The Assembly Beholds the Bodhisattva's Spiritual Power
The treatise closes the sixth of Dharmameghā's structural divisions — spiritual power both unsurpassed and yet surpassed — with the response of the entire assembly gathered to hear this teaching. Every bodhisattva present, together with the eightfold class of gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas, the Four Heavenly Kings, Śakra, Brahmā, Maheśvara, and the gods of the Pure Abodes, doubts silently whether even the Buddha's own power could exceed what Vajragarbha has just shown; Vimuktacandra voices this doubt aloud, and Vajragarbha enters the Samādhi of the Essential Nature of All Buddha-Lands, drawing the whole assembly into his own body to witness a vast buddha-land, its towering bodhi-tree, and a buddha seated upon a lion-throne beneath it. Questioned further on this samādhi's name and extent, Vajragarbha then turns to measure even this bodhisattva's boundless power against the tathāgatas' own still more boundless wisdom, through the simile of a few beans' worth of earth set against the earth of boundless worlds, before the ground's closing similes of a gold ornament and Maheśvara's own radiance, and its formulaic summary of immeasurable powers. The commentary then explains that generating joy here works entirely by resolving doubt — through two distinct means — before naming this same division's two kinds of excelling, closing it, and opening the treatise's next division with the names of its four closing similes.
The Assembly's Doubt, and Vajragarbha's Samādhi of the Essential Nature of All Buddha-Lands
經曰：爾時會中一切菩薩眾，及一切天、龍、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿修羅、迦樓羅、緊那羅、摩睺羅伽、四天王、釋提桓因、梵天王、摩醯首羅、淨居天等。各作是念：若菩薩神通智力能如是無量無邊，佛復云何？爾時解脫月菩薩知諸大眾心所念已，問金剛藏菩薩言：佛子！今諸大眾聞是菩薩神通智力，墮在疑網。為斷疑故，少示菩薩神通之力莊嚴妙事。爾時金剛藏菩薩，即入一切佛國體性菩薩三昧。金剛藏菩薩入一切佛國體性菩薩三昧，時彼一切菩薩眾及一切天、龍、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿修羅、迦樓羅、緊那羅、摩睺羅伽、四天王、釋提桓因、梵天王、摩醯首羅、淨居天等，皆自見身入金剛藏菩薩身中，於其身內見佛國土。彼國土中所有諸相莊嚴妙事，於百千萬億劫說不可盡。於中有道場樹，其莖周圍十萬三千大千世界、高百萬三千大千世界，覆蔭三千億三千大千世界。稱樹高廣有師子座，其座上有佛，號一切智通王如來。一切大眾咸皆見佛坐在道場樹下師子座上，其中諸相莊嚴妙事，於百千萬億劫說不可盡。
金剛藏菩薩示現如是大神力已，還令一切諸菩薩眾及一切天、龍、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿修羅、迦樓羅、緊那羅、摩睺羅伽、四天王、釋提桓因、梵天王、摩醯首羅、淨居天等各在本處。爾時一切大眾歡喜踊躍生希有想，默然而住，觀金剛藏菩薩。爾時解脫月菩薩語金剛藏菩薩言：佛子！甚為希有。此三昧神通莊嚴有大勢力。佛子！
此三昧名為何等？金剛藏菩薩言：佛子！此三昧名為一切佛國體性。爾時解脫月菩薩問金剛藏菩薩言：佛子！此三昧境界莊嚴神通妙事為齊幾許？金剛藏菩薩言：佛子！若菩薩隨心所念善修成此三昧力故，能示如是佛國土微塵數等諸佛國土自身中現，復過此數。
Sūtra: At that time, within the assembly, every bodhisattva, together with every god, nāga, yakṣa, gandharva, asura, garuḍa, kiṃnara, and mahoraga, the Four Heavenly Kings, Śakra, Brahmā, Maheśvara, and the gods of the Pure Abodes, and the rest, each gave rise to this thought: if a bodhisattva's power of spiritual penetration and wisdom can be boundless and limitless like this, then what of the Buddha's own? At that time the bodhisattva Vimuktacandra, knowing what was on the mind of the whole great assembly, asked the bodhisattva Vajragarbha: Son of the Buddha! The whole great assembly, having heard of this bodhisattva's power of spiritual penetration and wisdom, has now fallen into a net of doubt. For the sake of resolving this doubt, please display, if only briefly, a portion of this bodhisattva's own spiritual power, its adornment and sublime wonders. At that time the bodhisattva Vajragarbha at once entered the bodhisattva's samādhi of the Essential Nature of All Buddha-Lands. When the bodhisattva Vajragarbha had entered the bodhisattva's samādhi of the Essential Nature of All Buddha-Lands, that entire assembly of bodhisattvas, together with every god, nāga, yakṣa, gandharva, asura, garuḍa, kiṃnara, and mahoraga, the Four Heavenly Kings, Śakra, Brahmā, Maheśvara, and the gods of the