The Stem Array
Sudarśana

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, contemplated the profound conduct of wisdom of the bodhisattvas, contemplated reaching the profound basis of the realm of phenomena, contemplated all773 profound subtle wisdom, contemplated the profound aspect of worldly conceptualization, contemplated the profound ground774 that is without creation, contemplated the profound ground of the stream of the mind, contemplated the profound ground of dependent origination, contemplated the profound true775 ground of nature, contemplated the profound true ground of the terminology776 of beings, contemplated the profound ground of the adorning array of the realm of phenomena, contemplated the profound ground of dependence on the processes of the body, and contemplated the profound ground of the various transformations of the body.

Eventually he arrived at the land of Trinayana. He searched for the bhikṣu Sudarśana throughout the land, throughout the towns, throughout the cities, throughout the marketplaces, throughout the villages, [F.392.b] throughout the cattle pens, throughout the ashrams of ṛṣis, throughout the regions and districts, throughout the banks of rivers, throughout mountain caves, and throughout great forests until he saw the bhikṣu Sudarśana inside a thick forest.

The bhikṣu Sudarśana was a young adult, handsome, good looking, and attractive. His deep black hair curled to the right. His head was like a parasol. There was an uṣṇīṣa on the crown of his head. His forehead was broad. His eyes were wide and deep black. His eyelashes were like the eyelashes of a cow. His nose was lovely, high, and prominent.777 His lips were the beautiful color of vermilion and perfectly proportioned. His teeth were even, without gaps, very white, and a full forty in number. He had jaws like a lion. His cheeks were full and wide. His eyebrows were long, beautiful, and curved like a bow. He had the mark of the ūrṇā hair the color of the moon. His earlobes were long and hung loosely. His face was bright and beautiful like the full moon. His throat was round and as beautiful as a conch. His heart area was adorned by the śrīvatsa. His upper body was like the upper body of a lion. His flesh between the shoulder blades was muscular. His shoulders were bulky and rounded. His arms were long. His fingers were webbed. His hands and feet were adorned by wheels. His hands and feet were soft, young, and thick. He had the seven prominences. His waist was slim like a vajra’s. His body was big and straight. His thighs were round. His penis was retracted into his body. His calves were like the calves of a female blackbuck. His fingers were long. The heels of his feet were wide. He had a halo a fathom in width. He was golden in color. Each of his body hairs was curled upward to the right. [F.393.a] He had the circular symmetry778 of a king banyan tree. He was adorned with the signs and features of a superior being. His eyes did not blink or waver. He remained in a state of mindfulness. He was like the Himalayas, the king of mountains, adorned with various grasses, forests, herbs, and vines. His intellect was vast. He had an invincible range and scope of wisdom. The display of the field of his voice was like thunder from the clouds. His mind was free of all vacillation, conceit, instability, or frivolity. He had an unalloyed range of wisdom. He had attained the illumination of the vast range of the wisdom779 of buddhahood. He was continuously motivated to ripen and guide all beings. He had developed the vast780 field of great compassion.

He was dedicated to possessing the way of the Dharma of all the tathāgatas. He was dedicated to bringing the light of wisdom to all beings. He was mindful of the way of the tathāgatas. He was on the meditation walkway. He was walking neither too fast nor too slow, serenely and steadily.781 He was dressed like the Śuddhāvāsa devas.

He was encircled by devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, Śakra, Brahmā, the world guardians, humans, and nonhumans.

When Sudarśana was going to change the direction in which he was walking, the devas of the directions turned782 the field of directions around. The devas of walking received his footsteps on precious lotuses. The devas who cause fire, who have unceasing disks of light, dispelled obscuring darkness. The devas of the forest of Jambudhvaja [F.393.b] sent down a rain of many flowers. The devas of the earth, who have the essence of stability, revealed many sources of jewels. The devas of the sky, who have the splendor of complete brightness, adorned the surface of the sky. The devas of the ocean, who are the source of splendor, scattered great precious jewels. The devas of Sumeru, who have the essence of stainlessness, placed their hands together and paid homage. The devas of the air, who have unimpeded power, spread breezes that scattered perfume, incense, and flowers. The devas of the night,783 with their bodies bedecked in jewelry, bowed down in homage. The devas of the daytime, who have the disk that always causes beings to wake were holding banners of precious jewels that illuminated the directions and standing in the sky in order to create light.

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, approached the bhikṣu Sudarśana and bowed his head onto the surface of the bhikṣu Sudarśana’s feet, covered the surface of the bhikṣu Sudarśana’s feet with kisses,784 and wiped785 them well.

Then Sudhana sat down before the bhikṣu Sudarśana and with his hands placed together said, “Ārya, I am set on the highest, complete enlightenment and am seeking bodhisattva conduct.

“Ārya, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! Explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

The bhikṣu Sudarśana said, “Noble one, having reached adulthood, I am newly entered into the homeless life. [F.394.a]

“Noble one, I have in this one lifetime practiced celibacy before as many tathāgatas as there are grains of sand786 in thirty-eight Ganges Rivers. I practiced celibacy with some for a day and night. I practiced celibacy with some for seven days. I practiced celibacy with some for half a month. I practiced celibacy with some for a month. I practiced celibacy with some for a year. I practiced celibacy with some for a hundred years. I practiced celibacy with some for a thousand years. I practiced celibacy with some for a hundred thousand years. I practiced celibacy with some for ten million years. I practiced celibacy with some for a quintillion years. I practiced celibacy with some for an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of years. I practiced celibacy with some for an intermediate kalpa. I practiced celibacy with some for half a kalpa. I practiced celibacy with some for a kalpa. I heard the Dharma from all those tathāgatas and received their instructions and teachings.

