Great Enlightenment and the Bodhisattva's Qualities
Great enlightenment is defined here as the transformation of the basis, and then argued for: what it must be if the buddhas' path is to arise at all and the afflictions never to arise again. Five ways in which it is inconceivable follow, and then what it does — ten masteries, four kinds of transformation, and a final nirvāṇa that turns out to be a display. The rest of the fascicle is given to the bodhisattva, in four sets of summary verses: five qualities held in common with no one and the five unremarkable ones that produce them, five kinds of counterfeit virtue, ten things a bodhisattva must do, the four things that only a buddha or bodhisattva may properly establish, and the seven greatnesses that make a vehicle great.
Where This Fascicle Picks Up
Fascicle 7 completed the analysis of the three trainings and of the three enlightenments, finishing the verse on hearing, refuge, training, and enlightenment. A new verse now opens, naming seven further topics — noble practice, the unsurpassed vehicle, great enlightenment, the qualities, rival doctrines, the methods of debate, and interpretation. This fascicle covers the first four; the last three fall to later fascicles.
Classical text is set in the left-hand column below, our English in the right. See also this site's note on translation method, and the note on this treatise's method in fascicle 1.
1. Noble Practice and the Unsurpassed Vehicle
如是分別聞、歸等已。復次頌曰：
聖行、無上乘、 大菩提、功德，
異論、論法、釋， 應知各多種。
Hearing, refuge, and the rest having thus been distinguished, furthermore:
Noble practice, the unsurpassed vehicle,
great enlightenment, the qualities,
rival doctrines, the methods of debate, interpretation —
each is to be known as of many kinds.
論曰：聖行多種者，謂四聖行：一到彼岸行、二菩提分行、三神通行、四成熟有情行。
到彼岸行者，謂如前所說十波羅蜜多，是名到彼岸行。菩提分行者，謂如前所說四念住等一切三十七覺分法，及四種尋思、四種如實遍智，是名菩提分行。神通行者，謂如前所說六種神通，名神通行。成熟有情行者，謂如前所說二種無量：一所調伏無量、二調伏方便無量。復有六種成熟，一成熟自體、二所成熟者、三成熟差別、四成熟方便、五能成熟者、六已成熟者相。如是名為成熟有情行應知。
無上乘多種者，謂五種大乘：一種子、二趣入、三次第、四正行、五正行果。如其次第，〈菩薩地〉中種性品、發心品、住品、餘諸品大菩提建立二品所攝應知。
The exposition: noble practice is of four kinds — the practice of going to the far shore, the practice of the factors of enlightenment, the practice of the supernormal powers, and the practice of ripening beings.
Going to the far shore: the ten perfections stated above. The factors of enlightenment: the four establishments of mindfulness and all the thirty-seven factors stated above, together with the four investigations and the four full knowledges in accordance with reality. The supernormal powers: the six supernormal powers stated above. Ripening beings: the two measureless attentions stated above — the measureless attention to those to be trained and to the means of training them. There are also six aspects of ripening: the substance of ripening; who is ripened; the differences of ripening; the means of ripening; who ripens; and the marks of one already ripened. This is what is meant by the practice of ripening beings.
The unsurpassed vehicle is of five kinds: the seed, entering in, the sequence, right practice, and the fruit of right practice. In that order, these are comprised in the Bodhisattva Grounds — in its chapter on lineage, its chapter on generating the aspiration, its chapter on the abodes, its remaining chapters, and its two chapters establishing great enlightenment.
The four noble practices were given in fascicle 3 under the same names; here the second is expanded to include the four investigations and their four resulting knowledges from fascicle 6. The thirty-seven are shared with the śrāvaka; the four investigations are not. Adding them to the factors of enlightenment is how a Mahāyāna treatise keeps the traditional list and still says something more.
The mapping of the five aspects of the vehicle onto chapters of the Bodhisattva Grounds is Asaṅga citing his own source structure explicitly. This treatise is a condensation of the Treatise on the Stages of Yogic Practice, and here it names which parts of that work each of its own headings corresponds to.
2. Great Enlightenment: Four Things the Transformation of the Basis Must Be
The definition is short — what surpasses everything a śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha attains — and then four properties are established, each by an argument from what would follow otherwise.
大菩提多種者，謂五種大菩提，一自性、二功用、三方便、四轉、五滅。
自性者，謂超過一切聲聞獨覺所得轉依。此有四種應知，一生起依止、二不生依止、三善觀察所知果、四法界淨相。
生起依止者，謂佛相續出世間道，依此轉依方得生起，非不生起。若離此轉依亦生起者，未轉依前應已生起。
不生依止者，謂一切煩惱及彼習氣，依此轉依不復生起。若不爾者，未轉依前眾緣和合一切煩惱及彼習氣，永更不生已應可得。
善觀察所知果者，謂此轉依是善通達所知、實際所知真如果。若不爾者，諸佛自體應更了知、應更斷滅。
法界淨相者，謂此轉依無眾相故，極善清淨法界所顯。若不爾者，應是無常可思議法。然此轉依是常住相，不可思議無二所顯。
Great enlightenment is of five kinds: its own nature, its efficacy, its means, its turning, and its ceasing.
Its own nature: the transformation of the basis, surpassing all that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas attain. This should be understood as fourfold — it is the support of arising, the support of non-arising, the fruit of well observing what is to be known, and the pure aspect of the realm of things.
The support of arising: the transcendent path in a buddha's continuum arises only in dependence on this transformation of the basis, and not otherwise. If it could arise apart from this transformation, it should already have arisen before the transformation occurred.
The support of non-arising: all the afflictions and their habitual traces do not arise again, in dependence on this transformation. If it were otherwise, then before the transformation, when the various conditions came together, all the afflictions and their traces should already have been found never to arise again.
The fruit of well observing what is to be known: this transformation is the fruit of well penetrating what is to be known, the true limit, the suchness that is to be known. If it were otherwise, the buddhas' own nature would have to be known yet again and cut off yet again.
The pure aspect of the realm of things: because this transformation is without the manifold marks, it is displayed by the utterly pure realm of things. If it were otherwise, it would be an impermanent and conceivable thing. But this transformation has the mark of permanent abiding, and is displayed as inconceivable and non-dual.
Each of the four properties is established by the same argumentative move: assume the opposite and note the absurdity that follows. If the buddha's path could arise without the transformation of the basis, it would already have arisen before it — which it did not. If the afflictions could be permanently prevented without it, they would already have stopped. The form is elementary, and its point is to show that the transformation is not one factor among others but the necessary and sufficient condition of both the arising of the path and the non-arising of affliction.
The third argument is the subtlest. If the transformation were not the fruit of having penetrated suchness — if it were some further object still standing over against knowledge — then a buddha's own nature would itself be something remaining to be known and something remaining to be cut off. Buddhahood would be an unfinished state. The argument secures that awakening terminates the two tasks rather than adding a third.
Note the claim in the fourth: 常住相, the mark of permanent abiding. This is said of the transformation of the basis specifically, and it is what allows a system built on universal impermanence to speak of a buddha's attainment as not perishing. What is permanent is not a thing but the purified realm of things, which is 無眾相, without the manifold marks — and therefore not the sort of item to which arising and perishing apply.
3. Five Ways It Is Inconceivable
此不可思議性復有五種應知，一自性、二處所、三住、四一性異性、五成立所作。
自性者，此轉依性即色離色不可思議。如是即受想行識離受想行識不可思議，地界水界火界風界若即若離不可思議，眼處耳處鼻處舌處身處意處等若即若離不可思議，若有若無等不可思議。
處所者，此轉依性若在欲界若離欲界不可思議，若在色無色界若離色無色界不可思議，人間天上若在若離不可思議，十方世界若在若離不可思議。
住者，謂此轉依住如是如是狀貌安樂住不可思議住，如是如是狀貌奢摩他住不可思議住，有心住不可思議住、無心住不可思議住，如是如是狀貌聖住不可思議住、如是如是狀貌天住梵住不可思議。
一性異性者，一切諸佛同處一無漏界中，一性異性不可思議。
成立所作者，謂諸佛如來其性平等，智慧勢力威德平等，住無漏界依止轉依，為利一切諸有情故，成立如是如是利有情事不可思議。
此復二因緣故不可思議應知，一以離言說義過言語道故不可思議、二以出世間義世無比故不可思議。
This inconceivability should be understood as of five kinds: as to its own nature, its place, its abiding, its being one or many, and its establishing what is to be done.
