華嚴經 品二十四 兜率宮中偈讚品Avataṃsaka Sūtra · Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven
佛坐上兜率天宮，又是一句話也沒說。
說話的是十位菩薩，名字全都帶「幢」；他們來自十個名字全以「妙」為首的世界，事奉十位名號也全都帶「幢」的佛。澄觀說「幢」的第一義是高出——三賢之位到這裡走到了頂。
會主金剛幢一開口就把兩端一起拿掉：「如來不出世，亦無有涅槃，以本大願力，示現自在法。」十段一百首偈，此後只做一件事——把「佛」這個字上還能抓住的東西一樣一樣取走：色與聲、來與去、內與外、一與多，最後連日子也取走：「如來得菩提，實不繫於日。」
別忙著讀成『那什麼都沒有』。智幢的月喻先擋住了：月印萬川，「影像雖無量，本月未曾二」；而下一首立刻又說「非一亦非二」——連「一」也不給你留。
星宿幢問了三次：「誰能思議佛？誰能見正覺？誰能現最勝？」六首偈一題一題答完，末首又把答案拂掉——正覺超語言，只是假借語言在說。
法幢收在最重的一句：「寧可恒具受，一切世間苦，終不遠如來，不覩自在力。」拆到最後不是冷的。這一品之後，就是十迴向。
The Buddha sat in the palace of the Tuṣita Heaven, and once again he did not say a single sentence.
Those who speak are ten bodhisattvas, whose names all carry the word “Banner”; they come from ten worlds whose names all begin with the word “Wondrous,” and they serve ten buddhas whose titles too all carry the word “Banner.” Chengguan says that the first sense of “Banner” is standing out high — the stations of the three worthy stages have here come to their summit.
The lord of the assembly, Vajra Banner, at his very first word takes away both ends at once: “The Tathāgata does not appear in the world, nor is there any nirvāṇa; it is by the power of his original great vow that he manifests this dharma of sovereign freedom.” Ten segments and a hundred verses, and from here on they do only one thing — they take away, one thing at a time, whatever can still be grasped hold of in that word “Buddha”: form and sound, coming and going, inner and outer, one and many; and at the last they take away even the day: “The Tathāgata's attaining of awakening is truly not tied to a day.”
Do not be in haste to read this as ‘then there is nothing at all.’ Wisdom Banner's simile of the moon has already blocked that: the moon is stamped upon ten thousand rivers, and “though the images are measureless, the moon itself has never been two”; and the very next verse says at once “neither one nor yet two” — not even “one” is left standing for you.
Constellation Banner asks three times over: “Who is able to conceive of the Buddha? Who is able to see the perfect awakening? Who is able to manifest the most excellent one?” Six verses answer them one question at a time, and then the last verse wipes the answers away as well — perfect awakening passes beyond language, and it is only by borrowing language that it is spoken of.
Dharma Banner closes with the weightiest line of all: “Rather would one constantly and fully undergo all the sufferings of every world than be far from the Tathāgata and not behold his power of sovereign freedom.” Taken apart to the very end, this is not something cold. After this chapter comes the Ten Dedications.
〔T10 0121〕
爾時，佛神力故，十方各有一大菩薩，一一各與萬佛剎微塵數諸菩薩俱，從萬佛剎微塵數國土外諸世界中，來詣佛所。其名曰：金剛幢菩薩、堅固幢菩薩、勇猛幢菩薩、光明幢菩薩、智幢菩薩、寶幢菩薩、精進幢菩薩、離垢幢菩薩、星宿幢菩薩、法幢菩薩。所從來國，謂：妙寶世界、妙樂世界、妙銀世界、妙金世界、妙摩尼世界、妙金剛世界、妙波頭摩世界、妙優鉢羅世界、妙栴檀世界、妙香世界。各於佛所，淨修梵行，所謂：無盡幢佛、風幢佛、解脫幢佛、威儀幢佛、明相幢佛、常幢佛、最勝幢佛、自在幢佛、梵幢佛、觀察幢佛。其諸菩薩，至佛所已，頂禮佛足；以佛神力，即化作妙寶藏師子之座，寶網彌覆，周匝遍滿；諸菩薩眾，隨所來方，各於其上結跏趺坐。其身悉放百千億那由他阿僧祇清淨光明，此無量光皆從菩薩清淨心寶離眾過惡大願所起，顯示一切諸佛自在清淨之法；以諸菩薩平等願力，能普救護一切眾生，一切世間之所樂見，見者不虛，悉得調伏。其菩薩眾，悉已成就無量功德。所謂：遍遊一切諸佛國土，無所障礙，見無依止清淨法身；以智慧身，現無量身，遍往十方承事諸佛；入於諸佛無量無邊不可思議自在之法，住於無量一切智門，以智光明善了諸法；於諸法中得無所畏，隨所演說，窮未來際；辯才無盡，以大智慧開總持門，慧眼清淨入深法界，智慧境界無有邊際，究竟清淨猶若虛空。如此世界兜率天宮，諸菩薩眾如是來集；十方一切兜率天宮，悉有如是名號菩薩而來集會，所從來國、諸佛名號，亦皆同等，無有差別。
爾時，世尊從兩膝輪，放百千億那由他光明，普照十方盡法界、虛空界、一切世界。彼諸菩薩，皆見於此佛神變相；此諸菩薩，亦見於彼一切如來神變之相。如是菩薩皆與毘盧遮那如來，於往昔時，同種善根，修菩薩行；悉已悟入諸佛自在甚深解脫，得無差別法界之身，入一切土而無所住；見無量佛，悉往承事；於一念中，周行法界，自在無礙；心意清淨，如無價寶；無量無數諸佛如來，常加護念，共與其力，到於究竟第一彼岸；恒以淨念住無上覺，念念恒入一切智處；以小入大，以大入小，皆得自在，通達無礙；已得佛身，與佛同住；獲一切智，從一切智而生其身；一切如來所行之處，悉能隨入；開闡無量智慧法門，到金剛幢大智彼岸，獲金剛定，斷諸疑惑；已得諸佛自在神通，普於一切十方國土，教化調伏百千萬億無數眾生；於一切數，雖無所著，善能修學，成就究竟，方便安立一切諸法。如是等百千億那由他不可說無盡清淨三世一切無量功德藏諸菩薩眾，皆來集會，在於佛所；因光所見，一切佛所，悉亦如是。
爾時，金剛幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「如來不出世，亦無有涅槃，
以本大願力，示現自在法。
是法難思議，非心所行處，
智慧到彼岸，乃見諸佛境。
色身非是佛，音聲亦復然，
亦不離色聲，見佛神通力。
少智不能知，諸佛實境界，
久修清淨業，於此乃能了。
正覺無來處，去亦無所從，
清淨妙色身，神力故顯現。
無量世界中，示現如來身，
廣說微妙法，其心無所著。
智慧無邊際，了達一切法，
普入於法界，示現自在力。
眾生及諸法，了達皆無礙，
普現眾色像，遍於一切剎。
欲求一切智，速成無上覺，
應以淨妙心，修習菩提行。
若有見如來，如是威神力，
當於最勝尊，供養勿生疑。」
爾時，堅固幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
〔T10 0122〕
「如來勝無比，甚深不可說，
出過言語道，清淨如虛空。
汝觀人師子，自在神通力，
已離於分別，而令分別見。
導師為開演，甚深微妙法，
以是因緣故，現此無比身。
此是大智慧，諸佛所行處，
若欲了知者，常應親近佛。
意業常清淨，供養諸如來，
終無疲厭心，能入於佛道。
具無盡功德，堅住菩提心，
以是疑網除，觀佛無厭足。
通達一切法，是乃真佛子，
此人能了知，諸佛自在力。
廣大智所說，欲為諸法本，
應起勝希望，志求無上覺。
若有尊敬佛，念報於佛恩，
彼人終不離，一切諸佛住。
何有智慧人，於佛得見聞，
不修清淨願，履佛所行道？」
爾時，勇猛幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「譬如明淨眼，因日覩眾色，
淨心亦復然，佛力見如來。
如以精進力，能盡海源底，
智力亦如是，得見無量佛。
譬如良沃田，所種必滋長，
如是淨心地，出生諸佛法。
如人獲寶藏，永離貧窮苦，
菩薩得佛法，離垢心清淨。
譬如伽陀藥，能消一切毒，
佛法亦如是，滅諸煩惱患。
真實善知識，如來所稱讚，
以彼威神故，得聞諸佛法。
設於無數劫，財寶施於佛，
不知佛實相，此亦不名施。
無量眾色相，莊嚴於佛身，
非於色相中，而能見於佛。
如來等正覺，寂然恒不動，
而能普現身，遍滿十方界。
譬如虛空界，不生亦不滅，
諸佛法如是，畢竟無生滅。」
爾時，光明幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「人間及天上，一切諸世界，
普見於如來，清淨妙色身。
譬如一心力，能生種種心，
如是一佛身，普現一切佛。
菩提無二法，亦復無諸相，
而於二法中，現相莊嚴身。
了法性空寂，如幻而生起，
所行無有盡，導師如是現。
三世一切佛，法身悉清淨，
隨其所應化，普現妙色身。
如來不念言，我作如是身，
自然而示現，未甞起分別。
法界無差別，亦無所依止，
而於世間中，示現無量身。
佛身非變化，亦復非非化，
於無化法中，示有變化形。
正覺不可量，法界虛空等，
深廣無涯底，言語道悉絕。
如來善通達，一切處行道，
法界眾國土，所往皆無礙。」
爾時，智幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「若人能信受，一切智無礙，
修習菩提行，其心不可量。
一切國土中，普現無量身，
而身不在處，亦不住於法。
一一諸如來，神力示現身，
不可思議劫，算數莫能盡。
三世諸眾生，悉可知其數，
如來所示現，其數不可得。
或時示一二，乃至無量身，
普現十方剎，其實無二種。
譬如淨滿月，普現一切水，
影像雖無量，本月未曾二。
如是無礙智，成就等正覺，
普現一切剎，佛體亦無二。
非一亦非二，亦復非無量，
隨其所應化，示現無量身。
佛身非過去，亦復非未來，
一念現出生，成道及涅槃。
如幻所作色，無生亦無起，
佛身亦如是，示現無有生。」
〔T10 0123〕
爾時，寶幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「佛身無有量，能示有量身，
隨其所應覩，導師如是現。
佛身無處所，充滿一切處，
如空無邊際，如是難思議。
非心所行處，心不於中起，
諸佛境界中，畢竟無生滅。
如翳眼所覩，非內亦非外，
世間見諸佛，應知亦如是。
饒益眾生故，如來出世間，
眾生見有出，而實無興世。
不可以國土，晝夜而見佛，
歲月一剎那，當知悉如是。
眾生如是說，某日佛成道，
如來得菩提，實不繫於日。
如來離分別，非世超諸數，
三世諸導師，出現皆如是。
譬如淨日輪，不與昏夜合，
而說某日夜，諸佛法如是。
三世一切劫，不與如來合，
而說三世佛，導師法如是。」
爾時，精進幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「一切諸導師，身同義亦然，
普於十方剎，隨應種種現。
汝觀牟尼尊，所作甚奇特，
充滿於法界，一切悉無餘。
佛身不在內，亦復不在外，
神力故顯現，導師法如是。
隨諸眾生類，先世所集業，
如是種種身，示現各不同。
諸佛身如是，無量不可數，
唯除大覺尊，無有能思議。
如以我難思，心業莫能取，
佛難思亦爾，非心業所現。
如剎不可思，而見淨莊嚴，
佛難思亦爾，妙相無不現。
譬如一切法，眾緣故生起，
見佛亦復然，必假眾善業。
譬如隨意珠，能滿眾生心，
諸佛法如是，悉滿一切願。
無量國土中，導師興於世，
隨其願力故，普應於十方。」
爾時，離垢幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「如來大智光，普淨諸世間，
世間既淨已，開示諸佛法。
設有人欲見，眾生數等佛，
靡不應其心，而實無來處。
以佛為境界，專念而不息，
此人得見佛，其數與心等。
成就白淨法，具足諸功德，
彼於一切智，專念心不捨。
導師為眾生，如應演說法，
隨於可化處，普現最勝身。
佛身及世間，一切皆無我，
悟此成正覺，復為眾生說。
一切人師子，無量自在力，
示現念等身，其身各不同。
世間如是身，諸佛身亦然，
了知其自性，是則說名佛。
如來普知見，明了一切法，
佛法及菩提，二俱不可得。
導師無來去，亦復無所住，
遠離諸顛倒，是名等正覺。」
爾時，星宿幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「如來無所住，普住一切剎，
一切土皆往，一切處咸見。
佛隨眾生心，普現一切身，
成道轉法輪，及以般涅槃。
諸佛不思議，誰能思議佛？
誰能見正覺？誰能現最勝？
一切法皆如，諸佛境亦然，
乃至無一法，如中有生滅。
眾生妄分別，是佛是世界；
了達法性者，無佛無世界。
如來普現前，令眾生信喜，
佛體不可得，彼亦無所見。
若能於世間，遠離一切著，
無礙心歡喜，於法得開悟。
神力之所現，即此說名佛，
三世一切時，求悉無所有。
若能如是知，心意及諸法，
一切悉知見，疾得成如來。
言語中顯示，一切佛自在，
正覺超語言，假以語言說。」
〔T10 0124〕
爾時，法幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言：
「寧可恒具受，一切世間苦，
終不遠如來，不覩自在力。
若有諸眾生，未發菩提心，
一得聞佛名，決定成菩提。
若有智慧人，一念發道心，
必成無上尊，慎莫生疑惑。
如來自在力，無量劫難遇，
若生一念信，速登無上道。
設於念念中，供養無量佛，
未知真實法，不名為供養。
