tr. Buddhabhadra · Eastern Jin, 418–420 CE · 入法界品

Entering the Dharma-Realm.

The closing chapter of the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka Sūtra, and the largest single collection on this site: the youth Sudhana, sent south by Mañjuśrī, visits fifty-three kalyāṇamitra — "good and wise friends" — in turn: monks and kings, physicians and sea-captains, night-devas and a courtesan, the Buddha's own mother, the bodhisattva Maitreya within a tower vast enough to hold the cosmos, and, at the last, Samantabhadra himself. Buddhabhadra's early-5th-century translation, rendered here across 454 parts, with reading notes throughout after Fazang's 華嚴經探玄記 (T1733).

Browse the 454 parts → Translation notes →

How to read this collection

The Gaṇḍavyūha — "Entering the Dharma-Realm," 入法界品 — is the Avataṃsaka Sūtra's own final chapter, and by itself the single longest sustained narrative in the Buddhist canon: seventeen fascicles (44 through 60) recounting one pilgrimage in full. Mañjuśrī sends the youth Sudhana south to seek a first teacher; every teacher after the first sends him further south still, in a fixed pattern Fazang's commentary names explicitly — a teaching received, a single Dharma-gate or liberation disclosed, and "looking up in reverence and being directed further" to whoever comes next. Fifty-three teachers punctuate this journey, unevenly: some hold Sudhana for a single part, others — Gopā, Māyā, and above all Maitreya — for dozens or, in Maitreya's case, over a hundred and sixty.

Each page carries a continuous run of sūtra and commentary together, matched against Ru-Yi's English translation, with reading notes quoting Fazang's Chinese in full and translating it directly, never paraphrasing without the source in view. The five great stages of the bodhisattva path this pilgrimage embodies — Ten Abodes, Ten Practices, Ten Transferences, Ten Grounds, and the stage beyond them Fazang calls 等覺, Virtual Enlightenment — are traced below, together with a complete link to every part.

What each page includes

The Chinese source text — sūtra and commentary together — beside our English translation, verified character-for-character against the base text for full coverage.
Reading notes after Fazang's 華嚴經探玄記 (T1733) throughout, quoting his Chinese in full wherever cited.
Each of the fifty-three teachers' own closing transition made visible — the referral, by name and place, to whoever comes next.
Terminology matched to this site's other Avataṃsaka pages, most closely the Treatise on the Sūtra of the Ten Grounds.

454 of 454 parts translated — complete

53 kalyāṇamitra, across five stages of the bodhisattva path

143,935 Chinese characters of root text across seventeen fascicles (44–60)

Sudhana's Fifty-Three Teachers

Grouped by the five stages of the bodhisattva path this pilgrimage traces in sequence — a structure Fazang's own commentary names directly at several points along the way, cited in full below each stage's heading.

The Ten Abodes 十住

Parts 16–30 · Teachers 1–10

Sudhana's first ten teachers, opened by Mañjuśrī's own direction — each closes on a referral south, “looking up in reverence and being directed further” to the next.

Teacher 1 of 53

Meghaśrī

monk · Mount Union — Sudhana's first teacher: twenty-one gates of samādhi for beholding the buddhas, held out even as the monk insists he knows only this one gate among countless others.

Part 16

Teacher 2 of 53

Sāgaramegha

teacher · Sea Gate — Ten qualities of the awakening-mind, then twelve years spent gazing at nothing but the ocean — until a lotus rises from the sea floor bearing a buddha and a sūtra vast enough that all the ocean's water turned to ink could not exhaust a single chapter of it.

Parts 17–18

Teacher 3 of 53

Susthitamati

monk · Sea Shore — A mastery of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down in open space itself, resting, in his own words, on “having nothing at all and doing nothing at all.”

Part 19

Teacher 4 of 53

Megha

physician · Sovereign — The first layperson Sudhana meets: a healer who prostrates before the boy the instant he learns of his awakened mind, and whose medicine reaches every language in three thousand worlds.

Part 20

Teacher 5 of 53

Vimukta

elder · Grove-Dwelling — After twelve years' search, a samādhi revealing buddha-lands beyond counting within his own body — and the teaching beneath the vision: none of it comes to him, he goes to none of it, all of it is mind alone.

Parts 21–22

Teacher 6 of 53

Sāgaradhvaja

monk · Adorning the Peak of Jambudvīpa — Motionless in samādhi for six months, breath and perception stilled, while an entire cosmos of teaching pours from every part of his body — feet, waist, chest, mouth, crown.

Parts 23–24

Teacher 7 of 53

Relinquishment

laywoman · grove Universal Adornment, Sea Tide — A single Dharma-gate: whoever merely sees her, none of it is ever in vain — and a bodhicitta that refuses any bounded number of beings, lands, or buddhas.

Parts 25–26

Teacher 8 of 53

Supreme Voice Without Fear

sage · Sea Tide — A single touch of the hand carries Sudhana through eons at the feet of countless buddhas, his own body never moving and no day ever passing.

Part 27

Teacher 9 of 53

Skillful Life

ascetic · mountain of fire and swords — A teaching that looks, at first, like nothing but self-destruction — until Sudhana repents his doubt, leaps into the blade and flame, and finds only peace.

Parts 28–29

Teacher 10 of 53

Maitrāyaṇī

girl · city Lion's Vigor — In a hall of jewels, every pillar, mirror, bell, and necklace reflects a buddha's entire career, the way the moon appears within clear water. Closes the Ten Abodes.

Part 30

The Ten Practices 十行

Parts 31–41 · Teachers 11–20

Ten more teachers, each embodying one of the ten practices — Fazang's own commentary marks the tenth, According with Every Sentient Being, as this stage's final position.

Teacher 11 of 53

Excellent Manifestation

monk · Rescue and Deliverance — A single walking-path, never left, from which he beholds every buddha in every direction at once — opening the Ten Practices.

