As Many as the Sands of the Ganges?
Mahāmati asks a disarmingly literal question: when the Buddha says that buddhas across the three time periods are "as many as the sands of the Ganges," is this meant exactly as stated, or does it carry some further meaning? The Buddha's answer turns the question inside out — the true number of buddhas exceeds anything speech can measure, sand included, and the comparison was never really about counting at all. What follows is a sequence of the sūtra's most vivid images: sand trampled by beasts yet never disturbed, sand burned in a world-ending fire yet never consumed, sand whose measure never changes no matter how much is drawn from it, and sand carried along by a river's current without ever being swept away as the water itself is.
Not Literally "As Many as the Sands"
爾時，大慧菩薩復白佛言：「世尊！如世尊所說句，過去諸佛，如恒河沙，未來現在，亦復如是。云何，世尊！為如說而受？為更有餘義？惟願如來，哀愍解說。」佛告大慧：「莫如說而受。三世諸佛量，非如恒河沙。所以者何？過世間望，非譬所譬。以凡愚計常，外道妄想，長養惡見，生死無窮。欲令厭離生死趣轉，精勤勝進故，為彼說言。諸佛易見，非如優曇鉢華難得見故，息方便求。有時復觀諸受化者，作是說言：『佛難值遇，如優曇鉢華。』優曇鉢華，無已見今見當見。如來者，世間悉見。不以建立自通故，說言如來出世如優曇鉢華。大慧！自建立自通者，過世間望，彼諸凡愚所不能信，自覺聖智境界，無以為譬，真實如來，過心、意、意識所見之相，不可為譬。
At that time, Mahāmati Bodhisattva again said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, as the World-Honored One has taught, buddhas of the past are as many as the sands of the Ganges, and buddhas of the future and present are likewise so. World-Honored One, should this be taken exactly as stated, or is there some further meaning to it? I only wish the Tathāgata, out of compassion, would explain this." The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Do not take this exactly as stated. The true measure of the buddhas across the three time periods is not, in fact, like the sands of the Ganges. Why is this? Because it exceeds anything worldly reckoning could hope to grasp — it is not a case of a comparison genuinely matching what it compares. Since the foolish and ignorant fix things as permanent, and the outsiders' own false thought nourishes evil views, birth-and-death continues without end. Wishing to cause them to grow weary of and turn away from the cycle of birth-and-death, and to strive diligently toward what surpasses it, I spoke to them in this way: 'Buddhas are easy to see, not difficult to encounter the way an udumbara flower is' — so as to put to rest their [excessive, misdirected] skillful striving. And, at other times, observing those who have already received the transformative teaching, I have said instead: 'A buddha is difficult to encounter, like an udumbara flower.' Yet the udumbara flower has never been seen in the past, is not seen now, and will never be seen in the future — while the Tathāgata is, in fact, seen by the entire world. It is not on the basis of establishing my own attainment [as something rare beyond reach] that I say 'a tathāgata's appearance in the world is like an udumbara flower.' Mahāmati, my own self-established attainment exceeds anything worldly reckoning could hope to grasp — something the foolish and ignorant are simply unable to believe. The domain of self-realized noble wisdom admits of no comparison at all; the true, real Tathāgata, surpassing every mark seen by mind, will, and consciousness, cannot be captured by any comparison whatsoever.
The commentators explain that Mahāmati's question is not really about arithmetic, but about whether a scriptural formula should be taken at face value: "三世諸佛如恒河沙，經教言之多矣，諸佛之數為果如所說而受耶？為別有義耶？" — "that buddhas across the three time periods are as many as the sands of the Ganges is something the scriptures say often — is the actual number of buddhas truly to be taken exactly as stated, or is there some further meaning to it?" The Buddha's answer refuses the premise outright: the true number is not merely large, like a great quantity of sand, but categorically beyond anything worldly measurement — including sand — can express at all.
