Ten Thousand Dhāraṇīs, Broad and Brief
The night-deva teaches through ten thousand dhāraṇīs, ten of them named outright, then expounds three kinds of wisdom and ten topics each in two registers at once — a single existence and the whole ocean of existence, a single vehicle and the whole ocean of every vehicle — before closing a Dharma-gate whose very name, Fazang shows, folds three distinct meanings together: the profound, the sublimely virtuous, and the sovereign in sound.
Ten Thousand Dhāraṇīs
「佛子！我如是正念思惟，以一萬陀羅尼，為眾生說法；所謂：攝取一切諸法圓滿陀羅尼，持一切法圓滿陀羅尼，一切法雲雷震圓滿陀羅尼，諸佛起住圓滿陀羅尼，轉一切佛名號輪圓滿陀羅尼，分別演說三世諸佛大願海圓滿陀羅尼，攝一切乘海圓滿陀羅尼，照一切眾生業海燈藏圓滿陀羅尼，一切法現前旋流勇猛圓滿陀羅尼，一切智勇猛圓滿陀羅尼；以如是等萬陀羅尼，為一切眾生分別說法。」
"Child of the Buddha, in this way rightly holding it in mind and contemplating it, I expound the Dharma for sentient beings through ten thousand dhāraṇīs — namely: the perfect dhāraṇī of gathering in every dharma; the perfect dhāraṇī of upholding every dharma; the perfect dhāraṇī of the thunder-cloud of every dharma; the perfect dhāraṇī of every buddha's own arising and abiding; the perfect dhāraṇī of turning the wheel of every buddha's own name; the perfect dhāraṇī of discerning and expounding the ocean of the great vow of every buddha of the three times; the perfect dhāraṇī of gathering in the whole ocean of every vehicle; the perfect dhāraṇī of the lamp-treasury illumining the ocean of every sentient being's own karma; the perfect dhāraṇī of the valiant, whirling current manifesting every dharma; and the perfect dhāraṇī of the valiant power of every wisdom. With ten thousand dhāraṇīs such as these, I discern and expound the Dharma for every sentient being."
Fazang reads this list as unpacking the second of the Dharma-gate's three names: 二佛子我如是思惟下釋妙德義，初總舉；二所謂下別辨十門。總持勝智，妙德備具，故名圓滿 — "second, beginning with 'child of the Buddha, in this way rightly holding it in mind,' explains the meaning of 'sublime virtue'; first a general statement, then, beginning with 'namely,' ten gates particularly distinguished. The supreme wisdom of total retention, sublime virtue fully endowed — this is why each is called 'perfect.'" Ten thousand dhāraṇīs stand behind the ten actually named here, each one closing on the same word, 圓滿, "perfect" or "complete" — a single formal marker repeated ten times, as though the text itself were performing the totality it describes rather than merely claiming it.
The Same Ten Topics, Single and Oceanic
「復次，佛子！我或為眾生說聞慧法、或為眾生說思慧法、或為眾生說修慧法、或說一有、或說一切有海、或說一佛海、或說一切佛名號海、或說一世界、或說一切世界海、或說授一記、或說授一切記海、或說一佛眷屬海、或說一切佛眷屬海、或說一佛法輪、或說一切佛法輪海、或說一修多羅、或說一切佛修多羅海、或說一會、或說一切會海、或說一薩婆若心、或說一切菩提心海、或說一乘、或說一切乘海。佛子！以如是等無量方便，為諸眾生，敷演不可說不可說法。
「佛子！我深入此無壞法界，皆悉究竟如來正法，以無上法施，攝取眾生，盡未來劫，修習普賢菩薩所行。佛子！我已成就此甚深妙德自在音聲法門，於念念中，悉能長養一切法門，充滿法界。」
"Furthermore, child of the Buddha, I sometimes expound for sentient beings the dharma of wisdom born of hearing; I sometimes expound for sentient beings the dharma of wisdom born of contemplation; I sometimes expound for sentient beings the dharma of wisdom born of cultivation; I sometimes speak of a single existence, or sometimes speak of the whole ocean of every existence; I sometimes speak of a single buddha's own ocean, or sometimes speak of the ocean of every buddha's own name; I sometimes speak of a single world, or sometimes speak of the whole ocean of every world; I sometimes bestow a single prediction, or sometimes bestow the whole ocean of every prediction; I sometimes speak of the ocean of a single buddha's own retinue, or sometimes speak of the ocean of every buddha's own retinue; I sometimes speak of a single buddha's own Dharma-wheel, or sometimes speak of the whole ocean of every buddha's own Dharma-wheel; I sometimes speak of a single sūtra, or sometimes speak of the whole ocean of every buddha's own sūtra; I sometimes speak of a single assembly, or sometimes speak of the whole ocean of every assembly; I sometimes speak of a single mind of all-wisdom, or sometimes speak of the whole ocean of every mind of bodhi; I sometimes speak of a single vehicle, or sometimes speak of the whole ocean of every vehicle. Child of the Buddha, with boundless skillful means such as these, I broadly expound unspeakable, unspeakable dharmas for every sentient being.
"Child of the Buddha, I enter deeply into this indestructible Dharma-realm, reaching the very end of the Tathāgata's own true Dharma entirely, and, through the unsurpassed gift of Dharma, gather in sentient beings, cultivating Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's own practice to the very end of future kalpas. Child of the Buddha, I have already accomplished this Dharma-gate of Profound Sublime Virtue, Sovereign Sound, and, within every single thought-moment, am able to nurture every Dharma-gate entirely, filling the Dharma-realm completely."
Fazang counts this section precisely: 三復次佛子我或下釋自在音聲義中，初別顯有二十三句：初三句約三慧辨法、後二十句以十法約廣略辨法 — "third, beginning with 'furthermore, child of the Buddha, I sometimes,' explains the meaning of 'sovereign sound'; within this, twenty-three clauses are particularly displayed: the first three clauses discuss the Dharma in terms of the three kinds of wisdom; the remaining twenty clauses discuss ten dharmas each in a broad and a brief register." Three plus twenty is twenty-three, matching this translation exactly — the wisdom born of hearing, of contemplation, and of cultivation, followed by ten topics each given twice: once as a single instance, once as an entire ocean. The pairing is not always a perfectly matched noun on both sides — "a single buddha's own ocean" against "the ocean of every buddha's own name," "a single mind of all-wisdom" against "the whole ocean of every mind of bodhi" — and this translation preserves that asymmetry exactly as the source gives it, rather than smoothing the two halves of each pair into an artificial match.
The closing lines, Fazang notes, tie the whole teacher's account back to the three-part name given at its very opening: 四佛子我深下都結前法。謂入無壞法界者，結初甚深義也。悉究竟如來正法者，結妙德總持也。以無上法施等者，結自在音聲也 — "fourth, beginning with 'child of the Buddha, I enter deeply,' concludes everything taught so far. 'Entering this indestructible Dharma-realm' concludes the first meaning, 'profound.' 'Reaching the very end of the Tathāgata's own true Dharma entirely' concludes 'sublime virtue,' the total retention. 'Through the unsurpassed gift of Dharma' and so on concludes 'sovereign sound.'" A name given once, three syllables deep, unpacked across two full parts of teaching, and now gathered back into three short closing clauses — each phrase answering, in order, to the very word it was named for.
Part 85 In Progress
The Dharma-gate's own threefold name — profound, sublimely virtuous, sovereign in sound — has now been unpacked in full and gathered back together in the account's own closing lines. Part 86 turns to Sudhana's question of how long this teacher has held the Dharma-gate, opening an account set in a kalpa named Stainless Light.
Continue to Part 86 →