You Too Shall Soon Be Equal to Us
Rather than teaching Sudhana further himself, Maitreya tells him to go to Mañjuśrī and ask about the wisdom-domain of every Dharma-gate and Samantabhadra's own conduct. Sudhana weeps with emotion; Mañjuśrī, though far away, extends his own arm and bestows a flower-jeweled necklace on him; Sudhana offers it to Maitreya, who touches his crown and prophesies that he too shall soon be equal to them both.
"You Should Go to Mañjuśrī"
「爾時，彌勒告善財言：「汝可往詣文殊師利，問諸法門智慧境界，普賢所行；彼當為汝，分別演說。」爾時，善財聞是語已，悲泣流淚；文殊師利即時申臂，遙授善財華寶瓔珞。善財得已，歡喜供散彌勒菩薩；彌勒菩薩即以右手摩善財頂，讚言：「善哉！善哉！佛子！汝亦不久當與我等。」」
At that time, Maitreya said to Sudhana: "You should go to Mañjuśrī, and ask him about the wisdom-domain of every Dharma-gate, and Samantabhadra's own conduct; he shall explain it for you in detail." At that time, Sudhana, having heard these words, wept, tears flowing; Mañjuśrī at once extended his own arm, and from afar bestowed upon Sudhana a flower-jeweled necklace. Having received it, Sudhana joyfully scattered it as an offering upon the bodhisattva Maitreya; Maitreya then, with his own right hand, stroked Sudhana's own crown, and praised him, saying: "Excellent, excellent, child of the Buddha! You too shall, before long, be equal to us."
This is the pilgrimage's own most unexpected turn since it began: after fifty teachers, an entire referral speech, and Maitreya's own extraordinarily long confirmation that Sudhana has attained Samantabhadra's own conduct within a single lifetime, Maitreya himself declines to teach further and sends Sudhana back to where he started. Fazang reads Mañjuśrī's own gesture — extending an arm across an unstated distance to bestow a necklace at the exact moment Maitreya names him — as confirming that Mañjuśrī has been present to this entire scene all along, in a way ordinary space does not constrain; the tears Sudhana sheds mark this not as a setback but as the emotional weight of a return he did not expect yet clearly longs for.
Part 318 Complete
This pivotal exchange is now given in full. Part 319 turns to Sudhana's own overjoyed response — a short verse praising Mañjuśrī and expressing his wish to return to him quickly.
Continue to Part 319 →