On why the Buddha then offers two seemingly contradictory teachings about buddhas being "easy to see" and "difficult to see," the commentators explain both as skillful means suited to two different audiences: "如彼凡愚未受化者，生死無窮，佛則為說諸佛易見，非如曇華，令其不生退想...有時觀已受化者，為說佛之難值猶如曇華，令其欣慕向道" — "for the foolish and ignorant who have not yet received the transformative teaching, caught in endless birth-and-death, the Buddha teaches that buddhas are easy to see, unlike the udumbara flower, so that they do not give rise to discouragement... at other times, observing those who have already received the teaching, he teaches that a buddha is as difficult to encounter as the udumbara flower, so as to inspire their joyful aspiration toward the path." And on why neither of these two teaching devices captures what the Buddha's own attainment actually is, the commentators are direct: "此二喻言難言易者，皆如來化用邊事，非如來自證境界" — "both of these comparisons, whether speaking of difficulty or ease, belong entirely to the Tathāgata's skillful activity of transforming others, not to the Tathāgata's own self-realized domain at all." Both formulas — "as many as the sands," "rare as the udumbara flower" — are medicine dispensed for a particular audience's condition, never literal descriptions of what the Tathāgata's own attainment actually is.
What the Sand Itself Teaches
大慧！然我說譬佛如恒沙，無有過咎。大慧！譬如恒沙，一切魚鼈輸牧魔羅師子象馬人獸踐踏，沙不念言：『彼惱亂我。』而生妄想。自性清淨，無諸垢污。如來、應供、等正覺自覺聖智恒河，大力神通自在等沙，一切外道諸人獸等一切惱亂，如來不念而生妄想。如來寂然無有念想，如來本願，以三昧樂安眾生故，無有惱亂。猶如恒沙等無有異。又斷貪恚故。譬如恒沙，是地自性。劫盡燒時，燒一切地，而彼地大不捨自性，與火大俱生故。其餘愚夫作地燒想，而地不燒，以火因故。如是，大慧！如來法身，如恒沙不壞。大慧！譬如恒沙，無有限量。如來光明，亦復如是無有限量，為成熟眾生故，普照一切諸佛大眾。大慧！譬如恒沙，別求異沙，永不可得。如是，大慧！如來、應供、等正覺，無生死生滅，有因緣斷故。大慧！譬如恒河沙，增減不可得知。如是，大慧！如來智慧成熟眾生，不增不減。非身法故，身法者有壞，如來法身，非是身法。如壓恒沙，油不可得。如是一切極苦眾生逼迫如來，乃至眾生未得涅槃，不捨法界自三昧願樂，以大悲故。
Mahāmati, and yet, when I compare a buddha to the sands of the Ganges, this involves no fault at all. Mahāmati, it is like the sands of the Ganges, trampled by every fish, turtle, crocodile, lion, elephant, horse, and every kind of person and beast — the sand never thinks, 'they are troubling and disturbing me,' giving rise to false thought over this; its own-nature remains pure, free of any defilement. Just so, the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Truly and Fully Enlightened One — his own self-realized noble wisdom itself a Ganges, his great strength and spiritual mastery its very sand — though troubled and disturbed by every outsider and every kind of person and beast, gives rise to no false thought over it at all. The Tathāgata remains utterly still, without any such thought arising, since it is the Tathāgata's own original vow, through the bliss of samādhi, to bring peace to sentient beings — and so there is no disturbance in him at all, no different from the sand in this respect. This is also because he has cut off craving and aversion entirely. It is like the sands of the Ganges, which are themselves simply the own-nature of the earth-element: when the aeon comes to its end and the great conflagration burns, it burns every portion of earth, and yet that very earth-element never once relinquishes its own-nature, since it arises together with the fire-element itself. It is only the foolish and ignorant who form the notion that the earth itself has been burned — but the earth is never actually burned, this being simply on account of the fire as its cause. Just so, Mahāmati, the Tathāgata's own Dharma-body, like the sands of the Ganges, is never destroyed. Mahāmati, it is like the sands of the Ganges, which are without any limit or measure — the Tathāgata's own light is likewise without any limit or measure, universally illuminating every buddha's own great assembly for the sake of bringing sentient beings to maturity. Mahāmati, it is like the sands of the Ganges: seek some other, different sand there, and it can never ultimately be found. Just so, Mahāmati, the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Truly and Fully Enlightened One, is without birth-and-death, without arising and ceasing, since every causal condition [that could produce them] has already been cut off. Mahāmati, it is like the sands of the Ganges: increase or decrease in them can never ultimately be known. Just so, Mahāmati, the Tathāgata's own wisdom brings sentient beings to maturity without ever itself increasing or decreasing, since it is not a bodily dharma at all — a bodily dharma is subject to destruction, but the Tathāgata's own Dharma-body is not any such bodily dharma. It is like pressing the sands of the Ganges: no oil can ever be obtained from them. Just so, though every being in the depths of suffering presses upon the Tathāgata [with their need], and though sentient beings have not yet attained nirvāṇa, he never relinquishes the dharma-realm's own bliss of samādhi and its vow, on account of his very great compassion.
