The Inconceivable Hero Among Humankind
After eleven Parts of preparation, the Buddha himself finally appears to the assembled gods and bodhisattvas — and the sūtra opens what will become one of its longest unbroken litanies of praise: a body immeasurable and without limit, dwelling within the very body of every living being, a wisdom transcending every path of language, and a mind forever tranquil, never once scattered or disturbed.
A Body Without Limit, Dwelling in Every Being
After the throne, the offerings, and the welcome, the Buddha himself is finally beheld — and the sūtra responds not with narrative but with an extended, unbroken litany naming what is seen: a body beyond all reckoning that nonetheless dwells pervasively within every living being's own body, a wisdom born from an incomparable samādhi, and a mind that transcends every path of language while remaining forever tranquil.
爾時，一切諸天及諸菩薩眾，見於如來、應、正等覺——不可思議人中之雄。其身無量，不可稱數；現不思議種種神變，令無數眾生心大歡喜；普遍一切虛空界、一切法界，以佛莊嚴而為莊嚴；令一切眾生安住善根，示現無量諸佛神力，超過一切諸語言道，諸大菩薩所共欽敬；隨所應化，皆令歡喜；住於諸佛廣大之身，功德善根悉已清淨；色相第一，無能映奪；智慧境界，不可窮盡，無比三昧之所出生。
At that time, every god and every bodhisattva beheld the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Truly and Rightly Awakened One — the inconceivable hero among humankind. His body is immeasurable, beyond all reckoning; manifesting inconceivable spiritual transformations of every kind, causing countless living beings' minds to rejoice greatly; pervading universally the entire realm of empty space and the entire Dharma-realm, adorned entirely with the buddha's own adornment; causing every living being to abide securely in wholesome roots, manifesting the spiritual power of immeasurable buddhas, transcending every path of language entirely, admired and revered together by every great bodhisattva; according with whatever is fitting to transform, causing every one of them to rejoice; abiding in the vast and expansive body of every buddha, his merit and wholesome roots already entirely pure; his form and marks foremost of all, unable to be outshone or eclipsed by anything; his domain of wisdom inexhaustible, born forth from an incomparable samādhi.
其身無際，遍住一切眾生身中，令無量眾生皆大歡喜，令一切智種性不斷；住於諸佛究竟所住，生於三世諸佛之家；令不可數眾生信解清淨，令一切菩薩智慧成就、諸根悅豫；法雲普覆虛空法界，教化調伏無有遺餘；隨眾生心，悉令滿足，令其安住無分別智；出過一切眾生之上，獲一切智，放大光明，宿世善根皆令顯現；普使一切發廣大心，令一切眾生安住普賢不可壞智；遍住一切眾生國土，從於不退正法中生，住於一切平等法界，明了眾生心之所宜，現不可說不可說種種差別如來之身，非世言辭而歎可盡；能令一切常思念佛，充滿法界廣度群生；隨初發心所欲利益，以法惠施，令其調伏，信解清淨；示現色身不可思議，等觀眾生，心無所著；住無礙住，得佛十力，無所障礙；心常寂定，未曾散亂。
His body is without any limit, dwelling pervasively within the very body of every living being, causing immeasurable living beings to rejoice greatly, and causing the lineage of all-knowing wisdom to remain unbroken; abiding in the ultimate abode of every buddha, born within the family of every buddha across the three periods of time; causing indescribable living beings' faith and understanding to become pure, causing every bodhisattva's wisdom to be accomplished and every faculty delighted; the cloud of the Dharma universally covering the realm of empty space and the Dharma-realm, teaching, transforming, and taming without leaving anything untouched; according with the mind of every living being, causing every one of them to be entirely satisfied, and causing them to abide securely in non-discriminating wisdom; transcending above every living being entirely, attaining all-knowing wisdom, emitting great light, causing every wholesome root from ages past to become manifest entirely; universally causing every one to give rise to a vast and expansive mind, causing every living being to abide securely in Samantabhadra's own unbreakable wisdom; dwelling pervasively within the lands of every living being, born from within the true Dharma of non-regression, abiding within the entirely equal Dharma-realm, understanding clearly what is fitting for each living being's own mind, manifesting indescribably indescribable, distinctly different bodies of the Tathāgata, impossible to be exhausted through any worldly words of praise at all; able to cause everyone to forever hold the Buddha in mind, filling the Dharma-realm entirely, extensively delivering the multitude of beings across; according with whatever benefit is wished for at the very moment of the initial resolve, generously bestowing the Dharma, causing them to be tamed, their faith and understanding pure; manifesting a form-body that is inconceivable, regarding every living being with entire equality, his mind clinging to nothing at all; abiding in an unobstructed abode, attaining the buddha's own ten powers, with no obstruction of any kind; his mind forever tranquil and settled, never once scattered or disturbed.
"His body is without any limit, dwelling pervasively within the very body of every living being" restates, at the moment the Buddha is finally beheld, the same non-obstruction the sūtra has built its entire cosmology around: the boundless and the singular are not opposites here but the same fact seen from two sides. This litany of qualities has only just begun — it will continue at length before the assembly's own response to it is given voice.
Part 185 Complete
This closes Part 185. Chapter 23 continues in Part 186 with the litany of the Tathāgata's qualities.