華嚴經 品十四 須彌頂上偈讚品Avataṃsaka Sūtra · Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru
佛昇上了須彌山頂，坐下，然後一句話也沒說。
說話的是十位菩薩，名字全都叫「慧」；他們來自十個名字全都帶「華」的世界，事奉十位名號全都帶「月」的佛。各說十偈，一共一百首。古德說，這一百首是有骨架的——「初一是總、餘九為別」：法慧那十首說這場會為什麼能這樣，其餘九十首只做一件事，拆你手上那個「佛」。
拆得極徹底。看了百千劫也不算見；取相的人「盲冥不見佛」；連「此佛此最勝」這個念頭，都被判為顛倒。到了無上慧那一段，連「無二」也不許停——若存了無二之見，就又成了二。
那還剩什麼？最後一位堅固慧忽然回過頭來說：若佛與菩薩不出於世間，「無有一眾生，而能得安樂」。
拆到最後長出來的不是知見，是「重增清淨信」。所以下一品才敢開口講十住——先知道所住的是什麼，那十個名目才不是十個名目。
The Buddha ascended to the summit of Mount Sumeru, sat down, and then did not say a single sentence.
Those who speak are ten bodhisattvas, whose names all end in “Wisdom”; they come from ten worlds whose names all carry “Flower,” and they serve ten buddhas whose titles all carry “Moon.” Each speaks ten verses, a hundred in all. The ancient worthies say that these hundred have a framework — “the first is the general, the remaining nine are the particular”: those ten verses of Dharma Wisdom say why this assembly can be as it is, and the remaining ninety do only one thing, taking apart that “Buddha” you are holding in your hand.
The taking apart is utterly thorough. A hundred thousand kalpas of looking still does not count as seeing; the one who seizes upon marks is “blind and benighted and does not see the Buddha”; even the thought “this one is the Buddha, this one is the most excellent” is determined to be inversion. By the segment of Unsurpassed Wisdom, not even “no-two” is allowed to stand — if one keeps a view of no-two, then two is formed again.
What, then, is left? The last of them, Firm Wisdom, suddenly turns back and says: if the buddhas and the bodhisattvas did not appear in the world, “there would not be one sentient being able to attain peace and joy.”
What grows out of all this taking apart, at the last, is not knowledge and views; it is “pure faith increasing the more.” And only so does the next chapter dare to open its mouth and teach the ten abodes — first know what it is that is abided in, and then those ten names are not merely ten names.
〔T10 0081〕
爾時，佛神力故，十方各有一大菩薩，一一各與佛剎微塵數菩薩俱，從百佛剎微塵數國土外諸世界中而來集會，其名曰：法慧菩薩、一切慧菩薩、勝慧菩薩、功德慧菩薩、精進慧菩薩、善慧菩薩、智慧菩薩、真實慧菩薩、無上慧菩薩、堅固慧菩薩。所從來土，所謂：因陀羅華世界、波頭摩華世界、寶華世界、優鉢羅華世界、金剛華世界、妙香華世界、悅意華世界、阿盧那華世界、那羅陀華世界、虛空華世界。各於佛所淨修梵行，所謂：殊特月佛、無盡月佛、不動月佛、風月佛、水月佛、解脫月佛、無上月佛、星宿月佛、清淨月佛、明了月佛。是諸菩薩至佛所已，頂禮佛足；隨所來方，各化作毘盧遮那藏師子之座，於其座上結跏趺坐。如此世界中，須彌頂上，菩薩來集；一切世界，悉亦如是，彼諸菩薩所有名字、世界、佛號，悉等無別。爾時，世尊從兩足指放百千億妙色光明，普照十方一切世界須彌頂上帝釋宮中，佛及大眾靡不皆現。
爾時，法慧菩薩承佛威神，普觀十方而說頌曰：
「佛放淨光明，普見世導師，
須彌山王頂，妙勝殿中住。
一切釋天王，請佛入宮殿，
悉以十妙頌，稱讚諸如來。
彼諸大會中，所有菩薩眾，
皆從十方至，化座而安坐。
彼會諸菩薩，皆同我等名，
所從諸世界，名字亦如是。
本國諸世尊，名號悉亦同，
各於其佛所，淨修無上行。
佛子汝應觀，如來自在力，
一切閻浮提，皆言佛在中。
我等今見佛，住於須彌頂，
十方悉亦然，如來自在力。
一一世界中，發心求佛道，
依於如是願，修習菩提行。
佛以種種身，遊行遍世間，
法界無所礙，無能測量者。
慧光恒普照，世闇悉除滅，
一切無等倫，云何可測知！」
爾時，一切慧菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「假使百千劫，常見於如來，
不依真實義，而觀救世者。
是人取諸相，增長癡惑網，
繫縛生死獄，盲冥不見佛。
觀察於諸法，自性無所有，
如其生滅相，但是假名說。
一切法無生，一切法無滅，
若能如是解，諸佛常現前。
法性本空寂，無取亦無見，
性空即是佛，不可得思量。
若知一切法，體性皆如是，
斯人則不為，煩惱所染著。
凡夫見諸法，但隨於相轉，
不了法無相，以是不見佛。
牟尼離三世，諸相悉具足，
住於無所住，普遍而不動。
我觀一切法，皆悉得明了，
今見於如來，決定無有疑。
法慧先已說，如來真實性，
我從彼了知，菩提難思議。」
爾時，勝慧菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「如來大智慧，希有無等倫，
一切諸世間，思惟莫能及。
凡夫妄觀察，取相不如理，
佛離一切相，非彼所能見。
迷惑無知者，妄取五蘊相，
不了彼真性，是人不見佛。
了知一切法，自性無所有，
如是解法性，則見盧舍那。
因前五蘊故，後蘊相續起，
於此性了知，見佛難思議。
譬如闇中寶，無燈不可見，
佛法無人說，雖慧莫能了。
亦如目有翳，不見淨妙色，
如是不淨心，不見諸佛法。
又如明淨日，瞽者莫能見，
無有智慧心，終不見諸佛。
若能除眼翳，捨離於色想，
不見於諸法，則得見如來。
一切慧先說，諸佛菩提法，
我從於彼聞，得見盧舍那。」
〔T10 0082〕
爾時，功德慧菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「諸法無真實，妄取真實相，
是故諸凡夫，輪迴生死獄。
言辭所說法，小智妄分別，
是故生障礙，不了於自心。
不能了自心，云何知正道？
彼由顛倒慧，增長一切惡。
不見諸法空，恒受生死苦，
斯人未能有，清淨法眼故。
我昔受眾苦，由我不見佛，
故當淨法眼，觀其所應見。
若得見於佛，其心無所取，
此人則能見，如佛所知法。
若見佛真法，則名大智者，
斯人有淨眼，能觀察世間。
無見即是見，能見一切法，
於法若有見，此則無所見。
一切諸法性，無生亦無滅，
奇哉大導師，自覺能覺他。
勝慧先已說，如來所悟法，
我等從彼聞，能知佛真性。」
爾時，精進慧菩薩承佛威力，觀察十方而說頌言：
「若住於分別，則壞清淨眼，
愚癡邪見增，永不見諸佛。
若能了邪法，如實不顛倒，
知妄本自真，見佛則清淨。
有見則為垢，此則未為見，
遠離於諸見，如是乃見佛。
世間言語法，眾生妄分別，
知世皆無生，乃是見世間。
若見見世間，見則世間相，
如實等無異，此名真見者。
若見等無異，於物不分別，
是見離諸惑，無漏得自在。
諸佛所開示，一切分別法，
是悉不可得，彼性清淨故。
法性本清淨，如空無有相，
一切無能說，智者如是觀。
遠離於法想，不樂一切法，
此亦無所修，能見大牟尼。
如德慧所說，此名見佛者，
所有一切行，體性皆寂滅。」
爾時，善慧菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「希有大勇健，無量諸如來，
離垢心解脫，自度能度彼。
我見世間燈，如實不顛倒，
如於無量劫，積智者所見。
一切凡夫行，莫不速歸盡，
其性如虛空，故說無有盡。
智者說無盡，此亦無所說，
自性無盡故，得有難思盡。
所說無盡中，無眾生可得，
知眾生性爾，則見大名稱。
無見說為見，無生說眾生，
若見若眾生，了知無體性。
能見及所見，見者悉除遣，
不壞於真法，此人了知佛。
若人了知佛，及佛所說法，
則能照世間，如佛盧舍那。
正覺善開示，一法清淨道，
精進慧大士，演說無量法。
若有若無有，彼想皆除滅，
如是能見佛，安住於實際。」
爾時，智慧菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言：
〔T10 0083〕
「我聞最勝教，即生智慧光，
普照十方界，悉見一切佛。
此中無少物，但有假名字，
若計有我人，則為入險道。
諸取著凡夫，計身為實有，
如來非所取，彼終不得見。
此人無慧眼，不能得見佛，
於無量劫中，流轉生死海。
有諍說生死，無諍即涅槃，
生死及涅槃，二俱不可得。
若逐假名字，取著此二法，
此人不如實，不知聖妙道。
若生如是想：『此佛此最勝。』
顛倒非實義，不能見正覺。
能知此實體，寂滅真如相，
則見正覺尊，超出語言道。
言語說諸法，不能顯實相，
平等乃能見，如法佛亦然。
正覺過去世，未來及現在，
永斷分別根，是故說名佛。」
爾時，真實慧菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「寧受地獄苦，得聞諸佛名，
不受無量樂，而不聞佛名。
所以於往昔，無數劫受苦，
流轉生死中，不聞佛名故。
於法不顛倒，如實而現證，
離諸和合相，是名無上覺。
現在非和合，去來亦復然，
一切法無相，是則佛真體。
若能如是觀，諸法甚深義，
則見一切佛，法身真實相。
於實見真實，非實見不實，
如是究竟解，是故名為佛。
佛法不可覺，了此名覺法，
諸佛如是修，一法不可得。
知以一故眾，知以眾故一，
諸法無所依，但從和合起。
無能作所作，唯從業想生，
云何知如是？異此無有故。
一切法無住，定處不可得，
諸佛住於此，究竟不動搖。」
爾時，無上慧菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「無上摩訶薩，遠離眾生想，
無有能過者，故號為無上。
諸佛所得處，無作無分別，
麁者無所有，微細亦復然。
諸佛所行境，於中無有數，
正覺遠離數，此是佛真法。
如來光普照，滅除眾暗冥，
是光非有照，亦復非無照。
於法無所著，無念亦無染，
無住無處所，不壞於法性。
此中無有二，亦復無有一，
大智善見者，如理巧安住。
無中無有二，無二亦復無，
三界一切空，是則諸佛見。
凡夫無覺解，佛令住正法，
諸法無所住，悟此見自身。
非身而說身，非起而現起，
無身亦無見，是佛無上身。
如是實慧說，諸佛妙法性，
若聞此法者，當得清淨眼。」
爾時，堅固慧菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「偉哉大光明，勇健無上士，
為利群迷故，而興於世間。
佛以大悲心，普觀諸眾生，
見在三有中，輪迴受眾苦。
唯除正等覺，具德尊導師，
一切諸天人，無能救護者。
若佛菩薩等，不出於世間，
無有一眾生，而能得安樂。
如來等正覺，及諸賢聖眾，
出現於世間，能與眾生樂。
若見如來者，為得大善利，
聞佛名生信，則是世間塔。
我等見世尊，為得大利益，
聞如是妙法，悉當成佛道。
諸菩薩過去，以佛威神力，
得清淨慧眼，了諸佛境界。
今見盧舍那，重增清淨信，
佛智無邊際，演說不可盡。
勝慧等菩薩，及我堅固慧，
無數億劫中，說亦不能盡。」
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
十方菩薩雲集：名字相同，世界相同，佛號也相同
那時，因為佛的神力的緣故，十方各有一位大菩薩，每一位各與佛剎微塵數那麼多的菩薩一同，從百佛剎微塵數的國土之外的諸多世界之中前來集會。他們的名字是：法慧菩薩、一切慧菩薩、勝慧菩薩、功德慧菩薩、精進慧菩薩、善慧菩薩、智慧菩薩、真實慧菩薩、無上慧菩薩、堅固慧菩薩。
他們所從來的國土，就是：因陀羅華世界、波頭摩華世界、寶華世界、優鉢羅華世界、金剛華世界、妙香華世界、悅意華世界、阿盧那華世界、那羅陀華世界、虛空華世界。他們各自在佛的處所清淨修習梵行（清淨無染的行持），所事奉的佛是：殊特月佛、無盡月佛、不動月佛、風月佛、水月佛、解脫月佛、無上月佛、星宿月佛、清淨月佛、明了月佛。
這些菩薩到了佛的處所之後，頂禮佛的雙足；隨著各自所來的方位，各各化現出毘盧遮那藏師子之座，在那座位上結跏趺坐（雙足交盤而坐）。就像這個世界之中，須彌山頂上有菩薩前來聚集那樣；一切世界之中，也全都是這樣，那些世界裡的諸位菩薩，所有的名字、世界、佛的名號，全都相等而沒有差別。
那時，世尊從兩隻腳的腳指放出百千億道妙色光明，普遍照亮十方一切世界須彌山頂上的帝釋天宮之中，佛與大眾沒有一個不完全顯現出來。
法慧菩薩十偈：如來自在之力，十方都說佛在這裡
那時，法慧菩薩承著佛的威神，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「佛放出清淨的光明，於是普遍見到了這位世間的導師，在須彌山王的頂上，妙勝殿之中安住。
「一切的帝釋天王，都禮請佛進入自己的宮殿，全都用十首美妙的偈頌，稱揚讚歎諸位如來。
「那些法會之中，所有的菩薩大眾，全都是從十方而來，化現座位而安然就坐。
「那些法會中的諸位菩薩，全都與我們同一個名字，所從來的那些世界，名字也同樣是這樣。
「本來所住國土的諸位世尊，名號也全都相同，各自在他們的佛的處所，清淨修習無上的行持。
「佛子啊，你應當觀察，如來自在的力量：一切的閻浮提（我們所住的這一洲）之中，都說佛正在自己這裡。
「我們如今見到佛，安住在須彌山頂，十方也全都是這樣——這就是如來自在的力量。
「在每一個世界之中，都有人發起求佛道之心，依循著這樣的誓願，修習趣向覺悟的行持。
「佛用種種不同的身，遊行遍及世間，在法界之中沒有任何阻礙，沒有誰能夠測量得了。
「智慧的光明恆常普遍照耀，世間的黑暗全都被除滅；一切之中沒有能與他相等的，怎麼可能測量而知呢！」
一切慧菩薩十偈：不依真實義而觀佛，看再久也不算見佛
那時，一切慧菩薩承著佛的威力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「假使經過百千劫那麼久，時時見到如來，卻不依著真實的義理，只是這樣看著這位救世的人——
「這個人是在攫取種種相狀，增長愚癡與迷惑的羅網，被繫縛在生死的牢獄裡，盲目昏冥而見不到佛。
「觀察一切法，它們的自性了無所有；至於它們生起與滅去的相狀，那只是假借名字而說的。
「一切法沒有真實的生起，一切法也沒有真實的滅去；如果能夠這樣理解，諸佛就恆常顯現在眼前。
「法性本來空寂，沒有可攫取的，也沒有可看見的；這性的空就是佛，不是思量所能得到的。
「如果知道一切法，體性全都是這樣，這樣的人就不會被種種煩惱所染著。
「凡夫看見諸法，只是隨著相狀轉動，不明白法本無相，因此見不到佛。
「牟尼（寂默的聖者）超離了過去現在未來三世，而種種相好全都具足；他安住在無所住之中，普遍周遍而不動搖。
「我觀察一切法，全都得到了明白透徹；如今見到如來，決定沒有任何疑惑。
「法慧菩薩先前已經說過，如來真實的體性；我從他那裡明白了，覺悟之道難以思量議論。」
勝慧菩薩十偈：闇中之寶無燈不見，佛法無人說雖慧莫了
那時，勝慧菩薩承著佛的威力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「如來的大智慧，稀有而沒有誰能相等；一切諸多世間，用思惟都無法企及。
「凡夫虛妄地觀察，攫取相狀而不合於理；佛超離了一切相，不是他們所能見到的。
「迷惑而無知的人，虛妄地攫取五蘊（色受想行識五類身心成分）的相狀，不明白它們的真實體性，這樣的人見不到佛。
「明白了知一切法，自性了無所有；這樣理解法性，就見到了盧舍那（佛的名號）。
「因為有前面的五蘊的緣故，後面的五蘊才相續生起；對於這其中的體性能夠了知，見佛之事就難以思量議論了。
「譬如黑暗之中的寶物，沒有燈就不能看見；佛法若沒有人說，即使有智慧也無法明了。
「也如同眼睛長了翳障，看不見清淨美妙的顏色；同樣的，不清淨的心，看不見諸佛之法。
「又如同明亮清淨的太陽，瞎眼的人無法看見；沒有智慧之心的人，終究見不到諸佛。
「如果能夠除去眼中的翳障，捨離對於顏色形相的取著，不在諸法上起見，那就能夠見到如來。
「一切慧菩薩先前說過，諸佛覺悟之法；我從他那裡聽聞，得以見到盧舍那。」
功德慧菩薩十偈：不能了自心，怎麼會知道正道
那時，功德慧菩薩承著佛的威力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「諸法之中沒有真實可得，卻虛妄地攫取真實的相狀；因此那些凡夫，就在生死的牢獄裡輪迴。
「用言辭所說出來的法，小智慧的人虛妄地分別；因此生出種種障礙，不能明白自己的心。
「不能明白自己的心，又怎麼會知道正道？他由於顛倒的智慧，增長了一切的惡。
「見不到諸法本空，就恆常領受生死之苦；這樣的人未能擁有清淨的法眼的緣故。
「我從前領受眾多的苦，是由於我見不到佛；所以應當清淨自己的法眼，觀察那所應當見的。
「如果得以見到佛，他的心無所攫取，這個人就能夠見到如同佛所知的法。
「如果見到佛的真實之法，就稱得上是大智慧的人；這樣的人擁有清淨的眼目，能夠觀察世間。
「沒有所見才正是真見，這樣才能見到一切法；對於法如果有所見，這反而是無所見。
「一切諸法的體性，沒有生起也沒有滅去；奇妙啊這位大導師，自己覺悟又能使他人覺悟。
「勝慧菩薩先前已經說過，如來所證悟的法；我們從他那裡聽聞，因而能夠知道佛的真實體性。」
精進慧菩薩十偈：只要還住在分別裡，清淨眼就壞了
那時，精進慧菩薩承著佛的威力，觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「如果安住在分別之中，就毀壞了清淨的眼目；愚癡與邪見增長，永遠見不到諸佛。
「如果能夠明了邪妄之法，如其真實而不顛倒，知道虛妄本身當體即真，見佛就清淨了。
「有所見就成為染垢，這還算不上是見；遠離種種見，這樣才是見佛。
「世間的言語之法，眾生虛妄地分別；知道世間本來無生，這才是真正見到了世間。
「如果見到那能見的與所見的世間，這見本身就是世間之相；如其真實而彼此平等沒有差異，這才叫做真正的見者。
「如果見到彼此平等沒有差異，對於事物不起分別，這樣的見遠離種種迷惑，沒有煩惱的滲漏而得到自在。
「諸佛所開示的，一切分別之法，全都是不可得的，因為它們的體性本來清淨的緣故。
「法性本來清淨，如同虛空沒有相狀；一切都無法言說，有智慧的人這樣觀察。
「遠離對於法的想念，不貪樂一切法，這其中也沒有什麼可修，這樣就能見到大牟尼。
「如同德慧所說的，這才叫做見佛的人；所有的一切行，體性全都寂滅。」
善慧菩薩十偈：說無盡，這無盡也無可說
那時，善慧菩薩承著佛的威力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「稀有啊，大勇猛強健的，無量的諸位如來；遠離染垢而心得解脫，自己度脫了又能度脫他人。
「我見到這位世間的明燈，如其真實而不顛倒；就如同在無量劫之中，積累智慧的人所見到的那樣。
「一切凡夫的所作所行，沒有不迅速歸於盡滅的；而它們的體性如同虛空，所以說它沒有窮盡。
「有智慧的人說『無盡』，這也是無所說的；因為自性本來無盡的緣故，才得以有那難以思量的盡。
「在所說的無盡之中，沒有眾生可得；知道眾生的體性就是如此，就見到了這位大名稱的佛。
「沒有所見卻說為見，沒有生起卻說為眾生；不論是見或是眾生，都明了知道它們沒有體性。
「能見的與所見的，連同見者，全都遣除；卻不破壞真實之法——這個人明了知道了佛。
「如果有人明了知道佛，以及佛所說的法，就能夠照亮世間，如同佛盧舍那一樣。
「正覺者善巧地開示，唯一一條清淨之道；精進慧這位大士，也演說了無量的法。
「不論是有或是沒有，那些想念全都除滅；這樣就能見到佛，安住在真實際之中。」
智慧菩薩十偈：生死與涅槃，兩個都不可得
那時，智慧菩薩承著佛的威力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「我聽聞了最殊勝的教法，當下就生起智慧的光明；普遍照耀十方世界，全都見到了一切佛。
「這其中沒有一點點實在的東西，只有假借的名字；如果計執有我、有人，就是走進了險惡的道路。
「那些取著的凡夫，計執這身是實有的；如來並不是可被攫取的對象，他們終究不能見到。
「這樣的人沒有智慧的眼目，不能夠見到佛；在無量劫之中，流轉在生死的大海裡。
「有諍論的時候就說有生死，沒有諍論就是涅槃；生死與涅槃，兩者其實都不可得。
「如果追逐假借的名字，取著這生死與涅槃兩種法，這個人就不合於真實，不知道聖者微妙之道。
「如果生起這樣的想念：『這位是佛，這位最為殊勝。』這就是顛倒而非真實的義理，不能見到正覺者。
「能夠知道這真實的體，是寂滅的真如之相，就見到了正覺之尊，超出了語言之道。
「用言語述說諸法，不能夠顯示真實之相；平等了才能夠見到，如其法性，佛也是這樣。
「正覺者對於過去世、未來世以及現在世，永遠斷除了分別的根，因此稱他為佛。」
真實慧菩薩十偈：寧可受地獄之苦，也要聽見佛的名字
那時，真實慧菩薩承著佛的威力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「寧可領受地獄的苦，而得以聽聞諸佛的名字；也不要領受無量的快樂，卻聽不到佛的名字。
「之所以在往昔，無數劫之中領受痛苦，流轉在生死之中，正是因為沒有聽聞佛的名字的緣故。
「對於法不顛倒，如其真實而當下證得，遠離種種和合之相，這才叫做無上的覺悟。
「現在並非和合而有，過去與未來也同樣如此；一切法沒有相狀，這就是佛的真實之體。
「如果能夠這樣觀察，諸法甚深的義理，就見到了一切佛，法身真實的相。
「在真實之中見到真實，在不真實之中見到不真實；這樣究竟地理解，因此稱他為佛。
「佛法不是可以被覺知的對象，明了這一點才叫做覺法；諸佛就是這樣修的——一法也不可得。
「知道因為有一所以有眾多，知道因為有眾多所以有一；諸法沒有可依傍的，只是從和合而生起。
「沒有能作的，也沒有所作的，只是從業的想念而生；怎麼知道是這樣呢？因為離開這個就沒有別的緣故。
「一切法無所住，固定的處所不可得；諸佛就安住在這裡，究竟不動搖。」
無上慧菩薩十偈：不是身而說身，不是起而現起
那時，無上慧菩薩承著佛的威力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「無上的摩訶薩（大菩薩），遠離了對眾生的想念；沒有誰能夠超過他，所以稱號為無上。
「諸佛所證得之處，沒有造作也沒有分別；粗的了無所有，細的也同樣如此。
「諸佛所行的境界，在其中沒有數量；正覺者遠離了數量，這就是佛的真實之法。
「如來的光明普遍照耀，滅除了種種黑暗昏冥；這光並非是有所照的，卻也並非是無所照的。
「對於法無所執著，沒有念想也沒有染污；沒有安住也沒有處所，卻不破壞法的體性。
「這其中沒有二，也同樣沒有一；大智慧而善於見的人，如其道理而巧妙地安住。
「在這『無』之中並沒有二，連『無二』也同樣沒有；三界一切皆空，這就是諸佛之所見。
「凡夫沒有覺悟理解，佛使他們安住於正法；諸法無所安住，悟到這一點就見到了自身。
「不是身而說作身，不是起而顯現為起；沒有身也沒有見，這就是佛無上的身。
「像這樣，真實慧所說的，諸佛微妙的法性；如果有人聽聞這法，將會得到清淨的眼目。」
堅固慧菩薩十偈：若沒有佛出世，沒有一個眾生能得安樂
那時，堅固慧菩薩承著佛的威力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「偉大啊，這大光明，勇猛強健的無上士；為了利益迷惑的群生的緣故，而興起於世間。
「佛以大悲之心，普遍觀察諸多眾生，見到他們在三有（欲界色界無色界三種存在）之中，輪迴而領受眾多的苦。
「唯獨除了正等覺者，這位具足功德的尊貴導師之外，一切的諸天與人，沒有誰能夠救護。
「如果佛與菩薩等等，不出現於世間，就沒有一個眾生，能夠得到安樂。
「如來等正覺，以及諸位賢聖大眾，出現於世間，就能夠給予眾生安樂。
「如果見到如來，就是得到了大善利；聽聞佛的名字而生起信心，這人就是世間的塔。
「我們見到世尊，就是得到了大利益；聽聞這樣微妙的法，全都應當成就佛道。
「諸位菩薩在過去，憑藉佛的威神之力，得到清淨的智慧眼目，明了諸佛的境界。
「如今見到盧舍那，更加增長清淨的信心；佛的智慧沒有邊際，演說也不可窮盡。
「勝慧等等諸位菩薩，以及我堅固慧，在無數億劫之中，說也說不能盡。」
Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions Gather Like Clouds: The Same Names, the Same Worlds, the Same Buddha-Titles
At that time, because of the Buddha's spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there was one great bodhisattva, and each of them, together with bodhisattvas as many as the dust-motes of a buddha-land, came to the assembly from the many worlds that lie beyond lands as many as the dust-motes of a hundred buddha-lands. Their names were these: the bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom, the bodhisattva All Wisdom, the bodhisattva Excellent Wisdom, the bodhisattva Merit Wisdom, the bodhisattva Vigor Wisdom, the bodhisattva Good Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom, the bodhisattva True Wisdom, the bodhisattva Unsurpassed Wisdom, the bodhisattva Firm Wisdom.
The lands they had come from were these: the world Indra Flower, the world Padma Flower, the world Jewel Flower, the world Utpala Flower, the world Vajra Flower, the world Wondrous Fragrance Flower, the world Delightful Flower, the world Aruṇa Flower, the world Nārada Flower, the world Empty-Space Flower. Each of them, in the presence of his buddha, purely cultivated the brahma-conduct (conduct that is pure and undefiled), and the buddhas they served were these: the Buddha Extraordinary Moon, the Buddha Inexhaustible Moon, the Buddha Unmoving Moon, the Buddha Wind Moon, the Buddha Water Moon, the Buddha Liberation Moon, the Buddha Unsurpassed Moon, the Buddha Constellation Moon, the Buddha Pure Moon, the Buddha Clear-Understanding Moon.
When these bodhisattvas had come to where the Buddha was, they bowed their heads to the Buddha's two feet; then, each following the quarter from which he had come, each of them conjured up a lion throne of the Vairocana Treasury, and upon those thrones they sat with legs crossed (sitting with the two feet folded one upon the other). Just as in this world there were bodhisattvas who came and gathered upon the summit of Mount Sumeru, so too in all worlds it was entirely thus; and of the bodhisattvas in those worlds, all the names, the worlds, and the titles of the buddhas were entirely equal and without difference.
At that time the World-Honored One emitted from the toes of his two feet a hundred thousand koṭis of rays of wondrously colored light, illumining everywhere the palaces of Śakra upon the summits of Mount Sumeru in all the worlds of the ten directions, and there was not one of the Buddha and the great assembly who did not appear there in full.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom: The Tathāgata's Power of Freedom — Every Quarter Says the Buddha Is Here
At that time the bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome spirit, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“The Buddha emitted a pure light, and thereupon this Guide of the World was seen everywhere, abiding upon the summit of Sumeru, king of mountains, within the Hall of Wondrous Excellence.
“All the god-kings Śakra reverently invited the Buddha to enter their own palaces, and all of them, with ten beautiful verses, extolled and praised the Tathāgatas.
“In those Dharma assemblies, the whole great multitude of bodhisattvas had all come from the ten directions, and, conjuring up seats, they sat down at ease.
“The bodhisattvas in those Dharma assemblies all bear one and the same name as we do, and the worlds they have come from are likewise named in this same way.
“The World-Honored Ones of the lands where they originally dwell all bear the same titles as well, and each of them, in the presence of his buddha, purely cultivates the unsurpassed conduct.
“Sons of the Buddha, you should contemplate the Tathāgata's power of freedom: in every Jambudvīpa (this continent in which we dwell), they all say that the Buddha is right here among them.
“We now see the Buddha abiding upon the summit of Mount Sumeru, and in the ten directions it is entirely so as well — this is the Tathāgata's power of freedom.
“In every single world there are those who give rise to the mind that seeks the Buddha's path, and, following such a vow, they cultivate the conduct that tends toward awakening.
“With bodies of every different kind the Buddha travels throughout the world; within the Dharma realm there is no obstruction whatever, and there is no one who is able to take his measure.
“The light of wisdom shines everywhere constantly, and the darkness of the world is entirely removed; among all things there is nothing that can equal him — how could one ever measure and know him!”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva All Wisdom: To Look at the Buddha Without Relying on the Real Meaning Is Not Seeing the Buddha, However Long One Looks
At that time the bodhisattva All Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“Suppose that for as long as a hundred thousand kalpas one constantly saw the Tathāgata, and yet did not rely upon the real meaning, but only looked in this way at this Savior of the World —
“This person is seizing upon marks of every kind, increasing the net of folly and delusion; he is bound in the prison of birth-and-death, blind and benighted, and does not see the Buddha.
“Contemplate all dharmas: their own nature is utterly without anything at all; and as for the marks of their arising and ceasing, these are spoken of only by borrowing names.
“All dharmas have no real arising, and all dharmas have no real ceasing; if one is able to understand it thus, the buddhas are constantly manifest before one.
“The nature of dharmas is from the first empty and still; there is nothing that can be seized and nothing that can be seen; this emptiness of the nature is the Buddha, and it is not something that thinking can attain.
“If one knows that all dharmas are, in their very substance, entirely thus, such a person will not be defiled by the afflictions of every kind.
“Ordinary beings, seeing dharmas, merely turn along with their marks; they do not understand that dharmas are from the first without marks, and therefore they do not see the Buddha.
“The Muni (the sage of silent stillness) has transcended the three times, past, present, and future, and yet the marks and signs of every kind are entirely complete in him; he abides within abiding nowhere, pervading everywhere and unmoving.
“I have contemplated all dharmas and have gained a clear understanding of them all; now that I see the Tathāgata, I am decidedly without any doubt.
“The bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom has already said before what the Tathāgata's real nature is; from him I have come to understand that the path of awakening is hard to think of or discuss.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Excellent Wisdom: A Jewel in the Dark Is Not Seen Without a Lamp; When No One Expounds the Buddha's Dharma, Even the Wise Cannot Understand It
At that time the bodhisattva Excellent Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“The great wisdom of the Tathāgata is rare, and there is none who can equal it; all the many worlds cannot reach it even by thinking.
“Ordinary beings contemplate falsely, seizing upon marks in a way that does not accord with principle; the Buddha has transcended all marks, and he is not what they are able to see.
“Those who are deluded and without knowledge falsely seize upon the marks of the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness — the five classes of components of body and mind); they do not understand their real substance, and such people do not see the Buddha.
“Understand and know all dharmas: their own nature is utterly without anything at all; to understand the nature of dharmas thus is to see Rocana (a title of the Buddha).
“Because there are the earlier five aggregates, the later five aggregates arise in succession; if one is able to know the substance within this, then the matter of seeing the Buddha becomes hard to think of or discuss.
“It is like a jewel in the dark: without a lamp it cannot be seen; when no one expounds the Buddha's Dharma, then even one who has wisdom is unable to understand it.
“It is also like an eye that has grown a cataract and cannot see pure and wondrous colors; just so, a mind that is not pure cannot see the dharmas of the buddhas.
“Again, it is like the bright and clear sun, which one whose eyes are blind is unable to see; those who have no mind of wisdom will in the end not see the buddhas.