若聞如是法，諸佛從此生，
雖經無量苦，不捨菩提行。
一聞大智慧，諸佛所入法，
普於法界中，成三世導師。
雖盡未來際，遍遊諸佛剎，
不求此妙法，終不成菩提。
眾生無始來，生死久流轉，
不了真實法，諸佛故興世。
諸法不可壞，亦無能壞者，
自在大光明，普示於世間。」
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：名字都叫「幢」，世界都以「妙」為稱，佛號也都叫「幢」
那時，因為佛的神力的緣故，十方各有一位大菩薩，每一位各與萬佛剎微塵數那麼多的菩薩一同，從萬佛剎微塵數的國土之外的諸多世界之中，前來到佛的處所。他們的名字是：金剛幢菩薩、堅固幢菩薩、勇猛幢菩薩、光明幢菩薩、智幢菩薩、寶幢菩薩、精進幢菩薩、離垢幢菩薩、星宿幢菩薩、法幢菩薩。
他們所從來的國土，就是：妙寶世界、妙樂世界、妙銀世界、妙金世界、妙摩尼世界、妙金剛世界、妙波頭摩世界、妙優鉢羅世界、妙栴檀世界、妙香世界。他們各自在自己的佛的處所，清淨修習梵行（清淨無染的行持），所事奉的佛是：無盡幢佛、風幢佛、解脫幢佛、威儀幢佛、明相幢佛、常幢佛、最勝幢佛、自在幢佛、梵幢佛、觀察幢佛。
這些菩薩到了佛的處所之後，頂禮佛的雙足；以佛的神力，就化現出妙寶藏師子之座，寶網覆蓋在上面，四周圍都遍滿；這些菩薩大眾，隨著各自所來的方位，各各在那座位上結跏趺坐（雙足交盤而坐）。
他們的身上全都放出百千億那由他阿僧祇（皆為極大的數目之名）那麼多的清淨光明。這無量的光，全都是從菩薩清淨如寶的心、離開種種過惡的大願所生起的，用來顯示一切諸佛自在清淨之法；以這些菩薩平等的願力，能夠普遍救護一切眾生，是一切世間所樂於見到的，見到的人不會空過，全都得到調伏。
這些菩薩大眾，全都已經成就了無量的功德。就是：普遍遊歷一切諸佛國土而沒有障礙，見到那無所依止的清淨法身；以智慧之身，現出無量的身，遍往十方承事諸佛；入於諸佛無量無邊不可思議的自在之法，安住於無量的一切智之門，以智慧的光明善能了知諸法；在諸法之中得到無所畏懼，隨著所演說的，窮盡未來的邊際；辯才無有窮盡，以大智慧開啟總持（能總攝憶持一切法而不失）之門，慧眼清淨而入於深廣的法界，智慧的境界沒有邊際，究竟清淨得像虛空一樣。
就像這個世界的兜率天宮，有菩薩大眾這樣前來聚集那樣；十方一切的兜率天宮，也全都有這樣名號的菩薩前來集會，所從來的國土、諸佛的名號，也全都相等而沒有差別。
世尊從兩膝輪放光：彼此互見，往昔與毘盧遮那同種善根
那時，世尊從兩個膝輪之處，放出百千億那由他道光明，普遍照亮十方窮盡法界、虛空界的一切世界。那邊的諸位菩薩，全都見到了這裡佛的神變之相；這裡的諸位菩薩，也見到了那邊一切如來的神變之相。
這些菩薩全都與毘盧遮那如來，在往昔的時候，一同種下善根，修習菩薩之行；全都已經悟入諸佛自在甚深的解脫，得到沒有差別的法界之身，入於一切國土而無所住著；見到無量的佛，全都前往承事；在一念之中，周行整個法界，自在而沒有障礙；心意清淨，就像無價的寶；無量無數的諸佛如來，常常加以護念，一同給與他們力量，到達究竟第一的彼岸；恆常以清淨的念安住於無上的覺，念念恆常入於一切智之處；以小入大，以大入小，全都得到自在，通達而無障礙；已經得到佛身，與佛同住；獲得一切智，並從一切智而生出他們的身；一切如來所行走的地方，全都能夠隨之而入；開啟闡明無量的智慧法門，到達金剛幢那樣的大智彼岸，獲得金剛之定，斷除種種疑惑；已經得到諸佛自在的神通，普遍在一切十方國土之中，教化調伏百千萬億無數的眾生；對於一切的數，雖然無所執著，卻善能修學，成就究竟，以方便安立一切諸法。
像這樣百千億那由他不可說那麼多、無盡清淨、通於三世、一切無量功德之藏的諸位菩薩大眾，全都前來集會，在佛的處所；因為光明所照見的一切佛的處所，也全都是這樣。
金剛幢菩薩十偈：如來不出世，亦無有涅槃
那時，金剛幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「如來並沒有出現於世，也沒有入於涅槃；只是以他本來的大願之力，示現這自在之法。
「這個法難以思量議論，不是心所能行到的地方；要智慧到了彼岸，才見得到諸佛的境界。
「色身不是佛，音聲也是這樣；但也不是離開色與聲，另外能見到佛的神通之力。
「智慧微少的人不能知道諸佛真實的境界；長久修習清淨之業的人，對這件事才能夠了達。
「正覺沒有一個來處，去的時候也沒有一個所從；那清淨微妙的色身，是因為神力的緣故而顯現的。
「在無量的世界之中，示現如來的身，廣泛地宣說微妙之法，而他的心無所執著。
「智慧沒有邊際，了達一切諸法，普遍入於法界，示現自在之力。
「眾生以及諸法，他都了達而沒有障礙；普遍現出種種色像，遍佈於一切佛剎。
「想要求得一切智、迅速成就無上覺的人，應當以清淨微妙的心，修習菩提之行。
「若有人見到如來這樣的威神之力，就應當對這位最勝的世尊供養，不要生起疑惑。」
堅固幢菩薩十偈：出過言語道，清淨如虛空
那時，堅固幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「如來殊勝而沒有能相比的，甚深而不可宣說；他超出了言語之道，清淨得像虛空一樣。
「你看那位人中的師子，他自在的神通之力：他自己已經離開了分別，卻能使人在分別之中見到他。
「導師為眾生開示演說甚深微妙之法；因為這個因緣的緣故，才現出這無可比擬的身。
「這是大智慧，是諸佛所行的地方；若想要了知這件事的人，應當常常親近佛。
「意業常常清淨，供養諸位如來，始終沒有疲厭之心，這樣就能夠入於佛道。
「具足無盡的功德，堅固安住於菩提心；因為這樣，疑惑之網就除去了，觀佛而沒有滿足。
「通達一切諸法，這才是真正的佛子；這樣的人能夠了知諸佛自在之力。
「廣大的智慧所宣說的：欲（希求之心）是諸法的根本；所以應當生起殊勝的希望，立志求取無上的覺。
「若有人尊敬佛，念念想著報答佛的恩德，這個人終究不會離開一切諸佛的安住之處。
「哪有一個有智慧的人，對於佛已經得以見到、聽聞，卻不修習清淨的願、不履行佛所行的道呢？」
勇猛幢菩薩十偈：淨心亦復然，佛力見如來
那時，勇猛幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「譬如明淨的眼睛，藉著日光而看見種種色；清淨的心也是這樣，藉著佛的力量而見到如來。
「就像憑著精進之力，能夠窮盡大海的源底；智慧之力也是這樣，能夠得見無量的佛。
「譬如良好肥沃的田地，所種下的必定滋長；這樣的清淨心地，也能出生諸佛之法。
「就像人獲得寶藏，永遠離開貧窮之苦；菩薩得到佛法，也就離開垢染而心得清淨。
「譬如伽陀藥（能消眾毒之藥），能夠消除一切的毒；佛法也是這樣，能滅除種種煩惱之患。
「真實的善知識，是如來所稱讚的；因為那善知識威神的緣故，才得以聽聞諸佛之法。
「縱使在無數劫之中，把財寶布施給佛，若不知道佛的實相，這也不叫作布施。
「無量的種種色相，莊嚴著佛的身；但並不是在那色相之中，就能夠見到佛。
「如來等正覺，寂然而恆常不動，卻能夠普遍現出身來，遍滿十方世界。
「譬如虛空界，不生起也不滅去；諸佛之法也是這樣，畢竟沒有生滅。」
光明幢菩薩十偈：一佛身，普現一切佛
那時，光明幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「人間以及天上的一切諸多世界，都普遍見到如來清淨微妙的色身。
「譬如一個心的力量，能夠生出種種的心；這樣，一個佛身，也普遍現出一切的佛。
「菩提沒有二法，也沒有種種相；卻在二法之中，現出有相的莊嚴之身。
「了達法性本是空寂，如同幻化而生起；他所行的沒有窮盡，導師就是這樣示現的。
「三世一切佛，法身全都清淨；隨著眾生所應受的教化，普遍現出微妙的色身。
「如來並不起念說：我要作這樣的身；他是自然而然地示現，未曾生起分別。
「法界沒有差別，也沒有所依止；卻在世間之中，示現無量的身。
「佛身不是變化，也不是非變化；在沒有變化之法之中，示現有變化的形。
「正覺不可測量，與法界、虛空相等；深廣而沒有涯底，言語之道全都斷絕。
「如來善能通達，在一切處所行道；法界、種種國土，所前往的都沒有障礙。」
智幢菩薩十偈：譬如淨滿月，普現一切水
那時，智幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「若有人能夠信受一切智沒有障礙，而修習菩提之行，他的心就不可測量。
「在一切國土之中，普遍現出無量的身；而身並不在某一個處所，也不安住於法。
「每一位如來，以神力示現的身，經過不可思議劫，用算數也不能窮盡。
「三世的眾生，都還可以知道他們的數目；如來所示現的，那數目卻不可得。
「有時示現一身、二身，乃至無量的身；普遍現於十方佛剎，而其實並沒有二種。
「譬如清淨的滿月，普遍現在一切水中；影像雖然無量，本來的月亮未曾有二。
「這樣無障礙的智，成就了等正覺；普遍現於一切佛剎，而佛的體也沒有二。
「不是一，也不是二，也不是無量；隨著眾生所應受的教化，示現無量的身。
「佛身不是過去，也不是未來；在一念之中現出出生、成道以及涅槃。
「就像幻術所作出的色，沒有生也沒有起；佛身也是這樣，示現而其實沒有生。」
寶幢菩薩十偈：如來得菩提，實不繫於日
那時，寶幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「佛身沒有限量，卻能示現有限量的身；隨著眾生所應見到的，導師就這樣示現。
「佛身沒有處所，卻充滿一切處所；像虛空一樣沒有邊際，這樣難以思量議論。
「不是心所能行到的地方，心也不在其中生起；諸佛的境界之中，畢竟沒有生滅。
「就像有翳的眼睛所看見的（空華之類），既不在內也不在外；世間見到諸佛，應當知道也是這樣。
「為了饒益眾生的緣故，如來出現於世間；眾生見到有一個出現，而其實並沒有興起於世。
「不可以用國土、用晝夜來見佛；年歲、月份乃至一剎那，應當知道全都是這樣。
「眾生這樣說：某一天佛成道了；如來得到菩提，其實並不繫屬於某一日。
「如來離開分別，不屬於世間而超出種種數；三世的諸位導師，出現於世全都是這樣。
「譬如清淨的日輪，不與昏夜相合；而人卻說某日、某夜，諸佛之法也是這樣。
「三世的一切劫，不與如來相合；而人卻說三世之佛，導師之法就是這樣。」
精進幢菩薩十偈：一切諸導師，身同義亦然
那時，精進幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「一切諸位導師，身相同，義理也是這樣；普遍在十方佛剎，隨著所應而種種示現。
「你看那位牟尼世尊，他所作的極為奇特：充滿於整個法界，一切之處全都沒有遺餘。
「佛身不在內，也不在外；因為神力的緣故而顯現，導師之法就是這樣。
「隨著種種眾生之類，前世所積集的業，這樣種種的身，示現出來各各不同。
「諸佛之身像這樣，無量而不可數；除了大覺的世尊之外，沒有誰能夠思量議論。
「就像那個『我』難以思議、心與業都取不到它；佛的難思也是這樣，不是心、業所能現出的。
「就像佛剎不可思議，卻能見到清淨的莊嚴；佛的難思也是這樣，微妙之相沒有不現的。
「譬如一切諸法，都是眾多因緣的緣故而生起；見佛也是這樣，必定要假藉眾多的善業。
「譬如隨意寶珠，能夠滿足眾生的心願；諸佛之法也是這樣，全都滿足一切的願。
「在無量的國土之中，導師興起於世；隨著他們願力的緣故，普遍應現於十方。」
離垢幢菩薩十偈：以佛為境界，專念而不息
那時，離垢幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「如來的大智之光，普遍清淨了諸多世間；世間既已清淨之後，就為他們開示諸佛之法。
「假設有人想要見到與眾生數目相等那麼多的佛，沒有不順應他的心的，而其實並沒有一個來處。
「以佛作為所緣的境界，專一憶念而不停息；這個人就得以見佛，所見的數目與他的心相等。
「成就潔白清淨之法，具足種種功德；他對於一切智，專一憶念而心不捨離。
「導師為眾生，隨其所應而演說法；隨著可以受教化的地方，普遍現出最勝的身。
「佛身以及世間，一切都沒有我；悟到這件事就成正覺，再為眾生宣說。
「一切人中的師子，有無量自在之力；示現與眾生之念相等那麼多的身，那些身各各不同。
「世間就是這樣的身，諸佛之身也是這樣；了知它們的自性，這才叫作佛。
「如來普遍知見，明了一切諸法；佛法以及菩提，二者都不可得。
「導師沒有來、沒有去，也沒有所住；遠離種種顛倒，這才叫作等正覺。」
星宿幢菩薩十偈：諸佛不思議，誰能思議佛
那時，星宿幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「如來沒有所住，卻普遍安住於一切佛剎；一切國土都前往，一切處所都見得到。
「佛隨著眾生的心，普遍現出一切的身：成道、轉法輪，以及入於般涅槃。
「諸佛不可思議，誰能夠思議佛？誰能夠見到正覺？誰能夠現出最勝者？
「一切法都是如，諸佛的境界也是這樣；乃至沒有一個法，是在如之中有生有滅的。
「眾生虛妄地分別：這是佛、這是世界；了達法性的人，則沒有佛、也沒有世界。
「如來普遍現在眾生面前，令眾生生信而歡喜；而佛的體不可得，他們也並沒有見到什麼。
「若能夠對於世間遠離一切執著，以無障礙的心而歡喜，就能於法得到開悟。
「神力之所現出的，就把這個叫作佛；三世一切時中去求，全都無所有。
「若能夠這樣了知心、意以及諸法，一切都能知見，就迅速得以成就如來。
「在言語之中顯示一切佛的自在；正覺本是超出言語的，只是假藉言語來宣說。」
法幢菩薩十偈：寧可恒具受，一切世間苦
那時，法幢菩薩承著佛的神力，普遍觀察十方而說出偈頌：
「寧可恆常具足領受一切世間之苦，終究不願遠離如來、見不到他的自在之力。
「若有諸位眾生還沒有發起菩提心，一旦得以聽聞佛的名號，就決定成就菩提。
「若有有智慧的人，在一念之間發起求道之心，必定成就無上的世尊，千萬不要生起疑惑。
「如來的自在之力，經無量劫也難以值遇；若能生起一念的信，就迅速登上無上之道。
「縱使在念念之中供養無量的佛，若不知道真實之法，那還不叫作供養。
「若聽聞這樣的法——諸佛就是從這裡出生的——即使歷經無量的苦，也不會捨棄菩提之行。
「一旦聽聞這大智慧、諸佛所入之法，就能普遍在法界之中，成為三世的導師。
「即使窮盡未來際，遍遊諸佛的佛剎，若不求這微妙之法，終究不能成就菩提。
「眾生從無始以來，在生死之中長久流轉，不能了知真實之法，諸佛因此而興起於世。
「諸法不可破壞，也沒有能破壞它的；自在的大光明，普遍顯示於世間。」
Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions Gather Like Clouds: Their Names Are All “Banner,” the Worlds Are All Called “Wondrous,” and the Buddha-Titles Too Are All “Banner”
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 ten thousand buddha-lands, came to where the Buddha was, from the many worlds that lie beyond lands as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands. Their names were these: the bodhisattva Vajra Banner, the bodhisattva Firm Banner, the bodhisattva Valiant Banner, the bodhisattva Light Banner, the bodhisattva Wisdom Banner, the bodhisattva Jewel Banner, the bodhisattva Vigor Banner, the bodhisattva Stainless Banner, the bodhisattva Constellation Banner, the bodhisattva Dharma Banner.
