The Shape, Essence, Adornment, and Purifying Means of Every World-Ocean
Samantabhadra continues through the ten matters of "The World's Formation," moving from what world-oceans rest upon to four more questions: what shape they take, what they are made of, how they are adorned, and the countless skillful means by which bodhisattvas purify them across kalpas of practice. Each matter, as before, receives its own teaching in prose followed by a verse restating it.
The Third Matter: The Shape of Every World-Ocean
爾時，普賢菩薩復告大眾言：「諸佛子！世界海有種種差別形相。所謂：或圓，或方，或非圓方，無量差別；或如水漩形，或如山焰形，或如樹形，或如華形，或如宮殿形，或如眾生形，或如佛形……。如是等，有世界海微塵數。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva further addressed the great assembly, saying: "Buddha's children! The world-ocean has every kind of distinct shape and form. That is to say: some are round, some are square, some are neither round nor square, immeasurable in their distinctions; some are shaped like a whirlpool of water, some are shaped like a mountain's flame, some are shaped like a tree, some are shaped like a flower, some are shaped like a palace, some are shaped like a living being, some are shaped like a buddha... Such as these, there are as many as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean."
爾時，普賢菩薩欲重宣其義，承佛威力，觀察十方而說頌言：
「諸國土海種種別，種種莊嚴種種住，
殊形共美遍十方，汝等咸應共觀察。
其狀或圓或有方，或復三維及八隅，
摩尼輪狀蓮華等，一切皆由業令異。
或有清淨焰莊嚴，真金間錯多殊好，
門闥競開無壅滯，斯由業廣意無雜。
剎海無邊差別藏，譬如雲布在虛空，
寶輪布地妙莊嚴，諸佛光明照耀中。
一切國土心分別，種種光明而照現，
佛於如是剎海中，各各示現神通力。
或有雜染或清淨，受苦受樂各差別，
斯由業海不思議，諸流轉法恒如是。
一毛孔內難思剎，等微塵數種種住，
一一皆有遍照尊，在眾會中宣妙法。
於一塵中大小剎，種種差別如塵數，
平坦高下各不同，佛悉往詣轉法輪。
一切塵中所現剎，皆是本願神通力，
隨其心樂種種殊，於虛空中悉能作。
一切國土所有塵，一一塵中佛皆入，
普為眾生起神變，毘盧遮那法如是。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, wishing to proclaim this meaning once more, sustained by the Buddha's majestic power, contemplated the ten directions, and spoke a verse, saying:
"Every land-ocean is distinct in every kind of way, adorned in every kind, resting in every kind,
their excellent forms, all beautiful together, pervading the ten directions — all of you should contemplate them together.
Their shape is sometimes round, sometimes square, and sometimes three-sided or eight-cornered,
in the form of a maṇi wheel, or a lotus flower, and the like — all made different entirely through karma.
Some are adorned with pure flame, interspersed with true gold, excellent in many ways,
their doors and gates all thrown open at once, without obstruction — this is because their karma is vast and their intent undivided.
The treasury of boundless distinction of the land-ocean is like clouds spread across empty space,
a jeweled wheel spread upon the ground, a wondrous adornment, shining within the light of every buddha.
Every land is discriminated by the mind, and every kind of light illumines and manifests it,
and the Buddha, within such a land-ocean, manifests his own power of spiritual transmutation in every one.
Some are mixed with defilement, some are pure, experiencing suffering or pleasure, each distinct,
and this is through the inconceivable ocean of karma — every dharma of flowing transmigration is forever just like this.
Within a single pore, lands hard to conceive, equal in number to the motes of dust, dwelling in every kind,
each and every one has an all-illumining honored one, proclaiming the wondrous Dharma within the assembly.
Within a single mote of dust, lands both large and small, distinct in every kind, as numerous as motes of dust,
level or uneven, high or low, each not the same — the Buddha goes to every single one, turning the Dharma-wheel.
Every land manifest within every mote of dust is entirely the power of the original vow's spiritual transmutation,
and, according to the mind's own delight, distinct in every kind, it is able to be made entirely within empty space.
Within every mote of dust that exists in every land, the Buddha enters each and every one of them,
universally rousing spiritual transformation for the sake of living beings — such is Vairocana's own Dharma."
The list of shapes trails off with "…and so on" after naming only seven forms — round, square, whirlpool-shaped, flame-shaped, tree-shaped, flower-shaped, palace-shaped, living-being-shaped, buddha-shaped — a case where the source text itself signals that the sample is representative rather than exhaustive. What is worth noticing is the final entry: a world-ocean shaped like a buddha's own body is listed among the ordinary geometric possibilities, round and square, with no special marking. Shape here is entirely a function of the karma that produces it, not a fixed category reality must conform to.
