A Body Made Soft and Radiant
Having spoken of their own liberation, the boy and the girl — through the inconceivable power of their own roots of goodness — cause Sudhana's own body to become soft and radiant, and tell of their own past vow. With this, fascicle 57 of the Avataṃsaka closes, and fascicle 58 opens.
Their Own Past Vow, and a Fascicle's Own Close
「時，童子、童女說自解脫已，諸善根力不思議故，令善財身柔軟、光澤，自說本願。◎」
At that time, having spoken of their own liberation, the boy and the girl, because of the inconceivable power of their own roots of goodness, caused Sudhana's own body to become soft and radiant, and told of their own past vow.
The text here summarizes rather than quotes their own past vow directly — a narrative compression this collection has occasionally used elsewhere, in contrast to the fuller quoted vow-narratives given by other teachers such as Māyā's own ancient-kalpa account. Fazang notes that a physical transformation of Sudhana's own body — made soft and radiant — recurs at several points across the 53 teachers as a visible sign that a good friend's own teaching has taken root in him, not merely been heard.
Part 247 Complete — Teacher 50 Fully Concludes; Fascicle 58 Begins
Teacher 50's own episode is now complete in full. The sūtra's fifty-seventh fascicle closes here, and its fifty-eighth opens with the referral that follows — leading, as Part 248 will show, directly to one of the most celebrated figures in the entire Gaṇḍavyūha.
Continue to Part 248 →