The lands they had come from were these: the world Wondrous Jewel, the world Wondrous Joy, the world Wondrous Silver, the world Wondrous Gold, the world Wondrous Maṇi, the world Wondrous Vajra, the world Wondrous Padma, the world Wondrous Utpala, the world Wondrous Sandalwood, the world Wondrous Fragrance. Each of them, in the presence of his own buddha, purely cultivated the brahma-conduct (conduct that is pure and undefiled), and the buddhas they served were these: the Buddha Inexhaustible Banner, the Buddha Wind Banner, the Buddha Liberation Banner, the Buddha Deportment Banner, the Buddha Bright-Mark Banner, the Buddha Constant Banner, the Buddha Most Excellent Banner, the Buddha Sovereign Banner, the Buddha Brahmā Banner, the Buddha Contemplation Banner.
When these bodhisattvas had come to where the Buddha was, they bowed their heads to the Buddha's two feet; and by the Buddha's spiritual power there was conjured up a lion throne of the treasury of wondrous jewels, with a net of jewels spread over it above, filling everywhere all around; and this multitude of bodhisattvas, each following the quarter from which he had come, sat down upon those thrones with legs crossed (sitting with the two feet folded one upon the other).
From their bodies they all sent forth pure light-rays as many as a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of asaṃkhyeyas (all of these being names of exceedingly great numbers). All this measureless light arose from the bodhisattvas' minds pure as jewels and from their great vows that leave every sort of fault behind, and it served to display the pure dharma of the sovereign freedom of all buddhas; by the equal power of these bodhisattvas' vows it was able to rescue and guard all sentient beings everywhere, and it was what all the world delights to see, and those who saw it did not see it in vain, but were all brought to discipline.
This multitude of bodhisattvas had all accomplished measureless merit. Namely: they journeyed everywhere through all the buddha-lands without obstruction, and saw that pure dharma-body which rests upon nothing; with a body of wisdom they manifested measureless bodies, going throughout the ten directions to serve the buddhas; they entered into the measureless, boundless, inconceivable dharma of the sovereign freedom of the buddhas, and abided in the measureless gates of omniscience, and with the light of wisdom they were well able to understand all dharmas; among all dharmas they gained fearlessness, and according to what they expounded they reached to the very limit of the future; their eloquence was without end, and with great wisdom they opened the gate of retention (the ability to gather up and hold all dharmas without losing them), their eye of wisdom pure and entering into the deep and vast Dharma realm, the realm of their wisdom without bound, ultimately pure as empty space.
Just as in this world there was in the palace of the Tuṣita Heaven a multitude of bodhisattvas that came and gathered in this way, so too in all the palaces of the Tuṣita Heaven in the ten directions there were bodhisattvas of just these names who came and assembled, and the lands they had come from and the titles of the buddhas were likewise all equal and without difference.
The World-Honored One Emits Light from the Wheels of His Two Knees: They See One Another, and in Ages Past They Planted Roots of Goodness Together with Vairocana
At that time the World-Honored One sent forth from the place of the wheels of his two knees a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of rays of light, illumining everywhere all the worlds of the ten directions to the very limit of the Dharma realm and the realm of empty space. The bodhisattvas over there all saw the marks of the spiritual transformation of the Buddha here; and the bodhisattvas here likewise saw the marks of the spiritual transformation of all the tathāgatas over there.
These bodhisattvas had all, in ages past, planted roots of goodness together with the Tathāgata Vairocana and cultivated the practice of a bodhisattva; they had all already awakened into the sovereign and profound liberation of the buddhas, and had gained the body of the Dharma realm in which there is no difference, and entered into all lands with no dwelling anywhere; they saw measureless buddhas and went to serve them all; within a single thought they moved throughout the entire Dharma realm, sovereign and unobstructed; their thought was pure, like a jewel beyond price; measureless, numberless buddhas, tathāgatas, constantly guarded and were mindful of them and together conferred power upon them, so that they reached the ultimate and foremost other shore; they constantly abided with pure recollection in the unsurpassed awakening, and thought after thought constantly entered into the place of omniscience; entering the great with the small and the small with the great, they gained sovereign freedom in all of it, penetrating without obstruction; they had already gained the buddha-body and dwelt together with the buddhas; they had obtained omniscience, and from omniscience their bodies were born; wherever all the tathāgatas walked, they were all able to enter in after them; they opened and made clear measureless gates of wisdom, and reached the other shore of the great wisdom that is like a vajra banner, and obtained the samādhi of the vajra, cutting off every sort of doubt; they had already gained the sovereign spiritual penetrations of the buddhas, and everywhere throughout all the lands of the ten directions they taught and disciplined a hundred thousand koṭis of myriads of numberless sentient beings; toward all numbers, although they clung to nothing, they were well able to train in them and to accomplish them ultimately, establishing all dharmas by skillful means.
Such was this multitude of bodhisattvas — as many as a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of things that cannot be spoken, inexhaustibly pure, running through the three times, a treasury of all measureless merit — and they all came and assembled where the Buddha was; and in all the places of the buddhas that the light shone upon and revealed, it was likewise entirely thus.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Vajra Banner: The Tathāgata Does Not Appear in the World, Nor Is There Any Nirvāṇa
At that time the bodhisattva Vajra Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“The Tathāgata has not appeared in the world, nor has he entered nirvāṇa; it is only by the power of his original great vow that he manifests this dharma of sovereign freedom.
“This dharma is hard to conceive of and to discuss, and it is not a place the mind can reach; only when wisdom has gone to the other shore can one see the realm of the buddhas.
“The body of form is not the Buddha, and with sound it is likewise; yet neither is it apart from form and sound that one could otherwise see the Buddha's power of spiritual penetration.
“Those whose wisdom is slight cannot know the true realm of the buddhas; those who have long cultivated pure karma are able to understand this matter thoroughly.
“The perfect awakening has no place it comes from, and when it goes there is nothing it goes from; that pure and subtle body of form appears because of his spiritual power.
“Within measureless worlds he manifests the body of the Tathāgata and expounds the subtle dharma at large, and yet his mind clings to nothing.
“His wisdom is without bound; he understands all dharmas thoroughly, enters everywhere into the Dharma realm, and manifests the power of sovereign freedom.
“Sentient beings and all dharmas alike he understands thoroughly and without obstruction; he manifests everywhere every sort of form and image, spread through all the buddha-lands.
“One who wishes to seek omniscience and swiftly to accomplish the unsurpassed awakening should, with a pure and subtle mind, cultivate the practice of awakening.
“If there be one who sees such awesome spiritual power of the Tathāgata, he should then make offerings to this most excellent World-Honored One and give rise to no doubt.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Firm Banner: He Passes Beyond the Path of Words, Pure as Empty Space
At that time the bodhisattva Firm Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“The Tathāgata is excellent beyond compare, so profound that he cannot be told; he has passed beyond the path of words, pure as empty space.
“Look upon that lion among men and his power of sovereign spiritual penetration: he himself has already left discrimination behind, and yet he can let others see him within their discriminating.
“The Guide, for the sake of sentient beings, opens up and expounds the profound and subtle dharma; it is because of this cause and condition that he manifests this body beyond compare.
“This is the great wisdom, the place where the buddhas walk; one who wishes to understand this matter should constantly draw near to the Buddha.
“Let the karma of the mind be constantly pure, making offerings to the tathāgatas, and from first to last let there be no mind of weariness — thus one is able to enter the path of the Buddha.
“Furnished with inexhaustible merit, abiding firmly in the mind of awakening — because of this the net of doubt is removed, and one gazes upon the Buddha without ever being sated.
“Penetrating all dharmas thoroughly — this is what it is to be a true son of the Buddha; such a one is able to understand the power of the sovereign freedom of the buddhas.
“What the vast wisdom expounds is this: desire (the mind that seeks and hopes) is the root of all dharmas; therefore one should give rise to an excellent hope, and set one's will upon seeking the unsurpassed awakening.
“If there be one who reveres the Buddha and thought after thought is mindful of repaying the Buddha's kindness, this person will in the end never depart from the place where all the buddhas abide.
“Where is there a man of wisdom who, having gained the sight and hearing of the Buddha, would not cultivate the pure vow nor tread the path that the Buddha treads?”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Valiant Banner: So Too Is the Pure Mind — by the Buddha's Power One Sees the Tathāgata
At that time the bodhisattva Valiant Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“Just as a bright and clear eye, by the light of the sun, sees every sort of form, so too is the pure mind: by the Buddha's power it sees the Tathāgata.
“Just as by the power of vigor one can exhaust the very source and bottom of the great sea, so too is the power of wisdom: it is able to see measureless buddhas.
“Just as in a good and fertile field what is sown must surely grow, so too can such a pure mind-ground bring forth the dharma of the buddhas.
“Just as a man who obtains a treasury of jewels is forever parted from the suffering of poverty, so too the bodhisattva who gains the Buddha's dharma is parted from defilement and his mind becomes pure.
“Just as the agada medicine (a fine medicine able to neutralize every poison) can neutralize every poison, so too is the Buddha's dharma: it is able to extinguish every trouble of the afflictions.
“The true and real good friend is one whom the Tathāgata praises; and it is because of that good friend's awesome spirit that one gains the hearing of the dharma of the buddhas.
“Though for numberless kalpas one were to give wealth and jewels to the Buddha, if one does not know the Buddha's true mark, this is still not called giving.
“Measureless forms of every sort adorn the body of the Buddha; yet it is not within those forms that one is able to see the Buddha.
“The Tathāgata, the perfectly awakened one, is still and constantly unmoving, and yet he is able to manifest his body everywhere, filling the worlds of the ten directions.
“Just as the realm of empty space neither arises nor perishes, so too is the dharma of the buddhas: ultimately there is no arising and no perishing.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Light Banner: One Buddha-Body Manifests Everywhere All Buddhas
At that time the bodhisattva Light Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“In all the many worlds, among humans and in the heavens above, everywhere they see the Tathāgata's pure and subtle body of form.
“Just as the power of one mind is able to bring forth every sort of mind, so too does one buddha-body manifest everywhere all buddhas.
