仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經 1
English (machine translation) 1
- Language
- English
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Preface to the Great Tang's Newly Translated Prajñā Sūtra for Humane Kings Protecting Their States
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Composed by Emperor Daizong
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Augund indeed is the Supremely Awakened One, treating the multitudes as his own children! He crosses the ocean of existence with the boat of prajñā, and cuts down the dense thicket [of afflictions] with the sword of wisdom. Encompassing the six directions, he spreads a canopy over the ten quarters. His vast propagation is profound, and the response to his aspirations is immense. Since its inception in India and its rippling reach to the Han court, [his teaching] has practiced unconditioned compassion and guided [beings] into the realm of eternal bliss. Truly, his broad bestowal extends further than emptying a city of mustard seeds; looking up to his serene stillness, it transcends what lies beyond the mystery of words and symbols. The five beginnings cannot trace its inception, and the primal unity cannot root its source. When comparing the mundane to that, how vast the distance is! I, unworthy as I am to succeed to this grand fortune and to inherit the great treasure [of the throne], am concerned like [King Tang of Shang] feeling responsibility for those who fall into ditches, watchful in the evening and only briefly resting my head on the pillow in sleep. Indeed, as for stabilizing heaven and earth, repelling invaders and tyranny, harmonizing wind and rain, clarifying the stars and constellations, abiding in non-action with all things, and relieving the hardships of the people—without prajñā, how could these be achieved? I have bathed my body in the spring of samādhi and housed my mind in the mysteries of the Way; looking back to seek the treasury of the Dragon Palace, and inquiring to accord with the purport of Gṛdhrakūṭa, how admirable it is that protecting the state truly resides in this sūtra! Secretly I admire the conduct of [King] Prasenajit, and hope to propagate the teachings of the Tamer. As for holding high the five kṣāntis, it fully clarifies the depth of compassion; permanently dispelling numerous calamities is truly the root of clear governance. The designation of names and the designation of dharmas, the emptiness of mind and the emptiness of form—when pushed to non-existence, realm and cognition are both tranquil; when guided to existence, the ferry and bridge are inexhaustible. Aspiring to reach dharmatā together with the black-haired people, yet the cinnabar silk and palm leaves present discrepancies in their text, and the phonology between the Eastern Xia and the Western Heavens contains errors. This has caused ancient and modern translations to vary in purity and turbidity, and prior and subsequent collations to differ in weight. It is like the grand carriage, which continually adds splendor through successive improvements; or like solid ice, which begins as accumulated water and is not initially firm. The previous translation had language that was crude and unharmonious, causing those who read it to examine the text thrice, and all disciples of Śākya truly felt lamentation over it.
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The late emperor reverently set his sincere gaze upon the jade ūrṇā and calmed his contemplation in the true realm; he unfolded the complete teaching, gathered and repaired missing texts, and decreed that the Great Virtue, Tripiṭaka Śramaṇa Amoghavajra, should scrutinize, collate, and meticulously translate the incomplete fascicles and sections. The Tripiṭaka master's learning plumbed the two truths, his teaching transmitted the three secrets, his understanding grasped the ultimate principle, and [like] the completion of the character *i*, [his virtues] were fully perfected. Raising his robes, he pointed west; floating his cup, he crossed the Southern Sea. His shadow was his only companion; he labored diligently through deep years. Exquisitely skilled in the linguistic science of India, he deeply penetrated the melodies and tunes of China. Sweet dew washed over me, and fragrant breezes touched me. Thereafter, Sanskrit manuscripts were brought from afar, and the great bell awaited striking, awaiting the wind that sounds the myriad flutes, to lead and instruct with the scriptures that reveal the three vehicles. Entangled in grief and mourning, sorrowfully touched by frost and dew, I upheld
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the testamentary decree, not daring to be idle, inviting the assembly of heroes who shake the khakkhara to complete the nine-fathom mound. Specially Promoted and Opening the Office, Chao'en, dedicating his body to the state and offering his life to the Buddha, assisted our true teaching and expounded the marvelous gate. Thereupon, he was ordered to gather the masters of doctrinal learning of the capital, Great Virtue Liangbi and others, and the Hanlin Academicians Chang Gun and others, in the Southern Peach Garden of Daming Palace, to meticulously translate the *Prajñā Sūtra for Protecting the State* to completion, and further transcribe and finalize sūtras such as the *Ghanavyūha*. Holding tablets and wielding brushes, they investigated subtleties and plumbed the depths; previous errors and omissions were corrected with clarity, and former obscurities were brought out in brilliance. It is sufficient to hang like the sun and moon, illuminating the darkened paths; and moisten like clouds and rain, spreading widely over fauna and flora. I humbly pray that this may support the transcendent carriage above, soaring wisdom clouds in the four heavens; and stepping far out of defilement and labor, tread upon golden lotuses in the ten stages. I am dim regarding profound matters and ashamed of my lack of literary elegance; being urged to compose this preface, I sigh in an empty frame of mind. I merely record this at the head of the text, hoping it may open the way for posterity, and that its glory may endure forever, to be practiced and promoted. The time was the year *Zhanmeng* (Yiwei), in the month when the hibiscus blooms.
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Translated under imperial decree by Śramaṇa Amoghavajra, Tripiṭaka Master of Daxingshan Monastery, Specially Promoted, Opening the Office with the Dignity Equal to the Three Excellencies, Acting Chamberlain of the Court of State Ceremonial, Duke of Su State, Beneficiary of an Estate of Three Thousand Households, Granted the Purple Robe, Posthumously Bestowed with the Office of Minister of Works, Posthumously Bestowed with the Posthumous Title Grand Inspector, and 正號 Grand Vast Wisdom.