Own nature: whether this transformation is form or apart from form is inconceivable. So too whether it is feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness or apart from them; whether it is the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind or apart from them; whether it is the sense fields of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mentation or apart from them; and whether it exists or does not exist — all inconceivable.
Place: whether it is in the realm of desire or apart from it is inconceivable; whether it is in the realms of form and formlessness or apart from them; whether it is among humans or in the heavens or apart from them; whether it is in the worlds of the ten directions or apart from them — all inconceivable.
Abiding: that this transformation abides in such and such an aspect as a blissful abiding is an inconceivable abiding; that it abides in such and such an aspect as an abiding of calm abiding is inconceivable; abiding with mind is inconceivable, abiding without mind is inconceivable; that it abides in such and such an aspect as a noble abiding is inconceivable; and that it abides in such and such an aspect as a divine abiding or a Brahmā abiding is inconceivable.
Being one or many: that all the buddhas dwell together in one uncontaminated realm, and whether that is oneness or manyness, is inconceivable.
Establishing what is to be done: that the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, are equal in nature, equal in wisdom, power, and majesty, and, dwelling in the uncontaminated realm in dependence on the transformation of the basis, establish for the benefit of all beings such and such deeds of benefit — this is inconceivable.
And this is inconceivable for two further reasons: because its sense is apart from speech and passes beyond the path of words; and because its sense is transcendent and has no equal in the world.
The pattern in the first two headings is the standard tetralemma with only two of its horns stated: neither the same as form nor apart from form, neither in the realm of desire nor apart from it. This is the same structure the treatise used for suchness in fascicle 6 — that whether suchness is the same as things or different "cannot be declared" — and it belongs to the same family as the questions the Buddha set aside. Inconceivability here is a technical result, not a devotional flourish: the transformation is not an item that the identity-and-difference apparatus can be applied to.
The fourth heading raises the question that any account of multiple buddhas has to face. If all buddhas dwell in one uncontaminated realm, are they one or many? The treatise declines both, and the decline is significant — it refuses both a Buddhist monism in which the buddhas merge and a plurality in which they are separate individuals with separate realms.
The fifth is the one that matters practically. What is inconceivable is not only what a buddha is but that a buddha, being wholly equal to every other buddha and dwelling in an uncontaminated realm, nonetheless does particular things for particular beings. Equality and specific action are both asserted, and their compatibility is placed beyond conception rather than explained.
4. What Great Enlightenment Does: Masteries, Displays, Turning, and Ceasing
功用者，略而言之十種自在名為功用。何者為十？一壽自在、二心自在、三眾具自在、四業自在、五生自在、六願自在、七勝解自在、八神變自在、九智自在、十法自在。
方便者，略而言之四種變化名為方便。一未成熟者令成熟故，現諸菩薩所行行變化；二已成熟者令解脫故，於三千大千世界百拘胝贍部洲同時顯現如來變化；三方便攝受聲聞變化；四為彼所調伏有情顯現一切獨覺變化。佛薄伽梵於此四種變化法中，十方世界無礙作用應知。
轉者，有二種應知，一暫時轉、二究竟轉。暫時轉者，謂乃至有情未成熟未解脫，諸佛如來化轉不息。究竟轉者，如無盡不可思議諸佛威德明轉，為諸有情作利益事，流轉不息故。
滅者，有二種應知，一暫時滅、二究竟滅。暫時滅者，於已成熟已解脫有情，諸佛如來暫時示現入般涅槃，非是究竟。究竟滅者，謂一切煩惱及彼習氣及所依苦究竟永盡應知。
Efficacy: in brief, ten masteries are its efficacy. What ten? Mastery over lifespan, over mind, over requisites, over karma, over birth, over vows, over resolve, over supernatural transformation, over knowledge, and over the Dharma.
Means: in brief, four kinds of display are its means. First, in order to ripen those not yet ripened, the display of the conduct practiced by bodhisattvas. Second, in order to liberate those already ripened, the display of a Tathāgata appearing simultaneously in a hundred koṭis of Jambudvīpa continents throughout the great thousand-fold world system. Third, the display that skillfully gathers in śrāvakas. Fourth, the display of all the pratyekabuddhas, for those beings to be trained by that. In these four kinds of display, the Buddha, the Blessed One, acts unobstructedly throughout the worlds of the ten directions.
Turning: of two kinds. Temporary turning: so long as beings are not ripened and not liberated, the buddhas' displays turn without cease. Final turning: as the inexhaustible and inconceivable radiance of the buddhas' majesty turns, performing deeds of benefit for beings, flowing on without cease.
Ceasing: of two kinds. Temporary ceasing: for beings already ripened and already liberated, the buddhas temporarily display entry into final nirvāṇa — which is not the final ceasing. Final ceasing: the ultimate and permanent exhaustion of all the afflictions, their habitual traces, and the suffering that rests on them.
The most consequential sentence in this passage is the definition of temporary ceasing: for beings already ripened, the buddhas temporarily display entry into final nirvāṇa, 非是究竟, and this is not the final ceasing. The Buddha's death at Kuśinagara is here classified as a display and set alongside the display of bodhisattva conduct, of a buddha appearing in a hundred koṭis of continents, and of pratyekabuddhas. What actually ceases finally is the afflictions, their traces, and the suffering resting on them — not the buddha's activity, which the preceding paragraph says turns 流轉不息, flowing on without cease.
The four displays are sorted by audience with some care. Those not yet ripened are shown bodhisattvas practicing — people at work on the path, not the finished result. Only those already ripened are shown a buddha. And the third and fourth displays are of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, produced for beings whom those figures will reach. On this account the existence of the other two vehicles is itself among a buddha's skillful means.
5. Five Qualities Held in Common with No One — and the Five That Produce Them
The bodhisattva's qualities now occupy the rest of the fascicle, organized by four sets of summary verses. The first pairing is the most interesting move in the section: five extraordinary qualities, and then five entirely unremarkable dispositions from which they follow.
功德多種者，嗢拕南曰：
殊特、非殊特， 平等心、利益，
報恩與欣讚， 不虛方便行。
The qualities are of many kinds. Summary verse:
The extraordinary, the unremarkable,
the mind of equality, benefit,
repaying kindness and rejoicing,
and practice by means that is not in vain.
論曰：殊特者，謂諸菩薩修學無上正等覺乘時，有五種殊特之法應知。何等為五？一於一切有情非有因緣而起親愛、二唯為利益諸有情故常處流轉忍受大苦、三於多煩惱難調有情善能解了調伏方便、四於極難解真實義理能隨悟入、五具足不思議威德。如是五法非餘有情所共有，故名為殊特。
The exposition: the extraordinary. When bodhisattvas train in the vehicle of unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, five extraordinary qualities should be understood. What five? First, they give rise to affection for all beings without any cause for it. Second, solely for the benefit of beings, they remain in the round and endure great suffering. Third, with beings of many afflictions who are hard to tame, they can well make out the means of taming them. Fourth, into the truly real principle that is extremely hard to understand, they are able to enter. Fifth, they are furnished with inconceivable majesty. These five are not held in common with other beings, and so are called extraordinary.
非殊特者，謂諸菩薩修學無上正等覺乘時，有五種非殊特法。菩薩摩訶薩由成就此五種法故，則五種殊特法成就顯現。何等為五？
謂諸菩薩以因利他苦即為己樂，是故菩薩恒遍受行利他因苦，是名第一非殊特法。又諸菩薩雖善了知生死涅槃過失功德，而樂令有情畢竟清淨即為己樂，是故菩薩為淨有情增上力故，恒誓受行處生死法，是名第二非殊特法。又諸菩薩雖善了知默然樂味，而樂令有情畢竟清淨即為己樂，是故菩薩為淨有情增上力故，恒勤方便而為說法，是名第三非殊特法。又諸菩薩雖已積集六波羅蜜多善根，而樂令有情畢竟清淨即為己樂，是故菩薩為淨有情增上力故，以清淨意而施與之，又不期彼施果異熟，是名第四非殊特法。又諸菩薩以他利益事即為自利益事，是故菩薩恒現受行一切有情利益之事，是名第五非殊特法。菩薩摩訶薩由成就此五種法故，則五種殊特法成就顯現應知。
The unremarkable. When bodhisattvas train in that vehicle there are five unremarkable qualities; and it is by accomplishing these five that the five extraordinary qualities are accomplished and appear. What five?
