Toh 145The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch”

Summary

The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch starts with a profound conversation between the Buddha and the
bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī on the nature of the dharmadhātu, buddhahood, and
emptiness. The bodhisattva Dharmamati then enters the meditative absorption called the infinite application of the bodhisattva’s jewel torch and, at the behest of the millions of buddhas who have
blessed him, emerges from it to teach how bodhisattvas arise from the presence of a tathāgata and progress to the state of
omniscience. Following Dharmamati’s detailed exposition of the “ten categories” or progressive stages of a bodhisattva, the
Buddha briefly teaches the mantra of the dhāraṇī and then, for most of the
remainder of the text, encourages bodhisattvas in a long versified passage in which he recounts teachings by a bodhisattva called
Bhadraśrī on the qualities of bodhisattvas and buddhas. Some verses from this passage on the virtues of faith have been widely
quoted in both India and Tibet.

Acknowledgements

Translated by David Jackson and edited by the 84000 editorial team. The introduction, also by the 84000 editorial team,
expands on an original version by David Jackson. The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000:
Translating the Words of the Buddha.

The generous sponsorship of Make and Wang Xiao Juan (馬珂和王曉娟), which helped make the work on this translation possible, is
most gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

Overview

In this profound Mahāyāna sūtra, The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch, the Buddha Śākyamuni
explains, with the help of the bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, and Dharmamati, how bodhisattvas progress toward
awakening.

Although seen as a sūtra in its own right, it is closely connected to the family of texts belonging to the Avataṃsakasūtra, two chapters of which it shares. As its title suggests, it can also be seen as
a dhāraṇī, or as a sūtra about a dhāraṇī.

Substantial passages were quoted by Śāntideva in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, and these
extracts are now the only remnants of the Sanskrit text. The Tibetan translation, by the Indian master Surendrabodhi and the
chief-editor translator the monk Yeshé Dé, dates to the early, imperial translation period, and its verses on faith later had
a wide impact in Tibetan works. The Chinese translation, by Fatian, dates to the late tenth century and is classified as an
Avataṃsaka text.

Narrative and Doctrinal Content

The setting of the text is the Vulture Peak in Rājagṛha. Its audience is a great gathering of highly accomplished
monks and bodhisattvas, headed by Samantabhadra who, as the initial interlocutor, asks the Buddha how dharmadhātu should be
understood. A brief but profound exchange follows.

Mañjuśrī then appears and requests the Buddha to teach the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch (

). The Buddha insists that Mañjuśrī should request Samantabhadra to teach it instead, and
Samantabhadra’s dialog with Mañjuśrī starts with the meaning of buddha. A brief interlude follows (

–

) in which Śāriputra (here Śāradvatīputra) compares
his own understanding unfavorably with Mañjuśrī’s vast wisdom, and professes his inability and unwillingness to debate with
him; similar brief conversations between Śāriputra and Mañjuśrī recur at several points in the text.

The bodhisattva Dharmamati then makes his appearance (

) and enters the
meditative absorption called the infinite application of the bodhisattva’s jewel
torch. Blessed and encouraged by millions of buddhas to summon the eloquence to teach, Dharmamati sets out the
ten categories of bodhisattva (

–

–

).

The Buddha, in response to several ensuing requests to teach, briefly teaches the mantra of the dhāraṇī (

) and comments on its meaning. At Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī’s request, he
then explains the benefits that hearing this sūtra will have for future disciples (

–

). Here several stark warnings are given to future hearers (mainly future
monks) who might one day criticize or reject this sūtra.

The final main section of the sūtra is a very long passage (twenty folios in the Degé edition) of versified
encouragement for bodhisattvas, introduced by a prologue featuring Ānanda. The main versified part (

–

) is spoken by the Buddha as a
narrative that introduces, relates, and concludes teachings given by the bodhisattva Bhadraśrī on the good qualities and modes
of conduct of the bodhisattva. Bhadraśrī first eulogizes the thought of awakening (bodhicitta) and then a few verses later praises faith in a well-known passage, parts of which were quoted by
Śāntideva (see below) and subsequently by many Tibetan authors. Bhadraśrī then describes many of the other qualities of
bodhisattvas and their ability to manifest miraculously in different ways, including the astounding visual and other sensory
content of their meditative absorptions, the many kinds of miraculous rays of light with which they bring benefit to the world
and beings, and comparisons with the powerful magical displays of the ordinary gods such as Indra and the king of the
nāgas.

At the end of the teaching, its importance and future benefits are expressed by Subhūti and others, and Ānanda
promises to retain it.

The Sūtra, the Avataṃsaka, and the Chinese Translation

Although it is found in the Kangyur among other Mahāyāna sūtras in the General Sūtra section (as Tōh 145 in the Degé
Kangyur) and is listed as belonging to that general category in the Denkarma inventory of translated texts (as well as to the Dhāraṇī section, see below), the sūtra
also belongs to the family of texts related to the Avataṃsakasūtra (phal po che, “The Ornaments of the Buddhas,” Toh 44). Indeed, in the other imperial
period inventory, the roughly contemporary Phangthangma, it is listed under the heading of “the works included in the group of
sūtras of the noble, great, very extensive Buddhāvataṃsaka.”

The prominent role of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra; the centrality of the dharmadhātu; the vast numbers of buddhas
who gather and the mention of the Buddha Vairocana in the pivotal passage about the absorption and blessing of Dharmamati;
the tenfold division and subdivision of the categories of bodhisattva; the repeated vocative “O sons of the victors”; and many other features of this work,
above all the central theme of how bodhisattvas first emerge in the presence of a tathāgata and progressively develop access
to the buddha qualities, culminating in their regency and consecration, are all strongly reminiscent of the Avataṃsaka.

Two long passages in the text represent two complete chapters of the Avataṃsakasūtra. In terms of content they are close to being exact matches, although the translations in Tibetan are different.
The long passage recounting Dharmamati’s absorption and his ensuing revelations in both prose and verse (from

to

) is almost identical to the whole of chapter 20
of the Tibetan Avataṃsakasūtra, “The Ten Categories of Bodhisattvas” (chapter 15 of the
Chinese), while almost the entirety of the final verse section recounting the teachings
by Bhadraśrī (from

to

The Chinese translation of this text, Taishō 299,
made by Fatian almost a hundred years later than the Tibetan, in the year 983, is also classified as a sūtra of the Avataṃsaka family. It is placed in the Taishō in the Huayan volume, volume 10, along with the
Avataṃsakasūtra itself and the other standalone texts related to it.

Why Is the Sūtra Also a Dhāraṇī?

The text is classified not only as a sūtra, but also as a dhāraṇī, and in those
Kangyurs that have an additional Dhāraṇī section it is duplicated there (as Tōhoku no. 847 in the Degé Kangyur). Indeed, the title itself includes the word
dhāraṇī, and the teaching requested of the Buddha is referred to as “the dhāraṇī of
the jewel torch.”

The term dhāraṇī is derived from the Sanskrit root √dhṛ (“to hold” or “to maintain”), and among its wide range of meanings most are closely related to the
retaining—in the mind, in memory, in words, or in writing—of a particular teaching, realization, or approach to awakening.
Perhaps the two most widespread senses in which the term is used are when it refers to a mantra-like formula that “encodes”
its meaning without necessarily expressing it in comprehensible speech, or when it describes the highly developed capacity of
advanced practitioners to memorize and accurately retain a set of detailed and profound instructions. But as well as
signifying the means by which such meanings or sets of instructions are retained (i.e., what holds them), it can also
designate a specific meaning or instruction itself (i.e., what is held).

Furthermore, by extension from these senses of the term, a text that either contains a (mantra-like)
dhāraṇī, or is about a dhāraṇī in any of these senses, may itself be referred to as a dhāraṇī. This
is the basis for the term dhāraṇī having also come to designate a whole scriptural genre of Mahāyāna texts—well represented in
the Kangyur, which contains some two hundred fifty texts in that category. However, as a genre it is both quite diverse in its
composition and shares most of the texts it contains with other genres. It is often not entirely clear whether any one text is
labeled a dhāraṇī because the text itself is a dhāraṇī, contains a dhāraṇī, or is about
a dhāraṇī.

For all these reasons, each text placed in this genre deserves its own analysis of what makes it “a dhāraṇī.” In the
case of the present text, mentions are made throughout to a “dhāraṇī of the jewel torch,” but it is difficult to determine
whether they all have the same reference, or whether they variously refer to a particular realization of bodhisattvas, to a
teaching on that realization, or to the text itself.

In the first chapter, there are four separate occasions on which the dhāraṇī seems to be taught. Although the
corresponding mentions could conceivably all be understood as referring to one and the same instance of the dhāraṇī, three of
the four occasions end with a statement that the dhāraṇī has now been taught, in the past tense. In the first of the four
instances, the exchange between Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, and the Buddha (starting at

) is
termed an explanation of the dhāraṇī in the initial request. In the second instance, Dharmamati’s long teaching on the ten
levels of bodhisattvas is also described as a dhāraṇī immediately afterward by Samantabhadra (

). The third instance is a dialog between Mañjuśrī and Śāriputra (starting at

) in response to the latter’s request for an explanation of the dhāraṇī, which is lauded as
a teaching on that dhāraṇī afterward (

). The fourth instance is when yet another request
is made to the Buddha, this time by Samantabhadra, to teach the dhāraṇī (

Along with dhāraṇīs, a number of sūtras mention gateways (Skt. mukha, Tib.
sgo), meditative absorptions (Skt. samādhi, Tib.
ting nge ’dzin), and liberations (Skt. vimokṣa,
Tib. rnam par thar pa) as different kinds of qualities attained by bodhisattvas. That
some of the mentions of the dhāraṇī in this sūtra fall into the category of such attained qualities is suggested by the first
of the four instances instance here being also termed an “access” or gateway (

), and by
the second instance being described as arising from the gnosis that Dharmamati has attained while immersed in a meditative
absorption called “the infinite application of the jewel torch.”
Nevertheless, this second instance, the long teaching on the ten levels of bodhisattvas, is clearly also seen as a teaching,
in the sense of presenting specific doctrinal content. The third instance is heralded by Śāriputra’s announcement that a sūtra
is to be taught, yet what happens turns out to be a short and somewhat cryptic dialog equating explanation with emptiness, and
demonstrating how neither can be taught. Only the fourth instance, the mantra, can be reasonably clearly placed in the
category of dhāraṇīs that are encoding formulae, and the meaning that the mantra can be assumed to express is linked to the
first and third instances in the teaching by Samantabhadra that follows it, on how the dhāraṇī should be “retained” and
cultivated as a teaching on thatness, the ultimate (Skt. tathatā, Tib. de bzhin nyid).

Most of the subsequent mentions of the dhāraṇī as such, in what remains of the first chapter and at the beginning of
the second (it is not mentioned at all in the long verse section), are made in the context of its future holders and of its
past history, intermingled with descriptions of it as a Dharma discourse. In other words, as a teaching—but also, in the kind
of internal self-reference that is a common feature of many Mahāyāna sūtras, designating this very text itself.

The frequent mentions in this text of the “dhāraṇī of the jewel torch” are therefore quite varied in terms of the
sense in which the term is being used. We have made no attempt to use capitalization or punctuation to distinguish those that
may refer to the text itself, to a teaching, to the mantra, or to a realization.

Neither of the two long
sections that appear as chapters in the Avataṃsakasūtra make any mention of a dhāraṇī. None
of the excerpts in Sanskrit quoted by Śāntideva (see below) include passages where the dhāraṇī is mentioned in the Tibetan
text, but the title Śāntideva uses to introduce his citations does include the designation
dhāraṇī.

The Title and Its Variants

The Sanskrit title transliterated in the Tibetan text, Ratnolkādhāraṇī in its short
form, is the same as the title that appears in the Sanskrit manuscripts of the Śikṣāsamuccaya
(see below). The Sanskrit ulkā can mean a fiery phenomena in the sky, i.e., a meteor, and
also a firebrand or torch.

Of the title in Tibetan, however, there are several different renderings. In all Kangyurs, the title is dkon mchog ta la la’i gzungs, incorporating the unusual, archaic word ta la la, meaning “lamp” or “torch.” In some of the twenty or so Tengyur treatises that quote the
text (including the Tibetan translation of the Śikṣāsamuccaya), the ta la la title is used, even if in some cases the word gzungs (dhāraṇī) is dropped or replaced by the word mdo (sūtra). In
others, however, the title is rendered in various forms that use, instead of ta la la,
the more usual Tibetan term for “lamp” or “torch,” sgron ma or sgron me. Probably as a consequence, later Tibetan authors of
indigenous works (see below) use sometimes one version of the title, sometimes the other, and only some authors who use the
sgron ma variants seem to be aware that the canonical work they are
quoting is in the Kangyur under a different title.

The Sūtra in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya and Other Treatises

The sūtra is quoted a little over twenty times in treatises in the Tengyur, notably by Atiśa, Vimalamitra, and
Śāntideva, but also by lesser known authors. As noted above, both the dkon mchog ta la
la and dkon mchog sgron ma forms of the title can be found, and
there are considerable minor variations. Most, but not all, of the quotations are from the long verse section of the second
chapter.

The most extensive extracts appear in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya
(Training Anthology), and indeed
the sūtra appears to have been among Śāntideva’s favorite texts, as he quotes from it more than from any other work. His text
contains two short extracts, one longer passage, and one very extensive section of the verses from the second chapter that
makes up more than half of one of his chapters. The
Śikṣāsamuccaya has survived in Sanskrit, as well as in its Tibetan translation in the
Tengyur, and its Sanskrit text thus contains the only known remnants of the sūtra in Sanskrit.

The Sūtra’s Impact on Tibetan Works

The sūtra is listed in the Mahāvyutpatti as one of the hundred or so Dharma texts
that were presumably best known at the time, and is frequently quoted by
Tibetan authors of all the main traditions. The passages on the importance of faith are the most commonly quoted, and for some
authors it is the scriptural source for there being—variously—three, four, or six kinds of faith.
Other parts of both chapters are also cited.

Identifying quotes from the sūtra is made more difficult by the variety of titles used. In the case of several authors, including Chomden Rikpa Raltri (bcom ldan rig pa ral dri, thirteenth century), Longchen Rabjampa (klong chen rab ’byams pa, fourteenth century), and many of the early Sakya scholars, quotes using both the
dkon mchog sgron ma and the dkon
mchog ta la la forms of the title can be found in the same work, suggesting that in some cases they may have
been consulting treatises or other sources that used these different titles as well as the canonical text itself without
always recognizing that both titles designate the same sūtra. Shākya Chokden (shA kya mchog
ldan, fifteenth century) specifically mentions the identity of both titles.

The Translation

This translation is based principally on the Degé block print and the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Kangyur. Yeshé Dé’s early-ninth-century translation contains a few archaic
words that have survived subsequent editing, including the ta la la in the title,
mentioned above. A few other noteworthy archaic spellings, recorded in the notes, are byin as a verb of the Buddha’s speech (see

); dbung, “center” (see

); and the spelling
nod pa for mnod pa
(prahaṇam, “to receive”). In a few passages we have suggested a change in the text reading in an
endnote, often in consultation with the Stok Palace version.

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch

Chapter 1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling on the Vulture Peak of Rājagṛha, seated together with a
great gathering of fully ordained monks, all of whom had perfected virtuous qualities, roared mighty lion’s roars as great teachers, and were expert in seeking an
immeasurable accumulation of gnosis, in all more than a thousand fully ordained monks.

A great gathering of bodhisattvas was also assembled there, including the bodhisattva great being Samantabhadra, the
bodhisattva great being Ratnamudrāhasta, the bodhisattva great being Nityodyukta, the bodhisattva great being Ornamented by
Good Qualities, the bodhisattva great being Announcing Merits, the bodhisattva great being Mahāmati, the bodhisattva great
being Array of Good Qualities, the bodhisattva
great being Vajra Intelligence, the bodhisattva great being Vajragarbha, the bodhisattva great being Light of a Vajra, the
bodhisattva great being Weapon of a Vajra, the bodhisattva great being Adamantine Vajra, the bodhisattva great being
Dhāraṇīdhara, the bodhisattva great being Dhāraṇīmati, the bodhisattva great being Seeing All Purposes, the bodhisattva
great being Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva great being Mahāsthāmaprāpta, the bodhisattva great being Dṛḍhamati, the
bodhisattva great being Vajrapāṇi, the bodhisattva great being Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, the bodhisattva great being Avoiding
Evil Destinies, the bodhisattva great being Overcoming All Sorrow and Darkness, the bodhisattva great being Suvikrāntavikrāmin, the bodhisattva great being Not Taking or
Rejecting, the bodhisattva great being Essence of Sandalwood, the bodhisattva great
being Sāgaramati, the bodhisattva great being Durabhisambhava, the bodhisattva great being Arising Joy, the bodhisattva
great being Intelligence of Conduct, the bodhisattva great being Pratibhākūṭa, the bodhisattva great being Essence of Speed,
and the bodhisattva great being Maitreya.

Those and other bodhisattva great beings all dwelled in inconceivable emancipation, had left everything behind through the
meditative absorption heroic progress, had unimpeded melodic voices, and were skilled in holding sway over limitless buddha
realms. They all dwelled in fearlessness, were devoid of attachment and anger, possessed pleasant-sounding voices, were not
attached to the three realms of existence, possessed undivided retinues of attendants, were arisen from omniscience, and
possessed limitless meditative absorptions and meditative attainments. They all fulfilled every hope, experienced the
perfection of discriminating wisdom, were inclined toward meaningful goals in their bodily, verbal, and mental deeds, were
intent on omniscience, were blessed to have limitless meditative
absorptions and conduct, had attained fearlessness, had emptiness as their sphere of experience, and dwelled in the absence of phenomenal marks.

The bodhisattva great being Samantabhadra, who was seated as part of that assembly, bowing with his head to the feet
of the Blessed One, said, “Blessed One, how should
we understand dharmadhātu?”

The Blessed One answered, “Son of a good family, dharmadhātu is to be understood as the absence of entities. Son of a
good family, you should understand dharmadhātu as follows: as space-like, as without conceptual elaborations, as unelaborated,
as without accepting, as without rejecting, as the absence of entities, and as foundationless.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra asked, “Blessed One, does dharmadhātu arise?”

The Blessed One answered, “Son of a good family, dharmadhātu has no arising. Son of a good family, dharmadhātu is
inconceivable. You should understand it as the absence of entities: entities are in no way expressible, nor can they be shown
in any way.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra asked, “Blessed One, how many aspects does awakening have?”

The Blessed One answered, “Son of a good family, the aspects of awakening are measureless; they cannot be shown to
have a fixed measure.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra asked, “Blessed One, can dharmadhātu be conceptualized?”

The Blessed One answered, “Son of a good family, dharmadhātu is nonconceptual.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra asked, “If dharmadhātu is nonconceptual, how could it be that spiritually immature
ordinary people would think of it?”

The Blessed One answered, “All spiritually immature ordinary people have arisen from thinking, conceptualizing, and
imagining.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “Blessed One, the awakening of the tathāgatas is profound.”

The Blessed One said, “So it is. As you say, son of a good family. Moreover, the fact that all phenomena are without
conceptual elaborations is what is called awakening.”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, who had already arrived at that assembly and was already seated, bowed his head to the
Blessed One’s feet and addressed him with these words: “I request that the Blessed One explain the dhāraṇī of the
jewel torch.”

The Blessed One answered, “Son of a good family, ask the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. He possesses eloquent confidence
that is unhindered with respect to all dharmas. He will teach it to you.”

Then Mañjuśrī seated himself directly facing the Blessed One with palms joined in supplication and said, “Why cannot
the Blessed One himself, who is omniscient and all-seeing, explain it?”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, where there is a bodhisattva who possesses such excellent qualities,
there the tathāgatas remain in indifference.”

