The Manifested Lives Begin
The verse now opens a long sequence built entirely on the pattern "sometimes he manifests as": a beginner just resolved and an elder whose practice already spans an immeasurable expanse, a śrāvaka and a solitary awakened one, Śakra and a Brahmā king, a monk and a sovereign ruler, one newly born and one dying of old age — a single figure appearing simultaneously at every stage.
A Warning Against Thinking It Through
Having listed beginner and elder, monk and king, newborn and the dying, in the same breath, the verse closes this run with an unusual instruction: do not try to reconcile these as sequential biography. Anyone who attempts to reason this through with ordinary, discursive thought, it says plainly, will only grow doubtful and go mad.
或現初發心，利益於世間；
或現久修行，廣大無邊際，
施戒忍精進，禪定及智慧，
四梵四攝等，一切最勝法。
或現行成滿，得忍無分別；
或現一生繫，諸佛與灌頂。
或現聲聞相，或復現緣覺，
處處般涅槃，不捨菩提行。
或現為帝釋，或現為梵王，
或天女圍遶，或時獨宴默。
"Sometimes he manifests as one who has just first given rise to the mind of awakening, benefiting the world; sometimes he manifests as one whose practice has long been cultivated, vast and boundless — giving, precepts, patience, diligence, meditative absorption, and wisdom, the four immeasurables, the four means of attraction, and every such most excellent dharma.
Sometimes he manifests as one whose practice is already complete and fulfilled, having attained the acceptance free of discrimination; sometimes he manifests as one bound to a single more birth, receiving consecration from every buddha.
Sometimes he manifests the mark of a śrāvaka, and sometimes again manifests as a solitary awakened one, entering parinirvāṇa in place after place, and yet never abandoning bodhisattva practice.
Sometimes he manifests as Śakra, sometimes he manifests as a Brahmā king, sometimes surrounded by celestial maidens, and sometimes sitting alone in silent stillness.
或現為比丘，寂靜調其心；
或現自在王，統理世間法。
或現巧術女，或現修苦行，
或現受五欲，或現入諸禪。
或現初始生，或少或老死。
若有思議者，心疑發狂亂。」
Sometimes he manifests as a monk, his own mind stilled and tamed; sometimes he manifests as a sovereign king, governing the affairs of the world.
Sometimes he manifests as a woman skilled in the arts, sometimes as one cultivating austere practice, sometimes as one indulging the five desires, and sometimes as one entering every dhyāna.
Sometimes he manifests as one just newly born, sometimes as young, sometimes as old and dying. If there is anyone who tries to reason this through with ordinary thought, their mind will grow doubtful and go mad."
若有思議者，心疑發狂亂 — if there is anyone who tries to reason this through with ordinary thought, their mind will grow doubtful and go mad. Rather than resolving the apparent contradiction of one figure being simultaneously a beginner and an elder, a newborn and one already dying, the verse names the attempt to resolve it discursively as itself the source of the danger — not a puzzle to be solved, but a description not built for that kind of thinking.
Part 812 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-nine. Part 813 continues the sequence of manifested lives, moving from dwelling in a heavenly palace to descending in spirit, entering and dwelling in the womb, and attaining buddhahood and turning the wheel of dharma.