“If one is able to remove the cataract within the eye and to abandon grasping at color and form, and does not give rise to views regarding dharmas, then one is able to see the Tathāgata.
“The bodhisattva All Wisdom said before what the dharma of the buddhas' awakening is; hearing it from him, I have been able to see Rocana.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Merit Wisdom: If One Cannot Understand One's Own Mind, How Should One Know the Right Path
At that time the bodhisattva Merit Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“Within dharmas there is nothing real to be got, and yet one falsely seizes upon the marks of the real; and therefore those ordinary beings revolve within the prison of birth-and-death.
“The dharma that is spoken forth in words is falsely discriminated by those of small wisdom; and therefore obstructions of every kind arise, and they are unable to understand their own mind.
“Being unable to understand one's own mind, how then should one know the right path? Through inverted wisdom, he increases every evil.
“Not seeing that dharmas are from the first empty, one constantly undergoes the suffering of birth-and-death; it is because such a person has not been able to possess the pure Dharma eye.
“That in the past I underwent many sufferings was because I did not see the Buddha; therefore one should purify one's own Dharma eye and contemplate that which ought to be seen.
“If one is able to see the Buddha, his mind seizes upon nothing, and this person is able to see the dharma just as the Buddha knows it.
“If one sees the Buddha's real dharma, one deserves to be called a person of great wisdom; such a person possesses pure eyes and is able to contemplate the world.
“To have nothing seen is precisely true seeing, and only thus can one see all dharmas; if with regard to dharmas one has something seen, this on the contrary is to have nothing seen.
“The substance of all dharmas has neither arising nor ceasing; how marvelous is this Great Guide, who awakens himself and can also cause others to awaken.
“The bodhisattva Excellent Wisdom has already said before what dharma it is that the Tathāgata realized; hearing it from him, we are thereby able to know the Buddha's real substance.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Vigor Wisdom: So Long as One Still Dwells in Discrimination, the Pure Eye Is Ruined
At that time the bodhisattva Vigor Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“If one abides within discrimination, one ruins the pure eyes; folly and deviant views increase, and one will never see the buddhas.
“If one is able to understand deviant and false dharmas as they really are and without inversion, and to know that falsity in its very substance is the real, then the seeing of the Buddha is pure.
“To have something seen becomes defilement, and this does not yet count as seeing; to be far removed from views of every kind — only this is seeing the Buddha.
“The dharma of the world's words and speech is falsely discriminated by sentient beings; to know that the world is from the first unarisen — this is truly to see the world.
“If one sees the seeing and the seen world, this seeing is itself a mark of the world; to be, as they really are, equal to one another and without difference — this is what is called the true seer.
“If one sees that they are equal to one another and without difference, and does not give rise to discrimination with regard to things, such seeing is far removed from delusions of every kind, and without the outflow of afflictions one attains freedom.
“All the discriminated dharmas that the buddhas set forth are entirely not to be got, because their substance is from the first pure.
“The nature of dharmas is from the first pure, like empty space, without marks; of it nothing at all can be spoken — the wise contemplate it thus.
“Being far removed from thoughts of dharmas and taking no delight in any dharma, herein too there is nothing to be cultivated — thus is one able to see the Great Muni.
“As Virtue Wisdom has said, this is what is called the person who sees the Buddha; all practices whatsoever are in their substance entirely still and extinguished.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Good Wisdom: To Say “Inexhaustible” — Even This Inexhaustibility Has Nothing That Can Be Said
At that time the bodhisattva Good Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“How rare are the greatly brave and strong, the immeasurable Tathāgatas; free of defilement and with minds liberated, having crossed over themselves they can also carry others across.
“I see this Lamp of the World as it really is and without inversion, just as it was seen by those who through immeasurable kalpas have accumulated wisdom.
“Of all that ordinary beings do and practice, there is none that does not swiftly come to exhaustion; and yet their substance is like empty space, and therefore it is said to have no exhaustion.
“The wise say ‘inexhaustible’, and this too is nothing that is spoken; it is because the own-nature is from the first inexhaustible that there can be that exhaustion which is hard to think of.
“Within the inexhaustibility that is spoken of, no sentient being is to be got; to know that the substance of sentient beings is just so is to see this Buddha of Great Renown.
“There is nothing seen, and yet it is spoken of as seeing; there is no arising, and yet they are spoken of as sentient beings; whether it be the seeing or the sentient beings, one understands and knows clearly that they have no substance.
“The seeing and the seen, together with the seer, are all removed; and yet the real dharma is not destroyed — this person understands and knows the Buddha.
“If someone understands and knows the Buddha, and the dharma that the Buddha expounds, he is able to illumine the world, just as the Buddha Rocana does.
“The Rightly Awakened One skillfully sets forth the one and only pure path; and Vigor Wisdom, that great being, has also expounded immeasurable dharmas.
“Whether it be being or not-being, those thoughts are all extinguished; thus is one able to see the Buddha and to abide within the true limit.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Wisdom: Birth-and-Death and Nirvāṇa — Neither of the Two Can Be Got
At that time the bodhisattva Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“I heard the most excellent teaching and there and then gave rise to the light of wisdom; it illumined everywhere the worlds of the ten directions, and I saw all the buddhas entirely.
“Herein there is not the least real thing; there are only borrowed names; if one reckons that there is a self and a person, one has entered upon the perilous road.
“Those grasping ordinary beings reckon this body to be really existent; the Tathāgata is not an object that can be seized, and they in the end are unable to see him.
“Such people have no eye of wisdom and are unable to see the Buddha; through immeasurable kalpas they drift and turn within the great sea of birth-and-death.
“When there is contention one speaks of birth-and-death; where there is no contention, that is nirvāṇa; birth-and-death and nirvāṇa — neither of the two, in truth, can be got.
“If one chases after borrowed names and grasps at these two dharmas, birth-and-death and nirvāṇa, such a person does not accord with the real and does not know the subtle path of the noble ones.
“If one gives rise to a thought like this — ‘This one is the Buddha; this one is the most excellent’ — this is inverted and is not the real meaning, and one is unable to see the Rightly Awakened One.
“To be able to know that this real substance is the mark of still and extinguished suchness is to see the Honored One of Right Awakening, who has gone beyond the way of words.
“To recount dharmas with words and speech is unable to display the real mark; only when there is equality is one able to see; as the nature of dharmas is, so too is the Buddha.
“The Rightly Awakened One, with regard to past ages, future ages, and the present age, has forever cut off the root of discrimination, and therefore he is called Buddha.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva True Wisdom: Better to Undergo the Suffering of the Hells and Hear the Buddha's Name
At that time the bodhisattva True Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“Better to undergo the suffering of the hells and be able to hear the names of the buddhas, than to undergo immeasurable pleasure and not hear the Buddha's name.
“The reason why, in ages past, one underwent pain through numberless kalpas and drifted and turned within birth-and-death, is precisely that one had not heard the Buddha's name.
“With regard to dharmas to be without inversion, to realize them there and then as they really are, and to be far removed from the marks of conjunction — this is what is called unsurpassed awakening.
“The present is not something that exists by conjunction, and past and future are likewise so; all dharmas are without marks — this is the Buddha's real substance.
“If one is able to contemplate thus the profound meaning of dharmas, then one sees all the buddhas, the real mark of the dharma-body.
“In the real one sees the real; in the unreal one sees the unreal; understanding thus ultimately, one is therefore called Buddha.
“The Buddha's Dharma is not an object that can be cognized; to understand this is what is called awakening to the Dharma; the buddhas cultivated in just this way — not one dharma is to be got.
“Knowing that because there is one there are many, and knowing that because there are many there is one; dharmas have nothing to lean upon, but arise only from conjunction.
“There is nothing that acts and nothing that is acted upon; there is only what arises from the thought of deeds; how is one to know that it is so? Because apart from this there is nothing else.
“All dharmas abide nowhere; a fixed place for them cannot be got; and the buddhas abide right here, ultimately unmoving.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Unsurpassed Wisdom: Not a Body, Yet Called a Body; Not an Arising, Yet Manifest as Arising
At that time the bodhisattva Unsurpassed Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“The unsurpassed mahāsattva (the great bodhisattva) is far removed from thoughts of sentient beings; there is none who is able to surpass him, and therefore he is titled Unsurpassed.
“In that which the buddhas have realized there is neither doing nor discrimination; what is coarse is utterly without anything at all, and what is fine is likewise so.
“In the sphere that the buddhas practice there is no number therein; the Rightly Awakened One is far removed from number — this is the Buddha's real dharma.
“The Tathāgata's light shines everywhere and extinguishes the darkness and gloom of every kind; and yet this light is not something that has anything it illumines, nor is it something that has nothing it illumines.
“With regard to dharmas he has no attachment; he has neither thought nor defilement; he has neither abiding nor place, and yet he does not destroy the nature of dharmas.
“Herein there is no two, and likewise there is no one; he who is of great wisdom and sees well abides skillfully in accord with the principle.
“Within this ‘no’ there is no two, and even the ‘no-two’ is likewise absent; the three realms are all empty — this is what the buddhas see.
“Ordinary beings have no awakened understanding, and the Buddha causes them to abide in the right Dharma; dharmas abide nowhere, and to awaken to this is to see one's own body.
“Not a body, and yet it is spoken of as a body; not an arising, and yet it is manifest as an arising; there is no body and there is no seeing — this is the Buddha's unsurpassed body.
“Thus is the subtle nature of dharmas of the buddhas that True Wisdom has spoken of; if there be those who hear this dharma, they shall attain the pure eyes.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Firm Wisdom: If No Buddha Appeared in the World, Not One Sentient Being Could Attain Peace and Joy
At that time the bodhisattva Firm Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“How great is this great light, the brave and strong Unsurpassed One; for the sake of benefiting the deluded multitudes, he has arisen in the world.
“With a mind of great compassion the Buddha contemplates everywhere the many sentient beings, and sees them within the three forms of existence (existence in the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm), revolving and undergoing many sufferings.
“Save only for the Rightly and Fully Awakened One, that Honored Guide replete with merit, among all the gods and humans there is none who is able to save and protect them.
“If the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and the rest did not appear in the world, there would not be one sentient being who could attain peace and joy.
“When the Tathāgata, the Rightly and Fully Awakened One, together with the multitude of the worthy and the noble, appears in the world, they are then able to give peace and joy to sentient beings.
“If one sees the Tathāgata, one has gained a great benefit of goodness; one who hears the Buddha's name and gives rise to faith — this person is a stūpa of the world.
“That we have seen the World-Honored One means that we have gained a great benefit; having heard so wondrous a Dharma, we shall all accomplish the Buddha's path.
“The bodhisattvas in the past, by the Buddha's power of awesome spirit, gained the pure eyes of wisdom and understood the sphere of the buddhas.
“Now that we see Rocana, our pure faith increases the more; the Buddha's wisdom has no bound, and its expounding too cannot be exhausted.
“Excellent Wisdom and the other bodhisattvas, together with myself, Firm Wisdom — through numberless koṭis of kalpas we could speak and still not exhaust it.”
佛昇上了須彌山頂，然後坐著不說話
前一品把佛請上了忉利天宮的妙勝殿，帝釋以偈稱讚。讀者自然預期：接下來該說法了。可是這一品從頭到尾，世尊只做了兩件事——受十方菩薩的頂禮，以及從兩隻腳的腳指放出光明。一句話也沒說。說話的是十位菩薩，每位十首偈，一共一百首。
要看懂這個安排，得先問它擺在哪裡。澄觀判這一品的來意時說得很直接：前一品已經明「化主赴感」，這一品要辨的是「助化讚揚」；而更要緊的一句是——將要演說住門，得先陳明住的體性，這體性就是佛智，所以先讚如來。他的宗趣一句更把話說死了：顯佛德為宗，令知住體為趣。
所以佛不說話並不是缺席。這一品所要立的，正是下一品〈十住品〉所要進入的那個位子的「體」。排一個誤讀：不要把十位菩薩的讚歎當成開場的儀節。儀節可以省，這一品省不得——因為若不先知道所要住的是什麼，「十住」就只是十個名目。落到讀法上：這一百首偈不是讚美詩，是在你進門之前，先把你手上那個「佛」的概念檢查一遍。
為什麼十位菩薩的名字全都叫「慧」
十位菩薩：法慧、一切慧、勝慧、功德慧、精進慧、善慧、智慧、真實慧、無上慧、堅固慧——十個名字，末一字全同。所從來的十個世界，末一字全帶「華」；所事奉的十位佛，名號全帶「月」。這種整齊到近乎刻意的重複，是這一品最先撞到讀者眼睛的東西。
古德不把它讀成修辭。澄觀釋菩薩同名慧說：慧就是十解，因為能見法的緣故；他並註明各菩薩之名何以有別，要到偈頌處才逐一解釋。法藏於六十本判得更工整：菩薩同名慧是「住中因相」，是解達真俗而明了；佛同名月是「住中果相」，並開三義——體是圓滿、用是光照、德是清涼，又配正體智、後得智、大悲三重。智儼最簡，說菩薩同名慧只因為「解之始故」——這是解門剛開的位子。至於世界同名華，澄觀說是「位相創開，無著感果」——華是位相初開之象。
排一個誤：不要把三組「同名」讀成貧乏。同名所顯的正是這一會的義——名同、界同、佛同，表示這不是十個各別的法會。落地處：你讀十段偈時若覺得『怎麼講來講去都是同一件事』，那不是重複，那是這一品要你看見的東西。
「初一是總、餘九為別」：這一百首偈怎麼分
一百首偈若平鋪去讀，會讀成一堆彼此相似的空義。古德給了一個極清楚的骨架。澄觀判偈讚分為十段，並說：十菩薩說即為十段，初一是總、餘九為別——因為法慧是說法主的緣故，他總敘這一會的本末事義、總顯佛德；其餘九位各歎佛差別之德，總與別共同顯出如來無礙之會。法藏於六十本判法完全一致，作「初一總、後九別」，並接著說這十段所說「即是十住中法」，下面諸偈都要照這個意思去理解。
所以讀法是：法慧那十首是框——它講的是這場法會為什麼會這樣、佛的自在力為何能如此；從一切慧起的九十首是內容——一首一首地拆「見佛」。李通玄的分法略異，他把集眾與放光併作第一段，長科一品為十一段，於是十位菩薩成了第二至第十一段；這是分法之異，不是義之異，誌之。
排一個誤：不要把第一段讀成序、把後九段讀成正文。澄觀說的是「總」與「別」，不是「序」與「正」——法慧那十首本身就是完整的一段義。落地處：讀完第一段先停一下，記住它立的那個「如來自在力」，後面九段拆掉的每一樣東西，都是為了讓這句話不被誤解成神通的展示。
十菩薩的名字，古德說也表十住
還有一層，這一品自己不說，是疏家說的，讀者要分清楚。澄觀在偈讚分的總判之後接了一句：這十位菩薩的名字也表十住，他們所說的法表位的勝進；並自註勝進有二——趣後位與趣佛果，此處是約佛果說。他又把十個世界之名逐一配於十住：因陀羅華配發心住，說是「主導世間」；波頭摩華配治地住，說是「淨治心地如蓮開」；乃至阿盧那華，他釋為「日出時紅赤之相」而配童真住；那羅陀華他釋為「人持」，因為華香美妙人人佩帶，故配王子住；虛空華則取「智遍如空」。十位佛的名號，他也逐一配於十住自分十法之果。李通玄走的是另一軌，他於每一位菩薩之下開四義——菩薩名、世界名、佛號、所從來方，例如判堅固慧為灌頂住而行智波羅蜜，判虛空華世界為智慧日照明世出世間而總無依住。
這裡要說清楚：經文本身只列名字，沒有說哪一位配哪一住。十住之配是澄觀與李通玄的科，二家所配也不盡同。排一個誤：不要一邊讀偈一邊硬套位次，那會把偈的義理讀丟。落地處：位次之配當作一張地圖用——讀不下去時看一眼，知道自己走在哪一段；讀得下去時就放下它，讓偈自己說話。
序分：十方雲集，兩足指放光
長行極短，但每一句都在立這一會的規格。十方各有一位大菩薩，各與佛剎微塵數的眷屬同來，而且是從「百佛剎微塵數國土外」的世界來的。澄觀在此點出一件容易滑過去的事：前一會是「十」，這一會是「百」，因為位已增的緣故——距離的數字是位次的刻度，不是空間的描寫。法藏於六十本判同，說這是「行位漸增」。
菩薩到了之後，頂禮佛足，隨著自己所來的方位化作毘盧遮那藏師子之座而坐。接著經文說了一句最重要的話：像這個世界須彌頂上有菩薩來集那樣，一切世界也全都如此，那些菩薩的名字、世界、佛號，全都相等而沒有差別。澄觀於放光處說：一光照於一切，則一切也是這樣，重疊無礙而無不互見，成為一個法界圓明的大會；法藏判同，說所照顯現的通同為「一法界圓明之會」。智儼則以此答一個問題——為什麼一一方各有十？他答：要顯解相分明而圓融數等，一方就是一切方。
放光的位置也被三家一致地讀成表法。澄觀說兩足指抵地才能站得有力，表成位不退而行有恆；法藏說如足指按地才得住立，表這十住「成位不退」，所以叫做住。李通玄更列出五位放光之處以顯昇進：十信在足輪下、十住在足指端、十行在足趺、十迴向在膝上、十地在眉間。
排一個誤：讀到「百千億妙色光明」不要去想亮度。光在這一品的作用是讓「遍」成為可見的事——若無這一照，後面十位菩薩說「十方悉亦然」就只是一句斷言。落地處：序分讀完，你手上該有三件事——位增了、會遍了、位不退了。這三件是後面一百首偈的地基。
法慧菩薩十偈：一切閻浮提，皆言佛在中
第一段是總。澄觀判法慧「總了佛法」，並科其十頌分三：初五敘因佛光而見到的多重盛事，其中初一敘這一品的放光、次一敘前一品帝釋的請與讚、其餘三首重敘這一品；次二勸人觀佛力而更發勝心；後三舉因結果，初一舉因、後二結果。智儼於六十本科作「初七牒眾……次三明勝行者得見佛」，分法不同，並錄。
第一偈是眼前之事：佛放出淨光，於是普遍見到這位世導師在須彌山王頂的妙勝殿中——先立「見」的起點，而這個見是光給的。第二偈回望前品：一切釋天王請佛入宮，各以十首妙頌稱讚諸如來——一句話收束了上一品。第三偈說這一會的來眾：那些法會中所有的菩薩眾都從十方而至，化座而安坐。第四偈說名字：那些菩薩「皆同我等名」——他方的十位與此方的十位同名。第五偈說本國之佛：名號也全都相同，各於其佛所淨修無上行。第六偈是全段的轉折，也是這一品最有名的句子之一——「佛子汝應觀，如來自在力，一切閻浮提，皆言佛在中」：每一個閻浮提都說佛在自己這裡。第七偈把這句話落到說話者自己身上：我們如今見佛住於須彌頂，十方也全都如此，這就是如來自在力。第八偈起舉因：一一世界中都有人發心求佛道，依這樣的願修習菩提行。第九偈說果之遍：佛以種種身遊行遍世間，於法界無所礙，沒有誰能測量。第十偈收在不可測：慧光恆常普照，世間的黑暗全被除滅，一切之中無與倫比，怎麼可能測知。
排一個大誤：「一切閻浮提，皆言佛在中」不是說佛分身去了很多地方。澄觀在放光處已經先擋了這個讀法——是一光照一切而重疊無礙，不是多處各有各的會。落地處：這一段給的是尺度感。你若把它讀成神通故事，後面九十首偈拆的那個「取相」，你就正好犯在裡面。
一切慧菩薩十偈：看了百千劫，還是沒見到
從這一段起入「別」。澄觀判一切慧是「了一切法真實之性，淨心地故」，並說這一段的頌意在顯於諸眾生增長大悲——因為要稱實而觀這位救世者的緣故；他科十頌分六：初二是違理觀佛非見佛，次四是了法真性真見佛，其後四偈各一義。
第一偈設了一個極重的假設：假使經過百千劫常常見到如來，卻不依真實義而只是這樣看著救世者——時間長到這個地步仍然沒用。第二偈說明何以沒用：這人是在取諸相，增長癡惑之網，被繫縛在生死獄裡，盲冥而不見佛。澄觀在此特別防了一個過解：這是為了遮取相才假設長時，並不是說真有那麼多劫全然不了義，因為見如來本來是增長智慧的。第三至第六偈是正面的觀法。第三偈立空與假：觀察諸法自性無所有，而其生滅之相只是假名而說。第四偈立不生不滅：一切法無生、一切法無滅，若能這樣理解，諸佛就常現在前。澄觀於此判為三觀一心——初二句空觀是緣生無性，次二句假觀是隨俗假名，次二句中觀是相體即不生滅，後二句是觀益；他並說三觀既一心，佛的體與用就無不現。第五偈轉入止：法性本空寂，無取也無見，性空即是佛，不可得思量。澄觀在此下了一句要緊的話——法性本來是空，不是靠觀把它觀成空的，所以說無所取；既無所取，哪裡還有能見。第六偈說觀成之益：若知一切法體性皆如此，這人就不被煩惱染著。第七偈回到反面：凡夫見諸法只隨相轉，不了法無相，因此不見佛。第八偈是全段最豐富的一首：牟尼離三世而諸相悉具足，住於無所住而普遍不動——離與具、住與無住同時說。第九偈是說者自陳：我觀一切法皆得明了，今見如來決定無疑。第十偈推功於前：法慧先已說如來真實性，我從他那裡了知菩提難思議。
排一個誤：這一段不是在否定「見佛」，是在拆「見」裡的取相。落地處在第一偈——時間換不來見，方法錯了，百千劫也只是把錯誤看得更熟。
勝慧菩薩十偈：闇中之寶，無燈不可見
澄觀判勝慧是「以解佛勝智，隨空心淨」，說這一段的頌意在顯欲令菩薩智慧明了；他科十頌分四：初一讚智為迷悟之本、次四正顯迷悟、次四以喻前面的得失、後一推功有在。智儼於六十本科此段作「偈有六」，其中有「次三推功在佛」一科，分法不同，並錄。
第一偈總歎：如來的大智慧稀有而無等倫，一切世間用思惟都追不上——先立所觀者之高。第二偈說凡夫之失：妄觀而取相不如理，佛既離一切相，就不是他們所能見的。第三偈更具體：迷惑無知的人妄取五蘊之相，不了它的真性，所以不見佛。第四偈是正面：了知一切法自性無所有，這樣解法性就見到盧舍那。第五偈極要緊，把五蘊之相續也納進來：因為前五蘊的緣故後五蘊相續而起，能於此中之性了知，見佛就難以思議了——不是斷掉五蘊才見佛，是在相續中了性。澄觀把第二至第五這四偈判為「初二迷、後二悟」，並說迷的兩偈一是心外取境而不見無相之佛、一是取蘊內之相而不了蘊性故不見心佛；悟的兩偈則各各翻轉之——第四偈翻前面的外取，了一切法即心自性而「性亦非性」，情破理現所以見舍那；第五偈翻前面的內取，了蘊之性相就見自心之佛，與盧舍那「非一非異」。第六偈起連下三喻。第六偈是闇中寶：譬如黑暗裡的寶物，沒有燈就見不到；佛法沒有人說，即使有慧也無法明了——所缺的是燈，不是寶。第七偈是目翳：如同眼有翳障便見不到淨妙之色，不淨之心也見不到諸佛之法——所缺的在能見這一邊。第八偈是明淨日與瞽者：太陽再亮，瞎眼的人也看不見；沒有智慧之心，終究不見諸佛。第九偈把三喻收成方法：若能除去眼翳、捨離色想，不在諸法上起見，就得見如來。第十偈推功：一切慧先說諸佛菩提法，我從他那裡聽聞，得見盧舍那。
排一個誤：三個喻不是同一件事說三遍。闇中寶缺的是『說法的人』，目翳與瞽者缺的是『自己的眼』——一個是外緣，兩個是內因，缺任何一邊都不見。落地處：讀到這裡若覺得自己『懂了卻見不到』，第六偈說的是你可能缺一盞燈；第七第八偈說的是燈點著了也未必看得見。
功德慧菩薩十偈：不能了自心，怎麼會知道正道
澄觀判功德慧是「生在佛家，善解佛德」，說這一段的頌意在顯於三世之中心得平等、了知自心而窮盡法空；他科十頌分四：初四明凡小的妄覺、次四示其真覺、其三有一偈明佛覺雙圓、後一偈推功有本。智儼於六十本科此段作「偈有五」，首科為「初四明迷者失」，分法不同，並錄。
第一偈立病根：諸法無真實而妄取真實之相，所以凡夫輪迴生死獄。第二偈說病之所在轉深：言辭所說之法，小智的人拿去妄作分別，於是生出障礙，不了自心——問題不在言辭，在拿言辭去分別。第三偈是本段最鋒利的一句：不能了自心，云何知正道？他由顛倒之慧增長一切惡——注意「顛倒慧」三字，慧本身也可以是顛倒的。第四偈說果報：不見諸法空就恆受生死苦，因為這人未能有清淨法眼。第五偈轉為自述，也轉為方法：我從前受眾苦是由於不見佛，所以應當淨自己的法眼，觀那所應見的——澄觀判這一偈是「引己之損勸物成益」，說者拿自己的虧損來勸人。第六偈說見的樣子：若得見佛，其心無所取，這人就能見到如佛所知之法——見的判準在「心無所取」；澄觀釋此偈說「見佛無取即是見如」，而如就是佛之所知。第七偈說見的名與用：若見佛真法就名大智者，這人有淨眼而能觀察世間——見了之後不是離世，是能觀世。第八偈是全段的樞紐：無見即是見，能見一切法；於法若有見，此則無所見——正反兩句同時說，把「見」這個詞的兩層用法一次分開。第九偈說所見之法：一切諸法性無生亦無滅，並讚歎大導師自覺而能覺他。第十偈推功：勝慧先已說如來所悟法，我等從他那裡聽聞，因而能知佛的真性。
排一個誤：第三偈的「不能了自心」很容易被讀成『要向內找一個心』。偈的下一句立刻擋住了——問題出在顛倒慧，不在找不找。落地處在第五偈：這一段唯一給出的動作是「淨法眼」，而且是自述式的——說者把自己也算進受苦的人裡。
精進慧菩薩十偈：有見則為垢
這一段的說者句與其餘九段有一字之異：其餘皆作「普觀十方」，此段作「觀察十方」。澄觀判精進慧是「以勤觀真理集無量善，俱無住故」，說頌意在顯欲令其心轉復精進而無所染著；他科十頌分二：前九觀法、後一推功，而前九之中又分所執無相觀、緣起無生觀、圓成無性觀三重。智儼於六十本科此段作「偈有三」，並判其中八首為「廣辨觀式獲益相」，又分前四為無相生、後四為真實性，分法不同，並錄。
第一偈立病：若住於分別就壞了清淨眼，愚癡邪見增長，永遠不見諸佛。第二偈立藥，而且是這一品最不易讀的一句：若能了邪法、如實不顛倒，知妄本自真，見佛則清淨——不是滅掉妄再見真，是知妄當體本自真。第三偈把刀口轉向「見」自己：有見則為垢，這還不算見；遠離諸見，這樣才是見佛。澄觀在這一重上用了一個極好的喻——如同在昏暗中把木頭看成鬼，知道鬼只是迷而有的，叫做「如實知鬼」；知道鬼本來就沒有、整個就是那塊木頭，才叫做「見木」。他又用同一個喻說能取這一邊：「如若見鬼，即不見木」，離了見鬼之見，才是見木。第二偈的「知妄本自真」與這一偈的「遠離於諸見」，正是這個喻的兩半。第四偈轉到世間：世間的言語之法是眾生妄分別，知世皆無生才是真見世間。第五偈更進：若見那能見的世間，這見本身就是世間之相；如實而等無差異，才叫真見者。第六偈說等無異之後的功用：於物不分別，這見離諸惑而無漏得自在。第七偈把佛所說的法也放進去：諸佛所開示的一切分別法，全都不可得，因為它們的體性本清淨。第八偈立所觀之體：法性本清淨，如虛空無有相，一切無能說，智者這樣觀。第九偈是最徹底的一句：遠離於法想，不樂一切法，此亦無所修——連「修」的姿態也放掉，才能見大牟尼。第十偈推功於功德慧，並收於行之體性：所有一切行，體性皆寂滅。
排一個誤：第九偈的「此亦無所修」不是叫人不修。它跟在『遠離法想』之後，說的是不要把『我在修』再立成一個所取之相。落地處在第三偈——若讀完這一品之後你覺得『我現在會看了』，這一偈正是說給那個『會看』聽的。
善慧菩薩十偈：說無盡，這無盡也無可說
澄觀判善慧是「成就般若慧鑑不動，可謂善矣」，說頌意在顯欲令其心轉復增進而得不退轉無生法忍；他科十頌分四：初二見佛、次三見法、次三觀成利益、後二推見有依。智儼於六十本科此段作「偈有四」，其中「次一半推功在本」，分法不同，並錄。本段之推功句在第九偈，不在第十偈，與其餘諸段不同。
第一偈總歎：稀有的大勇健、無量的諸如來，離垢而心解脫，自度又能度他——自度與度他一句連說。第二偈是說者自見：我見到這世間之燈，如實不顛倒，如同在無量劫中積智的人所見。第三偈立本段之眼：一切凡夫行沒有不迅速歸盡的，而其性如虛空，所以說無有盡——盡與無盡在同一句裡。第四偈把這句話再翻一次：智者說「無盡」，這也是無所說的；因為自性無盡的緣故，才得有那難思之盡。第五偈把眾生放進去：所說的無盡之中沒有眾生可得，知眾生之性如此，就見到這位大名稱者。第六偈說名言之施設：無見卻說為見，無生卻說為眾生；不論見或眾生，都了知它無有體性。第七偈是最徹底的一遣：能見、所見連同見者全都除遣，卻不破壞真法——這人了知佛。第八偈說見後之用：若人了知佛及佛所說法，就能照世間如佛盧舍那。第九偈推功於精進慧，並先讚正覺善開示一法清淨道。第十偈收束：若有若無有，那些想念全都除滅，這樣能見佛而安住於實際。
排一個誤：第三、第四偈的「無盡」極易被讀成『多得數不完』。偈自己說了——其性如虛空，所以說無盡；這是就性說，不是就量說。澄觀在此拂得更徹底：既然如虛空，哪裡還有一個「無為之相」可得；而既然是就自性說無盡，也就不破壞那個「盡」，所以說難思。他末了一句話把兩段扣起來——「盡即無盡，故無眾生也」，正是第五偈說無眾生可得的由來。落地處在第七偈：能見、所見、見者三個都除遣之後，「不壞於真法」五個字才是這一段真正要保住的東西。
智慧菩薩十偈：生死與涅槃，二俱不可得
澄觀判智慧之名是「決斷不動所以名智」，說頌意在顯於一切法皆能出離；他科十頌分二：初一引己勵眾，其餘諸偈希望大眾同於自己，其中又分前六示迷、後三啟悟。智儼於六十本科此段作「偈有三」：初一明因教成正解、次六明迷教理者失、次三重成解德，分法不同，並錄。本段與下一段是全品十段中唯二沒有推功句的兩段。
第一偈是說者自陳其緣起：我聞最勝之教，當下生起智慧之光，普照十方界而悉見一切佛——見佛之因在聞教。第二偈立法：此中無少物，只有假名字；若計有我人，就是入了險道。第三偈把「身」點出來：那些取著的凡夫計身為實有，而如來不是所取之物，他們終究見不到。第四偈說其果：這人沒有慧眼，不能見佛，於無量劫中流轉生死海。第五偈是本段最著名的一首：有諍說生死，無諍即涅槃，生死及涅槃二俱不可得——連涅槃也放進不可得裡。「諍」字澄觀有專釋：煩惱名諍，因為它觸動善品、損害自他；有漏之法由諍而隨增，所以叫有諍，生死就是以有漏為體，沒有那煩惱才稱涅槃。第六偈說取著二法之過：若逐假名字而取著這兩種法，這人不如實，不知聖妙道。第七偈把刀口指向最微細的一念，經文特意用了內層的引語：若生起『這位是佛，這位最殊勝』這樣的想，就是顛倒非實義，不能見正覺——連讚佛的念頭也在被檢查之列。第八偈立正面：能知此實體是寂滅真如之相，就見正覺尊而超出語言道。第九偈說語言之限：言語說諸法不能顯實相，要平等才能見；如其法，佛也是這樣。第十偈收於三世：正覺者於過去、未來及現在，永斷分別之根，因此說名為佛。
排一個誤：第五偈不是說涅槃沒有價值，是說它不可被當作一個對象取得——與生死同樣不可得。落地處在第七偈：這一整品都是菩薩在讚佛，而這一偈偏偏說「此佛此最勝」的念頭是顛倒。讚與取之間那條線，就在這裡。
真實慧菩薩十偈：寧受地獄苦，得聞諸佛名
澄觀判真實慧是「心不顛倒是真實慧」，說頌意在顯欲令增進而於一切法皆得善巧文言；他科十頌分二：前二明依實立名而名能益物、後八顯名下之實而辨益之所由，並判後八為三覺——初三是覺妄證實的「覺察義」、次一是雙覺二諦的「覺照義」、後四是非覺而覺的「妙覺義」。智儼於六十本科此段作「偈有五」，首科為「初二挍量勝劣得失」——正合本段前二偈之校量，分法不同，並錄。
第一偈是全品情感最重的一首：寧可受地獄之苦而得聞諸佛之名，不要受無量之樂而聽不到佛名。第二偈說其所以：往昔無數劫受苦而流轉生死，正因為沒有聽聞佛名的緣故——把第一偈的取捨接到自身的來歷上。第三偈轉入法義：於法不顛倒，如實而現證，離諸和合之相，這叫無上覺。澄觀逐句配之：首句是揀去似比量——把無常計為常、把常計為無常這類顛倒；次句是證真現量，如同眼睛親見；再次句是揀去似現量，例如把男女天地等看成一個實在的合相。第四偈把三世都掃過：現在非和合，過去未來也是這樣，一切法無相，這才是佛的真體。第五偈說觀之益：若能這樣觀諸法甚深義，就見一切佛法身真實之相。第六偈是本段的定義句：於實見真實，於非實見不實，這樣究竟地解，因此名為佛——見真與見妄兩邊都要準。第七偈更狠：佛法不可覺，了此才名覺法；諸佛就是這樣修的——一法不可得。第八偈說一與眾：知道因一故有眾、因眾故有一，諸法無所依而只從和合起。法藏於六十本釋此處，開三義以明無一無二——約境的真俗非一二、約智的虛照非一二、約境智非一二。第九偈把作者也拆掉：無能作、無所作，只從業想而生；怎麼知道是這樣呢？因為離開這個就沒有別的了。第十偈收於住：一切法無住，定處不可得，而諸佛就住在這裡，究竟不動搖。
排一個誤：第一偈很容易被讀成情緒的誇張。它其實是這一品少見的『價值排序』句——在整品拆解取相之中，唯獨『得聞佛名』被立為值得以地獄苦換取之事。落地處在第十偈：前面九偈把一切能站的地方都拆了，最後說諸佛住於「無住」而不動搖——不動搖不是因為找到了地基，是因為不再需要地基。
無上慧菩薩十偈：非身而說身，非起而現起
澄觀判此段後五偈：初一偈正明照境——境即俗境而有能所，即俗而真所以說無數，心同無為所以說遠離；後四偈遣相顯理，都是躡著前面的痕跡再遣其滯。法藏於六十本科此段作「十偈分三」：初一釋己名、次八顯佛德、後一推功。
第一偈釋自己的名字：無上摩訶薩遠離眾生想，無有能過者，所以號為無上。第二偈說佛所得之處：無作無分別，粗的無所有，細的也一樣——粗細兩邊一起掃。第三偈說佛所行之境：其中無有數，正覺遠離數，這是佛的真法。第四偈說光：如來光普照而滅除眾暗，然而這光非有照、亦非無照——照與不照雙非。第五偈說無著：於法無所著，無念亦無染，無住無處所，卻不壞於法性——遮得徹底而不落斷滅。第六偈說無二：此中無有二，亦復無有一，大智善見者如理巧安住。第七偈是全品最精微的一轉：無中無有二，無二亦復無——澄觀在此說得極清楚，所謂無二只是說『沒有二』，不是另外有一個「無二」；若存了無二之見就又成了二，所以要遣之又遣以至於無遣，因此說三界一切空，這空是第一義空，諸佛所同見。第八偈轉向度生：凡夫無覺解，佛令他們住於正法；而諸法無所住，悟此就見到自身。第九偈說佛身：非身而說身，非起而現起，無身亦無見，這是佛的無上身。澄觀釋此處說：身即非身所以無可悟，一起悟身之見這見就如同身一樣，身與見兩亡才是真法身。第十偈推功於真實慧，並說若聞此法當得清淨眼。
排一個誤：第七偈不是文字遊戲。它針對的是讀完前面九十首偈之後最可能生起的那個病——把「無二」「空」再握成一個立場。落地處：這一段是全品遮詮的頂點，讀時不必急著抓住什麼，被拿掉的每一樣都不是損失。
堅固慧菩薩十偈：若佛不出世，沒有一個眾生能得安樂
澄觀判堅固慧是「智力成就不可壞故」，並科其十頌分四：初偈總歎為物興世，次四別示悲相，次三頌半見聞利益，後一頌半結德無盡；他並說這一段「此為終極，故總舉前十」。法藏於六十本判同其意，科作初六舉佛恩深、次三慶已逢遇、後一結歎無盡，並說末一偈是「總結上九人說」。
第一偈總歎：偉哉大光明、勇健無上士，為利群迷而興於世間。第二偈示悲之所觀：佛以大悲心普觀諸眾生，見他們在三有中輪迴受苦。第三偈從反面顯：唯除正等覺這位具德尊導師之外，一切諸天人沒有能救護的。第四偈再反顯一層：若佛菩薩等不出於世間，沒有一個眾生能得安樂。第五偈轉正面：如來等正覺及諸賢聖眾出現於世間，就能與眾生樂——澄觀說這一偈兼顯僧寶。第六偈說見聞之益，並給了一個極重的比喻：若見如來就是得大善利，聞佛名而生信，這人就是世間之塔——人本身成為所應敬之處。第七偈把這益落到說者自己：我等見世尊為得大利益，聞如是妙法悉當成佛道。第八偈回望諸菩薩之來歷：諸菩薩在過去以佛威神力得清淨慧眼，了諸佛境界——與這一品序分的「承佛威力」相扣。第九偈是全品唯一一次說到「信」的增長：今見盧舍那而重增清淨信，佛智無邊際，演說不可盡。第十偈收全品：勝慧等菩薩及我堅固慧，於無數億劫中說也不能盡。
排一個誤：這一段忽然大談佛恩與利益，容易被讀成前面九十首的反轉。它不是反轉，是歸結。前九段把『取相見佛』一層層拆盡之後，這一段回答一個必然會生起的問題：既然都不可取，那佛出世於我何益？答案在第四偈的反顯——若無佛出世，沒有一個眾生能得安樂。落地處在第九偈：拆到最後所增長的不是知見，是清淨的信。這也正是下一品要進入的那個位子的起點。
承衍
本品之義為古德四軌所承，並錄不判。澄觀一系：四門釋品，判全品為集眾、放光、偈讚三分，集眾分立十同義兼三異，放光分立六門；於偈讚分判「初一是總、餘九為別」，並判十菩薩名亦表十住、所說法表位勝進；又逐一以十世界名配十住之位相、以十佛名配十住自分十法之果，而自標其詳當見於〈十住品〉。他於一切慧段立三觀一心之釋，於無上慧段立「遣之又遣之以至於無遣」之釋，是全品義理最密之二處。法藏一系：於六十本〈菩薩雲集品〉四門分別，釋名分菩薩為體、雲為相、集為用，並開妙勝三義；判佛同名月為住中果相而開體用德三義、菩薩同名慧為住中因相；偈讚分判「初一總、後九別」，並以「即理即事、即教即義、即因即果、即人即法、即心即境」判總別無礙，直判十段所說即是十住中法。智儼一系：疏文最簡而十段偈科具足，逐段標偈數與科目，並立「推功在本」一格以攝各段末偈之推功句；他又以「一方即一切方」答十方各十之問，以「行位圓成，無有增減之相」答放光之後何以不漸集眾。李通玄一系：以十住位貫全品，長科一品為十一段，於每一菩薩下開菩薩名、世界名、佛號、所從來方四義並配善財所參之善知識；他又判十佛為過去佛、盧舍那為現在佛、修行始入位者為未來佛，並列五位放光之處以顯位之昇進。
四家所立之科段數不一（澄觀、法藏作十段，李通玄作十一段），所配之位次不一，逐段之偈科亦不一（澄觀依八十本七言偈立、智儼依六十本五言偈立，故同段而所分之偈數與科目不同），古有異說，誌錄之，不判高下。
至於本品與前後之繫：上承〈昇須彌山頂品〉——前品是佛昇座、帝釋以偈讚，此品是十方菩薩來集、以偈讚；下接〈十住品〉——澄觀所謂「將演住門，先陳體性」一句，把兩品扣成一事：先讚佛德使人知住之體，然後才說十住之名與行。李通玄把第三會六品一併都會，判此品為「明偈讚當位之法，勸修昇進之理」，其下〈十住品〉才是「明當位所行之行」。至於華嚴宗綱領諸書，本品品名與著名偈句皆零命中，據實標闕；本品亦無牒經論釋之別行論，與〈十地品〉之有《十地經論》不同，一併記闕——這與本品的性質相符：它是十方菩薩偈讚之場景經文，義在遮詮而不在立名相。
The Buddha Ascends to the Summit of Sumeru, and Then Sits Without Speaking
The preceding chapter brought the Buddha up into the Hall of Wondrous Excellence in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, where Śakra praised him in verse. A reader naturally expects that the Dharma should now be expounded. Yet in this chapter, from beginning to end, the World-Honored One does only two things — he receives the prostrations of the bodhisattvas of the ten directions, and he emits light from the toes of his two feet. He does not speak a single sentence. Those who speak are ten bodhisattvas, each with ten verses, one hundred verses in all.
