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སྡོང་པོས་བརྒྱན་པ།

The Stem Array
Praśantarutasāgaravatī

Gaṇḍavyūha

ཤིན་ཏུ་རྒྱས་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ་སངས་རྒྱས་ཕལ་པོ་ཆེ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ལས་སྡོང་པོས་བརྒྱན་པའི་ལེའུ་སྟེ་བཞི་བཅུ་རྩ་ལྔ་པའོ།

shin tu rgyas pa chen po’i mdo sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba las sdong pos brgyan pa’i le’u ste bzhi bcu rtsa lnga pa’o

“The Stem Array” Chapter from the Mahāvaipulya Sūtra “A Multitude of Buddhas”

Buddhāvataṃsakanāmamahāvaipulyasūtrāt gaṇḍavyūhasūtraḥ paṭalaḥ

Toh 44-45

Degé Kangyur, vol. 37 (phal chen, ga), folios 274.b–396.a; vol. 38 (phal chen, a), folios 1.b–363.a

ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ

Surendrabodhi
Vairocanarakṣita
Bandé Yeshé Dé
Jinamitra

Translated by Peter Alan Roberts
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2021

Current version v 1.0.30 (2024)

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co.

Summary

s.1

In this lengthy final chapter of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, while the Buddha Śākyamuni is in meditation in Śrāvastī, Mañjuśrī leaves for South India, where he meets the young layman Sudhana and instructs him to go to a certain kalyāṇamitra or “good friend,” who then directs Sudhana to another such friend. In this way, Sudhana successively meets and receives teachings from fifty male and female, child and adult, human and divine, and monastic and lay kalyāṇamitras, including night goddesses surrounding the Buddha and the Buddha’s wife and mother. The final three in the succession of kalyāṇamitras are the three bodhisattvas Maitreya, Mañjuśrī, and Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra’s recitation of the Samantabhadracaryāpraṇidhāna (“The Prayer for Completely Good Conduct”) concludes the sūtra.

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Acknowledgements

ac.1

Translated by Peter Alan Roberts and edited by Emily Bower, who was also the project manager. Ling Lung Chen was consultant for the Chinese, and Tracy Davis copyedited the final draft. The translator would like to thank Patrick Carré and Douglas Osto, who have both spent decades studying and translating this sūtra, for their advice and help.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

ac.2

The generous sponsorship of Richard and Carol Weingarten; of Jamyang Sun, Manju Chandra Sun and Siqi Sun; and of an anonymous donor, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

i.1

The Stem Array (Gaṇḍavyūha) is a unique sūtra in that most of its narrative takes place in South India, far from the presence of the Buddha. It follows the journey of the young Sudhana from teacher to teacher, or kalyāṇamitra (literally “good friend”), beginning with his meeting Mañjuśrī when that bodhisattva came to South India. Another unique characteristic is that Sudhana’s teachers include children, non-Buddhists, a courtesan, merchants, and so on, among them a number of women. His teachers are both humans and deities, including eight night goddesses around the Bodhi tree and the forest goddess of Lumbinī, the birthplace of the Buddha. These teachers are often described as having received teachings from numerous other buddhas. For example, the bhikṣu Sāgaramegha describes how he received, from a buddha who appeared out of the ocean, teachings that would take more than a kalpa to write out. The kalyāṇamitras are described as having realizations and miraculous powers that test the limits of the imagination.

Indian Origins of the Sūtra

The Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra in China

Gaṇḍavyūha and Borobudur

The Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra in Tibet

Translations into Western Languages

The Meaning of the Title as Translated into Tibetan

The Meaning of the Title Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra

Who Is Sudhana and What Is a Śreṣthin?

The Numbers

Challenges in the Translation

Detailed Summary of The Stem Array Sūtra

The Translation

The Noble Mahāvaipulya Sūtra “A Multitude of Buddhas”
Chapter 45: The Stem Array

Chapter 2

Samantabhadra

2.1

Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva Samantabhadra looked upon the great assembly of bodhisattvas, and in order to categorize, teach extensively, clarify, illuminate, and give instructions on the Tathāgata’s samādhi called the gaping lion, he taught those bodhisattvas in ten ways the Tathāgata’s samādhi called the gaping lion through the equality of the nature of the realm of phenomena with the element of space, the equality of the three times, the equality of the realm of phenomena, the equality of the realms of beings, the equality of all worlds, the equality of the continuum of karma, the equality of the thoughts of all beings, the equality of the aspirations of beings, the equality of the appearances of phenomena, the equality of the times for ripening beings, and the equality of the faculties of all beings. [F.301.b]

Chapter 3

Mañjuśrī

3.1

Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta was residing270 in his kūṭāgāra together with bodhisattvas who had the same conduct; vajrapāṇis who constantly followed him; devas with physical bodies whose minds aspired to serve all the buddhas and were dedicated to bringing power to the entire world; devas who walked on foot following their past aspirations; devas of the earth who aspired to hear the Dharma; devas of pools, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, wells, and rivers who were dedicated to great compassion; [F.314.a] devas of fire who brought illumination through the light of wisdom; devas of the air who wore precious crowns; devas of the directions who illuminated the directions with wisdom; devas of the night who were dedicated to eliminating the darkness of ignorance; devas of the day who were dedicated to producing the daylight of the tathāgatas; devas of the sky who were dedicated to orbiting271 in the sky of the entire realm of phenomena; devas of the ocean272 who were dedicated to rescuing beings from the ocean of existence; devas of mountains who were dedicated to gathering the accumulation of omniscience and whose minds had ascended to the summit273 of the roots of merit; devas of rivers who were dedicated to adorning all beings and who were dedicated to aspiring to the characteristics and supernatural power of all the buddhas; devas of towns who were dedicated to caring for the towns that are the minds of all beings; nāga lords who were devoted to and longed for the town of the omniscient Dharma;274 yakṣa lords who were engaged in protecting all beings; gandharva lords who were dedicated to increasing the power of joy in all beings; kumbhāṇḍa lords who were dedicated to preventing rebirth as pretas; garuḍa lords who were engaged in aspiring to bring all beings out of the ocean of existence; asura lords who had the aspiration to attain the body and power of the Tathāgata, which have transcended the entire world; mahoraga lords [F.314.b] who rejoiced in seeing the Tathāgata and bowed down to him; deva lords who had been saddened by saṃsāra and gazed with admiration; and lords of Brahmakāyika devas who bowed down with great respect.

Chapter 4

Meghaśrī

4.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, eventually arrived at the land called Rāmāvarānta. Having arrived there, he traveled through the land of Rāmāvarānta. Enjoying the delightful pleasures that arose from his past roots of merit and through the power of vast karma, he came to Sugrīva Mountain. He climbed Sugrīva Mountain and, seeking the bhikṣu Meghaśrī, he went to its eastern side. In the same way, he went to its southern, western, northern, northeastern, southeastern, southwestern, and northwestern sides, looking up and down for the bhikṣu Meghaśrī.

Chapter 5

Sāgaramegha

5.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, contemplated the instruction of that kalyāṇamitra. He remembered the radiance of his wisdom.352 He analyzed that bodhisattva’s liberation. He reflected on353 the bodhisattva’s way of samādhi. He looked at the way of an ocean of bodhisattvas. He aspired toward the domain of buddhahood. He delighted in the direction of the vision of the buddhas. He contemplated the ocean of buddhas. He remembered the succession of buddhas. He comprehended that which is understood in the way of the buddhas.354 He looked into the sky of the buddhas.

Chapter 6

Supratiṣṭhita

6.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, remembering the instructions of the kalyāṇamitra and the Dharma teaching called All-Seeing Eyes, contemplating the miracles of that tathāgata, keeping in his mind the clouds of the words and terms of that Dharma, [F.333.a] comprehending that ocean of Dharma gateways, observing the precepts of that Dharma, entering377 those ways of turning toward378 the Dharma, absorbed into the sky of that Dharma, purifying the range of that Dharma, and meditating on the precious continent379 of that Dharma, eventually arrived at Sāgaratīra in the Laṅka region.380 Wishing to see the bhikṣu Supratiṣṭhita, he looked for him in the eastern direction. In the same way, wishing to see the bhikṣu Supratiṣṭhita, he looked for him everywhere: in the southern direction, in the western direction, in the northern direction, in the northeastern direction, in the southeastern direction, in the southwestern direction, in the northwestern direction, above, and below.

Chapter 7

Megha

7.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, was filled with the power and might of faith in the Dharma. He was focused on the idea of following the Buddha; he was sincerely dedicated to the lineage of the Three Jewels; his mind illuminated the worlds of the three times;399 he was focused on following the great aspiration; he was continuously dedicated400 to saving all the realms of beings; his mind did not dwell on composite pleasures;401 he was devoted to contemplating the nature of all phenomena; he never deviated from the aspiration to purify all world realms; he dwelled without attachment in the circles of the assemblies of all the buddhas; he remembered the light of the Dharma;402 he remembered his kalyāṇamitras;403 and he proclaimed the lineage of freedom from desire.404

Chapter 8

Muktaka

8.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, then contemplated that power of retention of the bodhisattvas called the light that is the display of Sarasvatī, remembered that particular entry by the bodhisattvas into an ocean of languages, remembered that particular entry by the bodhisattvas into the way of subtlety,417 remembered that particular purity of the bodhisattvas through purification of the mind, accomplished that particular accomplishment by the bodhisattvas of creating the predispositions for roots of merit, purified that particular bodhisattva gateway for ripening, refined that particular bodhisattva wisdom that attracts beings, made firmer that particular pure strength of bodhisattva motivation, stabilized that particular strength of the superior motivation of the bodhisattvas, purified that lineage of bodhisattva aspiration, developed418 that particular goodness that is in the minds of the bodhisattvas, and entered into that particular commitment of the bodhisattvas.

Chapter 9

Sāgaradhvaja

9.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, contemplated the teaching of the head merchant Muktaka and dedicated himself to the instructions of the head merchant Muktaka. He followed the inconceivable bodhisattva liberations. He called to mind the inconceivable radiance of bodhisattva wisdom. He practiced entering and comprehending the inconceivable realm of the Dharma. He comprehended the inconceivable bodhisattva methods of gathering pupils. He reflected on the inconceivable miracles of the tathāgatas. He aspired to the inconceivable aggregation of buddha realms. He contemplated the display of the blessings of the buddhas. He examined the inconceivable majestic power of the display of samādhis and liberations. He was dedicated to entering inconceivable separate, unobscured world realms. He developed the aspiration for inconceivable, enduring bodhisattva activity. And he adopted the inconceivable continuum of bodhisattva activity and prayer.

10.

Chapter 10

Āśā

10.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, delighted by the qualities of the kalyāṇamitra, [F.364.b] sent forth by the kalyāṇamitra, empowered by the sight of the kalyāṇamitra, practicing the instructions of the kalyāṇamitra, remembering the words of the kalyāṇamitra,526 and contemplating the kalyāṇamitra with affection, saw kalyāṇamitras as the source of the Buddhadharma, saw kalyāṇamitras as the teachers of the Buddhadharma, saw kalyāṇamitras as masters527 in the Dharma of omniscience, and saw the kalyāṇamitras as eyes that look into the sky of buddhahood.

11.