Bodhisattvas take the suffering that is the cause of benefiting others as their own pleasure; therefore they constantly and everywhere undergo the suffering that is the cause of benefiting others. This is the first unremarkable quality. Again, though bodhisattvas well understand the faults of birth-and-death and the good qualities of nirvāṇa, they take the ultimate purity of beings as their own pleasure; therefore, through the dominant force of purifying beings, they constantly vow to undergo the states of birth-and-death. This is the second. Again, though bodhisattvas well understand the savor of silent bliss, they take the ultimate purity of beings as their own pleasure; therefore, through the dominant force of purifying beings, they constantly and diligently apply means and teach the Dharma. This is the third. Again, though bodhisattvas have already accumulated the wholesome roots of the six perfections, they take the ultimate purity of beings as their own pleasure; therefore, through the dominant force of purifying beings, they give with a pure intention and do not look for any ripened fruit of that giving. This is the fourth. Again, bodhisattvas take the benefit of others as their own benefit; therefore they constantly appear undergoing what benefits all beings. This is the fifth. It should be understood that it is by accomplishing these five that the five extraordinary qualities are accomplished and appear.
The pairing is the argument. Five things about bodhisattvas look superhuman — loving strangers without cause, choosing to stay in saṃsāra and suffer, reaching people no one else can reach, understanding what is nearly unintelligible, wielding inconceivable power. Then the treatise asks what produces them and answers with five sentences that all say the same thing in different registers: the bodhisattva's pleasure just is the benefit of others. Given that, none of the five extraordinary qualities is a feat of endurance at all. Staying in saṃsāra is not heroic self-sacrifice; it is the obvious thing to do if what you enjoy is others' purification.
The label 非殊特, unremarkable, is doing precise work. These five are not extraordinary because there is nothing strange about a person pursuing what they take pleasure in. What has changed is the location of the pleasure, and everything else follows mechanically. Note the third: the bodhisattva knows perfectly well 默然樂味, the savor of silent bliss — this is not someone who lacks the taste for meditative solitude, but someone for whom teaching is simply more enjoyable.
The fourth adds a detail worth catching: giving with a pure intention and not looking for any ripened fruit of that giving. Merit accrues either way; expecting it is what would compromise the act.
6. Equality, Benefit, Repaying Kindness, Rejoicing, and Unfailing Means
平等心者，謂諸菩薩於一切有情所有五種平等心。一菩薩摩訶薩初發心時，如為得大菩提故起大誓願，如是亦為利益諸有情故起平等心。二菩薩摩訶薩於諸有情起悲愍俱平等之心。三菩薩摩訶薩於諸有情起如一子愛俱平等之心。四菩薩摩訶薩於從眾緣已生諸行，知是所想有情事已，了達一有情法性即是一切有情法性，於一切有情所起平等法性智俱平等之心。五菩薩摩訶薩如於一有情行利益行，如是於一切有情亦行利益行，故於一切有情所起欲作利益事俱平等之心。如是名為菩薩摩訶薩於諸有情起於五種平等之心。
利益者，謂菩薩摩訶薩於諸有情作一切利益事，有五種相應知。何等為五？一於違損事說正命法而引攝之；二於不隨順能饒益事說隨順法而引攝之；三無依苦惱貧匱無怙有情為作依怙而引攝之；四宣說趣於善趣之道而引攝之；五宣說三乘趣涅槃道而引攝之。
The mind of equality: bodhisattvas have five kinds of equal mind toward all beings. First, when a bodhisattva first generates the aspiration, then just as he makes a great vow in order to attain great enlightenment, so also he gives rise to an equal mind for the benefit of beings. Second, he gives rise toward beings to an equal mind accompanied by compassion. Third, he gives rise toward beings to an equal mind accompanied by the love one has for an only child. Fourth, with respect to the formations already produced from the various conditions, having known them to be what is conceived as a being, he penetrates that the nature of one being just is the nature of all beings, and gives rise toward all beings to an equal mind accompanied by the knowledge of that equal nature. Fifth, just as he practices what benefits one being, so he practices what benefits all beings, and therefore gives rise toward all beings to an equal mind accompanied by the wish to do what benefits them. These are the five equal minds a bodhisattva gives rise to toward beings.
Benefit: when a bodhisattva does everything that benefits beings, five marks should be understood. First, where there is harmful activity, he teaches the Dharma of right livelihood and draws them in by it. Second, where they do not go along with what would truly help them, he teaches a Dharma they can go along with and draws them in by it. Third, for beings without support, in anguish, destitute, and without protection, he becomes their support and draws them in by it. Fourth, he proclaims the way that leads to the good destinies and draws them in by it. Fifth, he proclaims the way of the three vehicles that leads to nirvāṇa and draws them in by it.
報恩者，謂菩薩摩訶薩於有恩有情所起於五種反報利益。何等為五？一安處有情令學己德；二方便安處令學他德；三無依無怙苦惱貧匱者為作依怙；四勸令供養諸佛如來；五令自書寫佛所說法及受持供養。
欣讚者，有五種處，菩薩摩訶薩常應欣讚。何等為五？一值佛出世而得承事；二於如來所常聞六波羅蜜多相應菩薩藏法；三於成熟一切有情行堪任修習；四速證無上正等菩提；五證菩提已菩薩聲聞大眾和合。
不虛方便行者，謂菩薩摩訶薩於諸有情有五種不虛利益方便勝行。何等為五？一菩薩摩訶薩於諸有情以利益安樂意為先。二菩薩摩訶薩成就不顛倒覺，於利益安樂事如實了知。三以隨宜方便說種種法，令諸有情隨所堪任悉得調伏，此唯如來究竟堪能。四菩薩摩訶薩於一切時心無厭倦。五菩薩摩訶薩平等大悲，於下中上諸有情所心無偏黨。
Repaying kindness: a bodhisattva gives rise to five kinds of repaying benefit toward beings who have shown him kindness. What five? First, he settles them so that they learn his own good qualities. Second, by skillful means he settles them so that they learn the good qualities of others. Third, for those without support or protection, in anguish and destitute, he becomes their support. Fourth, he urges them to make offerings to the buddhas. Fifth, he has them copy out for themselves the Dharma the Buddha taught, and uphold and honor it.
Rejoicing: there are five occasions in which a bodhisattva should constantly rejoice. What five? First, meeting a buddha who has appeared in the world and being able to serve him. Second, constantly hearing, in the presence of the Tathāgata, the bodhisattva-canon teachings that pertain to the six perfections. Third, being fit to cultivate the practice that ripens all beings. Fourth, swiftly realizing unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. Fifth, that once enlightenment is realized, the great assembly of bodhisattvas and śrāvakas is in harmony.
Practice by means that is not in vain: a bodhisattva has five surpassing practices of unfailing beneficial means toward beings. What five? First, he puts the intention of their benefit and ease first. Second, he accomplishes an undistorted awareness and knows as it really is what benefits and eases them. Third, by means suited to each he teaches various Dharmas, so that beings are tamed according to what each can bear — and in this only a Tathāgata is ultimately capable. Fourth, at all times his mind is without weariness. Fifth, his great compassion is equal, and toward lesser, middling, and greater beings alike his mind is without partiality.
The fourth mind of equality is the only one that is not an attitude but an argument, and it is the ground of the other four: having seen that what we call a being is a set of conditioned formations conceived as a being, one penetrates that the nature of one being just is the nature of all beings. Equality here is not an achievement of feeling but a consequence of analysis. The other four — the vow, compassion, the love for an only child, the wish to benefit — are what that recognition looks like in operation.
