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Source: pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.245 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

1 — 57 parts
2 — 56 parts

Text

1.1

Translated by Kumārajīva, Tripiṭaka Master of the Yao Qin

At one time, the Buddha was staying in Rājagṛha, on Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, together with a great assembly of eight million koṭis of bhikṣus, all arhats, whether trainees or non-trainees, who had accomplished conditioned merits and unconditioned merits; the ten knowledges of non-trainees, the eight knowledges of trainees, and the six knowledges of trainees; the practice of the three faculties and sixteen mental states; the contemplation of the false and real in the designation of dharmas, the contemplation of the false and real in the designation of recipient entities, and the contemplation of the false and real in the designation of names; the three contemplation-doors of emptiness; and the four noble truths and twelve links of dependent origination—all having accomplished immeasurable merits. There were also eight million koṭis of great ṛṣis who were pratyekabuddhas, [who understood] neither annihilationism nor eternalism, and had all accomplished the four noble truths and twelve links of dependent origination. There were also nine million koṭis of bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, all endowed with the merits of an arhat's real knowledge and expedient knowledge, practicing the solitary Great Vehicle; possessing the four eyes, the five supernatural knowledges, the three masteries, and the ten powers; the four immeasurables; the four unimpeded knowledges and the four means of embrace; the vajra-concentration of cessation—all having accomplished all merits. There were also tens of millions of koṭis of virtuous men observed the five precepts, all practicing the arhat ten stages, dedicating [their merits] and possessing the complete fivefold dharma body, all having accomplished immeasurable merits. There were also ten thousand laywomen observing the five precepts, all practicing the arhat ten stages, all having accomplished the merits of initial generation, the merits of abiding generation, and the merits of final generation, having accomplished the merits of the thirty generations. There were also one billion householders of the seven worthy stages, complete in virtuous conduct: having accomplished the twenty-two categories, the ten universal bases, the eight bases of overcoming, the eight liberations, the three wisdoms, the sixteen truths, the four noble truths, the contemplation of the four, three, two, and one categories, and attaining ninety tolerances—all having accomplished all merits. There were also myriads of koṭis of devas of the nine Brahma heavens, the three of purity, the three of radiance, the three of Brahma, and the five of joyous delight, all having accomplished the merits of the eighteen rebirth places: celestial concentrations, concentrations of merit, attachment, and the supernatural knowledges of constant joy. There were also koṭis upon koṭis of sons of devas of the six desire heavens, who had all accomplished the retribution of the ten good deeds and the merits of supernatural powers. There were also the sixteen great kings, each with ten thousand, twenty thousand, or up to one hundred thousand attendants, endowed with the merits of the five precepts, the ten virtues, and the three refuges, complete in pure faithful practice. There were also all sentient beings of the five destinies. There were also immeasurable assemblies from other directions. There were also transformed pure lands of the ten directions, displaying tens of billions of high seats and transforming into tens of billions of Sumeru jeweled flowers, each sitting before them upon a flower; and there were also immeasurable transformed buddhas. There were immeasurable assemblies of bodhisattvas, bhikṣus, and the eight classes [of beings], each sitting on jeweled lotus flowers; atop each flower there were immeasurable lands, and in each land, the buddha and great assembly were no different from what they are now. In each land, each buddha and great assembly were expounding the prajñāpāramitā. The assemblies and transformed assemblies from other directions, together with the assembly from this triple realm—twelve great assemblies in total—all gathered together and sat on lotus thrones of nine kalpas. That assembly spanned nine hundred and fifty li in breadth, and the great assembly sat together in harmony.

1.5

At that time, Śākyamuni Buddha, endowed with the ten epithets, the three knowledges, the great truth of cessation, and diamond-like wisdom, on the eighth day of the first month sat squarely in the ten stages, entered the samādhi of the Great Quiescent Room, contemplated conditions, and emitted a great beam of light that illuminated the three realms. Moreover, from the crown of his head emerged a thousand-jeweled lotus flower; that flower reached up to the naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana heaven, and its light was likewise so, extending even to the buddha-lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges in other directions. At that time, the formless realm rained down immeasurable varieties of great fragrant flowers, their fragrance like chariot wheels and the flowers like Mount Sumeru, King of Mountains, descending like clouds; the eighteen Brahma heaven kings rained down hundreds of varieties of flowers of diverse colors; the devas of the six desire heavens rained down flowers of immeasurable colors. Before the Buddha's seat there naturally arose nine million koṭis of kalpa-flowers, reaching up to the naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana heaven, and at that time the earth of this world shook in six ways.

1.6

At that time, the entire assembly together gave rise to doubt and said to one another: "The Greatly Awakened Bhagavat, possessed of the four fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive dharmas, and the five-eyed dharma body, previously expounded for us, the great assembly, for twenty-nine years the Mahāprajñāpāramitā, the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā, the Prajñāpāramitā of the Questions of the Heavenly King, and the Prajñāpāramitā of the Praise of Light. Why does the Tathāgata emit such a great light today?" At that time, among the sixteen great kings, the lord of Śrāvastī, King Prasenajit, named Candraprabha, who practiced the virtues of the ten stages, the six pāramitās, the thirty-seven factors of awakening, and the four kinds of indestructible pure faith, and who practiced the conversion of the Mahāyāna, successively questioned eight hundred people including the householders Ratnachatra-dharma and Vimalakīrti; he also questioned five thousand people including Subhūti and Śāriputra; he also questioned ten thousand people including Maitreya and Siṃhanāda, yet none was able to answer.