Pure Abodes, and the rest, each saw their own body enter into the bodhisattva Vajragarbha's own body, and, within that body, saw a buddha-land. Every mark, adornment, and sublime wonder possessed by that land could not be exhausted in speaking of it throughout hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of eons. Within it there was a bodhi-tree at the site of enlightenment, its trunk encircling a hundred thousand trichiliocosms, its height a million trichiliocosms, its shade covering three thousand koṭis of trichiliocosms. Matching the tree's own height and breadth, there was a lion-throne, and upon that throne there was a buddha, named the Tathāgata King of the Spiritual Power of the Wisdom of All Modes. The entire great assembly, all together, saw the buddha seated upon the lion-throne beneath the bodhi-tree at the site of enlightenment; and every mark, adornment, and sublime wonder found there could not be exhausted in speaking of it throughout hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of eons.
The bodhisattva Vajragarbha, having manifested great spiritual power such as this, then caused every one of the bodhisattvas, together with every god, nāga, yakṣa, gandharva, asura, garuḍa, kiṃnara, and mahoraga, the Four Heavenly Kings, Śakra, Brahmā, Maheśvara, and the gods of the Pure Abodes, and the rest, each to return to their own original place. At that time the entire great assembly rejoiced and leapt for joy, giving rise to a thought of rarity, and remained silent, gazing upon the bodhisattva Vajragarbha. At that time the bodhisattva Vimuktacandra said to the bodhisattva Vajragarbha: Son of the Buddha! This is exceedingly rare. This samādhi's own spiritual power and adornment possesses such great, mighty force. Son of the Buddha —
— what is this samādhi named? The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said: Son of the Buddha! This samādhi is named the Essential Nature of All Buddha-Lands. At that time the bodhisattva Vimuktacandra asked the bodhisattva Vajragarbha: Son of the Buddha! This samādhi's own object-realm, adornment, spiritual power, and sublime wonders — how far do they extend? The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said: Son of the Buddha! Should a bodhisattva, according with whatever his mind reflects upon, skillfully cultivate and accomplish the power of this samādhi, he is able to manifest, within his own body, buddha-lands equal in number to the fine motes of dust in buddha-lands such as this one — and surpass even this number.
Fazang's own outline of this sixth division explains why it splits into two distinct scenes — the samādhi-vision translated here, and the Buddha's bean-of-dirt reply translated below. Within "manifesting one's own spiritual power," he finds a further pair: 初一問答，顯神力無上令眾歡喜；後一問答，明神力有上令眾歡喜 — "the first question-and-answer displays the unsurpassed nature of [this bodhisattva's] spiritual power, causing the assembly to rejoice; the second question-and-answer shows that this same spiritual power is still surpassed [by the Buddha's own], causing the assembly to rejoice" — which is exactly the treatise's own name for this whole division, 神通力無上有上分, "spiritual power both unsurpassed and yet surpassed."
On why Vimuktacandra must ask the samādhi's name even after Vajragarbha has already entered it, Fazang notices a seam in the narrative itself: 當時法主默然入定，後結集家取以安之 — "at that moment the master of the Dharma silently entered samādhi; it was only afterward that the compilers took up [its name] and set it into the text" — meaning that within the scene as it unfolds, no one present had yet heard the name spoken aloud, so Vimuktacandra's question is not redundant but genuine.