The five marks of benefit are ordered from the most worldly upward, and the first two are notably practical. To someone earning a living harmfully, one teaches right livelihood — not emptiness. To someone who will not accept what would actually help, one teaches something they can accept. Only the fourth and fifth marks concern rebirth and nirvāṇa. The list begins where people are.
The third mark of unfailing means contains an unusual admission: teaching each person according to what they can bear is something 唯如來究竟堪能, of which only a Tathāgata is ultimately capable. This is listed among the bodhisattva's qualities and simultaneously conceded to be beyond a bodhisattva's full command. The honesty is characteristic — compare the fifth attention in fascicle 7, where the practitioner discovers his calm was suppression.
7. Means, Falling Back, and Advance
復次嗢拕南曰：
不顛倒方便， 退墮與勝進，
相似、實功德， 善調伏有情。
Furthermore, summary verse:
Undistorted means, falling back and advance,
counterfeit and real qualities,
and taming beings well.
論曰：不顛倒方便者，謂菩薩摩訶薩有五種方便，攝一切正方便應知。何等為五？一隨護方便、二無過方便、三擇力方便、四淨勝意樂方便、五入決定方便。
隨護方便者，謂菩薩摩訶薩善護聰叡，以俱生智速攝受法。又善護憶念，由憶念故所攝受法持不忘失。又善護智慧，由智慧故於所攝受法善觀察義正慧通達，由遠離隨順聰叡憶念智慧退分因故，及由親近修習隨順住分勝分因故。又善護自心，由善防護諸根門故。又善護他心，由正方便護他心故。
無過方便者，謂菩薩摩訶薩於諸善法無倒勇猛，無量無間迴向菩提。擇力方便者，謂即此一切住勝解行地中應知。淨勝意樂方便者，謂住淨勝意樂地及行正行地應知。入決定方便者，謂住決定地決定行地到究竟地應知。如是五種方便，總攝菩薩一切正方便應知。
退墮者，謂諸菩薩五退分法應知，一不敬正法及說法者、二放逸懈怠、三習近煩惱、四習近惡行、五與餘菩薩校量勝劣起增上慢及於法顛倒起增上慢。
勝進者，謂諸菩薩五勝分法，即如其次第翻前五種黑品應知。
The exposition: undistorted means — a bodhisattva has five kinds of means that subsume all right means. What five? The means of guarding; the means without fault; the means of the power of discernment; the means of a pure and surpassing intention; and the means of entering certainty.
The means of guarding: a bodhisattva well guards his acuity, taking up teachings swiftly with innate knowledge. He well guards his memory, so that by memory the teachings taken up are held and not forgotten. He well guards his wisdom, so that by wisdom he well observes the meaning of the teachings taken up and penetrates them with right understanding — by keeping far from the causes that lead to the decline of acuity, memory, and wisdom, and by drawing near to and cultivating the causes that lead to their maintenance and increase. He also well guards his own mind, by well guarding the doors of the faculties. And he well guards the minds of others, by guarding others' minds through right means.
The means without fault: a bodhisattva is undistortedly courageous with respect to wholesome states, and dedicates them measurelessly and uninterruptedly to enlightenment. The means of the power of discernment: all of this, as found while abiding on the stage of resolute conduct. The means of a pure and surpassing intention: as found while abiding on the stage of pure and surpassing intention and on the stage of right practice. The means of entering certainty: as found while abiding on the stage of certainty, the stage of certain conduct, and the final stage. These five subsume all a bodhisattva's right means.
Falling back: five states that lead to a bodhisattva's decline — not revering the true Dharma and those who teach it; heedlessness and laziness; consorting with the afflictions; consorting with evil conduct; and, comparing oneself with other bodhisattvas as better or worse, giving rise to overestimation, and giving rise to overestimation through a distorted view of the Dharma.
Advance: five states that lead to a bodhisattva's advance, being in order the reverse of the five dark states above.
The means of guarding lists five things to protect, and the last two are the unexpected ones. After acuity, memory, and wisdom — the equipment of study — come one's own mind, guarded through restraint of the senses, and then other people's minds, guarded through right means. A bodhisattva's means include not being the occasion of someone else's affliction, which is the same capacity that fascicle 4 classified as non-contention.
The fifth cause of falling back deserves attention because it is the one most likely to afflict a serious practitioner. Comparing oneself with other bodhisattvas — better or worse, the comparison runs both ways — produces overestimation. So does a distorted view of the Dharma. Nothing else on the list is specific to advanced practice; the first four are heedlessness and bad company. The fifth is a fault available only to those already doing the work.
8. Counterfeit Virtues and Real Ones
Five things that look like a bodhisattva's qualities and are in fact faults, each set against the genuine article.
相似功德者，謂諸菩薩五種相似功德，實是過失應知。一於暴惡犯戒諸有情所，以是因緣作不饒益；二詐現具足威儀；三於隨順世間矯飾文詞及外道書論相應諸法，得預智者聰叡者數；四修行有罪施等善行；五宣說建立相似正法廣令流布。
實功德者，謂諸菩薩五種真實功德應知。一於暴惡犯戒諸有情所，以是因緣起增上悲心；二自性具足威儀；三於如來所說清淨真實若教若證，得預智者、聰叡者數；四修習無罪施等善行；五開示正法遮彼相似。
Counterfeit qualities: five apparent qualities of bodhisattvas which are in fact faults. First, toward violent beings who break the precepts, taking that as the occasion to do them harm. Second, falsely displaying complete deportment. Third, being counted among the wise and the acute on the strength of ornamented phrases that go along with the world, and of things that belong with the treatises of the outsiders. Fourth, practicing giving and other good conduct that carries fault. Fifth, proclaiming and setting up a counterfeit true Dharma and spreading it widely.
Real qualities: five true qualities of bodhisattvas. First, toward violent beings who break the precepts, taking that as the occasion to give rise to a surpassing compassion. Second, being complete in deportment by one's own nature. Third, being counted among the wise and the acute on the strength of what the Tathāgata taught, pure and true, whether as teaching or as realization. Fourth, cultivating giving and other good conduct that carries no fault. Fifth, disclosing the true Dharma and thereby blocking the counterfeit.
The pairs are exact, and the first is the sharpest thing in the fascicle. Confronted with a violent person who breaks the precepts, the counterfeit response is to take that as grounds for doing him harm — and the treatise's phrasing makes clear that this presents itself as a virtue, as righteous severity in defense of the Dharma. The real quality has the identical occasion and the opposite issue: 起增上悲心, a surpassing compassion. The occasion does not distinguish them. Only what it produces does.
The second pair turns on 詐現 against 自性 — falsely displaying complete deportment, against being complete in deportment by one's own nature. This is the same distinction fascicle 7 drew when it described the monk of wrong livelihood putting on "a bearing that is not his own nature and not his habit." And the third pair concerns reputation among the learned: one may earn it by fine phrasing that flatters worldly taste and by material belonging to rival schools, or by the Buddha's own teaching. Both routes end in the same standing.
9. Ten Places in Which Beings Are Tamed, and the Prediction of Enlightenment
善調伏有情者，謂諸菩薩略於十處無倒調伏所化有情，一於離惡行處、二於離愛欲處、三於無違犯犯已出處、四於守護一切諸根門處、五於正知住處、六於離憒閙處、七於遠離一切惡尋思處、八於離障處、九於離煩惱纏處、十於離煩惱品麁重處。
Taming beings well: bodhisattvas tame the beings to be trained, without distortion, in ten places, in brief — in keeping free of evil conduct; in keeping free of sensual craving; in not transgressing and, having transgressed, in emerging from it; in guarding all the doors of the faculties; in abiding with correct knowing; in keeping free of noise and bustle; in keeping far from all evil discursive thought; in freedom from the obstructions; in freedom from the entanglements of affliction; and in freedom from the coarse heaviness of the class of afflictions.
復次嗢拕南曰：
諸菩薩受記， 墮於決定數，
定作、常應作， 最勝法應知。
Furthermore, summary verse:
The bodhisattvas' predictions,
falling into the number of the certain,
what must be done, what should always be done,
and the supreme states, to be known.
