The First Thirty-Five Buddhas
Ninety-eight buddhas appear one after another in this single eon, at the single awakening-site named for a dharma-king's palace, and she has stayed in one place long enough to greet every one of them. Here are the first thirty-five.
One After Another, at the Same Place
No new eon, no new world, no new awakening-site is named. What follows is simply the same place, receiving buddhas one after another, for as long as the sūtra cares to keep naming them.
「次有佛興，名：離垢法光明；次有佛興，名：法輪光明髻；次有佛興，名：法日功德雲；次有佛興，名：法海妙音王；次有佛興，名：法日智慧燈；次有佛興，名：法華幢雲；次有佛興，名：法焰山幢王；次有佛興，名：甚深法功德月；次有佛興，名：法智普光藏；次有佛興，名：開示普智藏；次有佛興，名：功德藏山王；次有佛興，名：普門須彌賢；次有佛興，名：一切法精進幢；
"Next a buddha appeared, named Light of the Stainless Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named Topknot of the Light of the Dharma-Wheel; next a buddha appeared, named Cloud of the Merit of the Sun of Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named King of the Wondrous Voice of the Dharma-Ocean; next a buddha appeared, named Lamp of the Wisdom of the Sun of Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named Cloud of the Banner of the Lotus of Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named King of the Banner of the Mountain of Flame of Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named Moon of the Merit of the Profound Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named Treasury of the Universal Light of the Wisdom of Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named Treasury of Universal Wisdom Revealed; next a buddha appeared, named King of the Mountain of the Treasury of Merit; next a buddha appeared, named Worthy One of Sumeru the Universal Gate; next a buddha appeared, named Banner of Vigour in Every Dharma;
次有佛興，名 — next a buddha appeared, named. The formula repeats ninety-eight times across this catalogue, unbroken by any comment, question, or samādhi attached. Every earlier such list in this translation — the buddhas of Parts 1114 through 1128, the fifty names of fascicle seventy's Parts 1117 and 1118 — gave at least a decade's worth of context: an eon-name, a count, an occasional couplet marking a stage reached. Here there is only the bare sequence, name after name, and the sheer plainness of the repetition is itself the content. No further explanation is offered for why there are so many, and none is needed by this point in the chapter.
Of these first thirteen names, eight contain the character 法, dharma, directly — a stainless dharma, a dharma-wheel, the sun of dharma, the ocean of dharma, the lotus of dharma, the mountain of flame of dharma, the profound dharma, the wisdom of dharma. The awakening-site these buddhas all appear at is named 普顯現法王宮殿, the Palace of the Dharma-King Universally Manifest; the density of 法 in their names is not incidental to the setting.
More Names, More Light
The list continues, and where the first stretch leaned on 法, dharma, this one leans instead on light and merit — names built from what a buddha's body actually gives off.
次有佛興，名：法寶華功德雲；次有佛興，名：寂靜光明髻；次有佛興，名：法光明慈悲月；次有佛興，名：功德焰海；次有佛興，名：智日普光明；次有佛興，名：普賢圓滿智；次有佛興，名：神通智光王；次有佛興，名：福德華光燈；次有佛興，名：智師子幢王；次有佛興，名：日光普照王；次有佛興，名：須彌寶莊嚴相；次有佛興，名：日光普照；次有佛興，名：法王功德月；
Next a buddha appeared, named Cloud of the Merit of the Jewelled Flower of Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named Topknot of Tranquil Light; next a buddha appeared, named Moon of the Compassionate Light of Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named Ocean of the Flame of Merit; next a buddha appeared, named Universal Light of the Sun of Wisdom; next a buddha appeared, named Samantabhadra's Perfect and Complete Wisdom; next a buddha appeared, named King of the Light of Spiritual Wisdom; next a buddha appeared, named Lamp of the Light of the Flower of Merit and Fortune; next a buddha appeared, named King of the Banner of the Lion of Wisdom; next a buddha appeared, named King Who Universally Illumines with the Light of the Sun; next a buddha appeared, named Marks Adorned with the Jewel of Sumeru; next a buddha appeared, named Universal Illumination by the Light of the Sun; next a buddha appeared, named Moon of the Merit of the Dharma-King;
普賢圓滿智 — Samantabhadra's Perfect and Complete Wisdom. Two Parts after the wheel-turning king in this very story was revealed to be Samantabhadra, a buddha in the very list she is now reciting carries his name outright. The sūtra has already made this connection unnecessary to draw for the reader — Samantabhadra's presence in this account was established before this catalogue began — and yet his name surfaces again here, one buddha among ninety-eight, exactly the way this sūtra tends to let its important names recur without comment.
Buddhas of Flowers and Fearlessness
The final stretch of this part turns toward flowers, jewels, and — for the only time in the whole catalogue — a name built from a figure of legendary strength.
次有佛興，名：開敷蓮華妙音雲；次有佛興，名：日光明相；次有佛興，名：普光明妙法音；次有佛興，名：師子金剛那羅延無畏；次有佛興，名：普智勇猛幢；次有佛興，名：普開法蓮華身；次有佛興，名：功德妙華海；次有佛興，名：道場功德月；次有佛興，名：法炬熾然月；
Next a buddha appeared, named Cloud of the Wondrous Voice of the Blossoming Lotus; next a buddha appeared, named Marks of the Light of the Sun; next a buddha appeared, named Wondrous Voice of the Universal Light of Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named Fearlessness of the Lion, Vajra and Nārāyaṇa; next a buddha appeared, named Banner of Universal Wisdom and Valour; next a buddha appeared, named Body of the Universally Opened Lotus of Dharma; next a buddha appeared, named Ocean of the Wondrous Flower of Merit; next a buddha appeared, named Moon of the Merit of the Awakening-Site; next a buddha appeared, named Moon of the Blazing Torch of Dharma;
師子金剛那羅延無畏 — Fearlessness of the Lion, Vajra and Nārāyaṇa. Of the thirty-five names in this part, this is the only one built from strength rather than light, dharma or flowers — a lion, the vajra weapon, and the mythic strongman Nārāyaṇa, stacked into a single compound and resolved into 無畏, fearlessness. It is worth remembering that a mind made firm as vajra and Nārāyaṇa was exactly what this night-spirit's own teaching, in Part 1135, gave to the beings who received her dharma. A buddha carries the same simile she uses for an ordinary listener's mind.
Part 1139 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle seventy-one. Part 1140 continues the catalogue with buddhas thirty-six through seventy, where names built from mountains and jewels begin to outnumber every other kind.