The Flower-Treasury World-System Begins
Fascicle eight opens the sūtra's fifth chapter, "The Flower-Treasury World-System" (華藏世界品) — the cosmology at the very heart of the Avataṃsaka's vision, and the structure Vairocana Buddha's own name literally means "universal illumination" within. Samantabhadra begins from the foundation upward: eleven wind-wheels, stacked one above the other, upholding the entire world-ocean; the great mountain range that encircles it; and the vajra ground it all rests upon, a single surface in which every buddha-land of the three periods of time already appears.
The Eleven Wind-Wheels
爾時，普賢菩薩復告大眾言：「諸佛子！此華藏莊嚴世界海，是毘盧遮那如來往昔於世界海微塵數劫修菩薩行時，一一劫中親近世界海微塵數佛，一一佛所淨修世界海微塵數大願之所嚴淨。諸佛子！此華藏莊嚴世界海，有須彌山微塵數風輪所持。其最下風輪，名：平等住，能持其上一切寶焰熾然莊嚴。次上風輪，名：出生種種寶莊嚴，能持其上淨光照耀摩尼王幢。次上風輪，名：寶威德，能持其上一切寶鈴。次上風輪，名：平等焰，能持其上日光明相摩尼王輪。次上風輪，名：種種普莊嚴，能持其上光明輪華。次上風輪，名：普清淨，能持其上一切華焰師子座。次上風輪，名：聲遍十方，能持其上一切珠王幢。次上風輪，名：一切寶光明，能持其上一切摩尼王樹華。次上風輪，名：速疾普持，能持其上一切香摩尼須彌雲。次上風輪，名：種種宮殿遊行，能持其上一切寶色香臺雲。諸佛子！彼須彌山微塵數風輪，最在上者，名：殊勝威光藏，能持普光摩尼莊嚴香水海；此香水海有大蓮華，名：種種光明蘂香幢。華藏莊嚴世界海，住在其中，四方均平，清淨堅固；金剛輪山，周匝圍遶；地海眾樹，各有區別。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva further addressed the great assembly, saying: "Buddha's children! This Flower-Treasury Adorned World-Ocean is what Vairocana Tathāgata, in ages past, while cultivating bodhisattva practice across kalpas as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean, adorned and purified — in each and every kalpa drawing near to buddhas as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean, and at the place of each and every buddha purely cultivating great vows as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean. Buddha's children! This Flower-Treasury Adorned World-Ocean is upheld by wind-wheels as numerous as the fine motes of dust in Sumeru. Its lowest wind-wheel is named Equally Abiding, able to uphold, above it, every jeweled flame's blazing adornment. The next wind-wheel above is named Bringing Forth Every Kind of Jeweled Adornment, able to uphold, above it, the sovereign maṇi banner of pure light, shining and radiant. The next wind-wheel above is named Jeweled Majestic Virtue, able to uphold, above it, every jeweled bell. The next wind-wheel above is named Equal Flame, able to uphold, above it, the sovereign maṇi wheel of the sun's own bright mark. The next wind-wheel above is named Every Kind of Universal Adornment, able to uphold, above it, the flower of the wheel of light. The next wind-wheel above is named Universal Purity, able to uphold, above it, every lion-throne of flower and flame. The next wind-wheel above is named Its Voice Pervading the Ten Directions, able to uphold, above it, every sovereign pearl banner. The next wind-wheel above is named the Light of Every Jewel, able to uphold, above it, the flower of every sovereign maṇi tree. The next wind-wheel above is named Swiftly and Universally Upholding, able to uphold, above it, the cloud of every fragrant maṇi's Sumeru. The next wind-wheel above is named Journeying Among Every Kind of Palace, able to uphold, above it, the cloud of every jeweled color's fragrant terrace. Buddha's children! Of those wind-wheels as numerous as the fine motes of dust in Sumeru, the very topmost is named the Treasury of Supreme, Majestic Light, able to uphold the fragrant water ocean adorned by universally radiant maṇi. Within this fragrant water ocean there is a great lotus flower, named the Banner of Every Kind of Light's Fragrant Pistil. The Flower-Treasury Adorned World-Ocean dwells within it, level and even on every side, pure and firm; a mountain of vajra wheels encircles it all around; and its ground, its seas, and its multitude of trees are each distinct from one another."
