The Factors of Enlightenment, Part One
Fascicle 9 closed on the four Brahmā abidings; this fascicle opens 覺分品第二十一, the chapter on the factors of enlightenment, and immediately takes a longer road to them than a reader might expect. Before reaching the classical thirty-seven factors, the treatise first works through a sequence of bodhisattva qualities that prepare the ground for them: a sense of shame, fearlessness, non-retrogression, knowing the teachings and knowing the world, the four standards by which truth is judged, the four unhindered understandings, and the twin accumulations of merit and wisdom. Only then does it turn to the four foundations of mindfulness — recast into fourteen modes of supreme cultivation — the four correct exertions remapped onto ten obstacles across the bodhisattva grounds, the four bases of supernormal power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment likened point by point to a wheel-turning king's seven treasures, and finally the eight path-factors.
Where This Fascicle Picks Up
Fascicle 9 closed the chapter on the four Brahmā abidings. This fascicle opens 覺分品第二十一之一, the first part of the chapter on the factors of enlightenment — a title that, in this treatise, covers far more than the classical thirty-seven items the name usually calls to mind. Before the four foundations of mindfulness ever appear, the treatise devotes roughly half the fascicle to a distinct sequence of eight bodhisattva qualities — shame, fearlessness, non-retrogression, knowing the teachings, knowing the world, the four standards, the four unhindered understandings, and the twin accumulations — treating all of these, too, as factors that lead to awakening. Only in the fascicle's second half does the classical sequence begin, and even there the śrāvaka categories are consistently reworked around the bodhisattva's ten grounds rather than simply repeated.
Classical text is set in the left-hand column, our English in the right. See also this site's note on translation method.
1. A Sense of Shame — Its Marks, Grades, Obstruction, and Twelve Faults
釋曰：諸菩薩有羞相(羞兼慚愧)，此中應說。偈曰：
治障及合智， 緣境亦成生，
菩薩有羞相， 如是四差別。
釋曰：此偈顯示菩薩有羞有四種相，一自性、二伴類、三境界、四作業。治障者，謂離無羞，此即是羞自性。合智者，與無分別智相應，此智是羞伴類。緣境者，菩薩以小無障眾生為可羞境，即是聲聞緣覺。小者，對大乘故。無障者，破煩惱障故。成生者，菩薩有羞，以建立眾生為業。此是有羞四種相。問：諸菩薩有羞於何行中起？偈曰：
菩薩於六度， 障增及治減，
不勤亦勤行， 於此有羞起。
釋曰：諸菩薩於四事中極生羞恥，一者於諸度障增時極生羞恥；二者於諸障治減時極生羞恥；三者修諸度懈怠時極生羞恥；四者隨順煩惱法勤行時極生羞恥，所謂諸根常開而不禁守。問：菩薩有羞種差別云何。偈曰：
六品及二品， 七地與二乘，
亦似則為下， 反此應知上。
釋曰：六品者，不定地中前六品有羞為下。二品者，諸定地中前二品有羞為下。七地者，菩薩十地中前七地有羞為下。二乘者，謂下心眾生有羞為下，由有增上慢故。亦似者，謂未得無生忍菩薩彼有羞亦為下。翻此諸下有羞，應知即是諸上有羞。問：何法是有羞障？及彼障有幾過失？偈曰：
無羞惑不斷， 三害及六呵，
墮難退苦三， 如前十二失。
釋曰：無羞者，是菩薩有羞障。若有此障則煩惱不斷，煩惱不斷則先生三害：一自害，謂不正思惟，由自惱故。二他害，謂瞋及捨，由惱他故。問：瞋者惱眾生可爾，捨者云何惱眾生？答：菩薩應化眾生，捨而不化，是謂為惱。俱害者，謂破尸羅，由惱自他故。起三害已即於現法得六呵責，由疑悔、失利、失護、棄捨、治罰、惡名故。隨其次第得六種呵責，所謂自呵責乃至十方人呵責。如是已後復有三種過失生：一退墮諸難處、二退失已得未得善法、三從彼生大苦受。是謂無羞生十二種過失。問：已知障及過失，何者是有羞功德？
The exposition: the bodhisattva's mark of having a sense of shame — 羞, here spanning both shame [慚] and embarrassment [愧] — should now be explained.
Remedying obstruction, and joined with wisdom;
having an object, and accomplishing beings —
the bodhisattva's mark of a sense of shame
is these four distinctions.
The exposition: this verse displays that the bodhisattva's sense of shame has four marks: own-nature, companion class, object, and function. Remedying obstruction is departing from shamelessness — this is its own-nature. Joined with wisdom is being joined with non-discriminating wisdom — this wisdom is its companion class. Having an object is the bodhisattva taking as the object of shame those lesser beings without obstruction — namely śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. "Lesser" is relative to the Mahāyāna; "without obstruction" is because they have broken through the afflictive obstruction. Accomplishing beings is the bodhisattva's sense of shame taking the establishing of beings as its function. These are the four marks of a sense of shame. Question: in what conduct does the bodhisattva's sense of shame arise?
Toward the six perfections, when
their obstructions increase and their remedies decline;
when diligence is lacking, and when what accords with the afflictions is diligently done —
toward these, a sense of shame arises.
The exposition: the bodhisattva feels the utmost shame in four situations: first, when the obstructions to the perfections increase; second, when the remedies to those obstructions decline; third, when diligence in cultivating the perfections is lacking; fourth, when what accords with the afflictions is diligently done — namely, when the sense faculties are constantly left open and unguarded. Question: what are the distinctions among kinds of the bodhisattva's sense of shame?
Six grades, and two grades;
seven grounds, and the two vehicles;
and what merely resembles it — these are inferior;
the reverse of these should be known as superior.
The exposition: the six grades are the first six, among the nine grades within the stage not yet settled in concentration, whose sense of shame is inferior. The two grades are the first two, among the nine grades within the stages of settled concentration, whose sense of shame is inferior. The seven grounds are the first seven, among the bodhisattva's ten grounds, whose sense of shame is inferior. The two vehicles refers to beings of an inferior intent — namely śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas — whose sense of shame is inferior, on account of their overweening pride. What merely resembles it is that the sense of shame of a bodhisattva who has not yet attained the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas is likewise inferior. Reversing all these inferior kinds of shame, one should understand the corresponding superior kinds. Question: what phenomenon is the obstruction to a sense of shame, and how many faults does that obstruction carry?
Shamelessness — the afflictions uncut;
threefold harm, and sixfold reproach;
falling into difficulty, retrogression, and suffering —
these twelve faults, as just described.
The exposition: shamelessness is the obstruction to the bodhisattva's sense of shame. Where this obstruction is present, the afflictions are not cut off; and where the afflictions are not cut off, three kinds of harm first arise: first, harm to oneself — improper reflection, since one thereby vexes oneself; second, harm to others — hatred, and abandonment, since one thereby vexes others. Question: hatred vexing beings makes sense — but how does abandonment vex beings? Answer: the bodhisattva ought to convert beings; if he abandons them without converting them, this itself is the vexing. Third, harm to both — breaking morality, since it vexes both self and other. Once these three harms have arisen, one incurs, in this very life, six kinds of reproach: through doubt and regret, loss of benefit, loss of protection, being forsaken, punishment, and ill repute. In this order, one obtains these six reproaches — that is, from self-reproach up through the reproach of people in the ten directions. After this, three further faults arise: first, falling back into various difficult places; second, retrogressing and losing wholesome dharmas already attained or yet to be attained; third, great suffering being born from these. These are the twelve faults that shamelessness gives rise to. Question: the obstruction and its faults having been made known, what is the merit of a sense of shame?
The twelve faults of shamelessness are worth tracing as a chain rather than a list, since the treatise builds them causally, three stages deep: uncut affliction first produces three harms (to oneself, to others, to both); those three harms then draw six reproaches, ranging outward from one's own conscience to the judgment of people in every direction; and only after both of those does the pattern culminate in three further faults — falling into difficulty, losing ground already gained, and, last of all, great suffering. The structure argues, in effect, that suffering is the final link in a chain that begins much earlier and much more quietly, in a single moment of improper reflection that nobody else could see.
That a bodhisattva's sense of shame is defined relative to śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas — "lesser, without obstruction" — repays a second look, since it is not a claim that the two-vehicle path is shameful in itself. The text is careful to specify that these practitioners have genuinely broken through the afflictive obstruction; what remains is only the still-narrower scope of what they have accomplished, measured against the Mahāyāna. A bodhisattva's shame, on this definition, is not shame at wrongdoing but shame at insufficient scope — a structurally different emotion from the ordinary sense of the word, closer to restlessness at a goal only partly reached than to guilt over a fault committed.