The commentators are precise about what each comparison in this sequence is meant to establish, treating them as a deliberately ordered set rather than loosely strung-together images. On the trampled sand: "恒沙世間無情之物，雖為魚鼈人獸等踐踏，不生惱亂之念，以喻如來聖智，神通自在，受諸外道人獸惱亂不起念想" — "the sand of the Ganges, being an insentient worldly thing, though trampled by fish, turtles, people, and beasts, gives rise to no thought of disturbance — this illustrates how the Tathāgata's noble wisdom and spiritual mastery, though beset by every outsider and every kind of being's disturbance, gives rise to no such thought either." On the fire that burns the earth without touching its nature: "以事則同一堅性，故為沙為石；以理則與彼堅、濕、煖、動均一真性。故劫盡燒時而地性自若" — "considered as a physical event, [sand and stone] share the same solid nature; considered in principle, they share a single true nature along with the hard, the moist, the warm, and the moving [elements] — this is why, even when the aeon-ending fire burns, the earth's own nature remains exactly as it was." The Dharma-body, like the earth-element, can be surrounded by destruction on every side without the destruction ever actually reaching its own nature.
On why "no oil can be pressed from sand" closes this particular sequence of comparisons, the commentators read it as addressing something the earlier images had not yet covered — not the Tathāgata's stability under disturbance, but the depth of his compassion under the pressure of beings' own suffering: "塵沙無油，喻如來雖為眾生眾苦所逼，乃至蠢動未盡涅槃，欲捨深心願樂亦不可得，以大悲心具足成就眾生故也" — "grains of sand having no oil illustrates how the Tathāgata, though pressed upon by the manifold sufferings of sentient beings, and though even the smallest crawling creature has not yet reached nirvāṇa, could never relinquish his own profound vow and aspiration even if he wished to, since his great compassion is what brings sentient beings to their own completion." No matter how much beings' suffering presses upon him, seeking some limit to his compassion is as futile as pressing sand for oil — there is simply nothing there to extract, because the compassion was never a finite reserve to begin with.