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Chapter 1: Introductory Chapter
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Thus have I heard:
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At one time, the Buddha dwelt at Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata in Rājagṛha, together with a great assembly of eighteen hundred bhikṣus—all of them arhats, whose contaminants were exhausted, free from afflictions, their minds well liberated, their wisdom well liberated, having accomplished what was to be done through the nine knowledges and the ten knowledges, having observed the reality of the three designations and the contemplation of the three gates of liberation, fully accomplished in conditioned and unconditioned merits; furthermore, with an assembly of eight hundred bhikṣuṇīs, all arhats; furthermore, with immeasurable and countless bodhisattva mahāsattvas—whose real wisdom was equal, having forever severed the hindrances of delusion, who skillfully generated great practices and vows through expedients, benefiting sentient beings through the four means of embrace, universally covering all through the four immeasurables, perceptive and clear in the three knowledges, having attained the five supernormal knowledges, cultivating the boundless bodhipakṣadharmas, excelling in crafts and arts surpassing all worldly arts, deeply entering into dependent origination, emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, displaying inestimable entries and exits from nirodhasamāpatti, subduing the mara-adversaries, doubly illuminating the two truths, universally seeing with the dharma-eye to know the faculties of sentient beings, expounding without fear through the four unimpeded knowledges, resounding the Dharma sound like thunder through the ten powers and marvelous wisdom, and being close to the unequalled vajrasamādhi—completely endowed with merits such as these; furthermore, with immeasurable assemblies of upāsakas and upāsikās, all having seen the noble truths; furthermore, with immeasurable [practitioners] cultivating the practices of the seven worthies, foundations of mindfulness, right diligences, bases of supernormal power, spiritual faculties, spiritual powers, eight spheres of mastery, ten totalities, and the sixteen mental practices that progress to the direct realization of the truths; furthermore, with the sixteen great kings—King Prasenajit and others—each together with several tens of millions of attendants; furthermore, with the kings of the six heavens of desire—Śakra Devānām Indra and others—together with their attendants, immeasurable devaputras; the great Brahmā kings of the four dhyānas of the form realm, also together with their attendants, immeasurable devaputras; immeasurable transformed sentient beings of the various destinies—asuras and others—together with various attendants. Furthermore, pure lands of the ten directions were manifested, displaying hundreds of kotis of lion thrones upon which Buddhas sat, widely proclaiming the Dharma essentials. Before each throne a single flower manifested; these hundreds of kotis of flowers were adorned with manifold jewels. Upon each flower, there were again immeasurable transformed Buddhas and immeasurable bodhisattvas, with the fourfold assemblies and the eight classes [of beings] all being immeasurable. Among them, each Buddha expounded the Prajñāpāramitā, spreading and permeating continuously throughout the Buddha lands of the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The great assemblies that came were like this, each bowing to the Buddha's feet and withdrawing to sit on one side.
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At that time, the Bhagavat, on the eighth day of the fourth month of the year, entered the great, tranquil, and marvelous samādhi. All the pores of his body emitted great radiance, universally illuminating the Buddha lands in the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. At that time, immeasurable devas of the desire realm rained down various exquisite flowers, and devas of the form realm also rained down heavenly flowers, their diverse colors interwoven and delightfully pleasing. At that time, the formless realm rained down fragrant flowers, their fragrance vast as Mount Sumeru, the flowers large as chariot wheels, descending like clouds and universally covering the great assembly; the entire Buddha world shook in six ways.
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At that time, the great assembly said among themselves: "Previously, the Greatly Awakened Bhagavat already expounded for us the Mahāprajñāpāramitā, the Vajraprajñāpāramitā, the Prajñāpāramitā of the Deva King's Inquiries, the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā, and immeasurable and countless [other] Prajñāpāramitās. Today, what is the purpose of the Tathāgata emitting this great radiance?"
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At that time, King Prasenajit of the state of Śrāvastī thought: "Now that the Buddha manifests such a rare sign, he will certainly rain down the Dharma rain, universally benefiting and gladdening all." He then asked the upāsakas Ratnachattra, Vimalakīrti, and others, the great śrāvakas Śāriputra, Subhūti, and others, and the bodhisattva mahāsattvas Maitreya, Siṃhanāda, and others, saying: "What auspicious sign is this manifested by the Tathāgata?" At that time, no one in the great assembly was able to answer. King Prasenajit and the others, relying on the Buddha's spiritual power, broadly performed music, and the devas of the desire and form realms each played immeasurable heavenly music, its sound resounding throughout the trichiliocosm.
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At that time, the Bhagavat again emitted immeasurable asaṃkhyeya rays of light of variegated colors. Within each ray of light, a precious lotus flower manifested, each having a thousand petals of golden color, upon which sat a transformed Buddha expounding the Dharma essentials. This Buddha light appeared wherever there was a karmic connection in the Buddha lands of the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River. In those other Buddha lands, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Samantraprabha of the east, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Padmapāṇi of the southeast, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Vigataśoka of the south, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Prabhākara of the southwest, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Matigocara of the west, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Ratnaviśiṣṭa of the northwest, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Jayaprada of the north, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Viraja of the northeast, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Tuṣṭisaṃgṛhīta of the zenith, and Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Padmottara of the nadir, each arrived here together with immeasurable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of bodhisattva mahāsattvas, holding various incenses, scattering various flowers, and making immeasurable music to offer to the Tathāgata. Bowing at the Buddha's feet, they silently withdrew to sit, joining their palms in reverence and gazing at the Buddha with one mind.