Chapter 11

Bhīṣmottaranirghoṣa

11.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, thinking of following the bodhisattva instructions, thinking of following the pure conduct of bodhisattvas, thinking of increasing the strength of the merit of bodhisattvas, thinking of the illumination of the power of seeing the buddhas, thinking of developing the power to attain the treasure of the Dharma, [F.376.a] thinking of increasing the power of accomplishing the great prayers, thinking of facing every direction in the realm of the Dharma, thinking of the illumination of the nature of the Dharma, thinking of the dispersal of all obscurations, thinking of looking at the realm of Dharma free of darkness, thinking of the motivation703 that is stainless and unbreakable like Nārāyaṇa’s704 precious vajra, and thinking of invincibility and unassailability in the face of all the māra armies, eventually arrived in the land of Nālayu.

12.

Chapter 12

Jayoṣmāyatana

12.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, was illuminated by the wisdom of the bodhisattva liberation called the banner of being invincible to others. He dwelled in the direct experience of the inconceivable range of the miraculous manifestations of the buddhas. He perceived the direct knowledge of inconceivable bodhisattva liberations. His mind was illuminated by the wisdom of inconceivable bodhisattva samādhis. He had attained the radiance of the wisdom of samādhi that is present at all times. He was illuminated by the range of samādhi, in which all perceptions are present and included. He had obtained the light of the wisdom that transcends all worlds. He had the direct perception of dwelling in the entire range of the three times.718 He was devoted to the wisdom that teaches equality without dualistic conceptions. He had the light of wisdom that pervaded719 throughout all objects of perception. He had mastered the treasury of aspiration for pure patience toward all that is heard.720 He had attained the definitive wisdom721 of patience for natural phenomena. His mind was never apart from meditation on the nature of the bodhisattva conduct722 of higher cognition. His mind was irreversibly progressing toward the power of omniscience. He had attained the illumination of the knowledge723 of the ten strengths. His mind was never content in its aspiration to hear the sound of the words of the realm of Dharma. [F.380.b] His mind had gained entry into the field of dwelling in omniscience. His mind had attained the infinite display of bodhisattva conduct. His mind was purified724 by the infinite domain of great725 bodhisattva prayers. He had the mind with direct perception of the limitless knowledge without limit or center of the unceasing network726 of world realms. He had the mind that never wearies in ripening and guiding the infinite ocean of beings. He saw the infinite range of bodhisattva conduct. He saw the infinite diversity of the different world realms. He saw the small and the vast objects of perception included within the infinite world realms. He saw the various networks of names that are the bases for infinite world realms. He saw the various infinite, differing relative designations and terms for infinite world realms. He saw the infinite, differing aspirations of beings. He saw the infinite, differing categories of beings. He saw the infinite practices for guiding and ripening beings. He saw the various infinite perceptions727 of the directions and times of beings. [F.381.a]

13.

Chapter 13

Maitrayaṇī

13.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, with inconceivable respect754 for kalyāṇamitras, with a pure, vast755 aspiration, intent on the Mahāyāna, aspiring to the wisdom of buddhahood, [F.388.a] following the Buddhadharma, longing to follow the kalyāṇamitras, practicing veneration of the Dharma,756 intent on unimpeded wisdom, with conviction in the highest goal, being within the range of the apogee of wisdom, comprehending the three times in a fraction of an instant, intent on the nondual apogee of space, having attained certainty in the apogee of nonduality, dwelling in the nonconceptual apogee of the realm of the Dharma, having entered the comprehension of the way that is the apogee of being free of obscurations, dedicated to the harmony that is the apogee of action,757 realizing that the apogee of the tathāgatas is without an apogee, dwelling in the nonconceptuality that is the apogee of the buddhas,758 and dedicated to the wisdom that disperses the network of conceptualizations of all beings, had a mind free from all attachment to realms, free from attachment to all the circles of followers of the buddhas, and practiced, without dwelling in any location, the purification of all buddha realms; he had the recognition that there is no self and no beings within all beings, comprehended that all sounds are like echoes,759 and was dedicated to the realization that all forms are the same as reflections of forms.

14.

Chapter 14

Sudarśana

14.1

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.

15.

Chapter 15

Indriyeśvara

15.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, recited,798 promulgated, presented,799 investigated, elucidated, reflected on, described, taught, contemplated, bestowed, understood, was immersed in, repeated again and again, realized, propounded, illuminated, and surveyed the teaching of the bhikṣu Sudarśana.

15.2

He eventually, with an entourage of devas, nāgas, yakṣas, and gandharvas, arrived at the city of Sumukha in the land called Śramaṇamaṇḍala.

16.

Chapter 16

Prabhūtā

16.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, had obtained the rain from the cloud of the instructions of the kalyāṇamitras.

16.2

He was like the ocean that never has too much rain from the clouds. The light from the sun of the wisdom of the kalyāṇamitras had caused the seedling of his powers to sprout from the ground of his ripened good karma.

16.3

The net of light rays from the full moon of the instructions of the kalyāṇamitras had brought ease to his mind and body.

17.

Chapter 17

Vidvān

17.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, had obtained the light of the liberation called the unceasing display of the treasure of merit. He contemplated that ocean of merit. He viewed that sky of merit. He obtained that heap of merit. He climbed that mountain of merit. He accumulated that store964 of merit. He immersed himself in that river of merit. [F.11.b] He descended the steps into the bathing place of that merit. He purified that field of merit. He looked at that treasure of merit. He thought of that way of merit. He paid attention965 to that tradition966 of merit. He purified that lineage of merit.

18.

Chapter 18

Ratnacūḍa

18.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, had conviction in that river of merit. He viewed that field of merit. He purified that mountain984 of merit. He climbed down that stairway to the bathing place of merit. He opened that treasury of merit. He viewed that treasure of merit. He purified that domain of merit. He carried away that heap of merit. He developed that strength of merit. He increased that power of merit.

19.

Chapter 19

Samantanetra

19.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, had perceived the visions of infinite buddhas. He had attained the companionship of infinite bodhisattvas. [F.19.b] He had been illuminated by the infinite ways of the paths of the bodhisattvas. His mind had certainty through being saturated by the infinite ways of the Dharma of the bodhisattvas.997 He purified the path of the infinite motivations of the bodhisattvas. He had attained the brilliance of the infinite faculties of the bodhisattvas. He dwelled in the infinite aspirations of the bodhisattvas. His mind followed the example of the infinite conduct of the bodhisattvas. He possessed the banner of the infinite invincibility of the bodhisattvas. He possessed the movement of the infinite light of wisdom of the bodhisattvas. He had attained the infinite illumination of the Dharma of the bodhisattvas.

20.

Chapter 20

Anala

20.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, remembered the succession of his kalyāṇamitras. He thought about the gateways of their instructions. He was content in his mind, thinking, “I have been accepted as a pupil by the kalyāṇamitras.” He observed in his mind, “I am under the protection of the kalyāṇamitras, and I will never regress in my progress toward the highest, complete enlightenment.” Thinking this, his mind was happy, his mind was serene, his mind was pleased, his mind was gladdened, his mind was delighted, his mind was joyful,1000 his mind was strong,1001 his mind was soothed, his mind was vast, his mind was adorned, his mind was unimpeded, his mind was unobscured, his mind was clear, his mind was composed, his mind had power, his mind had supremacy, his mind comprehended the Dharma, his mind pervaded the realms, his mind was adorned by the vision of the buddhas, and his mind never stopped focusing on the ten strengths.

21.

Chapter 21

Mahāprabha

21.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, remembered that illusion of wisdom. He contemplated the bodhisattva’s liberation that had the form of illusion. He examined the illusory aspect of the nature of phenomena. He comprehended the equality of the illusions of actions. He reflected on the equality of the illusions of phenomena. He comprehended the equality of the emanations that are ripened by the Dharma. He followed the inconceivable appearances that arise from wisdom. He accomplished the accomplishment of the illusions of infinite prayer. He purified the unimpeded conduct that has the true nature of an illusory manifestation. He analyzed the three times as having the characteristics of being composed of illusions.

22.

Chapter 22

Acalā

22.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, left the city of Suprabha, and having followed the road for a little while, he contemplated the instruction given to him by King Mahāprabha: he remembered the way of bodhisattva conduct called the banner of great love; he meditated on the light of the great samādhi called exercising power over the world; he realized1052 the variegated display of the lion throne and adornments of the pure bodhisattva body; he increased the inconceivable power and strength of bodhisattva aspiration and merit; [F.36.a] he made firm1053 the inconceivable way of bodhisattva wisdom that ripens beings; he reflected upon the inconceivable greatness of the general enjoyments of the bodhisattvas; he considered the inconceivable different aspects1054 of the bodhisattvas; he remembered the inconceivable pure ripening of beings by bodhisattvas; he thought about the inconceivable pure and perfect bodhisattva assembly of pupils; he had conviction in the inconceivable radiance of the bodhisattvas’ dedication to their duty to beings; and he attained happiness, powerful attraction, delight, contentment, deep joy, clarity of mind, brightness of mind, stability of mind, vastness of mind, and inexhaustibility of mind. He was in that way dedicated to remembering and thinking of the kalyāṇamitra.

23.

Chapter 23

Sarvagamin

23.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, visualizing in his mind the upāsikā Acalā, remembering the instruction of the upāsikā Acalā, with conviction in and no doubt about what the upāsikā Acalā had taught, proclaimed, instructed, described,1080 sanctioned, established, explicated, stated, and elaborated upon it; he followed it, contemplated it, comprehended it, meditated on it, was absorbed in it,1081 was fixed upon it, understood it, illuminated it, and became equal to it.1082

24.

Chapter 24

Utpalabhūti

24.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, had no regard for his life or body; he had no regard for engaging in dedication to obtaining and possessing the pleasures of existence; [F.46.a] he had no regard for the objects of perception that beings delight in; he had no regard for forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures; he had no concern for enjoying retinues and pleasures; he had no regard for any of the pleasures of the power of kingship and sovereignty; he was focused on attaining the highest purification of a buddha realm for the pure ripening and guiding of all beings; he was focused on never being satisfied with the extent of his offering to, honoring, and serving all the tathāgatas; he was focused on all phenomena with the wisdom that knows their nature;1090 he was focused on the qualities of bodhisattvas so that there would be no decline in his practice, which had the entire ocean of those qualities as its goal; he was focused on the great prayers of all bodhisattvas so as to maintain bodhisattva conduct throughout all kalpas; he was focused on entering the ocean of the circles of the followers of all tathāgatas; he was focused on all gateways of bodhisattva samādhis so as to manifest the attainment of all countless bodhisattva samādhis through each samādhi gateway; he was focused on all the light of wisdom of all Dharma wheels so as to never be satisfied with the extent of his obtaining Dharma wheels from all the tathāgatas; and he was focused on the kalyāṇamitras, who are the source of qualities, because the kalyāṇamitras are the source of the qualities of the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and others.

25.

Chapter 25

Vaira

25.1

When Sudhana set out on the path to Kūṭāgāra, he observed and contemplated how the path could be upward or downward, even or uneven,1096 dusty or free of dust, safe or hazardous,1097 difficult or unobstructed, and crooked or straight. He thought, “This journey to a kalyāṇamitra will be a cause for the practice of the bodhisattva path, will be a cause of the practice of the path of the perfections, and will be a cause of the path of benefiting all beings,1098 which will be a cause for turning all beings away from the precipice of attachment1099 and aversion, [F.49.a] of elation and depression;1100 will be a cause for turning all beings away from a perception1101 of inequality; will be a cause for removing the dust of the kleśas from all beings; will be a cause for clearing away the tree trunks, thorns, pebbles, and gravel of the various bad views of all beings; and, through their entering the unobscured realm of the Dharma, will be a cause for bringing them without hindrance to the palace of omniscience.