The Bodhisattva's Boundless Samādhis, and the Bean of Earth Set Against the Tathāgatas' Own Wisdom
佛子！菩薩住此菩薩法雲地，得如是等無量百千菩薩三昧。以是義故，此菩薩乃至得位菩薩及住善慧地菩薩不能測知，若身身業難可測知，若口口業難可測知，若意意業難可測知，若神通事難可測知，若觀三世智難可測知，若入三昧境界難可測知，若智境界難可測知，若遊戲諸解脫難可測知，若應化所作、若加所作、若神力所作難可測知，乃至舉足下足所作，乃至得位菩薩及住善慧地菩薩不能測知。佛子！菩薩法雲地如是無量今已略說。若廣說者，無量百千阿僧祇劫無量百千萬無量百千億不能得盡。解脫月菩薩問金剛藏菩薩言：佛子！若菩薩神通行境界力如是無量，佛神通行境界力復云何？金剛藏菩薩言：佛子！譬如有人取四天下中二三豆土作如是言：無邊世界地界為多此耶？汝所問者，我謂如是。如來無量智慧，云何以菩薩智慧而欲測量？佛子！如人取四天下中少地界，餘在極多。如是佛子！菩薩法雲地於無量劫說但說一分，何況如來地。金剛藏菩薩語解脫月菩薩言：佛子！是諸如來證知我言。佛子！假使十方於一一方無量世界微塵數等諸佛國土，十地菩薩皆滿其中，譬如甘蔗竹葦稻麻叢林。此諸菩薩於無量劫所修行業功德智慧，於如來功德智慧力，百分不及一，千分不及一，百千分不及一，百千那由他分不及一，億分不及一，百億分不及一，千億分不及一，百千億分不及一，百千億那由他分不及一，乃至算數譬喻所不能及。
Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva, dwelling in this bodhisattva's Dharmameghā Ground, attains boundless hundreds of thousands of bodhisattva samādhis such as these. For this reason, this bodhisattva — even bodhisattvas who have attained this very rank, together with bodhisattvas dwelling in the Ground of Excellent Wisdom, are unable to fathom him: whether the body, or the body's own action, all are difficult to fathom; whether speech, or speech's own action, all are difficult to fathom; whether mind, or mind's own action, all are difficult to fathom; whether the matter of spiritual power, difficult to fathom; whether the wisdom that observes the three times, difficult to fathom; whether the object-realm entered in samādhi, difficult to fathom; whether the object-realm of wisdom, difficult to fathom; whether his sporting in every liberation, difficult to fathom; whether what is done through responsive transformation, or what is done through empowerment, or what is done through spiritual power, difficult to fathom — all the way to what is done in lifting or lowering a foot — even bodhisattvas who have attained this very rank, together with bodhisattvas dwelling in the Ground of Excellent Wisdom, are unable to fathom it. Son of the Buddha! The boundlessness of a bodhisattva's Dharmameghā Ground, such as this, has now been briefly stated. Spoken of at length, throughout boundless hundreds of thousands of asaṃkhyeya eons, boundless hundreds of thousands of myriads, boundless hundreds of thousands of koṭis, it could not be exhausted. The bodhisattva Vimuktacandra asked the bodhisattva Vajragarbha: Son of the Buddha! If a bodhisattva's power of the object-realm of spiritual practice is boundless like this, then what of the Buddha's own power of the object-realm of spiritual practice? The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said: Son of the Buddha! It is like a person who takes two or three beans' worth of earth from within the four continents and says: "Is the earth-realm of boundless worlds greater than this?" As for what you ask, I say it is just the same. How could the tathāgatas' own boundless wisdom be measured by a bodhisattva's own wisdom? Son of the Buddha! It is like a person taking a small portion of earth from within the four continents — what remains is exceedingly more. Just so, son of the Buddha! Speaking of a bodhisattva's Dharmameghā Ground throughout boundless eons expounds only a single portion of it — how much more so the tathāgata-ground! The bodhisattva Vajragarbha said to the bodhisattva Vimuktacandra: Son of the Buddha! These very tathāgatas themselves bear witness and know that what I say is true. Son of the Buddha! Suppose that, in each and every one of the ten directions, there were buddha-lands equal in number to the fine motes of dust in boundless worlds, and every one of them were filled entirely with Tenth-Ground bodhisattvas, as densely packed as sugarcane, bamboo, reeds, rice, hemp, and thickets of forest. The merit, wisdom, and cultivated practice of all these bodhisattvas, gathered throughout boundless eons, compared to the tathāgatas' own power of merit and wisdom, would not equal one part in a hundred, would not equal one part in a thousand, would not equal one part in a hundred thousand, would not equal one part in a hundred thousand niyutas, would not equal one part in a koṭi, would not equal one part in a hundred koṭis, would not equal one part in a thousand koṭis, would not equal one part in a hundred thousand koṭis, would not equal one part in a hundred thousand koṭis of niyutas, all the way to being unreachable by any calculation or simile.
