地藏菩薩本願經 地神護法品

The main exposition has been spoken through. One thing is left: on whom this sūtra now rests.

And the first to rise is not a great bodhisattva but a spirit who has charge of the ground.

A Day When It Is Finished, and No Such Day

When the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable opens her mouth, the whole of her first passage is given to others: from times long past she has gazed up at and bowed her head to measureless bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. And then she raises one alone — among all the bodhisattvas, Kṣitigarbha’s vow is the deepest and the weightiest.

The ones she sets beside him are Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, and Maitreya. These four likewise manifest a hundred thousand kinds of body and form, likewise deliver beings in the six destinies; and yet a day comes when their vows are done.

To be done is to have a day when it ends. Those four have that day; this one does not.

A Heap of Earth, a Few Stalks of Bamboo

The manner of offering she describes is very concrete: upon clean ground to the south, with earth and stone, bamboo and wood, one makes a niche-chamber; within it one sculpts and paints, and even with gold, silver, bronze, and iron makes an image of Kṣitigarbha.

Two sets of materials are written side by side. Earth, stone, bamboo, and wood can be picked up underfoot; gold, silver, bronze, and iron must be bought. The sūtra makes no ranking between them.

So whoever wants to do it is not kept out by the materials.

Ten Household Matters

The dwelling place of such a person then obtains ten kinds of benefit — ten matters, set out one after another:

the soil rich and abundant; house and home at peace forever; those who died before born into the heavens; those now living with their lifespan increased; what is sought fulfilled according to one’s wish; no calamity of water or fire; waste and loss warded off; bad dreams cut off; going out and coming in, the guard of spirits; often meeting with holy causes.

Crops, house, forebears, length of days, livelihood, flood and fire, wastage, sleep, going out and coming in. The first nine are all within the human world, and they run in the order in which a household worries its way through a year.

Only the last of them turns aside. And what does a holy cause mean? Hearing the Dharma, keeping the fast, giving, sculpting an image, and the like — which is precisely the matter named in her first sentence.

So the ten matters close into a ring: whoever has done this thing will meet more often with the chance to do it once again. The fruit that was asked for turns out to be the next cause.

Why a Hundred Thousand Times

The Buddha answers her at once with praise: your great spiritual power is such as few among the spirits can match. Then he sets out what she has charge of: on down to grass and trees, sand and stones, rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds, grain and rice, treasures and shells — whatever comes to be from the earth, all of it is by her power.

Grass and trees, sand and stones, rice and hemp, bamboo and reeds, grain and treasures — all of this was already hers to keep.

And then the sentence that turns it: and you constantly praise and proclaim Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s deeds of benefit; your merit, and your spiritual penetration too, are a hundred thousand times those of an ordinary earth spirit.

The hundred thousand times does not come from the end where she bears things up; it comes from the one sentence in which she spoke another’s good aloud.

What Is Asked Is One Sūtra Only

Whom is he to protect? The Buddha draws the range narrowly: one who practices by relying on this single matter, the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha, alone.

One word: only. Nothing is added above; something is taken away below.

The Outermost of Three Tiers

And the manner of the guarding draws its boundary in a singular place: do not let any calamity, nor any matter that goes against his wish, so much as reach his ear — how much less let him undergo it?

The line is drawn not at the body but at the ear. Hearing, seeing, and undergoing in the body are three tiers, and the line falls upon the outermost of them.

The Shortest Chapter Goes the Farthest

The whole chapter closes in one sentence: such a person of himself, and without fail, comes out of the sea of suffering and realizes the bliss of nirvāṇa.

The sea of suffering is that same sea reached in the introductory section by the daughter who recollected the Buddha for one day and one night.

And this chapter began from the earth. It opens with a heap of soil and closes with coming out of the sea of suffering.

One end lies underfoot and the other at the farthest remove, with a single chapter standing between them.

Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Earth Spirit’s Protection of the Dharma” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the eleventh chapter of Fascicle Two, from the title of the chapter down to “for this reason he gains the great guarding.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.

〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0787a15）The Earth Spirit’s Protection of the Dharma, Chapter Eleven.

〔2 · The earth spirit Firm-and-Stable tells of those she venerated in the past〕（0787a16）At that time the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable (the spirit who has charge of the earth of one quarter; the Sanskrit name was transcribed of old as Nielichu, and rendered into Chinese as Firm-and-Stable. Spoken of on the side of phenomena, the name is taken from her power to bear up and to bring forth, to enrich the savor of the earth, to nourish the myriad people and to settle the kinds of beings; spoken of on the side of the Dharma, it is taken from the gate of the perfection of wisdom, constant and unchanging) said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! From times long past I have gazed up at and bowed my head to measureless bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and all of them possess vast and inconceivable spiritual power and wisdom, and deliver beings far and wide.

〔3 · Praising Kṣitigarbha, whose vow is deep and weighty · his great bond with Jambudvīpa〕（0787a18）“This Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, among all the bodhisattvas, has a vow the deepest and the weightiest. World-Honored One! This Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva has a great bond of causes with Jambudvīpa (this continent of ours, where we dwell).

〔4 · Four great beings raised for comparison〕（0787a20）“Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, and Maitreya likewise each manifest a hundred thousand kinds of body and form and deliver beings in the six destinies; yet their vows still have an end at which they are done.

〔5 · Displaying that his teaching and transforming cannot be measured〕（0787a21）“This Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, teaching and transforming all beings of the six destinies, has vowed for kalpas as many as the sands of a hundred thousand koṭis of Ganges rivers.

〔6 · A niche-chamber made in the south · an image sculpted and offerings made〕（0787a23）“World-Honored One! I observe the beings of ages to come and of the present age: in the place where such a one dwells, upon clean ground to the south, with earth and stone, bamboo and wood, he makes a niche-chamber (a niche was glossed of old as a dragon’s den, taking the sense of lying hidden with the door shut, still to the utmost degree). Within it he is able to sculpt and to paint, and even with gold, silver, bronze, or iron to make an image of Kṣitigarbha, burning incense and making offerings, gazing and bowing and praising.

〔7 · The ten benefits marked out〕（0787a26）“The dwelling place of such a person then obtains ten kinds of benefit.

