Ask Him Yourself
The roll of the assembly finishes, and every one of them turns out to have practiced alongside Vairocana in ages past. Universal Eye asks the Buddha about Samantabhadra's concentrations, and the Buddha declines to answer — not because the question is wrong, but because the person is in the room.
The Rest of the Assembly
The names run on — eyes, lamps, vajras, banners — and end with two that matter for what follows, Universal Eye and Universal Eye's Domain of Wisdom Adorned.
智眼菩薩、法眼菩薩、慧雲菩薩、總持王菩薩、無住願菩薩、智藏菩薩、心王菩薩、內覺慧菩薩、住佛智菩薩、陀羅尼勇健力菩薩、持地力菩薩、妙月菩薩、須彌頂菩薩、寶頂菩薩、普光照菩薩、威德王菩薩、智慧輪菩薩、大威德菩薩、大龍相菩薩、質直行菩薩、不退轉菩薩、持法幢菩薩、無忘失菩薩、攝諸趣菩薩、不思議決定慧菩薩、遊戲無邊智菩薩、無盡妙法藏菩薩、智日菩薩、法日菩薩、智藏菩薩、智澤菩薩、普見菩薩、不空見菩薩、金剛通菩薩、金剛智菩薩、金剛焰菩薩、金剛慧菩薩、普眼菩薩、佛日菩薩、持佛金剛祕密義菩薩、普眼境界智莊嚴菩薩……。如是等菩薩摩訶薩十佛剎微塵數，往昔皆與毘盧遮那如來同修菩薩諸善根行。
Eye of Wisdom Bodhisattva, Dharma-Eye Bodhisattva, Cloud of Wisdom Bodhisattva, King of Retention Bodhisattva, Vow of Non-Abiding Bodhisattva, Treasury of Wisdom Bodhisattva, Mind-King Bodhisattva, Inwardly Awakened Wisdom Bodhisattva, Abiding in the Buddha's Wisdom Bodhisattva, Valiant Power of Dhāraṇī Bodhisattva, Power That Upholds the Earth Bodhisattva, Wondrous Moon Bodhisattva, Summit of Sumeru Bodhisattva, Jewel Summit Bodhisattva, Universal Illumination Bodhisattva, King of Awesome Virtue Bodhisattva, Wheel of Wisdom Bodhisattva, Great Awesome Virtue Bodhisattva, Great Nāga's Aspect Bodhisattva, Upright Conduct Bodhisattva, Non-Regressing Bodhisattva, Upholding the Dharma-Banner Bodhisattva, Never Forgetting Bodhisattva, Gathering In All the Destinies Bodhisattva, Inconceivable Decisive Wisdom Bodhisattva, Playing in Boundless Wisdom Bodhisattva, Inexhaustible Treasury of Wondrous Dharma Bodhisattva, Sun of Wisdom Bodhisattva, Sun of Dharma Bodhisattva, Treasury of Wisdom Bodhisattva, Moisture of Wisdom Bodhisattva, Universal Seeing Bodhisattva, Seeing Not in Vain Bodhisattva, Vajra Penetration Bodhisattva, Vajra Wisdom Bodhisattva, Vajra Flame Bodhisattva, Vajra Wisdom Bodhisattva, Universal Eye Bodhisattva, Sun of the Buddha Bodhisattva, Upholding the Buddha's Vajra Secret Meaning Bodhisattva, Universal Eye's Domain of Wisdom Adorned Bodhisattva — and so on. Bodhisattva mahāsattvas such as these, as numerous as the dust-motes of ten buddha-lands, had all in ages past cultivated the practices of the bodhisattva's wholesome roots together with Vairocana Tathāgata.
往昔皆與毘盧遮那如來同修菩薩諸善根行 — they had all in ages past cultivated the bodhisattva's wholesome roots together with Vairocana Tathāgata. Together with, not under. The whole assembly of this chapter are the Buddha's old fellow-practitioners, and the sūtra says so before anyone speaks.
The Question, and Where It Is Sent
Universal Eye asks how many samādhis Samantabhadra and those who follow his vows have — and asks it as a practical question about entering, leaving, and remaining.
爾時，普眼菩薩摩訶薩承佛神力從座而起，偏袒右肩，右膝著地，合掌白佛言：「世尊！我於如來、應、正等覺，欲有所問，願垂哀許。」佛言：「普眼！恣汝所問，當為汝說，令汝心喜。」普眼菩薩言：「世尊！普賢菩薩及住普賢所有行願諸菩薩眾，成就幾何三昧解脫，而於菩薩諸大三昧或入、或出、或時安住？以於菩薩不可思議廣大三昧善入出故，能於一切三昧自在神通變化無有休息。」
Then Universal Eye Bodhisattva mahāsattva, receiving the Buddha's spiritual power, rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee to the ground, joined his palms and said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! I wish to ask something of the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly and Completely Awakened; may you graciously permit it." The Buddha said: "Universal Eye! Ask whatever you wish, and I shall expound it for you and gladden your heart." Universal Eye Bodhisattva said: "World-Honored One! How many samādhis and liberations have Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and those bodhisattva hosts who abide in all of Samantabhadra's practices and vows accomplished, such that among the bodhisattvas' great samādhis they enter, or emerge, or at times abide? For because they enter and emerge well within the bodhisattvas' inconceivable and vast samādhis, they can be sovereignly free in all samādhis, and their spiritual penetrations and transformations never come to rest."
佛言：「善哉！普眼！汝為利益去、來、現在諸菩薩眾而問斯義。普眼！普賢菩薩今現在此，已能成就不可思議自在神通，出過一切諸菩薩上，難可值遇；從於無量菩薩行生，菩薩大願悉已清淨，所行之行皆無退轉，無量波羅蜜門、無礙陀羅尼門、無盡辯才門皆悉已得，清淨無礙，大悲利益一切眾生，以本願力盡未來際而無厭倦。汝應請彼，彼當為汝說其三昧自在解脫。」
The Buddha said: "Excellent, Universal Eye! You ask this meaning for the benefit of the bodhisattva hosts of the past, the future and the present. Universal Eye! Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is present here now. He has already accomplished inconceivable sovereign spiritual penetration, surpassing all other bodhisattvas, and is hard to encounter. He is born from measureless bodhisattva practice; the bodhisattva's great vows are already wholly pure in him; the practices he performs are all without regression; measureless gateways of the pāramitās, unobstructed gateways of dhāraṇī and inexhaustible gateways of eloquence have all been obtained by him, pure and unobstructed; with great compassion he benefits all beings, and by the power of his original vows he will never weary of it to the very end of the future. You should ask him, and he will expound for you the sovereign liberation of those samādhis."
或入、或出、或時安住 — they enter, or emerge, or at times abide. The question is not what samādhi feels like but how one moves in and out of it. Part 474 said of the tenth ground that skill lay in both entering and rising; the chapter on the concentrations begins by asking about the same three positions.
汝應請彼 — you should ask him. The Buddha praises the question, describes the man at length, and then sends the questioner elsewhere. Everything the chapter is about will be spoken by Samantabhadra, and the Buddha's part is to say he is here — 今現在此, present here now, which the next Part will complicate considerably.
Part 491 Complete
This continues chapter twenty-seven, 十定品, The Ten Concentrations, in fascicle forty. Part 492 turns strange: at the mere sound of Samantabhadra's name the whole assembly obtains measureless samādhis and sees countless buddhas — and then, looking everywhere through the assembly for him, they cannot find him, or even the seat he sits on.