是時，普賢菩薩欲重宣其義，承佛神力，觀察十方而說頌言：
「世尊往昔於諸有，微塵佛所修淨業，
故獲種種寶光明，華藏莊嚴世界海。
廣大悲雲遍一切，捨身無量等剎塵，
以昔劫海修行力，今此世界無諸垢。
放大光明遍住空，風力所持無動搖，
佛藏摩尼普嚴飾，如來願力令清淨。
普散摩尼妙藏華，以昔願力空中住，
種種堅固莊嚴海，光雲垂布滿十方。
諸摩尼中菩薩雲，普詣十方光熾然，
光焰成輪妙華飾，法界周流靡不遍。
一切寶中放淨光，其光普照眾生海，
十方國土皆周遍，咸令出苦向菩提。
寶中佛數等眾生，從其毛孔出化形，
梵主帝釋輪王等，一切眾生及諸佛。
化現光明等法界，光中演說諸佛名，
種種方便示調伏，普應群心無不盡。
華藏世界所有塵，一一塵中見法界，
寶光現佛如雲集，此是如來剎自在。
廣大願雲周法界，於一切劫化群生，
普賢智地行悉成，所有莊嚴從此出。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, wishing to proclaim this meaning once more, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated the ten directions, and spoke a verse, saying:
"The World-Honored One, in ages past, throughout every state of existence, cultivated pure karma at the place of buddhas as numerous as motes of dust,
and thereby attained every kind of jeweled light — the Flower-Treasury Adorned World-Ocean.
A cloud of vast compassion pervading everything, giving up his body immeasurably, equal to the motes of dust in a land,
through the power of practice cultivated across an ocean of kalpas in ages past, this world now is free of every defilement.
Emitting great light, universally dwelling within space, upheld by the power of wind, never shaken or moved,
the Buddha's treasury of maṇi universally adorns it, and the Tathāgata's own power of vow makes it pure.
Universally scattering maṇi's wondrous, hidden flowers, abiding within space through the power of vows from ages past,
every kind of firm ocean of adornment, a cloud of light hanging draped down, filling the ten directions.
Within every maṇi, a cloud of bodhisattvas, universally going to the ten directions, their light blazing,
their flame forming a wheel, a wondrous flower's ornament, circulating throughout the Dharma-realm without exception.
Within every jewel, pure light is emitted, and that light universally illumines the ocean of every living being,
reaching every land of the ten directions completely, causing all to emerge from suffering and turn toward bodhi.
Within the jewels, buddhas as numerous as living beings, emerging in transformed forms from their very pores,
lords of Brahmā, Śakra, wheel-turning kings, and the like — every living being and every buddha.
Conjured light equal to the Dharma-realm, and within that light every buddha's name is proclaimed,
revealing taming through every kind of skillful means, responding to the multitude of minds without exception.
Every mote of dust that exists within the Flower-Treasury World, within each and every mote of dust, the Dharma-realm is beheld,
jeweled light manifesting buddhas gathered like clouds — such is the sovereign mastery of the Tathāgata's own land.
A cloud of vast vows, circulating throughout the Dharma-realm, transforming the multitude of beings across every kalpa,
the ground of Samantabhadra's own wisdom and conduct entirely accomplished — every adornment that exists arises from this."
This chapter's title supplies a name for the whole edifice the sūtra has been building since fascicle one: the Flower-Treasury World-System (華藏世界), so called because it rests upon a great lotus flower that itself rests atop this stack of eleven named wind-wheels. Nothing here is arbitrary decoration — each wind-wheel is named for a quality (equal abiding, majestic virtue, universal purity) and upholds a specific adornment above it, so that the entire structure reads less like an engineering diagram and more like a chain of causes, each supporting the next by virtue of what it is. Fazang's commentary treats this whole passage as the cosmological expression of the same principle stated abstractly back in fascicle seven: that every stage of practice is what allows the next to stand.
The Great Encircling Mountain
爾時，普賢菩薩復告大眾言：「諸佛子！此華藏莊嚴世界海大輪圍山，住日珠王蓮華之上，栴檀摩尼以為其身，威德寶王以為其峯，妙香摩尼而作其輪，焰藏金剛所共成立，一切香水流注其間；眾寶為林，妙華開敷，香草布地，明珠間飾，種種香華處處盈滿；摩尼為網，周匝垂覆……。如是等，有世界海微塵數眾妙莊嚴。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva further addressed the great assembly, saying: "Buddha's children! This Flower-Treasury Adorned World-Ocean's great encircling mountain rests upon a lotus flower of the sovereign pearl of the sun; sandalwood maṇi forms its very body; the sovereign jewel of majestic virtue forms its peaks; wondrous, fragrant maṇi forms its rim; flame-treasury vajra together establishes it; and every kind of fragrant water flows and pours throughout it. A forest of every jewel, wondrous flowers blooming open, fragrant grasses spread across the ground, bright pearls interspersed as ornament, every kind of fragrance and flower filling every single place; a net of maṇi hangs draped over it all around... Such as these, there are wondrous adornments as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean."