〔8 · The ten named one by one〕（0787a27）“What are the ten? First, the soil is rich and abundant — the land where he dwells is fertile (abundant means full and great; in glossing the soil, the reading handed down cites that soft earth without clods is called loam, that is, earth soft and free of clods). Second, house and home are at peace forever — household and dwelling are settled and quiet for long. Third, those who have died before are born into the heavens — the forebears already departed are born above. Fourth, those now living have their lifespan increased — those alive at present gain added years. Fifth, what is sought is fulfilled according to one’s wish — whatever is asked for accords with the heart (glossed of old as: to follow one’s intent is to have it fulfilled). Sixth, there are no calamities of water or fire — neither flood nor fire befalls. Seventh, waste and loss are warded off — waste (the old reading cites that what is much and disordered is called waste, a diminishing and dissipating) is driven away. Eighth, bad dreams are cut off — evil dreams are cut off and do not arise. Ninth, going out and coming in one is guarded by spirits — leaving the door and entering it, one has the gods for escort. Tenth, one often meets with holy causes — one meets again and again with the causes of becoming holy.

〔9 · Concluding: the cause cultivated and the benefit obtained〕（0787b02）“World-Honored One! If in ages to come, and among the beings of the present, one can in the quarter where he dwells make offerings in this way, he obtains benefits such as these.”

〔10 · Reciting the scripture and making offerings to the image · untimely disasters extinguished〕（0787b04）The earth spirit Firm-and-Stable said to the Buddha again: “World-Honored One! If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who, in the place where he dwells, has this scripture and an image of the bodhisattva, and if that person is further able to recite the scripture aloud and make offerings to the bodhisattva, I shall constantly, by day and by night, with my own spiritual power guard and protect that person, so that flood, fire, robbers and thieves, great untimely disasters and lesser untimely disasters, and all evil things whatsoever shall be extinguished entirely.”

〔11 · The Buddha praises the earth spirit’s spiritual power〕（0787b08）The Buddha said to the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable: “Your great spiritual power is such as few among the spirits can match.

〔12 · Unfolding what she has charge of〕（0787b09）“Why is this? The soil of Jambudvīpa is wholly under your protection; and on down to grass and trees, sand and stones, rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds, grain and rice, treasures and shells — whatever comes to be from the earth, all is by your power.

〔13 · Confirming her praising of his deeds of benefit〕（0787b11）“And you constantly praise and proclaim Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s deeds of benefit; your merit, and your spiritual penetration too, are a hundred thousand times those of an ordinary earth spirit.

〔14 · Good men and women who make offerings and recite · practicing by relying on this one thing alone〕（0787b12）“If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who makes offerings to the bodhisattva and recites this scripture aloud, one who practices by relying on this single matter, the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha, alone —

〔15 · The earth spirit is charged to guard and to remove calamity〕（0787b15）“then with your own spiritual power do you guard and protect him. Do not let any calamity, nor any matter that goes against his wish, so much as reach his ear — how much less let him undergo it?

〔16 · The gods too guard this person〕（0787b16）“And it is not that you alone protect this person: there are also the retinues of Śakra and of Brahmā, and the retinues of the gods, who guard this person.

〔17 · The meaning of the guarding explained〕（0787b18）“Why does he gain the guarding of such holy and worthy ones? It is all because he gazes upon and bows to the image of Kṣitigarbha and recites aloud this Sūtra of the Original Vows. Such a person of himself, and without fail, comes out of the sea of suffering and realizes the bliss of nirvāṇa. For this reason he gains the great guarding.”

The only commentary on this sūtra now extant that runs through it phrase by phrase is the Outline and Commentary on the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva in six fascicles, by Lingcheng, the śramaṇa styled Qinglian, of the Qing; before it stands the Guiding Thread in one fascicle. The main exposition of the whole sūtra runs only as far as the weighing of giving in the chapter before, and this chapter is the opening of the section of transmission: 「大章第三，流通」—“the third great division: transmission” 〔X21n0384 0748a16〕, and beneath it a division into three — 「初、地神護法流通；二、見聞利益流通；三、囑累人天流通」—“first, the transmission of the earth spirit’s protection of the Dharma; second, the transmission of the benefit of seeing and hearing; third, the transmission of the entrustment to humans and gods.” 〔X21n0384 0748a17〕 The two characters for transmission he takes apart to gloss: 「流名下注，通名不壅」—“Liu names a flowing downward; tong names an unobstructedness.” 〔X21n0384 0748a18〕, like water running down with nothing to block it the whole way. The path within the chapter he opens just as bluntly: 「初、堅牢歎德；二、教主述成」—“first, Firm-and-Stable praises his virtue; second, the master of the teaching confirms it.” 〔X21n0384 0748a24〕 — the first half the earth spirit speaks, the second half the Buddha. In glossing the title of this chapter he raises the earth spirit and the four heavenly kings as a pair: 「以天王是陽故如父，地神是陰故如母」—“because the heavenly kings are yang they are as a father, and because the earth spirit is yin she is as a mother.” 〔X21n0383 0651a17〕, closing at the last upon the line 「以具四悉檀義，故能為神，主閻浮提，而護本願法門」—“because she is complete in the sense of the four siddhāntas she can be a spirit, have charge of Jambudvīpa, and protect the Dharma-gate of the original vows.” 〔X21n0383 0651a22〕 What is said below still begins by watching how the sūtra itself walks.

The Shortest Chapter in the Whole Sūtra

This chapter is short. From the title to the close it is five hundred and sixty-four characters — the shortest of the thirteen chapters, more than a hundred characters shorter than the next shortest, the chapter on the assembly of the divided bodies.

And it has no small business to do: the earth spirit first praises Kṣitigarbha, then tells the ten benefits of making offerings to his image, then vows to guard those who recite the scripture; the Buddha then praises her spiritual power, explains what she has charge of, hands over whom she is to protect, and last makes plain why even the gods will come to guard. Seven matters, in a little over five hundred characters.

A sūtra written this far has finished its main exposition. What is next to be handed over is this: what is to be done once it has been spoken. And the first answer the sūtra gives is not to call in another great bodhisattva to lend his power, but to let a spirit who has charge of the ground stand up.

The commentator of old explains for her why she stepped out of rank to speak: to spread a sūtra one must have ground, and to turn the Dharma one must have food — 「意道弘經必藉地，轉法須賴食」—“The sense is that spreading a sūtra must depend on ground, and turning the Dharma must rely on food.” 〔X21n0384 0748b18〕; the ground is what I have charge of and the food is what I bring forth, and 「若吾不護持，其何以流通哉」—“if I do not guard and uphold it, how then is it to be transmitted?” 〔X21n0384 0748b19〕 And so, before the great assembly in the heavenly palace and from among measureless earth spirits, she 「毅然任護法之重擔」—“resolutely took up the heavy burden of protecting the Dharma.” 〔X21n0384 0748b20〕

Transmission is not an abstract matter. For a sūtra to be handed down there must be ground a person can stand on, and a belly that has eaten its fill.

Who Firm-and-Stable Is

The sūtra text writes only the four characters 「堅牢地神」 — the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable — and gives no introduction.

