A Throne Built from a Hundred Million of Everything
A new chapter opens fascicle twenty-two: without ever leaving the bodhi tree, the summit of Sumeru, or the palace of the Yāma Heaven, the Buddha, through his own spiritual power, arrives at the Tuṣita Heaven. The heavenly king, seeing him approach, prepares a lion-throne — and the sūtra begins to describe it tier by tier, net by net, curtain by curtain, a hundred million of each.
Present in Every World at Once
The chapter opens by restating the sūtra's own signature non-obstruction: every world in the ten directions beholds the Buddha seated beneath the very tree of awakening, each with its own bodhisattva expounding the Dharma by his power, so that none of them ever doubts they stand in his actual presence. The Buddha then travels to Tuṣita without ever leaving the bodhi tree, Sumeru's summit, or the Yāma Heaven at all — and the heavenly king begins to prepare a throne worthy of the visit.
爾時，佛神力故，十方一切世界，一一四天下閻浮提中，皆見如來坐於樹下，各有菩薩承佛神力而演說法，靡不自謂恒對於佛。爾時，世尊復以神力，不離於此菩提樹下及須彌頂、夜摩天宮，而往詣於兜率陀天一切妙寶所莊嚴殿。時，兜率天王遙見佛來，即於殿上敷摩尼藏師子之座。其師子座，天諸妙寶之所集成，過去修行善根所得，一切如來神力所現，無量百千億那由他阿僧祇善根所生，一切如來淨法所起，無邊福力之所嚴瑩；清淨業報，不可沮壞；觀者欣樂，無所厭足；是出世法，非世所染；一切眾生咸來觀察，無有能得究其妙好。
At that time, through the Buddha's own spiritual power, in every world of the ten directions, within the Jambudvīpa of each and every one of the four continents, all beheld the Tathāgata seated beneath the tree, each with a bodhisattva who, relying upon the Buddha's own spiritual power, expounded the Dharma — and there was not one among them who did not consider themselves to be forever in the very presence of the Buddha. At that time, the World-Honored One, once again through his own spiritual power, without ever departing from beneath this very bodhi tree, or from the summit of Sumeru, or from the palace of the Yāma Heaven, went to the palace adorned with every kind of wondrous treasure in the Tuṣita Heaven. At that time, the King of the Tuṣita Heaven, beholding the Buddha's approach from afar, at once spread out, atop that very palace, a lion-throne, a treasury of maṇi. That lion-throne was formed entirely from every wondrous heavenly treasure gathered together, obtained through wholesome roots cultivated in ages past, manifested through the spiritual power of every Tathāgata, born from immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of asaṃkhyeyas of wholesome roots, arisen from the pure Dharma of every Tathāgata, and adorned and made brilliant by boundless power of merit; its karmic recompense was pure, and could never be broken down or destroyed; whoever beheld it delighted in it, never growing weary or satisfied; it was a dharma transcending the world, unstained by anything worldly; and though every living being came to observe it, none was ever able to fathom its wondrous beauty to its very end.
有百萬億層級，周匝圍遶；百萬億金網，百萬億華帳，百萬億寶帳，百萬億鬘帳，百萬億香帳，張施其上；華鬘垂下，香氣普熏；百萬億華蓋，百萬億鬘蓋，百萬億寶蓋，諸天執持，四面行列；百萬億寶衣，以敷其上；百萬億樓閣，綺煥莊嚴；百萬億摩尼網，百萬億寶網，彌覆其上；百萬億寶瓔珞網，四面垂下；百萬億莊嚴具網，百萬億蓋網，百萬億衣網，百萬億寶帳網，以張其上；百萬億寶蓮華網，開敷光榮；百萬億寶香網，其香美妙，稱悅眾心；百萬億寶鈴帳，其鈴微動，出和雅音；百萬億栴檀寶帳，香氣普熏；百萬億寶華帳，其華敷榮；百萬億眾妙色衣帳，世所希有；百萬億菩薩帳，百萬億雜色帳，百萬億真金帳，百萬億瑠璃帳，百萬億種種寶帳，悉張其上；百萬億一切寶帳，大摩尼寶以為莊嚴；百萬億妙寶華，周匝瑩飾；百萬億頻婆帳，殊妙間錯；百萬億寶鬘，百萬億香鬘，四面垂下；百萬億天堅固香，其香普熏；百萬億天莊嚴具瓔珞，百萬億寶華瓔珞，百萬億勝藏寶瓔珞，百萬億摩尼寶瓔珞，百萬億海摩尼寶瓔珞，莊嚴座身；
It had a hundred million tiers, encircling it all around; a hundred million golden nets, a hundred million flower-curtains, a hundred million jeweled curtains, a hundred million garland-curtains, and a hundred million fragrance-curtains, spread out above it; flower garlands hung down from them, their fragrance universally perfuming the air; a hundred million flower-canopies, a hundred million garland-canopies, and a hundred million jeweled canopies, held aloft by the gods, arrayed in rows on all four sides; a hundred million jeweled garments, spread out over it; a hundred million pavilions, resplendent and adorned; a hundred million maṇi-nets and a hundred million jeweled nets, covering it entirely; a hundred million nets of jeweled necklaces, hanging down on all four sides; a hundred million nets of adorning implements, a hundred million nets of canopies, a hundred million nets of garments, and a hundred million nets of jeweled curtains, spread out above it; a hundred million nets of jeweled lotus flowers, blossoming forth in splendor; a hundred million nets of jeweled fragrance, their scent wondrous and delightful, gladdening the hearts of all; a hundred million curtains of jeweled bells, their bells gently stirring, sending forth a harmonious and elegant sound; a hundred million curtains of sandalwood treasure, their fragrance universally perfuming the air; a hundred million curtains of jeweled flowers, their blossoms opening in glory; a hundred million curtains of garments of every wondrous color, rare in all the world; a hundred million bodhisattva-curtains, a hundred million curtains of every mingled color, a hundred million curtains of true gold, a hundred million curtains of lapis lazuli, and a hundred million curtains of every kind of treasure, all spread out above it; a hundred million curtains of every treasure, adorned with great maṇi jewels; a hundred million wondrous jeweled flowers, gleaming and adorning it all around; a hundred million bimba-fruit curtains, wondrously interspersed; a hundred million jeweled garlands and a hundred million fragrant garlands, hanging down on all four sides; a hundred million heavenly fragrances of firm solidity, their scent universally perfuming the air; a hundred million necklaces of heavenly adorning implements, a hundred million necklaces of jeweled flowers, a hundred million necklaces of the supreme treasury's jewels, a hundred million necklaces of maṇi jewels, and a hundred million necklaces of ocean maṇi jewels, adorning the very body of the throne;
The throne's description has only begun here, and already the pattern is clear: rather than describing an object once in general terms, the sūtra names category after category — nets, curtains, canopies, garlands, necklaces — each multiplied a hundred million times, layered one atop the next. This is the same rhetorical mode the sūtra used to describe Indra's net of mutually reflecting jewels in its opening chapters, now applied to a single physical object: not a metaphor for interpenetration, but an actual throne built, item by item, from an inexhaustible catalog of treasure.
Part 174 Complete
This closes Part 174. Chapter 23 continues in Part 175 with the remainder of the lion-throne's description.