Vajragarbha's Eleven Verses, and Why the Request Is Finally Complete
Surveying the ten directions to show he favors no one, Vajragarbha finally speaks — not to teach yet, but to explain, in eleven verses, exactly why this Dharma cannot be spoken or heard the way ordinary things are, likening it to a bird's track through empty space. And yet he resolves to teach anyway: not the fruit that lies beyond words, but the single, practicable portion that leads toward it. With this, the section of request at last comes to its close.
The First Six Verses: Why This Dharma Cannot Be Spoken or Heard
經曰：爾時金剛藏菩薩摩訶薩觀察十方，欲令大眾重增踊悅生正信故，以偈頌曰：
「微難知聖道， 非分別離念，
難得無垢濁， 智者智行處。
自性常寂滅， 不滅亦不生，
自體本來空， 有不二不盡。
遠離於諸趣， 等同涅槃相，
非初非中後， 非言辭所說。
出過於三世， 其相如虛空，
定滅佛所行， 言說不能及。
地行亦如是， 難說復難聞，
離念及心道， 智起佛境界，
非陰界入說， 心意所不及。
如空中鳥跡， 難說不可見；
十地義如是， 不可得說聞。」
論曰：何故觀察十方？示無我慢、無偏心故。欲令大眾重增踊悅深生正信，是故說偈示說正地。增益聞者，堪受義故。踊悅者，心清不濁故。踊悅有二種：一義大踊悅，為得義故；二說大踊悅，因此說大能得彼義故。是中前五偈顯義大踊悅。云何義大？彼義深故。
何者深義？偈言：
「微難知聖道， 非分別離念。」
此偈依何義說？依智地故。云何知依智地？上來所說皆依智地，後復所說亦依智地，第四偈言「智起佛境界」故。微者，云何微？偈言「難知聖道」故。云何難知？謂說時難知。復云何難知？大聖道難知。大聖者，所謂諸佛，是故言微。道者是因，修行此道能到聖處故。言難知聖道，此微有二種：一、說時甚微；二、證時甚微。如是次第何故復難知？偈言「非分別離念」故。非分別者，離分別境界故。離念者，自體無念故。如是聖道名為甚微。何故甚難得？難得者難證故，是名甚微。何故復甚難得？
偈言：
「難得無垢濁， 智者智行處，
自性常寂滅， 不滅亦不生。」
無垢濁者，智中無無明故，有無明雜智是名為濁。智者智行處者，自證知故。自證知者，依彼生故。於中智者見實諦義故，復增上善解法故，增上善寂滅故，復有世間智隨聞明了知故。自性常寂滅者，自性離煩惱故，非先有染後時離故。不滅者，非一往滅，為不捨利益眾生故。不生者，出世間故。如是此智不住涅槃、世間中故。如是觀行甚微、依止甚微、清淨甚微、功德甚微故，言甚難得。於中第一甚微不同世間三昧故，第二第三不同外道自言尊者故，第四不同聲聞辟支佛故。於此偈中微者是總，二種微是別。復顯難得，得時甚微是總，餘四種甚微是別。此甚微智復有何相？
偈言：
「自體本來空， 有不二不盡，
遠離於諸趣， 等同涅槃相。
非初非中後， 非言詞所說，
出過於三世， 其相如虛空。」
是智相有二種：所謂同相、不同相。是中同相者，云何相？彼智相故。偈言「自體本來空」，智自空故。云何同相？一切諸法如說自體空，自體空者可如是取如兔角耶？不也。可如是取異此空智更有異空耶？不也。可如是取有彼此自體彼此轉滅耶？不也。云何取此自體空？「有不二不盡」如是取。此句顯離三種空攝：一、離謗攝；二、離異攝；三、離盡滅攝。有二種頌：一、有不二不盡；二、定不二不盡。此頌雖異，同明實有，若非實有不得言定。此云何定？此定能滅諸煩惱故，是名同相。
何者不同相？謂淨相解脫。此復有二種：一、何處得解脫；二、云何解脫。何處得解脫者，偈言「遠離於諸趣」，此顯諸道解脫，遠離煩惱業生故。云何解脫者，偈言「等同涅槃相」，世間、涅槃平等攝取故，非如聲聞一向背世間故。此智盡漏，為初智斷、為中為後？非初智斷，亦非中後，偈言「非初非中後」故。云何斷？如燈焰，非唯初中後，前中後取故。如是解脫，可同他音聲觀耶不也？云何觀？偈言「非言辭所說」，離語言故。可同世間智依世間耶不也？云何依？偈言「出過於三世」，轉依止依止常身故，非如無常意識智依止無常因緣法。如修多羅中決定說此解脫，可同聲聞緣覺智有障解脫得解脫耶不也？云何解脫？偈言「其相如虛空」，無一切煩惱障礙故。如是觀智、如是斷煩惱、如是觀觀、如是依止，依止如是解脫得解脫。