Mañjuśrī said, “Blessed One, tathāgatas do not remain in indifference.”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, I am not abandoning the realm of sentient beings. Nevertheless, the
teaching of the bodhisattvas is an immeasurable and inconceivable teaching.”

Then Mañjuśrī repeated, “I request the Blessed One to explain the dhāraṇī of the jewel
torch.”

The Blessed One answered, “Son of a good family, ask the bodhisattva Samantabhadra! He will teach it to you. Why? Because that sublime man remains in the
accumulation of gnosis.”

Mañjuśrī said, “If it is the Tathāgata’s intention that I do so, I will request it from that sublime man.”

The Blessed One said, “Mañjuśrī, if you have attained as many meditative absorptions as there are atoms, what need is
there for you to request it from the Tathāgata? Son of a good family, you possess fortunate endowments regarding all the
qualities of a buddha.”

Mañjuśrī said, “Blessed One, all the qualities of a buddha that I have relied on, cultivated, and enhanced should be
understood as the power of the person of the Tathāgata.”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, excellent, excellent! You have spoken well. But I request you, Mañjuśrī,
to ask the bodhisattva Samantabhadra to teach.”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta said to the Blessed One, “This bodhisattva Samantabhadra teaches the exceedingly profound.
He has mastered the Mahāyāna.”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, you, too, are a king whose might extends over all dharmas; do not address me. You also possess
the inconceivable meditative absorption of abiding in emptiness.”

So Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta respectfully paid homage to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, pressing the ten fingers of his
hands together and saying to him, “O son of the victors, if you grant me the occasion, I would like to ask you a few
words.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “Son
of a good family, if you know the right time to have come, ask!”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta asked the bodhisattva great being Samantabhadra, “O son of the victors, what is the basic
meaning behind calling the Buddha ‘Buddha’?”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “O son of the victors, the basic meaning of buddha is
groundlessness. The basic meaning of buddha is the absence of entities.
The basic meaning of buddha is inconceivability. The basic meaning of buddha is to
be equal to the unequaled. The basic meaning of buddha is the absence of conceptual elaborations. The basic
meaning of buddha is unelaborated. The basic meaning of buddha is the absence of
accepting. The basic meaning of buddha is the absence of rejecting. The basic meaning of
buddha is space-like. The basic meaning of buddha is ineffability. Son of a good
family, such is the nature of the qualities of a buddha.”

Mañjuśrī said, “O son of the victors, but if all phenomena are without conceptual elaborations, how can you teach
‘qualities of a buddha’?”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “O son of the victors, such a ‘teaching’ is unteachable.”

Mañjuśrī said, “O son of the victors, if it is unteachable, what is taught?”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “Mañjuśrī, that which is the unteachable is taught through designation.”

Mañjuśrī said, “O son of the victors, what does one designate through designation?”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “Mañjuśrī, through designation one designates neither entities nor the absence of
entities.”

Mañjuśrī said, “O son of the victors, if one does not designate entities through designation and does not designate
the absence of entities either, then how could the Three Vehicles ever be taught?”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “Mañjuśrī, do not be attached to the dharmadhātu, which is free of attachment!
Why not? Mañjuśrī, it is because the Tathāgata taught that all phenomena are the absence of entities. Why are they the absence
of entities? It is because the five aggregates are not apprehended.”

Mañjuśrī asked, “Is awakening something with conceptual elaborations? Or is it something that is without conceptual
elaborations?”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra replied, “Son of a good family, awakening is neither something with conceptual
elaborations, nor is it something that is without conceptual elaborations. Thus, awakening exists neither in terms of having
elaborations nor as being devoid of elaborations; it is indivisible into two.”

Then the Blessed One said to the
bodhisattva great being Samantabhadra, “Son of a good family, this inconceivable teaching is excellent, excellent! Yet,
through the teaching of this discourse, the world with its gods will become confused.”

Mañjuśrī said, “Blessed One, to teach the Dharma in this way is not best suited to its being understood.”

The Blessed One replied, “Son of a good family, just as you say, it is not.”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, are all phenomena designated by this type of
designation?”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, just as you say, they are.”

Then the bodhisattva Samantabhadra said to the Blessed One, “This pure access to the Dharma is difficult to appreciate!”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, just as you say, it is.”

Then the bodhisattva Sāgaramati said to the Blessed One: “This pure access to the Dharma that was taught by the bodhisattva Samantabhadra was well
expressed.”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, just as you say, it was. Moreover, son of a good family, this is the
natural result of all phenomena. It is a great rain of the Dharma.”

Then a brahmin who was like a great śāla tree and who dwelled in sameness said, “Blessed One,
awakening is inconceivable sameness. No letters or words are perceived in it.”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, it is so; in the dharmadhātu no words are perceived, nor are any sense
objects perceived.”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, what is the natural result of emptiness? What is
its aspect? What is its sign? What is its phenomenal mark?”

The Blessed One said, “Mañjuśrī, emptiness is inexpressible and ineffable. That which partakes of its inexpressible
nature is what is called emptiness. Emptiness is without letters, and thus it is called
emptiness. Emptiness is ineffable, and hence it is called emptiness. Son of a
good family, all phenomena are empty of their own essential nature.”

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra said to the Blessed One: “Blessed One, look at the magical displays of the
bodhisattvas who dwell in the inconceivable reality.”

The bodhisattva great being Sarvadharmeśvara then said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, according to my
understanding of the sense of what the Blessed One has taught, the śrāvaka has simply not obtained the qualities of a
śrāvaka.”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, it is not that the śrāvaka has not obtained the qualities of a śrāvaka,
but rather, how could śrāvakas answer questions together with bodhisattvas or have the power and potency to bring about a
transformation of their conduct?”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, if the Tathāgata taught that this Śāradvatīputra
was foremost among disciples possessing discriminating wisdom, what did that teaching reveal?”

The Blessed One said, “Mañjuśrī, what I taught was without teaching.”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta said to the elder Śāradvatīputra, “Elder, did you obtain the qualities of a śrāvaka?”

He answered, “No, I did not.”

Mañjuśrī said, “In that case, are you an ordinary person?”

“No.”

“So, are you a trainee?”

“No.”

“Are you foremost among those who possess discriminating wisdom?”

“No.”

Mañjuśrī said, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, if you are neither an ordinary person nor a trainee, nor foremost among
those possessing discriminating wisdom, that can only mean you are someone who adheres to a heretical view.”

Śāradvatīputra said, “Son of a good family, I am not going to debate with you, a sublime person whose profound depth
is as unfathomable as the ocean.”

Mañjuśrī said, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, do not say that! You are the most prominent of the older generation.”

The elder said, “The fact of my age will not itself achieve anything, nor will it lead to realization. To make it
better understood, son of a good family, I will give you an analogy. Consider how with a small diamond even a great boulder
may be destroyed. Likewise, the discriminating wisdom that you have in a single pore of your body is more than a sentient
being like myself has in all the particles of my body put together. Son of a good family, to make it understood, I will use
another analogy for you. It is like, for instance, how a powerful man can, with just a small iron hook, tame a huge frightful
elephant. Son of good family, likewise, you possess power. I am weak. How can I debate with a great elephant like this?”

Then the elder Śāradvatīputra said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, it is like this: if a blind man cannot follow
after someone or see a city, how would he manage to go from house to house? That would be impossible. Similarly, I see myself
as blind in the presence of great elephants like these. The qualities of a buddha are that vast. I am not a suitable vessel
for the qualities of a buddha. Now there is nothing for me to do.”

The Blessed One said, “Śāradvatīputra, do not talk like that! Consider, for example, that however many sentient
beings may be touched by light from a tathāgata, all will obtain the qualities of a buddha. Likewise, Śāradvatīputra, you
will be a recipient of limitless and inconceivable meditative absorptions.”

When the Blessed One explained this Dharma discourse, ninety-two thousand among the gods and humans gained a clear
understanding of the Dharma.

It was at this point that the
bodhisattva Dharmamati entered the bodhisattva’s meditative absorption called the infinite application of the jewel torch. No sooner had the bodhisattva Dharmamati entered that meditative absorption than, from the
world systems in each of the ten directions that exceed in number the atoms of ten thousand buddhafields, blessed buddhas
numbering as many as the atoms of ten thousand buddhafields showed their faces. Those blessed buddhas all had but one and the
very same name: Vajra Quintessence.

As though they were in just one place despite issuing from the ten directions, those blessed buddhas said to him,
“Dharmamati, that you have entered the bodhisattva’s meditative absorption of the infinite application in this way is excellent, excellent! Son of a good family, it is like this. Through the previous
aspirations and previous blessings of this blessed tathāgata Vairocana himself, and reinforced by your own roots of virtue,
all we buddhas from the ten directions, numbering as many as the atoms of ten thousand buddhafields and each one with the same
name, bless you, so that you may teach all Dharma teachings, purify the gnosis of buddhahood, increase the gnosis of
buddhahood, enter into the dharmadhātu, liberate the realms of sentient beings, enter and penetrate unbound gnosis, engage
with gnosis, speak all languages, enter into omniscient gnosis, become unobstructed with respect to all phenomena, and engage
in teaching the Dharma through knowing all three times.
Through the strength and blessing of the Buddha,
expound the Dharma with inspired speech, beginning with the ten categories of the bodhisattva!”

Then those blessed buddhas caused that blessed bodhisattva Dharmamati to attain the light of unimpeded gnosis, with
a very nature that was free of obstruction, free of interruption, and not forgetful; a gnosis free from differentiation, with
a very nature that was morally blameless, inviolable, dauntless, inalienable; and excellent speech. Why so? Because he had
thus obtained the very nature of that absorption.

Then those blessed buddhas extended their right hands and touched
the head of the bodhisattva Dharmamati. As soon as those blessed buddhas had
touched the bodhisattva Dharmamati, he rose from that absorption and said to the bodhisattvas, “O sons of
the victors, this family of bodhisattvas is as follows: it is vast owing to the boundlessness of the dharmadhātu and of the
element of space. O sons of the victors, the bodhisattva great beings were born into the family of past blessed buddhas,
future blessed buddhas, and present blessed buddhas.”

Then those bodhisattvas said to the bodhisattva Dharmamati, “O son of the victors, who are those bodhisattva great
beings who were born into the family of the past, future, and present blessed buddhas? Tell me what thought they came from. O son of
the victors, explain what those ten categories of bodhisattvas are!”

The bodhisattva Dharmamati said to those bodhisattvas, “O sons of the victors, ten categories of bodhisattvas were
taught, are taught, and will be taught by buddhas of the past, present, and future. What are those ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾
bodhisattvas who have generated the initial thought of awakening, ⁽²⁾ beginners, ⁽³⁾ those who engage in yogic practice, ⁽⁴⁾
those who have taken rebirth, ⁽⁵⁾ those who have perfected application, ⁽⁶⁾ those who have perfected intention, ⁽⁷⁾ those who
are irreversible, ⁽⁸⁾ those who are still youths, ⁽⁹⁾ those who are
regents, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ those who have been consecrated. O sons of the victors, those ten categories of bodhisattvas were taught,
are taught, and will be taught by buddhas of the past, present, and future.

⁽¹⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of bodhisattvas who have generated the initial thought of awakening?
O sons of the victors, these bodhisattvas who have generated the initial thought of awakening will, as soon as they see the
blessed buddhas, see an excellent or beautiful form with a completely excellent and brilliant complexion, miracles of magical displays, miracles of mind
reading,
or miracles of insightful admonition, or see suffering sentient beings, or hear
the praises of the Tathāgata, such that they will long for all-knowing gnosis and from the very beginning generate the
intention to attain the highest insuperable awakening. And as soon as that very first intention to attain awakening is
generated, those beings will have taken up ten things that are difficult to approach. What are those ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾ the knowledge of what is possible and
impossible, ⁽²⁾ the knowledge of deeds that occur in the past, present, and future and qualities that
were obtained, ⁽³⁾ the knowledge of everywhere that paths lead, ⁽⁴⁾ the knowledge of the numerous and varied constituents of
beings, ⁽⁵⁾ the knowledge of numerous spiritual inclinations and liberations, ⁽⁶⁾ the knowledge of the superior and inferior
faculties, ⁽⁷⁾ the knowledge of the meditative concentrations, emancipations, absorptions, and meditative attainments in their
defiled and purified forms and their arising, ⁽⁸⁾ the knowledge that remembers previous lives,
⁽⁹⁾ the knowledge of the divine eye, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ the knowledge of the exhaustion of defilements. Thus, they will have taken up
those ten things that are difficult to approach. O sons of the victors, such is the category of bodhisattvas who have
generated the initial thought of awakening.

“O sons of the victors, these bodhisattva great beings who have generated the initial thought of awakening should
worship the Buddha and apply the requisites for a bodhisattva’s happiness. Concerning that, they should provide explanations
on becoming the lord of the world, acting sublimely, not being outshone, meeting with an immeasurable number of buddhas,
engaging in yogic practice in the absorption of complete pacification, turning back the wheel of saṃsāra,
setting in motion the wheel of the holy Dharma, and protecting suffering sentient beings. Why so? It is because upon generating the thought of awakening, they apply
themselves for the most part to all the qualities of a buddha, and those subjects of learning acquired previously are mastered
with their own application and without recourse to dependence on others. O sons of the victors, such is the category of
bodhisattvas who have generated the initial thought of awakening.

⁽²⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of beginner bodhisattvas? O sons of the victors, these beginner
bodhisattvas have from the start generated ten aspects of mind. What are the ten aspects? They are: ⁽¹⁾ a mind that brings benefit, ⁽²⁾ a mind that brings happiness,
⁽³⁾ a mind of kindness, ⁽⁴⁾ a mind that is flexible, ⁽⁵⁾ a mind that feels sadness, ⁽⁶⁾ a mind that intends to help, ⁽⁷⁾ a
mind that aims at protecting everyone, ⁽⁸⁾ a mind of equality, ⁽⁹⁾ a mind of becoming a teacher, ⁽¹⁰⁾ and a mind of becoming a
great teacher. They have generated these ten aspects of mind. O sons of the victors, such are beginner bodhisattvas.

“O sons of the victors, such beginner bodhisattvas should apply themselves to receiving instructions on scriptures
and recitation. After becoming learned, they should devote themselves to retiring into solitude. Having retired into solitude,
they should devote themselves to pleasing their spiritual teachers. Having pleased their teachers, they should devote
themselves to delighting in following their instructions. Having followed their instructions with delight, they should devote
themselves to awareness of temporality. Having become aware of temporality, they
should devote themselves to fearlessness. Having become fearless, they should devote themselves to knowing the meaning. Having
become knowledgeable in the meaning, they should devote themselves to following the Dharma. Having become a follower of
Dharma, they should apply themselves to the nature of non-confusion. Having become free of confusion, they should apply
themselves to formulating the Dharma. Why so?
Because upon first generating the thought of awakening, for the most part they apply themselves with diligence to all the
teachings of the Buddha, and those subjects of learning acquired previously are mastered with their own application and
without recourse to dependence on others. O sons of the victors, such is the category of beginner bodhisattvas.

⁽³⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of bodhisattvas who engage in yogic practice? O sons of the victors,
concerning this, bodhisattvas who engage in yogic practice
will understand entities by means of ten aspects of apprehending. What are those ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾ understanding all
phenomena to be impermanent, ⁽²⁾ understanding all phenomena to be suffering, ⁽³⁾ to be without a self, ⁽⁴⁾ to be empty, ⁽⁵⁾
to be immovable, ⁽⁶⁾ to be without increase, ⁽⁷⁾
to be without any situation, ⁽⁸⁾ to be nonconceptual, ⁽⁹⁾ to be effortless, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ not to be produced. These bodhisattvas
should understand those ten aspects, but since they are followers of the Dharma, they practice neither application nor
non-application. O sons of the victors, such are bodhisattvas who engage in yogic practice.

“O sons of the victors, bodhisattvas who engage in yogic practice should apply themselves to investigating the
constitution of sentient
beings. They should apply themselves to investigating the dharmadhātu. They should apply themselves to investigating the world
realm. They should apply themselves to investigating the element of earth. They should apply themselves to investigating the
elements of water, fire, air, and space, and the form and formless realms. Why is that? It is because for the most part they
have direct insight that operates regarding all phenomena, and those subjects of learning acquired previously are mastered
with their own application and without recourse to dependence on others. O sons of the victors, such is the category of
bodhisattvas who engage in yogic practice.

⁽⁴⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of bodhisattvas who have taken rebirth? O sons of the victors,
bodhisattvas who have taken rebirth are born as exalted in sacred scripture thanks to ten purifiers. What are those ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾ Not turning back
from ultimate reality, ⁽²⁾ accomplishing what will become the highest undivided faith in the Buddha, ⁽³⁾ contemplating the
Dharma, ⁽⁴⁾ investigating sentient beings, ⁽⁵⁾ investigating the pure lands, ⁽⁶⁾ investigating the world, ⁽⁷⁾ investigating
deeds, ⁽⁸⁾ investigating karmic consequences, ⁽⁹⁾ investigating saṃsāra, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ investigating nirvāṇa. Bodhisattvas will
take rebirth as exalted in sacred scripture thanks to those ten purifiers. O sons of the victors, such is the category of
bodhisattvas who have taken rebirth.

“O sons of the victors, these bodhisattvas who have taken rebirth should apply themselves to investigating the
sameness of the dharmas of all past buddhas,
apply themselves to investigating the sameness of the dharmas of all future buddhas, and apply themselves to investigating the
sameness of the dharmas of all present buddhas. They should apply themselves to investigating the sameness of the dharmas of
all buddhas.

“They should apply themselves to the investigation that correctly establishes the dharmas of past buddhas, apply
themselves to the investigation that correctly establishes the dharmas of future buddhas, and apply themselves to the
investigation that correctly establishes the dharmas of present buddhas. They should apply themselves to the investigation
that correctly establishes the dharmas of all buddhas.

“They should apply themselves to investigating the sameness of the perfection of the qualities of past buddhas,
apply themselves to investigating the sameness of
the perfection of the qualities of future buddhas, and apply themselves to investigating the sameness of the perfection of the
dharmas of present buddhas. They should apply themselves to investigating the sameness of the perfection of the dharmas of all
buddhas.

“Why is that? It is because for the most part they understand the sameness of the three times, and those subjects of
learning acquired previously are mastered with their own application and without recourse to dependence on others. O sons of
the victors, such is the category of bodhisattvas who have taken rebirth.

⁽⁵⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of bodhisattvas who have perfected application? O sons of the
victors, these bodhisattvas who have perfected application will perform whatever virtuous deeds they may undertake ⁽¹⁾ for the
sake of protecting all sentient beings, ⁽²⁾ with the desire to benefit all sentient beings, ⁽³⁾ with the resolve to make all
sentient beings happy, ⁽⁴⁾ with kindness toward all sentient beings, ⁽⁵⁾ in order to liberate all sentient beings, ⁽⁶⁾ in
order that all sentient beings avoid harm, ⁽⁷⁾ in
order to guide all sentient beings, ⁽⁸⁾ in order that all sentient beings have faith, ⁽⁹⁾ in order to train all sentient
beings, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ in order to cause all sentient beings to enter perfect nirvāṇa. O sons of the victors, such are bodhisattvas
who have perfected application.

“O sons of the victors, to those bodhisattvas who have perfected application ten topics ought to be expounded. What
are they? They are ⁽¹⁾ that sentient beings are boundless, ⁽²⁾ that sentient beings are inestimable, ⁽³⁾ that sentient beings
are innumerable, ⁽⁴⁾ that sentient beings are inconceivable, ⁽⁵⁾ that sentient beings are incomparable, ⁽⁶⁾ that sentient beings are immeasurable, ⁽⁷⁾ that
sentient beings are empty, ⁽⁸⁾ that sentient beings are immovable, ⁽⁹⁾ that sentient beings are nonexistent, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ that
sentient beings have no intrinsic nature. Why is that? It is because for the most part they settle their minds in
non-attachment, and those subjects of learning acquired previously are mastered with their own application and without
recourse to dependence on others. O sons of the victors, such is the category of bodhisattvas who have perfected application.

