he can apply himself in such a way that in just one instant he attains and rests in a quintillion samādhis, sees a quintillion buddhas and knows their blessings, [F.237.a] causes a quintillion worlds to shake, goes to a quintillion buddha realms, illuminates a quintillion worlds, ripens a quintillion beings, remains for a quintillion eons, comprehends a quintillion previous eons and a quintillion future eons, opens a quintillion Dharma doors, manifests a quintillion bodies, and manifests each body having a retinue of a quintillion bodhisattvas.
“From this time onward the bodhisattvas who have the power of prayer through particular prayers manifest bodies, light, miracles, sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, and so on, until many quintillions of eons, which are difficult to enumerate.”
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha, in order to analyze and teach the meaning of this bhūmi, recited these verses:
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! [F.239.b] In that way the bodhisattva427 has perfectly analyzed seven bhūmis.428 He has purified the path through method and wisdom. He has perfectly accumulated the accumulations. He has perfectly made great prayers.429 He has been blessed by the blessings of the tathāgatas.430 He has gained the strength of his own roots of goodness.431 His mind is focused on the strengths, confidences, and unique qualities of the tathāgatas.432 He has a perfectly purified higher motivation and intention.433 He has risen through the strength of merit and wisdom.434 He has become engaged in never forsaking any being, because of his great compassion and kindness, and he follows the path of immeasurable wisdom.435
He correctly comprehends the primordial nonarising of all phenomena. He comprehends birthlessness, featurelessness, nonorigination, nondestruction, noncompletion, nondevelopment, nonreversal, the nature of nonexistence, the equality of beginning, middle, and end, and entry into the nonconceptual omniscient wisdom of the true nature436 of all phenomena exactly as they are. It is said that he is always free from the conceptualizing thoughts of mind, mentation, and consciousness, that he is unimpeded, that he is the same as space, that he has the nature of open space, and that he has attained the acceptance of the birthlessness of phenomena.
“O jinaputras! As soon as the bodhisattva who has that kind of acceptance attains the bodhisattva bhūmi Unwavering, he attains a profound bodhisattva state that is difficult to understand, is unadulterated,437 is devoid of all features, excludes all impeding conceptual identification, is limitless, [F.240.a] is unsurpassable by all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and has the outlook of nonattachment to everything.
“O jinaputras! To give an analogy, it is like a bhikṣu with miraculous powers who has through stages attained the cessation that is the ninth438 stage of dhyāna and is devoid of conceit and the flow of thoughts.439
“O jinaputras! In that same way, as soon as the bodhisattva has attained the bodhisattva bhūmi Unwavering, he is devoid of all effort and effortlessly attains the true nature, free from all physical, vocal, and mental striving, and is devoid of conceit and the flow of thoughts440 and remains in the detached state of the true nature.
“O jinaputras! To give an analogy, it is like a sleeping person who in a dream sees himself swept away by a great flood and commences to strive and exert himself in order to save himself.441 Because of that very striving and exertion he wakes up, and when he has completely woken up, all the striving and exertion ceases.
“O jinaputras! In the same way, the bodhisattva perceives that the multitude of beings are swept away by the four great floods of the kleśas, and he commences to strive and exert himself greatly for liberation, for omniscient wisdom’s enlightenment.442 When he has commenced upon great diligence and has completely attained this bodhisattva bhūmi Unwavering, all effort ceases. There no longer appears any dualistic conduct or conduct based on conceptions of the features of phenomena.443
“O jinaputras! By analogy, if someone has been born and dwells in the Brahmā paradise, he does not engage in kleśas and the activity of desire.
“O jinaputras! In the same way, the bodhisattva who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi Unwavering has no engagement whatsoever in the activity of mind, mentation, and consciousness. [F.240.b] There is not even engagement in any buddha activity, and there is no engagement in bodhisattva activity, no engagement in pratyekabuddha activity, no engagement in śrāvaka activity, no engagement in nirvāṇa activity, no engagement in the activity of an arhat, no engagement in the activity of a non-returner, no engagement in the activity of a once-returner, and no engagement in the activity of a stream entrant. It is therefore needless to say that there is no engagement in worldly activity.
“O jinaputras, in that way the bodhisattva who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi Unwavering, who continues in the strength of his previous prayers, has the flow of entrance into the Dharma in which the buddha bhagavats create the accomplishment of the wisdom of the tathāgatas. They say to him, ‘Noble son, well done! Well done! This ultimate patience is for attaining the Dharma of the Buddha. However, noble son, you do not have the accomplishment of the ten strengths, the four confidences, and the qualities of a buddha. Dedicate yourself to seeking the accomplishment of the qualities of a buddha. Therefore, be diligent and do not abandon the entrance of acceptance.
“ ‘Noble son, you have attained the state of liberation into peace, but you must consider the childlike ordinary individuals who are not at peace, do not have deep peace,444 and are engaged in various kinds of conduct because of the kleśas, their minds distressed by a variety of concepts.
“ ‘Also, noble son, remember your previous prayers, your dedication to benefiting beings, and the inconceivable entrance to wisdom.
“ ‘Also, noble son, this is the true nature of phenomena. [F.241.a] Whether the tathāgatas appear or not, this continues to be the true nature of phenomena, which is the emptiness of all phenomena, the inconceivability of all phenomena.445 This is not something that is revealed solely by the tathāgatas. All śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas also attain this nonconceptual true nature.
“ ‘Noble son, regard our immeasurable bodies, immeasurable wisdom, immeasurable buddha realms, immeasurable accomplishment of wisdom, immeasurable halos, and immeasurable aspects of pure speech. You should attain this kind of accomplishment.
“ ‘Also, noble son, you have had one illumination, which is the illumination of nonconceptuality toward all phenomena. However, these illuminations of the tathāgatas are infinite and accomplish the infinite and are infinitely interconnected.446 It would be difficult to count them all, even in a quintillion eons. You should give rise to the accomplishment of their attainment.
“ ‘Also, noble son, look at the infinite realms in the ten directions, the infinite beings, and the infinite categories of the Dharma, and you should enumerate them and give rise to the accomplishment of their exact attainment.’
“O jinaputras! This is how the buddha bhagavats summarize the immeasurable, incalculable entrances to the accomplishment of wisdom, and so on, to the bodhisattva who has reached that bhūmi. Through those entrances to the accomplishment of wisdom the bodhisattva who has these aspects of infinite wisdom obtains the activity of accomplishment.
“O jinaputras! I say to you, I declare to you,447 that if the buddha bhagavats did not448 bring the bodhisattva into the entrance to the accomplishment of omniscient wisdom,449 [F.241.b] he would enter nirvāṇa, and his activity for all beings would cease. Therefore, the buddha bhagavats provide the bodhisattva with countless activities for the accomplishment of wisdom. This activity that accomplishes wisdom brings accomplishment in each instant. All the previous activities followed and undertaken from the very first development of motivation up through the seventh bhūmi are not even a hundredth of this activity that accomplishes limitless wisdom, not even a thousandth, a hundred thousandth, a ten millionth, a billionth, a ten billionth, a trillionth, or even a quintillionth of it. They cannot be correlated to it through numbers, enumeration, comparison, resemblance, or similitude.
“Why is that? O jinaputras! Previously activities were accomplished through accomplishment in one body. However, the bodhisattva who has reached this bhūmi attains the accomplishment of countless separate bodies, countless voices, countless wisdoms, countless births, countless creations of realms, countless activities of ripening beings, countless activities of offering to and serving buddhas, countless realizations of the way of the Dharma,450 countless powers of clairvoyance, and countless circles of followers, and through possessing countless accomplishments of the body, he attains the power of all bodhisattva conduct through being steadfastly united with it. [F.242.a]
“O jinaputras! To give an analogy, it is like a ship that crosses the ocean. Before it enters the ocean, it has to be moved with effort. Once it has completely entered the ocean, it moves effortlessly, propelled by the wind. In one day on the ocean it travels immeasurably further than it could be carried on land in a hundred years.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva451 who has perfectly accumulated a great accumulation of roots of goodness sails in the ship of the Mahāyāna on the ocean of bodhisattva activity, and with effortless wisdom he reaches the wisdom of omniscience in a moment, whereas his previous activities with effort would immeasurably fail to achieve that, even in a hundred thousand eons.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who has reached the eighth bodhisattva bhūmi investigates omniscient wisdom through the bodhisattva realization that arises from the accomplishment of skillful methods and wisdom. He also investigates the origin of a universe. He also investigates the destruction of a universe. He knows perfectly the origin of a universe. He knows perfectly how a universe is destroyed. He knows perfectly the accumulation of karma that causes the creation of a universe. He knows perfectly the exhaustion of karma that causes a universe to be destroyed. He knows when a universe will be created. He knows when a universe will be destroyed. He knows for how long a universe will remain after it has been created. [F.242.b] He knows for how long the universe will remain destroyed. Everywhere, without exception,452 he knows the smallest elements of earth; he knows the greatest elements of earth; he knows immeasurable elements of earth; and he knows the different kinds of elements of earth. He knows the smallest elements of water; he knows the greatest elements of water; he knows immeasurable elements of water; and he knows the different kinds of elements of water. He knows the smallest elements of fire; he knows the greatest elements of fire; he knows immeasurable elements of fire; and he knows the different kinds of elements of fire. He knows the smallest elements of air; he knows the greatest elements of air; he knows immeasurable elements of air; and he knows the different kinds of elements of air. He knows the smallest atoms; he knows the greatest atoms; he knows immeasurable atoms; and he knows the different kinds of atoms. He knows how many atoms of earth there are in the universe. He knows how many atoms of water there are in the universe. He knows how many atoms of fire there are in the universe. He knows how many atoms of air there are in the universe. He knows the different kinds of precious materials. He knows how many atoms there are in precious materials. He knows how many atoms there are in the bodies of beings. He knows how many atoms there are in the realms. [F.243.a] He knows the corporeal bodies of beings; he knows the subtle bodies of beings; and he knows the different kinds of bodies of beings. He knows how many atoms there are in the bodies of beings in the hells. He knows how many atoms there are in the bodies of animals. He knows how many atoms there are in the bodies of those in the realm of Yama. He knows how many atoms there are in the bodies of beings in the realm of the asuras. He knows how many atoms there are in the bodies of beings in the realms of devas. He knows how many atoms there are in the bodies of beings in the realm of humans. He who has thus gained the knowledge of the different kinds of atoms knows the creation of the form realm, and he knows the creation of the formless realm.
“He knows the destruction of the desire realm, knows the destruction of the form realm, and knows the destruction of the formless realm.453
“He knows the smallest desire realms, knows the greatest desire realms, knows the immeasurable desire realms, and knows the different kinds of desire realms.
“He knows the smallest form and formless realms, knows the greatest form and formless realms, knows the immeasurable form and formless realms, and knows the different kinds of form and formless realms.
“He has the illumination of the wisdom of accomplishment in attaining the wisdom that analyzes the three realms. He has the skillful wisdom of the different kinds of bodies of beings, the skillful wisdom of the different forms of worlds, so that his realization is focused on the process of birth of all beings. In order to ripen all beings, he takes possession454 of a body that is the same as the birth and creation of beings. [F.243.b] He pervades one billion-world universe, and in accordance with his knowledge of illusory manifestation he takes birth in a body that accords with the various aspirations of beings. In that way he pervades two billion-world universes, and three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and uncountable billion-world universes, taking birth in a body that accords with the aspirations of beings. With the possession of that wisdom, while never leaving one buddha realm, he manifests in the circle of followers of tathāgatas in countless buddha realms.
“In those buddha realms and in those circles of followers he manifests bodies that accord with the different kinds of bodies of beings, their aspirations, and their motivations. He manifests the color and form of a śramaṇa within the circle of śramaṇa followers. He manifests the color and form of a brahmin within the circle of brahmin followers. He manifests the color and form of a kṣatriya within the circle of kṣatriya followers. He manifests the color and form of a vaiśya within the circle of vaiśya followers. He manifests the color and form of a śūdra within the circle of śūdra followers.455 He manifests the color and form of a householder within the circle of householder followers. He manifests the color and form of a Caturmahārājika deva within the circle of Caturmahārājika deva followers. He manifests the color and form of a Trāyastriṃśa deva within the circle of Trāyastriṃśa deva followers. [F.244.a] And it is the same way within the circle of Yāma deva followers, the circle of Tuṣita deva followers, the circle of Nirmāṇarati deva followers, the circle of Paranirmitavaśavartin deva followers, the circle of Māra deva followers, the circle of Brahmā deva followers, and so on, up to the circle of Akaniṣṭha deva followers.
“He appears in the color and form of a śrāvaka to those beings who are to be guided by śrāvakas. He appears in the color and form of a pratyekabuddha to those beings who are to be guided by pratyekabuddhas. He appears in the color and form of a bodhisattva to those beings who are to be guided by bodhisattvas. He appears in the color and form of a tathāgata to those beings who are to be guided by tathāgatas.
“Thus he manifests specific bodies in accordance with the aspirations of the myriads of beings in countless buddha realms.
“O jinaputras! He is free of all the concepts of body, has attained the equality of bodies, and knows the bodies of beings. He knows the bodies of realms, the bodies of ripened karma, the bodies of śrāvakas, the bodies of pratyekabuddhas, the bodies of bodhisattvas, the bodies of tathāgatas, the bodies of consciousness, the bodies of phenomena, and the bodies of space.
“He knows the minds of beings and the accomplishment of their wishes. Therefore, if he wishes to, he can manifest the body of a being as his own body.456 Similarly he can manifest the body of a realm, a body of ripened karma, the body of a śrāvaka, the body of a pratyekabuddha, [F.244.b] the body of a bodhisattva, the body of a tathāgata, a body of consciousness, a body of phenomena, and a body of space as his own body.
“He knows the accomplishment of the motivation and aspirations of beings, and therefore, if he wishes to, he can manifest his own body as a body of beings. Similarly he can manifest his body as the body of a realm, a body of ripened karma, the body of a śrāvaka, the body of a pratyekabuddha, the body of a bodhisattva, the body of a tathāgata, a body of wisdom, a body of the Dharma, and a body of space.
“He can manifest any body to be whatever body he wishes.
“He also knows the bodies of beings that are bodies of karma. He knows the bodies that are ripened, the bodies of kleśas, the bodies of form, and the bodies that are formless.
“He also knows the smallest extent of the bodies in realms.457 He knows their greater extensiveness,458 their immeasurability,459 their defilement, their purity, their disorder,460 their inversion,461 their levelness, their groupings,462 and their classification within the network of directions.463
“He knows also the signs of the category of bodies from ripened karma. He knows the signs of the category of the bodies of śrāvakas, the signs of the category of the bodies of pratyekabuddhas, and the signs of the category of the bodies of bodhisattvas. He knows the signs of the category of the bodies of tathāgatas and the bodies of enlightenment.
“He knows the signs of the categories of the bodies of prayer, the bodies of emanation, the bodies of manifestation, the bodies adorned by the primary and secondary signs of a great being, the bodies of light, [F.245.a] the bodies composed of mind, the bodies of merit, the bodies of consciousness, and the bodies of phenomena.
“He knows the classification of the bodies of consciousness: those of true accomplishment, those that are combined with results, their classification into mundane and transcendent, their establishment within the three yānas, the general and the specific, those conducive to liberation and those not conducive to liberation, and those training and those passed beyond training.