如是說已，於中自體空是總，三種空是別；解脫是總，五種解脫是別。偈言：
「定滅佛所行， 言說不能及，
地行亦如是， 難說復難聞。」
此偈云何？彼智已顯方便壞涅槃，復示性淨涅槃，偈言「定滅」故。定者，成同相涅槃，自性寂滅故。滅者，成不同相方便壞涅槃，示現智緣滅故。此智是誰證？偈言「佛所行」故。誰說、誰聽？無說、無聽，偈言「言說不能及」故。言說者，以音言導，謂名句字身。何故不但說無言？示現依言求解故。彼智既如是，地行復何相？偈言「地行亦如是，難說復難聞」。地者，境界。觀行者，智眷屬。智眷屬者，謂同行。同行者，謂檀等諸波羅蜜。何故復難說難聞？偈言：
「離念及心道， 智起佛境界，
非陰界入說， 心意所不及。」
此偈示現思慧及報生識智是則可說，此智非彼境界，以不同故，偈言「智起佛境界」故。如陰界入可說，此智不爾，離文字故，是故不可說，偈言「非陰界入說」故。非耳識所知、非意識思量，是故不可聞，偈言「心意所不及」故。智者，是地。智起者，以何觀、以何同行能起此智？云何可證而不可說而不可聞？今復以喻證成此義。偈言：
「如空中鳥跡， 難說不可見；
十地義如是， 不可得說聞。」
此偈示何義？如鳥行空中，跡處不可說，相亦不可見。何以故？虛空處鳥跡相不可分別故，非無虛空行跡。如是鳥跡住處、名句字身住處，菩薩地證智所攝，不可得說不可得聞。何以故？非如聲性故，非無地智。名句字身，此中深故，示義大踊悅。何故我復說此？汝等不應如聲取義。隨聲取義有五種過：一、不正信；二、退勇猛；三、誑他；四、謗佛；五、輕法。大眾自知無此五過。已說深義，復顯說大令生正信，次說五偈：
Sūtra: At that time, Vajragarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, surveying the ten directions, so as to cause the great assembly's joy to increase still further and a correct faith to arise, spoke in verse, saying:
"Subtle, the hard-to-know sagely path, beyond discrimination, free of thought, hard to attain, free of the taint of turbidity — the domain in which the wise exercise their wisdom.
Its own nature forever still and quiescent, neither ceasing nor arising, its own essence originally empty, yet existing, not dual, not exhausted.
Far removed from every destiny of rebirth, equal to the very mark of nirvāṇa, neither at the beginning, the middle, nor the end, not something words can express.
Transcending the three times, its mark like empty space — the resolute cessation a buddha practices, beyond the reach of any speech.
The practice of the grounds is likewise: hard to teach, and hard to hear — free of thought and the path of mind, wisdom arising as a buddha's own domain, not spoken of through the aggregates, elements, or sense-bases, beyond the reach of mind or intellect.
Like a bird's track through empty space, hard to describe and impossible to see — the meaning of the ten grounds is just the same, impossible to teach or to hear."
