Toh 233The Chapter from the Great Cloud Sūtra on the Great Playful Festival of the Oceanic Gathering of the Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions
Pāli / Sanskrit:Mahāmeghasūtrād daśadigbodhisattvasamudrasaṃnipātamahotsavavikrīdita
在《大雲經》中，佛陀度化眾生的事業與功德被比喻為雲雨一般籠罩一切。佛陀宣說此經時有許多龍族在場，而因為雨水與龍族之間的密切關係，自古以來這部經典在旱災時常用來作為祈請佛陀加持降雨之用。
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An Exposition of the Great Cloud Sutra - The Chapter on the Playful Festival of the Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions
Background
The Great Cloud Sutra (Mahāmeghasūtra) is an essential sutra in the Mahāyāna tradition, especially revered in Tibetan Buddhism. This sutra records a moment when the Buddha entered deep meditative absorption, from which there appeared the merit of liberating immeasurable sentient beings through the imagery of clouds and rain covering the three realms.
This chapter, called “The Playful Festival of the Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions” (Mahāotsava-vikrīdita), describes a wondrous assembly of countless bodhisattvas from the ten directions of space, gathering like a boundless ocean. When the sutra was proclaimed, many nāga kings were directly present; this was not by chance, but was a profound arrangement. Since ancient times, the Great Cloud Sutra has been regarded as a sacred sutra for praying for cooling rain and for the relief of drought. This reflects the close connection between the process of practicing the Buddha-Dharma and the forces of nature and the nonhuman world.
Main Content
The focus of this chapter is the description of the Buddha manifesting immeasurable merit through the image of “golden rain clouds.” The Buddha’s merit in liberating sentient beings is compared to clouds covering the sky, from which gentle Dharma rain falls, nourishing all sentient beings. Bodhisattvas from the ten directions of space, east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, together with above and below, gather to attend a playful festival (vikrīdita), which may appear to be merely a joyful activity but is in fact a manifestation of the unsurpassed Buddha-Dharma.
The presence of the nāga kings is clear testimony to the idea that the Buddha-Dharma is not limited to human Dharma teachers, but also governs and is revered by the sovereigns of other realms. The rain distributed by the nāga kings symbolizes the universal permeation of the Buddha-Dharma into every aspect of life.
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