Ten Past Buddhas, Ten Named Palaces
Relying on the Buddha's own power, the King of the Tuṣita Heaven recollects wholesome roots planted in the presence of buddhas long past, and speaks a verse of ten identical stanzas — each naming a different buddha who once entered a differently named palace, and each entry alone declared the very reason that particular place became the most auspicious of all.
Auspiciousness Traced to a Single Visit
The king's verse follows one unvarying template ten times over: a named buddha of the past, called "most supreme among every auspicious sign," who once entered a specific, differently named palace — and it is that single visit alone, the verse insists each time, that made the place auspicious. Ten buddhas, ten palaces, one identical claim repeated with only the names changing.
爾時，兜率陀天王承佛威力，即自憶念過去佛所所種善根而說頌言：
「昔有如來無礙月，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此莊嚴殿，是故此處最吉祥。
昔有如來名廣智，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此金色殿，是故此處最吉祥。
昔有如來名普眼，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此蓮華殿，是故此處最吉祥。
昔有如來號珊瑚，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此寶藏殿，是故此處最吉祥。
昔有如來論師子，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此山王殿，是故此處最吉祥。
昔有如來名日照，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此眾華殿，是故此處最吉祥。
At that time, the King of the Tuṣita Heaven, relying upon the Buddha's own awesome power, at once recollected the wholesome roots he himself had planted in the presence of buddhas of the past, and spoke a verse, saying:
"In the past there was a Tathāgata named Unobstructed Moon, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Adorned Palace, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all. In the past there was a Tathāgata named Vast Wisdom, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Golden-Colored Palace, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all.
In the past there was a Tathāgata named Universal Eye, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Lotus Palace, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all. In the past there was a Tathāgata titled Coral, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Treasury Palace, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all.
In the past there was a Tathāgata, the Lion Among Expounders, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Palace of the King of Mountains, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all. In the past there was a Tathāgata named Sun's Illumination, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Palace of Many Flowers, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all.
昔有佛號無邊光，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此樹嚴殿，是故此處最吉祥：
昔有如來名法幢，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此寶宮殿，是故此處最吉祥。
昔有如來名智燈，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此香山殿，是故此處最吉祥。
昔有佛號功德光，諸吉祥中最殊勝，
彼曾入此摩尼殿，是故此處最吉祥。」
In the past there was a Buddha titled Boundless Light, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Tree-Adorned Palace, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all. In the past there was a Tathāgata named Dharma Banner, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Jeweled Palace, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all.
In the past there was a Tathāgata named Lamp of Wisdom, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Fragrant Mountain Palace, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all. In the past there was a Buddha titled Light of Merit, most supreme among every auspicious sign; he once entered this very Maṇi Palace, and for this reason this place is the most auspicious of all."
Each stanza names a different palace — the Adorned Palace, the Golden-Colored Palace, the Lotus Palace, the Treasury Palace, and so on through ten — suggesting either ten distinct halls within the same vast complex or ten successive names this same site has borne across the visits of ten different buddhas. Either reading fits the chapter's own logic: auspiciousness here is not an inherent property of a place but a trace left behind by a buddha's own presence, accumulating one visit at a time until a single palace carries the memory of ten.
Part 194 Complete
This closes Part 194. Chapter 23 concludes in Part 195, completing fascicle twenty-two.