“Awakening has no second dharma, nor has it any sort of mark; and yet within the two dharmas he manifests an adorned body that has marks.
“Understanding thoroughly that the nature of dharmas is from the first empty and still, and that it arises as an illusion arises — what he practices is without end, and thus does the Guide manifest.
“The dharma-bodies of all the buddhas of the three times are wholly pure; according to what sentient beings ought to be taught by, he manifests everywhere his subtle body of form.
“The Tathāgata does not give rise to the thought: I shall make a body such as this; it is of itself and spontaneously that he manifests, and he has never given rise to discrimination.
“The Dharma realm is without difference and has nothing it rests upon; and yet within the world he manifests measureless bodies.
“The buddha-body is not a transformation, nor is it a non-transformation; within the dharma that is without transformation he manifests a form that has transformation.
“The perfect awakening cannot be measured; it is equal to the Dharma realm and to empty space; deep and vast, it has no shore or bottom, and the path of words is wholly cut off.
“The Tathāgata is well able to penetrate through and to walk the path in every place; the Dharma realm and every sort of land — wherever he goes there is no obstruction.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Wisdom Banner: Just as the Pure Full Moon Appears Everywhere in All Waters
At that time the bodhisattva Wisdom Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“If there be one who can believe and accept that omniscience is without obstruction, and who cultivates the practice of awakening, his mind cannot be measured.
“Within all the lands he manifests everywhere measureless bodies; and yet the body is not in any place, nor does it abide in any dharma.
“Of every single tathāgata, the bodies manifested by spiritual power, through inconceivable kalpas, cannot be exhausted by reckoning and counting.
“The sentient beings of the three times — their number may still be known; but what the Tathāgata manifests — that number cannot be got at.
“At times he manifests one body, or two, or on to measureless bodies; he manifests everywhere in the buddha-lands of the ten directions, and yet in truth there are not two.
“Just as the pure full moon appears everywhere in all the waters — though the images are measureless, the moon itself has never been two.
“So too this unobstructed wisdom accomplished the right and perfect awakening; it manifests everywhere in all the buddha-lands, and yet the substance of the Buddha too is not two.
“It is not one, nor is it two, nor is it measureless; according to what sentient beings ought to be taught by, he manifests measureless bodies.
“The buddha-body is not past, nor is it future; within a single thought it manifests birth, the attaining of the path, and nirvāṇa.
“Just as the forms made by an illusionist have no birth and no arising, so too is the buddha-body: it manifests, and yet in truth there is no birth.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Jewel Banner: The Tathāgata's Attaining of Awakening Is Truly Not Tied to a Day
At that time the bodhisattva Jewel Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“The buddha-body has no measure, and yet it can manifest a body that has measure; according to what sentient beings ought to see, thus does the Guide manifest.
“The buddha-body has no place, and yet it fills every place; like empty space it has no bound, and thus it is hard to conceive of and to discuss.
“It is not a place the mind can reach, nor does the mind arise within it; within the realm of the buddhas there is ultimately no arising and no perishing.
“Just as what an eye with cataract sees (such things as flowers in the sky) is neither within nor without, so too, when the world sees the buddhas, one should know that it is likewise.
“It is for the sake of benefiting sentient beings that the Tathāgata appears in the world; sentient beings see that there is an appearing, and yet in truth there is no arising in the world.
“One may not see the Buddha by lands, nor by day and night; the year, the month, and on to a single kṣaṇa — one should know that all of them are likewise.
“Sentient beings speak in this way: on such a day the Buddha attained the path; but the Tathāgata's attaining of awakening is truly not tied to any one day.
“The Tathāgata has left discrimination behind; he does not belong to the world and passes beyond every sort of number; and the Guides of the three times, in their appearing in the world, are all of them thus.
“Just as the pure orb of the sun is not joined with the darkness of night, and yet men say a certain day and a certain night, so too is the dharma of the buddhas.
“All the kalpas of the three times are not joined with the Tathāgata, and yet men speak of the buddhas of the three times: such is the dharma of the Guide.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Vigor Banner: All the Guides Are the Same in Body, and So Too in Import
At that time the bodhisattva Vigor Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“All the Guides are the same in body, and so too in import; everywhere in the buddha-lands of the ten directions they manifest in every sort of way, according to what is fitting.
“Look upon that Muni, the World-Honored One, and what he does, which is utterly extraordinary: he fills the entire Dharma realm, and in every place there is nothing left out.
“The buddha-body is not within, nor is it without; it appears because of his spiritual power: such is the dharma of the Guide.
“According to the karma amassed in former lives by the several kinds of sentient beings, bodies of these several sorts are manifested, each of them different.
“The bodies of the buddhas are thus: measureless and beyond counting; save only for the World-Honored One of great awakening, there is none able to conceive of them or discuss them.
“Just as that ‘self’ is hard to conceive of, and mind and karma cannot get hold of it, so too is the Buddha's being hard to conceive of: he is not what mind or karma can manifest.
“Just as a buddha-land is inconceivable, and yet its pure adornments are seen, so too is the Buddha's being hard to conceive of: there is no subtle mark of his that is not manifested.
“Just as all dharmas arise because of a multitude of conditions, so too is the seeing of the Buddha: it must borrow a multitude of good karma.
“Just as the wish-fulfilling jewel is able to satisfy the minds of sentient beings, so too is the dharma of the buddhas: it satisfies all vows entirely.
“Within measureless lands the Guides arise in the world; because of the power of their vows they respond everywhere in the ten directions.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Stainless Banner: Taking the Buddha as One's Object, Single-Mindedly Recollecting Without Ceasing
At that time the bodhisattva Stainless Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“The Tathāgata's light of great wisdom purifies everywhere the many worlds; and when the worlds have been purified, he then opens up and reveals to them the dharma of the buddhas.
“Suppose there were one who wished to see buddhas as many as the number of sentient beings, there is none that would not accord with his mind, and yet in truth there is no place from which they come.
“Taking the Buddha as one's object, single-mindedly recollecting without ceasing — this person gains the sight of the Buddha, and the number he sees is equal to his mind.
“Accomplishing the white and pure dharma, furnished with every sort of merit, toward omniscience he single-mindedly recollects and does not let go with his mind.
“The Guide, for the sake of sentient beings, expounds the dharma according to what is fitting; and wherever there are those who may be taught, he manifests everywhere his most excellent body.
“The buddha-body and the world, all of them are without self; awakening to this he accomplishes the perfect awakening, and again expounds it for sentient beings.
“All the lions among men have measureless power of sovereign freedom; they manifest bodies as many as the recollections of sentient beings, and those bodies are each of them different.
“The world is a body such as this, and the bodies of the buddhas too are thus; to understand their own-nature — this is what is called the Buddha.
“The Tathāgata knows and sees everywhere, and understands clearly all dharmas; and the Buddha's dharma and awakening, the two of them alike cannot be got at.
“The Guide has no coming and no going, nor has he any dwelling; far removed from every sort of inversion — this is what is called right and perfect awakening.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Constellation Banner: The Buddhas Are Inconceivable — Who Is Able to Conceive of the Buddha?
At that time the bodhisattva Constellation Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“The Tathāgata dwells nowhere, and yet he dwells everywhere in all the buddha-lands; to all the lands he goes, and in all places he is seen.
“The Buddha, according to the minds of sentient beings, manifests everywhere every sort of body: the attaining of the path, the turning of the wheel of the Dharma, and the entering into parinirvāṇa.
“The buddhas are inconceivable — who is able to conceive of the Buddha? Who is able to see the perfect awakening? Who is able to manifest the most excellent one?
“All dharmas are suchness, and the realm of the buddhas is likewise; and there is not so much as a single dharma that within suchness has arising or perishing.
“Sentient beings falsely discriminate: this is the Buddha, this is the world; but one who understands thoroughly the nature of dharmas has no Buddha and no world.
“The Tathāgata appears everywhere before sentient beings and causes them to give rise to faith and joy; and yet the substance of the Buddha cannot be got at, and they too have seen nothing.
“If one is able, toward the world, to leave every attachment behind, and with an unobstructed mind to rejoice, then one is able to gain awakening in regard to the dharma.
“What is manifested by spiritual power — this is what is called the Buddha; but seek it throughout all the times of the three times, and it is nowhere to be had.
“If one is able in this way to understand mind and mentation and all dharmas, then one knows and sees all of them, and swiftly gains the accomplishing of the Tathāgata.
“Within words are displayed all the sovereign freedoms of the Buddha; the perfect awakening is itself beyond words, and it is only by borrowing words that it is expounded.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Dharma Banner: Rather Would One Constantly and Fully Undergo All the Sufferings of Every World
At that time the bodhisattva Dharma Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses:
“Rather would one constantly and fully undergo all the sufferings of every world than in the end be far from the Tathāgata and not behold his power of sovereign freedom.
“If there be any sentient beings who have not yet given rise to the mind of awakening, once they gain the hearing of the Buddha's name, they are determined to accomplish awakening.
“If there be a man of wisdom who within a single thought gives rise to the mind that seeks the path, he will surely accomplish the unsurpassed World-Honored One; only let him give rise to no doubt.
“The Tathāgata's power of sovereign freedom is hard to meet with even through measureless kalpas; if one can give rise to a single thought of faith, one swiftly ascends the unsurpassed path.
“Though thought after thought one were to make offerings to measureless buddhas, if one does not know the true and real dharma, that is still not called making offerings.
“If one hears a dharma such as this — that the buddhas are born from just this — then though one pass through measureless suffering, one will not cast away the practice of awakening.
“Once one hears this great wisdom, the dharma into which the buddhas enter, one is able everywhere within the Dharma realm to become a Guide of the three times.
“Though one were to the very limit of the future to journey through all the buddha-lands of the buddhas, if one does not seek this subtle dharma, one will in the end not accomplish awakening.
“Sentient beings, from a beginningless beginning, have long drifted and turned within birth and death, unable to understand the true and real dharma; and it is for this that the buddhas arise in the world.
“The dharmas cannot be destroyed, nor is there any that can destroy them; the great light of sovereign freedom is displayed everywhere throughout the world.”