Commentary: Why does he survey the ten directions? To show that he is free of pride and free of any partial mind. Wishing to cause the great assembly's joy to increase further and a deep, correct faith to arise, he therefore speaks these verses, showing that he will teach the correct grounds. This increases the capacity of those who listen, since it is a matter of their being fit to receive it. "Joy" means the mind is clear and free of turbidity. This joy is of two kinds: first, the joy of the great meaning, for the sake of attaining that meaning; second, the joy of the great teaching, since it is through this great teaching that one is able to attain that meaning. Here, the first five verses make manifest the joy of the great meaning. What is meant by the greatness of the meaning? Because that meaning is profound.
What is this profound meaning? The verse says:
"Subtle, the hard-to-know sagely path, beyond discrimination, free of thought."
On what basis does this verse speak? On the basis of the ground of wisdom. How is it known that it speaks on this basis? Because everything said above is based on the ground of wisdom, and everything said further below is likewise based on the ground of wisdom, as the fourth verse says, "wisdom arising as a buddha's own domain." "Subtle" — in what sense subtle? The verse says, "the hard-to-know sagely path." In what sense hard to know? It means it is hard to know even at the time it is spoken of. And further, in what sense hard to know? The path of the great sages is hard to know. "Great sages" refers to the buddhas — and this is why it is called subtle. "Path" is the cause, since by cultivating this path one is able to reach the sagely state. As for calling it "the hard-to-know sagely path" — this subtlety is of two kinds: exceedingly subtle at the time it is spoken of, and exceedingly subtle at the time it is realized. Why, in this same sequence, is it further hard to know? The verse says, "beyond discrimination, free of thought." "Beyond discrimination" means it is free of any object-realm reached through discrimination. "Free of thought" means its own essence is without thought. In this way, the sagely path is called exceedingly subtle. Why is it exceedingly hard to attain? "Hard to attain" means hard to realize — and this too is called exceedingly subtle. Why is it, further, exceedingly hard to attain?
The verse says:
"Hard to attain, free of the taint of turbidity — the domain in which the wise exercise their wisdom; its own nature forever still and quiescent, neither ceasing nor arising."
"Free of the taint of turbidity" means that within this wisdom there is no ignorance — wisdom mixed with ignorance is what is called turbidity. "The domain in which the wise exercise their wisdom" means it is known through self-realization. Self-realization means it arises in dependence on that very wisdom. Here, "the wise" means those who see the meaning of the true reality, who, further, understand the Dharma with supreme excellence, who attain quiescence with supreme excellence, and who, further, through worldly wisdom, understand clearly in accordance with what they have heard. "Its own nature forever still and quiescent" means its own nature is free of affliction — not that it was first defiled and only later became free of it. "Neither ceasing" means it does not simply cease once and for all, since it does not abandon the benefiting of sentient beings. "Nor arising" means it is supramundane. In this way, this wisdom abides in neither nirvāṇa nor the world. Because contemplative practice of this kind is exceedingly subtle, its support is exceedingly subtle, its purity is exceedingly subtle, and its merit is exceedingly subtle, it is said to be exceedingly hard to attain. Of these, the first subtlety is unlike any worldly samādhi; the second and third are unlike what the outsiders themselves call venerable; and the fourth is unlike the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. In this verse, "subtle" is the universal aspect, and the two further kinds of subtlety are the particular aspects. Further making manifest "hard to attain": the subtlety at the time of attainment is the universal aspect, and the remaining four kinds of subtlety are the particular aspects. What further mark does this exceedingly subtle wisdom have?
The verse says:
"Its own essence originally empty, yet existing, not dual, not exhausted; far removed from every destiny of rebirth, equal to the very mark of nirvāṇa.
Neither at the beginning, the middle, nor the end, not something words can express; transcending the three times, its mark like empty space."
