Ten Great Wheels of Samādhi
The elephant simile closes, the reasons behind every manifestation are finally named, and the whole long description of the tenth samādhi — and with it chapter twenty-seven in its entirety — ends on a single formula naming all ten great wheels of Samantabhadra's samādhi together.
Gates Without Number
Before the reasons come the sheer range of what is manifested — awakenings appearing in every kind of land, over every conceivable span of time.
不捨普賢道，現成最正覺，現不可說不可說成正覺門，現不可說不可說轉法輪門，現不可說不可說住深心門；於不可說不可說廣大國土，現涅槃變化門；於不可說不可說差別世界，而現受生修普賢行，現不可說不可說如來；於不可說不可說廣大國土菩提樹下成最正覺，不可說不可說菩薩眾親近圍遶。
Without abandoning the path of Samantabhadra, he manifests the attainment of unsurpassed perfect awakening; he manifests ineffably ineffable gateways of attaining perfect awakening, ineffably ineffable gateways of turning the Dharma-wheel, and ineffably ineffable gateways of abiding in profound resolve; in ineffably ineffable vast lands, he manifests gateways of nirvāṇa's transformation; in ineffably ineffable distinct worlds, he manifests the taking of birth to cultivate Samantabhadra's practice, manifesting ineffably ineffable tathāgatas; and beneath the bodhi tree in ineffably ineffable vast lands, he attains unsurpassed perfect awakening, surrounded by ineffably ineffable assemblies of bodhisattvas drawing near.
或於一念頃，修普賢行而成正覺，或須臾頃，或於一時，或於一日，或於半月，或於一月，或於一年，或無數年，或於一劫，如是乃至不可說不可說劫，修普賢行而成正覺。復於一切諸佛剎中而為上首，親近於佛，頂禮供養，請問觀察如幻境界，淨修菩薩無量諸行、無量諸智、種種神變、種種威德、種種智慧、種種境界、種種神通、種種自在、種種解脫、種種法明、種種教化調伏之法。
Sometimes within the space of a single thought, cultivating Samantabhadra's practice, he attains perfect awakening; sometimes within a mere moment, sometimes within a single hour, sometimes within a single day, sometimes within half a month, sometimes within a month, sometimes within a year, sometimes within countless years, sometimes within a kalpa — and so on, up to ineffably ineffable kalpas, cultivating Samantabhadra's practice, he attains perfect awakening. Furthermore, in every buddha-land he becomes foremost, drawing near to the buddhas, paying homage and making offerings, inquiring of them and observing the realm that is like an illusion, purely cultivating the bodhisattva's measureless practices, measureless wisdoms, manifold spiritual transformations, manifold awesome virtues, manifold wisdoms, manifold realms, manifold spiritual powers, manifold sovereign freedoms, manifold liberations, manifold illuminations of dharma, and manifold methods of teaching and taming beings.
或於一念頃…或於一劫，如是乃至不可說不可說劫 — sometimes within the space of a single thought… sometimes within a kalpa, and so on up to ineffably ineffable kalpas. The same attainment, perfect awakening through Samantabhadra's practice, is reached across every possible span of time without the text ranking one span above another — a thought and an ineffable number of kalpas are offered as equally valid timescales for the identical event.
Why He Manifests Everywhere
After the sheer scale of the manifestations, the text turns to state plainly what all of it is for.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩本身不滅，以行願力於一切處如是變現。何以故？欲以普賢自在神力調伏一切諸眾生故，令不可說不可說眾生得清淨故，令其永斷生死輪故，嚴淨廣大諸世界故，常見一切諸如來故，深入一切佛法流故，憶念三世諸佛種故，憶念十方一切佛法及法身故，普修一切菩薩諸行使圓滿故，入普賢流自在能證一切智故。
Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva's original body is not extinguished; through the power of his practice and vows, he manifests transformations such as these in every place. Why is this so? Because he wishes, through Samantabhadra's sovereign spiritual power, to tame all beings; because he causes ineffably ineffable beings to attain purity; because he causes them to forever sever the wheel of birth and death; because he adorns and purifies vast worlds; because he constantly beholds all tathāgatas; because he enters deeply into the stream of every buddha-dharma; because he keeps in mind the lineage of buddhas of the three times; because he keeps in mind every buddha-dharma and dharma-body throughout the ten directions; because he universally cultivates every bodhisattva practice, bringing it to perfection; and because he enters the stream of Samantabhadra and, with sovereign freedom, is able to realize all-knowing wisdom.
