大方廣佛華嚴經疏 10.2

10.2

Part five of the major section: Praising the Buddha's virtues. Having manifested and having arrived, they praise him to the best of their ability, naturally expressing their boundless devotion and revealing the Buddha's limitless virtues. The text is divided into two: first, the praise by the bodhisattvas from between the eyebrows; second, the praise by the ten bodhisattvas from the ten directions. Just as the new assembly gathered, the Buddha manifested an omen; since the text does not record them redundantly, they are compiled in succession. Because their praise of virtue is of a similar nature, the redactors grouped them in one place. Availing of the succession of the manifestation of Supreme Sound, the verses of Supreme Sound are raised first; the subsequent ten bodhisattvas then follow the order of the ten directions. In the past, people did not understand this text, and regarded the latter ten as the retinue of Supreme Sound. This was not only an error in the commentaries, but also contrary to the translation. Why is this? Now, when the assembly emerged from between the eyebrows, both master and retinue offered praises; if the assembly coming from the ten directions were entirely silent without a single word, how deficient would the etiquette between master and retinue be! Moreover, according to the precedent of the 'Chapter on the Dharmadhātu,' all those who arrive offer verses of praise. Examining the names of the bodhisattvas carefully, they correspond sequentially to the previous ten directions; it was merely due to carelessness on the part of the translator that the names have slight discrepancies, which will be distinguished one by one in the text below.