The Stem Array
Sarvavṛkṣpraphullanasukhasaṃvāsā
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
- Surendrabodhi
- Vairocanarakṣita
- Bandé Yeshé Dé
- Jinamitra
Imprint
Translated by Peter Alan Roberts
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2021
Current version v 1.0.30 (2024)
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84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.
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Table of Contents
Summary
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.
Acknowledgements
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.
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.
Text Body
Chapter 45: The Stem Array
Sarvavṛkṣpraphullanasukhasaṃvāsā
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]
Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, bowed his head to the feet of the night goddess Sarvavṛkṣpraphullanasukhasaṃvāsā and then stood before her. With his hands placed together in homage, he said, “Goddess, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, and so I pray that you explain how bodhisattvas should practice bodhisattva conduct, how they should train in it, and how, having practiced and trained in it, they proceed toward omniscience!”
The night goddess Sarvavṛkṣpraphullanasukhasaṃvāsā said to Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, “Noble one, through my power, when the sun sets in the Sahā world realm, the lotus blossoms close,1555 the men and women who are dedicated to delighting in pleasures in parks have the wish to return to their homes, the beings who travel along roads and narrow paths think of finding somewhere to stay for the night, and they turn their attention to all the safe dwellings for beings. Those who dwell in forests, in mountain clefts, and in caves enter their forests, clefts, and caves. Those beings who dwell in trees think of returning to their homes in the trees. Those beings who dwell in holes return to their holes. Those beings who dwell in villages, towns, districts, and lands return to their villages, towns, districts, and lands. Those beings who dwell in water enter the water. Those beings who have gone to lands in other directions begin to think of the directions of their own lands in order to remain in a feeling of happiness during the night.
“Moreover, noble one, to the young men and women in the prime of life who are intoxicated by youthfulness, intoxicated by the delights of singing, dancing, and music, [F.160.a] who are dedicated to delighting in sensory pleasures, to them I praise dedication to creating roots of merit as a remedy for the fear of birth, old age, death, and the great darkness of ignorance. I bring beings who are miserly to the practice of generosity. I bring beings who have bad conduct to the practice of correct conduct. I praise love to beings who have malicious minds. I establish beings with disturbed minds in the practice of patience. I establish beings who are lazy in the practice of undertaking bodhisattva diligence. I establish beings who have intoxicated minds in the practice of dhyāna. I bring beings with poor wisdom to the practice of the perfection of wisdom. I establish beings who aspire to the lower yānas in the practice of the Mahāyāna. I establish beings who have attachment to the three realms in the bodhisattva perfection of prayer, the field of the ultimate conclusion of the paths of existence. I establish in the perfection of bodhisattva strength those beings who are overpowered by their objects of perception,1556 are tormented by karma and kleśas, and have weak merit and wisdom. I establish in the perfection of bodhisattva knowledge those beings who are overwhelmed by the darkness of ignorance and enveloped in the darkness of believing in a self and possessions.
“Moreover, noble one, I have attained the bodhisattva liberation called the arising of the vast radiating light of joy.”
Sudhana asked, “Goddess, what is this bodhisattva liberation called the arising of the vast radiating light of joy like?” [F.160.b]
She answered, “Noble one, this bodhisattva liberation has the radiance of the knowledge and methods of gathering beings through the merit of the tathāgatas. Why is that?
“Noble one, it is because all happiness that beings experience occurs through the power of the merit of the tathāgatas, through the path of instruction of the tathāgatas, through practicing the words of the tathāgatas, through following the example of the tathāgatas, through the blessing of the tathāgatas, through practicing the path taught by the tathāgatas,1557 through creating roots of merit in the same way the tathāgatas have, through the power of the natural result of the Dharma that is taught by the tathāgatas, and through illumination from the sun of the wisdom of the tathāgatas.
“Noble one, the happiness of beings arises from the light of the disk of good qualities1558 of the family of the tathāgatas. Why is that?