Part 31

Teacher 12 of 53

Lord of the Gods

boy · Purity — A science of moles, numbers, and seals, first taught to him by Mañjuśrī, capable of calculating every world, being, and buddha throughout the ten directions.

Part 32

Teacher 13 of 53

Self-Mastery

laywoman · Sea-Dwelling — Plainly robed yet more radiant than any but a buddha, she feeds every being in the ten directions from a single vessel of food that never empties.

Part 33

Teacher 14 of 53

Nectar Crown

elder · Great Flourishing — A Wish-Fulfilling Treasury of Merit that rains every needed thing down from open sky for an entire gathered multitude.

Part 34

Teacher 15 of 53

Dharma-Jewel Crest

elder · Lion's Layered Pavilion — A house ten stories tall, each story filled with a different order of bodhisattvas up to the tathāgatas themselves — the fruit of a single ancient vow.

Part 35

Teacher 16 of 53

Universal Eye, Sublime Fragrance

elder, once an incense-seller · Universal Gate — Heals every illness before teaching the Dharma, and blends an incense whose single burning pellet adorns the whole Dharma-realm.

Part 36

Teacher 17 of 53

King Fulfillment

king · Full Banner — Punishments horrific enough to make Sudhana doubt he can possibly be a bodhisattva at all — until every torment is revealed as illusion, bent only toward turning evildoers to the good.

Part 37

Teacher 18 of 53

Great Light

king · Good Light — A samādhi of great loving-kindness shakes an entire city in six ways, seen as jeweled by some and defiled by others, depending only on each being's own karma.

Part 38

Teacher 19 of 53

Unmoving

laywoman · Secure Abode — Her palace light alone grants five hundred gates of samādhi at a single touch; ten thousand more follow as she recounts eons spent never once lapsing on a single mind a buddha once taught her.

Parts 39–40

Teacher 20 of 53

According with Every Sentient Being

renunciant of another path — Teaches wrong-view holders and the orthodox alike, without any of them ever knowing who he truly is. Closes the Ten Practices.

Part 41

The Ten Transferences 十迴向

Parts 42–53 · Teachers 21–30

Ten teachers dedicating merit outward in ten distinct modes, closing at the very bodhimaṇḍa in Magadha where the earth-goddess Secure Abiding reveals treasuries Sudhana himself once planted.

Teacher 21 of 53

Blue Lotus Fragrance

elder · Nectar-Flavor — Thirty kinds of fragrance, each known down to its precise cause, reach, and effect — one pellet turns an entire land's rainwater to gold.

Part 42

Teacher 22 of 53

Self-Mastery the Sea-Captain

sea-captain · Layered Pavilion — Gives away his own labor to the poor, then turns the literal sea — its treasure, danger, tide, and wind — into a figure for the ocean of the Dharma.

Part 43

Teacher 23 of 53

Unsurpassed Victory

elder · Delightful — A single Dharma-gate reaching every destiny of every being, resting on nothing and creating nothing.

Part 44

Teacher 24 of 53

Lion's Vigor

bhikkhunī · Grove of Contention — A garden vast enough for the whole trichiliocosm to enter without crowding, and a samādhi that multiplies her own body to make offering at every stage of every buddha's career at once.

Parts 45–47

Teacher 25 of 53

Vasumitrā

woman — A reputation that makes strangers doubt Sudhana's motives before he even reaches her gate — and a teaching that whoever comes to her bound by desire leaves free of it.

Part 48

Teacher 26 of 53

Secure Abiding

elder — Opens the door of a sandalwood buddha-stūpa each day and beholds every buddha of the three times as never having entered nirvāṇa at all — the briefest episode of the pilgrimage so far.

Part 49

Teacher 27 of 53

Avalokiteśvara

bodhisattva · Mount Light — The Practice of Light Born of Great Compassion: a single vow to free every being from eighteen distinct fears.

Part 50

Teacher 28 of 53

True Course

bodhisattva — Arrives from a distance even devas and humans cannot fathom — a single thought-moment carrying him past worlds beyond telling.

Part 51

Teacher 29 of 53

Mahādeva

deva · Dvāravatī — Washes his own four-armed face with water from the four seas, then piles up mountains of jewels to teach a single Dharma-gate likened to both a cloud that moistens and a net that catches.

Part 52

Teacher 30 of 53

Secure Abiding, Earth-Goddess of the Bodhimaṇḍa

earth-deity · Magadha — Presses her toe into the ground to reveal treasuries of jewels — the fruit of roots of goodness Sudhana himself planted here in ages long past. Closes the Ten Transferences.

Part 53

The Ten Grounds 十地

Parts 54–187 · Teachers 31–40

Ten teachers, one per ground, opened by the night-deva Vāsantī and closed by Gopā — Fazang's own note at Part 54 names this exact span (“from Vāsantī through to Gopā, there are ten spiritual friends, revealing the practice of the Ten Grounds stage”). By far the longest of the five stages: 134 of the collection's 454 parts.

Teacher 31 of 53

Vāsantī

night-deva · Kapilavastu — Rescues sailors, lost travelers, and the poverty-stricken and sick alike, each in a form fitted exactly to their peril. Opens the Ten Grounds.

Parts 54–56

Teacher 32 of 53

Light Free of Defilement

night-deva — Ten dharmas fulfilling every one of a bodhisattva's practices, closing on a vision of Vairocana whose every pore fills the whole Dharma-realm.

Parts 57–59

Teacher 33 of 53

Joyful Eyes Observing Sentient Beings

night-deva — By far the largest episode yet: ten perfections demonstrated through countless transformation-bodies, and an eighty-nine-stanza account tracing one bodhisattva's realization through all Ten Grounds at once.

