Countless Worlds Bear Witness to the Same Teaching
With the Ten Abodes now fully taught, the ground itself responds: worlds beyond counting shake in six distinct ways, heavenly flowers and incense rain down, and instruments sound without being played. Then, from beyond countless further worlds, bodhisattvas arrive — every one of them also named Dharma Wisdom, from lands also named Dharma Cloud, each having heard the very same teaching, word for word, at the feet of a buddha also named Wondrous Dharma.
A Sixfold Earthquake, Across Countless Worlds
The teaching of the Ten Abodes is confirmed by an earthquake of six distinct kinds, spreading across worlds as numerous as the fine motes of dust in ten thousand buddha-lands, in every one of the ten directions — accompanied by a rain of heavenly flowers, incense, garments, and music that plays without a hand to strike it.
爾時，佛神力故，十方各一萬佛剎微塵數世界，六種震動。所謂：動、遍動、等遍動，起、遍起、等遍起，涌、遍涌、等遍涌，震、遍震、等遍震，吼、遍吼、等遍吼，擊、遍擊、等遍擊。雨天妙華、天末香、天華鬘、天雜香、天寶衣、天寶雲、天莊嚴具，天諸音樂不鼓自鳴，放大光明及妙音聲。如此四天下須彌山頂帝釋殿上，說十住法，現諸神變；十方所有一切世界，悉亦如是。
At that time, through the Buddha's own spiritual power, worlds as numerous as the fine motes of dust in ten thousand buddha-lands in each of the ten directions shook in six ways. Namely: moving, universally moving, equally and universally moving; rising, universally rising, equally and universally rising; surging, universally surging, equally and universally surging; quaking, universally quaking, equally and universally quaking; roaring, universally roaring, equally and universally roaring; and crashing, universally crashing, equally and universally crashing. It rained heavenly wondrous flowers, heavenly powdered incense, heavenly flower garlands, heavenly manifold incenses, heavenly jeweled garments, heavenly jeweled clouds, and heavenly adorning implements; every heavenly instrument sounded of itself without being played, and a great light and a wondrous sound were emitted. Just as, atop Śakra's own palace at the summit of Mount Sumeru within these four continents, the Dharma of the Ten Abodes was proclaimed and every spiritual transformation manifested, so too was it, entirely, throughout every world of the ten directions.
Countless Bodhisattvas, All Named Dharma Wisdom
From beyond countless further worlds, bodhisattvas arrive to fill the ten directions — every one of them bearing the very same name as the teacher himself, from lands bearing the very same name, having heard from buddhas of the very same name this exact teaching, word for word, and now arriving to bear witness that it is given identically everywhere.
又以佛神力故，十方各過一萬佛剎微塵數世界，有十佛剎微塵數菩薩，來詣於此，充滿十方，作如是言：「善哉！善哉！佛子善說此法！我等諸人，同名：法慧；所從來國，同名：法雲；彼土如來，皆名：妙法。我等佛所，亦說十住；眾會眷屬，文句義理，悉亦如是，無有增減。佛子！我等承佛神力來入此會，為汝作證：如於此會，十方所有一切世界，悉亦如是。」
And further, through the Buddha's own spiritual power, beyond worlds as numerous as the fine motes of dust in ten thousand buddha-lands in each of the ten directions, there were bodhisattvas as numerous as the fine motes of dust in ten buddha-lands, who came to this very place, filling the ten directions entirely, and spoke these very words: "Excellent! Excellent! Son of the Buddha, well have you spoken this Dharma! Every one of us alike bears the very same name, Dharma Wisdom; the lands we come from alike bear the very same name, Dharma Cloud; the Tathāgatas of those very lands are all alike named Wondrous Dharma. At the place of our own buddhas, we too have proclaimed the Ten Abodes; the assembly's own retinue, the very words and phrases, and their meaning and principle, are, in every case, entirely so as well, without anything added or lacking. Son of the Buddha! We, receiving the Buddha's own spiritual power, have come to enter this very assembly, to bear witness for your sake: just as it is within this assembly, so too is it, entirely, throughout every world of the ten directions."
This scene of confirmation is the sūtra's own guarantee against the suspicion that any single teaching, however carefully reasoned, might simply be one perspective among others. The witnessing bodhisattvas do not merely agree with what Dharma Wisdom has said — they report having heard, at the feet of buddhas bearing the very same name, the very same words and phrases, without anything added or lacking. Chapter fourteen's opening wonder, that identical names and identical vows replicate exactly across countless worlds, here becomes the guarantee of the teaching's own reliability: if the Ten Abodes were arbitrary or merely one bodhisattva's own formulation, it could not possibly recur, word for word, in assemblies beyond counting that have never been in contact with one another.
Part 79 Complete
This closes Part 79. Chapter 15 continues in Part 80 as Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva, surveying the ten directions and the whole of the Dharma-realm, opens a vast two-hundred-line hymn restating the entire teaching of the Ten Abodes in verse.