Bodies Without Number, Colors Without Name
The eighth penetration opens by declaring that form has no true mark of color at all — not blue, not yellow, not red, not white — and then, in the same breath, begins a list of named colors that runs longer than any catalogue this chapter has offered yet.
Nearly Eighty Named Colors
What follows the denial of color is not silence but excess — as if the only way to make good on "no fixed color" is to name so many colors that none of them can be mistaken for the final word.
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩以出生無量阿僧祇色身莊嚴智通，知一切法遠離色相，無差別相，無種種相，無無量相，無分別相，無青、黃、赤、白相。菩薩如是入於法界，能現其身，作種種色。所謂：無邊色、無量色、清淨色、莊嚴色、普遍色、無比色、普照色、增上色、無違逆色、具諸相色、離眾惡色、大威力色、可尊重色、無窮盡色、眾雜妙色、極端嚴色、不可量色、善守護色、能成熟色、隨化者色、無障礙色、甚明徹色、無垢濁色、極澄淨色、大勇健色、不思議方便色、不可壞色、離瑕翳色、無障闇色、善安住色、妙莊嚴色、諸相端嚴色、種種隨好色、大尊貴色、妙境界色、善磨瑩色、清淨深心色、熾然明盛色、最勝廣大色、無間斷色、無所依色、無等比色、充滿不可說佛剎色、增長色、堅固攝受色、最勝功德色、隨諸心樂色、清淨解了色、積集眾妙色、善巧決定色、無有障礙色、虛空明淨色、清淨可樂色、離諸塵垢色、不可稱量色、妙見色、普見色、隨時示現色、寂靜色、離貪色、真實福田色、能作安隱色、離諸怖畏色、離愚癡行色、智慧勇猛色、身相無礙色、遊行普遍色、心無所依色、大慈所起色、大悲所現色、平等出離色、具足福德色、隨心憶念色、無邊妙寶色、寶藏光明色、眾生信樂色、一切智現前色、歡喜眼色、眾寶莊嚴第一色、無有處所色、自在示現色、種種神通色、生如來家色、過諸譬諭色、周遍法界色、
Sons of the Buddha! Through the penetration of the wisdom that produces measureless asaṃkhyeyas of adorned bodies of form, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that all dharmas are far removed from any mark of form — without distinguishing marks, without manifold marks, without measureless marks, without discriminated marks, without marks of blue, yellow, red, or white. The bodhisattva, entering the dharma-realm in this way, is able to manifest his body, taking on manifold colors, namely: boundless color, measureless color, pure color, adorned color, universal color, peerless color, universally illuminating color, ever-ascending color, color that meets no resistance, color endowed with every mark, color free of every evil, color of great awesome power, color worthy of reverence, inexhaustible color, color of manifold wondrous mixtures, color of utmost solemn adornment, immeasurable color, well-guarded color, color able to ripen beings, color that follows those to be transformed, unobstructed color, color exceedingly bright and penetrating, color free of defilement and turbidity, color of utmost clarity and purity, color of great courage and vigor, color of inconceivable skillful means, indestructible color, color free of blemish and obscuration, color without obstructing darkness, color well abiding, color of wondrous adornment, color of every mark solemn and fine, color of manifold excellent characteristics, color of great nobility, color of a wondrous realm, color well polished and lustrous, color of a pure and profound mind, color blazing bright and abundant, color supreme and vast, uninterrupted color, color with no reliance, color without equal or comparison, color that fills ineffable buddha-lands, color that increases, color firmly embracing, color of supreme merit, color that follows every mind's delight, color of pure understanding, color that gathers every wonder, color of skillful decisiveness, color without any obstruction, color bright and pure like space, color pure and delightful, color free of every speck of dust, color beyond weighing or measure, color wondrous to behold, color seen everywhere, color manifesting at the right time, tranquil color, color free of greed, color of a true field of merit, color that brings tranquility, color free of every fear, color free of foolish conduct, color of wisdom bold and courageous, color of a body unobstructed in its marks, color that travels everywhere, color of a mind with no reliance, color arising from great loving-kindness, color manifested by great compassion, color of equal release, color complete in merit, color that follows the mind's recollection, color of boundless wondrous jewels, color of the light of a jeweled treasury, color that beings have faith in and delight in, color of all-knowing wisdom made manifest, color of joyful eyes, color foremost in adornment with every jewel, color with no fixed location, color manifesting with sovereign freedom, color of manifold spiritual powers, color born into the tathāgata's own family, color surpassing every simile, color pervading the entire dharma-realm,
知一切法遠離色相…無青、黃、赤、白相。菩薩如是入於法界，能現其身，作種種色 — knows that all dharmas are far removed from any mark of color… without blue, yellow, red, or white. The bodhisattva, entering the dharma-realm in this way, is able to manifest his body, taking on manifold colors. The denial and the list are not in tension — the same move Part 538 made with mind and illusion: knowing form has no fixed mark is exactly what frees the bodhisattva to manifest it in every mark there is.
Reading through the list itself, almost none of the nearly eighty terms so far name an actual hue. 色 here names a manifested quality — compassion, fearlessness, purity, nobility — each one called a "color" the bodhisattva's body can take on. Blue, yellow, red, and white, denied in the opening line, never reappear.
Part 551 Complete
This continues chapter twenty-eight, 十通品, The Ten Kinds of Spiritual Penetration, in fascicle forty-four. Part 552 completes the list of colors — turning, in its last stretch, to actual images of light and fragrance: a net of countless lights, a sun's wheel, an unequalled moon-body, clouds of flowers — before explaining what all of it is for.