爾時，普賢菩薩欲重宣其義，承佛神力，觀察十方而說頌言：
「世界大海無有邊，寶輪清淨種種色，
所有莊嚴盡奇妙，此由如來神力起。
摩尼寶輪妙香輪，及以真珠燈焰輪，
種種妙寶為嚴飾，清淨輪圍所安住。
堅固摩尼以為藏，閻浮檀金作嚴飾，
舒光發焰遍十方，內外映徹皆清淨。
金剛摩尼所集成，復雨摩尼諸妙寶，
其寶精奇非一種，放淨光明普嚴麗。
香水分流無量色，散諸華寶及栴檀，
眾蓮競發如衣布，珍草羅生悉芬馥。
無量寶樹普莊嚴，開華發蘂色熾然，
種種名衣在其內，光雲四照常圓滿。
無量無邊大菩薩，執蓋焚香充法界，
悉發一切妙音聲，普轉如來正法輪。
諸摩尼樹寶末成，一一寶末現光明，
毘盧遮那清淨身，悉入其中普令見。
諸莊嚴中現佛身，無邊色相無央數，
悉往十方無不遍，所化眾生亦無限。
一切莊嚴出妙音，演說如來本願輪，
十方所有淨剎海，佛自在力咸令遍。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, wishing to proclaim this meaning once more, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated the ten directions, and spoke a verse, saying:
"The great ocean of the world is without any bound, its jeweled wheel pure, of every kind of color,
and every adornment it possesses is utterly wondrous — this arises entirely through the Tathāgata's own spiritual power.
Maṇi's jeweled wheel, its wondrous fragrant wheel, and the wheel of true pearls' lamp and flame,
every kind of wondrous jewel forms its ornament, and the pure encircling mountain abides securely upon them.
Firm maṇi forms its treasury, Jambūnada gold forms its ornament,
unfurling light and sending forth flame throughout the ten directions, its inside and outside both radiant and pure.
Formed and gathered from vajra and maṇi, it further rains down maṇi of every wondrous jewel,
those jewels exquisite and rare, not of any single kind, emitting pure light, universally adorning it in splendor.
Fragrant water flows and divides in immeasurable colors, scattering every flower, jewel, and sandalwood,
lotuses competing to bloom like spread cloth, precious grasses growing in rows, all of them fragrant.
Immeasurable jeweled trees universally adorn it, blossoming with flower and pistil, their color blazing,
every kind of famous garment within them, a cloud of light shining in every direction, forever full and complete.
Immeasurable, boundless great bodhisattvas, holding canopies and burning incense, filling the Dharma-realm,
all sending forth every kind of wondrous voice, universally turning the Tathāgata's own true Dharma-wheel.
Every maṇi tree formed of jeweled dust, and within each and every speck of jeweled dust light is manifest,
Vairocana's own pure body entirely entering within it, universally causing it to be seen.
Within every adornment, the Buddha's body is manifest, its boundless forms and marks beyond number,
going to every one of the ten directions without exception, and the living beings transformed likewise without limit.
Every adornment sends forth a wondrous voice, proclaiming the wheel of the Tathāgata's own original vow,
and every pure land-ocean that exists in the ten directions is made to be reached entirely through the Buddha's own sovereign power."
The Ground
爾時，普賢菩薩復告大眾言：「諸佛子！此世界海大輪圍山內所有大地，一切皆以金剛所成，堅固莊嚴，不可沮壞；清淨平坦，無有高下；摩尼為輪，眾寶為藏；一切眾生，種種形狀；諸摩尼寶，以為間錯；散眾寶末，布以蓮華；香藏摩尼，分置其間；諸莊嚴具，充遍如雲，三世一切諸佛國土所有莊嚴而為校飾；摩尼妙寶以為其網，普現如來所有境界，如天帝網於中布列。諸佛子！此世界海地，有如是等世界海微塵數莊嚴。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva further addressed the great assembly, saying: "Buddha's children! The whole great ground within this world-ocean's great encircling mountain is entirely formed of vajra, firm in its adornment, unable to be destroyed or worn away; pure and level, without any high or low place; maṇi forms its wheels, every jewel forms its treasuries; every living being, in every kind of form; every maṇi jewel interspersed throughout it; scattered dust of every jewel, spread with lotus flowers; fragrant treasury maṇi placed distinctly between them; every adorning implement filling it entirely like a cloud, the adornment possessed by every buddha-land of the three periods of time forming its ornament; wondrous maṇi jewels form its net, universally revealing every domain of the Tathāgata, arrayed within it just like Indra's net. Buddha's children! This world-ocean's ground has adornments such as these, as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean."