2. The Merits, Similes, and Supremacy of a Sense of Shame
偈曰：
此等一切惡， 菩薩若有羞，
當知一切盡， 起彼對治故。
天人聰慧生， 速滿於二聚，
成生不退轉， 離不離為果。
釋曰：初偈顯示有羞離過功德。如前過失，菩薩有羞一切不有故。後偈顯示有羞集得功德，具足聚集五勝果故。天人聰慧生者，是得果報果，謂常生天上及以人中恒得聰慧故。速滿於二聚者，是得增上果，謂得大菩提二聚故。成生不退轉者，是得丈夫果，丈夫所作故。離者，是得相離果，離彼障故。不離者，是得依果，一切生處不離彼障對治故。問：有羞功用，譬喻云何？偈曰：
偈曰：
有衣翻有垢， 凡夫無慚故；
天衣更無垢， 菩薩有慚爾。
菩薩慚具足， 如空不可污；
欲勝諸菩薩， 亦以慚莊嚴。
譬如慈母愛， 慚護眾生然，
觀生及化生， 此事由慚起。
釋曰：此中第一偈顯示慚如衣服。何以故？有慚者過垢不能污故。第二偈上半顯示慚如虛空。何以故？有慚者雖值世間八法，不被染故。第二偈下半顯示慚如莊嚴。何以故？有慚者端正勝餘菩薩故。第三偈顯示慚如慈母。何以故？有慚者擁護生死一切過失如象馬軍，觀生化生由此起故。衣服譬顯慚能對治住諸煩惱，虛空譬顯慚能對治染著八法，莊嚴譬顯慚能隨順同行，慈母譬顯慚能成熟眾生。問：菩薩行慚有何相？偈曰：
不忍及不行， 亦忍及亦行，
當知此四種， 是說行慚相。
釋曰：此偈顯示四種行慚相，一不忍，二不行，三忍，四行。何以故？有慚者於一切過惡有前二相，不忍故、不行故。於一切功德有後二相，忍故、行故。問：云何慚羞得無上？偈曰：
修習於慚羞， 亦起五自意，
信法等別故， 無上如前知。
釋曰：如前知者，於大乘經說慚羞處生淨信故、以九種深心修習故、依虛空等定修習故、由無分別智攝故、以一果入一切果故。已說菩薩有羞，次說菩薩無畏。
All of these evils —
if the bodhisattva has a sense of shame,
know that they are entirely ended,
since its remedy arises against them.
Born wise among gods and humans;
swiftly fulfilling the two accumulations;
maturing beings, without retrogression;
separation and non-separation as its fruits.
The exposition: the first verse displays the merit of a sense of shame in departing from faults — since, given the bodhisattva's sense of shame, none of the preceding faults exist at all. The second verse displays the merit of a sense of shame in gathering attainments, being complete with five excellent fruits gathered together. Born wise among gods and humans is the fruit of karmic ripening, constantly being born among gods and humans and always attaining wisdom and intelligence. Swiftly fulfilling the two accumulations is the dominant fruit, attaining the two accumulations of great enlightenment. Maturing beings without retrogression is the fruit of manly action, being what a great being accomplishes. Separation is the fruit of being separated from its own mark, separated from that obstruction. And non-separation is the fruit of support, the remedy for that obstruction never being separated from wherever one is born. Question: what is the function of a sense of shame? What is it like?
A garment, once turned, gathers stains —
so it is for the ordinary person without a sense of shame;
a heavenly garment gathers no further stain —
so it is for the bodhisattva who has this shame.
The bodhisattva complete with this shame
is, like space, impossible to defile;
wishing to surpass all other bodhisattvas,
he is likewise adorned by this very shame.
Just as a loving mother's affection
guards her child, so shame guards beings;
watching over the living and transforming them —
this arises through shame.
The exposition: the first verse here displays shame as like a garment — since, for one who has this shame, the stain of transgression cannot defile him. The first half of the second verse displays shame as like space — since one who has this shame, though he meets with the eight worldly dharmas, is not tainted by them. The second half of the second verse displays shame as like an ornament — since one who has this shame is more upright and excellent than other bodhisattvas. The third verse displays shame as like a loving mother — since one who has this shame guards against every fault of birth-and-death as against an army of elephants and horses, and it is through this that watching over and transforming beings arises. The simile of the garment displays that shame remedies dwelling in the afflictions; the simile of space displays that shame remedies attachment to the eight worldly dharmas; the simile of the ornament displays that shame accords with fellow practitioners; and the simile of the loving mother displays that shame matures sentient beings. Question: what marks does the bodhisattva's practice of shame have?
Not bearing, and not doing;
also bearing, and also doing —
know that these four kinds
are said to be the marks of practicing shame.
The exposition: this verse displays the four marks of practicing shame: not bearing, not doing, bearing, and doing. Why so? One who has this shame shows the first two marks toward every fault and evil — not bearing it, not doing it — and shows the latter two marks toward every merit — bearing it, doing it. Question: how does this shame become unsurpassed?
Cultivating this shame,
and giving rise to the five aspects of one's own intention;
through the distinctions of faith in the Dharma and the rest —
it is unsurpassed, as explained before.
The exposition: as explained before means: giving rise to pure faith regarding the place where this shame is taught in the Mahāyāna sūtras; cultivating it with the nine kinds of deep mind; cultivating it resting on such absorptions as the treasury of space; being gathered by non-discriminating wisdom; and entering every fruit through one fruit alike. The bodhisattva's sense of shame having been explained, the bodhisattva's fearlessness is next explained.
The four similes are each keyed to a specific failure they remedy, not offered as interchangeable praise: the garment answers being stained by the afflictions one still dwells among, the space answers being tainted by the eight worldly winds one cannot avoid encountering, the ornament answers falling short of one's fellow practitioners, and the mother answers neglecting the beings one is meant to protect. Read together, they cover four distinct registers of failure — inward, circumstantial, comparative, and relational — which is presumably why four similes were needed rather than one elaborated at length.
The four marks of practicing shame — not bearing and not doing evil, bearing and doing good — quietly reuse, for a virtue, the same two-axis structure (endurance and action) that fascicle 8 used to define patience itself. There, not retaliating and enduring hardship were patience's own-nature; here, the same refusal to bear and to act is redirected toward evil rather than injury, while the positive counterparts — bearing good, doing good — extend the pattern into something patience alone never covered. Shame, on this reading, is patience's own structure turned toward one's own conduct rather than toward what other people or circumstances inflict.
3. Fearlessness — Its Nature, Ten Distinctions, Firmness, and Supremacy
偈曰：
諸菩薩無畏， 體相及差別，
堅固與殊勝， 今當次第解。
釋曰：菩薩無畏有四義解釋，一體相、二差別、三堅固、四殊勝。問：體相云何？偈曰：
進定慧三起， 勇健勤猛作，
是說無畏相， 亦顯於眾名。
釋曰：精進、禪定、般若此三若起，是無畏體相。勇、健、勤、猛，此四顯無畏眾名。問：此三於何行中無畏？偈曰：
諸有所作中， 下動愚則畏，
離三三決定， 是名無畏安。
釋曰：菩薩於諸所作中，其心若下、若動、若愚，則生怖畏。何以故？下心者，於彼無勤修故。動心者，於彼心不住故。愚心者，於彼無方便故。彼三對治，隨其次第即是精進、禪定、般若。是故精進等三若得決定，則名無畏。問：云何決定？答：此三對治任運現前，是名決定。問：已說體相，云何差別？偈曰：
自性及大願， 不顧及不退，
聞深亦能化， 置彼於佛身，
亦行諸苦行， 不捨於生死，
生死不能染， 此十是差別。
釋曰：此二偈隨其次第說無畏有十種差別。一者自性，謂性成就得無畏故。二者大願，謂發菩提心得無畏故。三者不顧，謂勤自利時不顧身命得無畏故。四者不退，謂勤利他時有違逆者得無畏故。五者聞深，謂聽實義時得無畏故。六者能化，謂難化眾生以通力化得無畏故。七者置彼於佛身，謂建立眾生於大菩提得無畏故。八者亦行諸苦行，謂行種種難行苦行得無畏故。九者不捨生死，謂故意受生得無畏故。十者生死不能染，謂處染不染得無畏故。問：已說差別，云何堅固？偈曰：
惡朋及重苦， 聞深不能退，
譬如螽翅風， 不動須彌海。
釋曰：菩薩無畏於三緣得不動，一遇惡朋、二遭重苦、三聞深法。譬如螽蟖振羽不能蕩海搖山，彼之三緣不能動菩薩心亦復如是，是故菩薩無畏得堅固。問：已說堅固，云何殊勝？偈曰：
諸說無畏中， 菩薩無畏上，
相異堅殊勝， 與彼不相似。
釋曰：由前三義勝故，菩薩無畏於諸說無畏中最為殊勝。已說菩薩無畏，次說菩薩不退。
The bodhisattva's fearlessness —
its essential mark, and its distinctions,
its firmness, and its supremacy —
shall now be explained in order.