“I have purified an array of prayers. I have purified the field of conduct that enters the range of realization.787

“I have completed an ocean of the perfections. I have perceived the miraculous manifestations of complete buddhahood. I have held their wheels of Dharma each distinct from another.

“I have realized the equality of their strengths. I have held their teachings for as long as their Dharma remained.

“I have accomplished, through the power of the accomplishment of the samādhi of the field of prayer, the previous prayers of all those tathāgatas for the purification of my own buddha realm. [F.394.b]

“I have accomplished, through the power of entering the samādhi of entering all conducts, the past practice of bodhisattva conduct by all those tathāgatas for the purification of my own conduct.

“I have accomplished, through the power of setting forth on completely good conduct, the pure perfections of all those tathāgatas.

“Moreover, noble one, because of the gateway of the perfectly observant wisdom, while I am walking on this meditation walkway there come toward me the gateways of the continuums of all directions.

“Through the arising of a single aspiration, the gateways of the continuums of all world realms are moving further away in order to purify the transcendence of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of world realms through the power of accomplishing great prayers.

“In one instant of mind, through the power of accomplishing the bodhisattva’s completely good conduct and prayers, I directly perceive an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of gateways of the ways of conduct among beings in order to complete the wisdoms of the ten strengths.

“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of accomplishing the prayers to make offerings to past and future buddhas, I directly perceive the vision of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of buddha realms788 in order to make offerings to, serve, and honor tathāgatas as numerous as the atoms in an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of buddha realms. [F.395.a]

“Through the arising of a single aspiration, there falls rain from the clouds of Dharma of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of tathāgatas through the power of accomplishing the prayers for789 the mental retention of holding the Dharma wheels that790 follow countless ways of the Dharma.

“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayers to fulfill the bodhisattva conduct that are like magical illusions,791 I directly perceive the ocean of the conduct of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of bodhisattvas in order to purify all fields of conduct.

“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayer to concentrate all the fields of samādhi through a single samādhi, I directly perceive the ocean of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of samādhis in order to purify all fields of samādhi.

“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayer to attain the power of the highest mindfulness, I directly perceive the ocean of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of powers in order to manifest all the wheels of the powers and the wheels of time.

“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayer for the end of endless beings, I directly perceive an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of wheels of time in order to turn the wheels of Dharma in all times.

“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayer for the light of the wisdom of realization, I directly perceive an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya­parivarta of oceans of all three792 times in order to establish the three times in all world realms in a single time.793 [F.395.b]

“However, noble one, I know only this bodhisattva liberation called the never-extinguished lamp of wisdom.794 How could I know or describe the qualities of the bodhisattvas whose aspiration is like a vajra; who have been born into the family that is the family of all the tathāgatas; who have the power of unceasing life; who have a lamp of wisdom that is never extinguished; who have indestructible, unbreakable bodies; who have accomplished a physical form that is like an illusion; who have bodies that have the limbs and smaller physical parts that accord with being phenomena dependent on causes; who have bodies that are perceived in accordance with the wishes of beings; who demonstrate forms, bodies, colors, shapes, and circumferences that are like those of all beings; who have bodies that are unharmed by burning embers, flames, poison, or weapons; whose bodies are as hard as vajras and as invincible795 as the Cakravāla mountain range; who make the power of all māras and adversaries ineffective; who resemble a mountain of Jambu River gold; who have bodies that are superior to those of all beings; who are perceived as a refuge796 by all beings; who are perceived and heard from all sides; who are looked up to with admiration by797 all beings; who are the source of the clouds of all the Dharma; who illuminate every direction; who appear beautiful as a result of destroying the mountains of obscurations; who appear as supreme heroes because they defeat all the roots of demerit; who are a joy to see because they originate from vast roots of merit; and who are as rare as fig flowers?”

“Depart, noble one. In this southern region there is a city called Sumukha in the land called Śramaṇa­maṇḍala. [F.396.a]

“There dwells a boy by the name of Indriyeśvara. Go to him and ask him, ‘How does a bodhisattva train in bodhisattva conduct? How does a bodhisattva practice it?’ ”

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, was dedicated to the pure prowess and practice of the bodhisattvas. His mind was illuminated by the light of the power of the bodhisattvas. In his heart he had mastered the unconquerable fortitude of the bodhisattvas. His mind was indefatigable because of the excellent armor of the resolution of the bodhisattvas. He was dedicated to the stability and vastness of the resolute aspiration of the bodhisattvas. He had the aspiration to possess all the rain from the clouds of bodhisattva conduct. He had the continuity of never having enough of the rain from the clouds of Dharma of the bodhisattvas. He had the aspiration directed toward realizing all the qualities of the bodhisattvas. He longed to send himself to be the embodiment of the charioteers for all beings. He longed to lead beings out beyond the great forest of saṃsāra. He never had enough of gazing upon, listening to, and honoring kalyāṇamitras. He had developed an immeasurable veneration for the Dharma.

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, bowed his head to the feet of the bhikṣu Sudarśana, circumambulated the bhikṣu Sudarśana many hundreds of thousands of times, keeping him to his right, and, looking back again and again, departed from the presence of the bhikṣu Sudarśana. [B1] [V38] [F.1.b]