A Body Like Nārāyaṇa's Own
The scene shifts from what was given to where it was given from — a jewelled plain beyond the eastern gate, a throne built three times over out of the number ten, and the king himself, whose unbreakable body sits beside a wholly unremarkable talent for actually running a kingdom.
A Gathering-Place Beyond the Eastern Gate
Before the throne, before the king, the story pauses over the ground itself — what it lacks as carefully as what it has.
「其堅固妙寶莊嚴雲燈城，東面有門，名：摩尼山光明。於其門外，有施會處。其地廣博，清淨平坦，無諸坑坎、荊棘、沙礫，一切皆以妙寶所成，散眾寶華，熏諸妙香，然諸寶燈，一切香雲充滿虛空，無量寶樹次第行列，無量華網、無量香網彌覆其上，無量百千億那由他諸音樂器恒出妙音。如是一切，皆以妙寶而為莊嚴，悉是菩薩淨業果報。
"In that city of Firm and Wondrous Jewel-Adorned Cloud-Lamp, on its eastern side there was a gate named Light of the Maṇi Mountain. Outside that gate there was a place for the giving-assembly. Its ground was vast and broad, pure and level, free of every pit, thorn-bush, and grain of sand, and it was made entirely of wondrous jewels; every kind of jewelled flower was scattered there, every wondrous incense was burnt, every jewelled lamp was lit, and every kind of fragrant cloud filled the whole of space; measureless jewelled trees stood in ranks, measureless nets of flowers and measureless nets of incense spread over them, and measureless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of musical instruments constantly gave forth wondrous sounds. All of this was adorned entirely with wondrous jewels, every part of it the fruit of a bodhisattva's own pure karma.
無諸坑坎、荊棘、沙礫 — free of every pit, thorn-bush, and grain of sand. Before a single jewel is named, the description states what the ground does not have, and every item it rules out is an ordinary hazard of ordinary walking — a hole to twist an ankle in, a thorn to catch cloth, grit underfoot. Only after this negative clearing does the positive catalogue of jewelled flowers, incense, and lamps begin. 悉是菩薩淨業果報, all of it the fruit of a bodhisattva's own pure karma, closes the description — meaning even the absence of gravel is being counted here as something earned, not merely as a backdrop.
A Throne Built Three Times Over Out of Ten
The lion-seat at the centre of the assembly is described piece by piece, and the number ten runs through its construction before any other number is named.
「於彼會中，置師子座，十寶為地，十寶欄楯，十種寶樹周匝圍遶，金剛寶輪以承其下，以一切寶為龍神像而共捧持，種種寶物以為嚴飾，幢幡間列，眾網覆上，無量寶香常出香雲，種種寶衣處處分布，百千種樂恒奏美音。復於其上張施寶蓋，常放無量寶焰光明，如閻浮金熾然清淨；覆以寶網，垂諸瓔珞，摩尼寶帶周迴間列，種種寶鈴恒出妙音，勸諸眾生修行善業。
"Within that assembly there was set a lion-seat, its ground made of ten jewels, its balustrade made of ten jewels, surrounded on every side by ten kinds of jewelled trees; a wheel of vajra jewels supported it from below, and images of nāga spirits made of every jewel together upheld it; every kind of jewelled ornament adorned it, banners and pennants ranged between, and every kind of net covered it above; measureless jewelled incenses constantly gave forth clouds of fragrance, every kind of jewelled garment was spread everywhere about, and hundreds of thousands of kinds of music constantly played their beautiful sounds. Above it, further, a jewelled canopy was spread out, forever emitting measureless flame-like light of every jewel, blazing and pure like Jambu-river gold; it was covered with a net of jewels, hung with every kind of necklace, ringed round with bands of maṇi jewels, and every kind of jewelled bell constantly gave forth wondrous sounds, urging every being to cultivate wholesome deeds.
十寶為地，十寶欄楯，十種寶樹 — its ground made of ten jewels, its balustrade made of ten jewels, ten kinds of jewelled trees. Checked directly against the source, the number ten opens the throne's description three times running before the passage moves on to measureless quantities for everything that follows — incense, nets, garments, music. The throne itself is countable in a way its surroundings are not; only once its ten-part frame is established does the description allow itself to become immeasurable.
The King Himself
Having built the setting jewel by jewel, the passage finally turns to the man seated in it — and gives him a body beyond harm alongside virtues that need no miracle at all.
時，彼大王處師子座，形容端正，人相具足，光明妙寶以為其冠，那羅延身不可沮壞，一一肢分悉皆圓滿，性普賢善，王種中生，於財及法悉得自在，辯才無礙，智慧明達，以政治國，無違命者。
At that time, that great king sat upon the lion-seat, his form and countenance upright and fine, complete in every mark of a great being; a crown of light-emitting wondrous jewels adorned his head, and his body, a body like Nārāyaṇa's own, could not be broken or destroyed; every one of his limbs and members was entirely perfect, his nature universally good, born within a royal lineage, and he had gained sovereign freedom over both wealth and dharma; his eloquence was unobstructed, his wisdom bright and penetrating, and he governed his kingdom by right rule, so that no one disobeyed his command.
那羅延身不可沮壞⋯⋯以政治國，無違命者 — a body like Nārāyaṇa's own, unbreakable⋯⋯he governed his kingdom by right rule, so that no one disobeyed his command. The sentence gives him a superhuman body in one clause and an entirely mundane explanation for his authority in the next: not that no one dares oppose an indestructible king, but that 政, right governance, is what leaves him without disobedience. The list of what makes him effective — unobstructed eloquence, bright wisdom, sovereign freedom over wealth and dharma — reads like a competent administrator's résumé sitting directly beside a body that vajra itself could not harm.
Part 1154 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle seventy-two. Part 1155 brings the crowd itself into the assembly — countless beings from every land and every custom, converging to watch the king, and the ten minds that rise in him when he sees them.