“He knows the equality of the bodies of phenomena. He knows their constancy,464 their relative differentiation into signs of their condition, their differentiation into the qualities of beings and nonbeings, and the differentiation into the Buddha, the Dharma, and the higher Saṅgha.
“He knows the immeasurability of the bodies of space. He knows their omnipresence, their noncorporeality, their consistency, and their enabling the appearance of form bodies.
“Having thus attained the knowledge of bodies, he becomes powerful: (1) He attains power over his own lifespan because he has the power of manifesting an immeasurable lifespan of countless, incalculable eons. (2) He attains power over mind465 because he enters the wisdom of meditation in countless, immeasurable samādhis.466 (3) He attains the power over ornamentation because he displays the power of manifesting the beautification of all universes with an array of ornamentation. (4) He attains power over karma because he displays the power of manifesting the ripening of karma at the appropriate time. (5) He attains power over birth because he displays birth in all universes. (6) He attains power over prayer because he displays complete buddhahood at the desired times in all universes. [F.245.b] (7) He attains power over aspiration because he displays all universes filled with buddhas.467 (8) He attains power over miracles because he displays emanations and miracles in all buddha realms. (9) He attains power over Dharma because he displays the light of the Dharma entrance that is without edge or center.468 (10) He attains power over wisdom because he displays the tathāgata’s strengths, confidences and unique qualities, primary and secondary signs, and enlightenment.469
“When the bodhisattva attains those ten strengths, he simultaneously has inconceivable wisdom. He has unequaled wisdom,470 he has limitless wisdom, he has vast wisdom, and he has invincible wisdom.
“He who has reached this bhūmi and has those wisdoms acts with completely faultless actions and behavior of his body. He acts with completely faultless actions and behavior of his speech, and he acts with completely faultless actions and behavior of his mind. He has wisdom foremost and follows wisdom. He has gained the power of the perfection of wisdom. He is accompanied471 by great compassion. He has perfectly apportioned skillful methods. He has the complete accomplishment of his aspirations. He has been well blessed by the blessing of the tathāgatas. He never ceases from his engagement in benefiting beings. He is present in countless different universes.
“O jinaputras! In brief, the bodhisattva who has attained this bodhisattva bhūmi, Unwavering, has a conduct of physical, vocal, and mental activities that are the result of accomplishing the entire Dharma of the Buddha. [F.246.a]
“Having attained this bodhisattva bhūmi called Unwavering, he has the power of stainless intention because of being free from the activity of all kleśas. He has the power of stainless superior intention because he never departs from the path. He remains steadfastly within the power of compassion because he never abandons benefiting beings. He remains steadfastly within the power of great love because he protects all beings. He remains steadfastly within the power of retention because he never loses the Dharma. He remains steadfastly within the power of confidence because he is wise in the classification of the entire Dharma of the Buddhas. He remains steadfastly within the power of clairvoyance because he is wise concerning the different conducts within infinite universes. He remains steadfastly within the power of aspiration because he never abandons any of the activities of a bodhisattva. He remains steadfastly within the power of the perfections because he accomplishes the entire Dharma of the Buddhas. He remains steadfastly within the power of the blessing of the tathāgatas because he is always focused on attaining omniscient wisdom.
“He has attained those powers, displays all activities, and is faultless in all his activities.
“O jinaputras! This is the eighth bhūmi of wisdom of the bodhisattva, and it is called Unwavering because it is invincible. It is called the changeless bhūmi because its wisdom is irreversible. It is called the bhūmi difficult to attain because it is difficult for beings to comprehend it. It is called the bhūmi of youth because it is faultless. [F.246.b] It is called the bhūmi of birth because it has the power over all that is wished for. It is called the bhūmi of completion because there is nothing more to be done. It is called the bhūmi of perfection because it has the prefect completion of wisdom’s investigation. It is called the bhūmi of nirvāṇa because it is the fulfillment of aspirations. It is called the bhūmi of dominance because it cannot be disturbed by anything else. It is called the bhūmi of effortlessness because the process of accomplishment is in the past.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva accomplishes those wisdoms, enters the family of the Buddhas, illuminates the power of the qualities of the Buddha, follows the path of the conduct of the tathāgatas, is focused on the field of activity of the Buddhas, and is constantly empowered with the power of the tathāgatas; he is welcomed by Śakra, Brahmā, and the lokapālas, he is constantly followed by Vajrapāṇi, he never abandons the power of samādhi, he accomplishes countless kinds of bodies, he is endowed with all the power of the conduct of all the bodies, he has perfected the ripening of great clairvoyance, he has power over infinite samādhis, he is the recipient of countless prophecies, and he displays enlightenment to those beings who have become fully ripened.
“He who has reached that bhūmi of wisdom enters the circle of the Mahāyāna, has great clairvoyance from wisdom’s investigation, continuously radiates the light of wisdom, follows without impediment the path of the Dharma’s realm, is skilled in the various worldly paths, [F.247.a] displays the features of all good qualities, has the power over the arising of motivation in his own mind, has the wisdom that perfectly examines the past and future, possesses the knowledge of the following and turning away from the path of the māras, and enters the scope and field of activity of all the tathāgatas. Without ever turning back he carries out bodhisattva conduct throughout the extent of infinite universes.
“He is known as a bodhisattva who has attained the bodhisattva bhūmi called Unwavering.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who has attained the bodhisattva bhūmi called Unwavering never ceases from constantly seeing infinite tathāgatas because of his accomplishment of the power of samādhi. He never desists from a vast offering and service to the vision of the buddhas. In every eon and every universe he serves, worships, honors, and makes offerings to many buddhas, many hundreds of buddhas, many thousands of buddhas, many hundreds of thousands of buddhas, many millions of buddhas, many tens of millions of buddhas, many billions of buddhas, many tens of billions of buddhas, many trillions of buddhas, and many quintillions of buddhas.
“In attending to those tathāgatas he obtains first the different universes and then the acquisition of the light of the Dharma. Even more than before he attains the treasure of the Dharma of the tathāgatas, [F.247.b] and he is invulnerable to worldly questions and instructions.
“His roots of goodness will remain pure, will be purified, and will be very bright for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, many millions of eons, many tens of millions of eons, many billions of eons, many tens of billions of eons, many trillions of eons, and many quintillions of eons.
“O jinaputras! This is like when gold is taken by an expert goldsmith and placed on the throat or head of the sovereign of Jambudvīpa, it cannot be overcome by all the adornments of the beings who dwell in Jambudvīpa.
“O jinaputras! In that same way the roots of goodness of the bodhisattva472 on this bodhisattva bhūmi called Unwavering cannot be overcome by those of the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and so on, up to bodhisattvas on the seventh bhūmi.
“The great light of wisdom and knowledge of the bodhisattva on this bodhisattva bhūmi dispels the darkness of the kleśas of beings through accomplishing the doorways to wisdom.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi Unwavering pervades with the light of love universes as numerous as the atoms in a million buddha realms [F.248.a] and completely pacifies the torment of kleśas in beings and brings them relief.
“From among the ten perfections, the perfection of aspiration predominates, and the other perfections are not accomplished fully and completely.
“O jinaputras! That in brief is the bodhisattva bhūmi Unwavering, the eighth bodhisattva bhūmi. In detail, it could only be learned by a teaching that lasts for endless eons. Most of the bodhisattvas on that bhūmi become Brahmā, the ruler of the universe. He overpowers all others, and no other can overpower him. When he sees something, he has power over it. He is wise and powerful in teaching the perfections to beings, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas, and he cannot be overcome by the questions and instructions of the various parts of the universes.
“In whatever roots of goodness he accomplishes through generosity, kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, he becomes supreme, the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on. His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects. [F.248.b]
“If he wishes to, he can apply himself in such a way that in just one instant he attains as many samādhis as there are atoms in a million universes, sees as many buddhas as there are atoms in a million universes and knows their blessings, causes as many billion-world universes to shake as there are atoms in a million universes, goes to as many buddha realms as there are atoms in a million universes, illuminates as many universes as there are atoms in a million universes, ripens as many beings as there are atoms in a million universes, remains for as many eons as there are atoms in a million universes, comprehends as many previous and future eons as there are atoms in a million universes, opens as many Dharma doors as there are atoms in a million universes, manifests as many bodies as there are atoms in a million universes, and manifests each body having a retinue of as many bodhisattvas as there are atoms in a million universes. That is the kind of diligence he undertakes.
“From this time onward the bodhisattvas who have the power of prayer through particular prayers manifest bodies, light, miracles, sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, and so on, until many quintillions of eons, which are difficult to enumerate.” [F.249.a]
Then bodhisattva Vajragarbha, in order to analyze and teach the meaning of this bhūmi, recited these verses:
That is the bodhisattva bhūmi called Unwavering.488 [B19] [F.250.b]
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! The bodhisattva on the eighth bodhisattva bhūmi who has the understanding that analyzes immeasurable knowledge,494 (1) who is focused on the aspiration to higher peace and liberation, (2) who examines495 the higher complete wisdom of the tathāgatas, (3) who enters into the secret496 of the tathāgatas, (4) who examines the greatness of inconceivable wisdom, (5) who examines and purifies retentions and samādhis, (6) who accomplishes vast clairvoyance, (7) who observes the categories of different worlds, [F.251.b] (8) who trains for the unassailable strengths, confidences, and unique buddha qualities of the tathāgatas, (9) who follows the mighty turning of the Dharma wheel by the tathāgatas, and (10) who does not abandon obtaining the empowerment of great compassion, ascends to the ninth bodhisattva bhūmi.
“When he is on this bodhisattva bhūmi, Perfect Understanding,497 he knows perfectly the development of good, bad, and neutral qualities; he knows the development of the sullied and unsullied qualities, the development of the mundane and transcendent qualities, the development of conceivable and inconceivable qualities, the development of definite and indefinite qualities, the development of śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha qualities, the development of the qualities of bodhisattva conduct, the development of the qualities on the bhūmi of the tathāgatas, the development of composite qualities, and the development of noncomposite qualities.
“With the intelligence that has gained that wisdom he knows perfectly the complex498 mode of activity of the minds of beings. He knows perfectly the complex mode of activity of the kleśas, the complex mode of activity of karma, the complex mode of activity of the faculties, the complex mode of activity of motivations, the complex mode of activity of the sensory elements, the complex mode of activity of intentions and propensities, the complex mode of activity of generation, the complex mode of activity of adhering to tendencies, [F.252.a] and the complex mode of activity of the states of the three groups.499
“He knows perfectly the various aspects of the minds of beings. He knows perfectly the mind’s multiplicity;500 the mind’s instantaneous, swift change, fragmentation, and nonfragmentation; the mind’s bodilessness; the mind’s infinite, complete abundance;501 the mind’s clarity; the mind’s state of being afflicted; the mind’s state of being unafflicted; the mind’s bondage and liberation; the mind’s illusory manifestation;502 the mind’s concord with a class of existence;503 and so on, up to many thousands of different aspects of mind.
“He knows perfectly the pervasiveness of the kleśas. He knows perfectly their infinite applications; their simultaneous arising and inseparability; the single meaning of their propensities and their dominance;504 their being conjoined with the mind and not being conjoined with the mind;505 their causing the connection with rebirth in accordance with a class of existence; their divisions within the three realms; their great faults of craving, ignorance, binding views,506 and pride; their being the unceasing cause of the three kinds of karma; and so on—in brief, eighty-four thousand different modes of activity of the kleśas.
“He knows perfectly the goodness, badness, and neutrality of actions. He knows perfectly their being known and not known; their being connate with and inseparable from the mind; that they cease to exist in their own instant while being connected with the development of their own result, which will never be lost; their having ripened and their not having ripened; [F.252.b] the various kinds of results received from the many kinds of actions—good, bad, and neither good nor bad; the limitlessness of the realms of karma; the division between the higher and the worldly; the differentiation of transcendent qualities; the acquired and the unacquired; the completed and the uncompleted;507 those that have results experienced in this life, the next life, or another lifetime; those that are yānas and not yānas, definite and indefinite; and so on, up to eighty-four thousand aspects of karma.
“He knows perfectly the weak, the medium, and the superior faculties. He knows perfectly their connection or nonconnection with the past and the future; their superiority, mediocrity, and inferiority; their being connate with and inseparable from the kleśas; their being yānas or not yānas, definite or indefinite; the ripened and unripened who are to be guided; following the net of the faculties, swift disintegration, and the grasping of features;508 the invincibility of power over the faculties; the difference between the faculties that can regress and those that cannot regress; the various kinds that are developed509 and those that are innate; and so on—in brief eighty-four thousand different kinds of faculties.
“He knows perfectly the aspirations that are weak, medium, superior, and so on, knowing perfectly eighty-four thousand different kinds of aspiration.
“He knows perfectly the constituents that are weak, medium, superior, and so on, knowing perfectly eighty-four thousand different kinds of constituents. [F.253.a]
“He knows perfectly the motivations that are weak, medium, superior, and so on, knowing perfectly eighty-four thousand different kinds of motivation.
“He knows perfectly the propensities that are connate with motivation and connate with mind; their being conjoined with mind, not conjoined with mind, and followed for a long time; that they are beginningless and unrevealed;510 that they cannot be conquered by dhyānas, liberations, samādhis, samāpattis, or clairvoyances; their binding a connection with the three realms; their beginningless activity of binding the mind; their being known through arising through the doorways of the sensory bases; their becoming nothing after acquiring their antidotes; their encounter and nonencounter in the bhūmis and the sensory bases; and their elimination by nothing other than the noble path.
“He knows perfectly the different kinds of birth. He knows perfectly the way in which birth occurs in accordance with karma; the differentiation of hell beings, animals, pretas, asuras, humans, and devas; birth in the form and formless realms; birth with perception and without perception; the production of rebirth through the realm of karma, the moisture of craving, the darkness of ignorance, and the seed of consciousness; the simultaneous arising and inseparability of name-and-form; the conjunction of different kinds of birth with desire for existence because of ignorance and craving; the endless and beginningless desire for enjoyment, desire for rebirth, and passion for beings; and the state of being drawn along by the perception that fixates on the realms.511 [F.253.b]
“He knows perfectly the activity or nonactivity of the tendencies. He knows perfectly the presence512 of the tendencies that bind one to the classes of existence; the presence of the tendencies that follow from the conduct of beings; the presence of the tendencies that cause karma and kleśas to repeat; the presence of the tendencies that repeat good, bad, and neutral actions;513 the presence of the tendencies that lead to rebirth; the presence of the tendencies for successive developments;514 the presence of the tendencies to persist in acquiring an accumulation of long-lasting, continuous kleśas; the presence of the tendencies toward the substantial and the insubstantial;515 and the presence of the tendencies for seeing, hearing, and remaining among516 śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and tathāgatas.
“He knows perfectly the groups of beings that are definitively correct, definitively incorrect, and indefinite in being neither. He knows those who are definitively correct in having correct views, those who are definitively incorrect in having incorrect views, and those who are indefinite in being neither; those who are definitively incorrect in having any of the five karmas with immediate result on death, those who are definitively correct in having the five powers, and those who are indefinite in being neither; those who are definitively incorrect in having the eight errors, those who are definitively correct in having the correct eight, and those who do not have these actions and are indefinite in being neither; those who are definitively incorrect in not avoiding the conduct of greed, envy, and cruelty, those who are definitively correct in accomplishing the cultivation of the noble superior path, and the teaching of those who are indefinite in being neither.