論曰：諸菩薩受記者，謂諸菩薩於六種位蒙諸如來授無上正等菩提記。一於種性位未發菩提心；二已發菩提心；三現前住；四不現前住；五有時限，謂齊爾所時當證無上正等菩提；六無時限，謂不說決定時限。
墮於決定數者，謂諸菩薩有三種墮決定位，一種性墮決定、二發心墮決定、三不虛行墮決定。
種性墮決定者，謂諸菩薩住種性位，便墮菩薩決定之數。何以故？由諸菩薩成就種性，若遇勝緣必定堪任證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提故。發心墮決定者，謂諸菩薩於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提起決定心，乃至證於無上正等覺，不復退轉。不虛行墮決定者，謂諸菩薩已得自在，如其所欲隨所造修諸菩薩行無有空過。依此最後墮決定位故，如來為諸菩薩授墮決定記。
The exposition: the bodhisattvas' predictions — bodhisattvas receive from the Tathāgatas the prediction of unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in six positions. First, in the position of the lineage, before generating the mind of enlightenment. Second, having generated it. Third, being present before him. Fourth, not being present before him. Fifth, with a time limit — that in such and such a time he will realize unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. Sixth, without a time limit, no definite term being stated.
Falling into the number of the certain: bodhisattvas have three positions of falling into certainty — certainty by lineage, certainty by generating the aspiration, and certainty by conduct that is not in vain.
Certainty by lineage: a bodhisattva abiding in the position of the lineage thereby falls into the number of those certain to be bodhisattvas. Why? Because a bodhisattva who has accomplished the lineage, if he meets with excellent conditions, is certainly fit to realize unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. Certainty by generating the aspiration: a bodhisattva gives rise to a settled mind toward unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, and until he realizes it he does not turn back. Certainty by conduct that is not in vain: a bodhisattva has attained mastery, so that whatever bodhisattva practices he undertakes as he wishes are never spent in vain. It is on the basis of this last position of certainty that the Tathāgata bestows on bodhisattvas the prediction of certainty.
The six positions of prediction include two that will surprise readers of the sūtras, where predictions are usually dramatic scenes with the recipient kneeling before a buddha. Here the first is a prediction made to someone who has not yet generated the mind of enlightenment at all, merely possessing the lineage; and the fourth is a prediction made when the recipient is not present. Prediction is not a reward for arrival but a statement about what is already certain.
The three certainties are graded by how much is settled. Lineage makes one certain conditionally — 若遇勝緣, if excellent conditions are met. Generating the aspiration makes non-retrogression certain. And only the third, where practice never miscarries, is the basis on which the formal prediction of certainty is given. The distinction between being certain and being predicted is thus preserved: many are certain, and the prediction marks the last stage of it.
10. What a Bodhisattva Must Do, and What Is Supreme
定作者，謂諸菩薩於五種處決定應作，若不作者必不堪任證於無上正等菩提。云何為五？一發菩提心、二於諸有情起於憐愍、三勇猛精勤、四於五明處方便修習、五心無厭倦。
常應作者，謂諸菩薩於五種處常應修作，一常應修作不放逸行、二無依無怙苦惱有情為作依怙、三常應修作供養佛行、四常應遍知誤失不誤失、五於一切所作若行若住諸作意中常應修作，大菩提心以為導首。
最勝法者，謂諸菩薩於十種同意最勝法，應受持、應建立，以為最上。云何為十？一菩薩種性於諸種性最為殊勝、二初發菩提心於諸正願最為殊勝、三正勤般若於一切度最為殊勝、四愛語於諸攝法最為殊勝、五如來於諸有情最為殊勝、六悲於諸無量最為殊勝、七第四靜慮於諸靜慮最為殊勝、八空三摩地於三三摩地最為殊勝、九滅盡定於九次第定最為殊勝、十清淨方便善巧於諸方便善巧最為殊勝。
What must be done: there are five things a bodhisattva must certainly do, and if he does not do them he will assuredly not be fit to realize unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. What five? Generate the mind of enlightenment; give rise to pity toward beings; be courageous and diligent; apply himself to cultivating the five sciences; and keep his mind free of weariness.
What should always be done: there are five things a bodhisattva should always cultivate. He should always cultivate the practice of heedfulness; be a support for beings in anguish who are without support or protection; always cultivate the practice of making offerings to the buddhas; always know fully what is and is not a lapse; and, in everything he does, whether moving or at rest, in all his acts of attention, always cultivate the mind of great enlightenment as his guide.
The supreme states: bodhisattvas should uphold and establish as highest ten supreme states on which all agree. What ten? The bodhisattva lineage is the most excellent of lineages. First generating the mind of enlightenment is the most excellent of right vows. Right diligence and wisdom are the most excellent of the perfections. Kindly speech is the most excellent of the means of attraction. The Tathāgata is the most excellent of beings. Compassion is the most excellent of the measureless minds. The fourth absorption is the most excellent of the absorptions. The concentration of emptiness is the most excellent of the three concentrations. The attainment of cessation is the most excellent of the nine successive attainments. And pure skill in means is the most excellent of the skills in means.
The fourth item under "what must be done" is worth pausing on because of the company it keeps. Alongside generating the aspiration, pity for beings, diligence, and freedom from weariness stands 於五明處方便修習 — applying oneself to the five sciences. Logic, grammar, medicine, crafts, and the inner science are here made a necessary condition of buddhahood: without them, one is 必不堪任, assuredly not fit. This is the third time the five sciences have carried this weight, after fascicle 6 and fascicle 7.
Among the ten supreme states, the fourth is the least expected: 愛語, kindly speech, is named the most excellent of the four means of attraction — ahead of giving, beneficial conduct, and consistency of purpose. And the fifth is a small piece of doctrine tucked into a list: the Tathāgata is the most excellent of beings, which places a buddha within the category of beings rather than outside it.
11. What Only a Buddha or Bodhisattva May Set Up: The Truths, Counted Ten Ways
The last summary verse of the fascicle opens with four things that no one else may properly establish — and the second of them produces the treatise's most remarkable list, ten different counts of what "truth" comprises.
復次嗢拕南曰：
諸施設建立， 一切法尋思，
及如實遍智， 并及諸無量，
宣說果利益， 大乘性與攝，
菩薩十應知， 建立諸名號。
Furthermore, summary verse:
The establishments, the investigation of all things,
and full knowledge in accordance with reality,
together with the measureless fields,
the fruit and benefit of proclaiming,
the nature of the Great Vehicle and what subsumes it,
the ten kinds of bodhisattva to be known,
and the establishing of the names.
論曰：諸施設建立者，謂諸菩薩四種施設建立。唯有如來及諸菩薩能正施設建立，非餘一切若天若人、若沙門若婆羅門所能施設建立，除竊佛法安置己論。何等為四？一法施設建立、二諦施設建立、三道理施設建立、四乘施設建立。
法施設建立者，謂素怛纜等十二分教次第撰集、次第安置、次第製造，是名法施設建立。
諦施設建立者，謂或立一諦，以不虛妄義唯是一更無第二。或立二諦，一世俗諦、二勝義諦。或立三諦，一相諦、二詮諦、三用諦。或立四諦，一苦諦、二集諦、三滅諦、四道諦。或立五諦，一因諦、二果諦、三能知諦、四所知諦、五不二諦。或立六諦，一真諦、二妄諦、三應知諦、四應斷諦、五應證諦、六應修諦。或立七諦，一愛味諦、二過患諦、三出離諦、四法性諦、五勝解諦、六聖諦、七非聖諦。或立八諦，一行苦諦、二壞苦諦、三苦苦諦、四流轉諦、五流息諦、六雜染諦、七清淨諦、八正方便諦。或立九諦，一無常諦、二苦諦、三空諦、四無我諦、五有愛諦、六無有愛諦、七彼斷方便諦、八有餘依涅槃諦、九無餘依涅槃諦。或立十諦，一逼切苦諦、二所受用不具足苦諦、三界性乖違苦諦、四愛壞苦諦、五麁重苦諦、六業諦、七煩惱諦、八聽聞正法如理作意諦、九正見諦、十正見果諦。如是名為菩薩諦施設建立，若廣分別無量應知。
The exposition: the establishments — bodhisattvas have four kinds of establishment. Only the Tathāgatas and the bodhisattvas can rightly set these up; no one else, whether god or human, ascetic or brahmin, can rightly set them up — except by stealing the Buddha's Dharma and placing it in their own treatises. What four? The establishment of the Dharma; of the truths; of the principles of reasoning; and of the vehicles.
