Ten Events of Dwelling in the Womb
Fascicle fifty-nine opens with a question the sūtra answers directly in its first entry: if a bodhisattva could simply be born spontaneously by transformation, why dwell in a womb at all? The answer given is pedagogical rather than biological — to keep beings of lesser understanding from concluding that wisdom and merit need never be cultivated.
A Womb Large Enough for Every Final Birth
The eighth event describes an assembly that stretches the ordinary sense of "womb" past its limits: every bodhisattva in their own final birth, dwelling in their own mother's womb throughout every other world, comes together with this one to expound a shared dharma-gate — a single confined space made into a meeting point spanning every world at once.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩示現處胎，有十種事。何等為十？佛子！菩薩摩訶薩為欲成就小心劣解諸眾生故，不欲令彼起如是念：『今此菩薩自然化生，智慧善根不從修得。』是故菩薩示現處胎。是為第一事。菩薩摩訶薩為成熟父母及諸眷屬、宿世同行眾生善根，示現處胎。何以故？彼皆應以見於處胎成熟所有諸善根故。是為第二事。菩薩摩訶薩入母胎時，正念正知，無有迷惑；住母胎已，心恒正念，亦無錯亂。是為第三事。菩薩摩訶薩在母胎中常演說法，十方世界諸大菩薩、釋、梵、四王皆來集會，悉令獲得無量神力、無邊智慧，菩薩處胎成就如是辯才、勝用。是為第四事。菩薩摩訶薩在母胎中集大眾會，以本願力教化一切諸菩薩眾。是為第五事。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva manifesting dwelling in the womb has ten events. What are these ten? Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, wishing to bring to maturity sentient beings of small mind and inferior understanding, does not wish to let them give rise to the thought: 'This bodhisattva is born spontaneously by transformation; his wisdom and roots of goodness were not obtained through cultivation.' For this reason the bodhisattva manifests dwelling in the womb. This is the first event. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, in order to bring to maturity the roots of goodness of his parents, his relatives, and the sentient beings who practiced together with him in ages past, manifests dwelling in the womb. Why is this? Because all of them are to have their roots of goodness brought to maturity precisely by seeing him dwell in the womb. This is the second event. When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva enters his mother's womb, he does so with right mindfulness and right knowing, free of any confusion; and once dwelling within the womb, his mind is constantly rightly mindful, likewise free of any disorder. This is the third event. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, while within his mother's womb, constantly expounds the dharma; every great bodhisattva, every Śakra, every Brahmā, and every one of the four heavenly kings throughout the worlds of the ten directions all come together in assembly, and all of them thereby attain measureless spiritual power and boundless wisdom; the bodhisattva, while dwelling in the womb, accomplishes eloquence and excellent function such as this. This is the fourth event. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, while within his mother's womb, gathers a great assembly, and through the power of his original vow teaches and transforms every assembly of bodhisattvas. This is the fifth event.
菩薩摩訶薩於人中成佛，應具人間最勝受生，以此示現處於母胎。是為第六事。菩薩摩訶薩在母胎中，三千大千世界眾生悉見菩薩，如明鏡中見其面像；爾時，大心天、龍、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿脩羅、迦樓羅、緊那羅、摩睺羅伽、人、非人等，皆詣菩薩，恭敬供養。是為第七事。菩薩摩訶薩在母胎中，他方世界一切最後生菩薩在母胎者，皆來共會，說大集法門，名：廣大智慧藏。是為第八事。菩薩摩訶薩在母胎時，入離垢藏三昧，以三昧力，於母胎中現大宮殿，種種嚴飾悉皆妙好，兜率天宮不可為比，而令母身安隱無患。是為第九事。菩薩摩訶薩住母胎時，以大威力興供養具，名：開大福德離垢藏，普遍十方一切世界，供養一切諸佛如來，彼諸如來咸為演說無邊菩薩住處法界藏。是為第十事。佛子！是為菩薩摩訶薩示現處胎十種事。若諸菩薩了達此法，則能示現甚微細趣。
A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who is to attain buddhahood among humans, ought to be complete in the most excellent manner of taking birth among humans; it is for this reason that he manifests dwelling within a mother's womb. This is the sixth event. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, while within his mother's womb, is seen by every sentient being throughout a great trichiliocosm, exactly as one sees one's own face reflected in a bright mirror; at that time, devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, humans, and non-humans of great resolve all go to the bodhisattva, revering him and making offerings. This is the seventh event. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, while within his mother's womb, is joined by every bodhisattva in their final birth who is likewise dwelling in a mother's womb throughout every other world, all coming together in assembly, expounding a great gathering dharma-gate named Vast Treasury of Wisdom. This is the eighth event. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, while within the womb, enters the samādhi of the Treasury Free of Defilement, and through the power of that samādhi, manifests within the womb a great palace, adorned in every wondrous and excellent way, one to which even the Tuṣita palace cannot compare, and yet causes his mother's own body to remain peaceful and free of any affliction. This is the ninth event. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, while dwelling in the womb, through great awesome power calls forth offerings named Opening the Great Treasury of Merit Free of Defilement, universally reaching every world throughout the ten directions, making offerings to every buddha-tathāgata; and every one of those tathāgatas, in turn, expounds for him the boundless treasury of the dharma-realm, the dwelling place of bodhisattvas. This is the tenth event. Son of the Buddha! These are the ten events of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva manifesting dwelling in the womb. If bodhisattvas fully understand this dharma, they are able to manifest the most subtle of destinies.
不欲令彼起如是念：『今此菩薩自然化生，智慧善根不從修得』 — not wishing to let sentient beings give rise to the thought that this bodhisattva was born spontaneously by transformation, his wisdom and roots of goodness not obtained through cultivation. The very first reason given for dwelling in the womb at all is pedagogical: a spontaneously appearing bodhisattva would risk teaching, by example, that awakening requires no cultivation — the opposite of what this entire sūtra has spent fifty-eight fascicles establishing.
Part 793 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, now in fascicle fifty-nine. Part 794 opens ten kinds of most subtle destiny, describing the same events already manifested elsewhere in a buddha's life as also occurring, simultaneously, within the womb itself.