The commentator of old fills in two layers. Spoken of on the side of phenomena, the name is 「取力能承載發生，資益地味，養育萬民，安立羣品」—“taken from her power to bear up and to bring forth, to enrich the savor of the earth, to nourish the myriad people, and to settle the kinds of beings.” 〔X21n0384 0748b06〕; spoken of on the side of the Dharma, it is 「以智度法門，常無改變」—“because the gate of the perfection of wisdom is constant and undergoes no change.” 〔X21n0384 0748b07〕 The latter layer is matched further with the four virtues of permanence, bliss, self, and purity: 「常也，能荷山川；樂也，能生萬物；淨也，地力自在」—“permanence: she can carry mountains and rivers; bliss: she can bring forth the myriad things; purity: the power of the earth is sovereign.” 〔X21n0384 0748b07〕, and self is complete in her as well, so that with the four virtues in place she is called a spirit.

There is also a question and an answer that looks like an idle stroke and is not idle at all: 「問：地神男耶？女耶？答：女神也」—“Question: is the earth spirit male or female? Answer: a female spirit.” 〔X21n0384 0748b10〕 The ground of it is the four great heavenly spirits recorded in the Dīrgha Āgama — earth, water, wind, and fire — where the earth spirit had held fast to the view that within earth there is no water, fire, or wind; the Buddha taught her the Dharma, and far from dust and parted from defilement she gained the pure eye of Dharma, and thereupon declared her taking of refuge, vowing that to the end of her life she would not kill, and on down to not drinking liquor: 「聽我於正法中為優婆夷」—“Permit me to be an upāsikā within the right Dharma.” 〔X21n0384 0748b16〕 She is an upāsikā, and 「故知是女神也」—“hence it is known that she is a female spirit.” 〔X21n0384 0748b17〕

A laywoman who once held a wrong view, was persuaded by the Buddha, and took the five precepts. Such is the provenance of the protector of the Dharma in this chapter.

This sūtra has written it so all along: in the gathering of the introductory section, the ghost kings who devour blood and devour vital essence arrive listed together with the ghost king Kindly-Hearted and the ghost king Great Love and Reverence; and by the chapter on King Yama and his multitude, those who vow to guard beings are that very company of ghost kings.

What She Speaks of First Is Not Herself

The whole of the earth spirit’s first passage, when she opens her mouth, is given to others.

She says that from times long past she has gazed up at and bowed her head to measureless bodhisattvas, and then raises one alone: among all the bodhisattvas, Kṣitigarbha’s vow is the deepest and the weightiest. Set against him are Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, and Maitreya — these four also manifest a hundred thousand kinds of body and form and deliver beings in the six destinies, and yet “their vows still have an end at which they are done.”

To be done means that a day comes when it is finished.

This sentence is easily read as a ranking. The commentator of old sets a line across it here: 「非謂功德有優劣，正以誓願有畢竟不畢竟耳」—“It is not to say that their merit is better or worse; it is only that a vow may or may not have an end at which it is done.” 〔X21n0384 0748c14〕 — not that merit stands higher or lower, but that a vow may or may not have a day on which its term falls due.

Another sūtra of the same honored one has a passage of the same type: 「假使有人，於其彌勒及妙吉祥，并觀自在、普賢之類，而為上首，殑伽沙等諸大菩薩摩訶薩所，於百劫中，至心歸依、稱名、念誦、禮拜、供養、求諸所願」—“Suppose a person, before Maitreya and Mañjuśrī together with Avalokiteśvara and Samantabhadra and their like as the foremost, and before great bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the sands of the Ganges, for a hundred kalpas with utmost mind takes refuge, calls their names, recites, bows, makes offerings, and seeks what he wishes.” 〔T13n0411 0726a10〕, 「不如有人於一食頃，至」—“it does not equal a person who for the space of a single meal, with utmost” 〔T13n0411 0726a13〕 mind takes refuge in Kṣitigarbha. The two sūtras set the same thing in one frame and each says what it says; both are recorded here, and no mediation is made between them on their behalf.

The South, and a Niche-Chamber

What follows is the most concrete passage in the chapter: in the place where one dwells, upon clean ground to the south, one makes a niche-chamber with earth and stone, bamboo and wood; within it one sculpts and paints, and even with gold, silver, bronze, and iron makes an image of Kṣitigarbha, burning incense and making offerings, gazing and bowing and praising.

Before treating this passage the commentator of old sets a word in front of it: 「真智靡方，不局東西南北；法身無像，豈假銅銕金銀」—“True wisdom has no quarter and is not confined to east, west, south, or north; the dharma-body has no image — what need has it of bronze or iron, gold or silver?” 〔X21n0384 0749a15〕 — true wisdom has no direction, and the dharma-body has no form. That being so, why choose a place, and why make an image? He answers it himself in the next breath: 「然地乃供像之所，像為起敬之門」—“Yet ground is the place where an image is offered to, and an image is the gate by which reverence arises.” 〔X21n0384 0749a16〕; 「被俗之儀，不壞假名談實相；闡性之法，必由假相悟真容」—“In the observances that reach the worldly, one does not destroy provisional names in speaking of the real mark; in the dharma that opens out the nature, one must come by way of the provisional mark to awaken to the true countenance.” 〔X21n0384 0749a16〕

Why the south, he gives a reason for that too: to the south of the continent of Jambudvīpa lie the palace and dwelling of King Yama, and 「地藏偏現身地獄，作幽冥教主。故就垂形之處，作室於南」—“Kṣitigarbha manifests his body especially in the hells and is master of the teaching in the dark realms; and so, going by the place where he lets his form down, the chamber is made in the south.” 〔X21n0384 0749a24〕; and it accords besides with the great assembly — 「即大集會中，從南方世界，現香雨華雲而來之意」—“that is, the sense of his coming in the great assembly from a world in the south, manifesting fragrant rain and clouds of flowers.” 〔X21n0384 0749b02〕 Further down he borrows the compass point to say one thing more: the south belongs to the trigram Li, and Li is the sun, and is brightness and beauty, and so to make the chamber and offer to the image at this quarter 「正令人人出坎陷之幽途，升離明之陽地，以陰主死而陽主生也」—“is precisely to let every person come out of the dark road of the pit of Kan and climb to the yang ground of the brightness of Li, since yin governs death and yang governs life.” 〔X21n0384 0749b05〕 This layer may be consulted.

The sūtra states one further condition: clean ground. The commentator does not read it as sweeping the place tidy. He glosses the two characters by the method of building an altar in the esoteric division, saying 「必須穿去穢土，取下淨土」—“one must dig away the foul soil and take the clean soil beneath.” 〔X21n0384 0749b07〕 — the dirty earth above is to be dug off and the clean earth below taken, and the work done in an open quiet grove or on clean ground beside a river, and only then does it accord with the Dharma.

