Samantabhadra Confirms He Will Speak
A second light, this one from the Buddha's own mouth, enters Samantabhadra and swells his body and lion-throne a hundredfold beyond every other bodhisattva's; recognizing the sign from ages past, he confirms he will teach the dharma-gate of the tathāgata's appearance, and the earth itself quakes at the news.
A Body Grown a Hundredfold
The light that entered one bodhisattva's crown now enters another's mouth, and where the first light provoked only a question, this one visibly transforms the one who receives it — before the assembly is told, in detail, exactly why it is qualified to hear what comes next.
爾時，如來即於口中放大光明，名：無礙無畏，百千億阿僧祇光明以為眷屬。普照十方盡虛空等法界一切世界，右遶十匝，顯現如來種種自在，開悟無量諸菩薩眾，震動一切十方世界，除滅一切諸惡道苦，映蔽一切諸魔宮殿，顯示一切諸佛如來坐菩提座成等正覺及以一切道場眾會；作是事已，而來右遶菩薩眾會，入普賢菩薩摩訶薩口。其光入已，普賢菩薩身及師子座，過於本時及諸菩薩身座百倍，唯除如來師子之座。爾時，如來性起妙德菩薩問普賢菩薩摩訶薩言：「佛子！佛所示現廣大神變，令諸菩薩皆生歡喜，不可思議，世莫能知，是何瑞相？」普賢菩薩摩訶薩言：「佛子！我於往昔見諸如來、應、正等覺示現如是廣大神變，即說如來出現法門。如我惟忖，今現此相，當說其法。」說是語時，一切大地悉皆震動，出生無量問法光明。
At that time, the tathāgata then emitted great light from within his mouth, named Unobstructed and Fearless, attended by hundred thousand koṭis of asaṃkhyeyas of lights. It universally illuminated every world throughout the entirety of empty space and the dharma-realm, circling ten times to the right, displaying every manner of the tathāgata's mastery, awakening measureless assemblies of bodhisattvas, shaking every world of the ten directions, extinguishing the suffering of every evil destiny, eclipsing every palace of every māra, and revealing every buddha tathāgata seated at the seat of awakening, having attained perfect and complete awakening, together with every assembly at every seat of awakening; having done this, it then circled to the right around the assembly of bodhisattvas, and entered the mouth of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva. Once that light had entered, Samantabhadra's body and lion-throne surpassed their own former size, and the bodies and thrones of every other bodhisattva, a hundred times over, excepting only the tathāgata's own lion-throne. At that time, the bodhisattva Wondrous Virtue Born of the Tathāgata's Nature asked Samantabhadra Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, saying: "Son of the Buddha! The vast spiritual transformation the Buddha has displayed, causing every bodhisattva to rejoice, is inconceivable, and the world is unable to know it — what auspicious sign is this?" Samantabhadra Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva said: "Son of the Buddha! In ages past I beheld every tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one, display a vast spiritual transformation such as this, and thereupon speak the dharma-gate of the tathāgata's appearance. As I now reflect, this very sign has appeared, and the dharma should now be spoken." As these words were spoken, the entire earth quaked in every way, giving rise to measureless light that asked for the dharma.
時，性起妙德菩薩問普賢菩薩言：「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應云何知諸佛如來、應、正等覺出現之法？願為我說！佛子！此諸無量百千億那由他菩薩眾會，皆久修淨業，念慧成就，到於究竟大莊嚴岸，具一切佛威儀之行，正念諸佛未曾忘失，大悲觀察一切眾生，決定了知諸大菩薩神通境界，已得諸佛神力所加，能受一切如來妙法；具如是等無量功德，皆已來集。佛子！汝已曾於無量百千億那由他佛所承事供養，成就菩薩最上妙行，於三昧門皆得自在，入一切佛祕密之處，知諸佛法，斷眾疑惑，為諸如來神力所加，知眾生根，隨其所樂為說真實解脫之法，隨順佛智演說佛法到於彼岸，有如是等無量功德。
Then the bodhisattva Wondrous Virtue Born of the Tathāgata's Nature asked Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, saying: "Son of the Buddha! How should a bodhisattva-mahāsattva come to know the dharma of the appearance of every buddha tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one? I beg you to speak of it for my sake! Son of the Buddha! This assembly of measureless hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of bodhisattvas has, for a long time, cultivated pure karma, and accomplished mindfulness and wisdom, arriving at the ultimate shore of great adornment; endowed with the dignified conduct of every buddha, holding right mindfulness of every buddha without ever once forgetting it, observing every sentient being with great compassion, resolutely comprehending the spiritual domain of every great bodhisattva, having already received the empowerment of every buddha's spiritual power, and being able to receive the wondrous dharma of every tathāgata — endowed with measureless merit such as this, they have all come together and gathered here. Son of the Buddha! You yourself have already served and made offerings before measureless hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of buddhas, accomplishing the bodhisattva's most supreme and wondrous practice, attaining mastery in every gate of samādhi, entering the secret places of every buddha, knowing the dharma of every buddha, severing every doubt and confusion, receiving the empowerment of the spiritual power of every tathāgata, knowing the faculties of sentient beings, expounding the true dharma of liberation according to what each one delights in, and expounding the buddha-dharma in accordance with a buddha's own wisdom so as to reach the further shore — endowed with measureless merit such as this.
我於往昔見諸如來、應、正等覺示現如是廣大神變，即說如來出現法門 — in ages past I beheld every tathāgata display a vast spiritual transformation such as this, and thereupon speak the dharma-gate of the tathāgata's appearance. Samantabhadra does not claim to know the teaching from first principles but recognizes a specific, repeated sign — this very sequence of light and quaking has always preceded this specific teaching, in his account, across every buddha he has witnessed before this one.
Part 637 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-seven, 如來出現品, in fascicle fifty. Part 638 continues with Wondrous Virtue Born of the Tathāgata's Nature's closing request — asking Samantabhadra to speak of the tathāgata's very body, speech, and mind — and his verse restating the question.