26.

Chapter 26

Jayottama

26.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, whose mind spread great love throughout the immeasurable realm of beings; whose being was saturated with the tenderness1129 of great compassion; who had accumulated a vast array of the accumulations of merit and wisdom; who had become free of all the dust, darkness, dirt, and mire of the kleśas; who had realized the equality of all phenomena; [F.51.b] who was devoted to the path that leads1130 upward to omniscience; who had chosen1131 the gateway for entering into immeasurable good qualities; who had the exertion1132 of firm diligence that is unimpaired by any bad quality; who was filled1133 with the vast calmness1134 of inconceivable bodhisattva samādhis; who shone with the light of the sun of wisdom that eliminated all the darkness of ignorance; who scattered flowers of wisdom brought by the pleasant, cool breezes of methods; who followed the way of wisdom that emerged from an ocean of great aspirations; and who possessed the wisdom that permeated without impediment the entire realm of the Dharma‍—he had approached entry into the city1135 of faultless1136 omniscience, and he yearned for the bodhisattva path.

27.

Chapter 27

Siṃhavijṛmbhitā

27.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, set out for the town of Kaliṅgavana in the land of Śroṇāparānta and then arrived there. Searching for the bhikṣuṇī Siṃhavijṛmbhitā, as he roamed here and there he questioned the people he met. There were many hundreds of young men1154 and many hundreds of young women assembling and following in the streets, crossroads, and street junctions, together with many hundreds of men and many hundreds of women.

28.

Chapter 28

Vasumitrā

28.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, with his mind illuminated by that great light of wisdom, focusing upon the light of omniscience, regarding the light of the power of the true nature, strengthening the way of retention that is the treasure of what was known from the voices of all beings, increasing the way of retention that possesses the Dharma wheels of all the tathāgatas, supporting1204 the power of the great compassion that is a refuge for all beings, realizing the strength of the omniscience that comes from the gateway of the light of the way of all Dharmas, following the pure aspiration that pervades the domain of the vast realm of phenomena, shining with the light of wisdom that illuminates all the directions of phenomena, accomplishing the power of the higher knowledge that pervades the array of world realms in the ten directions of all phenomena, and fulfilling the aspirations of accomplishing undertaking all the practices, memories, and actions1205 of the bodhisattvas, eventually arrived at the city of Ratnavyūha in the land of Durga and searched for the courtesan Vasumitrā.

29.

Chapter 29

Veṣṭhila

29.1

Then Sudhana went to the town of Śubhapāraṃgama [F.66.a] and approached the householder Veṣṭhila. He bowed his head to his feet, stood before him, and, with his hands placed together in homage, said, “Ārya, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it.

29.2

“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!”

30.

Chapter 30

Avalokiteśvara

30.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, contemplating the instruction of the householder Veṣṭhila, knowing that treasury of bodhisattva aspiration, remembering that power of bodhisattva memory, keeping in his mind the power of that successive lineage of the way of the buddhas, comprehending the continuous succession of the lineage of the buddhas, remembering the names of the buddhas that he had heard,1245 being in accord with the way of the Dharma taught by the buddhas, comprehending the array of attainments through the Dharma1246 of the buddhas, having confidence in the proclamation1247 of complete buddhahood by the buddhas, and focused on the inconceivable activity of the tathāgatas, eventually came to the Potalaka Mountain. [F.69.a] He ascended the Potalaka Mountain and searched and searched for the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.

31.

Chapter 31

Ananyagāmin

31.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, his mind having acquired Avalokiteśvara’s verses of wisdom,1267 had not had enough of gazing on the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, but so as not to disobey his instruction, Sudhana went to where the bodhisattva Ananyagāmin was.

31.2

He bowed his head to the feet of the bodhisattva Ananyagāmin. Then he stood before him and, with his hands placed together in homage, said, “Ārya, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it.

32.

Chapter 32

Mahādeva

32.1

Sudhana had a mind that followed the vast conduct of bodhisattvas. He had the nature of longing for the scope of the wisdom of the bodhisattva Ananyagāmin. He saw the special qualities of accomplishing great higher cognition. He had attained joy in the armor of stable diligence. He had the aspiration to follow the displays1270 of inconceivable liberations. He practiced the qualities of the bodhisattva level. He analyzed on the level of samādhi. He was established on the level of the power of retention. He engaged in the level of prayer. He trained in the level of discernment. He was accomplishing the level of power.

33.

Chapter 33

Sthāvarā

33.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, eventually reached the goddess of the earth, Sthāvarā, in the land of Magadha’s bodhimaṇḍa. When he arrived there, one million earth goddesses proclaimed to one another, “Someone who will be a refuge for all beings is coming here! Someone who has the essence of the tathāgatas and who will break open the enclosing egg of ignorance of all beings is coming here! Someone who is in the family of the kings of Dharma and will attain the state of an unimpeded, stainless king of the Dharma is coming here! Someone who is a hero with the thunderbolt weapon that has the great power of wisdom and who will subdue the circle of opponents is coming here!”

34.

Chapter 34

Vāsantī

34.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, remembering the teaching of the earth goddess Sthāvarā, remembering the bodhisattva liberation called the essence of invincible wisdom, becoming adept in the meditation of bodhisattva samādhi, contemplating the way of the bodhisattva Dharma, analyzing the displays of bodhisattva liberation, viewing the very subtle wisdom of bodhisattva liberation, entering the ocean of the wisdom of bodhisattva liberation, with faith in the different wisdoms of bodhisattva liberation, realizing the mastery of the wisdom of bodhisattva liberation, and descending into the ocean of the wisdom of bodhisattva liberation, arrived at the location of the town of Kapilavastu.

35.

Chapter 35

Samantagambhīraśrīvimalaprabhā

35.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, contemplating the night goddess Vāsantī’s first entry into the pure domain of aspiration to enlightenment, analyzing the arising of the essence of a bodhisattva, comprehending the ocean of bodhisattva prayer, purifying the bodhisattva path of perfections, overcoming the domain of the bodhisattva levels, augmenting the domain of bodhisattva conduct, following1324 an ocean of the setting-forth of bodhisattvas, looking at the ocean of the great illumination of omniscience, increasing the bodhisattva clouds of great compassion intent on saving all beings, and attaining the blessing of the completely good bodhisattva conduct and prayer of the night goddess Vāsantī that extends to the limits of all realms, went to the location of the night goddess Samantagambhīraśrīvimalaprabhā. Having reached her, he bowed his head to the feet of the night goddess Samantagambhīraśrīvimalaprabhā, circumambulated the night goddess Samantagambhīraśrīvimalaprabhā many hundreds of thousands of times, keeping her to his right, and then stood before her and, with palms together, said, “Āryā, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment. However, I do not know how a bodhisattva practices on the level of a bodhisattva, how a bodhisattva sets forth, how a bodhisattva accomplishes.” [F.92.a]

36.

Chapter 36

Pramuditanayanajagadvirocanā

36.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, was blessed by the instruction of the kalyāṇamitra; his mind practiced the words of the kalyāṇamitra; his mind had the perception of the kalyāṇamitra as a physician and himself as a patient; [F.96.a] his mind was contented by focusing on the vision of the kalyāṇamitra; his mind had obtained the opportunity to disperse the mountain of obscurations to the vision of the kalyāṇamitra; his mind had attained, through seeing the kalyāṇamitra, entry into the ocean of the ways of the great compassion that saves all the realms of beings; his mind had attained, through seeing the kalyāṇamitra, the illumination by wisdom of the ocean of the ways of the realm of phenomena.

37.

Chapter 37

Samantasattvatrāṇojaḥśrī

37.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, aspiring to the night goddess Pramuditanayanajagadvirocanā’s samādhi of the bodhisattva liberation called the banner of the power1431 of vast, stainless, completely good joy, comprehending it, understanding it, knowing it, believing in it, undertaking it, pervading it, recollecting it, remembering it, and meditating on it,1432 practicing the instruction of the kalyāṇamitra and memorizing the instruction given by the night goddess Pramuditanayanajagadvirocanā in order to maintain the continuity of the teaching of instruction, approached the night goddess Samantasattvatrāṇojaḥśrī. Through contemplating1433 seeing a kalyāṇamitra, through the domain of all his faculties,1434 by going from place to place1435 to obtain the sight of a kalyāṇamitra, through looking in all directions, through being intent on searching for a kalyāṇamitra, through being free from all pride, [F.113.b] through the prowess1436 of pleasing a kalyāṇamitra, through being resolved to create a great accumulation of merit, through having become single-mindedly intent upon a kalyāṇamitra,1437 and through all his roots of merit,1438 he had gained the unwavering motivation for a kalyāṇamitra’s conduct of skillful methods, had developed an ocean of the power of diligence for increasing reliance on a kalyāṇamitra, and had prayed to dwell with and follow kalyāṇamitras equally in all kalpas.

38.

Chapter 38

Praśantarutasāgaravatī

38.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, meditating on the night goddess Samantasattvatrāṇojaḥśrī’s bodhisattva liberation called the manifestations that guide beings that appear in all worlds, and contemplating it, having faith in it, engaging in it, increasing it, expanding it, augmenting it,1497 gaining power over it, illuminating it, and being absorbed in it, approached the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī.

38.2

He bowed his head to the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī’s feet, circumambulated the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī many hundreds of thousands of times, and then stood before the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī.

38.3

With his hands placed together in homage, he said, “Āryā, I have entered upon the highest, complete enlightenment, and through relying on kalyāṇamitras I am training in bodhisattva conduct. I have entered into bodhisattva conduct, and I am practicing bodhisattva conduct. I wish to bring forth omniscience through being established in bodhisattva conduct. Therefore, Āryā, goddess, I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!” [F.134.a]

38.4

The night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī said to Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, “Noble one, it is excellent, excellent, that in this way you seek bodhisattva conduct by relying on kalyāṇamitras. Noble one, I have attained the bodhisattva liberation called the display in each instant of mind of the arising of the power of vast delight.”

38.5

Sudhana asked, “Āryā, what kind of activity do you accomplish? What kind of range do you have? What is your practice? What do you contemplate? What is the range of the bodhisattva liberation called the display in each instant of mind of the arising of the power of vast delight?”

38.6

She replied, “Noble one, I have entered the equanimity of the purification of the ocean of mind and thought. I have attained the aspiration for an inviolable display that is clear of all worldly dust and dirt. I have a mind that will not regress or turn back from this undertaking. I have a mind that is like an unshakable jewel mountain adorned by qualities. I have a mind that is not stationed anywhere, not located anywhere. I have a mind that is focused on saving all beings. I have a mind that never tires of seeing the ocean of all the buddhas. I have a mind that has a pure motivation. I have a mind that has the strength of all the bodhisattvas. I have a mind that dwells in an ocean of the awareness of the display of the light of great wisdom. I am engaged in leading all beings out of the wilderness of misery. I am dedicated to dispelling the sufferings and unhappiness of all beings. I am engaged in turning beings away from involvement with unpleasant1498 form, sound, smell, taste, and touch. [F.134.b] I am engaged in ending the suffering of being separated from what is liked and encountering what is disliked. I am dedicated to dispelling the suffering of ignorance that arises in relation to the scope of perception. I am a support for all beings who fall. I am dedicated to revealing to all beings the way out of the suffering of being in saṃsāra. I am engaged in eliminating the aging, death, misery, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and tribulations of all beings. I am engaged in causing all beings to attain the supreme happiness of the tathāgatas. I gain satisfaction through bringing to happiness all beings in villages, towns,1499 countrysides, kingdoms, realms,1500 and capital cities, and in ways that accord with the Dharma I guard them, protect them, and help them.