The character for a niche he glosses in a line as well: 「龍窟也」—“a dragon’s den.” 〔X21n0384 0749b09〕, taking the sense of lying hidden with the door shut, still to the utmost degree.

A niche-chamber is therefore not merely a box in which an image is set. To dig down a layer and take the clean earth, and to shut the door and be still to the utmost degree — these two things are themselves the practice. The passage of the chapter that can most readily be followed in deed is here.

And the most important thing in the sūtra text itself lies in the materials. It lists two sets in one breath: earth, stone, bamboo, wood; and gold, silver, bronze, iron. The first set is to be had at hand; the second costs money. The sūtra writes them down side by side, ranks neither above the other, and does not say which carries the greater merit.

The threshold is set at the lowest notch: a heap of earth and a few stalks of bamboo also count.

The Ten Matters Are a Chain

Before the ten benefits the commentator of old sets up a premise. He says of this passage 「此顯人尊處勝」—“this displays that when the person is honored the place excels.” 〔X21n0384 0749b16〕 — only when the person has become honorable does the place he dwells in become excellent along with him.

And by what is the person honored? He divides it into two layers: 「初則一念信解，次則兼行六度」—“first, a single thought of faith and understanding; next, practicing the six perfections alongside it.” 〔X21n0384 0749b17〕 First one hears of Kṣitigarbha’s vow and awesome power and is able to believe and to understand — that is the single thought; only then does one make the chamber, sculpt the image, burn incense, make offerings, gaze and bow and praise — that is the practice. Faith first, practice after; and only when both layers have arrived does he say 「隨所住地，竝名吉祥。故每萃休徵，有十種利益也」—“whatever ground he dwells upon is alike named auspicious; and so good omens gather there again and again, and there are ten kinds of benefit.” 〔X21n0384 0749b18〕

So the ten benefits are not ten rewards handed out; they are that a person who has already given rise to faith and has also set his hands to work makes auspicious whatever place he dwells in.

Nor are the ten benefits ten advantages set out side by side; they are a chain in which each link gives birth to the next.

The commentator of old points it out very plainly: 「列次第相生，則有十利」—“listed in order, each giving birth to the next, there are ten benefits.” 〔X21n0384 0749c01〕; 「首相土地，以立其居；次明家宅，以安其身」—“first he looks to the soil, so as to establish his dwelling; next he makes plain house and home, so as to settle his body.” 〔X21n0384 0749c01〕, and so on down the line, 「乃至鬼神護助，以終遇聖因」—“and on to the guarding help of ghosts and spirits, ending with the meeting of holy causes.” 〔X21n0384 0749c02〕

Walk the chain through once: first the soil is rich and abundant, and only then can the dwelling be set up; the soil being good, 「既得豐壤之土地，則家宅可永安矣」—“having gained rich and abundant soil, house and home may be at peace forever.” 〔X21n0384 0749c13〕; the living being settled, the blessing reaches back to the forebears, and those who died before are born into the heavens; and if it is so even for the forebears, how much more for those now alive — and so those now living have their lifespan increased; and having a lifespan while nothing else goes smoothly would not count, and so what is sought is fulfilled according to one’s wish — 「既有壽已，而諸事不諧，曷足貴乎。今凡所祈求，莫不遂意」—“Having gained long life, if all one’s affairs do not go smoothly, what is there in it to prize? Now whatever is prayed for is in every case fulfilled according to one’s wish.” 〔X21n0384 0749c24〕

Thus far it has run inward. Now it turns outward: 「遂意在內，災祥在外」—“the fulfilling of one’s wish is within; calamity and good fortune are without.” 〔X21n0384 0750a04〕, and so there are no calamities of water or fire; and with the outside at peace, waste and loss must still be warded off — 「內外雖獲安寧，又須辟除虗耗」—“though peace has been gained within and without, waste and loss must still be warded off.” 〔X21n0384 0750a10〕; the day’s affairs going smoothly, one must still sleep soundly at night, and so bad dreams are cut off — 「晝既諸緣順適，夜須眠夢安祥」—“the day’s conditions being agreeable, sleep and dreams at night must be tranquil.” 〔X21n0384 0750a16〕; dreams being at peace, going out and coming in must be at peace too, and so one is guarded by spirits going out and coming in — 「日居月諸，坐享貞吉；晝出夜入，尤望安寧。今修福善，出入神護」—“Through sun and moon he sits and enjoys the good fortune of steadfastness; going out by day and coming in by night, he hopes above all for peace. Now, cultivating blessings and goodness, he is guarded by spirits going out and coming in.” 〔X21n0384 0750a18〕

The order in which these nine are laid out is the order in which a household worries its way through a year: land, house, forebears, length of days, livelihood, flood and fire, wastage, sleep, going out and coming in. There is not one item among them that we do not recognize.

The nine walked through, the last one turns aside: 「已上九種，皆世間利益；第十聖因，乃出世利益」—“the nine kinds above are all benefits within the world; the tenth, holy causes, is the benefit that goes beyond the world.” 〔X21n0384 0750a21〕 And what is a holy cause? 「乃出世正聖之修因也」—“it is the cause cultivated for the true holiness that goes beyond the world.” 〔X21n0384 0750a22〕, and put concretely, 「如聞法悟道、修齋、布施、塑像、修塔、補治經像之類」—“such as hearing the Dharma and awakening to the way, keeping the fast, giving, sculpting images, repairing stūpas, and mending scriptures and images.” 〔X21n0384 0750a23〕

Sculpting images. That is precisely the matter named in her first sentence.

The last of the ten benefits is meeting more often with the chance to do that very thing. The chain has come round to its own beginning — what the sūtra gives as recompense is more causes.

The same household tone is found elsewhere as well. The Sūtra of the Four Heavenly Kings records: 「隨戒多少，若持一戒，令五神護之；五戒具者，令」—“according to how many precepts are kept: if one precept is kept, five spirits are set to guard him; and for one complete in the five precepts, there are set” 〔T15n0590 0118b17〕 「二十五神營衛門戶，殃疫、眾邪、陰謀消滅，夜」—“twenty-five spirits to keep watch over his gate and door, so that plague, all manner of evil, and secret plots are extinguished, and at night” 〔T15n0590 0118b19〕 there are no bad dreams; and it says besides 「縣官、盜賊、水火、災變終而不害」—“magistrates, robbers and thieves, water and fire, and calamitous changes in the end do him no harm.” 〔T15n0590 0118b20〕, and says 「臨其壽終，迎其魂神」—“when his life comes to its end they meet his spirit” 〔T15n0590 0118b22〕 and it is born above in the heavens. Gate and door, bad dreams, water and fire, the end of life — the items answer to one another almost one by one. Talk of guarding at this register has a lineage of its own within the canon; it is not a tone peculiar to this chapter.