The Fourth Matter: The Essence of Every World-Ocean
爾時，普賢菩薩復告大眾言：「諸佛子！應知世界海有種種體。所謂：或以一切寶莊嚴為體，或以一寶種種莊嚴為體，或以一切寶光明為體，或以種種色光明為體，或以一切莊嚴光明為體，或以不可壞金剛為體，或以佛力持為體，或以妙寶相為體，或以佛變化為體，或以日摩尼輪為體，或以極微細寶為體，或以一切寶焰為體，或以種種香為體，或以一切寶華冠為體，或以一切寶影像為體，或以一切莊嚴所示現為體，或以一念心普示現境界為體，或以菩薩形寶為體，或以寶華蘂為體，或以佛言音為體。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva further addressed the great assembly, saying: "Buddha's children! You should know that the world-ocean has every kind of essence. That is to say: some take every kind of jewel's adornment as their essence; some take a single jewel's every kind of adornment as their essence; some take the light of every jewel as their essence; some take light of every kind of color as their essence; some take the light of every kind of adornment as their essence; some take indestructible vajra as their essence; some take the Buddha's power of sustaining as their essence; some take the mark of a wondrous jewel as their essence; some take the Buddha's own transformation as their essence; some take the wheel of the sun's maṇi as their essence; some take the most subtle and fine jewel as their essence; some take every kind of jeweled flame as their essence; some take every kind of fragrance as their essence; some take every kind of jeweled flower-crown as their essence; some take every kind of jeweled reflection as their essence; some take what every kind of adornment reveals as their essence; some take the domain universally revealed within a single thought of mind as their essence; some take the jeweled form of a bodhisattva as their essence; some take the pistil of a jeweled flower as their essence; and some take the Buddha's own speech and voice as their essence."
爾時，普賢菩薩欲重宣其義，承佛威力，觀察十方而說頌言：
「或有諸剎海，妙寶所合成，
堅固不可壞，安住寶蓮華。
或是淨光明，出生不可知，
一切光莊嚴，依止虛空住。
或淨光為體，復依光明住，
光雲作嚴飾，菩薩共遊處。
或有諸剎海，從於願力生，
猶如影像住，取說不可得。
或以摩尼成，普放日藏光，
珠輪以嚴地，菩薩悉充滿。
有剎寶焰成，焰雲覆其上，
眾寶光殊妙，皆由業所得。
或從妙相生，眾相莊嚴地，
如冠共持戴，斯由佛化起。
或從心海生，隨心所解住，
如幻無處所，一切是分別。
或以佛光明，摩尼光為體，
諸佛於中現，各起神通力。
或普賢菩薩，化現諸剎海，
願力所莊嚴，一切皆殊妙。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, wishing to proclaim this meaning once more, sustained by the Buddha's majestic power, contemplated the ten directions, and spoke a verse, saying:
"Some land-oceans are formed and joined from wondrous jewels,
firm and solid, indestructible, abiding securely upon a jeweled lotus flower.
Some are pure light itself, their arising beyond knowing,
adorned with every kind of light, abiding resting upon empty space.
Some take pure light as their very essence, and further abide resting upon light,
a cloud of light forming their adornment, a place where bodhisattvas roam together.
Some land-oceans are born from the power of vows,
abiding just like a reflection — grasped at or spoken of, they cannot be found.
Some are formed of maṇi, universally emitting the sun's own hidden light,
a wheel of pearls adorning the ground, filled entirely with bodhisattvas.
Some lands are formed of jeweled flame, a cloud of flame covering over them,
the light of every jewel supreme and wondrous — all attained through karma.
Some are born from wondrous marks, every mark adorning the ground,
held aloft together like a crown — this arises through the Buddha's own transformation.
Some are born from the ocean of mind, abiding according to the mind's own understanding,
like an illusion, without any fixed place — all of it is mere discrimination.
Some take the Buddha's own light, the light of maṇi, as their very essence,
and every buddha manifests within them, each rousing their own power of spiritual transmutation.
Some are conjured and manifest by Samantabhadra Bodhisattva as land-oceans,
adorned entirely by the power of his vow — every one of them supreme and wondrous."
Notice the meter shift: where the previous hymn ran in the sūtra's usual seven-character line, this one drops to five characters per phrase — a formal change the Chinese preserves and this translation cannot reproduce directly, though it marks the passage as its own distinct unit even on the page. Doctrinally, the list moves from solid substances (jewels, vajra) toward essences that are frankly immaterial — light, a buddha's transformation, "a single thought of mind," even the Buddha's own voice — closing on the admission that some land-oceans, grasped at or described, "cannot be found." Essence, in other words, is not a search for some more fundamental stuff underneath appearance; a world-ocean's essence can simply be an act of mind or a spoken word.