“O jinaputras! It is said that the bodhisattva who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi called Perfect Understanding has that kind of wisdom. [F.254.a] The bodhisattva who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi called Perfect Understanding knows perfectly the various kinds of conduct that beings have, and he accordingly accomplishes their accomplishment of liberation. He knows perfectly the ripening of beings, the guiding of beings, the teaching of the Śrāvakayāna, the teaching of the Pratyekabuddhayāna, the teaching of the Bodhisattvayāna, and the teaching of the bhūmi of the tathāgatas. With that knowledge he truly teaches the Dharma to beings. He teaches the Dharma in accordance with their different kinds of motivation; in accordance with their different kinds of propensities; in accordance with their different kinds of capacities; in accordance with their different kinds of aspiration; in accordance with obtaining the wisdom of all their different kinds of conduct; in accordance with the comprehension of the activities of their complexity of sensory constituents; in accordance with the comprehension of their birth into a class of existence and with their karma, kleśas, and tendencies; in accordance with the comprehension of their being within particular groups; and in accordance with the attainment of liberation through the aspiration to a particular yāna.517
“The bodhisattva who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi called Perfect Understanding acts as a great dharmabhāṇaka and protects the treasury of the Dharma of the tathāgatas.
“He who has reached the state of a dharmabhāṇaka teaches the Dharma with a bodhisattva’s speech, with immeasurable wisdom, with skill, and with the attainment of the four kinds of discerning knowledge. He always has, continuously and precisely, the bodhisattva’s four kinds of discerning knowledge. [F.254.b]
“What are these four? They are the discerning knowledge of phenomena, the discerning knowledge of meaning, the discerning knowledge of definitions, and the discerning knowledge of eloquence.
“Through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he knows the specific characteristics of phenomena. Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he knows the categories of phenomena. Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he knows how to teach each phenomenon distinctly. Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he knows the continuous, uninterrupted eloquence that accords with phenomena.
“Moreover, through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he knows the nonexistent nature of phenomena. Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he knows the rising and setting of phenomena. Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he teaches the Dharma through continuous designations of all phenomena. Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he teaches the Dharma through those designations, endlessly and without confusion. [F.255.a]
“Moreover, through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he knows the categories of phenomena that appear in the present. Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he knows the categories of phenomena that appear in the future. Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he teaches the Dharma through the categories of phenomena that appear in the past, future, and present. Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he teaches the Dharma through the limitless illumination of phenomena in each of those times.
“Moreover, through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he knows the categories of phenomena. Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he knows the categories of meaning. Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he teaches the Dharma with the appropriate language. Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he teaches the Dharma in accordance with the dispositions of others.
“Moreover, through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he has the knowledge of skillfulness in the distinct categories of the understanding of phenomena. Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he knows the accurate presentation of the understanding of their connection. Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he teaches relative understanding. Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he teaches the Dharma with skill in ultimate understanding.
“Moreover, through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he knows the unchanging single mode of phenomena.518 Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he is skilled in skandhas, sensory elements, sensory bases, and dependent origination. Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he teaches phenomena with pleasing words that all beings are attracted to. Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he teaches further and further with limitless illumination.519
“Moreover, through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he knows the many ways of entering one yāna.520 Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he knows the various categories of the yānas. Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he teaches that there is no difference between all the yānas.521 Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he teaches endless illuminations of phenomena in each yāna.522 [F.255.b]
“Moreover, through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he knows that all bodhisattva conduct, wisdom conduct, and Dharma conduct lead to the realization of wisdom. Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he comprehends the categories of the teaching and presentation of the ten bhūmis. Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he teaches the categories of accomplishments on the path of the bhūmis. Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he teaches the endless aspects of each bhūmi.
“Moreover, through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he comprehends the single characteristic of all tathāgatas. Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he knows their concordance with various categories of time, matter, and characteristics.523 Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he teaches the categories of the nature of realization.524 Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he can teach continuously for endless eons on each word of the Dharma.
“Moreover, through the discerning knowledge of phenomena he knows the speech, strengths, confidences, unique buddha qualities, great compassion, discerning knowledge, the turning of the Dharma wheel, and the realization of omniscience of all tathāgatas. Through the discerning knowledge of meaning he knows the speech of the tathāgatas that accords with the eighty-four thousand conducts, motivations, capacities, and aspirations of beings. [F.256.a] Through the discerning knowledge of definitions he makes known the words of the Tathāgata, which are distinct from the conduct of beings. Through the discerning knowledge of eloquence he teaches the Dharma with the aspiration for the field of conduct that is the radiance of the wisdom of the tathāgatas.525
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who is skilled in having that wisdom of discerning knowledge has attained the ninth bodhisattva bhūmi, has obtained the treasure of the Dharma of tathāgatas, and has become a great dharmabhāṇaka. At that time526 he attains the dhāraṇī of meaning. He attains the dhāraṇī of the Dharma. He attains the dhāraṇī of the accomplishment of wisdom. He attains the dhāraṇī of radiance. He attains the dhāraṇī of perfect understanding, the dhāraṇī of wealth, the dhāraṇī of fame,527 the dhāraṇī of majesty, the dhāraṇī of unimpeded doors, the dhāraṇī of the infinite, and the dhāraṇī of a treasury of various meanings. He has attained the completion of those and other dhāraṇīs, countless millions528 of dhāraṇī doors. He is skilled in the aspects of speech through possessing countless millions of dhāraṇī doors, and he therefore teaches the Dharma through incalculable doors of different kinds of eloquence.
“Because of those incalculable, countless millions of dhāraṇīs, when he hears the Dharma from countless buddhas in the ten directions, he does not forget what he has heard. He then gives countless different teachings that he has heard. Because of these millions of dhāraṇī doors he masters the Dharma he receives from one buddha. [F.256.b] Just as he does with one buddha, he masters the Dharma from infinite buddhas because of those millions of dhāraṇī doors. Simply through wishing for it, he receives the radiance of even more Dharma doors from the samyaksambuddhas. This cannot be accomplished by a śrāvaka, even though he has attained a great stage of hearing many teachings, has attained the retention of remembering what he has heard, and has been empowered to possess it for hundreds of thousands of eons.
“He has that kind of attainment of retention and attainment of eloquence, so that when he sits down to teach the Dharma, he does so in all the worlds in a billion-world universe and teaches the Dharma on his Dharma throne to beings in accordance with their dispositions. His Dharma throne is superior to those of everyone but the tathāgatas and bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmi of empowerment, and it has an immeasurable radiance. When he is seated on his Dharma throne, if he wishes to he speaks one sound that is understood by the entire assembly in their various different languages. If he wishes to, he speaks one sound that will be an instruction given to the entire assembly in various languages and the different aspects of the voice. If he wishes to, he emits light-ray entrances that create Dharma entrances. If he wishes to, he emits voices from each pore. If he wishes to, he appears as an illusory form in all the worlds of the billion-world universe and emits the sound of the Dharma from those forms. If he wishes to, with one sound of his voice he gives an instruction to the entire realm of phenomena. If he wishes to, he blesses all sounds to become the sound of the Dharma. If he wishes to, he makes the sound of the Dharma come from all the singing, music, and musical instruments in all worlds. If he wishes to, he causes the different sounds of all Dharma words to come from the sound of one syllable. [F.257.a] If he wishes to, he causes countless Dharma doors to come from each of the countless atoms of the immeasurable aggregation of earth, water, fire, and air in infinite worlds.
“If all the beings in the worlds of the billion-world universe were to come and in the same instant, the same moment, were to ask a question, with no one person asking the same question as another, in creating the sound of countless separate questions, the bodhisattva would understand every single syllable of each of those individual questions. Having understood them, with one sound of his voice he would bring satisfaction to the minds of all those beings. If all the beings in countless billion-world universes were to come and in the same instant, the same moment, were to ask a question, all asking questions in different languages, with no one person asking the same question as another, the bodhisattva would understand every single syllable of each of those individual questions, and having understood them, with one sound of his voice he would bring satisfaction to the minds of all those beings … and so on, up to being present throughout countless universes and teaching the Dharma to beings according to their motivations, capabilities, and aspirations.
“When he is seated529 and engaged in teaching the Dharma, he receives the blessing of the tathāgatas, and he accomplishes all the deeds of a buddha in the presence of all beings.
“Even more than before he is engaged in obtaining the light of wisdom in this530 way: ‘If on the tip of a hair there are as many tathāgatas as there are atoms in countless worlds, teaching the Dharma to similarly countless assemblies, [F.257.b] and each of those tathāgatas is teaching countless beings different Dharma teachings, and each of those beings is accomplishing the accomplishment of countless Dharma teachings, and just as one tathāgata does so all the tathāgatas do for all of their assemblies, and if just as it is on one hair tip so it is throughout the realm of phenomena, then I will have a vast memory and receive all the various illuminations of the Dharma from all those tathāgatas in one single instant and from one single sound. I shall, with the eloquence of certainty in the light of wisdom, bring satisfaction in a single instant to the minds of all who have been taught in those circles of assemblies, which are composed of all the different kinds of classes of Dharma pupils, and needless to say I will do so for the beings in these realms.’531
“In that way the bodhisattva who has attained the bodhisattva bhūmi Perfect Understanding, with no other thought day or night and more than ever before engages in the conduct of the buddhas; he enters into the company of the tathāgatas and attains the profound liberation of the bodhisattvas.
“Possessing that kind of wisdom, and resting in meditation, he does not desist from looking at the tathāgatas. He sees the many buddhas in each eon up to a quintillion buddhas, and having seen he serves, worships, honors, and makes offerings.
“He never ceases from looking at the buddhas and making vast offerings to them. He asks questions to those buddhas, and from that teaching comes the retention of the Dharma. His roots of goodness become more purified and unassailable than ever before.
“O jinaputras! To give an analogy, it is like gold that has been fashioned by a skilled goldsmith into an adornment and is worn on the head or throat of a cakravartin king. It cannot be rivaled or overcome by the adornments of all local kings or all beings in the four continents. [F.258.a]
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the roots of goodness of the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas on the lower bhūmis cannot surpass the roots of goodness of the bodhisattva532 on this bodhisattva bhūmi called Perfect Understanding. The radiance of his roots of goodness illuminates the darkness of the afflicted minds of beings and dispels it.
“O jinaputras! To give an analogy, it is like a great Brahmā who rules over two billion-world universes and illuminates the darkness of all the worlds below him in the two universes.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the radiance of the roots of goodness of the bodhisattva533 on this bodhisattva bhūmi called Perfect Understanding illuminates the darkness of the afflicted minds of beings and dispels it.
“From among the ten perfections, the perfection of strength predominates, and the other perfections are not accomplished fully and completely.
“O jinaputras! That in brief is the bodhisattva bhūmi Perfect Understanding, the ninth bodhisattva bhūmi. It can only be learned in detail through a teaching that lasts for endless eons. Most of the bodhisattvas on that bhūmi become a great Brahmā who has gained great might and power. He has power over and overpowers two billion-world universes, and no one else can overpower him. When he sees an appropriate object, he has power over it. He is wise and powerful in teaching the perfections to beings, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas, and he cannot be overcome by the thoughts and questions of beings.
“In whatever roots of goodness he accomplishes through generosity, kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, he becomes supreme, [F.258.b] the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on. His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects.
“If he wishes to, he applies himself in such a way that in just one instant he attains as many samādhis as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms, sees as many buddhas as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms and knows their blessings, causes as many billion-world universes to shake as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms, goes to as many buddha realms as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms, illuminates as many universes as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms, ripens as many beings as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms, remains for as many eons as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms, comprehends as many previous and future eons as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms, [F.259.a] opens as many Dharma doors as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms, manifests as many bodies as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms, and manifests each body having a retinue of as many bodhisattvas as there are atoms in countless millions of buddha realms. That is the kind of diligence he undertakes.
“From this time onward the bodhisattvas who have the power of prayer through particular prayers manifest bodies, light, miracles, sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, and so on, until many quintillions of eons, which are difficult to enumerate.”
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha, in order to analyze and teach the meaning of this bhūmi, recited these verses:
Then bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! In that way the bodhisattva, up through the ninth bodhisattva bhūmi, through the intelligence that examines countless knowables, is said to (1) have analyzed perfectly that which is analyzed, (2) have perfectly completed the qualities of goodness, (3) have gathered an infinite gathering of the accumulations, (4) possess a great accumulation of merit and wisdom, (5) have attained vast great compassion, (6) know the various different kinds of worlds, (7) act within the complexity of entering the realms of beings, (8) have his attention on the perception of entering the scope of activity of the tathāgatas, (9) be engaged in focusing on the strengths, confidences, and unique buddha qualities, and (10) have attained the bhūmi of the consecration of the totality of omniscient wisdom.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who has that kind of wisdom and has attained the bhūmi of consecration manifests the bodhisattva samādhi called stainless. He manifests the bodhisattva samādhis called entering the analysis of the realm of phenomena, the array of adornments of the region550 of enlightenment, the flowers of every kind of light ray, the essence of the ocean, the abundance551 of the ocean, the vastness of space, the analysis of the nature of all phenomena, [F.262.a] observing the minds and conduct of all beings, being in the presence of all the buddhas of the present, and so on, manifesting countless millions of bodhisattva samādhis. He enters and comes out of those samādhis, and he has attained skill in samādhi so that he accomplishes all that is to be done through samādhi. At the conclusion of those countless millions of samādhis he manifests the samādhi called the unique consecration for omniscient wisdom.
“As soon as that samādhi manifests, there appears a vast precious lotus the size of a million billion-world universes. It is adorned by every kind of jewel. It transcends that which is experienced in all worlds. It has arisen from transcendent roots of goodness. It is a completely established experience that has the nature of an illusion. It appears located within the realm of phenomena. It transcends that which is experienced in the divine realms. It has a stem552 that is a precious great beryl jewel. It has a pericarp of the unequaled king of sandalwood. It has emerald anthers. It has leaves of bright Jambu River gold. It has a form that shines with countless light rays. Its interior is adorned with all the best jewels. It is covered by an endless net of great jewels. It has a retinue of great precious lotuses equal in number to the atoms in a million billion-world universes.
The body of the bodhisattva corresponds to it in size. As soon as he attains the samādhi called the unique consecration of omniscient wisdom, he appears seated upon that great precious king of lotuses. [F.262.b] The instant the bodhisattva is seated upon that great precious king of lotuses, he is encircled by bodhisattvas upon the lotuses that are the retinue of the great precious king of lotuses, the same in number as those lotuses. Each one is gazing at the bodhisattva and rests in a million samādhis.
“The moment the bodhisattva and the other bodhisattvas rest in those samādhis, every world without exception trembles, all lower existences cease, the entire realm of phenomena is filled with radiance, all worlds are purified, the names of all buddha realms resound,553 all bodhisattvas with the same conduct gather together, there is the sound of divine and human music and song in all worlds, all beings become happy, there occur inconceivable offerings and service to all samyaksambuddhas, and the assemblies of the followers of all tathāgatas are known.