Parts 60–67

Teacher 34 of 53

Sublime Virtue, Rescuing and Protecting Sentient Beings

night-deva — A brow-light reveals every world inside every mote of dust; one hundred and ten buddhas named in sequence across thirty-eight stanzas.

Parts 68–76

Teacher 35 of 53

Tranquil Sound

night-deva — Nine minds purifying the ocean of every sentient being, and thirty-three kinds of affliction, each answered by the Dharma.

Parts 77–83

Teacher 36 of 53

Sublime Virtue, Guardian of Every City

night-deva — Eleven kinds of body at once, six ways of guiding beings — and, in a rare turn, Sudhana attains her Dharma-gate directly rather than merely witnessing it.

Parts 84–89

Teacher 37 of 53

Blossoming Tree Flower

night-deva — The largest episode to that point — fourteen parts — teaching through a light released as flowers close at sunset, and an exact remedy matched to every affliction.

Parts 90–103

Teacher 38 of 53

Vow-Valor Light, Guardian of Sentient Beings

night-deva — Twenty kinds of body beheld before a single word passes between them; eighteen parts recounting rebirth after sovereign rebirth.

Parts 104–121

Teacher 39 of 53

Sublime Virtue, Perfect and Full

forest-deva · Lumbinī — Ten kinds of a bodhisattva's own rebirth-dharma, taught to twenty thousand nayutas of devas at once.

Parts 122–137

Teacher 40 of 53

Gopā

Śākya woman · Kapilavastu — Fifty parts — the longest single episode of the Ten Grounds — closing on pure and defiled lands beheld with equal composure, and an admission that even after boundless kalpas a bodhisattva's own inner life remains beyond full understanding.

Parts 138–187

Beyond the Ten Grounds — 等覺, Virtual Enlightenment 等覺

Parts 188–414 · Teachers 41–52

Ten further teachers after Lady Māyā, then Maitreya's own vast Tower, then Mañjuśrī's return — the stage Fazang's reading note at Part 72 calls 等覺位, “the practice belonging to the stage of Virtual Enlightenment,” standing between the completed Ten Grounds and buddhahood itself.

Teacher 41 of 53

Lady Māyā

the Buddha's mother — Thirty-three parts: a Dharma-body “neither arising nor ceasing, like lightning, like a dream” — and a vision of one body present, unmultiplied, within every Jambudvīpa of the ten directions at once.

Parts 188–220

Teacher 42 of 53

Light, Lord of the Devas

devī · Trāyastriṃśa Heaven — A kalpa-by-kalpa account of buddhas served since a kalpa named Blue Lotus, attended from their very going-forth.

Parts 221–223

Teacher 43 of 53

Universal Friend

teacher of children · Kapilavastu — A single part: refers Sudhana onward at once to his own most gifted pupil.

Part 224

Teacher 44 of 53

Skilled in Every Art

boy · Kapilavastu — Each root letter he recites opens its own gate of wisdom, extending from forty-two syllable-gates to astrology, agriculture, and statecraft alike.

Parts 225–233

Teacher 45 of 53

Worthy Supreme

upāsikā · Vātana — A liberation named and unfolded before Sudhana is sent onward once more, south.

Parts 234–236

Teacher 46 of 53

Firm Liberation

elder · Fertile Field — Declares his own Dharma-vow already fulfilled the moment he attained it.

Parts 237–238

Teacher 47 of 53

Sublime Moon

elder · same city — A liberation named Pure Wisdom-Light, held within a house always filled with light.

Part 239

Teacher 48 of 53

Unsurpassed Army

elder · city of Arising — Boundless Marks: a liberation through which he has beheld boundless buddhas and attained a boundless treasury.

Parts 240–241

Teacher 49 of 53

Śibi Supreme

brahmin · village of Dharma — True Vow-Speech: through it, no bodhisattva of the three times ever once retrogresses from awakening.

Parts 242–243

Teacher 50 of 53

Born of Virtue and Possessing Virtue

a boy and a girl, taught together — The pilgrimage's first paired teacher: two voices, one liberation, a lesson in itself that the bodhisattva path is not gendered.

Parts 244–247

Teacher 51 of 53

Maitreya

bodhisattva mahāsattva · the Tower Adorned Pure Treasury — By far the largest episode in the entire collection — one hundred sixty-five parts — where a single tower, arisen from a bodhisattva's own vows, holds the entire cosmos within itself.

Parts 248–412

Teacher 52 of 53

Mañjuśrī, Second Appearance

reaching a hand across a hundred and ten yojanas — The pilgrimage's own guide returns to touch Sudhana's crown one final time, establishes him in Samantabhadra's own abiding, then withdraws his power and vanishes.

Parts 413–414

Samantabhadra's Practice 普賢行願

Parts 415–453 · Teachers 53–53

Not a sixth stage added beyond the fifth, but — in Fazang's own words at Part 72 — “the practice and vow of the One Vehicle, unobstructed and pervading all five stages at once.” The fifty-third and final teacher, whose ten vows close the entire pilgrimage.

Teacher 53 of 53

Samantabhadra

bodhisattva · within the assembly itself — The fifty-third and final teacher: ten vows distilling the entire bodhisattva path, closing on the declaration that whoever hears this teaching with joy and undoubting faith swiftly becomes equal to every tathāgata.

Parts 415–453

Read by Part

All 454 parts are translated and complete, from the assembly at Jetavana through the translator's own closing colophon. Each links to the full bilingual text, with reading notes after Fazang throughout.