To see what this arrangement means, one must first ask where it is placed. When Chengguan determines the reason for this chapter's coming, he says it very directly: the preceding chapter had already made clear “the lord of the converting responding to what stimulates him,” and what this chapter discerns is “the extolling and praising that assists the converting”; and the weightier sentence is this — since the gate of the abodes is about to be expounded, the very substance of abiding must first be set forth, and that substance is the Buddha's wisdom, and so the Tathāgata is praised first. His one sentence on the tenet and the aim settles the matter outright: to display the Buddha's virtues is the tenet; to cause one to know the substance of abiding is the aim.
So the Buddha's not speaking is not an absence. What this chapter is to establish is precisely the “substance” of that station which the next chapter, “The Ten Abodes,” is to enter. Clear away one misreading: do not take the praises of the ten bodhisattvas for an opening ceremony. A ceremony may be dispensed with; this chapter may not — for if one does not first know what it is that is to be abided in, then “the ten abodes” are merely ten names. Brought down to how one reads: these hundred verses are not a hymn of praise; they are an inspection, made before you come in at the door, of that notion of “the Buddha” you are holding in your hand.
Why the Names of All Ten Bodhisattvas End in “Wisdom”
Ten bodhisattvas: Dharma Wisdom, All Wisdom, Excellent Wisdom, Merit Wisdom, Vigor Wisdom, Good Wisdom, Wisdom, True Wisdom, Unsurpassed Wisdom, Firm Wisdom — ten names, and the final graph of every one is the same. The ten worlds they come from all carry “Flower” as the last graph; the ten buddhas they serve all carry “Moon” in their titles. This repetition, so regular as to be almost deliberate, is the first thing in this chapter to strike a reader's eye.
The ancient worthies do not read it as a figure of speech. Chengguan, explaining that the bodhisattvas share the name Wisdom, says: wisdom is just the ten understandings, because they are able to see dharmas; and he notes further that why the several bodhisattvas' names differ is something explained one by one only when the verses are reached. Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, determines it still more neatly: that the bodhisattvas share the name Wisdom is “the mark of the cause within the abodes,” which is an understanding that reaches the real and the conventional and is clear about them; that the buddhas share the name Moon is “the mark of the fruit within the abodes,” and he opens out three senses in it — in substance it is fullness, in function it is shining light, in virtue it is coolness — and further matches these with the wisdom of the essence itself, the wisdom subsequently attained, and great compassion. Zhiyan is the most concise: the bodhisattvas share the name Wisdom only “because this is the beginning of understanding” — this is the station where the gate of understanding has just opened. As for the worlds sharing the name Flower, Chengguan says it is that “the mark of the station first opens out, and it is by attachment to nothing that the fruit is called forth” — the flower is the image of the mark of the station in its first opening.
Clear away one error: do not read the three sets of shared names as poverty. What the shared naming displays is precisely the import of this assembly — the names the same, the worlds the same, the buddhas the same, which is to say that these are not ten separate Dharma assemblies. Where it comes down to the ground: if, while reading the ten segments of verse, you feel that ‘this keeps saying one and the same thing over and over’, that is not repetition; that is the very thing this chapter wants you to see.
“The First Is the General, the Remaining Nine Are the Particular”: How These Hundred Verses Divide
If these hundred verses are read as a flat expanse, they will read as a heap of mutually similar emptiness. The ancient worthies gave them an extremely clear framework. Chengguan determines the portion of the verses of praise to be ten segments, and says: the speaking of the ten bodhisattvas makes ten segments, the first one being the general and the remaining nine the particular — because Dharma Wisdom is the lord who expounds the Dharma, he gives a general account of the events and import of this assembly from beginning to end and generally displays the Buddha's virtues, while the remaining nine praise the differentiated virtues of the Buddha, and the general and the particular together display the Tathāgata's unobstructed assembly. Fazang's determination on the sixty-fascicle text is entirely of a piece with this, reading “the first is the general, the following nine are the particular,” and he goes on to say that what these ten segments expound “is just the dharma within the ten abodes,” and that all the verses below are to be understood according to this sense.
So the way of reading is this: those ten verses of Dharma Wisdom are the frame — they say why this Dharma assembly can be as it is, and how it is that the Buddha's power of freedom can be like this; and the ninety verses from All Wisdom onward are the content — one verse after another taking apart “seeing the Buddha.” Li Tongxuan's division is slightly different: he joins the gathering of the assembly and the emitting of light together as the first segment, and lays out the one chapter in an extended outline of eleven segments, so that the ten bodhisattvas become the second through the eleventh segments; this is a difference of division, not a difference of import, and it is recorded.
Clear away one error: do not read the first segment as a preface and the following nine as the main text. What Chengguan says is “general” and “particular,” not “preface” and “proper” — those ten verses of Dharma Wisdom are themselves a complete segment of import. Where it comes down to the ground: after finishing the first segment, pause a moment and hold in mind the “Tathāgata's power of freedom” that it establishes; every single thing the following nine segments take apart is there so that this sentence will not be misread as a display of supernatural powers.
The Names of the Ten Bodhisattvas, the Ancient Worthies Say, Also Betoken the Ten Abodes
There is a further layer, which this chapter does not itself state and which the commentators state, and the reader must keep it distinct. After his general determination of the portion of the verses of praise, Chengguan adds a sentence: the names of these ten bodhisattvas also betoken the ten abodes, and the dharmas they expound betoken the advance of the station; and he notes for himself that advance is of two kinds — advance toward the later station, and advance toward the buddha-fruit — and that here it is spoken of with respect to the buddha-fruit. He further matches the ten worlds' names one by one to the ten abodes: Indra Flower is matched to the abode of arousing the mind, said to be “presiding over and guiding the world”; Padma Flower is matched to the abode of governing the ground, said to be “purifying and governing the ground of the mind as the lotus opens”; and so on down to Aruṇa Flower, which he explains as “the red mark of the sun at the hour of its rising” and matches to the abode of youthful truth; Nārada Flower he explains as “borne by a person,” since a flower fragrant and wondrous is worn by everyone, and so he matches it to the abode of the prince; and Empty-Space Flower takes the sense that “wisdom pervades as space does.” The titles of the ten buddhas he likewise matches one by one to the fruits of the ten dharmas belonging to the ten abodes in their own portion. Li Tongxuan goes by another track: under each bodhisattva he opens out four senses — the bodhisattva's name, the world's name, the buddha's title, and the quarter he comes from — determining, for instance, Firm Wisdom to be the abode of consecration and to practice the perfection of wisdom, and determining the world Empty-Space Flower to be the sun of wisdom illumining what is worldly and what is beyond the world, with nothing at all to depend upon.
Here something must be said plainly: the scriptural text itself only lists the names; it does not say which one is matched to which abode. The matching to the ten abodes is the classification of Chengguan and of Li Tongxuan, and what the two of them match is not entirely the same either. Clear away one error: do not force the sequence of stations onto the verses as you read them, for that will make you lose the import of the verses. Where it comes down to the ground: use the matching of stations as one uses a map — when you cannot read on, glance at it and know which stretch you are walking; when you can read on, set it down and let the verses speak for themselves.
The Prologue: The Ten Directions Gather Like Clouds, and Light Is Emitted from the Toes of the Two Feet
The prose is exceedingly short, but every sentence of it establishes the scale of this assembly. In each of the ten directions there is one great bodhisattva, each coming together with a retinue as many as the dust-motes of a buddha-land, and coming, moreover, from worlds “beyond lands as many as the dust-motes of a hundred buddha-lands.” Chengguan here points out something easily slid past: in the preceding assembly it was “ten,” and in this assembly it is “a hundred,” because the station has already increased — the number that measures distance is the graduation of the sequence of stations, not a description of space. Fazang's determination on the sixty-fascicle text is the same, saying that this is “the gradual increase of the station of practice.”
When the bodhisattvas had arrived, they bowed their heads to the Buddha's feet, and each, following the quarter from which he had come, conjured up a lion throne of the Vairocana Treasury and sat upon it. Then the scriptural text says the most important sentence of all: just as here on the summit of Sumeru in this world there were bodhisattvas who came and gathered, so too in all worlds it is entirely thus, and the names of those bodhisattvas, their worlds, and the titles of their buddhas are all equal and without difference. Chengguan, at the emitting of the light, says: one light shines upon all, and so it is with all of them, layer upon layer without obstruction, and there is none that does not see the others, and this makes one assembly of the Dharma realm perfectly bright. Fazang's determination is the same, saying that what is illumined and displayed is in common one and the same “assembly of the Dharma realm perfectly bright.” Zhiyan uses this to answer a question — why is it that in each single quarter there are ten? He answers: it is to display that the marks of understanding are distinct and clear and that in perfect interfusion the numbers are equal, and that one quarter is just all quarters.
The place from which the light is emitted is likewise read by all three as betokening the Dharma. Chengguan says that it is by the toes of the two feet pressing the ground that one is able to stand with strength, and that this betokens completing the station without retrogression and practicing with constancy; Fazang says that it is as the toes press the ground that one gains a standing, and that this betokens that these ten abodes “complete the station without retrogression,” which is why they are called abiding. Li Tongxuan sets out further the places of the emitting of light at five stations to display the ascent: for the ten faiths beneath the wheels of the feet, for the ten abodes at the tips of the toes, for the ten practices upon the insteps, for the ten dedications above the knees, and for the ten grounds between the brows.
Clear away one error: on reading “a hundred thousand koṭis of rays of wondrously colored light,” do not go thinking about brightness. What the light does in this chapter is to make “everywhere” into something that can be seen — for without this one illumining, the ten bodhisattvas' later saying that “in the ten directions it is entirely so as well” would be no more than an assertion. Where it comes down to the ground: when you have finished the prologue, you should have three things in hand — the station has increased, the assembly is everywhere, the station does not retrogress. These three are the foundation of the hundred verses that follow.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom: In Every Jambudvīpa, They All Say the Buddha Is There
The first segment is the general. Chengguan determines Dharma Wisdom to be one who “generally understands the Buddha's Dharma,” and classifies his ten verses into three: the first five recount the manifold splendid events seen by reason of the Buddha's light, of which the first recounts the emitting of light in this chapter, the next recounts Śakra's invitation and praise in the preceding chapter, and the remaining three recount this chapter again; the next two exhort one to contemplate the Buddha's power and to give rise to a still more excellent mind; and the last three raise up the cause and conclude with the fruit, the first raising up the cause and the last two concluding with the fruit. Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle text, classifies it as “the first seven present the assembly … the next three make clear that one of excellent practice attains the seeing of the Buddha,” which is a different division, and both are recorded.
The first verse is the matter before one's eyes: the Buddha emits a pure light, and thereupon this Guide of the World is seen everywhere upon the summit of Sumeru, king of mountains, in the Hall of Wondrous Excellence — first the starting point of “seeing” is established, and this seeing is given by the light. The second verse looks back to the preceding chapter: all the kings of the gods invite the Buddha into their palaces, each extolling the Tathāgatas with ten wondrous verses — a single sentence gathers up the chapter before. The third verse speaks of the multitude that has come to this assembly: all the bodhisattva multitudes in those Dharma assemblies have come from the ten directions, conjuring up seats and sitting at ease. The fourth verse speaks of the names: those bodhisattvas “all bear one and the same name as we do” — the ten of the other quarters and the ten of this quarter share their names. The fifth verse speaks of the buddhas of their original lands: their titles too are all the same, and each of them purely cultivates the unsurpassed conduct in the presence of his buddha. The sixth verse is the turning point of the whole segment, and one of the most famous lines in this chapter — “Sons of the Buddha, you should contemplate the Tathāgata's power of freedom: in every Jambudvīpa they all say the Buddha is there among them”: every single Jambudvīpa says the Buddha is right there with it. The seventh verse brings that sentence down upon the speakers themselves: we now see the Buddha abiding on the summit of Sumeru, and in the ten directions it is entirely so as well, and this is the Tathāgata's power of freedom. From the eighth verse on, the cause is raised up: in every single world there are those who arouse the mind and seek the Buddha's path, and following such a vow they cultivate the practices of awakening. The ninth verse speaks of the pervasiveness of the fruit: with bodies of every kind the Buddha travels throughout the world, unobstructed within the Dharma realm, and no one is able to take his measure. The tenth verse closes upon the immeasurable: the light of wisdom shines everywhere constantly, the world's darkness is entirely removed, among all things there is nothing to match him, and how could one possibly measure and know him.
Clear away one great error: “in every Jambudvīpa they all say the Buddha is there” does not mean that the Buddha divided his body and went to many places. Chengguan has already blocked this reading at the emitting of the light — it is one light shining upon all, layer upon layer without obstruction, not many places each having its own assembly. Where it comes down to the ground: what this segment gives is a sense of scale. If you read it as a tale of supernatural powers, then the “seizing upon marks” that the following ninety verses take apart is precisely the fault you have fallen into.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva All Wisdom: A Hundred Thousand Kalpas of Looking, and Still No Seeing
From this segment on, we enter the “particular.” Chengguan determines All Wisdom to be one who “understands the real nature of all dharmas, because he purifies the ground of the mind,” and says that the import of this segment's verses lies in displaying the increase of great compassion toward all sentient beings — because one must contemplate this Savior of the World in accord with the real; he classifies the ten verses into six: the first two are contemplating the Buddha contrary to principle, which is not seeing the Buddha; the next four are understanding the real nature of dharmas, which is truly seeing the Buddha; and the four after that have one import each.
The first verse sets up an exceedingly heavy supposition: suppose that for a hundred thousand kalpas one constantly saw the Tathāgata, and yet did not rely upon the real meaning but only looked in this way at the Savior of the World — even a length of time such as this is still of no use. The second verse makes clear why it is of no use: this person is seizing upon marks, increasing the net of folly and delusion, bound in the prison of birth-and-death, blind and benighted and not seeing the Buddha. Chengguan here particularly guards against one over-reading: this supposing of a long time is made in order to block the seizing of marks, and it is not that there really are so many kalpas in which one wholly fails to understand the meaning, since seeing the Tathāgata does of itself increase wisdom. The third through the sixth verses are the contemplation stated positively. The third verse establishes emptiness and the provisional: contemplate that the own-nature of dharmas is without anything at all, and that their marks of arising and ceasing are spoken of only as borrowed names. The fourth verse establishes neither arising nor ceasing: all dharmas are unarisen, all dharmas are unceasing, and if one can understand it thus, the buddhas are constantly manifest before one. Chengguan here determines it as the three contemplations in one mind — the first two lines are the contemplation of emptiness, since what arises through conditions has no nature; the next two lines are the contemplation of the provisional, since names are provisionally assigned in accord with convention; the next two lines are the contemplation of the middle, since the substance of the marks is just the unarisen and unceasing; and the last two lines are the benefit of the contemplation; and he says that since the three contemplations are one mind, there is nothing of the Buddha's substance and function that is not manifest. The fifth verse turns into stilling: the nature of dharmas is from the first empty and still, with nothing to be seized and nothing to be seen, and this emptiness of the nature is the Buddha, which thinking cannot attain. Chengguan here says something crucial — the nature of dharmas is empty from the first; it is not that contemplation makes it empty, and so there is nothing to be seized; and if there is nothing to be seized, how should there be anything that sees. The sixth verse states the benefit of the contemplation's completion: if one knows that the substance of all dharmas is thus, this person is not defiled by the afflictions. The seventh verse returns to the negative side: ordinary beings, seeing dharmas, merely turn along with their marks, do not understand that dharmas are without marks, and therefore do not see the Buddha. The eighth verse is the richest of the segment: the Muni has transcended the three times and yet the marks and signs are entirely complete in him; he abides in abiding nowhere and pervades everywhere unmoving — the transcending and the completeness, the abiding and the abiding nowhere, are said at once. The ninth verse is the speaker's own account: I have contemplated all dharmas and understood them clearly; now, seeing the Tathāgata, I am decidedly without doubt. The tenth verse cedes the merit to the one before: Dharma Wisdom has already spoken of the Tathāgata's real nature, and from him I have come to understand that awakening is hard to think of or discuss.
Clear away one error: this segment is not denying “seeing the Buddha”; it is taking apart the seizing of marks within the “seeing.” Where it comes down to the ground, at the first verse — time cannot buy seeing; when the method is wrong, a hundred thousand kalpas only make one better acquainted with the mistake.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Excellent Wisdom: A Jewel in the Dark Cannot Be Seen Without a Lamp
Chengguan determines Excellent Wisdom to be one who “by understanding the Buddha's excellent wisdom, is pure in mind in accord with emptiness,” and says that the import of this segment's verses lies in displaying the wish that the bodhisattva's wisdom be clear; he classifies the ten verses into four: the first one praises wisdom as the root of delusion and of awakening, the next four properly display delusion and awakening, the next four illustrate by simile the loss and gain just spoken of, and the last one cedes the merit to where it belongs. Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle text, classifies this segment as “the verses are in six,” among which is the heading “the next three cede the merit to the Buddha,” a different division, and both are recorded.
The first verse praises generally: the Tathāgata's great wisdom is rare and without equal, and all the worlds cannot catch up with it by thinking — first the loftiness of what is contemplated is established. The second verse states the failing of ordinary beings: contemplating falsely and seizing marks not in accord with principle; and since the Buddha has transcended all marks, he is not what they can see. The third verse is more concrete: the deluded and unknowing falsely seize upon the marks of the five aggregates and do not understand their real nature, and so they do not see the Buddha. The fourth verse is the positive statement: understand and know that the own-nature of all dharmas is without anything at all, and to understand the nature of dharmas thus is to see Rocana. The fifth verse is crucial, drawing even the succession of the aggregates in: because of the earlier aggregates the later aggregates arise in succession, and to be able to know the nature within this makes the seeing of the Buddha hard to think of or discuss — it is not that one sees the Buddha by cutting off the aggregates, but that one understands the nature within their succession. Chengguan determines the second through fifth of these four verses as “the first two are delusion, the last two are awakening,” and says that of the two verses of delusion, one is seizing upon objects outside the mind and so not seeing the markless Buddha, and one is seizing upon the marks within the aggregates and not understanding the nature of the aggregates and so not seeing the Buddha of the mind; while the two verses of awakening each overturn these in turn — the fourth verse overturns the outward seizing spoken of above, understanding that all dharmas are the mind's own nature and that “the nature too is not a nature,” so that when sentiment is broken and principle appears, one sees Rocana; and the fifth verse overturns the inward seizing spoken of above, understanding the nature and marks of the aggregates and so seeing the Buddha of one's own mind, who with Rocana is “neither one nor different.” From the sixth verse, three similes follow in a row. The sixth verse is the jewel in the dark: it is like a jewel in a dark place, which cannot be seen without a lamp; when no one expounds the Buddha's Dharma, then even one who has wisdom cannot understand — what is lacking is the lamp, not the jewel. The seventh verse is the cataract: as an eye with a cataract cannot see pure and wondrous colors, so a mind that is not pure cannot see the dharmas of the buddhas — what is lacking is on the side of the one who sees. The eighth verse is the bright, clear sun and the blind: however bright the sun, the blind cannot see it; without a mind of wisdom, one in the end does not see the buddhas. The ninth verse gathers the three similes into a method: if one can remove the cataract in the eye, abandon grasping at color, and not give rise to views regarding dharmas, then one attains the seeing of the Tathāgata. The tenth verse cedes the merit: All Wisdom spoke before of the dharma of the buddhas' awakening, and hearing it from him I have gained the seeing of Rocana.
Clear away one error: the three similes are not one and the same thing said three times over. What the jewel in the dark lacks is ‘the person who expounds’; what the cataract and the blind lack is ‘one's own eye’ — the one is an outward condition, the two are inward causes, and if either side is lacking there is no seeing. Where it comes down to the ground: if, reading this far, you feel that ‘I have understood and yet I do not see’, the sixth verse says that you may be lacking a lamp, and the seventh and eighth verses say that even with the lamp lit one may still not be able to see.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Merit Wisdom: If One Cannot Understand One's Own Mind, How Should One Know the Right Path
Chengguan determines Merit Wisdom to be one who is “born into the Buddha's household and understands the Buddha's virtues well,” and says that the import of this segment's verses lies in displaying that within the three times the mind attains equality, that one understands one's own mind and exhausts the emptiness of dharmas; he classifies the ten verses into four: the first four make clear the false awareness of ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicles, the next four show them true awareness, the third has one verse making clear that the Buddha's awakening is doubly complete, and the last verse cedes the merit to its source. Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle text, classifies this segment as “the verses are in five,” his first heading being “the first four make clear the loss of the deluded,” a different division, and both are recorded.
The first verse establishes the root of the illness: dharmas have nothing real, and yet one falsely seizes upon marks of the real, and so ordinary beings revolve in the prison of birth-and-death. The second verse says that the seat of the illness goes deeper: the dharma spoken in words is taken by those of small wisdom and falsely discriminated, and thereupon obstructions arise and one does not understand one's own mind — the trouble is not in the words, but in taking the words and discriminating with them. The third verse is the sharpest line of the segment: if one cannot understand one's own mind, how should one know the right path? He increases every evil through an inverted wisdom — note the three graphs “inverted wisdom”: wisdom itself can also be inverted. The fourth verse states the recompense: not seeing that dharmas are empty, one constantly undergoes the suffering of birth-and-death, because this person has not been able to have the pure Dharma eye. The fifth verse turns to first-person account, and turns also to method: that in the past I underwent many sufferings was because I did not see the Buddha, and so one should purify one's own Dharma eye and contemplate what ought to be seen — Chengguan determines this verse to be “adducing one's own loss to exhort others to accomplish their benefit,” the speaker taking his own deficit to exhort others. The sixth verse states what the seeing is like: if one attains the seeing of the Buddha, his mind seizes upon nothing, and this person can see the dharma as the Buddha knows it — the criterion of the seeing lies in “the mind seizing upon nothing”; Chengguan, explaining this verse, says that “seeing the Buddha without seizing is just seeing suchness,” and suchness is what the Buddha knows. The seventh verse states the name and the use of the seeing: if one sees the Buddha's real dharma one is called a person of great wisdom, and this person has pure eyes and can contemplate the world — after seeing, one does not leave the world, but is able to contemplate the world. The eighth verse is the pivot of the segment: to have nothing seen is precisely seeing, and thus one can see all dharmas; if with regard to dharmas one has something seen, then this is to have nothing seen — the positive and the negative are stated at once, and the two layers of usage in the word “seeing” are separated out in a single stroke. The ninth verse states the dharma that is seen: the nature of all dharmas is without arising and without ceasing; and it praises the Great Guide, who awakens himself and can awaken others. The tenth verse cedes the merit: Excellent Wisdom has already spoken of the dharma the Tathāgata realized, and hearing it from him we are able to know the Buddha's real nature.
