Not Even a Mosquito or an Ant
The king's own palace turns out to be only the setting for the real revelation — everything Good-Wealth just witnessed was illusion, a skillful means aimed at evildoers who could be reached no other way, from a king who insists he has never once wished harm on any being at all.
A Question Before an Answer
Before explaining anything, the king shows Good-Wealth his own palace — splendor as vast as any bodhisattva's own — and poses a single question whose answer will overturn everything Good-Wealth thought he had just seen.
時，阿那羅王理王事已，執善財手，將入宮中，命之同坐，告言：「善男子！汝應觀我所住宮殿。」善財如語即遍觀察，見其宮殿廣大無比，皆以妙寶之所合成，七寶為牆周匝圍遶，百千眾寶以為樓閣，種種莊嚴悉皆妙好，不思議摩尼寶網羅覆其上；十億侍女端正殊絕，威儀進止皆悉可觀，凡所施為無非巧妙，先起後臥軟意承旨。時，阿那羅王告善財言：「善男子！於意云何？我若實作如是惡業，云何而得如是果報、如是色身、如是眷屬、如是富贍、如是自在？
At that time, King Never Satisfied, having finished managing the affairs of state, took Good-Wealth by the hand, led him into the palace, invited him to sit together with him, and said: "Good son, you should look upon the palace where I dwell." Good-Wealth, as he was told, examined it thoroughly, and saw that the palace was vast beyond compare, formed entirely of wondrous jewels, with the seven treasures forming its walls surrounding it on every side, hundreds and thousands of jewels forming its towers, every kind of ornament wondrous and fine, and inconceivable nets of maṇi-jewels covering it above; a billion serving maidens, upright and of surpassing beauty, whose every bearing and movement was a sight to behold, whatever they did nothing but skillful and fine, rising before him and retiring after him, gently attentive to his every wish. At that time, King Never Satisfied said to Good-Wealth: "Good son, what do you think? If I had truly committed such evil karma, how could I have obtained such a reward, such a bodily form, such a retinue, such wealth and abundance, such sovereign freedom?
Illusion, and a King Who Would Rather Suffer Himself
The king's own answer resolves everything at once — the cruelty was never real, only a skillful means aimed at beings no gentler teaching could reach, from a ruler whose own mind, he insists, has never once wished harm on anyone at all.
「善男子！我得菩薩如幻解脫。善男子！我此國土所有眾生，多行殺、盜乃至邪見，作餘方便不能令其捨離惡業。善男子！我為調伏彼眾生故，化作惡人造諸罪業受種種苦，令其一切作惡眾生見是事已，心生惶怖，心生厭離，心生怯弱，斷其所作一切惡業，發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提意。善男子！我以如是巧方便故，令諸眾生，捨十惡業，住十善道，究竟快樂，究竟安隱，究竟住於一切智地。善男子！我身、語、意未曾惱害於一眾生。善男子！如我心者，寧於未來受無間苦，終不發生一念之意與一蚊一蟻而作苦事，況復人耶！人是福田，能生一切諸善法故。
"Good son, I have attained the bodhisattva's own liberation of being like an illusion. Good son, the beings of this land of mine mostly practice killing, stealing, and even wrong views, and no other skillful means has been able to cause them to abandon their evil karma. Good son, in order to tame those beings, I manifest as an evildoer, committing every kind of wrongdoing and receiving every kind of suffering for it, so that all beings who do evil, upon seeing this, give rise to a mind of fear, a mind of aversion, a mind of timidity, and so cut off every evil deed they have committed, and give rise to the intention of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Good son, through such skillful means as this, I cause beings to abandon the ten evil deeds and abide in the ten wholesome paths, attaining ultimate happiness, ultimate peace and security, and ultimately abiding in the ground of all-knowing wisdom. Good son, my own body, speech, and mind have never once caused harm to a single being. Good son, as for my own mind — I would rather undergo the suffering of the Avīci hell in the future than ever give rise to even a single thought's intention to inflict suffering on so much as a mosquito or an ant, let alone on a human being! A human being is a field of merit, able to give rise to every kind of wholesome dharma.
寧於未來受無間苦 — I would rather undergo the suffering of the Avīci hell in the future. The king's own defense goes further than simply denying wrongdoing — he offers to bear the very punishment he was falsely accused of, rather than let even the smallest being come to harm through him. The illusion Good-Wealth witnessed was frightening precisely because compassion, not cruelty, designed it.
Part 1018 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-six. Part 1019 completes King Never Satisfied's confession and names an eighteenth teacher, before Good-Wealth's own reflection on the illusion-like nature of all things carries the pilgrimage further south.