Ten Dhāraṇīs of Inexhaustible Eloquence
The ninth practice, wholesome dharmas, begins with ten distinct dhāraṇīs, each yielding its own kind of inexhaustible eloquence — and an assembly vast beyond telling in which every single being's countless mouths ask their own distinct question, all received and answered in a single thought.
The Ninth Practice: Wholesome Dharmas
「佛子！何等為菩薩摩訶薩善法行？此菩薩為一切世間天、人、魔、梵、沙門、婆羅門、乾闥婆等作清涼法池，攝持正法，不斷佛種；得清淨光明陀羅尼故，說法授記，辯才無盡；得具足義陀羅尼故，義辯無盡；得覺悟實法陀羅尼故，法辯無盡；得訓釋言辭陀羅尼故，辭辯無盡；得無邊文句無盡義無礙門陀羅尼故，無礙辯無盡；得佛灌頂陀羅尼灌其頂故，歡喜辯無盡；得不由他悟陀羅尼門故，光明辯無盡；得同辯陀羅尼門故，同辯無盡；得種種義身、句身、文身中訓釋陀羅尼門故，訓釋辯無盡；得無邊旋陀羅尼故，無邊辯無盡。」
"Son of the Buddha! What is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva's own practice of wholesome dharmas? This bodhisattva becomes a cool and refreshing pool of Dharma for every deva, human, Māra, Brahmā, śramaṇa, brāhmaṇa, and gandharva of the whole world, upholding and retaining the true Dharma, never letting the buddha-seed be cut off; because they attain the dhāraṇī of pure light, they teach the Dharma and confer prophecies, their eloquence inexhaustible; because they attain the dhāraṇī of fully endowed meaning, their eloquence in meaning is inexhaustible; because they attain the dhāraṇī that awakens to the true Dharma, their eloquence in the Dharma is inexhaustible; because they attain the dhāraṇī that explains and interprets words, their eloquence in words is inexhaustible; because they attain the dhāraṇī of the boundless gate of phrases and inexhaustible, unobstructed meaning, their unobstructed eloquence is inexhaustible; because they attain the dhāraṇī of the Buddha's own consecration, anointing their crown, their joyful eloquence is inexhaustible; because they attain the dhāraṇī gate of awakening not dependent on another, their eloquence of light is inexhaustible; because they attain the dhāraṇī gate of shared eloquence, their shared eloquence is inexhaustible; because they attain the dhāraṇī gate that explains and interprets within every kind of meaning-body, phrase-body, and syllable-body, their eloquence of explanation is inexhaustible; because they attain the boundless revolving dhāraṇī, their boundless eloquence is inexhaustible."
此菩薩大悲堅固，普攝眾生，於三千大千世界變身金色，施作佛事；隨諸眾生根性欲樂，以廣長舌，於一音中現無量音，應時說法，皆令歡喜。假使有不可說種種業報無數眾生，共會一處，其會廣大充滿不可說世界，菩薩於彼眾會中坐。是中眾生，一一皆有不可說阿僧祇口，一一口能出百千億那由他音，同時發聲，各別言辭，各別所問；菩薩於一念中，悉能領受，皆為酬對，令除疑惑。如一眾會中，於不可說眾會中，悉亦如是。
This bodhisattva's own great compassion is firm and solid; universally gathering in living beings, they transform their own body to a golden color throughout the great trichiliocosm, bestowing and performing buddha-works; in accordance with the faculties, nature, and desires of every living being, with their own broad, long tongue, they manifest immeasurable sounds within a single sound, teaching the Dharma in accordance with the time, causing everyone to rejoice. Suppose there were countless living beings of every kind of karmic recompense beyond telling, gathered together in one place, that assembly so vast and expansive it fills worlds beyond telling, and the bodhisattva were seated within that very assembly. Every single living being there has mouths beyond telling, in asaṃkhyeya number, and each and every mouth is able to utter a hundred thousand million nayutas of sounds, all speaking at the same time, each with its own distinct words, each with its own distinct question; the bodhisattva, in a single thought, is entirely able to receive and understand all of it, responding to every one of them, causing their every doubt and confusion to be removed. Just as within one such assembly, so too within assemblies beyond telling, entirely in the same way.
Dhāraṇī (陀羅尼), often rendered as "retention" or "mnemonic incantation," here functions as the technical mechanism behind eloquence that cannot run dry — each of the ten named forms grants a different specific capacity, from grasping meaning to explaining words to reading an audience's own faculties. The scene that follows tests the claim concretely: countless beings, each with countless mouths, all speaking distinct questions at once, and every one of them answered without gap or delay.
Part 148 Complete
This closes Part 148. Chapter 21 continues in Part 149.