Mistaken for Brahmā
Freed of suffering with no memory of how, beings born blind briefly credit their own transformation to themselves, imagining they have become the god Brahmā, until the tathāgata's own voice corrects them and grants them the eyes to see the truth; the sixth mark then turns to the moon, whose four unique qualities are matched precisely to four unique qualities of the tathāgata's own body.
A Brief Misunderstanding, Then the Truth
Beings who cannot recall how their own transformation happened reach for the nearest explanation at hand — that they themselves have become divine — before the tathāgata's own voice sets the record straight and grants them, at last, eyes pure enough to see the truth of it.
佛子！彼諸眾生不覺不知，以何因緣、以何神力而來生此？彼生盲者作如是念：『我是梵天！我是梵化！』是時，如來住普自在三昧，出六十種妙音而告之言：『汝等非是梵天，亦非梵化，亦非帝釋護世所作，皆是如來威神之力。』彼諸眾生聞是語已，以佛神力皆知宿命，生大歡喜；心歡喜故，自然而出優曇華雲、香雲、音樂雲、衣雲、蓋雲、幢雲、幡雲、末香雲、寶雲、師子幢半月樓閣雲、歌詠讚歎雲、種種莊嚴雲，皆以尊重心供養如來。何以故？此諸眾生得淨眼故，如來與彼授阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記。佛子！如來智日如是利益生盲眾生，令得善根，具足成熟。佛子！是為如來身第五相，諸菩薩摩訶薩應如是見。
"Sons of the Buddha! Those sentient beings, unaware and not knowing through what cause and condition, through what spiritual power, they had come to be reborn in such a state, those born blind gave rise to this thought: 'I am the god Brahmā! I am a transformation of Brahmā!' At that time, the tathāgata, dwelling in the samādhi of universal sovereignty, emitted sixty kinds of wondrous sound and declared to them: 'You are not the god Brahmā, nor a transformation of Brahmā, nor something made by Indra or the guardians of the world — all of this is the majestic spiritual power of the tathāgata.' Those sentient beings, having heard these words, through the buddha's own spiritual power all came to know their past lives, and gave rise to great joy; because their minds rejoiced, there naturally issued forth clouds of udumbara flowers, clouds of incense, clouds of music, clouds of garments, clouds of canopies, clouds of banners, clouds of streamers, clouds of powdered incense, clouds of jewels, clouds of lion-bannered, half-moon-shaped towers and pavilions, clouds of song and praise, and every manner of adorning cloud, all offered to the tathāgata with a reverent mind. Why is this? Because these sentient beings had obtained a pure eye, the tathāgata bestowed upon them the prediction of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. Sons of the Buddha! The tathāgata's own sun of wisdom benefits sentient beings born blind in just this way, causing them to obtain wholesome roots and bring them to full ripeness. Sons of the Buddha! This is the fifth mark of the tathāgata's body — bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should behold it thus.
「復次，佛子！譬如月輪有四奇特未曾有法。何等為四？一者，映蔽一切星宿光明；二者，隨逐於時示現虧盈；三者，於閻浮提澄淨水中影無不現；四者，一切見者皆對目前，而此月輪無有分別、無有戲論。佛子！如來身月亦復如是，有四奇特未曾有法。何等為四？所謂：映蔽一切聲聞、獨覺、學、無學眾；隨其所宜，示現壽命修短不同，而如來身無有增減；一切世界淨心眾生菩提器中，影無不現；一切眾生有瞻對者皆謂如來唯現我前，隨其心樂而為說法，隨其地位令得解脫，隨所應化令見佛身，而如來身無有分別、無有戲論，所作利益皆得究竟。佛子！是為如來身第六相，諸菩薩摩訶薩應如是見。
"Furthermore, Sons of the Buddha! It is like how the disk of the moon has four extraordinary qualities never before found elsewhere. What are these four? The first is that it eclipses the light of every star and constellation; the second is that, following the course of time, it displays waxing and waning; the third is that, within the clear, pure waters of Jambudvīpa, its reflection appears in every one without exception; the fourth is that everyone who sees it feels it directly before their own eyes, and yet this disk of the moon has no discrimination and no idle discourse. Sons of the Buddha! The moon of the tathāgata's own body is likewise just the same, having four extraordinary qualities never before found elsewhere. What are these four? Namely: it eclipses every assembly of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, those still learning, and those beyond learning; according to what is fitting, it displays a lifespan of differing length, long or short, and yet the tathāgata's own body has no increase or decrease; within the vessel of awakening of every sentient being of pure mind throughout every world, its reflection appears without exception; and every sentient being who beholds it says that the tathāgata appears only before themselves, expounding the dharma according to their own delight, causing them to attain liberation according to their own stage, and causing them to see the buddha's body according to how they are to be transformed — and yet the tathāgata's own body has no discrimination and no idle discourse, and the benefit it accomplishes is brought to its ultimate completion in every case. Sons of the Buddha! This is the sixth mark of the tathāgata's body — bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should behold it thus.
汝等非是梵天，亦非梵化，亦非帝釋護世所作，皆是如來威神之力 — you are not the god Brahmā, nor a transformation of Brahmā, nor something made by Indra or the guardians of the world — all of this is the majestic spiritual power of the tathāgata. The correction names three specific wrong explanations in a row before giving the true one, letting the beings' own mistaken reasoning run its full course — crediting themselves, then implicitly other high gods — before the tathāgata's voice replaces all three at once with a single cause they could not have guessed on their own.
Part 650 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-seven, 如來出現品, in fascicle fifty. Part 651 continues with the seventh mark, comparing the tathāgata's body to the great Brahmā king who appears before every being in a trichiliocosm without ever truly dividing himself.