The exposition: the bodhisattva's fearlessness is explained through four meanings: essential mark, distinctions, firmness, and supremacy. Question: what is its essential mark?
Diligence, concentration, and wisdom — these three, once arisen;
valiant, robust, vigorous, and bold in action —
this is said to be the mark of fearlessness,
and it also displays its many names.
The exposition: when these three — diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom — arise, this is the essential mark of fearlessness. Valiant, robust, vigorous, and bold: these four terms display fearlessness's many names. Question: through these three, in what conduct is one fearless?
In whatever one undertakes,
a lowly, wavering, or foolish mind gives rise to fear;
free of these three, settled in the three —
this is called the security of fearlessness.
The exposition: in whatever the bodhisattva undertakes, if his mind is lowly, wavering, or foolish, fear arises. Why? A lowly mind lacks diligent cultivation toward it; a wavering mind does not abide steadily toward it; a foolish mind lacks skillful means toward it. The remedies for these three are, in order, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom. Hence, once diligence and the other two are made settled, this is called fearlessness. Question: what is meant by settled? Answer: these three remedies presenting themselves spontaneously — this is called settled. Question: the essential mark having been explained, what are its distinctions?
Own-nature, and the great vow;
disregard, and non-retrogression;
hearing what is profound, and being able to convert;
placing beings in a buddha's own body,
also practicing every austerity;
not abandoning birth-and-death;
and being untainted by birth-and-death —
these ten are its distinctions.
The exposition: these two verses explain, in order, fearlessness's ten distinctions. First, own-nature: fearlessness attained through the accomplishment of one's own nature. Second, the great vow: fearlessness attained through generating the mind of enlightenment. Third, disregard: fearlessness attained through disregarding body and life while diligently pursuing self-benefit. Fourth, non-retrogression: fearlessness attained even when met with opposition while diligently benefiting others. Fifth, hearing what is profound: fearlessness attained on hearing the true meaning. Sixth, being able to convert: fearlessness attained in converting beings hard to convert, through the power of supernormal ability. Seventh, placing beings in a buddha's own body: fearlessness attained through establishing beings in great enlightenment. Eighth, practicing every austerity: fearlessness attained through undertaking every manner of difficult, austere practice. Ninth, not abandoning birth-and-death: fearlessness attained through intentionally taking on rebirth. Tenth, being untainted by birth-and-death: fearlessness attained through remaining untainted while dwelling amid taint. Question: the distinctions having been explained, what is its firmness?
Bad company, and grave suffering,
and hearing what is profound cannot make it retrogress —
like the wind from a locust's wings
cannot move Sumeru or the ocean.
The exposition: the bodhisattva's fearlessness remains unmoved by three conditions: first, meeting bad company; second, encountering grave suffering; third, hearing a profound teaching. Just as the beating wings of a locust cannot stir the ocean or shake a mountain, these three conditions likewise cannot move the bodhisattva's mind — hence the bodhisattva's fearlessness is firm. Question: firmness having been explained, what is its supremacy?
Among every fearlessness that is taught,
the bodhisattva's fearlessness is foremost —
differing in its mark, its firmness, its supremacy;
it resembles none of the others.
The exposition: because of the superiority of the three preceding meanings, the bodhisattva's fearlessness is supreme among every fearlessness taught elsewhere. The bodhisattva's fearlessness having been explained, the bodhisattva's non-retrogression is next explained.
This fearlessness is easy to conflate with the four fearlessnesses of a buddha (十力四無畏), taken up later in this treatise's chapter on merit, but the two belong to different registers entirely. The buddha's four fearlessnesses are a settled confidence in specific public claims — complete awakening, exhaustion of the contaminants, and the rest — unshakeable because already, fully verified. This fearlessness, by contrast, is a bodhisattva's working psychological equipment, built from ordinary diligence, concentration, and wisdom, and defined negatively against three named failure modes — a lowly mind, a wavering mind, a foolish mind — that a practitioner still on the path genuinely risks falling into. One is a fruit already ripened; the other is armor still being worn on the way there.
4. Non-Retrogression, and Knowing the Teachings
偈曰：
不退諸菩薩， 品類有三事，
於聞進苦故， 慚勇為依止。
欲樂大菩提， 是說不退性，
未成成極成， 差別諸地顯。
釋曰：此二偈顯示不退品類依止自性差別。彼品類有三種：一聞法無厭不退、二恒大精進不退、三生死苦惱不退。依止有二種：一慚、二勇。有慚者不退，退者可羞恥故。有勇者不退，退者非猛健故。自性，謂欲樂大菩提。欲樂若迴，即得退故。差別有三種：一未成，謂信行地菩薩不退。二成，謂初地至七地菩薩不退。三極成，謂八地已上菩薩不退。已說菩薩不退，次說菩薩知法。偈曰：
知法知法業， 知相知無盡，
得果及二門， 成生亦住法。
釋曰：知法者，謂知五明處：一內明、二因明、三聲明、四醫明、五巧明，知此五論是謂知法。知法業者，謂知自利利他，以此為業。知內論者，為自修及為他說。知因論者，為申己義及屈他義。知聲論者，為自善音令他信受。知醫論者，為除他疾。知巧論者，為令他解。知論相者，謂知此五論得有五因，是菩薩知論相：一聞得、二持得、三誦得、四思得、五通得。菩薩先於論有聞，聞已受持，持已習誦，誦已正思，思已通達。通達者，知此是功德、此是過失、此是善語、此是惡語。知無盡者，謂如此知，乃至無餘涅槃亦無盡故。得果者，謂自知得一切種智故。二門者：一三昧門、二陀羅尼門。知論菩薩以三昧門成熟眾生，隨彼化攝故；以陀羅尼門成熟佛法，隨所得法皆能持故。已說菩薩知法，次說菩薩知世間。
The bodhisattva's non-retrogression
has three matters as its classes:
regarding learning, diligence, and suffering;
shame and valor are its support.
Aspiration toward great enlightenment
is said to be its own-nature;
not yet accomplished, accomplished, and fully accomplished —
its distinctions are displayed through the grounds.
The exposition: these two verses display non-retrogression's classes, support, own-nature, and distinctions. Its classes are of three kinds: first, non-retrogression in never tiring of hearing the Dharma; second, non-retrogression in constant great diligence; third, non-retrogression amid the suffering of birth-and-death. Its support is of two kinds: shame, and valor. One who has shame does not retrogress, since retrogression would be shameful; one who has valor does not retrogress, since retrogression would not be robust. Its own-nature is aspiration toward great enlightenment — were this aspiration to turn back, retrogression would follow. Its distinctions are of three kinds: first, not yet accomplished — the non-retrogression of bodhisattvas on the ground of conviction and practice; second, accomplished — the non-retrogression of bodhisattvas from the first ground through the seventh; third, fully accomplished — the non-retrogression of bodhisattvas from the eighth ground onward. The bodhisattva's non-retrogression having been explained, the bodhisattva's knowing the teachings is next explained.
Knowing the teachings, and their function;
knowing their marks, and their inexhaustibility;
attaining their fruit, and the twofold gateway;
maturing beings, and abiding in the Dharma.
The exposition: knowing the teachings means knowing the five sciences: inner learning, logic, linguistics, medicine, and the arts and crafts — knowing these five treatises is called knowing the teachings. Knowing their function means knowing self-benefit and benefiting others as their function: the treatise of inner learning, for one's own cultivation and for teaching others; the treatise of logic, for establishing one's own position and refuting another's; the treatise of linguistics, for perfecting one's own speech so that others come to trust it; the treatise of medicine, for curing others' illness; and the treatise of the arts and crafts, for making others understand. Knowing their marks means knowing that mastery of these five treatises comes through five causes — this is the bodhisattva's knowing their marks: attainment through hearing, attainment through retaining, attainment through reciting, attainment through reflecting, and attainment through penetrating. The bodhisattva first hears the treatise; having heard it, he retains it; having retained it, he recites it habitually; having recited it, he reflects on it correctly; having reflected on it, he penetrates it. To penetrate it is to know: this is a merit, this is a fault; this is well spoken, this is ill spoken. Their inexhaustibility means that, known in this way, this knowledge remains inexhaustible even unto nirvāṇa without remainder. Attaining their fruit means personally knowing that one has attained the wisdom of all aspects. The twofold gateway is the gateway of absorption and the gateway of dhāraṇī. The bodhisattva who knows these treatises matures beings through the gateway of absorption, converting and gathering them accordingly; and matures the buddha-dharma through the gateway of dhāraṇī, retaining whatever teaching he has attained. The bodhisattva's knowing the teachings having been explained, the bodhisattva's knowing the world is next explained.
