The First Five of the Ten Great Vows
The section of comparative excellence opens with the famous ten great vows — beginning with a vow to offer to every buddha without exception, to uphold every teaching without exception, to attend every buddha's life-events across every world-system, to spread every bodhisattva's practice, and to teach and transform the entire realm of sentient beings, sorted with startling precision into six kinds of birth, six realms, and three purposes.
The Section of Comparative Excellence Begins: Vows One and Two
論曰：已顯說分，次說挍量勝分。云何挍量勝？菩薩住此地中，勝聲聞、辟支佛故。挍量勝有三種：一、願勝；二、修行勝；三、果利益勝。何者願勝？所謂十大願。
經曰：菩薩如是安住菩薩歡喜地，發諸大願，起如是大方便，如是大行成就。所謂無餘一切諸佛一切供養一切恭敬故，一切種具足，上深信清淨，廣大如法界，究竟如虛空，盡未來際，盡一切劫數一切佛成道數，大供養恭敬無有休息。
論曰：是初大願，無餘者有三種：一者一切佛無餘；二者一切供養無餘；三者一切恭敬無餘。一切佛者有三種佛：一、應身佛；二、報身佛；三、法身佛。一切供養者，有三種供養：一者利養供養，謂衣服臥具等；二者恭敬供養，謂香花幡蓋等；三者行供養，謂修行信戒行等。一切恭敬者，有三種恭敬：一、給侍恭敬；二、迎送恭敬；三、修行恭敬。是故作願供養恭敬，如經「所謂無餘一切諸佛一切供養一切恭敬」故。一切種具足者，無量種種，復有勝事等供養故。上深信清淨者，增上敬重故，願迴向菩提決定信故。廣大如法界者，一切餘善根中勝故。究竟如虛空者，無常愛果無量因故。盡未來際者，此因得涅槃常果故。一切劫數一切佛成道數，大供養恭敬無有休息故。此初願中有六種大，名為大願：一者福田大，如經「所謂無餘一切諸佛一切供養一切恭敬」故。二者供事大，如經「一切種具足」故。三者心大，如經「上深信清淨」故。
四者攝功德大，如經「廣大如法界」故。五者因大，如經「究竟如虛空」故。六者時大，如經「盡未來際」故。
經曰：又發大願，所謂一切諸佛所說法輪皆悉受持故，攝受一切佛菩提故，一切諸佛所教化法皆悉守護故，廣大如法界，究竟如虛空，盡未來際盡一切劫數一切佛成道數，攝護正法無有休息。
論曰：第二大願有三種法：一切諸佛所說法輪皆悉受持者，謂教法修多羅等，書寫供養讀誦受持為他演說故。攝受一切佛菩提者，所謂證法，證三種佛菩提法，攝受此證法教化轉授故。一切諸佛所教化法皆悉守護者，謂修行法，於修行時有諸障難攝護救濟故。復名三種成就：一者於諸佛所說修多羅等阿含次第令法輪不斷成就故；二者證三種正覺得證成就故；三者修行乃至如實修行正覺成就故，是名三種成就。三種佛菩提者，聲聞、辟支佛亦名為佛故。
Commentary: The section of exposition having now been shown, next is explained the section of comparative excellence. What is comparative excellence? A bodhisattva dwelling within this ground surpasses the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha. Comparative excellence is of three kinds: the excellence of vow; the excellence of practice; and the excellence of fruit and benefit. What is the excellence of vow? It is what is called the ten great vows.
Sūtra: A bodhisattva who thus abides in the bodhisattva's Ground of Joy arouses these great vows, gives rise to such great skillful means, and accomplishes such great practice. Namely: so as to make offerings and show reverence to every buddha without exception, complete in every kind, with a supreme, deep, and pure faith, vast as the dharma-realm, ultimate as space itself, unto the very end of future time, throughout every eon and every buddha's attainment of the path, making great offerings and showing reverence without ever resting.
