Wholesome Roots Before Birth, and a Renunciation Built to Happen
The third vast buddha-work reframes an entire childhood — the seven steps at birth, learning to write, childhood play, taking a wife — as display rather than development, since a buddha's wisdom was already pure before any of it happened. The fourth turns to the palace itself, built not to be enjoyed but to be seen through.
A Childhood That Was Already Finished
Every ordinary milestone of a young prince's life — his first steps, his lessons, his play, his marriage — is reinterpreted here as something already accomplished long ago, displayed now only for the sake of beings who still need to see it happen.
「佛子！一切諸佛一切善業皆已清淨，一切生智皆已明潔，而以生法誘導群迷，令其開悟，然諸如來不由此法而得清淨，但以現生為眾生故；示同人法，示行七步，是為現與一切眾生為與導首；示習書數，是為顯示往昔福智久已成就，超諸世間；示現戲笑，是為顯示久已超過一切喜笑；出王宮處，示欲境界，是為顯示宿殖善根，超諸欲染；示受妃后、采女、眷屬，是為顯示久已通達善巧方便，成就菩薩無礙智故；是為第三廣大佛事。
"Sons of the Buddha! Every buddha's every wholesome deed is already entirely pure, every wisdom born within them already entirely clear and unclouded, and yet they use the dharma of birth to guide the confused multitude, causing them to awaken; the tathāgatas do not attain purity through this dharma — it is simply that they manifest birth for the sake of sentient beings. They display conduct the same as ordinary human ways: displaying the seven steps taken at birth, this is to manifest themselves as the foremost guide for every sentient being; displaying the practice of writing and reckoning, this is to reveal that their merit and wisdom, long ago already accomplished, surpass every worldly attainment; displaying playful laughter, this is to reveal that they have long since transcended every worldly amusement and laughter; leaving the royal palace grounds, displaying the sphere of sensual desire, this is to reveal wholesome roots planted long ago, surpassing every defilement of desire; displaying the taking of a consort, a queen, court ladies, and a retinue, this is to reveal that they have long since penetrated skillful means, having accomplished the bodhisattva's unobstructed wisdom — this is the third vast buddha-work.
然諸如來不由此法而得清淨，但以現生為眾生故 — the tathāgatas do not attain purity through this dharma; it is simply that they manifest birth for the sake of sentient beings. This single clause reframes everything that follows it. The seven steps, the lessons, the laughter, the marriage are not a biography of growth — each is explicitly labeled a display, staged to reveal an attainment that was already complete before any of it began.
A Palace Built to Be Renounced
The fourth vast buddha-work turns to the great departure, framing the palace's every adornment as a display meant to be seen through rather than a temptation genuinely overcome.
「佛子！一切諸佛示處種種莊嚴宮殿，觀察厭離，捨而出家，欲使眾生了知世法皆是妄想、貪愛所生，若無貪愛則無世間；又示厭離貪愛之法，令諸眾生俱時開悟，是為第四廣大佛事。
Every buddha displays dwelling within every manner of adorned palace, then contemplating it with revulsion and departing to renounce the household life, wishing to cause sentient beings to comprehend that all worldly dharmas arise entirely from false imagining and craving attachment, and that were there no craving attachment, there would be no world at all; and further displays the dharma of revulsion toward craving attachment, causing sentient beings all together to awaken at the same time — this is the fourth vast buddha-work.
若無貪愛則無世間 — were there no craving attachment, there would be no world at all. The renunciation is given a claim more radical than simply leaving comfort behind: the world itself, this line says, is constituted by craving, so that departing from craving is not a retreat from the world but a departure from what makes a world a world in the first place.
Part 594 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-three, 佛不思議法品, in fascicle forty-seven. Part 595 continues the ten kinds of vast buddha-work, with enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree and the turning of the dharma-wheel.