“Why is that? O jinaputras! As soon as the bodhisattva is seated upon that great precious king of lotuses, countless millions of light rays radiate from the soles of his feet. They radiate, reach, and illuminate the great Avīci hells in the ten directions and end the sufferings of the beings in the hells.
“Countless millions of light rays radiate from his knees. [F.263.a] They radiate toward and reach and illuminate all the animal realms in the ten directions and end the suffering of the beings who are animals.
“Countless millions of light rays radiate from his navel. They radiate toward and reach and illuminate all the realms of Yama in the ten directions and end the sufferings of the beings in the realms of Yama.
“Countless millions of light rays radiate from his right and left sides. They radiate toward and reach and illuminate all the human realms in the ten directions and end the sufferings of humans.
“Countless millions of light rays radiate from the palms of his hands. They radiate toward and reach and illuminate all the realms of devas and asuras in the ten directions and end the suffering of the devas and asuras.
“Countless millions of light rays radiate from his shoulders. They radiate toward and reach and illuminate all those who are in the Śrāvakayāna in the ten directions, and they create entrances into the radiance of the Dharma.
“Countless millions of light rays radiate from his back and throat. They radiate toward and reach and illuminate all those who are in the Pratyekabuddhayāna in the ten directions and create the entrances to the peace of samādhi.
“Countless millions of light rays radiate from his mouth. They radiate toward and reach and illuminate all those bodhisattvas in the ten directions, from those who have just developed bodhicitta up to those who have attained the ninth bhūmi, and they create entrances to the way of wisdom and method.
“Countless millions of light rays radiate from the ūrṇā hair between his brows. They radiate toward and reach and illuminate all the dwellings of the māras and darken554 them, and then they illuminate those bodhisattvas in the ten directions who have attained the bhūmi of consecration and enter their bodies. [F.263.b]
“Light rays as numerous as the atoms in countless millions of worlds radiate from the top of his head. They radiate toward and reach and illuminate in the ten directions all those in the assemblies of followers of tathāgatas, circle the worlds clockwise555 ten times, and then stay in the sky above the world, where they form a great circular network of light rays and perform a vast offering and service called intensely bright light to the tathāgatas. The offerings and service that are made by bodhisattvas from the first development of bodhicitta until the attainment of the ninth bhūmi do not equal even a hundredth of that offering and service. They do not equal even a thousandth, a hundred thousandth, a ten millionth, a billionth, a ten billionth, a trillionth, or even a quintillionth of it. They cannot be correlated to it through numbers, enumeration, comparison, resemblance, or similitude.
“From the great circular network of light there come forth as many flowers as are known in the ten directions,556 along with all known scents, incense, garlands, perfumes, ointments, powders, monastic robes,557 parasols, banners, flags, clothing,558 jewelry, and precious jewels, which are in overabundance, transcend what is known in the world, are created from possessing an accumulation of transcendent roots of goodness,559 have the perfection of every kind of good quality, are empowered by the inconceivable power of emanation,560 are a great rain of a display of various riches, and are like great clouds that rain down onto each assembly of the followers of the tathāgatas.561 The beings who perceive these offerings will definitely attain complete enlightenment. After the light rays have created that kind of offering and service, they again illuminate all the assemblies of followers of the tathāgatas, [F.264.a] circle the worlds clockwise ten times, and vanish into the soles of the feet of the tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas.
“Then those tathāgatas and bodhisattvas know that in such a universe there is a bodhisattva with that kind of conduct whose time for consecration has come.
“O jinaputras! Then infinite bodhisattvas up to those on the ninth bhūmi come from countless universes in the ten directions, assemble around that bodhisattva, and make great offerings to him, and while gazing upon that bodhisattva, they attain a million samādhis.
“From the śrīvatsa adornment, the vajra-svastika,562 on each of the bodies of the bodhisattvas who have reached the bhūmi of consecration, there comes a great light ray called victory over all māra enemies, accompanied by countless millions of light rays. They radiate toward and illuminate the ten directions, manifest endless miracles, and then vanish into the bodhisattva’s śrīvatsa adornment, his vajra-svastika. Simultaneous with the vanishing of those light rays, the power and might of that bodhisattva is perceived to increase more than a hundred thousand times.
“O jinaputras! Then the ūrṇā hairs of the tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas radiate light rays called endowed with omniscient clairvoyance, accompanied by countless light rays. They illuminate every single world in all ten directions, circle the worlds clockwise ten times, [F.264.b] manifest the great miraculous transformations of the tathāgatas, inspire many quintillions of bodhisattvas, cause all the vast extent of buddha realms to tremble in six ways, end all falling into rebirth in the lower existences, darken all the abodes of the māras, reveal all the buddha thrones upon which the tathāgatas become enlightened and attain buddhahood, reveal the majesty of the array of assemblies of the followers of all buddhas, and illuminate all worlds throughout the realm of phenomena as far as the ends of space. Then the light rays return, circle clockwise above all the gathered assemblies of bodhisattvas, reveal a great display, and vanish into the head563 of the bodhisattva. The accompanying light rays disappear into the heads of the assembled bodhisattvas. Simultaneous with the descent of those light rays, the bodhisattvas attain ten thousand previously unattained samādhis. At the same time, the light rays descend into the head of the bodhisattva. That bodhisattva is then said to be consecrated in the field of the samyaksambuddhas. His ten strengths are completed, and he is numbered among the samyaksambuddhas.
“O jinaputras! To give an analogy, it is like the crown prince of a cakravartin, who is born from the principal queen and endowed with the features of a cakravartin king. The cakravartin enthrones him upon a sublime golden throne atop a divine elephant. [F.265.a] There is arranged a canopy above him, and a great arrangement of banners, flags,564 and the playing of music. Water is brought from the four great oceans565 and poured into a golden vase, and that water is sprinkled on the head of the prince. As soon as he is sprinkled, he is numbered among those who are consecrated kṣatriya kings. Then when he has accomplished the path of the ten good actions, he becomes recognized as a cakravartin.
“O jinaputras! In the same way, as soon as the bodhisattva is consecrated by the buddha bhagavats, he is consecrated by the consecration of great wisdom. When the one consecrated by the samyaksambuddhas perfects the ten strengths, he becomes numbered among the samyaksambuddhas.
“O jinaputras! A bodhisattva undertakes a hundred thousand hardships for the sake of the bodhisattva’s consecration of great wisdom. The one who has been consecrated in this way and whose qualities and wisdom have increased immeasurably is said to be someone who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who is on the bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma knows correctly how the realm of phenomena is arrived at,566 how the realm of desire is arrived at, how the realm of form is arrived at, how the realm of formlessness is arrived at, how the realms of beings are arrived at, [F.265.b] how the realms of consciousness are arrived at, how the realms that are composite and noncomposite are arrived at, how the realm of space is arrived at, how the realms of valid and invalid teaching are arrived at, how the realm of nirvāṇa is arrived at, and how the kleśas formed by views are arrived at.567
“He knows correctly how the formation and dissolution of worlds is arrived at, he knows correctly how śrāvaka conduct is arrived at, he knows correctly how pratyekabuddha conduct is arrived at, he knows correctly how bodhisattva conduct is arrived at, he knows correctly how the strengths, confidences, rūpakāya, and dharmakāya of the tathāgatas are arrived at, he knows correctly how complete omniscient wisdom is arrived at, and he knows correctly how displaying complete buddhahood and turning the Dharma wheel is arrived at.568 In brief, he knows correctly the comprehension, analysis, and completion of all phenomena.
“Having the realization that has attained that kind of wisdom, he knows perfectly the emanations as the bodies of beings; he knows perfectly the emanations created by the kleśas, the emanations that create views, the emanations as worlds, the emanations as the realm of phenomena, the emanations as śrāvakas, the emanations as pratyekabuddhas, the emanations as bodhisattvas, the emanations as tathāgatas, and the appropriateness and inappropriateness569 of all emanations.570
“He also knows correctly the basis571 of the buddhas, [F.266.a] the basis of the Dharma, the basis of the Saṅgha, the basis of karma, the basis of the kleśas, the basis of time, the basis of prayer, the basis of offering, the basis of conduct, the basis of eons, and the basis of wisdom.
“He knows correctly the wisdoms of the tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas that comprehend subtleties: the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of conduct, the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of passing away and rebirth, the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of birth, the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of renunciation, the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of enlightenment, the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of miracles, the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of turning the wheel of Dharma,572 the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of power over one’s lifespan,573 the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of passing into nirvāṇa, and the wisdom that comprehends the subtleties of the presence of the teachings.574
“He has the correct knowledge of the secrets of the tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddhas: the secret of the body, the secret of the speech, the secret of the mind, the secret of discerning what is timely and not timely, the secret of prophecies to bodhisattvas, the secret of gathering and subjugating575 beings,576 the secret of the different yānas,577 the secret of the categories of the conduct and capabilities of beings, the secret of the actions and activities of beings,578 [F.266.b] and the secret of understanding the description of the nature of bodhisattva conduct and enlightenment.579
“He has the knowledge of the congruence580 of eons, which is knowing that countless eons are congruent with one eon, that one eon is congruent with countless eons, that countable eons are congruent with countless eons, that countless eons are congruent with countable eons,581 that an eon is congruent with one instant of mind,582 that one instant of mind is congruent with an eon, that an eon is congruent with that which is not an eon, that that which is not an eon is congruent with an eon, that an eon that has buddhas is congruent with an eon that does not have buddhas, that an eon that does not have buddhas is congruent with an eon that does have buddhas, that a past and future eon are congruent with a present eon, that a present eon is congruent with a past and future eon, that a past eon is congruent with a future eon, that a future eon is congruent with a past eon,583 that a long eon is congruent with a short eon, that a short eon is congruent with a long eon, that a concept is congruent with all eons, and that all eons are congruent with a concept.584
“He has the comprehending wisdom585 of tathāgata arhat586 samyaksambuddhas, which is the wisdom that comprehends the path of childlike beings,587 the wisdom that comprehends atoms, that wisdom that comprehends attaining enlightenment in a body within buddha realms,588 the wisdom that comprehends attaining enlightenment in the body and mind of a being, [F.267.a] the wisdom that comprehends attaining enlightenment anywhere, the wisdom that comprehends the appearance of contrary conduct, the wisdom that comprehends the appearance of appropriate conduct, the wisdom that comprehends the appearance of inappropriate conduct, the wisdom that comprehends the appearance of conduct that is conceivable and inconceivable and that worldly beings can or cannot know, the wisdom that comprehends the appearance of the conduct that can be known by śrāvakas, that can be known by pratyekabuddhas, that can be known by bodhisattvas, and that can be known by the tathāgatas.
“O jinaputras, in that way the vast wisdom of the buddhas, the bhagavats, is immeasurable, and the comprehending wisdom of the bodhisattva on this bhūmi is also immeasurable.
“O jinaputras! In that way the bodhisattva who is on this bodhisattva bhūmi attains the bodhisattva liberation called (1) inconceivable. He attains the bodhisattva liberations called (2) unobscured, (3) pure analysis, (4) the complete illumination of entrances, (5) the treasure of the tathāgatas, (6) possessing the invincible wheel, (7) possessing the three times, (8) the essence of the realm of phenomena, (9) the radiance of the sphere of liberation, and (10) engaging in every realm of experience.
“O jinaputras! In this way the bodhisattva on this tenth bodhisattva bhūmi attains those ten liberations of a bodhisattva, [F.267.b] along with countless hundreds of thousands of other entrances to liberation. Similarly, he attains hundreds of thousands of samādhis, hundreds of thousands of retentions, and hundreds of thousands of clairvoyances.589
“He thus has that kind of wisdom, immeasurable realization, and the skill of memory.
“In one instant, in one moment, he accepts,590 receives, acquires, and possesses591 an immeasurable great radiance, light, and clouds of the Dharma from countless buddha bhagavats in the ten directions.
“O jinaputras! To give an analogy, it is like the great mass of water that is emanated from the clouds of an ocean’s nāga king, which can only be accepted, received, acquired, and possessed by the great ocean.
“O jinaputras! In that way all the secret processes, the great radiance, light, and clouds of the Dharma of the tathāgatas cannot be accepted, received, acquired, and possessed by any being, by any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, or by any bodhisattva up through the ninth bhūmi. It is the bodhisattva on this bodhisattva bhūmi, Cloud of Dharma, who accepts, receives, acquires, and possesses them.
“O jinaputras! [F.268.a] The great ocean can receive, acquire, and possess in one instant, in one moment, the great clouds of one great nāga king, of two great nāga kings, of three great nāga kings, and so on, up to the great clouds of countless great nāga kings. Why is that? Because the great ocean is immeasurable, immense, and extensive.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva who on this bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma can accept, receive, acquire, and possess in one instant, in one moment, the immeasurable great radiance, light, and clouds of the Dharma of one tathāgata, and in the same way he can accept, receive, acquire, and possess in one instant, in one moment, the immeasurable great radiance, great light, and clouds of the Dharma of two tathāgatas, of three tathāgatas, and so on, up to countless tathāgatas.592 That is why this bhūmi is called Cloud of Dharma.”
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra asked, “O jinaputra! Can one count the number of tathāgatas from whom the bodhisattva in one instant, in one moment, accepts, receives, acquires, and possesses immeasurable great Dharma light, great Dharma illumination, and great clouds of Dharma?”
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha answered, “O jinaputras! One cannot count through numbering the tathāgatas from whom the bodhisattva in one instant, in one moment, accepts, receives, acquires, and possesses great Dharma light, great Dharma illumination, and great clouds of Dharma. [F.268.b]
“O jinaputras! I shall give you an analogy: If there were realms of beings in all worlds as numerous as the atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms in the ten directions, and if one being among them, who had attained the retention of remembering all that he heard, were to become a great śrāvaka attendant of the tathāgatas who was the highest among those with retention of what is heard, and through that power and might of being learned in what he had heard he became a bhikṣu named Mahāvijaya of the bhagavat tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddha Vajrapadmottara, so that one being had become like that, and then if all beings in all realms without exception were to have the same attainment as that one being, and whatever one being retained no other being retained, then what do you think, jinaputra? Would their learning through hearing be immeasurably numerous?”
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra answered, “O jinaputra! The learning through hearing of all those beings would be immeasurable.”
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! I declare to you and reply to you that the bodhisattva on this bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma can accept, receive, acquire, and possess in one instant, in one moment, from a tathāgata, the great radiance, light, and clouds of the Dharma, [F.269.a] which is called the treasure of the three times of the realm of phenomena. Compared to what is learned through the retention of the great radiance, light, and clouds of the Dharma, previous learning through hearing is not even a hundredth of it, not even a thousandth, a hundred thousandth, a ten millionth, a billionth, a ten billionth, a trillionth, or even a quintillionth of it. Previous learning cannot be correlated to it through numbers, enumeration, comparison, resemblance, or similitude.
“Just as from one tathāgata, from as many buddhas as there are atoms in the previously described worlds in the ten directions, and even from immeasurably more tathāgatas, he can accept, possess, acquire, and hold in one instant, in one moment, the great radiance, light, and clouds of the Dharma, which are called the treasure of the three times of the realm of phenomena. That is why this bhūmi is called Cloud of Dharma.
