Four Kalpas, Four Buddha-Lists
Four further kalpas pass in swift succession — Heavenly Sublime Wonder, Adorned Brahmā Sound, Joyful Virtue, and Tranquil Wisdom — each with its own world and its own count of buddhas, and each closing on a single line marking exactly how far this night-deva's own realization had come: still short of it, again and again, across ages beyond counting.
Heavenly Sublime Wonder, and Adorned Brahmā Sound
「次第復有劫， 名曰天妙勝，
世界名寶光， 五百佛興世，
初佛圓滿月， 第二明淨日，
第三光明佛， 四須彌山王，
第五華焰海， 第六智慧海，
第七然燈佛， 第八天德藏，
九光明王幢， 第十普智王，
如是等諸佛， 我已悉供養，
未離樂五陰， 非樂生樂想，
次第復有劫， 名莊嚴梵音，
爾時有世界， 名蓮華燈雲，
彼有無量佛， 及其大眷屬，
我已悉供養， 聞受持正法。
初佛寶須彌， 第二功德海，
法界須彌幢， 第四法須彌，
第五法幢佛， 第六法地佛，
第七法力佛， 第八虛空慧，
第九光焰山， 第十照明山，
如是等諸佛， 我已悉供養，
猶未了真實， 究竟諸法海。」
"Then, in sequence, there was a further kalpa, named Heavenly Sublime Wonder;
its world was named Jeweled Light; five hundred buddhas arose in that world.
The first buddha, Perfect Full Moon; the second, Bright, Pure Sun;
the third, the buddha of Light; the fourth, Sumeru, King of Mountains;
the fifth, Ocean of Flower-Flame; the sixth, Ocean of Wisdom;
the seventh, the buddha Dīpaṃkara; the eighth, Heavenly Virtue Treasury;
the ninth, Banner of the King of Light; the tenth, King of Universal Wisdom;
buddhas such as these, I made offering to all of them entirely,
yet I had not yet departed from delight in the five aggregates, taking what is not true delight for delight.
Then, in sequence, there was a further kalpa, named Adorned Brahmā Sound;
at that time there was a world, named Lotus-Lamp Cloud.
There were boundless buddhas there, and their own great retinues;
I made offering to all of them entirely, hearing, receiving, and upholding the true Dharma.
The first buddha, Jeweled Sumeru; the second, Ocean of Merit;
the Sumeru-Banner of the Dharma-Realm; the fourth, Dharma Sumeru;
the fifth, the buddha Banner of the Dharma; the sixth, the buddha Ground of the Dharma;
the seventh, the buddha Power of the Dharma; the eighth, Wisdom of Space;
the ninth, Mountain of Light and Flame; the tenth, Mountain of Illumination;
buddhas such as these, I made offering to all of them entirely,
yet I had not yet understood true reality, reaching the very end of the ocean of every dharma."
Fazang counts the eon Heavenly Sublime Wonder at four and a half stanzas and Adorned Brahmā Sound at five and a half — a fraction of the thirty stanzas the first kalpa alone required. He glosses the closing marker of each in turn: 未離五欲者，未得正解，猶著欲樂 — "'not yet departed from the five desires' means she had not yet attained right understanding, still attached to the pleasure of desire"; and, for the kalpa that follows, 猶未了真實者，未到十行位中如實而行真實行故 — "'not yet understood true reality' means she had not yet reached the stage of the Ten Practices, where one practices the truth exactly as it is." Each kalpa's buddha-count and named list, on this reading, is not simply decorative repetition but a kind of dated stamp — proof that a specific measure of practice has passed, even while the deeper realization that will define the Ten Grounds still lies ahead.
Joyful Virtue, and Tranquil Wisdom
「次第復有劫， 名曰歡喜德，
爾時有世界， 名曰功德幢，
彼劫有八十， 那由他諸佛，
無量供養具， 奉彼諸最勝。
初乾闥婆王， 二壽命樹王，
三功德須彌， 第四寶眼佛，
第五盧舍那， 六光明莊嚴，
第七法勝佛， 第八明淨德，
第九世間主， 十一切法王，
如是等諸佛， 我已悉供養，
猶未得妙智， 深入法界海。
次第復有劫， 名曰寂靜慧，
爾時有世界， 名普光明雲，
有千佛興世， 無量德莊嚴，
除滅煩惱垢， 一切眾清淨。
初佛號無諍， 第二無礙力，
三法界光明， 四一切燈王，
五婆樓那天， 第六眾生歸，
七忍圓滿燈， 八法具足燈，
九光明嚴海， 第十光明王，
如是等諸佛， 我已悉供養，
猶未解真法， 遊行一切剎。」
"Then, in sequence, there was a further kalpa, named Joyful Virtue;
at that time there was a world, named Banner of Merit.
Within that kalpa there were eighty nayutas of buddhas;
with boundless offerings, I made offering to each of these supreme ones.
The first, the gandharva king; the second, King of the Tree of Longevity;
the third, Sumeru of Merit; the fourth, the buddha Jewel Eye;
the fifth, Vairocana; the sixth, Adornment of Light;
the seventh, the buddha Victorious in Dharma; the eighth, Bright, Pure Virtue;
the ninth, Lord of the World; the tenth, King of Every Dharma;
buddhas such as these, I made offering to all of them entirely,
yet I had not yet attained sublime wisdom, entering deeply into the ocean of the Dharma-realm.
Then, in sequence, there was a further kalpa, named Tranquil Wisdom;
at that time there was a world, named Cloud of Universal Light.
A thousand buddhas arose in that world, their boundless virtue adorned,
extinguishing the defilement of affliction, every being made pure.
The first buddha, named Free of Contention; the second, Unobstructed Power;
the third, Light of the Dharma-Realm; the fourth, King of Every Lamp;
the fifth, the deva Varuṇa; the sixth, Refuge of Sentient Beings;
the seventh, Perfect Lamp of Patience; the eighth, Lamp Fully Endowed with the Dharma;
the ninth, Ocean Adorned with Light; the tenth, King of Light;
buddhas such as these, I made offering to all of them entirely,
yet I had not yet understood the true Dharma, traveling freely throughout every land."
Fazang glosses these two closing markers in turn: 猶未得妙智等者，未得巧便十迴向智稱法界等無量迴向 — "'not yet attained sublime wisdom' means she had not yet attained the skillful wisdom of the Ten Transferences, the boundless dedication that matches the Dharma-realm itself"; and 猶未解真法等者，未得地上本智證解真如法，亦未得後得智遊剎供佛等 — "'not yet understood the true Dharma' means she had not yet attained the fundamental wisdom of the Grounds themselves, which directly realizes suchness, nor the subsequently-attained wisdom that travels through lands making offering to buddhas." Read across these four kalpas together, the pattern is now unmistakable: each closing line marks her passage past one more of the five great stages already traced by this entire pilgrimage — the Faiths, then attachment to the five desires outgrown, then the threshold of the Practices, then the Transferences still not yet reached, and now, at last, the very door of the Grounds themselves standing just ahead.
Part 65 In Progress
Part 65 continues in Part 66: five more kalpas — Fragrant Lamp-Cloud, Bright, Pure, and Firm, Supreme King, a Thousand Merits, and Unattached Adornment — carrying this account to the very threshold of the Dharma-gate this night-deva now holds.
Continue to Part 66 — Five More Kalpas, to the Threshold of Forbearance →