Vajragarbha Enters Samādhi
Vajragarbha Bodhisattva enters the samādhi of great wisdom and light, and buddhas beyond counting — every one of them bearing his own name — manifest before him to explain why he alone has been empowered: through Vairocana's own original vow, through majestic spiritual power, and through his own supreme wisdom, so that he may expound the inconceivable light of every buddha's own Dharma, and the ten bodhisattva grounds from beginning to end.
Buddhas Beyond Counting, Bearing His Own Name
The moment Vajragarbha enters samādhi, buddhas as numerous as the dust motes of a billion buddha-lands beyond every direction appear before him — every one of them named Vajragarbha, just as he is — explaining that their empowerment flows from three sources at once: Vairocana's own original vow, majestic spiritual power, and Vajragarbha's own supreme wisdom.
爾時，金剛藏菩薩承佛神力，入菩薩大智慧光明三昧。入是三昧已，即時十方各過十億佛剎微塵數世界外，各有十億佛剎微塵數諸佛，同名：金剛藏，而現其前，作如是言：「善哉善哉！金剛藏！乃能入是菩薩大智慧光明三昧。善男子！此是十方各十億佛剎微塵數諸佛共加於汝，以毘盧遮那如來、應、正等覺本願力故，威神力故，亦是汝勝智力故，欲令汝為一切菩薩說不思議諸佛法光明故。
Then Vajragarbha Bodhisattva, receiving the Buddha's own spiritual power, entered the bodhisattva samādhi of great wisdom and light. Having entered this samādhi, at that very moment, beyond worlds as numerous as the dust motes of a billion buddha-lands in each of the ten directions, there were buddhas as numerous as the dust motes of a billion buddha-lands, all bearing the same name, Vajragarbha, who manifested before him and spoke these words: "Excellent, excellent, Vajragarbha! You have been able to enter this bodhisattva samādhi of great wisdom and light. Good son! This is because the buddhas throughout the ten directions, as numerous as the dust motes of a billion buddha-lands each, together empower you — through the power of Vairocana Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly and Completely Awakened One's own original vow, through the power of majestic spiritual might, and also through the power of your own supreme wisdom — wishing to cause you to expound, for the sake of every bodhisattva, the inconceivable light of every buddha's own Dharma.
Every empowering buddha shares the exact name of the one being empowered — a detail that turns this scene into something more than a blessing bestowed by a higher authority on a lesser one. Vajragarbha is not being lent power by beings unlike himself; he is being recognized by countless versions of exactly what he already is.
Twenty-Two Purposes, and What He Must Now Expound
The buddhas name purpose after purpose for this empowerment — entering the ground of wisdom, purifying what transcends the world, attaining the ten bodhisattva grounds from beginning to end — before instructing Vajragarbha directly: he must now skillfully expound the distinctions of this very Dharma gate, for ten further reasons culminating in the full satisfaction of omniscience itself.
所謂：令入智地故，攝一切善根故，善揀擇一切佛法故，廣知諸法故，善能說法故，無分別智清淨故，一切世法不染故，出世善根清淨故，得不思議智境界故，得一切智人智境界故；又令得菩薩十地始終故，如實說菩薩十地差別相故，緣念一切佛法故，修習分別無漏法故，善選擇觀察大智光明巧莊嚴故，善入決定智門故，隨所住處次第顯說無所畏故，得無礙辯才光明故，住大辯才地善決定故，憶念菩薩心不忘失故，成熟一切眾生界故，能遍至一切處決定開悟故。善男子！汝當辯說此法門差別善巧法。所謂：承佛神力如來智明所加故，淨自善根故，普淨法界故，普攝眾生故，深入法身、智身故，受一切佛灌頂故，得一切世間最高大身故，超一切世間道故，清淨出世善根故，滿足一切智智故。
Namely: so as to cause you to enter the ground of wisdom; so as to gather in every wholesome root; so as to skillfully discriminate every buddha's own Dharma; so as to broadly know every dharma; so as to be skillfully able to expound the Dharma; so as to purify wisdom free of discrimination; so as to remain undefiled by any worldly dharma; so as to purify every wholesome root that transcends the world; so as to attain the inconceivable domain of wisdom; so as to attain the domain of wisdom possessed by every omniscient one; and further, so as to attain the ten bodhisattva grounds from beginning to end; so as to expound the distinct marks of the ten bodhisattva grounds exactly as they are; so as to reflect upon and be mindful of every buddha's own Dharma; so as to cultivate and discriminate every undefiled dharma; so as to skillfully select, contemplate, and adorn the light of great wisdom with skillful means; so as to skillfully enter the gate of resolute wisdom; so as to reveal and expound fearlessness in sequence, according to whatever ground one abides in; so as to attain the light of unobstructed eloquence; so as to abide securely and resolutely in the ground of great eloquence; so as to hold every bodhisattva's own mind in memory without forgetting it; so as to bring the whole realm of sentient beings to maturity; and so as to be able to reach every place, resolutely bringing about awakening. Good son! You should skillfully expound the distinctions of this Dharma gate. Namely: because you receive the Buddha's own spiritual power and are empowered by the Tathāgata's own bright wisdom; because you purify your own wholesome roots; because you universally purify the dharma-realm; because you universally gather in sentient beings; because you deeply enter the Dharma body and the wisdom body; because you receive the consecration of every buddha; because you attain the most supreme, great body throughout every world; because you transcend every worldly path; because you purify every wholesome root that transcends the world; and because you fully satisfy the very wisdom of omniscience.
Thirty-two distinct purposes, named across two lists, for a single act of teaching not yet begun — this is a scale of justification even this sūtra rarely applies to speech itself. The ten grounds Vajragarbha is about to expound are treated as consequential enough to warrant explaining, in exhaustive detail, why the explanation is happening at all before a single ground has been named.
Part 398 Complete
This continues the opening of the Ten Grounds chapter. Chapter 26 continues in Part 399 as the buddhas of the ten directions grant Vajragarbha Bodhisattva further gifts — an unrivaled body, unobstructed eloquence, and the power of every buddha's own fearlessness — before explaining why these are given: because he has cultivated this very samādhi since his original vow.