Following the Water Without Being Swept Away
大慧！譬如恒沙，隨水而流，非無水也。如是，大慧！如來所說一切諸法，隨涅槃流，是故說言如恒河沙。如來不隨諸去流轉，去是壞義故。大慧！生死本際不可知，不知故，云何說去？大慧！去者斷義，而愚夫不知。」大慧白佛言：「世尊！若眾生生死本際不可知者，云何解脫可知？」佛告大慧：「無始虛偽過惡妄想習氣因滅，自心現知外義，妄想身轉解脫不滅。是故無邊，非都無所有。為彼妄想，作無邊等異名。觀察內外，離於妄想。無異眾生，智及爾炎。一切諸法，悉皆寂靜。不識自心現妄想，故妄想生。若識則滅。」爾時，世尊欲重宣此義而說偈言：「觀察諸導師， 猶如恒河沙，不壞亦不去， 亦復不究竟，是則為平等， 觀察諸如來。猶如恒沙等， 悉離一切過，隨流而性常， 是則佛正覺。」
Mahāmati, it is like the sands of the Ganges, which follow the water as it flows — and yet this is not to say there is no water there at all. Just so, Mahāmati, every dharma that I teach follows the flow of nirvāṇa — this is why it is said to be like the sands of the Ganges. Yet the Tathāgata does not himself follow along and revolve through the successive states that pass away, since 'passing away' carries the very meaning of destruction. Mahāmati, the very origin of birth-and-death can never be known — and, since it cannot be known, how could one speak of it 'passing away' at all? Mahāmati, 'passing away' carries the meaning of being cut off, and this is precisely what the foolish and ignorant fail to understand." Mahāmati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, if the very origin of sentient beings' birth-and-death can never be known, then how can liberation itself be known?" The Buddha told Mahāmati: "Once the very cause of beginningless, false, evil false-thought habituation ceases, one's own mind comes to know external meaning as its own manifestation, and the body caught up in false thought is thereby transformed — this transformation itself never ceasing. It is for this reason that it is boundless, not that there is simply nothing there at all. For the sake of that very false thought, various different names, such as 'boundless,' are given to it. Observing both what is internal and what is external, one becomes apart from false thought altogether — there being no sentient being different from another, no wisdom different from its own object, every dharma utterly still. It is precisely because one fails to recognize that this is one's own mind manifesting false thought that false thought arises — should one come to recognize it, it is thereby extinguished." At that time, wishing to restate this meaning once more, the World-Honored One spoke in verse: "Observe every teacher and guide as being just like the sands of the Ganges: never destroyed, and never passing away, and yet not, [merely on that account,] the ultimate truth either — this alone is to observe every tathāgata with true equanimity. Just like the sands of the Ganges, entirely apart from every fault, following the current while their own nature remains ever constant — this alone is what a buddha's true and complete enlightenment truly is."
The commentators explain the water-and-sand image as resolving a subtle worry a careless reader might have about the whole sequence of similes just given: "恒沙隨流，愚人但見沙流而不見水，以智觀之，非無水也。此喻如來說一切法隨順涅槃，有如順流而非去義" — "sand follows the current, and the foolish see only the sand flowing while failing to see the water beneath it — yet, examined with wisdom, it is not that there is no water there at all. This illustrates how the Tathāgata's teaching of every dharma follows nirvāṇa the way sand follows a current, which is a matter of following along, not of 'passing away' in the destructive sense." The Tathāgata's teaching genuinely moves and adapts the way sand is genuinely carried by water — but underneath that visible motion is a current, nirvāṇa itself, that never itself passes away the way the destructive sense of "going" implies.
On the closing verse's puzzling final line about buddhas being "not the ultimate truth either" even when compared to indestructible, ever-flowing sand, the commentators explain this as a final corrective against clinging even to this most exalted comparison: "不壞不去，觀察如來，則未為究竟。當觀諸佛猶如恒沙，平等無異，離諸過患。又言隨流性常者，謂隨順究竟涅槃之流，是為真常正覺也" — "to observe the Tathāgata merely as 'indestructible' and 'never passing away' is not yet the ultimate view. One should observe every buddha as being like the sands of the Ganges in full equanimity, without any difference between them, apart from every fault. And to speak of 'following the current while the nature remains constant' means following the current of ultimate nirvāṇa itself — this alone is what true and constant, complete enlightenment actually is." Even the most exalted image in this entire sequence — indestructible sand, undisturbed by the world's trampling and burning — is, in the end, still only an image; the verse's final word turns attention past the sand itself to the current it follows.
Part 45 Complete
This closes Part 45: the "sands of the Ganges" comparison shown to be skillful means rather than literal measurement, the sequence of sand-images teaching the Tathāgata's imperturbability, indestructibility, boundless light, uniqueness, unchanging measure, and inexhaustible compassion, and the closing teaching that even "indestructible and never passing away" is not yet the ultimate truth — only following nirvāṇa's own current while one's nature remains constant. Part 46 turns to a new question Mahāmati raises immediately afterward: whether every dharma is destroyed moment by moment, opening the Buddha's teaching on momentary destruction (剎那, kṣaṇa) and what does, and does not, actually perish from one instant to the next.
Continue to Part 46 — Is Every Dharma Destroyed Moment by Moment? →