1.7

Then, through his supernatural power, King Prasenajit produced eighty thousand kinds of music; the eighteen Brahma heavens and the six desire heavens also produced eighty thousand kinds of music, their sound resounding through the three-thousandfold world and even to buddha-lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges in the ten directions, manifesting according to conditions. In those other buddha-lands, Bodhisattva Dharmaprabha in the south, together with an assembly of five hundred million koṭis, arrived together to enter this great gathering; Bodhisattva Ratnastambha in the east, together with an assembly of nine hundred million koṭis, arrived together to enter this great gathering; Bodhisattva Ākāśadhātu in the north, together with an assembly of one hundred thousand million koṭis, arrived together to enter this great gathering; Bodhisattva Supratiṣṭhita in the west, together with an assembly as numerous as the sands of ten Ganges rivers, arrived together to enter this great gathering. So it was likewise for the six directions; the making of music was also like this, together producing immeasurable music to awaken the Tathāgata. The Buddha, knowing the proper time and comprehending the capacities of sentient beings, immediately arose from samādhi, and sat squarely upon the lotus lion throne like the king of diamond mountains. The great assembly rejoiced, and each manifested immeasurable supernatural powers, the assembly remaining on the earth and in the sky.

1.8

Humane Kings Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra for the Protection of the State, Chapter 2: Contemplating Emptiness

1.9

At that time, the Buddha said to the great assembly: "I know that the sixteen great kings wish to inquire about the conditions for protecting the state. Now, for the sake of the bodhisattvas, I shall first expound the conditions for protecting the buddha-fruit and the conditions for protecting the practice of the ten stages. Listen closely, listen closely! Think on it well, and practice in accordance with the Dharma!" Then King Prasenajit said: "Splendid! It is for the sake of the great cause!" He then scattered flowers of a hundred billion colors, which transformed into a hundred billion jeweled canopies covering the great assembly.

1.10

At that time, the great king arose again, made obeisance, and said to the Buddha: "Bhagavat! How do all bodhisattvas protect the buddha-fruit? How do they protect the conditions of practicing the ten stages?" The Buddha said: "A bodhisattva transforms the four kinds of beings without viewing form as suchness, feeling, perception, volitional formations, or consciousness as suchness; without viewing sentient beings, self, person, permanence, bliss, self, and purity as suchness; without viewing the knower, seer, or living soul as suchness; without viewing the bodhisattva as suchness; without viewing all the practices of the six pāramitās and four means of embrace as suchness; and without viewing the two truths as suchness. Therefore, the nature of all dharmas is true emptiness: neither coming nor going, neither arising nor ceasing, identical with the bhūta-koṭi, equal to the dharmatā, without duality and without distinction, like space. Therefore, the aggregates, sense bases, and elements are without self and without marks of existence; this is the prajñāpāramitā for a bodhisattva practicing the conversion of the ten stages."

1.11

He said to the Buddha: "If all dharmas are thus, when bodhisattvas protect and transform sentient beings, are they transforming sentient beings?" "Great King! The dharmatā of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, consciousness, permanence, bliss, self, and purity does not abide in form, does not abide in non-form, does not abide in neither-form-nor-non-form, and likewise for feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, it does not abide in neither-abiding-nor-non-abiding. Why is this? Because non-form is suchness, and neither-form-nor-non-form is suchness. Because of conventional truth and because of the three designations, one is named as seeing sentient beings; because the nature of all beings is real, even the buddhas, the three vehicles, the seven worthy stages, and the eight noble persons are also named as seen, and the sixty-two views are also named as seen. Great King! If one names and sees all dharmas through names, up to the buddhas, three vehicles, and four kinds of beings, this is not not seeing all dharmas."

1.12

He said to the Buddha: "In the prajñāpāramitā, there are dharmas and non-non-dharmas; how does the Mahāyāna illuminate them?"

1.13

"Great King! The Mahāyāna sees non-non-dharmas; if dharmas are non-non-dharmas, this is named the emptiness of non-non-dharmas. Dharmatā is empty; form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are empty; the twelve sense bases and eighteen elements are empty; the six great elements are empty; the four noble truths and twelve links of dependent origination are empty. These dharmas arise instantly, abide instantly, and cease instantly; they exist instantly and are empty instantly; moment by moment, dharmas arise, dharmas abide, and dharmas cease in this manner. Why is this? Ninety kṣaṇas constitute one thought-moment; in one kṣaṇa within a thought-moment, there are nine hundred arisings and ceasings, and all dharmas up to form are also like this. Because prajñāpāramitā is empty, one does not see conditions and does not see truths, up to all dharmas being empty: internal emptiness, external emptiness, internal-and-external emptiness, conditioned emptiness, unconditioned emptiness, beginningless emptiness, nature emptiness, paramārtha-śūnyatā, prajñāpāramitā emptiness, cause emptiness, buddha-fruit emptiness, and the emptiness of emptiness. They exist only because of the aggregation of dharmas, because of the aggregation of recipient entities, because of the aggregation of names, because of the aggregation of causes, because of the aggregation of effects, because of the ten practices, because of the buddha-fruit, and even all existence in the six destinies. Good man! If there is a bodhisattva who sees dharmas, sentient beings, a self, a person, a knower, or a seer, this person traverses the world and is not different from the world. Remaining unmoved, unarrived, and unextinguished regarding all dharmas, without marks and without lack of marks, all dharmas are also suchness, and all buddhas, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha are also suchness. This is the single thought-moment of the first stage, complete with the eighty-four thousand prajñāpāramitās; it carries [all], hence it is named the Mahāyāna; its cessation is the vajra, and it is also named concentration, and also named all practices, as expounded in the Prajñāpāramitā of the Praise of Light.

