Indescribably Indescribable
The offering litany continues through this sūtra's classic ten-term escalation of scale — immeasurable, boundless, without equal, uncountable, inexpressible, inconceivable, unmeasurable, indescribable, and finally indescribably indescribable — applied first to flowers, garlands, and perfumed unguents, and finally to an extensive series of maṇi-jewel offerings whose every category, down to the palace itself, exceeds description twice over.
A Ladder of Superlatives
Each material in this passage receives a distinct rung on the same ladder of scale this sūtra applies elsewhere to kalpas and lifetimes — immeasurable, boundless, without equal, uncountable, inexpressible, inconceivable, unmeasurable, indescribable — climbing one step higher with every new substance, until maṇi-jewel offerings arrive at the ladder's final and highest rung, indescribably indescribable, repeated across an entire catalogue of forms from banner to palace.
無量華蓋，廣說乃至無量華宮殿；無邊鬘蓋，廣說乃至無邊鬘宮殿；無等塗香蓋，廣說乃至無等塗香宮殿；不可數末香蓋，廣說乃至不可數末香宮殿；不可稱衣蓋，廣說乃至不可稱衣宮殿；不可思寶蓋，廣說乃至不可思寶宮殿；不可量燈光明蓋，廣說乃至不可量燈光明宮殿；不可說莊嚴具蓋，廣說乃至不可說莊嚴具宮殿；
immeasurable flower canopies — speaking extensively, up to immeasurable flower palaces; boundless garland canopies — speaking extensively, up to boundless garland palaces; without-equal perfumed-unguent canopies — speaking extensively, up to without-equal perfumed-unguent palaces; uncountable powdered-incense canopies — speaking extensively, up to uncountable powdered-incense palaces; inexpressible robe canopies — speaking extensively, up to inexpressible robe palaces; inconceivable jeweled canopies — speaking extensively, up to inconceivable jeweled palaces; unmeasurable lamp-light canopies — speaking extensively, up to unmeasurable lamp-light palaces; indescribable ornament canopies — speaking extensively, up to indescribable ornament palaces;
不可說不可說摩尼寶蓋、不可說不可說摩尼寶幢，如是摩尼寶幡、摩尼寶帳、摩尼寶網、摩尼寶像、摩尼寶光、摩尼寶焰、摩尼寶雲、摩尼寶座、摩尼寶經行地、摩尼寶所住處、摩尼寶剎、摩尼寶山、摩尼寶海、摩尼寶河、摩尼寶樹、摩尼寶衣服、摩尼寶蓮華、摩尼寶宮殿，皆不可說不可說。
indescribably indescribable maṇi-jewel canopies, indescribably indescribable maṇi-jewel banners, and just the same maṇi-jewel pennants, maṇi-jewel curtains, maṇi-jewel nets, maṇi-jewel images, maṇi-jewel lights, maṇi-jewel flames, maṇi-jewel clouds, maṇi-jewel thrones, maṇi-jewel walking-paths, maṇi-jewel dwelling-places, maṇi-jewel lands, maṇi-jewel mountains, maṇi-jewel seas, maṇi-jewel rivers, maṇi-jewel trees, maṇi-jewel garments, maṇi-jewel lotus flowers, and maṇi-jewel palaces — all of them indescribably indescribable.
The device "speaking extensively, up to" is the sūtra's own shorthand, not a summary imposed on it — the text itself signals that the full nineteen-item sequence established earlier (canopy through palace) repeats identically for each material, and abbreviates by naming only the first and last term. Rendering this device transparently, rather than silently expanding or silently compressing it further, preserves both the passage's actual content and the specific literary technique the sūtra uses to manage its own scale.
Part 248 Complete
This closes Part 248. Chapter 25 continues in Part 249 as the same nineteen-category sequence repeats one final time, with each and every one of these offerings surrounded by countless balustrades, towers, pavilions, and doorways beyond number.