Ten Bodhisattvas Named Banner
A new chapter opens fascicle twenty-three: ten great bodhisattvas, every one of them bearing the name Banner — Vajra Banner, Firm Banner, Valiant Banner, and seven others — arrive from ten wondrous worlds throughout the ten directions, each having trained under a buddha whose own name likewise ends in Banner. Bowing to the Buddha, each conjures a lion-throne and sits, their bodies emitting light born entirely from their own pure vow.
Ten Worlds, Ten Buddhas, Ten Bodhisattvas, One Name
The new chapter opens with a now-familiar pattern from this sūtra: ten bodhisattvas arriving from the ten directions, each accompanied by a vast retinue, each from a distinctly named world, each trained under a distinctly named buddha — but here, uniquely, every single name in every one of the three roles shares the same final syllable: Banner (幢). Bodhisattva, world, and buddha alike are all named Banner, down to the last one on the list.
爾時，佛神力故，十方各有一大菩薩，一一各與萬佛剎微塵數諸菩薩俱，從萬佛剎微塵數國土外諸世界中，來詣佛所。其名曰：金剛幢菩薩、堅固幢菩薩、勇猛幢菩薩、光明幢菩薩、智幢菩薩、寶幢菩薩、精進幢菩薩、離垢幢菩薩、星宿幢菩薩、法幢菩薩。所從來國，謂：妙寶世界、妙樂世界、妙銀世界、妙金世界、妙摩尼世界、妙金剛世界、妙波頭摩世界、妙優鉢羅世界、妙栴檀世界、妙香世界。各於佛所，淨修梵行，所謂：無盡幢佛、風幢佛、解脫幢佛、威儀幢佛、明相幢佛、常幢佛、最勝幢佛、自在幢佛、梵幢佛、觀察幢佛。
At that time, through the Buddha's own spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there was one great bodhisattva, each one together with bodhisattvas as numerous as the fine motes of dust in ten thousand buddha-lands, who came to the Buddha's own place from worlds beyond lands as numerous as the fine motes of dust in ten thousand buddha-lands. Their names were: Vajra Banner Bodhisattva, Firm Banner Bodhisattva, Valiant Banner Bodhisattva, Light Banner Bodhisattva, Wisdom Banner Bodhisattva, Jeweled Banner Bodhisattva, Diligence Banner Bodhisattva, Stainless Banner Bodhisattva, Constellation Banner Bodhisattva, and Dharma Banner Bodhisattva. The lands they came from were: the Wondrous Jewel World, the Wondrous Bliss World, the Wondrous Silver World, the Wondrous Gold World, the Wondrous Maṇi World, the Wondrous Vajra World, the Wondrous Padma World, the Wondrous Utpala World, the Wondrous Sandalwood World, and the Wondrous Fragrance World. Each of them had purely cultivated the conduct of Brahmā at the place of their own buddha, namely: Inexhaustible Banner Buddha, Wind Banner Buddha, Liberation Banner Buddha, Dignified Bearing Banner Buddha, Bright Mark Banner Buddha, Eternal Banner Buddha, Most Supreme Banner Buddha, Sovereign Banner Buddha, Brahmā Banner Buddha, and Observing Banner Buddha.
其諸菩薩，至佛所已，頂禮佛足；以佛神力，即化作妙寶藏師子之座，寶網彌覆，周匝遍滿；諸菩薩眾，隨所來方，各於其上結跏趺坐。其身悉放百千億那由他阿僧祇清淨光明，此無量光皆從菩薩清淨心寶離眾過惡大願所起，顯示一切諸佛自在清淨之法；以諸菩薩平等願力，能普救護一切眾生，一切世間之所樂見，見者不虛。
Those bodhisattvas, having arrived at the Buddha's own place, bowed their heads to the Buddha's feet in homage; and through the Buddha's own spiritual power, at once conjured a lion-throne, a treasury of wondrous jewels, covered entirely with jeweled nets on every side; and every one of those bodhisattvas, according to the direction from which they had come, each sat cross-legged upon their own throne. Their own bodies all emitted a hundred thousand million nayutas of asaṃkhyeyas of pure light, and this immeasurable light arose entirely from the bodhisattvas' own pure mind-jewel and their great vow free of every fault and evil, displaying the sovereign and pure Dharma of every buddha; and through the power of every bodhisattva's own equal vow, they were able to universally rescue and protect every living being, delighted in by every world to behold, and whoever beheld them was never disappointed.
The sūtra has used this triple-arrival pattern many times before — ten bodhisattvas, ten worlds, ten buddhas — but rarely with the naming this uniform: every world is "Wondrous" something, every buddha is something "Banner," and every bodhisattva is likewise named "Banner." Where earlier chapters used matching names to signal that a teaching is identical across every world, here the shared name seems to gather the ten bodhisattvas into a single coherent company before they speak — fitting, since the chapter's own title promises verses of praise from exactly such a company.
Part 196 Complete
This closes Part 196. Chapter 24 continues in Part 197 with the bodhisattvas' own spiritual attainments and Vajra Banner Bodhisattva preparing to speak.