“Noble one, it is like this: I realized this bodhisattva liberation called the arising of the vast radiating light of joy when I remembered, comprehended, and understood the ocean of the past bodhisattva conduct of the Bhagavat Tathāgata Arhat Samyaksaṃbuddha Vairocana.
“When, in the past, the Bhagavat was on the bodhisattva bhūmis, he developed a motivation of great compassion on seeing beings with the belief in a self, with the belief in possessions, enveloped in the darkness of ignorance, wandering in the wilderness of thickets of wrong views, under the power of craving,1559 [F.161.a] imprisoned within the bondage of desire, having thoughts of hatred caused by anger, with their minds disturbed by ignorance, ensnared by jealousy and greed, with their minds disturbed by kleśas, experiencing great suffering in saṃsāra, afflicted by the suffering of poverty in saṃsāra, and having turned away from the sight of a buddha.
“He developed a motivation to benefit all beings through the accumulation and possession of precious requisites in the world, a motivation to produce necessary requisites for all beings, a motivation that was without attachment to anything, a motivation that had no yearning for anything in the entire field of perceptions, a motivation that had no clinging to any pleasure, a motivation that had no longing for any enjoyment, a motivation that had no wish for results ripening from generosity, a motivation that had no longing for any worldly prosperity, a motivation that was not1560 oblivious of causes and conditions, a motivation that had the understanding of the Dharma that was being sought, and a motivation that had attained dedication to the benefit of all beings.
“In that way, he had a mind that understood the nature of all phenomena, the realization of the impartiality of great love toward all realms of beings. He had the activity of spreading clouds of great compassion over all worlds of beings. He possessed a great round parasol of the Dharma that sheltered all worlds of beings. [F.161.b] He possessed the thunderbolt weapon of great wisdom that destroys the mountains of obscurations of all beings. His mind had the increasing power of contentment through bringing happiness to all beings. His mind prayed that all beings would attain the ultimate happiness; he intended to send down a rain of wealth on all beings in accordance with their wishes and aspirations. His mind never abandoned beings but was focused on them all equally. He intended to satisfy all beings with the wealth of the āryas. He intended that they attain the supreme, stainless, precious knowledge of the ten strengths. He had attained the strength of the higher cognitions of a bodhisattva. He filled the entirety of the realms of beings and the vast realm of phenomena, as far as space extends, with great clouds of various miraculous bodhisattva manifestations. He manifested his presence before all beings and sent down a gift of great rain from a cloud of every form and every kind of object of perception. He sent down rain from a great cloud of every kind of precious jewelry.
“In that way, so that all beings could have enjoyment according to their own kind, he accomplished giving infinite, different kinds of things, practiced countless different kinds of assistance, engaged in accumulating all the many various kinds of gifts, practiced the conduct of giving away a numerous variety of things, produced an indescribable array of different kinds of requisites, and realized the way of infinite generosity that satisfies beings according to their aspirations with an accumulation of various gifts with various characteristics. [F.162.a]
“Thus he gave, conferred, and bestowed all the things that would bring contentment to beings according to their aspirations. He engaged in saving all beings from continuous composite suffering. He had no wish for any being to repay his kindness. He possessed the realization of the equality of all beings, so that he purified the precious minds of all beings, and through the methods of gathering beings that have arisen from the roots of merit of all buddhas as a single ocean, he sent down a rain of requisites in accordance with the wishes of all beings, and he increased the power of the ocean of the merit of omniscience for all beings.
“He accomplished this in order to purify the successive ripening and guiding of all beings without exception in each instant of mind; in order in each instant of mind to cover and adorn the succession of all realms without exception with the pure adornments of the highest, undefiled buddha realms; in order in each instant of mind to pervade and purify the ocean of the ways of all phenomena without exception; in order in each instant of mind to complete the way of wisdom that pervades the entire extent of space without exception; in order in each instant of mind to purify the way of the wisdom that comprehends all beings and times without exception; in order in each instant of mind to attain the illumination of the way of the wisdom that guides all beings without exception; [F.162.b] in order in each instant of mind to irreversibly1561 turn the wheel of the Dharma in all times without exception; and in order in each instant of mind to benefit all beings through revealing all skills, without exception, that are the blessing of omniscient wisdom.