Clear away one error: “cannot understand one's own mind” in the third verse is very easily read as ‘one must look within to find a mind’. The next line of the verse blocks this at once — the trouble lies in inverted wisdom, not in whether one seeks or does not seek. Where it comes down to the ground, at the fifth verse: the one action this segment gives is to “purify the Dharma eye,” and it is given in the form of a first-person account — the speaker counts himself too among those who undergo suffering.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Vigor Wisdom: To Have Something Seen Becomes Defilement
The speaker-line of this segment differs by one graph from those of the other nine: the rest all read “contemplated everywhere the ten directions,” and this one reads “contemplated the ten directions.” Chengguan determines Vigor Wisdom to be one who “by diligently contemplating the real principle gathers immeasurable good, and both alike abide nowhere,” and says that the import of the verses lies in displaying the wish that his mind become still more vigorous and without any defiling attachment; he classifies the ten verses into two: the first nine contemplate dharmas, the last one cedes the merit; and within the first nine he further distinguishes three layers — the contemplation of the marklessness of what is grasped, the contemplation of the non-arising of what arises through conditions, and the contemplation of the naturelessness of the perfectly accomplished. Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle text, classifies this segment as “the verses are in three,” determining eight of them to be “an extensive discernment of the manner of contemplation and the marks of the benefit gained,” and dividing the first four as non-arising of marks and the last four as the real nature, a different division, and both are recorded.
The first verse establishes the illness: if one abides in discrimination one ruins the pure eye, folly and deviant views increase, and one never sees the buddhas. The second verse establishes the medicine, and it is the least easily read line in this chapter: if one can understand deviant dharmas as they really are and without inversion, and know that falsity of itself is real, then the seeing of the Buddha is pure — it is not that one extinguishes falsity and then sees the real, but that one knows falsity to be, in its very substance, of itself real. The third verse turns the blade upon “seeing” itself: to have something seen becomes defilement, and this does not yet count as seeing; to be far from all views, only this is seeing the Buddha. Chengguan on this layer uses an excellent simile — it is like taking a piece of wood in the dusk for a ghost: to know that the ghost is only something that delusion has produced is called “knowing the ghost as it really is”; to know that the ghost never was and that the whole of it is that piece of wood is what is called “seeing the wood.” He uses the same simile again for the side of the grasper: “as when one sees the ghost, one does not see the wood”; only when one is free of the view that sees the ghost is it seeing the wood. The “knowing that falsity is of itself real” of the second verse and the “being far from all views” of this verse are precisely the two halves of that simile. The fourth verse turns to the world: the dharma of the world's words is what sentient beings falsely discriminate, and to know that the world is wholly unarisen is truly to see the world. The fifth verse goes further: if one sees the world that sees, this seeing is itself a mark of the world; only when, as they really are, they are equal and without difference is one called the true seer. The sixth verse states the function that follows upon equality and non-difference: not discriminating with regard to things, this seeing is free of delusions and, without outflow, attains freedom. The seventh verse puts even the dharma the buddhas expound within this: all the discriminated dharmas the buddhas set forth are entirely not to be got, because their substance is from the first pure. The eighth verse establishes the substance contemplated: the nature of dharmas is from the first pure, like empty space and without marks; nothing at all can be spoken of it, and the wise contemplate it thus. The ninth verse is the most thoroughgoing line: being far from thoughts of dharmas, not delighting in any dharma, herein too there is nothing to be cultivated — even the posture of “cultivating” is let go, and only then can one see the Great Muni. The tenth verse cedes the merit to Merit Wisdom, and closes upon the substance of practice: all practices whatsoever are in their substance still and extinguished.
Clear away one error: “herein too there is nothing to be cultivated” in the ninth verse is not telling people not to cultivate. It follows upon ‘being far from thoughts of dharmas’, and what it says is that one must not set up ‘I am cultivating’ as yet another mark that is grasped. Where it comes down to the ground, at the third verse — if, having read this chapter through, you feel that ‘now I know how to look’, this verse is spoken precisely to that ‘knowing how to look’.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Good Wisdom: To Say “Inexhaustible” — Even This Inexhaustibility Has Nothing That Can Be Said
Chengguan determines Good Wisdom to be one who “accomplishes the wisdom of prajñā and whose discernment is unmoved, and who may well be called good,” and says that the import of the verses lies in displaying the wish that his mind become still more advanced and attain the non-retrogressive forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas; he classifies the ten verses into four: the first two see the Buddha, the next three see the Dharma, the next three are the benefit of the contemplation's completion, and the last two cede the seeing to what it depends on. Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle text, classifies this segment as “the verses are in four,” among which is “the next verse and a half cede the merit to its source,” a different division, and both are recorded. The line ceding merit in this segment falls in the ninth verse, not the tenth, differing in this from the other segments.
The first verse praises generally: rare are the greatly brave and strong, the immeasurable Tathāgatas, free of defilement and liberated in mind, having crossed over themselves and able to carry others across — self-crossing and the crossing of others are said in one breath. The second verse is the speaker's own seeing: I see this Lamp of the World as it really is and without inversion, just as it is seen by those who through immeasurable kalpas have accumulated wisdom. The third verse establishes the eye of the segment: of all that ordinary beings do there is none that does not swiftly come to exhaustion, and yet their nature is like empty space, and so it is said to have no exhaustion — exhaustion and inexhaustibility stand in one and the same line. The fourth verse turns this sentence over once more: the wise say “inexhaustible,” and this too is nothing that is spoken; it is because the own-nature is inexhaustible that there can be that exhaustion which is hard to think of. The fifth verse puts sentient beings in: within the inexhaustibility that is spoken of, no sentient being is to be got, and to know that the nature of sentient beings is thus is to see this One of Great Renown. The sixth verse states the setting up of names and words: there is nothing seen, yet it is spoken of as seeing; there is no arising, yet they are spoken of as sentient beings; and whether it be the seeing or the sentient beings, one understands and knows that they have no substance. The seventh verse is the most thoroughgoing removal: the seeing, the seen, and the seer are all removed, and yet the real dharma is not destroyed — this person understands and knows the Buddha. The eighth verse states the use that follows the seeing: if a person understands and knows the Buddha and the dharma the Buddha expounds, he can illumine the world as the Buddha Rocana does. The ninth verse cedes the merit to Vigor Wisdom, and first praises the Rightly Awakened One for skillfully setting forth the one pure path. The tenth verse closes: whether it be being or not-being, those thoughts are all extinguished, and thus one can see the Buddha and abide in the true limit.
Clear away one error: the “inexhaustible” of the third and fourth verses is very easily read as ‘so many that they cannot be counted’. The verse itself has said it — their nature is like empty space, and therefore it is said to be inexhaustible; this is said with respect to the nature, not with respect to quantity. Chengguan here sweeps still more thoroughly: since it is like empty space, how should there be any “mark of the unconditioned” to be got; and since the inexhaustible is said with respect to the own-nature, neither is that “exhaustion” destroyed, and so it is said to be hard to think of. His closing sentence buckles the two passages together — “exhaustion is just inexhaustibility, and therefore there are no sentient beings” — which is precisely the source of the fifth verse's saying that no sentient being is to be got. Where it comes down to the ground, at the seventh verse: after the seeing, the seen, and the seer have all three been removed, the five graphs “yet the real dharma is not destroyed” are the thing this segment truly means to keep safe.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Wisdom: Birth-and-Death and Nirvāṇa, Neither of the Two Can Be Got
Chengguan determines the name Wisdom to be “decisive and unmoved, and therefore called wisdom,” and says that the import of the verses lies in displaying that from all dharmas one is able to get free; he classifies the ten verses into two: the first one adduces himself to encourage the multitude, and the remaining verses wish the multitude to be as he is, within which there are again two — the first six show delusion, the last three open awakening. Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle text, classifies this segment as “the verses are in three”: the first one makes clear that through the teaching right understanding is formed, the next six make clear the loss of those deluded about the teaching and the principle, and the next three doubly accomplish the virtue of understanding, a different division, and both are recorded. This segment and the next are the only two of the chapter's ten segments that have no line ceding merit.
The first verse is the speaker's account of his own occasion: I heard the most excellent teaching, and there and then the light of wisdom arose; it illumined everywhere the worlds of the ten directions and I saw all the buddhas entirely — the cause of seeing the Buddha lies in hearing the teaching. The second verse establishes the dharma: herein there is not the least thing, only borrowed names; and if one reckons that there is a self and a person, one has entered the perilous road. The third verse points out the “body”: those grasping ordinary beings reckon the body to be really existent, and since the Tathāgata is not a thing that is seized, they in the end do not see him. The fourth verse states the outcome: such a person has no eye of wisdom and cannot see the Buddha, and through immeasurable kalpas drifts and turns in the sea of birth-and-death. The fifth verse is the most famous of the segment: where there is contention one speaks of birth-and-death, where there is no contention that is nirvāṇa, and birth-and-death and nirvāṇa, neither of the two can be got — even nirvāṇa is placed within what cannot be got. On the graph “contention” Chengguan has a separate explanation: affliction is called contention, because it stirs up what is wholesome and injures oneself and others; a dharma with outflows increases along with contention and is therefore called “having contention,” and birth-and-death has what is with outflows as its substance, while it is called nirvāṇa when that affliction is absent. The sixth verse states the fault of grasping at the two dharmas: if one chases borrowed names and grasps at these two, one does not accord with the real and does not know the subtle path of the noble ones. The seventh verse turns the blade upon the subtlest thought, and the scriptural text deliberately uses an inner quotation: if one gives rise to the thought ‘this one is the Buddha, this one is the most excellent’, this is inverted and not the real meaning, and one cannot see the Rightly Awakened One — even a thought that praises the Buddha is within what is being inspected. The eighth verse states the positive: to be able to know that this real substance is the mark of still and extinguished suchness is to see the Honored One of Right Awakening, who has gone beyond the way of words. The ninth verse states the limit of language: words that recount dharmas cannot display the real mark; only with equality can one see, and as the nature of dharmas is, so too is the Buddha. The tenth verse closes upon the three times: the Rightly Awakened One, with respect to past, future, and present, has forever cut off the root of discrimination, and therefore is called Buddha.
Clear away one error: the fifth verse is not saying that nirvāṇa has no value; it is saying that it cannot be taken as an object and attained — no more than birth-and-death can. Where it comes down to the ground, at the seventh verse: this whole chapter is bodhisattvas praising the Buddha, and this one verse says of all things that the thought “this one is the Buddha, this one is the most excellent” is inverted. The line between praising and grasping lies exactly here.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva True Wisdom: Better to Undergo the Suffering of the Hells and Hear the Names of the Buddhas
Chengguan determines True Wisdom to be one for whom “a mind that is not inverted is true wisdom,” and says the import of the verses lies in displaying the wish that he advance and attain skill in words with regard to all dharmas; he classifies the ten verses into two: the first two make clear that the name is established upon the real and that the name can benefit beings, and the last eight display the reality beneath the name and discern the ground of the benefit; and he determines the last eight to be three awakenings — the first three are awakening to the false and realizing the real, the “sense of awakening as examining”; the next one is the twofold awakening to the two truths, the “sense of awakening as illumining”; and the last four are awakening that is not an awakening, the “sense of wondrous awakening.” Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle text, classifies this segment as “the verses are in five,” his first heading being “the first two compare and measure excellence and inferiority, gain and loss” — which fits exactly the comparison in the segment's first two verses — a different division, and both are recorded.
The first verse is the most emotionally weighted line in the chapter: better to undergo the suffering of the hells and be able to hear the names of the buddhas, than to undergo immeasurable pleasure and not hear the Buddha's name. The second verse states the ground of it: that in ages past one underwent suffering through numberless kalpas and drifted in birth-and-death was precisely because one had not heard the Buddha's name — the choice of the first verse is joined to one's own history. The third verse turns to the import of the dharma: with regard to dharmas to be without inversion, to realize them then and there as they really are, and to be far from the marks of conjunction, is called unsurpassed awakening. Chengguan matches it line by line: the first line clears away the semblance of inference — taking the impermanent for the permanent and the permanent for the impermanent and the like are inverted dharmas, called semblance of inference; the next line is the direct perception that realizes the real, as when the eye sees for itself; the next line clears away the semblance of direct perception, as when one takes man and woman, heaven and earth, and the rest for a really existing conjoined mark. The fourth verse sweeps through the three times: the present is not by conjunction, and past and future are likewise so; all dharmas are without marks, and this is the Buddha's real substance. The fifth verse states the benefit of contemplation: if one can contemplate thus the profound meaning of dharmas, one sees the real mark of the dharma-body of all buddhas. The sixth verse is the segment's defining line: in the real one sees the real, in the unreal one sees the unreal, and understanding thus ultimately one is therefore called Buddha — both sides, the seeing of the real and the seeing of the false, must be exact. The seventh verse is fiercer still: the Buddha's Dharma cannot be cognized, and to understand this is called awakening to the Dharma; the buddhas cultivated in just this way — not one dharma is to be got. The eighth verse states the one and the many: knowing that because there is one there are many and that because there are many there is one, that dharmas have nothing to lean upon and arise only from conjunction. Fazang, explaining this place on the sixty-fascicle text, opens out three senses to make clear that there is neither one nor two — the real and the conventional with respect to the object are neither one nor two, the empty illumining with respect to wisdom is neither one nor two, and object and wisdom together are neither one nor two. The ninth verse takes even the agent apart: there is nothing that acts and nothing acted upon, and there is only what arises from the thought of deeds; and how is one to know it is so? Because apart from this there is nothing else. The tenth verse closes upon abiding: all dharmas abide nowhere and no fixed place is to be got, and yet the buddhas abide right here, ultimately unmoving.
Clear away one error: the first verse is easily read as an exaggeration of feeling. It is in fact this chapter's rare ‘ordering of values’ — amid the whole chapter's taking apart of the seizing of marks, ‘being able to hear the Buddha's name’ alone is set up as a thing worth the price of the suffering of the hells. Where it comes down to the ground, at the tenth verse: the nine verses before it have taken apart every place where one might stand, and at the last it says the buddhas abide in “abiding nowhere” and are unmoved — the unmovedness is not because a foundation has been found, but because a foundation is no longer needed.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Unsurpassed Wisdom: Not a Body, Yet Called a Body; Not an Arising, Yet Manifest as Arising
Chengguan determines the last five verses of this segment: the first verse properly makes clear the illumining of objects — the object is the conventional object, since there is a seeing and a seen; being conventional it is at once real, and so it says “without number”; the mind is the same as the unconditioned, and so it says “far removed”; while the last four verses remove marks and display principle, each treading upon the traces of the one before and removing the stagnation there. Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, classifies this segment as “the ten verses divide into three”: the first explains his own name, the next eight display the Buddha's virtues, and the last cedes the merit.
The first verse explains his own name: the unsurpassed mahāsattva is far removed from thoughts of sentient beings, and there is none who can surpass him, and so he is titled Unsurpassed. The second verse states what the buddhas have realized: without doing and without discrimination, the coarse utterly without anything and the fine likewise so — coarse and fine are swept away together. The third verse states the sphere the buddhas practice: therein there is no number, and the Rightly Awakened One is far from number, and this is the Buddha's real dharma. The fourth verse states the light: the Tathāgata's light shines everywhere and extinguishes all darkness, and yet this light neither has anything it illumines nor lacks anything it illumines — illumining and not illumining are both denied. The fifth verse states non-attachment: with regard to dharmas he has no attachment, neither thought nor defilement, neither abiding nor place, and yet he does not destroy the nature of dharmas — the denial is thorough and yet does not fall into annihilation. The sixth verse states non-duality: herein there is no two and likewise no one, and he of great wisdom who sees well abides skillfully in accord with the principle. The seventh verse is the subtlest turn in the chapter: within the “no” there is no two, and even the “no-two” is likewise absent — Chengguan says it here with the utmost clarity: what is called no-two only says ‘there is no two’; it is not that there is besides it a “no-two”; if one keeps a view of no-two, then two is formed again, and so one must remove and remove again until there is no removing, and therefore it says that the three realms are all empty, and this emptiness is the emptiness of the highest meaning, which the buddhas see alike. The eighth verse turns toward the deliverance of beings: ordinary beings have no awakened understanding, and the Buddha causes them to abide in the right Dharma; and since dharmas abide nowhere, to awaken to this is to see one's own body. The ninth verse states the Buddha's body: not a body, yet spoken of as a body; not an arising, yet manifest as arising; no body and no seeing — this is the Buddha's unsurpassed body. Chengguan, explaining this place, says: the body is just not a body, and so there is nothing to awaken to; once a view that awakens to the body arises, that view is just like the body, and only when body and view are both gone is it the true dharma-body. The tenth verse cedes the merit to True Wisdom, and says that if one hears this dharma one shall attain the pure eye.
Clear away one error: the seventh verse is not a game with words. What it aims at is the very illness most likely to arise after one has read the preceding ninety verses — taking “no-two” and “emptiness” and gripping them again as a position. Where it comes down to the ground: this segment is the summit of the chapter's negating exposition, and while reading it one need not hurry to seize hold of anything, for not one of the things taken away is a loss.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Firm Wisdom: If No Buddha Appeared in the World, Not One Sentient Being Could Attain Peace and Joy
Chengguan determines Firm Wisdom to be one whose “power of wisdom is accomplished and cannot be destroyed,” and classifies his ten verses into four: the first verse praises generally his arising in the world for the sake of beings, the next four separately show the marks of his compassion, the next three and a half are the benefit of seeing and hearing, and the last one and a half conclude with virtue that is inexhaustible; and he says of this segment that “this is the final extremity, and therefore it raises up all ten together.” Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, determines the same sense, classifying it as the first six raising up the depth of the Buddha's kindness, the next three rejoicing at having met him, and the last concluding with praise of the inexhaustible; and he says the last verse is “a general conclusion of the speaking of the nine persons above.”
The first verse praises generally: how great is this great light, the brave and strong Unsurpassed One, who has arisen in the world for the benefit of the deluded multitudes. The second verse shows what compassion contemplates: with a mind of great compassion the Buddha contemplates everywhere the many sentient beings, and sees them revolving and undergoing suffering within the three forms of existence. The third verse displays it from the negative side: save only for the Rightly and Fully Awakened One, that Honored Guide replete with virtue, among all the gods and humans there is none who can save and protect. The fourth verse displays it negatively one layer further: if the buddhas and the bodhisattvas and the rest did not appear in the world, not one sentient being could attain peace and joy. The fifth verse turns to the positive: when the Tathāgata, the Rightly and Fully Awakened One, and the multitude of the worthy and noble appear in the world, they can give peace and joy to sentient beings — Chengguan says that this verse also displays the jewel of the Saṅgha. The sixth verse states the benefit of seeing and hearing, and gives a weighty comparison: if one sees the Tathāgata one has gained a great benefit of goodness, and one who hears the Buddha's name and gives rise to faith is a stūpa of the world — the person himself becomes a place that ought to be revered. The seventh verse brings this benefit down upon the speaker himself: that we have seen the World-Honored One is to have gained a great benefit, and having heard so wondrous a Dharma we shall all accomplish the Buddha's path. The eighth verse looks back to the history of the bodhisattvas: in the past, by the Buddha's power of awesome spirit, the bodhisattvas gained the pure eye of wisdom and understood the sphere of the buddhas — which buckles back to the “sustained by the Buddha's awesome power” of the chapter's prologue. The ninth verse is the one place in the whole chapter that speaks of the increase of “faith”: now seeing Rocana, pure faith increases the more; the Buddha's wisdom has no bound and its expounding cannot be exhausted. The tenth verse closes the chapter: Excellent Wisdom and the other bodhisattvas, and I, Firm Wisdom, through numberless koṭis of kalpas could speak and still not exhaust it.
Clear away one error: this segment suddenly speaks at length of the Buddha's kindness and of benefit, and is easily read as a reversal of the preceding ninety verses. It is not a reversal; it is a conclusion. After the nine preceding segments have taken apart, layer by layer, the ‘seeing the Buddha by seizing marks’, this segment answers a question that must inevitably arise: if none of it can be grasped, then what benefit is the Buddha's appearing in the world to me? The answer is in the negative display of the fourth verse — if there were no Buddha appearing in the world, not one sentient being could attain peace and joy. Where it comes down to the ground, at the ninth verse: what grows out of all this taking apart is not knowledge and views, but pure faith. And this is exactly the starting point of that station which the next chapter is to enter.
Lineage
The import of this chapter is carried on by the ancient worthies along four tracks, all recorded, with no adjudication. The line of Chengguan: he explains the chapter by four gates, determines the whole chapter to be the three portions of the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise, establishes ten sameness-headings with three differences included in the portion of the gathering of the assembly and six gates in the portion of the emitting of light; in the portion of the verses of praise he determines that “the first is the general, the remaining nine are the particular,” and determines further that the names of the ten bodhisattvas also betoken the ten abodes and that the dharmas they expound betoken the advance of the station; and he matches, one by one, the ten worlds' names to the marks of the stations of the ten abodes and the ten buddhas' names to the fruits of the ten dharmas of the ten abodes in their own portion, while noting for himself that the details are to be seen in “The Ten Abodes.” His establishing, in the All Wisdom segment, of the explanation of the three contemplations in one mind, and, in the Unsurpassed Wisdom segment, of the explanation of “removing and removing again until there is no removing,” are the two densest places of doctrinal import in the chapter. The line of Fazang: on the sixty-fascicle text's chapter “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds” he distinguishes four gates, and in explaining the name divides bodhisattva as substance, cloud as mark, and gathering as function, and opens out three senses in “wondrous excellence”; he determines that the buddhas' sharing the name Moon is the mark of the fruit within the abodes and opens out its three senses of substance, function, and virtue, and that the bodhisattvas' sharing the name Wisdom is the mark of the cause within the abodes; in the portion of the verses of praise he determines “the first is the general, the following nine are the particular,” and with “at once principle and phenomena, at once teaching and meaning, at once cause and fruit, at once person and dharma, at once mind and object” he determines the unobstructedness of general and particular, and determines outright that what the ten segments expound is just the dharma within the ten abodes. The line of Zhiyan: his commentary is the most concise, and yet his verse-classifications for the ten segments are complete; segment by segment he marks the number of verses and the headings, and he establishes the single category “ceding the merit to its source” to gather up the merit-ceding lines at the end of the several segments; he also answers the question why each quarter has ten with “one quarter is just all quarters,” and answers why the assembly is not gathered gradually after the emitting of light with “the station of practice is perfectly complete, and there is no mark of increase or decrease.” The line of Li Tongxuan: he runs the stations of the ten abodes through the whole chapter, lays out the one chapter in an extended outline of eleven segments, and under each bodhisattva opens out four senses — the bodhisattva's name, the world's name, the buddha's title, and the quarter he comes from — matching them with the good friends whom Sudhana visits; he also determines the ten buddhas to be buddhas of the past, Rocana to be the buddha of the present, and one who has just entered the station by practice to be a buddha of the future, and sets out the places of the emitting of light at five stations to display the ascent of the stations.
The number of segments the four masters establish is not uniform (Chengguan and Fazang make ten segments, Li Tongxuan eleven), the stations they match are not uniform, and the verse-classifications within the segments are not uniform either (Chengguan establishes his upon the seven-graph verses of the eighty-fascicle text, Zhiyan his upon the five-graph verses of the sixty-fascicle text, so that within the same segment the number of verses divided and the headings differ); the ancients held differing accounts, and these are recorded, with no adjudication of high and low.
As for how this chapter is joined to what precedes and what follows: above it it receives “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru” — in the preceding chapter the Buddha ascends the throne and Śakra praises him in verse, and in this chapter the bodhisattvas of the ten directions come and gather and praise him in verse; below it there follows “The Ten Abodes” — Chengguan's sentence, “since the gate of the abodes is about to be expounded, the substance is first set forth,” buckles the two chapters into one matter: first the Buddha's virtues are praised so that one may know the substance of abiding, and only then are the names and the practices of the ten abodes expounded. Li Tongxuan gathers the six chapters of the third assembly together as one, determining this chapter to be that which “makes clear the praising in verse of the dharma of the present station, exhorting cultivation and the principle of advancing,” below which “The Ten Abodes” is what “makes clear the practices carried out in the present station.” As for the books that set out the outlines of the Huayan school, this chapter's title and its famous verse-lines alike return no result, and this is recorded as absent, as the facts stand; nor has this chapter any separately circulating treatise that presents and explains the scripture, unlike “The Ten Grounds,” which has the Treatise on the Ten Grounds Sūtra — this too is recorded as absent. And this accords with the character of this chapter: it is scriptural text depicting the scene of bodhisattvas of the ten directions praising in verse, and its import lies in negating exposition rather than in establishing terms.
