A Lotus of Vajra, and Five Similes for a Birth
The tenth and final form of sovereign mastery: a great lotus of vajra arises from the earth itself before Lady Māyā, and every king of the eightfold assembly — gandharva, yakṣa, asura, garuḍa, kinnara, mahoraga — gathers to honor it. Five similes then close the whole account of the birth: a sun in open sky, lightning, a mountain-cloud, a lamp in darkness, and a birth that is, in truth, no birth at all.
A Lotus of Vajra, and Every King in Attendance
「復次，佛子！菩薩生時，於摩耶夫人前地金剛輪中，生大蓮華，金剛為莖，有十世界微塵等寶葉摩尼寶王以為其臺，眾寶香鬘，以阿僧祇寶網羅覆其上，一切天王所共執持；一切乾闥婆王普雨香雲，讚歎過去諸佛功德；一切夜叉王圍遶守護，自然出生眾妙寶華、娛樂音聲；一切阿脩羅王，皆悉降伏，頭面敬禮，一切迦樓羅王，以寶繒幡莊嚴虛空；一切緊那羅王歡喜諦觀心無厭足，讚歎歌頌菩薩功德；一切摩睺羅伽王，歡喜踊躍，普雨種種寶莊嚴雲，是為菩薩第十受生自在。」
"Furthermore, Child of the Buddha, when the bodhisattva is born, before Lady Māyā, within the vajra earth-wheel, a great lotus flower will arise, its stem made of vajra, with jeweled petals as numerous as motes of dust in ten worlds, and a maṇi-jewel king for its own calyx; every kind of jeweled, fragrant garland, covered over with a net of jewels as numerous as asaṃkhyeyas, will be held aloft together by every deva-king. Every gandharva king will universally rain down clouds of fragrance, praising the merit of every past buddha; every yakṣa king will surround and guard it, and sublime, jeweled flowers and the sound of entertainment will arise of their own accord; every asura king will, every one of them, be subdued, bowing their heads in reverence; every garuḍa king will adorn empty space with jeweled silk banners; every kinnara king, joyfully beholding it, their minds never growing weary, will praise the bodhisattva's own merit in song; and every mahoraga king, leaping for joy, will universally rain down every kind of jeweled, adorning cloud. This is the bodhisattva's own tenth form of sovereign mastery in taking rebirth."
Fazang lists this tenth form of mastery in his own outline as: 十金剛地輪生大蓮花以承菩薩 — "tenth, the vajra earth-wheel gives rise to a great lotus flower, to receive the bodhisattva." Where the ninth form emerged as beings identical to Vairocana, the tenth returns attention to the ground itself — the very earth transformed into vajra at the opening ten signs, back in an earlier part of this account, now giving rise to the flower that will receive the newborn bodhisattva directly, with every king of the eightfold assembly, in turn, honoring it according to what each is known for elsewhere in this collection: gandharvas with fragrance, yakṣas with guarding, kinnaras with song.
Five Similes, and a Birth That Is No Birth
「佛子！摩耶夫人生菩薩時，如虛空中現明淨日、如雷電光、如山起雲、如闇中燈，菩薩爾時，雖現出生，而悉解達一切諸法如電、夢幻，不來、不去、不生、不滅。佛子！我一念中，悉知菩薩此閻浮提受生自在、出生自在；亦知百億閻浮提，受生自在、出生自在；亦知三千大千世界微塵等佛剎，十佛世界微塵等佛剎，乃至悉知一切世界微塵等佛剎菩薩受生自在、出生自在，亦復如是。」
"Child of the Buddha, when Lady Māyā gives birth to the bodhisattva, it will be like a bright, pure sun appearing within empty space, like a flash of lightning, like a mountain-cloud rising in response, like a lamp within darkness; and the bodhisattva, at that time, though manifesting his own birth, will nonetheless thoroughly understand every dharma to be like lightning, like a dream, like an illusion — neither coming nor going, neither arising nor ceasing. Child of the Buddha, within a single thought-moment, I fully know the bodhisattva's own sovereign mastery in taking rebirth and sovereign mastery in being born within this very Jambudvīpa; I also know his sovereign mastery in taking rebirth and sovereign mastery in being born within a hundred koṭis of Jambudvīpas; I also know it within buddha-lands as numerous as motes of dust in the trichiliocosm, within buddha-lands as numerous as motes of dust in ten buddha-worlds, and, further still, I fully know the bodhisattva's own sovereign mastery in taking rebirth and sovereign mastery in being born within buddha-lands as numerous as motes of dust in every world — in just the same way."
Fazang names all five similes at once: 一朗耀挺特如空中日現、二威光赫奕如雷電光、三應機現身如山起雲、四現破無明如闇中燈、五雖生不生用常寂故 — "first, brilliant and outstanding, like the sun appearing in the sky; second, awe-inspiring radiance, like a flash of lightning; third, responding to what each capacity calls for, manifesting a body, like a mountain-cloud rising; fourth, manifesting to break through ignorance, like a lamp within darkness; fifth, though born, in truth not born, its function ever tranquil." The fifth simile has no single image of its own — it is instead the sūtra's direct statement that the bodhisattva, even while visibly being born, already understands every dharma as "neither coming nor going, neither arising nor ceasing." This closes the entire account of sovereign mastery in rebirth on the same paradox this whole collection has returned to again and again: the most visible, most celebrated event imaginable — a birth attended by ten signs, ten lights, and ten miracles — is, from the bodhisattva's own vantage, no event at all.
Part 131 In Progress
The entire account of the miraculous birth at Lumbinī — ten signs, ten lights, and ten forms of sovereign mastery — is now complete. Part 132 turns to Sudhana's next question: how long has the deva held this Dharma-gate? Her answer opens an ancient account of her own — a queen named Joyful Light, and a wet-nurse who received a newborn buddha in a kalpa long past.
Continue to Part 132 →