Commentary: This is the first great vow. "Without exception" is of three kinds: every buddha without exception; every offering without exception; and every reverence without exception. "Every buddha" means three kinds of buddha: the transformation body, the reward body, and the dharma body. "Every offering" means three kinds of offering: the offering of material benefit, such as robes and bedding; the offering of reverence, such as incense, flowers, banners, and canopies; and the offering of practice, such as cultivating faith and the precepts. "Every reverence" means three kinds of reverence: the reverence of personal attendance; the reverence of greeting and seeing off; and the reverence of practice. And so he makes this vow of offering and reverence — as the sūtra says, "so as to make offerings and show reverence to every buddha without exception." "Complete in every kind" means immeasurable and manifold, further offering supreme things and the like. "A supreme, deep, and pure faith" means an ever-increasing reverence, a resolute faith that dedicates itself toward enlightenment. "Vast as the dharma-realm" means it is supreme among every other root of goodness. "Ultimate as space itself" means the boundless cause of the fruit of impermanent delight. "Unto the very end of future time" means that this cause attains the constant fruit of nirvāṇa. "Throughout every eon and every buddha's attainment of the path, making great offerings and showing reverence without ever resting." Within this first vow there are six kinds of greatness, and this is why it is called a great vow. First, the greatness of the field of merit — as the sūtra says, "so as to make offerings and show reverence to every buddha without exception." Second, the greatness of the matter offered — as the sūtra says, "complete in every kind." Third, the greatness of mind — as the sūtra says, "a supreme, deep, and pure faith."
Fourth, the greatness of gathering merit — as the sūtra says, "vast as the dharma-realm." Fifth, the greatness of cause — as the sūtra says, "ultimate as space itself." Sixth, the greatness of time — as the sūtra says, "unto the very end of future time."
Sūtra: He further arouses this great vow: so as to uphold every dharma-wheel taught by every buddha without exception, so as to embrace every buddha's enlightenment, so as to guard every dharma taught by every buddha without exception — vast as the dharma-realm, ultimate as space itself, unto the very end of future time, throughout every eon and every buddha's attainment of the path, embracing and guarding the true Dharma without ever resting.
Commentary: This second great vow concerns three kinds of dharma. "Upholding every dharma-wheel taught by every buddha without exception" refers to the teaching-dharma, the sūtras and the like: copying, making offerings to, reciting, upholding, and expounding them for others. "Embracing every buddha's enlightenment" refers to the realization-dharma, realizing the three kinds of a buddha's enlightenment, embracing this realization-dharma so as to teach and transmit it further. "Guarding every dharma taught by every buddha without exception" refers to the practice-dharma: at the time of practice, when hindrances and difficulties arise, gathering in and rescuing beings from them. This is further called three kinds of accomplishment: first, causing the dharma-wheel among the sūtras and other scriptural transmissions taught by the buddhas to remain unbroken, in sequence — the accomplishment of scriptural transmission; second, realizing the three kinds of correct enlightenment — the accomplishment of realization; and third, practicing all the way to enlightenment as it truly is — the accomplishment of practice. These are called the three kinds of accomplishment. As for the three kinds of a buddha's enlightenment — the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha are also called "buddha" in this broader sense.
Huiyuan glosses the six kinds of greatness that make this first vow "great" as tracking a single underlying question — what is offered, and what mind does the offering — rather than six independent categories: 福田大 (the greatness of the field of merit, since the Buddha himself generates merit for whoever offers to him), 供事大 (the greatness of the matter offered), and 心大 (the greatness of mind) name the offering itself and the intention behind it, while 攝功德大, 因大, and 時大 (the greatness of gathering merit, of cause, and of time) describe what that offering accomplishes and for how long. He also flags a deliberate asymmetry in how the treatise handles "ultimate as space itself" and "unto the very end of future time" — phrases that, on their own, might look interchangeable — noting they correspond to two distinct kinds of fruit, an impermanent one arising from cause and a constant one identified with nirvāṇa itself: 此常無常分為二大，六決定中合以為一 — "this constant and impermanent fruit are divided into two greatnesses here, though in the earlier section on the six kinds of well-resolvedness they were combined into one" — a reminder that the same underlying distinction gets split or merged depending on what each passage is trying to emphasize, not because the treatise is inconsistent.
On the second vow, Huiyuan issues a specific correction against a plausible misreading of "the three kinds of a buddha's enlightenment": a reader might take the three as referring back to the three-part structure already established for this vow — the teaching-dharma, the realization-dharma, and the practice-dharma — but Huiyuan is explicit that this is not what is meant: 開為三種菩提法故，名證三種佛菩提法，非謂行、心、證三法也 — "this opens into three kinds of dharma of enlightenment, and this is why it is called realizing the three kinds of a buddha's enlightenment — it does not mean the three dharmas of practice, mind, and realization." The "three" in question are instead the three vehicles' own enlightenments — since, as the treatise itself notes almost in passing, "the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha are also called buddha" in the broad sense of one who has awakened — meaning this vow to "embrace every buddha's enlightenment" is a vow to realize and transmit all three levels of awakening at once, not merely the three dharma-categories the passage happens to be organized around.