Offering to the Image Gains the Ten Benefits; Keeping the Scripture Gains Her Guard

Having finished the ten benefits, the earth spirit opens her mouth once more. This time what she speaks of is not the same matter.

The commentator of old divides this second passage in two: 「初明經像住處。次明力護滅惡」—“first, making plain the place where scripture and image dwell; next, making plain the guarding by her power and the extinguishing of evil.” 〔X21n0384 0750b20〕 The first tells of the place that has this scripture and this image; the second tells how she guards, and what she guards away.

The watershed lies in one act. The ten benefits above hang upon making the chamber and sculpting the image; this passage hangs upon being “further able to recite the scripture aloud and make offerings to the bodhisattva” — reciting aloud has been added. Offering to the image gains ten kinds of benefit; keeping the scripture gains her guard by day and by night: two matters, two lists, and the sūtra does not merge them into one.

The calamities she promises to extinguish also answer item by item to what went before. The commentator points out that 「水火銷滅，即上六七八三事」—“the extinguishing of water and fire is the sixth, seventh, and eighth matters above.” 〔X21n0384 0750b22〕 — which are precisely the three among the ten benefits: no calamity of water or fire, waste and loss warded off, bad dreams cut off. What was promised above is a having; what is promised here is a not-having: one list written from the positive side, one from the negative.

And the four characters 「大橫」 and 「小橫」 are terms with a fixed reference, not a figure of speech. The commentator glosses them by citing two sūtras outright: 「大橫，如藥師經，九橫死。小橫，如九橫經」—“The great untimely deaths are as in the Sūtra of the Medicine Buddha, the nine untimely deaths; the lesser untimely deaths are as in the Sūtra of the Nine Untimely Deaths.” 〔X21n0384 0750b23〕 What is untimely is the kind of thing that comes when it should not come and dies when it should not die; and the division of great and lesser has, for each, a sūtra that speaks of it.

As for the “all evil things” of the sūtra text, he takes a passage from the assembly of the Golden Light to fill out a longer list: 「以是經故，惡夢蠱道、五星諸宿、變異災禍、一切惡事，消滅無餘」—“by reason of this scripture, bad dreams and sorcery, the five planets and the constellations, portents and disasters, and all evil things are extinguished without remainder.” 〔X21n0384 0750b24〕

At the end of this passage the commentator speaks a doubt aloud on the reader’s behalf: 「世有不信之人，謂是誘進之語」—“there are unbelieving people in the world who call these words a lure to draw one on.” 〔X21n0384 0750c04〕 — someone will say that all this is no more than talk to get a person started on the road.

He does not evade it, and his answer is not abstruse either. He asks back: have you not heard that 「積善之家，必有餘慶」—“a household that heaps up goodness will surely have a surplus of blessing” 〔X21n0384 0750c05〕, and that a household that heaps up what is not good will surely have a surplus of calamity? And have you not heard that 「出言善，千里之外應之」—“if the word one utters is good, it is answered a thousand leagues away” 〔X21n0384 0750c06〕, and that if the word one utters is not good, it is opposed a thousand leagues away? Word and deed are the pivot of a gentleman; they move heaven and earth and stir the ghosts and spirits.

The answer is not “you must believe this.” The answer is that this holds good already, upon a level of principle that people have long since granted.

In the Buddha’s Reply, the Weight Does Not Fall on the Ground

The Buddha takes up her words and praises her at once: your great spiritual power is such as few among the spirits can match. Then he explains what she has charge of: the soil of Jambudvīpa is wholly under her protection, and on down to grass and trees, sand and stones, rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds, grain and rice, treasures and shells — whatever comes to be from the earth is by her power.

Up to this point, everything said falls within the proper office of an earth spirit.

But there is a link here that the sūtra does not write and the commentator supplies. Grass and trees, sand and stones, rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds, grain and rice, treasures and shells come to be from the earth, all by the earth spirit’s power — then why is the earth at some times generous and at others thin?

His answer takes both ends: 「固因地神威力，亦由眾生業感」—“it is indeed by the earth spirit’s awesome power, and it is also by what the karma of beings draws down.” 〔X21n0384 0750c22〕 And he cites the Sūtra on the Differences in Karmic Retribution as his ground: 「復有十業，能令眾生得外惡報」—“there are, further, ten kinds of karma that can bring beings an evil recompense in outward things.” 〔X21n0384 0750c23〕; when beings largely cultivate the ten unwholesome kinds of karma, the outward things they draw down are in every respect not complete, and cultivating the ten wholesome kinds runs contrary to this.

And so he clasps the link shut: 「此因眾生惡業熾盛，以致地神不護，減損萬物。若多修德，增其威力，萬物加美」—“This is because the evil karma of beings blazes up, so that the earth spirit does not protect and the myriad things are diminished. If they cultivate virtue abundantly, her awesome power increases and the myriad things grow finer.” 〔X21n0384 0751a01〕

The earth spirit’s awesome power is not a fixed quantity. When the karma of beings grows heavy, the guarding withdraws and the myriad things diminish; when beings cultivate virtue, her power increases and the myriad things grow fine.

He cites besides, in witness, a line the earth spirit herself spoke at another assembly: 「我服甘露無上法味已，閻浮提地豐壤倍常」—“Having tasted the sweet dew of the unsurpassed savor of the Dharma, the soil of Jambudvīpa is twice as rich and abundant as its wont.” 〔X21n0384 0751a05〕 — even she must hear the Dharma; and having heard it, the earth grows richer.

Without this link, the ten benefits above are only the largesse of a deity; with it, those ten matters return into cause and effect. Whether the ground one dwells on will be rich and abundant lies half with her and half with the person who dwells there.

The turn comes in the next sentence: and you constantly praise and proclaim Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s deeds of benefit; your merit, and your spiritual penetration too, are a hundred thousand times those of an ordinary earth spirit.

