Verse Recap, Then the Roots of Goodness Begin
Samantabhadra restates the sun, fire, illusionist, and lotus-samādhi similes in seven verses that end by cutting off every word and simile at once, before the chapter's final topic opens: the smallest root of goodness planted by seeing, hearing, or drawing near to the tathāgata is never wasted, compared to a sliver of swallowed vajra that must pierce its own way free of the body.
A Sliver of Vajra, a Seed of Fire
Seven verses gather the sun, the fire, the illusionist, and the lotus-samādhi into one closing image before cutting off language itself; then the chapter's last topic turns to something small — the least root of goodness a single encounter with the tathāgata can plant — and shows why it cannot be undone, first through a swallowed sliver of vajra, then through a single spark set to a mountain of dry grass.
爾時，普賢菩薩摩訶薩欲重明此義而說頌言：「如日舒光照法界，器壞水漏影隨滅；最勝智日亦如是，眾生無信見涅槃。
如火世間作火事，於一城邑或時息；人中最勝遍法界，化事訖處示終盡。
幻師現身一切剎，能事畢處則便謝；如來化訖亦復然，於餘國土常見佛。
佛有三昧名不動，化眾生訖入此定，一念身放無量光，光出蓮華華有佛。
佛身無數等法界，有福眾生所能見，如是無數一一身，壽命莊嚴皆具足。
如無生性佛出興，如無滅性佛涅槃，言辭譬諭悉皆斷，一切義成無與等。
"At that time, wishing to restate this meaning once more, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Samantabhadra spoke these verses: 'Just as the sun spreads its light, illuminating the whole dharma-realm, and when a vessel breaks and its water drains away, the reflection disappears along with it, the sun of the most supreme wisdom is likewise so: sentient beings without faith see this as nirvāṇa.
Just as fire performs the work of fire throughout the world, and in one particular town its flame may sometimes die out, the most supreme one among humankind pervades the whole dharma-realm, and where his work of transformation is finished, he manifests its complete end.
The illusionist manifests his body throughout every land, and where his work is finished he simply withdraws; the tathāgata's transformation, once finished, is likewise so — while in every other land, the buddha is still constantly seen.
The Buddha has a samādhi named unmoving; once his transformation of sentient beings is finished, he enters this concentration, and within a single thought his body releases measureless light, and from that light emerge lotus flowers, each flower holding a buddha.
Buddha-bodies without number, equal to the whole dharma-realm, are seen only by sentient beings of sufficient merit; each and every one of these countless bodies is entirely complete with its own lifespan and adornment.
Just as the buddha arises through the nature of no birth, the buddha enters nirvāṇa through the nature of no cessation; every word and every simile is entirely cut off here, for this meaning, once accomplished, has nothing that can equal it.'"
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應云何知於如來、應、正等覺見聞親近所種善根？佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應知於如來所見聞親近所種善根皆悉不虛，出生無盡覺慧故，離於一切障難故，決定至於究竟故，無有虛誑故，一切願滿故，不盡有為行故，隨順無為智故，生諸佛智故，盡未來際故，成一切種勝行故，到無功用智地故。佛子！譬如丈夫，食少金剛，終竟不消，要穿其身，出在於外。何以故？金剛不與肉身雜穢而同止故。於如來所種少善根亦復如是，要穿一切有為諸行煩惱身過，到於無為究竟智處。何以故？此少善根不與有為諸行煩惱而共住故。佛子！假使乾草積同須彌，投火於中如芥子許，必皆燒盡。何以故？火能燒故。於如來所種少善根亦復如是，必能燒盡一切煩惱，究竟得於無餘涅槃。何以故？此少善根性究竟故。
"Sons of the Buddha! How should bodhisattva-mahāsattvas come to know the roots of goodness planted through seeing, hearing, or drawing near to the tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one? Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva should know that the roots of goodness planted through seeing, hearing, or drawing near to the tathāgata are never wasted at all: because they give rise to inexhaustible awakened wisdom; because they free one from every obstacle and difficulty; because they lead decisively to the ultimate; because they contain nothing false or deceptive; because they bring every vow to fulfillment; because they do not exhaust conditioned activity; because they accord with unconditioned wisdom; because they give rise to the wisdom of every buddha; because they last to the very end of the future; because they accomplish every kind of supreme practice; and because they reach the ground of effortless wisdom. Sons of the Buddha! It is like a grown man who swallows even a small piece of vajra: it is never digested, but is bound to pierce through his body and emerge outside it. Why is this? Because vajra does not remain together with the impure flesh of the body. A small root of goodness planted through the tathāgata is likewise so: it is bound to pierce through the faults of every conditioned activity and every affliction of the body, arriving at the ultimate place of unconditioned wisdom. Why is this? Because this small root of goodness does not dwell together with conditioned activity and affliction. Sons of the Buddha! Suppose a heap of dry grass were piled as high as Mount Sumeru, and a flame no larger than a mustard seed were cast into it: it would certainly burn the whole heap away entirely. Why is this? Because fire is capable of burning. A small root of goodness planted through the tathāgata is likewise so: it is certainly able to burn away every affliction entirely, arriving in the end at nirvāṇa without remainder. Why is this? Because the very nature of this small root of goodness is itself ultimate.
金剛不與肉身雜穢而同止故 — because vajra does not remain together with the impure flesh of the body. The image works because vajra's incompatibility with ordinary flesh is exactly the point: a root of goodness planted through the tathāgata is not described as growing or accumulating like an ordinary virtue might, but as something categorically foreign to affliction from the moment it is planted, which is why the text insists it must eventually break free rather than merely improve what it is lodged inside.
Part 678 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-seven, 如來出現品, in fascicle fifty-two. Part 679 continues the roots-of-goodness section with the medicine-king tree named Well-Seen, whose sight, sound, scent, and touch alone bring purity, likened to the tathāgata's own form, name, teaching, and light.