This wisdom's mark is of two kinds: the shared mark, and the unshared mark. Here, what is the shared mark? It is the mark of that wisdom itself. The verse says, "its own essence originally empty," because wisdom is itself empty. What is the shared mark? Every dharma, when it is said that its own essence is empty — should this emptiness of its own essence be taken to mean something like a rabbit's horn? No. Should it be taken to mean that, apart from this emptiness of wisdom, there is some further, different emptiness? No. Should it be taken to mean that this essence and that essence exist and then, one after another, cease to exist? No. How, then, should this emptiness of one's own essence be taken? It should be taken as "existing, not dual, not exhausted." This line makes manifest that it is free of being subsumed under three kinds of mistaken notions of emptiness: freedom from being subsumed under nihilistic denial; freedom from being subsumed under the notion of difference; and freedom from being subsumed under the notion of utter extinction. There are two ways of reading this verse: "existing, not dual, not exhausted," or "resolutely not dual, not exhausted." Though these two readings differ, both alike explain that it truly exists — for were it not truly existent, one could not speak of it as "resolute." In what sense is it resolute? Because this resoluteness is able to extinguish every affliction — and this is what is called the shared mark.
What is the unshared mark? It is the mark of pure liberation. This is again of two kinds: where liberation is attained, and what liberation is. As for where liberation is attained: the verse says, "far removed from every destiny of rebirth," making manifest liberation from every destiny, far removed from the birth produced by affliction and karma. As for what liberation is: the verse says, "equal to the very mark of nirvāṇa," because the world and nirvāṇa are equally embraced together, unlike the śrāvaka, who turns his back on the world entirely. Does this wisdom, which exhausts every taint, cut it off at the beginning, the middle, or the end? It is cut off neither at the beginning nor at the middle nor the end — the verse says, "neither at the beginning, the middle, nor the end." In what sense is it cut off? Like the flame of a lamp — it is not simply at the beginning, the middle, or the end, since the flame is taken up continuously across the earlier, middle, and later moments alike. Can this liberation be understood the way another's speech is understood? No. In what sense is it understood? The verse says, "not something words can express," because it is free of language. Can it depend on the world the way worldly wisdom depends on the world? No. In what sense does it depend? The verse says, "transcending the three times," because it turns to rely upon a support that is the eternal body — unlike the impermanent wisdom of discriminating consciousness, which depends upon impermanent, conditioned dharmas. As the sūtras resolutely teach, can this liberation be like the liberation of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, whose wisdom is still obstructed even as it attains liberation? No. In what sense is it liberated? The verse says, "its mark like empty space," because it is free of every obstruction of affliction. Such is this contemplative wisdom, such is this cutting off of affliction, such is this way of contemplating contemplation itself, and such is this support — relying on a liberation such as this, one attains liberation.
Having said this, within this passage, "its own essence is empty" is the universal aspect, and the three kinds of emptiness are the particular aspects; "liberation" is the universal aspect, and the five kinds of liberation are the particular aspects. The verse says:
"The resolute cessation a buddha practices, beyond the reach of any speech; the practice of the grounds is likewise: hard to teach, and hard to hear."
What does this verse mean? Having already shown that wisdom destroys the nirvāṇa attained through skillful means, this now further shows the nirvāṇa of intrinsic purity — the verse says, "resolute cessation." "Resolute" accomplishes the nirvāṇa of the shared mark, since its own nature is still and quiescent. "Cessation" accomplishes the nirvāṇa attained through skillful means, of the unshared mark, making manifest that it is the cessation brought about by wisdom's own condition. Who realizes this wisdom? The verse says, "a buddha practices" it. Who speaks it, and who hears it? There is no speaker and no hearer — the verse says, "beyond the reach of any speech." "Speech" means being guided by sound and language — that is, by names, phrases, and bodies of letters. Why does it not simply say there is no speech at all? To make manifest that understanding is nonetheless sought in dependence on speech. Given that this wisdom is thus, what mark does the practice of the grounds itself then have? The verse says, "the practice of the grounds is likewise: hard to teach, and hard to hear." "The grounds" is the object-realm. "Contemplative practice" is wisdom's own retinue. Wisdom's retinue means its accompanying practices; the accompanying practices are giving and the other perfections. Why, further, is it hard to teach and hard to hear? The verse says:
"Free of thought and the path of mind, wisdom arising as a buddha's own domain, not spoken of through the aggregates, elements, or sense-bases, beyond the reach of mind or intellect."