考據Apparatus
須彌頂上偈讚品＝世尊既昇須彌山頂入妙勝殿，佛神力故十方各有一大菩薩與佛剎微塵數眷屬俱來集會，其名皆以「慧」為稱；所從來之十世界皆以「華」為稱，所事之十佛皆以「月」為稱。菩薩至已頂禮，各化毘盧遮那藏師子之座而坐；世尊從兩足指放百千億妙色光明，普照十方須彌頂上帝釋宮中。此後法慧、一切慧、勝慧、功德慧、精進慧、善慧、智慧、真實慧、無上慧、堅固慧十菩薩各承佛威力、普觀十方而說十偈，全品百偈，世尊未親說一字。澄觀四門釋之，判全品為集眾、放光、偈讚三分，並判偈讚分「十菩薩說即為十段，初一是總、餘九為別」；法藏於六十本〈菩薩雲集品〉判「初一總、後九別」，與澄觀同；智儼逐段別立偈科；李通玄則長科一品為十一段，並以十住位配十菩薩、十世界、十佛。四家所立之科段數與配位各異，古有異說，誌錄不判。
一、科判定位
| 科判系統 | 此品之位 |
|---|---|
| 底本 T279 三十九品 | 品十四 須彌頂上偈讚品（第三會 忉利天宮 · 卷十六〔T10n0279 0081a22〕起–下品〈十住品第十五〉品題〔0083c29〕前訖） |
| 澄觀《華嚴經疏》 | 須彌頂上偈讚品疏〔T35n1735 0628c28〕起–〔0632c21〕前訖；四門：來意・釋名・宗趣・釋文（釋文總為三分） |
| 法藏《探玄記》（六十華嚴疏） | 菩薩雲集品第十〔T35n1733 0193c11〕起–〔0195b25〕前訖；四門同上：釋名・來意・宗・釋文 |
| 智儼《搜玄記》（六十華嚴疏） | 菩薩雲集品第十〔T35n1732 0033a03〕起–〔0033b27〕前訖；四門同上：釋名・來意・宗・辨文 |
| 李通玄《新華嚴經論》 | 須彌頂上偈讚品第十四〔T36n1739 0828b24〕起–〔0831c18〕前訖；四門：釋品名目・釋品來意・都會十住六品經意・隨文釋義 |
來意——澄觀繫於『將說住門，先讚佛德』一義：
「初來意者，既明化主赴感，今辨助化讚揚。將演住門，先陳體性。性即佛智，先讚如來，故品來也。」〔T35n1735 0628c29〕
法藏於六十本作主伴之次：
「二來意者，前明如來昇天將欲說法，必有所被機緣，故次來也。又前明果德臨機，今因力助化，先主後伴，義次第故。」〔T35n1733 0193c18〕
智儼極簡：「二來意者，何故來？辨處已，次明集眾。三集眾歎德，順法為宗。」〔T35n1732 0033a06〕
李通玄繫於前品帝釋之讚與此品菩薩之讚：
「二釋品來意者，明前已創昇須彌，帝釋以偈歎佛。此品明十住位當位菩薩，將當位法門以偈讚之，令信心者得入位故，故有此品須來。」〔T36n1739 0828c04〕
釋名——澄觀約處立名：
「二釋名者，須彌約處，讚稱佛德依處有讚，故立此名。亦頂上之讚，揀餘處也。」〔T35n1735 0629a02〕
六十本品名作〈菩薩雲集妙勝殿上說偈品〉，故法藏、智儼皆就「菩薩雲集」四字釋。法藏分體相用：
「菩薩是體、雲是相，以諸菩薩含法雨故、相齗齶故。集是用。殿是集處。」〔T35n1733 0193c12〕
「妙勝有三義：一佛眾為妙勝，妙勝者之殿；二於中說此妙勝法故；三殿即妙勝，以稱性故。」〔T35n1733 0193c14〕
智儼同軌而更簡：「菩薩者是人。雲者潤益故，又齗齶貌也。集者聚集。」〔T35n1732 0033a04〕
李通玄從所表之位立名：
「以法慧等十箇菩薩，各以自當位隨位進修之法，還自以偈讚之，令信終菩薩倣之悟入故。」〔T36n1739 0828b28〕
宗趣——澄觀開二重：
「三宗趣者，以集眾放光偈讚為宗，為成正說為趣。又顯佛德為宗，令知住體為趣。」〔T35n1735 0629a04〕
法藏判宗同，而於眾別開三類：
「眾有三類：一助化眾，謂十方菩薩影嚮如來；二表法眾，謂諸首諸慧諸林諸幢等，各為寄人表示法也；三當機眾，謂教所被等。」〔T35n1733 0193c21〕
正釋文（澄觀）——總為三分：
「第四釋文，總為三分：第一集眾分、第二放光分、第三偈讚分。」〔T35n1735 0629a06〕
集眾分之內科為十門：
「今初，文有十同，義兼三異，謂五六七。一集因同，皆佛力故，亦同會前時。」〔T35n1735 0629a07〕
十門所配之底本文句，逐門與底本相扣：集因同〔T10n0279 0081a23〕・主首同〔0081a23〕・眷屬數同〔0081a23〕・來處量同〔0081a24〕・表法名同〔0081a25〕・世界名同〔0081a28〕・所事佛同〔0081b03〕・申禮敬同〔0081b05〕・威儀住同〔0081b06〕・結十方同〔0081b08〕。放光分之內科為六：「文義有六：一時、二主、三處、四數、五相、六業處。」〔T35n1735 0629b11〕
偈讚分之科，是全品之骨，四家並判為十段（李通玄併集眾放光為第一段，故作十一段）：
「十菩薩說即為十段，初一是總、餘九為別。以法慧是說法主故，總敘此會本末事義、總顯佛德，餘九歎佛差別之德，總別共顯如來無礙之會。」〔T35n1735 0629b17〕
「第三偈讚中，十菩薩即為十段，初一總、後九別。以是說法主故名法慧，是故總敘此會本末以顯佛德。後皆於此總說上歎差別德，是故總別無礙，唯一如來法界身，於中或即理即事、即教即義、即因即果、即人即法、即心即境，圓融自在舉體全攝。此等即是十住中法，下諸偈應准知此意。」〔T35n1733 0194a28〕
「一長科一品經意者，義分為十一段。」〔T36n1739 0828c20〕
底本十段之段界（各段首偈行）：法慧〔T10n0279 0081b14〕・一切慧〔0081c07〕・勝慧〔0081c29〕・功德慧〔0082a22〕・精進慧〔0082b15〕・善慧〔0082c08〕・智慧〔0083a01〕・真實慧〔0083a23〕・無上慧〔0083b16〕・堅固慧〔0083c09〕。十段各十偈，共一百偈，逐段實計。
二、術語
| 漢 | 所徵 | 精義 |
|---|---|---|
| 慧（十菩薩同名） | 澄觀：「慧即十解，能見法故。菩薩名異，至偈釋之。」〔T35n1735 0629a11〕 | 十解即十住之異名・同名慧表能見法之因 |
| 慧（住中因相） | 法藏：「菩薩同名慧者，是住中因相，謂解達真俗明了義故。」〔T35n1733 0194a14〕 | 智儼作「菩薩同名慧者，解之始故」〔T35n1732 0033a25〕 |
| 華（十世界同名） | 澄觀：「同名華者，位相創開，無著感果故。」〔T35n1735 0629a13〕 | 華表位相之初開・無所著而感果 |
| 月（十佛同名） | 澄觀：「同名月者，表位中佛果，智明闇息，恩益清涼，應器周故。」〔T35n1735 0629a21〕 | 明・清涼・周應三義 |
| 月（三義） | 法藏：「佛同名月者，此是住中果相，有其三義：一約體是圓滿義、二約用是光照義、三約德是清涼義，又初是正體、次是後得、後是大悲，用月表況。」〔T35n1733 0194a11〕 | 智儼作「依月起光故、清涼故」〔T35n1732 0033a25〕 |
| 阿盧那 | 澄觀：「八阿盧那者，此云日出時紅赤之相，童真明淨故」〔T35n1735 0629a17〕 | 第八世界名・澄觀配童真住 |
| 那羅陀 | 澄觀：「九那羅陀者，此云人持，以華香妙人皆佩故，王子佩持，法王軌度故」〔T35n1735 0629a18〕 | 第九世界名・澄觀配王子住 |
| 兩足指 | 澄觀：「謂兩足指足指拒地得住有力，成位不退而行有恒，數位過前加於千也。相表解顯，故云妙色。」〔T35n1735 0629b12〕 | 法藏同判：「二光出處，謂如足指按地乃得住立，表此十住成位不退，故名住也。」〔T35n1733 0194a20〕 |
| 毘盧遮那藏師子之座 | 底本：「隨所來方，各化作毘盧遮那藏師子之座，於其座上結跏趺坐。」〔T10n0279 0081b06〕 | 六十本作「化作寶藏師子之座」〔T09n0278 0442a06〕 |
| 盧舍那 | 底本經文四見：「則見盧舍那」〔T10n0279 0082a07〕・「得見盧舍那」〔0082a19〕・「如佛盧舍那」〔0082c23〕・「今見盧舍那」〔0083c25〕 | 李通玄：「十佛是過去佛，盧舍那是現在佛，修行始入位者是未來佛。」〔T36n1739 0828c08〕 |
| 牟尼 | 底本二見：「牟尼離三世，諸相悉具足」〔T10n0279 0081c21〕・「此亦無所修，能見大牟尼」〔0082c03〕 | 寂默之義・經文以之稱佛 |
| 十解 | 澄觀釋十菩薩同名慧時所用之位名〔T35n1735 0629a11〕 | 十解＝十住・澄觀於本品疏中以十解與十住互稱 |
三、譬喻·修辭
- 闇中寶（勝慧第六偈·喻法待人說而後了）——「譬如闇中寶，無燈不可見，佛法無人說，雖慧莫能了。」〔T10n0279 0082a10〕；六十本作「如寶在闇處，無明故不見，真諦無說者，雖慧莫能覩。」〔T09n0278 0442c09〕
- 目翳（勝慧第七偈）——「亦如目有翳，不見淨妙色，如是不淨心，不見諸佛法。」〔T10n0279 0082a12〕；除翳之反顯在第九偈：「若能除眼翳，捨離於色想」〔0082a16〕
- 明淨日與瞽者（勝慧第八偈）——「又如明淨日，瞽者莫能見，無有智慧心，終不見諸佛。」〔T10n0279 0082a14〕
- 世間燈（善慧第二偈）——「我見世間燈，如實不顛倒」〔T10n0279 0082c10〕
- 世間塔（堅固慧第六偈·以人身為所應敬之塔）——「若見如來者，為得大善利，聞佛名生信，則是世間塔。」〔T10n0279 0083c19〕
- 虛空（三處取喻·所取皆在無相無依，非在廣大）——「其性如虛空，故說無有盡」〔T10n0279 0082c13〕・「法性本清淨，如空無有相」〔0082b29〕・世界名「虛空華世界」〔0081b02〕
- 癡惑網·生死獄（一切慧第二偈連舉二喻）——「是人取諸相，增長癡惑網，繫縛生死獄，盲冥不見佛。」〔T10n0279 0081c09〕；功德慧第一偈再用獄喻：「是故諸凡夫，輪迴生死獄。」〔0082a23〕
- 險道·生死海（智慧第二・第四偈）——「若計有我人，則為入險道。」〔T10n0279 0083a04〕・「於無量劫中，流轉生死海。」〔0083a08〕
- 迷木見鬼（澄觀釋精進慧段無相觀·喻情有理無）——「如迷木見鬼，知鬼是迷有，名如實知鬼；知鬼本無，舉體是木，名為見木。」〔T35n1735 0631b03〕
- 重言之體例——十段引偈句全同其型（『爾時，某菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言』），唯首段作「爾時，法慧菩薩承佛威神，普觀十方而說頌曰」〔T10n0279 0081b12〕、第五段精進慧作「爾時，精進慧菩薩承佛威力，觀察十方而說頌言」〔0082b13〕，餘八段句型逐字全同。
- 推功句之修辭——各段末偈多推功於前一說者，逐段實計：一切慧段「法慧先已說」〔T10n0279 0081c25〕・勝慧段「一切慧先說」〔0082a18〕・功德慧段「勝慧先已說」〔0082b11〕・精進慧段「如德慧所說」〔0082c04〕・無上慧段「如是實慧說」〔0083c05〕・堅固慧段「勝慧等菩薩，及我堅固慧」〔0083c27〕，此六段推功句在第十偈；善慧段推功句在第九偈：「精進慧大士，演說無量法」〔0082c25〕。法慧為初段無前可推；智慧、真實慧二段無推功句。智儼於六十本判此格為「推功在本」〔T35n1732 0033b07〕。
四、異譯對勘
本品之漢譯校本：實叉難陀 T279（底本·〈須彌頂上偈讚品第十四〉）· 佛馱跋陀羅 T278（晉譯六十華嚴·〈菩薩雲集妙勝殿上說偈品第十〉〔T09n0278 0441c20〕起–下品〈菩薩十住品第十一〉品題〔0444c06〕前訖）。本品無別行經、無牒經論釋〔查無〕。以下逐句全錄不判。
句一 品題
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 須彌頂上偈讚品第十四 | T10n0279 0081a22 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 大方廣佛華嚴經菩薩雲集妙勝殿上說偈品第十 | T09n0278 0441c20 |
句二 集眾起句
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 爾時，佛神力故，十方各有一大菩薩，一一各與佛剎微塵數菩薩俱，從百佛剎微塵數國土外諸世界中而來集會 | T10n0279 0081a23 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 爾時，十方各過百佛世界微塵數剎，一一方各十世界 | T09n0278 0441c22 |
句三 十菩薩名
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 法慧菩薩、一切慧菩薩、勝慧菩薩、功德慧菩薩、精進慧菩薩、善慧菩薩、智慧菩薩、真實慧菩薩、無上慧菩薩、堅固慧菩薩。 | T10n0279 0081a25 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 其菩薩名法慧；次名一切慧；次名勝慧；次名功德慧；次名精進慧；次名善慧；次名智慧；次名真實慧；次名無上慧；次名堅固慧。 | T09n0278 0441c29 |
句四 十世界名
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 因陀羅華世界、波頭摩華世界、寶華世界、優鉢羅華世界、金剛華世界、妙香華世界、悅意華世界、阿盧那華世界、那羅陀華世界、虛空華世界。 | T10n0279 0081a28 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 其世界名因陀羅；次名蓮華；次名眾寶；次名優鉢羅；次名妙行；次名善行；次名歡喜；次名星宿；次名無厭慈；次名虛空。 | T09n0278 0441c23 |
句五 十佛名
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 殊特月佛、無盡月佛、不動月佛、風月佛、水月佛、解脫月佛、無上月佛、星宿月佛、清淨月佛、明了月佛。 | T10n0279 0081b03 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 其佛號不變月；次號無盡月；次號不動月；次號香風月；次號自在天月；次號清淨月；次號無上月；次號星宿月；次號不衰變月；次號無量自在月。 | T09n0278 0441c26 |
句六 放光句
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 爾時，世尊從兩足指放百千億妙色光明，普照十方一切世界須彌頂上帝釋宮中，佛及大眾靡不皆現。 | T10n0279 0081b10 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 爾時，世尊從兩足指，放百千億妙色光明，普照十方一切世界諸四天下菩提樹下須彌山頂妙勝殿上，如來大眾，皆悉顯現。 | T09n0278 0442a09 |
句七 法慧第一偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 佛放淨光明，普見世導師，須彌山王頂，妙勝殿中住。 | T10n0279 0081b14 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 天人師悉現，一切嚴淨剎，須彌山王頂，帝釋妙勝殿， | T09n0278 0442a13 |
句八 一切慧第一偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 假使百千劫，常見於如來，不依真實義，而觀救世者。 | T10n0279 0081c07 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 無量無數劫，雖常見如來，於此正法中，猶未覩真實， | T09n0278 0442b06 |
句九 一切慧第四偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 一切法無生，一切法無滅，若能如是解，諸佛常現前。 | T10n0279 0081c13 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 一切法無生，一切法無滅，若能如是解，諸佛常現前。 | T09n0278 0442b12 |
句十 功德慧第三偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 不能了自心，云何知正道？彼由顛倒慧，增長一切惡。 | T10n0279 0082a26 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 不知八正道，云何知自心？彼因顛倒想，增長一切惡。 | T09n0278 0442c25 |
句十一 善慧第一偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 希有大勇健，無量諸如來，離垢心解脫，自度能度彼。 | T10n0279 0082c08 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 妙哉佛世尊，無量諸如來，離害心解脫，自度能度彼。 | T09n0278 0443b14 |
句十二 智慧第五偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 有諍說生死，無諍即涅槃，生死及涅槃，二俱不可得。 | T10n0279 0083a09 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 流轉則生死，非轉是涅槃，生死及涅槃，二皆不可得。 | T09n0278 0443c15 |
句十三 真實慧第一偈與說者標
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 爾時，真實慧菩薩承佛威力，普觀十方而說頌言： | T10n0279 0083a21 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 爾時，真慧菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方，以偈頌曰： | T09n0278 0443c27 |
| 實叉 T279 | 寧受地獄苦，得聞諸佛名，不受無量樂，而不聞佛名。 | T10n0279 0083a23 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 寧受無量苦，得聞佛音聲，不受一切樂，而不聞佛名。 | T09n0278 0443c29 |
句十四 全品結偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 勝慧等菩薩，及我堅固慧，無數億劫中，說亦不能盡。 | T10n0279 0083c27 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 無上慧堅固，及諸佛子等，無數億劫中，說佛德無盡。 | T09n0278 0444c04 |
全錄不判：以上十四句之異，或品名取義之異（須彌頂上偈讚／菩薩雲集妙勝殿上說偈）、或列名句式之異（連舉／「次名」遞舉）、或名相之異（波頭摩華／蓮華・寶華／眾寶・妙香華／妙行・悅意華／歡喜・阿盧那華／星宿・那羅陀華／無厭慈；殊特月／不變月・風月／香風月・水月／自在天月・解脫月／清淨月・清淨月／不衰變月・明了月／無量自在月）、或句序倒置之異（不能了自心，云何知正道／不知八正道，云何知自心）、或所推之人之異（勝慧等菩薩，及我堅固慧／無上慧堅固，及諸佛子等），二本並錄，不判優劣。句九一偈二本逐字全同，亦誌之。又第八說者之名，八十本作「真實慧菩薩」〔T10n0279 0083a21〕、六十本作「真慧菩薩」〔T09n0278 0443c27〕，二本並錄不判；八十本說者標作「承佛威力……而說頌言」、六十本所見九段作「承佛神力……以偈頌曰」，亦並錄不判。又六十本本品文跨卷第七、卷第八二卷，卷跋落於精進慧段之後〔T09n0278 0443b05〕，八十本則全品在卷十六之內，無卷界。
五、宗義之經據〔眼〕
(一) 先陳體性，後演住門——本品之所以列在〈十住品〉之前，澄觀立其義：
「初來意者，既明化主赴感，今辨助化讚揚。將演住門，先陳體性。性即佛智，先讚如來，故品來也。」〔T35n1735 0628c29〕
其宗趣一句更直指所成：「又顯佛德為宗，令知住體為趣。」〔T35n1735 0629a05〕——讚佛不是儀節，是為使人先識住位所依之體。
(二) 初一是總，餘九為別——十段偈之總別，是本品之骨：
「十菩薩說即為十段，初一是總、餘九為別。以法慧是說法主故，總敘此會本末事義、總顯佛德，餘九歎佛差別之德，總別共顯如來無礙之會。」〔T35n1735 0629b17〕
法藏於六十本判同，並繫於總別無礙：「第三偈讚中，十菩薩即為十段，初一總、後九別。」〔T35n1733 0194a28〕
(三) 十菩薩名亦表十住，所說法表位勝進——
「此十菩薩名亦表十住，其所說法表位勝進。勝進有二：一趣後位、二趣佛果，今約佛果。」〔T35n1735 0629b20〕
(四) 一光照一切，為一法界圓明大會——放光分之義據：
「一光照於一切，則一切亦爾，重疊無礙無不互見，為一法界圓明大會。」〔T35n1735 0629b15〕
法藏判同：「六如來大眾等，明照所顯現通同為一法界圓明之會故也。」〔T35n1733 0194a25〕；智儼則以此答「何故一一方各有十」之問：「所以一一方具十者，欲顯解相分明圓融數等，一方即一切方也。」〔T35n1732 0033a12〕
(五) 足指放光表位不退——光所從出之處，三家所判一致：
「謂兩足指足指拒地得住有力，成位不退而行有恒，數位過前加於千也。」〔T35n1735 0629b12〕
「二光出處，謂如足指按地乃得住立，表此十住成位不退，故名住也。」〔T35n1733 0194a20〕
李通玄更列五位放光之處以顯位之昇進：「十信足輪下放光，此十住中足指端放光，明位勝進。十行足趺，十迴向膝上，十地眉間毫中放光，此表法位昇進故。」〔T36n1739 0829a17〕
(六) 三觀一心而佛體用現——澄觀釋一切慧段「觀察於諸法」以下四偈，判為真觀真止，其真觀處立三觀：
「前中，初二句空觀，緣生無性故；次二句假觀，隨俗假名故；次二句中觀，由前生滅一切諸法即無性故，相體即是不生滅也。後二句觀益，諸法如即是佛如，無生滅佛體本常，觀稱於如則佛常現。況三觀一心，則佛之體用無不現矣。」〔T35n1735 0629c14〕
真止處則遮「觀之使空」之解：
「後二真止中，以觀觀法能所紛動，故須寂之。初句牒前法性；次句泯其能所。法性本空，非觀之使空，故無所取，何有能見？」〔T35n1735 0629c19〕
(七) 遣之又遣以至於無遣——澄觀釋無上慧段「無中無有二」偈：
「後偈拂前無二之迹。言無二者，但言無有二，非謂有無二，若存無二之見則還成二。以無二必對二，故遣之又遣之以至於無遣，故云三界一切空。空謂第一義空，諸佛同見。」〔T35n1735 0632c06〕
(八) 身見兩亡乃真法身——澄觀釋無上慧段末二偈之外化德：
「後二外化德中，前偈正顯令住無住之覺、後偈釋成。身即非身，故無可悟。悟身見起，此見如身，身見兩亡，真法身也。觀身實相，觀佛亦然，故就佛結。」〔T35n1735 0632c10〕
(九) 十菩薩所說即十住中法——法藏於偈讚分總判處立此義：
「是故總別無礙，唯一如來法界身，於中或即理即事、即教即義、即因即果、即人即法、即心即境，圓融自在舉體全攝。此等即是十住中法，下諸偈應准知此意。」〔T35n1733 0194b02〕
李通玄同繫於位：「已上十菩薩各說十行頌，和會入位法，令身心諸計皆無所依，離於偏執，住佛所住。」〔T36n1739 0829a06〕
六、諸家異釋（古德·標宗）
澄觀《華嚴經疏》T35n1735（八十華嚴逐文·主）
十世界名別配十住——澄觀於世界名同之下，別出十住之配：
「同名華者，位相創開，無著感果故。別即次第配於十住：一發心主導世間故；二淨治心地如蓮開故；三修行圓淨故；四水生之貴故；五方便堅誓故；六正心無相如香氣故；七不退意悅故」〔T35n1735 0629a13〕
「八阿盧那者，此云日出時紅赤之相，童真明淨故；九那羅陀者，此云人持，以華香妙人皆佩故，王子佩持，法王軌度故；十智遍如空故，亦可別明十住勝進十法，思之可知。」〔T35n1735 0629a17〕
十佛名別配十住自分之果——
「別名即十住，自分十法之果：一以十難得法，可謂殊特。二發十大心，不可窮盡。三觀於空等，不可傾動。四了知業行，生死涅槃如風不住。五饒益安樂一切眾生，如水普潤。六聞十種法，心定不動故得解脫。七聞十不退，可謂無上。八三業無失，如星明淨，隨意受生燦然滿空，神足自在若依空運轉。九善知煩惱現起習氣，故得清淨。十觀察無數眾生根欲智慧心境，餘不能知，唯自明了。」〔T35n1735 0629a23〕
其後自標所據之限：「上且隨要相屬以為此釋，委明其相如〈十住〉文。」〔T35n1735 0629b03〕
法慧段十頌分三——
「今初，東方法慧總了佛法」〔T35n1735 0629b23〕
「十頌分三：初五敘因佛光見多盛事，初一敘此品放光、次一敘前品請讚、餘三重敘此品。次二勸觀佛力更發勝心，即前品不起而升。後三舉因結果，初一舉因、後二結果。由因中行願剎剎齊修故，果位身智遍應遍斷。」〔T35n1735 0629b25〕
一切慧段十頌分六——
「第二南方一切慧者，了一切法真實之性，淨心地故。頌意為顯於諸眾生增長大悲，以稱實而觀救世者故。十頌分六：初二違理觀佛非見佛、次四了法真性真見佛。三有一偈，迷性取法不見佛。四一偈，佛即同法為真佛。五一偈，引已了法為見佛。六一偈，推功有本了真佛。」〔T35n1735 0629c01〕
其釋初二偈之假設長時：「初中，前偈出其妄觀，假設長時以況暫見；後偈明其有損，由上不依真實則取相乖真，但見集網繫於苦獄，盲無慧眼冥然不見佛之法身。」〔T35n1735 0629c08〕；並防其過解：「然此遮取相故，假設長時，無有多劫，全不了義，以見如來增智慧故。」〔T35n1735 0629c11〕
無上慧段後五偈之科——
「後五中，初偈正明照境。境即俗境，有能所故。即俗而真，故云無數。心同無為，故云遠離。是佛真法，雙結能所。後四遣相顯理，皆躡迹遣滯。」〔T35n1735 0632b26〕
堅固慧段十頌分四——
「第十上方堅固慧者，智力成就不可壞故。頌意為顯欲令增長一切種智，文云得淨慧眼了佛境故。十頌分四：初偈總歎為物興世，智光遍照大悲勇健。次四別示悲相，初偈觀機、次二反以釋成、後一正明兼顯僧寶。次三頌半見聞利益，後一頌半結德無盡。此為終極，故總舉前十。」〔T35n1735 0632c14〕
勝慧段十頌分四——
「第三西方勝慧，以解佛勝智，隨空心淨，故以為名。頌意為顯欲令菩薩智慧明了，即大智了如及佛性故。十頌分四：初一讚智為迷悟本、次四正顯迷悟、次四喻前得失、後一推功有在。」〔T35n1735 0630a08〕
其釋迷悟四偈：「次四迷悟中，初二迷、後二悟。迷中，初一心外取境生想違理，故不能見無相之佛。後偈取蘊內相、不了蘊性，故不見心佛。」〔T35n1735 0630a13〕；釋後二悟偈：「初偈翻前外取，謂了一切法即心自性，性亦非性，情破理現則見舍那，稱於法性無內外也。後偈翻前內取，了蘊性相，則見自心之佛，與盧舍那非一非異」〔T35n1735 0630a18〕
功德慧段十頌分四——
「第四北方功德慧者，生在佛家，善解佛德故。此頌意顯於三世中心得平等、了知自心，窮法空故。十頌分四：初四明凡小妄覺、次四示其真覺、三有一偈佛覺雙圓、後一偈推功有本。」〔T35n1735 0631a01〕
其釋真覺四偈：「次四示其真覺中，初偈引己之損勸物成益；次偈教其真見，謂見佛無取即是見如，如即佛所知也」〔T35n1735 0631a12〕
精進慧段十頌分二——
「五東北方精進慧，以勤觀真理集無量善，俱無住故。頌意為顯欲令其心轉復精進無所染著，文中由離分別如實見故。十頌分二：前九觀法、後一推功。」〔T35n1735 0631a26〕
其釋無相觀處立迷木見鬼之喻：「如迷木見鬼，知鬼是迷有，名如實知鬼；知鬼本無，舉體是木，名為見木。」〔T35n1735 0631b03〕；復以之釋離能取：「二離能取，以所取空故。上半舉失，如若見鬼，即不見木；下半顯得，離於鬼見，方為見木。」〔T35n1735 0631b04〕
善慧段十頌分四——
「第六東南方善慧菩薩，成就般若慧鑑不動，可謂善矣。此頌為顯欲令其心轉復增進，得不退轉無生法忍，文中離垢解脫無體性故。十頌分四：初二見佛、次三見法、次三觀成利益、後二推見有依。」〔T35n1735 0631b15〕
其釋盡與無盡：「次二偈拂迹入玄，上半拂前無為，謂既如虛空，何有無為之相？」〔T35n1735 0631b26〕；「盡即無盡，故無眾生也。」〔T35n1735 0631b29〕
智慧段十頌分二——
「決斷不動所以名智。頌意為顯於一切法皆能出離，文中生死涅槃皆善離故。十頌分二：初一引己勵眾；餘偈希眾同己，於中亦二：前六示迷、後三啟悟。」〔T35n1735 0631c11〕
其釋「有諍說生死」一偈之諍字：「煩惱名諍。觸動善品，損害自他，故名為諍。此有漏法，諍隨增故，名為有諍，有彼諍故。故生死者有漏為體，無彼煩惱故稱涅槃。」〔T35n1735 0631c22〕
真實慧段十頌分二——
「第八西北方真實慧菩薩，心不顛倒是真實慧。頌意為顯欲令增進，於一切法皆得善巧文言。於法不顛倒、如實覺了，是善巧義。十頌分二：前二明依實立名，名能益物；後八顯名下之實，辨益所由。」〔T35n1735 0632a10〕
其判後八偈為三覺：「後八中分三：初三覺妄證實，是覺察義；次一雙覺二諦，是覺照義；後四非覺而覺，是妙覺義。」〔T35n1735 0632a16〕；釋「於法不顛倒，如實而現證」一偈時以比量現量分之：「初句揀似比量，無常計常、常計無常等是顛倒法，名似比量。次句證真現量，如眼見故。次句揀似現量」〔T35n1735 0632a19〕
無上慧段十頌分三——
「第九下方無上慧，名如初頌。又從法王教生，當紹佛位，故名無上。頌意為顯欲令增進心無障礙，文云無著無念不住法故。十頌分三：初一釋己名義、次八顯佛勝德、後一推功結益。」〔T35n1735 0632b14〕
法藏《探玄記》T35n1733（六十華嚴疏〈菩薩雲集品〉）
集眾分之十重世界——法藏釋「一一方各十世界」之所以：
「如是向東十重世界，各各相過百塵界外，所以說十重者，以顯無盡故。如東方十界，餘九方亦爾。」〔T35n1733 0194a03〕
一會即一切會——「此唯據斯一天宮會，餘十方界皆各如此，為法界無邊會耳，謂一會一切會等，如結通處辨。」〔T35n1733 0194a07〕
無上慧段十偈分三——
「九無上慧者，慧離上相故。十偈分三：初一釋己名、次八顯佛德。於中，初六辨佛內證德，謂一境離麁妙修。生德是麁，由空故不作也；真理是細，本有不悕望也。二離數無數。此二約境。三離照無照，此約智。四一偈半離依無依。五一偈半離一二相。此上約境智俱融。後二顯佛外化德，一教令住法無所住也、二得見真身無所見也。後一推功。」〔T35n1733 0195b09〕
真實慧段「知以一故眾」之三義——
「謂境智一亦不可、二亦不可。證如反望，無如外智故無覺，亦無智外法可取故無所覺，是佛所修，故無一無二也。此有三義：一約境真俗非一二、二約智虛照非一二、三約境智非一二，准釋可知。」〔T35n1733 0195a26〕
堅固慧段十偈分三——
「十堅固慧者，知佛恩不可壞故。十偈分三：初六舉佛恩深、次三慶已逢遇、後一結歎無盡。前中，初一句標恩，餘釋顯恩相：一為物出現、二見物深苦、三明救苦唯佛、四與樂亦佛、五佛眾亦能、六見聞獲益。」〔T35n1733 0195b17〕
其末句結全品：「後一是總結上九人說。」〔T35n1733 0195b23〕
智儼《搜玄記》T35n1732（六十華嚴疏〈菩薩雲集品〉）
智儼於偈讚序判十菩薩相生：「三讚歎。序文有十菩薩相生次第歎，解相明白耳可知。」〔T35n1732 0033a27〕；其後逐段立偈科，十段皆備：
「一、法慧，偈有二：初長行生起；二正偈頌。下並准之。此文有二：初七牒眾，明是佛力所成，即結前品中六段義。次三明勝行者得見佛，餘莫知者，即通讚前難思。下諸人偈，並約理成也。」〔T35n1732 0033a28〕
「二、一切慧，偈有六：初三明謂見之徒不見真佛、次三顯解無生法身常現、次一明取著者失、次一明慧解者益、次一明解佛因緣成即離癡惑、次一推功在本。」〔T35n1732 0033b04〕
「三、勝慧，偈有六：初三明妄取者失、次一明有解者德、次一約法辨觀益、次三推功在佛、次一能淨慧者見法身、次一推功在本。」〔T35n1732 0033b07〕
「四、功德慧，偈有五：初四明迷者失、次一示勝方便、次三明得法性益、次一歎佛利生方便、次一推功在本。」〔T35n1732 0033b10〕
「五、精進慧，偈有三：初一彰失、次一辨德、次八廣辨觀式獲益相。八文內，前四無相生、後四真實性也。」〔T35n1732 0033b13〕
「六、善慧偈，有四：初二明有解能度自他、次五明無生故應真性、次一半歎解勝能、次一半推功在本。」〔T35n1732 0033b15〕
「七、智慧，偈有三：初一明因教成正解、次六明迷教理者失、次三重成解德。」〔T35n1732 0033b17〕
「八、真實慧，偈有五：初二挍量勝劣得失、次二辨所觀境、次一舉益勸學、次一釋知者名、次四示其觀儀。」〔T35n1732 0033b19〕
「九無上慧，偈有四：初一釋人名、次六歎自利、次二歎利他德、次一推功在本。」〔T35n1732 0033b22〕
「十、堅固慧，偈有四：初四歎佛是真歸、次二舉德勸依、次二引自勸物令入、次二舉勝人顯德無盡以勸依也。」〔T35n1732 0033b23〕
不漸集眾之問答——「所以此放光下不漸集眾者，欲顯行位圓成，無有增減之相故也。」〔T35n1732 0033a14〕
李通玄《新華嚴經論》T36n1739（表法異軌）
十住六品之都會——通玄於本品下先總會第三會六品：
「一〈昇須彌頂品〉，明信終昇進。二〈須彌頂上偈讚品〉，明偈讚當位之法，勸修昇進之理。三〈十住品〉，明當位所行之行。四〈梵行品〉，明總十住之中所持無相之性戒。五〈發心功德品〉，明於十住之中發心所得功德之量。六〈明法品〉，即明當位之法，昇進向十行之因。」〔T36n1739 0828c11〕
三世佛之配——
「初歎過去佛，次歎今現在佛。未來佛者，即入此位者是也，是故經中不云未來。十佛是過去佛，盧舍那是現在佛，修行始入位者是未來佛。」〔T36n1739 0828c07〕
十一段之長科——通玄以集眾放光為第一段，十菩薩各為一段，合為十一段，其第五至第十一段之科語：
「五爾時功德慧說十行頌，明妄取諸法真實之相。六爾時精進慧說十行頌，歎諸法自體無見，妄見迷真。七爾時善慧菩薩說十行頌，歎無眾生可盡，法非有無二見。八爾時智慧菩薩說十行頌，歎言說不能及真。九爾時真實慧菩薩說十行頌，歎諸法無合散性。十爾時無上慧說十行頌，歎佛所得法體無分別，不屬名數。十一爾時堅慧說十行頌，歎佛大悲出興利益。」〔T36n1739 0828c27〕
無上慧・堅固慧之四義配——通玄於每一菩薩下開四義（菩薩名・世界名・佛號・所從來方），其第九、第十：
「表此位菩薩善說妙法，能持世間軌度法則，令人倣學。是故菩薩名無上慧，世界名那羅陀華，佛號清淨月。」〔T36n1739 0831b22〕
「一明所以菩薩名堅固慧者，以此位是灌頂住，行智波羅蜜，能堅固利益一切眾生，以為其名。二世界名虛空華者，以智慧日照明世間及出世間總無依住，以此為名。三明所以佛號明了月者，以此位大智圓明，普照世間無不明了，以此為名。」〔T36n1739 0831b28〕
其總結一句：「已上菩薩名、世界名、十箇佛果，總是此十住之中隨位進修因果之號，約隨方而表法，約入法而成名，如上配之可知。」〔T36n1739 0831c14〕
誌錄不判：本品之科段，澄觀、法藏並判偈讚分為十段而以初一為總、餘九為別，李通玄則併集眾放光為第一段而長科一品為十一段；十段之內科，澄觀逐段依八十本七言偈立，智儼逐段依六十本五言偈立，故同一段而所判偈數不一（如一切慧段澄觀作「十頌分六」、智儼作「偈有六」而所配之偈不同，勝慧段智儼作「偈有六」而其中「次三推功在佛」〔T35n1732 0033b09〕一科所配之三喻，八十本逐偈俱存〔0082a10・0082a12・0082a14〕而澄觀所科之偈數與之不同，二家分法有異，並錄）。就表法而言，澄觀以十世界配十住之位相、以十佛配十住自分十法之果，法藏以月開體用德三義、以慧為住中因相，李通玄則於每一菩薩下開菩薩名・世界名・佛號・所從來方四義並配善財所參。四家並行，皆古德成說，誌錄之，不判高下。
七、互讀·承衍
- 前後品之繫：本品上承〈昇須彌山頂品第十三〉、下接〈十住品第十五〉。澄觀繫之於「將演住門，先陳體性」〔T35n1735 0629a01〕；李通玄繫之於前品帝釋之讚——「明前已創昇須彌，帝釋以偈歎佛。此品明十住位當位菩薩，將當位法門以偈讚之」〔T36n1739 0828c04〕。
- 與前會之繫：澄觀於來處量同一門判位之增——「前十此百，位已增故。」〔T35n1735 0629a10〕；法藏同判：「初明分量者，前十此百，顯行位漸增故也。」〔T35n1733 0193c28〕。又澄觀於十方次第處迴指前會之品：「又上十方，從東次第，如〈名號品〉。」〔T35n1735 0629b06〕
- 與〈十住品〉之繫：澄觀以十佛之別名配十住自分十法之果，而自標其詳在後品——「上且隨要相屬以為此釋，委明其相如〈十住〉文。」〔T35n1735 0629b03〕；法藏亦判十菩薩所說「此等即是十住中法」〔T35n1733 0194b04〕。本品之偈讚與〈十住品〉之正說，古德一致視為一事之二面。
- 〔查無〕：《華嚴一乘教義分齊章》T45n1866 ·《十玄門》T45n1868 ·《華嚴經旨歸》T45n1871 ·《妄盡還源觀》T45n1876 ·《法界玄鏡》T45n1883 五書，「須彌頂上偈讚」「須彌頂上偈讚品」「菩薩雲集妙勝殿」三詞皆零命中，記闕；本品著名偈句「法性本空寂」「無取亦無見」於前三書亦零命中，記闕。本品無牒經論釋之別行論（不同於〈十地品〉之有《十地經論》），一併記闕。本品為十方菩薩偈讚之場景經文，非教義術語密集之段，華嚴宗綱領書無直接徵引屬本品性質，非漏檢。
八、校本定位
- 實叉 T279（底本）：〈須彌頂上偈讚品第十四〉〔T10n0279 0081a22〕起（卷十六內）–下品〈十住品第十五〉品題〔0083c29〕前訖。集眾分 0081a23 · 放光分 0081b10 · 偈讚分十段：法慧 0081b12（偈起 0081b14）· 一切慧 0081c05（偈起 0081c07）· 勝慧 0081c27（偈起 0081c29）· 功德慧 0082a20（偈起 0082a22）· 精進慧 0082b13（偈起 0082b15）· 善慧 0082c06（偈起 0082c08）· 智慧 0082c28（偈起 0083a01）· 真實慧 0083a21（偈起 0083a23）· 無上慧 0083b14（偈起 0083b16）· 堅固慧 0083c07（偈起 0083c09 · 訖 0083c28）。十段各十偈，共一百偈；偈行二百行，逐行實計。
- 佛馱 T278（晉譯主對校）：〈菩薩雲集妙勝殿上說偈品第十〉〔T09n0278 0441c20〕起–下品〈菩薩十住品第十一〉品題〔0444c06〕前訖。集眾起句 0441c22 · 十世界名 0441c23 · 十佛名 0441c26 · 十菩薩名 0441c29 · 放光句 0442a09 · 法慧偈起 0442a13 · 一切慧偈起 0442b06 · 勝慧偈起 0442b28 · 功德慧偈起 0442c21 · 精進慧偈起 0443a14 · 善慧偈起 0443b14 · 智慧偈起 0443c07 · 真慧偈起 0443c29 · 無上慧偈起〔未錄〕 · 堅固慧偈起 0444b15 · 結偈 0444c04。本品文跨六十本卷第七、卷第八，卷跋 0443b05 · 卷首 0443b08。
- 澄觀《疏》T35n1735：須彌頂上偈讚品疏 0628c28 起（來意 0628c29 · 釋名 0629a02 · 宗趣 0629a04 · 釋文三分 0629a06 · 集眾分十同 0629a07 · 世界名配十住 0629a13 · 佛名配十住果 0629a23 · 結十方同 0629b05 · 放光分六門 0629b11 · 足指表位 0629b12 · 一光照一切 0629b15 · 偈讚分十段總別 0629b17 · 十菩薩名表十住 0629b20 · 法慧十頌分三 0629b25 · 一切慧十頌分六 0629c01 · 三觀 0629c14 · 真止 0629c19 · 勝慧十頌分四 0630a08 · 功德慧十頌分四 0631a01 · 精進慧十頌分二 0631a26 · 迷木見鬼喻 0631b03 · 善慧十頌分四 0631b15 · 智慧十頌分二 0631c11 · 諍之釋 0631c22 · 真實慧十頌分二 0632a10 · 三覺 0632a16 · 無上慧十頌分三 0632b14 · 無上慧後五科 0632b26 · 遣無二之迹 0632c06 · 外化德 0632c10 · 堅固慧十頌分四 0632c14）–0632c21 前訖。
- 法藏《探玄記》T35n1733：〈菩薩雲集品第十〉0193c11 起（四門同上 0193c12 · 釋名 0193c12 · 妙勝三義 0193c14 · 來意 0193c18 · 宗與三類眾 0193c21 · 釋文中三 0193c25 · 分量 0193c28 · 十重世界 0194a03 · 一會一切會 0194a07 · 月三義與慧 0194a11 · 放光序六 0194a20 · 偈讚十段總別 0194a28 · 真實慧無一二三義 0195a26 · 無上慧十偈分三 0195b09 · 堅固慧十偈分三 0195b17 · 總結上九人 0195b23）–0195b25 前訖。
- 智儼《搜玄記》T35n1732：〈菩薩雲集品第十〉0033a03 起（四門同上 0033a04 · 釋名 0033a04 · 來意 0033a06 · 辨文三序 0033a07 · 一一方具十 0033a12 · 集眾序列名 0033a18 · 佛同名月與菩薩同名慧 0033a24 · 讚歎序十菩薩相生 0033a27 · 法慧偈科 0033a28 · 一切慧 0033b04 · 勝慧 0033b07 · 功德慧 0033b10 · 精進慧 0033b13 · 善慧 0033b15 · 智慧 0033b17 · 真實慧 0033b19 · 無上慧 0033b22 · 堅固慧 0033b23）–0033b27 前訖。全品疏文最簡，十段偈科具足。
- 李通玄《論》T36n1739：〈須彌頂上偈讚品第十四〉0828b24 起（四門 0828b25 · 釋品名目 0828b28 · 古今諸佛同會 0828c01 · 釋品來意 0828c04 · 三世佛配 0828c07 · 十住六品都會 0828c11 · 長科十一段 0828c20 · 第五至十一段科 0828c27 · 十菩薩總結 0829a06 · 來集分七段 0829a09 · 五位放光處 0829a17 · 無上慧四義 0831b21 · 堅固慧四義 0831b28 · 總結配位 0831c14）–0831c18 前訖。
- 原典層字符：本品 T279 範圍內原典層
□缺字符零命中（逐字掃本單元原典層全文）。本品大正校勘異讀（<app>）之收錄，本目據實標闕。 - 異讀：本單元 T279 範圍〔0081a22〕–〔0083c28〕內大正校記 8 條，逐條照錄不判（底本【大】｜他本異讀；多本異讀以／分列）：〔0081b07〕結跏【大】｜結加【宮】 · 〔0081b16〕天王【大】｜天主【宮】 · 〔0082a12〕翳【大】｜瞖【宋】【元】【明】 · 〔0082a24〕辭【大】｜詞【宋】【元】【明】【宮】 · 〔0083a10〕得【大】｜說【明】 · 〔0083a17〕言語【大】｜語言【宮】 · 〔0083b17〕過【大】｜遍【宮】 · 〔0083b22〕眾【大】｜諸【南藏】（明註曰眾南藏作諸）。
- 異讀補記：CBETA 回改 2 條（不入上列大正校記之數）：〔0081a22〕【CB】＊｜大方廣佛華嚴經【大】＊／無此字【明】＊ · 〔0083a10〕二【CB】｜一【大】／二【宋】【元】【明】【宮】。（＊＝大正星號同校，該校並繫本文其餘同字處；T279 XML 於此類未出 corresp 重出位，故只呈星號、不另造錨）
Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru = the World-Honored One, having ascended the summit of Mount Sumeru and entered the Hall of Wondrous Excellence, and by the Buddha's spiritual power, in each of the ten directions one great bodhisattva together with a retinue as many as the dust-motes of a buddha-land comes and gathers, all of them named with 「慧」 tr. “Wisdom” ; the ten worlds they come from are all named with 「華」 tr. “Flower” , and the ten buddhas they serve are all named with 「月」 tr. “Moon” . The bodhisattvas, having arrived, bow their heads to his feet, and each conjures up a lion throne of the Vairocana Treasury and sits upon it; the World-Honored One emits from the toes of his two feet a hundred thousand koṭis of rays of wondrously colored light, illumining everywhere the palaces of Śakra upon the summits of Sumeru in the ten directions. Thereafter the ten bodhisattvas Dharma Wisdom, All Wisdom, Excellent Wisdom, Merit Wisdom, Vigor Wisdom, Good Wisdom, Wisdom, True Wisdom, Unsurpassed Wisdom, and Firm Wisdom, each sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplate everywhere the ten directions and speak ten verses each — one hundred verses for the whole chapter, and the World-Honored One does not himself speak one graph. Chengguan explains it by four gates, determines the whole chapter to be the three portions of the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise, and determines of the portion of the verses of praise that 「十菩薩說即為十段，初一是總、餘九為別」 tr. “the speaking of the ten bodhisattvas makes ten segments, the first one being the general and the remaining nine the particular” ; Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text's chapter “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds,” determines 「初一總、後九別」 tr. “the first is the general, the following nine are the particular” , the same as Chengguan; Zhiyan establishes a separate verse-classification for each segment; Li Tongxuan lays the one chapter out in an extended outline of eleven segments, and matches the stations of the ten abodes to the ten bodhisattvas, the ten worlds, and the ten buddhas. The number of segments the four masters establish and the stations they match each differ; the ancients held differing accounts, recorded with no adjudication.