On the bean-of-dirt exchange, Fazang spells out the double comparison packed into the terse reply "as for what you ask, I say it is just the same": 此四天下望豆許土已為多⋯竟彼十方界望四天下復更為多，即是多中之多。但以少疑多已為不可，況以少中之少欲類多中之多，極不可也 — "these four continents, compared to a bean's worth of earth, are already much; yet the worlds of the ten directions, compared to these four continents, are again much more — the greatest within the greatest. It is already impossible for the small to raise doubt against the great; how much more impossible for the least-within-the-least to try to liken itself to the greatest-within-the-greatest." He then glosses the assembly's implicit question itself as already misdirected: 謂十地德中，前所說者如豆許土，所未說者如四天下土。如來功德喻十方界土，所說地德尚不得比於所未說者，焉得比於佛果功德 — "among the virtues of the ten grounds, what has already been spoken of is like a bean's worth of earth; what has not yet been spoken of is like the earth of the four continents; the tathāgatas' own merit is likened to the earth of the worlds of the ten directions — if the ground's own virtues already spoken of cannot even be compared to what has not yet been spoken of, how much less could they be compared to the merit of buddhahood."
The Ground's Closing Similes, and the Boundless Powers of Dharmameghā
如是佛子！是菩薩通達如是智慧，順如來身口意業，不捨菩薩三昧力，能見諸佛勤心供養，於一一劫中以一切種供具上上供養無量諸佛，而能具受諸佛神力所加轉復明勝，是菩薩於法界中所有問難無能勝者，無量百劫、無量千劫、無量百千劫、無量百千那由他劫、無量億劫、無量百億劫、無量千億劫、無量百千億劫、無量百千億那由他劫不可窮盡。佛子！譬如善巧金師，善治此金為莊嚴具，以無上摩尼寶珠間錯其中，繫在自在天王若頸若頂，其餘天人莊嚴之具無能及者。如是佛子！是菩薩住此第十菩薩法雲地中，彼菩薩不可思議智行，一切眾生一切聲聞辟支佛，從初地乃至住第九地菩薩所不能及。是菩薩住此地中，大智照光明能令一切眾生乃至住一切智智，其餘智慧之明所不能壞。佛子！譬如摩醯首羅天王光明過一切生處眾生光明，能令眾生身心清涼。如是佛子！是菩薩住此第十菩薩法雲地中，彼智慧光明，一切聲聞辟支佛，從初地乃至住九地菩薩，所不能及。是菩薩住此地中，能令一切眾生住一切智智法中。佛子！是菩薩隨順如是智慧，十方諸佛為說智慧，令通達三世行，正知法界差別，遍覆一切世間界，照一切世間界，令一切眾生界得證法故，略說乃至隨順得一切智智。是菩薩十波羅蜜中智波羅蜜增上。佛子！是名略說菩薩第十菩薩法雲地。若廣說者，無量無邊阿僧祇劫不可窮盡。若菩薩住此地中，多作摩醯首羅天王具足自在，善授眾生聲聞辟支佛菩薩波羅蜜行，於法界中有問難者無能令盡。所作善業布施愛語利益同事，是諸福德皆不離念佛、念法、念僧、念菩薩、念菩薩行、念波羅蜜、念十地、念不壞力、念無畏、念不共佛法，乃至不離念具足一切種一切智智。常生是心：我當於一切眾生中，為首為勝為大、為妙為微妙、為上為無上、為導為將、為師為尊，乃至為一切智智依止者。復從是念發精進行，以精進力故，於一念間得十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數三昧，得見十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數佛、能知十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數佛神力、能動十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數世界、能入十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數世界、能照十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數世界、能教化十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數世界眾生、能住壽十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數劫、能知過去未來世各十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數劫事、能善入十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數法門、能變身為十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數身，於一一身示十不可說百千萬億那由他佛世界微塵數菩薩以為眷屬。若以願力自在勝上，菩薩願力過於此數。示種種神通，或身、或光明、或神通、或眼、或境界、或音聲、或行、或莊嚴、或加、或信、或業。是諸神通，乃至無量百千萬億那由他劫不可數知。
Just so, son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, having thoroughly penetrated wisdom such as this, accords with the tathāgatas' own actions of body, speech, and mind; without abandoning the bodhisattva's own power of samādhi, he is able to see the buddhas and, with a diligent, devoted mind, make offerings to them; within each and every eon, with offerings of every kind, he makes the most supreme offerings to boundless buddhas, and is able to fully receive the empowerment of the buddhas' own spiritual power, becoming ever more radiant and excellent. This bodhisattva — within the dharma-realm, whatever questions and challenges arise, none can surpass him — boundless hundred eons, boundless thousand eons, boundless hundred-thousand eons, boundless hundred-thousand niyutas of eons, boundless koṭis of eons, boundless hundred koṭis of eons, boundless thousand koṭis of eons, boundless hundred-thousand koṭis of eons, boundless hundred-thousand koṭis of niyutas of eons — it could