“He performed bodhisattva conduct in each instant of mind in all the numbers of world realms without exception; in the arisen1562 ocean of all world realms; in the congregation of the ocean of all world realms; in the vast extent of world realms of various descriptions; within the array of the boundaries of various differentiated families1563 of world realms with boundaries; with descriptions of various bases and masses; in world realms with descriptions of various divisions into kalpas; in world realms that were defiled but also pure, pure but also defiled, entirely pure, and entirely defiled, that were immense, vast, measureless, narrow, minute, and huge, high, level, sideways, upside-down, facing the principal directions and the intermediate directions, and located in the ocean of various directions; and in an array of various shapes and entrances described in various ways.
“He entered a bodhisattva’s faultlessness in order to spread widely his bodhisattva conduct and miraculous manifestations, in order that in each instant of mind other beings would perceive in their minds and thoughts all the activity1564 of the buddhas of the three times without exception, so that all beings would accomplish increasing the ocean of merit of omniscience. I know and I remember his accomplishment.1565 [F.163.a]
“Noble one, in that way, when the Bhagavat Vairocana was previously practicing bodhisattva conduct, he had compassion for those dwelling in the world, who were devoid of the accumulations of merit and wisdom, who were filled with ingratitude toward other beings, who were enveloped by the darkness of ignorance, who were attached to belief in a self and belief in possessions, who were obscured by the darkness and blindness of ignorance, who had inappropriate thoughts, who were deep1566 in the wilderness of thickets of wrong views, who were ignorant of cause and results, who were under the power of kleśas and karma, who had fallen into the underground world of the great suffering of saṃsāra’s wilderness and were experiencing the various1567 sufferings of poverty.
“Having compassion for them, he praised establishing strong roots of merit through a vast cloud of the practice of the perfections, dispelled saṃsāra’s suffering of poverty in all beings, inspired them toward a great accumulation of merit and wisdom, elucidated the aspect of the field of causes, explained the aspect of actions that are in accord with the Dharma, illuminated the aspect of understanding1568 the domain of the Buddhadharma, elucidated the aspect of the aspirations of beings, taught the aspect of the creation of the realms of beings, followed the aspect of the uninterrupted family of all the buddhas, held the aspect of the teaching of all the buddhas, dispelled the aspect of all bad qualities, described the aspect of the accumulation of omniscience, [F.163.b] and filled all the realms of beings with the great cloud of the perfections. Having accomplished that, he satisfied beings in accordance with their aspirations, establishing beings in the compilation of the Dharma; he inspired them toward the accumulation of omniscience; he brought them to the great perfections of a bodhisattva; he increased the ocean of the roots of merit of beings; he strengthened them through the attainment of the wealth of the āryas; and he increased the ocean of the roots of merit of beings through the power of their aspiration for omniscience.
“He brought them to enter the gateways to the miraculous manifestations of the tathāgatas, gathered them through possessing the bliss of the pacification of the skandhas, made them aspire to the greatness that is the nature of the tathāgatas, and established them in the wisdom possessed by the bodhisattvas.”
Sudhana asked, “Āryā, how long has it been since you entered upon the highest, complete enlightenment?”
She answered, “Noble one, this is a subject that is difficult to believe in,1569 difficult to know, difficult to aspire to, difficult to comprehend, difficult to describe, and difficult to understand; the world and its devas and the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are unable to comprehend it. However, through the blessing of the tathāgatas, through being in the care of a kalyāṇamitra,1570 those beings who have no yearning for any bliss in saṃsāra, who are focused on the bliss of the tathāgatas, who are engaged in ending the suffering and unhappiness of all beings, who aspire to the knowledge1571 that comprehends the ocean of the qualities of the tathāgatas, [F.164.a] who have realized the nature of all phenomena and have space as their field of activity, who are purified by the path of a vast aspiration, who have turned away from the course of saṃsāra, who aspire to the ocean of wisdom of all the tathāgatas, who are determined to go to the city of the Dharma,1572 who have the diligence to attain the field of activity of the tathāgatas, who have the prowess to reach the level of the buddhas, who aspire to the perfection of the power of omniscience, and who have fully attained the ten strengths, with a mind supported by a vast accumulation of merit and wisdom, with a pure motivation, with a mind that is not disheartened, is not defiled, is not insincere, is unimpaired, has not narrowed, and is not in darkness, with a mind that is illuminated by the light of completely illuminating wisdom, with a mind intent on bringing happiness and benefit to all beings, with a mind that cannot be defeated by the kleśas and all Māra’s entourage, and with a mind that has the opportunity to attain omniscient wisdom, are able to understand, comprehend, believe in, grasp, follow, and know this subject.