Non-retrogression's twin support of shame and valor draws directly on the two qualities the treatise has just spent two full sections establishing, and the pairing is worth pausing on: shame alone risks becoming mere timidity, a fear of disgrace with nothing to counterbalance it, while valor alone risks becoming recklessness, robust but directionless. Placed together as joint supports for the single quality of never turning back, each corrects what the other would allow to go unchecked — shame keeps valor honest, and valor keeps shame from curdling into hesitation.
The five sciences — inner learning, logic, linguistics, medicine, and the arts and crafts — describe the entire scope of classical Indian scholarship, not a specifically Buddhist curriculum, and the treatise's gloss on each one's purpose is pointedly non-sectarian: logic is for "establishing one's own position and refuting another's," medicine is "for curing others' illness," full stop, with no requirement that the illness or the argument concern the Dharma at all. Knowing the teachings, on this treatise's own account, includes worldly competence useful to anyone the bodhisattva might need to help or persuade — a considerably wider brief than doctrinal learning alone.
5. Knowing the World, and the Four Standards
偈曰：
身知亦口知， 及以實諦知，
菩薩知世間， 最勝餘無等。
釋曰：菩薩有三種知世間，一身知世間、二口知世間、三諦知世間。問：云何身知？云何口知？偈曰：
身知則舒顏， 口知則先語，
為令成器故， 正法隨修行。
釋曰：舒顏者，謂熙怡歡笑，此是身知世間。先語者，謂慰問讚美，此是口知世間。問：此知何所為？答：為令成器故。問：令成何器？答：正法隨修行，令成此器故。問：云何諦知世間？偈曰：
二知知世生， 二知知世滅，
為息復為得， 諦知勤修行。
釋曰：二知知世生者，知苦集二諦則知世間常生，由生及生方便故。二知知世滅者，知滅道二諦則知世間可滅，由滅及滅方便故。問：知諦世間復何所為？答：為息復為得諦智勤修行。息者，苦集諦。得者，滅道諦。諸菩薩為息苦集諦、為得滅道諦故，觀諸諦修智具足。如是知世間，即是知世間業。已說菩薩知世間，次說菩薩修習四量。偈曰：
能詮及義意， 了義亦無言，
當知此四種， 是說四量相。
釋曰：能詮者，如來所說十二部經，此法為量，非人為量。義意者，謂文中所以，此義為量，非語為量。了義者，謂世間可信及佛所印可，此了義為量，非不了義為量。無言者，謂出世證智，此智為量，非識為量。問：世尊何故說此四量？偈曰：
謗法及非義， 邪思與可言，
遮此四事故， 次第說四量。
釋曰：說能詮法為量，遮謗說人。說義意為量，遮非義文句。說了義為量，遮邪思倒解。說智為量，遮可言智。問：依此四量有何功德？偈曰：
信心及內思， 正聞與證智，
菩薩不可壞， 依量功德爾。
釋曰：依第一量則信心不可壞，依第二量則正思不可壞，依第三量則正聞不可壞，依第四量則世智不可壞。已說菩薩修習四量，次說菩薩四無礙解。
Knowing through the body, and knowing through speech,
and knowing through the truths as they really are —
the bodhisattva's knowing the world
is supreme, unequaled by any other.
The exposition: the bodhisattva has three ways of knowing the world: knowing the world through the body, through speech, and through the truths. Question: what is knowing through the body, and knowing through speech?
Knowing through the body is an open countenance;
knowing through speech is speaking first —
so as to make of them a vessel,
that they follow and practice the true Dharma.
The exposition: an open countenance means being cheerful and smiling — this is knowing the world through the body. Speaking first means offering greetings and praise — this is knowing the world through speech. Question: what is this knowledge for? Answer: to make of another a vessel. Question: a vessel for what? Answer: so that he comes to follow and practice the true Dharma — this is the vessel one seeks to make of him. Question: what is knowing the world through the truths?
Two kinds of knowing know the world's arising;
two kinds of knowing know the world's cessation;
to bring an end, and to attain —
diligently cultivating this knowing of the truths.
The exposition: the two kinds of knowing that know the world's arising are knowing the truths of suffering and its origin, thereby knowing that the world constantly arises — through arising itself, and the means of arising. The two kinds of knowing that know the world's cessation are knowing the truths of cessation and the path, thereby knowing that the world can cease — through cessation itself, and the means of cessation. Question: what further purpose does knowing the world through the truths serve? Answer: it is to bring an end, and to attain — the wisdom of the truths diligently cultivated toward this. To bring an end concerns the truths of suffering and its origin; to attain concerns the truths of cessation and the path. The bodhisattva, in order to end the truths of suffering and its origin, and to attain the truths of cessation and the path, contemplates the truths and perfects this wisdom fully. Knowing the world in this way is itself the function of knowing the world. The bodhisattva's knowing the world having been explained, the bodhisattva's cultivation of the four standards is next explained.
The expressive word, and the intended meaning;
the definitive meaning, and what is beyond words —
know that these four
are said to be the marks of the four standards.
The exposition: the expressive word is the twelvefold scriptures spoken by the Tathāgata — this Dharma is the standard, not the person who speaks it. The intended meaning is the reason within the text — this meaning is the standard, not the words themselves. The definitive meaning is what the world can trust and what the Buddha has sanctioned — this definitive meaning is the standard, not what is provisional. What is beyond words is the transcendent wisdom of direct realization — this wisdom is the standard, not ordinary consciousness. Question: why did the World-Honored One teach these four standards?
Slandering the Dharma, and mistaking the meaning;
deviant reflection, and what can merely be put into words —
to block these four,
the four standards are taught in this order.
The exposition: teaching the expressive Dharma as the standard wards off slandering the speaker. Teaching the intended meaning as the standard wards off mistaking the mere wording for the meaning. Teaching the definitive meaning as the standard wards off deviant reflection and inverted understanding. Teaching wisdom as the standard wards off mistaking discursive understanding for wisdom itself. Question: what merit comes from relying on these four standards?
Faith, and inner reflection;
correct learning, and realized wisdom —
the bodhisattva becomes unbreakable;
such is the merit of relying on these standards.
The exposition: relying on the first standard, one's faith becomes unbreakable; relying on the second, one's correct reflection becomes unbreakable; relying on the third, one's correct learning becomes unbreakable; relying on the fourth, one's worldly wisdom becomes unbreakable. The bodhisattva's cultivation of the four standards having been explained, the bodhisattva's four unhindered understandings are next explained.
These four standards are the classical four reliances (四依, catuḥpratisaraṇa) under a different name — rely on the teaching, not the person who speaks it; on the meaning, not the wording; on the definitive meaning, not the provisional; and on wisdom, not ordinary consciousness — a framework attested widely across Buddhist literature. What this treatise adds to the familiar list is the second verse's precision about which specific failure each reliance wards off: not four generic virtues but four targeted vaccinations, each aimed at one named error — slandering a teacher one dislikes, mistaking phrasing for substance, taking the provisional at face value, and mistaking clever argument for genuine realization.
6. The Four Unhindered Understandings, and the Twin Accumulations
偈曰：
於門相言智， 通達無比倫，
此即是菩薩， 四種無礙解。
釋曰：第一者謂知門智，能知義中所有名門差別故。第二者謂知相智，能知此義屬此名故。第三者謂知言智，能知異土言音故。第四者謂知智智，能知自能說法故。知此四種是無礙解。偈曰：
能說及所說， 說具合三事，
四二復二種， 次第三事因。
釋曰：能說、所說、說具，此三事各有因緣。能說有四因緣：一教授智、二成熟智、三聚滿智、四令覺智。所說有二因緣：一法、二義，四智於此二有用故。說具有二因緣：一言、二智，由此二得成說故。偈曰：
舉法及釋法， 令解與避難，
建立四無礙， 以是義應知。
釋曰：舉法者，以門故。釋法者，以相故。令解者，以言故。避難者，以智故。應知此中以所說法及義以說具言及智，次第建立四無礙解。問：云何名無礙解？無礙解有何業？偈曰：
內證及外覺， 故稱無礙解，
能斷一切疑， 此即是彼業。
釋曰：此偈上半立名，下半顯業。名者，由諸菩薩初以出世間智內證諸法得平等如解，後以後得世智外覺諸法法門差別。由此道理，故名無礙解。業者，復由此解能斷一切眾生一切疑網，此名為業。已說菩薩四無礙解，次說菩薩二聚功德。偈曰：
福智為二聚， 勝報亦不污，
一切諸菩薩， 勝相皆如此。
釋曰：福智為二聚者，二聚謂福聚及智聚。勝報亦不污者，諸菩薩由福聚故，於生死中作勝報成就因。由智聚故，於彼勝報作不染污因。是故菩薩勝相無等。問：二聚攝六度云何？偈曰：
初二為福體， 第六即是智，
餘三二聚因， 五亦成智聚。
釋曰：初二為福體者，應知施、戒二波羅蜜為福聚體。第六即是智者，應知般若波羅蜜即為智聚體。餘三二聚因者，應知忍辱、精進、禪定三波羅蜜通為二聚因，由俱作故。五亦成智聚者，復由般若能迴向故，一切諸波羅蜜皆成智聚。問：云何名聚？云何聚業？偈曰：
正修及數修， 資善名為聚；
自利與他利， 成就則名業。
釋曰：此偈上半釋名，下半顯業。名者，三婆羅名為聚。三者，正修義。婆羅者，數修義。由正修及數修善法則得資長，由資長故名聚。業者，由此聚故則能成就自他二利，是名為業。問：二聚種差別云何？偈曰：
入地入無相， 及入無功用，
受職并究竟， 二聚次第因。
釋曰：此中種差別者，彼信行地聚為入地因。六地中聚為入無相因。無相者，第七地所攝聚，彼相不起故。第七地聚為入無功用因。第八第九地聚為入受職因。第十地聚為入究竟因，究竟者佛地所攝故。已說菩薩二聚功德，次說菩薩修習四念處。
Regarding categories, marks, language, and wisdom itself —
penetrating them without peer:
this is the bodhisattva's
four kinds of unhindered understanding.