not be exhausted. Son of the Buddha! It is like a skillful goldsmith who finely refines this gold into an ornament, inlaying it throughout with an unsurpassed maṇi-jewel, and fastens it upon the Sovereign Heaven King's neck or crown — no ornament belonging to any other god or human is able to equal it. Just so, son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, dwelling within this Tenth Bodhisattva Ground of Dharmameghā — that bodhisattva's inconceivable wisdom-practice — no sentient being whatsoever, no śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, and no bodhisattva from the First Ground up through one dwelling in the Ninth Ground, is able to reach it. This bodhisattva, dwelling within this ground, the radiant light of great wisdom is able to cause every sentient being, all the way to dwelling in the wisdom of all modes, the wisdom of omniscience — no other light of wisdom is able to destroy it. Son of the Buddha! It is like the Heaven King Maheśvara, whose radiance surpasses the radiance of sentient beings in every place of birth, able to make sentient beings' bodies and minds cool and refreshed. Just so, son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, dwelling within this Tenth Bodhisattva Ground of Dharmameghā, the light of his wisdom — no śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, and no bodhisattva from the First Ground up through one dwelling in the Ninth Ground, is able to reach it. This bodhisattva, dwelling within this ground, is able to cause every sentient being to dwell within the Dharma of the wisdom of all modes. Son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, according with wisdom such as this, the buddhas of the ten directions expound wisdom for him, causing him to thoroughly penetrate the practice of the three times, correctly know the distinctions of the dharma-realm, pervasively cover every realm of the world, illumine every realm of the world, and cause every realm of sentient beings to attain realization of the Dharma — briefly stated, all the way to according with and attaining the wisdom of all modes. Among this bodhisattva's ten perfections, the perfection of wisdom now excels. Son of the Buddha! This is what is briefly called a bodhisattva's Tenth Ground, the bodhisattva's Dharmameghā; spoken of at length, throughout boundless, limitless asaṃkhyeya eons, it could not be exhausted. Should a bodhisattva dwell in this ground, he often becomes a Heaven King Maheśvara, complete in sovereignty, well able to confer upon sentient beings the practice of the perfections belonging to śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas; within the dharma-realm, whoever raises questions and challenges, none can exhaust him. The wholesome deeds he performs — giving, kind speech, beneficial action, and cooperative work — every one of these merits is never apart from mindfulness of the buddhas, mindfulness of the Dharma, mindfulness of the monastic assembly, mindfulness of every bodhisattva, mindfulness of the bodhisattva's own practice, mindfulness of every perfection, mindfulness of the ten grounds, mindfulness of unbreakable power, mindfulness of fearlessness, mindfulness of the unshared buddha-dharmas, all the way to never apart from mindfulness of being fully complete in the wisdom of all modes, the wisdom of omniscience. He constantly gives rise to this thought: among all sentient beings, I shall be foremost, I shall be supreme, I shall be great, I shall be sublime, I shall be exceedingly sublime, I shall be highest, I shall be unsurpassed, I shall be a guide, I shall be a leader, I shall be a teacher, I shall be one held in honor, all the way to being the very support of the wisdom of omniscience. Further, from this thought he sets