A Throne Where Every Ornament Speaks
Within the pavilion, Sudhana beholds a lion-throne of maṇi-jewel, adorned in every kind of way. Its golden bells give forth sublime voices, raining down fragrant flowers; its jeweled bells sing every bodhisattva's own vow; its moon-banner gives forth a buddha's own transformation-body; and its jewels reveal the tathāgata's own successive rebirths, sending forth boundless light across the ten directions.
Bells, Banners, and Jewels That Reveal a Buddha's Whole Life
「爾時，善財見樓觀中有摩尼寶師子之座。眾寶莊飾；雜寶欄楯；敷眾妙衣；寶網覆上；建寶幢蓋；於金鈴中，出妙音聲，雨妙香華；諸寶鈴中出諸菩薩願行音聲；寶月幢中出佛化身；淨摩尼中顯現如來次第受生；日摩尼中放無量光，照十方剎；摩尼寶王光明幢中放一切佛，圓滿光明；明淨寶中出眾供具，一切眾生燈佛正法雲；如意寶中念念出生普賢自在，充滿法界；須彌幢中出天妙聲，讚歎如來。」
At that time, Sudhana beheld, within the pavilion-tower, a lion-throne of maṇi-jewel. It was adorned with every kind of jewel; its balustrade of every kind of jewel; spread with every kind of sublime garment; covered over with a net of jewels; raised with jeweled banners and canopies; from its golden bells came forth sublime voices, raining down sublime fragrant flowers; from every jeweled bell came forth the voices of every bodhisattva's own vows and practice; from its jeweled moon-banner emerged a buddha's own transformation-body; within its pure maṇi-jewel appeared the tathāgata's own successive rebirths; within its sun-maṇi-jewel, boundless light was sent forth, illumining the lands of the ten directions; within the banner of light of its king of maṇi-jewels, every buddha's own perfect, full light was sent forth; from its bright, pure jewel came forth every kind of offering, the lamp of every sentient being, the cloud of the buddha's own true Dharma; within its wish-fulfilling jewel, within every single thought-moment, Samantabhadra's own sovereign mastery arose, filling the whole Dharma-realm; from its Sumeru-banner came forth the sublime voices of devas, praising the tathāgata.
Every ornament of this throne is itself a small world unto itself, each one giving forth a different register of the Dharma — sound, fragrance, light, a buddha's own transformation-body, even Samantabhadra's own sovereign mastery arising moment by moment. This matches the same principle of containment-without-limit this collection has used for Māyā's own body already, back at teacher 39's account of the Lumbinī birth — here extended outward to the very furniture surrounding her, before Sudhana has even seen her seated upon it.
Part 196 In Progress
The throne's own ornaments are now fully described. Part 197 turns to Lady Māyā herself, finally beheld seated upon it, and the first of a vast catalogue of named form-bodies she manifests at once.
Continue to Part 197 →