The reason for the hundred thousand times is not that she bears up more, but that she constantly praises another. The commentator of old follows the sentence out: since she can have charge of the things of Jambudvīpa and can also praise and proclaim Kṣitigarbha’s benefits, 「則為護法地神，其福業慧業，自然深廣」—“then as an earth spirit who protects the Dharma, her karma of blessing and her karma of wisdom are of themselves deep and broad.” 〔X21n0384 0751a17〕, and so 「較餘地神超過萬倍」—“compared with the other earth spirits she surpasses them ten-thousandfold.” 〔X21n0384 0751a18〕

There is something here worth stopping over. Another sūtra of the same honored one says of Kṣitigarbha himself: 「常普任持一切大地，常普任持一切種」—“He constantly and universally sustains all the great earth; he constantly and universally sustains all seeds” 〔T13n0411 0725b28〕 — and it says besides 「此善男子威神力故，能令大地一切，草木、根鬚、芽莖、枝葉、」—“by the awesome spiritual power of this good man, all the great earth’s grasses and trees, roots and fibers, sprouts and stems, branches and leaves,” 〔T13n0411 0725b29〕 and flowers and fruits alike grow, and 「藥穀、苗稼、花果、茂實成熟，潤」—“medicinal grains, seedlings and crops, flowers and fruits ripen luxuriant and full, glossy” 〔T13n0411 0725c02〕 and fragrant and clean. There it is Kṣitigarbha who sustains the great earth and the seeds; here it is by the earth spirit’s power that grass and trees, rice and hemp, and grain come to be from the earth. The two sūtras fasten one and the same matter each to its own figure; both are set here side by side, and no reconciliation is forced upon them. And the measure this chapter gives for itself is very clear: that the earth spirit surpasses the ordinary earth spirit a hundred thousandfold hangs upon the one matter of her opening her mouth to praise Kṣitigarbha.

Praising and Extolling Is a Gate of Practice with a Name

That the earth spirit surpasses her own kind a hundred thousandfold hangs upon the one matter of her opening her mouth to praise. And the four characters 「稱揚讚歎」 the commentator of old recognized the moment he opened his: 「稱揚讚歎，乃普賢十願中第二門」—“Praising and extolling is the second gate among the ten vows of Samantabhadra.” 〔X21n0384 0751a14〕

This line matters. Praising and extolling is not here a pleasant disposition, not the virtue of speaking well of others — it is a gate ranked second among the ten great vow-kings of Samantabhadra, with a name, a place, and an order. What the earth spirit does is precisely this gate.

Once the gate stands, its weight follows. The commentator’s next line runs: 「葢一念稱揚，萬德自具」—“for in a single thought of praise the ten thousand virtues are of themselves complete.” 〔X21n0384 0751a14〕 — one thought of praise, and the ten thousand virtues are all within it. And so whenever the sons of the buddhas come to a Dharma assembly, whether they see for the first time or have long heard, they first send forth the chanting of hymns: praise is what one does on entering the door, not a courtesy after the talk is over.

Why should one line of praise have such power? The commentator fastens the reason to the one who is praised, and makes it plain with a simile: 「譬之諸天甘露，不問貴賤」—“It is like the sweet dew of the gods, which asks nothing of noble or base” 〔X21n0384 0751a19〕 or of old or young: of all who taste it there is none who does not live long and not die.

Sweet dew does not pick and choose. So the one who praises need not first be anyone — she is only a spirit with charge of the ground, whose proper business is to bear up the myriad things and to make them grow. And the one matter in which her merit and spiritual penetration exceed her kind lies not in the bearing up but in her opening her mouth to speak another’s good.

Relying on This One Thing Alone

When the Buddha hands over who is to be protected, he speaks narrowly: one who makes offerings to the bodhisattva and recites this scripture aloud, “one who practices by relying on this single matter, the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha, alone.”

One character: 「但」, only. The sūtra does not add a condition upward; it takes one away downward.

The commentator of old follows the character out into single-minded practice: 「初明人法。但依下，令專修。即制心一處，無事不辦也」—“First, making plain the person and the dharma. From ‘relying only’ onward, he makes it single-minded practice — that is, holding the mind at one place, and there is nothing that will not be accomplished.” 〔X21n0384 0751a24〕; and he glosses the character for relying: 「梵語膩地，此云依。依，憑也」—“In Sanskrit nidi; here it means to rely. To rely is to lean upon.” 〔X21n0384 0751b01〕 — leaning upon the working of this scripture to come out of the sea of suffering.

This character 「但」 is easily read as exclusion — only this one counts and no other. Here the commentator sets down a footnote that decides the matter: 「涅槃明四依，此即依了義經，不依不了義經之指」—“The Nirvāṇa Sūtra sets out the four reliances; this points to relying on the scriptures of definitive meaning and not relying on the scriptures of non-definitive meaning.” 〔X21n0384 0751b02〕

The four reliances are the four standards of reliance set up in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, and one of them is precisely to rely on the scriptures of definitive meaning and not on those of non-definitive meaning. So 「但依一事」, relying on this one thing alone, does not shut the other scriptures outside the door; it says that reliance must rest upon the one that is definitive. What is narrow is not the compass of the mind but the point of purchase leaned upon.

He then borrows an old saying as a comparison: 「千羊之皮，不如一狐之腋。故知眾典不及此經」—“The pelts of a thousand sheep do not equal the fur beneath one fox’s foreleg. Know therefore that the many canonical texts do not come up to this scripture.” 〔X21n0384 0751b03〕; and he distinguishes why this should be — that persons are of the conceivable kind and the inconceivable kind, and scriptures of the disclosed kind and the not-yet-disclosed kind, and 「今專讀不思議、開顯之經，罪頓消而功速成」—“to read exclusively now the inconceivable and disclosed scripture is for guilt to be extinguished at a stroke and merit to be accomplished quickly.” 〔X21n0384 0751b04〕, without seeking many things and throwing the will into confusion. At the last he gives the matter a Tiantai name: 「此即南岳有相安樂行也」—“this is Nanyue’s practice of ease and joy with marks.” 〔X21n0384 0751b06〕

To read one scripture exclusively has a formal name within the teaching of this house; it is not one person’s preference.

Fearing besides that one might read and not practice, he adds a line: 「言修行者，謂如說而行。若聞而不行，如說食數寶，何濟饑貧」—“By ‘practices’ is meant practicing as it is spoken. To hear and not to practice is like talking of food and counting another’s treasure — what relief is that to hunger and poverty?” 〔X21n0384 0751b06〕, and he cites the common saying 「說得一丈，不如行得一寸」—“Ten feet of talk does not equal one inch of doing.” 〔X21n0384 0751b08〕

As for which notch such a person is counted at, he gives a station for that too: 「以此善信，若佛現在，足稱四信。今於滅後，可當五品」—“With such wholesome faith, were the Buddha present in the world, it would be enough to be called the four faiths; now, after his extinction, it may answer to the five grades.” 〔X21n0384 0751b12〕, and within these 「以讀經是第二品，供養乃第四」—“reciting the scripture is the second grade, and making offerings the fourth” 〔X21n0384 0751b13〕, the grade of practicing the six perfections alongside; 「當知五品觀行為如佛，故令擁護也」—“Know that one of the five grades of contemplative practice is as a buddha, and therefore he is to be guarded.” 〔X21n0384 0751b14〕 This assignment of station comes out of the Tiantai house and may be consulted; what the sūtra says for itself is only one line: practicing by relying on this one thing alone.