1.14

"Great King! Regarding the names, phrases, and sentences of this sūtra, a hundred buddhas, a thousand buddhas, hundreds of thousands of myriads of buddhas have expounded these names, phrases, and sentences. If one were to fill three-thousand great thousand worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges with immeasurable seven treasures and give them as alms to the sentient beings in those three-thousand great thousand worlds, causing them all to attain the seven worthy stages and the four fruits, it would not equal giving rise to a single thought-moment of faith in this sūtra, much less understanding a single phrase! Because a phrase is not a phrase and not a non-phrase, prajñā is not a phrase, a phrase is not prajñā, and prajñā is also not a bodhisattva. Why is this? Because the thirty generations of the ten stages are empty, initial generation, abiding generation, and final generation are unattainable, since the three generations in stage after stage are empty. Nor is it sarvajñā, nor is it the Mahāyāna, because they are empty.

1.15

"Great King! If a bodhisattva sees an object, sees knowledge, sees expounding, or sees receiving, that is not a noble seeing; it is seeing dharmas with inverted thoughts, and he is an ordinary person. Seeing the three realms is merely a name for the retributions of sentient beings. When the six consciousnesses give rise to immeasurable and unending desire, that is named the emptiness of the store of the desire realm; when there are retributions of karma arisen from form, that is named the emptiness of the store of the form realm; when there are retributions of karma arisen from mind, that is named the emptiness of the store of the formless realm. The three realms are empty, and the store of fundamental ignorance of the three realms is also empty; with the nine arisings and ceasings across the three stages, the retributions of the remaining habitual tendencies of ignorance from the preceding three realms are empty. Because the vajra-bodhisattva attains the samādhi of exhausting principles, the arising and ceasing of the fruit of delusion is empty, the fruit of existence is empty, and being empty through the cause being empty, sarvajñā is also empty. The fruit of cessation is empty, because delusions were already empty before, and so the Buddha attains the fruit of the three unconditioned dharmas. Analytical cessation, non-analytical cessation, and space—the fruit of sarvajñā is empty. Good man! If one cultivates, hears, or expounds, there is no hearing and no expounding, just like space; dharmas are identical with the dharmatā, hearing is identical and expounding is identical, and all dharmas are suchness. Great King! A bodhisattva's cultivation and protection of the buddha-fruit is like this. Protecting the prajñāpāramitā is protecting sarvajñā, the ten powers, the eighteen distinctive dharmas, the five eyes, the fivefold dharma body, the four immeasurables, and all fruits of merit in this manner."

1.16

When the Buddha expounded the Dharma, immeasurable beings among humans and devas attained the purification of the dharma eye, the stage of nature, and the stage of faith; and hundreds of thousands of people all attained the great emptiness and the great practice of a bodhisattva.

1.17

Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra for Humane Kings, Protecting the State: Chapter 3: Teaching and Converting by Bodhisattvas

1.18

[King Prasenajit] said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One! How can bodhisattvas who protect the practice of the ten stages practice what may be practiced? How do they practice so as to convert sentient beings? By what characteristics may sentient beings be converted?"
The Buddha said: "Great King! The five patiences are the bodhisattva dharma: subduing patience in superior, middling, and lower [grades]; faith patience in superior, middling, and lower [grades]; compliance patience in superior, middling, and lower [grades]; non-arising patience in superior, middling, and lower [grades]; and quiescent cessation patience in superior and lower [grades]. These are called the practice of prajñāpāramitā by all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

1.19

"Good man! Sentient beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges who initially give rise to thought-faith practice subduing patience, and generate within the Three Jewels the ten minds of the disposition of practice: the mind of faith, the mind of vigorous progression, the mind of mindfulness, the mind of wisdom, the mind of concentration, the mind of giving, the mind of morality, the mind of protection, the mind of vows, and the mind of dedication. Such bodhisattvas are able to convert sentient beings to a small degree, having already surpassed all the wholesome stages of the two vehicles. All buddhas and bodhisattvas nurture these ten minds as the noble embryo.

1.20

"Next arise the ten minds of the disposition of nature of dry wisdom, namely the four mindfulness bases—body, feeling, mind, and dharmas as impure, suffering, impermanent, and non-self; the three mindfulness bases; and the three wholesome roots, which are loving-kindness, giving, and wisdom. The three mindfulness bases refer to the three times: patience regarding past causes, patience regarding present causes and effects, and patience regarding future effects. Such bodhisattvas can likewise convert all sentient beings, having already surpassed notions of a self, a person, a knower, a seer, and a sentient being, and they cannot be corrupted by the inverted notions of non-Buddhists.

