A Vow to Become Just Like Him
The king forms eight distinct thoughts toward every single beggar who approaches him, and out of the crowd steps one figure who forms her own thoughts in return — an elder's daughter who strips off her own jewellery and vows to become, one day, exactly what she now sees in front of her.
Eight Thoughts, and No One Turned Away
The king's compassion is not a single sentiment held toward beggars in general — it resolves, once again, into a named list, before the giving itself is described one request at a time.
「於來乞者，生一子想，生父母想，生福田想，生難得想，生恩益想，生堅固想、師想、佛想。不揀方處，不擇族類，不選形貌，隨有來至，如其所欲，以大慈心，平等無礙，一切普施，皆令滿足：求飲食者，施與飲食；求衣服者，施與衣服；求香華者，施與香華；求鬘蓋者，施與鬘蓋；幢幡、瓔珞、宮殿、園苑、象馬、車乘、床座、被褥、金、銀、摩尼、諸珍寶物、一切庫藏，及諸眷屬、城邑、聚落，皆悉如是普施眾生。
"Toward those who came to ask of him, he formed the thought of a son, the thought of a parent, the thought of a field of merit, the thought of something rarely met, the thought of a benefactor, the thought of something firm and unshakeable, the thought of a teacher, and the thought of a buddha. He did not choose by place, did not select by race, did not pick by appearance; whoever came, according to what they desired, with a mind of great loving-kindness, equally and without hindrance, he gave to all universally and caused every one to be satisfied: to those who sought food and drink, he gave food and drink; to those who sought clothing, he gave clothing; to those who sought incense and flowers, he gave incense and flowers; to those who sought garlands and canopies, he gave garlands and canopies; banners, pennants, necklaces, palaces, gardens and groves, elephants and horses, carriages, couches, bedding, gold, silver, maṇi, and every kind of precious treasure, every storehouse, and every kind of kin and household, city and settlement — all such things, in just this way, he gave universally to beings.
生一子想⋯⋯生佛想 — counted directly, eight thoughts. Part 1151 recorded the crowd forming eleven images of the king — a ford, a road, a raft, a heavenly palace. Here the direction reverses: the king forms his own eight thoughts toward them — a son, a parent, a field of merit, a teacher, a buddha. Neither list overlaps the other in a single item, yet both are built from the identical mechanism, 想, a mental image projected onto another person. The compassion running between king and crowd is symmetrical in form even where its content differs entirely.
The Elder's Daughter Named Jewel Light
Out of the whole assembly, the story now picks one figure and describes her the way this sūtra describes a being of unusual spiritual standing — mark by mark.
「時，此會中有長者女，名：寶光明，與六十童女俱，端正姝妙，人所喜見，皮膚金色，目髮紺青，身出妙香；口演梵音，上妙寶衣以為莊嚴，常懷慚愧，正念不亂，具足威儀，恭敬師長，常念順行、甚深妙行，所聞之法憶持不忘，宿世善根流潤其心，清淨廣大猶如虛空，等安眾生，常見諸佛，求一切智。
"At that time, within that assembly there was an elder's daughter named Jewel Light, together with sixty maidens, upright and lovely, a joy for anyone to behold; her skin the colour of gold, her eyes and hair a deep indigo-blue; from her body came forth a wondrous fragrance, and from her mouth came the brahma-voice; she was adorned with the finest and most wondrous jewelled garments, always held a sense of conscience and shame, her right mindfulness never disturbed, complete in dignified bearing, reverent toward her teachers and elders; she constantly kept in mind conduct that is compliant and profoundly wondrous, and whatever dharma she had heard she remembered and never forgot; the wholesome roots of former lives flowed and moistened her mind, pure and vast like empty space; she brought equal peace to beings, constantly beheld every buddha, and sought all-knowing wisdom.
皮膚金色，目髮紺青⋯⋯口演梵音 — skin the colour of gold, eyes and hair a deep indigo-blue⋯⋯from her mouth came the brahma-voice. These are stock marks this sūtra uses elsewhere for beings of exceptional spiritual standing, not particular to Jewel Light alone. What is particular to her has not appeared yet in this description — it is what she does next, in the section that follows, that distinguishes her from the sixty maidens named only as her companions.
A Vow to Become Just Like Him
She approaches, and what she wants turns out not to be anything the king could hand her — it is to become, one day, everything he already is.
「時，寶光明女去王不遠，合掌頂禮，作如是念：『我獲善利！我獲善利！我今得見大善知識。』於彼王所，生大師想、善知識想、具慈悲想、能攝受想。其心正直，生大歡喜，脫身瓔珞，持奉彼王，作是願言：『今此大王為無量無邊無明眾生作所依處，願我未來亦復如是。如彼大王所知之法、所載之乘、所修之道、所具色相、所有財產、所攝眾會，無邊無盡，難勝難壞，願我未來悉得如是。隨所生處，皆隨往生。』「爾時，大王知此童女發如是心，而告之言：『童女！隨汝所欲，我皆與汝。我今所有，一切皆捨；令諸眾生，普得滿足。』
"At that time, Jewel Light, not far from the king, joined her palms and bowed her head to the ground, thinking to herself: 'I have gained good benefit! I have gained good benefit! I have now been able to see a great good spiritual friend.' Toward that king she formed the thought of a great teacher, the thought of a good spiritual friend, the thought of one endowed with compassion, and the thought of one able to receive her. Her mind upright and sincere, great joy arose in her; she took off the necklaces from her own body and offered them up to the king, and made this vow: 'This great king, now, has become a refuge for beings measureless and boundless in their ignorance; I vow that in the future I too shall become just the same. The dharma that great king knows, the vehicle he carries, the path he cultivates, the form and marks he is endowed with, the wealth he possesses, and the assembly he gathers in — boundless and inexhaustible, difficult to surpass and difficult to destroy — I vow that in the future I shall attain all of this too. Wherever I am born, I vow to follow him and be born there as well.' At that time, the great king, knowing that this maiden had given rise to a mind such as this, said to her: 'Maiden, whatever you desire, I shall give you all of it. Everything I now possess, I give up entirely, so that every being may be universally satisfied.'
隨所生處，皆隨往生 — wherever I am born, I vow to follow him and be born there as well. Jewel Light does not ask the king for wealth, safety, or teaching in this life alone; her vow is to keep being born near him, across however many future lives it takes, until she has become what he already is. The king's answer, when it comes, does not address this vow directly at all — he simply repeats, once more, that everything he owns is already given away, so that every being is satisfied. He grants what she asked without ever confirming he understood that what she asked for was him.
Part 1156 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle seventy-two. Part 1157 opens Jewel Light's own hymn of praise — a long verse contrasting the city's condition before the king's reign with what it has become since, beginning with a place once so wretched it resembled the realm of hungry ghosts.