The Buddha next charges her, “with your own spiritual power do you guard and protect him,” and the commentator takes even the character 「本」, one’s own, apart: 「本神力者，約事，指主地為本；約法，指四德為本」—“As for her own spiritual power: on the side of phenomena it points to her charge of the earth as her own; on the side of the Dharma it points to the four virtues as her own.” 〔X21n0384 0751b15〕

On the side of phenomena, her own is that piece of ground she has charge of; on the side of the Dharma, her own is the four virtues of permanence, bliss, self, and purity spoken of above. What the guarding leans upon is nothing outside her.

Guarded as Far as the Ear

The manner of speech the Buddha uses in handing over how the earth spirit is to guard is a singular one: do not let any calamity, nor any matter that goes against his wish, so much as reach his ear — how much less let him undergo it?

The boundary of the guarding is drawn not at the body but at the ear.

The commentator of old presses it one stage further along: of these calamities and matters against one’s wish, 「此等災害不如意事，尚不輒聞於耳，況眼見身受耶」—“calamities and matters against one’s wish such as these do not even reach the ear — how much less are they seen with the eye or undergone in the body?” 〔X21n0384 0751c01〕 The calamities he supplies run along the line of heavenly signs: 「彗星現怪，流星崩落，五星失度，兩日竝現」—“comets appearing as portents, meteors crashing down, the five planets losing their courses, two suns appearing together.” 〔X21n0384 0751b20〕; and the matters against one’s wish run along the line of human affairs: 「穀米湧貴，饑饉凍餓，怨賊侵掠，人民多苦」—“grain and rice surging dear, famine and freezing and starving, hostile bandits raiding and plundering, the people much afflicted.” 〔X21n0384 0751b22〕

Hearing, seeing, and undergoing in the body are three tiers. The sūtra draws the line of guarding at the outermost of them. Bad news reaching the ear is already itself a kind of undergoing — and this tier is one that none of us finds strange.

From the Earth to the Sea

In the last passage the Buddha opens out the number of those who guard: not that you alone protect him, but there are also the retinues of Śakra and of Brahmā and the retinues of the gods. The commentator of old glosses the two characters for holy and worthy in passing: 「聖謂真正，賢名善直」—“Holy means true and correct; worthy names the good and upright.” 〔X21n0384 0751c19〕, 「以正直者為天為神耳」—“for it is the correct and upright who become gods and become spirits.” 〔X21n0384 0751c20〕

And then the closing sentence of the chapter: why does he gain the guarding of such holy and worthy ones? It is all because he gazes upon and bows to the image of Kṣitigarbha and recites aloud this Sūtra of the Original Vows — and of himself, and without fail, he comes out of the sea of suffering and realizes the bliss of nirvāṇa.

Of himself; without fail. The commentator of old presses once upon each of these two words: 「言自然，則不加勉強。說畢竟，則到底不虗」—“To say ‘of himself’ is that no forcing is added. To say ‘without fail’ is that it does not come out empty in the end.” 〔X21n0384 0752a05〕 And which sea the sea of suffering is he joins back to the opening of the sūtra: 「今指業海，苦有萬端；既由禮讀，出離無難」—“Here it points to the sea of karma, where suffering has ten thousand forms; and since it is by bowing and reciting, coming out of it is no hard thing.” 〔X21n0384 0752a04〕

The sea of karma is precisely the one the brahmin woman came to in the introductory section after recollecting the Buddha for one day and one night. The whole sūtra began from that sea, and at this chapter it speaks of coming out.

And this chapter itself began from the earth. The first benefit is soil rich and abundant; the last sentence is coming out of the sea of suffering. Of the ten benefits nine are within the world — house, lifespan, harvest, dreams, going out and coming in — and only the tenth turns toward what goes beyond the world; and beyond the ten benefits the Buddha adds one line more that carries all the way to nirvāṇa.

The shortest chapter of all puts the lowest threshold and the farthest destination into one and the same passage.

Transmission (承衍) — The Ground Within a Classic of Filial Piety, and Another Assembly

The above is the sense of this chapter itself. Below, one eye casts its light from the side — the mirror is not the sūtra, only the same passage seen through another way of reading.

The Outline and Commentary on the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, in six fascicles, was compiled by Lingcheng of the Qing, styled Qinglian, who titles himself at the head of the fascicle 「古鹽匡菴青蓮苾蒭靈椉父輯」—“compiled by Lingcheng, bhikṣu of Qinglian, of Kuang’an in Guyan” 〔X21n0384 0700b05〕. The outline and the glosses cited above come from it in their whole frame: the threefold division of the transmission, the twofold outline of the chapter text, the two senses of Firm-and-Stable and the four virtues, the question and answer about her being a female spirit, the gloss on the south, the ten benefits each giving birth to the next, the instruction on single-minded practice, the station among the five grades, and the explanation of “of himself” and “without fail.” The sūtra text is five hundred and sixty-four characters; his gloss runs to more than five thousand two hundred — close to tenfold. The shortest chapter in the whole sūtra has been matched with a commentary that is not short.

One thing is worth pointing out: in glossing the name of the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable, the frame is not of his own making but received. Zhizhe of Tiantai’s Words and Phrases of the Golden Light Sūtra has a section glossing the chapter on the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable 〔T39n1785 0076c01〕, in which it says: 「上諸天或住善權方便道，為眾生法父；此天住善實智度道，為眾生法母，一義也」—“The gods above may abide in the way of skillful expedient means, and are a Dharma-father to beings; this deity abides in the way of the good and real perfection of wisdom, and is a Dharma-mother to beings — this is the first sense.” 〔T39n1785 0076c02〕; and again 「智度法門常無改變，義曰堅牢，常也。能荷，樂也。能生，淨也，名之為地」—“The gate of the perfection of wisdom is constant and undergoes no change: its sense is called firm and stable, which is permanence. That she can carry is bliss. That she can bring forth is purity; and this is named earth.” 〔T39n1785 0076c07〕, 「德力自在，我也，稱之為神」—“That the power of her virtue is sovereign is self; and this is called a spirit.” 〔T39n1785 0076c09〕 The matching of the four virtues to the name cited above from this chapter is almost word for word the same; and the four layers set up in the Guiding Thread’s gloss on the title are precisely Zhizhe’s four senses matched one by one with the four siddhāntas. This eye takes its provenance from Tiantai.

