華嚴經探玄記 18.73

18.73

First, in citing the Dharma to exhort cultivation: the country is general, the city is specific. It is named "Sovereignty" (Vaśavartin) because the good physician exercises sovereign control in gathering and transforming here, and hence it is named after this. Furthermore, it symbolizes that in this stage the lineage is noble, being born into the Buddha's household; therefore the country is named Sovereignty. The city is named "Incantation Medicine" (Mantra-auṣadha): it means that within this city he emits samādhi light to shatter the darkness of ignorance, just as incantations dispel demonic illnesses; and he expounds the Dharma of the wheel of syllables to shatter the remaining afflictions, just as medicine cures other illnesses. As for this good physician: the Indian Sanskrit manuscript names him Dāviḍa (Dravida). The explanation is: this is the name of a clan/people in South India, like the Wu or Chu peoples in this land. It is just that within this clan, this person is skilled in medicine and can thus skillfully treat the disease of defilements with the Dharma medicine, hence he is named after this. Because this is correlated with the stage devoid of outflows, the meaning of eradicating obstructions is prominent, and hence it is symbolized by this. "Megha": this is translated as "cloud," meaning that he can pour down the Dharma rain to moisten and benefit living beings, and is therefore so named. Praising virtues is omitted; the rest is distinguished as before.