Revered as the Deva of Devas
Sudhana's list closes: Maitreya heals the afflicted as a good physician, revered by every sentient being as the deva of devas, the unsurpassed sage; he guides even those who have surpassed the two vehicles' own ocean of birth and death, and gathers in those still to be tamed, nurturing their roots of goodness. Only then does Sudhana finally repeat his own question in full: how does a bodhisattva learn the bodhisattva's own practice and cultivate the bodhisattva's own path?
Guide to Those Beyond Even the Two Vehicles' Own Liberation
「……煩惱患者，治以良醫；諸眾生尊為天中天，為無上聖。勝出二乘生死海者，為作導師，而度脫之，張大教網，亘生死海；諸調伏者，攝而取之，長養善根，安立菩薩；於無礙乘，究竟一切諸菩薩事，住諸佛所。唯願大聖，為我演說云何菩薩學菩薩行、修菩薩道。」」
"… for those afflicted with the disease of the afflictions, you heal them as a good physician; every sentient being reveres you as the deva of devas, the unsurpassed sage. For those who have surpassed the ocean of birth and death of the two vehicles, you become their guide, and liberate them, spreading the great net of teaching across the ocean of birth and death; for those to be tamed, you gather and take them in, nurturing their roots of goodness, and establishing them as bodhisattvas; in the unobstructed vehicle, you consummate every one of the bodhisattva's own matters, abiding in the very presence of every buddha. I ask only that you, great sage, proclaim for me how a bodhisattva learns the bodhisattva's own practice and cultivates the bodhisattva's own path."
"Those who have surpassed the ocean of birth and death of the two vehicles" refers to śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas who have already attained their own liberation from saṃsāra, yet are described here as still needing Maitreya's own guidance — a striking claim that even a completed arhat's own attainment falls short of what this teaching offers. Fazang reads Sudhana's own decision to append this entire extensive list before finally repeating his question as itself a form of praise distinct from what he sang in verse: where the hymn addressed Maitreya's own cosmic scale, this prose recitation names his specific, individually enumerable qualifications — the two together constitute a complete offering before the question can properly be asked again.
Part 322 Complete — Sudhana's Repeated Question Concludes
Sudhana has now asked his question before Maitreya for a second time, this time with the fullest possible acknowledgment of who he is asking. Part 323 turns to Maitreya's own response — surveying the crowd and Sudhana together, he begins yet another extended verse hymn, this one addressed directly to Sudhana himself.
Continue to Part 323 →