Enlightenment and the Turning of the Dharma-Wheel
The fifth vast buddha-work arrives at the moment beneath the bodhi tree; the sixth follows immediately with the turning of the dharma-wheel, splitting a single act into five distinct wheels, each turned for its own separate purpose.
Beneath the Bodhi Tree
The fifth vast buddha-work names the moment of enlightenment itself, and immediately turns it outward: light breaking through darkness, faith increasing in those who already have it, faith beginning in those who did not.
「佛子！一切諸佛具一切智，於無量法悉已知見，菩提樹下成最正覺，降伏眾魔，威德特尊，光明破闇，智慧照了，於三世法無不明達，具一切智，於法自在，令諸眾生歡喜信樂，離諸疑惑，未信者信，已信增長，是為第五廣大佛事。
"Sons of the Buddha! Every buddha, endowed with all-knowing wisdom, having already known and seen measureless dharmas, attains the finest, perfect enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree, subduing every demon host, their majestic virtue especially exalted, their light breaking through darkness, their wisdom illuminating all things; with regard to the dharmas of the three times, there is nothing they fail to comprehend, endowed with all-knowing wisdom, having mastery with regard to dharma, causing sentient beings to rejoice and delight with faith, departing from every doubt, so that those without faith come to have faith, and those who already have faith see it increase — this is the fifth vast buddha-work.
Five Wheels, Five Purposes
What is usually told as a single event — the turning of the dharma-wheel — is split here into five distinct wheels, each aimed at a different outcome: bodhisattvas who never turn back, a world that fully comprehends, entry into the tathāgata's own ground, an unbroken lineage, and the rescue of every being.
「佛子！一切諸佛轉不退法輪，令諸菩薩不退轉故；轉無量法輪，令一切世間咸了知故；轉一切智法輪，令諸菩薩入如來地故；轉一切佛法法輪，令諸如來種性不斷故；轉大慈大悲法輪，救護一切諸眾生故，是為第六廣大佛事。
Every buddha turns the dharma-wheel of never turning back, causing every bodhisattva to never turn back; turns the dharma-wheel of measureless dharma, causing the entire world to fully comprehend it; turns the dharma-wheel of all-knowing wisdom, causing every bodhisattva to enter the tathāgata's ground; turns the dharma-wheel of every buddha-dharma, causing the tathāgatas' lineage to never be broken; and turns the dharma-wheel of great loving-kindness and great compassion, rescuing and protecting every sentient being — this is the sixth vast buddha-work.
轉不退法輪……轉無量法輪……轉一切智法輪……轉一切佛法法輪……轉大慈大悲法輪 — turning the dharma-wheel of never turning back … of measureless dharma … of all-knowing wisdom … of every buddha-dharma … of great loving-kindness and great compassion. Five wheels named in a single breath, each with its own beneficiary and its own outcome, suggest that "turning the dharma-wheel" was never a single undifferentiated act to begin with — it is at minimum five simultaneous acts, aimed respectively at bodhisattvas, the world at large, those ready to enter the tathāgata's ground, the unbroken lineage of buddhas, and every suffering being without exception.
Part 595 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-three, 佛不思議法品, in fascicle forty-seven. Part 596 continues the ten kinds of vast buddha-work, with a buddha entering every royal city and marketplace to carry out buddha-work there.