The exposition: the first is the wisdom of knowing categories, able to know every distinction of terms belonging to a meaning. The second is the wisdom of knowing marks, able to know that this meaning belongs to this term. The third is the wisdom of knowing language, able to know the speech and sounds of different lands. The fourth is the wisdom of knowing wisdom itself, able to know one's own capacity to teach the Dharma. Knowing these four is the unhindered understanding.
The speaker, and what is spoken;
and the means of speaking — these three matters combine;
four, then two, then two again —
in order, the causes of these three.
The exposition: the speaker, what is spoken, and the means of speaking — each of these three matters has its own causes. The speaker has four causes: the wisdom of instruction, the wisdom of maturing, the wisdom of complete gathering, and the wisdom of causing awakening. What is spoken has two causes: the teaching, and its meaning — the four wisdoms above being applied to these two. The means of speaking has two causes: language, and wisdom — speech being accomplished through these two.
Setting forth the teaching, and explaining the teaching;
causing understanding, and avoiding difficulty —
the four unhindered understandings are thereby established;
their meaning should be known accordingly.
The exposition: setting forth the teaching is accomplished through categories; explaining the teaching, through marks; causing understanding, through language; and avoiding difficulty, through wisdom. It should be understood that, through what is spoken — the teaching and its meaning — and through the means of speaking — language and wisdom — the four unhindered understandings are established in this order. Question: why is this called unhindered understanding? What is its function?
Inward realization, and outward awakening —
hence it is called unhindered understanding;
being able to cut off every doubt —
this is its very function.
The exposition: the first half of this verse establishes the name; the second half displays its function. As to the name: the bodhisattva first realizes, inwardly, through transcendent wisdom, the equal suchness of every dharma; and afterward awakens, outwardly, through subsequently attained worldly wisdom, the distinctions among every dharma's categories. For this reason, it is called unhindered understanding. As to its function: through this understanding, one is able to cut through the net of every doubt in every sentient being — this is its function. The bodhisattva's four unhindered understandings having been explained, the bodhisattva's merit of the twin accumulations is next explained.
Merit and wisdom are the two accumulations;
excellent ripening, yet undefiled by it —
every bodhisattva's
excellent mark is entirely this.
The exposition: merit and wisdom are the two accumulations — the accumulation of merit, and the accumulation of wisdom. Excellent ripening, yet undefiled by it: through the accumulation of merit, the bodhisattva makes, amid birth-and-death, the cause that accomplishes an excellent ripening; and through the accumulation of wisdom, he makes the cause of remaining undefiled by that excellent ripening. Hence the bodhisattva's excellent mark is unequaled. Question: how do the two accumulations include the six perfections?
The first two are the substance of merit;
the sixth is itself wisdom;
the remaining three are the cause of both accumulations;
and the five, too, become the accumulation of wisdom.
The exposition: the first two are the substance of merit — the perfections of generosity and morality should be understood as the substance of the accumulation of merit. The sixth is itself wisdom — the perfection of wisdom should be understood as itself the substance of the accumulation of wisdom. The remaining three are the cause of both accumulations — the perfections of patience, diligence, and meditative concentration should be understood as, together, the cause of both accumulations, since they operate toward both at once. And the five, too, become the accumulation of wisdom — since wisdom, moreover, is able to dedicate them, every one of the perfections becomes the accumulation of wisdom as well. Question: why is it called an accumulation? What is an accumulation's function?
Correct cultivation, and repeated cultivation —
furthering the wholesome is called accumulation;
accomplishing benefit for oneself and for others —
this is called its function.
The exposition: the first half of this verse explains the name; the second half displays its function. As to the name: sambhāra is called accumulation — "sam" carries the sense of correct cultivation, "bhāra" the sense of repeated cultivation. Through correctly and repeatedly cultivating what is wholesome, it is furthered and increased, and through this furtherance it is called accumulation. As to its function: through this accumulation, one is able to accomplish both benefits, for oneself and for others — this is called its function. Question: what are the distinctions of kind within the two accumulations?
Entering the grounds, entering signlessness,
and entering effortlessness;
receiving the consecration, and the ultimate —
in order, the causes of the two accumulations.
The exposition: as to the distinction of kinds here: the accumulation on the ground of conviction and practice is the cause for entering the grounds. The accumulation across the first six grounds is the cause for entering signlessness. Signlessness is the accumulation held by the seventh ground, since no sign arises there. The accumulation of the seventh ground is the cause for entering effortlessness. The accumulation of the eighth and ninth grounds is the cause for entering the consecration. And the accumulation of the tenth ground is the cause for entering the ultimate, the ultimate being what belongs to the buddha ground. The bodhisattva's merit of the twin accumulations having been explained, the bodhisattva's cultivation of the four foundations of mindfulness is next explained.
The etymological gloss on sambhāra — "sam" as correct cultivation, "bhāra" as repeated cultivation — is offered as though it were straightforward linguistic analysis, but it is better read as this treatise's characteristic move of finding doctrine folded into a word's own sound, the same habit visible whenever it pauses over what a term "means" before explaining what it teaches. Whether or not the etymology would satisfy a grammarian, its function here is plain: correctness alone, without repetition, and repetition alone, without correctness, would each fail to accumulate anything, and the word itself is made to carry both requirements at once.
That five of the six perfections eventually "become" the accumulation of wisdom — through dedication, once wisdom is present to perform it — echoes the same move fascicle 8 made in explaining why wisdom alone, of all six perfections, needed compassion rather than wisdom to keep it inexhaustible. Here the direction runs the other way: wisdom does not need the other five to complete it, but the other five need wisdom to keep from remaining merely meritorious rather than becoming wisdom's own accumulation. Between the two fascicles, wisdom emerges as the one perfection that both depends on something outside itself and is what every other perfection ultimately depends on — inexhaustible only through compassion, yet itself the condition for the rest becoming inexhaustible in turn.
7. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness — Fourteen Modes of Supreme Cultivation
偈曰：
依止及對治， 入諦與緣緣，
作意并至得， 隨順亦隨轉，
覺境及受生， 限極將最上，
長時與後證， 勝修十四種。
釋曰：此二偈明菩薩四念處有十四種勝修，一依止勝修、二對治勝修、三入諦勝修、四緣緣勝修、五作意勝修、六至得勝修、七隨順勝修、八隨轉勝修、九覺境勝修、十受生勝修、十一限極勝修、十二最上勝修、十三長時勝修、十四後證勝修。依止勝修者，謂依大乘經起聞思修慧為自體故。對治勝修者，謂能對治不淨苦無常無我法想四倒，由入身等法無我故。入諦勝修者，謂如其次第，次第入苦集滅道諦故。自入他入，如《中邊分別論》說。緣緣勝修者，謂緣一切眾生身等為境界故。作意勝修者，謂身等不可得故。至得勝修者，謂身等不離不合故。隨順勝修者，謂得諸障對治，能對治彼障故。隨轉勝修者，謂凡夫二乘所修念處亦攝隨轉，為教授故。覺境勝修者，謂知身如幻色相似故、知受如夢皆邪覺故、知心如空自性淨故。知法如客，客謂纏垢，譬如虛空有烟雲塵霧故。受生勝修者，謂故意受生成就轉輪王等最勝，身受心法亦不染故。限極勝修者，謂修下品念處亦過餘人修最上品，自性利故。最上勝修者，謂能不作功用總別修習四念處故。長時勝修者，謂修至無餘涅槃亦無盡故。後證勝修者，謂十地及佛地中皆可得故。已說菩薩修習四念處，次說菩薩修習四正勤。
Support, and the remedy;
entering the truths, and the objective condition;
attention, and attainment;
according, and passing on to others;
awakened understanding of the object, and taking on birth;
utmost limit, and the very highest;
long duration, and later confirmation —
these fourteen kinds of supreme cultivation.