The establishment of the Dharma: the compiling, arranging, and composing in due order of the twelvefold teaching, beginning with the sūtras.
The establishment of the truths: one may posit one truth, since in the sense of being not false it is one and there is no second. Or two: conventional and ultimate. Or three: the truth of mark, of expression, and of function. Or four: suffering, origin, cessation, path. Or five: cause, effect, the knower, the known, and the non-dual. Or six: the true, the false, what is to be known, what is to be abandoned, what is to be realized, and what is to be cultivated. Or seven: the truth of relish, of danger, of deliverance, of the nature of things, of resolve, the noble truth, and the ignoble truth. Or eight: the suffering of formations, the suffering of decay, the suffering of pain, flowing on, the stilling of flowing on, defilement, purity, and right means. Or nine: impermanence, suffering, emptiness, selflessness, craving for existence, craving for non-existence, the means of cutting them off, nirvāṇa with a remainder, and nirvāṇa without remainder. Or ten: the suffering of oppression; the suffering of not having enough of what one uses; the suffering of the elements being at odds; the suffering of the destruction of what one loves; the suffering of coarse heaviness; karma; affliction; hearing the true Dharma and attending in accordance with principle; right view; and the fruit of right view. This is the bodhisattva's establishment of the truths; distinguished at length it is measureless.
Ten different counts of the truths, running from one to ten, is the same demonstration the treatise performed with feeling in fascicle 5 and with the meanings in that fascicle's opening. How many truths there are depends on the purpose of the count. Taken as "what is not false," there is exactly one. Taken as the four tasks plus the true and the false, there are six. Taken as the full etiology of suffering and its cure — five kinds of suffering, then karma and affliction as its causes, then hearing, right view, and right view's fruit as its remedy — there are ten. The famous four are one option among ten, and the treatise presents them without special emphasis.
The clause about who may set these up is unusually sharp, and its exception is sharper still: no god, human, ascetic, or brahmin can properly establish them — 除竊佛法安置己論, except by stealing the Buddha's Dharma and putting it in their own treatises. Asaṅga is registering that rival systems do contain such material, and accounting for it.
12. Establishing the Principles and the Vehicles
道理施設建立者，有四種道理，一觀待道理、二作用道理、三證成道理、四法爾道理，是名道理施設建立應知。
乘施設建立者，謂聲聞、獨覺、無上大乘，各有七種施設建立應知。
聲聞乘七種施設建立者，一於四聖諦諸無倒慧、二此慧所依、三此慧所緣、四此慧伴類、五慧所作業、六助慧資糧、七慧所證果。如聲聞乘，如是七種施設建立，獨覺乘亦爾。
無上大乘七種施設建立者，一緣離言說一切法真如無分別平等出離慧、二此慧所依、三此慧所緣、四此慧伴類、五慧所作業、六助慧資糧、七慧所證果。是名三乘七種施設建立應知。如是三世諸佛菩薩，皆由此四正施設、正建立，無增無減。
一切法尋思者，謂諸菩薩於一切法為欲證得如實遍智，起四尋思，如前已說。如實遍智者，謂諸菩薩於一切法起四種如實遍智，如前已說。
The establishment of the principles of reasoning: four principles — the principle of dependence, the principle of function, the principle of demonstration, and the principle of the nature of things.
The establishment of the vehicles: the śrāvaka vehicle, the pratyekabuddha vehicle, and the unsurpassed Great Vehicle each have seven establishments.
The seven for the śrāvaka vehicle: the undistorted wisdom concerning the four noble truths; the support of that wisdom; its object; its companions; the activity that wisdom performs; the provisions that assist that wisdom; and the fruit that wisdom realizes. As with the śrāvaka vehicle, so with the pratyekabuddha vehicle.
The seven for the unsurpassed Great Vehicle: the non-discriminating wisdom of sameness and deliverance that takes as its object the suchness of all things apart from speech; the support of that wisdom; its object; its companions; the activity that wisdom performs; the provisions that assist it; and the fruit that it realizes. These are the seven establishments of the three vehicles. All the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times set up and establish rightly by these four, neither adding nor subtracting.
The investigation of all things: bodhisattvas, in order to realize full knowledge in accordance with reality with respect to all things, give rise to the four investigations, as stated above. Full knowledge in accordance with reality: bodhisattvas give rise to the four full knowledges in accordance with reality with respect to all things, as stated above.
The three vehicles are given the same seven-part frame, and only the first slot differs. For the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha it is undistorted wisdom about the four noble truths; for the Great Vehicle it is non-discriminating wisdom taking as its object the suchness of all things beyond speech. Support, object, companions, activity, provisions, and fruit are then filled in around whichever wisdom stands at the head. The structure is a quiet argument that the three vehicles are one architecture with one variable — a claim about their relation that neither collapses them nor separates them.
The four principles of reasoning appear here as a bare list; they were named the same way under the catchword "principle" in fascicle 4. Briefly: things are what they are relative to other things; things do what they do; claims can be demonstrated; and beyond all that, some things are simply so. The last is where explanation stops.
13. The Five Measureless Fields: Beings, Worlds, Things
The five measureless attentions of fascicle 3 return as five fields, and the first is unpacked into a list of sixty-four kinds of being — a cross-section of the society this treatise was written in.
諸無量者，謂諸菩薩依五無量，能起一切善巧作用。何者為五？一有情界無量、二世界無量、三法界無量、四所調伏界無量、五調伏方便界無量。
有情界無量者，謂六十四種有情眾，一那洛迦、二傍生、三鬼趣、四天、五人、六剎帝利、七婆羅門、八吠舍、九戍達羅、十女、十一男、十二非男非女、十三下品、十四中品、十五上品、十六在家、十七出家、十八苦行、十九律儀、二十不律儀、二十一非律儀非不律儀、二十二已離欲、二十三未離欲、二十四邪定聚、二十五正定聚、二十六不定聚、二十七苾芻、二十八苾芻尼、二十九式叉摩那、三十勤策男、三十一勤策女、三十二鄔波索迦、三十三鄔波斯迦、三十四習三摩地者、三十五溫誦經者、三十六供侍病者、三十七長宿、三十八中年、三十九少年、四十阿遮利耶、四十一鄔波柁耶、四十二共住、四十三近住、四十四賓客、四十五監僧事者、四十六樂利養者、四十七樂恭敬者、四十八樂遠離者、四十九多聞者、五十有智者、五十一大福者、五十二法隨法行者、五十三持素怛纜者、五十四持毘柰耶者、五十五持摩怛理迦者、五十六異生者、五十七見諦者、五十八學者、五十九無學者、六十聲聞、六十一獨覺、六十二菩提薩埵、六十三轉輪聖王、六十四如來，若依身相續差別則無量無邊。
The measureless fields: bodhisattvas, relying on five measureless fields, can set going every skillful function. What five? The measureless field of beings; of worlds; of things; of those to be trained; and of the means of training them.
The measureless field of beings: sixty-four classes of beings — hell beings; animals; hungry ghosts; gods; humans; kṣatriyas; brahmins; vaiśyas; śūdras; women; men; those neither men nor women; the lesser, the middling, and the greater; householders; renunciants; ascetics; those under restraint; those not under restraint; those neither under restraint nor not; those free of craving; those not yet free; those fixed in wrongness; those fixed in rightness; those fixed in neither; monks; nuns; probationers; male novices; female novices; laymen; laywomen; those who practice concentration; those who recite the scriptures; those who nurse the sick; the elderly; the middle-aged; the young; teachers; preceptors; those dwelling together; those dwelling nearby; guests; stewards of the community's affairs; those who delight in gain; those who delight in honor; those who delight in seclusion; the widely learned; the wise; those of great merit; those who practice the Dharma in accordance with the Dharma; upholders of the sūtras; upholders of the Vinaya; upholders of the mātṛkās; ordinary beings; those who have seen the truths; learners; adepts; śrāvakas; pratyekabuddhas; bodhisattvas; wheel-turning kings; and Tathāgatas. And if taken by the differences of individual continua, they are measureless and boundless.
