菩薩本生鬘論

The wellspring of self-nature is wisdom that penetrates clearly. As form and appearance grow more distinct, it abides in stillness without affliction. In silent clarity, in peace and bliss, the meaning of liberation is made plain.

The evil realms are filled with delusion and clinging to self. Sorrow and suffering spread far and wide; the afflictions are hard to remove. They are the root of calamity, their forms hard to fix.

The torrent of afflictions the Tathāgata forever severs. Through that self-nature He manifests in every place. Conforming to what is beneficial in meaning, the fundamentals are complete in full.

The power and function of liberating beings He hopes to make boundless. All of it increases and advances toward benefit. The realm of mind penetrates clearly, all idle speculation is ended; afflictions and delusions are cast off according to their measure.

The wholesome causes of the Three Vehicles guide and lead the myriad kinds. The Dharma-nature of all Buddhas is silent, clear, and pure. With true knowing and vision, the conceits do not arise.

In quiescence it sees through every path of obstruction. The very source of the realm of conceit—through teaching it is severed and removed. The many kinds of bondage—through admonition and instruction they are subdued.

Within the realm of sentient beings, in accordance He gives rise. Diligently He contemplates the mind and attains the pure bases of spiritual power. Repenting transgressions, body and mind become light and at ease.

The wisdom of the Buddha-path penetrates the three natures clearly. The ultimate truth is the wisdom of awakening. The supreme meaning is Suchness, wondrous awakening full and complete.

To penetrate true purity is Mahā-prajñā. The Buddha, the great hero, subdues the myriad kinds. Relying on quiescence, He responds in accordance, making the meaning plain.

The Buddha-path is pure; at its utmost it is the Tathāgata-nature. Wisdom penetrates clearly to the very end of every principle. The evil paths accumulate—good indeed it is to strive to depart from them!

The supreme meaning conforms and accords; pure karma is brought to fullness. Casting off bondage, the causes of suffering are cleansed. That truth—the cleansing of suffering's causes—He hopes to attain, with retribution that does not bind.

The great hero clearly recognizes the root of delusion. To let go and follow delusion is the utmost of wrong conduct; to hold fast to the wholesome root and cultivate learning is the way. The utmost of bondage one regards as one's own house and fields (one's possessions).

This is the place where one ought to give to sentient beings. The retribution of evil karma must be reversed against the current before it ends. The ten fetters of the five realms that screen and obscure—through cultivating the holy life, one departs from them.

Practice and understanding spread everywhere—this is the power and function of self-nature. Casting off evil karma, one attains the supreme and wondrous marks of form. The mind without material substance is Nirvāṇa free of marks; the bondage of idle speculation and conceit—through hearing and cultivation they are severed.

The body's true portion, its fragrance wafts afar. Penetrating clearly, it increases throughout every place. All the circumstantial recompense too is rightly thus.

These ten wholesome paths—pure wisdom penetrates them clearly. The conduct and marks of the human realm—a place most excellent. The substance of form at its utmost cannot be destroyed.

Skillfully He teaches sentient beings to perfect giving. The realm of mind tallies and accords, excellent and non-retrogressive. Afflictions, deluded conceit, and enmity arise.

Together with bondage they are subdued and left far behind. This is the place of reverence and accord with the kingly ones. The root is to cultivate the supreme conduct, departing from the evil realms.

The teaching is perfected throughout all places. The nine grounds are without marks, expounded according to what is realized. The ten paths of karmic action—wisdom penetrates them through and through.

The realm-nature is true, equal, and ultimate. The supreme meaning, most honored, is the unconditioned Dharma. Departing far from delusion and conceit, action is brought to flourish.

Enmity and delusion number in the hundreds of kinds. The torrent that arises—the seeds manifesting in action are without end.

What is it for a sentient being to depart from the retribution of the hungry ghost?

Delusion and self-conceit bind without end; the quiescent root unites and departs according to the moment. Markless giving He hopes to bring to the true. Conforming to equality, the recompense of merit grows. Born among the kinds of the human realm, foremost among the kingly ones.

What is the root of the various kinds of self-conceit?