The exposition: these two verses explain that the bodhisattva's four foundations of mindfulness have fourteen kinds of supreme cultivation: the supreme cultivation of support, of remedy, of entering the truths, of the objective condition, of attention, of attainment, of according, of passing on, of awakened understanding of the object, of taking on birth, of utmost limit, of the very highest, of long duration, and of later confirmation.
The supreme cultivation of support is taking, as its own substance, the wisdom of hearing, reflecting, and cultivating that arises in dependence on the Mahāyāna sūtras. The supreme cultivation of remedy is being able to remedy the four inversions regarding the notions of impurity, suffering, impermanence, and non-self, through penetrating that the body and the rest of these phenomena are without self. The supreme cultivation of entering the truths is entering, in this same order, the truths of suffering, origin, cessation, and the path — both entering them oneself and causing others to enter them, as explained in the Madhyāntavibhāga. The supreme cultivation of the objective condition is taking as its object the body and the rest belonging to every sentient being. The supreme cultivation of attention is that the body and the rest cannot be apprehended. The supreme cultivation of attainment is that the body and the rest are neither separate from nor merged with the mindfulness that observes them.
The supreme cultivation of according is attaining the remedies for every obstruction, being able to remedy those obstructions. The supreme cultivation of passing on is that the foundations of mindfulness cultivated by ordinary beings and the two vehicles are also gathered in and passed on, for the sake of instruction. The supreme cultivation of awakened understanding of the object is knowing the body to resemble an illusory form; knowing feeling to resemble a dream, being entirely a mistaken awareness; knowing the mind to resemble space, pure in its own-nature; and knowing phenomena to resemble a guest — a guest being the entanglement of defilement, just as space may hold smoke, cloud, dust, or mist. The supreme cultivation of taking on birth is intentionally taking on birth, accomplishing the most excellent status such as that of a wheel-turning king, while remaining untainted regarding body, feeling, mind, and phenomena.
The supreme cultivation of utmost limit is that even cultivating the lowest grade of the foundations of mindfulness surpasses another's cultivating the very highest grade, since its own-nature is sharp. The supreme cultivation of the very highest is being able to cultivate the four foundations of mindfulness, both together and separately, effortlessly. The supreme cultivation of long duration is that this cultivation remains inexhaustible even unto nirvāṇa without remainder. And the supreme cultivation of later confirmation is that it can be attained throughout the ten grounds and the buddha ground alike. The bodhisattva's cultivation of the four foundations of mindfulness having been explained, the bodhisattva's cultivation of the four correct exertions is next explained.
The eighth mode, passing on (隨轉), is a small but telling admission: the foundations of mindfulness cultivated by ordinary beings and by the two vehicles are not discarded or superseded but explicitly "gathered in," retained within the bodhisattva's own practice for the sake of instructing others still at that level. This is the same pattern already seen with the field of giving and the grades of shame earlier in this fascicle — a lesser attainment is not treated as a rival to be corrected but as a stage genuinely included within the larger one, which is why the bodhisattva can still teach it convincingly rather than only having once passed through it.
The ninth mode's threefold simile — body like an illusory form, feeling like a dream, mind like space — assigns each of the traditional four objects of mindfulness (身受心法) its own distinct figure rather than reusing one image for all four, and each figure is chosen to answer that object's specific way of misleading: an illusion is convincing in its detail yet has no independent form of its own, a dream is vivid yet built entirely from confusion, and space, unlike the first two, is not deceptive at all but simply and constitutively empty. The fourth object, phenomena, gets a different kind of simile altogether — not a description of dharmas themselves but of what obscures them, comparing defilement to smoke, cloud, dust, or mist passing through open sky. Three similes describe what the object falsely appears to be; the fourth describes what merely visits it from outside.
8. The Four Correct Exertions, and the Four Bases of Supernormal Power
偈曰：
三捨及入地， 住寂與得記，
成生亦受職， 淨土并圓滿。
釋曰：菩薩為對治四念處障故修習四正勤，若廣說此對治則有十種差別，由對治十行障故。十行者，一捨著行，謂受有中勝報而不染著。二捨蓋行，謂離一切障蓋。三捨下行，謂離二乘作意。四入地行，謂入初六地。五住寂行，謂入第七地。六得記行，謂入第八地。七成生行，謂入第九地。八受職行，謂入第十地。九淨土行，謂第八第九第十三地。十圓滿行，謂入佛地。菩薩為對治此十行障故修習四正勤，是為廣說差別。問：此十差別修義云何？偈曰：
依止於欲故， 起勤起精進，
攝心與正持， 十治修如是。
釋曰：修義者，謂依欲起勤，依勤起精進攝心正持，是名修義。此中有平等修、有有相修、有精進修。平等修者，由正勤能令止觀平等故。有相修者，由止舉捨三相合修故。精進修者，為斷止觀中沒掉二障起精進故。問：云何起精進？答：謂攝心及正持。攝心者，謂奢摩他。正持者，若心平等則如是住如是正持。以此三修修前十行，是名修正勤。已說菩薩修習四正勤，次說菩薩修習四神足。偈曰：
分別四神足， 略以三事解，
依止及方便， 亦成就應知。
釋曰：此中略以三事分別四神足，一依止、二方便、三成就。問：云何依止？偈曰：
禪定所依止， 差別有四足，
一欲二精進、 三心四思惟。
釋曰：應知禪波羅蜜所依止有此四足差別。問：云何方便？偈曰：
起作及隨攝， 繫縛并對治，
隨次八斷行， 三一二二成。
釋曰：起作及隨攝繫縛并對治者，方便亦有四種：一起作方便、二隨攝方便、三繫縛方便、四對治方便。問：此四種方便，各以何等行成？答：隨次八斷行三一二二成。八斷行者，一信、二欲、三勤、四猗、五念、六智、七思、八捨。此中隨其次第，以信欲勤三行成立起作方便，由信起欲、由欲起勤，如是次第故。以猗一行成立隨攝方便，由猗息已定得生故。以念智二行成立繫縛方便，由正念故心於定中不離所緣，由正智故心離所緣覺已隨攝。以思捨二行成立對治方便，由思故對治沒纏，由捨故對治掉纏，此二是諸煩惱對治故。問：云何成就？偈曰：
能見及能授， 遊戲亦遊願，
自在并得法， 成就此六種。
釋曰：六成就者，一能見成就、二能授成就、三遊戲成就、四遊願成就、五自在成就、六得法成就。能見成就者，謂五眼，肉眼、天眼、慧眼、法眼、佛眼，此成就故。能授成就者，謂六通，依此能教授故。如其次第，身通往彼所，天耳通聞其音而為說法，他心通知障有無為之除斷，宿住通知過去行借力令知使其生信，天眼通知死此生彼令其生厭，漏盡通為之說法令得解脫。遊戲成就者，此有多種，謂變化等諸定。遊願成就者，謂入願力遊諸願果，謂放光發聲等。此不可數，廣如《十地經》說。自在成就者，謂十自在，亦如《十地經》說。得法成就者，謂得力、無所畏及不共法。已說菩薩修習四神足，次說菩薩修習五根。
Threefold relinquishing, and entering the grounds;
abiding in stillness, and receiving the prediction;
maturing beings, and receiving the consecration;
purifying the buddha-land, and complete fulfillment.
The exposition: the bodhisattva cultivates the four correct exertions in order to remedy the obstructions to the four foundations of mindfulness. Explained in full, this remedy has ten distinctions, corresponding to ten obstructed practices remedied: first, the practice of relinquishing attachment — accepting an excellent ripening amid existence without being attached to it; second, the practice of relinquishing hindrance — departing from every obstructing hindrance; third, the practice of relinquishing what is lesser — departing from the intent of the two vehicles; fourth, the practice of entering the grounds — entering the first six grounds; fifth, the practice of abiding in stillness — entering the seventh ground; sixth, the practice of receiving the prediction — entering the eighth ground; seventh, the practice of maturing beings — entering the ninth ground; eighth, the practice of receiving the consecration — entering the tenth ground; ninth, the practice of purifying the buddha-land — the eighth, ninth, and tenth grounds together; tenth, the practice of complete fulfillment — entering the buddha ground. The bodhisattva cultivates the four correct exertions in order to remedy the obstructions to these ten practices — this is their distinction explained in full. Question: what is the meaning of cultivation across these ten distinctions?
Resting on aspiration,
exertion arises, and diligence arises;
gathering the mind, and correctly sustaining it —
the ten remedies are cultivated in just this way.