I. Doctrinal Outline and Placement
| Outline system | The place of this chapter within it |
|---|---|
| The base text T279, in thirty-nine chapters | Chapter 14, Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru (the third assembly, the palace of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven · fascicle 16, beginning at 〔T10n0279 0081a22〕 – ending before the title of the next chapter, “The Ten Abodes,” chapter 15, at 〔0083c29〕) |
| Chengguan, Huayan jing shu | The commentary on the chapter Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru begins at 〔T35n1735 0628c28〕 – ends before 〔0632c21〕; four gates: the reason for its coming · the explanation of the name · the tenet and aim · the explanation of the text (the explanation of the text is in three portions in all) |
| Fazang, Tanxuan ji (commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka) | “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds,” chapter 10, begins at 〔T35n1733 0193c11〕 – ends before 〔0195b25〕; the same four gates: the explanation of the name · the reason for its coming · the tenet · the explanation of the text |
| Zhiyan, Souxuan ji (commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka) | “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds,” chapter 10, begins at 〔T35n1732 0033a03〕 – ends before 〔0033b27〕; the same four gates: the explanation of the name · the reason for its coming · the tenet · the discerning of the text |
| Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun | Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru, chapter 14, begins at 〔T36n1739 0828b24〕 – ends before 〔0831c18〕; four gates: explaining the title of the chapter · explaining the reason for the chapter's coming · gathering together the import of the six chapters on the ten abodes · explaining the meaning following the text |
The reason for its coming — Chengguan attaches it to the single sense that ‘before the gate of the abodes is expounded, the Buddha's virtues are first praised’:
「初來意者，既明化主赴感，今辨助化讚揚。將演住門，先陳體性。性即佛智，先讚如來，故品來也。」 tr. “As for the first, the reason for its coming: since the lord of the converting responding to what stimulates him has already been made clear, now what is discerned is the extolling and praising that assists the converting. Since the gate of the abodes is about to be expounded, the substance and nature are first set forth. That nature is just the Buddha's wisdom, and so the Tathāgata is praised first; therefore this chapter comes.” 〔T35n1735 0628c29〕
Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, makes it a sequence of principal and companion:
「二來意者，前明如來昇天將欲說法，必有所被機緣，故次來也。又前明果德臨機，今因力助化，先主後伴，義次第故。」 tr. “Second, the reason for its coming: earlier it was made clear that the Tathāgata ascended to the heaven and was about to expound the Dharma, and there must be capacities and conditions upon which this bears; therefore this comes next. Moreover, earlier the virtues of the fruit approaching those of ripe capacity were made clear, and now the power of the cause assists the converting: first the principal and afterward the companion, because the import has its sequence.” 〔T35n1733 0193c18〕
Zhiyan is extremely concise: 「二來意者，何故來？辨處已，次明集眾。三集眾歎德，順法為宗。」 tr. “Second, the reason for its coming: why does it come? The place having been discerned, next the gathering of the assembly is made clear. Third, the assembly gathers and praises his virtues, and to accord with the Dharma is the tenet.” 〔T35n1732 0033a06〕
Li Tongxuan attaches it to Śakra's praise in the preceding chapter and the bodhisattvas' praise in this one:
「二釋品來意者，明前已創昇須彌，帝釋以偈歎佛。此品明十住位當位菩薩，將當位法門以偈讚之，令信心者得入位故，故有此品須來。」 tr. “Second, explaining the reason for the chapter's coming: it makes clear that earlier he had just ascended Sumeru and Śakra praised the Buddha in verse. This chapter makes clear that the bodhisattvas of the present station of the ten abodes take the Dharma-gate of the present station and praise it in verse, so that those of faithful mind may gain entry into the station; therefore this chapter must come.” 〔T36n1739 0828c04〕
The explanation of the name — Chengguan establishes the name with respect to the place:
「二釋名者，須彌約處，讚稱佛德依處有讚，故立此名。亦頂上之讚，揀餘處也。」 tr. “Second, explaining the name: Sumeru is with respect to the place, and since the extolling and praising of the Buddha's virtues has a praising that depends upon a place, this name is established. It is also a praising upon the summit, which distinguishes it from the other places.” 〔T35n1735 0629a02〕
The sixty-fascicle text's chapter name is “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds and Speak Verses in the Hall of Wondrous Excellence,” and so Fazang and Zhiyan both explain the four graphs 「菩薩雲集」 tr. “the bodhisattvas gather like clouds”. Fazang divides substance, mark, and function:
「菩薩是體、雲是相，以諸菩薩含法雨故、相齗齶故。集是用。殿是集處。」 tr. “The bodhisattvas are the substance, the cloud is the mark, because the bodhisattvas hold the rain of Dharma within them and because their appearance is ranged like teeth in a jaw. Gathering is the function. The hall is the place of gathering.” 〔T35n1733 0193c12〕
「妙勝有三義：一佛眾為妙勝，妙勝者之殿；二於中說此妙勝法故；三殿即妙勝，以稱性故。」 tr. “‘Wondrous excellence’ has three senses: first, the Buddha's assembly is wondrously excellent, and it is the hall of those who are wondrously excellent; second, because within it this wondrously excellent Dharma is expounded; third, the hall is itself wondrously excellent, because it accords with the nature.” 〔T35n1733 0193c14〕
Zhiyan runs on the same track but is more concise still: 「菩薩者是人。雲者潤益故，又齗齶貌也。集者聚集。」 tr. “The bodhisattvas are the persons. The cloud is because it moistens and benefits, and it is also the look of teeth ranged in a jaw. Gathering is coming together in a mass.” 〔T35n1732 0033a04〕
Li Tongxuan establishes the name from the station that is betokened:
「以法慧等十箇菩薩，各以自當位隨位進修之法，還自以偈讚之，令信終菩薩倣之悟入故。」 tr. “Because the ten bodhisattvas, Dharma Wisdom and the rest, each take the dharma of advancing and cultivating that follows upon their own present station and themselves praise it in verse, so that a bodhisattva at the end of faith may pattern himself upon it and awaken and enter.” 〔T36n1739 0828b28〕
The tenet and aim — Chengguan opens two layers:
「三宗趣者，以集眾放光偈讚為宗，為成正說為趣。又顯佛德為宗，令知住體為趣。」 tr. “Third, the tenet and the aim: to take the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise as the tenet, and to accomplish the proper exposition as the aim. Again, to display the Buddha's virtues is the tenet, and to cause one to know the substance of abiding is the aim.” 〔T35n1735 0629a04〕
Fazang determines the tenet in the same way, while separately opening the assembly into three classes:
「眾有三類：一助化眾，謂十方菩薩影嚮如來；二表法眾，謂諸首諸慧諸林諸幢等，各為寄人表示法也；三當機眾，謂教所被等。」 tr. “The assembly is of three classes: first, the assembly that assists the converting, that is, the bodhisattvas of the ten directions who are as shadow and echo to the Tathāgata; second, the assembly that betokens the Dharma, that is, the several Foremost ones, the several Wisdoms, the several Groves, the several Banners and the rest, each of whom, by being lodged in a person, displays a dharma; third, the assembly of ripe capacity, that is, those upon whom the teaching bears.” 〔T35n1733 0193c21〕
Properly explaining the text (Chengguan) — three portions in all:
「第四釋文，總為三分：第一集眾分、第二放光分、第三偈讚分。」 tr. “Fourth, explaining the text: three portions in all — first, the portion of the gathering of the assembly; second, the portion of the emitting of light; third, the portion of the verses of praise.” 〔T35n1735 0629a06〕
Within the portion of the gathering of the assembly the inner classification is ten gates:
「今初，文有十同，義兼三異，謂五六七。一集因同，皆佛力故，亦同會前時。」 tr. “Now for the first: the text has ten samenesses, and in import it includes three differences, namely the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh. First, sameness of the cause of gathering, since all is by the Buddha's power, and it is likewise the same as the time before this assembly.” 〔T35n1735 0629a07〕
The base-text passages matched to the ten gates buckle to the base text gate by gate: sameness of the cause of gathering 〔T10n0279 0081a23〕 · sameness of the principal leader 〔0081a23〕 · sameness of the number of the retinue 〔0081a23〕 · sameness of the measure of the place they come from 〔0081a24〕 · sameness of the names that betoken the Dharma 〔0081a25〕 · sameness of the worlds' names 〔0081a28〕 · sameness of the buddhas they serve 〔0081b03〕 · sameness of the offering of homage 〔0081b05〕 · sameness of the deportment in abiding 〔0081b06〕 · sameness of the concluding of the ten directions 〔0081b08〕. Within the portion of the emitting of light the inner classification is six: 「文義有六：一時、二主、三處、四數、五相、六業處。」 tr. “The text has six in import: first the time, second the lord, third the place, fourth the number, fifth the mark, sixth the sphere of its work.” 〔T35n1735 0629b11〕
The classification of the portion of the verses of praise is the bone of the whole chapter, and the four masters alike determine it to be ten segments (Li Tongxuan joins the gathering of the assembly and the emitting of light into one, and so makes eleven segments):
「十菩薩說即為十段，初一是總、餘九為別。以法慧是說法主故，總敘此會本末事義、總顯佛德，餘九歎佛差別之德，總別共顯如來無礙之會。」 tr. “The speaking of the ten bodhisattvas makes ten segments, the first one being the general and the remaining nine the particular. Because Dharma Wisdom is the lord who expounds the Dharma, he generally recounts the events and import of this assembly from beginning to end and generally displays the Buddha's virtues, while the remaining nine praise the differentiated virtues of the Buddha; the general and the particular together display the Tathāgata's unobstructed assembly.” 〔T35n1735 0629b17〕
「第三偈讚中，十菩薩即為十段，初一總、後九別。以是說法主故名法慧，是故總敘此會本末以顯佛德。後皆於此總說上歎差別德，是故總別無礙，唯一如來法界身，於中或即理即事、即教即義、即因即果、即人即法、即心即境，圓融自在舉體全攝。此等即是十住中法，下諸偈應准知此意。」 tr. “Third, within the verses of praise, the ten bodhisattvas make ten segments, the first being the general and the following nine the particular. Because he is the lord who expounds the Dharma he is named Dharma Wisdom, and therefore he generally recounts this assembly from beginning to end so as to display the Buddha's virtues. Afterward all of them, upon this general exposition, praise the differentiated virtues; therefore the general and the particular are unobstructed, and there is only the one body of the Tathāgata's Dharma realm, within which there is at once principle and phenomena, at once teaching and meaning, at once cause and fruit, at once person and dharma, at once mind and object, perfectly interfused and free, its whole substance wholly containing all. These are just the dharma within the ten abodes, and the verses below should be understood in accordance with this sense.” 〔T35n1733 0194a28〕
「一長科一品經意者，義分為十一段。」 tr. “First, laying out in an extended outline the import of the one chapter of scripture: in meaning it divides into eleven segments.” 〔T36n1739 0828c20〕
The boundaries of the base text's ten segments (the opening verse-line of each segment): Dharma Wisdom 〔T10n0279 0081b14〕 · All Wisdom 〔0081c07〕 · Excellent Wisdom 〔0081c29〕 · Merit Wisdom 〔0082a22〕 · Vigor Wisdom 〔0082b15〕 · Good Wisdom 〔0082c08〕 · Wisdom 〔0083a01〕 · True Wisdom 〔0083a23〕 · Unsurpassed Wisdom 〔0083b16〕 · Firm Wisdom 〔0083c09〕. Each of the ten segments has ten verses, one hundred verses in all, counted segment by segment.
II. Terminology
| Chinese | What is adduced | The essential sense |
|---|---|---|
| Wisdom (the shared name of the ten bodhisattvas) | Chengguan: 「慧即十解，能見法故。菩薩名異，至偈釋之。」 tr. “Wisdom is just the ten understandings, because they are able to see dharmas. The bodhisattvas' names differ, and that is explained when the verses are reached.” 〔T35n1735 0629a11〕 | The ten understandings are another name for the ten abodes · the shared name Wisdom betokens the cause, which is being able to see dharmas |
| Wisdom (the mark of the cause within the abodes) | Fazang: 「菩薩同名慧者，是住中因相，謂解達真俗明了義故。」 tr. “That the bodhisattvas share the name Wisdom is the mark of the cause within the abodes, that is, because their understanding reaches the real and the conventional and is clear as to their meaning.” 〔T35n1733 0194a14〕 | Zhiyan has 「菩薩同名慧者，解之始故」 tr. “that the bodhisattvas share the name Wisdom is because this is the beginning of understanding” 〔T35n1732 0033a25〕 |
| Flower (the shared name of the ten worlds) | Chengguan: 「同名華者，位相創開，無著感果故。」 tr. “That they share the name Flower is because the mark of the station first opens out and, attached to nothing, calls forth the fruit.” 〔T35n1735 0629a13〕 | The flower betokens the first opening of the mark of the station · calling forth the fruit while attached to nothing |
| Moon (the shared name of the ten buddhas) | Chengguan: 「同名月者，表位中佛果，智明闇息，恩益清涼，應器周故。」 tr. “That they share the name Moon is because it betokens the buddha-fruit within the station: wisdom is bright and darkness ceases, its kindness benefits and is cool, and it responds to vessels everywhere.” 〔T35n1735 0629a21〕 | Three senses: brightness · coolness · responding everywhere |
| Moon (the three senses) | Fazang: 「佛同名月者，此是住中果相，有其三義：一約體是圓滿義、二約用是光照義、三約德是清涼義，又初是正體、次是後得、後是大悲，用月表況。」 tr. “That the buddhas share the name Moon is the mark of the fruit within the abodes, and it has three senses: first, with respect to substance it is the sense of fullness; second, with respect to function it is the sense of shining light; third, with respect to virtue it is the sense of coolness. Again, the first is the essence itself, the next is what is subsequently attained, and the last is great compassion; the moon is used to betoken and to liken them.” 〔T35n1733 0194a11〕 | Zhiyan has 「依月起光故、清涼故」 tr. “because light arises depending upon the moon, and because it is cool” 〔T35n1732 0033a25〕 |
| Aruṇa | Chengguan: 「八阿盧那者，此云日出時紅赤之相，童真明淨故」 tr. “Eighth, Aruṇa, which here means the red mark at the hour of the sun's rising, because youthful truth is bright and pure” 〔T35n1735 0629a17〕 | The eighth world's name · Chengguan matches it to the abode of youthful truth |
| Nārada | Chengguan: 「九那羅陀者，此云人持，以華香妙人皆佩故，王子佩持，法王軌度故」 tr. “Ninth, Nārada, which here means ‘borne by a person’, because the flower's fragrance is wondrous and everyone wears it; the prince wears and bears it, because this is the standard and measure of the Dharma-king” 〔T35n1735 0629a18〕 | The ninth world's name · Chengguan matches it to the abode of the prince |
| The toes of the two feet | Chengguan: 「謂兩足指足指拒地得住有力，成位不退而行有恒，數位過前加於千也。相表解顯，故云妙色。」 tr. “That is to say, the toes of the two feet: it is by the toes pressing against the ground that one gains a standing with strength, so that the station is completed without retrogression and the practice has constancy, and the number of the station passes beyond the former by adding a thousand. The mark betokens that understanding is displayed, and therefore it says ‘wondrously colored’.” 〔T35n1735 0629b12〕 | Fazang determines the same: 「二光出處，謂如足指按地乃得住立，表此十住成位不退，故名住也。」 tr. “Second, the place from which the light comes: it is as the toes press the ground that one gains a standing, which betokens that these ten abodes complete the station without retrogression, and therefore they are called abiding.” 〔T35n1733 0194a20〕 |
| The lion throne of the Vairocana Treasury | The base text: 「隨所來方，各化作毘盧遮那藏師子之座，於其座上結跏趺坐。」 tr. “Following the quarter from which each had come, each conjured up a lion throne of the Vairocana Treasury, and upon those thrones they sat with legs crossed.” 〔T10n0279 0081b06〕 | The sixty-fascicle text has 「化作寶藏師子之座」 tr. “conjured up a lion throne of the Jewel Treasury” 〔T09n0278 0442a06〕 |
| Rocana | Four occurrences in the base text: 「則見盧舍那」 tr. “then one sees Rocana” 〔T10n0279 0082a07〕 · 「得見盧舍那」 tr. “gains the seeing of Rocana” 〔0082a19〕 · 「如佛盧舍那」 tr. “as the Buddha Rocana does” 〔0082c23〕 · 「今見盧舍那」 tr. “now seeing Rocana” 〔0083c25〕 | Li Tongxuan: 「十佛是過去佛，盧舍那是現在佛，修行始入位者是未來佛。」 tr. “The ten buddhas are buddhas of the past, Rocana is the buddha of the present, and one who by practice has just entered the station is a buddha of the future.” 〔T36n1739 0828c08〕 |
| Muni | Two occurrences in the base text: 「牟尼離三世，諸相悉具足」 tr. “The Muni has transcended the three times, and the marks are all complete in him” 〔T10n0279 0081c21〕 · 「此亦無所修，能見大牟尼」 tr. “Herein too there is nothing to be cultivated; thus is one able to see the Great Muni” 〔0082c03〕 | The sense of silent stillness · the scriptural text uses it as a title of the Buddha |
| The ten understandings | The name of the station that Chengguan uses when explaining the ten bodhisattvas' shared name Wisdom 〔T35n1735 0629a11〕 | The ten understandings = the ten abodes · in his commentary on this chapter Chengguan uses the ten understandings and the ten abodes interchangeably |
III. Similes and Rhetoric
- The jewel in the dark (Excellent Wisdom's sixth verse · a simile for a dharma that is understood only after someone expounds it) — 「譬如闇中寶，無燈不可見，佛法無人說，雖慧莫能了。」 tr. “It is like a jewel in the dark, which cannot be seen without a lamp; when no one expounds the Buddha's Dharma, then even one who has wisdom cannot understand it.” 〔T10n0279 0082a10〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「如寶在闇處，無明故不見，真諦無說者，雖慧莫能覩。」 tr. “As a jewel in a dark place is not seen because there is no light, so when there is no one to expound the real truth, then even one who has wisdom cannot behold it.” 〔T09n0278 0442c09〕
- The cataract on the eye (Excellent Wisdom's seventh verse) — 「亦如目有翳，不見淨妙色，如是不淨心，不見諸佛法。」 tr. “It is also like an eye that has a cataract and does not see pure and wondrous colors; just so a mind that is not pure does not see the dharmas of the buddhas.” 〔T10n0279 0082a12〕; the converse display, the removing of the cataract, is in the ninth verse: 「若能除眼翳，捨離於色想」 tr. “If one can remove the cataract in the eye and abandon the notion of color” 〔0082a16〕
- The bright, clear sun and the blind (Excellent Wisdom's eighth verse) — 「又如明淨日，瞽者莫能見，無有智慧心，終不見諸佛。」 tr. “Again, it is like the bright, clear sun, which one whose eyes are blind cannot see; those who have no mind of wisdom in the end do not see the buddhas.” 〔T10n0279 0082a14〕
- The lamp of the world (Good Wisdom's second verse) — 「我見世間燈，如實不顛倒」 tr. “I see this Lamp of the World as it really is and without inversion” 〔T10n0279 0082c10〕
- The stūpa of the world (Firm Wisdom's sixth verse · taking a human person as the stūpa that ought to be revered) — 「若見如來者，為得大善利，聞佛名生信，則是世間塔。」 tr. “If one sees the Tathāgata, one has gained a great benefit of goodness; one who hears the Buddha's name and gives rise to faith is then a stūpa of the world.” 〔T10n0279 0083c19〕
- Empty space (the simile is taken up in three places · what is taken from it lies in marklessness and dependence upon nothing, not in vastness) — 「其性如虛空，故說無有盡」 tr. “Their nature is like empty space, and therefore it is said to have no exhaustion” 〔T10n0279 0082c13〕 · 「法性本清淨，如空無有相」 tr. “The nature of dharmas is from the first pure, like space and without marks” 〔0082b29〕 · and the world named 「虛空華世界」 tr. “the world Empty-Space Flower” 〔0081b02〕
- The net of folly and delusion · the prison of birth-and-death (All Wisdom's second verse raises two similes in succession) — 「是人取諸相，增長癡惑網，繫縛生死獄，盲冥不見佛。」 tr. “This person seizes upon marks and increases the net of folly and delusion; he is bound in the prison of birth-and-death, blind and benighted, and does not see the Buddha.” 〔T10n0279 0081c09〕; Merit Wisdom's first verse uses the simile of the prison again: 「是故諸凡夫，輪迴生死獄。」 tr. “And therefore those ordinary beings revolve in the prison of birth-and-death.” 〔0082a23〕
- The perilous road · the sea of birth-and-death (Wisdom's second and fourth verses) — 「若計有我人，則為入險道。」 tr. “If one reckons that there is a self and a person, one has then entered upon the perilous road.” 〔T10n0279 0083a04〕 · 「於無量劫中，流轉生死海。」 tr. “Through immeasurable kalpas they drift and turn in the sea of birth-and-death.” 〔0083a08〕
- Mistaking wood for a ghost (Chengguan's explanation of the contemplation of marklessness in the Vigor Wisdom segment · a simile for what exists to sentiment and not in principle) — 「如迷木見鬼，知鬼是迷有，名如實知鬼；知鬼本無，舉體是木，名為見木。」 tr. “It is like being deluded about a piece of wood and seeing a ghost: to know that the ghost is something that delusion has produced is called knowing the ghost as it really is; to know that the ghost never was and that the whole of it is the wood is called seeing the wood.” 〔T35n1735 0631b03〕
- The formula of the repeated line — the lines introducing the verses in the ten segments are all of one and the same type (‘At that time the bodhisattva So-and-so, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses’), except that the first segment has 「爾時，法慧菩薩承佛威神，普觀十方而說頌曰」 tr. “At that time the bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome spirit, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses, saying” 〔T10n0279 0081b12〕 and the fifth segment, Vigor Wisdom, has 「爾時，精進慧菩薩承佛威力，觀察十方而說頌言」 tr. “At that time the bodhisattva Vigor Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated the ten directions and spoke these verses” 〔0082b13〕, while the sentence-type of the remaining eight segments is word for word the same.
- The rhetoric of the line ceding merit — the last verse of most segments cedes the merit to the speaker before, counted segment by segment: in the All Wisdom segment 「法慧先已說」 tr. “Dharma Wisdom has already said before” 〔T10n0279 0081c25〕 · in the Excellent Wisdom segment 「一切慧先說」 tr. “All Wisdom said before” 〔0082a18〕 · in the Merit Wisdom segment 「勝慧先已說」 tr. “Excellent Wisdom has already said before” 〔0082b11〕 · in the Vigor Wisdom segment 「如德慧所說」 tr. “as Virtue Wisdom has said” 〔0082c04〕 · in the Unsurpassed Wisdom segment 「如是實慧說」 tr. “thus has True Wisdom said” 〔0083c05〕 · in the Firm Wisdom segment 「勝慧等菩薩，及我堅固慧」 tr. “Excellent Wisdom and the other bodhisattvas, and I, Firm Wisdom” 〔0083c27〕 — in these six segments the merit-ceding line is in the tenth verse; in the Good Wisdom segment the merit-ceding line is in the ninth verse: 「精進慧大士，演說無量法」 tr. “Vigor Wisdom, that great being, has expounded immeasurable dharmas” 〔0082c25〕. Dharma Wisdom, being the first segment, has no one before him to cede to; the Wisdom and True Wisdom segments have no merit-ceding line. Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle text, determines this pattern to be 「推功在本」 tr. “ceding the merit to its source” 〔T35n1732 0033b07〕.
IV. Collation with Parallel Translations
The Chinese witnesses collated for this chapter: Śikṣānanda, T279 (the base text · “Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru,” chapter 14) · Buddhabhadra, T278 (the Jin-dynasty translation in sixty fascicles · “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds and Speak Verses in the Hall of Wondrous Excellence,” chapter 10, beginning at 〔T09n0278 0441c20〕 – ending before the title of the next chapter, “The Bodhisattvas' Ten Abodes,” chapter 11, at 〔0444c06〕). This chapter has no separately circulating scripture and no treatise that presents and explains it 〔not found〕. What follows is recorded in full passage by passage, with no adjudication.