⁽⁶⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of bodhisattvas who have perfected intention? O sons of the victors,
these bodhisattvas who have perfected intention, if they learn ten factors, will be decisively intent on the qualities of a
Buddha. What are those ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾ their resolve will be set on the qualities of a buddha regardless of whether someone
teaches in praise of or not in praise of a buddha, ⁽²⁾ their resolve will be set on the qualities of a buddha regardless of
whether someone teaches in praise of or not in praise of the Dharma, ⁽³⁾ their resolve will be set on the qualities of a
buddha regardless of whether someone teaches in praise of or not in praise of bodhisattvas, ⁽⁴⁾ their resolve will be set on
the qualities of a buddha regardless of whether someone teaches in praise of or not in praise of the conduct of bodhisattvas,
⁽⁵⁾ their resolve will be set on the qualities of a buddha regardless of whether someone teaches that the realm of sentient
beings is small or vast in scope, ⁽⁶⁾ their
resolve will be set on the qualities of a buddha regardless of whether someone teaches that the realm of sentient beings is
defiled or not, ⁽⁷⁾ their resolve will be set on the qualities of a buddha regardless of whether someone teaches that the
realm of sentient beings is easy or difficult to train, ⁽⁸⁾ their resolve will be set on the qualities of a buddha regardless
of whether someone teaches that the dharmadhātu is small or vast in scope, ⁽⁹⁾ their resolve will be set on the qualities of a
buddha regardless of whether someone teaches that the world realms perish or do not perish, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ their resolve will be set
on the qualities of a buddha regardless of whether someone teaches that the dharmadhātu exists or does not exist. O sons of the victors, such are bodhisattvas who
have perfected intention.

“O sons of the victors, bodhisattvas who have perfected intention will be taught ten things that conform with
phenomena. What are those ten? They should be taught that all phenomena: ⁽¹⁾ are the very absence of phenomenal marks, ⁽²⁾ are
without defining marks, ⁽³⁾ are not entities, ⁽⁴⁾ are nonexistent, ⁽⁵⁾ are deceptive, ⁽⁶⁾ are disengaged, ⁽⁷⁾ are essenceless,
⁽⁸⁾ are like illusions, ⁽⁹⁾ are like dreams, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ are without conceptual thought. Why is that? It is because since they
are thus inalienable they possess for the most part the quality of increasing their excellent intention, and those subjects of
learning acquired previously are mastered with their own application and without recourse to dependence on others. O sons of
the victors, such is the category of bodhisattvas who have perfected intention.

⁽⁷⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of bodhisattvas who are irreversible? O sons of the victors,
bodhisattvas who are irreversible will not turn back from their progress toward the qualities of a buddha if they learn ten
objectives. What are those ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾ to progress irreversibly toward qualities of a buddha whether one hears that a
buddha exists or does not exist, ⁽²⁾ to progress irreversibly whether one hears that the Dharma exists or does not exist, ⁽³⁾
to progress irreversibly whether one hears that bodhisattvas exist or do not exist, ⁽⁴⁾ to progress irreversibly whether one hears that the conduct of
bodhisattvas exists or does not exist, ⁽⁵⁾ to progress irreversibly whether one hears that in bodhisattva conduct a
bodhisattva leaves everything behind or does not leave everything behind, ⁽⁶⁾ to progress irreversibly whether one hears that
the tathāgatas have passed away or have not passed away, ⁽⁷⁾ to progress irreversibly whether one hears that the tathāgatas have come into the
world or not, ⁽⁸⁾ to progress irreversibly whether one hears that the tathāgatas have presently appeared or not, ⁽⁹⁾ to
progress irreversibly whether one hears that the gnosis of the Buddha is exhausted or is not exhausted, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ to progress
irreversibly whether one hears that the three times have the same defining mark or that they have dissimilar defining marks. O
sons of the victors, such are bodhisattvas who are irreversible.

“O sons of the victors, to those bodhisattvas who are irreversible, ten continuities of phenomena should be
explained. What are those ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾ explaining all phenomena as the same and different in nature, ⁽²⁾ as
multiple and single in nature, ⁽³⁾ as meanings attributed to words, ⁽⁴⁾ as words attributed to meanings, ⁽⁵⁾ as
the absence of entities attributed through entities, ⁽⁶⁾ as entities attributed through the absence of entities, ⁽⁷⁾ as the
absence of phenomenal marks attributed through phenomenal marks, ⁽⁸⁾ as phenomenal marks attributed through the absence of
phenomenal marks, ⁽⁹⁾ as the absence of defining marks attributed through defining marks, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ as defining marks
attributed through the absence of defining marks. Why is that? It is because they have, for the most part, left everything
behind as do those who have brought their expertise in all phenomena to fruition, and those subjects of learning acquired
previously are mastered with their own application and without recourse to dependence on others. O sons of the victors, such
is the category of bodhisattvas who are irreversible.

⁽⁸⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of bodhisattvas who are still youths? O sons of the victors,
bodhisattvas who are still youths possess ten understandings of the Dharma. What are those ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾ knowing bodily deeds together with their karmic
results, ⁽²⁾ knowing verbal deeds together with their karmic results, ⁽³⁾ knowing mental deeds together with their karmic results, ⁽⁴⁾ knowing how to obtain a
new birth merely by generating the thought of doing so, ⁽⁵⁾ knowing the thoughts of other sentient beings and people and
understanding their inclinations, ⁽⁶⁾ knowing the different realms of sentient beings, ⁽⁷⁾ knowing the different desire
realms, ⁽⁸⁾ knowing the different form realms, ⁽⁹⁾ knowing the different formless realms, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ swiftly gaining
clairvoyance for the sake of beings present in different time periods. O sons of the victors, such is the category of bodhisattvas who are still youths.

“O sons of the victors, to bodhisattvas who are still youths should be taught ten ways of perfecting the Dharma. What
are those ten? They are being correctly shown how to ⁽¹⁾ comprehend buddhafields, ⁽²⁾ shake buddhafields, ⁽³⁾ bless
buddhafields, ⁽⁴⁾ investigate buddhafields, ⁽⁵⁾ journey to buddhafields, ⁽⁶⁾ journey to countless world realms, ⁽⁷⁾ ask
countless questions, ⁽⁸⁾ fully achieve a mental body, ⁽⁹⁾ have measureless translations of words and languages, and ⁽¹⁰⁾
accomplish countless buddhafields by generating the thought of doing so. Why is that? It is because for the most part they
apply themselves to expertise in perfecting things, and those subjects of learning acquired previously are mastered with their
own application and without recourse to dependence on others. O sons of the victors, such is the category of bodhisattvas who
are still youths.

⁽⁹⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of bodhisattvas who are regents? O sons of the victors, bodhisattvas
who are regents are expert in ten factors to be understood. What are those ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾ expertise in understanding the births of sentient beings, ⁽²⁾ expertise
in understanding the flux of the defilements, ⁽³⁾
expertise in understanding the connections of latent tendencies, ⁽⁴⁾ expertise in understanding the engagement in the object
domains, ⁽⁵⁾ expertise in understanding ultimate reality, ⁽⁶⁾ expertise in understanding experiences, ⁽⁷⁾
expertise in understanding the sphere of the world, ⁽⁸⁾ expertise in understanding the past and the future, ⁽⁹⁾ expertise in
understanding the present, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ expertise in understanding the investigation of the relative truth. O sons of the victors, such are bodhisattvas who are regents.

“O sons of the victors, to these bodhisattvas who are regents should be taught ten things. What are those ten? They consist in being correctly taught: ⁽¹⁾ the expertise concerning the
royal palace, ⁽²⁾ the modes of conduct in the royal palace, ⁽³⁾ the entering of the royal palace, ⁽⁴⁾ the
investigation of the royal palace, ⁽⁵⁾ the consecration as a Dharma king, ⁽⁶⁾ the blessings as a Dharma king, ⁽⁷⁾ the
punishment of the opponents of a Dharma king, ⁽⁸⁾ the abode of a Dharma king, ⁽⁹⁾ and the orders of a Dharma king. Why is
that? It is because for the most part their minds engage in realization without obscurations regarding all phenomena, and
those subjects of learning acquired previously are mastered with their own application and without recourse to dependence on
others. O sons of the victors, such is the category of bodhisattvas who are regents.

⁽¹⁰⁾ “O sons of the victors, what is the category of bodhisattvas who have received consecration? O sons of the
victors, bodhisattvas who have received consecration possess ten realizations of knowledge. What are those ten? They consist in: ⁽¹⁾ many ways of making
innumerable spheres of the world shake, ⁽²⁾ many ways of blessing innumerable spheres of the world, ⁽³⁾ many ways of passing
beyond innumerable spheres of the world with a single thought, ⁽⁴⁾ many ways of purifying innumerable spheres of the world,
⁽⁵⁾ many ways of making innumerable sentient
beings known with a single thought, ⁽⁶⁾ many ways of viewing innumerable spheres of the world, ⁽⁷⁾ expertise in investigating
the mental activity of innumerable sentient beings with a single thought, ⁽⁸⁾ expertise in making understood the faculties of
innumerable sentient beings with a single thought, ⁽⁹⁾ expertise in disciplining innumerable sentient beings, and ⁽¹⁰⁾
expertise in introducing innumerable sentient beings to the mind of omniscience.

“O sons of the victors, bodhisattvas on the level of regent and below cannot know the bodily deeds of bodhisattvas
who have received consecration. Nor can they understand their verbal deeds, mental deeds, magical power, or magical vision.
Neither do they know how to see what is in past times, nor can they know their karmic conditioning. They do not know how they
see with the mind, nor can they know their objects of mind or the sphere of their experience of gnosis. O sons of the victors,
such are bodhisattvas who have received consecration.

“O sons of the victors, to bodhisattvas who have received consecration will be taught ten things by the blessed
buddhas. What are these ten? They are: ⁽¹⁾ knowing the three times, ⁽²⁾ knowing the Buddhadharma, ⁽³⁾ knowing that the
dharmadhātu is indivisible, ⁽⁴⁾ knowing that the dharmadhātu is without limit and without center, ⁽⁵⁾ knowing how to
suffuse all the spheres of the world, ⁽⁶⁾ knowing
how to illuminate all the spheres of the world, ⁽⁷⁾ knowing how to bless all the spheres of the world, ⁽⁸⁾ thorough knowledge
of all sentient beings, ⁽⁹⁾ clairvoyant knowledge of all phenomena, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ the infinite gnosis of the Buddha. Why is that? Because for the most part they apply
their minds to knowing everything. O sons of the victors, such is the category of bodhisattvas who have received
consecration.”

Immediately after the bodhisattva Dharmamati explained the ten bodhisattva categories of bodhisattva great beings
through the power of the Buddha, world realms numbering as many as the atoms in ten thousand
buddhafields shook in every direction. They shook strongly and shook violently. They quaked, quaked strongly, and quaked
violently. They trembled, trembled strongly, and trembled violently. They were disturbed, strongly disturbed, and violently
disturbed. They shuddered, shuddered strongly, and shuddered violently. And they were agitated, strongly agitated, and
violently agitated.

By the power of the Buddha and through the attainment of the ultimate nature, a shower of divine flowers poured down
from the clouds. From the clouds, there also fell showers of divine incense, of divine fragrance, of divine incense powder, of
divine flower garlands, of divine textiles, of divine jewels, of divine lotuses, of divine necklaces, and of divine ornaments.
Divine cymbals sounded without being played, divine light shone forth, and divine cheers sounded forth.

In this world with its four continents, and in all world realms, this Dharma teaching pervaded everywhere without
omission or repetition, just as in the dwelling place of the king of gods on Mount Meru. And by these very words, this same meaning was taught. Through the power of the Buddha, as many bodhisattvas as there
are atoms in ten thousand buddhafields arrived from beyond as many world realms as there are atoms in ten thousand
buddhafields. Filling up space throughout the ten directions, they said, “O son of the victors, it is excellent, excellent
that you are teaching the true nature of bodhisattvas. O son of the victors, we, too, are all named Dharmamati. We have come
here from world realms called Dharmamegha, from the presence of tathāgatas who are all named Dharmamatibhadra. By the
blessing-power of the Buddha, this Dharma instruction occurred for all of them; within an audience such as this, the same
sense is being expressed by these very words, with nothing added or left out. O son of the victors, we have come under your
power, and by the power of the Buddha we all came to this world sphere. And just as we came to this world sphere, so too as
many bodhisattvas as there are atoms in ten thousand buddhafields went to the residences of the lords of gods at the peak of
Mount Sumeru of all the four-continent worlds in every world sphere throughout the ten directions.”

Then, by the power of the Buddha, the bodhisattva Dharmamati looked in the ten directions and, after seeing the
fully-equipped retinue and the dharmadhātu, spoke these verses:

“Having seen the Buddha, who has a mind that is self-arisen and immaculate,

Who possesses beauty and power of body,

And who is ornamented by marks difficult to approach,

They set their mind firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Having seen the Buddha’s matchless magical powers,

Excellent miracles of clairvoyant prophecy, and miracles of insightful instruction,

And having seen living beings of the world with their unbearable suffering,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Having heard about the qualities of Samantabhadra

And the source of all qualities, the tathāgata,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening

That is unchanging like the sphere of space.

“To gain understanding of the extent of all that is possible—

What is present, and other possibilities that may intrinsically exist—

And also of all else that is not,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Whatever virtuous and nonvirtuous deeds exist

In the three times—past, present, and future—

To gain understanding of their causes

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“The absorptions, concentrations, and the practice of the emancipations,

And similarly the meditative accomplishments, pure and ultimate—

In order to understand them provisionally

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand the progressive stages

Of mundane diligence, powers, and faculties

As they really are, each and every one of them,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand numerous treatises

According to the inclinations of the whole world

And out of the three distinct kinds of excellent intention,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“All the numerous constituents in all their varieties,

That exist here in the three worlds—

In order to understand the nature of those constituents

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In this Dharma where there are ways that go everywhere,

In order to correctly understand the nature of those

Whom they will introduce to virtuous action and establish them there,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“ ‘How do all the realms arise?

And how do sentient beings arise from the earth?’—

In order to open wide the eye of nonattachment

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand what characteristics and types of sentient beings

Existed in the past, and also now in present times,

As well as the places of their previous lives,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand the exhaustion

Of the fetters that there are in the world

Binding sentient beings to their migrations, the defilements,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand the truth as expressed in symbols,

Including all the designated terms in use in the three worlds

And all the forms of mantra that are pathways of speech,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“All phenomena being inexpressible,

Their nature and essence never moving from the empty,

In order to understand the ultimate truth

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to display the wonders of the Tathāgata,

Manifesting earthquakes in the worlds

And the violent churnings of oceans,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand as one light

The light rays that spread out in the ten directions

From the tip of every light ray,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Making magically appear in their own hands

Unimaginably numerous realms,

In order to understand how everything is illusory

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Placing, just like those realms, all sentient beings

On the palms of their hands without harming them

In order to understand that all phenomena are without life-force,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Taking all the water of the great ocean

And placing it as a single drop on the tip of a hair,

In order to understand the ultimate extent,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Counting all the infinitesimal particles,

However tiny, that constitute all the worlds,

In order to understand the number of those infintesimal atoms,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand how eons come to an end,

How in this world in the past there has been a time of destruction by burning in this world in the past

That will happen likewise in the future,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand the nature of the teachings

Of the tathāgatas of the three times, of the teachers,

Of pratyekabuddhas, and of śrāvakas,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand the nature of entities,

To bind inexpressibly vast worlds with a hair

And weigh them on a scale,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand coarse and fine,

To bind a ring of unimaginably huge mountains with a hair

And weigh them on a scale,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to display the pure aspects of speech

Whose sounds bring understanding in a single instant

In all realms of the world without exception,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand the nature of peace,

Describing it in one instant in a single voice

In the languages of all worlds, however they may be,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand the Buddha’s vast, wide tongue

That informs all three worlds

And is known by all sentient beings,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Just as what it pronounces, too, throughout all realms,

Clears away views in a single instant,

In order to understand discursive doctrines,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Here, in order to understand in an instant

The self-arising teachings

Of the tathāgatas filling all worlds,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand that world realms like diverse atoms

Are magically emanated in all their aspects

And have arisen from mind,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“All those buddhas of the past as well as those to come,

However many may exist in the world—

In order to understand them in a single instant of mind,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“Even a single word they have spoken,

In order to analyze it in detail with no diminution

Even if inconceivably many eons pass,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“In order to understand in a single instant of mind

How beings go to all worlds

In all ten directions, and how they return,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“To go in all directions, yet with no attachment

Of body, speech, or mind to anything;

In order to understand the three times as empty,

They set their thought firmly on the goal of awakening.

“To tell them, just as they resolved in their thought of awakening,

For infinite eons to go in all directions

And worship in the presence of the buddhas there—

That is the teaching for those who do not turn back.

“In the different worlds of the ten directions,

To the lords of those worlds should they, who are the victors’ offspring,

Proclaim as befits them all that is most sublime—

That is the teaching for those who do not turn back.

“When performing deeds in worldly existence for the sake of awakening,

To constantly express their praise

Of what has brought them the wellbeing of bodhisattvas—

That is the teaching for those who do not turn back.

“The highest Dharma, the superior Dharma that is preeminent,

And the extraordinary Dharma that is unsurpassed,

These are what should be taught to bodhisattvas—

That is the teaching for those who do not turn back.

“Bodhisattvas should apply themselves to none other

Than the great ones themselves, the tathāgatas,

Those who are endowed with all good qualities—

That is the teaching for those who do not turn back.

“Those bodhisattvas should be taught

How it is to meet infinite, incalculable,

And inconceivable buddhas.

That is the teaching for those who do not turn back.

“As many meditative absorptions as may exist,

And likewise the absorptions that are aspects of their mindstream,

Should be taught to the offspring of the sugatas.

That is the teaching for those who do not turn back.

“To turn back the wheel of saṃsāra,

To turn the wheel of the holy Dharma,

And never to be turned around by anyone in the world—

Bodhisattvas should be taught such things.

“To become, for all in worlds where sufferings are intense,

And for those tormented in the places of the lower realms,

Their basis, refuge, and defender—

Bodhisattvas should be taught such things.

“Those who have set their thoughts on the goal of awakening

Are, it is taught, beginner bodhisattvas.

The instructions for their training as they have been ascertained

Are as they are detailed for them in this presentation.

“Those who, to begin with, have thus generated the thought of awakening

For the sake of benefiting the entire world

Just as is taught by those who are free from all ailments—

These are the second kind of bodhisattva: the fortunate beginners.

“A mind that brings benefit, is good, and brings happiness,

That is friendly, feels sadness, and likewise gathers together;

A mind that protects everything, a mind of equality,

The mind of a teacher, and a mind that teaches equally—

“Those who have in these ways transformed their mind

Should apply themselves to hearing the scriptures and to the performance of recitations.

Once they are learned, they should devote themselves to retiring into solitude.

Having retired into solitude, they should devote themselves to serving their spiritual teacher.

“They should delight in following the instructions of their teachers.

In becoming aware of temporality, they should be conscientious.

Aware of temporality, they should become utterly fearless.

Being fearless, they should exert themselves
in knowing the meaning.

“Knowing the meaning, they should expound the Dharma likewise.

Regarding all the teachings of Dharma, they should be without confusion.

Having become free of confusion, the offspring of the victors

Should apply themselves to abiding in the well-taught Dharma.

“These are what are called fortunate beginners—

Bodhisattvas who have entered the state of awakening.

These are the instructions, and these the teachings;

Those who train in them are the offspring of the Buddha.

“Bodhisattvas of the third kind are those

Who apply themselves to the teaching of the King of Dharma.