This verse shows that the wisdom born of reflection, and the wisdom of consciousness born of past retribution, can indeed be spoken of — but this wisdom is not their domain, since it is unlike them, as the verse says, "wisdom arising as a buddha's own domain." Just as the aggregates, elements, and sense-bases can be spoken of, this wisdom is not so, being free of letters — and this is why it cannot be spoken of, as the verse says, "not spoken of through the aggregates, elements, or sense-bases." It is not known by the ear-consciousness, nor grasped by the discriminating consciousness in thought — and this is why it cannot be heard, as the verse says, "beyond the reach of mind or intellect." "Wisdom" refers to the grounds. As for "wisdom arising" — through what contemplation, through what accompanying practice, is this wisdom able to arise? How can it be realized, and yet be unable to be spoken of or heard? Now, further, this meaning is confirmed through a simile. The verse says:
"Like a bird's track through empty space, hard to describe and impossible to see — the meaning of the ten grounds is just the same, impossible to teach or to hear."
What meaning does this verse show? Just as a bird flies through empty space, the place of its track cannot be spoken of, and its mark, too, cannot be seen. Why is this? Because, within empty space, the mark of a bird's track cannot be discriminated — yet this is not to say there is no track of its flight through empty space at all. Just so, the place where a bird's track abides — the place where a body of names, phrases, and letters abides — is what a bodhisattva's realized wisdom at each ground encompasses, and it cannot be spoken of, cannot be heard. Why is this? Because it is not like the nature of sound — yet it is not without the wisdom of the grounds. That a body of names, phrases, and letters is, in this matter, profound — this makes manifest the joy of the great meaning. Why do I speak of this again? So that you should not grasp its meaning the way you would grasp mere sound. Grasping meaning the way one grasps sound has five faults: incorrect faith; a retreat from courage; deceiving others; slandering the Buddha; and disrespecting the Dharma. This assembly itself knows it is free of these five faults. Having now explained this profound meaning, this further makes manifest the great teaching, causing a correct faith to arise, in the next five verses:
Huiyuan reads Vajragarbha's survey of the ten directions, before he has said a single word, as answering two separate worries at once: 示無我慢、無偏心故 — "to show that he is free of pride and free of any partial mind." Pride, because remaining silent this long, in front of buddhas themselves, could otherwise look like a refusal driven by self-regard rather than genuine caution; partiality, because a single, narrower glance around only this one assembly might suggest he judges some listeners fit and others not. The gesture costs nothing narratively but forecloses two readings of his long silence that would otherwise undercut everything the section of request has been building toward. Huiyuan then divides the eleven verses into two distinct kinds of joy the assembly is meant to feel — 一義大踊悅，為得義故；二說大踊悅，因此說大能得彼義故 — "the joy of the great meaning, for the sake of attaining that meaning itself, and the joy of the great teaching, since it is through this great teaching that the meaning is actually attained" — mapping the first six verses to the first kind of joy (establishing just how profound this Dharma is) and reserving the remaining five, still to come, for the second (establishing that a path to it will nonetheless be taught).
On the bird's-track-in-space simile that closes this first half, Huiyuan is precise about what it does and does not deny: 虛空處鳥跡相不可分別故，非無虛空行跡 — "because the mark of a bird's track within empty space cannot be discriminated, this does not mean there is no track of its flight through empty space at all." The image works because a bird genuinely does fly through the sky and genuinely does leave a track of its passage, in the sense that its motion is real and has a real trajectory — yet nothing remains behind that could be pointed to, examined, or shown to someone who missed the flight. This is offered as the precise shape of the problem the whole eleven verses have been building toward: not that the ten grounds are nothing at all, nor that they are simply unknowable, but that whatever reality they have does not sit still long enough, or leave a fixed enough residue, for ordinary speech and hearing — built for pointing at stable things — to get any purchase on it directly.
