Subduing Māra, Ten Powers of the Tathāgata
Ten reasons for subduing māra include an unexpected admission: even at the site of awakening itself, an army of māra still comes to cause disturbance, and only afterward is māra's domain transcended. Ten powers of becoming a tathāgata follow, closing with the classical ten powers themselves and the declaration that whoever is complete in these ten is rightly called tathāgata.
Māra Reaches Even the Site of Awakening
The eighth reason for subduing māra makes an admission the surrounding triumphant imagery might otherwise obscure: even at the site of awakening itself, an army of māra still arrives to cause disturbance, and it is only after that confrontation that the domain of māra is finally transcended — awakening does not simply place itself beyond māra's reach in advance.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩坐道場時，觀十種義故，示現降魔。何等為十？所謂：為濁世眾生樂於鬪戰，欲顯菩薩威德力故，示現降魔；為諸天、世人有懷疑者，斷彼疑故，示現降魔；為教化調伏諸魔軍故，示現降魔；為欲令諸天、世人樂軍陣者，咸來聚觀，心調伏故，示現降魔；為顯示菩薩所有威力世無能敵故，示現降魔；為欲發起一切眾生勇猛力故，示現降魔；為哀愍末世諸眾生故，示現降魔；為欲顯示乃至道場猶有魔軍而來觸惱，此後乃得超魔境界故，示現降魔；為顯煩惱業用羸劣，大慈善根勢力強盛故，示現降魔；為欲隨順濁惡世界所行法故，示現降魔。是為十。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when sitting at the site of awakening, observing ten kinds of meaning, manifests subduing māra. What are these ten? Namely: because sentient beings of a defiled age delight in battle and strife, wishing to display a bodhisattva's own awesome, virtuous power, he manifests subduing māra; for the sake of devas and people of the world who harbor doubt, in order to cut off that doubt, he manifests subduing māra; in order to teach and tame every army of māra, he manifests subduing māra; wishing to cause devas and people of the world who delight in battle formations to all come together and watch, their minds thereby tamed, he manifests subduing māra; in order to display that a bodhisattva's own awesome power has no equal in the world, he manifests subduing māra; wishing to arouse courageous power in every sentient being, he manifests subduing māra; out of compassion for sentient beings of the final age, he manifests subduing māra; wishing to display that even at the site of awakening itself, an army of māra still comes to cause disturbance, and that only afterward is the domain of māra transcended, he manifests subduing māra; in order to display that the function of afflictive karma is feeble and weak, while the power of great loving-kindness and wholesome roots is strong and vigorous, he manifests subduing māra; and wishing to accord with the dharma practiced in a defiled, evil world, he manifests subduing māra. These are the ten.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種成如來力。何等為十？所謂：超過一切眾魔煩惱業故，成如來力；具足一切菩薩行，遊戲一切菩薩三昧門故，成如來力；具足一切菩薩廣大禪定故，成如來力；圓滿一切白淨助道法故，成如來力；得一切法智慧光明，善思惟分別故，成如來力；其身周遍一切世界故，成如來力；所出言音悉與一切眾生心等故，成如來力；能以神力加持一切故，成如來力；與三世諸佛身、語、意業等無有異，於一念中了三世法故，成如來力；得善覺智三昧，具如來十力，所謂：是處非處智力乃至漏盡智力故，成如來力。是為十。若諸菩薩具此十力，則名：如來、應、正等覺。
Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten powers of becoming a tathāgata. What are these ten? Namely: transcending every māra and the karma of affliction — this becomes a tathāgata's power; being complete in every bodhisattva practice, playing freely within every bodhisattva samādhi-gate — this becomes a tathāgata's power; being complete in every bodhisattva's own vast meditative absorption — this becomes a tathāgata's power; perfecting every pure, wholesome dharma that supports the path — this becomes a tathāgata's power; attaining the wisdom-light of every dharma, skillfully reflecting upon and discerning it — this becomes a tathāgata's power; his own body pervading every world — this becomes a tathāgata's power; every sound he utters being entirely equal to the mind of every sentient being — this becomes a tathāgata's power; being able to empower everything through spiritual power — this becomes a tathāgata's power; being equal without any difference to the deeds of body, speech, and mind of every buddha of the three times, fully understanding the dharma of the three times within a single thought — this becomes a tathāgata's power; and attaining the samādhi of skillful, awakened wisdom, complete in the tathāgata's own ten powers, namely: the power of knowing what is and is not the case, all the way through to the power of knowing the exhaustion of every outflow — this becomes a tathāgata's power. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas are complete in these ten powers, they are called tathāgata, worthy one, perfectly and fully awakened one.
若諸菩薩具此十力，則名：如來、應、正等覺 — if bodhisattvas are complete in these ten powers, they are called tathāgata, worthy one, perfectly and fully awakened one. This closing line makes the boundary explicit: the difference between "bodhisattva" and "tathāgata" is stated here not as a difference in kind but as the completion of these specific ten powers, the last of which is itself the classical set of ten powers folded into a single tenth item.
Part 800 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-nine. Part 801 opens ten events as the tathāgata turns the great wheel of dharma, then ten reasons for manifesting parinirvāṇa, completing the buddha's full biographical arc within this teaching.