Māyā Herself, Seated Upon the Throne
Sudhana finally beholds Lady Māyā, upright and graceful, seated upon the inconceivable throne, surrounded by an inconceivable retinue. The account opens an extended catalogue of her own named form-bodies — a pure body transcending the three worlds, a body manifesting directly before every world, a body equal to every sentient being, and a body that, whenever seen, is never seen in vain.
Nineteen Named Form-Bodies
「爾時，善財見此不可思議莊嚴高座、不可思議眷屬圍遶；見摩耶夫人處彼座上，端正姝妙，具淨色身、出三世間色身、一切世間對現色身、遠離一切有趣色身、隨其所應教化色身、一切眾生不染色身、起廣大色身、與一切眾生等色身、一切眾生無等色身、一切眾生見不虛色身；種種色身，隨所應化，顯現色身、無量形像色身、普門形像色身、一切眾生對現色身、廣大自在門莊嚴色身、教化一切眾生色身、一切眾生對現垂形色身、一切時現種種不壞色身、一切眾生究竟不究竟住持色身；」
At that time, Sudhana beheld this inconceivably adorned high throne, surrounded by an inconceivable retinue; he beheld Lady Māyā seated upon that throne, upright and graceful, endowed with: a pure form-body; a form-body transcending the three worlds; a form-body manifesting directly before every world; a form-body departing far from every destiny of existence; a form-body teaching and transforming according to what is fitting; a form-body unstained by any sentient being; a form-body arising vast and great; a form-body equal to every sentient being; a form-body without equal to any sentient being; a form-body that, whenever seen by any sentient being, is never seen in vain; a form-body of every kind, manifesting according to what is fitting to transform; a form-body of boundless form and likeness; a form-body of the universal gate's own form and likeness; a form-body manifesting directly before every sentient being; a form-body adorned with the vast, sovereign gate; a form-body teaching and transforming every sentient being; a form-body condescending in form, manifesting before every sentient being; a form-body manifesting, at every time, every kind of indestructible form; and a form-body abiding and upholding, whether beings have reached the very end or not.
Sudhana's own long, abstract reflection several parts earlier — on a Dharma-body that is "no body at all," visible only to Samantabhadra — now receives its answer in the most concrete way this collection ever offers one: not a single body but a sustained catalogue of named form-bodies, each capturing one facet of what a body dedicated entirely to teaching and transforming beings can be. This project preserves every item of this catalogue in full, matching the house convention already established at this collection's other long lists, rather than compressing what the sūtra itself takes care to enumerate one by one.
Part 197 In Progress
Nineteen named form-bodies are now catalogued. Part 198 continues with a second, even longer run of named form-bodies, each paired with the specific reason it takes the shape it does.
Continue to Part 198 →