“Why is that? Noble one, this subject is the field of the knowledge of the tathāgatas. All bodhisattvas, let alone all other beings, cannot reach it. Nevertheless, through the blessing of the tathāgatas, I teach it so that noble beings will have a perfectly pure motivation, so that beings with a conduct of roots of virtue will have a superior motivation, and so that you will obtain the arising of the true answer to your sincere1573 question.” [F.164.b]
Then, at that time, the night goddess Sarvavṛkṣpraphullanasukhasaṃvāsā, in order to teach this meaning further, looking into the field of knowledge of the tathāgatas of the three times, recited these verses:
“Noble one, in a time in the past even beyond as many kalpas as there are atoms in a world realm, there was an ocean of world realms called Maṇikanakaparvataśikharavairocana.
“Noble one, in that ocean of world realms called Maṇikanakaparvataśikharavairocana there was a tathāgata by the name of Jñānaparvatadharmadhātudikpratapanatejorāja. The Tathāgata Jñānaparvatadharmadhātudikpratapanatejorāja, through his previous bodhisattva conduct, had purified the ocean of world realms called Maṇikanakaparvataśikharavairocana.1578
“In that ocean of world realms called Maṇikanakaparvataśikharavairocana appeared as many ranges of world realms as there are atoms in the earth and the mountains. In each range of world realms appeared as many groups of world realms as there are atoms in a multitude of world realms. In each world realm1579 appeared as many kalpas as there are atoms in a world realm. In each kalpa appeared numerous intermediate kalpas. [F.166.a] In each intermediate kalpa appeared numerous world realms with different appearances. In those appeared various occurrences of tathāgatas and their miraculous manifestations. During each appearance of a buddha appeared as many sūtras as there are atoms in a world realm. Within each sūtra appeared as many prophecies to bodhisattvas as there are atoms in a world realm. There appeared a vast extent of guided beings, without edge or center, accomplishment through the ways of various yānas, and guidance through various miraculous manifestations.
“Noble one, in that ocean of world realms called Maṇikanakaparvataśikharavairocana there was a central group of world realms called Samantadigabhimukhadvāradhvajavyūha.
“Noble one, in that central group of world realms called Samantadigabhimukhadvāradhvajavyūha there was the world realm called Sarvaratnavarṇasamantaprabhāsaśrī.
“It had a display of basis and borders of world realms. It had the shining bodhimaṇḍas of all the tathāgatas that were made of kings of jewels.1580 It resided upon an ocean of flowers of various jewels. Its main mass was made of kings of precious jewels in which appeared the images of the emanations of all the tathāgatas. It had the form of a city of devas. It was both pure and defiled.
“In that world realm there were as many four-continent world realms as there are atoms in Sumeru. The central four continents among those four continents that were as numerous as the atoms in Sumeru was called Sarvaratnaśikharadhvaja. In that four-continent world called Sarvaratnaśikharadhvaja, each of the four continents was a hundred thousand yojanas wide. [F.166.b] In each of those continents there were a thousand great cities. In the center of the Jambudvīpa of that four-continent world there was a royal capital called Ratnasālavyūhameghapradīpā, which was encircled by ten thousand cities.