“O jinaputras! Moreover, the bodhisattva who is on this bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma, through the power and might of their prayers raise up clouds of great compassion, the thunder of the radiance of the Dharma, the flashing lightning of clairvoyance, knowledge, and confidence, the blowing winds of great light rays, the overarching network of massed clouds of merit and wisdom, the manifestation of a whirling mass of all kinds of bodies, the great resounding of the Dharma, and all the routing of the followers of Māra.593 [F.269.b] He pervades in one instant, in one moment, countless quintillions of worlds, as numerous as the atoms in the previously described worlds in the ten directions, and pervades even more, countless quintillions of worlds, and with the great rain that has the nectar of good actions he eliminates as wished for all the dust and fire594 of the kleśas that arise from the ignorance of beings. That is why this bhūmi is called Cloud of Dharma.
“O jinaputras! Moreover, the bodhisattva who is on this bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma attains the activities of all tathāgatas in one world in accordance with the wishes of beings who are to be guided: dwelling in the perfect palace of Tuṣita, passing away and descending, being in a womb, being born, renouncing, attaining enlightenment, being requested to teach, turning the Dharma wheel and the level595 of the great nirvāṇa. In the same way, in two worlds and so on, up to worlds as numerous as the atoms in the previously described universes in the ten directions, and even more countless quintillions of worlds, he attains the activities of all tathāgatas in accordance with the wishes of beings who are to be guided: dwelling in the perfect palace of Tuṣita and so on, up to the level of the great nirvāṇa.
“The one who has attained that miraculous power596 of wisdom and has the clairvoyance and great wisdom of discrimination can, as he wishes, transform597 an afflicted world into a pure world, [F.270.a] transform a pure world into an afflicted world,598 transform a narrow world into a wide world, and transform a wide world into a narrow world. In the same way, through his supremacy he transforms, as he intends, all worlds—the vast, great, immeasurable, minute, huge, inverted, upside-down, level, and so on.
“As he wishes, he can transform one atom into an entire world with its Cakravāḍa mountain range and surrounding ocean. He manifests that activity without that atom growing any larger.
“He can transform one atom to become two worlds, three worlds, four worlds, five worlds, and so on, up to countless worlds, entire worlds with all their atoms, and their Cakravāḍa mountain ranges and surrounding oceans, without that atom growing any larger.
“As he wishes, he can manifest two worlds in one world, and so on, up to manifesting countless worlds in one world.599 As he wishes, he can place all the realms of beings in those countless worlds into one world without causing harm to those beings. As he wishes, he can place all the beings in one world in countless worlds without causing harm to those beings. As he wishes, he can place all the beings in countless worlds within a single body hair.600 As he wishes, he can manifest the entire display of a single buddha realm within a single body hair,601 [F.270.b] and so on. As he wishes, he can do so up to the entire appearances of the displays of countless buddha realms.
“As he wishes, he can emanate in one instant, in one moment, as many of his bodies as there are atoms in countless worlds. He manifests that number of hands on each body. Those hands make offerings to the buddhas in the ten directions. Each of those hands scatters as many bags of flowers as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River toward the buddhas, the bhagavats. They also offer incense, garlands, perfumes, powders, clothing, parasols, victory banners, flags, and all adornments in the same number as that of the flowers. He manifests that number of heads on each body. He manifests that number of tongues in each head. They utter praises to the buddhas, the bhagavats.
“Each development of bodhicitta pervades the ten directions. That development of bodhicitta alone manifests countless attainments of buddhahood and so on, up to entering the great nirvāṇa.
“He manifests countless bodies in the three times. He manifests in his own body innumerable displays of the qualities of the buddha realms of countless buddha bhagavats. He also manifests in his own body the creation and destruction of all worlds. He emits all winds from one pore without causing harm to beings. If he wishes to, he manifests a world that is an extensive mass of water. He manifests a great lotus upon it. [F.271.a] The endless display of the brilliant light of that lotus shines on all worlds. He manifests there a great bodhi tree, and so on, up to displaying omniscience that is superior to all.
“He manifests in his own body all the light of jewels, lightning, the moon, and the sun in the ten directions, and so on, up to every kind of brightness and light. One wind from his mouth shakes the endless worlds in each of the ten directions, without his causing beings to be afraid.
“He displays the destruction of worlds in the ten directions by wind, their destruction by fire, and their destruction by water. If he wishes to, he displays the adornment of physical bodies in accordance with the aspirations of all beings. He displays the body of a tathāgata in his own body. He displays his own body in a tathāgata’s body. He displays his own buddha realm in the body of the tathāgata. He displays the body of a tathāgata in his own buddha realm.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva on this bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma displays these and other innumerable countless quintillions of miraculous powers and miraculous manifestations.”
Then among that assembly some bodhisattvas and some devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, Śakra devas, Brahmā devas, lokapālas, Maheśvara devas, and Śuddhāvāsa devas thought, “If the bodhisattva has that kind of immeasurable range of conduct of creating miracles, then what are the miracles of the tathāgatas like?” [F.271.b]
Then the bodhisattva Vimukticandra, knowing the thoughts and uncertainties of that assembly, said to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha, “O jinaputra! This assembly has uncertainties, and so in order to eliminate their uncertainties show us a little of a bodhisattva’s display of miracles.” [B21]
Then at that time the bodhisattva Vajragarbha entered the bodhisattva samādhi called revealing the nature of the body of the buddha realms. As soon as the bodhisattva Vajragarbha entered the bodhisattva samādhi called revealing the nature of the body of the buddha realms, the entire assembly of bodhisattvas and devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, Śakra devas, Brahmā devas, lokapālas, Maheśvara devas, and Śuddhāvāsa devas perceived that they were inside the body of the bodhisattva Vajragarbha, and they perceived there a fully formed buddha realm. The display of forms in that buddha realm could not be easily described, even in a hundred thousand million eons. They saw a Bodhi tree with a trunk as wide as a million billion-world universes and branches at their highest point filling an immeasurable vastness of ten million billion-world universes, [F.272.a] with a vast lion throne of corresponding size on the bodhimaṇḍa, on which was a tathāgata named Sarvābhijñāmatirāja, who comes to the bodhimaṇḍa and sits there. They thus saw a display that could not be easily described, even in ten million eons.
He displayed this great miracle and then sent back to where they had been before that entire assembly of bodhisattvas and the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, Śakra devas, Brahmā devas, lokapālas, Maheśvara devas, and Śuddhāvāsa devas.
The entire assembly was astonished, and they remained silently focused on the bodhisattva Vajragarbha.
Then the bodhisattva Vimukticandra said to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha, “O jinaputra! The display of the power of this samādhi is inconceivable.602 It is astonishing. It is marvelous. O jinaputra! What is the name of the samādhi?”
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha said, “O jinaputras! The samādhi is called revealing the nature of the body of the buddha realms.”
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra asked, “O jinaputra! Then what is the display of the range and scope of this samādhi?”
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha answered, “O jinaputra! The bodhisattva who has cultivated this samādhi, [F.272.b] if he wishes to, displays within his body as many buddha realms as there are atoms in worlds to the number of the grains of sand in the Ganges River, and even more. O jinaputras! The bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma attains many hundreds of thousands of bodhisattva samādhis like this. Therefore, even bodhisattvas on the bhūmi Perfect Understanding, who have attained the state of crown princes, cannot easily know the body and physical actions of that bodhisattva. They cannot easily know his speech and vocal activity. They cannot easily know his mind and mental activity. They cannot easily know his seeing the three times. They cannot easily know the scope of his samādhi. They cannot easily know the scope of his wisdom. They cannot easily know his effortless enjoyment of liberation. They cannot easily know his activity of emanation, his activity of control, or his activity of power, and they cannot even easily know the raising of his foot and the setting down of his foot.
“O jinaputra! That is in brief the immeasurable bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma, which if taught in detail could not be completed in countless hundreds of thousands of eons.”
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra asked, “O jinaputra! If the scope of power and activity of the bodhisattvas [F.273.a] is in that way immeasurable, what is the scope and range of activity of a tathāgata?”
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha answered, “O jinaputra! To give an analogy, it is like a person in a four-continent world who picks up two or three pebbles the size of jujubes603 and asks, ‘How large is the element of the earth in the endless worlds? Is it greater than these pebbles or is it immeasurable?’
“O jinaputra! That is what your question to me is like. You are comparing the nature of bodhisattvas with the nature of the bhagavat arhat samyaksambuddhas who have immeasurable wisdom.
“O jinaputra! In the same way that a minute element of earth from a four-continent world was picked up but that which remains is immeasurable, O jinaputra, in that way even if one were to teach the bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma for countless eons, only a fraction of it would be taught, so what need is there to say more concerning the bhūmi of the tathāgatas?
“O jinaputra! I instruct you and make this known to you, in the presence of this tathāgata as a witness.
“O jinaputra! If bodhisattvas who have attained this kind of bhūmi were to fill the buddha realms in the ten directions as thickly as stands of sugar canes, beds of reeds, stands of bamboo,604 fields of sesame, or fields of rice,605 and were to accomplish bodhisattva activity for endless eons, [F.273.b] they would not equal even a hundredth of a single instant of a single moment of the wisdom of this tathāgata, of the scope of activity of this tathāgata. They would not equal even a thousandth, a hundred thousandth, a ten millionth, a billionth, a ten billionth, a trillionth, or even a quintillionth it. They cannot be correlated to it through numbers, enumeration, comparison, resemblance, or similitude.
“O jinaputras! In that way the bodhisattva who has that kind of wisdom, who has a body, speech, and mind identical with that of the tathāgatas, does not relinquish the power of the bodhisattva samādhis. He sees the buddhas and makes offerings to them and serves them. In each eon he makes offerings to endless tathāgatas through the accomplishment of every kind of offering. As a result of that vast offering, he receives the radiance of the blessing of those buddha bhagavats. Even more than before he is unassailable in answering the different kinds of questions within the realm of phenomena for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, many millions of eons, many tens of millions of eons, many billions of eons, many tens of billions of eons, many trillions of eons, and many quintillions of eons.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, a great piece of jewelry inlaid with precious jewels that has been created by a divine smith and is worn by the deva king Vaśavartin upon his head or his throat is beyond comparison with the jewelry of other devas and humans. [F.274.a]
“O jinaputras! In the same way, the attainment of wisdom of the bodhisattva who has attained the tenth bodhisattva bhūmi, Cloud of Dharma, is beyond comparison with that of all beings, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas from the first bhūmi up through the attainment of the ninth bhūmi.
“The illumination from the wisdom of the bodhisattva on this bodhisattva bhūmi brings beings as far as the attainment of omniscient wisdom and is therefore beyond compare with any other wisdom’s illumination.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the light of the deva king Maheśvara transcends all states of birth and brings comfort to the bodies of all beings.
“O jinaputras! In the same way, the radiance of the wisdom of the bodhisattva on this tenth bodhisattva bhūmi, Cloud of Dharma, is beyond compare with that of all śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and the bodhisattvas who have attained the first bhūmi up through the ninth bhūmi, and it brings beings to the nature of omniscient wisdom.
“O jinaputras! The bodhisattva who has that kind of wisdom is taught the wisdom of the three ways606 by the buddhas, the bhagavats. He is taught the wisdom of the different aspects of the realm of phenomena, that which pervades all worlds, that which has the blessing of illuminating all worlds, that which knows all beings, realms, and phenomena, that which knows the process of the activity of the minds of all beings, that which knows the time for the ripening of all beings, that which never abandons guidance, that which is skilled in the wisdom that differentiates all the various kinds of phenomena,607 [F.274.b] and so on, up to immeasurable omniscient wisdom.
“From among the ten perfections, he primarily practices the perfection of knowledge.
“O jinaputras! That in brief is the bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma, the tenth bodhisattva bhūmi. It could only be known in detail through being taught for endless countless eons. Most of the bodhisattvas on that bhūmi become the deva king Maheśvara. He is skilled and powerful in teaching the perfections to beings, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas, and is beyond unassailable in his teaching that answers questions on the different aspects of the realm of phenomena.
“In whatever roots of goodness he accomplishes through generosity, kind words, actions that benefit others, and practicing what he preaches, he becomes supreme, the best, the foremost, the highest, the most excellent, the unsurpassable, the guide, the leader, the commander, and so on, up until becoming the omniscient one who is relied on. His mind is always focused on the Buddha, focused on the Dharma, focused on the Saṅgha, focused on the bodhisattvas, focused on bodhisattva conduct, focused on the bodhisattva bhūmis, focused on the perfections, focused on the strengths, focused on the confidences, focused on the unique qualities of buddhahood, and so on, up until being focused on and inseparable from the omniscient wisdom endowed with the supreme aspects. [F.275.a]
“If he wishes to, he can apply himself in such a way that in just one instant he attains as many samādhis as there are atoms in countless quintillions608 of buddha realms, sees as many buddhas as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms and knows their blessings, causes as many billion-world universes to shake as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms, goes to as many buddhas as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms, illuminates as many universes as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms, ripens as many beings as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms, remains for as many eons as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms, comprehends as many previous and future eons as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms, opens as many Dharma doors as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms, manifests as many bodies as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms, and manifests each body having a retinue of as many bodhisattvas as there are atoms in countless quintillions of buddha realms. That is the kind of diligence he undertakes.
“From this time onward the bodhisattvas who have the power of prayer [F.275.b] through particular prayers manifest bodies, light, miracles, sights, activities, voices, conduct, displays, blessings, transformations, and manifestations for many eons, for many hundreds of eons, many thousands of eons, many hundreds of thousands of eons, and so on, until many quintillions of eons, which are difficult to enumerate.
“O jinaputras! That is the brief teaching on the ten bodhisattva bhūmis. If I were to teach it in detail, the teaching would not be concluded even after countless eons. They have been taught, are being taught, and will be taught by the buddhas, the bhagavats of the past, the present, and the future.609
“O jinaputras! These ten bodhisattva bhūmis successively approach the attainment of complete omniscient wisdom that they are headed for.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the four great rivers,610 which are four flows of water that have great Lake Anavatapta as their source, bring refreshment to Jambudvīpa. They never cease but grow larger and benefit beings until they enter the great ocean. That water was from the beginning headed toward the great ocean.
“O jinaputras! In that same way the flow of the water of the roots of goodness that has as its origin the great lake of bodhicitta forms the four great rivers of aspiration that, through the four methods of attracting beings, bring relief to the realm of beings, and that do not cease but grow greater, bringing benefit to countless beings until they enter the great ocean of omniscient wisdom, and that water of the roots of goodness is from the beginning headed toward the great ocean of omniscience.