Vows Three Through Five
經曰：又發大願，所謂一切成佛無餘一切世界住處從兜率天來下，入胎及在胎中，初生時、出家時、成佛道時、請轉法輪時、示入大涅槃，我於爾時盡往供養，攝法為首，一切處一時成一時轉故。廣大如法界，究竟如虛空，盡未來際盡一切劫數一切佛成道數，盡往攝法無有休息。
論曰：第三大願。一切成佛無餘一切世界住處者，一切應佛無邊遍滿一切世界住處故。隨何等世界諸佛住處，應感相順眾生見故。從兜率天來下乃至示入大涅槃，我於爾時盡往供養，攝法為首者，隨彼眾生供養佛方便，以如來所說攝法方便，集功德智慧助菩提法故。一切處一時成一時轉者，示非前後故。何故示現彼處住不在色、無色處？此難處來不為我故，起於輕心不生恭敬，為遮此等故。何故不住他化自在天等？如來有力能勝處生，捨而不生，為念眾生故來生兜率。如是生大恭敬心故。何故人中捨上天樂？愍我等故來生人中，生增上敬重心故。何故處胎？示現同生增長力故。何故自成正覺？示非餘佛教化，現丈夫力成就，非因他得菩提故。何故示入大涅槃？為令懈怠眾生勤心修道故。
經曰：又發大願，所謂一切菩薩所行廣大無量不雜諸波羅蜜所攝，諸地所淨生諸助道法，總相、別相、同相、異相、成相、壞相，說一切菩薩所行如實地道及諸波羅蜜方便業，教化一切令其受行心得增長故。廣大如法界究竟如虛空，盡未來際盡一切劫數行數增長無有休息。
論曰：第四大願心得增長者，以何等行令心增長？一切菩薩所行教化，一切令其受行，心得增長故。彼菩薩行有四種：一種種；二體；三業；四方便。以此四種教化令其受行。何者是菩薩行？種種世間行有三種：廣者，從初地乃至六地；大者，七地；無量者，從八地乃至十地。不雜者，法無我平等觀，出世間智故，如經「一切菩薩所行廣大無量不雜」故。體者，如經「諸波羅蜜所攝」故。業者，如經「諸地所淨生諸助道法」故。方便者，如經「總相、別相、同相、異相、成相、壞相」故，「說一切菩薩所行如實地道及諸波羅蜜方便業」故。
經曰：又發大願，所謂無餘一切眾生界，有色無色、有想無想、非無想非想非非想，卵生、胎生、濕生、化生，三界所繫雜入六道，一切生處名色所攝，為教化成就一切眾生界令信入諸佛法故、斷一切世間數道故、令住一切智智處故。廣大如法界究竟如虛空，盡未來際盡一切劫數一切眾生界數，教化一切眾生無有休息。
論曰：第五大願教化眾生故。何者是眾生？為何義故化一切眾生有六種差別：一、麁細差別；二、生依止差別；三、不淨淨處差別；四、苦樂差別；五、自業差別；六、自體差別。何者麁細差別？麁者有色，細者無色。色中麁者有想，細者無想。無色中麁者非無想，細者非想非非想。是名麁細差別。如經「有色無色、有想無想、非無想非想非非想」故。生依止差別者，如經「卵生、胎生、濕生、化生」故。化生者云何依止？依止業生故。不淨淨處差別者，如經「三界所繫」故。苦樂差別者，種種身故，如經「雜入六道」故。自業差別者，如經「一切生處」故。自體差別者，如經「名色所攝」故。是名眾生。為何義化者，為三義故：一者為信入諸佛所說法中，如經「為教化成就一切眾生界，令信入諸佛法」故。二者已入佛法中，令入二乘菩提故，如「經斷一切世間數道」故。三者已入二乘菩提，令入無上菩提故，如經「令住一切智智處」故。
Sūtra: He further arouses this great vow: throughout every world-system without exception where a buddha attains buddhahood, from the moment he descends from Tuṣita Heaven, enters the womb and abides within it, is born, goes forth into homelessness, attains the path of buddhahood, is requested to turn the Dharma-wheel, and manifests entry into great nirvāṇa — I shall go to each of these in turn, making offerings, taking up the gathering of the Dharma as my chief task, all places accomplished at once, all turnings at once — vast as the dharma-realm, ultimate as space itself, unto the very end of future time, throughout every eon and every buddha's attainment of the path, going to each in turn and gathering the Dharma without ever resting.