The Fifth Matter: The Adornment of Every World-Ocean
爾時，普賢菩薩復告大眾言：「諸佛子！應知世界海有種種莊嚴。所謂：或以一切莊嚴具中出上妙雲莊嚴，或以說一切菩薩功德莊嚴，或以說一切眾生業報莊嚴，或以示現一切菩薩願海莊嚴，或以表示一切三世佛影像莊嚴，或以一念頃示現無邊劫神通境界莊嚴，或以出現一切佛身莊嚴，或以出現一切寶香雲莊嚴，或以示現一切道場中諸珍妙物光明照耀莊嚴，或以示現一切普賢行願莊嚴……。如是等，有世界海微塵數。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva further addressed the great assembly, saying: "Buddha's children! You should know that the world-ocean has every kind of adornment. That is to say: some are adorned by a supreme, wondrous cloud emerging from every adorning implement; some are adorned by the telling of the merit of every bodhisattva; some are adorned by the telling of the karmic recompense of every living being; some are adorned by revealing the ocean of every bodhisattva's vow; some are adorned by displaying the reflected image of every buddha of the three periods of time; some are adorned by revealing, within the space of a single thought, the domain of spiritual transmutation across boundless kalpas; some are adorned by the appearance of every buddha's body; some are adorned by the appearance of every cloud of jeweled fragrance; some are adorned by revealing the radiant, shining light of every rare and wondrous thing within every awakening-site; and some are adorned by revealing every conduct and vow of Samantabhadra... Such as these, there are as many as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean."
爾時，普賢菩薩欲重宣其義，承佛威力，觀察十方而說頌言：
「廣大剎海無有邊，皆由清淨業所成，
種種莊嚴種種住，一切十方皆遍滿。
無邊色相寶焰雲，廣大莊嚴非一種，
十方剎海常出現，普演妙音而說法。
菩薩無邊功德海，種種大願所莊嚴，
此土俱時出妙音，普震十方諸剎網。
眾生業海廣無量，隨其感報各不同，
於一切處莊嚴中，皆由諸佛能演說。
三世所有諸如來，神通普現諸剎海，
一一事中一切佛，如是嚴淨汝應觀。
過去未來現在劫，十方一切諸國土，
於彼所有大莊嚴，一一皆於剎中見。
一切事中無量佛，數等眾生遍世間，
為令調伏起神通，以此莊嚴國土海。
一切莊嚴吐妙雲，種種華雲香焰雲，
摩尼寶雲常出現，剎海以此為嚴飾。
十方所有成道處，種種莊嚴皆具足，
流光布逈若彩雲，於此剎海咸令見。
普賢願行諸佛子，等眾生劫勤修習，
無邊國土悉莊嚴，一切處中皆顯現。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, wishing to proclaim this meaning once more, sustained by the Buddha's majestic power, contemplated the ten directions, and spoke a verse, saying:
"The vast land-ocean is without any bound, entirely formed through pure karma,
adorned in every kind, dwelling in every kind, filling the ten directions entirely.
A cloud of boundless forms and jeweled flame, vast in adornment, not of any single kind,
constantly appears throughout the land-oceans of the ten directions, universally proclaiming a wondrous voice and teaching the Dharma.
The bodhisattva's boundless ocean of merit is adorned by every kind of great vow,
and this land, all at once, sends forth a wondrous voice, universally shaking the net of every land in the ten directions.
The ocean of every living being's karma is vast and immeasurable, and, according to the recompense they incur, each is distinct,
and within every adornment in every single place, it is entirely through every buddha's ability to proclaim it.
Every Tathāgata of the three periods of time universally manifests spiritual transmutation throughout every land-ocean,
and within each and every matter, every buddha — such is the adornment and purity you should contemplate.
Throughout the kalpas of the past, future, and present, every land of the ten directions,
whatever great adornment exists there is beheld, each and every one, within these very lands.
Within every matter, immeasurable buddhas, their number equal to living beings, pervade the world,
and, in order to tame and subdue them, rouse spiritual transmutation, adorning the ocean of every land with this.
Every adornment sends forth a wondrous cloud, every kind of flower-cloud, fragrant flame-cloud,
maṇi jeweled cloud constantly appearing — the land-ocean is ornamented by this.
Every place of accomplishing the path throughout the ten directions is fully endowed with every kind of adornment,
streaming light spread far and wide like a colored cloud, entirely made to be seen within these land-oceans.
The Buddha's children of Samantabhadra's own vow and conduct diligently practice across kalpas equal to living beings,
adorning boundless lands entirely, manifest within every single place."
