Turning the Wheel of Dharma, Manifesting Parinirvāṇa
Ten events mark the turning of the great wheel of dharma, from the four fearlessnesses to teaching without interruption across asaṃkhyeya kalpas. Ten reasons follow for why no word spoken ever passes in vain, and ten reasons for manifesting parinirvāṇa close the sequence — arriving only once every vow is fulfilled and every being who could be delivered has been delivered.
An Ending That Arrives Only When Complete
Parinirvāṇa is not presented here as something that simply happens when a life runs its course. The text lists what must already be finished first — every vow fulfilled, the wheel of dharma turned, every being who could be delivered already delivered, every bodhisattva who should receive a prophecy already receiving one — before it is fitting, according to the dharma, for the unchanging great parinirvāṇa to follow.
「佛子！如來、應、正等覺轉大法輪有十種事。何等為十？一者，具足清淨四無畏智；二者，出生四辯隨順音聲；三者，善能開闡四真諦相；四者，隨順諸佛無礙解脫；五者，能令眾生心皆淨信；六者，所有言說皆不唐捐，能拔眾生諸苦毒箭；七者，大悲願力之所加持；八者，隨出音聲普遍十方一切世界；九者，於阿僧祇劫說法不斷；十者，隨所說法皆能生起根、力、覺道、禪定、解脫、三昧等法。佛子！諸佛如來轉於法輪，有如是等無量種事。
"Son of the Buddha! The tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one, turning the great wheel of dharma, has ten events. What are these ten? First, being complete in the pure wisdom of the four fearlessnesses. Second, bringing forth the four unobstructed eloquences, according with every kind of sound. Third, being skillfully able to open up and expound the mark of the four truths. Fourth, according with every buddha's own unobstructed liberation. Fifth, being able to cause the minds of every sentient being to become purely faithful. Sixth, every word spoken never being wasted, able to draw out every poisoned arrow of suffering from sentient beings. Seventh, being empowered by the power of the great vow of compassion. Eighth, whatever sound is uttered universally reaching every world throughout the ten directions. Ninth, teaching the dharma without interruption across asaṃkhyeya kalpas. And tenth, whatever dharma is spoken being able to give rise to the faculties, the powers, the factors of awakening, the path, meditative absorption, liberation, samādhi, and every such dharma. Son of the Buddha! When every buddha-tathāgata turns the wheel of dharma, there are measureless events such as these.
「佛子！如來、應、正等覺轉法輪時，以十事故，於眾生心中種白淨法，無空過者。何等為十？所謂：過去願力故；大悲所持故；不捨眾生故；智慧自在，隨其所樂為說法故；必應其時，未曾失故；隨其所宜，無妄說故；知三世智，善了知故；其身最勝，無與等故；言辭自在，無能測故；智慧自在，隨所發言悉開悟故。是為十。
Son of the Buddha! The tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one, when turning the wheel of dharma, for ten reasons, plants pure, wholesome dharma within the minds of sentient beings, with none passing in vain. What are these ten? Namely: because of the power of vows made in the past; because he is upheld by great compassion; because he never abandons sentient beings; because, with sovereign freedom of wisdom, he teaches the dharma according to whatever each being delights in; because he always responds at the right time, never once missing it; because he speaks according to what is fitting, never speaking falsely; because, with wisdom that knows the three times, he fully understands; because his own body is most excellent, without equal; because his speech has sovereign freedom, unfathomable by any; and because, with sovereign freedom of wisdom, whatever he utters causes awakening. These are the ten.
「佛子！如來、應、正等覺作佛事已，觀十種義故，示般涅槃。何等為十？所謂：示一切行實無常故；示一切有為非安隱故；示大涅槃是安隱處，無怖畏故；以諸人、天樂著色身，為現色身是無常法，令其願住淨法身故；示無常力不可轉故；示一切有為不隨心住，不自在故；示一切三有皆如幻化，不堅牢故；示涅槃性究竟堅牢，不可壞故；示一切法無生無起而有聚集、散壞相故；佛子！諸佛世尊作佛事已，所願滿已，轉法輪已，應化度者皆化度已，有諸菩薩應受尊號成記別已，法應如是入於不變大般涅槃。佛子！是為如來、應、正等覺觀十義故，示般涅槃。
Son of the Buddha! The tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one, having accomplished the buddha's own deeds, observing ten kinds of meaning, manifests parinirvāṇa. What are these ten? Namely: in order to show that every conditioned formation is truly impermanent; in order to show that everything conditioned is not a place of peace; in order to show that great nirvāṇa is a place of peace, free of fear; because humans and devas delight in and are attached to the form-body, in order to manifest that the form-body is an impermanent dharma, causing them to wish to abide in the pure dharma-body instead; in order to show that the power of impermanence cannot be turned back; in order to show that everything conditioned does not abide according to the mind's own wish, being without sovereignty; in order to show that the three states of existence are all exactly like an illusion, not firm or lasting; and in order to show that the nature of nirvāṇa is ultimately firm and lasting, indestructible; and in order to show that although every dharma is without birth and without arising, it still bears the mark of gathering together and scattering apart. Son of the Buddha! Once every buddha, the world-honored one, has accomplished the buddha's own deeds, once every vow has been fulfilled, once the wheel of dharma has been turned, once every being who ought to be transformed and delivered has been transformed and delivered, and once bodhisattvas who ought to receive an honored title have received their prophecy, it is fitting, according to the dharma, that he then enter the unchanging great parinirvāṇa. Son of the Buddha! These are the ten kinds of meaning that the tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one, observes in manifesting parinirvāṇa.
This list of ten reasons for parinirvāṇa names only nine distinct "in order to show..." clauses before the closing narrative names the true precondition — every vow fulfilled, the wheel turned, every being delivered — and calls the whole set "ten kinds of meaning." As with an earlier count in this same fascicle, this translation represents the source exactly as given, without silently supplying a tenth clause to close the gap.
Part 801 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-nine. Part 802 opens the naming of this entire teaching and the buddhas' own praise of Samantabhadra, moving toward the great closing verse that will complete both this chapter and fascicle fifty-nine.