佛說十號經

Tathāgata, Arhat (Worthy of Offerings), Perfectly Enlightened One (Samyak-saṃbuddha), Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct (Vidyā-caraṇa-saṃpanna), Well-Gone One (Sugata), Knower of the World (Lokavid), Unsurpassed One (Anuttara), Tamer of Persons (Puruṣa-damya-sārathi), Teacher of Gods and Humans (Śāstā devamanuṣyāṇām), Buddha, World-Honored One (Bhagavān).

Ānanda asked: What is meant by the Tathāgata?

The Buddha said: "Bhikṣu! In ages past, when I was upon the Causal Ground[1] and practiced as a Bodhisattva, I cultivated the manifold practices, and because I wished to seek Unsurpassed, Perfect Enlightenment (Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi), I have now attained Bodhi and Nirvāṇa, all of which are entirely true and real. By means of Right View and the Noble Eightfold Path, I realized that which is named the Tathāgata. Like the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past, I subdued and stilled the mind[2] and reached Nirvāṇa; therefore it is called the Tathāgata."

What is meant by the Arhat (Worthy of Offerings)?

The Buddha said: "In ages past, while upon the Causal Stage[3], I practiced the wholesome Dharmas together with the precepts and dignified deportments, and I cultivated and increased the ten powers and the wholesome roots. In this way I cultivated until they were fully perfected to the utmost. When I realized Nirvāṇa, I severed and cleansed away every defilement, making Body, Speech, and Mind pure and undefiled.

I extinguished the defilements forever, as when one severs the crown of the tāla tree, so that it never again grows roots. Furthermore, because the defilements of greed, hatred, and delusion had been utterly cut off, in all the destinies there is never again any binding rebirth; having crossed beyond the four calamities of Birth, Old Age, Sickness, and Death—the Dharma of the fruit of suffering and the suffering of defilement, these two kinds—they are forever unarising.

Thus is established the title Arhat (Worthy of Offerings).

Moreover, when all in the world offer to the Buddha their garments, their bedding and resting implements, their food and drink, medicines, banners, jeweled canopies, incense and flowers, lamps and fruit, and all the most excellent things of the world and of the heavens, they attain the highest auspicious fortune, wealth, and nobility; therefore it is called the Arhat (Worthy of Offerings)."

What is meant by the Perfectly Enlightened One (Samyak-saṃbuddha)?

The Buddha said: "The Tathāgata is complete in All-Knowledge; in all places there is nowhere he does not know. By means of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, the Four Bases of Spiritual Power, the Five Faculties, the Five Powers, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Twelve Links of Dependent Arising, the Dharma of the Four Truths, and such Dharmas as these, he equally awakens all sentient beings, causing them to open forth wisdom, to cast off doubt and confusion, and to realize the fruit of the Stream-Enterer (Srota-āpanna), the fruit of the Once-Returner (Sakṛd-āgāmin), the fruit of the Non-Returner (Anāgāmin), and the fruit of the Arhat—complete with the Three Insights and the Six Penetrations.

Furthermore, within the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna), he gave rise to the intention, sought and pondered, cultivated the various stages (bhūmi), exhausted and cut off the accumulation of fetters, and accomplished unsurpassed enlightenment; therefore he is named the Perfectly Enlightened One (Samyak-saṃbuddha)."

What is meant by Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct (Vidyā-caraṇa-saṃpanna)?

The Buddha said: "'Knowledge' (Vidyā) means: the Insight of the Divine Eye, the Insight of Recollection of Past Lives, and the Insight of the Exhaustion of Outflows. 'Perfection of Conduct' means: cultivating the wholesome karma of Body, Speech, and Mind to fullness and perfection, truly and rightly pure. As one who, possessing the great robe and bowl, contemplates with sovereign ease and yet has no craving, he causes all conduct to be brought to fullness and perfection by the power of his own vow. Therefore he is called Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct."

What is meant by the Well-Gone One (Sugata)?

The Buddha said: It means Going Excellently[4]. Just as Greed, Hatred, and Delusion lead the various sentient beings to the evil destinies—this is not called Going Well—so the Right Wisdom of the Tathāgata is able to sever and cut off all doubt and confusion, to depart gently from the world, and to journey to the fruit of Buddhahood; therefore he is called the Well-Gone One.

What is meant by the Knower of the World and the Unsurpassed One (Lokavid, Anuttara)?