Commentary: This is the third great vow. "Every world-system without exception where a buddha attains buddhahood" means that the transformation-body buddhas, boundless in number, pervade every world-system's dwelling-place. In accordance with whatever world-system a buddha's dwelling-place may be, he responds and is seen there according to the affinities of sentient beings. "From the moment he descends from Tuṣita Heaven... down to manifesting entry into great nirvāṇa, I shall go to each of these in turn, making offerings, taking up the gathering of the Dharma as my chief task" means that, in accordance with those sentient beings' own skillful means of making offerings to the buddha, the bodhisattva vows to use the skillful means of gathering the Dharma taught by the Tathāgata to accumulate the merit and wisdom that assist enlightenment. "All places accomplished at once, all turnings at once" shows that this is not a matter of one before another. Why is it shown that a buddha dwells in none of these events within the form realm or the formless realm? Because beings in these difficult-to-reach realms, coming from there, would not do so for my sake, and a mind of contempt would arise, failing to give rise to reverence — and it is to forestall this that a buddha does not manifest there. Why does he not dwell in the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Others' Emanations and the like? Though the Tathāgata has the power to be born in a still more supreme realm, he sets this aside and is not born there, but, mindful of sentient beings, comes to be born in Tuṣita instead — and in this way a great mind of reverence arises. Why, among human beings, does he set aside the pleasures of the higher heavens? Because, out of compassion for us, he comes to be born among human beings, and thereby a mind of ever-increasing reverence arises. Why does he pass through the womb? To make manifest that his power increases along with ordinary birth. Why does he attain correct enlightenment by himself? To make manifest that this is not through the teaching of some other buddha, but the accomplishment of his own manly power, not attaining enlightenment through dependence on another. Why does he manifest entry into great nirvāṇa? So as to cause indolent sentient beings to diligently cultivate the path.
Sūtra: He further arouses this great vow: so as to cause every bodhisattva's practice, vast, boundless, and unmixed, embraced by the perfections, purified at every ground and giving rise to all the dharmas that assist the path — through the universal aspect, the particular aspect, the aspect of sameness, the aspect of difference, the aspect of formation, and the aspect of disintegration — teaching that every bodhisattva's practice is the path of the grounds as it truly is, together with the skillful activity of the perfections, so as to teach and transform everyone, causing them to receive and practice it, their minds thereby increasing. Vast as the dharma-realm, ultimate as space itself, unto the very end of future time, throughout every eon, this increase of practice never resting.
Commentary: The fourth great vow, "their minds thereby increasing" — through what kind of practice is the mind caused to increase? It is through teaching and transforming everyone in every bodhisattva's practice, causing them all to receive and practice it, that the mind increases. That bodhisattva practice is of four kinds: its varieties; its essence; its activity; and its skillful means — and it is through these four that one teaches and transforms others, causing them to receive and practice it. What is a bodhisattva's practice? The varieties of worldly practice are of three kinds: "vast," from the First Ground through the sixth; "great," the seventh ground; and "boundless," from the eighth ground through the tenth. "Unmixed" means the equal contemplation of the selflessness of dharmas, supramundane wisdom — as the sūtra says, "every bodhisattva's practice, vast, boundless, and unmixed." Its essence is as the sūtra says, "embraced by the perfections." Its activity is as the sūtra says, "purified at every ground and giving rise to all the dharmas that assist the path." Its skillful means is as the sūtra says, "the universal aspect, the particular aspect, the aspect of sameness, the aspect of difference, the aspect of formation, and the aspect of disintegration," and "teaching that every bodhisattva's practice is the path of the grounds as it truly is, together with the skillful activity of the perfections."
Sūtra: He further arouses this great vow: so as to teach and transform the entire realm of sentient beings without exception — those with form and those without form, those with perception and those without perception, those neither without perception nor with perception nor without perception, those born from eggs, those born from wombs, those born from moisture, and those born spontaneously, bound within the three realms, scattered among the six destinies, every place of birth, encompassed by name-and-form — so as to bring them to faith and entry into the buddha-dharma, so as to cut off every worldly, numbered path, and so as to cause them to abide in the domain of the wisdom of omniscience. Vast as the dharma-realm, ultimate as space itself, unto the very end of future time, throughout every eon and the numbers of every realm of sentient beings, teaching and transforming every sentient being without ever resting.