Bondage continues unbroken, undergoing suffering and affliction. Wisdom delights in it; language sets it forth. Self-nature, quiescent, is like casting off poison.

The cause of the good friend one seeks to tally with. Loved and nourished, in a place most excellent. Departing far from the making of karma's many kinds of delusion.

Anger sets forth its words; the retribution is complete in full. The good friend gives aid; in practice and understanding one strives with effort. Hoping to end the afflictions, sovereign and in accord.

Self-nature awakens to the true root. Cultivating through friends, the foolish and weak are transformed. The supreme cause is brought to fullness; the original nature is just so.

The supreme meaning arising is the root of teaching. Greed within the afflictions gives rise together with self-conceit. The good friend skillfully helps; the pure cause is set in motion.

In the places of coming and going, the dust is wholly cleansed. Giving spread everywhere attains the true purity. Bondage is removed; devoted cultivation grows and increases.

Supreme conduct arises; peace and bliss turn everywhere. Wholesome and wondrous causes and conditions—virtue and karma accord with the mind. Loving joy abides in stillness, departing from defiling causes.

The ten kinds of wholesome dharmas transform to the very end. The deluded friends—self-nature severs them all. Self-nature is accomplished; the true is wholly brought to completion.

The Buddha-path of liberation realizes the nature of Suchness. The supreme meaning of Suchness is the truth brought to fullness. (Just as the realm of) that heaven ends suffering, true to its utmost. Utmost and excellent, it is the liberating of the myriad kinds.

The precepts and Dharma, pure, are perfected without end. The Tathāgata's powers of wisdom are perfect and vast. Expounding the true Dharma, the bounds of the precepts are without limit.

What is teaching?

The Buddha is the good friend. The wholesome, undefiled karma in its ten kinds is brought to fullness.

The Bodhisattva who cultivates the practice of giving; the Venerable One who adorns and guards the nation—the Jātaka account

the twenty-fourth meaning

Unified, increasing—the meaning and nature of the Tathāgata. With such compassionate vows He devotedly cultivates without end. This is to penetrate the teaching the Bodhisattva imparts. What is it to hope to attain the marks of quiescence?

The supreme meaning of the human realm is the attainment of the true root. The realm-nature, layer upon layer, is fundamental according to kind. The three kinds of subtle wonder subdue the three karmas.

Forms and marks of many kinds are like a forest that screens. Cultivating the pure cause, the body's portion is sovereign. The Buddha-path is equal, like the realm of empty space.

The power and function of making and acting transform without end. (The afflictions are like) earth that breeds poison; the power of merit is able to remove it. Sentient beings make causes equal and complete. The factors of making and acting are supreme, wondrous, and quiescent.

The teaching of compassion saves and aids the myriad kinds. Practice and understanding grow; the cultivating mind is pure. The three kinds of non-retrogression are the root of all that is true. (Like) a kind mother teaching, He hands down the casting off of idle speculation; wisdom penetrates clearly, recognizing greed and desire.

Harmonized thus, the hindrance of afflictions is extinguished. In every place He cultivates the practice of taming. The minds of sentient beings of the human realm are hard to fulfill in their seeking.

Conforming to delusion, dull and bound by folly. Subduing and guiding, He strives constantly with effort. He clearly recognizes idle speculation, layer upon layer, interlocked.

This is the place to cultivate giving; in that true matter, the poison of false imagining brings no harm. All Buddha-nature is luminous and without duality. Liberation in its true meaning—benefit in meaning accords.

The wholesome Dharma conforms and is pure; the practitioner should strive with effort. Self-conceit, greed, bondage, and the unwholesome cover and conceal: body and mind, the five aggregates—their self-nature is pure. Sages and worthies penetrate clearly, creating no delusion.

The body excellent, the mind joyful and sovereign. The land fresh and beautiful, adorned beyond measure. The realm of sentient beings vast, fresh and beautiful, like the heavens.

The supreme cause arising attains boundless sovereignty. Abiding in stillness, He subdues self-conceit and dullness. As the bodily marks grow greater, clinging to self grows the more attached.

Their degrees of high and low divide into superior, middling, and inferior. This is the place where the Bodhisattva makes pure forms and marks. He cultivates sovereignty.