佛又一次坐著不說話，而這次說話的十位都叫「幢」
這一品的格局，讀過〈須彌頂上偈讚品〉〈夜摩宮中偈讚品〉的人一望而知：十方各來一位大菩薩，各帶萬佛剎微塵數眷屬；佛放光；然後十位菩薩輪流說偈，世尊自己一個字也沒說。三會三度重演同一個結構，而每一度換一組名字。第三會十位菩薩名字全帶「慧」，第四會全帶「林」，這一會全帶「幢」；世界之名，第四會全帶「慧」，這一會全以「妙」為首；佛號，第四會全帶「眼」，這一會又回到「幢」——連佛號也與菩薩同字，這是前兩會沒有的。
澄觀判這一品的來意，說前一品明的是化主赴感，這一品明的是助化讚揚，並且要顯出這一位的位體所依。他的宗趣一門說得更直：這一品以集眾、放光、偈讚為宗，而以「為說迴向」為趣——整品是下一品十迴向的引信。李通玄說得更白：這一品是為了成就十迴向之中的因果法門，所以必須來。
排一個誤讀：不要把十段偈當成十篇輪流的讚美詞。落到讀法上——這一百首偈是在你進入「十迴向」之前，把「佛」這個字裡面還能被抓住的東西，一樣一樣拿掉；而拿掉的方式與前兩會不同，這一會拿掉的是「時間」「處所」「內外」「一多」「有無」這五類抓法。
幢：三賢走到頭的那個字
十位菩薩名字末字全同，都是「幢」；十尊佛的名號末字也全同，也是「幢」。澄觀不把它讀成修辭，他列了五個理由：一是高出義，表三賢之位到了頂；二是建立義，大悲大智建立眾生與菩提；三是歸向義，大悲攝取眾生、智願攝取善法，一起歸向菩提與實際；四是摧殄義，像猛將的旗幢，降伏一切魔軍；五是滅怖畏義，像帝釋的寶幢，對惑與業不生怖畏。他並且點明：五義是總，而十位各自的別名，表的是十迴向的行體，要到偈頌處才顯。
這五義有來歷。澄觀在《演義鈔》裡自己說明：舊有七義，他省去了兩個——因為「堅固」就是「不為他壞」、依所引之經可攝在建立之中，而「他不壞」又可攝在滅怖畏之中。他還舉了《涅槃經》裡「修戒定慧如帝釋幢，不移轉故」一句作滅怖之證。這一段最值得學的不是結論，是他刪目的方式：不是嫌多，是查出兩個目彼此可攝，於是合併。
排一個誤：不要把「幢」讀成一面插在戰場上的旗子而已。落地處：十位菩薩名字裡的「幢」是位次記號——讀到這一品，就是讀到三賢（十住、十行、十迴向）的最後一段路；《演義鈔》在全品末尾也正是這樣收的，說這一段前兩會沒有、後面也沒有，因為這是三賢的最後。
十個「妙」世界與十尊「幢」佛：名字就是十迴向的目錄
十個世界的名字全以「妙」為首：妙寶、妙樂、妙銀、妙金、妙摩尼、妙金剛、妙波頭摩、妙優鉢羅、妙栴檀、妙香。澄觀說何以皆稱妙——迴向之力雖微，善卻彌滿於法界；而這十個別名，表的正是十迴向所修的法門。他逐一配下去：救護眾生離眾生相最為可貴，所以是妙寶；得不壞信、常為樂因，所以是妙樂；等佛白淨，所以是妙銀；如金遍至諸色像，所以是妙金；出用無盡如摩尼；善根堅固如金剛；隨順眾生而不染塵；真如之因如水中生華，最為殊勝；如白栴檀能去熱惱之縛著；如香氣能普遍周遍——他並在最後繫到下文彌勒座前燒一丸香而香雲彌滿法界之事。
十尊佛的別名也一樣是目錄，只是配的是智與果。澄觀說佛號同名幢，義理與菩薩不異；別名則表所修的十向之智，也表當位之果：救護之心不可窮盡，所以成無盡幢佛；如空中之風，不住也不壞，所以是風幢佛；等同佛之解脫，所以是解脫幢佛；四威儀中無所不至，所以是威儀幢佛；明了功德之相，所以是明相幢佛；常能隨順善根，所以是常幢佛；隨順眾生而善為最勝，所以是最勝幢佛；同於真如而得自在，所以是自在幢佛；淨而無垢染、不被縛著，所以是梵幢佛；觀察就是入法界，所以是觀察幢佛。
李通玄走的是另一條軌。他把十位菩薩逐一配十波羅蜜：金剛幢是檀（布施），堅固幢是戒，勇猛幢是忍，光明幢是精進，智幢是定，寶幢是以大悲大智善施教網、名為寶幢，精進幢是第七方便行，離垢幢（他牒作「無垢幢」）是第八願波羅蜜，星宿幢是力波羅蜜、如星宿大小皆明而善知眾根，法幢是智波羅蜜。他還說了一句很好記的話：世間以土地山河為世界，有智的人以智德妙用為世界。
排一個誤：不要把這三十個名號當成三十件要背的東西。落地處：這三組名字是這一品的目次——你若讀完十段偈仍覺得散，回頭把名字排一次，就會看見十段各對著十向的一門。至於澄觀所配與李通玄所配並不相同，這是古德異說，並錄不判。
座體只說「妙寶」，光放在膝輪上
三會的座體不一樣，澄觀把它排成一條線：十住位以慧光遍照，所以座體是毘盧遮那藏；十行位以行淨離垢，所以座體是摩尼藏；到了十迴向位，大悲處於生死、普該萬法而不拘於一，所以座體只直說「妙寶」，不限定顏色種類——因為教與行遍周而籠攝眾生，就像那寶網彌覆在座上一樣。經文此處作「化作妙寶藏師子之座，寶網彌覆，周匝遍滿」，一字未多，而澄觀從「不限色類」四字上讀出了位次。
放光的地方也換了。第四會佛從兩足上放光，這一會經文作「從兩膝輪」。澄觀給了三個理由：位漸高，所以放光之處也漸高；膝有屈申進趣之相，正表迴因向果；又悲與智互相引導，屈申而無所住。法藏於六十本同處說「兩膝放者，過前足指，表行漸勝」；智儼說膝是表進的方便之相。李通玄則把五個位次的放光處排成一條線：十信在足下輪中、十住在足指端、十行在足趺、十迴向在膝上、十地在眉間——他讀出的是同一件事，位次在昇進。
排一個誤：不要去想那道光有多亮、膝蓋在什麼姿勢。落地處：這一品裡光的作用是讓『彼此互見』成為看得見的事——經文緊接著就說，那邊的菩薩見到這裡的神變，這裡的菩薩見到那邊的神變。若沒有這一照，後面十位說「普觀十方」就只是一句斷言。
二十句十對，與「數」字裡的真俗鎔融
放光分的末段，經文用二十句話讚這些菩薩的德。澄觀把這二十句束成十對：離障成身、入剎近佛、用速心淨、外護內證、能覺所覺、用廣證深、得智生身、行深解廣、智極定深、得通立法。第九對他特別點出：這一位之中所顯的正是「金剛幢」這個名字——金剛定就是菩提智。也就是說，會主的名字不是從外面安上去的，是從這二十句德裡長出來的。
第十對「得通立法」牽出全品最密的一段。經文說這些菩薩「於一切數，雖無所著，善能修學，成就究竟」。澄觀先分「數」有兩種：一是數量之數，二是凡色心有為都叫作數。他說這裡兩義都有——因為不執著一與多，所以能建立一切；因為不執著於有，所以能安立。接著他寫下這一品最被引用的一段話：世俗幻有之相，相本自空；勝義真空之理，理常自有。有是「空有」而非「常有」，所以這個有未曾不空；空是「有空」而非「斷空」，所以這個空何嘗不有。有空與空有，體是一個而名字不同；因為名字不同，所以真俗互相乖違而迢然不雜；因為體是一個，所以空有相順而冥然不二。
排一個誤：這不是在玩『空即是有、有即是空』的繞口令。澄觀最後一句才是要害——菩薩的智契入了它的源頭，所以雖然逈然絕待、無所寄託，卻仍然善於修習安立。落地處：迴向這一位的難處正在此——要一面知道無所得，一面仍把善根一件件安立起來迴向出去；讀懂這一段，下一品那些「願一切眾生」才不會讀成濫情。
金剛幢菩薩十偈：金剛不是只用來喻智慧
會主是金剛幢。澄觀說這名字含總含別：總的說，迴向不出悲與智二事。金剛者，堅而且利——就悲中之智說，二乘的實際壞不了它，這是堅；能斷難斷之惑，這是利，所以偈中說「智慧到彼岸」。就智中之悲說，愛與見動不了它，這是堅；無所不救，這是利，所以偈文遍佛剎而利生。
接著他下了一個少見的破：所以要知道金剛不是只用來譬喻智慧。攻治般若的人不得此意，光看名字，就單把金剛拿去喻般若，不去看經文裡悲濟九類眾生而實無所度——悲與智互相引導，才是真實的不共般若。他引經為證：金剛只從金剛處與金處生，不從別的寶處生；菩提心這個金剛也一樣，只從大悲救護眾生的金剛處、一切智智殊勝境界的金處而生。這是澄觀在本品裡唯一一次直接彈斥前人，繫屬清楚，不必轉成經文自說。
十偈他判為二分：前八讚佛勝德，後二結勸修行。前八又分三層——前五是寂而常用，第六是用而常寂，後二是無礙自在；而前五之中再分三：前二說無生滅而示現生滅，次二說非色聲而現色聲，後一說無來去而示來去。
逐首看。第一首是全品最狠的開場：如來並沒有出世，也沒有涅槃，只是以本願之力示現這自在之法——先把佛傳的兩端（降生與滅度）一起拿掉。第二首寄對顯深：這法難思議、不是心所行處，要智慧到彼岸才見諸佛境；澄觀說心一有心相，動就不能行，所以難思，智無智相才叫到彼岸。第三首拿掉色與聲：色身不是佛，音聲也一樣；但也不離色聲而見佛的神通力——「亦不離」三字是這一首的活口。第四首說少智不能知，久修清淨業才能了；澄觀說少智是指權小，久修是指圓機。第五首拿掉來去：正覺無來處、去也無所從，清淨妙色身是神力故顯現；澄觀說覺處即現、不從何方而來，迷處自無、不從此處而去。第六首轉入用：無量世界中示現如來身、廣說微妙法，而其心無所著。第七、第八兩首是無礙自在：一首說智慧無邊際、了達一切法而普入法界，一首說眾生及諸法了達皆無礙而普現眾色像遍一切剎；澄觀說前者是了事理無礙而起用自在，後者是了生法無礙而起用自在。後二首結勸：第九首勸修智進行——欲求一切智、速成無上覺，應以淨妙心修菩提行；第十首勸修福斷疑——若見如來這樣的威神力，就當供養最勝尊而勿生疑。
排一個誤：第一首不是說釋迦沒有出生過。落地處：整品的讀法在這裡定調——凡是你能指著說『這就是佛』的東西（出世、涅槃、色、聲、來、去），這十段都要一件件拿掉；而拿掉之後不是沒有，是「示現自在法」。
堅固幢菩薩十偈：把「想修」這件事拆成五樣東西
第二位是堅固幢。澄觀說這名字有三重理由：表不壞迴向、菩提心堅固、觀佛而無厭足。他判十頌多在明『如來為眾生所依』之德，分二：前三讚佛勝德，後七勸修並辨其益。
前三首。第一首明佛體離言：如來勝無比、甚深不可說，出過言語道而清淨如虛空。第二首是無相現相：你看那人中師子的自在神通力——他自己已經離於分別，卻能令人在分別中見到他；這一句是全段的樞紐，把「佛不分別」與『眾生見到分別相』一次接上。第三首說現相的所以然：導師為開演甚深微妙法，因為這個因緣，才現此無比之身——身是為說法而現，不是為好看而現。
後七首舉修行有益，反過來顯佛德之深。第四首指德勸依：這是大智慧、諸佛所行處，若想了知就應常親近佛。第五、六、七三首示能入者，令人思齊：意業常清淨、供養如來而無疲厭，就能入佛道；具無盡功德、堅住菩提心，疑網因此而除、觀佛無厭足；通達一切法才是真佛子，這樣的人能了知諸佛自在力——每一首都是先舉行、後彰其益。
第八、九、十三首是正勸進修，而澄觀在這裡插入了教理最密的一段。他說進修略有五法：欲、精進、念、巧慧、一心。第八首明「欲」——廣大智慧所說：欲是諸法之本，所以應起勝希望、志求無上覺；他並說下二句是要揀別掉惡欲，才叫「勝希望」。第九首明「念」——若尊敬佛、念報佛恩，那人終不離一切諸佛住。第十首明「巧慧」，而且是反面說的——哪有有智慧的人，於佛已得見聞，卻不修清淨願、不履佛所行道？他說前二首是正明，這一首是反顯；至於一心與精進，就攝在「志求」二字裡。他還引慈氏論所引《醍醐喻經》的九善，說一切法以欲為根本、作意所生、觸所集起、受所引攝、以念為主、定為上首、慧為最勝、解脫為堅固、出離為後邊——有前面未必有後面，有後面就一定要有前面，所以先說欲為其本。
排一個誤：「欲為諸法本」不是叫人放縱貪欲。澄觀已經先揀過了——要的是勝希望，不是惡欲。落地處：這一段是全品裡最可以照著做的一節。你若問『我該從哪裡起手』，答案是從第一樣起手：先有想要的心，其餘的才排得上。
勇猛幢菩薩十偈：見佛是因緣和合的事
第三位是勇猛幢。澄觀說這名字取的是以淨心智力見佛盡其源底、等同一切佛，所以名勇猛。他判十頌分二：前六明感應道交、見佛聞法，後四令人捨偽求真、拂去見聞之相。前六首中，前五首都是上半譬喻、下半法合。
前二首說見佛。第一首是全段的骨：譬如明淨的眼睛因日光而看見眾色，淨心也是這樣，藉佛力而見如來。澄觀把三件事各配一位：淨心如淨眼，是見的因；佛力如日，是見的緣；如來如色，是見的境。他接著舉兩個反例——人進到暗室裡什麼都看不見，這是只有因而不見；明淨的日光下瞎子仍看不見，這是只有緣而不見。所以見佛是因緣和合才能成就的事。第二首偏舉於感、以因奪緣：如以精進力能盡海之源底，智力也如是而得見無量佛。
後四首說聞法。第三首顯因能生法：譬如良沃田所種必滋長，這樣的淨心地能出生諸佛法。第四、五兩首顯得法之益，而所得不同：第四首「如人獲寶藏，永離貧窮苦」，澄觀說這是得權智、能離所知心之垢；第五首「譬如伽陀藥，能消一切毒」，他說這是有根本智、能除煩惱之患——兩首連讀，正是二智各除一障。第六首顯緣：真實善知識為如來所稱讚，因為他的威神之力，才得聞諸佛法。
後四首捨偽求真。第七首示偽令捨：縱使無數劫以財寶施佛，若不知佛的實相，這也不叫布施——住相而施故。第八首與第九首顯真佛：無量眾色相莊嚴佛身，卻不是在色相之中就能見佛；如來等正覺寂然恆不動，卻能普現身遍滿十方界——澄觀說前者是即相非相所以非色能見，後者是即寂而應所以也不可以「寂」去取他。第十首顯真法：譬如虛空界不生不滅，諸佛之法也是這樣，畢竟無生滅。
排一個誤：第七首不是說布施沒有用。澄觀點的是「住相施故」四字。落地處：把第一首與第七首合看，這一段給的是一個很實際的檢查——見不到、修不進，先問是因不足（心不淨）還是緣不足（沒遇到真善知識），而不是先問自己夠不夠虔誠。
光明幢菩薩十偈：佛身不是變化，也不是非變化
第四位是光明幢。澄觀說這名字有兩層：以大悲之力運起智慧之光，照破那重重的昏暗而無所不至；又以智慧令諸善根無所不至——所以這一段多顯如來即體而起化用、周遍普及之德。他判十頌分三：第一首明化用之廣，中間七首明化用之深，末二首雙結。
第一首說廣：人間及天上一切諸世界，都普見如來清淨妙色身——先把「處」鋪滿。
中間七首說深，而澄觀把它們再分四層。前四首雙明能依與所依：第二首總明一多無礙——譬如一心之力能生種種心，這樣一佛身也普現一切佛；澄觀說這是依一總心而變出多個心王與心所，於一實佛而應化多端，所以無礙。第三首說相與二的無礙——菩提無二法、亦無諸相，卻在二法之中現相莊嚴身；他說這是無相而現相、無二而現二。第四首顯依性而起——了法性空寂、如幻而生起，所行無有盡，導師如是現；他說起不異於性，所以如幻而無盡。第五首說從法身流出——三世一切佛法身悉清淨，隨其所應化而普現妙色身。第六首拂能化之心——如來不起念說我要作這樣的身，是自然而示現、未曾起分別；澄觀取摩尼珠為喻，說它無私而成事。第七首拂所依之體——法界無差別、亦無所依止，而於世間示現無量身；他說法界本自無差，也沒有一個定有的東西可以作為化的依止。
第八首是全段最密的一首，也是四層裡的第四層——雙融自在：佛身非變化，亦復非非化；於無化法中，示有變化形。澄觀先揀「非非化」三字：這是假借「非化」來遣「化」，不是說它就是「非化」這個東西。然後他開二門。開義門裡，真有二義：不變義——雖然在化而常自湛然，是上半句所顯；隨緣義——不守自性而無所不現，所以說「亦復非非化」。化也有二義：無體即空義——攬緣而無自性，所以說「於無化法中」；從緣幻有義，所以說「示有變化形」。融合門裡，先真化各別相合，成『亦真亦非真、非真非不真』與『亦化亦非化、非化非不化』；再真化融通，最後他收在一句：現化紛然而未嘗不寂，真性湛然而未曾不化——真與化鎔融為一個無礙清淨法界。
末二首雙結。第九首結歸於體：正覺不可量，與法界虛空相等，深廣無涯底而言語道悉絕；澄觀說等法界故深無底、等虛空故廣無涯。第十首舉因釋成：如來善通達一切處行道，法界眾國土所往皆無礙——所以法界之所以無礙，是因為智與行遍到。