The exposition: the meaning of cultivation is that, resting on aspiration, exertion arises; resting on exertion, diligence arises, gathering the mind and correctly sustaining it — this is the meaning of cultivation. Within this there is cultivation through equalizing, cultivation through the marks, and cultivation through diligence. Cultivation through equalizing is that correct exertion is able to make calm-abiding and insight equal. Cultivation through the marks is the combined cultivation of the three marks of stilling, uplifting, and relinquishing. Cultivation through diligence is diligence arising in order to cut off the two obstructions of sinking and agitation within calm-abiding and insight. Question: how does diligence arise? Answer: through gathering the mind and correctly sustaining it. Gathering the mind is calm-abiding. Correctly sustaining it is that, once the mind is equalized, one abides thus and correctly sustains it thus. Cultivating the ten practices above through these three modes of cultivation is called cultivating the correct exertions. The bodhisattva's cultivation of the four correct exertions having been explained, the bodhisattva's cultivation of the four bases of supernormal power is next explained.
Distinguishing the four bases of supernormal power,
in brief, through three matters they are explained:
support, and skillful means,
and accomplishment, should be known.
The exposition: here, the four bases of supernormal power are, in brief, distinguished through three matters: support, skillful means, and accomplishment. Question: what is their support?
What meditative concentration rests on,
distinguished, has four bases:
first, aspiration; second, diligence;
third, mind; fourth, investigation.
The exposition: it should be known that what the perfection of meditative concentration rests on has these four distinct bases. Question: what is their skillful means?
Initiating action, and subsequent gathering;
binding, and remedying —
in this order, the eight factors of relinquishment
accomplish them, three, one, two, and two.
The exposition: initiating action, subsequent gathering, binding, and remedying — the skillful means are likewise of four kinds: the means of initiating action, the means of subsequent gathering, the means of binding, and the means of remedying. Question: through what practices is each of these four means accomplished? Answer: in this order, the eight factors of relinquishment accomplish them, three, one, two, and two. The eight factors of relinquishment are: faith, aspiration, exertion, pliancy, mindfulness, wisdom, intention, and equanimity. Here, in order: the three factors of faith, aspiration, and exertion establish the means of initiating action, since faith gives rise to aspiration, and aspiration gives rise to exertion, in this sequence. The single factor of pliancy establishes the means of subsequent gathering, since once the entanglement is stilled through pliancy, concentration arises. The two factors of mindfulness and wisdom establish the means of binding, since through correct mindfulness the mind does not stray from its object within concentration, and through correct wisdom the mind, once aware of straying from its object, is gathered back. And the two factors of intention and equanimity establish the means of remedying, since intention remedies the entanglement of sinking, and equanimity remedies the entanglement of agitation — these two being what remedies every affliction. Question: what is their accomplishment?
Being able to see, and being able to bestow;
sporting freely, and roaming through vows;
mastery, and attaining the qualities —
accomplishment is these six kinds.
The exposition: the six accomplishments are: the accomplishment of being able to see, of being able to bestow, of sporting freely, of roaming through vows, of mastery, and of attaining the qualities. The accomplishment of being able to see is the five eyes — the physical eye, the divine eye, the wisdom eye, the dharma eye, and the buddha eye — this being accomplished. The accomplishment of being able to bestow is the six superknowledges, since instruction is given by resting on them: in order, the superknowledge of miraculous power goes to where a being is; the divine ear hears their voice and teaches them the Dharma accordingly; knowledge of others' minds knows whether an obstruction is present and removes it for them; recollection of past lives knows their past conduct, lending them its strength so that they come to know it and give rise to trust; the divine eye knows their death here and rebirth there, so as to make them give rise to weariness with it; and knowledge of the exhaustion of the contaminants teaches them the Dharma so that they attain liberation. The accomplishment of sporting freely is of many kinds — such transformative absorptions as manifest change. The accomplishment of roaming through vows is entering the power of one's vows and roaming through their fruits — emitting light, uttering sounds, and the rest — too numerous to count, as explained at length in the Daśabhūmika-sūtra. The accomplishment of mastery is the ten masteries, likewise as explained in the Daśabhūmika-sūtra. And the accomplishment of attaining the qualities is attaining the powers, the fearlessnesses, and the unique qualities. The bodhisattva's cultivation of the four bases of supernormal power having been explained, the bodhisattva's cultivation of the five faculties is next explained.
The classical four correct exertions — preventing unwholesome states not yet arisen, eliminating those already arisen, generating wholesome states not yet arisen, and maintaining those already present — describe a fixed, general-purpose discipline that applies identically at every stage of practice. This treatise replaces that formula almost entirely, mapping the four exertions instead onto ten specific obstructions tied to specific bodhisattva grounds, from relinquishing attachment to an excellent ripening in the earliest stages through to complete fulfillment at the buddha ground itself. The exertion involved is structurally the same throughout — cutting off an obstruction through diligence — but what counts as the obstruction changes at every ground, which turns a single fixed practice into a graduated sequence with its own developmental logic, distinct from the four foundations of mindfulness treated just before it, which this treatise instead multiplied in kind (fourteen modes) rather than mapped onto stages.
9. The Five Faculties, Five Powers, and Seven Factors of Enlightenment
偈曰：
覺行聞止觀， 信等根所緣，
增上是根義， 成就利益故。
釋曰：信根以菩提為所緣，進根以菩薩行為所緣，念根以聞大乘法為所緣，定根以奢摩他為所緣，慧根以如實智為所緣。問：云何是根義？答：此信等於所緣增上，故名為根，能成就利益故。已說菩薩修習五根，次說菩薩修習五力。偈曰：
應知信等根， 垂入於初地，
如前五根障， 能羸故名力。
釋曰：此中五根臨入初地時，能令不信、懈怠、失念、亂心、無知羸劣，故名為力。已說菩薩修習五力，次說菩薩修習七覺分。偈曰：
菩薩入初地， 建立於覺分，
諸法及眾生， 於此得平等。
釋曰：諸菩薩入初地時，覺彼法故建立覺分。問：云何覺？答：於一切法及自他身得平等解，如此名覺。如其次第，法無我及人無我故。偈曰：
譬如輪王行， 七寶為先導，
菩薩趣正覺， 七分常圓滿。
釋曰：此明諸菩薩七覺分與轉輪聖王七寶相似。問：何分與何寶相似？偈曰：
念伏於諸境， 擇法破分別，
進速無餘覺， 明增喜遍身，
障盡猗而樂， 諸作從定生，
隨時所欲住， 棄取皆由捨。
釋曰：第一念覺分與輪寶相似，未降國土輪能降故、未伏境界念能伏故。第二擇法覺分與象寶相似，諸國勍敵象能摧故、分別勝怨擇能破故。第三精進覺分與馬寶相似，大地闊邊馬速窮故、真如極際進速覺故。第四喜覺分與珠寶相似，珠光燭幽王歡極故、法明破暗心喜滿故。第五猗覺分與女寶相似，王受快樂女摩觸故、智脫障惱猗息惡故。第六定覺分與藏臣寶相似，王有所須從臣出故、智有所用從定生故。第七捨覺分與兵寶相似，主兵閱眾棄弱取強，隨轉輪聖王所住不疲倦故；菩薩修行棄惡取善，隨無分別智所住無功用故。成立七覺分與七寶相似，其義如此。偈曰：
依止及自性， 出離與功德，
第五說不染， 此分有三種。
釋曰：七覺分如其次第。念是依止分，一切菩提分依此而行故。擇是自性分，一切菩提以此為自體故。進是出離分，以此能令菩薩至究竟故。喜是功德分，以此能令心樂滿故。猗定捨三是不染分，猗是不染因故、定是不染依止故、捨是不染自性故。已說菩薩修習七覺分，次說菩薩修習八正道分。
Awakening, conduct, learning, calm-abiding, and insight —
these are what faith and the rest, as faculties, take as their objects;
dominance is the meaning of a faculty,
since it accomplishes benefit.
The exposition: the faculty of faith takes enlightenment as its object; the faculty of diligence takes the bodhisattva's conduct as its object; the faculty of mindfulness takes hearing the Mahāyāna teachings as its object; the faculty of concentration takes calm-abiding as its object; and the faculty of wisdom takes wisdom as things really are as its object. Question: what is the meaning of a faculty? Answer: faith and the rest are dominant with respect to their objects, hence they are called faculties, being able to accomplish benefit. The bodhisattva's cultivation of the five faculties having been explained, the bodhisattva's cultivation of the five powers is next explained.
Know that faith and the other faculties,
on the verge of entering the first ground,
are able to weaken the obstructions to these same five faculties —
hence they are called powers.
The exposition: here, when the five faculties are on the verge of entering the first ground, they are able to weaken faithlessness, laziness, forgetfulness, a scattered mind, and ignorance — hence they are called powers. The bodhisattva's cultivation of the five powers having been explained, the bodhisattva's cultivation of the seven factors of enlightenment is next explained.