“At that time, the people of that Jambudvīpa had a lifespan of ten thousand years. In the royal capital called Ratnasālavyūhameghapradīpā there was a cakravartin king by the name of Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa. The cakravartin king Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa had five hundred ministers. He had sixty thousand queens. He had seven hundred sons who were all courageous and heroic, with perfectly formed bodies, handsome and magnificent, and very strong.
“During the time of King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa, he protected all of Jambudvīpa under one parasol and vanquished all enemies and opponents. During that time, in that world realm, as the intermediate kalpa was ending, the five degenerations appeared, the path of the ten good actions vanished, beings practiced the path of the ten bad actions, and most went to the lower realms. Their following the path of bad actions became the cause for lifespans to become short, pleasures to be few, and bodies to be ugly, have a bad color, and be misshapen. There was little happiness and the experience of many kinds of suffering. They deceived and betrayed one another. They caused divisions between one another. They engaged in harsh speech. They spoke incoherently. They were overcome by overpowering desires. [F.167.a] They had the thoughts of angry minds. They wandered in a wilderness of various thickets of wrong views. They clung to desires that were contrary to the Dharma, and they were overcome by those overpowering desires. They were encompassed by false Dharma. Therefore, trees, plants, and harvests of food did not grow from the ground. The rain did not come on time. For those beings, the grass, herbs, shrubs, forests, orchards, and trees withered. They were afflicted by various illnesses. Throughout the main and intermediate directions they had no protector, and so they disrespected and were in contention with one another.
“They all gathered together and went to the royal capital Ratnasālavyūhameghapradīpā. They surrounded it, some with their arms upraised, some with hands clasped together, some with their bodies trembling, some collapsing,1581 some falling with their heads on the ground, some with their bodies stretched out on the ground prostrate, some kneeling, some waving their arms in the air, some naked without clothes, some with an ugly expression of the face and eyes. They stared at King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa and cried out in a great piteous clamor, ‘Your Majesty! We are in distress! The suffering of hunger and thirst pains us! We are afflicted by various fears! We have no refuge! We have no protector or last resort! We are walled around by suffering! We are losing our lives! We are facing death!’
“In that way they wailed in various ways, crying out with various kinds of voices, with various words, various unpleasant facial expressions, various verbal expressions,1582 terms of speech, and words from various dialects and in various accents. [F.167.b].
“All the men and women, boys and girls of that royal capital, who were tormented by hunger and thirst, whose bodies were devoid of jewelry, who had no clothes and were naked, who were unsightly and discolored, whose skin was cracked and rough, and who were suffering and unhappy, were in distress, yearning for happiness, and afraid of suffering. Therefore, they sought protection from the great wise being King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa as a refuge, perceiving him to be someone through whom they could obtain happiness, perceiving him to be someone through whom they could become free of suffering,1583 perceiving him to be someone through whom they could gain sustenance and obtain treasure, perceiving him to be like the sight of a ford, perceiving him to be a ship, perceiving him to be a great island of wisdom,1584 perceiving him to be someone through whom they could attain a great benefit, and perceiving him to be someone through whom they could obtain all the joys and happiness of higher existences.
“When King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa heard the great clamor of the wailing of numerous piteous cries from all around him, he entered countless millions of gateways into great compassion. His mind resting in the mental state that is the way of great compassion, he contemplated one-pointedly for a moment and then spoke ten sentences of great compassion. What were those ten? They were:
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see these beings have fallen into the abyss of saṃsāra and are without a support. When can I become a refuge for these beings, who have fallen into the great abyss of saṃsāra, and bring them to the level of the tathāgatas?
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see these beings are oppressed by the torment of the kleśas and have no refuge. When can I become a refuge for these beings, who are frightened by various kleśas, without a refuge, and oppressed by the torment of the kleśas, and establish them in irreproachable actions? [F.168.a]
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see these beings are overcome by the fear of old age and death in this world and have no refuge. When can I become a refuge for these beings, who have no refuge, and dispel all their fear of saṃsāra?
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see these beings are tormented by the various fears in this world and have no recourse. When can I become a recourse for these beings, who are tormented by the various fears in the world, and establish them on the very happy and faultless path to omniscience?