1.21

"Furthermore, there is the stage of the disposition of the path, with ten [minds]. Namely, observing form, consciousness, conception, feeling, and karmic formations, they attain patience of morality, patience of knowledge and vision, patience of concentration, patience of wisdom, and patience of liberation; observing the causes and effects of the three realms, [they attain] patience of emptiness, patience of wishlessness, and patience of signlessness; observing the insubstantiality and reality of the two truths, that all dharmas are impermanent is called patience of impermanence; and that all dharmas are empty, they attain patience of non-arising. Bodhisattvas with these ten firm minds become wheel-turning kings; they can also convert the four continents and generate the wholesome roots of all sentient beings.

1.22

"Furthermore, bodhisattvas of faith patience—namely, those who practice within the wholesome, penetrative, and luminous [stages]—sever the fetters of the afflictions of form in the three realms. They can convert [beings] in hundreds of buddha lands, thousands of buddha lands, and tens of thousands of buddha lands, manifesting hundreds of bodies, thousands of bodies, and tens of thousands of bodies, possessing immeasurable supernormal powers and merits. They consistently take fifteen minds as foremost: the four means of embrace, the four immeasurables, the four great vows, and the three doors to liberation. Such bodhisattvas, from the wholesome stage up to sarvajñā, take these fifteen minds as the fundamental seed of all practices.

1.23

"Furthermore, bodhisattvas of compliance patience—namely, those who see the superior, and manifest dharmas—because they can sever the fetters of afflictions of the mind and so forth in the three realms, manifest a single body throughout the buddha lands of the ten directions with immeasurable, ineffable supernormal powers to convert sentient beings.

1.24

"Furthermore, bodhisattvas of non-arising patience—namely, far-reaching, immovable, and observing wisdom—likewise, because they sever the residual impressions of afflictions of mind, form, and so forth in the three realms, manifest ineffable, ineffable merits and supernormal powers.

1.25

"Furthermore, regarding quiescent cessation patience, buddhas and bodhisattvas both use this patience to enter the vajra-samādhi. Practicing in the lower patience is called a bodhisattva; practicing in the superior patience is called sarvajñā. Together they observe the truth of the highest meaning, sever the mental residual impressions of the three realms, and when the characteristics of ignorance are exhausted, that is vajra; when characteristics are exhausted and signless, that is sarvajñā. Transcending beyond both samvṛti-satya and the truth of the highest meaning, this is the eleventh stage, sarvajñā. Awakened to neither existence nor non-existence, limpidly pure, eternally abiding and unchanging, unified with bhūta-koṭi, equal to dharmatā, with conditionless great compassion they teach and convert all sentient beings, mounting the vehicle of sarvajñā to come and convert the three realms.

1.26

"Good man! The afflictions of all sentient beings do not exceed the store of the three realms; the karmic results and twenty-two faculties of all sentient beings do not exceed the three realms; the response, transformation, and dharma bodies of all buddhas likewise do not exceed the three realms. Outside the three realms there are no sentient beings; what would a buddha convert? For this reason, I say: that there is another separate store of a realm of sentient beings outside the three realms is spoken of in the great existence scriptures of non-Buddhists; it is not what has been spoken by the seven buddhas.

1.27

"Great King! I always say: when all sentient beings have exhausted the afflictions, fruits, and retributions of the three realms, they are called buddhas; intrinsic purity is called awakening to the nature of sarvajñā. The original karma of sentient beings is the original karma of all buddhas and bodhisattvas, what was originally practiced, fully endowed with the fourteen patiences within the five patiences."

1.28

[King Prasenajit] said to the Buddha: "How do bodhisattvas through pure original karma convert sentient beings?"
The Buddha said: "Because from one stage up to the subsequent stage, they have all knowledge and vision of their own sphere of practice and the sphere of practice of buddhas. As for original karma: if a bodhisattva abides in a hundred buddha lands, they act as the four heavenly kings of Jambudvīpa, cultivate a hundred dharma doors, and with an equanimous mind toward the two truths convert all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva abides in a thousand buddha lands, they act as the king of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, cultivate a thousand dharma doors, and with the ten paths of wholesome action convert all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva abides in a hundred thousand buddha lands, they act as the king of the Yāma Heaven, cultivate a hundred thousand dharma doors, and with the four dhyāna concentrations convert all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva abides in ten billion buddha lands, they act as the king of the Tuṣita Heaven, cultivate ten billion dharma doors, and practicing the limbs of the path convert all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva abides in a hundred billion buddha lands, they act as the king of the Nirmāṇarati Heaven, cultivate a hundred billion dharma doors, and with the two truths, four truths, and eight truths convert all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva abides in ten trillion buddha lands, they act as the king of the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven, cultivate ten trillion dharma doors, and with the wisdom of the twelve links of dependent origination convert all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva abides in a hundred trillion buddha lands, they act as the king of the first dhyāna, cultivate a hundred trillion dharma doors, and with expedient wisdom and the wisdom of vows convert all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva abides in buddha lands as numerous as the fine dust motes of a million worlds, they act as the Brahmā king of the second dhyāna, cultivate dharma doors as numerous as the fine dust motes of a million worlds, and with the supernormal wisdom of expedient means that dually illumines convert all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva abides in buddha lands as numerous as the fine dust motes of a hundred trillion asaṃkhyeyas of worlds, they act as the Great Brahmā king of the third dhyāna, cultivate dharma doors as numerous as the fine dust motes of a hundred trillion asaṃkhyeyas of worlds, and with the four unobstructed knowledges convert all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva abides in ineffable, ineffable buddha lands, they act as the Great Serenity Heavenly King of the fourth dhyāna, lord of the three realms, cultivate ineffable, ineffable dharma doors, attain the samādhi of the exhaustiveness of principle, share the sphere of practice of buddhas, exhaust the source of the three realms, and teach and convert all sentient beings like the realm of a buddha. Therefore, the conversion practice through original karma of all bodhisattvas is pure; if the Tathāgatas of the ten directions likewise cultivate this karma, they ascend to the fruit of sarvajñā, become kings of the three realms, and convert all immeasurable sentient beings."