Passage One · The Chapter Title
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru, chapter 14 | T10n0279 0081a22 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The Great Extensive Buddha's Flower Ornament Sūtra: The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds and Speak Verses in the Hall of Wondrous Excellence, chapter 10 | T09n0278 0441c20 |
Passage Two · The Opening Line of the Gathering of the Assembly
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | At that time, by the Buddha's spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there was one great bodhisattva, each together with bodhisattvas as many as the dust-motes of a buddha-land, and they came and gathered from the worlds beyond lands as many as the dust-motes of a hundred buddha-lands | T10n0279 0081a23 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | At that time, in each of the ten directions, beyond lands as many as the dust-motes of a hundred buddha-worlds, in each single quarter there were ten worlds | T09n0278 0441c22 |
Passage Three · The Names of the Ten Bodhisattvas
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom, the bodhisattva All Wisdom, the bodhisattva Excellent Wisdom, the bodhisattva Merit Wisdom, the bodhisattva Vigor Wisdom, the bodhisattva Good Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom, the bodhisattva True Wisdom, the bodhisattva Unsurpassed Wisdom, the bodhisattva Firm Wisdom. | T10n0279 0081a25 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The bodhisattvas' names: Dharma Wisdom; next named All Wisdom; next named Excellent Wisdom; next named Merit Wisdom; next named Vigor Wisdom; next named Good Wisdom; next named Wisdom; next named True Wisdom; next named Unsurpassed Wisdom; next named Firm Wisdom. | T09n0278 0441c29 |
Passage Four · The Names of the Ten Worlds
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The world Indra Flower, the world Padma Flower, the world Jewel Flower, the world Utpala Flower, the world Vajra Flower, the world Wondrous Fragrance Flower, the world Delightful Flower, the world Aruṇa Flower, the world Nārada Flower, the world Empty-Space Flower. | T10n0279 0081a28 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The worlds' names: Indra; next named Lotus; next named Many Jewels; next named Utpala; next named Wondrous Practice; next named Good Practice; next named Joy; next named Constellations; next named Untiring Kindness; next named Empty Space. | T09n0278 0441c23 |
Passage Five · The Names of the Ten Buddhas
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The Buddha Extraordinary Moon, the Buddha Inexhaustible Moon, the Buddha Unmoving Moon, the Buddha Wind Moon, the Buddha Water Moon, the Buddha Liberation Moon, the Buddha Unsurpassed Moon, the Buddha Constellation Moon, the Buddha Pure Moon, the Buddha Clear-Understanding Moon. | T10n0279 0081b03 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The buddhas' titles: Unchanging Moon; next titled Inexhaustible Moon; next titled Unmoving Moon; next titled Fragrant Wind Moon; next titled Sovereign-Heaven Moon; next titled Pure Moon; next titled Unsurpassed Moon; next titled Constellation Moon; next titled Moon Neither Waning nor Changing; next titled Immeasurable Sovereign Moon. | T09n0278 0441c26 |
Passage Six · The Line on the Emitting of Light
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | At that time the World-Honored One emitted from the toes of his two feet a hundred thousand koṭis of rays of wondrously colored light, illumining everywhere the palaces of Śakra upon the summits of Sumeru in all the worlds of the ten directions, and there was none of the Buddha and the great assembly that did not appear. | T10n0279 0081b10 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | At that time the World-Honored One emitted from the toes of his two feet a hundred thousand koṭis of rays of wondrously colored light, illumining everywhere, in all the worlds of the ten directions, the foot of the tree of awakening in every set of four continents and the Hall of Wondrous Excellence upon the summit of Mount Sumeru, and the Tathāgata and the great assembly all appeared. | T09n0278 0442a09 |
Passage Seven · Dharma Wisdom's First Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The Buddha emitted a pure light, and the Guide of the World was seen everywhere, upon the summit of Sumeru, king of mountains, abiding in the Hall of Wondrous Excellence. | T10n0279 0081b14 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The Teacher of gods and humans appeared entirely in all the adorned and purified lands, upon the summit of Sumeru, king of mountains, in Śakra's Hall of Wondrous Excellence, | T09n0278 0442a13 |
Passage Eight · All Wisdom's First Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | Suppose that for a hundred thousand kalpas one constantly saw the Tathāgata, and yet did not rely upon the real meaning but looked upon the Savior of the World. | T10n0279 0081c07 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Through immeasurable, numberless kalpas, though one constantly saw the Tathāgata, within this right Dharma one has still not beheld the real, | T09n0278 0442b06 |
Passage Nine · All Wisdom's Fourth Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | All dharmas are unarisen, all dharmas are unceasing; if one can understand it thus, the buddhas are constantly manifest before one. | T10n0279 0081c13 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | All dharmas are unarisen, all dharmas are unceasing; if one can understand it thus, the buddhas are constantly manifest before one. | T09n0278 0442b12 |
Passage Ten · Merit Wisdom's Third Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | If one cannot understand one's own mind, how should one know the right path? Through inverted wisdom he increases every evil. | T10n0279 0082a26 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | If one does not know the eightfold right path, how should one know one's own mind? Because of inverted notions he increases every evil. | T09n0278 0442c25 |
Passage Eleven · Good Wisdom's First Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | How rare are the greatly brave and strong, the immeasurable Tathāgatas; free of defilement and with minds liberated, having crossed over themselves they can carry others across. | T10n0279 0082c08 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | How wondrous is the Buddha, the World-Honored One, and the immeasurable Tathāgatas; free of harm and with minds liberated, having crossed over themselves they can carry others across. | T09n0278 0443b14 |
Passage Twelve · Wisdom's Fifth Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | Where there is contention one speaks of birth-and-death; where there is no contention, that is nirvāṇa; birth-and-death and nirvāṇa — neither of the two can be got. | T10n0279 0083a09 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Drifting and turning is birth-and-death; what does not turn is nirvāṇa; birth-and-death and nirvāṇa — both of them cannot be got. | T09n0278 0443c15 |
Passage Thirteen · True Wisdom's First Verse and the Speaker-Line
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | At that time the bodhisattva True Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's awesome power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses: | T10n0279 0083a21 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | At that time the bodhisattva True Wisdom (in the two-graph form of the name), sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and in verse said: | T09n0278 0443c27 |
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | Better to undergo the suffering of the hells and be able to hear the names of the buddhas, than to undergo immeasurable pleasure and not hear the Buddha's name. | T10n0279 0083a23 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Better to undergo immeasurable suffering and be able to hear the Buddha's voice, than to undergo every pleasure and not hear the Buddha's name. | T09n0278 0443c29 |
Passage Fourteen · The Closing Verse of the Whole Chapter
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | Excellent Wisdom and the other bodhisattvas, and I, Firm Wisdom — through numberless koṭis of kalpas we could speak and still not exhaust it. | T10n0279 0083c27 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Unsurpassed Wisdom and Firm Wisdom, and the Sons of the Buddha and the rest — through numberless koṭis of kalpas they expound the Buddha's virtues without exhaustion. | T09n0278 0444c04 |
Recorded in full, with no adjudication: the differences in these fourteen passages are either differences in the sense taken for the chapter's title (Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru / The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds and Speak Verses in the Hall of Wondrous Excellence), or differences in the sentence-form of the listing of names (listed in a single run / listed one after another with 「次名」 tr. “next named”), or differences in the terms themselves (Padma Flower / Lotus · Jewel Flower / Many Jewels · Wondrous Fragrance Flower / Wondrous Practice · Delightful Flower / Joy · Aruṇa Flower / Constellations · Nārada Flower / Untiring Kindness; Extraordinary Moon / Unchanging Moon · Wind Moon / Fragrant Wind Moon · Water Moon / Sovereign-Heaven Moon · Liberation Moon / Pure Moon · Pure Moon / Moon Neither Waning nor Changing · Clear-Understanding Moon / Immeasurable Sovereign Moon), or differences of inverted line order (“if one cannot understand one's own mind, how should one know the right path” / “if one does not know the eightfold right path, how should one know one's own mind”), or differences in the person to whom the merit is ceded (“Excellent Wisdom and the other bodhisattvas, and I, Firm Wisdom” / “Unsurpassed Wisdom and Firm Wisdom, and the Sons of the Buddha and the rest”); the two texts are recorded together, and no adjudication is made as to which is the better. That the one verse of the ninth passage is word for word the same in both texts is likewise recorded. Again, as to the name of the eighth speaker, the eighty-fascicle text has 「真實慧菩薩」 tr. “the bodhisattva True Wisdom” 〔T10n0279 0083a21〕 and the sixty-fascicle text has 「真慧菩薩」 tr. “the bodhisattva True Wisdom, in the two-graph form” 〔T09n0278 0443c27〕, and the two texts are recorded together with no adjudication; the eighty-fascicle text's speaker-line reads 「承佛威力……而說頌言」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's awesome power … and spoke these verses”, while the nine segments seen in the sixty-fascicle text read 「承佛神力……以偈頌曰」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power … and in verse said”, and these too are recorded together with no adjudication. Again, the text of this chapter in the sixty-fascicle version runs across two fascicles, the seventh and the eighth, the fascicle colophon falling after the Vigor Wisdom segment 〔T09n0278 0443b05〕, whereas in the eighty-fascicle version the whole chapter lies within fascicle sixteen, with no fascicle boundary.
V. Scriptural Grounds of Sectarian Doctrine (the doctrinal eye)
(1) First the substance and nature are set forth, and afterward the gate of the abodes is expounded — as to why this chapter stands before “The Ten Abodes,” Chengguan establishes its import:
「初來意者，既明化主赴感，今辨助化讚揚。將演住門，先陳體性。性即佛智，先讚如來，故品來也。」 tr. “As for the first, the reason for its coming: since the lord of the converting responding to what stimulates him has already been made clear, now what is discerned is the extolling and praising that assists the converting. Since the gate of the abodes is about to be expounded, the substance and nature are first set forth. That nature is just the Buddha's wisdom, and so the Tathāgata is praised first; therefore this chapter comes.” 〔T35n1735 0628c29〕
His one sentence on the tenet and aim points still more directly to what is thereby accomplished: 「又顯佛德為宗，令知住體為趣。」 tr. “Again, to display the Buddha's virtues is the tenet, and to cause one to know the substance of abiding is the aim.” 〔T35n1735 0629a05〕 — praising the Buddha is not a ceremony; it is so that one may first recognize the substance upon which the station of abiding rests.
(2) The first is the general, the remaining nine are the particular — the general and the particular in the ten segments of verse are the bone of this chapter:
「十菩薩說即為十段，初一是總、餘九為別。以法慧是說法主故，總敘此會本末事義、總顯佛德，餘九歎佛差別之德，總別共顯如來無礙之會。」 tr. “The speaking of the ten bodhisattvas makes ten segments, the first one being the general and the remaining nine the particular. Because Dharma Wisdom is the lord who expounds the Dharma, he generally recounts the events and import of this assembly from beginning to end and generally displays the Buddha's virtues, while the remaining nine praise the differentiated virtues of the Buddha; the general and the particular together display the Tathāgata's unobstructed assembly.” 〔T35n1735 0629b17〕
Fazang determines the same on the sixty-fascicle text, and attaches it to the unobstructedness of general and particular: 「第三偈讚中，十菩薩即為十段，初一總、後九別。」 tr. “Third, within the verses of praise, the ten bodhisattvas make ten segments, the first being the general and the following nine the particular.” 〔T35n1733 0194a28〕
(3) The names of the ten bodhisattvas also betoken the ten abodes, and the dharmas they expound betoken the advance of the station —
「此十菩薩名亦表十住，其所說法表位勝進。勝進有二：一趣後位、二趣佛果，今約佛果。」 tr. “The names of these ten bodhisattvas also betoken the ten abodes, and the dharmas they expound betoken the advance of the station. Advance is of two kinds: first, tending toward the later station; second, tending toward the buddha-fruit; here it is with respect to the buddha-fruit.” 〔T35n1735 0629b20〕
(4) One light shines upon all, making one assembly of the Dharma realm perfectly bright — the ground of import for the portion of the emitting of light:
「一光照於一切，則一切亦爾，重疊無礙無不互見，為一法界圓明大會。」 tr. “One light shines upon all, and so it is with all of them, layer upon layer without obstruction, and there is none that does not see the others: this makes one great assembly of the Dharma realm perfectly bright.” 〔T35n1735 0629b15〕
Fazang determines the same: 「六如來大眾等，明照所顯現通同為一法界圓明之會故也。」 tr. “Sixth, the Tathāgata and the great assembly and the rest, which makes clear that what the illumining displays is in common one assembly of the Dharma realm perfectly bright.” 〔T35n1733 0194a25〕; and Zhiyan uses this to answer the question 「何故一一方各有十」 tr. “why does each single quarter have ten”: 「所以一一方具十者，欲顯解相分明圓融數等，一方即一切方也。」 tr. “The reason each single quarter is complete with ten is that it is to display that the marks of understanding are distinct and clear and that in perfect interfusion the numbers are equal, and that one quarter is just all quarters.” 〔T35n1732 0033a12〕
(5) The emitting of light from the toes betokens that the station does not retrogress — as to the place from which the light comes, the three masters determine alike:
「謂兩足指足指拒地得住有力，成位不退而行有恒，數位過前加於千也。」 tr. “That is to say, the toes of the two feet: it is by the toes pressing against the ground that one gains a standing with strength, so that the station is completed without retrogression and the practice has constancy, and the number of the station passes beyond the former by adding a thousand.” 〔T35n1735 0629b12〕
「二光出處，謂如足指按地乃得住立，表此十住成位不退，故名住也。」 tr. “Second, the place from which the light comes: it is as the toes press the ground that one gains a standing, which betokens that these ten abodes complete the station without retrogression, and therefore they are called abiding.” 〔T35n1733 0194a20〕
Li Tongxuan sets out further the places of the emitting of light at five stations to display the ascent of the station: 「十信足輪下放光，此十住中足指端放光，明位勝進。十行足趺，十迴向膝上，十地眉間毫中放光，此表法位昇進故。」 tr. “For the ten faiths the light is emitted beneath the wheels of the feet; here in the ten abodes the light is emitted from the tips of the toes, making clear the advance of the station. For the ten practices it is the insteps, for the ten dedications above the knees, for the ten grounds the light is emitted from the tuft between the brows; this is because it betokens the ascent of the stations of the Dharma.” 〔T36n1739 0829a17〕
(6) The three contemplations in one mind, and the Buddha's substance and function appear — Chengguan, explaining the four verses from 「觀察於諸法」 tr. “contemplate all dharmas” onward in the All Wisdom segment, determines them to be true contemplation and true stilling, and at the place of true contemplation he establishes the three contemplations:
「前中，初二句空觀，緣生無性故；次二句假觀，隨俗假名故；次二句中觀，由前生滅一切諸法即無性故，相體即是不生滅也。後二句觀益，諸法如即是佛如，無生滅佛體本常，觀稱於如則佛常現。況三觀一心，則佛之體用無不現矣。」 tr. “Of these, the first two lines are the contemplation of emptiness, since what arises through conditions has no nature; the next two lines are the contemplation of the provisional, since names are provisionally assigned in accord with convention; the next two lines are the contemplation of the middle, since, all dharmas of arising and ceasing spoken of above being without nature, the substance of the marks is just the unarisen and unceasing. The last two lines are the benefit of the contemplation: the suchness of dharmas is just the suchness of the Buddha, and since there is neither arising nor ceasing, the Buddha's substance is constant from the first, so that when contemplation accords with suchness the Buddha is constantly manifest. How much more, when the three contemplations are one mind, is there nothing of the Buddha's substance and function that is not manifest.” 〔T35n1735 0629c14〕
At the place of true stilling he blocks the construal of 「觀之使空」 tr. “making it empty by contemplating it”:
「後二真止中，以觀觀法能所紛動，故須寂之。初句牒前法性；次句泯其能所。法性本空，非觀之使空，故無所取，何有能見？」 tr. “In the two lines of true stilling that follow: because in contemplating dharmas by contemplation the seeing and the seen are in turmoil, they must be stilled. The first line presents again the nature of dharmas spoken of above; the next line effaces the seeing and the seen. The nature of dharmas is empty from the first; it is not made empty by contemplating it, and therefore there is nothing seized — how then should there be anything that sees?” 〔T35n1735 0629c19〕
(7) Removing and removing again until there is no removing — Chengguan explains the verse 「無中無有二」 tr. “within the ‘no’ there is no two” in the Unsurpassed Wisdom segment:
「後偈拂前無二之迹。言無二者，但言無有二，非謂有無二，若存無二之見則還成二。以無二必對二，故遣之又遣之以至於無遣，故云三界一切空。空謂第一義空，諸佛同見。」 tr. “The latter verse wipes away the traces of the no-two spoken of before. To say ‘no-two’ is only to say that there is no two; it is not to say that there exists a ‘no-two’. If one keeps a view of no-two, then two is formed again, since no-two must be set over against two; therefore one removes and removes again until there is no removing, and so it says that the three realms are all empty. This emptiness is the emptiness of the highest meaning, which the buddhas see alike.” 〔T35n1735 0632c06〕
(8) When body and view are both gone, that is the true dharma-body — Chengguan explains the virtue of outward converting in the last two verses of the Unsurpassed Wisdom segment:
「後二外化德中，前偈正顯令住無住之覺、後偈釋成。身即非身，故無可悟。悟身見起，此見如身，身見兩亡，真法身也。觀身實相，觀佛亦然，故就佛結。」 tr. “Within the last two verses on the virtue of outward converting, the former verse properly displays the causing of others to abide in the awakening that abides nowhere, and the latter verse explains and completes it. The body is just not a body, and therefore there is nothing to awaken to. Once a view that awakens to the body arises, that view is just like the body; when body and view are both gone, that is the true dharma-body. Contemplating the real mark of the body, one contemplates the Buddha likewise, and therefore it concludes with the Buddha.” 〔T35n1735 0632c10〕
(9) What the ten bodhisattvas expound is just the dharma within the ten abodes — Fazang establishes this import at the place of his general determination of the portion of the verses of praise:
「是故總別無礙，唯一如來法界身，於中或即理即事、即教即義、即因即果、即人即法、即心即境，圓融自在舉體全攝。此等即是十住中法，下諸偈應准知此意。」 tr. “Therefore the general and the particular are unobstructed, and there is only the one body of the Tathāgata's Dharma realm, within which there is at once principle and phenomena, at once teaching and meaning, at once cause and fruit, at once person and dharma, at once mind and object, perfectly interfused and free, its whole substance wholly containing all. These are just the dharma within the ten abodes, and the verses below should be understood in accordance with this sense.” 〔T35n1733 0194b02〕
Li Tongxuan likewise attaches it to the station: 「已上十菩薩各說十行頌，和會入位法，令身心諸計皆無所依，離於偏執，住佛所住。」 tr. “The ten bodhisattvas above each speak ten verses, harmonizing and gathering the dharma of entering the station, causing all the reckonings of body and mind to have nothing to depend upon, so that one is free of one-sided grasping and abides where the Buddha abides.” 〔T36n1739 0829a06〕
VI. Divergent Interpretations of the Commentators (the ancient worthies · with their tenets indicated)
Chengguan, Huayan jing shu, T35n1735 (following the text of the eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka · principal)
The names of the ten worlds severally matched to the ten abodes — beneath the sameness of the worlds' names, Chengguan brings out separately the matching to the ten abodes:
「同名華者，位相創開，無著感果故。別即次第配於十住：一發心主導世間故；二淨治心地如蓮開故；三修行圓淨故；四水生之貴故；五方便堅誓故；六正心無相如香氣故；七不退意悅故」 tr. “That they share the name Flower is because the mark of the station first opens out and, attached to nothing, calls forth the fruit. Severally, they are matched in order to the ten abodes: first, arousing the mind, because it presides over and guides the world; second, governing and purifying the ground of the mind, as the lotus opens; third, cultivation, because it is perfectly pure; fourth, the nobility of what is born from water; fifth, skillful means, because the vow is firm; sixth, the rectified mind, markless as a fragrance; seventh, non-retrogression, because the intent is glad” 〔T35n1735 0629a13〕
「八阿盧那者，此云日出時紅赤之相，童真明淨故；九那羅陀者，此云人持，以華香妙人皆佩故，王子佩持，法王軌度故；十智遍如空故，亦可別明十住勝進十法，思之可知。」 tr. “Eighth, Aruṇa, which here means the red mark at the hour of the sun's rising, because youthful truth is bright and pure; ninth, Nārada, which here means ‘borne by a person’, because the flower's fragrance is wondrous and everyone wears it, and the prince wears and bears it, because this is the standard and measure of the Dharma-king; tenth, because wisdom pervades as space does. It may also separately make clear the ten dharmas of advance within the ten abodes, which may be known by pondering it.” 〔T35n1735 0629a17〕
The names of the ten buddhas severally matched to the fruits of the ten abodes in their own portion —
「別名即十住，自分十法之果：一以十難得法，可謂殊特。二發十大心，不可窮盡。三觀於空等，不可傾動。四了知業行，生死涅槃如風不住。五饒益安樂一切眾生，如水普潤。六聞十種法，心定不動故得解脫。七聞十不退，可謂無上。八三業無失，如星明淨，隨意受生燦然滿空，神足自在若依空運轉。九善知煩惱現起習氣，故得清淨。十觀察無數眾生根欲智慧心境，餘不能知，唯自明了。」 tr. “The several names are the ten abodes, the fruits of the ten dharmas in their own portion: first, by the ten dharmas hard to obtain, he may well be called Extraordinary. Second, arousing the ten great minds, which cannot be exhausted. Third, contemplating emptiness and the rest, which cannot be overturned. Fourth, understanding deeds and practices, so that birth-and-death and nirvāṇa do not abide, like the wind. Fifth, benefiting and bringing peace and joy to all sentient beings, moistening everywhere like water. Sixth, hearing the ten kinds of dharma, the mind is settled and unmoved and so attains liberation. Seventh, hearing the ten non-retrogressions, he may well be called Unsurpassed. Eighth, the three kinds of action are without fault, bright and pure as the stars; he takes birth at will, brilliantly filling the sky, and his supernormal footing is free as though it moved depending upon space. Ninth, he knows well the habit-energies through which afflictions arise, and therefore attains purity. Tenth, he contemplates the faculties, desires, wisdom, and mental spheres of numberless sentient beings, which others cannot know and he alone understands clearly.” 〔T35n1735 0629a23〕
Afterward he himself marks the limit of what he has adduced: 「上且隨要相屬以為此釋，委明其相如〈十住〉文。」 tr. “The above, for the present, attaches them to one another as needed and makes this explanation; a full clarification of their marks is as in the text of ‘The Ten Abodes’.” 〔T35n1735 0629b03〕
The ten verses of the Dharma Wisdom segment divide into three —
「今初，東方法慧總了佛法」 tr. “Now for the first: Dharma Wisdom of the eastern quarter generally understands the Buddha's Dharma” 〔T35n1735 0629b23〕
「十頌分三：初五敘因佛光見多盛事，初一敘此品放光、次一敘前品請讚、餘三重敘此品。次二勸觀佛力更發勝心，即前品不起而升。後三舉因結果，初一舉因、後二結果。由因中行願剎剎齊修故，果位身智遍應遍斷。」 tr. “The ten verses divide into three: the first five recount the manifold splendid matters seen by reason of the Buddha's light — the first recounts the emitting of light in this chapter, the next recounts the invitation and praise in the preceding chapter, and the remaining three recount this chapter again. The next two exhort one to contemplate the Buddha's power and to arouse a still more excellent mind, that is, the ascending without rising from his seat in the preceding chapter. The last three raise up the cause and conclude with the fruit, the first raising up the cause and the last two concluding with the fruit. Because within the cause the practices and vows are cultivated equally in land after land, in the station of the fruit body and wisdom respond everywhere and cut off everywhere.” 〔T35n1735 0629b25〕
The ten verses of the All Wisdom segment divide into six —
「第二南方一切慧者，了一切法真實之性，淨心地故。頌意為顯於諸眾生增長大悲，以稱實而觀救世者故。十頌分六：初二違理觀佛非見佛、次四了法真性真見佛。三有一偈，迷性取法不見佛。四一偈，佛即同法為真佛。五一偈，引已了法為見佛。六一偈，推功有本了真佛。」 tr. “Second, All Wisdom of the southern quarter, who understands the real nature of all dharmas, because he purifies the ground of the mind. The import of the verses is to display the increase of great compassion toward all sentient beings, because one contemplates the Savior of the World in accord with the real. The ten verses divide into six: the first two, contemplating the Buddha contrary to principle, which is not seeing the Buddha; the next four, understanding the real nature of dharmas, which is truly seeing the Buddha. Third, there is one verse: being deluded about the nature and seizing dharmas, one does not see the Buddha. Fourth, one verse: the Buddha, being the same as dharmas, is the true Buddha. Fifth, one verse: adducing that one has understood dharmas, this is seeing the Buddha. Sixth, one verse: ceding the merit to its source, one understands the true Buddha.” 〔T35n1735 0629c01〕
His explanation of the supposing of a long time in the first two verses: 「初中，前偈出其妄觀，假設長時以況暫見；後偈明其有損，由上不依真實則取相乖真，但見集網繫於苦獄，盲無慧眼冥然不見佛之法身。」 tr. “Of these, the former verse brings out his false contemplation, supposing a long time so as to liken it to a brief seeing; the latter verse makes clear that he suffers loss: because, as above, he does not rely upon the real, his seizing of marks runs counter to the real, and he sees only the gathering net and is bound in the prison of suffering, blind and without the eye of wisdom, benighted and not seeing the Buddha's dharma-body.” 〔T35n1735 0629c08〕; and he guards against over-construing it: 「然此遮取相故，假設長時，無有多劫，全不了義，以見如來增智慧故。」 tr. “Yet this supposes a long time because it blocks the seizing of marks; there are not many kalpas in which one wholly fails to understand the meaning, since seeing the Tathāgata increases wisdom.” 〔T35n1735 0629c11〕
The classification of the last five verses of the Unsurpassed Wisdom segment —
「後五中，初偈正明照境。境即俗境，有能所故。即俗而真，故云無數。心同無為，故云遠離。是佛真法，雙結能所。後四遣相顯理，皆躡迹遣滯。」 tr. “Of the last five, the first verse properly makes clear the illumining of objects. The object is the conventional object, since there is a seeing and a seen. Being conventional it is at once real, and therefore it says ‘without number’. The mind is the same as the unconditioned, and therefore it says ‘far removed’. This is the Buddha's real dharma, concluding both the seeing and the seen. The last four remove marks and display principle, each treading upon the traces and removing the stagnation.” 〔T35n1735 0632b26〕
The ten verses of the Firm Wisdom segment divide into four —
「第十上方堅固慧者，智力成就不可壞故。頌意為顯欲令增長一切種智，文云得淨慧眼了佛境故。十頌分四：初偈總歎為物興世，智光遍照大悲勇健。次四別示悲相，初偈觀機、次二反以釋成、後一正明兼顯僧寶。次三頌半見聞利益，後一頌半結德無盡。此為終極，故總舉前十。」 tr. “Tenth, Firm Wisdom of the upper quarter, because his power of wisdom is accomplished and cannot be destroyed. The import of the verses is to display the wish that the wisdom of all modes be increased, since the text says that one gains the pure eye of wisdom and understands the Buddha's sphere. The ten verses divide into four: the first verse praises generally his arising in the world for the sake of beings, the light of wisdom shining everywhere and great compassion brave and strong. The next four severally show the marks of compassion — the first verse contemplates the capacities, the next two explain and complete it from the converse side, and the last properly makes it clear and displays the jewel of the Saṅgha besides. The next three and a half verses are the benefit of seeing and hearing, and the last one and a half conclude with virtue that is inexhaustible. This is the final extremity, and therefore it raises up all ten together.” 〔T35n1735 0632c14〕
The ten verses of the Excellent Wisdom segment divide into four —
「第三西方勝慧，以解佛勝智，隨空心淨，故以為名。頌意為顯欲令菩薩智慧明了，即大智了如及佛性故。十頌分四：初一讚智為迷悟本、次四正顯迷悟、次四喻前得失、後一推功有在。」 tr. “Third, Excellent Wisdom of the western quarter, so named because by understanding the Buddha's excellent wisdom he is pure in mind in accord with emptiness. The import of the verses is to display the wish that the bodhisattva's wisdom be clear, that is, that great wisdom understand suchness and the buddha-nature. The ten verses divide into four: the first praises wisdom as the root of delusion and awakening, the next four properly display delusion and awakening, the next four illustrate by simile the loss and gain spoken of above, and the last cedes the merit to where it lies.” 〔T35n1735 0630a08〕
His explanation of the four verses of delusion and awakening: 「次四迷悟中，初二迷、後二悟。迷中，初一心外取境生想違理，故不能見無相之佛。後偈取蘊內相、不了蘊性，故不見心佛。」 tr. “Of the next four, delusion and awakening, the first two are delusion and the last two awakening. Within delusion, the first seizes objects outside the mind and gives rise to notions contrary to principle, and therefore cannot see the markless Buddha. The latter verse seizes the marks within the aggregates and does not understand the nature of the aggregates, and therefore does not see the Buddha of the mind.” 〔T35n1735 0630a13〕; and his explanation of the latter two verses of awakening: 「初偈翻前外取，謂了一切法即心自性，性亦非性，情破理現則見舍那，稱於法性無內外也。後偈翻前內取，了蘊性相，則見自心之佛，與盧舍那非一非異」 tr. “The first verse overturns the outward seizing spoken of above: that is, understanding that all dharmas are the mind's own nature, and that the nature too is not a nature, so that when sentiment is broken and principle appears one sees Rocana, according with the nature of dharmas, which has neither inside nor outside. The latter verse overturns the inward seizing spoken of above: understanding the nature and marks of the aggregates, one sees the Buddha of one's own mind, who with Rocana is neither one nor different” 〔T35n1735 0630a18〕
The ten verses of the Merit Wisdom segment divide into four —
「第四北方功德慧者，生在佛家，善解佛德故。此頌意顯於三世中心得平等、了知自心，窮法空故。十頌分四：初四明凡小妄覺、次四示其真覺、三有一偈佛覺雙圓、後一偈推功有本。」 tr. “Fourth, Merit Wisdom of the northern quarter, because he is born into the Buddha's household and understands the Buddha's virtues well. The import of these verses displays that within the three times the mind attains equality and understands its own mind, because it exhausts the emptiness of dharmas. The ten verses divide into four: the first four make clear the false awareness of ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicle, the next four show them true awareness, the third has one verse in which the Buddha's awakening is doubly complete, and the last verse cedes the merit to its source.” 〔T35n1735 0631a01〕
His explanation of the four verses of true awareness: 「次四示其真覺中，初偈引己之損勸物成益；次偈教其真見，謂見佛無取即是見如，如即佛所知也」 tr. “Within the next four, showing them true awareness: the first verse adduces his own loss to exhort beings to accomplish their benefit; the next verse teaches them true seeing, that is, that seeing the Buddha without seizing is just seeing suchness, and suchness is what the Buddha knows” 〔T35n1735 0631a12〕
The ten verses of the Vigor Wisdom segment divide into two —
「五東北方精進慧，以勤觀真理集無量善，俱無住故。頌意為顯欲令其心轉復精進無所染著，文中由離分別如實見故。十頌分二：前九觀法、後一推功。」 tr. “Fifth, Vigor Wisdom of the northeastern quarter, because by diligently contemplating the real principle he gathers immeasurable good, and both alike abide nowhere. The import of the verses is to display the wish that his mind become still more vigorous and without defiling attachment, since in the text it is by being free of discrimination that one sees as things really are. The ten verses divide into two: the first nine contemplate dharmas, and the last cedes the merit.” 〔T35n1735 0631a26〕
At the place of the contemplation of marklessness he establishes the simile of mistaking wood for a ghost: 「如迷木見鬼，知鬼是迷有，名如實知鬼；知鬼本無，舉體是木，名為見木。」 tr. “It is like being deluded about a piece of wood and seeing a ghost: to know that the ghost is something that delusion has produced is called knowing the ghost as it really is; to know that the ghost never was and that the whole of it is the wood is called seeing the wood.” 〔T35n1735 0631b03〕; and he uses it again to explain freedom from the grasper: 「二離能取，以所取空故。上半舉失，如若見鬼，即不見木；下半顯得，離於鬼見，方為見木。」 tr. “Second, freedom from the grasper, because what is grasped is empty. The upper half raises up the loss: as when one sees the ghost, one does not see the wood; the lower half displays the gain: only when free of the view that sees the ghost is it seeing the wood.” 〔T35n1735 0631b04〕