Front Matter — the Assembly at Jetavana

Parts 1–15

Part 1The Assembly at Jetavana, and Why Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī Stand First Part 2The Assembly's Wish, and the Buddha's Samādhi Part 3The Ten Directions Gather Part 4Why the Śrāvakas Cannot See Part 5Ten Hymns of Praise Part 6Samantabhadra Opens the Teaching Part 7The Buddha's Light, and What It Shows Part 8A Hundred and Three Samādhis Part 9What the Bodhisattvas Become Part 10Mañjuśrī's Hymn Part 11Mañjuśrī Departs South Part 12The Ten Great Minds Part 13Arrival at Jue Cheng, and Sudhana Named Part 14Sudhana's Own Hymn Part 15Mañjuśrī's Reply, and the Nine Questions

The Ten Abodes

Parts 16–30

1. Meghaśrī

Part 16

Part 16Meghaśrī, the First Teacher

2. Sāgaramegha

Parts 17–18

Part 17Sāgaramegha, and the Ten Minds Part 18The Lotus from the Ocean Floor

3. Susthitamati

Part 19

Part 19Susthitamati, Walking in the Sky

4. Megha

Part 20

Part 20Megha the Physician, and Why the Elder Bows First

5. Vimukta

Parts 21–22

Part 21Vimukta, and the Body That Holds Every World Part 22"Entirely Through One's Own Mind"

6. Sāgaradhvaja

Parts 23–24

Part 23Sāgaradhvaja, and the Body That Teaches from Every Limb Part 24Rising from Samādhi

7. Relinquishment

Parts 25–26

Part 25Relinquishment, at Sea Tide Part 26A Mind With No Bounded Scope

8. Supreme Voice Without Fear

Part 27

Part 27Supreme Voice Without Fear, and a Single Touch

9. Skillful Life

Parts 28–29

Part 28The Ordeal on the Mountain of Fire and Swords Part 29Into the Fire

10. Maitrāyaṇī

Part 30

Part 30Maitrāyaṇī, and Every Buddha Reflected in a Single Jewel

The Ten Practices

Parts 31–41

11. Excellent Manifestation

Part 31

Part 31Excellent Manifestation, and the Ten Practices Begin

12. Lord of the Gods

Part 32

Part 32Lord of the Gods, and the Science of Numbers

13. Self-Mastery

Part 33

Part 33Self-Mastery, and the Vessel That Never Empties

14. Nectar Crown

Part 34

Part 34Nectar Crown, and the Rain That Falls from Open Sky

15. Dharma-Jewel Crest

Part 35

Part 35Dharma-Jewel Crest, and the Ten-Storied House

16. Universal Eye, Sublime Fragrance

Part 36

Part 36Universal Eye, Sublime Fragrance, and Every Illness Healed

17. King Fulfillment

Part 37

Part 37King Fulfillment, and Punishments That Are Not What They Seem

18. Great Light

Part 38

Part 38Great Light, and the City Every Being Sees Differently

19. Unmoving

Parts 39–40

Part 39Unmoving, and Five Hundred Samādhis in a Single Touch of Light Part 40Ten Minds, and Buddhas Displayed Throughout the Dharma-Realm

20. According with Every Sentient Being

Part 41

Part 41According with Every Sentient Being, and the Ten Practices Complete

The Ten Transferences

Parts 42–53

21. Blue Lotus Fragrance

Part 42

Part 42Blue Lotus Fragrance, and the Ten Transferences Begin

22. Self-Mastery the Sea-Captain

Part 43

Part 43Self-Mastery the Sea-Captain, and the Ocean of Precious Things

23. Unsurpassed Victory

Part 44

Part 44Unsurpassed Victory, and the Grove Free of Sorrow

24. Lion's Vigor

Parts 45–47

Part 45Lion's Vigor, and a Garden No Crowd Can Fill Part 46Seated Everywhere at Once, Teaching Every Kind of Being Part 47The Very Depths of Omniscience, and Offerings to Every Buddha's Career

25. Vasumitrā

Part 48

Part 48Vasumitrā, and Desire Itself as the Path

26. Secure Abiding

Part 49

Part 49Secure Abiding, and the Sandalwood Stūpa

27. Avalokiteśvara

Part 50

Part 50Avalokiteśvara, and Eighteen Fears Removed

28. True Course

Part 51

Part 51True Course, and the Universal Gate of Swift Practice

29. Mahādeva

Part 52

Part 52Mahādeva, and the Dharma-Gate of the Cloud-Net

30. Secure Abiding, Earth-Goddess of the Bodhimaṇḍa

Part 53

Part 53Secure Abiding, the Earth-Goddess of the Bodhimaṇḍa

The Ten Grounds

Parts 54–187

31. Vāsantī

Parts 54–56

Part 54Vāsantī, and the Ten Grounds Begin Part 55Vāsantī's Own Hymn Part 56Two Buddhas, Ages Apart

32. Light Free of Defilement

Parts 57–59

Part 57Light Free of Defilement Part 58Tranquil Extinction, and Twelve Contemplations Part 59A Closing Hymn, and Joyful Eyes

33. Joyful Eyes Observing Sentient Beings

Parts 60–67

Part 60Joyful Eyes Observing Sentient Beings Part 61Skillful Means, Vow, Power, and Knowledge Part 62Sixty Classes of Beings, Twenty-Four Kinds of Sound Part 63Sudhana's Hymn, and a Question Ninety Stanzas Long Part 64A Dream, and a Vow Before Waking Part 65Four Kalpas, Four Buddha-Lists Part 66Five More Kalpas, to the Threshold of Forbearance Part 67The Buddha Merit-Banner, and Mañjuśrī Revealed

34. Sublime Virtue, Rescuing and Protecting Sentient Beings

Parts 68–76

Part 68Sublime Virtue, Rescuing and Protecting Sentient Beings Part 69Sudhana's Hymn, Twenty and a Half Stanzas Part 70A Question, and a Kalpa Named Stainless Perfection Part 71Twelve Lights, Counting Down to a Buddha Part 72Sixteen Clauses, and a King Eclipsed Part 73A King's Ascent, Ten Stanzas, an Offering Part 74A Canopy of Visions, and Thirty-Four Minds Part 75Maitreya's Own Past, and a Kalpa of Great Light Part 76One Hundred and Ten Buddhas, and Tranquil Sound