1.29

At that time, the great assembly, as numerous as the sands of a hundred trillion Ganges rivers, each arose from their seats, scattered immeasurable, inconceivable flowers, burned immeasurable, inconceivable incense, and made offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha and immeasurable great bodhisattvas. Joining their palms, they listened to King Prasenajit speak of prajñāpāramitā, who now before the Buddha praised in verse, saying:

1.30

"The World-Honoured One, the Guide, has a vajra body; / With mental activities extinguished in quiescence, he turns the wheel of the Dharma. / With the eight eloquence-faculties and a vast voice he speaks for the assembly; / At that time hundreds of millions and billions of the assembly attained the path.
At that time beings of the six heavens entered the monastic path, / Becoming assemblies of monks practicing the bodhisattva conduct. / The wondrous dharma door of the merits of the five patiences / The fourteen true persons can clearly understand.
The three worthy stages and ten noble ones practice within these patiences; / Only the Buddha alone can completely exhaust their source. / The ocean of the Buddha's assembly and the Dharma is the treasury of the Three Jewels; / Immeasurable merits are gathered within it.
Bodhisattvas of the ten wholesome deeds give rise to the great mind, / Departing forever from the ocean of the wheel of suffering in the three realms. / Middling and lower grades of wholesomeness become kings scattered like millet; / Superior grade of the ten wholesome deeds becomes an iron wheel-turning king;
The practice disposition is a copper wheel over two continents; / A silver wheel over three heavens is the nature disposition; / The path disposition is a wheel-turning king of firm virtue, / With seven treasures and golden radiance over the four continents.
The thirty persons of the noble embryo of subduing patience: / The ten faiths, the ten mindfulnesses, and the ten firm minds. / The buddhas of the three times practice within them; / None do not arise from this subduing patience.
It is the primal source of all bodhisattva practices; / Therefore generating the mind and having faith is difficult. / If one attains faith, one will surely not regress, / Entering the path of the first stage of non-arising.
Teaching and converting sentient beings, practicing within awakening: / This is called the bodhisattva's initial aspiration. / The Good-Awakening Bodhisattva, king of the four heavens, / Dually illumines the equal path of the two truths,
Expediently converting sentient beings, roaming through a hundred lands, / First ascending the signless path of the One Vehicle. / Prajñā entering principle is called abiding; / Abiding to generate virtuous practices is called a stage.
At the first abiding, a single mind is complete with virtuous practices, / Unmoving regarding the highest meaning. / The Departing-and-Penetrating Great Being, king of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, / Manifests form in the six destinies across a thousand lands;
Conditionless and signless is the third truth, / Illuminating non-non-existence, non-arising, and non-duality. / Luminous Wisdom emptily illuminates as king of the Yāma Heaven, / Manifesting form in ten thousand lands to guide living beings;
The patient mind is non-dual within the three truths, / Emerging from existence and entering non-existence to produce transformations. / These three men of the path—Good Awakening, Departing, and Luminous— / Can extinguish the afflictions of form in the three realms;
Reflecting back upon the form of body and speech in the three realms, / Dharmatā is supreme, illumining without remainder. / Blazing Wisdom, wondrously luminous, with great vigorous progression, / As king of the Tuṣita Heaven roams across a hundred million lands;
True wisdom whose objects are quiescent is the path of expedient means, / Penetrating non-arising, clearly understanding emptiness and existence. / Superior Wisdom naturally understands and illuminates the three truths, / As king of the Nirmāṇarati Heaven across ten billion lands;
Clearly observing empty emptiness, without dual signs, / Transforming across the six destinies, entering the Avīci. / Dharma-Manifesting Great Being, King of Mastery, / Free of duality and free of illumination, penetrates the emptiness of principle;
The three truths present before him, with light of great wisdom, / Illumining a hundred billion lands to teach all. / Blazing, Superior, and Dharma-Manifesting, in signless concentration, / Can wash away the delusions of the confused mind in the three realms;
With empty wisdom quiescent in conditionless observation, / They reflect back upon the mind's emptiness and immeasurable retributions. / Far-Reaching and Penetrating, king of the first dhyāna in non-arising, / Constantly in trillions of lands teaches sentient beings;
Not yet having crossed beyond the retribution body, one life remains; / They enter the stage of equal observation of the Dharma-stream. / First entering conditionless vajra patience, / They never again receive retribution forms of the three realms;
Observing the third meaning with non-dual illumination, / In twenty-one births they practice empty quiescence. / In the concentration in accord with the path regarding craving and residual impressions of the three realms, / The Far-Reaching and Penetrating true person alone clearly understands.
Equal-Observation Bodhisattva, king of the second dhyāna, / Manifests a transformed dharma body of immeasurable light; / Entering a hundred Ganges lands to convert all, / Roundly illumining the events of Ganges kalpas across the three times;
Reflecting back to delight in emptiness, the inexhaustible source, / In the third truth constantly quiescent. / Wisdom Light Great Being, king of the third dhyāna, / Can manifest simultaneously in a thousand Ganges lands;
Constantly practicing in unconditioned empty quiescence, / Clearly understanding the buddha-stores of Ganges sands in a single thought. / Consecration Bodhisattva, king of the fourth dhyāna, / In billions of Ganges lands converts living beings;
First entering vajra, clearly understanding everything, / Twenty-nine births have been crossed over forever. / In quiescent cessation patience, observing with the lower patience, / With one turn, wondrous awakening is ever limpid.
The three classes of beings—Equal, Wisdom, and Consecration— / Eliminate former residual impressions and the conditions of ignorance. / Because of the characteristic of residual impressions of ignorance, there are afflictions; / The principle of the two truths exhausted, all are extinguished.
The king of the three realms with perfect, signless wisdom, / Having exhausted thirty births, equals the Great Awakening. / The vajra store of great quiescence and non-action, / All retributions exhausted, possesses boundless compassion.
The truth of the highest meaning is ever peaceful and secure; / The source exhausted, the nature completely plumbed, wondrous wisdom endures. / The three worthy stages and ten noble ones abide in karmic retributions; / Only the Buddha alone dwells in the pure land.
All sentient beings temporarily abide in retributions; / Ascending to the vajra source, one dwells in the pure land. / The Tathāgata's three karmas have boundless virtue; / I now, Candraprabha, pay homage to the Three Jewels.
The Dharma King is supreme, a tree among human beings, / Covering the great assembly with immeasurable light. / His mouth ever speaks the Dharma, not devoid of meaning; / His mental wisdom is quiescent, illuminating without conditions.
The lion among humans speaks for the assembly; / The great assembly rejoices and scatters golden flowers. / Across hundreds of millions and billions of lands, the six great [elements] shake; / Beings endowed with life receive wondrous retribution.
The Heavenly Honoured One has delightfully spoken of the fourteen kings; / Therefore now I briefly praise the Buddha."

