Placing Them in the City of Nirvāṇa
The catalogue continues: granting fearlessness to those afraid of affliction's own bandits, drawing beings out of the pit of the three evil destinies, placing those harmed by the aggregates' own thieves into the city of nirvāṇa, rescuing those dwelling in the empty village of the six sense-entries with wisdom's own brightness, and universally causing those who delight in dwelling in the house of birth and death to enter the city of omniscience.
From the Empty Village of the Senses to the City of Omniscience
「……懼結賊者，施以無畏；墜三惡塹者，俯接令出；為陰賊害者，置涅槃城；著眾生者，示八正道；住六入空聚者，拯以慧明；失津要者，示以正濟；近惡知識者，令親善友；樂童蒙者，誘以聖法；樂住生死宅者，普令超入一切智城。」
"… to those who fear the bandits of the afflictive bonds, he grants fearlessness; for those who have fallen into the pit of the three evil destinies, he bends down to receive them and draw them out; for those harmed by the aggregates' own thieves, he places them within the city of nirvāṇa; for those attached to sentient beings, he shows the eightfold noble path; for those dwelling in the empty village of the six sense-entries, he rescues them with the brightness of wisdom; for those who have lost the essential ford, he shows them the true crossing; for those who draw near evil companions, he causes them to grow close to good friends instead; for those who delight in ignorance and folly, he entices them with the noble Dharma; for those who delight in dwelling in the house of birth and death, he universally causes them to transcend and enter the city of omniscience."
"The empty village of the six sense-entries" (六入空聚) draws on a classical Buddhist simile in which the six sense-faculties are likened to an abandoned village — appearing inhabited from a distance, yet containing no lasting resident once examined closely. Fazang reads this extended catalogue's own closing image, "the city of omniscience," as its true destination throughout: every rescue named across these several parts — from the mire of desire to the pit of evil destinies — has been building toward this single arrival point, matching the tower's own name, "the dwelling-place of one who abides in every merit," from Sudhana's earlier reflection.
Part 306 Complete — This Catalogue of Rescues Concludes
This extended catalogue of what Sudhana has rescued sentient beings from is now complete. Part 307 turns to Maitreya's closing praise of Sudhana's own inner qualities — never abandoning the pure quest for awakening, drinking the rain of the true Dharma without ever feeling satisfied.
Continue to Part 307 →