38.7

“I gradually ripen them for omniscience in this way: I develop nonattachment within beings who dwell in mansions and aerial palaces. I dispel their unhappiness. I bring an end to all attachments. I teach them the Dharma so that they will know the nature of all phenomena. I teach the Dharma to those who for a long time have been close and affectionate with fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, relatives, and friends, so that they will meet buddhas and bodhisattvas. I teach the Dharma so that beings who spend time with their wives1501 will forsake all craving for saṃsāra, view all beings equally, and attain great compassion. [F.135.a] I teach the Dharma so that those who are in the middle of markets will become engaged in seeing the noble saṅgha and the tathāgatas. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are intoxicated by pride in their pleasure will complete the perfection of patience. I teach the Dharma so that those beings who delight in songs, dance, and music will aspire to delight in the Dharma. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are attached to the delights of the perceptions of their senses will become engaged in the perception of the tathāgatas. I teach the Dharma so that beings oppressed by anger will become established in the perfection of patience. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are lazy will have the pure perfection of diligence. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are deranged will attain the perfection of the meditation of the tathāgatas. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are in the thicket of wrong views and blinded by the darkness of ignorance will eliminate the thicket of wrong views and the darkness of ignorance. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are stupid will attain the perfection of wisdom. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are attached to the three realms will depart from saṃsāra. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are attracted to what is inferior will have the complete aspiration for the enlightenment of the tathāgatas. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are dedicated to benefiting themselves will have the complete aspiration to benefit all beings. I teach the Dharma so that beings who have weak motivation will have the pure perfection of the strength of the bodhisattvas. [F.135.b] I teach the Dharma so that beings whose minds are dimmed by the darkness of ignorance will have the pure perfection of knowledge of the bodhisattvas. I teach the Dharma so that beings with ugly bodies will have the form body of a tathāgata. I teach the Dharma so that beings with misshapen bodies will have the supreme Dharma body. I teach the Dharma so that beings with an ugly color will have a body that is golden like the body of the tathāgatas and is as soft as down and pleasant to the touch. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are suffering will attain the ultimate happiness of the tathāgatas. I teach the Dharma so that beings who have happiness will attain the happiness of omniscience. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are ill will attain the body of a bodhisattva that is like a reflection. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are dedicated to various delights will attain delight in bodhisattva conduct. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are destitute will obtain the store of treasures of the bodhisattva Dharma. I teach the Dharma so that beings who go to parks will obtain the cause for dedication to seeking the Buddha’s Dharma. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are on the road will follow the road to omniscience. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are in villages will depart from the three realms altogether. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are in the countryside will surpass the paths of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas and be established on the level of the tathāgatas. [F.136.a] I teach the Dharma so that beings who live in towns will dwell in the palace of the king of the Dharma. I teach the Dharma so that beings who live in the intermediate directions will attain the knowledge of the equality of the three times. I teach the Dharma so that beings who live in the principal directions will know the higher cognition of all phenomena. I teach the Dharma so that beings who delight only in desires will turn away from craving for saṃsāra because of passing through the gateway of its ugliness. I teach the Dharma so that beings who act out of anger will enter an ocean of the ways of great love. I teach the Dharma so that beings who act out of ignorance will have the higher cognition of the knowledge that analyzes an ocean of the gateways into all the Dharma. I teach the Dharma so that beings whose conduct is equally that of desire, anger, and ignorance will have the preeminence of an ocean of the ways of aspiration for all the yānas. I teach the Dharma so that beings whose aspirations are to the sensory field of saṃsāra will turn away from the sensory field of saṃsāra. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are experiencing all the sufferings of saṃsāra will not be afflicted by any of the sufferings of saṃsāra. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are guided by the tathāgatas will be taught the state of birthlessness. I teach the Dharma so that beings who aspire to remain in the skandhas will dwell in the domain of the Dharma that has no location. I teach the Dharma so that beings who are discouraged will be taught the preeminent display1502 of the path. I teach the Dharma so that beings who have the pride of superiority will be taught the patience of the equality of all phenomena. [F.136.b] I teach the Dharma so that beings who are attracted to the field of deception and deceit will have the pure aspiration of the bodhisattvas.

38.8

“In that way, noble one, I gather all beings through the gift of the Dharma, turn them away from all the sufferings of the paths to the lower realms, teach them the good fortune and happiness of devas and humans, make them ascend from the three realms, establish them in omniscience, and ripen them through various methods so that they will attain the light of a powerful ocean of great happiness and thereby be joyful, delighted, and happy.

38.9

“Moreover, noble one, I see the ocean of the assemblies of bodhisattvas in the principal and intermediate directions, bodhisattvas who have various pure bodies and engage in an ocean of prayers; who are adorned by various auras; who radiate light rays and auras of infinite colors; who have the light of wisdom that enters an ocean of the various ways of omniscience; who have entered into an ocean of various samādhis; who possess a range of various miraculous manifestations; who speak in an ocean of various voices and languages; who have bodies beautified by various adornments; who have entered the various ways of the tathāgatas; who have bodies that enter the vast extent of the ocean of various realms; who have entered an ocean of various buddhas; who have realized an ocean of various discernments; who have illuminated the range of the various liberations and wisdoms of the tathāgatas; who have attained the illumination of an ocean of the various wisdoms; who engage in the ways of an ocean of various samādhis; who possess the field of play in the divine palaces1503 of the various liberations of the Dharma; [F.137.a] who face the various gateways into omniscience; who have the various displays of the space of the realm of the Dharma; who pervade all space with clouds of various displays; who look upon the oceans of the various assemblies of followers; who gather together1504 from different worlds; who go to the entire extent of the various buddha realms; who gather from the ocean of various directions; who come to be at the feet of various tathāgatas; who have retinues of various assemblies of bodhisattvas; who send down a rain from clouds of various displays; who have entered the various ways of the tathāgatas; who practice the ocean of the various Dharmas of the tathāgatas; who have entered an ocean of various wisdoms; and who are seated upon thrones that have a variety of adornments. Seeing them, I feel an ocean of various powerful joys.

38.10

“Moreover, noble one, I see the inconceivable, completely pure form body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, which is adorned by the physical signs of a great being, and attain a great joy, delight, and happiness.

38.11

“I see, in each instant of mind, his aura of light, which is as vast as the realm of phenomena and is an ocean of colors without limit or center, and in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.12

“Moreover, noble one, I see that from each pore on the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana [F.137.b] shine great rays of light as numerous as the atoms in an extent of buddha realms that has no limit and no center. Each of those light rays is accompanied by an ocean of light rays that are as numerous as the atoms in endless buddha realms, and they fill the entire realm of phenomena and cause the sufferings of all beings to cease. Seeing that, in each instant I experience an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.13

“Moreover, noble one, I see that in each instant of mind, from the head and shoulders of the Bhagavat Vairocana there come clouds, as numerous as the atoms in all buddha realms, of mountains of light rays from all jewels, and they fill the entire realm of phenomena. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.14

“Moreover, noble one, I see that from each pore on the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds, as numerous as the atoms in all buddha realms, of various colors,1505 scents, and light rays, and they fill all the buddha realms. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.15

“Moreover, noble one, when I gaze upon the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, from each of his physical signs of a great being come clouds, as numerous as the atoms in all buddha realms, of the form bodies of tathāgatas adorned by the signs, and they fill the entire ocean of world realms. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.16

“Moreover, noble one, from the features of a great being on the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, from each of his physical signs of a great being come clouds, as numerous as the atoms in all buddha realms, of the emanation bodies1506 of tathāgatas brightly adorned by the eighty features, [F.138.a] and they fill all the buddha realms and roar out the thunder of the sound of the wheel of the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.17

“Moreover, noble one, when I gaze upon the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, from all the pores on his body come manifested bodies that make the first aspiration to enlightenment, that have the display of the pure path of the perfections and ascend the bodhisattva bhūmis, and that are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.18

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds of bodies of a lord of the devas, together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of the devas, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of the devas in front of beings, and teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy. [F.138.b]

38.19

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds of bodies of a lord of the nāgas, together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of the nāgas, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of the nāgas in front of beings, and teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.20

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds of bodies of a lord of the yakṣas, together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of the yakṣas, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of the yakṣas in front of beings, and teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.21

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds of bodies of a lord of the gandharvas, together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of the gandharvas, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of the gandharvas in front of beings, and teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.22

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds of bodies of a lord of the asuras, together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of the asuras, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of the asuras in front of beings, and teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.23

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, [F.139.a] come clouds of bodies of a lord of the garuḍas, together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of the garuḍas, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of the garuḍas in front of beings, and teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.24

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds of bodies of a lord of the kinnaras, together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of the kinnaras, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of the kinnaras in front of beings, and teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.25

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds of bodies of a lord of the mahoragas, together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of the mahoragas, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of the mahoragas in front of beings, and teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I experience an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.26

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds of bodies of a lord of humans, [F.139.b] together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of humans, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of humans in front of beings, and teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of great joy.

38.27

“Moreover, noble one, from the body of the Bhagavat Vairocana, in each instant of mind, come clouds of bodies of a lord of the Brahmās, together with the miraculous manifestations of a lord of the Brahmās, and they are as numerous as the atoms in countless buddha realms, fill all world realms, manifest the body of a lord of the Brahmās in front of beings, and with the voice of a Brahmā teach them the Dharma. Seeing that, in each instant I attain an ocean of the power of the great joy of omniscience that is as extremely vast and extensive as the realm of phenomena.

38.28

“I attain what I have not previously attained. I realize what I have not previously realized. I comprehend what I have not previously comprehended. I permeate what I have not previously permeated. I see what I have not previously seen. I hear what I have not previously heard.

38.29

“Why is that? The characteristic of the nature of phenomena being known, all phenomena have a single characteristic, and, also, as all phenomena appear in the three times, they are taught to be without limit or center.

38.30

“Noble one, this bodhisattva liberation has no limit or center because it comprehends the ocean of the ways of the realm of the Dharma. [F.140.a]

38.31

“This liberation is imperishable because it is no different from the aspiration to omniscience.

“This liberation is unlimited because it is known by the wisdom eyes of the bodhisattvas.

38.32

“This liberation is unfathomable1507 because it completely and fully pervades the undifferentiated way of the realm of Dharma.

“This liberation has all Dharma gateways because it includes all miraculous manifestations within a single object.

38.33

“This liberation is beneficial because it is united with the body of the entire Dharma.

“This liberation is unborn because its practice is like an illusion.

38.34

“This liberation is like a reflection because it arises as a reflection of the prayer for omniscience.

“This liberation is like an emanation because it is an emanation of bodhisattva conduct.

38.35

“This liberation is like the great earth because it is a support for all beings.

“This liberation is like a mass of water because it saturates all beings with compassion.

38.36

“This liberation is like a mass of fire because it dries up the liquid of craving in all beings.

“This liberation is like a mass of air because it reveals1508 omniscience to all beings.