The ten verses of the Good Wisdom segment divide into four —
「第六東南方善慧菩薩，成就般若慧鑑不動，可謂善矣。此頌為顯欲令其心轉復增進，得不退轉無生法忍，文中離垢解脫無體性故。十頌分四：初二見佛、次三見法、次三觀成利益、後二推見有依。」 tr. “Sixth, the bodhisattva Good Wisdom of the southeastern quarter, who accomplishes the wisdom of prajñā and whose discernment is unmoved, and who may well be called good. These verses are to display the wish that his mind become still more advanced and attain the non-retrogressive forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, since in the text freedom from defilement and liberation are without substance or nature. The ten verses divide into four: the first two see the Buddha, the next three see the Dharma, the next three are the benefit of the contemplation's completion, and the last two cede the seeing to that upon which it depends.” 〔T35n1735 0631b15〕
His explanation of exhaustion and inexhaustibility: 「次二偈拂迹入玄，上半拂前無為，謂既如虛空，何有無為之相？」 tr. “The next two verses wipe away the traces and enter the profound; the upper half wipes away the unconditioned spoken of before, that is: since it is like empty space, how should there be a mark of the unconditioned?” 〔T35n1735 0631b26〕; and 「盡即無盡，故無眾生也。」 tr. “Exhaustion is just inexhaustibility, and therefore there are no sentient beings.” 〔T35n1735 0631b29〕
The ten verses of the Wisdom segment divide into two —
「決斷不動所以名智。頌意為顯於一切法皆能出離，文中生死涅槃皆善離故。十頌分二：初一引己勵眾；餘偈希眾同己，於中亦二：前六示迷、後三啟悟。」 tr. “Being decisive and unmoved is why he is named Wisdom. The import of the verses is to display that from all dharmas one is able to get free, since in the text birth-and-death and nirvāṇa are both well departed from. The ten verses divide into two: the first adduces himself to encourage the multitude; the remaining verses wish the multitude to be as he is, and within these there are again two: the first six show delusion, the last three open awakening.” 〔T35n1735 0631c11〕
His explanation of the graph ‘contention’ in the verse 「有諍說生死」 tr. “where there is contention one speaks of birth-and-death”: 「煩惱名諍。觸動善品，損害自他，故名為諍。此有漏法，諍隨增故，名為有諍，有彼諍故。故生死者有漏為體，無彼煩惱故稱涅槃。」 tr. “Affliction is called contention. Because it stirs up what is wholesome and injures self and others, it is called contention. This dharma with outflows is called ‘having contention’ because contention increases along with it, that is, because it has that contention. Therefore birth-and-death has what is with outflows as its substance, and it is called nirvāṇa because that affliction is absent.” 〔T35n1735 0631c22〕
The ten verses of the True Wisdom segment divide into two —
「第八西北方真實慧菩薩，心不顛倒是真實慧。頌意為顯欲令增進，於一切法皆得善巧文言。於法不顛倒、如實覺了，是善巧義。十頌分二：前二明依實立名，名能益物；後八顯名下之實，辨益所由。」 tr. “Eighth, the bodhisattva True Wisdom of the northwestern quarter: a mind that is not inverted is true wisdom. The import of the verses is to display the wish that he advance and attain skill in words with regard to all dharmas. To be without inversion regarding dharmas and to awaken to them as they really are is the sense of skill. The ten verses divide into two: the first two make clear that the name is established upon the real and that the name can benefit beings; the last eight display the reality beneath the name and discern the ground of the benefit.” 〔T35n1735 0632a10〕
His determination of the last eight verses as three awakenings: 「後八中分三：初三覺妄證實，是覺察義；次一雙覺二諦，是覺照義；後四非覺而覺，是妙覺義。」 tr. “The last eight divide into three: the first three, awakening to the false and realizing the real, which is the sense of awakening as examining; the next one, twofold awakening to the two truths, which is the sense of awakening as illumining; the last four, awakening that is not an awakening, which is the sense of wondrous awakening.” 〔T35n1735 0632a16〕; and when explaining the verse 「於法不顛倒，如實而現證」 tr. “with regard to dharmas to be without inversion, and to realize them then and there as they really are” he distinguishes it by inference and direct perception: 「初句揀似比量，無常計常、常計無常等是顛倒法，名似比量。次句證真現量，如眼見故。次句揀似現量」 tr. “The first line clears away the semblance of inference: taking the impermanent for the permanent, or the permanent for the impermanent, and the like, are inverted dharmas, called the semblance of inference. The next line is the direct perception that realizes the real, since it is as when the eye sees. The next line clears away the semblance of direct perception” 〔T35n1735 0632a19〕
The ten verses of the Unsurpassed Wisdom segment divide into three —
「第九下方無上慧，名如初頌。又從法王教生，當紹佛位，故名無上。頌意為顯欲令增進心無障礙，文云無著無念不住法故。十頌分三：初一釋己名義、次八顯佛勝德、後一推功結益。」 tr. “Ninth, Unsurpassed Wisdom of the lower quarter, whose name is as in the first verse. Moreover, being born from the teaching of the Dharma-king and about to succeed to the Buddha's station, he is named Unsurpassed. The import of the verses is to display the wish that he advance and that his mind be without obstruction, since the text says that he is without attachment, without thought, and does not abide in dharmas. The ten verses divide into three: the first explains the sense of his own name, the next eight display the Buddha's excellent virtues, and the last cedes the merit and concludes with the benefit.” 〔T35n1735 0632b14〕
Fazang, Tanxuan ji, T35n1733 (commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds”)
The tenfold worlds in the portion of the gathering of the assembly — Fazang explains why 「一一方各十世界」 tr. “in each single quarter there were ten worlds”:
「如是向東十重世界，各各相過百塵界外，所以說十重者，以顯無盡故。如東方十界，餘九方亦爾。」 tr. “Thus toward the east there are ten layers of worlds, each of them passing beyond a hundred dust-mote worlds from the last; the reason ten layers are spoken of is to display inexhaustibility. As with the ten worlds of the eastern quarter, so it is with the other nine quarters.” 〔T35n1733 0194a03〕
One assembly is all assemblies — 「此唯據斯一天宮會，餘十方界皆各如此，為法界無邊會耳，謂一會一切會等，如結通處辨。」 tr. “This is stated only with respect to this one assembly in the palace of the heaven; the worlds of the other ten directions are each of them like this, making a boundless assembly of the Dharma realm, that is, one assembly is all assemblies and so forth, as is discerned at the place where the passage concludes and extends.” 〔T35n1733 0194a07〕
The ten verses of the Unsurpassed Wisdom segment divide into three —
「九無上慧者，慧離上相故。十偈分三：初一釋己名、次八顯佛德。於中，初六辨佛內證德，謂一境離麁妙修。生德是麁，由空故不作也；真理是細，本有不悕望也。二離數無數。此二約境。三離照無照，此約智。四一偈半離依無依。五一偈半離一二相。此上約境智俱融。後二顯佛外化德，一教令住法無所住也、二得見真身無所見也。後一推功。」 tr. “Ninth, Unsurpassed Wisdom, because wisdom is free of any mark above it. The ten verses divide into three: the first explains his own name, the next eight display the Buddha's virtues. Within these, the first six discern the Buddha's virtue of inward realization, that is: first, the object is free of the coarse and the wondrous that are cultivated. The virtue produced is coarse, and because of emptiness there is no doing; the real principle is fine, and being originally present it is not longed for. Second, freedom from number and from numberlessness. These two are with respect to the object. Third, freedom from illumining and from not illumining; this is with respect to wisdom. Fourth, one verse and a half on freedom from dependence and from non-dependence. Fifth, one verse and a half on freedom from the marks of one and two. These above are with respect to object and wisdom being interfused together. The last two display the Buddha's virtue of outward converting: first, teaching them to abide in the dharma that abides nowhere; second, gaining the sight of the true body, which has nothing seen. The last cedes the merit.” 〔T35n1733 0195b09〕
The three senses of 「知以一故眾」 tr. “knowing that because there is one there are many” in the True Wisdom segment —
「謂境智一亦不可、二亦不可。證如反望，無如外智故無覺，亦無智外法可取故無所覺，是佛所修，故無一無二也。此有三義：一約境真俗非一二、二約智虛照非一二、三約境智非一二，准釋可知。」 tr. “That is to say, object and wisdom cannot be one, and neither can they be two. Realizing suchness and looking back from it, there is no wisdom outside suchness and therefore no awakening, and there is no dharma outside wisdom that could be seized and therefore nothing awakened to; this is what the Buddha cultivated, and therefore there is neither one nor two. This has three senses: first, with respect to the object, the real and the conventional are neither one nor two; second, with respect to wisdom, the empty illumining is neither one nor two; third, object and wisdom together are neither one nor two — this may be known by explaining accordingly.” 〔T35n1733 0195a26〕
The ten verses of the Firm Wisdom segment divide into three —
「十堅固慧者，知佛恩不可壞故。十偈分三：初六舉佛恩深、次三慶已逢遇、後一結歎無盡。前中，初一句標恩，餘釋顯恩相：一為物出現、二見物深苦、三明救苦唯佛、四與樂亦佛、五佛眾亦能、六見聞獲益。」 tr. “Tenth, Firm Wisdom, because his knowing of the Buddha's kindness cannot be destroyed. The ten verses divide into three: the first six raise up the depth of the Buddha's kindness, the next three rejoice at having met him, and the last concludes with praise of the inexhaustible. Of the first, the opening line indicates the kindness, and the rest explain and display the marks of that kindness: first, appearing for the sake of beings; second, seeing the deep suffering of beings; third, making clear that only the Buddha saves from suffering; fourth, that it is the Buddha too who gives joy; fifth, that the Buddha's assembly can also do so; sixth, the benefit gained from seeing and hearing.” 〔T35n1733 0195b17〕
His closing line concludes the whole chapter: 「後一是總結上九人說。」 tr. “The last is a general conclusion of the speaking of the nine persons above.” 〔T35n1733 0195b23〕
Zhiyan, Souxuan ji, T35n1732 (commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds”)
Zhiyan, in the preface to the verses of praise, determines that the ten bodhisattvas arise one from another: 「三讚歎。序文有十菩薩相生次第歎，解相明白耳可知。」 tr. “Third, praising. The prefatory text has the ten bodhisattvas arising one from another and praising in order; the marks of understanding are plain and may be known upon hearing.” 〔T35n1732 0033a27〕; afterward he establishes a verse-classification for each segment, and all ten segments are complete:
「一、法慧，偈有二：初長行生起；二正偈頌。下並准之。此文有二：初七牒眾，明是佛力所成，即結前品中六段義。次三明勝行者得見佛，餘莫知者，即通讚前難思。下諸人偈，並約理成也。」 tr. “First, Dharma Wisdom: the verses are in two — first, the prose that gives rise to them; second, the verses proper. Below, all are to be understood accordingly. This text is in two: the first seven present the assembly, making clear that it is accomplished by the Buddha's power, which concludes the import of the six segments in the preceding chapter. The next three make clear that one of excellent practice attains the seeing of the Buddha and that others cannot know it, which is a general praise of the inconceivability spoken of before. The verses of the several persons below are all established with respect to principle.” 〔T35n1732 0033a28〕
「二、一切慧，偈有六：初三明謂見之徒不見真佛、次三顯解無生法身常現、次一明取著者失、次一明慧解者益、次一明解佛因緣成即離癡惑、次一推功在本。」 tr. “Second, All Wisdom: the verses are in six — the first three make clear that those who suppose they see do not see the true Buddha; the next three display that when one understands non-arising the dharma-body is constantly manifest; the next one makes clear the loss of the one who grasps; the next one makes clear the benefit of the one who understands by wisdom; the next one makes clear that understanding that the Buddha is accomplished through causes and conditions is at once freedom from folly and delusion; the next one cedes the merit to its source.” 〔T35n1732 0033b04〕
「三、勝慧，偈有六：初三明妄取者失、次一明有解者德、次一約法辨觀益、次三推功在佛、次一能淨慧者見法身、次一推功在本。」 tr. “Third, Excellent Wisdom: the verses are in six — the first three make clear the loss of the one who falsely seizes; the next one makes clear the virtue of the one who has understanding; the next one, with respect to dharmas, discerns the benefit of contemplation; the next three cede the merit to the Buddha; the next one, that one who can purify wisdom sees the dharma-body; the next one cedes the merit to its source.” 〔T35n1732 0033b07〕
「四、功德慧，偈有五：初四明迷者失、次一示勝方便、次三明得法性益、次一歎佛利生方便、次一推功在本。」 tr. “Fourth, Merit Wisdom: the verses are in five — the first four make clear the loss of the deluded; the next one shows the excellent skillful means; the next three make clear the benefit of attaining the nature of dharmas; the next one praises the Buddha's skillful means in benefiting beings; the next one cedes the merit to its source.” 〔T35n1732 0033b10〕
「五、精進慧，偈有三：初一彰失、次一辨德、次八廣辨觀式獲益相。八文內，前四無相生、後四真實性也。」 tr. “Fifth, Vigor Wisdom: the verses are in three — the first sets forth the loss; the next discerns the virtue; the next eight extensively discern the manner of contemplation and the marks of the benefit gained. Within those eight passages, the first four are the non-arising of marks and the last four the real nature.” 〔T35n1732 0033b13〕
「六、善慧偈，有四：初二明有解能度自他、次五明無生故應真性、次一半歎解勝能、次一半推功在本。」 tr. “Sixth, the verses of Good Wisdom are in four — the first two make clear that having understanding one can carry across oneself and others; the next five make clear that because of non-arising one accords with the real nature; the next one and a half praise the excellent capacity of understanding; the next one and a half cede the merit to its source.” 〔T35n1732 0033b15〕
「七、智慧，偈有三：初一明因教成正解、次六明迷教理者失、次三重成解德。」 tr. “Seventh, Wisdom: the verses are in three — the first makes clear that through the teaching right understanding is formed; the next six make clear the loss of those deluded about the teaching and the principle; the next three doubly accomplish the virtue of understanding.” 〔T35n1732 0033b17〕
「八、真實慧，偈有五：初二挍量勝劣得失、次二辨所觀境、次一舉益勸學、次一釋知者名、次四示其觀儀。」 tr. “Eighth, True Wisdom: the verses are in five — the first two compare and measure excellence and inferiority, gain and loss; the next two discern the object contemplated; the next one raises up the benefit and exhorts to study; the next one explains the name of the one who knows; the next four show the manner of his contemplation.” 〔T35n1732 0033b19〕
「九無上慧，偈有四：初一釋人名、次六歎自利、次二歎利他德、次一推功在本。」 tr. “Ninth, Unsurpassed Wisdom: the verses are in four — the first explains the person's name; the next six praise the benefiting of self; the next two praise the virtue of benefiting others; the next one cedes the merit to its source.” 〔T35n1732 0033b22〕
「十、堅固慧，偈有四：初四歎佛是真歸、次二舉德勸依、次二引自勸物令入、次二舉勝人顯德無盡以勸依也。」 tr. “Tenth, Firm Wisdom: the verses are in four — the first four praise the Buddha as the true refuge; the next two raise up his virtue and exhort reliance; the next two adduce himself to exhort beings to enter; the next two raise up the excellent persons and display that virtue is inexhaustible, so as to exhort reliance.” 〔T35n1732 0033b23〕
The question and answer on the assembly not gathering gradually — 「所以此放光下不漸集眾者，欲顯行位圓成，無有增減之相故也。」 tr. “The reason that below this emitting of light the assembly is not gathered gradually is that it is to display that the station of practice is perfectly complete and that there is no mark of increase or decrease.” 〔T35n1732 0033a14〕
Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun, T36n1739 (a different track of betokening the Dharma)
Gathering together the six chapters on the ten abodes — under this chapter Tongxuan first gathers together the six chapters of the third assembly:
「一〈昇須彌頂品〉，明信終昇進。二〈須彌頂上偈讚品〉，明偈讚當位之法，勸修昇進之理。三〈十住品〉，明當位所行之行。四〈梵行品〉，明總十住之中所持無相之性戒。五〈發心功德品〉，明於十住之中發心所得功德之量。六〈明法品〉，即明當位之法，昇進向十行之因。」 tr. “First, ‘Ascent to the Summit of Sumeru’, making clear the advance at the end of faith. Second, ‘Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru’, making clear the praising in verse of the dharma of the present station, exhorting cultivation and the principle of advancing. Third, ‘The Ten Abodes’, making clear the practices carried out in the present station. Fourth, ‘The Practice of Brahmacarya’, making clear the markless precepts of the nature that are upheld throughout the ten abodes. Fifth, ‘The Merit of Arousing the Mind’, making clear the measure of the merit gained by arousing the mind within the ten abodes. Sixth, ‘Clarifying the Dharma’, which makes clear the dharma of the present station and the cause of advancing toward the ten practices.” 〔T36n1739 0828c11〕
The matching of the buddhas of the three times —
「初歎過去佛，次歎今現在佛。未來佛者，即入此位者是也，是故經中不云未來。十佛是過去佛，盧舍那是現在佛，修行始入位者是未來佛。」 tr. “First he praises the buddhas of the past, next he praises the buddha of the present. As for a buddha of the future, it is one who enters this station, and therefore the scripture does not speak of the future. The ten buddhas are buddhas of the past, Rocana is the buddha of the present, and one who by practice has just entered the station is a buddha of the future.” 〔T36n1739 0828c07〕
The extended outline in eleven segments — Tongxuan takes the gathering of the assembly and the emitting of light as the first segment and each of the ten bodhisattvas as one segment, making eleven segments in all; his headings for the fifth through the eleventh segments:
「五爾時功德慧說十行頌，明妄取諸法真實之相。六爾時精進慧說十行頌，歎諸法自體無見，妄見迷真。七爾時善慧菩薩說十行頌，歎無眾生可盡，法非有無二見。八爾時智慧菩薩說十行頌，歎言說不能及真。九爾時真實慧菩薩說十行頌，歎諸法無合散性。十爾時無上慧說十行頌，歎佛所得法體無分別，不屬名數。十一爾時堅慧說十行頌，歎佛大悲出興利益。」 tr. “Fifth, at that time Merit Wisdom speaks ten verses, making clear the false seizing of a real mark in dharmas. Sixth, at that time Vigor Wisdom speaks ten verses, praising that the substance of dharmas has nothing seen and that false seeing is deluded about the real. Seventh, at that time the bodhisattva Good Wisdom speaks ten verses, praising that no sentient being can be exhausted and that dharmas are not the two views of being and non-being. Eighth, at that time the bodhisattva Wisdom speaks ten verses, praising that words and speech cannot reach the real. Ninth, at that time the bodhisattva True Wisdom speaks ten verses, praising that dharmas have no nature of conjunction or dispersion. Tenth, at that time Unsurpassed Wisdom speaks ten verses, praising that the substance of the dharma the Buddha attained is without discrimination and does not belong to names and numbers. Eleventh, at that time Firm Wisdom speaks ten verses, praising the Buddha's great compassion in arising for the world's benefit.” 〔T36n1739 0828c27〕
The matching of four senses for Unsurpassed Wisdom and Firm Wisdom — Tongxuan opens four senses under each bodhisattva (the bodhisattva's name · the world's name · the buddha's title · the quarter he comes from); his ninth and tenth:
「表此位菩薩善說妙法，能持世間軌度法則，令人倣學。是故菩薩名無上慧，世界名那羅陀華，佛號清淨月。」 tr. “It betokens that the bodhisattva of this station expounds the wondrous Dharma well and can uphold the standards and measures of the world so that people may pattern themselves upon them and learn. Therefore the bodhisattva is named Unsurpassed Wisdom, the world is named Nārada Flower, and the buddha is titled Pure Moon.” 〔T36n1739 0831b22〕
「一明所以菩薩名堅固慧者，以此位是灌頂住，行智波羅蜜，能堅固利益一切眾生，以為其名。二世界名虛空華者，以智慧日照明世間及出世間總無依住，以此為名。三明所以佛號明了月者，以此位大智圓明，普照世間無不明了，以此為名。」 tr. “First, making clear why the bodhisattva is named Firm Wisdom: because this station is the abode of consecration, practicing the perfection of wisdom, and he can firmly benefit all sentient beings, this is taken as his name. Second, the world is named Empty-Space Flower because the sun of wisdom illumines the world and what is beyond the world, with nothing at all to depend on or abide in, and this is taken as its name. Third, making clear why the buddha is titled Clear-Understanding Moon: because in this station great wisdom is perfectly bright and illumines the world everywhere so that nothing is not clearly understood, this is taken as his title.” 〔T36n1739 0831b28〕
His concluding sentence: 「已上菩薩名、世界名、十箇佛果，總是此十住之中隨位進修因果之號，約隨方而表法，約入法而成名，如上配之可知。」 tr. “The bodhisattvas' names, the worlds' names, and the ten buddha-fruits above are, all of them, titles of the causes and fruits of advancing and cultivating according to station within these ten abodes; with respect to the quarters they betoken the Dharma, and with respect to entering the Dharma their names are formed — as matched above, this may be known.” 〔T36n1739 0831c14〕
Recorded, with no adjudication: as to the classification of this chapter's segments, Chengguan and Fazang both determine the portion of the verses of praise to be ten segments, taking the first as the general and the remaining nine as the particular, while Li Tongxuan joins the gathering of the assembly and the emitting of light into a first segment and lays the one chapter out in an extended outline of eleven segments; as to the inner classification of the ten segments, Chengguan establishes his upon the seven-graph verses of the eighty-fascicle text and Zhiyan establishes his upon the five-graph verses of the sixty-fascicle text, so that for one and the same segment the number of verses they determine is not the same (for instance, in the All Wisdom segment Chengguan has 「十頌分六」 tr. “the ten verses divide into six” and Zhiyan has 「偈有六」 tr. “the verses are in six”, and yet the verses they match are different; in the Excellent Wisdom segment Zhiyan has 「偈有六」 tr. “the verses are in six”, and among these the heading 「次三推功在佛」 tr. “the next three cede the merit to the Buddha” 〔T35n1732 0033b09〕 matches three similes, all three of which stand verse by verse in the eighty-fascicle text 〔0082a10・0082a12・0082a14〕, while the number of verses Chengguan classifies there differs from this — the two masters' divisions differ, and both are recorded). As for the betokening of the Dharma, Chengguan matches the ten worlds to the marks of the stations of the ten abodes and the ten buddhas to the fruits of the ten dharmas of the ten abodes in their own portion; Fazang opens the moon into the three senses of substance, function, and virtue, and takes wisdom as the mark of the cause within the abodes; while Li Tongxuan, under each bodhisattva, opens the four senses of the bodhisattva's name, the world's name, the buddha's title, and the quarter he comes from, and matches them with the good friends whom Sudhana visits. The four run side by side, and all are accounts established by the ancient worthies; they are recorded, with no adjudication of high and low.
VII. Cross-Reading and Lineage
- The joining to the chapters before and after: this chapter receives above it “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru,” chapter 13, and is followed below by “The Ten Abodes,” chapter 15. Chengguan joins it by 「將演住門，先陳體性」 tr. “since the gate of the abodes is about to be expounded, the substance and nature are first set forth” 〔T35n1735 0629a01〕; Li Tongxuan joins it to Śakra's praise in the preceding chapter — 「明前已創昇須彌，帝釋以偈歎佛。此品明十住位當位菩薩，將當位法門以偈讚之」 tr. “it makes clear that earlier he had just ascended Sumeru and Śakra praised the Buddha in verse; this chapter makes clear that the bodhisattvas of the present station of the ten abodes take the Dharma-gate of the present station and praise it in verse” 〔T36n1739 0828c04〕.
- The joining to the preceding assembly: Chengguan, under the gate of the sameness of the measure of the place they come from, determines the increase of the station — 「前十此百，位已增故。」 tr. “Before it was ten and here it is a hundred, because the station has already increased.” 〔T35n1735 0629a10〕; Fazang determines the same: 「初明分量者，前十此百，顯行位漸增故也。」 tr. “The first, clarifying the measure: before it was ten and here it is a hundred, because it displays that the station of practice gradually increases.” 〔T35n1733 0193c28〕. Chengguan also, at the sequence of the ten directions, refers back to a chapter of the preceding assembly: 「又上十方，從東次第，如〈名號品〉。」 tr. “Moreover, the ten directions above follow in order from the east, as in ‘The Names of the Tathāgata’.” 〔T35n1735 0629b06〕
- The joining to “The Ten Abodes”: Chengguan matches the several names of the ten buddhas to the fruits of the ten dharmas of the ten abodes in their own portion, while marking for himself that the details belong to the later chapter — 「上且隨要相屬以為此釋，委明其相如〈十住〉文。」 tr. “The above, for the present, attaches them to one another as needed and makes this explanation; a full clarification of their marks is as in the text of ‘The Ten Abodes’.” 〔T35n1735 0629b03〕; Fazang likewise determines that what the ten bodhisattvas expound 「此等即是十住中法」 tr. “these are just the dharma within the ten abodes” 〔T35n1733 0194b04〕. The verses of praise of this chapter and the proper exposition of “The Ten Abodes” were alike regarded by the ancient worthies as two faces of one matter.
- 〔not found〕: in the five books, the Wujiao zhang T45n1866 · the Shixuan men T45n1868 · the Zhigui T45n1871 · the Huanyuan guan T45n1876 · the Fajie xuanjing T45n1883, the three terms 「須彌頂上偈讚」 tr. “verses of praise on the summit of Sumeru”, 「須彌頂上偈讚品」 tr. “the chapter Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru”, and 「菩薩雲集妙勝殿」 tr. “the bodhisattvas gather like clouds in the Hall of Wondrous Excellence” all return no result, and the lack is recorded; and this chapter's famous verse-lines 「法性本空寂」 tr. “the nature of dharmas is from the first empty and still” and 「無取亦無見」 tr. “there is nothing seized and nothing seen” likewise return no result in the first three of those books, and the lack is recorded. This chapter has no separately circulating treatise that presents and explains the scripture (unlike “The Ten Grounds,” which has the Treatise on the Ten Grounds Sūtra), and this too is recorded as absent. This chapter is scriptural text depicting the scene of bodhisattvas of the ten directions praising in verse, not a passage dense with doctrinal terms, and that the outline-books of the Huayan school make no direct citation of it belongs to the character of this chapter; it is not an oversight in the search.
VIII. Edition Location Register
- Śikṣānanda, T279 (the base text): “Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru,” chapter 14, beginning at 〔T10n0279 0081a22〕 (within fascicle sixteen) – ending before the title of the next chapter, “The Ten Abodes,” chapter 15, at 〔0083c29〕. The portion of the gathering of the assembly 0081a23 · the portion of the emitting of light 0081b10 · the ten segments of the portion of the verses of praise: Dharma Wisdom 0081b12 (verses begin 0081b14) · All Wisdom 0081c05 (verses begin 0081c07) · Excellent Wisdom 0081c27 (verses begin 0081c29) · Merit Wisdom 0082a20 (verses begin 0082a22) · Vigor Wisdom 0082b13 (verses begin 0082b15) · Good Wisdom 0082c06 (verses begin 0082c08) · Wisdom 0082c28 (verses begin 0083a01) · True Wisdom 0083a21 (verses begin 0083a23) · Unsurpassed Wisdom 0083b14 (verses begin 0083b16) · Firm Wisdom 0083c07 (verses begin 0083c09 · ending 0083c28). Each of the ten segments has ten verses, one hundred verses in all; the verse lines number two hundred, counted line by line.
- Buddhabhadra, T278 (the principal witness collated, the Jin-dynasty translation): “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds and Speak Verses in the Hall of Wondrous Excellence,” chapter 10, beginning at 〔T09n0278 0441c20〕 – ending before the title of the next chapter, “The Bodhisattvas' Ten Abodes,” chapter 11, at 〔0444c06〕. The opening line of the gathering of the assembly 0441c22 · the names of the ten worlds 0441c23 · the names of the ten buddhas 0441c26 · the names of the ten bodhisattvas 0441c29 · the line on the emitting of light 0442a09 · Dharma Wisdom's verses begin 0442a13 · All Wisdom's verses begin 0442b06 · Excellent Wisdom's verses begin 0442b28 · Merit Wisdom's verses begin 0442c21 · Vigor Wisdom's verses begin 0443a14 · Good Wisdom's verses begin 0443b14 · Wisdom's verses begin 0443c07 · True Wisdom's verses begin 0443c29 · Unsurpassed Wisdom's verses begin 〔not recorded〕 · Firm Wisdom's verses begin 0444b15 · the closing verse 0444c04. The text of this chapter runs across the seventh and eighth fascicles of the sixty-fascicle version, the fascicle colophon at 0443b05 · the fascicle opening at 0443b08.
- Chengguan, Huayan jing shu, T35n1735: the commentary on the chapter Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru begins at 0628c28 (the reason for its coming 0628c29 · the explanation of the name 0629a02 · the tenet and aim 0629a04 · the three portions in explaining the text 0629a06 · the ten samenesses in the portion of the gathering of the assembly 0629a07 · the worlds' names matched to the ten abodes 0629a13 · the buddhas' names matched to the fruits of the ten abodes 0629a23 · the sameness of the concluding of the ten directions 0629b05 · the six gates of the portion of the emitting of light 0629b11 · the toes betokening the station 0629b12 · one light shining upon all 0629b15 · the general and the particular in the ten segments of the portion of the verses of praise 0629b17 · the ten bodhisattvas' names betokening the ten abodes 0629b20 · Dharma Wisdom's ten verses divided into three 0629b25 · All Wisdom's ten verses divided into six 0629c01 · the three contemplations 0629c14 · true stilling 0629c19 · Excellent Wisdom's ten verses divided into four 0630a08 · Merit Wisdom's ten verses divided into four 0631a01 · Vigor Wisdom's ten verses divided into two 0631a26 · the simile of mistaking wood for a ghost 0631b03 · Good Wisdom's ten verses divided into four 0631b15 · Wisdom's ten verses divided into two 0631c11 · the explanation of contention 0631c22 · True Wisdom's ten verses divided into two 0632a10 · the three awakenings 0632a16 · Unsurpassed Wisdom's ten verses divided into three 0632b14 · the classification of Unsurpassed Wisdom's last five 0632b26 · removing the traces of no-two 0632c06 · the virtue of outward converting 0632c10 · Firm Wisdom's ten verses divided into four 0632c14) – ending before 0632c21.
- Fazang, Tanxuan ji, T35n1733: “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds,” chapter 10, begins at 0193c11 (the same four gates 0193c12 · the explanation of the name 0193c12 · the three senses of wondrous excellence 0193c14 · the reason for its coming 0193c18 · the tenet and the three classes of assembly 0193c21 · the three within the explanation of the text 0193c25 · the measure 0193c28 · the tenfold worlds 0194a03 · one assembly is all assemblies 0194a07 · the three senses of the moon, and wisdom 0194a11 · the six of the preface to the emitting of light 0194a20 · the general and the particular in the ten segments of the verses of praise 0194a28 · the three senses of neither one nor two in True Wisdom 0195a26 · Unsurpassed Wisdom's ten verses divided into three 0195b09 · Firm Wisdom's ten verses divided into three 0195b17 · the general conclusion of the nine persons above 0195b23) – ending before 0195b25.
- Zhiyan, Souxuan ji, T35n1732: “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds,” chapter 10, begins at 0033a03 (the same four gates 0033a04 · the explanation of the name 0033a04 · the reason for its coming 0033a06 · the three prefaces in discerning the text 0033a07 · each single quarter complete with ten 0033a12 · the listing of names in the preface to the gathering of the assembly 0033a18 · the buddhas sharing the name Moon and the bodhisattvas sharing the name Wisdom 0033a24 · the ten bodhisattvas arising one from another in the preface to the praising 0033a27 · the verse-classification of Dharma Wisdom 0033a28 · All Wisdom 0033b04 · Excellent Wisdom 0033b07 · Merit Wisdom 0033b10 · Vigor Wisdom 0033b13 · Good Wisdom 0033b15 · Wisdom 0033b17 · True Wisdom 0033b19 · Unsurpassed Wisdom 0033b22 · Firm Wisdom 0033b23) – ending before 0033b27. The commentary on the whole chapter is the most concise of all, and its verse-classifications for the ten segments are complete.
- Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun, T36n1739: “Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru,” chapter 14, begins at 0828b24 (the four gates 0828b25 · explaining the title of the chapter 0828b28 · the buddhas of ancient and present times in one assembly 0828c01 · explaining the reason for the chapter's coming 0828c04 · the matching of the buddhas of the three times 0828c07 · gathering together the six chapters on the ten abodes 0828c11 · the extended outline in eleven segments 0828c20 · the headings of the fifth through the eleventh segments 0828c27 · the general conclusion on the ten bodhisattvas 0829a06 · the seven segments of the portion on coming and gathering 0829a09 · the places of the emitting of light at five stations 0829a17 · the four senses of Unsurpassed Wisdom 0831b21 · the four senses of Firm Wisdom 0831b28 · the general conclusion on the matching of stations 0831c14) – ending before 0831c18.
- Graphs in the base-text layer: within the T279 range of this chapter, the missing-graph character
□of the base-text layer returns no result (scanned graph by graph through the whole of this unit’s source-text layer). As to the inclusion of the Taishō collation variants (<app>) for this chapter, this register records the lack as it stands. - Variant readings: within the range of T279 covered by this unit, 〔0081a22〕–〔0083c28〕, the Taishō base text carries 8 collation notes, recorded one by one without adjudication (base reading 【大】｜variant readings of other witnesses, several witnesses separated by ／): 〔0081b07〕結跏【大】｜結加【宮】 · 〔0081b16〕天王【大】｜天主【宮】 · 〔0082a12〕翳【大】｜瞖【宋】【元】【明】 · 〔0082a24〕辭【大】｜詞【宋】【元】【明】【宮】 · 〔0083a10〕得【大】｜說【明】 · 〔0083a17〕言語【大】｜語言【宮】 · 〔0083b17〕過【大】｜遍【宮】 · 〔0083b22〕眾【大】｜諸【南藏】（明註曰眾南藏作諸）.
- A further note upon the variant readings: 2 CBETA emendations (not counted among the Taishō collation notes listed above): 〔0081a22〕【CB】＊｜大方廣佛華嚴經【大】＊／無此字【明】＊ · 〔0083a10〕二【CB】｜一【大】／二【宋】【元】【明】【宮】. (＊ ＝ a Taishō asterisked collation: the same note also governs the remaining occurrences of that graph in the text; for notes of this class the T279 XML supplies no corresp for the recurrences, so the asterisk alone is shown and no second anchor is created.)