Worlds and Kalpas, All Within a Single Thought
The chapter's comparisons shift register from giving to knowing. A hundred beings, each surpassing the one before across an entire asaṃkhyeya kalpa, traverse worlds beyond counting and reckon the number of every world's own kalpas of forming and destruction — and still, the sūtra insists, this could be known, while the first resolve's own wholesome root cannot.
A Hundred Beings, Traversing Worlds Without Limit
Ten beings in each direction, a hundred in all, each one within a single thought passing through as many worlds as the one before them passed through across an entire asaṃkhyeya kalpa — and even this could still be reckoned to its very limit, unlike the first resolve, which aims at understanding that great and small, pure and defiled, a single world and worlds beyond number, are not, in the end, opposed to one another at all.
「佛子！復置此諭。假使有人，於一念頃，能過東方阿僧祇世界；念念如是，盡阿僧祇劫，此諸世界無有能得知其邊際。又第二人，於一念頃，能過前人阿僧祇劫所過世界；如是，亦盡阿僧祇劫。次第展轉，乃至第十。南、西、北方，四維、上、下，亦復如是。佛子！此十方中，凡有百人，一一如是過諸世界，是諸世界可知邊際；菩薩初發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心所有善根，無有能得知其際者。何以故？佛子！菩薩不齊限，但為往爾所世界得了知故，發菩提心；為了知十方世界故，發菩提心。所謂：欲了知妙世界即是麁世界，麁世界即是妙世界；仰世界即是覆世界，覆世界即是仰世界；小世界即是大世界，大世界即是小世界；廣世界即是狹世界，狹世界即是廣世界；一世界即是不可說世界，不可說世界即是一世界；不可說世界入一世界，一世界入不可說世界；穢世界即是淨世界，淨世界即是穢世界。欲知一毛端中，一切世界差別性；一切世界中，一毛端一體性。欲知一世界中出生一切世界，欲知一切世界無體性。欲以一念心盡知一切廣大世界而無障礙故，發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。」
"Son of the Buddha! Let us set aside this analogy once more. Suppose there were a person who, within the space of a single thought, is able to pass through asaṃkhyeya worlds to the east; and, thought after thought in just this way, across an entire asaṃkhyeya kalpa, still none would be able to know the very limit of all these worlds. And suppose there is a second person who, within the space of a single thought, is able to pass through the worlds that the first person passed through across an entire asaṃkhyeya kalpa; and, likewise, this too continues across an entire asaṃkhyeya kalpa. Continuing on in succession, up to a tenth person. And it is likewise so to the south, the west, and the north, and in the four intermediate directions, and above and below. Son of the Buddha, throughout these ten directions there are, altogether, a hundred such persons, each one passing through worlds in just this way — and yet the very limit of all these worlds could still be known; whereas the wholesome root that is the bodhisattva's first giving rise of the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening has no one at all able to know its own limit. Why is this so? Son of the Buddha, the bodhisattva does not set himself a fixed measure, giving rise to the mind of bodhi merely for the sake of being able to understand that very number of worlds; he gives rise to the mind of bodhi for the sake of understanding the worlds of the ten directions entirely. Namely: wishing to understand that a subtle world is itself a coarse world, and a coarse world is itself a subtle world; that a world facing upward is itself a world facing downward, and a world facing downward is itself a world facing upward; that a small world is itself a great world, and a great world is itself a small world; that a vast world is itself a narrow world, and a narrow world is itself a vast world; that a single world is itself an inexpressible number of worlds, and an inexpressible number of worlds is itself a single world; that an inexpressible number of worlds enters into a single world, and a single world enters into an inexpressible number of worlds; that a defiled world is itself a pure world, and a pure world is itself a defiled world. Wishing to know the distinct nature of every world within the very tip of a single hair, and the single, unified nature of that hair-tip within every world. Wishing to know that every world is given birth to from within a single world, and wishing to know that every world has no fixed substance or nature of its own at all. Wishing, within a single thought of mind, to understand entirely every vast and great world without any obstruction at all — it is for these reasons that he gives rise to the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening."
Every Kalpa, Long and Short, Equal to a Single Thought
The same hundred-fold comparison is repeated for the number of kalpas across which every world forms and is destroyed — and again this could still be known, unlike the resolve, which aims at understanding a long kalpa and a short kalpa, a single kalpa and countless kalpas, even an inexpressible kalpa and a single thought, as ultimately equal to one another.
