Part 757 of the collection · Fascicle 57 of 80 · 離世間品第三十八之五 · T279

Ten Kinds of Feet, Ten Kinds of Hands

This chapter now turns to a bodhisattva's own body, part by part: ten kinds of feet that carry a bodhisattva to every world in a single step, and ten kinds of hands that greet, give, teach, and rescue — reaching out to pull sentient beings from the mire of desire and to save the drowning from four raging torrents.

Translator: Ru-Yi Meditation Center Status: Part 757 — ten kinds of feet, ten kinds of hands Source: Taishō T279 (Śikṣānanda, Tang, 695–699 CE)

A Bodhisattva's Body, Part by Part

Where earlier lists in this chapter described mind, wisdom, and vow, this pair turns to the body itself as a source of ten-fold structure — feet that reach every world with a single step, and hands whose gestures range from a welcoming palm extended to newcomers to a hand that pulls the drowning from four raging torrents of affliction.

Chinese Source

佛子!菩薩摩訶薩有十種足。何等為十?所謂持戒足,殊勝大願悉成滿故;精進足,集一切菩提分法不退轉故;神通足,隨眾生欲令歡喜故;神力足,不離一佛剎往一切佛剎故;深心足,願求一切殊勝法故;堅誓足,一切所作咸究竟故;隨順足,不違一切尊者教故;樂法足,聞持一切佛所說法不疲懈故;法雨足,為眾演說無怯弱故;修行足,一切諸惡悉遠離故。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法,則得如來無上最勝足,若一舉步,悉能遍至一切世界。

Ru-Yi Translation

"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of feet. What are these ten? Namely: the foot of upholding precepts, because it brings every excellent great vow to complete fulfillment; the foot of diligence, because it accumulates every factor of awakening without ever regressing; the foot of spiritual penetration, because it causes sentient beings to rejoice in accordance with their own wishes; the foot of spiritual power, because, without ever leaving a single buddha-land, it reaches every buddha-land; the foot of profound mind, because it vows to seek every excellent dharma; the foot of firm vow, because everything it does reaches its ultimate completion; the foot of according, because it never violates the teaching of any venerable one; the foot of delighting in the dharma, because it hears and upholds every dharma spoken by every buddha without ever growing weary or lax; the foot of the rain of dharma, because it expounds the dharma to every assembly without any timidity; and the foot of practice, because it stays entirely far from every evil. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide within this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own unsurpassed, most excellent feet, such that with a single step, they are able to reach every world.

Chinese Source

「佛子!菩薩摩訶薩有十種手。何等為十?所謂:深信手,於佛所說,一向忍可,究竟受持故;布施手,有來求者,隨其所欲皆令充滿故;先意問訊手,舒展右掌相迎引故;供養諸佛手,集眾福德無疲厭故;多聞善巧手,悉斷一切眾生疑故;令超三界手,授與眾生拔出欲泥故;置於彼岸手,四暴流中救溺眾生故;不吝正法手,所有妙法悉以開示故;善用眾論手,以智慧藥滅身心病故;恒持智寶手,開法光明破煩惱闇故。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法,則得如來無上手,普覆十方一切世界。

Ru-Yi Translation

Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of hands. What are these ten? Namely: the hand of profound faith, because it single-mindedly accepts and ultimately upholds everything the buddha has spoken; the hand of giving, because whoever comes seeking is given exactly what they wish, fully satisfied; the hand of greeting first, because it extends its right palm to welcome and guide; the hand of making offerings to every buddha, because it accumulates every merit without ever growing weary; the hand of extensive learning and skill, because it resolves every sentient being's every doubt; the hand that causes beings to transcend the three realms, because it reaches out to sentient beings, pulling them out of the mire of desire; the hand that places beings on the far shore, because it rescues drowning sentient beings from the four raging torrents; the hand that never begrudges the true dharma, because it reveals every wondrous dharma it has; the hand that skillfully employs every treatise, because it extinguishes the illnesses of body and mind with the medicine of wisdom; and the hand that forever holds the jewel of wisdom, because it opens the light of the dharma, breaking apart the darkness of affliction. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide within this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own unsurpassed hand, universally covering every world in the ten directions.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

置於彼岸手,四暴流中救溺眾生故 — the hand that places beings on the far shore, because it rescues drowning sentient beings from the four raging torrents. The "four torrents" are a traditional image for the outflows of desire, existence, views, and ignorance that carry beings along; naming this hand's function as literal rescue from drowning makes the image concrete rather than abstract.

Part 757 Complete

This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-seven. Part 758 opens ten kinds of belly, beginning with a belly free of flattery and crookedness because the mind itself is pure.