The Buddha said: This "World" is the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm; the Hells, the Hungry Ghosts, the various beasts—all the kinds of beings that possess the aggregate of Form, the aggregate of Feeling, the aggregate of Perception, the aggregate of Formations, and the aggregate of Consciousness; the eye faculty, the ear faculty, the nose faculty, the tongue faculty, the body faculty, the mind faculty, and the Dharmas within the realm of objects that are formed in dependence upon those Six Consciousnesses—this is called the World; and to be Perfectly Enlightened and Rightly Knowing of it is called the Knower of the World.

And in that world—among all beings of two legs, four legs, many legs, or no legs; the devas of the Realm of Desire and the Realm of Form; those with perception, without perception, neither with perception nor without perception; among the ordinary and the noble, and among all those sentient beings—only the Buddha is the Most Supreme and Without Equal; therefore he is called the Unsurpassed One.

What is meant by the Tamer of Persons (Puruṣa-damya-sārathi)?

The Buddha said: The Buddha is the Great Person, who is able to tame and master both kinds, the good and the evil. The evil ones, who perform the three unwholesome karmas and thereby receive evil retribution, and who do evil deeds, fall accordingly into the Hells, the Hungry Ghosts, and the beasts. The good ones, who through Body, Speech, and Mind cultivate the manifold wholesome deeds, attain the fruit of blessed reward among humans and gods. These wholesome and evil deeds are all created by the mind. The Buddha, by means of the Dharma of Nirvāṇa, the wholesomeness of the highest meaning[5], reveals taming and mastery, causing beings to depart far from defilement and stain, and to attain the supreme, quiescent extinction of Nirvāṇa; therefore he obtains the title Tamer of Persons.

What is meant by the Teacher of Gods and Humans (Śāstā devamanuṣyāṇām)?

The Buddha said: I am not the teacher only of Ānanda, a single Bhikṣu. All Bhikṣus, Bhikṣuṇīs, Upāsakas, and Upāsikās, and above in the heavens, in the human world, the Śramaṇas, the Brāhmaṇas, the Māra-kings, the followers of other paths, Śakra, Brahmā, dragons, and devas—all should take refuge and reverently practice according to the teaching, and all become disciples of the Buddha; therefore he is called the Teacher of Gods and Humans.

What is meant by the Buddha?

"Wisdom is complete, and the three modes of enlightenment are perfect and luminous; therefore he is called the Buddha." The Buddha said to Ānanda: In ages past, once when I was walking in meditative pacing, there was a Brāhmaṇa who came and asked me, "Why is it that your father and mother called you 'Buddha'?" The Buddha then answered, "Whatever the world is able to know, I am able to know; whatever the world is able to see, I am able to see; whatever can be extinguished, I too am able to extinguish. I am complete in All-Knowledge and know all things; I have cultivated and practiced all things throughout countless kalpas. Having departed far from the dust and defilement, I have now attained unsurpassed Bodhi; therefore the title 'Buddha' is established."

What is meant by the World-Honored One (Bhagavān)?

The Buddha said: When I was upon the Causal Ground, I would myself ponder, contemplate, and observe all the wholesome Dharmas, the Dharmas of moral discipline, the Dharmas of the mind, and the Dharmas of wisdom, and I further contemplated greed and the various unwholesome Dharmas. I summoned forth the knowledge of the suffering, arising, and ceasing of the various sentient beings, and by means of the outflow-free wisdom I shattered their defilements and attained Unsurpassed Enlightenment. Therefore the gods, humans, the noble and the ordinary, the worldly and the world-transcending, all revere and honor him; therefore he is called the World-Honored One.

The Buddha Speaks the Sutra of the Ten Epithets

Annotations:

[1] Causal Ground: The stage of sowing the seed (there are two kinds of Bodhisattva, the Causal-Ground Bodhisattva and the Fruit-Ground Bodhisattva—as in the case of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, who in ages past had already become a Buddha, but who, wishing to rescue and deliver sentient beings, manifested the body of a Bodhisattva).

[2] Stilling the Mind: Removing and casting off the thoughts of desire. Concentrating the mind so that there are no longer any conceiving thoughts. Purifying the mind, putting away discursive thinking.... "The Sanskrit term, translated, means Śramaṇa, which is to say, one who diligently cultivates the wholesome Dharmas, that is, one who extinguishes evil conduct."

[3] Causal Stage: The class of those who sow the seed.

[4] Going Excellently: Going to a place of goodness.

[5] The Wholesomeness of the Highest Meaning: The highest and most supreme good.