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Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra for Humane Kings Protecting Their States: Chapter 2: Contemplating the Tathāgata
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At that time, the Bhagavat arose from samādhi, sat upon the lion throne, and addressed the great assembly: "I know that the sixteen kings of states and others all have this thought: 'The Bhagavat is of great compassion, universally benefiting and bringing joy to all. How should we kings protect our states?' Good sons! I shall now first expound for the bodhisattva mahāsattvas the protection of the Buddha fruition and the protection of the practices of the ten stages. You must all listen attentively, listen attentively, and reflect on it well."
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At that time, the great assembly—King Prasenajit and the others—having heard the Buddha's words, all praised in unison: "Excellent, excellent!" They immediately scattered immeasurable exquisite jewel flowers, which transformed into a jewel canopy in the open sky, completely covering the great assembly without exception. Then King Prasenajit rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, knelt with palms joined, and addressed the Buddha: "Bhagavat! How do bodhisattva mahāsattvas protect the Buddha fruition? How do they protect the practices of the ten stages?"
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The Buddha told King Prasenajit: "As for protecting the Buddha fruition, bodhisattva mahāsattvas should abide thus: when teaching all egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born, and transformationally born beings, they do not contemplate the characteristics of form, nor do they contemplate the suchness of form; sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness; the self, person, knower, and seer; the inversions of permanence, bliss, and purity; the four means of embrace, the six perfections, the two truths, the four truths, the powers, fearlessnesses, and all other practices; and even bodhisattvas and Tathāgatas are also like this—they do not contemplate characteristics, nor do they contemplate suchness. Why is this? Because the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is true reality itself; without coming and without going, without arising and without ceasing, equal to the limit of reality, identical with dharmatā, without duality and without distinction, like open space; the characteristics of aggregates, sense fields, and realms are devoid of self and what belongs to self. This is the cultivation of Prajñāpāramitā by bodhisattva mahāsattvas."
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King Prasenajit addressed the Buddha: "Bhagavat! If the nature of bodhisattvas and sentient beings is non-dual, by what characteristics do bodhisattvas transform sentient beings?"
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The Buddha said: "Great King! Form, feeling, perception, karmic formations, and consciousness are permanence, bliss, self, and purity; yet the dharmatā abides neither in form nor in non-form. Feeling, perception, karmic formations, and consciousness are permanence, bliss, self, and purity, yet it also abides neither in purity nor in non-purity. Why is this? Because all dharmatā is completely empty, it exists through worldly truth and exists through the three designations. The dharmas of the aggregates, sense realms, and elements of all sentient beings produce meritorious, non-meritorious, and immovable actions; their causes and effects all exist. The various practices cultivated by the sages and saints of the three vehicles, up to and including the fruit of buddhahood, are all called existing. The sixty-two views are also called existing. Great King! If one is attached to names and marks and discriminates among dharmas, the six destinies, the four forms of birth, and the practices and fruits of the three vehicles, this is simply not seeing the true nature of all dharmas."
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King Prasenajit said to the Buddha: "The true nature of all dharmas is pure and equal, neither existing nor non-existing. How does wisdom illuminate it?"
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The Buddha said: "Great King! Wisdom illuminates the true nature as neither existing nor non-existing. Why is this? Because the dharmatā is empty. That is to say, form, feeling, perception, karmic formations, consciousness; the twelve sense bases, the eighteen elements; the person's six elements, the twelve links of dependent origination; the two truths, and the four truths are all completely empty. These various dharmas and so forth are immediately born and immediately extinguished, immediately existing and immediately empty; so it is from kṣaṇa to kṣaṇa. Why is this? In a single thought-moment there are ninety kṣaṇas, and in a single kṣaṇa there are nine hundred births and cessations; because all conditioned dharmas are completely empty. Through the profound Prajñāpāramitā, one illuminates and sees that all dharmas are entirely empty: internal emptiness, external emptiness, internal-external emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, ultimate emptiness, conditioned emptiness, unconditioned emptiness, beginningless emptiness, absolute emptiness, dispersed emptiness, nature emptiness, self-mark emptiness, emptiness of all dharmas, emptiness of Prajñāpāramitā, cause emptiness, and fruit-of-buddhahood emptiness. Emptiness is empty because of emptiness. Conditioned dharmas exist through the aggregation of dharmas, exist through the aggregation of feeling, exist through the aggregation of names, exist through the aggregation of causes, exist through the aggregation of effects, exist because of the six destinies, exist because of the ten stages, and exist because of the fruit of buddhahood; all exist."
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"Good son! If a bodhisattva abides in the characteristics of dharmas, having the characteristic of a self, the characteristic of a person, or the views of a sentient being, then they abide in the world and are not a bodhisattva. Why is this? Because all dharmas are completely empty. If one attains immovability regarding all dharmas—neither arising nor ceasing, neither with marks nor without marks—one should not give rise to views. Why is this? All dharmas are Suchness. The Buddhas, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha are also Suchness. The very first thought-moment when noble wisdom appears before one is fully endowed with the eighty-four thousand pāramitās, and is named the Stage of Joy. When hindrances are exhausted and liberation is attained, carrying [beings] across is called the vehicle; when the marks of movement are extinguished, it is called the vajrasamādhi; when nature and characteristics are equal, it is called the sarvākārajñatā (omniscience)."
