A Voice Like an Echo, and the Heavenly Drum of Awakening
The tathāgata's four great sounds finish their sequence — impermanence and burning suffering, the limits of the two lesser vehicles, and the great vehicle that surpasses them both — before the second mark compares his voice to an echo with no shape of its own, and the third opens with a heavenly drum whose single warning sends negligent gods running from their own pleasures in search of the dharma.
Impermanence, the Two Vehicles, and the Great Vehicle
Three more sounds complete the tathāgata's fourfold proclamation, moving from the burning suffering of conditioned existence, through the limits of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha paths, to the great vehicle that surpasses both — before the voice itself is likened to an echo with no shape, and then to a heavenly drum whose warning alone can move the negligent.
二曰：『汝等當知一切諸行眾苦熾然，如熱鐵丸。諸行無常，是磨滅法；涅槃寂靜，無為安樂，遠離熾然，消諸熱惱。』眾生聞已，勤修善法，於聲聞乘得隨順音聲忍。三曰：『汝等當知聲聞乘者，隨他語解，智慧狹劣；更有上乘，名：獨覺乘，悟不由師，汝等應學。』樂勝道者聞此音已，捨聲聞道，修獨覺乘。四曰：『汝等當知過二乘位更有勝道，名為：大乘。菩薩所行，順六波羅蜜，不斷菩薩行，不捨菩提心，處無量生死而不疲厭，過於二乘，名為：大乘、第一乘、勝乘、最勝乘、上乘、無上乘、利益一切眾生乘。』若有眾生信解廣大，諸根猛利，宿種善根，為諸如來神力所加，有勝樂欲，希求佛果；聞此音已，發菩提心。佛子！如來音聲不從身出、不從心出，而能利益無量眾生。佛子！是為如來音聲第一相，諸菩薩摩訶薩應如是知。
"The second declares: 'You should know that every conditioned activity blazes with manifold suffering, like a scorching ball of iron. Every conditioned activity is impermanent, a dharma of wearing away and destruction; nirvāṇa is tranquil, unconditioned and at ease, departed far from that blazing, extinguishing every burning affliction.' Sentient beings, having heard it, diligently cultivate wholesome dharmas, and attain the forbearance of sound that accords with the śrāvaka vehicle. The third declares: 'You should know that those of the śrāvaka vehicle understand only by following another's words, their wisdom narrow and inferior; there is a further, higher vehicle, named the pratyekabuddha vehicle, awakening not through a teacher — you should learn it.' Those who delight in the more excellent path, having heard this sound, abandon the śrāvaka path and cultivate the pratyekabuddha vehicle. The fourth declares: 'You should know that beyond the stations of the two vehicles there is a still more excellent path, named the great vehicle. What a bodhisattva practices accords with the six perfections, never severs bodhisattva practice, never abandons the mind of awakening, and dwells amid measureless births and deaths without ever growing weary, surpassing the two vehicles — it is named the great vehicle, the foremost vehicle, the excellent vehicle, the most excellent vehicle, the higher vehicle, the unsurpassed vehicle, the vehicle that benefits every sentient being.' Whatever sentient being has vast faith and understanding, keen faculties, wholesome roots planted in ages past, is empowered by the spiritual power of every tathāgata, has an excellent aspiration and delight, and seeks the fruit of buddhahood, upon hearing this sound gives rise to the mind of awakening. Sons of the Buddha! The tathāgata's voice issues from no body and issues from no mind, and yet is able to benefit measureless sentient beings. Sons of the Buddha! This is the first mark of the tathāgata's voice — bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should know it thus.
「復次，佛子！譬如呼響，因於山谷及音聲起，無有形狀，不可覩見，亦無分別，而能隨逐一切語言。如來音聲亦復如是，無有形狀，不可覩見，非有方所，非無方所；但隨眾生欲解緣出，其性究竟，無言無示，不可宣說。佛子！是為如來音聲第二相，諸菩薩摩訶薩應如是知。「復次，佛子！譬如諸天有大法鼓，名為：覺悟。若諸天子行放逸時，於虛空中出聲告言：『汝等當知一切欲樂皆悉無常，虛妄顛倒，須臾變壞，但誑愚夫令其戀著。汝莫放逸，若放逸者，墮諸惡趣，後悔無及。』放逸諸天聞此音已，生大憂怖，捨自宮中所有欲樂，詣天王所求法行道。
"Furthermore, Sons of the Buddha! It is like a called-out echo, which arises through a mountain valley and a sound, having no shape and unable to be seen, and having no discrimination either, and yet is able to follow after every kind of speech. The tathāgata's voice is likewise just the same, having no shape, unable to be seen, neither having a place nor without a place; it arises only according to the desire and understanding of sentient beings, its own nature ultimate, without speech and without display, unable to be proclaimed. Sons of the Buddha! This is the second mark of the tathāgata's voice — bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should know it thus. "Furthermore, Sons of the Buddha! It is like how the gods have a great dharma-drum, named Awakening. Whenever the sons of heaven behave with negligence, a sound issues from within empty space and declares to them: 'You should know that every pleasure of desire is entirely impermanent, false and inverted, changing and falling apart in but a moment, only deceiving the foolish and causing them to become attached. Do not be negligent; whoever is negligent falls into an evil destiny, and regret afterward will do no good.' The negligent gods, having heard this sound, give rise to great sorrow and fear, abandon every pleasure of desire within their own palaces, and go before the king of heaven to seek the practice of the dharma.
如來音聲不從身出、不從心出，而能利益無量眾生 — the tathāgata's voice issues from no body and issues from no mind, and yet is able to benefit measureless sentient beings. Closing the first mark, this line denies both of the two most obvious sources a voice could have — a speaking body and an intending mind — the same double denial the ninth mark of the tathāgata's body used earlier for its chain of supports, applied here instead to the very possibility of speech having any origin at all.
Part 655 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-seven, 如來出現品, in fascicle fifty-one. Part 656 continues the heavenly drum simile with the tathāgata's own parallel voice, naming eleven distinct sounds that awaken the negligent throughout the dharma-realm.