They should understand that all phenomena are impermanent, suffering, empty,

Without self, and immovable;

“Likewise that all these phenomena are not self,

Are not produced, and are disengaged,

And that they are all without conceptual thought;

Thus should bodhisattvas should understand things in this way.

“To have them examine the constitution of
sentient beings and the dharmadhātu,

The sublimity of these is praised,

And they are told how the world realms are infinite and boundless

To engage them, too, in that investigation.

“Earth, water, fire, and air,

And the extent of space in all directions,

The desire realm, form, and formless realms—

All these they they should set about investigating.

“Their pursuit to the end of investigating thus the natures

Of the whole vast extent of phenomena and the realms without exception—

It is to benefit them as they apply themselves to this

That the offspring of the buddhas are instructed.

“Any bodhisattvas who have taken rebirth

Have been born into the teachings and go forth.

These intelligent ones understand entities to be the absence of entities.

Born in the realm of the holy Dharma, they are well born.

“They do not turn back from their own level.

The conviction arises that buddhahood is the ultimate.

They constantly have a mind that ascertains the Dharma,

And they investigate what the nature of sentient beings is like.

“The offspring of the victors know deeds, the worlds and realms,

Karmic ripening, and saṃsāra and nirvāṇa

And their differentiations.

Such things have been taught to bodhisattvas who have produced an awakened mind.

“Having investigated the qualities of the omniscient ones

Of past, present, and future,

Then the accomplishments, the ultimate rewards,

And the self-arisen accomplishments

“Of all those supreme buddhas,

These bodhisattvas are known to be attuned to the sameness of the three times.

Supreme buddhas never differentiate this sameness into categories,

And they are attuned to the three times as undifferentiated.

“Those endowed with benefits of this sort

Are the fourth kind of bodhisattva.

Bodhisattvas who fully accomplish this

Will leave everything behind for the sake of awakening.

“The fifth kind of bodhisattva

Is specified as those who have perfected application.

They have engaged in skill in means.

By accomplishing the meritorious practices, they perfect them.

“Thus, whatever merit they produce

Is done in order to become the support of all the world,

With the desire to help others attain happiness,

With kindness, and in order to emancipate all living beings.

“In order to tame what harms the world

They guide and inspire lucid conviction.

They wish to train all the many sentient beings

And strongly wish to establish others in nirvāṇa.

“They understand that the entire world of sentient beings is boundless

And, similarly, that it is inestimable, innumerable,

Incomparable, inconceivable, immeasurable,

Empty, immovable, and of a nonexistent nature.

“They are bodhisattvas of the fifth kind—

Those who have perfected application and who are beneficial and kind.

Their teaching is like this,

Taught by those endowed with all good qualities.

“They have no confusion regarding all infinite sentient beings

And the essential nature of phenomena.

These highly intelligent ones are free of
conceptual thought and without conceptions,

And together with the gods of the world they do not differentiate.

“The Buddha, the Dharma, bodhisattvas,

And bodhisattvas’ conduct—whether they are praised or not,

And whether they are told that sentient beings are vast or of small extent,

These bodhisattvas should not let these things escape from his mind.

“And whether sentient beings are said to be defiled or be pure,

Or whether they are said to be difficult or easy to train,

Whether the dharmadhātu is said to be little or vast,

Whether it is said to undergo destruction or formation,

“And whether the dharmadhātu is said to exist or not exist,

Bodhisattvas who know the three times

Think resolutely and investigate everything.

Regarding this Buddhadharma, their thoughts are extremely firm.

“They should thus learn this peaceful, highest of teachings:

All phenomena are without phenomenal marks, without defining marks,

The absence of entities, deceptive, isolated,

Illusory, and like visual distortions.

“Thus, irreversible bodhisattvas

Investigate whether or not the Buddha, the Dharma, bodhisattvas,

And bodhisattvas’ conduct exist.

They are also not deterred if asked whether these arise or do not.

“They are not deterred if asked whether or not the Tathāgata has passed away,

Or whether or not he has come into the world,

Or whether or not he presently appears

And, in either case, whether or not he fades away,

Or likewise whether he has one defining characteristic or none.

“Irreversible bodhisattvas develop a conviction

In the many aspects of sameness and difference,

The existence and non-existence of meanings and words and
syllables,

And the other aspects of imputing everything.

“Having studied the reciprocal relations of such distinctions

As the existence and non-existence of defining characteristics,

And what is shown by characteristics and their absence,

They progress toward the ultimate in these things.

“Bodhisattvas who are still youths

Will perform bodily, verbal, and mental deeds

That have karmic results,

And they can demonstrate rebirth here in any way they wish.

“They understand
the thoughts of others

And help them to fulfill their aims.

They know the conduct of sentient beings, the Dharma that befits them,

And the realms that undergo destruction and formation.

“They quickly gain clairvoyance to grant any desires,

Engaging their mind in all directions.

Having studied the teachings proclaimed by the Sugata,

They do not become displaced from them.

“They should articulate comprehensive knowledge, how to move among buddhafields

And likewise their blessings and analyses,

How one instantaneously goes to the incalculable world systems,

And the process of going to buddhafields.

“They ask countless questions,

Manifest a mental body that is like a normal body,

Express the vast range of translations of words and languages,

And instantaneously give expression to countless buddhas.

“Bodhisattvas who are regents

Know precisely the functioning of sentient beings.

They are expert in understanding all beings’ defilements, mindstreams, latent tendencies,

And their objects of experience and their engagements.

“They are expert in everything to be understood:

Differences in phenomena, diverse kinds of movements,

Distinctions between worlds, the limits of the past,

Language-dependent truth, and ultimate truth.

“They have definitive expertise about the royal capital.

They know the modes of conduct there,

The residence and how things function therein,

And the investigation of what the royal capital is like.

“They understand how one is consecrated and blessed

As a king of the true Dharma and how opponents are suppressed,

The entry into the Dharma, and the royal decrees to be expressed.

These are the functions of those on the stage of bodhisattvas who are regents.

“Through these alone will one reach the ultimate;

They do not become other than exactly what was taught.

And when a king one day abandons the formations that support life,

The principled regent will step forth in order to rule.

“Bodhisattvas who have been consecrated are one kind of offspring of the Tathāgata;

Their nature is to be extraordinary and perfected senior brothers.

Though the ocean’s volume might be measurable in single miniscule drops,

Their thinking is not fathomed by any measurement.

“The conduct of the victors’ offspring is like this:

Here, were some sentient beings to pulverize all the worlds

Into fine atoms and try to count them all,

They will determine that they are countless in number,

Yet the whole of that is known by bodhisattvas.

“The thought of awakening that is born is the seed

Of all past and future buddhas

That exist in all directions

And of pratyekabuddhas as well as śrāvakas.

“That which is called the first thought of awakening

Is something that cannot be precisely fathomed.

And were it to pervade all the spheres of the world,

What more could be said than that?”

Then the bodhisattva Samantabhadra said to the bodhisattva Dharmamati, “Son of a good family, your explanation of
the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch was well expressed. Son of a good family, the qualities of a buddha are
inconceivable. Since all those sentient beings who hear the name of this Dharma discourse have approached omniscience, it goes
without saying that those who maintain, read, and completely comprehend this Dharma discourse and realize suchness will surely
become buddhas.”

The bodhisattva Dharmamati replied, “O son of the victors, so it is. Just as you say, we should know that those who
possess profound discriminating wisdom will be anointed by the Tathāgata.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said,
“And if those sons or daughters of good families—those sublime beings who have heard these renowned teachings—are to be
understood as prophesied in the Buddha’s Dharma teachings, it goes without saying that those who actually hold this Dharma
discourse in their hands should be too.”

The elder Śāradvatīputra then bowed to the Blessed One’s feet and said, “Blessed One, please behold me. Since I do
not understand such Dharma teachings as these, I am like a blind person. Blessed One, not only am I like a blind person, but
all other sentient beings who have not heard this Dharma discourse are similarly blind.”

The Blessed One answered, “Elder, so it is, just as you say.”

Śāradvatīputra said, “I ask that the Blessed One kindly explain the inconceivable.”

The Blessed One said, “Śāradvatīputra, go and encourage Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of the world. Tell
them what the Tathāgata commands. Inform that assembly that I will proclaim the holy Dharma seal of this dhāraṇī of
the jewel torch!”

Having heard the Tathāgata’s decree, the venerable Śāradvatīputra, thirsting to hear the dhāraṇī of the
jewel torch, told Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of the world, “Gather all the Dharma listeners.
Gather them because the Tathāgata is going to explain the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch and teach the
inconceivable. Later you will certainly regret missing it. Hey friends, it is extremely rare for precious sūtras like this to
appear in the world!”

Then, at that very instant, Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of the world gathered and circumambulated the
Blessed One three times. Taking their seats in the presence of the Blessed One, they humbly folded their hands and supplicated
the Blessed One: “We ask that the Blessed One
kindly explain the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch!” Then, by remaining silent, the Blessed One assented.

Although Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of the world made their request to the Blessed One a second and
third time, he still remained silent.

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra said, “I ask that the Blessed One kindly teach the dhāraṇī of the jewel
torch! I ask the Sugata to explain it!”

At that time the Blessed One showed his tongue, making these words understood throughout the entire billionfold world
system: “Any son of a good family who implores the Tathāgata for the meaning of the dhāraṇī of the jewel
torch will not turn back from insuperable perfect awakening.”

The Blessed One now told the venerable Śāradvatīputra, “Śāradvatīputra, go ask Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta to explain
it!”

At that time, Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta was staying seated with a motionless body near the foot of some palāśa and sāla trees. He sat
facing forward in a pavilion surrounded by the gods Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of the world, with a form and
complexion more radiant than countless millions of suns. His body had a golden color, and he sat there illumined, bright, and
resplendent.

The venerable Śāradvatīputra approached Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and said, “Son of a good family, the Tathāgata told me
to request you to explain the Dharma.”

To this Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta answered,
“Honorable Śāradvatīputra, what is the basic meaning of ‘tathāgata’?”

Śāradvatīputra said, “Son of a good family, you have profound discriminating wisdom; I cannot debate with you.”

“Do not worry! I will teach according to what you can tolerate,” replied Mañjuśrī.

Śāradvatīputra said, “Son of a good family, I will listen. You explain!”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta rose from his meditative absorption and with his voice made himself understood throughout
the world realms of the billionfold world system. At that time, all the resident deities from the class of pure abodes down to
the Akaniṣṭhā class gathered. Along with the four great kings and their troops and servants, several tens of millions of yakṣa
deities assembled. Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of the world gathered. Those who desired Dharma and even those who
did not desire it congregated. Many goddesses also joined the gathering.

A retinue of fully ordained monks, a retinue of fully ordained nuns, a retinue of novice monks, and a retinue of
novice nuns came together. A retinue of gods from the Trāyastriṃśa class, a retinue of gods from the Yāma class, a retinue of
gods from the Tuṣita class, a retinue of gods from the Nirmāṇarati class, a retinue of gods from the Paranirmitavaśavartin
class, a retinue of gods from the Brahmā class, and likewise a retinue of gods from down to the Akaniṣṭhā class gathered.
Similarly, a gathering of great śrāvakas assembled, including the venerables Subhūti, Mahākāśyapa, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Śāradvatīputra, Kātyāyana, Aniruddha, Gayākāśyapa, Koṣṭhila, Cūḍāpanthaka, Revata,
Nadīkāśyapa, Urubilvākāśyapa, Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra, Rāhula, Bhadrapāla, Bāśya, and Ānanda—they and other great śrāvakas
all gathered. Also, a group of five hundred fully ordained nuns led by Yaśodharā came. The rulers of the realms and universal
emperors also joined the group, as did an assembly of kṣatriyas, brahmins, and householders.

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra circumambulated the Blessed One three times and said, “Blessed One, through whose
power has this assembly gathered here and now? How are we to understand it?”

The Blessed One answered, “Venerable Śāradvatīputra, it is the power of the dhāraṇī of the jewel
torch.”

Śāradvatīputra declared, “Blessed One, I would like to learn the dhāraṇī of the jewel
torch.”

The Blessed One told him, “Śāradvatīputra, go and ask Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and the bodhisattva Samantabhadra.”

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra requested Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, “Son of a good family, explain this teaching on
the jewel of absorptions, the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch!”

Mañjuśrī said, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, who is going to listen to the dhāraṇī of the jewel
torch?”

Śāradvatīputra said, “The members of the four parts of this assembly and Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of
the world will listen to it. And I myself have come to listen to it.”

Then Mañjuśrī asked the elder Śāradvatīputra, “Elder Śāradvatīputra, among those who listen to the Dharma who have
arisen solely through illusion, to whom will I explain the Dharma? Who is it that listens? Who is it that explains?”

The elder answered, “Noble one, you explain! I will listen.”

Mañjuśrī said, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, what is ‘explaining’ an epithet for?”

Śāradvatīputra replied, “Mañjuśrī, ‘explaining’ is an epithet for emptiness.”

“Śāradvatīputra, what is ‘emptiness’ an epithet for?”

“Mañjuśrī, ‘emptiness’ is the absence of words.”

Mañjuśrī said, “Honorable Śāradvatīputra, if emptiness is without words, how can we explain it? Honorable Śāradvatīputra, all phenomena are impossible to teach.
Śāradvatīputra, they are unteachable and impossible to learn.”

The elder said, “Son of a good family, all of those things that you thus have taught are explained as being
emptiness. They are explained as being without phenomenal marks, wishless, without acceptance, without rejection, without
conceptual elaborations, and unelaborated.”

Then the fully endowed assembly of bodhisattvas, as well as Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of the world,
were very pleased. They declared unanimously that Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and the venerable Śāradvatīputra’s teaching of the
dhāraṇī of the jewel torch was well explained and excellent.

Then the venerable Subhūti said to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta: “Mañjuśrī, how should a bodhisattva memorize, recite,
study, or explain to others in great detail the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch?”

Mañjuśrī said: “Subhūti, this dhāraṇī
should be thought of as birthless. You should think of it as the absence of entities, without defining marks, without
conceptual elaborations, and without rejecting.”

When Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta explained this Dharma discourse, from among that retinue ninety-two bodhisattvas gained
the absorption heroic progress and sixty-two deities and humans gained the acceptance of unborn
phenomena.

Then the bodhisattva Samantabhadra rose from his seat and, covering one shoulder with his robe, addressed the
Blessed One: “Blessed One, what sort of thing is the great compassion that the bodhisattva great beings have?”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, regarding the great compassion of the bodhisattva great beings, to not
at all abandon the three realms is great compassion. To thoroughly display the buddhafields to all sentient beings is great
compassion. To receive into one’s care any sentient beings who are lax in their discipline is great compassion. To not abandon
the perfection of wisdom is great compassion. To sacrifice one’s body and life for the sake of all sentient beings is great
compassion. To express loving kindness to sentient beings who are engaged in desire is great compassion. To have loving
kindness for powerful sentient beings is the great compassion of the bodhisattva great beings. Son of a good family, moreover,
bodhisattva great beings should keep their minds free from animosity. They should practice being unassociated many times
over.”

Then the bodhisattva Samantabhadra said to the Blessed One, “For the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of
many beings, with kindness toward the world, for
the majority of beings, and for the purpose and benefit of gods and humans and for their happiness, would the Blessed One
kindly explain the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch? For the benefit of all sentient beings, I beg the compassionate Blessed One to explain
it!”

Then the Blessed One, with the voice of Brahmā, said to those bodhisattvas, “Who among you would like this Dharma
discourse to be taught at a later time, at the time of the final five hundred years of the holy Dharma’s existence?”

Then sixty-two hundred billion bodhisattvas spoke unanimously, including the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra, Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta,
Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Avoiding Evil Destinies, Bhaiṣajyarāja, Pratibhākūṭa, King Elevated by All Dharmas,
Akṣayamati, Sāgaramati, Anther-Possessing Jewel, Maṇiprabha, Maṇicūḍa, Observing, Not Seen when Viewed, Always
Watching, Vajrapāṇi, Heap of Jewels, Ratnākara, Dharmaśrī, Glory of Thought, Dhanaśrī, Puṇyaketu, Candanaśrī, Dharmamati,
Amṛtamati, Unimaginable Intelligence,
Ornamented with Merit, Ornamented by Good Qualities, Ornamented by Marks, Always Laughs and His Faculties All Rejoice, King Who Smashes the Peak of the
Mountain, Expert Eloquence, Nityotkṣiptahasta, Dhāraṇīdhara, Quick
Eloquence, Ākāśagarbha, Essence of the Moon, Sūryagarbha, Śaśivimalagarbha, Ādityagarbha, Superior King, Mahāmeru,
Dṛḍhamati, Valiant Eloquence, and the bodhisattva great being Maitreya. They said, “Blessed One, we all would be delighted if
in later times, during the final five hundred years of the holy Dharma’s existence, we all assemble en masse so that the
dhāraṇī of the jewel torch could then be fully explained.”

The Blessed One said, “Sons of good families, excellent, excellent! Sons of good families this is difficult to do. A
ceremony like this is extremely difficult.”

Then the Blessed One said to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, “Son of a good family, for the benefit and happiness of
many beings, listen to the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch.” Then the Blessed One sat upon an elaborate lion’s throne and spoke the mantra:

Homage to all tathāgatas, arhats, and perfectly awakened buddhas! Tadyathā oṃ maṃ bharate bharate bhara bharanate svāhā.

Then the Blessed One solemnly declared once, then a second time and a third time, “How wonderful is the Dharma, How
wonderful is the Dharma, How wonderful is the Dharma!”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, when you say ‘Dharma, Dharma,’ what is its basic
meaning?”

Then the Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, the basic meaning of all dharmas is the meaning of having no basis.
The basic meaning of all dharmas is the basic meaning of the absence of entities. The basic meaning of all dharmas is the
basic meaning of space. The basic meaning of all dharmas is the basic meaning of not accepting. The basic meaning of all
dharmas is the basic meaning of not rejecting.”

Then the bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “Blessed One, in that case, why did you speak of ‘all dharmas’?”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, when I mentioned ‘all dharmas,’ I meant the senses of eye, ear, nose,
tongue, body, and mind, and similarly the elements of perception, the cognitive faculties, and dependent origination. That is
what I meant when I mentioned ‘all dharmas.’ Son of a good family, moreover, all dharmas, since they are from the beginning
unborn, are empty.”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta said to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, “O son of the victors, how should the dhāraṇī of
the jewel torch be retained?”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra answered,
“This dhāraṇī should be retained as a teaching on reality, the reality of the unborn, the reality of non-arising, the reality
of being without defining marks, the reality of space, the reality of the absence of entities, the reality of the essential
nature, and the reality of the essential nature of the absence of entities. Son of a good family, the retention, the complete
retention, the cultivation through meditation, the investigation, the designation, the positing, the liberation, the differentiation, and the clarification of
the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch should be like this. Son of a good family, that is the sense of
cultivating and investigating the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch.”

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra asked Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, “Mañjuśrī, how long has it been since you properly
entered into this Dharma discourse?”

Mañjuśrī replied, “Śāradvatīputra, for as long as the defilements of desire, anger, and ignorance have been entered
into.”

Śāradvatīputra asked him, “Son of a good family, how long have the defilements of desire, anger, and ignorance been
entered into?”

Mañjuśrī replied, “Śāradvatīputra, for as long as the element of earth has been entered into.”

“Son of a good family, how long has the element of earth been entered into?” Śāradvatīputra then asked.

“Śāradvatīputra, for as long as knowledge and ignorance have been entered into,” answered Mañjuśrī.

“Son of a good family, how long have knowledge and ignorance been entered into?” asked Śāradvatīputra.

“Śāradvatīputra, for as long as the element of space has been entered into,” was Mañjuśrī’s reply.

“Mañjuśrī, how long has the element of space been entered into?” asked Śāradvatīputra.

“Śāradvatīputra, for as long as all phenomena with the nature of the absence of entities have been entered into,”
answered Mañjuśrī.