世界無量者，謂十方無量世界無量名差別。如此世界名曰索訶，此界梵王名索訶主，如是等無量差別應知。
法界無量者，謂善法、不善法、無記法，如是等差別門無量應知。
The measureless field of worlds: the measureless worlds of the ten directions and their measureless differences of name. As this world is called Sahā, and the Brahmā of this world is called the Lord of Sahā — and so with measureless other differences.
The measureless field of things: wholesome states, unwholesome states, and morally neutral states, and measureless other approaches of that kind.
The sixty-four classes are not a taxonomy in any single dimension, and that is the point. Destinies, castes, sexes, ages, monastic ranks, offices, temperaments, specializations, and attainments are all thrown together in one list — hell beings and stewards of the community's affairs, gods and people who nurse the sick, brahmins and those who delight in gain. What holds it together is only that each is a way someone might need to be approached. It is a working list for someone whose job is to reach people.
Three entries deserve note. The twelfth, 非男非女, records a category of persons neither men nor women as one of the sixty-four kinds of being, alongside the others and without comment. The forty-fourth is 賓客, guests — visitors passing through a monastery, a recognized class with its own needs. And the last three run wheel-turning king, bodhisattva, Tathāgata, placing the ideal secular ruler in the same enumeration as everyone else.
14. Those to Be Trained, Counted Ten Ways
所調伏界無量者，或立一種所調伏，謂一切有情中可調伏者是一類故。或立二種，一具縛、二不具縛。或立三種，一鈍根、二中根、三利根。或立四種，一剎帝利、二婆羅門、三吠舍、四戍達羅。或立五種，一貪行、二瞋行、三癡行、四慢行、五覺行。或立六種，一在家、二出家、三成熟、四未成熟、五解脫、六未解脫。或立七種，一信敬；二輕毀；三中庸；四廣說；五略開智；六常所調伏；七隨緣所引，謂遇如是如是緣即如是如是轉變。或立八種，謂八部眾，從剎帝利眾乃至梵眾。或立九種，一如來所化、二聲聞所化、三獨覺所化、四菩薩所化、五難調伏、六易調伏、七軟語調伏、八訶擯調伏、九或遠或近調伏。或立十種，一那落迦、二傍生、三鬼趣、四欲界天、五人、六中有、七色有、八無色有、九有想無想、十非有想非無想。如是略說五十五種，若依相續差別則有無量應知。
The measureless field of those to be trained: one may posit one kind, since among all beings those who can be trained are of a single class. Or two: those fully bound and those not fully bound. Or three: dull, middling, and keen faculties. Or four: kṣatriya, brahmin, vaiśya, śūdra. Or five: those whose conduct is of craving, of hatred, of delusion, of conceit, or of discursive awareness. Or six: householders, renunciants, the ripened, the unripened, the liberated, the unliberated. Or seven: those with faith and reverence; those who slight and deride; the indifferent; those for whom it must be expounded at length; those whose understanding opens on a brief statement; those constantly under training; and those drawn along by conditions — meeting such and such a condition, they change in such and such a way. Or eight: the eight assemblies, from the assembly of kṣatriyas to the assembly of Brahmās. Or nine: those trained by a Tathāgata, by a śrāvaka, by a pratyekabuddha, by a bodhisattva; the hard to tame; the easy to tame; those tamed by gentle words; those tamed by rebuke and expulsion; and those tamed from afar or from near. Or ten: hell beings, animals, hungry ghosts, gods of the realm of desire, humans, the intermediate existence, existence with form, formless existence, those with perception and without perception, and those with neither perception nor non-perception. Thus fifty-five kinds are stated in brief; taken by the differences of individual continua they are measureless.
問：有情界無量、所調伏界無量，有何差別？答：有情界者，謂無差別，一切有情若有種性、若無種性。所調伏界者，謂唯有種性諸位差別；調伏方便界無量者，已如前說應知。此亦差別分別有無量種。
問：何故唯略說此五無量？答：諸菩薩摩訶薩專為修習利眾生行，是故初立有情界無量。是諸有情依於處所可得受化，是故第二立世界無量。是諸有情於多世界由種種法得有染淨差別，是故第三立法界無量。觀有情中堪能究竟解脫苦者，建立第四所調伏界無量。若諸方便善巧能令有情證於解脫，建立第五調伏方便界無量。是故諸菩薩摩訶薩依是五無量能起一切善巧作用。
Question: what is the difference between the measureless field of beings and the measureless field of those to be trained? Answer: the field of beings is without distinction — all beings, whether they have the lineage or lack it. The field of those to be trained is only the differences of position among those who have the lineage. As for the measureless field of the means of training, it is as stated above; and this too, distinguished, is of measureless kinds.
Question: why are just these five measureless fields stated in brief? Answer: because bodhisattvas are wholly devoted to cultivating the practice that benefits beings, the field of beings is established first. Because those beings can receive training only in dependence on a place, the field of worlds is established second. Because those beings, in many worlds, come to have differences of defilement and purity by way of various states, the field of things is established third. Observing which among beings are capable of ultimate liberation from suffering, the fourth, the field of those to be trained, is established. And because skill in means can cause beings to realize liberation, the fifth, the field of the means of training, is established. Therefore bodhisattvas, relying on these five measureless fields, can set going every skillful function.
The question about the difference between the two fields is the fascicle's most consequential exchange, and the answer is stated without softening: the field of beings includes all beings, 若有種性、若無種性, whether they have the lineage or lack it; the field of those to be trained includes only those who have it. This is the agotra doctrine again, which fascicle 3 stated in eight characters as the distinction between those who can and cannot be rescued. Here it is made structural: the bodhisattva's compassion has a wider field than the bodhisattva's training.
The justification for exactly five fields is a chain, each link requiring the next: one wants to benefit beings, so beings; beings are somewhere, so worlds; in those worlds beings become defiled or pure, so things; among them some can actually be liberated, so those to be trained; and liberating them requires technique, so the means. It is the same argumentative form used in fascicle 4 to show that there are exactly nine topics.
The sevenfold count of those to be trained is the most useful of the ten for a teacher. Its first three items sort an audience by disposition toward the teacher — reverent, derisive, indifferent — and the next two by how much explanation they need. The last, 隨緣所引, those drawn along by conditions, names people who have no settled disposition at all and change with whatever they meet.
15. What Teaching Produces, and the Seven Greatnesses
宣說果利益者，謂諸菩薩摩訶薩為諸有情宣說正法，有五種廣大果利益應知。云何為五？一或有有情聞說正法時，遠塵離垢於諸法中得法眼生。二或有有情即說是正法時，得諸漏盡。三或有有情因說此法，發於無上正等覺心。四或有有情聞說此法，即得菩薩最勝法忍。五或有有情聞佛菩薩說正法已，受持修行展轉宣說，令正法眼久住不滅。是名五種宣說廣大果利益應知。
大乘性者，謂菩薩乘與七大性相應故，說名大乘。云何為七？一法大性，謂十二分教中菩薩藏所攝方廣之教。二發心大性，謂已發無上正等覺心。三勝解大性，謂於前所說法大性境起勝信解。四勝意樂大性，謂已超過勝解行地入淨勝意樂地。五資糧大性，謂已成就福智二種大資糧故，能證無上正等菩提。六時大性，謂三大劫阿僧企耶時能證無上正等菩提。七成滿大性，謂即無上正等菩提。此所成滿菩提自體，比餘成滿自體尚無與等，何況超勝。此中法大性乃至時大性，此之六種是成滿大性之因，成滿大性一種是前六之果應知。
The fruit and benefit of proclaiming: when bodhisattvas proclaim the true Dharma for beings, five vast fruits and benefits should be understood. What five? First, some being, on hearing the true Dharma proclaimed, is far from dust and free of stain, and the eye of Dharma arises in him with respect to things. Second, some being, at the very moment the Dharma is proclaimed, attains the exhaustion of the contaminants. Third, some being, because this Dharma is proclaimed, generates the mind of unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. Fourth, some being, on hearing this Dharma proclaimed, attains the bodhisattva's supreme forbearance for the Dharma. Fifth, some being, having heard the buddhas and bodhisattvas proclaim the true Dharma, upholds and practices it and proclaims it onward in turn, causing the eye of the true Dharma to endure long and not be extinguished. These are the five vast fruits and benefits of proclaiming, to be known.