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see these beings are enveloped in the darkness of ignorance in the world, and their sight is obscured by doubts and uncertainty. When can I become a lamp for these beings who have no refuge and dispel all the darkness of their ignorance?
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see these beings who are deprived of light. When can I provide them with the light of great wisdom by revealing to them the undarkened gateway to wisdom?
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see beings, deprived of the brilliant light of wisdom, who are polluted by envy and jealousy, deception and deceit. When can I establish all beings in perfect purity and illuminate them with the brilliant light of the highest wisdom?
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see the world of beings, who are without guidance, without a guide. When can I bring all beings into the ways of the ocean of the Dharma and become their guide?
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see the world of beings, within the current of the ocean of saṃsāra, who are without a guide. When can I ripen and guide all beings in every way, without missing the time for the blessing of the tathāgatas, and become their guide? [F.168.b]
“ ‘Oh! Alas! I see the world of beings is blind and without a guide. When can I bring all beings into the way of unobscured omniscient wisdom and become their guide?’
“After he had spoken these ten sentences of great compassion, the great bell of the royal capital was rung, and the great drum of the great gift-giving was beaten. He declared, ‘I shall give whatever anyone desires, and I shall bring satisfaction to all beings.’
“In all the royal capitals throughout Jambudvīpa, and in all the villages, towns, market towns, districts, countries, and cities, all the stores of requisites were opened, and many different kinds of requisites were arranged at all crossroads, at the junctions of three roads, and in streets, and all beings were provided with the necessities of life.
“All treasure houses and treasuries were opened, and a great accumulation of a treasure of jewels was displayed. Many piles of various jewels were heaped up.
“Storehouses of food and drink, clothes, vehicles, flowers, garlands, incense and perfume, powders, jewelry, and precious clothes of various colors were opened.
“There were mansions, divine palaces, and houses, adorned by beds, seats, and clothing, with a perfection of all wealth and treasure, and a display of kings of jewels that dispelled darkness with their brilliant1585 radiance.
“He emanated and displayed in each of those houses an emanation that resembled his body, so that he could fulfill all the wishes and desires of those beings.
“In order to heal all the illnesses of all beings, he arranged the perfect conditions of medicines, doctors, treatments, and the various requisites for sustaining life. [F.169.a]
“He also set out containers of different shapes, made of various precious materials, that contained every kind of the variety of requisites: There were containers made of diamond jewels that were filled with various kinds of perfumed precious jewels. There were containers made of various perfumed precious jewels that were filled with clothes of various excellent colors. There were many chariots, set out throughout all the regions of the land, that were of various shapes and colors and adorned with various jewels, that had thoroughbred horses,1586 oxen, and elephants1587—various precious chariots that were worthy of a king, made enjoyable with all adornments and jewels, set with various kinds of cushions, adorned with various jewels, covered with various canopies, hung with strings of precious bells, and adorned with upright parasols, banners, and flags. He commanded that villages, towns, countrysides, and regions were to be given away.
“He gave away various orchards, parks, and forests for ascetics. He gave away all his homes, wives, sons, and daughters. He gave away all his priceless jewels. He gave away his own heart, marrow, intestines, kidneys, fat, flesh, blood, skin, arms, legs, nose, eyes, ears, tongue, teeth, lips, and head. He commanded that every kind of every outer and inner thing was to be given away. He had assembled and set out the many kinds of such gifts of requisites.
To the east of the royal capital Ratnasālavyūhameghapradīpā, in front of the city called Maṇiśikharatejas, there was a vast level area of immense breadth, without any rise or fall. [F.169.b] It was pure and level ground free of ravines, crevasses, tree stumps, thorns, pebbles, and gravel. It consisted of a realm of all jewels. The ground was made from all jewels. All kings of jewels were strewn over it. It was adorned by many adornments of precious jewels. It was filled with various jewel flowers. Various extremely aromatic powders rose up from it as dust. There was a mist of perfumes and incense, and clouds of them formed an adornment that covered the entire sky. It was beautifully adorned by perfectly arranged lines of trees made of various precious materials. It was adorned by a variety of mansions, divine palaces, and kūṭāgāras. The cloth of precious parasols, banners, and flags fluttered. It was covered with a network of shining flowers of various jewels. It had a network of the circular shapes of parasols made of the kings of all precious incenses. It had jingling golden strings of precious bells. It was canopied over and beautified by various precious canopies. It was strewn with powders of the various kings of incenses. It was delightfully filled with the petals of jewels made of various jewels. It emitted the beautiful sound of a quintillion musical instruments being played and beaten. It was adorned by a pure variety of adornments made of all jewels. It had been created through the ripening karma of bodhisattvas.