The Final Five Verses: The Portion He Will Teach
「我但說一分， 慈悲及願力，
漸次非心境， 智滿如淨心。
是境界難見， 難說自心知，
我承佛力說， 咸共恭敬聽。
如是智入行， 億劫說不盡，
今如是略說， 如實滿足住。
一心恭敬待， 承佛力善說，
說上法妙音， 喻相應善字。
是言說甚難， 無量佛神力，
光焰入我身， 是力我能說。」
前言十地義如是，不可得說聞，今言我但說一分，此言有何義？是地所攝有二種：一、因分；二、果分。說者，謂解釋。一分者，是因分於果分為一分故，言我但說一分。此說大，有三種：一、因成就大；二、因漸成就大；三、教說修成就大。何者因成就大？偈言「慈悲及願力」故。慈者、同與喜樂因果故。悲者、同拔憂苦因果故。願者、發心期大菩提故。此慈悲願長夜熏修、不同二乘故。何者因漸成就大？偈言「漸次」故。漸者，說聞思慧等次第乃至能生出世間智因故。何者教說修成就大？有二種：一、滿足修；二、觀修。滿足修者，偈言「非心境」故。非心境者，此句示現聞思慧等心境界處唯是智因，能生出世間智，而此不能滿彼出世間智地，偈言「智滿如淨心」故。如淨心者，如出世間清淨心，能滿彼地智故。觀修者，偈言：
「是境界難見， 難說自心知，
我承佛力說， 咸共恭敬聽。」
此偈顯何義？是境界難見，自心清淨可見，此境界不可說。如是教說修成就已，於說法中有二種過，不能得證：一、說者過；二、聽者過。說者過，有二種：一、佛不隨喜說；二、不平等說。聽者亦有二種過：一、見諍過，我法是、彼法非，如是執著種種諸見；二、於說法者不生恭敬。於中示現說者自身無過，我非諸佛不隨喜說，偈言「我承佛力說咸聽」故。次教聽者，防二種過。偈言「共恭敬聽」故。如是次第如是許說，而眾未知廣說略說，不可廣說唯許略說地義滿足。如第三偈說：
「如是智入行， 億劫說不盡，
今如是略說， 如實滿足住。」
智入者，此所說地法，眾生以智入。云何入？如實滿足攝取入，如行修故。如行修滿足故，示彼廣說義攝取故。住者，如來家決定住故，我如是說。前言恭敬聽，不說云何恭敬，是故示現。偈言：
「一心恭敬待， 承佛力善說，
說上法妙音， 喻相應善字。」
一心恭敬待者，有二種：一、身正恭敬待，如威儀住，堪受說法故；二、心正恭敬待，如心決定，堪能憶持故。此句勸誡二種恭敬待，所謂身、心故。善說者，示己無諂、無有憍慢故。承佛力者，示己無增上慢故。下半偈說上法妙音喻相應善字，示現何事？以何事？云何事？依止何事？示現何事者，所謂上法。以何事者，謂妙音聲。云何事者，譬喻相應。依止何事者，謂依止善字，我一切善說。又相應者，譬喻共相應。善字者，有二種相：一、隨方言音，善隨順故；二、字句圓滿，不增不減，與理相應故言善字。前言承佛神力，未說云何力？第五偈示現佛神力事。偈言：
「是言說甚難， 無量佛神力，
光焰入我身， 是力我能說。」
已說請分，自此以後正說初地。
"I shall speak of only a single portion — through compassion, and through the power of vows — its gradual stages not a domain of ordinary mind, its wisdom fulfilled as one fulfills a pure mind.
This domain is hard to see, hard to teach, known only to one's own mind — relying on the Buddha's power, I shall speak; may you all together listen with reverence.
Such is the entering into this practice of wisdom that a hundred million eons of speaking could not exhaust it; now, I shall speak of it only in brief, abiding in it just as it truly is, and fulfilled.
With one-pointed mind, wait in reverence, as, relying on the Buddha's power, I speak it well — expounding this supreme Dharma with a wondrous voice, its similes matched, its good syllables fitting.
