The Shade That Heals Every Sore
The catalogue turns to great trees: it is like a person who obtains the medicine-king Good-Sight, which cures every disease; a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise, having obtained the medicine-king Good-Sight of the mind of bodhi, which cures every affliction-sickness of every sentient being. It is like the great medicine-king tree Sandana, in whose shade any sentient being's every evil sore is entirely healed; a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise, having obtained the medicine-tree Sandana of the mind of bodhi, in whose shade any sentient being finds every sore of unwholesome karma born of the afflictions entirely healed. It is like the medicine-king tree named Indestructible-Root, by whose power every tree of Jambudvīpa is nurtured and grown; the tree of the mind of bodhi is likewise, by whose power the roots of goodness of every bodhisattva, learner and adept alike, are nurtured and grown.
The Medicine-King Tree Indestructible-Root Nurtures Every Tree
「善男子！譬如有人得善見藥王，滅一切病。菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，得菩提心善見藥王，滅一切眾生諸煩惱病。
「善男子！譬如刪陀那大藥王樹，其有眾生在彼樹蔭，身諸惡瘡皆得除愈。菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，得菩提心刪陀藥樹，其有眾生依蔭此樹，一切煩惱不善業瘡，皆得除愈。
「善男子！譬如藥王樹，名無壞根，以其力故，長養一切閻浮提樹。菩提心樹亦復如是，以其力故，長養一切學、無學菩薩善根。
"Good man, it is like a person who obtains the medicine-king Good-Sight, which cures every disease. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: having obtained the medicine-king Good-Sight of the mind of bodhi, he cures every affliction-sickness of every sentient being.
"Good man, it is like the great medicine-king tree Sandana — any sentient being who dwells in its shade finds every evil sore upon the body entirely healed. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: having obtained the medicine-tree Sandana of the mind of bodhi, any sentient being who takes shelter in its shade finds every sore of unwholesome karma born of the afflictions entirely healed.
"Good man, it is like the medicine-king tree named Indestructible-Root, by whose power every tree of Jambudvīpa is nurtured and grown. The tree of the mind of bodhi is likewise: by its power, the roots of goodness of every bodhisattva, whether still learning or beyond learning, are nurtured and grown."
"Learner and adept" (學、無學, śaikṣa and aśaikṣa) is a standard pairing distinguishing those still training on the path from those who have completed it — its appearance here, applied to bodhisattvas rather than to śrāvakas where the term more commonly occurs, signals that even a bodhisattva who has completed a stage of training continues to depend on the nurturing power of bodhicitta, exactly as every tree of Jambudvīpa (the classical name for this world-continent) depends on Indestructible-Root regardless of its own individual size or maturity. Fazang reads the shade-image of the Sandana tree as a rare instance in this catalogue where healing occurs through mere proximity rather than any direct application — one need only dwell near the mind of bodhi to be healed.
Part 345 Complete
The tree and medicine-king similes are now given in full. Part 346 turns to the herb Ālamba that softens body and mind, the mindfulness-power medicine that prevents forgetting the Dharma, and the lotus medicine granting a kalpa's own lifespan.
Continue to Part 346 →