Those four senses and the four siddhāntas are worth listing once, for the line cited at the head of this chapter, that she is complete in the sense of the four siddhāntas, comes down to solid ground only by way of them. The four senses Zhizhe sets up are: 「上諸天或住善權方便道，為眾生法父；此天住善實智度道，為眾生法母，一義也」—“The gods above may abide in the way of skillful expedient means, and are a Dharma-father to beings; this deity abides in the way of the good and real perfection of wisdom, and is a Dharma-mother to beings — this is the first sense.” 〔T39n1785 0076c02〕; 「譬如陰陽覆載草木，智度養育出生眾善，二義也」—“As yin and yang cover and carry the grasses and trees, so the perfection of wisdom nourishes and brings forth all goodness — this is the second sense.” 〔T39n1785 0076c03〕; 「餘度各有所主，未亡未泯；實智照了，無相無名，三義也」—“The other perfections each have what they preside over, not yet done away and not yet effaced; real wisdom illumines and understands, without mark and without name — this is the third sense.” 〔T39n1785 0076c05〕; 「餘度有等有上，智度無等無上，是究竟度，四義也」—“The other perfections have an equal and have a superior; the perfection of wisdom has no equal and no superior, and is the final perfection — this is the fourth sense.” 〔T39n1785 0076c06〕

The Guiding Thread fastens each of these four senses to the name of a siddhānta. Of the pairing of father and mother, 「此約世界悉檀釋也」—“this is glossed in terms of the worldly siddhānta.” 〔X21n0383 0651a17〕; 「譬如陰陽覆載卉木，智度養育，出生眾善」—“As yin and yang cover and carry the plants and trees, so the perfection of wisdom nourishes and brings forth all goodness.” 〔X21n0383 0651a18〕, 「此約為人悉檀釋也」—“this is glossed in terms of the siddhānta for each person.” 〔X21n0383 0651a19〕; 「餘度各有所主，實智照了，無相無名」—“The other perfections each have what they preside over; real wisdom illumines and understands, without mark and without name.” 〔X21n0383 0651a19〕, 「此約對治破惡悉檀釋也」—“this is glossed in terms of the counteractive siddhānta that breaks evil.” 〔X21n0383 0651a20〕; 「餘度有等有上，智度無等無上，是究竟度」—“The other perfections have an equal and have a superior; the perfection of wisdom has no equal and no superior, and is the final perfection.” 〔X21n0383 0651a20〕, 「此約第一義悉檀釋也」—“this is glossed in terms of the siddhānta of ultimate meaning.” 〔X21n0383 0651a21〕; and at the last it gathers into 「以具四悉檀義，故能為神，主閻浮提，而護本願法門」—“because she is complete in the sense of the four siddhāntas she can be a spirit, have charge of Jambudvīpa, and protect the Dharma-gate of the original vows.” 〔X21n0383 0651a22〕

Set the four layers side by side and what the four siddhāntas are shows itself: one and the same earth spirit, and four intentions in the speaking of her — the first layer settles her station (over against the four heavenly kings, one yang and one yin, one father and one mother); the second says that she brings goodness to birth (covering and carrying the grasses and trees, nourishing and bringing forth all goodness); the third says that she breaks attachment (without mark and without name, unlike the other perfections that each have what they preside over); the fourth returns to the final (no equal and no superior, the final perfection). Settling the station, bringing goodness to birth, breaking attachment, entering the principle: each layer deeper than the last.

The same Guiding Thread uses the term elsewhere as well, saying that Kṣitigarbha 「用四悉檀赴緣」—“uses the four siddhāntas to meet conditions” 〔X21n0383 0644a04〕, teaching according to the capacity that comes. The two characters for meeting conditions are the key: teaching the Dharma is not one manner of speaking only; it is a matter of what condition has come. So the four siddhāntas are not four doctrines; they are four doors opened upon one and the same thing, facing four kinds of person.

Why the earth spirit can be a spirit and can protect this scripture — the reason this house reads out of it lies here: within her single person all four intentions are complete.

He himself points the matter toward another assembly as well: 「此見地神護法之心，與光明會上發願護經同」—“Here one sees that the earth spirit’s mind of protecting the Dharma is the same as her vow to protect the scripture at the assembly of the Golden Light.” 〔X21n0384 0750b20〕, and he quotes the words of that sūtra — 「若隨是經典所流布處，我當在中，常作宿衛」—“Wherever this scripture is spread abroad, I shall be there within it and constantly keep watch.” 〔X21n0384 0750b21〕

A passage of the sūtra text of that assembly is itself worth setting beside this one. The Golden Light Sūtra of the Most Excellent King has a chapter on the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable 〔T16n0665 0440a17〕, which opens: 「爾時，堅牢地神即於眾中，從座而起，合掌恭敬而白佛言」—“At that time the earth spirit Firm-and-Stable rose from her seat within the multitude and, joining her palms in reverence, said to the Buddha” 〔T16n0665 0440a18〕 — almost the same sentence as this chapter’s 「爾時，堅牢地神白佛言」. What she promises there is 「我以神力不現本身，在於座所，頂戴其足」—“By my spiritual power I shall not show my own body, but shall be at the place of his seat and bear his feet upon my head.” 〔T16n0665 0440a24〕; and the fruit she reports is 「令其地味悉皆增益」—“causing the savor of that earth all to increase.” 〔T16n0665 0440a28〕, 「亦使肥濃田疇沃壤倍勝常日」—“and making the fat and rich fields and fertile soil twice as good as on ordinary days.” 〔T16n0665 0440a28〕, and on to 「若諸有情受用如是勝飲食已，長命色力，諸根安隱」—“if beings partake of such excellent food and drink, their life is long, their color and strength good, and all their faculties at ease.” 〔T16n0665 0440b03〕 The Buddha there also promised a fruit close to the third benefit of this chapter: 「若有眾生為欲供養是經王故，莊嚴宅宇，乃至張一傘蓋、懸一繒幡」—“if beings, wishing to make offerings to this king of scriptures, adorn their dwellings, and even spread a single canopy or hang a single silken banner” 〔T16n0665 0440c07〕, by that cause and condition they are born among the six heavens.

Two assemblies, one and the same earth spirit, and different scriptures protected. There she hides her body beneath the Dharma-seat and bears upon her head the feet of the one who preaches; here she guards by day and by night the household that keeps the scripture, and tells the ten benefits. Both are recorded; there is no need to reconcile them.

And this chapter’s own sentence is bound to no mirror at all. Why the earth spirit’s merit is a hundred thousand times that of an ordinary earth spirit — the sūtra gives only one reason: she constantly praises another’s deeds of benefit. And that sentence came from her own mouth.