38.37

“This liberation is like an ocean because it is the basis for the adornment of good qualities for all beings.

“This liberation is like Meru, the king of mountains, because it rises up from the ocean of the precious knowledge of the entire Dharma.

38.38

“This liberation is like the circle of the wind because it is the practice of the aerial palace of liberation of all the Dharma.1509 [F.140.b]

“This liberation is like space because it provides room for all the miraculous manifestations of the tathāgatas who appear in the three times.

38.39

“This liberation is like a great cloud because it sends down a rain of Dharma on all beings.

“This liberation is like the sun because it dispels the darkness of ignorance in all beings.

38.40

“This liberation is like the moon because it is produced by a great ocean of merit and wisdom.

“This liberation is like the true nature because it is omnipresent.

38.41

“This liberation is like one’s shadow because it is emanated through the Dharma of karma.

“This liberation is like an echo because it resounds the words of the Dharma in accordance with the dispositions of beings.

38.42

“This liberation is like a reflection because it is perceived by all beings in accordance with their dispositions.

“This liberation is like the king of trees because it blossoms with the miraculous manifestations of all the buddhas.

38.43

“This liberation is like a vajra because it has the quality of indestructibility.

“This liberation is like the king of wish-fulfilling jewels because it creates a limitless, centerless ocean of miraculous manifestations.

38.44

“This liberation is like the essence of a stainless king of jewels because of its unobscured perception of the miraculous manifestations of the tathāgatas in the three times.

38.45

“This liberation is like the precious jewel of a banner of happiness because it emits the sound of the Dharma wheels of all buddhas equally.

38.46

“Thus, noble one, the bodhisattva liberation the display in each instant of mind of the arising of the power of vast delight [F.141.a] is taught by following an array of limitless examples.”

38.47

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, said to the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī, “Āryā, goddess, how does a bodhisattva practice in order to accomplish such a liberation?”

38.48

She answered, “Noble one, there are these ten: a great accumulation, a great abundance of qualities, a great vastness, a great brightness, a great illumination, a great brilliance, a great portion,1510 a great share, a great becoming, and the great fortune of the bodhisattvas.

“If bodhisattvas practice them, they will attain a perfect result such as this liberation.

38.49

“What are these ten? (1) Engaging in the generosity of a bodhisattva, which satisfies all beings in accordance with their aspirations, is a vast quality. (2) Engaging in the practice of the correct conduct of a bodhisattva, which enters an ocean of the qualities of the tathāgatas, is a vast quality. (3) Engaging in the patience of a bodhisattva, which realizes the nature of all phenomena, is a vast quality. (4) Engaging in the diligence of a bodhisattva, which undertakes attaining omniscience, is an extensive quality. (5) Engaging in the meditation of a bodhisattva, which pacifies the torment of the kleśas in all beings, is an extensive quality. (6) Engaging in the wisdom of a bodhisattva, which is knowing the entire ocean of the Dharma, is an extensive quality. (7) Engaging in the methods of a bodhisattva, which guides and ripens the entire ocean of beings, is an extensive quality. (8) Engaging in the prayer of a bodhisattva, which is entering the entire ocean of realms in order to perform bodhisattva conduct in all buddha realms throughout the endless future kalpas, is an extensive quality. [F.141.b] (9) Engaging in the strength of a bodhisattva, which is to enter an ocean of the ways of the realm of the Dharma so as to continuously manifest the attainment of buddhahood in each instant in all buddha realms, is an extensive quality. (10) Engaging in the knowledge of a bodhisattva, which is to gain the strengths of the tathāgatas so as to attain the unobscured knowledge of all phenomena in the three times, is an extensive quality.

38.50

“Noble one, those ten are the great accumulations, the vast qualities of the bodhisattvas. The bodhisattvas who remain within them will obtain this kind of bodhisattva liberation. They will make it pure, cause it to arise, increase it, elevate it, manifest it, accomplish it, make it enduring, make it vast, perfect it, and establish it.”

38.51

Sudhana asked, “Āryā, goddess, how long has it been since you set out for the highest, complete enlightenment?”

38.52

She replied, “Noble one, to the east of this ocean of world realms called Kusumatalagarbhavyūhālaṃkāra, beyond a hundred thousand oceans of world realms, there is an ocean of world realms called Sarvaratnavimalaprabhāvyūha. In its center there is a group of world realms called Sarvatathāgataprabhāpraṇidhinirghoṣa. In its center is a world realm called Kanakavimalaprabhāvyūha, which has multicolored clouds made of every jewel; [F.142.a] its base is a firm ocean of a network of garlands of every jewel; its main body is a display of every perfumed diamond, the king of jewels; it has the shape of a kūṭāgāra; it is both pure and defiled1511 and covered over with clouds of aerial palaces and dwellings made of divine materials.

38.53

“There, during a kalpa called Samantāvabhāsadhvaja, in that world, there was a bodhimaṇḍa called Sarvaratnagarbhavicitrābha. There a tathāgata, who was called the Bhagavat Avivartyadharmadhātunirghoṣa, attained the highest, complete enlightenment of buddhahood.

38.54

“At that time, in that time, I was a goddess of the bodhimaṇḍa, named Puṇyapradīpasaṃpatketuprabhā, who dwelled at the Bodhi tree. When I saw that tathāgata’s miraculous manifestation of buddhahood, I developed the aspiration to attain the highest, complete enlightenment, and on seeing that tathāgata I attained a samādhi called the light of an ocean of qualities.

38.55

“Subsequently, the Tathāgata Dharmadrumaparvatatejas attained buddhahood at that bodhimaṇḍa, by that world’s royal capital called Samantasaṃpūrṇaśrīgarbhā. I had passed away and become a night goddess, by the name of Jñānaśrīpuṇyaprabhā, who dwelled at the bodhimaṇḍa.

38.56

“There I saw the Tathāgata Dharmadrumaparvatatejas’ miraculous manifestation of turning the wheel of the Dharma, and I attained a samādhi called the range of the light of an ocean of qualities. [F.142.b]

38.57

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Sarvadharmasāgaranirghoṣarāja at that bodhimaṇḍa. As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the state of enhancing the levels1512 of all dharmas.

38.58

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Ratnaraśmipradīpadhvajarāja at that bodhimaṇḍa. As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called clouds of the complete light of the tree.

38.59

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Guṇasumeruprabhatejas 1513 at that bodhimaṇḍa. As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the radiance of the ocean of buddhas.

38.60

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Dharmameghanirghoṣarāja at that bodhimaṇḍa. As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the lamp of the ocean of all dharmas.

38.61

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Jñānolkāvabhāsarāja at that bodhimaṇḍa. As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the light of the lamp that ends the suffering of all beings.

38.62

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Dharmavikurvitavegadhvajaśrī at that bodhimaṇḍa. As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the light of the essence of comprehending all the tathāgatas in the three times.

38.63

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Dharmapradīpavikramajñānasiṃha 1514 at that bodhimaṇḍa. As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the brilliance of the light of the wheel of unimpeded knowledge of all world realms.

38.64

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Jñānabalaparvatatejas at that bodhimaṇḍa. [F.143.a] As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the illumination of the conduct and faculties of beings in the three times.

38.65

“In that way, noble one, in the world realm called Kanakavimalaprabhāvyūha, during the kalpa called Samantāvabhāsadhvaja, I venerated as many tathāgatas as there are atoms in ten buddha realms. Sometimes I venerated them when I was a lord of devas; sometimes, when I was a lord of nāgas; sometimes, when I was a lord of yakṣas; sometimes, when I was a lord of gandharvas; sometimes, when I was a lord of asuras; sometimes, when I was a lord of kinnaras; sometimes, when I was a lord of mahoragas; sometimes, when I was a lord of humans; sometimes, when I was a lord of Brahmās; sometimes, when I was a deva; sometimes, when I was a human; sometimes, when I was a woman; sometimes, when I was a man; sometimes, when I was a boy; and sometimes, when I was a girl. To all those tathāgatas I made offerings and offered whatever I possessed. I attended to all those tathāgatas. I heard the Dharma that all those tathāgatas taught.

38.66

“After I passed away, I practiced bodhisattva conduct in that world realm for as many kalpas as there are atoms in a buddha realm.

38.67

“Then, when I passed away, I was reborn in this Sahā world realm in the ocean of world realms called Kusumatalagarbhavyūhālaṃkāra.

38.68

“I venerated the Tathāgata Krakucchanda. As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the radiance that is free of all darkening dust.

38.69

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Kanakamuni. [F.143.b] As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the radiance that spreads throughout all the ocean of realms.

38.70

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Kāśyapa. As soon as I saw that tathāgata, I attained a samādhi called the thunder of the sounds of the ocean of the languages of all beings.

38.71

“Subsequently, I venerated the Tathāgata Vairocana. At the bodhimaṇḍa, he manifested in each instant of mind an ocean of the gateways to the miraculous manifestations of a tathāgata’s buddhahood. As soon as I saw that, I attained this bodhisattva liberation called the display in each instant of mind of the arising of the power of vast delight. As soon as I had attained it, I entered an ocean of the ways of the realm of phenomena that were as numerous as the atoms in an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya of buddha realms. I saw that in each of the atoms that were all the atoms within all buddha realms in that ocean of all the ways of the realm of phenomena, there were buddha realms as numerous as the atoms in an anabhilāpyānabhilāpya of buddha realms.

38.72

“I saw that among all those buddha realms, in each buddha realm there was the Bhagavat Vairocana going to the bodhimaṇḍa and in each instant of mind manifesting the miraculous manifestation of the attainment of buddhahood. Each miraculous manifestation of the attainment of buddhahood completely pervaded the ocean of ways of the realm of phenomena.

38.73

“I perceived that among all those tathāgatas, I was seated at the feet of every one of those tathāgatas. [F.144.a] I heard all the Dharma that was taught by all those tathāgatas seated at the bodhimaṇḍa in those world realms.

38.74

“An ocean of emanations came from each pore of all those tathāgatas, roaring out an ocean of clouds of Dharma, manifesting various miraculous manifestations, and turning the wheel of the Dharma according to the various dispositions of beings born into various kinds of existences, the entire extent of all beings in all the ocean of realms, in all successions of world realms, in the entire extent of world realms within the ocean of every direction in the realm of phenomena.

38.75

“I possess all those turnings of the Dharma wheel, comprehend them, understand them, and keep them through the power of mental retention that has the prowess of maintaining all their meaning, words, and letters. I purify them with wisdom that understands the essence of the pure domain of all the Dharmas. I understand their categories through skill in the analysis of the ocean of all Dharmas. I permeate them with an understanding that is as vast as the three times. I perceive them as equal through the wisdom that comprehends the equality of the tathāgatas. I accomplish all the ways of the Dharma. I attain clouds of sūtras within all the Dharmas.1515 I am established in an ocean of Dharma within the clouds of all sūtras. I am established in the categories of Dharma in the ocean of all Dharmas. I know clouds of Dharma within the categories of all Dharmas. [F.144.b] I give rise to waves of Dharma within the clouds of all Dharmas. I attain an ocean of the power of delight in the Dharma within the waves of all Dharmas. I accomplish the power of attaining the bhūmis 1516 within the power of delight in all Dharmas. I accomplish the power of an ocean of samādhis within the power of all the bhūmis. I attain an ocean of visions of the buddhas within the clouds of oceans of all samādhis. I attain an ocean of light within the ocean of all visions of the buddhas. I am established on the level 1517 of the domain of the knowledge of the three times within the ocean of all lights.

