Countless Bodhisattvas Named Merit Grove
A sixfold earthquake spreads across worlds as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a buddha-land, confirming the teaching of the ten practices — and countless bodhisattvas, every one bearing Merit Grove's own name, arrive from lands all named Merit Banner to bear witness that this same teaching is given identically throughout the ten directions.
A Sixfold Earthquake, and Witnessing Bodhisattvas
爾時，佛神力故，十方各有佛剎微塵數世界六種震動，所謂：動、遍動、等遍動，起、遍起、等遍起，涌、遍涌、等遍涌，震、遍震、等遍震，吼、遍吼、等遍吼，擊、遍擊、等遍擊。雨天妙華、天香、天末香、天鬘、天衣、天寶、天莊嚴具，奏天樂音，放天光明，演暢諸天微妙音聲。如此世界夜摩天宮，說十行法所現神變；十方世界，悉亦如是。復以佛神力故，十方各過十萬佛剎微塵數世界外，有十萬佛剎微塵數菩薩俱，來詣此土，充滿十方，語功德林菩薩言：
At that time, through the Buddha's own spiritual power, worlds as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a buddha-land in each of the ten directions shook in six ways. Namely: moving, universally moving, equally and universally moving; rising, universally rising, equally and universally rising; surging, universally surging, equally and universally surging; quaking, universally quaking, equally and universally quaking; roaring, universally roaring, equally and universally roaring; and crashing, universally crashing, equally and universally crashing. It rained heavenly wondrous flowers, heavenly fragrance, heavenly powdered incense, heavenly garlands, heavenly garments, heavenly treasures, and heavenly adorning implements, playing heavenly music, and emitting heavenly light, resounding forth every heavenly, subtle, and wondrous sound. Just as, within this world's own Yāma heavenly palace, the very spiritual transformations manifested by the teaching of the ten practices appeared, so too was it exactly the same throughout the worlds of the ten directions. Furthermore, through the Buddha's own spiritual power, beyond worlds as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a hundred thousand buddha-lands in each of the ten directions, there were bodhisattvas as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a hundred thousand buddha-lands, who together came to this very land, filling the ten directions, and said to Merit Grove Bodhisattva:
「佛子！善哉！善哉！善能演說諸菩薩行。我等一切同名：功德林，所住世界皆名：功德幢，彼土如來同名：普功德。我等佛所，亦說此法；眾會眷屬，言辭義理，悉亦如是，無有增減。佛子！我等皆承佛神力，來入此會，為汝作證：十方世界，悉亦如是。」
"Excellent, son of the Buddha! Excellent! You are indeed able to skillfully expound the bodhisattva's own practices. We ourselves all bear the very same name, Merit Grove, and the worlds we each dwell within are all named Merit Banner, and the Tathāgatas of those very lands all bear the same name, Universal Merit. At the place of our own buddhas, this very Dharma is likewise expounded; the assembly and its attendants, the words and their meaning, are all exactly the same, without any increase or decrease at all. Son of the Buddha, we ourselves, all relying upon the Buddha's own spiritual power, have come to enter this very assembly, to bear witness for you: throughout the worlds of the ten directions, it is exactly the same."
爾時，功德林菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方一切眾會暨于法界，欲令佛種性不斷故，欲令菩薩種性清淨故，欲令願種性不退轉故，欲令行種性常相續故，欲令三世種性悉平等故，欲攝三世一切佛種性故，欲開演所種諸善根故，欲觀察一切諸根、欲解、煩惱、習氣、心行所作故，欲照了一切佛菩提故，而說頌言：
At that time, relying upon the Buddha's own spiritual power, Merit Grove Bodhisattva universally surveyed every assembly of the ten directions together with the whole Dharma-realm, wishing to cause the buddha-lineage to remain unbroken, wishing to cause the bodhisattva-lineage to become pure, wishing to cause the vow-lineage to never turn back, wishing to cause the practice-lineage to forever continue without interruption, wishing to cause the lineage of the three periods of time to become entirely equal, wishing to gather in the buddha-lineage of the three periods of time entirely, wishing to open up and expound the very wholesome roots that have been planted, wishing to contemplate every faculty, desire and understanding, affliction, habitual tendency, and mental activity there is, and wishing to illumine every buddha's own bodhi entirely — and then spoke a verse, saying:
This confirming pattern has now recurred at the close of several major teachings across the sūtra — a sixfold earthquake, then countless witnesses sharing the speaker's own name, arriving from lands built on the same naming pattern, to confirm the teaching is proclaimed identically everywhere at once. What follows next is the largest hymn in the sūtra so far: a closing verse of some two hundred lines, restating everything the ten practices have taught.
Part 153 Complete
This closes Part 153. Chapter 21 continues in Part 154 with the opening of Merit Grove's closing hymn.