排一個誤：第八首不是在繞『是也不是』的話。澄觀已經給了一個很好的比方（見於《演義鈔》）：夜裡看見木樁以為是人，智者告訴你『這不是人』，那只是否掉你心裡「人」的執，可是愚人聽了就以為那木樁是「非人」、非人就是鬼，人執雖去而鬼執又起。落地處：讀這一首時，凡是你順手接住的那個新答案，都要再放掉一次。
智幢菩薩十偈：譬如淨滿月，普現一切水
第五位是智幢。澄觀說這名字有兩重：於佛寂用之境決斷無礙，又以智導引萬行而出生無盡。他判十頌分二：第一首標章勸信，後九首是所信的勝德；後九之中第二首是總，其餘八首是別。
第一首標章：若人能信受一切智無礙而修習菩提行，他的心就不可測量——澄觀說這是信有修行之益。第二首是總：一切國土中普現無量身，而身不在處、亦不住於法；他說上半是用而無盡、下半是寂而無住，不著應現之處、不住法之體，就是本末雙寂。
別中前二首明無盡。第三首說一一如來以神力示現之身，不可思議劫算數莫能盡；第四首以校量顯之：三世諸眾生都還可以知道數目，如來所示現的其數卻不可得。澄觀點得很準——眾生可數，佛不可數。
後六首明無礙，澄觀再分三層。前四首是一異無礙，而且是『法、喻、合、釋』四步走完的：第五首是法——或時示一二乃至無量身，普現十方剎而其實無二種；第六首是喻，也是全品最著名的一喻——譬如清淨的滿月普現在一切水中，影像雖然無量，本來的月未曾有二；第七首是合——這樣的無礙智成就等正覺，普現一切剎而佛體亦無二；第八首是釋——非一亦非二、亦復非無量，隨其所應化而示現無量身。四首連著讀，是這一品裡最完整的一次論式示範。第九首是延促無礙：佛身非過去、亦復非未來，一念之中現出出生、成道及涅槃——把三世壓進一念。第十首是性相無礙：如幻所作之色無生亦無起，佛身亦如是、示現而無有生。
排一個誤：月印萬川這個喻，最容易被讀成『佛只有一個，影子有很多』。第七首自己擋住了——它說的是「佛體亦無二」，不是『真佛在天上、假佛在水裡』。第八首更把「一」也否掉：非一亦非二。落地處：你此刻所見的那一分佛，不是次等的影子，也不是唯一的正身；問『哪個才是真的』這句話本身，就是第八首要你放下的。
寶幢菩薩十偈：如來得菩提，實不繫於日
第六位是寶幢。澄觀說這名字取的是以圓淨之智照平等之理，不礙應現而隨順一切，如摩尼寶。他判十頌分二：前五總顯難思，後五逈超時數。
前五首。第一、二首正明：佛身無有量而能示有量身，隨其所應覩而導師如是現，這是超量而現量；佛身無處所而充滿一切處，如空無邊際而難思議，這是超處而遍處。第三到第五首是「展轉釋成」——澄觀用一串自問自答把它們串起來：何以難思？因為若身若處都不是生滅心所行之境（第三首）。何以不是心境？因為佛自己不起心。何以不起心？因為體無生滅。那既然如此，何以我們現在明明見到？第四首答：像有翳的眼睛所看見的，取的是自己的色分齊，別當作實有。那這樣說，難道沒有如來出現於世嗎？第五首答：那是自己的機感罷了——為饒益眾生故如來出世間，眾生見有出而其實無興於世。他並引《諸法無行經》為證：如來不出世、也不度眾生，是眾生強加分別，作出一個佛在度眾生。
後五首超時。第六首結前而標：不可以國土、晝夜而見佛，歲月一剎那當知悉如是。第七到第十首別顯超時，而澄觀在這裡完整地立了一次因明的量。第七首立宗：上半「眾生如是說，某日佛成道」是牒述妄情，下半才是正立——菩提是有法，「定不繫時」是宗法。第八首立三因：如來離分別，所以智無分別；非世，所以三世不遷；超諸數，所以體非有為之數。第九首舉同喻：譬如淨日輪不與昏夜合，而人說某日某夜。第十首合而結：三世一切劫不與如來合，而說三世佛。澄觀還特別指出第十首的合語是倒的——若順著說，應當是「一切諸如來不與三世合」。
排一個誤：這五首不是在否定佛誕、成道的紀念。第九首自己給了分寸——日輪本身不與昏夜相合，可是人照樣說某日某夜，這說法並沒有錯。落地處：紀念日是『隨映而說』，不是『佛真的繫在那一天』；懂了這個分別，就既不必廢掉紀念，也不會把紀念當成佛的本身。
精進幢菩薩十偈：身同，義也同
第七位是精進幢。澄觀說這名字取的是勤觀如來真身與應身皆同，因而能平等隨順一切眾生。他判十頌分二：第一首總標，其餘九首別釋。
第一首：一切諸導師身同、義亦然，普於十方剎隨應種種現。澄觀把「身同」與「義同」分開講。身同，是三身十身都同。義同，他說含有好幾層意思：就三身說，體、依、聚三義無不同，所覺、能覺、覺他也同；又「義」就是「所以」——之所以得名為佛，是因為正覺真智、力、無畏等無不具足，佛佛都是這樣，所以義同；又應化利樂之用無不同，他並引《攝論》「諸佛法身應知恒時能作五業」為證。就十身說，都通於三世間，彼此互望沒有差別，而所以如此有三個原因：行海齊滿、大願齊具、同一法性——不只是相似，而是一即一切互相融攝。他又順手把「普」開為二義：一約諸佛，沒有一位佛不遍十方；二約一佛，沒有一方而不現。
後九首別釋，澄觀分為前四首正釋、後五首轉釋。正釋四首：第二首釋「普於十方無餘」——你看牟尼世尊所作甚奇特，充滿於法界而一切悉無餘。第三首釋「現」——佛身不在內也不在外，神力故顯現；他說有感才現所以說非內，是神力能現所以說非外。第四首釋「隨應種種」——隨諸眾生類先世所集之業，種種身示現各不同。第五首回頭結成第一首的「身同」而顯難思——諸佛身如是、無量不可數，唯除大覺尊無有能思議；他說唯除大覺，是因為佛佛同證。
轉釋五首，澄觀說是從後往前倒著釋上面四首的。第六、七兩首釋第五首的「無能思議」：第六首以「我」為喻——如以我難思、心業莫能取，佛難思亦爾；他說妄計的「我」本來就沒有，所以不可思，這是情有而理無、非聖智之境，用來比況法身的理有而情無、非下位所能測。第七首以佛剎為喻——如剎不可思而見淨莊嚴，佛難思亦爾而妙相無不現；他說這是雖絕相難思而不礙有相。第八首釋第四首的隨業異現——譬如一切法眾緣故生起，見佛亦復然、必假眾善業。第九首釋第三首的非內非外——譬如隨意珠能滿眾生心，如珠現物，雖非內外而能滿物之心。第十首釋第二首的充滿法界——無量國土中導師興於世，隨其願力故普應於十方；他說所以能滿，是因為本願普周。
排一個誤：不要把「身同義亦然」讀成『所有佛其實是同一尊』。第一首下半已經給了另一半：隨應種種現。落地處：這一段解決的是一個很常見的疑——既然佛佛道同，為什麼各人所見的佛不一樣？第四首與第八首合起來就是答案：不同的不在佛，在先世所集之業與眾緣。
離垢幢菩薩十偈：以佛為境界，專念而不息
第八位是離垢幢。澄觀說這名字取的是真如之體本淨，能成就白淨之法，又能清淨世間。他判十頌多歎如來的淨德，分二：前六首是淨他，後四首是自淨。
前六首中，前二首總明。第一首是智淨：如來大智光普淨諸世間，世間既淨已，開示諸佛法；澄觀說妄惑既寂而真智不無，開示無我、知見性相，所以名為法。第二首是身淨：設有人欲見與眾生數目相等的佛，沒有不順應其心的，而其實無有來處；他說這是拂去應身而顯真身。
後四首是別釋，而次第是倒的——前二首釋第二偈，後二首釋第一偈。第三首正明欲見諸佛應當專於佛境：以佛為境界、專念而不息，這人得見佛，其數與心相等；澄觀說隨念而隨現，所以名「心等」，又說了知心與境即是佛的真性，迷了就不知、念了就便現。第四首轉釋「專念」何以可能：成就白淨法、具足諸功德，他對於一切智專念而心不捨——因為無漏具德，所以能專念。第五首釋「普淨世間」：導師為眾生如應演說法，隨於可化之處普現最勝身——說法與現身都能淨他。第六首釋「開示佛法」：佛身及世間一切皆無我，悟此成正覺，復為眾生說——澄觀說這是示其所悟的二無我。
後四首自淨。第七首是已淨差別之用：一切人師子有無量自在力，示現與念相等的身而其身各不同。後三首是內淨三德。第八首見性成佛、自開法身：世間如是身，諸佛身亦然，了知其自性，是則說名佛。第九首無得成佛、自開般若：如來普知見、明了一切法，而佛法及菩提二俱不可得；澄觀說佛法是所覺、菩提是能覺，能所必定相因，所以二者都不可得，而無所得的那個人才得菩提。第十首離妄成佛、自開解脫：導師無來去、亦復無所住，遠離諸顛倒，是名等正覺；他說妄倒既寂，名為真解脫。
排一個誤：第三首「其數與心等」不是說你想見幾尊就有幾尊、心想事成。第二首已經先寫死了——「而實無來處」。落地處：這一段給了一個很少見的次第——先專念、後知其無所得。不是先把「不可得」想通了再去念佛，而是念到那個『所見與心相等』的地方，才知道能所本來相因。
星宿幢菩薩十偈：誰能思議佛？
第九位是星宿幢。澄觀說這名字取的是解了佛遍應法界之身而不離於法性，就像那些星宿粲然羅列在空中而不可縛著。他判十頌分三：前三首總顯即體之應，中間六首別釋體應自在，最後一首拂去自在之迹。
前三首。第一首約處顯身之遍：如來無所住而普住一切剎，一切土皆往、一切處咸見。澄觀在這裡分了四層：就法性身說則無所住，就自受用說則無所不住、名為普住，就他受用與變化身說則有感則往、所以說一切土皆往，若就十身說則無處不是佛、所以說一切處咸見。第二首約機顯身之多：佛隨眾生心普現一切身，成道、轉法輪以及般涅槃——八相之事都由眾生感而有。第三首結歎難思，也是全段的骨：諸佛不思議，誰能思議佛？誰能見正覺？誰能現最勝？澄觀說首句是總標，下三句顯相——二句約感者不能思，思惟是就心說、見則通於心與眼，末句約應現難思，所以說「誰能現」。這三個問句，是後面六首的題目。
中間六首，澄觀說前三首順著釋、後三首反著釋。順釋三首各答一問。第四首答「誰能現」：一切法皆如，諸佛境亦然，乃至無一法於如中有生滅——現就同於如，因為無生滅。第五首答「誰能思」：眾生妄分別說這是佛、這是世界，了達法性的人則無佛無世界——起心而思，就是妄分別有依報有正報，而法性之中能所俱寂。第六首答「誰能見」：如來普現前令眾生信喜，而佛體不可得、彼亦無所見——能應是隨緣，體本自無，那能感的機究竟見到了什麼？
反釋三首，澄觀說是由『無思、無見』反過來顯出前面『有思、有見』者不了佛境。第七首是無思之思：若能於世間遠離一切著，以無礙心歡喜，就能於法得開悟——要無著無礙才行。第八首是無現之現：神力之所現，就把這個叫作佛，而三世一切時求之悉無所有——神力之現，其體本虛。第九首是無見之見：若能這樣了知心、意及諸法，一切悉知見，就疾得成如來——踏著前面的「無所有」而見，這樣稱實之見不只是見佛，還能疾成。
第十首拂迹：言語中顯示一切佛自在，正覺超語言而假以語言說。澄觀說上面講了半天自在，也還是假借言詮；正覺既然超言，所以要把言的痕跡也拂掉——而「超言」這句話本身也還是假的，應當忘言而契之。
排一個誤：第三首那三個問句不是修辭性的感嘆。它們是題目，後面六首一題一題答，答完再把答案本身拂掉。落地處：這是全品收得最徹底的一段——你若讀完覺得『我懂了佛不可思議』，第十首正是為這句話寫的。
法幢菩薩十偈：寧可受盡世間苦，不願見不到他
第十位是法幢。澄觀說這名字取的是知真實之法而普入法界，則所修之行皆無分量；又說知法即名為佛，所以這一段先讚見佛之益。他判十頌雙顯佛與法二者之難聞，分二：前四首讚佛而勸人聞見，後六首讚法而勸人聞求。
前四首。第一首是正令：寧可恆常具足領受一切世間之苦，也終究不遠離如來、不願見不到他的自在力——這是全品情感最重的一句，也是唯一一句以「寧可」立言的。後三首釋其所以，澄觀說是略舉三事。第二首是聞名之益：若有眾生未發菩提心，一得聞佛名就決定成菩提。第三首是發心之益：若有智慧人一念發道心，必成無上尊，慎莫生疑惑。第四首是生信之益：如來自在力無量劫難遇，若生一念之信，就速登無上道。澄觀把四首合起來說：既然受苦還能得聞而成就這樣的勝益，那受樂而見不到他，就免不了長久沉淪——所以應當甘於受苦而親近佛。
後六首讚法。澄觀說已經遇到良醫，還須要法藥；六首分三對，前二對各一反一順。第一對由聞實法而能成行法：第五首反——設於念念中供養無量佛，若不知真實法，不名為供養；第六首順——若聞如是法（諸佛從此而生），雖經無量苦也不捨菩提行。第二對由聞理智而成果法：第七首順——一聞這大智慧、諸佛所入之法，就普於法界中成三世導師；第八首反——雖盡未來際遍遊諸佛剎，若不求此妙法，終不成菩提。第三對以感應釋成：第九首說佛興於世的由來——眾生無始以來生死久流轉，不了真實法，諸佛因此而興世；第十首說所說之法——諸法不可壞、亦無能壞者，自在大光明普示於世間。澄觀釋末首云：不動真際而建立諸法，所以性不可壞；不壞假名而說實相，所以相不可壞——這樣則天魔外道等一切都是法印，所以無能壞。
排一個誤：第五首不是說供養佛沒有功德。校量之所以成立，正因為『念念供養無量佛』那一邊也極重。落地處：把第一首與第五首合看，這一段回答的是全品最後一個實際問題——那我到底該做什麼？答案是：靠近他，並且求那個法；只做前一件而不做後一件，第八首已經先說了結果。
為什麼這一品讀完沒有結通
前幾會的偈讚品，說完偈之後通常還有一句結通十方——說十方世界也都是這樣。這一品沒有。澄觀為此特別立了一說：所以偈後沒有結通，是為了顯出法界之中一切兜率天宮所讚之德各各不同，就像那處處的文殊、偈偈各別，正顯佛德無盡。也就是說，不結通不是漏掉，是有意讓它不齊。
法藏於六十本所釋不同。他說這偈後本來應當有結通十方世界的話，只因為前面諸位菩薩各自都說了「普觀十方」，那就已經顯現出來了，所以不再多說。二說並錄不判：一說是為顯各別而不通，一說是已通故不必再說。
《演義鈔》另補了一層位次上的理由：這後面一段，前二會沒有；而此後也例同前二會而沒有——因為這是三賢的最後。
澄觀在全品之末還留了一句總持之語：這十位菩薩的偈，應當以六相圓融來讀。《演義鈔》把六相逐一配上：總是總顯佛德，別是十種德各殊，同是同明佛德，異是十德互望不同，成是共成佛德，壞是各住自性。法藏於六十本也以六相總會「上十菩薩百偈歎佛」，並自列六句：或總為一，以融會為一法界佛；或別，以十佛百門德差別；或同，以百偈無非顯佛德；或異，以門門相別；或成，由此德而佛果緣立；或壞，各住自法本不作。二家皆以六相收此百偈，而所配之目一繁一簡，並錄不判。
排一個誤：不要因為『沒有結通』就以為經文缺了一段。落地處：讀華嚴讀到不齊之處，先照原樣記著——這一品的不齊，古德是當作義來讀的。
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——來意繫於助化讚揚並顯位體所依，釋名就十方菩薩於此宮中讚佛實德而立，宗趣以集眾放光偈讚為宗、為說迴向為趣；釋文判為集眾、放光、偈讚三分，集眾分內長分十段（總舉上首、眷屬數、來處遠近、主菩薩名、所從來剎、本所事佛、已修敬、善住威儀、放光利物、略讚勝德），末一段略讚勝德開十門；放光分四別，於膝輪立三義，其中歎眾德二十句束為十對；偈讚分判十菩薩即為十段而以十方如次配之，逐段各立釋名與偈科。其全品義理最密之處有三：放光分末「數有二種」下之真俗鎔融、金剛幢段「金剛不獨喻智」之破、光明幢段依真起化之開義與融合二門。其於堅固幢段立進修五法並引九善，於寶幢段立因明宗因喻而判「菩提是有法、定不繫時是宗法」，於星宿幢段以誰思誰見誰現三問貫六偈之順反，皆一段之綱。全品之末以六相圓融總收十段，並釋偈後無結通之意。
澄觀《演義鈔》：自釋疏語，於幢之五義指出所本七義而說明何以略去二義；為疏之十對逐句指出經文所在；於寶幢段之三因逐一作因明之量，並改作五言、七言之偈式以便誦持；於六相逐一標目；末並點出此後一段前後二會皆無，是三賢之最後。