The benefit in meaning is the supreme vehicle. Pure and in accord.

Like a king with the strength to govern most excellently. Constant, never changing. Making the cause of quiescence, He bears the burden of distant realms.

Hoping to end idle speculation, extinguishing all defilement and confusion. In place after place He sets in motion purity and wonder. The mind and intent rejoice, settled firm and steadfast.

He shelters all the people like clouds spread everywhere. The power and function of giving brings forth harmonized forms and marks. This is the place of equality, where all things are evenly apportioned.

The sovereign power pervades everywhere from a single source. Cleansing wholly the dust of defilement, the wondrous function penetrates clearly. In the place of teaching He hopes to end fear and dread.

Forms and marks unified, accomplished with solemn discipline. Wisdom vast, nourishing all in full. This is the place of purity, of sovereign practice and understanding.

Departing far from delusion, quiescence grows and increases. The torrent deep and perilous, its sweeping force spreads wide. Subduing the bondage that conceals, He blocks and ends its rising swell.

Loving joy in its measure hopes to attain quiescence. When the mind gives rise to arrogance and indulgence, the wholesome path grows dim and obscure. The four marks of affliction transform to their very end.

Like a sovereign king, His regime is brought to fullness. This is the Bodhisattva's realm, like empty space, unobstructed.

What is it for the marks of high and low to screen and obstruct?

Pure giving. The kingly ones, sincere and true. The mind of Loving-kindness arises; the fine and the coarse are transformed. The quiescent supreme meaning is serenity and tranquil peace. Body, speech, and mind make the ten kinds of good and evil. Discerning according to measure throughout every place. The three natures of awakening are like a kind mother nurturing her child. Skillfully she knows the child's natural disposition, its food and clothing. Just so a king skillfully governs the land.

What is it for the root of mind to end evil and idle speculation?

Forms and marks fresh and beautiful, harmonized and worthy of love. Calamity is absent; destruction does not arise. Like the markless root, the power and function are harmonized. It can end greed and desire, anger, and folly. Expounding the true Dharma, conforming to cultivation and learning. Clearly seeing the paths of birth and death within the three realms and nine grounds. Changing, passing to and fro, the better and worse undetermined. Equal and quiescent, He ends every deluded conceit.

What are the three contentions, the roots of greed, anger, and folly?

Making the cause of dispute, one undergoes the fruit of poverty. Such speech as this one ought to cultivate. Body and mind sovereign, He bears the burden in accord with truth.

Pure wisdom makes clear the Great Vehicle. All dharmas in their ultimate are wondrous awakening, full and complete. In its proper measure, enduring long, passing through three great kalpas.

The field of mind cultivates giving—a dwelling of peace, sovereign. Practice and understanding complete in full, He clearly sees the hindrance of afflictions. In the place of accomplishment, quiescence is brought to fullness.

The mind, ever wise in giving, takes forms and marks as its kin. Originally unborn, it is never bound. Making implements wondrous and worthy of esteem, He pays homage to sages and worthies, supreme and wondrous, brought to fullness.

The Heavenly Lord Śakra, with wisdom most excellent. He clearly sees the mental conduct of every kind (of sentient being) toward all dharmas. The Tathāgata responds and manifests, His wondrous function vast.

The supreme meaning, deep and wondrous, is pure and in accord. Form and marks brought to fullness, the lifespan stable. Afflictions, desire and greed, sorrow and suffering do not cease.

Departing far from deluded conceit, He devotedly cultivates purity and wonder. Idle speculation brought to completion makes bondage and concealment reach their utmost. It causes the mind to be trapped in a deep pit and chasm.

Receiving realms of suffering, the burning does not cease. The torrent of afflictions besieges the realm of mind. Its own substance fresh and wholesome, its form and marks pure and wondrous.

All of it arises throughout every place. The power and function in accord, what is learned is brought to fullness. Setting forth, He turns toward attaining the "Forbearance of the Non-arising (of dharmas)." Searching everywhere, excellent to the very end.

Liberating beings with equality, pure and complete in full. Casting off self-conceit, giving truly. Body, speech, and mind in action set forth giving.