The venerable Śāradvatīputra then said to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, “It is beyond my ability to converse with such
noble people as these. Son of a good family, it is like all the dogs and cats of the world, or all of its foxes, being unable
to pick apart and comprehend the great central mountain, Sumeru. Similarly, son of a good family, if none of the śrāvakas who
are like this Śāradvatīputra can understand even a single basic principle of the bodhisattva doctrine, it goes without saying
that will be unable to fathom what Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta has taught.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra now said to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, “Go and supplicate the Tathāgata to protect those
Dharma teachers who in later times and periods will maintain this king of sūtras, requesting that he guard them.”

So Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta rose from his seat and addressed the Blessed One as follows: “May the Blessed One kindly explain the special excellent qualities possessed by those future Dharma teachers
who will maintain this Dharma discourse, recite it, study it, and teach it in great detail to others.”

The Blessed One answered, “Mañjuśrī, those monks and Dharma teachers who maintain this king of sūtras will leave everything behind in my dharmakāya. They will attain the awakening of a buddha. They will draw closer to the Buddha’s teaching. Māra
and the divine sons belonging to the family of māras who search for an opening to attack them will not find one. Son of a good
family, people who produce an unfriendly attitude toward such Dharma-teaching monks for even the duration of a single snap of
the fingers will distance themselves from
attaining even human rebirth, so it goes without saying that they will be far removed from attaining the awakening of a
buddha. Moreover, Mañjuśrī, people who have no faith in the monks who maintain this king of sūtras will have ugly, crooked
teeth and will be without tongues or noses; their feet and hands will point outward, their bodily diseases will become
worm-infested, they will lose their eyes, and they will possess faulty intelligence and poor diligence. Mañjuśrī, such are the
problems experienced by such ignorant people. In brief, Mañjuśrī, at the time of death such people will experience, in every
pore of their bodies, the infinite sufferings of the hells. And even if they gain human rebirths, they will be constantly
blind and without tongues. Mañjuśrī, those who
abandon this Dharma instruction in this very life will suffer from leprosy. Their lips will become terrifying. Their bodies
will become ravaged, naked, and thin; they will look like hungry ghosts. Moreover, Mañjuśrī, I know through my inconceivable
buddha knowledge where they will be born.”

Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta requested, “Blessed One, please prophesy it. Sugata, kindly foretell it.”

The Blessed One replied, “Mañjuśrī, do not ask with a hushed voice. Indeed, this teaching will make the whole world
including the gods crazy, scared, fearful, and terrified.”

Mañjuśrī said, “May the Blessed One explain it out of kindness so that, having heard about this, such sentient beings
may in the future never abandon the noble Dharma.”

The Blessed One said, “These are the names of hells that exist below this earth: ⁽¹⁾ Tapana, ⁽²⁾ Pratāpana, ⁽³⁾
Kālasūtra, ⁽⁴⁾ Burning, ⁽⁵⁾ Intense Burning, ⁽⁶⁾ Difficult
to Touch, ⁽⁷⁾ Fierce, ⁽⁸⁾ Pressing the Lips, ⁽⁹⁾ Iron Hammer, ⁽¹⁰⁾ Iron Stick, ⁽¹¹⁾
Darkness, ⁽¹²⁾ Upper Head, ⁽¹³⁾ Ūrdhvapāda, ⁽¹⁴⁾ Monkey Face, ⁽¹⁵⁾
Always Burning, ⁽¹⁶⁾ Rotten, ⁽¹⁷⁾ Always Foul
Smelling, ⁽¹⁸⁾ Destruction, ⁽¹⁹⁾ Certain Destruction, and ⁽²⁰⁾ Extremely Thorough Destruction. Mañjuśrī, these are hells in any of which ignorant ones are
reborn.”

Then the bodhisattva Samantabhadra said to the Blessed One: “Blessed One, when those Dharma teachers who maintain
this sūtra die, where will they be reborn?”

The Blessed One said, “Samantabhadra, your question is good. Samantabhadra, those sons or daughters of good families who teach this Dharma will be
reborn after death in beautifully ornamented world realms, in buddhafields filled with the inconceivable eloquence of the
tathāgatas, and in those worlds will live only very beautiful bodhisattvas. And when those beings later die, tens of millions
of buddhas will manifest. In brief, son of a good family, the benefits of this teaching are incalculable and infinite. Moreover, son of a good family,
they could not be adequately expressed even by speaking for a thousand eons.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “Blessed One, what sorts of sentient beings will appear in later times and
periods who will reject this Dharma discourse?”

The Blessed One said, “Samantabhadra,
those sentient beings who will reject such Dharma teachings as these will mostly appear in the form of monks. They will reject
this Dharma discourse, saying: ‘These were composed as poems but not spoken by the Tathāgata. They are fabrications; sūtras
such as these were not heard before.’ Even though they reject the teachings, they do not confess or renounce their fault.
Owing to their rejecting of Dharma, they will be reborn in unbearable flaming hell realms immediately after death. As soon as
they are born there, the heads of those ignorant ones will be cut off by an iron wheel, and in that way many eons will pass.
For many thousands of eons they will be born blind, and even when they are born as humans, after the passage of hundreds of
eons they will have always been born blind. They will have no tongues, with faces facing backwards, with backs like tents,
centers that are are recessed, and lame feet, with voices like dogs and with bodies emaciated through constant hunger and
thirst, and with faces always looking skyward. Thus they will become unpleasant looking and sounding to all sentient beings.”

Then the members of that fully endowed retinue said, speaking unanimously, “Blessed One, we ignorant ones were wrong
to reject such sūtras as this or to angrily ridicule those who were teaching this Dharma. We confess this as a mistake.
Blessed One, we regret how spiritually immature we were, how ignorant, unskilled, and how small-minded we were! That being so,
may the blessed ones consider us!”

Then all the great śrāvakas, Indra, Brahmā, the guardian deities of the world, and the retinue of fully ordained monks, fully ordained
nuns, and male and female lay followers gasped and said, “Blessed One, after hearing such an explanation, we gasp in
terror!”

The Blessed One said, “Friends, so it is. Just as you say, it is right for you to be afraid. Friends, if I, who have
attained omniscient gnosis, am frightened, it is natural for my students to be. Sons and daughters of good families, the
teachings are profound. If no human or demon, no god, nāga, yakṣa, or gandharva can endure this disruption, it goes without
saying that no human ascetic or brahmin can. Sons of good families, this Dharma discourse is a sacred stūpa for the world,
including the gods. Sons of good families, you should view this king among sūtras as like, for instance, the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra.”

Then Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta said, “Blessed One, this was well taught. Blessed One, how will such monks be able to
comprehend gifts given in faith?”

The Blessed One said, “Mañjuśrī, those who abandon this Dharma discourse and who view its teachers with an unfriendly
attitude—I do not allow them to use things given in faith for a day or for a finger snap, or to come as far as one can
spit to land that was donated to the monastic assembly.”

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra asked, “Is this deed almost as bad as their committing the five heinous sins of
immediate hell consequence? Or is it far better than that?”

The Blessed One said: “Elder
Śāradvatīputra, do not ask with a hushed voice! Why not? Because the five heinous sins of immediate hell consequence would be
better to commit, whereas to abandon this Dharma discourse is something altogether different. Śāradvatīputra, the karmic
consequences of the five heinous sins of immediate hell consequence would be quickly exhausted, and one could quickly become a
human again. But people who abandon the holy Dharma will never achieve the qualities of a buddha; they bring disaster to both
themselves and others.”

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra broke into tears in the presence of the Blessed One, saying, “How sad! Those who
abandon the Dharma experience such suffering! May I never see such karmic obscurations, even in a dream!”

The Blessed One said to venerable Śāradvatīputra: “Śāradvatīputra, do not think like that! If my doctrine is
associated with ordinary reality, then in the world one commits one’s own karma, experiences one’s personal share of karmic
retribution, and reinforces one’s own karma. Thus, sentient beings experience suffering according to their own karmic deeds;
that is not the Tathāgata’s fault. Śāradvatīputra, I have explained the path leading to excellent virtue. I explained the path leading to happiness, fearlessness,
nirvāṇa, and immortality. Nevertheless, these sentient beings who commit bodily, verbal, and mental misdeeds defame the āryas
and harbor wrong views. Through their wrong views and because of abandoning the Dharma, when they die they will be reborn in
the hells, and for that the Tathāgata is not to blame.

“Śāradvatīputra, my compassion for all sentient beings arises like this. For the sake of one sentient being, I have
the thought to not abandon one who experiences the sufferings of hell for either an eon or longer than an eon; such is the
great compassion of the Tathāgata.

“Śāradvatīputra, it is like this: suppose, for example, that some person had an only son who was of sound body, was
handsome, attractive, of good complexion, and had reached the full growth of young adulthood. But owing to certain
circumstances, that son died. That person, thinking of his son, would suffer and feel unhappy, crying and wailing.
Śāradvatīputra, a tathāgata, arhat, and fully awakened buddha also thinks of suffering sentient beings as his only son. But
the tathāgatas do not stay together with the emotional defilements. Śāradvatīputra, just as, for example, the great ocean
will not remain together with a corpse without casting it up on the shore, the tathāgatas do not stay together with the
emotional defilements. Or it is like, for example, a magician or one of his skilled apprentices who magically projects a great
gathering of people at the junction of four roads. Though the conjurer displays those people performing actions, in fact those activities do not reside either in that
location or in that position. Being unborn, those actions are neither obstructed nor do they come to an end. Śāradvatīputra,
just so, the tathāgatas bring sentient beings to maturity and demonstrate aspirational conduct, but though they reveal such
conduct it does not exist. For instance, the element of space is without conceptual thought and without elaborations.
Nevertheless, the tathāgatas act in conformity with sentient beings. Similarly, the body of a tathāgata is without conceptual
thought and without elaborations. Nevertheless,
the tathāgatas act in conformity with the way that is most conducive to the training of sentient beings.

“Śāradvatīputra, the Tathāgata does not have delusion, nor does he harbor unknowing or forgetting. Śāradvatīputra,
I am the elder brother of the world, and together with its gods I am the chief, the superior, the best, the preeminent, the
revered, the unsurpassed, the one without a superior, and the one equal to the unequaled. Śāradvatīputra, this statement of
mine corresponds to the truth. Whether they are monks or laymen, all those beings who reject this Dharma discourse will
experience the sufferings of hell in this way.”

Then the venerable Subhūti, after hearing what the Blessed One had taught, said, “Blessed One, what those sentient
beings gain, they gain as a crime. What will the tongues of those who abandon this Dharma discourse be like?”

The Blessed One said, “Subhūti, their tongues will grow a hundred thousand yojanas long, and they will be plowed by a flaming iron plow that burns hotter and hotter, flaming higher and
higher and more and more intensely, bursting into five hundred million individual tongues of flame. Why so? Because they did not guard their speech. Subhūti, those
ignorant ones will be subject to karmic obscurations like that.”

Then by the power of the Buddha, the entire assembly of disciples uttered the solemn utterance: “What the Tathāgata
has taught is a great marvel!”

Then Indra, king of gods, said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, I will carry in homage on my shoulders those monks
who teach this Dharma. I will worship them with flowers, incense, fragrance, garlands, and unguent oils. I will bow after
offering parasols three times by day and three times by night. I will venerate, I will pay homage, I will adore as my guru, I
will pay respect, I will worship, I will venerate, and I will honor them. I will pay them homage, honor them as guru, and
respectfully protect them. Why so? Because they are the sons of the Blessed One and have left everything behind on the basis of
the dharmakāya. Blessed One, it is like, for example, the son of a king of the royal lineage who has been anointed prince and
successor, who has a fine body and who is good looking and handsome. He is worthy of the respect of all his underlings and
worthy of their honor. Similarly, those teachers of this Dharma teaching are worthy of the respect and honor of the world,
together with its gods.”

Then the Blessed One said to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, “Son of a good family, Indra spoke well when he said he
would keep those monks safe from worries and protect and watch over them.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “Blessed One, I, too, will watch over those sons or daughters of good families.
I will protect them, favor them, and make
them attain peace and excellent happiness. Within an area a hundred yojanas in circumference, I will watch over them.”

“Accumulating benefits for others and causing them happiness,

Endowed with excellent supreme words that are utterly beautiful,

You, with an immaculate face, expressed well

Your highest thoughts—incomparable jewels of excellent qualities.”

Then the bodhisattva Samantabhadra asked the Blessed One, “What are the qualities that those bodhisattva great
beings must possess for them to obtain the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch?”

The Blessed One said, “Son of a good family, those bodhisattva great beings will obtain the dhāraṇī of the
jewel torch if they possess one quality. What is it? It is not having anger toward any sentient beings. Also,
Samantabhadra, those bodhisattva great beings should have two more qualities. What are they? They are to have neither
jealousy nor pride. Those are the qualities of the bodhisattva great beings. Moreover, Samantabhadra, those bodhisattva great
beings should not harm the faculties of any sentient beings. Samantabhadra, furthermore, in all ways and in all respects, a
bodhisattva should not cause harm to any sentient beings.”

When the qualities of bodhisattvas were explained and the special virtues of the dhāraṇī of the jewel
torch were taught in detail,
infinite numbers of human beings attained the non-forgetting retention of the dhāraṇī.

Here ends the chapter in which the special virtues of the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch were
taught in detail.

Chapter 2

Then the venerable Ānanda arose from his seat and, covering one shoulder with his robe, knelt on one knee. Bowing
with folded hands toward the seat of the Blessed One, he said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, this Dharma discourse is
profound.”

The Blessed One said, “Ānanda, so it is. Because the aggregate of form is profound, it is profound. Because the
aggregates of feeling, perception, mental forces, and cognition are profound, it is profound. Because emptiness is profound,
it is profound. Because the element of space is profound, it is profound.”

Ānanda said, “Though I have heard eighty-four thousand articles of Dharma from the Tathāgata, I never heard one like
the present Dharma discourse.”

The Blessed One said, “This Dharma discourse is extremely difficult to receive.”

Ānanda said, “Blessed One, I beg you to magically bless this Dharma discourse so that in a later time and later
period, during the last five hundred years when the noble Dharma is coming to an end, it will perform Buddha activities for
many sentient beings.”

The Blessed One said, “Ānanda, I have already blessed this Dharma discourse. I, the Tathāgata Śākyamuni, have also
blessed those Dharma teachers who will teach it. Ānanda, those who write this Dharma discourse will not suffer eye disease.
Their tongues, noses, teeth, hands, and feet will not become diseased. Their brains will not be diseased, nor will their ears.
Their bodies will not deteriorate, nor will they smell bad. They will not be killed by harmful enemies. They will be protected by all humans and non-human deities, and when they do die they will, avoiding other
entanglements, be born in the happy realms among the gods.”

Ānanda said, “Blessed One, why did Māra not cause obstacles when you explained this Dharma? Owing to what conditions
did that not occur?”

The Blessed One answered, “Ānanda, all māras were unable to create an obstacle to this Dharma discourse. Ānanda, when
Māra the evil one conceived the intention to obstruct the teaching of the dhāraṇī of the jewel torch, he
saw his own home burning in flames; Ānanda, this Dharma discourse is so profound. Ānanda, any place where this Dharma
discourse has been practiced becomes a holy stūpa shrine worthy of respect.”

Ānanda said, “If in that very place where the Tathāgata dwells this Dharma discourse also exists, how great would my
error be if I went to see the Tathāgata and, after going there, I first bowed to that Tathāgata and later to this Dharma
discourse?”

The Blessed One said, “Ānanda, if you set this Dharma discourse to one side and bowed to me, that would be a fault.
Ānanda, moreover, though I am the elder brother of the world with its gods, the chief, the best, and the superior, Ānanda, I
attained the perfect awakening of buddhahood after I heard this Dharma discourse.”

Ānanda said, “Blessed One, from which tathāgata did you hear the teaching of the precious absorption of the dhāraṇī
of the jewel torch? Who was higher than the Tathāgata?”

The Blessed One said, “Ānanda, no one is higher than me in the worlds of men, gods, and gandharvas. Yet when I was
practicing the conduct of a bodhisattva, I learned from the blessed one, the tathāgata Layered Essence of Endless Gnosis, out
of a vast matrix of many light rays radiating from wonderful inconceivable lights. Ānanda, after experiencing thousands and
millions of ascetic hardships, I heard this Dharma discourse. At that time, that tathāgata made a prophecy about me.
Therefore, Ānanda, first bow to this Dharma discourse and later pay homage to me.”

Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of the world then spoke unanimously: “How wonderful is the Dharma! How
wonderful is the Dharma! How wonderful are the magical powers of the Dharma teachings! If sentient beings who so much as hear
the name of this Dharma discourse should be honored, it goes without saying that those who memorize, read, study, and teach it
in detail to others should be honored all the more. They should be called tathāgatas.”

The Blessed One replied to Indra, Brahmā, and the guardian deities of the world, “Friends, your words are well
spoken. Excellent, excellent!”

The Blessed One now used the miraculous faculty of his tongue and, making his voice heard throughout the realm of the
whole billionfold world system, said to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, “Those sentient beings who do not listen to this
Dharma discourse are like blind people who do not see the light of the sun, like people who do not know how a transaction is
made, and like poor people who look to others for
support. In order to ensure that sentient beings
do not become far removed from such a mass of precious teachings in the way I have illustrated with these similes, would it
please you, son of a good family, if I were to make a request of you for the sake of this Dharma discourse and for the
benefit of sentient beings?”

Then the bodhisattva Samantabhadra rose from his seat and covered one shoulder with his robe. Bowing with folded
hands toward the Blessed One, he wept.

As soon as the bodhisattva Samantabhadra rose from his Dharma mat, the entire
billionfold world system shook in six ways, it shook strongly and shook violently; it quaked, quaked strongly, and quaked
violently; it trembled, trembled strongly, and trembled violently; it was disturbed, strongly disturbed, and violently
disturbed; it shuddered, shuddered strongly, and shuddered violently; and it was agitated, strongly agitated, and violently
agitated. And in the world a great light shone.

Then the bodhisattva Samantabhadra pressed the fingers of his hands together in homage and wept. He said to the
Blessed One, “Blessed One, I would be delighted. Sugata, I would be delighted. Blessed One, you are all-knowing, you intend
the benefit of all sentient beings, and you are endowed with great compassion. Yet on top of that, as I am born from the
Tathāgata, why would I not act in accord with the Tathāgata’s word? If the word of the Blessed One, the Tathāgata, is a word
of ambrosia, how could I be capable of acting in contradiction to the Tathāgata’s word? Blessed One, I will keep what you say
in mind, I will not fail to keep it in mind.”

Then the Blessed One said to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, “O son of the victors, excellent, excellent! You are the elder son of the tathāgatas; the
chief, the best, the superior, and the preeminent one. I have entrusted you with this Dharma discourse. This is my teacher.
Therefore, you should guard it. From time to time, show it respect. Place it in a precious container and carry it on your
shoulder. In later times and periods, pay no heed to those sinful monks. Son of a good family, these are my instructions to
you.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “Blessed One, what sort of people who have gone forth will there be?”

The Blessed One said, “Do not ask in a whisper.”

The bodhisattva Samantabhadra said, “If it would benefit many sentient beings, I beg the Blessed One to kindly give
us an explanation. I beg the Sugata to please give an explanation.”

The Blessed One said, “Samantabhadra, I will explain, so listen! Everyone in this great ocean-like assembly and all
of these countless bodhisattva great beings such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara should leave off other thoughts and should
heed what sort of people who have gone forth there will be in a later time and period.”

Then the Blessed One said to Samantabhadra, “Samantabhadra, people who have gone forth will vex the holy Dharma,
will be attached to homes, attached to material gain, attached to temples, attached to dwellings, and attached to their
begging bowls and robes; they will bother homes, and will engage in all sinful doctrines. Samantabhadra, for me to entrust this sūtra for the sake of those ignorant
ones would indeed bring this sūtra to its decline.”