This speech is exceedingly difficult — through the boundless spiritual power of the buddhas, their blazing light has entered my own body; it is through this power that I am able to speak."
Above it was said, "the meaning of the ten grounds is just the same, impossible to teach or to hear"; now it is said, "I shall speak of only a single portion" — what meaning does this have? What the grounds encompass is of two kinds: the aspect of cause, and the aspect of fruit. "To speak" means to explain. "A single portion" means that the aspect of cause is a single portion in relation to the aspect of fruit — and this is why it says, "I shall speak of only a single portion." This great teaching is of three kinds: the greatness of the accomplishment of the cause; the greatness of the gradual accomplishment of the cause; and the greatness of the accomplishment of teaching, explanation, and cultivation. What is the greatness of the accomplishment of the cause? The verse says, "through compassion, and through the power of vows." "Loving-kindness" means equally bestowing the cause and fruit of joy and happiness. "Compassion" means equally removing the cause and fruit of sorrow and suffering. "Vow" means arousing the mind that aspires to great enlightenment. This loving-kindness, compassion, and vow are cultivated through the long night of saṃsāra, unlike the two lesser vehicles. What is the greatness of the gradual accomplishment of the cause? The verse says, "gradual stages." "Gradual" means that the wisdoms of hearing, reflection, and cultivation, and the like, are taught in sequence, up to being able to generate the cause of supramundane wisdom. What is the greatness of the accomplishment of teaching, explanation, and cultivation? It is of two kinds: cultivation to fulfillment, and contemplative cultivation. As for cultivation to fulfillment: the verse says, "not a domain of ordinary mind." "Not a domain of ordinary mind" — this line shows that the domain of mind reached through the wisdoms of hearing and reflection and the like is only the cause of wisdom, able to generate supramundane wisdom, but is not itself able to fulfill that ground of supramundane wisdom — the verse says, "its wisdom fulfilled as one fulfills a pure mind." "As one fulfills a pure mind" means that, just as the supramundane, pure mind is fulfilled, so too the wisdom of that ground is fulfilled. As for contemplative cultivation: the verse says:
"This domain is hard to see, hard to teach, known only to one's own mind — relying on the Buddha's power, I shall speak; may you all together listen with reverence."
What meaning does this verse make manifest? That this domain is hard to see, yet can be seen by one's own pure mind, though this domain cannot itself be spoken of. Having now shown that the teaching, explanation, and cultivation have been accomplished, within the teaching of the Dharma there are two kinds of fault by which realization cannot be attained: the fault of the teacher, and the fault of the listener. The teacher's fault is of two kinds: the buddhas not rejoicing in his teaching; and teaching without impartiality. The listener's fault is likewise of two kinds: the fault of contentious views — holding that my own doctrine is right and another's is wrong, and thus clinging to all manner of views; and failing to give rise to reverence toward the teacher. Within this, it is made manifest that the teacher himself is without fault — I am not one whom the buddhas fail to rejoice in — the verse says, "relying on the Buddha's power, I shall speak; may you all listen." Next, this instructs the listeners, guarding against the two faults — the verse says, "listen together with reverence." Having thus given his consent to teach in this order, yet the assembly does not yet know whether he will teach at length or in brief — he cannot teach at length, but grants only to teach in brief, the meaning of the grounds nonetheless being complete. As the third verse says:
"Such is the entering into this practice of wisdom that a hundred million eons of speaking could not exhaust it; now, I shall speak of it only in brief, abiding in it just as it truly is, and fulfilled."
"Entering into this wisdom" means that sentient beings enter this Dharma of the grounds now being taught by means of wisdom. How does one enter? By an entering that grasps it fully, just as it truly is — since one cultivates it just as it is practiced. Because one cultivates and practices it to fulfillment, this shows that the meaning of a full teaching at length is nonetheless grasped in full. "Abiding" means abiding resolutely within the family of the Tathāgata — this is why I speak in this way. It was said earlier, "listen with reverence," without explaining what this reverence consists of — and so this is now made manifest. The verse says:
"With one-pointed mind, wait in reverence, as, relying on the Buddha's power, I speak it well — expounding this supreme Dharma with a wondrous voice, its similes matched, its good syllables fitting."
