Ten Thousand Brahmā Gods Answer Good-Wealth's Doubt
Before Good-Wealth can act on his own suspicion, ten thousand Brahmā gods appear in the sky above him, insisting twice over that he not think what he is thinking — and then offering their own testimony: watching Fierce-Heat's austerity is what first broke their own pride at being supreme.
"Do Not Think This Thought!"
The gods' own interruption is urgent enough to repeat itself — the same warning twice in a row — before naming exactly what Fierce-Heat's austerity is actually doing: drying up craving, cutting through wrong views, and burning away affliction like so much firewood.
作是念時，十千梵天，在虛空中，作如是言：「善男子！莫作是念！莫作是念！今此聖者得金剛焰三昧光明，發大精進，度諸眾生，心無退轉；欲竭一切貪愛海，欲截一切邪見網，欲燒一切煩惱薪，欲照一切惑稠林，欲斷一切老死怖，欲壞一切三世障，欲放一切法光明。
Just as he had this thought, ten thousand Brahmā gods, in the sky above, spoke these words: "Good son! Do not think this thought! Do not think this thought! This noble one has attained the samādhi-light of the vajra flame, has given rise to great diligence, and crosses over every being, his mind never regressing; he wishes to dry up the ocean of every craving and desire, wishes to cut through the net of every wrong view, wishes to burn up the firewood of every affliction, wishes to illuminate the dense forest of every delusion, wishes to cut off the fear of every old age and death, wishes to destroy every obstruction across the three times, and wishes to release the light of every dharma.
The Gods' Own Testimony
The Brahmā gods do not merely defend Fierce-Heat in the abstract — they confess their own history, admitting they once believed themselves supreme lords of the world, until the sight of his five-fire austerity itself broke that very pride.
「善男子！我諸梵天多著邪見，皆悉自謂是自在者、是能作者，於世間中我是最勝。見婆羅門五熱炙身，於自宮殿心不樂著，於諸禪定不得滋味，皆共來詣婆羅門所。時，婆羅門以神通力示大苦行為我說法，能令我等，滅一切見，除一切慢，住於大慈，行於大悲，起廣大心，發菩提意，常見諸佛，恒聞妙法，於一切處心無所礙。」
"Good son, we Brahmā gods were mostly attached to wrong views, each of us claiming ourselves to be the sovereign lord, the one who creates, and that within this world, we ourselves were the most supreme. Seeing this brahmin scorching his own body with the five fires, our own minds no longer delighted in or clung to our own palaces, and we no longer found any savor in our own meditative absorptions, so we all came together to this brahmin's own place. At that time, the brahmin, through the power of spiritual penetration, displaying this great austerity, taught the dharma for us, and was able to cause all of us to extinguish every view, remove every conceit, abide in great loving-kindness, practice great compassion, give rise to a vast and expansive mind, give rise to the intention of bodhi, constantly see every buddha, forever hear the wondrous dharma, and have a mind unobstructed in every place."
皆悉自謂是自在者、是能作者 — each of us claiming ourselves to be the sovereign lord, the one who creates. The Brahmā gods' own confession names the exact belief Good-Wealth's suspicion could never have guessed at — not that Fierce-Heat is dangerous, but that the gods who now vouch for him once needed exactly this same austerity to break their own claim to supremacy.
Part 967 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-four. Part 968 turns to a second testimony — ten thousand māras themselves appearing in the sky, scattering heavenly maṇi jewels over Fierce-Heat and confessing what his fire has done to their own pride.