“O jinaputras! Those ten bodhisattva bhūmis are known to be dependent upon the wisdom of the buddhas.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the ten great precious mountains are known to be dependent upon the great earth. [F.276.a] They are the king of mountains Himavat, the king of mountains Gandhamādana, the king of mountains Vaipulya, the king of mountains Ṛṣigiri, the king of mountains Yugandhara, the king of mountains Aśvakarṇagiri, the king of mountains Nimindhara, the king of mountains Cakravāḍa, the king of mountains Ketumat, and the king of mountains Sumeru.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the king of mountains Himavat is an unceasing source of all kinds of medicines because it possesses all medicines.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Perfect Joy is the unceasing source of the branches of knowledge of worldly poetry, treatises, and mantras because of his mastery of all worldly poetry, treatises, and mantras.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the king of mountains Gandhamādana is an unceasing source of the creation of all incense, because it possesses all incense.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Stainless is the unceasing source of the incense of all bodhisattva conduct, vows, and activity because he possesses all bodhisattva conduct, vows, and activity.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the pure king of mountains Vaipulya, which is made of jewels, is an unceasing source of all jewels because it possesses all worldly jewels. [F.276.b]
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the third bodhisattva bhūmi Shining is the unceasing source of worldly dhyānas, clairvoyances, liberations, samādhis, and samāpattis because he answers all questions on worldly dhyānas, clairvoyances, liberations, samādhis, and samāpattis.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the pure king of mountains Ṛṣigiri, which is made of jewels, is an unceasing source of sages who have the five clairvoyances, because of its multitudes of all sages who have the five clairvoyances.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Brilliance is the unceasing source of worldly dhyānas, clairvoyances, liberations, samādhis, and samāpattis because of his knowledge of the different teachings on entering what is and what is not the path.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the pure king of mountains Yugandhara, which is made of jewels, is an unceasing source of yakṣas who have great miraculous powers, because of its multitudes of all yakṣas who have great miraculous powers.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Difficult to Conquer is the unceasing source of all attainment of clairvoyance, miraculous powers, and magical manifestations because he answers all questions on the attainment of clairvoyance, miraculous powers, and magical manifestations.
“O jinaputras! [F.277.a] By analogy, the pure king of mountains Aśvakarṇagiri, which is made of jewels, is an unceasing source of all fruits because it possesses all fruits.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Manifested is the unceasing source of teaching the comprehension of dependent origination because he answers all questions on the realization of the result of the śrāvakas.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the pure king of mountains Nimindhara, which is made of jewels, is an unceasing source of all nāgas who have great miraculous powers, because of its multitudes of all nāgas who have great miraculous powers.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Gone Far is the unceasing source of teaching on method and wisdom because he answers all questions on the realization of the result of the pratyekabuddhas.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the pure king of mountains Cakravāḍa, which is made of jewels, is an unceasing source of all those who have powers, because of its multitudes of those who have powers.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Unwavering is the unceasing source of the attainment of the powers of a bodhisattva because he answers all questions on the divisions of worlds.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the pure king of mountains Ketumat, which is made of jewels, [F.277.b]611 is an unceasing source of all asuras who have great miraculous powers, because of its multitudes of asuras who have great miraculous powers.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Perfect Understanding is the unceasing source of the nature of the knowledge of the coming into existence and passing away of all beings, because he answers all questions on the formation and destruction of all worlds.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the pure king of mountains Sumeru, which is made of jewels, is an unceasing source of all devas who have great miraculous powers, because of its multitudes of devas who have great miraculous powers.
“O jinaputras! In that same way, the bodhisattva on the bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma is the unceasing source of the strengths, confidences, and unique buddha qualities because he answers all questions on the manifestation of the activity of the buddhas.
“O jinaputras! Just as these ten great precious mountains have been produced from the great ocean, have arisen from the great ocean, in the same way, O jinaputras, these ten bodhisattva bhūmis have been produced from omniscience, have arisen from omniscience.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, the great ocean is counted among the insuperable because of ten of its features. What are these ten? (1) It gets progressively deeper. (2) A corpse does not remain in it. (3) It is not identified with other waters. (4) It has one taste. (5) It is many jewels. (6) It is deep and unfathomable. (7) It is vast and immeasurable. (8) It is the dwelling place of great creatures. (9) It never misses a tide. (10) It receives water from the clouds without becoming fulfilled. [F.278.a]
“O jinaputras! In the same way, a bodhisattva is insuperable because of ten bodhisattva conducts. What are these ten? (1) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Perfect Joy there is a progressively deeper accomplishment of his great prayers. (2) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Stainless the corpse of incorrect conduct does not remain. (3) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Shining he surpasses worldly designations and identifications. (4) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Brilliance he has the one taste of stainless aspiration to buddhahood. (5) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Difficult to Conquer he has the many jewels of accomplishing worldly activities through immeasurable method and wisdom. (6) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Manifested there is the unfathomable depth of the analysis of dependent origination. (7) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Gone Far there is the immeasurably vast skill of analysis with intelligence. (8) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Unwavering there is the presence of the many great creatures of manifesting the accomplishment of great displays. (9) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Perfect Understanding he never misses the tide through his comprehension of activities of beings through profound liberation. (10) On the bodhisattva bhūmi Cloud of Dharma he receives without being fulfilled water from the clouds of the radiance of the Dharma of all the tathāgatas.
“O jinaputras! By analogy, a great jewel is chosen (1) as superior to the ten kinds of jewels,612 and it is (2) heated, (3) shaped, (4) cleansed, (5) polished, (6) pierced, [F.278.b] (7) threaded on a string of jewels by a skilled jeweler, and (8) fixed upon a standard that is a tall pole of precious beryl jewels, where it (9) shines light on everything and (10) is authorized by the king. Thus it becomes the location where jewels accumulate for all beings.
“O jinaputra! In that same way, the jewel of a bodhisattva’s development of aspiration to omniscience (1) transcends the jewels of the ten noble families,613 (2) is heated by qualities of purification, abstinence,614 correct conduct, particular disciplines, and asceticism, (3) is shaped by dhyāna, samādhi, and samāpatti,615 (4) is cleansed by the aspects and branches of the path, (5) is polished by method and clairvoyance, (6) is pierced by dependent origination, (7) is strung on the string of the various jewels of method and wisdom, (8) is fixed upon the tip of a powerful standard that is a tall pole of precious beryl jewels, (9) shines with the light of the wisdom of viewing and hearing the conduct of beings, and (10) is consecrated by the kings of the Dharma, the tathāgata samyaksambuddhas.
“Thus he becomes the location where the jewels of the deeds of a buddha accumulate for all beings. At that time he is called omniscient.
“O jinaputra! This teaching616 of entry into the Dharma, which is the accomplishment of bodhisattva conduct and an aggregation of the qualities of completely omniscient wisdom, will not be heard by beings who have not developed roots of goodness.” [F.279.a]
The bodhisattva Vimukticandra asked, “O jinaputra! How much merit will be accumulated by those who do hear this teaching of entry into the Dharma, which is the accomplishment of bodhisattva conduct and an aggregation of the qualities of completely omniscient wisdom?”
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha answered, “O jinaputra! However much power omniscient wisdom has, that is the extent of the accumulation of merit from being focused on acquiring the aspiration for omniscience. The accumulation of merit from being focused on acquiring the aspiration for omniscience is the extent of the accumulation of merit that will be attained from being devoted to this teaching of entry into the Dharma. Why is that? O jinaputra! No one other than a bodhisattva can hear, be attracted to, believe, adopt, keep, or possess617 this teaching of entry into the Dharma, which is the accomplishment of bodhisattva conduct and an aggregation of the qualities of completely omniscient wisdom, let alone attain dedicated application to meditation upon it.
“Therefore, O jinaputra, it is those who have attained the entrance to omniscience who will possess it. It is they who will hear this teaching of entry into the Dharma, which is the accomplishment of bodhisattva conduct and an aggregation of the qualities of completely omniscient wisdom, and having heard it will be attracted to it, and having been attracted to it will maintain it and be dedicated to meditation upon it.”
At that time, through the power of the buddhas and the realization of the true nature, all the atoms of the hundred million buddha realms of the worlds in the ten directions, in eighteen great signs and in six ways, (1) trembled, trembled strongly, and trembled fiercely; (2) shook, shook strongly, and shook fiercely; (3) shuddered, shuddered strongly, and shuddered fiercely; (4) rumbled, rumbled strongly, and rumbled fiercely; (5) quaked, quaked strongly, and quaked fiercely; and (6) roared, roared strongly, and roared fiercely.
Through the power of the buddhas and the realization of the true nature, [F.279.b] there fell rain from clouds of divine garlands, flowers, and incense;618 and there fell rain from clouds of divine cloth, clouds of divine powders,619 clouds of divine jewels, clouds of divine ornaments,620 clouds of divine parasols, clouds of divine banners, and clouds of divine flags.621 Clouds of divine music and song resounded. Clouds of songs that transcended the divine and praised the state of omniscience resounded.
Just as it was on that central platform of precious jewels in the deva king Vaśavartin’s palace in the Paranirmitavaśavartin paradise of this four-continent world, in that same way the Dharma teaching spread and appeared throughout all worlds in the ten directions.
Through the power of the buddhas and the realization of the true nature, bodhisattvas as numerous as the atoms in a hundred million buddha realms622 came from worlds in the ten directions that were as numerous as the atoms in a hundred million buddha realms. They who were spread throughout the ten directions arrived there and said, “Excellent! Excellent! O jinaputras! We also all have the same name, Vajragarbha, and have come from numerous realms that are named Vajraśrī, from the presence of tathāgatas named Vajradhvaja. In all those realms, through the power of the buddhas, this same Dharma teaching is being given in the same kind of assemblies, with the same words, the same letters, and the same pronunciation,623 with the same intended meaning, and without any omission or addition. [F.280.a]
“O jinaputras! Through the power of the buddhas we have come to this assembly to bear witness.624
“O jinaputras! In the same way that we have arrived in this world, at the central platform of precious jewels in the deva king Vaśavartin’s palace in the Paranirmitavaśavartin paradise of this four-continent world, in that way bodhisattvas to the number of atoms in a hundred million buddha realms have arrived at every central platform of precious jewels in the deva king Vaśavartin’s palace in the Paranirmitavaśavartin paradise in each four-continent world in the ten directions.”
Then the bodhisattva Vajragarbha looked into the ten directions, saw the complete assemblies, saw the realm of phenomena, and describing the development of the aspiration to omniscience, teaching the range of activity of the bodhisattva, making pure the power of conduct, discoursing upon all forms of knowledge, removing worldly stains, summarizing omniscient wisdom, teaching the crown ornament625 of inconceivable knowledge, making evident the qualities of all bodhisattvas, and thus teaching the meaning of the bhūmis through the power of the buddhas, he recited these verses at that time:
The tathāgata arhat samyaksambuddha gave his authorization, and the bodhisattva mahāsattva Vajragarbha spoke those words with joy.
The Bhagavat was residing in the Paranirmitavaśavartin paradise not long after his buddhahood, during the second week, seated upon the jewel dais in the immeasurable precious palace of the deva king Vaśavartin, and he was pleased with the words of the bodhisattva Vajragarbha.
The entire assembly of bodhisattvas, and the assembly of devas, nāgas, yakṣas gandharvas, asuras, Śakra devas, Brahmā devas, lokapālas, and Maheśvara and Śuddhāvāsa devas rejoiced.
Notes
Bibliography
Kangyur Texts
sa bcu pa (Daśabhūmika). Toh 44-31, Degé Kangyur vol. 36 (phal chen, kha), folios 166.a–283.a.
sangs rgyas phal po che (Buddhāvataṃsaka) [A Multitude of Buddhas]. Toh 44, Degé Kangyur vol. 35–38 (phal chen, ka–a).
sdong po bkod pa (Gaṇḍavyūha). Toh 44, ch. 45, Degé Kangyur vol. 37 (phal chen, ga), folios 274.b–336.a; vol. 38 (phal chen, a), folios 1.b–363.a. English translation in Roberts (2021).
byang sems rnam dgod bcu bstan pa’i le’u [The Ten Abodes of Bodhisattvas]. Toh 44, ch. 20, Degé Kangyur vol. 35 (phal chen, ka), folios 245.a–258.a.
kye’i rdo rje’i rgyud (Hevajratantra). Toh 417, Degé Kangyur vol. 80 (rgyud ’bum, nga), folios 1.b–30.a.
dkon mchog sprin (Ratnamegha) [The Jewel Cloud]. Toh 231, Degé Kangyur vol. 64 (mdo sde, wa), folios 1.b–112.b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2019).
dgongs pa nges par’ grel pa (Saṃdhinirmocana) [Unraveling the Intent]. Toh 106, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 1.b–55.b. English translation in Buddhavacana Translation Group (2020).
rgyan stug po bkod pa (Ghanavyūha) [The Dense Array]. Toh 110, Degé Kangyur vol. 50 (mdo sde, cha), folios 1.a–55.b.
ting nge ’dzin gyi rgyal po’i mdo (Samādhirājasūtra) [The King of Samādhis Sūtra]. Toh 127, Degé Kangyur vol. 55 (mdo sde, da) folios 1.b–170.b. English translation in Roberts (2018).
chos yang dag par sdud pa’i mdo (Dharmasaṃgītisūtra) [The Sūtra of the Deliberation on the Dharma]. Toh 238, Degé Kangyur vol. 65 (mdo sde, zha), folios 1.b–99.b. English translation in Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York (2024).
sa’i sying po ’khor lo bcu pa’i mdo (Daśacakrakṣitigarbhasūtra) [The Sūtra of the Ten Wheels of Kṣitigarbha]. Toh 239, Degé Kangyur vol.65 (mdo sde, zha), 100.a–241.b.
tshangs pa’i dra ba’i mdo (Brahmajālasūtra) [The Sūtra of Brahma’s Net]. Toh 352, Degé Kangyur vol. 76 (mdo sde, aH), folios 70.b–86.a.
rnam par snang mdzad mngon par rdzogs par byang chub pa’i rgyud (Vairocanābhisambodhitantra) [The Tantra of the Complete Enlightenment of Vairocana]. Toh 494, Degé Kangyur vol. 86 (rgyud ’bum, tha), folios 151.b–260.a.
lang kar gshegs pa’i mdo (Laṅkāvatārasūtra) [The Sūtra on the Descent into Laṅka]. Toh 107, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 1.b–213.a.
Tengyur Texts
Asaṅga. rnal ’byor spyod pa’i sa las byang chub sems dpa’i sa (Yogacāryau bodhisattvabhūmi). Toh 4037, Degé Tengyur vol. 231 (sems tsam, wi), folios 1.b–213.a.
Candrakīrti. dbu ma la ’jug pa (Madhyamakāvatāra). Toh 3861, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (dbu ma, ’a) folios 201.b–219.a.
Maitreyanātha. theg pa chen po mdo sde’i rgyan zhes bya ba’i tshig le’ur byas pa (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkaranāmakārikā) [Adornment of the Mahāyāna Sūtras]. Toh 4020, Degé Tengyur vol. 225 (sems tsam, phi), folios 1.a–39.a.
Śākyabodhi. sa bcu’i mdo sde’i gleng gzhi’i bshad pa (Daśabhūmisūtranidānabhāṣya) [A Commentary on the Introduction to the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis]. Toh 3999, Degé Tengyur, vol. 218 (mdo ’grel, ji), folios 119.b–123.a.
Sūryasiddha. sa bcu’i rnam par bshad pa’i rnam par bshad pa (Daśabhūmivyākhyānavyākhyāna) [A Commentary on the Commentary on the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis]. Toh 3998, Degé Tengyur vol. 218 (mdo ’grel, ji), folios 1.a–119.b.
Vasubandhu. chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi tshig le’ur byas pa (Abhidharmakośakārikā). Toh 4089, Degé Tengyur vol. 140 (mngon pa, ku), folios 1.b–25.a.