forth diligent exertion. Through the power of this diligence, within a single thought-moment he attains a number of samādhis equal to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, attains sight of a number of buddhas equal to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, is able to know the spiritual power of buddhas equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, is able to shake worlds equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, is able to enter worlds equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, is able to illumine worlds equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, is able to transform the sentient beings of worlds equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, is able to dwell in life for a number of eons equal to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, is able to know the affairs of each past and future era equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, is able to enter skillfully into a number of Dharma-gateways equal to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, and is able to transform his own body into a number equal to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, manifesting, within each and every one of those bodies, a number of bodhisattvas equal to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand myriad-koṭis of niyutas of buddha-worlds, as its own retinue. Should he, through the power of vow, be self-mastering and supreme, a bodhisattva's power of vow manifests beyond even this number, manifesting all manner of spiritual power — whether of body, or of radiance, or of spiritual power itself, or of the eye, or of the object-realm, or of voice, or of activity, or of adornment, or of empowerment, or of faith, or of karmic function — every one of these spiritual powers, throughout boundless hundreds of thousands of myriad koṭis of niyutas of eons, beyond all counting or knowing.
The Commentary: Generating Joy by Resolving Doubt, and the Ground's Two Kinds of Excelling
論曰：是中令歡喜者，能斷疑故。斷疑有二種：一、示現自神通力；二、說一切法故。云何示現自神通力？如經「爾時會中一切菩薩眾及一切天龍夜叉」如是等。如是自力示現，斷眾生疑，令歡喜故。云何說一切法？如經「如是佛子！是菩薩通達如是智慧，順如來身口意業乃至轉復明勝。是菩薩於法界中所有問難無能勝者」如是等。是中大勝者，有二種：一、神通力勝；二、算數勝。此二種事勝一切前地故，如經「說應知三世智等通」故。通三種行故。
一、能斷疑行，如經「佛子！是菩薩住此地中隨順如是智，十方諸佛為說智慧令通達三世行」等。三世行者，道義應知。二、速疾神通行，聞說如來祕密法故，如經「正知法界差別」故。三、等作助行，此有三種應知：一、作淨佛國土平等，為化眾生故；二、作法明平等；三、作正覺平等。如經「遍覆一切世間界故，照一切世間界故，令一切眾生界得證法故，略說乃至隨順得一切智智」如是等。如是此地神通力無上有上分已說。次說地影像分。是中地影像者，有四種：一、池；二、山；三、海；四、摩尼寶珠，以況四種功德故。一、修行功德；二、上勝功德；三、難度能度大果功德；四、轉盡堅固功德。云何修行功德？
Commentary: Here, generating joy works by resolving doubt. Resolving doubt is of two kinds: first, manifesting one's own spiritual power; second, expounding every dharma. What, then, is manifesting one's own spiritual power? As the sūtra says, "at that time, within the assembly, every bodhisattva, together with every god, nāga, and yakṣa," and so on. Manifesting his own power in this way resolves the doubt of sentient beings, and thereby generates joy. What, then, is expounding every dharma? As the sūtra says, "just so, son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, having thoroughly penetrated wisdom such as this, accords with the tathāgatas' own actions of body, speech, and mind," all the way to "becoming ever more radiant and excellent. This bodhisattva — within the dharma-realm, whatever questions and challenges arise, none can surpass him," and so on. Here, the great excelling is of two kinds: first, excelling in the power of spiritual penetration; second, excelling in calculation. These two matters excel every prior ground — as shown by the sūtra's own statement, which should be understood by way of the wisdom of the three times and the like, together with its penetration. This penetrates through threefold practice.