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"Great King! The words, sentences, and verses of this Prajñāpāramitā are spoken in unison by a hundred Buddhas, a thousand Buddhas, and a hundred thousand million all Buddhas. If a person were to fill with the seven treasures three-thousandfold great-thousandfold worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to make gifts, so that all sentient beings in the great-thousandfold worlds attain the fruit of an arhat, that would not equal a person who gives rise to even a single thought-moment of pure faith in this sūtra, much less one who can receive, uphold, read, recite, and understand a single sentence. Why is this? The nature of words is free [from words]; there is no mark of words; they are neither dharma nor non-dharma. Because wisdom is empty, the bodhisattva is also empty. Why is this? Within the ten stages, each stage has an initial birth, a dwelling birth, and a final birth; these thirty births are all completely empty. Omniscience is also entirely empty."
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"Great King! If a bodhisattva sees an object, sees wisdom, sees preaching, or sees reception, this is not noble seeing; it is the seeing of a foolish common person. The karmic retributions of sentient beings in the three realms are false and illusory: the various karmas created by discrimination in the desire realm, the karmas created by the dhyāna concentrations of the four form absorptions, and the karmas produced by the four formless concentrations—the karmic fruits of the three realms of existence are all completely empty, and the fundamental ignorance of the three realms is also empty. The uncontaminated arising and cessation of the noble stages, the residual habitual latencies of ignorance within the three realms, and the retributions of transformation-body existence are also all empty. When an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva attains the vajrasamādhi, the causes and effects of the two kinds of death are empty, and all-knowledge is also empty. When a Buddha's unexcelled awakening and knowledge of all modes are perfected, and analytical cessation, non-analytical cessation, and the truly pure dharmadhātu [are attained], their nature and characteristics are equal, and their functional applications are also empty."
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"Good son! If someone cultivates the Prajñāpāramitā, both the speaker and the listener are like illusory persons: there is neither speaking nor listening. Dharmas are identical to the dharmatā, just like space; all dharmas are Suchness."
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"Great King! The bodhisattva mahāsattva's protection of the fruit of buddhahood is like this."
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At that time, the Bhagavat said to King Prasenajit: "With what characteristics do you view the Tathāgata?"
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King Prasenajit said: "I view the true nature of the body, and viewing the Buddha is also like this: without a past limit, without a future limit, without a middle limit; neither abiding in the three limits nor separated from the three limits; neither abiding in the five aggregates nor separated from the five aggregates; neither abiding in the four great elements nor separated from the four great elements; neither abiding in the six sense bases nor separated from the six sense bases; neither abiding in the three realms nor separated from the three realms; neither abiding in the directions nor separated from the directions; clarity, ignorance, and so forth are neither one nor different; neither this nor that; neither pure nor defiled; neither conditioned nor unconditioned; without self-marks and without other-marks; without name and without marks; without strength and without weakness; without indication and without explanation; neither giving nor stingy; neither keeping precepts nor violating them; neither patient nor angry; neither energetic nor indolent; neither concentrated nor distracted; neither wise nor foolish; neither coming nor going; neither entering nor exiting; neither a field of merit nor not a field of merit; neither marked nor markless; neither grasping nor abandoning; neither large nor small; neither seen, nor heard, nor sensed, nor known; the paths of mental activity are extinguished, and the way of words and speech is cut off; identical to the limit of reality, equal to the dharmatā—with these characteristics I view the Tathāgata."
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The Buddha said: "Good son! It is as you have said. The powers, fearlessnesses, and other Ganges-sands of virtues and all the unique qualities of the Buddhas and Tathāgatas are all like this. Those who cultivate the Prajñāpāramitā should view them in this way; if one views them otherwise, it is called false viewing."
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When this teaching was spoken, immeasurable members of the great assembly attained the purity of the dharma-eye.
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Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra for Humane Kings Protecting Their States, Chapter 3: Bodhisattva Practices
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At that time, King Prasenajit said to the Buddha: "Bhagavat! How should bodhisattva mahāsattvas who protect the practice of the ten stages cultivate? How should they transform sentient beings? And with what marks should they abide in contemplation?"
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The Buddha told the great king: "The bodhisattva mahāsattvas rely on the dharma of the five kṣāntis as their cultivation, namely: the subduing kṣānti, the faithful kṣānti, the compliant kṣānti, and the non-arising kṣānti—each possessing upper, middle, and lower [grades]—and the cessation kṣānti, which has upper and lower [grades]; these are called the bodhisattva's cultivation of the Prajñāpāramitā. Good son! At the initial stage of subduing kṣānti, one gives rise to the lineage of practice and cultivates the practices of the ten abidings. At the sign of first producing the aspiration, there are sentient beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges who, upon seeing the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, produce the ten faiths, namely: faith, mindfulness, diligence, wisdom, concentration, non-retrogression, precept, vow, dharma-protection, and dedication. Endowed with these ten minds, they are able to transform sentient beings in a small measure, surpassing all good stages of the two vehicles; this is the initial nurturing of the mind for the bodhisattva, serving as the womb of the noble ones."
