Eleven Sounds That Awaken the Negligent
The heavenly drum's parallel voice names eleven distinct sounds that reach every corner of the dharma-realm; a goddess's single tone is shown containing a hundred thousand differing melodies; Brahmā's voice is heard by every one of his followers, each believing it addressed to themselves alone; and water of a single flavor is shown taking on countless differing forms according only to the vessel that holds it.
One Voice, Believed to Speak to Each Alone
Four marks in a row explore how a single voice reaches many listeners without ever dividing itself — through eleven named sounds, a hundred thousand melodies within one tone, an entire assembly each convinced they alone are being addressed, and one flavor of water taking as many forms as there are vessels to hold it.
佛子！彼天鼓音，無主無作，無起無滅，而能利益無量眾生。當知如來亦復如是，為欲覺悟放逸眾生，出於無量妙法音聲，所謂：無著聲、不放逸聲、無常聲、苦聲、無我聲、不淨聲、寂滅聲、涅槃聲、無有量自然智聲、不可壞菩薩行聲、至一切處如來無功用智地聲，以此音聲遍法界中而開悟之。無數眾生聞是音已，皆生歡喜，勤修善法，各於自乘而求出離，所謂：或修聲聞乘、或修獨覺乘、或習菩薩無上大乘。而如來音，不住方所，無有言說。佛子！是為如來音聲第三相，諸菩薩摩訶薩應如是知。
"Sons of the Buddha! That heavenly drum's sound has no owner and no maker, no arising and no ceasing, and yet is able to benefit measureless sentient beings. Know that the tathāgata is likewise just the same: wishing to awaken negligent sentient beings, he emits measureless, wondrous sounds of dharma — namely, the sound of non-attachment, the sound of non-negligence, the sound of impermanence, the sound of suffering, the sound of non-self, the sound of impurity, the sound of tranquil extinction, the sound of nirvāṇa, the sound of measureless spontaneous wisdom, the sound of unbreakable bodhisattva practice, and the sound of the tathāgata's own ground of effortless wisdom reaching every place — and through these sounds, pervading the entire dharma-realm, he awakens sentient beings. Countless sentient beings, having heard this sound, all give rise to joy, diligently cultivate wholesome dharmas, and each seek release through their own vehicle — namely, some cultivate the śrāvaka vehicle, some cultivate the pratyekabuddha vehicle, and some practice the bodhisattva's unsurpassed great vehicle. And yet the tathāgata's own voice dwells in no place, and has no speech of its own. Sons of the Buddha! This is the third mark of the tathāgata's voice — bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should know it thus.
「復次，佛子！譬如自在天王有天采女，名曰：善口，於其口中出一音聲，其聲則與百千種樂而共相應，一一樂中復有百千差別音聲。佛子！彼善口女從口一聲，出於如是無量音聲。當知如來亦復如是，於一音中出無量聲，隨諸眾生心樂差別，皆悉遍至，悉令得解。佛子！是為如來音聲第四相，諸菩薩摩訶薩應如是知。「復次，佛子！譬如大梵天王住於梵宮出梵音聲，一切梵眾靡不皆聞，而彼音聲不出眾外。諸梵天眾咸生是念：『大梵天王獨與我語。』如來妙音亦復如是，道場眾會靡不皆聞，而其音聲不出眾外。何以故？根未熟者不應聞故。其聞音者皆作是念：『如來世尊獨為我說。』佛子！如來音聲無出無住，而能成就一切事業。是為如來音聲第五相，諸菩薩摩訶薩應如是知。「復次，佛子！譬如眾水皆同一味，隨器異故水有差別，水無念慮亦無分別。如來言音亦復如是，唯是一味，謂解脫味，隨諸眾生心器異故無量差別，而無念慮亦無分別。佛子！是為如來音聲第六相，諸菩薩摩訶薩應如是知。
"Furthermore, Sons of the Buddha! It is like how the sovereign heavenly king has a heavenly dancing-woman named Skillful Voice, from whose mouth issues a single sound, and that sound corresponds together with a hundred thousand kinds of music, and within each and every one of those kinds of music there are further a hundred thousand distinct sounds. Sons of the Buddha! That woman named Skillful Voice, from a single sound of her mouth, produces measureless sounds such as these. Know that the tathāgata is likewise just the same: from within a single sound he produces measureless sounds, and according to the differing delights of every sentient being's own mind, they all reach everywhere and all cause them to gain understanding. Sons of the Buddha! This is the fourth mark of the tathāgata's voice — bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should know it thus. "Furthermore, Sons of the Buddha! It is like how the great Brahmā king, dwelling in his Brahmā palace, emits the sound of Brahmā's own voice, and every one of the Brahmā assembly hears it without exception, and yet that sound does not go beyond the assembly. Every one of the Brahmā gods gives rise to this very thought: 'The great Brahmā king speaks to me alone.' The tathāgata's own wondrous voice is likewise just the same: the assembly at the seat of awakening hears it without exception, and yet that voice does not go beyond the assembly. Why is this? Because those whose faculties are not yet ripe should not hear it. Whoever hears that voice thinks precisely this: 'The tathāgata, the world-honored one, speaks for my sake alone.' Sons of the Buddha! The tathāgata's voice neither issues forth nor dwells anywhere, and yet is able to accomplish every task. This is the fifth mark of the tathāgata's voice — bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should know it thus. "Furthermore, Sons of the Buddha! It is like how every kind of water shares one and the same flavor, and yet, because the vessels differ, the water comes to differ; the water itself has no deliberation and no discrimination. The tathāgata's own speech is likewise just the same: it is only a single flavor, namely the flavor of liberation, and yet, because the minds and capacities of sentient beings differ, it becomes measurelessly different, all while having no deliberation and no discrimination. Sons of the Buddha! This is the sixth mark of the tathāgata's voice — bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should know it thus.
『大梵天王獨與我語。』…『如來世尊獨為我說。』 — "The great Brahmā king speaks to me alone."… "The tathāgata, the world-honored one, speaks for my sake alone." The fifth mark pairs its divine and its buddha examples so closely that the exact same misapprehension — an entire assembly, each member convinced the speaker addresses only themselves — is voiced twice in nearly identical language, the only difference being that Brahmā's version is left as an ordinary, unremarked feature of how his voice works, while the tathāgata's version is explicitly tied to the listener's own readiness to hear.
Part 656 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-seven, 如來出現品, in fascicle fifty-one. Part 657 continues with the seventh mark, comparing the tathāgata's voice to the rain of a nāga king that benefits without ever originating from the nāga's own body or mind.