First, the practice of being able to resolve doubt — as the sūtra says, "son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, dwelling within this ground, according with wisdom such as this, the buddhas of the ten directions expound wisdom for him, causing him to thoroughly penetrate the practice of the three times," and so on. "The practice of the three times" should be understood as the meaning of the path. Second, the practice of swift spiritual power, since he hears the tathāgatas' own secret Dharma expounded — as the sūtra says, "correctly knowing the distinctions of the dharma-realm." Third, the practice of equally rendering assistance, which should be understood as threefold: first, equally purifying buddha-lands, for the sake of transforming sentient beings; second, equally illuminating the Dharma; third, equally attaining correct enlightenment. As the sūtra says, "pervasively covering every realm of the world," "illumining every realm of the world," "causing every realm of sentient beings to attain realization of the Dharma," briefly stated, all the way to "according with and attaining the wisdom of all modes," and so on. In this way, this ground's division of spiritual power unsurpassed-yet-surpassed has now been explained. Next, the ground-image division will be explained. Here, the ground's images are of four kinds: first, the pond; second, the mountain; third, the sea; fourth, the maṇi-jewel — likening these to four kinds of merit: first, the merit of cultivation; second, the merit of supreme excellence; third, the merit of the great fruit of crossing what is hard to cross; fourth, the merit of firmness that turns all the way to exhaustion. What, then, is the merit of cultivation?
Fazang confirms the treatise's own pairing of "the great excelling" directly, and names what each half draws on: 初三世等名神通勝。二攝報中得十不可說百千世界塵數三昧等，名算數勝。此二種事勝一切前地，故名大勝 — "the first, [beginning from] the wisdom of the three times and the like, is named excelling in spiritual power; the second, within the gathering of retribution — attaining samādhis equal to the fine motes of dust in ten inexpressible hundred-thousand worlds and the like — is named excelling in calculation. These two matters excel every prior ground, and are therefore called the great excelling." On the threefold "equally rendering assistance," he glosses the logic each of the last two clauses serves: 二普照等者，作法明平等，是教智化也。三大慈等者，作正覺平等，證智化也 — "the second, universal illumination and the like, is equally accomplishing the illumination of the Dharma, which is transformation through the wisdom of teaching; the third, great compassion and the like, is equally accomplishing correct enlightenment, which is transformation through the wisdom of realization."
On the transition into the ground-image division that closes this part, Fazang explains what the four similes are for, and what the last of them in particular means — a detail this translation will need in Part 51: 前三是阿含德、後一是證德⋯四珠喻轉盡堅固功德，謂從初地進至法雲故名為轉，位極障盡名為轉盡，證理終極名為堅固 — "the first three are scriptural virtues, the last is realizational virtue⋯the fourth, the jewel, likens the merit of firmness that turns all the way to exhaustion: advancing from the First Ground up to Dharmameghā is called turning; reaching the utmost stage where every hindrance is exhausted is called turning to exhaustion; the ultimate realization of principle is called firmness." (Note: T1733's own line-numbering for this Tenth Ground material runs well ahead of where this project's approximate mapping had placed it; these quotations were located by searching Fazang's text directly for 令歡喜, 大勝, and 地影像, rather than by the mapped line range.)
Part 50 Complete
This closes Part 50, within the Tenth Ground, Dharmameghā, the Ground of the Dharma-Cloud. The entire assembly gathered to hear this teaching — every bodhisattva present, together with the eightfold class of gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas, the Four Heavenly Kings, Śakra, Brahmā, Maheśvara, and the gods of the Pure Abodes — has now witnessed Vajragarbha's own display of spiritual power: entering the Samādhi of the Essential Nature of All Buddha-Lands, drawing the whole assembly into his own body to behold a buddha-land's bodhi-tree, lion-throne, and buddha; and, questioned further by Vimuktacandra, setting this bodhisattva's own boundless samādhis against the still more boundless wisdom of the tathāgatas themselves, through the simile of a few beans' worth of earth measured against the earth of boundless worlds. The commentary has closed this sixth division, spiritual power both unsurpassed and yet surpassed, by naming its two means of generating joy — manifesting spiritual power directly, and expounding the Dharma itself — and its two kinds of excelling, in spiritual power and in calculation, before opening the treatise's next division, the ground-image division, and naming its four closing similes: the pond, the mountain, the sea, and the maṇi-jewel. Part 51 takes up the first of these directly, following the ten grounds in sequence toward the wisdom of all modes, and opening the treatise's own extended closing similes — the ten grounds compared first to a pond that sustains a bodhisattva's own practice, and then, ground by ground, to ten great mountain-kings.
Continue to Part 51 — The Ten Grounds as a Pond, and as Ten Mountain-Kings →