法藏一系：於六十本〈兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品〉釋名就處、人、身業、語業四者立，釋文判為集眾、放光、歎眾、歎佛四分，與澄觀三分開合不同；以國名堅固表所依之行成而難壞，以佛與菩薩同名幢表迴向善巧因果獨出攝伏；於放光處說兩膝過於前會之足指、表行漸勝；十法門明言應以六相融攝；逐段釋名與偈科自立一系（第四作夜光幢、第九作真實幢）。其於寶幢段「非心所行處」一句設佛地有無心心法之問，而以初教、終教、頓教、圓教四門分別作答，是本品他家所無之一段。末以六相六句總會百偈，並釋偈後無結通為諸菩薩各云普觀十方故已顯現。
智儼一系：疏文最簡而十段偈科具足；釋名立處、人、身儀、口業四義，釋文判為三序；於兩膝放光說是法身行中入佛境界增長勝妙之相、膝表進之方便相；釋金剛幢為自體真實、能消殄相累、超世之道標別勝負。其最可注意者有二：一是於寶幢段自設「何故科此經文多依三乘」之問而自答「所為人三乘者多」；二是於全品之末自留一路——也可以說這十位菩薩之德歎不須別科，一一句義就是一個方便法門，這是就一乘之意而取文。
李通玄一系：三門釋品，長科一品為十一段（集眾五十二行經，其餘十段各為一菩薩之十行頌）；隨文釋義復於集眾分開十段、立十門。其軌與三家皆異者在配法——以十波羅蜜逐一配十菩薩，以十世界名表十向所修之行，以十佛名表當位之果並多取八卦方位為釋；又以十行位之「林」與十迴向位之「幢」對舉，說前者表行之覆蔭廣多、後者表大悲之行處生死大海而自智無傾動。其於星宿幢與法幢二頌合觀，說一者破著有、一者破著無，二頌相成而恐人墮於邊見。又其牒經之字與底本有異二處：離垢幢牒作無垢幢，「眾生妄分別」牒作「眾生有分別」，並錄不判。
四家所立之科段數不一（澄觀三分十段、法藏四分、智儼三序、李通玄十一段），所配之法不一（澄觀以十世界配十迴向法門、李通玄以十波羅蜜配十菩薩），逐段之釋名亦不一（第四位澄觀作光明幢而法藏作夜光幢，第九位澄觀作星宿幢而法藏作真實幢，係二本文異所致），古有異說，誌錄之，不判高下。
至於本品在他書中的承衍，據實記其少：智儼《孔目章》自列品目時作「兜率宮菩薩來說偈品第二十八」，品次與今本不同，係其自身品第異算；《華嚴經旨歸》五處提到兜率，皆是泛引兜率天或兜率天子十地之事，不是釋本品經文；《華嚴一乘十玄門》全書則零命中。本品也沒有像〈十地品〉那樣的牒經論釋。與〈夜摩宮中偈讚品〉相比，那一品出了「心如工畫師」一句而為後世廣引，這一品的百偈之中則未見同等被廣引之單句——這與本品的性質相符：它自始至終在遮，不在立一個可以被摘出來的名相。
最後說本品與前後之繫。上承〈昇兜率天宮品〉——前品是佛不離菩提樹下與須彌頂、夜摩天宮而往詣兜率天宮，這一品是十方菩薩來集而以偈讚；下接〈十迴向品〉——澄觀的宗趣一句已經把兩品扣成一事：這一品以偈讚為宗，而以為說迴向為趣。李通玄說得更直接：這一品是為了成就十迴向中的因果法門，所以必須來。十位菩薩的名字、他們所來的十個世界、他們所事的十尊佛，合起來就是下一品的目錄。
Once Again the Buddha Sits Without Speaking, and This Time the Ten Who Speak Are All Called “Banner”
Anyone who has read “Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru” and “Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Yāma Heaven” sees at a glance the shape of this chapter: from each of the ten directions comes one great bodhisattva, each bringing a retinue as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands; the Buddha emits light; then the ten bodhisattvas speak verses by turns, and the World-Honored One himself does not say a single word. Three assemblies replay the same structure three times over, and each time a different set of names is put in. In the third assembly the names of the ten bodhisattvas all carry “Wisdom”; in the fourth they all carry “Grove”; in this one they all carry “Banner.” As for the names of the worlds, in the fourth assembly they all carry “Wisdom,” and in this one they all begin with “Wondrous”; as for the titles of the buddhas, in the fourth assembly they all carry “Eye,” and in this one they return again to “Banner” — so that even the buddhas' titles share a word with the bodhisattvas', which the two preceding assemblies did not have.
Chengguan, determining the reason for this chapter's coming, says that the preceding chapter made clear the lord of the converting responding to what stimulates him, while this chapter makes clear the extolling and praising that assists the converting, and that it is further to display what the substance of this station rests upon. His gate on the tenet and the aim says it still more directly: this chapter takes the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise as its tenet, and takes “the expounding of the dedications” as its aim — the whole chapter is the fuse for the next chapter, “The Ten Dedications.” Li Tongxuan says it more plainly still: this chapter is in order to accomplish the Dharma-gate of cause and fruit within the ten dedications, and therefore it must come.
Clear away one misreading: do not take the ten segments of verse for ten hymns of praise delivered by turns. Brought down to how one reads — these hundred verses, before you enter upon “the ten dedications,” take away one thing at a time whatever can still be grasped hold of inside the word “Buddha”; and the manner of the taking away differs from that of the two preceding assemblies, for what this assembly takes away are these five sorts of grasping: “time,” “place,” “inner and outer,” “one and many,” and “being and non-being.”
Banner: The Word at Which the Three Worthy Stages Come to Their End
The last graph of the names of the ten bodhisattvas is the same in every case: “Banner”; and the last graph of the titles of the ten buddhas is likewise the same in every case, also “Banner.” Chengguan does not read this as a figure of speech; he sets out five reasons for it. The first is the sense of standing out high, betokening that the stations of the three worthy stages have reached their summit. The second is the sense of establishing, since great compassion and great wisdom establish sentient beings and awakening. The third is the sense of turning toward and going home, since great compassion gathers in sentient beings and wisdom and vow gather in what is good, and together they turn toward awakening and toward the true limit. The fourth is the sense of crushing and destroying, like the banner of a fierce general, subduing all the armies of Māra. The fifth is the sense of extinguishing fear, like the jeweled banner of Śakra, so that one gives rise to no fear of the afflictions and of karma. And he points out further: the five senses are the general, while the particular names of the ten bodhisattvas betoken the very substance of the practice of the ten dedications, which is not displayed until one reaches the verses.
These five senses have a provenance. Chengguan explains it himself in the Yanyi chao: there were formerly seven senses, and he has left two of them out — because “firm” just is “not to be destroyed by another,” which, according to the scripture he cites, can be subsumed under establishing; and “not destroyed by another” can in turn be subsumed under the extinguishing of fear. He also cites the line in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, that one cultivates precepts, concentration, and wisdom “like the banner of Śakra, because it does not shift or turn,” as an attestation for the extinguishing of fear. What is most worth learning in this passage is not the conclusion but his manner of striking out an item: it is not that he found them too many, but that he found two items that could subsume one another, and so merged them.
Clear away one error: do not read “Banner” as merely a flag planted on a battlefield. Where it comes down: the “Banner” in the names of the ten bodhisattvas is a marker of the station one has reached — to read this chapter is to be reading the last stretch of the road of the three worthy stages (the ten abodes, the ten practices, the ten dedications); and the Yanyi chao, at the very end of the chapter, closes on just this note, saying that this passage is found neither in the two preceding assemblies nor afterward, because this is the last of the three worthy stages.