These ten karmic paths are sovereign to the very end. Conforming and harmonized, complete in full, purity grows and increases. The wisdom of the sage penetrates clearly the bounds of existence and non-existence.

Forms and marks long and short—their principle is plain and unobstructed. Bearing the burden, giving, He ends delusion and conceit. As lord and master, sovereign, He manifests in every place.

Mental consciousness, harmonized, is complete in full with self-conceit. That root (conceit) binds the substance; the conceits conceal the nature. Possessed of dullness, delusion of this and that.

Recalling kin and enemy, never for a moment ceasing. Suffering, affliction, and transgression interlock, hard to depart from. Setting forth and transforming, they grow and increase throughout the realms.

The Tathāgata's self-nature, wise and clear, is pure. Practice and understanding true, He guides and teaches the myriad kinds. Giving, pure and wondrous, in boundless places.

Casting off, He makes no cause for the torrent of delusion. (Like) the realm of a king, vast, with strict laws and norms, His countenance excellent, pure and worthy of love. Thinking and acting like a mother nurturing her child. Awakening to the true, subtle, wondrous, and profound.

Humble and reverent, conforming to the conduct of the human realm. Dwelling sovereign, He makes the cause of pure conduct. Anger to its very end is the mire in which the fool is sunk.

The three kinds of torrent—greed, anger, and folly are the root. The supreme holy fruit—robe and bowl never leave Him. Self-nature manifests; the work of the Way is most excellent.

The nature of Suchness accomplished, the wondrous power arises. True to the very end, the place accords with the mind. The dharmas of mind turn toward attainment, awakening through wisdom; this is the place of the kingly ones, where holy virtue is settled and at peace.

The land tranquil, ending the cause of idle speculation. The meaning and principle fitting, the supreme cause brought to flourish. Destroying the place of conceit, defilement, and enmity.

Giving He hopes to attain the contemplation of the supreme meaning. Exhaustion is the name for the making of anger. Self, what belongs to self, perception, and seeking are all delusion, (which must be) tamed and subdued through quiescence.

What is it for the subject, at the proper moment, to be startled into recognizing the rich, sharp, and weak features of idle speculation produced by self-conceit?

A torrent such as this makes plain the meaning of sinking and floating. That cause of giving saves and aids the poor and suffering. Meditative concentration ends and removes the defilement of delusion.

Taming arrogance and indulgence, sovereign over self and other. The power and function pure, idle speculation cannot (arise). The excellent teaching, pure, ends all hatred and poison.

Cultivating and learning, advancing, He hopes to attain just so. The nature of the Tathāgata penetrates clearly and is brought to fullness. Afflictions and delusion screen and conceal the self-nature (of sentient beings).

The root such as this is from beginningless many kalpas. The nature cleansed of afflictions is true, like empty space. With pure instruction, with understanding He subdues the conceits, arrogance, and indulgence.

Pure consciousness "non-arising" is the transforming of self-nature. The evil realms, dark and ignorant, one ought not turn toward in seeking. Conforming to defilement and contention, the cause of bondage grows.

The human realm, dull and foolish, where holy wisdom is hard to bring forth. Pure precepts and conduct, the teaching most excellent. Harmonized action is the root of the practice of giving.

True and complete in full, the power and function sovereign. Wisdom arising ends fear and is not lost. That deluded realm—through precepts and discipline it is subdued.

Supreme, not lost, it is tamed and carried out. The body's portion conforms to the great benefit in meaning. The nature of afflictions arising and increasing is all ended.

The fundamental supreme cause is sovereign and in accord. Delighting in giving, the forms and marks are not lost. That cause of affliction produces clinging and attachment, like a great king who governs the land without wisdom.

Real fear is the root of defilement and falsity. Sovereign and selfless, with power complete He carries it out. Cultivating the practice of quiescence, the root cause of many ages.

The body's portion clings and attaches, truly hard to loosen and release. True and equal, it flows on without decay. The realm of dharmas takes form, binding and concealing sentient beings.

Idle speculation's defilement disturbs and obstructs the realm of birth, with no place (of its own). Ignorance arises, transforming along many paths.

