You Might Become an Obstacle
Two full hymns of praise have asked the prince to accept the maiden. His answer is neither yes nor no — a vow to give away everything he owns, down to his own limbs, and a warning that the two women before him may not be able to bear the cost.
You Might Become an Obstacle
Having led the maiden and her mother into the Garden of Fragrant Shoots, the prince finally speaks — not a word of acceptance, but the full scope of his own vow, and a warning about what it will demand of them.
「爾時，太子入香芽園已，告其妙德及善現言：『善女！我趣求阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，當於盡未來際無量劫，集一切智助道之法，修無邊菩薩行，淨一切波羅蜜，供養一切諸如來，護持一切諸佛教，嚴淨一切佛國土，當令一切如來種性不斷，當隨一切眾生種性而普成熟，當滅一切眾生生死苦置於究竟安樂處，當淨治一切眾生智慧眼，當修習一切菩薩所修行，當安住一切菩薩平等心，當成就一切菩薩所行地，當令一切眾生普歡喜；當捨一切物，盡未來際行檀波羅蜜，令一切眾生普得滿足衣服飲食、妻妾男女、頭目手足，如是一切內外所有，悉當捨施，無所吝惜。當於爾時，汝或於我而作障難：施財物時，汝心吝惜；施男女時，汝心痛惱；割肢體時，汝心憂悶；捨汝出家，汝心悔恨。』
At that time, once the prince had entered the Garden of Fragrant Shoots, he said to Wondrous Virtue and Wholesome Manifestation: "Good women! I am hastening toward the attainment of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Throughout measureless kalpas, to the very end of the future, I shall gather every dharma that assists the path to all-knowing wisdom, cultivate the boundless practices of a bodhisattva, purify every pāramitā, make offerings to every tathāgata, uphold and protect the teaching of every buddha, and adorn and purify every buddha-land. I shall cause the lineage of every tathāgata to never be cut off, cause every being to reach maturity according to their own nature, extinguish the suffering of birth-and-death for every being and set them in the ultimate place of peace and joy, purify the eye of wisdom of every being, practice every practice a bodhisattva practices, abide firmly in the equal mind of every bodhisattva, accomplish every ground a bodhisattva traverses, and cause every being to universally rejoice. I shall relinquish every possession, and to the very end of the future practice the pāramitā of giving, causing every being to be fully satisfied — with clothing and food, with wife and consort, with son and daughter, with head, eyes, hands, and feet. All such things, whether within me or belonging to me, I shall entirely give away, begrudging nothing at all. And at that time, you might perhaps become an obstacle and a hindrance to me: when I give away wealth and possessions, your heart may begrudge it; when I give away son and daughter, your heart may be pained and distressed; when I cut away my own limbs, your heart may be troubled and grieved; and when I leave you to go forth into homelessness, your heart may be filled with regret and resentment."
汝或於我而作障難 — you might perhaps become an obstacle and a hindrance to me. The prince's first words after two full hymns of praise are not acceptance but a warning, naming four tests in ascending order — money, then children, then his own body, then finally his leaving them for renunciation entirely — as if measuring the promises just made against what fulfilling them would actually cost the two women who made them.
Part 1216 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle seventy-five. Part 1217 continues the scene in the Garden of Fragrant Shoots, as the prince's vow meets its first answer.