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"Furthermore, a bodhisattva of the nature lineage cultivates the ten pāramitās and gives rise to ten antidotes, namely: contemplating the body, feelings, mind, and dharmas as impure, suffering, impermanent, and non-self; counteracting the three unwholesome roots of greed, anger, and delusion by generating the three wholesome roots of giving, loving-kindness, and wisdom; and contemplating the three periods of time with patience toward past causes, patience toward present causes and effects, and patience toward future effects. Bodhisattvas at this stage broadly benefit sentient beings, transcending the notion of self-view, person-view, sentient beings, and so forth, unable to be broken by the inverted notions of non-Buddhists."
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"Furthermore, a bodhisattva of the path lineage cultivates the ten dedications and gives rise to ten kṣānti-minds, that is, contemplating the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, karmic formations, and consciousness—to attain the kṣāntis of precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and liberation-knowledge-and-vision; contemplating the causes and effects of the three realms to attain the kṣāntis of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness; contemplating the two truths, provisional and real, and the impermanence of all dharmas to attain the kṣānti of impermanence, and the emptiness of all dharmas to attain the kṣānti of non-arising. A bodhisattva at this stage becomes a wheel-turning king and is able to broadly transform and benefit all sentient beings."
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"Furthermore, bodhisattvas of faithful kṣānti refer to the Stage of Joy, the Stage of Purity, and the Stage of Emitting Light; they can cut off the three hindrances and the bonds of physical defilements; practice the four means of embrace—giving, kind speech, beneficial action, and common work; cultivate the four immeasurables—the immeasurable mind of loving-kindness, the immeasurable mind of compassion, the immeasurable mind of joy, and the immeasurable mind of equanimity; are endowed with the four universal vows—cutting off all entanglements and coverings, constantly transforming sentient beings, cultivating the Buddha's knowledge and vision, and realizing unexcelled awakening; and abide in the three doors of liberation—the door of liberation of emptiness, the door of liberation of signlessness, and the door of liberation of wishlessness. This is the root of all practices from the initial aspiration up to omniscience for bodhisattva mahāsattvas, benefiting and bringing peace and happiness to all sentient beings."
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"Furthermore, bodhisattvas of compliant kṣānti refer to the Stage of Blazing Wisdom, the Stage Difficult to Conquer, and the Stage of Presence; they can cut off the three hindrances and the bonds of mental defilements, and in a single body can travel throughout hundreds of millions of Buddha lands in the ten directions, manifesting ineffable supernormal powers and transformations to benefit and bring joy to sentient beings."
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"Furthermore, bodhisattvas of non-arising kṣānti refer to the Far-Reaching Stage, the Immovable Stage, and the Stage of Good Wisdom; they can cut off the three hindrances and the karmic impressions of both physical and mental defilements, and are able to manifest ineffable bodies to benefit all sentient beings according to their categories."
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"Furthermore, as for cessation kṣānti, Buddhas and bodhisattvas equally rely on this kṣānti: one who abides in the lower kṣānti stage with the vajra-like concentration is called a bodhisattva, while reaching the upper kṣānti is called all-knowledge. Contemplating the ultimate truth and cutting off the marks of ignorance is equal enlightenment; having one single mark that is markless, equal and non-dual, is the eleventh stage of all-knowledge. Neither existing nor non-existing, serenely pure, without coming or going, constantly abiding and unchanging, identical to the limit of reality, equal to the dharmatā, with unconditioned great compassion constantly transforming sentient beings, they ride the vehicle of all-knowledge to come and transform the three realms."
1.40
"Good son! All defilements of sentient beings—the ripened karmic fruits and the twenty-two faculties—do not go beyond the three realms, which the Buddhas indicate and guide; the response body, transformation body, and Dharma body are also not separated from this. If anyone says: 'Apart from the three realms, there is separately another realm of sentient beings,' that is the preaching of the Great Being Sūtra of the non-Buddhists."
1.41
"Great King! I always tell sentient beings: 'Merely cutting off ignorance in the three realms completely is named being a Buddha.' Self-nature purity is called the nature of original enlightenment, which is the omniscience of all Buddhas. Thereby it serves as the root of sentient beings and also as the root of the practices of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. These are the fourteen kṣāntis within the five kṣānti dharmas originally cultivated by bodhisattvas."