The wondrous function of the Buddha-path is pure and sovereign; this is the place of the kingly ones where holy virtue is brought to flourish. The self-nature of wisdom forever radiates and shines. Like bees making honey, helping one another to accomplish the work. The wisdom of the sage penetrates clearly, quiescence brought to fullness. The language that arises is peaceful and pure. Sentient beings such as these have both quiescence and defilement. Clinging to self, deep and thick, causes sentient beings to give rise to fear. The root of mind is equal; the cause of practice is giving. The ultimate to the very end is the taming of beings in every place.

What is the function of forms and marks increasing?

Skillful means tally in their parts; the excellent is set in motion. The cause-nature is boundless, its power and function unobstructed. The self-nature of the realm of mind surpasses language.

The countenance shifts and changes, joy and anger taking turns. The cause of practice one hopes to attain has been thus from of old. The Bodhisattva, sovereign, acts in accordance with the precepts.

Guiding and teaching, making causes, He gives rise to them to the very end. The factors of essential nature comprise the five kinds of consciousness. The nature-condition, as the near cause, does not depart from retribution.

The factors are not lost; the cause-nature is harmonized. Penetrating clearly the true, self-nature is just so. Virtuous conduct embraces and accords—the meaning is the cause that conforms.

When the essential nature is dim and dark, its root lies in the defiled mind; the pure factors are without obscuration, without moral determination. This is, in brief, concerning the realm of mind: self-nature, the eight consciousnesses are the substance, the twelve sense-fields ought to be tamed.

What are the various kinds of benefit in meaning that are worthy of esteem?

Self-nature sets forth diligent cultivation. Wisdom attained and penetrating clearly is the root of liberating beings. The mind giving rise to dullness makes the torrent of bondage and concealment. Clinging to self, defilement, and contamination are plainly set forth. Cultivating giving, He penetrates the marks and appearances. The mind giving rise to self-conceit binds sentient beings. The true root of clinging to self is the failure to cultivate giving. The teaching of the Three Vehicles is sovereign and pervades everywhere.

What is it—good indeed!—to penetrate clearly every principle?

The cause of the deep and wondrous wholly ends suffering and affliction. Conforming to the supreme meaning, the root and nature are displayed. Anger spreads everywhere; the wisdom of awakening is hard to bring forth. The holy life is able to depart; the cause of bondage is sickness and ailment.

What is it for calamity, hindrance, and delusion to manifest?

The world attains the supreme and wondrous self-nature. The meritorious karma of the heaven-realm, its power and function wholesome and pure. Practice and understanding complete in full the five aggregates and name-and-form.

Forms and marks excellent, making and acting without end. Pure and tamed, the benefit in meaning is skillfully displayed. Good indeed is the awakening, profound and subtly wondrous.

Fittingly subduing the conduct and marks of clinging to self. The supreme cause accomplished, He attains the fruit-station of Buddhahood. Merit and virtue, liberation—transcendent of the world, foremost.

The realm-nature pure and wondrous, fundamentally fearless. Perception penetrating, the Buddha-Dharma supreme and wondrous. Body and mind pure, practice and understanding complete in power.

The outer realm changes; flowing on, it is not lost. Wisdom abundant and full, quiescent and unborn. Repentance ends defilement; taming is just so.

Those heaven-realms, pure and wondrous, are unified. Solemn and beautiful, the true grows and increases in accord. Such compassionate vows are vast and without end.

That fundamental meaning is brought to fullness, abiding constant. The Tathāgata, subtly wondrous, is perfect and without end. The holy fruit of the Śrāvaka liberates from birth and death.

The realm of mind pure, the ten dharmas of cultivation and learning (completed). The supreme meaning arises, turning toward the attainment of the ultimate. The conduct of the Bodhisattva, subtly wondrous and profound.

Sentient beings still possess all the afflictions and hindrances. Dullness, self-conceit—the conduct of the human realm. The power and function of the true—awakening and casting off.

Afflictions screen the substance (nature), making plain the kinds of root and derivative (afflictions). The twenty-six dharmas the Three Vehicles together sever.

The Bodhisattva who cultivates the practice of giving; the Venerable One who adorns and guards the nation—the Jātaka account

the twenty-fifth meaning.