38.76

“I comprehend and know the first development of aspiration by those tathāgatas and so on until the cessation of their Dharma. I do so by pervading1518 the ocean of directions without limit or center; by comprehending the immeasurable ocean of the past conduct of the tathāgatas; through the illuminating knowledge of the immeasurable ocean of the past practices of the tathāgatas; through attaining the immeasurable light of knowledge of the tathāgatas; through illuminating the immeasurable domain of the purified correct conduct of the tathāgatas; through the immeasurable level of the purified patience of the tathāgatas; through having attained the illuminating knowledge of the prowess of the tathāgatas to increase the immeasurable power of their great diligence; through having attained the illumination of the ways the tathāgatas purify the immeasurable ocean of the domain of meditation and the branches of meditation; through the illuminating perception of the purification by the tathāgatas of the immeasurable ocean of the perfection of wisdom; through comprehending the immeasurable ocean of the ways of the tathāgatas in the perfection of skillful methods; [F.145.a] through comprehending the immeasurable ocean of the ways of the tathāgatas in the perfection of prayers; through having attained the knowledge of the tathāgatas remaining in and increasing the immeasurable perfection of the power of merit and wisdom; through having attained the knowledge of the ways of practice by the tathāgatas in the immeasurable ocean of the perfection of knowledge; through having attained the illuminating knowledge of the tathāgatas in the past ascending immeasurable1519 bodhisattva bhūmis; through being present in an ocean of kalpas of immeasurable miraculous manifestations by the tathāgatas on ascending the bhūmis; through the past ascent by the tathāgatas through the immeasurable domain of the bodhisattva bhūmis; through the past dwelling by the tathāgatas in immeasurable bodhisattva bhūmis; through the past purification by the tathāgatas of immeasurable bodhisattva bhūmis; through contemplating the ocean of knowledge of the immeasurable bhūmis of the tathāgatas;1520 through having attained the illuminating knowledge of immeasurable tathāgatas; through perceiving the immeasurable seeing and following of every past buddha by the tathāgatas when they were bodhisattvas; through perceiving the immeasurable repeated presence of the tathāgatas, when they were bodhisattvas, in an ocean of kalpas, and seeing the entire ocean of all the buddhas in the past; through having attained the illuminating knowledge of the tathāgatas as bodhisattvas having the immeasurable accomplishment of their bodies pervading the entire ocean of realms; [F.145.b] through the immeasurable, vast bodhisattva conduct of the tathāgatas pervading the entire realm of phenomena; through the vision of the past immeasurable bodhisattva conduct by the tathāgatas of ripening and guiding all beings through various methods;1521 through the immeasurable radiating light of the tathāgatas pervading the entire ocean of directions; through the tathāgatas’ immeasurable display of miraculous manifestations directly to beings; through having attained1522 the illuminating knowledge of the ascent to the immeasurable level of the knowledge1523 of the tathāgatas; through having attained the illuminating knowledge of the immeasurable miraculous manifestation of the attainment of buddhahood by the tathāgatas; through having obtained and possessed the entirety of all the immeasurable clouds of Dharma from the turnings of the wheel of the Dharma by the tathāgatas; through having attained the illuminating knowledge that perceives the immeasurable ocean of the characteristics of the tathāgatas; through having attained the illuminating knowledge that perceives the immeasurable ocean of the activities1524 of the bodies of the tathāgatas; and through having attained the illuminating knowledge of the immeasurable,1525 vast scope of the tathāgatas.

38.77

“You ask me how long it has been since I attained this bodhisattva liberation called the display in each instant of mind of the arising of the power of vast delight? [F.146.a] It was like this: As many kalpas ago as there are atoms in two buddha realms, in the world realm called Kanakavimalaprabhā, I was a Bodhi-tree goddess by the name of Puṇyapradīpasaṃpatsamantaketuprabhā. When I heard the Dharma taught by the Tathāgata Avivartyadharmadhātunirghoṣa, I developed that aspiration to attain the highest, complete enlightenment. I practiced bodhisattva conduct for as many kalpas as there are atoms in two buddha realms and was then reborn in this world realm called Sahā. I venerated the tathāgatas of the Bhadra kalpa, from Krakucchanda to Śākyamuni, and I will also venerate its future buddhas. And just as in this world realm, I will venerate and make offerings to the future succession of buddhas in all world realms.

38.78

“Noble one, there continues even now to be a succession of buddhas in the world realm Kanakavimalaprabhā.

“Therefore, noble one, you should dedicate yourself to this way with the fortitude of the bodhisattva.”

38.79

At that time, the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī, in order to teach further the bodhisattva liberation called the display in each instant of mind of the arising of the power of vast delight, recited these verses to Sudhana, the head merchant’s son:

38.80

“Listen, Sudhana, to these words of mine

About how I obtained this good liberation.

Hearing them will give rise to great delight,

And you must comprehend this liberation. {1}

38.81

“I purified my mind and my thoughts,

And I developed a vast, powerful aspiration. [F.146.b]

Intent on the city of omniscient wisdom,

I practiced for many oceans of past kalpas. {2}

38.82

“I listened to the sugatas in the three times

And developed an aspiration toward them all.

Through the passage of many hundreds of kalpas,

I attended on them and their assemblies. {3}

38.83

“I saw the sugatas of the past and made offerings to them

Over a long time, so as to bring benefit to beings.

Having developed a powerful enthusiasm,

I listened to their Dharma without weariness.1526 {4}

38.84

“On following the way of this liberation,

I continually and respectfully attended

Those who were my father, mother, and guru,

Venerating them and bringing them happiness and benefit. {5}

38.85

“Through hundreds of lifetimes and with a loving mind,

I was a wealthy protector who brought happiness

To many people who were old, who were sick, and who were poor,

Who had impaired faculties, were in suffering, and had no protector. {6}

38.86

“During my bodhisattva conduct in past lives,

I saved beings from an ocean of various dangers

Caused by kings, fire, and bandits1527

And by lions, elephants, and enemies. {7}

38.87

“During my bodhisattva conduct in past lives,

I saved beings afflicted by kleśas in the three realms

From the various terrors of the ocean of existence

That arise through their bad actions. {8}

38.88

“I protected those classes of beings

Who have fallen into the abyss of saṃsāra,

Terrified by the sufferings of the lower realms,

Which are always overwhelmingly dreadful.

As I practiced bodhisattva conduct in the world,

I ended the terrors of birth, old age, sickness, and death.1528 {9}

38.89

“My prayer is that until the last kalpa

I will bring an end to the suffering of saṃsāra;

I will bring happiness to all beings

And give rise to the ultimate happiness of buddhahood. {10}

38.90

“Noble one, I know only this bodhisattva liberation called the display in each instant of mind of the arising of the power of vast delight. [F.147.a] How could I know the conduct or describe the qualities of bodhisattvas who have comprehend the entire realm of phenomena, who are liberated from every outer and inner suffering, who know the names of all kalpas, who are wise in the creation of the ocean of all worlds and their destruction?

38.91

“Depart, noble one. Here in this very bodhimaṇḍa, within the assembly of the Bhagavat Vairocana, there is the goddess of the night who has the name Sarvanagararakṣāsaṃbhavatejaḥśrī. Go to her and ask her, ‘How should a bodhisattva train in bodhisattva conduct? How should a bodhisattva practice it?’ ”

38.92

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, recited these appropriate verses to the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī:

38.93

“The kalyāṇamitra instructed me correctly,

And therefore I came into your presence, goddess.

I saw you seated upon your throne

With a body that knows no limit or center. {11}

38.94

“Those who rely on existence and believe things to be real,

Whose fields of perception are colors, shapes, and characteristics,

Inferior beings who hold wrong views,

Cannot know this field of activity of yours. {12}

38.95

“The vision of your body is infinite.

The world and its devas could not know

The characteristics of your form and color

Even by examining them for endless kalpas. {13}

38.96

“Goddess, you are above the basis of the skandhas.

You are not located within the āyatanas.

There is no doubt that you have transcended the world

And manifest miracles within the world. {14}

38.97

“You are unshakable, without fault, without impediment.

You have purified your eyes of wisdom.

You see in an atom as many buddhas

As there are atoms, performing miracles. {15}

38.98

“Your body has the essence of the Dharma body. [F.147.b]

Your mind consists of unobstructed wisdom.

You shine with the radiance of all-pervading light,

Illuminating the endless beings in the world. {16}

38.99

“Endless karma arises from the mind.

All the worlds are paintings by karma.

You know directly the minds of beings,

And the manifestations of your body are as numerous as beings. {17}

38.100

“You know this world to be like a dream

And that all the buddhas are like reflections,

That every single Dharma is like an echo,

And without impediment you act within all worlds. {18}

38.101

“You manifest your body in each instant

To all the beings dwelling in the three times.

With no duality in your mind,

You teach the Dharma throughout all directions. {19}

38.102

“The ocean of atoms is without end,

And the ocean of beings is also measureless.

The ocean of the buddhas has no edge or center,

And they are all within the scope of your liberation.” {20}

38.103

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, having praised the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī with these appropriate verses, circumambulated the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī many hundreds of thousands of times, keeping her to his right, and, looking back again and again, departed from the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī. [B9]

39.

Chapter 39

Sarvanagararakṣāsaṃbhavatejaḥśrī

39.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, was meditating on, familiarizing himself with,1529 and cultivating the bodhisattva liberation called the display in each instant of mind of the arising of the power of vast delight. He was following, remembering, [F.148.a] and comprehending the instruction and teachings of the night goddess Praśantarutasāgaravatī, remembering each word and letter, the numerous countless aspects, the knowledge of the aspects of the nature of phenomena, and he was relying on it through his memory, analyzing it with his intelligence, comprehending it with his understanding,1530 increasing it with his intellect, feeling it with his body, practicing it, and engaging in it, and eventually he arrived where the night goddess Sarvanagararakṣāsaṃbhavatejaḥśrī was.

40.

Chapter 40

Sarvavṛkṣpraphullanasukhasaṃvāsā

40.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, further meditating on, believing in,1554 and increasing the bodhisattva liberation called the entry into beautiful sounds and profound manifestations, went to where the night goddess Sarvavṛkṣpraphullanasukhasaṃvāsā was. He saw the night goddess Sarvavṛkṣpraphullanasukhasaṃvāsā seated upon a lion throne consisting of the saplings of precious trees, inside a kūṭāgāra made from the branches of all perfumed precious trees and encircled by an entourage of ten thousand night goddesses. [F.159.b]

41.