35. Tranquil Sound

Parts 77–83

Part 77Tranquil Sound, and Nine Minds Part 78Twenty-Four Kinds, and Ten Beholdings of Vairocana Part 79Thirty-Two Similes, and Ten Perfections Part 80Ten Rebirths, Ten Buddhas, Ten Samādhis Part 81Krakucchanda to Vairocana, Eleven Layers Deep Part 82A World Still Present, and Ten Stanzas Part 83Sudhana's Hymn, and a Ground Overcome

36. Sublime Virtue, Guardian of Every City

Parts 84–89

Part 84Eleven Bodies, and Ten Practices of the Dharma-Realm Part 85Ten Thousand Dhāraṇīs, Broad and Brief Part 86A King Who Became a Monk, and Samantabhadra Again Part 87Ninety-Eight Buddhas Part 88Awake Alone, and a Verse Retelling Part 89Sudhana Attains the Dharma-Gate Himself

37. Blossoming Tree Flower

Parts 90–103

Part 90Blossoming Tree Flower, and a Light at Sunset Part 91Vairocana's Own Compassion at the First Raising of the Mind Part 92Difficult to Know, Difficult to Believe Part 93Twenty-One and a Half Stanzas on What Cannot Be Known Part 94A King, an Evil Kalpa, and a Cry for Help Part 95Ten Words of Compassion Part 96A Great Assembly, and a Joy Beyond Any Heaven Part 97A Girl's Vow, and the Realm Before a King Part 98Twelve Stanzas of Before and After Part 99A Voice No God Can Match Part 100A Drought, and Omens Before a Birth Part 101A Child from a Thousand-Petaled Lotus Part 102Śuddhodana, Māyā, and This Very Assembly Part 103Ten Powers, and a Ground Gone Afar

38. Vow-Valor Light, Guardian of Sentient Beings

Parts 104–121

Part 104Twenty Bodies, Seen Before a Word Is Spoken Part 105Eighty-Four Shared Dharmas Part 106An Upright Mind, and Ten Stanzas of Request Part 107A Name, and Form That Is Not Form Part 108Ninety-Eight Kinds of Form Part 109A Sun That Never Enters the Water It Lights Part 110A Boat, Space Itself, and a Conjured Person Part 111Ten Thousand Buddhas, and a King's Own Dungeons Part 112A Prince Offers His Own Life Part 113A Giving-Assembly, and a Buddha's Procession Part 114A Prince Attains the Dharma-Gate Part 115Prisoners Revealed as a Thousand Buddhas Part 116Ten Thousand Buddhas, All Met Part 117A Kalpa of Six Billion Buddhas Part 118In Verse, an Ancient Buddha and a Prince's Rescue Part 119In Verse, the Buddha Arrives and Two Tallies Close Part 120In Verse, Self-Identified, and the Dharma-Gate's Own Power Part 121The Ground of Immovability Concludes

39. Sublime Virtue, Perfect and Full

Parts 122–137

Part 122Ten Kinds of Rebirth-Dharma Part 123Five Rebirth-Dharmas Explained Part 124Five More Rebirth-Dharmas, and a Closing Vista Part 125Ten Stanzas, One Rebirth-Dharma Each Part 126Ten Signs Before a Birth Part 127Ten Lights at the Moment of Birth Part 128Sovereign Mastery, Beginning With Light and a Womb Part 129Always the Mother, Across Every Past Life Part 130A Forest Filled From a Single Body Part 131A Lotus of Vajra, and Five Similes for a Birth Part 132An Ancient Kalpa, and a Queen Named Joyful Light Part 133"That Wet-Nurse Was None Other Than Myself" Part 134In Verse, the Wet-Nurse Beholds the Newborn Buddha Part 135In Verse, a Single Thought-Moment Holding Every Buddha Part 136In Verse, Countless Buddhas Attain and Pass Away Part 137On to Gopā at Kapilavastu

40. Gopā

Parts 138–187

Part 138Toward Kapilavastu, and a Deva Named Sorrow-Free Part 139"Welcome, One of Great Wisdom" Part 140An Only Child, and a Bodhisattva's Grief Part 141Father, Ferryman, Refuge, Lamp Part 142A Hymn of Ten Stanzas, and Petals Scattered Part 143Gopā, Seated Among Eighty-Four Thousand Women Part 144"How, Amid Birth-and-Death, Unstained?" Part 145Ten Dharmas of Indra's Net Part 146Ten Dharmas for Meeting a Good and Wise Friend Part 147In Verse, the Conduct of Indra's Net Part 148In Verse, the Conduct of Samantabhadra Part 149Every Sentient Being's Karma, Known in Full Part 150Every Buddha, Every Disciple, Every Bodhisattva Part 151Ten Worlds, One Vow Part 152The Ocean of Every Mind, Known Part 153A Kalpa Named Supreme Light-Brightness Part 154A Girl Named Stainless, Sublime Virtue Part 155"I Would Rather Perish" Part 156A Dream, Seven Days Old Part 157The Girl's Own Verse, First Five Stanzas Part 158The Girl's Own Verse, Final Five Stanzas Part 159"Whose Daughter Are You?" Part 160Wrong Views Born of Greed Part 161Raising the Mind of Awakening Part 162Born From a Lotus, the Same Day as the Prince Part 163A Jeweled Maiden, Rare in All the World Part 164A Mind That Seeks Nothing for Itself Part 165"Do Not Become an Obstruction" Part 166"If You Are Able to Accept This" Part 167"I Shall Willingly Undergo This Suffering" Part 168A Buddha's Hand Upon Her Own Head Part 169Gifts of Light, and a Mother's Final Blessing Part 170A Mind That Does Not Rely on Beauty Part 171Ten Samādhis at the Bodhimaṇḍa Part 172"Like a Poor Man Finding a Great Treasury" Part 173The Lamp of Every Mind Part 174"You Ought to Know That Now Is the Time" Part 175Seven Treasures, Eighty Thousand Cities Part 176Eighty Thousand Cities, One Buddha's Passage Part 177"None Other Than the Buddha Śākyamuni, Now" Part 178"That Jeweled Maiden Is None Other Than Myself" Part 179Sixty Koṭis of Nayutas of Buddhas, Named in Full Part 180The Dharma-Gate Attained at Last Part 181Samantabhadra's Own Dharma, Like Empty Space Part 182A Bodhisattva's Every Pore Part 183On to Lady Māyā Part 184A Prince Turned Monk, Named Excellent Light-Brightness Part 185A Tainted Offering, Two Hundred Fifty Kalpas Protected Part 186The Story Rejoins Itself Part 187Every Wheel of Every World, Within One Pore