1.31

At that time, when the great assembly heard King Candraprabha praise the boundless store of merit of the fourteen kings, they attained great benefit from the Dharma. Right within the assembly, there were devas equal in number to the sands of ten Gaṅgā rivers, Brahma kings equal in number to the sands of ten Gaṅgā rivers, and ghost and spirit kings equal in number to the sands of ten Gaṅgā rivers, up to those in the three realms of existence, who attained the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. Asura kings of the eight classes transformed their spirit bodies on the spot, received the path in heaven, and entered the correct stage in three lifetimes, or entered the correct stage in four lifetimes, five lifetimes, or even ten lifetimes, realizing the noble nature and attaining all immeasurable retributions.

1.32

The Buddha addressed the assembly of devas who had attained the fruits of the path: "Good sons! In the past, during ten thousand kalpas in the Dharma of King of Dragon Light Buddha, this King Candraprabha was an opening knight of the fourth abode, while I was a bodhisattva of the eighth abode. Now, before me, he roars the great lion's roar. Thus it is! Thus it is! Just as you have spoken, you have attained the exposition of the true meaning, which is inconceivable and immeasurable. Only a buddha and a buddha can know this matter.

1.33

"Good sons! The fourteen prajñāpāramitās and the thirty forbearances—the upper, middle, and lower of the stages of the three forbearances—which he has spoken of, are an inconceivable store of all practices and a store of all buddhas. Why is this? All buddhas are born within this, cease within this, and transform within this, yet there is neither birth nor cessation nor transformation; there is neither self nor other; it is paramount and non-dual; it is neither transformed nor untransformed, neither characteristic nor uncharacteristic; it neither comes nor goes, for it is like empty space. All sentient beings are without birth and without cessation, without bondage and without liberation, neither cause nor fruit, nor non-cause and non-fruit. Regarding afflictions, the self, the person, the knower, the seer, the experiencer, and that which belongs to the self: because all painful experiences and activities are empty. The collection of all dharmas, the illusory five aggregates, have neither combination nor dispersal; dharmas are identical with dharmatā, because they are serene and empty. The objects of dharmas are empty: they are empty, markless, non-turning, non-inverted, and do not accord with illusions and transformations; there are no Three Jewels, no noble persons, and no six destinies, for they are like empty space. Prajñā has neither knowing nor seeing; it does not practice and does not objectify; it does not depend on causes and does not receive; because it does not attain any characteristics of illumination, the practice of the path and these characteristics of practicing the path are like empty space. Since the characteristics of dharmas are like this, how could there be mind-attainment or no-mind-attainment? Therefore, the merit of prajñā cannot be practiced by practicing within sentient beings, cannot be practiced by practicing within the dharmas of the five aggregates, cannot be practiced by practicing within objects, and cannot be practiced by practicing within understanding. Therefore, prajñā is inconceivable; and because all buddhas and bodhisattvas practice within it, it is also inconceivable. That all Tathāgatas manifest transformations within the illusory and non-abiding dharmas is also inconceivable.