Chapter 41

Sarvajagadrakṣāpraṇidhānavīryaprabhā

41.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, went to where the night goddess Sarvajagadrakṣāpraṇidhānavīryaprabhā was. He saw the night goddess Sarvajagadrakṣāpraṇidhānavīryaprabhā in the center of her entourage, seated upon a throne that contained kings of jewels that illuminated the dwellings of all beings. She had a body covered completely in a net of jewels that illuminated the ways of the realm of phenomena. Her body revealed the images of the sun, the moon, and all the planets, stars, and constellations. She had a body that manifested to the perception of beings in accordance with their wishes. She had a body such that her own body was perceived by all beings as having the same form as their bodies. She had a body that manifested perceptions of a vast, centerless, edgeless ocean of skin colors. She had a body that manifested practicing all paths of the practice of conduct. She had a body that could be perceived from every kind of orientation.1627 She had a body that was present in all worlds, filling all directions with the sound of thunder from the cloud of the Dharma and with various miraculous manifestations. She had a body that reached throughout the realm of space, at all times looking at how to benefit all beings. She had a body that paid homage and bowed down at the feet of all tathāgatas. She had a body that came before all beings, aiding them in the accumulation of roots of merit. [F.180.a] She had a body that possessed the mindfulness of keeping and never deviating from the motivation to accomplish and fulfill the prayer to receive and possess clouds of Dharma directly from all the tathāgatas. She had a body that filled all principal and intermediate directions with light that had no edge or center. She had a body that manifested the illumination and the spreading light of the lamp of Dharma, dispelling the darkness in all beings. She had a body that manifested as a stainless body of the wisdom that phenomena are like illusions. She had a body that manifested as a Dharma body free of darkness and dust. She had a body that appeared with the nature of being an illusion. She had a mind free of darkness that had realized the true nature. She had attained the illumination in all aspects of the light of wisdom. She had a mental body that was completely free of illness and had no pain. She had appeared from the realm of the enduring and indestructible Dharma body. She had a body that was the pure body of the stainless true nature, the state completely without kleśas, and which had the nature of the unlocated blessing of the tathāgatas.

42.

Chapter 42

Sutejomaṇḍalaratiśrī

42.1

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, remembering the instruction of the night goddess Sarvajagadrakṣāpraṇidhānavīryaprabhā and meditating on, comprehending, and augmenting the bodhisattva liberation called the origin of the roots of merit that inspire the ripening of all beings, eventually arrived at the Lumbinī Forest.

42.2

He circumambulated the Lumbinī Forest, keeping it to his right, and then searched for Sutejomaṇḍalaratiśrī, the Lumbinī Forest goddess.

43.

Chapter 43

Gopā

43.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, left the presence of Sutejomaṇḍalaratiśrī, the Lumbinī Forest goddess, and went to the location of the great city of Kapilavastu. [F.219.b]

43.2

While meditating on, comprehending, increasing, practicing, purifying,1744 contemplating, and examining the bodhisattva liberation called the miraculous manifestations at the birth of bodhisattvas throughout all the perceptions of countless kalpas, he came to the assembly hall of the bodhisattvas called the Illuminating Light of the Realm of the Dharma.

44.

Chapter 44

Māyādevī

44.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, on the way to Māyādevī, undertaking the wisdom of practicing the scope of the activity of the buddhas, thought, “By what means can I see the kalyāṇamitras, honor them, meet them,1846 accompany them,1847 learn their qualities, know the field of their speech, understand the succession of their words, and possess the teachings of the kalyāṇamitras who have six āyatanas that have risen above all worlds; who have bodies that have transcended all attachments; who follow the path of unimpeded movement; who have pure Dharma bodies; who have bodies that are manifestations of illusory physical activities; who perform conducts in the world that are the illusions of wisdom; who have forms and bodies1848 from prayer;1849 who have bodies that are not born and do not cease; who have bodies that are neither true nor false; who have bodies that do not pass away or perish; who have bodies that do not originate and are not destroyed; who have bodies that have the single characteristic of having no characteristics; who have bodies that have no attachment to duality; who have bodies that are based on having no basis; who have bodies that do not decay1850 or diminish; [F.256.a] who have bodies without thoughts, like reflections; who have active bodies that are like dreams; who have bodies that do not depart, like the surface of a mirror; who have bodies that are established in peace, like the absence of directions; who have bodies that pervade all directions; who have bodies that have no differentiation between the three times; who have bodiless bodies of mind that are bodies without thought; who have bodies that have transcended the path of sight in all worlds; who have bodies that have been tamed through the path of completely good vision; and who have the unimpeded field of activity of space?”

45.

Chapter 45

Surendrābhā

45.1

Sudhana went to the paradise of the lord of Trāyastriṃśa and approached the deva maiden Surendrābhā, the daughter of the deva Smṛtimat. He bowed his head to the feet of the deva maiden Surendrābhā, circumambulated the deva maiden Surendrābhā many hundreds of thousands of times, keeping her to his right, and then stood before the deva maiden Surendrābhā with his palms together in homage and said, “Āryā, goddess, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it. Āryā, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

46.

Chapter 46

Viśvāmitra

46.1

Sudhana descended from the paradise of the lord of Trāyastriṃśa and eventually came to Viśvāmitra, the teacher of children, in the city of Kapilavastu. When he came to him, he bowed his head to the feet of Viśvāmitra, the teacher of children; circumambulated Viśvāmitra, the teacher of children, many hundreds of thousands of times, keeping him to his right; and then stood before Viśvāmitra, the teacher of children, with his palms together in homage and said, “Ārya, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it. Ārya, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! Ārya, I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!” [F.273.b]

47.

Chapter 47

Śilpābhijña

47.1

Sudhana went to where Śilpābhijña, the head merchant’s son, was present. When he came to him, he bowed his head to the feet of Śilpābhijña, the head merchant’s son, then stood before Śilpābhijña, the head merchant’s son, with his palms together in homage and said, “Ārya, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it. Ārya, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! Ārya, I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

48.

Chapter 48

Bhadrottamā

48.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, went to the town called Vartanaka in the region of Kevalaka and approached the kalyāṇamitra Bhadrottamā. When he approached the kalyāṇamitra Bhadrottamā, he bowed his head to her feet, and then he stood before the kalyāṇamitra Bhadrottamā with his palms together in homage and said, “Āryā, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it. [F.276.b] Āryā, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

49.

Chapter 49

Muktāsāra

49.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, eventually arrived in the southern region, and in the town of Bharukaccha he approached the goldsmith Muktāsāra. He bowed his head to the feet of the goldsmith Muktāsāra and then, standing before him with his palms together in homage, said, “Ārya, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it.

50.

Chapter 50

Sucandra

50.1

Sudhana went to the householder Sucandra, bowed his head to the feet of the householder Sucandra, stood before him, and, with his palms together in homage, said, “Ārya, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it. Ārya, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

51.

Chapter 51

Ajitasena

51.1

Sudhana eventually reached the town of Roruka and approached the householder Ajitasena, bowed his head to the feet of the householder Ajitasena, stood before him, [F.278.b] and, with his palms together in homage, said, “Ārya, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it. Ārya, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

52.

Chapter 52

Śivarāgra

52.1

Sudhana eventually reached the village of Dharma and approached the brahmin Śivarāgra. He bowed his head to the feet of the brahmin Śivarāgra, stood before him, and, with his palms together in homage, said, “Ārya, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it. Ārya, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

53.

Chapter 53

Śrīsaṃbhava and Śrīmati

53.1

Sudhana eventually reached the town of Sumanāmukha and approached the boy Śrīsaṃbhava and the girl Śrīmati. He bowed his head to their feet, stood before them with his palms together in homage, and said, “Āryas, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it. Āryas, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

54.

Chapter 54

Maitreya

54.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, his mind moistened by the instructions of the kalyāṇamitra, contemplated bodhisattva conduct. Thinking of how his many bodies in the past had failed to practice perfect conduct, he made resolute the strength of his body. Thinking of how his body and mind throughout the past, even though pure, were the worthless continuation of a saṃsāric mind, he applied the attention of his mind to conduct. Thinking how his actions throughout the past had been impure, had been devoted to the world, and were worthless hardships, he contemplated accomplishing in the present that which is very meaningful. [F.289.a] Thinking how throughout the past he had developed thoughts through incorrect examination, he generated the strength to create the correct examination of bodhisattva conduct. Thinking how his past bodies had a range of activity1973 dedicated to engaging in self-benefit, he made firm the strength of his superior, higher motivation to engage in benefiting1974 all beings. Thinking how in the past he had the flavorless conduct of continually seeking what was desired, he increased the great force of the power for attaining relief through engaging in obtaining the Dharma of the buddhas. Thinking how in the past he had engaged in conduct through an incorrect motivation, he purified1975 the flow of his mind in the present with a correct view that was free of error and with dedication to bodhisattva prayer. Thinking how in the past he fruitlessly had no diligence in his undertakings and practiced without diligence, in the present he motivated his mind and body by generating the diligence for remaining prepared to gather the Dharmas of the buddhas. Examining how he and others had been lost in the lower realms and1976 the five classes of beings, and thinking how in the past he had not taken care of his body, he increased a vast, powerful rejoicing and aspiration for maintaining a body with the power to accomplish all the Dharmas of the buddhas, take care of all beings, and serve all kalyāṇamitras. [F.289.b]

55.

Chapter 55

Mañjuśrī

55.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, after passing through a hundred and ten towns, came to the district called Sumanāmukha, where, while thinking of and looking for Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, he was aspiring and praying to see Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and continually yearning to meet him.

55.2

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, from a distance of a hundred and ten yojanas, extended his hand and placed it upon the head of Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, who was in the town of Sumanāmukha, and said, “Well done, well done, noble one! Someone who does not have the power of faith, who has a mind that wearies, who has thoughts of despondency, who abandons practice, who turns away from diligence, who is pleased by having a few qualities, who remains clinging to a single root of merit, who is not skilled in accomplishing the conduct and prayer, who is not in the care of a kalyāṇamitra, and who does not consider the buddhas is unable to know the true nature of phenomena in this way, or to know this kind of way and this kind of range of activity, or to know this kind of place or enter it, or to believe in it or examine it or understand it or attain it.”

56.

Chapter 56

Samantabhadra and “The Prayer for Completely Good Conduct”