菩薩摩訶薩本身不滅 — the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's original body is not extinguished. Stated as the premise before the ten reasons, not as one reason among them: everything that follows — the beings tamed, the worlds purified, the wisdom realized — depends on one body persisting through every transformation, exactly as Part 545's elephant king never changed within his own mountain cave.
The Ten Great Wheels of Samādhi
The elephant simile returns one last time, folded into a final admonition — and then the whole tenth samādhi, and the chapter that has carried it since Part 490, closes on a single naming formula.
佛子！汝應觀此菩薩摩訶薩，不捨普賢行，不斷菩薩道，見一切佛，證一切智，自在受用一切智法。如伊羅鉢那象王不捨象身，往三十三天，為天所乘，受天快樂，作天遊戲，承事天主，與天采女而作歡娛，同於諸天無有差別。
Sons of the Buddha! You should observe this bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he does not abandon Samantabhadra's practice, does not sever the bodhisattva path, sees all buddhas, realizes all-knowing wisdom, and sovereignly enjoys the dharma of all-knowing wisdom. It is like the elephant king Airāvaṇa, who, without abandoning his elephant body, goes to Trāyastriṃśa, is ridden by the gods, receives heavenly pleasures, engages in heavenly play, attends upon the lord of the gods, and makes merry with the celestial maidens — no different at all from the gods themselves.
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，不捨普賢大乘諸行，不退諸願，得佛自在，具一切智，證佛解脫，無障無礙，成就清淨，於諸國土無所染著，於佛法中無所分別；雖知諸法普皆平等無有二相，而恒明見一切佛土；雖已等同三世諸佛，而修菩薩行相續不斷。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩安住如是普賢行願廣大之法，當知是人心得清淨。佛子！此是菩薩摩訶薩第十無礙輪大三昧殊勝心廣大智。「佛子！此是菩薩摩訶薩所住普賢行十大三昧輪。」
Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: without abandoning the manifold Great Vehicle practices of Samantabhadra, without regressing from his vows, he attains the buddhas' own sovereign freedom, is endowed with all-knowing wisdom, realizes the buddhas' own liberation, without obstruction or hindrance, and accomplishes purity — unstained and unattached amid all lands, free of discrimination within the buddha-dharma. Though he knows all dharmas are universally equal and without dual characteristics, he constantly and clearly sees every buddha-land; though he is already equal to the buddhas of the three times, he continues cultivating the bodhisattva practice without interruption. Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who abides securely in this vast dharma of Samantabhadra's practices and vows — know that such a person's mind attains purity. Sons of the Buddha! This is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's tenth, the great Unobstructed Wheel Samādhi — a supreme mind, a vast wisdom. Sons of the Buddha! This is the ten great wheels of samādhi in which the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, practicing Samantabhadra's conduct, abides.
此是菩薩摩訶薩所住普賢行十大三昧輪 — this is the ten great wheels of samādhi in which the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, practicing Samantabhadra's conduct, abides. The formula that closes the entire chapter, naming all ten together for the first time since Part 495 listed their names one by one — 普光大三昧 through 無礙輪大三昧 — and everything between has been the unfolding of that list, ground by ground, sometimes for a single Part and, in this tenth and largest, across eighteen.
Fascicle 43 and Chapter 27 Complete
This completes fascicle forty-three and, with it, chapter twenty-seven, 十定品, The Ten Concentrations, in its entirety — begun in Part 490 with Universal Eye's question about Samantabhadra's samādhis, and closing here with all ten samādhis named together as a single set of wheels. Part 547 opens fascicle forty-four with chapter twenty-eight, 十通品, The Ten Kinds of Spiritual Penetration.