The Bodhisattva as Dharma-King and Brahmā King
Five more images follow: a great dharma-king whose eyes are skillful means and whose scepter is wisdom, a Brahmā king uprooting every wrong view from the three realms, an Īśvara deva whose fame reaches everywhere, a wisdom-mind pure as empty space and yet able to accomplish every worldly affair, and the bodhisattva as each of the four elements — earth, water, fire, and wind.
Ungraspable, Yet Able to Act
The wisdom-mind stanza holds two claims together without letting either cancel the other: the mind is pure like empty space, without fixed nature, without a place to rest, entirely ungraspable — and yet it has great, sovereign power, able to accomplish every worldly affair. Emptiness here is not incapacity; it is precisely what makes the capacity possible.
菩薩大法王，功德莊嚴身，
相好皆具足，人天悉瞻仰，
方便清淨目，智慧金剛杵，
於法得自在，以道化群生。
菩薩大梵王，自在超三有，
業惑悉皆斷，慈捨靡不具，
處處示現身，開悟以法音，
於彼三界中，拔諸邪見根。
菩薩自在天，超過生死地，
境界常清淨，智慧無退轉，
絕彼下乘道，受諸灌頂法，
功德智慧具，名稱靡不聞。
"The bodhisattva is a great dharma-king, his body adorned with merit, every excellent mark complete within it, revered and looked up to by every human and deva; skillful means his own pure eyes, wisdom his own vajra scepter; he has attained sovereign freedom within the dharma, and transforms the multitude of beings through the path.
The bodhisattva is a great Brahmā king, sovereignly free, transcending the three states of existence; every karma and every affliction is entirely cut off, loving-kindness and equanimity nothing he lacks; he manifests his body in every single place, awakening beings through the sound of the dharma, uprooting every wrong view from within the three realms.
The bodhisattva is an Īśvara deva, transcending the domain of birth-and-death; his own realm is constantly pure, his wisdom never regressing; he has cut off entirely the path of the lesser vehicle, receiving every dharma of consecration; complete in merit and wisdom, there is nowhere his fame goes unheard.
菩薩智慧心，清淨如虛空，
無性無依處，一切不可得，
有大自在力，能成世間事，
自具清淨行，令眾生亦然。
菩薩方便地，饒益諸眾生；
菩薩慈悲水，澣滌諸煩惱；
菩薩智慧火，燒諸惑習薪；
菩薩無住風，遊行三有空。
The bodhisattva's own wisdom-mind is pure like empty space, without any fixed nature and without any place to rest upon, entirely ungraspable; and yet it has great, sovereign power, able to accomplish every worldly affair; he himself is complete in pure practice, and causes sentient beings to become the very same.
The bodhisattva is the earth of skillful means, benefiting every sentient being; the bodhisattva is the water of loving-kindness and compassion, washing away every affliction; the bodhisattva is the fire of wisdom, burning up the firewood of every delusive habit; the bodhisattva is the wind of non-abiding, wandering freely through the emptiness of the three states of existence.
無性無依處，一切不可得，有大自在力，能成世間事 — without any fixed nature and without any place to rest upon, entirely ungraspable — and yet it has great, sovereign power, able to accomplish every worldly affair. The verse does not resolve the tension between emptiness and efficacy by softening either claim; it simply places them side by side, letting the mind's ungraspability and its capacity to act stand as two faces of the same fact.
Part 807 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-nine. Part 808 continues the metaphor sequence with the bodhisattva as a wish-fulfilling jewel, a diamond, a necklace, and a garland worn by every sentient being.