Good-Wealth Departs, and Finds Virtue-Cloud
Overjoyed and in tears, Good-Wealth bows countless times before Mañjuśrī and sets out alone for the south. On Wondrous-Peak Mountain he searches every direction — east, west, north, south, above, below — for seven full days, before finally finding Virtue-Cloud walking slowly on a mountain nearby.
Seven Days of Searching
Good-Wealth's own pilgrimage begins with an unglamorous detail: he is told exactly where to go, and still it takes him seven days of searching every direction on the mountain before he finds the teacher he was sent to meet — not on the peak he climbed, but on one nearby.
爾時，善財童子聞是語已，歡喜踊躍，頭頂禮足，遶無數匝，慇懃瞻仰，悲泣流淚。辭退南行，向勝樂國，登妙峯山，於其山上東、西、南、北、四維、上、下觀察求覓，渴仰欲見德雲比丘。經于七日，見彼比丘在別山上徐步經行。
At that time, once the boy Good-Wealth had heard these words, he was overjoyed and leapt for joy; he bowed his head at Mañjuśrī's feet, circled him countless times, gazed up at him earnestly and intently, and wept, his tears streaming. He took his leave and traveled south, heading toward the country of Victorious-Joy, and ascended Wondrous-Peak Mountain; and there upon that mountain, to the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, and below, he observed and searched, thirsting and longing to see the monk Virtue-Cloud. After seven days had passed, he saw that monk on a different mountain, walking slowly back and forth.
於其山上東、西、南、北、四維、上、下觀察求覓 — to the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, and below, he observed and searched. Ten full directions searched on the very mountain he was told to climb, and still Virtue-Cloud is found somewhere else entirely. The teacher named by Mañjuśrī turns out not to be exactly where the instructions pointed.
The Same Question, Asked Again
Having found Virtue-Cloud at last, Good-Wealth repeats, almost word for word, the same request he made of Mañjuśrī — a small sign that this scene will recur throughout the pilgrimage: a new teacher found, the same bow, the same circling, the same question asked afresh.
見已往詣，頂禮其足，右遶三匝，於前而住，作如是言：「聖者！我已先發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，而未知菩薩云何學菩薩行？云何修菩薩行？乃至應云何於普賢行疾得圓滿？我聞聖者善能誘誨，唯願垂慈，為我宣說：云何菩薩而得成就阿耨多羅三藐三菩提？」
Having seen him, he went to that place, bowed his head at his feet, circumambulated him three times to the right, and stood before him, speaking these words: "Noble one! I have already, before this, given rise to the mind of unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment, and yet I do not know: how does a bodhisattva study the bodhisattva's own practice? How does he cultivate the bodhisattva's own practice? And on up to: how should he swiftly bring Samantabhadra's own practice to completion? I have heard that you, noble one, are skilled in guiding and instructing others; I only wish that you would extend your own kindness and proclaim for me: how does a bodhisattva come to accomplish unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment?"
而未知菩薩云何學菩薩行 — and yet I do not know how a bodhisattva studies the bodhisattva's own practice. Good-Wealth asks Virtue-Cloud almost the identical question he already asked Mañjuśrī, word for word in places. Each new teacher he meets will hear this same question posed again, fresh each time, regardless of what the last teacher already answered.
Part 902 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-two. Part 903 turns to Virtue-Cloud's own response, naming the difficulty of what Good-Wealth has asked and beginning to describe the power of his own self-mastered understanding.