“In its center there was a great lion throne situated on a multicolored ground made of ten precious materials. It was magnificent in the center of a pavilion made of ten precious materials. It had the beautiful display of a well-arranged balustrade made from the branches of trees made of the ten jewels. [F.170.a]. It was set upon the surface of a circular platform of indestructible diamond. It had a circular cushion with a form and color made of all precious materials. It was adorned by hundreds of crest adornments made of various precious materials. It was decorated by an array of inlays of different kinds made of many precious materials. Well-arranged precious banners had been erected all around it. It was hung1588 with flags made of various precious materials. It was decorated with various kinds of decorations.1589 It was adorned with nets of precious little bells.1590 It was decorated with various divine jewels on strings of gold. It was covered with all kinds of beautifying arrays of nets of flowers made of various jewels, nets of great kings of jewels, nets of precious cloth, and nets of jewels.1591 Handfuls of precious aromatic substances were scattered as clouds of perfume. Kings of jewels with inconceivable colors and aromas formed various beautiful shapes1592 and emitted mists and clouds of all perfumes. It was perfumed by various present1593 divine aromatic substances and incenses. The well-arranged seat of many excellent colors was pleasant to the touch, more so than those of the devas. There arose all around the sound of the music of many hundreds of thousands of divine musical instruments and beautiful melodious songs. It had the display of being adorned by a stairway of various precious materials covered with flags. It was beautified by various precious stones. It shone with various miraculous lights. It was decorated with various precious forms composed of precious stones. It shone with light produced by various manifestations.1594
“Seated upon it was King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa. He was very handsome, with an excellent body, and delightful to look at. He possessed a completely excellent, beautiful color. [F.170.b] He had attained the pure signs of a great being. He wore a crown that shone with jewels. His body was as solid and indestructible as a powerful thunderbolt. His well-aligned ribs were strongly connected. The larger and smaller parts of his body were perfectly formed, completely excellent, completely beautiful, and completely splendid. He had obtained every perfect physical feature. He had been born into a great family of Dharma kings. He had obtained power over all requisites. He had the completely pure power of the Dharma. He had power over his own mind. He had an unimpeded range of speech. He had unshakable knowledge. He had perfectly established, unmistaken practice of the Dharma. He revealed1595 endless qualities and excellencies.
“King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa was seated upon the great lion throne and shaded, in the air directly above his head, by a great round parasol with a handle made of a blend of various precious materials and a treasure of excellent precious jewels in its center. It was adorned by a hundred thousand spokes1596 of various jewels. It displayed shining, brilliant splendor, radiating the lights of many jewels. It was pure and bright, shining with Jambu River gold. It was adorned by an inner layer of lines of various jewels on a network of gold strings. It was hung with strings of various pearls. It was covered with a net of various jewels. It had a net of precious little bells and large precious golden bells strung along strings in clusters. It was adorned by being hung with strings of excellent, precious jewels. It emitted divine, beautiful sounds, and the sounds of the ringing bells inspired all beings to the path of good actions. [F.171.a]
“King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa was being fanned with precious yak-tail fans. He was beautiful, shining with a majesty that surpassed that of Śakra, the lord of the devas.
“As soon as he was seated upon the lion throne, many beings stood before him with palms together in homage.