Then from all directions came gods, nāgas, yakṣas, and gandharvas. They said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, we,
too, have all assembled and gathered. As long as we live and for as long as the holy Dharma endures, we will protect this
Dharma discourse. We will also guard those future
Dharma-teaching monks who will maintain it. We will pay homage to, adore, honor, worship, venerate, and supplicate them.”

Then the Blessed One spoke the following verses of encouragement to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra and ninety-two
hundred million other bodhisattvas:

“Hear from me all the explanations of all the qualities,

Of those qualities that are the perfections.

Leave aside pride, conceit, and carelessness,

And listen with a happy and delighted mood!

“Here in Magadha in the presence of the lord of trees, the Bodhi tree,

It is said that a self-arisen lion of men stayed.

He dwelled in the absorption of the highest emancipation,

Living in front of that great king of trees.

“That hero was surrounded by sublime men living with him,

Numbering as many as the atoms in the buddhafields in all ten directions.

That lord of humans dwelled in an absorption

Called buddha multitudes.

“After that lord of humans had realized the meditative states,

Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta came from the east

To the presence of the king and the sublime beings

Numbering as many as the atoms of ten buddhafields.

“Engaging similarly, from the fields of the ten directions,

All the sons of the victors named Bhadra

Arrived together with those sublime beings

Numbering as many as the atoms in the ten directions.

“Having joined that assembly desiring benefit for the world,

The noble person named Bhadraśrī

Asked Mañjuśrī and those possessing infinite fame:

‘What is the conduct of a son of the Buddha? What are his excellent qualities?’

“Then the great being named Mañjuśrī

Questioned the sublime man Bhadraśrī

Who knew without error the qualities of awakening

And the pure sphere of experience of those possessing the virtues of extensive happiness:

“ ‘I will here explain the pure sphere of experience

Of the Buddha’s sons that is relied upon by the Victor.

And you, too, should explain the qualities of the Buddha’s sons

And what their modes of conduct are like.’

“Bhadraśrī said, ‘Listen, sons of the victors:

Among all the qualities possessed by those whose qualities are infinite

The ones of which I can describe even a tiny part

Are as infinitesimally few as a drop in the ocean.

“ ‘If to give rise at the very beginning

To the spontaneous thought that is the basis for awakening

Is something whose good qualities can be praised without limit

So that even “incomparable” does not suffice to describe it,

“ ‘How much more so the qualities of the transcendent perfections and levels

When they have been practiced for many eons:

For all the victors of the ten directions

The river of their qualities is never brought to an end.

“ ‘Among all the qualities possessed by those whose qualities are infinite,

The ones of which I can describe even a tiny part

Are as infinitesimally few as the tracks a bird leaves behind in the sky,

Or as a single atom compared to the entire earth.

“ ‘The arising of the thought to dwell in those qualities of awakening

Is not without cause, nor is it meaningless;

Rather, the thought arises after one has produced faith and admiration

For the Victor, the Dharma of the Victor, and the Saṅgha.

“ ‘It is not for the sake of desire or for wealth,

Or for one’s own pleasure, fame, and reputation.

That thought of benefitting the world arises

For the sake of quelling all the sufferings of living beings.

“ ‘That thought arises for the sake of perpetually benefiting sentient beings,

To purify the fields and worship the Buddha,

To maintain the Dharma, to gain the awakening of a buddha,

And to purify gnosis.

“ ‘Having generated constant faith in all the victors, in the Dharma,

And likewise in the assembly of āryas,

And with admiration, appreciation, and devotion toward them,

That thought will arise for the sake of worshiping the guru through devotion.

“ ‘After one has felt faith in the Victor and the Dharma of the Victor,

One generates faith in the conduct of the Buddha’s sons.

And after one has felt faith in highest awakening,

The thought of the sublime beings will arise.

“ ‘Through the power of faith, those lords of humans

Worship through unimaginably vast offerings.

And there arises the thought after they have also worshiped

Through inconceivably vast offerings the Dharma and Saṅgha, which are inseparable.

“ ‘Faith is the starting point, the mother of guides.

It guards and increases all good qualities.

It removes all doubts and rescues one from the torrents of ailments.

Faith is exemplified by the city of happiness.

“ ‘Faith is unclouded and clarifies the mind.

It removes pride and is the root of devotion.

Faith is treasure, wealth, and the best of pillars.

It is the fundamental gatherer of virtue, like a hand.

“ ‘Faith makes one like to give things up.

Faith makes one delight in the Dharma of the Victor.

Faith makes good qualities into special features of gnosis.

It reveals the rank of buddhahood and makes one attain it.

“ ‘It makes the faculties sharp and very lucid.

The power of faith is not undermined by others.

It is the foundation for removing the defilements.

Faith also searches out the innate qualities.

“ ‘Faith has no attachment to the doors of attachment.

It removes inopportune things and is the single best opportunity.

It makes one escape from the path of Māra

And reveals the highest path to liberation.

“ ‘Faith is the unspoiled seed of the field of good qualities.

Faith produces the field of awakening.

It increases the good qualities of the special features of gnosis.

Faith reveals all victors.

“ ‘Through faith, there are different sorts of delight in devotion.

Concerning that, I will gradually explain the practice.

This sort of Dharma teaching is very rare in the world,

Like the king of jewels in the ocean.

“ ‘Those who have faith and devotion toward the Buddha

Will not abandon the rules of moral conduct.

Possessing good qualities,

They will be praised by those endowed with good qualities.

“ ‘Moral conduct reveals the thought of awakening.

It inures one to the good qualities of the level of a trainee.

Those who do not abandon the rules of moral conduct

Will become worthy of the Victor’s praise.

“ ‘Those who have constant faith and devotion toward the Victor

Will make vast offerings in his honor.

They who make vast offerings

Will have inconceivably great faith in the Buddha.

“ ‘Those who have constant faith in and devotion toward the Dharma

Will be insatiable in desiring to learn the Victor’s Dharma.

Those who are insatiable in desiring to learn Dharma

Will have inconceivably great faith in the Dharma.

“ ‘Those who have constant faith in and devotion toward the Saṅgha

Will be irreversible in their faith in the Saṅgha.

Those who are irreversible in their faith in the Saṅgha

Will not turn back thanks to the power of their faith.

“ ‘Those who do not turn back thanks to the power of their faith

Will have faculties that are sharp and very lucid.

“ ‘Those who have faculties that are sharp and very lucid

Will shun sinful friends.

Those who shun sinful friends

Will be assisted by virtuous friends.

“ ‘Those who will be assisted by virtuous friends

Will accumulate a vast amount of virtue.

Those who accumulate a vast amount of virtue—

Such great beings will possess a powerful cause.

“ ‘Great beings who possess a powerful cause

Will have a great difference in their devotion.

Those who have a great difference in their devotion

Will be magically blessed by all the victors.

“ ‘Those who are magically blessed by all the victors

Will also produce a mind set on awakening.

Those who produce a mind for the sake of awakening

Will exert themselves in the good qualities of a great seer.

“ ‘Those who exert themselves in the good qualities of a great seer

Will be born in the high lineage of the buddhas.

Those who have been born in the high lineage of the buddhas

Will be equal to them and thus done with joining or not joining them.

“ ‘Those equal and thus done with joining or not joining

Will have faith and minds that are pure.

Those who have faith and minds that are pure

Will have the highest noble altruism.

“ ‘Those who have the highest noble altruism

Will always practice the perfections.

Those who always practice the perfections

Will enter into this Mahāyāna.

“ ‘Those who enter into this Mahāyāna

Will worship the buddhas through practice.

Those who worship the buddhas through practice

Will have constant mindfulness of the Buddha.

“ ‘Those who have constant mindfulness of the Buddha

Will always see inconceivable buddhas.

Those who always see inconceivable buddhas

Will never have buddhas not residing.

“ ‘Those who never have buddhas not residing

Will never be impaired from the Dharma in the meantime.

Those who will never be impaired from the Dharma in the meantime

Will have eloquence that is without obscuration.

“ ‘Those whose eloquence is without obscuration

Will be boundless in teaching the Dharma.

Those who are boundless in teaching the Dharma

Will be kind to living beings and desire to benefit them.

“ ‘Those who are kind to living beings and desire to benefit them

Will have a firm root of great compassion.

Those who have a firm root of great compassion

Will have the faculty of joy through delighting in Dharma.

“ ‘Those who have the faculty of joy through delighting in Dharma

Will cast aside the fault of conditioned things.

Those who tolerate the fault of conditioned things

Will be without pride and conceit and not unrestrained.

“ ‘Those who will be without pride and conceit and not unrestrained

Will always exert themselves for the sake of self and others.

Those who always exert themselves for the sake of self and others

Will not be discouraged by saṃsāra.

“ ‘Those who will not be discouraged by saṃsāra

Will possess the highest of noble diligence.

Those who possess the highest of noble diligence

Will give birth to pure clairvoyance.

“ ‘Those who will give birth to pure clairvoyance

Will understand the many behaviors of living beings.

Those who understand the many behaviors of living beings

Will be skilled in maturing beings.

“ ‘Those who will be skilled in maturing beings

Will be skilled in the procedure of knowing how to attract beings.

Those who are skilled in the procedure of knowing how to attract beings

Will exert themselves in the four factors of attraction.

“ ‘Those who exert themselves in the four factors of attraction

Will make the welfare of living beings infinite.

Those who make the welfare of living beings infinite

Will rely upon discriminative wisdom and methods.

“ ‘Those who rely upon discriminative wisdom and methods—

Such heroes dwell on the insuperable path.

Such heroes who dwell on the insuperable path

Will not be harmed by the assemblies of Māra.

“ ‘Those who are not harmed by the assemblies of Māra

Will transcend the path of Māra.

Those who transcend the path of Māra

Will attain an irreversible level.

“ ‘Those who will attain an irreversible level

Attain the forbearance of unborn factors.

Those who attain the forbearance of unborn factors

Are lamps of the world and prophesied by the Victor.

“ ‘Such lamps of the world that are prophesied by the Victor

Dwell in the presence of all victors.

Those who dwell in the presence of all victors

Will be skilled in the methods of magical displays of the secret victors.

“ ‘Those who are skilled in the methods of magical displays of the secret victors

Will be thought of by all the victors.

Those who are thought of by all the victors

Will be well ornamented by all good qualities.

“ ‘Those who are well ornamented by all good qualities—

Even their bodies will be purified by superior merit.

Those who have bodies that are purified by superior merit

Will glow like golden mountains.

“ ‘Those who glow like golden mountains

Will complete all thirty-two major marks.

Those who complete all thirty-two major marks

Will have bodies ornamented by the minor marks.

“ ‘Those who have bodies ornamented by the minor marks

Will be limitless in their bodily light.

Those who are limitless in their bodily light

Will have unimaginably large arrays of light.

“ ‘Those who have unimaginably large arrays of light

Will even have lotus flowers emerge from the light.

Those for whom lotus flowers emerge from the light

Can project in worlds in all ten directions

As the body of the victor present on a lotus seat

And can discipline sentient beings who dwell in meaningful relations.

“ ‘Those who can project in worlds in all ten directions

As the body of the victor present on a lotus seat

And can discipline sentient beings who dwell in meaningful relations

Will have infinite magical power of clairvoyance.

“ ‘Those who will have infinite magical power of clairvoyance

Will move through inconceivable buddhafields,

Teach inconceivable Dharma teachings,

And satisfy inconceivably many sentient beings.

“ ‘Those who will teach inconceivable Dharma teachings

And satisfy inconceivably many sentient beings

Will train the sentient beings in the world according to their individual minds

Thanks to the power of the analytical knowledges.

“ ‘Those who will train the sentient beings in the world according to their individual minds

Thanks to the power of the analytical knowledges

Will constantly, in their body, speech, and mind,

Be preceded by gnosis and followed by gnosis.

“ ‘Those who are constantly, in their body, speech, and mind,

Preceded by gnosis and followed by gnosis

Will reveal bodily forms in the minds of sentient beings

According to their wishes through the power of former aspirations.

“ ‘Those who reveal bodily forms in the minds of sentient beings

According to their wishes through the power of former aspirations

Will, when they utter words,

Produce inconceivable varieties of melody.

“ ‘Those who, when they utter words,

Produce inconceivable varieties of melody

Will perceive in one moment

The minds of all sentient beings.

“ ‘Those who perceive in one moment

The minds of all sentient beings

Will never die and will not be reborn,

And for them the flux of the defilements will not arise.

“ ‘Those who never die and will not be reborn

And for whom the flux of the defilements does not arise

Will pass through the world, their bodies of gnosis

Differentiated by the Dharma, their quality being reality.

“ ‘Those who pass through the world, their bodies of gnosis

Differentiated by the Dharma, their quality being reality,

Will dwell in the ten levels, the ten powers,

The perfections, and the highest emancipations.

“ ‘Those who will dwell in the ten levels, the ten powers,

The perfections, and the highest emancipations

Will attain the array of being consecrated and magical displays

And will dwell in the highest absorptions.

“ ‘Those who attain the array of being consecrated and magical displays

And who dwell in the highest absorptions

Will attain all ways of being consecrated without exception

From all the victors in the ten directions.

“ ‘Those who attain all ways of being anointed without exception

From all the victors in the ten directions

Will be anointed on their heads by the buddhas of the ten directions

Whose palms are filled with the nectar of immortality.

“ ‘Those who are anointed on their heads by the buddhas of the ten directions

Whose palms are filled with nectar or immortality—

Such great beings with firm powers, after
pervading everywhere like space,

Will dwell in all directions.

“ ‘Those who have firm powers and, after pervading everywhere like space,

Dwell in all directions—

The spheres of experience of those incomparable ones

Will be impossible for the world with its gods to understand.

“ ‘Those incomparable ones who have spheres of experience that are

Impossible for the world with its gods to understand—

All their efforts, their presence, their renown,

And their eloquence will be meaningful.

“ ‘Those whose efforts, presence, renown,

And eloquence are meaningful—

For such great beings all their acts of charity,

Consisting in deeds of generosity, will be meaningful.

“ ‘By the power of such beings, the Dharma too will endure,

And kindness will not decline.

They will practice meritorious deeds,

And the power of the noble Three Jewels will become supreme.

“ ‘By the power of these beings, the jewels that are in the ocean,

Including the best of jewels, the adamantine vajra,

Will never become depleted or obscured,

Just like water with limitless qualities.

“ ‘Wherever there are lands without buddhas,

They will manifest the complete awakening of buddhahood.

In whatever direction there is likewise no Dharma,

They will manifest a treasure of Dharma,

“ ‘They are without conceptualizing, nonconceptual,

And they manifest spontaneously in all directions,

Illumining like the moon.

They train sentient beings in a thousand ways.

“ ‘Every moment they manifest the awakening of buddhahood

In all ten directions of the world systems.

They manifest the Valiant One by turning the wheel of Dharma,

By the peace of nirvāṇa, and by leaving behind ample relics.

“ ‘Manifesting, for inconceivable eons, the levels of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas

And the infinite magical displays of the array of buddhas,

Those expert ones train sentient beings

By means of the Three Vehicles.

“ ‘Those who know about fulfilling all wishes

Manifest the bodies of boys, girls, women,

Gods, humans, asuras, nāgas,

Yakṣas, kumbhāṇḍa evil spirits, and mahoragas.

“ ‘By the absorption of the mudrā of the ocean,

Those heroes manifest without omission

The physical conduct, signs, behaviors,

And language systems of living beings.

Through inconceivable pure land arrays

They worship all the victors of the ten directions.

“ ‘Those who through inconceivable pure land arrays

Worship all the victors of the ten directions

Manifest inconceivable arrays of light

And the inconceivable gnosis of explaining things to sentient beings.

“ ‘Those who manifest inconceivable arrays of light

And inconceivable gnosis of explaining things to sentient beings

Manifest magical manifestations of body and speech

And inconceivable manifestations of mind.

“ ‘Those who manifest magical manifestations of body and speech

And inconceivable manifestations of mind

Manifest magical displays of giving and moral conduct

And inconceivable magical displays of patience and vigor.

“ ‘Those who manifest magical displays of giving and moral conduct

And inconceivable magical displays of patience and vigor

Will, through the absorption called buddha multitudes,

Produce inconceivable magical displays of concentration

And inconceivable magical displays of discriminating wisdom, means, and clairvoyance.

Their magical displays of all good qualities will also be infinite.

“ ‘Through a meditative absorption that manifests minute atoms,

They achieve that for all atoms,

And display in a single atom inconceivably many buddhafields;

But even so, that single atom does not increase.

“ ‘Within a single atom, they display buddhafields with buddhas,

And some of those fields lack buddhas.

They also display a few flower clusters of purified defilements

And fields that are vast and limited or extensive in scope.

“ ‘Some of those fields are destroyed, some remain established,

Some seem to be standing upside down,

Some seem to be in reverse or
like a mirage,

And some appear like a conjuring trick.

“ ‘Just as the buddhafields are displayed in a single atom,

So they appear in all of them.

Such is the magical display of the absorption of the seers.

Such is their liberation of limitless renown.

“ ‘They make manifest for all victors the absorption,

The magical display of offerings to the victors.

Filling the palms of their hands with the billionfold world systems,

They worship the sublime beings.

“ ‘As many garlands of flowers as there are in all ten directions,

And as many precious fragrances, scented powders, and jewels—

All those they emit from the palms of their hands to worship the victors

Who dwell at the foot of the tree of awakening.

“ ‘As many precious silk textiles, scented powders, jewels,

Victory banners, flags, varieties of the best parasols,

And gold-ornamented jewel canopies as there are—

All of these are showered down from the palms of their hands.

“ ‘And showering down from the palms of their hands

Infinite necessities in the ten directions,

Which are worthy of being offered to the great seers,

They worship the victors who dwell beneath the tree of awakening.

“ ‘All of the music that exists in the ten directions—

Played on drums, clay pot drums, lutes, vīṇās,

Small and large cymbals, or flutes—

They sound forth from the palms of their hands.

“ ‘They also utter from the palms of their hands

The various praises of the true qualities

In all ten directions using incomparable examples

And various formulations of eulogistic verses.

“ ‘Radiating from their right hands

Light rays that gather through the power of meritorious acts,

They release a shower of scented water over all the buddhafields

And worship the lamps of the world.

“ ‘They worship the victors from their hands

Through numerous light rays with arrays and beautiful lights

And draped with inconceivable ornamental garlands of lotuses,

Which assume the forms of exquisite lotuses.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of flowers,

Flower canopies, and light rays in the shape of flowers,

And having strewn about various flowers,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of incense,

Incense canopies, and light rays in the shape of incense,

And having strewn about various kinds of incense,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of fragrances,

Canopies of fragrant substances, and light rays in the shape of fragrant substances,

And having strewn about various kinds of fragrances,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of garlands,

Garland canopies, and light rays in the shape of garlands,

And having strewn about various garlands,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of incense powder,

Incense powder canopies, and light rays in the shape of incense powder,

And having strewn about various incense powders,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of textiles,

Textile canopies, and light rays in the shape of textiles,

And having strewn about various textiles,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of parasols,

Parasol canopies, and light rays in the shape of parasols,

And having strewn about various parasols,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of jewels,

Jewel canopies, and light rays in the shape of jewels,

And having strewn about various jewels,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of lotuses,

Lotus canopies, and light rays in the shape of lotuses,

And having strewn about various lotuses,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘Emanating multitudes of necklaces,

Necklace canopies, and light rays in the shape of necklaces,

And having strewn about various necklaces,

Those great beings worship the Victor.

“ ‘They will emanate light in the shape of the best of victory banners,

And using banners that are white, yellow, red,

And blue, and with numerous banners of various shapes,

They ornament the buddhafields of the Victor.

“ ‘And with parasols equipped with various nets of jewels,

They have hung flags of silken
strings,

And with chains of large and small bells that sound with the voice of the Victor,

They attach those to the head of the Tathāgata.

