新華嚴經論 1.32

1.32

Sixth, the difference in the enumeration of the assembly in the introductory section: in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka assembly, the assembly of twelve thousand śrāvakas is enumerated first. Next is enumerated the bhikṣuṇī Mahāprajāpatī together with her retinue of six thousand; she was the maternal aunt. Next is enumerated the bhikṣuṇī Yaśodharā; she was the Buddha's consort when he was crown prince. When the Buddha was crown prince he had three consorts: the first was named Gopā, the second was named Yaśodharā, and the third was named Manodharā. Gopā was the kalyāṇamitra of the tenth ground, the Cloud of Dharma Ground, for the youth Sudhana; symbolizing that the joy of the Dharma on the tenth ground can be compassionate, she thus benefits sentient beings through the Dharma. Delight of body and mind in the Dharma is the meaning of 'wife'. Next are enumerated eighty thousand bodhisattvas, and next are enumerated the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and so forth. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra is not like this. It first enumerates the foremost bodhisattvas, numbering as many as the dust motes of ten Buddha worlds, not to mention their retinues. Next it enumerates the Vajradhara spirits and the various spirits, nāgas, devas, and other assemblies, totaling fifty-five assemblies. Each retinue is distinct, and each retinue has an assembly as numerous as the dust motes of a Buddha world, or some retinues are simply described as immeasurable. In the first assembly throughout the bodhimaṇḍa there are fifty-five assemblies; the assemblies of the ten assemblies will be explained in detail later. Discussed in terms of the overarching principle, the ocean-like assembly of the Buddha's body is the boundless dharmadhātu; because each and every body, layer upon layer, universally contains [the rest] without limit, a single body takes the dharmadhātu as its measure, and the realms of self and other do not lose the dharmadhātu; one's own body is all-pervading, and dualistic conceptual views of subject and object are severed. Discussed in brief, the enumeration of the assembly in these ten assemblies will be explained in detail later. From the first to the seventh assembly, the name of a śrāvaka is not heard at all; only in the eighth assembly is there an assembly of bhikṣus, and only upon arriving at that stage are its practices made clear.