1.42
The Buddha said: "Great King! You previously asked, 'How do bodhisattvas transform sentient beings?' Bodhisattvas mahāsattvas should transform them in this way: from the first ground through the subsequent grounds, because of their complete knowledge and vision of their own sphere of practice and the sphere of practice of the buddhas. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in a hundred buddha-lands, he acts as a wheel-turning sage king of Jambudvīpa, cultivates the hundred gateways to the illumination of dharmas, abides in an impartial mind through dāna-pāramitā, and transforms all sentient beings of the four continents. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in a thousand buddha-lands, he acts as king of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, cultivates the thousand gateways to the illumination of dharmas, expounds the ten paths of wholesome action, and transforms all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in ten thousand buddha-lands, he acts as king of the Yāma Heaven, cultivates the ten thousand gateways to the illumination of dharmas, relies on the four dhyānas, and transforms all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in one hundred million buddha-lands, he acts as king of the Tuṣita Heaven, cultivates the one hundred million gateways to the illumination of dharmas, practices the bodhipakṣadharmas, and transforms all sentient beings. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in ten billion buddha-lands, he acts as king of the Nirmāṇarati Heaven, cultivates the ten billion gateways to the illumination of dharmas, and transforms all sentient beings by means of the two truths and four truths. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in one hundred billion buddha-lands, he acts as king of the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven, cultivates the one hundred billion gateways to the illumination of dharmas, and transforms all sentient beings through knowledge of the twelve links of dependent origination. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in one trillion buddha-lands, he acts as a Brahmā king of the first dhyāna, cultivates the one trillion gateways to the illumination of dharmas, and transforms all sentient beings through knowledge of skillful means. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in buddha-lands as numerous as the dust motes of a million worlds, he acts as a Brahmā king of the second dhyāna, cultivates gateways to the illumination of dharmas as numerous as the dust motes of a million worlds, and transforms all sentient beings through the vow-knowledge of supernormal powers that equally illumines both [truths]. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in buddha-lands as numerous as the dust motes of a hundred trillion asaṃkhyeyas of worlds, he acts as a Brahmā king of the third dhyāna, cultivates gateways to the illumination of dharmas as numerous as the dust motes of a hundred trillion asaṃkhyeyas of worlds, and transforms all sentient beings by means of the four unimpeded knowledges. If a bodhisattva mahāsattva abides in ineffably ineffable buddha-lands, he acts as a Great Brahmā Heavenly King of the fourth dhyāna, becomes king of the three realms, cultivates ineffably ineffable gateways to the illumination of dharmas, attains the samādhi of exhausting principle, shares the sphere of practice with the buddhas, exhausts the source of the three realms, universally benefits sentient beings, and matches the sphere of a buddha. This is how bodhisattvas mahāsattvas manifest bodies of various kings to guide and transform beings. The Tathāgatas of the ten directions are also like this: having realized unsurpassed awakening, they are constantly omnipresent across the dharma realm, benefiting and bringing joy to sentient beings."
1.43
At that time, the entire great assembly rose from their seats, scattered ineffable flowers, burned ineffable incense, and made offerings to, revered, and praised the Tathāgata. Then King Prasenajit praised [the Buddha] in verse before the Buddha, saying:
1.44
"The Bhagavat, the Guide, of adamantine body,
With mental activities extinguished, turns the wheel of Dharma;
With the eight eloquence-qualities of a complete voice, he expounds it,
And hundreds of thousands of myriads of the assembled attain the Way.
Devas and humans alike cultivate the practice of renunciation,
Able to train in all the bodhisattva paths.
The wondrous Dharma gateway of the merits of the five kṣāntis,
The fourteen bodhisattvas are able to comprehend clearly.
The three ranks of sages and ten holy ones practice within kṣānti;
Only the Buddha alone can exhaust the source.
The vast ocean of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha is the treasury of the Three Jewels,
In which immeasurable merits are contained.
The bodhisattvas of the ten virtues generate the great mind,
Bidding long farewell to the ocean of suffering's cycle in the three realms:
Inferior and middling virtues make millet-scattered kings;
Superior ten virtues make iron-wheel kings.
The lineage of practice, copper-wheel, [rules] two continents;
The silver-wheel, three heavens, is the lineage of inherent nature.
The lineage of the Path, of firm virtue, is the wheel-turning king,
With seven jewels and a golden wheel [ruling] the four continents.
The thirty individuals in the holy womb of subduing kṣānti—
The ten abidings, ten practices, and ten dedications—
All buddhas of the three times train within them;
None is not born from this subduing kṣānti.
It is the root of the practices of all bodhisattvas;
Therefore generating the mind and faith is difficult.
If one attains faithful mind, one will never retrogress,
Entering the path of the non-arising first ground.
Transforming and benefiting oneself and others all equally:
This is called the bodhisattva's initial generation of the mind.
The Pramuditā bodhisattva is a wheel-turning king,
Initially illumining the equal principle of the two truths;
Expediently transforming sentient beings, he roams a hundred lands;
Pure in dāna-giving, he benefits the multitude of beings.
Prajñā that enters principle is called 'abiding';
Abiding that gives birth to virtuous conduct is called 'ground'.
The first abiding with one mind is endowed with all virtues,
Remaining unmoving within paramārtha.
The Vimalā bodhisattva is king of Trāyastriṃśa,
Manifesting forms in the six destinies across a thousand lands;
His feet of discipline pure and entirely complete,
He leaves far behind all faults of erroneous infractions.
Without characteristics, without conditions, of real nature;
Without substance, without arising, without dual illumination:
The Prabhākarī bodhisattva is king of Yāma,
Responding in form, he travels to ten thousand buddha-lands.
He skillfully penetrates samādhis,
Concealing or revealing at will, endowed with the three knowledges.
Pramuditā, Vimalā, and Prabhākarī
Can extinguish the afflictions of physical bondage;
Comprehensively observing all deeds of body and speech,
The purity of the dharmatā is illumined completely.
The Arciṣmatī bodhisattva has great energetic vigor,
As king of Tuṣita Heaven traveling through a hundred million lands;
Real knowledge is quiescent, and expedient knowledge
Penetrates the principle of non-arising, illumining both emptiness and existence.
The Sudurjayā bodhisattva attains impartiality,
As king of Nirmāṇarati Heaven in ten billion lands.
Contemplating emptiness of emptiness without dual characteristics,
He extends his form into the six destinies without exception.
The Abhimukhī bodhisattva is the Sovereign King,
Illumining and seeing that characteristics arisen from conditions are not dual;
The light of paramārtha knowledge can pervade everywhere,
As he travels to a hundred billion lands to transform sentient beings.