“ ‘And those infinite offerings from their hands—

Just as they offer to a single victor,

So they offer to all victors without exception.

Such is the magical display of the absorption of seers.

“ ‘By virtue of the gnosis that attracts living beings,

And by achieving the magical displays and highest absorptions,

They train sentient beings through a thousand methods,

Which is the medium of all duties and respectful service.

“ ‘Some train others by means of worshiping the tathāgatas,

By means of making inconceivably great gifts,

By means of purified qualities and complete moral conduct,

And by means of inexhaustible, undisturbed patience.

“ ‘Some train others by means of striving in ascetic hardships of discipline,

By means of remaining tranquilly in meditative concentration,

By means of discriminating wisdom that discerns the meaning,

And by means of the methods that embody all forms of conduct.

“ ‘Some train others by means of the brahmic stages and clairvoyance,

By means of desiring to benefit others through the four attracting things,

By means of accumulating merit and gnosis,

And by means of the truths, dependence, and the emancipations.

“ ‘Some train others by means of the powers and the path of the faculties,

By means of emancipation through the śrāvaka vehicle,

By means of purification through the vehicle of conditions,

And by means of the magical displays of the highest vehicle.

“ ‘Some train others by means of impermanence and suffering,

Some by means of selflessness and the absence of a life spirit,

By means of no desire through conceiving of the unpleasant,

And by means of the absorption of peace and cessation.

“ ‘However many avenues of behavior there are for sentient beings,

They will have entered that many avenues of the Dharma.

Through the avenues of emancipation for all of them,

Sentient beings of the world are trained in line with their thoughts.

“ ‘Those who thus train sentient beings of the world in line with their thoughts

Through all these avenues of emancipation

Cannot be apprehended by anyone in terms of phenomenal marks.

Such are their magical displays of absorption.

“ ‘They train sentient beings by stabilizing their minds

Through the highest absorption joyful display,

Which conforms with the maturing of all living beings,

Having all the pleasure of happiness, joy, and delight.

“ ‘Where crops fail in the world, and provisions

And things that cause happiness become very scarce,

There they act for all in line with their thoughts;

Giving gifts, they achieve the welfare of living beings.

“ ‘By renouncing the best quality and best tasting food and drink,

Fine garments and clothing, various valuables,

The wealth of the kingdom, and selfish disappointments,

They train those living beings who highly value generosity.

“ ‘Those firm ones train sentient beings by manifesting bodies

Adorned with the highest signs,

Ornamented by the best clothing and jewel ornaments,

Adorned with flower garlands, and anointed with fragrance.

“ ‘To those who deeply enjoy what they see,

Those most intelligent ones

Manifest supreme bodies, excellent bodies, and the best of bodies,

And thus they train sentient beings who highly value bodies.

“ ‘They accordingly teach Dharma according to all inclinations,

Such as teaching by means of the sweet call of a kalaviṅka bird,

Or teaching a cuckoo bird through the call of a swan,

Or by means of a drum, or the voice of Brahmā, or the voice of a kinnara.

“ ‘They train the sentient beings of the world according to each one’s inclination

By means of different kinds of Dharma,

Namely, by means of the eighty-four thousand articles of Dharma

That were taught by the victors for the welfare of living beings.

“ ‘They even make happiness the friend of suffering,

And they make their own aim the friend of harmfulness.

By thus making friends in all activities,

They train sentient beings by means of friends.

“ ‘They tolerate, for the sake of friends,

Suffering, harm, and the faults of conditioned things,

And for the welfare and happiness of all living beings

They undertake harm for the sake of friends.

“ ‘In places where there is no going forth, no Dharma,

And no going into solitude or realizing emancipation,

They give up the wealth of their kingdoms

And, with peaceful minds, go forth without any fixed abode.

“ ‘In order to free all living beings

From the states of home, bondage, and existence,

They will live in renunciation, clearly teaching emancipation,

Without remaining stuck in any desired pleasure.

“ ‘They explain the ten conducts

And work for the welfare of living beings

By teaching in detail the Dharma practices of sublime beings

And all the practices of seers.

“ ‘In realms where sentient beings possess infinite lives

And live happily with few defilements,

They will manifest their own uncontrollable deaths,

Afflicted by old age and illness.

“ ‘They will train sentient beings by manifesting worlds

In which desire burns, anger burns,

And ignorance blazes,

And in which old age, sickness, and death all blaze.

“ ‘By means of the ten powers of the Buddha, the four diligences,

And the eighteen special qualities,

They express the great nature of the Buddha

And achieve the welfare of beings through the qualities of a buddha.

“ ‘By issuing proclamations via magical displays

Through the power of the blessing of forms,

They demonstrate everywhere the wonders of the Tathāgata

And train sentient beings through the wonders of magical displays.

“ ‘Through a wide variety of methods,

They wander the world and work for the welfare of living creatures.

Unattached to the world like lotus flowers in water,

They wander, gladdening and inspiring those they meet.

“ ‘As poets, they compose poems of the victors;

They are dancers, drummers, strongmen, and musicians;

They bear lassos that are
garlands of beautiful ornaments and they dance,

And they manifest the many bodily forms of a magician.

“ ‘As town dwellers they will rule as headmen.

Similarly, they will become caravan leaders, traders, or householders.

They will also become kings, minsters, courtiers, messengers,

Or doctors and knowers of worldly sciences.

“ ‘In remote places, they will become great wish-granting trees

That grant medicines, inexhaustible treasures,

And wish-granting jewels,

And they will show the correct path to those who are lost while traveling.

“ ‘Having appeared in the world, they learn quickly,

And they will explain the world to all those sentient beings

Who do not know the ways of work

Such as agriculture, commerce, and the various arts and crafts.

“ ‘Any engagements that are nonviolent and harmless

And that make beings happy are praised by the wise.

The powers of reasoning, medicine, and all the various treatises

Are described in detail by these seers.

“ ‘Those most expert ones describe in detail

The highest conduct of seers,

Which is admired by the whole world along with the gods,

And all the supreme austerities among the ascetic disciplines.

“ ‘They manifest themselves as expert teachers of the tīrthikas,

Of the carakas and parivrājakas,

The ascetics, gautamas, those observing silence,

And naked, ascetic śramaṇas who practice wearing no clothing.

“ ‘They become teachers of those who adhere to the Ājīvaka creed,

Of those for whom there is surpassing and those for whom there is no surpassing,

Of those with long matted hair,

And of those vowed to ascetic discipline from youth.

“ ‘They also become teachers to those who practice

Gazing at the sun or in the fivefold austerity,

Of those who follow the behavior of dogs and oxen, of those who live like deer,

And of the thirty kinds of tīrthika adepts.

“ ‘To those who delight in engaging in their knowledge of gods

And who wander in sacred tīrtha ablution places,

After partaking of roots, fruits, and water

The supreme worthy ones teach the inconceivable Dharma.

“ ‘They also become teachers to those who practice

Staying in small tents, solitary wanderers

Who sleep on thorny grass and in the dust,

And those who live lying on beds of pounding sticks.

“ ‘They strive to understand the motivation and inclinations

Of all the outsider tīrthikas there are, no matter how numerous,

And use the unbearable difficulty of achieving those harsh austerities

To train those tīrthikas to abandon their misery.

“ ‘Having understood the agitation caused in the world by views,

To all those tīrthikas who harbor bad views

They teach the truth

Using the method of subtle words.

“ ‘For some they use the mantra words of Dramiḍa

Or highly secret words to teach the truth.

For some they use direct words that are clear,

And for some the mysterious words of the gods.

“ ‘For some they teach using words with distinct syllables,

For some with vajra words that define the meaning,

For some with knowledge words that subdue antagonists,

And for some with the liberating words of the unassailable treatises.

“ ‘Some they teach using mantra words from human languages,

Or using words for interpreting universally understood language;

Some they teach using words for interpreting the language of gods,

And some using words for interpreting nāgas and words for interpreting yakṣas.

“ ‘And for some, using the words of rākṣasa, bhūta, and piśāca evil spirits,

And gandharvas, kumbhāṇḍas, and mahoragas,

And the words of kinnaras, asuras, and garuḍas,

They reveal the truth and lead them to liberation.

“ ‘Knowing truth and how to use words that interpret, they teach,

Through knowing the path of speech, the inconceivable ultimate nature

Of all the Dharma teachings of the Victor, without exception.

Their magical display of meditative absorptions is like this.

“ ‘As they accomplish with regard to all beings

The absorption of beings’ highest bliss,

They emanate inconceivable light rays,

And emanating light rays, they train sentient beings.

“ ‘They radiate light rays that are beautiful to behold.

However many sentient beings may perceive such light rays,

They are beautiful to behold and not fruitless

Because they are the cause of supreme insuperable gnosis.

“ ‘Displaying the buddhas to all humans,

Displaying the Dharma as well and not displaying it,

And displaying for their worship the images of the Victors,

Light rays beautiful to behold will thus be perfected.

“ ‘Sending forth what are called illuminating light rays

That eclipse even the light rays of the gods,

Illuminating all particles and darkness,

These lights that bring benefit to the world illuminate everything.

“ ‘Those sentient beings inspired by that light

All hold lamps for the sake of worshiping the Victor.

Because they hold lamps for the sake of worshiping the Victor,

They will become victors who are lights of the world.

“ ‘Offering to the victors lamps that burn mustard seed oil and that burn butter,

And torches of grass, wood, reeds, or bamboo,

And precious lanterns of fragrance and elixir,

They thus attain the status of illuminators.

“ ‘They emanate light rays called liberators,

And any sentient beings inspired by that light

Gird themselves with armor for the sake of liberating sentient beings

From the ocean of existence with its extensive craving.

“ ‘Those who gird themselves with armor for the sake of liberating sentient beings

From the ocean of existence with its extensive craving

Will free beings from the four rivers.

They are shown the city of the bliss of nirvāṇa.

“ ‘Having made numerous ford landings and bridges,

They provide boats to rescue those on river routes.

By praising the peace of eradicating conditioned things,

They thus achieve liberating light rays.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that quench thirst,

And any sentient beings inspired by that light

Shun thirst for the sense objects

And strive to acquire a taste for savoring the Dharma.

“ ‘By shunning thirst for sense objects

And striving to attain a taste for savoring the Dharma,

They will become buddhas who shower down rains of nectar of immortality.

Thus they will quench the craving of the thirst of the world.

“ ‘Ponds, rivers, wells, river banks, and lakes

Are turned into things that advance the attainment of awakening,

And by disparaging lust while praising meditative concentration,

They will achieve the quenching of craving.

“ ‘They emanate gladdening light rays,

And any sentient beings inspired by that light

Will feel very glad and will conceive the thought:

“I will become a self-arisen one for the sake of supreme awakening!”

“ ‘By causing the compassionate one’s body, which is ornamented by marks,

To sit upon a lotus seat,

And by always praising the qualities of the Buddha,

They achieve gladdening light rays.

“ ‘Emanating pleasing light rays,

Sentient beings impelled by that light

Will always please the Buddha,

Always please the Dharma, and always please the Saṅgha.

“ ‘After always pleasing the Buddha,

Always pleasing the Dharma, and always pleasing the Saṅgha,

They attain the Buddha, Dharma, and assembly of the exalted,

Perpetually gain friends, and attain insuperable patience.

“ ‘With an awareness of the Buddha and encouraging many sentient beings

To worship the Dharma and highest assembly,

Through expressing the qualities of the thought of awakening

They will therefore achieve pleasing light rays.

“ ‘They emanate light rays of gathering merit,

And any sentient beings inspired by that light

Will strive to attain the highest awakening

And will give manifold and numerous gifts.

“ ‘When giving gifts without limitation,

They satisfy the wishes of the recipients,

And through granting the gift of all their wishes,

They achieve light rays of gathering merit.

“ ‘They emanate light rays endowed with gnosis,

And any sentient beings inspired by that light,

Through the avenue to a single Dharma teaching,

Instantly understand the avenues to numerous Dharmas.

“ ‘By causing sentient beings to uphold the opening of the Dharma,

Gnosis that ascertains its meaning will open up.

And by expressing the words and meaning of the Dharma,

They achieve light rays endowed with gnosis.

“ ‘They emanate light rays of the lamp of discriminating wisdom,

And any sentient beings inspired by that light

Will immerse themselves in teachings on things being empty, without self,

Unborn, unarisen, and without nature.

“ ‘And by teaching that phenomena lack an owner, are empty, lack an agent,

And are like a magical illusion or a mirage, like the reflection of the moon in water,

Like a dream, and like a reflection in a mirror,

They will achieve the lamp of discriminating wisdom.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that are miracles of the Dharma,

And sentient beings inspired by that light

Will attain the dhāraṇī of inexhaustible patience

and maintain the treasure house of all tathāgatas.

“ ‘Thoroughly securing benefits for those who maintain the Dharma,

They will protect the seers by means of Dharma

And protect living beings by means of Dharma,

And they will achieve light rays that are miracles of the Dharma.

“ ‘They emanate light rays imbued with generosity,

And any greedy sentient beings inspired by that light,

By learning that wealth is impermanent and instable,

Will come to always delight in giving things away.

“ ‘All greed-filled sentient beings that are obstinate and difficult to train,

By learning that objects of wealth are like clouds in a dream,

Happily increase their acts of generosity,

And therefore achieve light rays imbued with generosity.

“ ‘They emanate light rays of freedom from pain,

And any sentient beings of impure moral discipline inspired by that light

Will come to observe pure moral discipline,

Conceiving the thought, “I will become a self-arisen one.”

“ ‘By encouraging many sentient beings to observe moral discipline

And to engage in pure paths of virtuous deeds,

And by making them generate the thought of awakening,

They will achieve light rays of freedom from pain.

“ ‘They emanate light rays imbued with arrays of patience,

And any impatient sentient beings inspired by that light

Will avoid anger, malice, and pride,

And come to always appreciate patience.

“ ‘Hence they patiently endure harm inflicted by sinful beings,

And, for the sake of awakening, they do not engage in quarrels.

By always expressing praise for the qualities of patience,

They achieve light rays imbued with arrays of patience.

“ ‘They emanate light rays imbued with purification,

And any lazy sentient beings inspired by that light

Will practice suitable exertion

And make offerings with untiring application to the Three Jewels.

“ ‘Having practiced suitable ways of exertion

For making offerings with untiring application to the Three Jewels,

They transcend the paths of the four māras

And quickly reach highest awakening.

“ ‘Inspiring many sentient beings to exert diligence,

Having made offerings to the Three Jewels

By supporting the holy Dharma in times of exhaustion,

They therefore achieve light rays imbued with purification.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that pacify,

And the minds of any agitated sentient beings inspired by that light

Will understand and turn toward meditative attainments

Once they are freed from desire, hatred, and confusion.

“ ‘After strictly avoiding association

With those who have faulty dealings with sinful friends,

By praising the virtues of tranquil meditative concentration in solitude,

They achieve light rays that pacify.

“ ‘They emanate light rays imbued with arrays of discriminating wisdom,

And any sentient beings of defective understanding inspired by that light

Will learn, gaining an awareness

Of truth, dependence, ways of emancipation, and the faculties.

“ ‘After learning, realizing an awareness of

Truth, dependence, ways of emancipation, and the faculties,

And attaining the absorption of the lamp of the sun,

They will become victors who make discriminating wisdom shine brightly.

“ ‘Giving up the wealth of their kingdoms and selfish disappointments,

Any Dharma they may seek for the sake of awakening,

When they devotedly explain that Dharma,

Will make them attain light rays imbued with arrays of discriminating wisdom.

“ ‘They emanate light rays imbued with buddhas,

And any sentient beings inspired by that light

Will behold those inconceivably many thousands of buddhas

Seated upon their noble lotus seats.

“ ‘By describing the great qualities of the buddhas and of their emancipations,

And the infinite magical powers of a buddha,

And by describing in detail the powers and magical displays of a buddha,

They will then achieve light rays imbued with buddhas.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that grant protection from danger,

And any danger-afflicted sentient beings touched by that light

Will become freed from all dangers such as that of evil spirits or planets causing paralysis,

Or being bound and beaten to death, or being in the initial stages of serious illnesses.

“ ‘Protecting sentient beings by granting protection from danger,

Preventing living beings and animals from being killed,

And protecting those in danger and those seeking refuge,

They achieve light rays that grant protection from danger.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that create all kinds of happiness,

And any ill people touched by that light

Become freed in all respects from the suffering of their illnesses.

They also attain the happiness of meditative concentration and absorption.

“ ‘Giving them curative medicines, roots,

Jewels, elixirs, fragrances, unguent oils,

Brown sugar, honey, milk, butter,

Mustard seed oil, or food and drink, they attain health.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that display the Buddha,

And any people inspired by those lights who have reached the last moments of life,

Remembering the Buddha, will see the Buddha

And after death will go to realms where buddhas dwell.

“ ‘Remembering the Buddha at the time of death,

The uplifting bodily form of the Victor is revealed,

And expressing at the time of death that the Buddha is sent forth as refuge,

They achieve light rays that display the Buddha.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that expound the Dharma,

And any sentient beings inspired by them

Will cause the Dharma to be read, recited, and written in texts

And will always feel a devotional appreciation of the Dharma.

“ ‘When famines of Dharma occur, they will expound the Dharma

And satisfy the hopes of those searching for Dharma.

By saying “Exert yourselves in Dharma!” they will encourage motivation toward the Dharma.

They achieve the expounding of Dharma.

“ ‘In order to encourage the sons of the Buddha,

They emanate light rays imbued with sweet sounds,

And whatever sound streams occur in the threefold universe,

All are heard as the Buddha’s voice.

“ ‘By praising the Great Seer through secret eulogies

For the sake of the sound of the Victor’s voice,

And by loudly ringing for all living beings

The cymbals and large bells that are given as gifts,

They achieve light rays that have sweet sounds.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that grant immortality,

And any sentient beings inspired by them

Will avoid all careless behavior

And will devote themselves to cultivating every good quality.

“ ‘By teaching, “Conditioned things are always unpleasant

And are filled with many afflicting sufferings,

While cessation is always pleasant and peaceful,”

They attain light rays that grant immortality.

“ ‘They emanate light rays imbued with special features,

And any sentient beings inspired by them

Hear the special features of the victors’ moral conduct,

The special features of their absorption, and special features of discriminating wisdom.

“ ‘By giving praise for the sake of awakening and by greatly extoling with the words,

“The Great Muni’s royal law is best,

His absorption is best, and his discriminating wisdom is best!”

They thus achieve light rays imbued with special features.

“ ‘They emanate light rays imbued with arrays of jewels,

And any sentient beings inspired by them,

After attaining inexhaustible treasures of jewels,

Will worship the Great Seer through the best of jewels.

“ ‘They offer jewels of the Victor and stūpas.

By attracting defilement-filled living beings with jewels

And offering jewels to the victors,

They achieve light rays imbued with arrays of jewels.

“ ‘They emanate light rays imbued with distinctive fragrance,

And any sentient beings inspired by them,

Having smelled the pleasant otherworldly fragrance,

Will ascertain the qualities of the Buddha.

“ ‘Having worshiped well the Chief among Humans through offerings,

Using human and divine fragrance and unguent oils,

And fashioning victors’ bodies and stūpas from fragrances,

They achieve light rays imbued with distinctive fragrance.

“ ‘They emanate light rays imbued with myriad arrays,

And with various banners, flags, and superior parasols,

And with cymbals ringing out and filling the air with incense smoke,

The noble palace is decorated by flowers that are strewn about.

“ ‘Welcoming the victors with the ringing of cymbals,

They worship the Buddha with flowers, unguent oils, incense,

Scented powders, banners, flags, and superior parasols.

Thus will they achieve light rays imbued with myriad arrays.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that greatly illuminate,

And the lands become as flat and smooth as the palm of one’s hand.

