The Tathāgata Neither Appears Nor Enters Nirvāṇa
Vajra Banner Bodhisattva opens the chapter's first verse with a direct paradox: the Tathāgata neither truly appears in the world nor enters nirvāṇa — every apparent birth and death is simply his own original vow made visible. The form-body and the voice are not themselves the Buddha, and yet, the verse insists, apart from that very form and voice, he cannot be beheld at all.
Neither the Body Nor Apart From It
The verse's central turn is its third stanza: the form-body is not the Buddha, and his voice is likewise not the Buddha — and yet apart from form and voice, his spiritual power cannot be beheld at all. The verse holds both halves of that paradox together rather than resolving it, closing on a direct instruction: whoever beholds this very power should make offerings without letting doubt creep in.
「如來不出世，亦無有涅槃，
以本大願力，示現自在法。
是法難思議，非心所行處，
智慧到彼岸，乃見諸佛境。
色身非是佛，音聲亦復然，
亦不離色聲，見佛神通力。
少智不能知，諸佛實境界，
久修清淨業，於此乃能了。
正覺無來處，去亦無所從，
清淨妙色身，神力故顯現。
無量世界中，示現如來身，
廣說微妙法，其心無所著。
"The Tathāgata neither appears in the world, nor enters nirvāṇa; it is through the power of his own original great vow that he manifests this sovereign Dharma. This Dharma is difficult to conceive of, not a domain the mind can ever travel; only one whose wisdom has reached the other shore can behold the very domain of every buddha.
The form-body is not the Buddha, and his voice is likewise not the Buddha; and yet, apart from form and voice, one cannot behold the Buddha's own spiritual power. One of little wisdom is unable to know the true and real domain of every buddha; only one who has long cultivated pure karmic action can come to understand it.
The truly awakened one comes from nowhere, and departs to nowhere either; his pure and wondrous form-body is displayed entirely through spiritual power. Within immeasurable worlds, he manifests the Tathāgata's own body, expounding the subtle and wondrous Dharma extensively, his mind clinging to nothing at all.
智慧無邊際，了達一切法，
普入於法界，示現自在力。
眾生及諸法，了達皆無礙，
普現眾色像，遍於一切剎。
欲求一切智，速成無上覺，
應以淨妙心，修習菩提行。
若有見如來，如是威神力，
當於最勝尊，供養勿生疑。」
His wisdom has no limit or boundary at all; understanding every dharma entirely, he universally enters the Dharma-realm, and manifests his own sovereign power. Understanding both living beings and every dharma entirely without any obstruction, he universally manifests every kind of form and image, pervading every buddha-land.
Whoever wishes to seek all-knowing wisdom, and swiftly accomplish unsurpassed awakening, should, with a pure and wondrous mind, cultivate and practice the conduct of bodhi. If there is anyone who beholds the Tathāgata's own awesome spiritual power such as this, they should, before this most supreme and honored one, make offerings without giving rise to any doubt at all."
"The form-body is not the Buddha, and his voice is likewise not the Buddha; and yet, apart from form and voice, one cannot behold the Buddha's own spiritual power" is one of the sūtra's more compact statements of a teaching found throughout Mahāyāna literature — that the Buddha's true nature is neither identical with, nor separable from, his visible form. Read alongside the opening claim that the Tathāgata "neither appears in the world, nor enters nirvāṇa," the verse builds toward its own practical instruction: this teaching is not meant to produce doubt about whether the visible Buddha is real, but confidence to make offerings in his presence regardless.
Part 198 Complete
This closes Part 198. Chapter 24 continues in Part 199 with the second bodhisattva's own verse.