Beyond the Ten Grounds — 等覺, Virtual Enlightenment

Parts 188–414

41. Lady Māyā

Parts 188–220

Part 188"A Body That Is No Body at All" Part 189Guarding the Mind's Own City Part 190Five Obstructions Cleared Away Part 191Ten Eyes, Granted by a Network of Light Part 192A Rākṣasa King Named Good Eye Part 193Ten Samādhis for Beholding a Good Friend Part 194"Knowing the Body to Be Like a Dream" Part 195A Jeweled Lotus Rises From the Earth Part 196A Throne Where Every Ornament Speaks Part 197Māyā Herself, Seated Upon the Throne Part 198A Body That Neither Comes Nor Goes Part 199A Body Like a Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Part 200Form That Is Not Form Part 201Daughters of Every Realm, From Devas to Humans Part 202Precepts Like Empty Space Part 203Every Power of a Buddha, Attained at Once Part 204Fulfilling Every Bodhisattva's Own Vow to Be a Mother Part 205"Mañjuśrī First Taught Me" Part 206Mother to the Tathāgata Vairocana Part 207A Light Enters Her Crown Part 208A Body Vast as Space, Yet Still Human-Sized Part 209Bodhisattvas Walking Within Her Womb Part 210A Womb Neither Enlarged Nor Cramped Part 211The Buddha-List Begins Part 212Continuing the Buddha-List Part 213Continuing the Buddha-List Part 214Continuing the Buddha-List Part 215Continuing the Buddha-List Part 216The Buddha-List Closes Part 217An Ancient Kalpa Named Pure Light Part 218The Deity's Own Vow Part 219A Vow That Never Once Broke Part 220Farewell to Māyā, Onward to Trāyastriṃśa

42. Light, Lord of the Devas

Parts 221–223

Part 221Unobstructed-Mindfulness Pure Adornment Part 222Nine Kalpas, Uncounted Buddhas Part 223Never Once Slack, Never Once Abandoned

43. Universal Friend

Part 224

Part 224Universal Friend Refers Onward at Once

44. Skilled in Every Art

Parts 225–233

Part 225The Root Letters of Liberation Part 226Nine Seed-Syllables Open Nine Gates Part 227Nine More Syllable-Gates Part 228Eight More Syllable-Gates Part 229Eight More Syllable-Gates Part 230The Forty-Second Syllable Part 231The Head of Boundless Further Gates Part 232Every Treasure, Every Dwelling-Place Part 233From the Stars to the Transcendent Dharma

45. Worthy Supreme

Parts 234–236

Part 234Onward to Vātana Part 235The Bodhimaṇḍa of No Abiding Place Part 236Onward to Fertile Field

46. Firm Liberation

Parts 237–238

Part 237South to Fertile Field Part 238Unattached Pure Mindfulness

47. Sublime Moon

Part 239

Part 239Pure Wisdom-Light

48. Unsurpassed Army

Parts 240–241

Part 240South to the City of Arising Part 241Boundless Marks

49. Śibi Supreme

Parts 242–243

Part 242A Brahmin at the Village of Dharma Part 243True Vow-Speech

50. Born of Virtue and Possessing Virtue

Parts 244–247

Part 244A Boy and a Girl Together Part 245Every World Is Illusion-Dwelling Part 246Even the Bodhisattvas' Own Assemblies Part 247A Body Made Soft and Radiant

