Ten Dharmas of Indra's Net
Gopā praises the depth of Sudhana's question and, upholding the buddha's own spiritual power, answers it by naming ten dharmas that fulfill the bodhisattva's own conduct of Indra's Net, the Universal Light of Wisdom — from relying on good and wise friends and raising boundless vows, to departing far from birth-and-death itself.
Ten Dharmas, the Bodhisattva's Own Conduct of Indra's Net
爾時，瞿夷作如是言：「善哉！善哉！善男子！能問諸菩薩摩訶薩所行之法，修習普賢諸行願者，能如是問。諦聽！諦聽！善思念之！我當承佛神力，為汝解說。善男子！若有菩薩成就十法，則能滿足因陀羅網普智光明菩薩之行。何等為十？所謂：依善知識、廣發無量諸弘誓願、修淨勝妙正直、希望集一切智功德、聞佛出世歡喜無量、心常樂住三世佛所、隨順一切諸大菩薩、悉為一切佛所護持、清淨大悲、遠離生死，是為十法。若有菩薩成就此法，則能滿足因陀羅網普智光明菩薩之行。」
At that time, Gopā spoke thus: "Excellent, excellent, good man! You are able to ask about the dharma practiced by every bodhisattva-mahāsattva, cultivating and practicing Samantabhadra's own every practice and vow — one who is able to ask in this way. Listen carefully! Listen carefully! Reflect on it well! I shall now, upholding the buddha's own spiritual power, explain it for you. Good man, if there is a bodhisattva who accomplishes ten dharmas, he is thereby able to fulfill the bodhisattva's own conduct of Indra's Net, the Universal Light of Wisdom. What are these ten? Namely: relying on good and wise friends; broadly raising boundless great vows of resolve; cultivating a pure, supreme, sublime uprightness; aspiring to gather the merit of omniscience; rejoicing without measure at hearing of a buddha's arising in the world; the mind constantly delighting to dwell at the presence of the buddhas of the three times; according with every great bodhisattva; being upheld and protected by every buddha; purifying great compassion; and departing far from birth-and-death. These are the ten dharmas. If there is a bodhisattva who accomplishes these dharmas, he is thereby able to fulfill the bodhisattva's own conduct of Indra's Net, the Universal Light of Wisdom."
Gopā's answer does not address Sudhana's seven paradoxes one by one; it names instead a single set of ten foundational dharmas that, taken together, make such conduct possible at all. "Indra's Net" (因陀羅網) names the classic Huayan image of infinite mutual reflection — every jewel in the god Indra's own net reflecting every other jewel, without limit — here applied directly to a bodhisattva's own conduct: light so universal it reflects, and is reflected by, everything at once. The tenth item on the list, "departing far from birth-and-death" (遠離生死), sits pointedly alongside the ninth, "purifying great compassion" — read together, they answer the very first of Sudhana's paradoxes directly: how a bodhisattva moves amid birth-and-death and yet remains unstained by it.
Part 145 In Progress
The ten dharmas of Indra's Net conduct are now named. Part 146 turns to a second list of ten — the dharmas by which a bodhisattva comes to meet a good and wise friend in the first place, the very foundation this entire pilgrimage has rested on since its opening pages.
Continue to Part 146 →