When the bodhisattva enters the first ground,
the factors of enlightenment are established;
regarding all phenomena and all beings,
equality is attained through them.
The exposition: when the bodhisattva enters the first ground, the factors of enlightenment are established because he awakens to these phenomena. Question: what is awakening? Answer: attaining an equal understanding regarding all phenomena, and regarding one's own body and others' — this is called awakening, corresponding in order to the selflessness of phenomena and the selflessness of persons.
Just as when a wheel-turning king proceeds,
the seven treasures go before him as guides,
so when the bodhisattva advances toward true enlightenment,
the seven factors are always fully present.
The exposition: this displays that the bodhisattva's seven factors of enlightenment resemble the wheel-turning king's seven treasures. Question: which factor resembles which treasure?
Mindfulness subdues every object;
discernment of phenomena breaks through discrimination;
diligence swiftly reaches awakening without remainder;
brightness increases, and joy pervades the body;
obstruction ended, pliancy brings ease;
every action arises from concentration;
abiding wherever and whenever one wishes;
discarding and taking up, all through equanimity.
The exposition: the first, the factor of mindfulness, resembles the wheel treasure — the wheel is able to subdue lands not yet subdued, just as mindfulness is able to subdue objects not yet subdued. The second, the factor of discernment of phenomena, resembles the elephant treasure — the elephant crushes every formidable enemy of every land, just as discernment breaks through the discrimination of one's most excellent foe. The third, the factor of diligence, resembles the horse treasure — the horse swiftly reaches the farthest edge of the great earth, just as diligence swiftly reaches the utmost limit of suchness. The fourth, the factor of joy, resembles the jewel treasure — the jewel's light illuminates darkness, bringing the king utmost delight, just as the Dharma's brightness breaks through darkness, filling the mind with joy.
The fifth, the factor of pliancy, resembles the woman treasure — the king receives bliss through the woman's touch, just as wisdom, freed from the vexation of obstruction, is put at ease through pliancy, stilling what is unwholesome. The sixth, the factor of concentration, resembles the minister-of-the-treasury treasure — the king obtains whatever he needs from his minister, just as wisdom, whatever its use, arises from concentration. The seventh, the factor of equanimity, resembles the army treasure — the general, reviewing his troops, discards the weak and takes up the strong, following the wheel-turning king's own bearing without weariness; just as the bodhisattva, in his practice, discards what is unwholesome and takes up what is wholesome, following where non-discriminating wisdom abides, effortlessly. This is the meaning by which the seven factors of enlightenment are established as resembling the seven treasures.
Support, and own-nature;
transcendence, and merit;
the fifth is said to be freedom from taint —
these factors are of three kinds.
The exposition: the seven factors of enlightenment, in order: mindfulness is the factor of support, since every factor of enlightenment operates in dependence on it. Discernment is the factor of own-nature, since enlightenment takes this as its very substance. Diligence is the factor of transcendence, since it is able to bring the bodhisattva to the ultimate. Joy is the factor of merit, since it is able to make the mind fully joyful. And pliancy, concentration, and equanimity, these three, are the factors of freedom from taint — pliancy being the cause of freedom from taint, concentration being its support, and equanimity being its own-nature. The bodhisattva's cultivation of the seven factors of enlightenment having been explained, the bodhisattva's cultivation of the eight path-factors is next explained.
The seven-treasures simile earns its length by staying specific rather than trading on the wheel-turning king's general grandeur: each pairing turns on one particular property of the treasure, not merely its royal association. The elephant is invoked for crushing formidable enemies, not for size or dignity; the horse for the specific virtue of speed across distance; the jewel for casting light in darkness rather than for value. Only with the woman treasure does the comparison turn openly erotic — the king's bliss at her touch mapped onto wisdom's ease once freed from affliction — a boldness the text does not soften, and one worth noting precisely because the treatise elsewhere tends toward austere, technical diction; here it reaches for the most sensuous image in the whole set of seven and lets it stand.
10. The Eight Path-Factors
偈曰：
一轉如前覺， 立分二亦然，
次三三業淨， 後三三障斷。
釋曰：一轉如前覺者，第一分，如前位中如實覺後時隨轉，說名正見。立分二亦然者，第二分，如前位中自所立分而解，入佛經中如佛所立為他分別，名正思惟。次三三業淨者，次三謂正語、正業、正命。三業謂語業、身業、俱業。如其次第，以次三正攝此三業故。後三三障斷者，後三謂正勤、正念、正定。三障謂智障、定障、自在障。如其次第，以後三正治此三障。由修正勤長時不退屈故智障斷，由修正念掉沒無體故定障斷，由修正定勝德成就故自在障斷。如是建立八正道分應知。
The first turns as before, awakening;
the second likewise establishes, distinguishing for others;
the next three purify the three deeds;
the last three cut off the three obstructions.
The exposition: the first turns as before, awakening — the first factor, the very real awakening realized before, at the path of seeing, now carried forward, is called right view. The second likewise establishes, distinguishing for others — the second factor, taking the very distinction one has established for oneself and, entering the Buddha's own scriptures, distinguishing it for others just as the Buddha himself established it, is called right intention.
The next three purify the three deeds — the next three are right speech, right action, and right livelihood; the three deeds are the deed of speech, the deed of the body, and the deed of both combined; in this order, these three rightly gather in these three deeds. The last three cut off the three obstructions — the last three are right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration; the three obstructions are the obstruction to wisdom, the obstruction to concentration, and the obstruction to mastery; in this order, these last three rightly remedy these three obstructions. Through cultivating right effort, one never retreats over the long term, and so the obstruction to wisdom is cut off; through cultivating right mindfulness, agitation and sinking have no basis, and so the obstruction to concentration is cut off; through cultivating right concentration, excellent qualities are accomplished, and so the obstruction to mastery is cut off. The eight path-factors should be understood as thus established.
This exact fourfold condensation of the eight path-factors — right view as discrimination, right intention paired with a portion of right speech as instructing others, right speech/action/livelihood together as causing trust, and right effort/mindfulness/concentration together as remedying obstruction — recurs almost word for word in Sthiramati's commentary on the Madhyāntavibhāga, translated elsewhere on this site. The two treatises are independent works, but this passage's shared analytical scaffolding — the same four groupings, the same three obstructions remedied by the same final triad — is close enough that it is very unlikely to be coincidental convergence; more probably, both draw on a common Yogācāra template for reorganizing the eightfold path around the path of seeing and the path of cultivation, one evidently stable enough to be reproduced nearly intact across separate treatises.
Right effort's specific remedy is worth noting against the four correct exertions treated two sections earlier in this same fascicle: there, "effort" was multiplied into ten ground-specific practices; here, folded back into the eightfold path, it is compressed to a single function — cutting off the obstruction to wisdom through never retreating over the long term. The treatise clearly regards these as compatible descriptions of the same underlying quality at different levels of resolution, one expanded to track the bodhisattva's ten grounds, the other kept to the classical eight-term list — rather than as two different exertions requiring separate cultivation.
Fascicle 10 Complete
The first half of 覺分品第二十一 turns out to be less a straightforward catalogue of the classical thirty-seven factors than an argument about what belongs among them. Before the treatise ever reaches the four foundations of mindfulness, it spends eight full sections establishing a sequence of bodhisattva qualities as factors of enlightenment in their own right: a sense of shame defined by its object — beings still narrower in scope than the Mahāyāna — and traced through twelve cascading faults when absent; fearlessness built from diligence, concentration, and wisdom rather than granted as a settled fruit; non-retrogression supported jointly by shame and valor; knowing the teachings and knowing the world, each broken into precise, non-sectarian competencies; the four standards, the classical four reliances sharpened into four targeted remedies against four named errors; the four unhindered understandings; and the twin accumulations of merit and wisdom, in which five of the six perfections are shown becoming wisdom's own accumulation through dedication alone.
Only then does the classical sequence begin, and even there this treatise keeps reshaping it: the four foundations of mindfulness multiplied into fourteen modes of supreme cultivation rather than left as the usual fourfold analysis of body, feeling, mind, and phenomena; the four correct exertions remapped entirely onto ten obstructions across the bodhisattva's ten grounds; the four bases of supernormal power broken into support, skillful means, and six kinds of accomplishment, from the five eyes to the ten masteries; the five faculties and five powers; the seven factors of enlightenment matched point by point to a wheel-turning king's seven treasures, down to the frankly sensuous simile of the woman treasure; and finally the eight path-factors, condensed to the same fourfold scheme of discrimination, instruction, trust, and remedy found nearly verbatim in this site's translation of the Madhyāntavibhāga. Fascicle 11 continues 覺分品第二十一之二, the second part of this same chapter.
Continue to Fascicle 11 — The Factors of Enlightenment, Part Two →