爾時，普賢菩薩欲重宣其義，承佛神力，觀察十方而說頌言：
「其地平坦極清淨，安住堅固無能壞，
摩尼處處以為嚴，眾寶於中相間錯。
金剛為地甚可悅，寶輪寶網具莊嚴，
蓮華布上皆圓滿，妙衣彌覆悉周遍。
菩薩天冠寶瓔珞，悉布其地為嚴好，
栴檀摩尼普散中，咸舒離垢妙光明。
寶華發焰出妙光，光焰如雲照一切，
散此妙華及眾寶，普覆於地為嚴飾。
密雲興布滿十方，廣大光明無有盡，
普至十方一切土，演說如來甘露法。
一切佛願摩尼內，普現無邊廣大劫，
最勝智者昔所行，於此寶中無不見。
其地所有摩尼寶，一切佛剎咸來入，
彼諸佛剎一一塵，一切國土亦入中。
妙寶莊嚴華藏界，菩薩遊行遍十方，
演說大士諸弘願，此是道場自在力。
摩尼妙寶莊嚴地，放淨光明備眾飾，
充滿法界等虛空，佛力自然如是現。
諸有修治普賢願，入佛境界大智人，
能知於此剎海中，如是一切諸神變。」
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, wishing to proclaim this meaning once more, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated the ten directions, and spoke a verse, saying:
"Its ground is level and utterly pure, abiding securely and firmly, unable to be destroyed,
maṇi ornamenting it in every place, every jewel interspersed within it.
Vajra forms the ground, altogether delightful, jeweled wheel and jeweled net fully adorning it,
lotus flowers spread over it entirely full and complete, wondrous garments covering it, reaching everywhere completely.
The bodhisattva's own heavenly crown and jeweled ornaments, spread entirely across the ground as its excellent adornment,
sandalwood maṇi scattered universally within, all unfurling wondrous light free of defilement.
Jeweled flowers send forth flame and emit wondrous light, that light and flame like clouds illumining everything,
scattering these wondrous flowers and every jewel, covering the ground universally as its ornament.
Dense clouds rise and spread, filling the ten directions, their vast light inexhaustible,
reaching universally every land of the ten directions, proclaiming the Tathāgata's own dharma of ambrosia.
Within every buddha's vow, within the maṇi, boundless, vast kalpas are universally manifest,
and the conduct of the supreme wise one in ages past is entirely beheld within these very jewels.
Within the ground's every maṇi jewel, every buddha-land comes to enter it entirely,
and within each and every mote of dust of those buddha-lands, every land likewise enters within it too.
Throughout the Flower-Treasury World, adorned with wondrous jewels, bodhisattvas journey and roam throughout the ten directions,
proclaiming the great being's every vast vow — such is the sovereign power of this very awakening-site.
The ground, adorned with wondrous maṇi jewels, emits pure light, complete with every ornament,
filling the Dharma-realm, equal to empty space — the Buddha's power naturally manifests it thus.
Whoever has cultivated Samantabhadra's own vow, a person of great wisdom entering the Buddha's domain,
is able to know, within this very land-ocean, every spiritual transformation such as this."
The ground's description closes on the same move that has recurred throughout this whole sequence of chapters since fascicle six: every maṇi jewel embedded in the ground contains, entire, every buddha-land of the three periods of time, and within each mote of dust of those lands every other land enters as well — a mutual containment with no bottom level, no single "real" ground underneath the reflections. What is new here is the setting: this is not a vision granted within samādhi or a hymn sung in praise, but simply what the ground of this world-system is said to be made of, stated as flatly as any other geological fact within the passage.
Part 18 Complete
This closes Part 18, opening fascicle eight and the sūtra's fifth chapter, "The Flower-Treasury World-System" (華藏世界品第五): the eleven wind-wheels that uphold the entire world-ocean from beneath, the great mountain range that encircles it, and the vajra ground it all rests upon, each with Samantabhadra's teaching in prose followed by a verse. Part 19 continues downward into the fragrant water oceans and rivers that fill this ground, and the land that lies between them.