51. Maitreya

Parts 248–412

Part 248A Tower Named Adorned Pure Treasury Part 249Ten Questions for Maitreya Part 250Never Content with a Single Root of Goodness Part 251Boundless Roots of Goodness Part 252Rescuing the Three Realms' Own Prisoners Part 253Boundless Medicine for Boundless Disease Part 254Every Language, Every Mind Part 255Unspeakable Vows for Unspeakable Worlds Part 256To Speak Briefly Part 257Every Bodhisattva Treasury Part 258No Māra Can Undermine It Part 259Crossing the Mountain-Torrent of Delusion Part 260Beholding Every Buddha with Great Joy Part 261Ten Similes for the Good Friend Part 262The Great-Earth Mind Part 263The Great-Mountain Mind Part 264The Prince's Own Mind Part 265A Sick Person, a Physician-King, Good Medicine Part 266A Farmer Awaiting Timely Rain Part 267Weaponry for the Timid Part 268A Prince and His Minister Part 269Like the Full Moon, Like the Turning Sun Part 270Ten Unspeakable Hundred-Thousand-Koṭi-Nayutas Part 271The Good Friend as the Root of Everything Part 272Leaping with Boundless Delight Part 273Revering Every Bodhisattva as the World-Honored One Part 274Buddha-Bodies Filling a Single Pore Part 275This Is My Own Field of Merit Part 276Equal to Empty Space Part 277From Faith, the Most Correct Awakening Part 278Neither Permanent Nor Annihilated Part 279Like a Seal Producing Its Own Imprint Part 280The Dwelling of One Who Has Resolved Emptiness Part 281Playing Freely in Every Samādhi Part 282One Buddha as Every Buddha Part 283Dwelling in Every Māra's Own Palace Part 284Without Ever Leaving a Hair's Tip Part 285Wearied of Birth-and-Death, Yet Not Departing Part 286Manifesting Rebirth for the Sake of Teaching Part 287Grieving Still, Amid Every Joy Part 288The Dwelling of One Who Abides in Every Merit Part 289Abiding in the Mind of Great Loving-Kindness Part 290Like a Bird Ranging Through Empty Space Part 291A Physician-King of Compassionate Heart Part 292Subduing the Dragon of Affliction Part 293An Ocean of Great Wisdom Part 294Vows as Many as Every Drop of Water Part 295Awakening Within a Single Thought Part 296Without Ever Leaving a Single Seat Part 297Drinking the Ocean of the Buddha-Dharma Part 298Every Buddha-Land Rising and Passing Away Part 299Wishing Only for Your Compassionate Mercy Part 300Maitreya Himself Arrives Part 301Never Cutting Off the Buddha-Lineage Part 302A Hundred and Ten Good Friends Part 303Difficult Even to Practice Together With Part 304Building a Bridge of Wisdom Over the River of Craving Part 305Lighting the Lamp of Wisdom in Ignorance's Own Darkness Part 306Placing Them in the City of Nirvāṇa Part 307Never Regarding It as Suffering Part 308Rarer Still to Seek Without Attachment Part 309Samantabhadra's Own Conduct Within One Life Part 310A Cloud of Sovereign Power, Seen by All Part 311Traveling Through Indra's Own Net of Worlds Part 312You Have Now Attained the Greatest Benefit Part 313Gaining It Entirely, Simply Through Hearing Part 314Constantly Anointed by Every Buddha's Own Ambrosia Part 315Like an Auspicious Cloud, Wherever It Covers Part 316Entirely Samantabhadra's Own Conduct Part 317The Far Shore of Every Buddha's Own Merit Part 318You Too Shall Soon Be Equal to Us Part 319I Wish Only to Swiftly Return Part 320Playing Freely in Every Dharma-Gate Part 321Foremost Among the Great Assembly of Bodhisattvas Part 322Revered as the Deva of Devas Part 323Welcome, Pure and Upright Mind of Wisdom Part 324One Difficult to See, Equanimous Before the World Part 325Welcome, Wondrous Lotus, Cloud of Renown Part 326Kind Father and Mother to All Beings Part 327Casting Aside a Heavenly Household to Seek a Good Friend Part 328Cultivating the Vajra-Wheel of Wisdom Part 329The Bodhi-Mind Nāga-King Rises into the Sky of the Dharma-Realm Part 330The Path-Mind's Embryo, Nurturing the Tathāgata-Treasury Part 331Revealing the Eightfold True Path Part 332Soon to Behold Every Buddha Part 333Guarding the Buddha's Own Lineage Part 334Every Faculty Tamed, Unstained by the World Part 335You Are a Vessel for the Dharma Part 336The Seed of Every Buddha Part 337A Good Friend, a Great King, the Great Ocean Part 338The Fire at the End of an Aeon Part 339A Sword, a Hammer, a Blade, a Banner Part 340A Nāga King Raining Ambrosial Dharma Part 341Endowed with Every Buddha-Dharma Part 342Equal to the Merit of Every Buddha and Bodhisattva Part 343Free of the Five Fears Part 344No Enemy Can Prevail Part 345The Shade That Heals Every Sore Part 346Sovereign for an Asaṃkhyeya of Aeons Part 347Gathering Every Treasure Without Depleting the Sea Part 348Entering the Sea of Birth and Death Without Sinking Part 349Honored Throughout the Three Realms Part 350Wishes Fulfilled Without Depletion Part 351Taking On the Very Color of the Light Part 352Unstained Across a Hundred Thousand Kalpas Part 353Carried by Vow into the City of Liberation Part 354Revealing the Sun and Moon's Own Palaces Part 355Second Only to the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Part 356Sovereign Over Every Nāga of the Afflictions Part 357A Fragrance Pervading a Chiliocosm Part 358Taking On the Color of Sumeru Part 359A Single Day Outlasting a Thousand Years Part 360Every Part Benefits Every Being Part 361Kindling a Hundred Thousand Lamps Without Loss Part 362Light That Grows With Every Drop of Oil Part 363A Roar That Scatters Every Lesser Beast Part 364A Single Drop Dissolves Every Lesser Milk Part 365Surpassing Power From the Very Moment of Birth Part 366No Fury of the Māras Can Prevail Part 367Steadying the Stance Before the Arrow Flies Part 368Manifesting Form From What Has No Form Part 369Breaking Every Chain of Wrong View Part 370Unharmed by the Makara of Birth and Death Part 371Moving Unseen Through Māra's Own Domain Part 372Fearless Through Secure Reliance Part 373Boundless Kalpas Without Aging or Stain Part 374Foremost Among Every Faculty Part 375Light No Starlight Can Ever Eclipse Part 376Honored From Birth Regardless of Age Part 377Mistaking a Pure Jewel for Something Unclean Part 378Healed by Mere Sight, Untouched by Any Dust Part 379Without an Upright Mind, No True Meaning Part 380The Crown Whose Washing Frees the Four Armies Part 381Born of Its Own Nature, Depending on Nothing Part 382Precious Even Broken, Unattainable by the Small-Minded Part 383Wielded Only by Nārāyaṇa's Own Strength Part 384The Seat That Bears the Vajra Throne Part 385The Door Opens of Its Own Accord Part 386Vast and Boundless as Space Itself Part 387Seeing Maitreya's First Raising of the Mind of Bodhi Part 388One Body, Every Throne of the Three Realms Part 389Teaching Every Retinue, Praising Every Ground Part 390Clouds of Transformation-Bodies From Every Pore Part 391Every Buddha Distinct, No Two Alike Part 392A Single Tower Holding a Trichiliocosm Part 393Fascicle Sixty Opens; Sounds From the Golden Bells Part 394Boundless Gates Opened by Sound Alone Part 395Every World at Once, Within a Single Mirror Part 396Lotus Flowers Vast as Chariot Wheels Part 397Every Body Bearing Offerings in Reverence Part 398A Horse-King Rescuing the Shipwrecked Part 399Like a Dream of Mountains, Rivers, and the Sea Part 400The Visions That Rise at the Moment of Death Part 401A Hundred Thousand Kalpas Like a Single Moment Part 402Arise From Samādhi Part 403A Gate Only a One-More-Birth Bodhisattva Attains Part 404Like a Nāga's Rain, Coming From Nowhere at All Part 405A Village Named Tower Part 406The Ten Birthplaces of a Bodhisattva Part 407Wisdom as Mother, Skillful Means as Father Part 408Every Dharma Like Lightning, Like a Dream Part 409A Form Equal to Every Sentient Being Part 410When I Attain Awakening, You Will Both See Me Part 411Go Now to Mañjuśrī Part 412A Hundred and Ten Cities, and a Hand Outstretched