Vasubandhu. sa bcu’i rnam par bshad pa (Daśabhūmivyākhyāna) [Commentary on the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis]. Toh 3993, Degé Tengyur vol. 215 (mdo ’grel, ngi), folios 103.b–266.a.
bye brag tu rtogs par byed pa chen po (Mahāvyutpatti). Toh 4346, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (sna tshogs, co), folios 1.b–131.a.
Other Sources
Buddhavacana Translation Group, trans. Unraveling the Intent (Saṃdhinirmocana, Toh 106). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
Chun, Jang-kil. A Study of the Daśabhūmika‑Sūtra: Its Relation to Previous Buddhist Traditions and the Development of Bodhisattva Practice. PhD diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993.
Cleary, Thomas, trans. The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the “Avatamsaka Sutra.” Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1993.
Cook, Francis H. Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977.
Dayal, Har. The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Jewel Cloud (Ratnamegha, Toh 231). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2019.
Du, Hsien. Development of the Hua-yen School During the Tang Dynasty (641 A.D. to 845 A.D.). Taipei: Hua-yen Lotus Association, 2006.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. Vol. 1, Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970.
Hodge, Stephen. Mahā-vairocana-abhisaṃbodhi Tantra with Buddhaguhya’s Commentary. London: Routledge Curzon, 2003.
Honda, Megumu, trans. “Annotated Translation of the Dasabhūmika-sūtra.” Revised by Johannes Rahder. In Studies in South, East and Central Asia, edited by Denis Sinor, 115–276. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1968.
Jones, J. J., trans. The Mahāvastu, Vol. 1. Sacred Books of the Buddhists. London: Luzac & Company, 1949.
Matsuda, Kazunobu. Two Sanskrit Manuscripts of the Daśabhūmikasūtra Preserved at the National Archives, Kathmandu. Tokyo: Toyo Bunkyo, 1996.
Ōtake, Susumu. “On the Origin and Early Development of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra.” In Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism, edited by Imre Hamar, 89–93. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007.
Panda, Narasingha Charan. “Concept of Bhūmi in Buddhist Literature (with Special Reference to the Daśabhūmika Sūtra).” Journal of the Oriental Institute 46: 1–2 (1996): 31–45.
Rahder, Johannes. Daśabhūmikasūtra et Bodhisattvabhūmi: Chapitres Vihāra et Bhūmi. Louvain: Société Belge d’Études Orientales, 1926.
Rahder, Johannes, and Shinryu Susa, eds. “The Gāthās of the Daśabhūmika-Sūtra.” The Eastern Buddhist 5, no. 4 (July 1931): 335–65.
Roberts, Peter Alan, trans. (2018). The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Samādhirājasūtra, Toh 127). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
Roberts, Peter Alan, trans. (2021). The Stem Array (Gaṇḍavyūha, Toh 44-45). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York, trans. The Dharma Council (Dharmasaṅgīti, Toh 238). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Zhang Yisun et al. bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo, Zang han da ci dian. 3 volumes. Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1985.
Glossary
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Attested in other text
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Attested in dictionary
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Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering
This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.
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ācārya
- slob dpon
- སློབ་དཔོན།
- ācārya
acceptance of the birthlessness of phenomena
- mi skye ba’i chos la bzod pa
- མི་སྐྱེ་བའི་ཆོས་ལ་བཟོད་པ།
- anutpattikadharmakṣānti
Akaniṣṭha
- ’og min
- འོག་མིན།
- akaniṣṭha
Amalagarbha
- dri ma med pa’i snying po
- དྲི་མ་མེད་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- amalagarbha
amrita
- bdud rtsi
- བདུད་རྩི།
- amṛta
Anāvaraṇajñānaviśuddhigarbha
- bsgribs pa med pa’i ye shes rnam par dag pa’i dpal gyi snying po
- བསྒྲིབས་པ་མེད་པའི་ཡེ་ཤེས་རྣམ་པར་དག་པའི་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- anāvaraṇajñānaviśuddhigarbha
Anāvaraṇasvaramaṇḍalamadhuranirghoṣagarbha
- dbyangs kyi dkyil ’khor bsgribs pa med cing nga ro snyan pa’i snying po
- དབྱངས་ཀྱི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར་བསྒྲིབས་པ་མེད་ཅིང་ང་རོ་སྙན་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- anāvaraṇasvaramaṇḍalamadhuranirghoṣagarbha
Anavatapta
- ma dros pa
- མ་དྲོས་པ།
- anavatapta
arhat
- dgra bcom pa
- དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
- arhat
asaṃkhyeya eon
- skal pa grangs med pa
- སྐལ་པ་གྲངས་མེད་པ།
- asaṃkhyeyakalpa
Asaṅga
- thogs med
- ཐོགས་མེད།
- asaṅga
asura
- lha ma yin
- ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
- asura
Aśvakarṇagiri
- rta rna ri
- རྟ་རྣ་རི།
- aśvakarṇagiri
- aśvakarṇai
Avīci
- mnar med
- མནར་མེད།
- avīci
āyatana
- skye mched
- སྐྱེ་མཆེད།
- āyatana
bases of miraculous powers
- rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa
- རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ།
- ṛddhipāda
beryl
- bai DUr+ya
- བཻ་ཌཱུརྱ།
- vaiḍūrya
bhagavat
- bcom ldan ’das
- བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
- bhagavat
bhikṣu
- dge slong
- དགེ་སློང་།
- bhikṣu
bhūmi
- sa
- ས།
- bhūmi
Bodhi tree
- byang chub kyi shing
- བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཤིང་།
- bodhivṛkṣa
bodhicitta
- byang chub sems
- བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།
- bodhicitta
bodhimaṇḍa
- snying po byang chub
- སྙིང་པོ་བྱང་ཆུབ།
- bodhimaṇḍa
bodhisattva
- byang chub sems dpa’
- བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།
- bodhisattva
Bodhisattvayāna
- byang chub sems dpa’i theg pa
- བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ཐེག་པ།
- bodhisattvayāna
Brahmā
- tshangs pa
- ཚངས་པ།
- brahmā
brahmin
- bram ze
- བྲམ་ཟེ།
- brāhmaṇa
Brilliance
- ’od ’phro ba
- འོད་འཕྲོ་བ།
- arciṣmatī
buddhakāya
- sangs rgyas sku
- སངས་རྒྱས་སྐུ།
- buddhakāya
Buddhaśrīgarbha
- sangs rgyas dpal gyi snying po
- སངས་རྒྱས་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- buddhaśrīgarbha
Cakravāḍa
- khor yug
- ཁོར་ཡུག
- cakravāḍa
cakravartin
- ’khor los sgyur ba
- འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བ།
- cakravartin
Candanaśrīgarbha
- tsan dan dpal gyi snying po
- ཙན་དན་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- candanaśrīgarbha
Caturmahārājika
- rgyal po chen po bzhi’i ris
- རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞིའི་རིས།
- caturmahārājika
clairvoyance
- mngon par shes pa
- མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ།
- abhijñā
- abhijñāna
Cloud of Dharma
- chos kyi sprin
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྤྲིན།
- dharmameghā
concordant patience
- ’thun pa’i bzod pa
- འཐུན་པའི་བཟོད་པ།
- anulomikakṣānti
confidence
- mi ’jigs pa
- མི་འཇིགས་པ།
- vaiśaradya
deva
- lha
- ལྷ།
- deva
Devaśrīgarbha
- dpal lha’i snying po
- དཔལ་ལྷའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- devaśrīgarbha
dharaṇa
- srang
- སྲང་།
- dharaṇa
dhāraṇī
- gzungs
- གཟུངས།
- dhāraṇī
Dhāraṇīmukhasarvajagatpraṇidhisaṃdhāraṇagarbha
- gzungs kyi snying po yon tan gyi ’gro ba thams cad kyi smon lam yang dag par ’dzin pa’i snying po
- གཟུངས་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ་ཡོན་ཏན་གྱི་འགྲོ་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་སྨོན་ལམ་ཡང་དག་པར་འཛིན་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- dhāraṇīmukhasarvajagatpraṇidhisaṃdhāraṇagarbha
dharmabhāṇaka
- chos smra ba
- ཆོས་སྨྲ་བ།
- dharmabhāṇaka
dharmakāya
- chos kyi sku
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྐུ།
- dharmakāya
dhyāna
- bsam gtan
- བསམ་གཏན།
- dhyāna
Difficult to Conquer
- rgyal bar dka’ ba
- རྒྱལ་བར་དཀའ་བ།
- sudurjayā
discerning knowledge
- tha dad pa yang dag par shes pa
- ཐ་དད་པ་ཡང་དག་པར་ཤེས་པ།
- pratisaṃvidā
- pratisaṃvid
door to liberation
- rnam par thar pa’i sgo
- རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པའི་སྒོ།
- vimokṣamukha
eight errors
- log pa brgyad
- ལོག་པ་བརྒྱད།
- aṣṭamithyā
essence of phenomena
- chos kyi dbyings
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས།
- dharmadhātu
factor for enlightenment
- byang chub kyi phyogs
- བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས།
- bodhipakṣa
- bodhipakṣadharma
five karmas with immediate result on death
- mtshams med pa lnga
- མཚམས་མེད་པ་ལྔ།
- pañcānantarya
five powers
- dbang po lnga
- དབང་པོ་ལྔ།
- pañcendriya
formation
- ’du byed
- འདུ་བྱེད།
- saṃskāra
formless states
- gzugs med pa’i gnas rnams
- gzugs med
- གཟུགས་མེད་པའི་གནས་རྣམས།
- གཟུགས་མེད།
- —
four eliminations
- yang dag spong ba bzhi
- ཡང་དག་སྤོང་བ་བཞི།
- catuḥsamyakprahāṇa
four formless states
- gzugs med rnam pa bzhi
- གཟུགས་མེད་རྣམ་པ་བཞི།
- —
four great elements
- ’byung ba chen po bzhi
- འབྱུང་བ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།
- caturmahābhūta
four methods of attracting beings
- bsdu ba’i dngos po bzhi
- བསྡུ་བའི་དངོས་པོ་བཞི།
- —
four misconceptions
- phyin ci log bzhi
- ཕྱིན་ཅི་ལོག་བཞི།
- caturviprayāsa
four physical activities
- spyod lam bzhi po
- སྤྱོད་ལམ་བཞི་པོ།
- caturīryāpatha
four truths
- bden pa bzhi po
- བདེན་པ་བཞི་པོ།
- catuḥsatya
Gaganakośānāvaraṇajñānagarbha
- nam mkha’i mdzod ye shes bsgribs pa med pa’i snying po
- ནམ་མཁའི་མཛོད་ཡེ་ཤེས་བསྒྲིབས་པ་མེད་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- gaganakośānāvaraṇajñānagarbha
Gandhamādana
- spos ngad can
- spos ngad
- སྤོས་ངད་ཅན།
- སྤོས་ངད།
- gandhamādana
gandharva
- dri za
- དྲི་ཟ།
- gandharva
Ganges
- gang gA
- གང་གཱ།
- gaṅgā
garuḍa
- nam mkha’ lding
- ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།
- garuḍa
Gone Far
- ring du song ba
- རིང་དུ་སོང་བ།
- dūraṃgamā
green vitriol
- nag mtshur
- ནག་མཚུར།
- kāsīsa
Guṇaśrīgarbha
- yon tan dpal gyi snying po
- ཡོན་ཏན་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- guṇaśrīgarbha
Himavat
- kha ba can
- gangs
- ཁ་བ་ཅན།
- གངས།
- himavat
hundred million
- bye ba phrag bcu
- བྱེ་བ་ཕྲག་བཅུ།
- daśakoṭi
immeasurables
- tshad med pa
- ཚད་མེད་པ།
- aparamāṇa
Indra
- dbang po
- དབང་པོ།
- indra
Jambu River
- ’dzam bu chu klung
- འཛམ་བུ་ཆུ་ཀླུང་།
- jambūnada
Jambudhvaja
- ’dzam bu’i rgyal mtshan
- འཛམ་བུའི་རྒྱལ་མཚན།
- jambudhvaja
Jambudvīpa
- ’dzam bu’i gling
- འཛམ་བུའི་གླིང་།
- jambudvīpa
jina
- rgyal ba
- རྒྱལ་བ།
- jina
Jinamitra
- dzi na mi tra
- ཛི་ན་མི་ཏྲ།
- jinamitra
jinaputra
- rgyal ba’i sras
- རྒྱལ་བའི་སྲས།
- jinaputra
Jñānavairocanagarbha
- ye shes rnam par snang ba’i snying po
- ཡེ་ཤེས་རྣམ་པར་སྣང་བའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- jñānavairocanagarbha
Jyotirjvalanārciḥśrīgarbha
- ’od ’bar zhing ’phro ba’i dpal gyi snying po
- འོད་འབར་ཞིང་འཕྲོ་བའི་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- jyotirjvalanārciḥśrīgarbha
kalyāṇamitra
- dge ba’i bshes gnyen
- དགེ་བའི་བཤེས་གཉེན།
- kalyāṇamitra
Kawa Paltsek
- ska ba dpal brtsegs
- སྐ་བ་དཔལ་བརྩེགས།
- —
Ketumat
- dpal can
- dpal dang ldan pa
- dpal chen
- དཔལ་ཅན།
- དཔལ་དང་ལྡན་པ།
- དཔལ་ཆེན།
- ketumat
kinnara
- mi’am ci
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- kinnara
kleśa
- nyon mongs
- ཉོན་མོངས།
- kleśa
kṣatriya
- rgyal rigs
- རྒྱལ་རིགས།
- kṣatriya
Kṣitigarbha
- sa’i snying po
- སའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- kṣitigarbha
Kusumaśrīgarbha
- me tog rgyas pa dpal gyi snying po
- མེ་ཏོག་རྒྱས་པ་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- kusumaśrīgarbha
kūṭāgāra hall
- khang pa brtsegs pa
- ཁང་པ་བརྩེགས་པ།
- kūṭāgāra
liberations
- rnam par thar pa
- རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ།
- vimokṣa
lokapāla
- ’jig rten gyi mgon po
- འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་མགོན་པོ།
- lokapāla
Mahārāja
- rgyal po chen po
- རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahārāja
Mahāraśmijālāvabhāsagarbha
- ’od zer gyi dra ba chen po rab tu snang ba’i snying po
- འོད་ཟེར་གྱི་དྲ་བ་ཆེན་པོ་རབ་ཏུ་སྣང་བའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- mahāraśmijālāvabhāsagarbha
mahāsattva
- sems dpa’ chen po
- སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahāsattva
Mahāvijaya
- rnam par rgyal ba chen po
- རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahāvijaya
Maheśvara
- dbang phyug chen po
- དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ།
- maheśvara
mahoraga
- lto ’phye chen po
- ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahoraga
Maitreyanātha
- byams pa mgon po
- བྱམས་པ་མགོན་པོ།
- maitreyanātha
Manifested
- mngon sum pa
- མངོན་སུམ་པ།
- abhimukhī
Mañjuśrīgarbha
- many+dzu shrI gar+b+ha
- མཉྫུ་ཤྲཱི་གརྦྷ།
- mañjuśrīgarbha
māra
- bdud
- བདུད།
- māra
Māra
- bdud
- བདུད།
- māra
- namuci
Meruśrīgarbha
- ri rab dpal gyi snying po
- རི་རབ་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- meruśrīgarbha
Mokṣacandra
- grol ba’i zla ba
- གྲོལ་བའི་ཟླ་བ།
- mokṣacandra
muni
- thub pa
- ཐུབ་པ།
- muni
nāga
- klu
- ཀླུ།
- nāga
- bhujaga
Nakṣatrarājaprabhāvabhāsagarbha
- skar ma’i rgyal po ’od rab tu snang ba’i snying po
- སྐར་མའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་འོད་རབ་ཏུ་སྣང་བའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- nakṣatrarājaprabhāvabhāsagarbha
name-and-form
- ming dang gzugs
- མིང་དང་གཟུགས།
- nāmarūpa
Nārāyaṇaśrīgarbha
- mthu chen dpal gyi snying po
- མཐུ་ཆེན་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- nārāyaṇaśrīgarbha
Nimindhara
- sa ’dzin
- ས་འཛིན།
- nimindhara
Nirmāṇarati
- ’phrul dga’
- འཕྲུལ་དགའ།
- nirmāṇarati
nirvāṇa
- mya ngan las ’das pa
- མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
- nirvāṇa
noble path
- ’phags pa’i lam
- འཕགས་པའི་ལམ།
- āryamārga
noble superior path
- ’phags pa bla na med pa’i lam
- འཕགས་པ་བླ་ན་མེད་པའི་ལམ།
- —
noble truth
- ’phags pa’i bden pa
- འཕགས་པའི་བདེན་པ།
- āryasatya
non-returner
- phyir mi ’ong ba
- ཕྱིར་མི་འོང་བ།
- anāgāmin
once-returner
- lan cig phyir ’ong ba
- ལན་ཅིག་ཕྱིར་འོང་བ།
- sakṛdāgāmin
outflow
- ’byung zhing ’jug
- འབྱུང་ཞིང་འཇུག
- sāśrava
- sāsrava
Padmagarbha
- pad mo’i snying po
- པད་མོའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- padmagarbha
Padmaśrīgarbha
- pad mo dpal gyi snying po
- པད་མོ་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- padmaśrīgarbha
Pāramitāyāna
- pha rol tu phyin pa’i theg pa
- ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པའི་ཐེག་པ།
- pāramitāyāna
Paranirmitavaśavartin
- gzhan ’phrul
- gzhan ’phrul dbang byed
- གཞན་འཕྲུལ།
- གཞན་འཕྲུལ་དབང་བྱེད།
- paranirmitavaśavartin
Paranirmitavaśavartin
- gzhan ’phrul dbang byed
- གཞན་འཕྲུལ་དབང་བྱེད།
- paranirmitavaśavartin
Perfect Joy
- rab tu dga’ ba
- རབ་ཏུ་དགའ་བ།
- pramuditā
Perfect Understanding
- legs pa’i blo gros
- ལེགས་པའི་བློ་གྲོས།
- sādhumatī
perfections
- pha rol tu phyin pa
- ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།
- pāramitā
powers
- dbang po
- དབང་པོ།
- indriya
Prajñāvarman
- pradz+nyA barma
- པྲཛྙཱ་བརྨ།
- prajñāvarman
pratyekabuddha
- rang sangs rgyas
- རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
- pratyekabuddha
- pratyayajina
- pratyaya
Pratyekabuddhayāna
- rang sangs rgyas kyi theg pa
- རང་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ།
- pratyekabuddhayāna
- pratyāyana
preceptor
- mkhan po
- མཁན་པོ།
- upādhyāya
preta
- yi dags
- ཡི་དགས།
- preta
primary and secondary signs
- mtshan dang dpe byad bzang po
- མཚན་དང་དཔེ་བྱད་བཟང་པོ།
- lakṣaṇānuvyañjana
Puṇyaśrīgarbha
- bsod nams dpal gyi snying po
- བསོད་ནམས་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- puṇyaśrīgarbha
Puṣpaśrīgarbha
- me tog dpal gyi snying po
- མེ་ཏོག་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- puṣpaśrīgarbha
quintillion
- bye ba khrag khrig brgya stong phrag
- བྱེ་བ་ཁྲག་ཁྲིག་བརྒྱ་སྟོང་ཕྲག
- koṭinayutaśatasahasra
rākṣasa
- srin po
- སྲིན་པོ།
- rākṣasa
Ralpachen
- ral pa can
- རལ་པ་ཅན།
- —
Ratnagarbha
- rin po che’i snying po
- རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- ratnagarbha
realm of desire
- ’dod pa’i khams
- འདོད་པའི་ཁམས།
- kāmadhātu
realm of phenomena
- chos kyi dbyings
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས།
- dharmadhātu
retention
- gzungs
- གཟུངས།
- dhāraṇī
Ṛṣigiri
- drang srong ri
- དྲང་སྲོང་རི།
- ṛṣigiri
Ruciraśrīgarbha
- dpal yid du ’ong ba’i snying po
- དཔལ་ཡིད་དུ་འོང་བའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- ruciraśrīgarbha
rūpakāya
- gzugs kyi sku
- གཟུགས་ཀྱི་སྐུ།
- rūpakāya
Sāgaravyūhagarbha
- rgya mtsho’i rgyan gyi snying po
- རྒྱ་མཚོའི་རྒྱན་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- sāgaravyūhagarbha
Sahā
- mi mjed
- མི་མཇེད།
- sahā
Śakra
- brgya byin
- བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
- śakra
Śākyamuni
- shAkya thub pa
- ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།
- śākyamuni
samādhi
- ting nge ’dzin
- ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
- samādhi
samāpatti
- snyoms par ’jug pa
- snyom par ’jug pa
- སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་པ།
- སྙོམ་པར་འཇུག་པ།
- samāpatti
saṃsāra
- ’khor ba
- འཁོར་བ།
- saṃsāra
Saṃtuṣita
- rab dga’ ldan
- རབ་དགའ་ལྡན།
- saṃtuṣita
samyaksambuddha
- yang dag par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas
- ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས།
- samyaksambuddha
Samyé
- bsam yas
- བསམ་ཡས།
- —
saṅgha
- dge ’dun
- དགེ་འདུན།
- saṅgha
Sarvābhijñāmatirāja
- mngon par shes pa’i blo gros thams cad kyi rgyal po
- མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པའི་བློ་གྲོས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- sarvābhijñāmatirāja
Sarvaguṇaviśuddhigarbha
- yon tan thams cad rnam par dag pa’i snying po
- ཡོན་ཏན་ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་དག་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- sarvaguṇaviśuddhigarbha
Sarvalakṣaṇapratimaṇḍitaviśuddhiśrīgarbha
- mtshan thams cad kyis brgyan pas rnam par dag pa’i dpal gyi snying po
- མཚན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིས་བརྒྱན་པས་རྣམ་པར་དག་པའི་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- sarvalakṣaṇapratimaṇḍitaviśuddhiśrīgarbha
Sarvavyūhālaṃkārapratibhāsasaṃdarśanagarbha
- rgyan rnam par bkod pa thams cad rab tu snang bar ston pa’i snying po
- རྒྱན་རྣམ་པར་བཀོད་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་རབ་ཏུ་སྣང་བར་སྟོན་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- sarvavyūhālaṃkārapratibhāsasaṃdarśanagarbha
Śaśivimalagarbha
- zla ba dri ma med pa’i snying po
- ཟླ་བ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- śaśivimalagarbha
sensory bases
- skye mched
- སྐྱེ་མཆེད།
- āyatana
sensory elements
- khams
- ཁམས།
- dhātu
seven precious possessions
- rin po che bdun
- རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བདུན།
- saptaratna
Shining
- ’od byed pa
- འོད་བྱེད་པ།
- prabhākarī
skandha
- phung po
- ཕུང་པོ།
- skandha
son of the sugatas
- bde bar gshegs pa’i sras
- བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པའི་སྲས།
- sugataputra
śramaṇa
- dge sbyong
- དགེ་སྦྱོང་།
- śramaṇa
śrāvaka
- nyan thos
- ཉན་ཐོས།
- śrāvaka
Śrāvakayāna
- nyan thos kyi theg pa
- ཉན་ཐོས་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ།
- śrāvakayāna
Śrīgarbha
- dpal gyi snying po
- དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- śrīgarbha
Stainless
- dri ma dang bral ba
- དྲི་མ་དང་བྲལ་བ།
- vimalā
stream entrant
- rgyun du zhugs pa
- རྒྱུན་དུ་ཞུགས་པ།
- srotāpatti
strengths
- stobs
- སྟོབས།
- bala
Śucigarbha
- gtsang ba’i snying po
- གཙང་བའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- śucigarbha
Śuddhāvāsa
- gtsang ma
- gtsang gnas
- gtsang ma’i gnas
- གཙང་མ།
- གཙང་གནས།
- གཙང་མའི་གནས།
- śuddhāvāsa
śūdra
- dmangs rigs
- དམངས་རིགས།
- śūdra
sugata
- bde bar gshegs pa
- བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པ།
- sugata
sugataputra
- bde gshegs sras po
- བདེ་གཤེགས་སྲས་པོ།
- sugataputra
Sumeru
- ri rab
- རི་རབ།
- sumeru
Sunirmita
- rab ’phrul
- rab ’phrul dga’
- རབ་འཕྲུལ།
- རབ་འཕྲུལ་དགའ།
- sunirmita
Surendrabodhi
- su ren dra bo d+hi
- སུ་རེན་དྲ་བོ་དྷི།
- surendrabodhi
Sūryagarbha
- nyi ma’i snying po
- ཉི་མའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- sūryagarbha
sūtra
- mdo
- མདོ།
- sūtra
Suvarṇabhadravimalavasucitratejolalitagarbha
- gser bzang zhing dri ma med pa’i dbyig gis spras pa’i gzi brjid mdzes pa’i snying po
- གསེར་བཟང་ཞིང་དྲི་མ་མེད་པའི་དབྱིག་གིས་སྤྲས་པའི་གཟི་བརྗིད་མཛེས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- suvarṇabhadravimalavasucitratejolalitagarbha
Suyāma
- mtshe ma
- rab ’tshe ma
- མཚེ་མ།
- རབ་འཚེ་མ།
- suyāma
tathāgata
- de bzhin gshegs pa
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།
- tathāgata
Tathāgataśrīgarbha
- de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- tathāgataśrīgarbha
ten bad actions
- mi dge ba’i bcu’i lam
- མི་དགེ་བའི་བཅུའི་ལམ།
- daśākuśalakarma
ten good actions
- dge ba bcu’i las
- དགེ་བ་བཅུའི་ལས།
- daśakuśalakarma
Tengyur
- bstan ’gyur
- བསྟན་འགྱུར།
- —
Three Jewels
- dkon mchog gsum
- དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ།
- triratna
three sufferings
- sdug bsngal gsum
- སྡུག་བསྔལ་གསུམ།
- triduḥkha
three times
- dus gsum
- དུས་གསུམ།
- tryadhva
three vows
- sdom pa gsum
- སྡོམ་པ་གསུམ།
- trisaṃvara
tīrthika
- mu stegs
- མུ་སྟེགས།
- tīrthika
Trāyastriṃśa
- sum cu rtsa gsum pa
- སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་པ།
- trāyastriṃśa
trillion
- bye ba brgya stong
- བྱེ་བ་བརྒྱ་སྟོང་།
- koṭiśatasahasra
Trisong Detsen
- khri srong lde btsan
- ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན།
- —
Tuṣita
- dga’ ldan
- དགའ་ལྡན།
- tuṣita
unelaborateness
- spros pa med pa
- སྤྲོས་པ་མེད་པ།
- niṣprapañca
Unwavering
- mi g.yo ba
- མི་གཡོ་བ།
- acalā
ūrṇā hair
- mdzod spu
- མཛོད་སྤུ།
- ūrṇā
Utpalaśrīgarbha
- —
- —
- utpalaśrīgarbha
Vaipulya
- rnam par ’dal ba
- རྣམ་པར་འདལ་བ།
- vaipulya
- vaidalya
Vairocana
- rnam par snang mdzad
- རྣམ་པར་སྣང་མཛད།
- vairocana
vaiśya
- rje’u rigs
- རྗེའུ་རིགས།
- vaiśya
vajra
- rdo rje
- རྡོ་རྗེ།
- vajra
Vajradhvaja
- rdo rje’i rgyal mtshan
- རྡོ་རྗེའི་རྒྱལ་མཚན།
- vajradhvaja
Vajragarbha
- rdo rje’i snying po
- རྡོ་རྗེའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- vajragarbha
Vajrapadmottara
- rdo rje pad mo’i bla
- རྡོ་རྗེ་པད་མོའི་བླ།
- vajrapadmottara
Vajrapāṇi
- lag na rdo rje
- ལག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།
- vajrapāṇi
Vajrārciḥśrīvatsālaṃkāragarbha
- dpal gyi be ’u rdo rje ’od ’phro bas brgyan pa’i snying po
- དཔལ་གྱི་བེ་འུ་རྡོ་རྗེ་འོད་འཕྲོ་བས་བརྒྱན་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- vajrārciḥśrīvatsālaṃkāragarbha
Vajraśrī
- rdo rje’i dpal
- རྡོ་རྗེའི་དཔལ།
- vajraśrī
Vaśavartin
- dbang sgyur
- དབང་སྒྱུར།
- vaśavartin
Vasubandhu
- dbyig gnyen
- དབྱིག་གཉེན།
- vasubandhu
vetāla
- ro langs
- རོ་ལངས།
- vetāla
Vicitrapratibhāṇālaṃkāragarbha
- spobs pa sna tshogs rgyan gyi snying po
- སྤོབས་པ་སྣ་ཚོགས་རྒྱན་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
- vicitrapratibhāṇālaṃkāragarbha
Vimalagarbha
- dri ma dang bral ba’i snying po
- དྲི་མ་དང་བྲལ་བའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- vimalagarbha
Vimalaprabhāsaśrītejorājagarbha
- ’od dri ma med pa’i dpal gyi gzi brjid bzang po’i snying po
- འོད་དྲི་མ་མེད་པའི་དཔལ་གྱི་གཟི་བརྗིད་བཟང་པོའི་སྙིང་པོ།
- vimalaprabhāsaśrītejorājagarbha
Vimukticandra
- rnam par grol ba’i zla ba
- རྣམ་པར་གྲོལ་བའི་ཟླ་བ།
- vimukticandra
white coral
- mu sa ra gal pa
- མུ་ས་ར་གལ་པ།
- musalagalva
- musaragalva
- musāragalva
- musāgalva
yakṣa
- gnod sbyin
- གནོད་སྦྱིན།
- yakṣa
Yama
- gshin rje
- གཤིན་རྗེ།
- yama
Yāma
- mtshe ma
- མཚེ་མ།
- yāma
Yama’s realm
- gshin rje’i ’jig rten
- གཤིན་རྗེའི་འཇིག་རྟེན།
- yamaloka
yāna
- theg pa
- ཐེག་པ།
- yāna
Yeshé Dé
- ye shes sde
- ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།
- —
Yugandhara
- gnya’ shing ’dzin
- གཉའ་ཤིང་འཛིན།
- yugaṃdhara