Ten Kinds of Adorned Path Begin
Where earlier lists in this chapter paired opposites with "while," the adorned path pairs them with a sharper contrast still: entering the śrāvaka's path without taking it as liberation, manifesting entry into wrong paths without ever grasping them as real, and — most striking of all — manifesting birth in hell to liberate beings while never actually being born there.
Appearing to Fall Without Falling
The eighth adorned path pushes the pattern of this list to its furthest point: a bodhisattva, already complete in pure merit, manifests birth in hell, as an animal, as a hungry ghost, and in every impoverished and perilous place — solely to liberate the beings found there — while the text insists, in the same breath, that the bodhisattva is never actually born into any of those destinies at all.
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種莊嚴道。何等為十？佛子！菩薩摩訶薩不離欲界，入色界、無色界禪定解脫及諸三昧，亦不因此而受彼生，是為第一莊嚴道。智慧現前，入聲聞道，不以此道而取出離，是為第二莊嚴道。智慧現前，入辟支佛道，而起大悲無有休息，是為第三莊嚴道。雖有人、天眷屬圍遶，百千采女歌舞侍從，未曾暫捨禪定解脫及諸三昧，是為第四莊嚴道。與一切眾生受諸欲樂共相娛樂，乃至未曾於一念間捨離菩薩平等三昧，是為第五莊嚴道。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of adorned path. What are these ten? Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, without ever leaving the realm of desire, enters the meditative absorptions, liberations, and samādhis of the realm of form and the formless realm, and yet is never born there because of this — this is the first adorned path. With wisdom manifest before them, they enter the path of the śrāvaka, and yet never take up this path as their own means of liberation — this is the second adorned path. With wisdom manifest before them, they enter the path of the solitary awakened one, and yet give rise to great compassion without ever resting — this is the third adorned path. Though surrounded by a retinue of humans and devas, with hundreds of thousands of dancing girls singing and dancing in attendance, they never once, even for a moment, abandon meditative absorption, liberation, or any samādhi — this is the fourth adorned path. Sharing in every sensual pleasure together with every sentient being, delighting with them, and yet never once, even within a single thought, departing from a bodhisattva's own samādhi of equality — this is the fifth adorned path.
已到一切世間彼岸，於諸世法悉無所著，而亦不捨度眾生行，是為第六莊嚴道。安住正道、正智、正見，而能示入一切邪道，不取為實，不執為淨，令彼眾生遠離邪法，是為第七莊嚴道。常善護持如來淨戒，身、語、意業無諸過失，為欲教化犯戒眾生，示行一切凡愚之行，雖已具足清淨福德住菩薩趣，而示生於一切地獄、畜生、餓鬼及諸險難、貧窮等處，令彼眾生皆得解脫，而實菩薩不生彼趣，是為第八莊嚴道。
Having already reached the far shore of every world, unattached to any worldly dharma at all, and yet never abandoning the practice of delivering sentient beings — this is the sixth adorned path. Abiding in the right path, right wisdom, and right view, and yet able to manifest entering every wrong path, without ever taking it as real or grasping it as pure, causing those sentient beings to leave wrong dharma far behind — this is the seventh adorned path. Constantly and well upholding the tathāgata's own pure precepts, their deeds of body, speech, and mind free of any fault, and yet, wishing to teach and transform sentient beings who violate the precepts, manifesting the conduct of every ordinary, foolish being; though already complete in pure merit and abiding within the bodhisattva's own destiny, manifesting birth in every hell, as an animal, as a hungry ghost, and in every perilous and impoverished place, causing those sentient beings to attain liberation, while in truth the bodhisattva is never actually born in those destinies — this is the eighth adorned path.
示生於一切地獄、畜生、餓鬼及諸險難、貧窮等處，令彼眾生皆得解脫，而實菩薩不生彼趣 — manifesting birth in every hell, as an animal, as a hungry ghost, and in every perilous and impoverished place, causing those sentient beings to attain liberation, while in truth the bodhisattva is never actually born in those destinies. This entry does not soften the claim of appearing in hell into something merely symbolic; it states the manifestation plainly and then states, just as plainly, that no actual birth in that destiny occurs — holding both without resolving the tension between them.
Part 755 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-seven. Part 756 continues the ten kinds of adorned path with its ninth and tenth entries, completing the full set.