52. Mañjuśrī, Second Appearance

Parts 413–414

Part 413Without the Root of Faith Part 414Set at the Gate of Samantabhadra's Own Practice

Samantabhadra's Practice

Parts 415–453

53. Samantabhadra

Parts 415–453

Part 415Single-Mindedly Wishing to See Samantabhadra Part 416Ten Minds Raised in Right Mindfulness Part 417Ten Auspicious Signs Across Every Land Part 418Ten Kinds of Light From Every Mote of Dust Part 419Sudhana Beholds Samantabhadra Part 420Light and Fragrance From Every Single Pore Part 421A Refuge for Beings Without Refuge Part 422Buddhas Newly Awakened, Arising in the World Part 423A Trichiliocosm Within Every Limb and Pore Part 424Ten Indestructible Gates of Wisdom Part 425Samantabhadra's Hand Touches Sudhana's Crown Part 426None Can Fathom It, Save the Tathāgatas Part 427Never Once Forgetting the Indestructible Mind of Bodhi Part 428Eleven Powers Behind an Indestructible Body Part 429Hearing His Very Name Ensures Non-Regression Part 430Every Land Utterly Distinct, Every Buddha Emanating Part 431Not One Part in a Hundred Thousand Part 432Before Long, Equal to Every Buddha Part 433Rare as the Udumbara Flower Part 434A True Child of the Buddha, Words Never False Part 435Knowing in a Single Thought Every Dharma of the Three Times Part 436Some See, Some Do Not Part 437Vairocana, Bhadraśrī, Amitābha, Akṣobhya Part 438Every Buddha-Land Within a Single Pore Part 439I Now Speak Only a Small Portion Part 440Śākyamuni Newly Awakened, None Can Fathom It Part 441Descent, Renunciation, Awakening, and the Stūpa Part 442At Dīpaṃkara's Own Presence, the Prediction Part 443A Body Vast as Sumeru, a Light of a Single Fathom Part 444One Land Becomes Boundless, Boundless Lands Become One Part 445One Voice, Understood According to Every Need Part 446Eighty-Four Thousand Antidotes for Eighty-Four Thousand Defilements Part 447One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Even Boundless Vehicles Part 448Eighty-Four Thousand Lights From a Single Mouth Part 449Among Brāhmaṇas, an Emaciated Body Undergoing Austerities Part 450Valiant and Skilled in Every Art, to Subdue the Kṣatriyas Part 451Like the Moon, Manifesting Waxing and Waning Part 452Not Going Anywhere, Yet Reaching Everywhere Part 453Whoever Hears This With Joy, Swiftly Attains the Path

Colophon — the Translator's Own Postscript

Part 454

Part 454The Translator's Own Colophon

Translation Notes

Recurring terms, kept consistent across all 454 parts. See also this site's note on translation method.

善知識 — kalyāṇamitra, "good and wise friend"The fifty-three teachers Sudhana visits in turn — never sought as an authority to submit to, but each holding a single Dharma-gate, disclaimed as one gate among countless others the teacher has not touched.

夜神 — night-devaTen of the Ten Grounds' teachers share this class of being — goddesses who appear and teach chiefly by night, several sharing the very same bodhimaṇḍa in Magadha across dozens of consecutive parts.

善財 — Sudhana"Good Wealth" — the youth whose own name the sūtra explains at his introduction, before Mañjuśrī ever speaks to him directly.

解脫 — liberation / Dharma-gateWhat nearly every teacher discloses in place of a general teaching: one specific, named liberation, disclaimed in the same breath as partial — "I know only this."

等覺 — Virtual (or Equal) EnlightenmentThe stage Fazang's reading note at Part 72 names for the pilgrimage's teachers after the Ten Grounds and before buddhahood itself — Māyā through Maitreya's own tower.

毘盧遮那莊嚴藏 — Vairocana-vyūha-garbha, the Tower Adorned Pure TreasuryMaitreya's tower, arisen from a bodhisattva's own vows and compassion — the setting for the collection's single largest episode, 165 of its 454 parts.

菩提場 — bodhimaṇḍaThe seat, or site, of awakening — literal in Magadha where Sudhana's Ten Grounds teachers gather, and recurring throughout as the place any given teaching is said to unfold.

普賢行願 — Samantabhadra's practice and vowNot a sixth stage beyond the five the pilgrimage otherwise traces, but, in Fazang's own words, the practice "pervading all five stages at once" — the fifty-third and final teacher.