Surpassing Power From the Very Moment of Birth
The catalogue turns to two bird similes: it is like the kapiñjala bird, which, while still within its own shell, already possesses great power that no other bird can match; a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise, and while still within the shell of birth and death, having raised the mind of bodhi's own merit and power, he already surpasses what the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha can attain. It is like the garuḍa bird at the very moment it is born, whose eyes are already bright and clear, already possessing great power that no bird, large or small, can match; a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise, born into the tathāgata's own family, having raised the mind of bodhi, his eye of wisdom already bright and clear, already possessing great power that the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, even after cultivating wisdom across a hundred thousand kalpas, are unable to match.
The Kapiñjala's Shell and the Garuḍa's First Flight
「譬如迦毘伽鳥在㲉中時，有大勢力，餘鳥弗及。菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，於生死㲉，發菩提心功德勢力，聲聞、緣覺所不能及。
「譬如金翅鳥初始生時，其目明淨，有大勢力，大小諸鳥所不能及。菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，生如來家，發菩提心，慧眼明淨，有大勢力；聲聞、緣覺於百千劫，修習智慧，所不能及。
"It is like the kapiñjala bird — while still within its own shell, it already possesses great power that no other bird is able to match. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: while still within the shell of birth and death, having raised the merit and power of the mind of bodhi, he already possesses what the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha are unable to match.
"It is like the garuḍa bird at the very moment of its birth — its eyes are already bright and clear, and it already possesses great power that no bird, large or small, is able to match. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: born into the tathāgata's own family, having raised the mind of bodhi, his eye of wisdom is already bright and clear, and he already possesses great power — power that the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, even after cultivating wisdom across a hundred thousand kalpas, are unable to match."
Both similes turn on the same striking claim — that a specific kind of power precedes ordinary maturation entirely, present already at the earliest possible stage (still within a shell, or at the instant of hatching) — and Fazang reads this as this catalogue's most direct answer yet to a natural doubt about a newly-arisen bodhicitta's own status: does a bodhisattva who has only just raised the mind of bodhi genuinely possess anything comparable to an arhat's hard-won attainment? Both similes answer yes, and go further, claiming the newly-raised mind of bodhi already surpasses that attainment, exactly as an unhatched kapiñjala or a newborn garuḍa already surpasses every fully grown ordinary bird — a claim of precedence by kind rather than by degree of accumulated practice.
Part 365 Complete
Two more similes are now given in full. Part 366 turns to a Nārāyaṇa arrow piercing straight through the densest armor, and to a mighty nāga-warrior whose fury no one in Jambudvīpa can withstand.
Continue to Part 366 →