「佛子！復置此諭。假使有人，於一念頃，能知東方阿僧祇世界成壞劫數；念念如是，盡阿僧祇劫，此諸劫數無有能得知其邊際。有第二人，於一念頃，能知前人阿僧祇劫所知劫數。如是廣說，乃至第十。南、西、北方，四維、上、下，亦復如是。佛子！此十方阿僧祇世界成壞劫數，可知邊際；菩薩初發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心功德善根，無有能得知其際者。何以故？菩薩不齊限，但為知爾所世界成壞劫數故，發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心；為悉知一切世界成壞劫盡無餘故，發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。所謂：知長劫與短劫平等，短劫與長劫平等；一劫與無數劫平等，無數劫與一劫平等；有佛劫與無佛劫平等，無佛劫與有佛劫平等；一佛劫中有不可說佛，不可說佛劫中有一佛；有量劫與無量劫平等，無量劫與有量劫平等；有盡劫與無盡劫平等，無盡劫與有盡劫平等；不可說劫與一念平等，一念與不可說劫平等；一切劫入非劫，非劫入一切劫。欲於一念中盡知前際、後際，及現在一切世界成壞劫故，發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，是名：初發心大誓莊嚴了知一切劫神通智。」
"Son of the Buddha! Let us set aside this analogy once more. Suppose there were a person who, within the space of a single thought, is able to know the number of forming and destroying kalpas of asaṃkhyeya worlds to the east; and, thought after thought in just this way, across an entire asaṃkhyeya kalpa, still none would be able to know the very limit of all these kalpa-numbers. And there is a second person who, within the space of a single thought, is able to know the kalpa-numbers that the first person came to know across an entire asaṃkhyeya kalpa. Continuing on to be told at length, up to a tenth person. And it is likewise so to the south, the west, and the north, and in the four intermediate directions, and above and below. Son of the Buddha, the very limit of these forming and destroying kalpa-numbers of the asaṃkhyeya worlds of the ten directions could still be known; whereas the merit and wholesome root that is the bodhisattva's first giving rise of the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening has no one at all able to know its own limit. Why is this so? The bodhisattva does not set himself a fixed measure, giving rise to the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening merely for the sake of knowing that very number of worlds' own forming and destroying kalpa-numbers; he gives rise to the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening for the sake of understanding entirely, without anything at all left over, the forming and destroying kalpas of every world. Namely: knowing that a long kalpa and a short kalpa are equal, and a short kalpa and a long kalpa are equal; that a single kalpa and countless kalpas are equal, and countless kalpas and a single kalpa are equal; that a kalpa with a buddha and a kalpa without a buddha are equal, and a kalpa without a buddha and a kalpa with a buddha are equal; that within a single buddha's own kalpa there are inexpressible buddhas, and within an inexpressible number of buddhas' own kalpas there is a single buddha; that a kalpa with a fixed measure and a kalpa without any measure are equal, and a kalpa without any measure and a kalpa with a fixed measure are equal; that a kalpa that comes to an end and a kalpa that never ends are equal, and a kalpa that never ends and a kalpa that comes to an end are equal; that an inexpressible kalpa and a single thought are equal, and a single thought and an inexpressible kalpa are equal; that every kalpa enters into what is not a kalpa, and what is not a kalpa enters into every kalpa. Wishing, within a single thought, to understand entirely the forming and destroying kalpas of the past, the future, and the present throughout every world — it is for this reason that he gives rise to the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening; this is called the wisdom of spiritual power that, through the great vow adorning the first resolve, understands entirely every kalpa."
Both comparisons follow the same underlying shape as the chapter's opening ones, but the content has shifted from giving and teaching to a different register entirely: knowledge that dissolves apparent oppositions. Small and great, coarse and subtle, a kalpa with a buddha and a kalpa without one — each pair is declared equal to the other, not by making one side win out, but by seeing that the distinction itself was never as fixed as it appeared. This is the same interpenetration the sūtra demonstrated visually, chapters ago, with a mote of dust holding whole worlds; here it is offered as the actual content of what the first resolve aims to understand, rather than only a wonder to behold.
Part 89 Complete
This closes Part 89. Chapter 17 continues in Part 90 with further comparisons of knowledge — understanding every living being's own manifold understanding, and the differences among their very faculties.