法苑珠林 5.11

5.11

Question: What are the bodily forms and appearances of the devas?
Answer: Their forms stand upright.
Question: What is their speech like?
Answer: They all speak the sacred tongue. Furthermore, the Lokasthitābhidharma-śāstra states: 'Deva is called dibo (deva), meaning that because they practice good causes, they are born into this path; hence they are called devas.' Now we briefly discuss the bodily marks of retribution of the devas: namely, none of the devas have bones or flesh, nor do they have gross or subtle excrement and impurities. Their bodies emit light without distinction of day and night. By retribution they obtain the five supernatural knowledges, and their forms have no obstruction. Thus the Saddharmanmityupasthāna-sūtra says: 'Just as in a single room where five hundred lamps are lit, their lights do not crowd one another, so too when five hundred devas are placed in the hand of a deva, it is neither tight nor obstructed.' Furthermore, that sūtra states: 'In the Yāma heaven, sometimes one hundred, or even one thousand, sit together on the filaments of a single lotus flower without hindrance, constriction, or crowding, due to their good karma and the power of their own karma.' Furthermore, the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra states: 'In the third heaven of Śubhakṛtsna, sixty persons sit on the tip of a single needle to listen to the Dharma without obstructing one another.' Furthermore, the Saddharmanmityupasthāna-sūtra says: 'At that time, the King of the Yāma Devas spoke a gāthā for the devas:'