1.34

"Good sons! Regarding this store of merit, even if opening knights of the thirteenth stage of consecration, as numerous as the sands of immeasurable Gaṅgā rivers, were to explain this merit, what the king has spoken of is like a single drop in the sea among hundreds of thousands of koṭis of parts. Now I have briefly recounted the merit of a fraction of its meaning, which brings great benefit to all sentient beings and has also been affirmed and commended by immeasurable Tathāgatas of the past, future, and present. That the three worthy stages and ten noble persons praise it immeasurably is due to the merit of this fraction of meaning explained by King Candraprabha.

1.35

"Good sons! These fourteen dharma gates are what all sentient beings, all three vehicles, and all buddhas of the three periods of time have cultivated and gathered, and so will future buddhas. If any buddhas and bodhisattvas do not attain sarvajñā through this gate, there is no such possibility. Why is this? Because all buddhas and bodhisattvas have no other path. Therefore, all good sons, if anyone hears these dharma gates of forbearance—faith forbearance, ceasing forbearance, firm forbearance, good-awakening forbearance, detachment forbearance, luminous-wisdom forbearance, blazing-wisdom forbearance, victorious-wisdom forbearance, dharma-manifestation forbearance, far-reaching forbearance, equal-awakening forbearance, wisdom-light forbearance, consecration forbearance, and complete-awakening forbearance—this person will transcend the sufferings and hardships of births through hundreds of kalpas, thousands of kalpas, and immeasurable Gaṅgā sands of lives, enter this dharma gate, and attain their retribution in the present body."

1.36

At that time, there were a billion bodhisattvas in the assembly, all named Ocean of the Womb of Space. Rejoicing in the joy of the Dharma, each scattered flowers in empty space, which transformed into immeasurable flower terraces. Above them were immeasurable great assemblies explaining the fourteen correct practices. The kings of the eighteen Brahma heavens and the six desire heavens also scattered precious flowers, each sitting upon terraces in empty space, explaining the fourteen correct practices, upholding, reciting, and understanding their principles. Immeasurable ghosts and spirits manifested their bodies to cultivate the prajñāpāramitā.

1.37

The Buddha addressed the great king: "You previously said: 'How can the characteristics of sentient beings be transformed?' If one sees what is illusory and transformed with an illusory and transformed body, this is the bodhisattva's true practice of transforming sentient beings. The consciousness of sentient beings, in its very first thought of consciousness, is different from wood and stone; it is born with innate good and born with innate evil. Evil is the root of immeasurable evil consciousnesses, and good is the root of immeasurable good consciousnesses. From the first thought to the final vajra-like thought, incalculable and unspeakable consciousnesses are born within them, constituting the form and mind of sentient beings, which are the root of sentient beings. Form is called the hindrance of form; mind is called the hindrance of consciousness, the hindrance of perception, the hindrance of feeling, and the hindrance of mental formations. The function of a hindrance is to shroud and cover; 'body' means an accumulation.

1.38

"Great King! This single dharma of form produces immeasurable forms: what is apprehended by the eye is form; what is apprehended by the ear is sound; what is apprehended by the nose is fragrance; what is apprehended by the tongue is taste; what is apprehended by the body is touch. What holds firmly is called earth; moisture is called water; heat is called fire; lightness and movement are called wind. The places where the five consciousnesses arise are called the sense faculties. Thus, a single form and a single mind possess inconceivable form and mind.

1.39

"Great King! Because the six consciousnesses of ordinary beings are coarse, they apprehend immeasurable nominal dharmas of form, such as blue, yellow, square, and round under conventional designations. Because the six consciousnesses of noble persons are pure, they apprehend real dharmas: all real dharmas of form such as visible form, sound, fragrance, and touch. 'Sentient being' is a name in conventional truth. Whether existing or non-existing, what only arises from the conceptual memory of sentient beings is called conventional truth. Conventional truth exists because it is conventional, deceptive, illusory, and transformed, extending even to the six destinies being illusory and transformed, sentient beings seeing what is illusory and transformed, illusions seeing illusions, and Brahmans, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, Śūdras, the ātman, and so forth, both form and mind, being called the illusory truth; in the illusory truth, dharmas do not exist. Before a buddha appears in the world, there are no names, no meaningful designations; illusory dharmas and transformations have no names, no substance or marks, no names of the three realms, and no names of good and evil retributions or the six destinies.

1.40

"Great King! Therefore, buddhas after buddhas appear in the world, and for the sake of sentient beings, formulate names for the three realms and the six destinies. These are called immeasurable names, such as the dharmas of space, the dharmas of the four great elements, the dharmas of mind, and the dharmas of form. Nominal dharmas of continuity are neither one nor different; if one, there is no continuity, and if different, there is no continuity; because they are neither one nor different, they are called the truth of continuity. Nominal dharmas of mutual dependence: all names are mutually dependent, also called indefinite mutual dependence, like the dharmas of the five colors and the like, and all dharmas of existence and non-existence. All dharmas are formed by conditions, conventionally constituting sentient beings, simultaneous causes and effects, sequential causes and effects, good and evil in the three periods of time; all are illusory and transformed; these are sentient beings of the illusory truth.

1.41

"Great King! If a bodhisattva sees sentient beings as illusory and transformed as described above, they are all conventional and deceptive, like flowers in empty space. The five eyes of the bodhisattvas of the ten abodes and of all buddhas see them in accordance with the illusory truth. A bodhisattva's transformation of sentient beings is like this."

