The Heaven of the Thirty-Three and the Nāga Kings Testify
Two very different assemblies add their own testimony — gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three who felt Sumeru itself tremble beneath them, and nāga kings whose own palaces were touched by Fierce-Heat's light until the twin terrors of their kind, burning sand and the garuḍa, no longer had any power over them.
Sumeru Itself Shook Six Ways
The gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three do not merely confess a change of heart — they confess fear, admitting that the mountain beneath their own heaven trembled the moment they first beheld this brahmin, and that their own bodhicitta was born directly out of that terror.
復有十千三十三天并其眷屬、天子、天女，前後圍遶，於虛空中，雨天曼陀羅華，恭敬供養，作如是言：「善男子！此婆羅門五熱炙身時，令我等諸天於天音樂不生樂著，共詣其所。時，婆羅門為我等說一切諸法無常敗壞，令我捨離一切欲樂，令我斷除憍慢放逸，令我愛樂無上菩提。又，善男子！我當見此婆羅門時，須彌山頂六種震動，我等恐怖，皆發菩提心堅固不動。」
There were further ten thousand gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, together with their retinues, sons of gods, and daughters of gods, surrounding on every side, in the sky above, raining down heavenly mandārava flowers, reverently making offerings, who spoke these words: "Good son, when this brahmin was scorching his own body with the five fires, it caused all of us gods no longer to delight in or cling to our own heavenly music, so we came together to his place. At that time, the brahmin taught for us that every dharma is impermanent and subject to decay, causing us to abandon and leave behind every pleasure of desire, causing us to cut off and remove every conceit and negligence, and causing us to love and delight in unsurpassed bodhi. Moreover, good son, when we first beheld this brahmin, the summit of Mount Sumeru shook in six ways, and we were struck with fear, yet all of us gave rise to the mind of bodhi, firm and unshakeable."
須彌山頂六種震動，我等恐怖 — the summit of Mount Sumeru shook in six ways, and we were struck with fear. Every other testimony so far describes a mind softened or humbled. The gods of the Thirty-Three alone describe outright fear — and their own bodhicitta arising not instead of that fear, but directly alongside it.
Freed From Burning Sand and the Garuḍa
The nāga kings' own testimony names two fears specific to their own kind — the burning sand that torments nāgas, and the garuḍa that preys on them — both dissolved by the same fire that has now touched heavens, māras, and mountains alike.
復有十千龍王，所謂：伊那跋羅龍王、難陀優波難陀龍王等，於虛空中，雨黑栴檀；無量龍女奏天音樂，雨天妙華及天香水，恭敬供養，作如是言：「善男子！此婆羅門五熱炙身時，其火光明普照一切諸龍宮殿，令諸龍眾離熱沙怖、金翅鳥怖，滅除瞋恚，身得清涼，心無垢濁，聞法信解，厭惡龍趣，以至誠心悔除業障，乃至發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提意住一切智。」
There were further ten thousand nāga kings, namely: the nāga king Airāvaṇa, the nāga kings Nanda and Upananda, and others, in the sky above, raining down black sandalwood; measureless nāga maidens played heavenly music, raining down heavenly wondrous flowers and heavenly fragrant water, reverently making offerings, who spoke these words: "Good son, when this brahmin was scorching his own body with the five fires, the light of that fire universally illuminated every nāga's own palace, causing every nāga to be freed from the fear of burning sand and the fear of the garuḍa, extinguishing and removing anger, their bodies becoming cool, their minds free of any defilement, hearing the dharma with faith and understanding, growing weary of and despising the nāga realm, and with utmost sincerity of mind, repenting and removing every karmic obstruction, and even giving rise to the intention of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, abiding in omniscience."
令諸龍眾離熱沙怖、金翅鳥怖 — causing every nāga to be freed from the fear of burning sand and the fear of the garuḍa. Every prior testimony described a fire that outshone palaces or broke pride. Here the same fire instead cools — nāgas whose own realm is defined by heat and predation find themselves made cool and unafraid by a fire hotter than anything they already feared.
Part 970 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-four. Part 971 turns to the testimony of ten thousand yakṣa kings, who confess that even the rākṣasas and kumbhāṇḍas among them were moved to loving-kindness by this same fire.