The grounds of Arciṣmatī, Sudurjayā, and Abhimukhī
Can sever the three obstructions and the delusions of a confused mind;
Quiescent wisdom of emptiness, a contemplation without conditions,
Reflects back to illumine the limitless realm of the empty mind.
The Dūraṅgamā bodhisattva is king of the first dhyāna,
Abiding in signlessness and anutpattikadharmakṣānti;
With skillful means all impartial,
He constantly transforms beings in a trillion lands.
Entering the ground of the flow of Dharma, the Acalā,
Forever free from fragmented [birth and death], transcending all realms of existence,
Constantly contemplating paramārtha, illumining non-duality,
In twenty-one births of empty and quiescent practice,
The latent ignorance of clinging to the Dharma that accords with the Path—
The great being of Dūraṅgamā alone can sever it.
The Acalā bodhisattva is king of the second dhyāna,
Attaining a transformational body, constantly at ease;
Able to be in lands like the dust motes of a million worlds,
According to their shapes and kinds, he transforms sentient beings;
Fully knowing the immeasurable kalpas of the three times,
He remains unmoving in the ultimate truth.
The Sādhumatī bodhisattva is king of the third dhyāna,
Able to manifest simultaneously in a thousand Ganges [sands of worlds];
Constantly in unconditioned, empty and quiescent practice,
In a single thought he comprehends the buddha-treasuries like Ganges sands.
The Dharmameghā bodhisattva is king of the fourth dhyāna,
Transforming beings in a hundred million Ganges [sands of] lands;
First entering the vajra[-like samādhi], everything is understood;
Twenty-nine births are forever transcended;
Contemplating the lower kṣānti within quiescent kṣānti,
With one turn he reaches wondrous awakening, the unequaled.
The grounds of Acalā, Sādhumatī, and Dharmameghā
Eliminate all previous latent habits of ignorance;
The characteristics and consciousness of latent ignorance are transformed together;
The principle of the two truths is perfected, leaving nothing unexhausted.
Correct awakening is formless, pervading the dharma realm;
Thirty births exhausted, knowledge is completely luminous;
Quiescent illumination, unconditioned, true liberation;
Responding with great compassion, unequaled by any;
Serene and unmoving, constantly at peace;
Radiant light shines everywhere, yet has nothing illumined.
The three ranks of sages and ten holy ones abide in retribution;
Only the Buddha alone dwells in the Pure Land.
All sentient beings abide only temporarily;
Having ascended the adamantine source, one is constantly unmoving.
The Tathāgata's three karmas are of immeasurable virtue;
He extends equal compassion toward all sentient beings.
The Dharma King is the supreme tree among humans,
Universally shading the great assembly with immeasurable light.
His mouth constantly expounds the Dharma, never without meaning;
The knowledge of his mind is quiescent, illuminating without conditions.
The lion among humans expounds it for us,
Profound sentences and meanings never before heard;
Lands numerous as dust and sand all tremble and shake;
The great assembly rejoices, all receiving benefit.
The Bhagavat has skillfully spoken of the fourteen kings;
Therefore I now bow down my head in reverence."
1.45
At that time, the great assembly, [vast as] the sands of hundreds of thousands of myriads of Ganges Rivers, hearing the Buddha, the Bhagavat, and King Prasenajit explain the immeasurable merits of the fourteen kṣāntis, obtained great benefit of the Dharma, comprehended through hearing the Dharma, attained anutpattikadharmakṣānti, and entered the correct state.
1.46
At that time, the Bhagavat addressed the great assembly, saying: "This King Prasenajit, in the past ten thousand kalpas ago under the Dharma of the Buddha King of Dragon Light, was a bodhisattva of the fourth ground, and I was a bodhisattva of the eighth ground. Now before me he roars the great lion's roar. So it is, so it is! It is just as you have spoken. Attaining the real meaning is inconceivable; only a buddha and a buddha can know this matter.
1.47
"Good sons! These fourteen kṣāntis, the dharmakāya of all buddhas and the practice of all bodhisattvas, are inconceivable and immeasurable. Why is this? All buddhas are born from within Prajñāpāramitā, transform [beings] from within Prajñāpāramitā, and pass into cessation from within Prajñāpāramitā. Yet in truth, for the buddhas, birth has nothing that is born, transformation has nothing that is transformed, and cessation has nothing that ceases. It is primary and non-dual, neither characteristic nor uncharacterized, without self and without other, without coming and without going, just like empty space.
1.48
"Good sons! The nature of all sentient beings is without birth or cessation; they exist through the aggregation of dharmas, like an illusion or transformation. The characteristics of the aggregates, realms, and bases are without combination or dispersal; dharmas are identical to the dharmatā, quiescent and empty. All sentient beings are inherently pure; all actions they perform are without bondage and without release, neither cause nor effect, yet not non-cause and non-effect. The afflictions of experiencing various sufferings, the grasping at the characteristics of self, of person, of knower, of seer, and of experiencer—all are empty. The objective realm of dharmas is empty: empty, signless, and wishless, neither conforming to distortion nor conforming to illusion, without the characteristics of the six destinies, without the characteristics of the four modes of birth, without the characteristics of holy persons, and without the characteristics of the Three Jewels, just like empty space.