"With one-pointed mind, wait in reverence" is of two kinds: proper reverence of the body, abiding in dignified deportment, fit to receive the teaching; and proper reverence of the mind, the mind being resolute, capable of holding it in memory. This line exhorts both kinds of reverent waiting — that is, of body and of mind. "Speak it well" shows that he himself is free of flattery and free of arrogance. "Relying on the Buddha's power" shows that he himself is free of overweening conceit. The latter half of the verse, "expounding this supreme Dharma with a wondrous voice, its similes matched, its good syllables fitting," makes manifest what matter, by what means, in what manner, and in dependence on what? What matter is made manifest — that is, the supreme Dharma. By what means — that is, a wondrous voice. In what manner — matched similes. In dependence on what — that is, in dependence on good syllables, so that everything I teach is well taught. Further, "matched" means the similes correspond with one another. "Good syllables" has two aspects: following the pronunciation proper to each region, well according with it; and the letters and phrases being complete, neither too many nor too few, according with the principle — and this is why they are called "good syllables." It was said earlier, "relying on the Buddha's power," without yet explaining what that power is — the fifth verse now makes this manifest. The verse says:
"This speech is exceedingly difficult — through the boundless spiritual power of the buddhas, their blazing light has entered my own body; it is through this power that I am able to speak."
This concludes the section of request; from this point onward, the First Ground is truly and properly taught.
Huiyuan resolves the apparent contradiction between eleven verses insisting the Dharma cannot be spoken and Vajragarbha's immediate decision to speak by pointing to a single distinction the sūtra text itself only gestures at: 是地所攝有二種：一、因分；二、果分…真證出言因相可論，今唯說因，是故總云但說一分 — "what the grounds encompass is of two kinds: the aspect of cause, and the aspect of fruit… once realized, [the fruit] is beyond speech, but the aspect of cause can still be discussed — and he now teaches only the cause, which is why he says, in sum, 'I shall speak of only a single portion.'" Everything the previous verses declared unspeakable — the fruit itself, realization as it actually is — remains genuinely off-limits; what Vajragarbha commits to teaching is only the causal side: the practices, the gradual stages, the compassion and vow that lead toward that fruit without being identical to it. This is not a retraction of anything said before, but a narrowing of scope severe enough that the treatise itself treats it as needing its own explicit label — "one portion," not the whole.
Huiyuan also flags a warning embedded in the treatise's closing aside on the five faults of "grasping meaning the way one grasps sound," reading it as directed at the audience of the whole treatise as much as at the original assembly: 汝等不應如聲取義 — "you should not grasp its meaning the way you would grasp mere sound." Having just spent six verses insisting this Dharma cannot be captured by ordinary language, Vajragarbha is now about to spend eleven fascicles doing exactly that — speaking, in words, about the grounds. The warning exists to hold both facts together without contradiction: the teaching that follows is real, useful, and worth close attention, but a reader who treats its sentences the way one treats an ordinary description — as if the words themselves simply contained the reality being pointed at — has already fallen into the very mistake the whole section of request was built to forestall. With the buddhas' light still entering his body as its very last line insists, Vajragarbha's speech begins under exactly this condition: borrowed power, a portion deliberately incomplete, and a warning not to mistake the map for the ground it describes.
Part 6 Complete — The Section of Request Closes
This closes Part 6, and with it the entire section of request: Vajragarbha's eleven verses declaring the Dharma of the ten grounds subtle beyond ordinary knowing, its wisdom neither ceasing nor arising, its practice like a bird's track through empty space — real, yet impossible to point to — followed by his resolution to teach only its causal portion, borrowing the buddhas' own power to do even that much. Part 7 turns at last to the section of exposition itself: the First Ground properly taught, beginning with the question of dwelling — in dependence on what body, for what purpose, through what cause, and with what mark does a bodhisattva first come to dwell within it.
Continue to Part 7 — The Section of Exposition Begins →