The nature of the Great Vehicle: because the bodhisattva vehicle is joined with seven greatnesses, it is called the Great Vehicle. What seven? Greatness of Dharma: the extensive teachings comprised in the bodhisattva canon within the twelvefold teaching. Greatness of the aspiration: having generated the mind of unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. Greatness of resolve: giving rise to surpassing faith and understanding toward the object that is the greatness of Dharma just stated. Greatness of surpassing intention: having passed beyond the stage of resolute conduct and entered the stage of pure and surpassing intention. Greatness of the provisions: because one has accomplished the two great provisions of merit and knowledge, one can realize unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. Greatness of time: that in three incalculable great aeons one can realize unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. Greatness of full accomplishment: unsurpassed perfect enlightenment itself. The nature of this accomplished enlightenment has no equal among other accomplished natures, still less anything surpassing it. Of these, the greatness of Dharma down to the greatness of time — those six — are the cause of the greatness of full accomplishment, and that one is the fruit of the preceding six.
The five fruits of teaching are ordered by what each hearer does with it, and the fifth is not an attainment at all. Four people get something — the eye of Dharma, the exhaustion of the contaminants, the aspiration for enlightenment, the forbearance for the non-arising of things. The fifth simply passes it on, 展轉宣說, proclaiming it onward in turn, so that the eye of Dharma endures. That transmission is listed among the vast fruits alongside arhatship.
The seven greatnesses answer a polemical question — why is this vehicle called "great"? — with an argument rather than an assertion, and the closing sentence makes its structure explicit: six causes and one fruit. Greatness of teaching, aspiration, resolve, intention, provisions, and time together produce the greatness of full accomplishment. The vehicle is not great because its adherents say so; it is called great because of what it takes and what it yields.
16. Ten Kinds of Bodhisattva, and the Names
The fascicle closes with a schema that locates every bodhisattva on one continuum from lineage to final existence — and then with a list of honorifics that ends in a warning.
攝者，謂八種法能具足攝一切大乘，一菩薩藏教、二於菩薩藏中顯示諸法真實義教、三於菩薩藏中顯示一切諸佛菩薩不可思議最勝廣大甚深威德教、四於上所說如理聽聞、五先如理思趣勝意樂、六得勝意樂入初修行、七由入修行為先故修果成就、八由修果成就故究竟出離。菩薩摩訶薩由如是修學，證得無上正等菩提。
菩薩十應知者，謂如是修學能證無上正等菩提諸菩薩，略有十種應知。一安住種性、二趣入、三不淨勝意樂、四淨勝意樂、五未成熟、六已成熟、七未得決定、八已得決定、九一生所繫、十住最後有。
此中安住種性菩薩，若方便修學發菩提心，即名趣入。既趣入已，乃至未入淨勝意樂地，即名不淨勝意樂；若得入者，名淨勝意樂。即淨勝意樂菩薩乃至未入到究竟地，名未成熟；若得入者，名已成熟。即未成熟中乃至未入決定行地，名不決定；若得入者，名得決定。已成熟中復有二種：一、一生所繫，謂此生後無間證得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。二、住最後有，謂即在此生證得無上正等菩提。如是從住種性乃至無上正等菩提，如前所說十種菩薩盡攝一切菩薩。如前所說菩薩學處，盡攝菩薩所有學處。
What subsumes it: eight states fully subsume the whole Great Vehicle. First, the teaching of the bodhisattva canon. Second, within that canon, the teaching that displays the truly real meaning of things. Third, within that canon, the teaching that displays the inconceivable, supreme, vast, and profound majesty of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Fourth, hearing what has been stated above in accordance with principle. Fifth, first reflecting in accordance with principle and inclining toward the surpassing intention. Sixth, obtaining that surpassing intention and entering the first practice. Seventh, because entering practice comes first, the accomplishment of the fruit of cultivation. Eighth, because the fruit of cultivation is accomplished, final deliverance. It is by training thus that a bodhisattva realizes unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.
The ten kinds of bodhisattva to be known: the bodhisattvas who by such training can realize unsurpassed perfect enlightenment are, in brief, of ten kinds — abiding in the lineage; having entered in; of impure surpassing intention; of pure surpassing intention; not yet ripened; already ripened; not yet certain; already certain; bound to one more birth; and dwelling in the final existence.
Here, a bodhisattva abiding in the lineage who by skillful means trains and generates the mind of enlightenment is called entered in. Having entered in, until he enters the stage of pure surpassing intention he is called of impure surpassing intention; and once he enters it, of pure surpassing intention. That same bodhisattva, until he reaches the final stage, is called not yet ripened; once he reaches it, already ripened. Among those not yet ripened, until he enters the stage of certain conduct he is called not certain; once he enters it, certain. Among those already ripened there are two: bound to one more birth, who will realize unsurpassed perfect enlightenment immediately after this life; and dwelling in the final existence, who will realize it in this very life. Thus from abiding in the lineage up to unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, the ten kinds of bodhisattva stated above exhaustively subsume all bodhisattvas; and the bodhisattva training rules stated above exhaustively subsume all their training rules.
建立諸名號者，謂諸菩薩無有差別，隨德眾名，所謂菩提薩埵摩訶薩埵成就覺慧、最上明照、最勝之子、最勝所依、最勝所使、最勝萌芽，亦名猛健、亦名上軌範師、亦名商主、亦名具大名稱、亦名成就慈悲、亦名大福、亦名富自在、亦名大法師。如是等十方無邊世界中，依無量內德差別施設無數名號應知。
是中若諸菩薩自稱我是菩薩，而不正勤修諸菩薩所有學處，當知此是相似菩薩，非實菩薩。若諸菩薩自稱菩薩，亦復勤修菩薩學處，當知此即真實菩薩。
The establishing of the names: bodhisattvas, without distinction, have many names according to their qualities — bodhisattva, mahāsattva, one who has accomplished the wisdom of awakening, the highest illumination, son of the Supreme, support of the Supreme, envoy of the Supreme, sprout of the Supreme; also called the valiant one; also the excellent preceptor; also the caravan leader; also one possessed of great renown; also one who has accomplished loving-kindness and compassion; also one of great merit; also one rich and free; also the great teacher of the Dharma. Throughout the boundless worlds of the ten directions, countless names are set up in accordance with the measureless differences of inner quality.
Herein, if a bodhisattva calls himself a bodhisattva but does not rightly and diligently cultivate the bodhisattva training rules, know that this is a counterfeit bodhisattva and not a real one. If a bodhisattva calls himself a bodhisattva and moreover diligently cultivates the bodhisattva training rules, know that this is a real bodhisattva.
The ten kinds of bodhisattva are five pairs, each marking a threshold crossed, and the passage that follows is essentially a set of instructions for locating oneself: lineage, then entry at the generation of the aspiration; impure intention until the stage of pure surpassing intention; unripened until the final stage; uncertain until the stage of certain conduct; and at the end, one more life or this one. Every bodhisattva who has ever existed falls somewhere on this line, and the claim is made explicitly — the ten 盡攝一切菩薩, exhaustively subsume all bodhisattvas.
The list of honorifics is generous and the closing paragraph withdraws none of it, but it does apply a test. Calling oneself a bodhisattva is not among the qualities from which the names are derived; the names come 依無量內德差別, from differences of inner quality. What separates the real bodhisattva from the counterfeit is not the title, which both use, but whether the training rules are actually being practiced. The treatise ends its account of the bodhisattva's qualities by pointing out that the word is available to anyone.
Fascicle 8 Complete
This fascicle has covered the first four topics of the verse that opened it: noble practice, the unsurpassed vehicle, great enlightenment, and the qualities of the bodhisattva. Three topics named in that verse remain — rival doctrines, the methods of debate, and interpretation — and fascicle 9 takes them up.
Continue to Fascicle 9 →