1.49
"Good sons! Profound prajñā is without knowing and without seeing, does not act and does not take objects, neither abandons nor receives; it abides correctly in observation without the mark of illumination, for one who walks this path is like empty space. The characteristics of dharmas being like this, a mind of attainment and a mind of non-attainment are both ungraspable. Therefore, prajñā is neither identical to the five aggregates nor separate from the five aggregates; neither identical to sentient beings nor separate from sentient beings; neither identical to objective realms nor separate from objective realms; neither identical to practice and understanding nor separate from practice and understanding. Such characteristics as these are inconceivable. For this reason, in all practices cultivated by bodhisattvas mahāsattvas, while not yet having reached the ultimate they practice within it; all buddhas know them to be like illusions and transformations, attain the signless state of non-abiding, and within it transform [beings]. Therefore, the fourteen kṣāntis are inconceivable.
1.50
"Good sons! This treasury of merits that you have now spoken is of great benefit to all sentient beings. Even if bodhisattvas of the tenth ground numbering as the sands of immeasurable Ganges Rivers were to speak of these merits, [their speech would be only] one hundred-thousand-millionth part, like a single drop in the ocean. The buddhas of the three times know it in accordance with reality, and all worthy and holy ones praise it. Therefore, I now briefly set forth a small fraction of the merits you have spoken.
1.51
"Good sons! These fourteen kṣāntis are what all bodhisattvas of the ten directions in the past and present cultivate, and what all buddhas reveal; so too it will be for the buddhas and bodhisattvas mahāsattvas of the future. If a buddha or bodhisattva does not attain all-knowledge through this gateway, there is no such possibility. Why is this? Because for buddhas and bodhisattvas there is no other path.
1.52
"Good sons! If a person hears of this kṣānti of abiding, kṣānti of practice, kṣānti of dedication, kṣānti of joy, kṣānti of freedom from defilement, kṣānti of emanation of light, kṣānti of blazing wisdom, kṣānti of being difficult to conquer, kṣānti of presence, kṣānti of traveling far, kṣānti of unmoving, kṣānti of good wisdom, kṣānti of the Dharma cloud, and kṣānti of correct awakening, and is able to give rise to a single thought of pure faith, this person will transcend all sufferings and hardships for a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, and kalpas immeasurable and boundless as the sands of the Ganges, will not be born in the evil destinies, and before long will attain anuttarāsamyaksaṃbodhi." At that time, ten billion bodhisattvas mahāsattvas equally named Ākāśagarbha, along with the immeasurable, incalculable great assembly that had gathered, leaped with joy, and relying on the Buddha's spiritual power, universally saw the buddhas [numerous as] the sands of the Ganges in the ten directions, each in their bodhimaṇḍa expounding the fourteen kṣāntis no differently from what our Bhagavat had spoken; and each rejoiced, cultivating Prajñāpāramitā as spoken.
1.53
At that time the Bhagavat said to King Prasenajit: "You asked before: 'Abiding in what characteristics should one contemplate?' A bodhisattva mahāsattva should contemplate thus: seeing illusory transformations by means of an illusory body, and abiding properly in equanimity without self and other. Thus contemplating, they transform and benefit sentient beings. Yet for sentient beings through distant kalpas, their first moment of consciousness was distinct from wood and stone; having acquired defilement and purity by birth, each can be the root of immeasurable and countless defiled and pure consciousnesses. From that first moment for ineffable kalpas, down to the final moment of the vajra[-like concentration], there are ineffable, ineffable consciousnesses that produce the two dharmas of form and mind in sentient beings—form is named the form aggregate, and mind is named the four aggregates—all are of an accumulative nature, concealing reality.
1.54
"Great King! This single dharma of form produces immeasurable forms: obtained by the eye it is form, obtained by the ear it is sound, obtained by the nose it is odor, obtained by the tongue it is taste, and obtained by the body it is touch; firmness is named earth, moisture is named water, warmth is named fire, and lightness and movement are named wind; the places where the five consciousnesses arise are named the five physical faculties. In this way, alternating in succession, one form and one mind produce ineffable, immeasurable forms and minds, for all are like illusions.
1.55
"Good son! The experiences of sentient beings are established based on the conventional, whether as existent or non-existent. Only that which gives rise to sentient beings' false conceptualizations and recollections, creating karma and experiencing retribution, is called conventional truth. All sentient beings of the three realms and six destinies—brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras, with their views of self and person—their dharmas of form and dharmas of mind are like what is seen in a dream.
1.56
"Good son! All names are nominal designations. Before the appearance of a Buddha, the illusory dharmas of conventional truth have no names, no referents, and no substantial characteristics; there are no names of the three realms, nor names of wholesome or unwholesome karmic retributions and the six destinies. When Buddhas appear, for the sake of sentient beings, they speak of the immeasurable names of the three realms, the six destinies, defilement, and purity. All of these are like the echo of a cry. All dharmas are in unbroken continuity, not abiding from thought to thought, moment to moment, neither one nor different, rapidly arising and rapidly ceasing, neither annihilated nor eternal; for all conditioned dharmas are like a mirage. Dharmas exist in mutual dependence: namely, the form realm, the eye realm, the eye-consciousness realm, up to the dharma realm, the mind realm, and the mind-consciousness realm, are like flashes of lightning, having no fixed mutual dependence, neither existence nor non-existence, neither oneness nor difference, like a second moon; dharmas are formed by conditions. The dharmas of the aggregates, bases, and realms are like bubbles upon water; dharmas are formed by causes. For all sentient beings, simultaneous causes and effects and asynchronous causes and effects, and the wholesome and unwholesome of the three periods of time, are like clouds in the sky.
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Linked texts (1)
- 仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經 — Classical Chinese