Ten Kinds of Lion's Roar, Fascicle 57 Complete
Fascicle fifty-seven closes with nine vows each proclaimed as a great lion's roar — delivering every being, keeping the three jewels from ever being cut off, fulfilling every buddha's own wisdom — before a tenth entry breaks from vow into narrative: a bodhisattva's own final birth, taking seven steps and declaring themselves foremost in the world.
Seven Steps, One Declaration
The tenth and final lion's roar sets aside the "I shall" formula of the nine before it for something closer to a scene: every world trembling, Śakra and Brahmā entreating the bodhisattva to take birth, and then the birth itself — seven steps taken alone, and a declaration of supremacy performed exactly as spoken, closing this fascicle on an image rather than a vow.
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種師子吼。何等為十？所謂：唱言：『我當必定成正等覺。』是菩提心大師子吼。『我當令一切眾生，未度者度，未脫者脫，未安者安，未涅槃者令得涅槃。』是大悲大師子吼。『我當令佛、法、僧種無有斷絕。』是報如來恩大師子吼。『我當嚴淨一切佛剎。』是究竟堅誓大師子吼。『我當除滅一切惡道及諸難處。』是自持淨戒大師子吼。『我當滿足一切諸佛身、語及意相好莊嚴。』是求福無厭大師子吼。『我當成滿一切諸佛所有智慧。』是求智無厭大師子吼。『我當除滅一切眾魔及諸魔業。』是修正行斷諸煩惱大師子吼。『我當了知一切諸法無我，無眾生、無壽命、無補伽羅，空、無相、無願，淨如虛空。』是無生法忍大師子吼。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of lion's roar. What are these ten? Namely: proclaiming, 'I shall definitely attain complete, right awakening' — this is the great lion's roar of the mind of awakening. 'I shall cause every sentient being — delivering those not yet delivered, liberating those not yet liberated, giving peace to those not yet at peace, and bringing to nirvāṇa those who have not yet reached nirvāṇa' — this is the great lion's roar of great compassion. 'I shall never let the seed of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṃgha be cut off' — this is the great lion's roar of repaying the tathāgata's own kindness. 'I shall adorn and purify every buddha-land' — this is the great lion's roar of an ultimate, firm vow. 'I shall eliminate every evil destiny and every place of difficulty' — this is the great lion's roar of personally upholding pure precepts. 'I shall fulfill the adornment of every buddha's own excellent marks of body, speech, and mind' — this is the great lion's roar of seeking merit without weariness. 'I shall completely fulfill every wisdom possessed by every buddha' — this is the great lion's roar of seeking wisdom without weariness. 'I shall eliminate every māra and every deed of every māra' — this is the great lion's roar of cultivating right conduct and cutting off every affliction. 'I shall fully understand that every dharma is without self, without sentient being, without a life-principle, without a person, empty, signless, wishless, and pure exactly like empty space' — this is the great lion's roar of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas.
最後生菩薩震動一切諸佛國土悉令嚴淨，是時，一切釋、梵、四王咸來讚請：『唯願菩薩以無生法而現受生！』菩薩則以無礙慧眼普觀世間：『一切眾生無如我者。』即於王宮示現誕生，自行七步大師子吼：『我於世間最勝第一，我當永盡生死邊際。』是如說而作大師子吼。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法，則得如來無上大師子吼。大方廣佛華嚴經卷第五十七
A bodhisattva in their final birth shakes every buddha-land, causing all of them to become entirely adorned and pure; at that time, every Śakra, Brahmā, and one of the four heavenly kings all come together to praise and entreat: "We beseech the bodhisattva, through the dharma of non-arising, to manifest taking birth!" The bodhisattva then, with the unobstructed eye of wisdom, universally observes the world: "There is no sentient being equal to me." Right within the royal palace, they manifest their own birth, and walking seven steps by themselves, roar the great lion's roar: "I am the most excellent, the foremost in the world; I shall forever bring the limit of birth and death to its end." This is a lion's roar performed exactly as declared. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide within this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own unsurpassed, great lion's roar.
是如說而作大師子吼 — this is a lion's roar performed exactly as declared. This closing phrase marks a shift from the nine vows before it, none of which are shown fulfilled within this text: only the tenth roar is described as already carried out, its declaration and its performance occurring in the very same sentence.
Part 769 Complete — Fascicle 57 Complete
This completes fascicle fifty-seven of the eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, continues without interruption into fascicle fifty-eight. Part 770 opens the next set of ten in this long chapter, continuing where fascicle fifty-seven leaves off.