Every One of the Ten Thousand
Death does not end the story — the prince is reborn eight times running, once into each rank of the classical heavens, spending each life in service to a different buddha, until a single sentence finally closes the account first opened many Parts ago: ten thousand buddhas, every one of them served.
Eight Lives, Eight Buddhas
The prince's death is not an ending but a hinge — eight further lives follow in quick succession, each one a different rank of heavenly king, each spent in service to a different buddha.
「佛子！我於爾時命終之後，還復於彼王家受生，作轉輪王，彼法輪音虛空燈王如來滅後，次即於此值法空王如來，承事供養；次為帝釋，即此道場值天王藏如來，親近供養；次為夜摩天王，即於此世界值大地威力山如來，親近供養；次為兜率天王，即於此世界值法輪光音聲王如來，親近供養；次為化樂天王，即於此世界值虛空智王如來，親近供養；次為他化自在天王，即於此世界值無能壞幢如來，親近供養；次為阿脩羅王，即於此世界值一切法雷音王如來，親近供養；次為梵王，即於此世界值普現化演法音如來，親近供養。
"Child of the Buddha, after my life came to an end at that time, I was born again within that very royal family, and became a wheel-turning king. After that tathāgata King of the Lamp of Empty Space, the Sound of the Dharma-Wheel, had passed away, I next, in that very place, encountered the tathāgata King of the Emptiness of Dharma, and served and made offerings to him. Next, as Śakra, at that very awakening-site, I encountered the tathāgata Treasury of the King of the Gods, and drew near to him and made offerings. Next, as the king of the Yāma Heaven, in that very world, I encountered the tathāgata Mountain of the Power of the Great Earth, and drew near to him and made offerings. Next, as the king of the Tuṣita Heaven, in that very world, I encountered the tathāgata King of the Sound of the Dharma-Wheel's Voice, and drew near to him and made offerings. Next, as the king of the Nirmāṇarati Heaven, in that very world, I encountered the tathāgata King of the Wisdom of Empty Space, and drew near to him and made offerings. Next, as the king of the Paranirmita-vaśavartin Heaven, in that very world, I encountered the tathāgata Banner That Cannot Be Destroyed, and drew near to him and made offerings. Next, as the king of the asuras, in that very world, I encountered the tathāgata King of the Thunder-Voice of Every Dharma, and drew near to him and made offerings. Next, as the Brahmā king, in that very world, I encountered the tathāgata Voice That Universally Manifests Transformation and Expounds the Dharma, and drew near to him and made offerings.
作轉輪王⋯⋯次為帝釋⋯⋯次為梵王 — became a wheel-turning king⋯⋯next, as Śakra⋯⋯next, as the Brahmā king. Counted directly, eight successive lives serve eight successive buddhas, and the ranks climb the same standing ladder of heavens this fascicle named all at once back in Part 1155 — Trāyastriṃśa's own ruler, the Yāma Heaven, Tuṣita, Nirmāṇarati, Paranirmita-vaśavartin, and Brahmā. There, the ladder was a single list comparing one moment's joy to nine kinds of heavenly pleasure. Here, the same ladder is walked one life at a time, each rung its own entire lifetime spent in service.
Every One of the Ten Thousand
A single short sentence closes an account that has been open since this teacher's story first began, many Parts ago.
「佛子！此寶光世界善光劫中，有一萬佛出興于世，我皆親近承事供養。
"Child of the Buddha, within this Wholesome Light kalpa of the Jewel Light world, ten thousand buddhas arose in the world, and every one of them I drew near to, served, and made offerings to.
有一萬佛出興于世 — ten thousand buddhas arose in the world. This exact phrase opened the whole story, all the way back in Part 1170, naming the scale of the kalpa before the narrative narrowed to a single buddha, a single king, and a single prince. Everything the story has told since — the prisoners, the vow, the execution threat, the half-month of giving, the eight further lives just recounted — turns out to have been the account of how she came to personally serve every single one of that opening sentence's ten thousand.
Part 1176 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle seventy-three. Part 1177 opens a second kalpa entirely — sixty billion buddhas this time, the first ten of them named alongside the ten different kinds of being she became to serve each one.