Commentary: This fifth great vow concerns teaching and transforming sentient beings. What is a sentient being? For what purpose does one teach and transform them? There are six kinds of distinction. First, the distinction of coarse and subtle; second, the distinction of the basis of birth; third, the distinction of pure and impure places; fourth, the distinction of suffering and happiness; fifth, the distinction of one's own karma; and sixth, the distinction of one's own essence. What is the distinction of coarse and subtle? The coarse have form, the subtle are without form. Among those with form, the coarse have perception, the subtle are without perception. Among those without form, the coarse are not without perception, the subtle are neither with perception nor without perception. This is called the distinction of coarse and subtle — as the sūtra says, "those with form and those without form, those with perception and those without perception, those neither without perception nor with perception nor without perception." The distinction of the basis of birth is as the sūtra says, "those born from eggs, those born from wombs, those born from moisture, and those born spontaneously." How does one born spontaneously have a basis? Its basis is karma itself. The distinction of pure and impure places is as the sūtra says, "bound within the three realms." The distinction of suffering and happiness means the manifold bodies — as the sūtra says, "scattered among the six destinies." The distinction of one's own karma is as the sūtra says, "every place of birth." The distinction of one's own essence is as the sūtra says, "encompassed by name-and-form." These are what is meant by "sentient beings." For what purpose are they transformed? For three purposes. First, so that they come to faith and entry into the Dharma the buddhas teach — as the sūtra says, "so as to bring them to faith and entry into the buddha-dharma." Second, for those already within the buddha-dharma, so that they enter the enlightenment of the two lesser vehicles — as the sūtra says, "so as to cut off every worldly, numbered path." Third, for those already within the enlightenment of the two vehicles, so as to cause them to enter unsurpassed enlightenment — as the sūtra says, "so as to cause them to abide in the domain of the wisdom of omniscience."
Huiyuan draws out an organizing principle behind the third vow's eight life-events (descending from Tuṣita, entering the womb, dwelling there, birth, going forth, enlightenment, turning the Dharma-wheel, and entering nirvāṇa) that the bare list leaves invisible: the treatise only bothers to justify five of the eight, and Huiyuan explains precisely why those five and not the other three. 彼前五相捨勝從劣，有疑須釋 — "those first five marks involve setting aside something superior in favor of something inferior, and this raises a doubt that must be explained" — a buddha capable of being born in the form realm chooses Tuṣita instead; capable of remaining a god, he chooses human birth; capable of miraculous birth, he passes through a womb; capable of being taught, he attains enlightenment unaided; capable of remaining to teach indefinitely, he enters nirvāṇa. Each of these looks, on its face, like accepting a worse option when a better one was available, and so each gets an explicit "why" in the commentary. The remaining three life-events — dwelling in the womb once already conceived, going forth once already human, turning the Dharma-wheel once already enlightened — 捨劣就勝，無疑可釋 — "involve setting aside something inferior in favor of something superior, raising no doubt requiring explanation" — and so the treatise passes over them without comment. The asymmetry in how much justification each event receives is not an oversight but a precise editorial choice: explanation is owed wherever the choice looks, on first glance, like a step down.
On the fifth vow's sixfold classification of sentient beings, Huiyuan is careful to note where the treatise's count runs against the more familiar count of six destinies (gods, humans, asuras, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell-beings): 謂生攝趣，非趣攝生 — "birth-modes encompass the destinies, not the destinies the birth-modes" — since a single birth-mode, spontaneous birth, cuts across nearly every destiny (gods, hell-beings, and beings in the intermediate state between death and rebirth are all born spontaneously), while a given destiny can span multiple birth-modes (humans are born from wombs but occasionally, in the treatise's own examples, from eggs). The four birth-modes are the wider category, the six destinies the narrower one nested within them — which is why the vow organizes its taxonomy by birth-mode rather than by destiny, even though destiny is probably the more familiar scheme to most readers. He closes by flagging a small etymological point worth remembering for the rest of the treatise: "encompassed by name-and-form" (名色) uses "name" for the four formless aggregates (feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness) specifically because they are 冥漠非名不辨 — "obscure and indistinct, unable to be discerned at all without being given a name" — while form alone, being directly visible, needs no name to be pointed out.
Part 10 Complete
This closes Part 10: the first five of the ten great vows a bodhisattva makes upon reaching the Ground of Joy — offering to every buddha without exception, upholding every teaching, attending every buddha's life across every world-system, spreading every bodhisattva's practice, and teaching and transforming the entire realm of sentient beings, sorted with remarkable precision into six kinds of birth and three purposes. Part 11 turns to the remaining five vows: purifying buddha-lands, uniting with the whole community of bodhisattvas, acting so that no word or deed is ever wasted, and the tenth vow's own account of what enlightenment itself actually accomplishes.
Continue to Part 11 — Vows Six Through Ten →