A Mind of Love and Attachment
Gopā's closing verse opens on an age further back than any yet named — a kalpa called Pure, a world called Radiant, a prince who went forth, and a householder's daughter whose infatuation with him is about to change the course of her every future birth.
The Kalpa of Pure, the World of Radiant
Gopā seals her teaching in verse, and the verse reaches back past every episode told so far to an age with its own kalpa, its own world, and its own line of kings.
爾時，釋迦瞿波女，欲重明此解脫義，承佛神力即說頌言：「若有見菩薩，
修行種種行，
起善不善心，
菩薩皆攝取。
乃往久遠世，
過百剎塵劫，
有劫名清淨，
世界名光明。
此劫佛興世，
六十千萬億；
最後天人主，
號曰法幢燈。
彼佛涅槃後，
有王名智山，
統領閻浮提，
一切無怨敵。
王有五百子，
端正能勇健，
其身悉清淨，
見者皆歡喜。
彼王及王子，
信心供養佛，
護持其法藏，
亦樂勤修法。
太子名善光，
離垢多方便，
諸相皆圓滿，
見者無厭足。
五百億人俱，
出家行學道，
勇猛堅精進，
護持其佛法。
王都名智樹，
千億城圍遶；
有林名靜德，
眾寶所莊嚴。
善光住彼林，
廣宣佛正法，
辯才智慧力，
令眾悉清淨。
有時因乞食，
入彼王都城，
行止極安詳，
正知心不亂。
At that time, the Śākya woman Gopā, wishing to further illuminate the meaning of this liberation, and relying on the buddha's own spiritual power, spoke a verse, saying: "If there is one who sees a bodhisattva
cultivating every kind of practice,
and gives rise to either a wholesome or an unwholesome mind,
the bodhisattva gathers them in all the same.
Long ago, in an age far distant,
beyond kalpas as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a hundred buddha-lands,
there was a kalpa named Pure,
and a world named Radiant.
Within that kalpa, buddhas appeared in the world,
sixty thousand myriad koṭis of them;
and the last lord of gods and humans
was named Dharma-Banner Lamp.
After that buddha's own parinirvāṇa,
there was a king named Wisdom Mountain,
who governed the whole of Jambudvīpa,
with not a single enemy anywhere.
The king had five hundred sons,
upright and courageous,
their bodies every one of them pure,
a joy for anyone who saw them.
That king and his princes,
with faithful hearts, made offerings to the buddha,
upheld and protected his treasury of the Dharma,
and delighted in diligently cultivating the Dharma.
The crown prince was named Wholesome Light,
free of stain and rich in skillful means,
every one of his marks perfectly complete,
and whoever saw him was never wearied of the sight.
Five hundred koṭis of people together
went forth from the household life to practice and study the path,
courageous and firm in their diligence,
upholding and protecting his own Dharma.
The royal capital was named Wisdom Tree,
surrounded by a thousand koṭis of cities;
and there was a forest named Quiet Virtue,
adorned throughout with every kind of jewel.
Wholesome Light dwelt within that forest,
widely proclaiming the buddha's own true Dharma;
through the power of his eloquence and wisdom,
he caused the whole assembly to become entirely pure.
At one time, on account of begging for food,
he entered that royal capital city,
his every movement and stillness utterly serene,
his right knowledge unclouded and his mind undisturbed.
釋迦瞿波女 — the Śākya woman Gopā. This is the fullest form of her own name this pilgrimage has used, and it arrives at the very moment she turns to verse to reach further back than any episode told so far — past the maiden Wondrous Virtue's own birth, past even the mother who raised her, to a kalpa and a world that needed their own names before this story could begin.
Pure Sunlight
The verse narrows from a kingdom to a single doorway, and from a prince's teaching to a young woman's own infatuation.
城中有居士，
號曰善名稱；
我時為彼女，
名為淨日光。
時我於城中，
遇見善光明，
諸相極端嚴，
其心生染著。
次乞至我門，
我心增愛染，
即解身瓔珞，
并珠置鉢中。
雖以愛染心，
供養彼佛子；
二百五十劫，
不墮三惡趣。
或生天王家，
或作人王女，
恒見善光明，
妙相莊嚴身。
Within that city there was a householder,
named Wholesome Renown;
I was then his daughter,
named Pure Sunlight.
At that time, within that city,
I encountered that Wholesome Light —
his every mark utterly dignified and fine —
and my heart gave rise to attachment.
When, in his begging, he came next to my own door,
my heart's love and attachment only grew;
and I at once undid the jeweled necklace from my own body,
and placed it, together with pearls, into his alms bowl.
Though it was with a mind of love and attachment
that I made this offering to that son of the Buddha,
for two hundred and fifty kalpas
I never once fell into the three evil destinies.
Sometimes I was born into the household of a heavenly king,
sometimes I became the daughter of a human king,
and forever I beheld that Wholesome Light,
his body adorned with wondrous marks.
雖以愛染心，供養彼佛子 — though it was with a mind of love and attachment that I made this offering to that son of the Buddha. Gopā does not soften the account: the gift came from infatuation, not devotion. Yet two hundred and fifty kalpas of freedom from the three evil destinies followed anyway — the verse crediting not the purity of her own motive, but the worthiness of what her necklace happened to fall into.
Part 1228 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle seventy-five. Part 1229 follows the verse forward from this offering to the birth as Wondrous Virtue this pilgrimage has already told, and on to Sudhana's own departure at the fascicle's close.