The Sixth Matter: The Purifying Means of Every World-Ocean
爾時，普賢菩薩復告大眾言：「諸佛子！應知世界海有世界海微塵數清淨方便海。所謂：諸菩薩親近一切善知識同善根故，增長廣大功德雲遍法界故，淨修廣大諸勝解故，觀察一切菩薩境界而安住故，修治一切諸波羅蜜悉圓滿故，觀察一切菩薩諸地而入住故，出生一切淨願海故，修習一切出要行故，入於一切莊嚴海故，成就清淨方便力故……。如是等，有世界海微塵數。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva further addressed the great assembly, saying: "Buddha's children! You should know that the world-ocean has oceans of purifying skillful means as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean. That is to say: because every bodhisattva draws near to every good and wise friend, sharing the same roots of goodness; because they increase the vast cloud of merit, pervading the Dharma-realm; because they purely cultivate every vast, excellent understanding; because they contemplate the domain of every bodhisattva and abide securely there; because they cultivate every pāramitā to full completion; because they contemplate every ground of every bodhisattva and enter and abide within it; because they give rise to the ocean of every pure vow; because they cultivate every practice of going-forth; because they enter into the ocean of every adornment; and because they accomplish the power of pure skillful means... Such as these, there are as many as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean."
爾時，普賢菩薩欲重宣其義，承佛威力，觀察十方而說頌言：
「一切剎海諸莊嚴，無數方便願力生，
一切剎海常光耀，無量清淨業力起。
久遠親近善知識，同修善業皆清淨，
慈悲廣大遍眾生，以此莊嚴諸剎海。
一切法門三昧等，禪定解脫方便地，
於諸佛所悉淨治，以此出生諸剎海。
發生無量決定解，能解如來等無異，
忍海方便已修治，故能嚴淨無邊剎。
為利眾生修勝行，福德廣大常增長，
譬如雲布等虛空，一切剎海皆成就。
諸度無量等剎塵，悉已修行令具足，
願波羅蜜無有盡，清淨剎海從此生。
淨修無等一切法，生起無邊出要行，
種種方便化群生，如是莊嚴國土海。
修習莊嚴方便地，入佛功德法門海，
普使眾生竭苦源，廣大淨剎皆成就。
力海廣大無與等，普使眾生種善根，
供養一切諸如來，國土無邊悉清淨。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, wishing to proclaim this meaning once more, sustained by the Buddha's majestic power, contemplated the ten directions, and spoke a verse, saying:
"Every adornment of every land-ocean is born from countless skillful means and the power of vows,
every land-ocean forever shines with light, arisen from the power of immeasurable, pure karma.
Drawing near, for a long age, to a good and wise friend, together cultivating good karma, entirely pure,
compassion vast and pervading every living being — through this, every land-ocean is adorned.
Every Dharma-gateway, every samādhi, every ground of meditation, liberation, and skillful means,
purified and cultivated entirely at the place of every buddha — through this, every land-ocean is brought forth.
Giving rise to immeasurable, resolute understanding, able to understand the Tathāgata as without any difference,
the ocean of forbearance and skillful means already cultivated — therefore able to adorn and purify boundless lands.
For the benefit of living beings, cultivating supreme conduct, blessing and virtue vast, forever increasing,
just like clouds spread equal to empty space — every land-ocean is thereby accomplished.
Every pāramitā, immeasurable, equal to the motes of dust in a land, entirely cultivated and made complete,
the pāramitā of vow inexhaustible — from this, every pure land-ocean is born.
Purely cultivating every dharma without equal, giving rise to boundless conduct of going-forth,
transforming the multitude of living beings through every kind of skillful means — thus is the land-ocean adorned.
Cultivating the ground of adornment and skillful means, entering the ocean of the Dharma-gateway of the Buddha's merit,
universally causing living beings to exhaust the source of suffering — every vast, pure land is thereby accomplished.
The ocean of power, vast, without equal, universally causes living beings to plant roots of goodness,
making offering to every Tathāgata — every land, boundless, is entirely pure."
Where the third and fourth matters described world-oceans as objects — shaped, substantial, adorned by things — the sixth matter turns the same vocabulary onto bodhisattva practice itself: nearness to a good friend, cultivated pāramitās, forbearance, vows. The teaching does not treat this as a shift in subject so much as a continuation of the same one: a land-ocean's adornment simply is the accumulated practice of the beings who purify it, restated here from the practitioner's own side rather than the land's. Fazang's account of the mutual arising of "dependent" and "proper" retribution (依正無礙) — the environment and the being who inhabits it arising together, neither prior to the other — is the classical frame this section is often read through.
Part 16 Complete
This closes Part 16, continuing fascicle seven and the sūtra's fourth chapter, "The World's Formation" (世界成就品第四): four more of the ten matters — the shape every world-ocean takes, the essence it is made of, how it is adorned, and the oceans of skillful means by which bodhisattvas purify it — each with Samantabhadra's teaching in prose followed by a verse. Six of the ten matters are now complete. Part 17 takes up the remaining four: how buddhas appear within world-oceans, how long they endure, how they transform across kalpas, and — closing the chapter — how, despite every distinction named so far, no world-ocean differs in kind from any other.