Good-Wealth Arrives at Endowed's Own House
A billion seats fill Endowed's own house, and yet it holds no food, no clothing, nothing at all except a single small vessel before her — while ten thousand maidens surround her, each one giving off a fragrance that alone brings non-retrogression and rids the mind of anger, envy, and every unwholesome thought.
A Billion Seats, and a Single Small Vessel
Endowed's own house holds nothing an ordinary household would need — no food, no clothing, no goods of any kind — only a billion seats accomplished through the power of bodhisattva karma, and one small vessel set before her, its own purpose not yet explained.
時，彼眾人咸告之言：「善男子！此優婆夷在此城中所住宅內。」善財聞已，即詣其門，合掌而立。其宅廣博，種種莊嚴，眾寶垣牆周匝圍遶，四面皆有寶莊嚴門。善財入已，見優婆夷處於寶座，盛年好色，端正可喜，素服垂髮，身無瓔珞，其身色相威德光明，除佛菩薩餘無能及。於其宅內，敷十億座，超出人、天一切所有，皆是菩薩業力成就。宅中無有衣服、飲食及餘一切資生之物，但於其前置一小器。
At that time, all those people said to him: "Good son, this laywoman dwells within a house in this very city." Having heard this, Good-Wealth went at once to her gate, and stood there with palms joined. Her house was vast and spacious, adorned in every way, surrounded all around by walls of every kind of jewel, with jeweled and adorned gates on all four sides. Having entered, Good-Wealth saw the laywoman seated upon a jeweled throne, in the prime of life, of beautiful appearance, upright and pleasing to behold, wearing plain clothing, her hair hanging loose, her body without any necklace or ornament, her own bodily form radiant with majestic light, surpassed by none except buddhas and bodhisattvas. Within her house, a billion seats were spread out, surpassing everything possessed by humans or gods, all accomplished through the power of bodhisattva karma. Within the house there were no clothes, food, or any other necessities of life, only a single small vessel placed before her.
素服垂髮，身無瓔珞 — wearing plain clothing, her hair hanging loose, her body without any necklace or ornament. Loving-Conduct's own body, back in Part 979, was described in precise color — golden skin, indigo eyes and hair. Endowed's own description does the opposite, stripping away every ornament, as though her own radiance needed no adornment to be seen at all.
Ten Thousand Maidens, a Fragrance That Heals the Mind
The maidens surrounding Endowed do more than attend her — their own bodies give off a fragrance that, on contact alone, removes anger, envy, deceit, arrogance, and craving all at once, replacing them with equanimity, loving-kindness, and moral discipline.
復有一萬童女圍遶，威儀色相如天采女，妙寶嚴具莊飾其身，言音美妙，聞者喜悅，常在左右，親近瞻仰，思惟觀察，曲躬低首，應其教命。彼諸童女，身出妙香，普熏一切；若有眾生遇斯香者，皆不退轉，無怒害心，無怨結心，無慳嫉心，無諂誑心，無險曲心，無憎愛心，無瞋恚心，無下劣心，無高慢心，生平等心，起大慈心，發利益心，住律儀心，離貪求心。聞其音者，歡喜踊躍；見其身者，悉離貪染。
There were further ten thousand maidens surrounding her, their bearing and appearance like heavenly palace-maidens, their bodies adorned with wondrous jeweled ornaments, their voices beautiful and wondrous, whoever heard them rejoiced, constantly at her left and right, drawing near and gazing up at her, reflecting and observing, bending low and lowering their heads, responding to her every instruction. Those maidens, their bodies giving off a wondrous fragrance, universally perfuming everything; whatever being encountered this fragrance would never regress, having no mind of anger or harm, no mind of resentment, no mind of stinginess or jealousy, no mind of flattery or deceit, no mind of deviousness, no mind of hatred or attachment, no mind of anger, no mind of inferiority, no mind of arrogance, giving rise to a mind of equanimity, giving rise to a mind of great loving-kindness, giving rise to a mind of benefiting others, abiding in a mind of moral discipline, and being free from a mind of greedy craving. Whoever heard their voice rejoiced, leaping with delight; whoever saw their body was entirely freed from craving and defilement.
Part 997 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-five. Part 998 turns to Good-Wealth's own question and Endowed's reply, naming her liberation the Treasury of Inexhaustible Merit and explaining exactly what that single small vessel is actually for.