1.42

When this Dharma was expounded, immeasurable devaputras and the entire assembly attained the ceasing forbearance, attained the forbearance of empty non-arising, and even unspeakable virtuous practices from the first stage to the tenth stage.

1.43

Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra of Humane Kings for the Protection of the State, Chapter 4: The Two Truths

1.44

At that time, King Prasenajit said: "Does conventional truth exist within ultimate truth? If one says it does not exist, wisdom should not be twofold; if one says it exists, wisdom should not be single. What is the principle of oneness and duality in this matter?"

1.45

The Buddha addressed the great king: "You already asked the past seven buddhas about the meaning of oneness and the meaning of duality. You now have nothing to hear, and I now have nothing to preach. Having nothing to hear and nothing to preach is precisely for the sake of the meaning of oneness and the meaning of duality. Listen attentively, listen attentively! Reflect upon it well, and practice in accordance with the Dharma. The gāthā of the seven buddhas is as follows:

1.46

"The markless ultimate truth
Is made neither by self nor by other;
Causes and conditions are fundamentally intrinsically existent,
Made neither by self nor by other.
In dharmatā there is fundamentally no nature;
The emptiness of ultimate truth is as it is.
All existents are fundamentally existent dharmas,
Conventionally existent through the gathering of the three designations.
The absence of non-existence is truly non-existent,
The serene cessation of the ultimate emptiness;
All dharmas exist through causes and conditions:
The meaning of existence and non-existence is like this.
Existence and non-existence are fundamentally two,
Just like the two horns of an ox;
Illuminating understanding sees them as non-dual,
Yet the two truths are never identical.
The understanding mind sees non-duality,
Yet seeking duality is unattainable;
This does not mean the two truths are one,
For how could a non-duality be grasped?
In understanding it is always fundamentally one,
In the truths they are always fundamentally two;
Penetrating this non-duality
Is truly entering the ultimate truth.
Conventional truth arises through illusion and transformation,
Just like flowers in empty space;
Like a shadow without three hands,
Deceptively existing due to causes and conditions.
Illusions seeing illusions:
Sentient beings are called the illusory truth.
When the illusionist sees illusory dharmas,
In truth they are entirely non-existent;
This is called the contemplation of all buddhas,
And the contemplation of bodhisattvas is likewise."

1.47

"Great King! Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, while within the ultimate truth, constantly illuminate the two truths to transform sentient beings. Buddhas and sentient beings are one and not two. Why is this? Because sentient beings are empty, bodhi can be posited as empty; because bodhi is empty, sentient beings can be posited as empty. Because all dharmas are empty, there is the emptiness of emptiness. Why is this? Prajñā is markless, the two truths are like empty space, and prajñā is empty; from ignorance up to sarvajñā, there are no self-characteristics and no other-characteristics. Therefore, when the five eyes are perfected, seeing sees nothing to be seen; they do not apprehend practice, do not apprehend non-practice, do not apprehend neither practice nor non-practice, and up to all dharmas, they do not apprehend them. When a bodhisattva has not yet attained buddhahood, he takes bodhi to be afflictions; when a bodhisattva attains buddhahood, he takes afflictions to be bodhi. Why is this? Because in the ultimate truth there is no duality, and because all buddhas, Tathāgatas, and even all dharmas are suchness."

1.48

[The king] said to the Buddha: "How do all Tathāgatas and all bodhisattvas of the ten directions practice the characteristics of dharmas without abandoning words and letters?"

1.49

"Great King! As for the wheel of Dharma: sutras are suchness, gāthās are suchness, vyākaraṇas are suchness, geyas are suchness, udānas are suchness, vinayas are suchness, avadānas are suchness, itivṛttakas are suchness, jātakas are suchness, vaipulyas are suchness, adbhutadharmas are suchness, and upadeśas are suchness. These are called expressions, phrases, sounds, fruits, letters, predictions, and sentences, all of which are suchness. If one grasps at words and letters, one does not practice emptiness.

1.50

"Great King! To cultivate letters as suchness is the mother of all buddhas' wisdom; the fundamental mother of wisdom of all sentient beings' natures is itself the substance of sarvajñā. Before buddhas attain buddhahood, they take their future buddhahood as the mother of wisdom; before it is attained, it is the nature, and once attained, it is sarvajñā. The prajñā of the three vehicles is neither born nor destroyed, and its intrinsic nature is permanently abiding. This is because all sentient beings take this as their awakening nature. If a bodhisattva is without grasping and without letters, free from letters yet not non-letters, cultivating non-cultivation as the cultivation of letters, he will attain the true nature of prajñā, the prajñāpāramitā. Great King! If a bodhisattva protects the Buddha, protects the transformation of sentient beings, and protects the practices of the ten stages, he does so in this manner."

1.51

[The king] said to the Buddha: "The varieties of sentient beings are immeasurable, their faculties are also immeasurable, and their practices are also immeasurable. Are the dharma gates one, two, or immeasurable?"

1.52

"Great King! The gates of contemplation of all dharmas are neither one nor two, but indeed immeasurable. All dharmas are also neither having marks nor not without marks. If a bodhisattva sees sentient beings, seeing one or seeing two, then he does not see one and does not see two; the oneness and duality are the ultimate truth.

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