Ten Kinds of Nose, Ten Kinds of Tongue
The ten kinds of nose open with a scent that carries no judgment of foul or fragrant at all, before turning that same evenness into an extraordinary instrument: smelling a sentient being's clothing to know their exact proportion of greed, hatred, and delusion, or smelling any being from the depths of hell to the very summit of existence to know their entire past conduct. Ten kinds of tongue then follow, reaching as far as the empty space of the ten directions.
A Scent That Reveals a Lifetime
The nose here begins in pure equanimity — neither perceiving fragrance as fragrant nor foulness as foul — and then, rather than stopping at that neutrality, turns it into a diagnostic instrument capable of reading a sentient being's inner state, and even their entire past conduct, from a single scent, whether that being dwells in the deepest hell or at the very summit of existence.
佛子!菩薩摩訶薩有十種鼻。何等為十?所謂:聞諸臭物不以為臭;聞諸香氣不以為香;香臭俱聞,其心平等;非香非臭,安住於捨;若聞眾生衣服、臥具及其肢體所有香臭,則能知彼貪、恚、愚癡等分之行;若聞諸伏藏草木等香,皆如對目前,分明辨了;若聞下至阿鼻地獄、上至有頂眾生之香,皆知彼過去所行之行;若聞諸聲聞布施、持戒、多聞慧香,住一切智心,不令散動;若聞一切菩薩行香,以平等慧入如來地;聞一切佛智境界香,亦不廢捨諸菩薩行。是為十。若諸菩薩成就此法,則得如來無量無邊清淨鼻。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of nose. What are these ten? Namely: smelling every foul thing, they do not perceive it as foul; smelling every fragrance, they do not perceive it as fragrant; smelling both fragrance and foulness together, their mind remains equal; neither fragrant nor foul, they abide in equanimity; should they smell the fragrance or foulness of any sentient being's clothing, bedding, or limbs, they are able to know that being's own proportion of greed, hatred, and delusion; should they smell the fragrance of any hidden treasure, plant, or tree, it is exactly as though it stood right before their eyes, clearly and distinctly discerned; should they smell the fragrance of any sentient being, from the depths of Avīci hell up to the very summit of existence, they fully know that being's own past conduct; should they smell the fragrance of any śrāvaka's own giving, precepts, or wisdom born of extensive learning, they abide in the mind of all-knowing wisdom, never letting it scatter; should they smell the fragrance of any bodhisattva's own practice, they enter the tathāgata's own ground through wisdom of equality; and smelling the fragrance of every buddha's own domain of wisdom, they still never once set aside any bodhisattva practice. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas accomplish this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own measureless, boundless, pure nose.
「佛子!菩薩摩訶薩有十種舌。何等為十?所謂:開示演說無盡眾生行舌;開示演說無盡法門舌;讚歎諸佛無盡功德舌;演暢辭辯無盡舌;開闡大乘助道舌;遍覆十方虛空舌;普照一切佛剎舌;普使眾生悟解舌;悉令諸佛歎喜舌;降伏一切諸魔外道,除滅一切生死煩惱,令至涅槃舌。是為十。若諸菩薩成就此法,則得如來遍覆一切諸佛國土無上舌。
Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of tongue. What are these ten? Namely: the tongue that reveals and expounds the inexhaustible conduct of sentient beings; the tongue that reveals and expounds inexhaustible dharma-gates; the tongue that praises every buddha's own inexhaustible merit; the tongue that fluently expresses inexhaustible eloquence; the tongue that opens and expounds the supporting path of the great vehicle; the tongue that universally covers the empty space of the ten directions; the tongue that universally illuminates every buddha-land; the tongue that universally causes sentient beings to awaken and understand; the tongue that causes every buddha to praise and rejoice; and the tongue that subdues every māra and follower of another path, extinguishes every affliction of birth and death, and causes beings to reach nirvāṇa. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas accomplish this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own unsurpassed tongue, universally covering every buddha-land.
若聞下至阿鼻地獄、上至有頂眾生之香,皆知彼過去所行之行 — should they smell the fragrance of any sentient being, from the depths of Avīci hell up to the very summit of existence, they fully know that being's own past conduct. Scent here reveals not a present state but an entire history — the fragrance or foulness of a single moment is treated as carrying the complete record of a being's own past conduct, wherever in the cosmos that being happens to dwell.
Part 762 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-seven. Part 763 opens ten kinds of body, beginning with a human body taken on for the sake of teaching every human being.