“The quintillion beings standing before King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa wished to obtain various necessities and various things. They came from various families, they were various kinds of beings, they had minds with various desires, they had various aspirations and wishes, they had gathered from various regions, they were accustomed to various ranges of enjoyments, they had minds that aspired for various kinds of enjoyment, they had various kinds of intentions and ideas, they were from various classes of humans, they had been born into various families, they had come from various lands, they spoke various languages and with various vocabularies, they gave rise to various fields of speech, they supplicated for various things, and they spoke in various words and voices.
“They all thought with certainty, ‘This great Sumeru of merit that we are looking at—he alone is a great man of wisdom.’
“In expectation they thought, ‘He is supported by great merit, he is a moon that is a great man, and he intends to perform a great act of generosity.’
“When he saw the great gathering of supplicants who had been gathered by a mind with the aspiration of a bodhisattva, who had been manifested by a mind with the aspiration of a bodhisattva, he felt in his mind affection, delight, and benevolence1597 toward them. He perceived them to be his kalyāṇamitras. [F.171.b] There arose in him a vast and powerful great compassion. He also developed the powerful diligence that would never turn back from satisfying all supplicants throughout future kalpas. There also arose all-pervading clouds of the aspiration to be equally engaged in generosity toward all beings.
“As soon as King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa saw those supplicants, it caused him to experience a joy greater than attaining the sovereignty of a cakravartin king of a billion-world universe for endless kalpas; a joy greater than attaining the throne of the sovereignty of Śakra for many quintillions of kalpas; a joy greater than attaining the throne of the sovereignty of the lord of devas, Suyāma, for many quintillions of kalpas; a joy greater than attaining the throne of the sovereignty of the lord of devas, Saṃtuṣita, for many quintillions of kalpas; a joy greater than attaining the throne of the sovereignty of the lord of devas, Sunirmita, for endless kalpas; a joy greater than attaining the throne of the sovereignty of the lord of devas, Vaśavartin, and being honored by beautiful, delightful apsarases for countless kalpas; a joy greater than attaining the throne of Brahmā and enjoying the bliss of dwelling in the Brahmā paradise for endless kalpas; a joy greater than attaining the bliss of the Ābhāsvara devas for endless kalpas; a joy greater than attaining the bliss of the Śubhakṛtsna devas for an unceasing, unequaled number of kalpas; and a joy greater than attaining the bliss of peaceful liberation of the Śuddhāvāsa devas for kalpas without end.
“Noble one, it was like [F.172.a] a solitary1598 man, filled with longing, who has been separated for a long time from his father, mother, brothers, sisters, friends, relatives,1599 sons, daughters, and wife and is wandering in a wilderness. He longs and longs to see them, and when he meets them he never has enough of looking at them, and a great joy and affection arises within him.
“Noble one, in the same way, the instant King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa saw those supplicants, a great powerful joy arose in him. His mind was overpowered1600 by bliss and happiness. He experienced an intensely powerful delight. The power of a great joy arose in him. The great strength of the power of faith in and aspiration for the enlightenment of buddhahood increased. The heartfelt faith in omniscience increased. The strength of his pure, superior aspiration for the Dharma of all the buddhas increased. He became capable of attaining the powers of a bodhisattva. There arose the great power of aspiration through his mind being pervaded with joy. Through the vast power of his rapture, he became deeply reverential in faculties and thoughts toward kalyāṇamitras.1601
“Why was that? Because King Sarvadharmanirnādacchatramaṇḍalanirghoṣa was engaged in undertaking attaining omniscience; he had set out for omniscience; he was turned toward the gateway to omniscience; he was engaged in focusing on bringing satisfaction to all beings; he was intent on practicing entry into the ocean of the qualities of all the buddhas; he was dedicated to destroying the mountain of all the obscurations from māras, karma, and kleśas;1602 he was prepared to respectfully obtain the teachings of all the tathāgatas; [F.172.b] from his heart he was dedicated to accumulating completely and totally an ocean of the roots of merit; the continuum of his mind had transcended all attachment; he had no attachment to any sensory object in the world; his field of activity was space, which is the nature of phenomena; he perceived them to be worthy of offerings; he perceived them to be kaly