Having purified the locales of stūpas and seers,

They thus achieve light rays that greatly illuminate.

“ ‘They emanate light rays wreathed in clouds,

And the clouds that gather shower down fragrant rain,

And by sprinkling the circumambulation path around a stūpa with scented water,

They achieve light rays wreathed in clouds.

“ ‘They emanate light rays in the form of flickering arrays,

And they make those lacking clothing possess garments and ornaments.

By giving clothing, raiment, and various necklaces,

They achieve light rays in the form of flickering arrays.

“ ‘They emanate light rays endowed with food with the best of tastes,

And they cause those who are hungry to attain food with the best of tastes.

By giving them food and drink and various foods with the best of tastes,

They achieve light rays endowed with food with the best of tastes.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that reveal wealth,

And poor people attain treasures of jewels.

By offering inexhaustible treasure deposits to the Three Jewels,

They attain light rays that reveal wealth.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify the eyes,

And at that time the blind see various shapes.

By offering lamps to the victors and their stūpas,

They achieve light rays that purify the eyes.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify the ears,

And as a result, those with defective ears will hear many sounds.

By offering cymbals to the victors and their stūpas,

They achieve light rays that purify the ears.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify the nose,

And the audience will smell fragrances never before smelled.

By offering fragrances to the victors and their stūpas,

They will achieve light rays that purify the nose.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify the tongue,

And with sweet, pleasant sounds praise the Buddha.

Avoiding unpleasant, coarse sounds

And using soft speech, they achieve light rays that purify the tongue.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify the aspects of form,

And those with defective sense faculties will gain working ones.

Through bowing their bodies to the bodily forms of the victors

And the victors’ stūpas, they achieve a purified body.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify the mind,

And all mad people will become sane.

By causing the mind to go after the faculty of absorption,

They achieve light rays that purify the mind.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify the body,

And human rulers see inconceivably many buddha bodies.

By painting many pictures of buddhas of various kinds

And by ornamenting stūpas, they achieve light rays that purify the body.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify sounds,

And they understand sounds to be non-sounds, empty.

By teaching sounds to be “like an echo, since they arise through conditions,”

They achieve light rays that purify sounds.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify scents,

And all scents become the best scents of all.

Washing the stūpas of the victors with water scented with the best fragrance,

Such are the lights of the field of awakening.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify tastes,

And foods and drinks, whether poisonous or wholesome, will have the finest of tastes.

All those finest tastes are the light rays that are offered

To the buddhas and śrāvakas or to their parents.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify touch,

And all rough sensations become smooth and pleasant.

A great shower of sharp weapons such as short spears, tridents, swords, and long arrows

Will become as smooth as a garland of flowers and like lotuses.

“ ‘That is the light from offering

Soft and smooth, very fine quality cotton cloth,

Spreading it out on the ground for the victors to tread upon,

With flowers, unguent oils, soft robes, necklaces, and canopies.

“ ‘They emanate light rays that purify phenomena,

And thus satisfy all the aspirations that have come from hearing

The inconceivable teachings that have issued

From all the hairs of all the victors who work for the benefit of the world.”

“ ‘Their nature has not arisen through conditions.

By teaching, “The body of the victors is the dharmakāya

And its ultimate nature always abides like space,”

They will achieve the purification of phenomena.

“ ‘Such and other avenues of light rays,

Numbering as many as the grains of sand of the river Ganges,

Will appear from a single hair pore of the seers,

And each will have its specific karmic connection.

“ ‘Just as they appear from a single pore,

So light rays numbering as many as the sands of the Ganges

Will shine from every pore without exception.

Such is the magical display of the absorption of the seer.

“ ‘By whichever qualities any light rays are achieved,

Those are qualities with which one was formerly associated.

Thus, it is from these qualities that the light rays manifest.

Such is the magical display of the gnosis of the seer.

“ ‘Thus, those who were previously associated with merit

And whoever subsequently offered their supplications

And whoever thus beheld the light rays and accumulated merit—

It is they who will know such light rays.

“ ‘Whoever performed meritorious acts and gathered virtue,

And whoever worshiped the buddhas

And longed and strove for the qualities of buddhahood—

All were urged and inspired by the light rays.

“ ‘For example, even though a blind person cannot see the sun,

It is not the case that it does not exist; it arises for people in the world.

Those possessing eyes, when they know that the sun is rising,

All engage in their own respective kinds of work.

“ ‘Just so, even though those light rays of sublime beings

Have certainly come into being, they are not seen by those afflicted by error

Or by ordinary people of poor devotion.

Yet they may indeed be seen by those of vast intelligence.

“ ‘For example, rich people do indeed possess

Such things as ornaments, jewels, vehicles, palaces,

Elixirs, unguent oils, and fragrances,

Yet the poor lack such things.

“ ‘Just so, the light rays of sublime beings certainly exist,

Yet though they do exist, they are not seen by those afflicted by error

Or by people of poor devotion.

But those of vast intelligence do see them.

“ ‘Those who, after hearing this discrimination of light rays,

Feel faith, devotion, and appreciation,

Should not doubt or question

Whether they will consequently develop great qualities or not.

“ ‘They realize through an excellent absorption

The magical array of a circle of servants

And project in all ten directions

Peerless personal attendants, bodhisattvas.

“ ‘Having magically caused the light arrays with various lotuses

To become the size of the billionfold universe,

They project bodies in seated postures, pervading everywhere;

Such is the magical display of meditative absorptions.

“ ‘Having blessed the other lotuses

Numbering as many as the atoms of ten buddhafields,

Together with the retinues,

They will be completely surrounded by all the sons of buddhas.

They repose either in absorption or not in absorption.

“ ‘Those seers have matured and transformed those beings,

Having accomplished excellent buddhahood.

Those beings surround the great lotus.

All of them repose there, seated with folded hands, looking ahead.

“ ‘Those that remain in absorption

Represent the ultimate nature of sublime beings,

Having been surrounded by their own disciples

Like the moon surrounded by a constellation of stars.

“ ‘Just as they operate in one direction

And have projected their servants, the bodhisattvas,

So they project in every direction;

Such is the magical display of meditative absorption.

“ ‘Having actualized the ultimate absorption

That prevails as a net pervading every direction,

They project in all ten directions their own bodies,

Some in equipoise and some rising up.

“ ‘In the eastern direction they rest in meditative equipoise,

While in the western direction the hero rises up.

When in the west, they rest in equipoise,

In the east the great being rises up.

“ ‘They operate in this manner in the ten directions.

While they rest in equipoise in the other directions,

Those in opposite directions rise up, rich with the quality of gnosis.

Such is the seer’s magical display of meditative absorption.

“ ‘In all those innumerable buddhafields

That are in the eastern direction, self-arisen,

Those beings who are in their presence, at their feet,

Appear as dwelling in peaceful absorptions.

“ ‘Having displayed resting in equipoise in that direction,

The hero in all the western buddhafields rises up

And it appears that much worship is offered

In front of all the victors.

“ ‘Then it appears that in all the buddhafields in the west

Without exception, alongside those seated buddhas,

Those attendants who are in their presence

Rest in peaceful absorption.

“ ‘Similarly, having displayed resting in equipoise in that direction,

It appears that the hero in all the eastern buddhafields rises up,

And it appears that much worship is offered

In front of all the victors

“ ‘Likewise, in the buddhafields in all directions

Stability ensues in every direction without exception,

With some resting in equipoise and some rising up.

And it appears the lamps of the world are being worshipped.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in the path of the eyes,

While the great being rises through the path of form.

When those inconceivable forms are displayed,

The world with its gods grows befuddled.

“ ‘ They rest in equipoise in the path of form

And demonstrate that the eye has the nature of being unborn and unarisen

And is empty and without any doer,

While the mindful one rises up from the path of the eyes.

“ ‘ They rest in equipoise in the path of the ears,

While the great being rises through the path of sound.

In a way that makes the world with its gods grow befuddled,

He makes his appearance in all sounds and languages.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in the path of sound

And demonstrate that the ear has the nature of being unborn and unarisen

And is empty and without any doer,

While the mindful one rises up from the path of the ears.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in the path of the nose,

While the great being rises through the path of smells.

In a way that makes the world with its gods grow befuddled,

He makes his appearance as the best of smells.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in the path of smells

And demonstrate that the nose has the nature of being unborn and unarisen

And is empty and without any doer,

While the mindful one rises through the path of the nose.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in the path of the tongue,

While the great being rises through the path of all the best tastes.

In a way that makes the world with its gods grow befuddled,

The great being possesses the supreme tastes.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in these supreme tastes

And demonstrate that the tongue has the nature of being unborn and unarisen

And is empty and without any doer,

While the mindful one rises through the path of the tongue.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in the path of the body,

While the great being rises through the path of touch.

In a way that makes the world, together with its gods, grow befuddled,

He makes his appearance as all sensations that cause pleasure in the world.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in the path of touch

And demonstrate that the body has the nature of being unborn and unarisen

And is empty and without any doer,

While the mindful one rises through the path of the body.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in the path of mind.

While the great being rises through the path of phenomena.

In a way that makes the world with its gods grow befuddled,

He makes his appearance abiding in phenomena.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise in the path of phenomena

And demonstrate that the mind has the nature of being unborn and unarisen

And is empty and without any doer,

While the mindful one rises through the path of mind.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the bodies of infants,

While he rises through those living in the vigor of youth.

They rest in equipoise in the vigor of youth,

While he rises through bodies old and decrepit.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within bodies old and decrepit,

While he rises through the bodies of faithful female lay followers.

They rest in equipoise within the bodies of faithful female lay followers,

While he rises through the bodies of faithful laymen.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the bodies of faithful laymen,

While he rises through the bodies of fully ordained nuns.

They rest in equipoise within the bodies of fully ordained nuns,

While he rises through the bodies of learned fully ordained monks.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the bodies of learned fully ordained monks,

While he rises through the bodies of trainees and non-trainees.

They rest in equipoise within the bodies of trainees and non-trainees,

While he rises through the bodies of buddhas of conditions.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the bodies of buddhas of conditions,

While he rises through the supreme embodiments of buddhas.

They rest in equipoise within the supreme embodiments of buddhas,

While he rises through the form bodies of gods.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the bodies of gods,

While he rises through the bodies of great-magical-wonder nāgas.

They rest in equipoise within the bodies of great-magical-wonder nāgas,

While he rises through the bodies of great-magical-wonder yakṣas.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the bodies of great-magical-wonder yakṣas,

While he rises through the bodies of all bhūta evil spirits.

They rest in equipoise within the bodies of all bhūta evil spirits,

While he rises through single hair pores.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within single hair pores,

While he rises through the totality of all existing hair pores.

They rest in equipoise within the totality of all existing hair pores,

While he rises through the length of a single hair tip.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the length of a single hair tip,

While he rises through the length of all hair tips.

They rest in equipoise within the length of all hair tips,

While he rises through single extremely subtle atoms.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within single extremely subtle atoms,

While he rises through the totality of all extremely fine particles.

They rest in equipoise within the totality of all extremely fine particles,

While he rises through the vajra bed of the ocean.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the vajra bed of the ocean,

While he rises through jewel fruits.

They rest in equipoise within jewel fruits,

While he rises through the paths of the victors’ light rays.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the paths of the victors’ light rays,

While he rises through the tributary rivers of the ocean.

They rest in equipoise within the tributary rivers of the ocean,

While the great being rises through the path of fire.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise within the path of fire,

While the mindful one rises through the path of air.

They rest in equipoise within the path of air,

While the great being rises through the basis of earth.

“ ‘They rest in equipoise on the basis of earth,

While he rises through the divine palaces of all gods.

They rest in equipoise within the divine palaces of all gods,

While the mindful one rises through the sky.

“ ‘The absorptions and emancipations

Of those inconceivable accumulated qualities are beyond thought.

All victors, giving explanations for unimaginably many eons,

Would not be able to exhaust them.

“ ‘Their maturing deeds for living beings are inconceivable,

And what has been said of those by all the victors

Include the magical displays of nāgas, magical displays of buddhas,

And the mentally created magical displays of meditative concentration.

“ ‘These may be explained using examples.

Although there are no examples for these things that can compare,

Skillful and knowledgeable people will quickly understand their true sense

If they are taught by means of examples.

“ ‘He who became a single śrāvaka

Dwelling in the power of the eight emancipations became many.

From the many he then transformed back into one.

He remained in meditative concentration in the sky and then made himself blaze.

“ ‘From his lower part blazed fire, while from his upper part streamed water.

Then from his upper part blazed fire, while from his lower part streamed water.

He displayed the inconceivable bodily wonder

Of instantaneously walking, standing, lying down, and sitting.

“ ‘Even those who have little compassion

And do not seek awakening though they abandon the world—

When such inconceivable wonders of the body are displayed to them,

Why would they not evince the desire to benefit the beings of the world?

“ ‘The great being displays reflections such as

The sun and moon passing through the sky,

Shorelines of bodies of water in all directions,

Lakes, ponds, tarns, containers,

Jewels, oceans, and tributaries.

“ ‘Likewise, he projects inconceivable bodies

Of heroes in all ten directions.

Being expert in all the emancipations of absorptions,

He has the innate power of a tathāgata.

“ ‘In a clear lake he is seen in the reflections

Of four-platoon armies in all their details.

He is seen as swords, spears, bows, and arrows,

Armor, horses, and chariots.

“ ‘Whatever forms he assumes, whatever places and whatever costumes,

Each and every one is seen within the water.

Yet in the water there is no notion of love and hate.

Such are the manifestations stemming from the absorption of the seer.

“ ‘The goddess of the ocean named Hrādinī

Who is expert in the ways of intoning the families of languages

Of all the creatures born in the ocean

Is able to satisfy speakers of all languages with her own speech.

“ ‘If even this Hrādinī, who has attachment, anger, and delusion,

Is expert in the ways of speaking in all those languages,

Then why could those who have gained control over the dhāraṇīs and powers of the Dharma

Not gladden the world with its gods?

“ ‘Tumburu’s wife Sarasvatī,

That daughter of Brahmā sprung from his mind,

Who enters the minds of those who delight in truth and vow not to cause harm,

And who influences the avenues of their thoughts and minds and mouths—

“ ‘If even that sweet-voiced goddess, desirous and angry,

Can please the world using her beautiful speech,

Which is an element of voice in harmony with practiced austerities,

Why could those who are rich with the qualities of gnosis not do so?

“ ‘A magician who is expert in spells

Can project many diverse forms without limit

And can show a day or night passing in a moment, or a month, or a hundred years

And can project an extensive and lovely mansion.

“ ‘If even the desirous and angry magician

Can please the world through magical wonders,

Then why would those who have mastered concentration, clairvoyance, and the emancipations,

And who are expert in the modes of conduct, not be able to do so?

“ ‘When the rulers of the gods and asuras fight,

If the victorious gods defeat the asuras,

The asuras run away in fear, taking with them their parasols,

Mounts, and vehicles, with their army still clad in armor.

“ ‘If even those gods filled with desire and hatred

Project inconceivable bodily wonders,

Then why could those heroes who dwell in the might of powerful magic

Not demonstrate bodily magic?

“ ‘Erāvaṇa, that vajra-holding elephant

Who became a court member to Indra and possessed great magical power,

Magically projected thirty-three heads,

And on each head six tusks per mouth.

“ ‘On each of those tusks

He projected seven pools filled with water,

And in each pool he projected decorations

Of seven lotuses of various kinds.

“ ‘Playing with each lotus

Were seven divine maidens who were expert in all arts.

They played with the lord of the thirty-three gods,

Who was expert in song and dance.

“ ‘That elephant, magically transforming his body,

Befriended and associated with all the gods.

He brought his way of behavior and conduct into harmony with theirs.

So was the magic of the supreme elephant observed.

“ ‘If even that elephant who possessed attachment and confusion

Could project such a magical projection,

Why could those who have mastered discriminative wisdom

And the power of means not project magic using their hundred absorptions?

“ ‘The god Rāhu can magically create any bodies he likes.

He projects them, one setting foot on the diamond lode on the ocean’s floor

And another journeying to the middle of the ocean.

He can make his head equal in height to the peak of Mount Sumeru.

“ ‘If even Rāhu, filled with attachment, hatred, and confusion,

Could project such wonders,

Then why could the Lamp of the World who overcame Māra

Not project infinite magical forms?

“ ‘The inconceivable magic of Indra is conspicuous.

When the gods and asura leaders went to war,

Ten million asuras fled, and to each of them

Indra projected himself from his own body.

“ ‘The asura rulers and common ones

All knew that they were in the presence of Indra,

And the asura rulers went mad, crying:

“I am caught by the vajra-wielder!”

“ ‘Having seen Indra, who had magically projected a fearsome thousand-eyed form,

Wielding a flaming vajra in his hand,

His body clad in splendid, invincible armor,

The asura rulers fled.

“ ‘If he could project such magical projections for the sake of the gods’ victory

Through the power of ordinary merit,

Then why would those buddhas who are the refuge of all living beings without exception,

And who possess inexhaustible merit, not be able to project such bodies?

“ ‘A divine drum that encourages the gods,

Which was acquired through the fruition of the gods’ karmic deeds,

Would resound loudly from the sky

When it became aware that the gods were dwelling in carelessness, saying:

“ ‘ “All desires are impermanent and not eternal.

They are base, uncertain, and of a bubble-like nature;

Like an illusion, mirage, or a moon reflected in water—

All of existence is like a cloud in a dream.

“ ‘ “All carelessness is a hateful, pitiful thing.

It is the path of death, not the path of immortality.

All who live carelessly

Live caught in the mouth of the great crocodile of Yama.

“ ‘ “Carelessness is the universal supporter of the root of suffering.

All rebirths are disparaged by the exalted ones.

Careless ones are confused about the objects of the senses.

Always rejoice in the power of Dharma!”

“ ‘Encouraged by the words of that drum, the gods of Indra

Who dwelled in the divine assembly hall of Sudharmā

Spoke words that were as peaceful as possible and free of passion,

And the drum would utter that Dharma talk to all the gods.

“ ‘Although that drum could not teach in the formless realm,

If its drum sound could thus achieve such a great purpose,

Then why could those living buddhas who completely reveal their bodies

Not achieve a great purpose for all living beings?

“ ‘When the gods and asuras waged war,

The sound of a drum that encouraged the gods

Resounded through the power of the special merit of the gods, saying:

“Gods, be fearless!”

“ ‘Urged on by that drum, the gods rejoiced,

And, freed from fear, they were revitalized.

Then, the asura kings plagued by fear

Turned in fright at that very moment and fled.

“ ‘Similarly, like the drum emitting speech,

Those compassionate ones who have overcome the defilements and māras,

Those refuges of all beings and comrades-in-arms,

Remove defilements through their peaceful sounds.

“ ‘Through Indra’s magical projection, his ninety-two divine maidens

Give pleasure to all the other gods who are present.

Each one knows how to play with each deity and with Indra,

And all the goddesses do the same.

“ ‘Even though the goddesses appear to stay, pleasing all the other gods,

In the assembly hall of Sudharmā, they dwell in the same way—

There they teach Dharma clearly to all the gods.

That is projected by Indra in a single moment.

“ ‘If even Indra with his desire, hate, and confusion

Pleases those in his entourage through magical projections,

Why would those who tirelessly apply themselves for the welfare of living beings

Not please the world by virtue of magical projections?

“ ‘Kālī of the māra deities, ruler of living beings,

Brings all these sentient beings under her power.

Through the workings of karma and the defilements,

All ordinary beings are caught by that māra.

“ ‘If even that māra who is ridden with desire, hate, and confusion

Can overpower all living beings,

It goes without saying that those who have attained the might of the ten powers could,

And all living creatures do not dispute it.

“ ‘Brahmā, lord of the three-thousand Brahmā realms,

Also clearly illuminates all deities dwelling

Within the three-thousand Brahmā realms

And sounds forth his very pleasant Brahmā voice.