56.1

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, who had reverenced as many kalyāṇamitras as there are atoms in the world realms of a billion-world universe; who had the motivation to gather the accumulations for omniscience; who correctly held and practiced the instructions and teachings of all kalyāṇamitras; who in the presence of all kalyāṇamitras gave rise to the same aspiration as they did; who had the realization that pleased and was not displeasing to all kalyāṇamitras; who followed the ocean of the ways of the instructions and teachings of all kalyāṇamitras; who had the essence that arises from the ocean of the aspiration of great compassion; who had shone on all beings with the clouds of the ways of great love; who had a body that increased the power of great joy; who was active2179 in complete peace within the vast bodhisattva liberations; who had the vision focused on whatever emanates from all gateways;2180 who had perfected the practice of the ocean of the qualities of all tathāgatas;2181 who had followed the path of aspiration of all the tathāgatas;2182 who had increased the power of diligence in the accumulation of omniscience; who had a mind with the perfect development of the motivation and aspiration of all bodhisattvas; who had comprehended the succession of all the tathāgatas in the three times; [F.345.b] who had realized the ocean of the ways of the Dharmas of all buddhas; who had followed the ocean of the ways of the Dharma wheels of all the tathāgatas; who had the range of activity of manifesting the appearance of taking birth in all worlds; who had comprehended the ocean of the ways of the prayers of all bodhisattvas; who was established in bodhisattva conduct in all kalpas; who had attained the illumination of the scope of omniscience; who had increased all the powers of a bodhisattva; who had attained the illumination of the path to omniscience; who had attained the unobscured illumination of all directions; who had the realization that pervades the ways of the entire realm of phenomena; who had accomplished the illumination of the ways of all realms; who had engaged in the appropriate way with the activities of the vast extent of beings; who had demolished all the precipices and mountains of obscurations; who had followed the unobscured true nature of phenomena; who was active2183 in complete peace in the bodhisattva liberations that have the essence of all the surfaces and bases in the realm of phenomena; who was seeking the range of activity of all the tathāgatas; who had been blessed by all the tathāgatas; who was established in being active2184 in the range of activity of a bodhisattva; who had heard the name of the bodhisattva mahāsattva Samantabhadra; who had heard of his bodhisattva activity; who had heard of his special prayers; who had heard of his special entry and dwelling in the accomplishment of accumulation; who had heard of his special path of accomplishment and setting forth; [F.346.a] who had heard of his way of activity on the completely good level; who had heard of the accumulations of his level; who had heard of his power for attaining that level; who had heard of his ascending to that level; who had heard of his being established on that level; who had heard of his reaching that level through leaving the previous levels; who had heard of the range of activity of that level; who had heard of the blessings of that level; who had heard of his dwelling on that level; and who yearned and thirsted for the sight of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra; with a motivation as vast as space that had risen above all clinging; with a perfect meditation that perceived all2185 realms; with a mind that had transcended all attachments; with an unobscured range of activity in all phenomena; with an obstructed mind that pervaded the entire ocean of the directions; with an unobscured mind that ascended to the scope of perception of omniscience; with a pure mind that had the pure vipaśyanā that adorns a bodhimaṇḍa; with a perfectly distinct mind that comprehended the ocean of the Dharmas of all the buddhas; with a vast mind that pervaded all realms of beings in order to ripen and guide them; with an immense2186 mind that purified all buddha realms; with a measureless mind that manifested his appearance within the assemblies of the followers of all buddhas; and with an inexhaustible and endless mind that dwelled in all kalpas and had the conclusive strengths, fearlessnesses, and unique qualities of all the tathāgatas, Sudhana, in the bodhimaṇḍa, which had the supreme vajra as its essence, was seated upon a lotus seat that was a mass of all jewels, gazing at the lion throne that was the seat of the Tathāgata. [F.346.b]

Colophon

c.1

This was translated and revised by the Indian upādhyāyas Jinamitra and Surendrabodhi and by the chief editor Lotsawa Bandé Yeshé Dé and others.2232

Tibetan Editor’s Colophon

Tashi Wangchuk

c.2

A Multitude of Buddhas is the marvelous essence of the final, ultimate, definitive wheel from among the three wheels of the Sugata’s teaching. It has many other titles, such as The Mahāvaipulya Basket, The Earring, The Lotus Adornment, and so on.

c.3

It has seven sections:2233 A Multitude of Tathāgatas,2234 The Vajra Banner Dedication,2235 The Teaching of the Ten Bhūmis,2236 The Teaching of Completely Good Conduct,2237 [F.362.b] The Teaching of the Birth and Appearance of the Tathāgatas,2238 The Transcendence of the World,2239 and Stem Array.2240 These are subdivided into forty-five chapters.

c.4

According to Butön Rinpoché and others, it contains thirty-nine thousand and thirty verses, a hundred and thirty fascicles, and an additional thirty verses. In the Tshalpa Kangyur edition there are a hundred and fifteen fascicles, the Denkarma edition has a hundred and twenty-seven fascicles,2241 and present-day editions have various numbers of fascicles.2242

c.5

This sūtra was first received from Ārya Nāgārjuna by Paṇḍita Buddhabhadra and Paṇḍita Śikṣānanda (652–710), and they both translated it into Chinese. It is taught that Surendrabodhi and Vairocanarakṣita became principal editors for a Chinese translation.

c.6

As for the lineage of the text, there is the lineage from China: The perfect Buddha, Ārya Mañjuśrī, Lord Nāgārjuna, the two paṇḍitas mentioned above, and Heshang Tushun. Then the lineage continued through others until Üpa Sangyé Bum received it from Heshang Gying-ju. Then that lineage was passed on through Lotsawa Chokden and has continued up to the present time.

c.7

The lineage from India is as follows:

It was passed from Nāgārjuna to Āryadeva, and then Mañjuśrīkīrti, and so on, until Bari Lotsawa received it from Vajrāsana. It is taught that the lineage then continued through Chim Tsöndrü Sengé, the great Sakya Lord,2243 and so on.

c.8

However, I have not seen any other text or history of a translation made by any other lotsawa or paṇḍita other than those listed in the colophon to this translation into Tibetan.

c.9

The king of Jangsa Tham2244 had a complete Kangyur made that was based on the Tshalpa Kangyur. At the present time this is known as the Lithang Tshalpa Kangyur (1609–14). I considered this to be a reliable source and so have made it the basis for this edition. However, it has many omissions, accretions, and misspellings, and therefore I have at this time corrected it by seeking out many older editions.

c.10

There are variant Indian texts and conflicting translations, and I have not been able to ascertain from them a definitive single meaning or correct words. Nevertheless, this text is nothing but a valid edition.

c.11

There are varying translations of terms that have been left unrevised, as there is no contradiction in meaning. For example, it has rgyan instead of bkod pa;2245 ’byam klas instead of rab ’byams;2246 so so yang dag par rig pa instead of tha dad pa yang dag par shes pa;2247 thugs for dgongs pa;2248 [F.363.a] nyin mtshan dang zla ba yar kham mar kham dang instead of nyin mtshan dang yud du yan man dang;2249 and tha snyad instead of rnam par dpyod pa.2250

c.12

Sanskrit words have many cases and tenses, so that although the Tibetan lotsawas and paṇḍitas, who had the eyes of the Dharma, translated their meaning, their tenses, cases, and so on are difficult to discern. Those are the majority of the examples of uncertainty, and there are also a few other kinds, but they are nevertheless in accord with Tibetan grammar.

c.13

In most texts there are many archaic words, so that the meaning of the translation is not clear, but there is a consistency when those words are all in archaic Tibetan. However, there appears to have occurred in later times a strong adulteration of the text so that there is a mixture of archaic and modern forms. There are also unreliable placements of the shad mark that differentiates clauses, but all these have been left as they are because these faults are few and minor. Therefore, this revision has been diligently edited without becoming analogous to knocking down the ancient megaliths of the southern regions.

c.14

May this remain for the entire kalpa within the circle of the Cakravāla Mountains, as bright as the sun and moon, as the glory of the merit of nonsectarian beings and the precious teaching of the Buddha.

c.15

This was printed in the water tiger year called dge byed (1722),2251 in the presence of Tenpa Tsering (1678–1738), the divine Dharma king who rules in accordance with the Dharma, who has the vast, superior wealth of the ten good actions, and who is a bodhisattva as a ruler of humans and the source of happiness in the four regions of greater Tibet.

c.16

This was written by the attendant Gelong Tashi Wangchuk, who in the process of revision was commanded to become its supervisor.

c.17

Ye dharmahetuprabhavā hetun teṣān tathāgato hy avadat. Teṣāñ ca yo nirodha evaṃ vādī mahāśramanaḥ.

(The Tathāgata has taught those causes that are the causes for the arising of phenomena, and the great Śramaṇa, in that way, taught that which is their cessation.)

Notes

n.1

See colophon, c.3.

n.2

Pekar Zangpo, mdo sde spy’i rnam bzhag (2006), 18.

n.3

This depiction of Śākyamuni as a Vairocana emanation has its precedent in a sūtra that was never translated into Tibetan but exists in Chinese translation: the Brahmajālasūtra. This sūtra introduces the Buddha Vairocana as the primordial buddha who is the source of ten billion Śākyamunis who exist simultaneously in ten billion different worlds. This sūtra should not be confused with the Brahmajālasūtra that exists both in the Pali canon and in the Tibetan Kangyur (Toh 352).

n.4

See Peter Alan Roberts, trans., The Ten Bhūmis, Toh 44-31.

n.5

There is evidence for Mahāyāna sūtras originating in northern India. In his Genealogies of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Joseph Walser argues that the “core portion” of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Toh 12, Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) was most probably written in the second half of the first century in Mathura, which is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh. He also offers the tentative conclusion that it was written by “a Sarvāstivādin monk residing at Buddhadeva’s Guhavihāra outside of Maṭ.” See Walser (2018), 242.

n.6

Osto notes that Etienne Lamotte, Edward Conze, and Nalinaksha Dutt all regard the Mahāsāṃghika as the source of the Mahāyāna tradition. See Osto (2008), 157, n. 5. Paul Williams argues that at least some Mahāyāna sūtras emerged from the Mahāsāṃghika: “There can be no doubt that at least some early Mahāyāna sūtras originated in Mahāsāṃghika circles. In the lokottaravāda supramundane teachings we are getting very close to a teaching well-known in Mahāyāna that the Buddha’s death was also a mere appearance; in reality he remains out of his compassion, helping suffering humanity, and thence the suggestion that for those who are capable of it the highest religious goal should be not to become an Arhat but to take the Bodhisattva vows, embarking themselves on the long path to a supreme and totally superior Buddhahood.” See Williams (2009), 21. This view has been contested by a number of scholars, however, including Paul Harrison, who maintains in his “Searching for the Origins of the Mahāyāna: What Are We Looking For?” that it is impossible to draw a clear connection between the Mahāyāna and a single sect, maintaining instead that the Mahāyāna was a loose set of related movements that cut across Buddhist India. For a fine summary of scholarship concerning the origins of the Mahāyāna, see Osto (2008), 105–16.

n.7

Toh 127. See translation in Peter Alan Roberts, trans., The King of Samādhis Sūtra, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.

n.8

Osto (2008), 108–9.

n.37

According to the Sanskrit. There is no division into chapters in the Tibetan, see Introduction i.65. In Śikṣānanda’s eighty-fascicle Chinese translation (hereafter, “the Chinese”), this is presented as the thirty-ninth sūtra in twenty-one fascicles, from 60 to 80. Each fascicle bears the title 入法界品 (ru fa jie pin), number 39, and a serial number ranging from 1 to 21; for example, fascicle 60 is entitled 入法界品第三十九之一 (ru fa jie pin di san shi jiu zhi yi), the first segment of the thirty-ninth sūtra, Entry into the Realm of the Dharma.

n.38

According to the Sanskrit and such Kangyurs as the Degé, which have shes pa dam pa’i ye shes. Lithang and Choné Kangyurs have shes rab dam pa’i ye shes. Yongle and Kangxi have ye shes rab dam pa’i ye shes.

n.39

According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has brtan pa dam pa’i ye shes.

n.40

According to the Sanskrit and the Chinese. The Tibetan blo gros chen po’i gzi brjid appears to translate from mahāmatitejas.

n.41

This is followed in the Sanskrit by Samantaprabhatejas, which would have been translated into Tibetan as kun nas ’od gyi gzi brjid. The Chinese appears to have conflated these three similar names into one as 普吉祥威力 (pu ji xiang wei li).

n.42

Construction from the Tibetan. Not present in the Sanskrit or the Chinese.

n.43

According to the Sanskrit, the Chinese, and most Kangyurs, which have shin tu rnam par lta ba’i myig. Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné have rnam par dag pa’i in error for rnam par lta ba’i. In the Sanskrit this is followed by Avalokitanetra, which is absent in both the Chinese and the Tibetan, most likely the result of a scribal omission due to the similarity of the names.

n.44

In the Sanskrit and the Chinese this is followed by “the bodhisattva Samantanetra,” which is not present in the Tibetan.

n.45

The Sanskrit has “bodhisattva mahāsattva.” The Chinese ends all names with “bodhisattva.”

n.46