Father, Ferryman, Refuge, Lamp
Sudhana names, one after another, every role a bodhisattva becomes for sentient beings: father and mother, nurturer, guardian, the captain of a great ship, refuge, guide, one who knows the ford, treasury-minister, flower, great light, joy itself, the one honored, Samantabhadra, lamp, and rain-cloud of ambrosia — a bodhisattva so beloved because every sentient being delights in the true Dharma he brings.
Fifteen Roles, One Bodhisattva
「常以大悲大願力故，行菩薩行，供養諸佛，求薩婆若；欲令眾生遠離煩惱，淨佛世界，調伏一切惡心眾生，悉令具足清淨身心，行菩薩行而無疲倦。若有菩薩如是行者，悉能莊嚴一切眾生，出生長養天人樂故；為父母皆令安立菩提心故；為養育，皆令究竟菩薩道故；為衛護，皆令遠離三惡道故；為大船師，皆令得度生死海故；為歸依，令捨諸魔煩惱怖故；為導師，皆令逮得清涼處故；為知濟，皆令得度佛剎海故；為主藏臣，皆令得入法寶洲故；為淨妙華，令開一切佛功德華故；為大光明，普放功德智慧光故；為歡喜，皆令端嚴勝殊妙故；為所尊，遠離一切諸惡業故；為普賢，具足一切諸功德故；為燈明，常放智慧淨妙光故；為慶雲，常雨一切甘露法故。天神！菩薩摩訶薩如是行者，一切眾生悉皆愛念，樂正法故。」
"Constantly, by the power of great compassion and the great vow, he practices the bodhisattva's own practice, makes offerings to buddhas, and seeks omniscience; wishing to cause sentient beings to depart far from affliction, to purify the buddha's own world, to subdue every sentient being of evil mind, and cause all to become fully endowed with a pure body and mind, he practices the bodhisattva's own practice without ever growing weary. If there is a bodhisattva who practices in this way, he is able to adorn every sentient being entirely: giving rise to and nurturing the happiness of devas and humans; as father and mother, causing all to firmly establish the mind of awakening; as nurturer, causing all to reach the very end of the bodhisattva's own path; as guardian and protector, causing all to depart far from the three evil destinies; as the captain of a great ship, causing all to cross over the ocean of birth-and-death; as refuge, causing them to relinquish every fear of māras and afflictions; as guide, causing all to attain a place of coolness; as one who knows the ford, causing all to cross over the ocean of buddha-lands; as treasury-minister, causing all to enter the island of the Dharma's own treasure; as a pure, sublime flower, causing every buddha's own flower of merit to bloom; as a great light, universally sending forth the light of merit and wisdom; as joy itself, causing all to become upright, dignified, supreme, and sublime; as the one honored, departing far from every evil karma; as Samantabhadra, fully endowed with every merit; as a lamp, constantly sending forth the pure, sublime light of wisdom; and as an auspicious cloud, constantly raining down every dharma of ambrosia. Divine one, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who practices in this way is loved and cherished by every sentient being, because they delight in the true Dharma."
Sudhana's reply builds toward this fifteen-item chain the way this collection's teachers often build toward their own longest lists — each item a distinct social or natural role (father, ship's captain, treasury-minister, cloud) paired with the specific benefit that role delivers, so that a single bodhisattva is, in effect, everything a sentient being might need across every register of relationship at once. One item is worth flagging directly: "as Samantabhadra, fully endowed with every merit" (為普賢，具足一切諸功德故) uses the same two characters, 普賢, that name the bodhisattva Samantabhadra elsewhere throughout this collection — including as a hidden identity behind several of this pilgrimage's own earlier teachers. Here, within a list of otherwise generic roles (father, guide, lamp), the same name most plausibly functions descriptively — "as one universally worthy" — rather than as a literal claim to that specific bodhisattva's own identity; this translation keeps the name as given, since the ambiguity is present in the source itself and not something a translation should resolve on the reader's behalf.
Part 141 In Progress
Sudhana's full reply is now complete. Part 142 turns to the ascent toward the lecture hall itself, as the deva Sorrow-Free, Sublime Virtue and her retinue scatter offerings over Sudhana and sing a ten-stanza hymn in his praise.
Continue to Part 142 →