The Asura and Garuḍa Kings Testify
Ten thousand asura kings rise straight out of the great ocean to kneel in the sky, testifying that Fierce-Heat's fire shook their own palaces, the ocean, and the earth all at once, while ten thousand garuḍa kings — disguised as ordinary ascetic youths — confess that the same terror led them to great loving-kindness.
Palace, Ocean, and Earth, Shaking Together
Nothing has shaken so widely at once as what the asura kings now describe — not merely their own palaces, but the great ocean they rise from and the great earth itself, all trembling together the moment Fierce-Heat's austerity began.
復有十千阿脩羅王，從大海出，住在虛空，舒右膝輪，合掌前禮，作如是言：「善男子！此婆羅門五熱炙身時，我阿脩羅所有宮殿、大海、大地，悉皆震動，令我等捨憍慢放逸，是故我等來詣其所。從其聞法，捨離諂誑，安住忍地，堅固不動，圓滿十力。」
There were further ten thousand asura kings, emerging from the great ocean, abiding in the sky, extending their right knee, joining their palms and bowing before him, who spoke these words: "Good son, when this brahmin was scorching his own body with the five fires, all of our asura palaces, the great ocean, and the great earth all shook entirely, causing us to abandon conceit and negligence, and for this reason we came to his place. Hearing him teach the dharma, we abandoned and left behind flattery and deceit, abided securely in the ground of patience, firm and unshakeable, and perfected the ten powers."
Garuḍa Kings, Disguised as Ordinary Youths
The garuḍa kings arrive with a detail no other testimony has included — they came transformed into the shape of ordinary non-Buddhist ascetic youths, watching the same fire shake their own palaces before it taught them to rescue beings from the mire of desire.
復有十千迦樓羅王，勇力持王而為上首，化作外道童子之形，於虛空中唱如是言：「善男子！此婆羅門五熱炙身時，其火光明照我宮殿，一切震動皆悉恐怖，是故我等來詣其所。時，婆羅門即為我等如應說法，令修習大慈，稱讚大悲，度生死海，於欲泥中拔濟眾生，歎菩提心，起方便智，隨其所宜調伏眾生。」
There were further ten thousand garuḍa kings, with the garuḍa king Brave Power as their foremost, transforming themselves into the form of non-Buddhist ascetic youths, proclaiming these words in the sky: "Good son, when this brahmin was scorching his own body with the five fires, the light of that fire illuminated our own palaces, everything shook, and we were all struck with terror, and for this reason we came to his place. At that time, the brahmin taught the dharma for us just as was fitting, causing us to cultivate great loving-kindness, to praise great compassion, to cross over the ocean of birth and death, to rescue beings from the mire of desire, to praise the mind of bodhi, to give rise to the wisdom of skillful means, and to tame beings in accordance with what is fitting for them."
化作外道童子之形 — transforming themselves into the form of non-Buddhist ascetic youths. No other testimony in this entire sequence mentions its speakers changing shape to approach Fierce-Heat — a small detail suggesting even garuḍas, natural predators of the nāgas already named, needed some kind of disguise before drawing near to this fire.
Part 972 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-four. Part 973 turns to ten thousand kiṃnara kings, whose own palace trees and instruments spontaneously sound out the names of buddhas and bodhisattvas across every direction.