A Vast Lotus Appears Beneath the Ocean
The instant Ocean-Cloud's question crosses his mind, a lotus flower of impossible scale rises beneath the ocean itself — its stalk held by a hundred million asura kings, its light cast by a hundred million maṇi jewels of a dozen different kinds, every class of being in the cosmos in attendance at once.
An Entire Cosmos in Attendance
Every part of the flower is made of a different treasure, and every class of being the cosmos contains attends it in its own particular way — asuras holding the stalk, nāgas raining fragrant water, garuḍas draping it in jeweled sashes, devas showering it with heavenly flowers, and ocean-spirits themselves bowing before it.
「善男子！我作是念時，此海之下，有大蓮華忽然出現，以無能勝因陀羅尼羅寶為莖，吠瑠璃寶為藏，閻浮檀金為葉，沈水為臺，碼碯為鬚，芬敷布濩，彌覆大海。百萬阿脩羅王執持其莖，百萬摩尼寶莊嚴網彌覆其上，百萬龍王雨以香水，百萬迦樓羅王銜諸瓔珞及寶繒帶周匝垂下，百萬羅剎王慈心觀察，百萬夜叉王恭敬禮拜，百萬乾闥婆王種種音樂讚歎供養，百萬天王雨諸天華，天鬘、天香、天燒香、天塗香、天末香、天妙衣服、天幢幡蓋，百萬梵王頭頂禮敬，百萬淨居天合掌作禮，百萬轉輪王各以七寶莊嚴供養，百萬海神俱時出現恭敬頂禮。
"Good son! At the very moment I had this thought, beneath this ocean, a great lotus flower suddenly appeared — its stalk made of the unsurpassable indranīla jewel, its calyx made of beryl, its leaves made of Jambūnada gold, its receptacle made of aloeswood, its filaments made of carnelian; fragrant and in full bloom, it spread out to cover the entire ocean. A hundred million asura kings held up its stalk; a hundred million maṇi-jeweled adorning nets spread out to cover it from above; a hundred million nāga kings rained down fragrant water upon it; a hundred million garuḍa kings held in their beaks every kind of necklace and jeweled silk sash, hanging down all around it; a hundred million rākṣasa kings observed it with a compassionate mind; a hundred million yakṣa kings bowed to it with reverence; a hundred million gandharva kings praised and made offerings to it with every kind of music; a hundred million deva kings rained down every kind of heavenly flower — heavenly garlands, heavenly incense, heavenly burning incense, heavenly anointing incense, heavenly powdered incense, heavenly wondrous garments, and heavenly banners, pennants, and canopies; a hundred million Brahmā kings bowed their heads to it in reverence; a hundred million pure-abode devas joined their palms and paid homage to it; a hundred million wheel-turning kings, each with the seven treasures, adorned it with offerings; and a hundred million ocean-spirits appeared all at once, bowing their heads to it with reverence.
百萬羅剎王慈心觀察 — a hundred million rākṣasa kings observed it with a compassionate mind. Rākṣasas are traditionally counted among the more fearsome classes of beings in this cosmology, yet here even they attend the lotus with compassion rather than menace — a detail suggesting the flower's own presence transforms the character of everything that beholds it.
Light Beyond Counting, Merit Beyond Praise
A dozen more kinds of maṇi jewels, each a hundred million strong, cover the flower in light before the text turns to name what it actually is: not a natural growth, but something born directly from the tathāgata's own appearance in the world, praised across countless eons without its own merit ever being exhausted.
百萬味光摩尼寶光明普照，百萬淨福摩尼寶以為莊嚴，百萬普光摩尼寶為清淨藏，百萬殊勝摩尼寶其光赫奕，百萬妙藏摩尼寶光照無邊，百萬閻浮幢摩尼寶次第行列，百萬金剛師子摩尼寶不可破壞清淨莊嚴，百萬日藏摩尼寶廣大清淨，百萬可樂摩尼寶具種種色，百萬如意摩尼寶莊嚴無盡光明照耀。此大蓮華，如來出世善根所起，一切菩薩皆生信樂，十方世界無不現前，從如幻法生、如夢法生、清淨業生，無諍法門之所莊嚴，入無為印，住無礙門，充滿十方一切國土，隨順諸佛甚深境界，於無數百千劫歎其功德不可得盡。
A hundred million flavor-light maṇi jewels universally shone their light upon it; a hundred million pure-blessing maṇi jewels adorned it; a hundred million universal-light maṇi jewels served as its pure treasury; a hundred million supremely excellent maṇi jewels blazed with brilliant light; a hundred million wondrous-treasury maṇi jewels shone their light without boundary; a hundred million Jambūnada-banner maṇi jewels were arranged row upon row in sequence; a hundred million vajra-lion maṇi jewels adorned it, pure and indestructible; a hundred million sun-treasury maṇi jewels were vast and pure; a hundred million delightful maṇi jewels possessed every kind of color; and a hundred million wish-fulfilling maṇi jewels adorned it, their light shining without end. This great lotus flower arose from the roots of goodness planted by the tathāgata's own appearance in the world; every bodhisattva gives rise to faith and delight in it; it appears before every world throughout the ten directions without exception; it is born from the dharma that is like an illusion, born from the dharma that is like a dream, and born from pure karma; it is adorned by the dharma-gate of non-contention; it enters the seal of the unconditioned, and abides in the gate without obstruction; it fills every land throughout the ten directions; it accords with the profound domain of every buddha; and throughout countless hundreds of thousands of eons, its own merit could never be exhausted in the praising.
從如幻法生、如夢法生、清淨業生 — it is born from the dharma that is like an illusion, born from the dharma that is like a dream, and born from pure karma. Having just described the flower in exhaustive material detail — jewel by jewel, attendant by attendant — the text turns and names its actual nature as illusion-like and dream-like. The vividness of the description and the insubstantiality of its source are not treated as a contradiction.
Part 908 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-two. Part 909 turns to what Ocean-Cloud sees seated upon this very lotus: a tathāgata whose body rises from the flower all the way to the highest heaven.