Moving Unseen Through Māra's Own Domain
The catalogue continues: it is like a person who drinks ambrosia — no affliction at all is able to harm him; a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise, and drinking the Dharma-medicine ambrosia of the mind of bodhi, he never falls to the ground of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, cultivating great compassion and fulfilling every vowed practice entirely. It is like a person who applies a body-concealing medicine to the eyes, and thereby moves about freely, unseen by anyone at all; a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise, and having attained and fulfilled the great vow of the mind of bodhi, he moves freely, entering Māra's own domain unseen by any māra at all.
Drinking Ambrosia, Moving Unseen
「善男子！譬如有人服食甘露，一切眾患所不能害。菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，服菩提心甘露法藥，不墮聲聞、緣覺之地，修習大悲，滿足願行。
「善男子！譬如有人用翳身藥，以塗其目，自在遊行，無能見者。菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，得菩提心滿足大願，自在遊行，入魔境界，一切眾魔所不能見。
"Good man, it is like a person who drinks ambrosia — no affliction at all is able to harm him. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: drinking the Dharma-medicine ambrosia of the mind of bodhi, he never falls to the ground of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, cultivating great compassion and fulfilling every vowed practice entirely.
"Good man, it is like a person who applies a body-concealing medicine to the eyes, and thereby moves about freely, unseen by anyone at all. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: having attained and fulfilled the great vow of the mind of bodhi, he moves about freely, entering Māra's own domain unseen by any māra at all."
The body-concealing medicine reappears here, having already been used earlier in this same catalogue for invisibility to sentient beings — its recurrence, now specifically for invisibility to māras, distinguishes two related but distinct forms of concealment Fazang identifies throughout the text: unseen by ordinary beings (protecting the bodhisattva's own humility, since his practice draws no attention) versus unseen by māras specifically (protecting the bodhisattva's own safety, since he can act within dangerous territory undetected by its rulers). Both similes in this stanza share a common structure with several others in the catalogue: an ordinary remedy that grants immunity or concealment maps onto bodhicitta's own capacity to grant not mere avoidance of danger but active, fearless movement directly through it.
Part 371 Complete
Two more similes are now given in full. Part 372 turns to a person who relies on a great king and fears no other person, and to a person who dwells within deep water and fears no fire — two similes of secure dependence.
Continue to Part 372 →