Ten “Wondrous” Worlds and Ten “Banner” Buddhas: The Names Are the Table of Contents of the Ten Dedications
The names of the ten worlds all begin with “Wondrous”: Wondrous Jewel, Wondrous Joy, Wondrous Silver, Wondrous Gold, Wondrous Maṇi, Wondrous Vajra, Wondrous Padma, Wondrous Utpala, Wondrous Sandalwood, Wondrous Fragrance. Chengguan says why they are all called wondrous — the power of dedication is slight, and yet the good fills the whole Dharma realm; and these ten particular names betoken precisely the Dharma-gates cultivated in the ten dedications. He matches them one by one: to rescue and guard sentient beings while being free of the mark of sentient beings is the most precious of all, hence Wondrous Jewel; to gain indestructible faith, which is constantly a cause of joy, hence Wondrous Joy; to be equal to the buddhas in white purity, hence Wondrous Silver; like gold, which reaches everywhere among all the forms and images, hence Wondrous Gold; issuing in a use that is inexhaustible, like the maṇi; roots of goodness firm as vajra; according with sentient beings and yet undefiled by dust; the cause that is suchness, like a flower born in water, which is most excellent of all; like white sandalwood, able to remove the bondage of the fever of affliction; like fragrance, able to reach everywhere throughout — and at the last he attaches this to the matter, further on in the scripture, of the single pellet of incense burned before Maitreya's seat, whose cloud of fragrance fills the whole Dharma realm.
The particular names of the ten buddhas are likewise a table of contents, only what they are matched with is wisdom and fruit. Chengguan says that the buddhas' titles share the name “Banner,” and that the import is no different from that of the bodhisattvas; while the particular names betoken the wisdom of the ten dedications that is cultivated, and betoken also the fruit of the present station: the mind of rescuing and guarding cannot be exhausted, hence the Buddha Inexhaustible Banner; like the wind in the sky, which neither abides nor is destroyed, hence the Buddha Wind Banner; equal to the liberation of the buddhas, hence the Buddha Liberation Banner; within the four deportments there is nowhere he does not reach, hence the Buddha Deportment Banner; clearly understanding the marks of merit, hence the Buddha Bright-Mark Banner; constantly able to accord with roots of goodness, hence the Buddha Constant Banner; according with sentient beings and being most excellent in goodness, hence the Buddha Most Excellent Banner; being the same as suchness and thereby gaining sovereign freedom, hence the Buddha Sovereign Banner; pure and undefiled and not bound, hence the Buddha Brahmā Banner; contemplation being just the entering into the Dharma realm, hence the Buddha Contemplation Banner.
Li Tongxuan travels along another track. He matches the ten bodhisattvas one by one to the ten perfections: Vajra Banner is dāna (giving), Firm Banner is discipline, Valiant Banner is patience, Light Banner is vigor, Wisdom Banner is concentration, Jewel Banner is the one who with great compassion and great wisdom well bestows the net of teaching and is therefore named Jewel Banner, Vigor Banner is the seventh, the practice of skillful means, Stainless Banner (which he presents as “Undefiled Banner”) is the eighth, the perfection of vow, Constellation Banner is the perfection of power, since like the constellations, great and small, all give light and he well knows the faculties of the multitude, and Dharma Banner is the perfection of wisdom. He also says one sentence that is easy to remember: the world takes soil and mountains and rivers for its worlds, while the man of wisdom takes the wondrous functioning of the virtue of wisdom for his world.
Clear away one error: do not take these thirty titles for thirty things to be memorized. Where it comes down: these three sets of names are the table of contents of this chapter — if, having read the ten segments of verse, you still feel them scattered, go back and lay the names out once, and you will see that each of the ten segments faces one gate of the ten dedications. As for the fact that what Chengguan matches and what Li Tongxuan matches are not the same, this is a divergence among the ancient worthies, and both are recorded without adjudication.
The Substance of the Throne Says Only “Wondrous Jewel,” and the Light Is Emitted at the Wheels of the Knees
The substance of the throne differs in the three assemblies, and Chengguan lays them out in a single line: the station of the ten abodes illumines everywhere with the light of insight, and therefore the substance of its throne is the Vairocana Treasury; the station of the ten practices is pure in practice and parted from defilement, and therefore the substance of its throne is the maṇi treasury; and by the time of the station of the ten dedications, since great compassion dwells within birth and death and comprehends the ten thousand dharmas everywhere without being confined to any one, the substance of the throne says only “wondrous jewel,” with no color or kind specified — because the teaching and the practice are everywhere complete and gather in sentient beings, just as that net of jewels is spread over the throne above. The scriptural text here reads “there was conjured up a lion throne of the treasury of wondrous jewels, with a net of jewels spread over it above, filling everywhere all around,” not one graph more, and yet from the four graphs “with no color or kind specified” Chengguan reads off the station.
The place of the emitting of light has changed as well. In the fourth assembly the Buddha emitted light from his two feet; in this assembly the scriptural text reads “from the wheels of his two knees.” Chengguan gives three reasons: as the station gradually rises, so the place of the emitting of light gradually rises; the knee has the aspect of bending and stretching and of advancing, which is precisely to betoken the turning of the cause toward the fruit; and further, compassion and wisdom lead one another, bending and stretching without dwelling anywhere. Fazang, at the same place in the sixty-fascicle text, says that “the emitting from the two knees passes beyond the former toes of the feet, betokening that the practice grows gradually more excellent”; Zhiyan says that the knee betokens the aspect of the skillful means of advancing. Li Tongxuan then lays out the places of the emitting of light at the five stations in a single line: the ten faiths in the wheels beneath the feet, the ten abodes at the tips of the toes, the ten practices on the insteps, the ten dedications upon the knees, the ten grounds between the eyebrows — what he reads off is the same matter, that the stations are rising in succession.
Clear away one error: do not go wondering how bright that light was or what posture the knees were in. Where it comes down: the function of the light in this chapter is to make ‘their seeing one another’ into something visible — the scriptural text says immediately afterward that the bodhisattvas over there saw the spiritual transformations here, and the bodhisattvas here saw the spiritual transformations over there. Without this one shining, the “contemplating everywhere the ten directions” of the ten who speak afterward would be no more than a bare assertion.
Twenty Clauses in Ten Pairs, and the Fusing of the Real and the Conventional within the Word “Number”
In the last passage of the portion on the emitting of light, the scriptural text uses twenty clauses to praise the virtues of these bodhisattvas. Chengguan binds the twenty clauses into ten pairs: leaving hindrances and perfecting the body; entering lands and drawing near the buddhas; swiftness of function and purity of mind; outward guarding and inward realizing; what is awakened to and what awakens; breadth of function and depth of realization; gaining wisdom and giving birth to the body; depth of practice and breadth of understanding; the utmost of wisdom and the depth of concentration; gaining the penetrations and establishing dharmas. Of the ninth pair he makes a special point: what is displayed within this station is precisely the name “Vajra Banner” — for the samādhi of the vajra just is the wisdom of awakening. That is to say, the lord of the assembly's name is not fastened on from outside; it grows out of these twenty clauses of virtue.
The tenth pair, “gaining the penetrations and establishing dharmas,” draws out the densest passage in the whole chapter. The scriptural text says that these bodhisattvas, “toward all numbers, although they clung to nothing, were well able to train in them and to accomplish them ultimately.” Chengguan first divides “number” into two kinds: first, number as quantity; second, whatever is form or mind and conditioned is likewise called number. He says that both senses are present here — because they do not cling to one and many, they are able to establish all things; because they do not cling to being, they are able to set things up. Then he writes down the passage of this chapter that has been most often cited: the mark of conventional illusory being is a mark from the first empty of itself; the principle of the real emptiness of the ultimate is a principle constantly of itself existing. Being is “empty being” and not “constant being,” and so this being has never not been empty; emptiness is “existent emptiness” and not “annihilating emptiness,” and so when has this emptiness ever not been existent? Empty being and existent emptiness are one in substance and different in name; because the names are different, the real and the conventional run counter to one another and stand far apart unmingled; because the substance is one, the empty and the existent accord with one another and merge darkly into no-two.
Clear away one error: this is not a playing at the tongue-twister ‘emptiness is just being, being is just emptiness.’ Chengguan's last sentence is the crux — the bodhisattva's wisdom enters into the source of it, and therefore, although utterly cut off and absolute with nothing to lodge in, he is nonetheless good at cultivating and setting up. Where it comes down: the difficulty of this station of dedication lies just here — one must on the one hand know that nothing is got, and on the other hand still set up one's roots of goodness one by one and dedicate them away; only when this passage has been understood will all those “may all sentient beings…” lines of the next chapter not be read as sentimentality.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Vajra Banner: The Vajra Is Not a Simile for Wisdom Alone
The lord of the assembly is Vajra Banner. Chengguan says that this name holds both the general and the particular: generally speaking, dedication does not go beyond the two matters of compassion and wisdom. Vajra means firm and also sharp — taking it as the wisdom within compassion, the true limit realized by the two vehicles cannot destroy it, and this is firmness; it can cut off the afflictions that are hard to cut off, and this is sharpness, and therefore the verses say “wisdom has gone to the other shore.” Taking it as the compassion within wisdom, craving and views cannot shake it, and this is firmness; there is nothing it does not rescue, and this is sharpness, and therefore the text of the verses runs throughout the buddha-lands and benefits beings.
Then he delivers a rebuttal of a kind rarely found in him: therefore one should know that the vajra is not a simile for wisdom alone. Those who work upon prajñā do not catch this import; looking only at the name, they take the vajra as a simile for prajñā alone, and do not look at how within the scriptural text compassion rescues the nine classes of beings while in truth none are delivered — for it is compassion and wisdom leading one another that is the true and uncommon prajñā. He cites the scripture in attestation: the vajra is born only from the place of vajra and the place of gold, and not from the place of any other jewel; and the vajra that is the mind of awakening is likewise, born only from the vajra-place of great compassion that rescues and guards sentient beings and from the gold-place of the excellent realm of the wisdom of omniscience. This is the one time in this chapter that Chengguan directly rebukes an earlier reader; the attribution is clear, and it must not be turned into something the scripture says of itself.
He determines the ten verses into two parts: the first eight praise the Buddha's excellent virtues, and the last two conclude by exhorting to the cultivation of practice. The first eight he divides again into three layers — the first five are stillness that is constantly functioning, the sixth is functioning that is constantly still, and the last two are unobstructed sovereign freedom; and within the first five he divides again into three: the first two say that there is no arising and perishing and yet arising and perishing are manifested; the next two say that it is not form and sound and yet form and sound are manifested; and the last says that there is no coming and going and yet coming and going are displayed.
Now verse by verse. The first is the most ruthless opening in the chapter: the Tathāgata has not appeared in the world, nor is there any nirvāṇa, but it is only by the power of the original vow that this dharma of sovereign freedom is manifested — the two ends of the Buddha's life story (the descent to birth and the passing into extinction) are taken away at the outset together. The second displays depth by way of a comparison: this dharma is hard to conceive of, it is not a place the mind can reach, and only when wisdom has gone to the other shore does one see the realm of the buddhas; Chengguan says that once the mind has a mark of mind, then in moving it cannot go there, and hence it is hard to conceive of, and that only wisdom without a mark of wisdom is called having gone to the other shore. The third takes away form and sound: the body of form is not the Buddha, and it is the same with sound; yet neither is it apart from form and sound that one sees the Buddha's power of spiritual penetration — the three graphs “neither is it apart” are the living mouth of this verse. The fourth says that those of slight wisdom cannot know it, and that only those who have long cultivated pure karma can understand it; Chengguan says that slight wisdom refers to the provisional and the lesser, and long cultivation to those of perfect capacity. The fifth takes away coming and going: the perfect awakening has no place it comes from, and when it goes there is nothing it goes from, and the pure and subtle body of form appears because of spiritual power; Chengguan says that it appears at the very place of awakening and does not come from any quarter, and is of itself absent at the place of delusion and does not go from this place. The sixth turns to functioning: within measureless worlds he manifests the body of the Tathāgata and expounds the subtle dharma at large, and yet his mind clings to nothing. The seventh and eighth are unobstructed sovereign freedom: the one says that wisdom is without bound, understands all dharmas thoroughly, and enters everywhere into the Dharma realm; the other says that sentient beings and all dharmas are understood thoroughly without obstruction and that he manifests everywhere every sort of form and image throughout all the lands; Chengguan says that the former is understanding that phenomena and principle are unobstructed and thereupon giving rise to sovereign functioning, and the latter is understanding that beings and dharmas are unobstructed and thereupon giving rise to sovereign functioning. The last two verses conclude by exhorting: the ninth exhorts to the cultivation of wisdom and the advancing of practice — one who wishes to seek omniscience and swiftly to accomplish the unsurpassed awakening should cultivate the practice of awakening with a pure and subtle mind; the tenth exhorts to the cultivation of merit and the cutting off of doubt — if one sees such awesome spiritual power of the Tathāgata, one should make offerings to the most excellent World-Honored One and give rise to no doubt.
Clear away one error: the first verse is not saying that Śākyamuni was never born. Where it comes down: the way of reading the whole chapter is set in this key — whatever you can point at and say ‘this is the Buddha’ (appearing in the world, nirvāṇa, form, sound, coming, going), these ten segments will take away one item at a time; and after the taking away there is not nothing, but “he manifests this dharma of sovereign freedom.”
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Firm Banner: Taking Apart “Wanting to Cultivate” into Five Things
The second is Firm Banner. Chengguan says this name has three grounds: it betokens the indestructible dedication, the firmness of the mind of awakening, and the gazing upon the Buddha without being sated. He determines that the ten verses mostly set forth the virtue by which ‘the Tathāgata is that upon which sentient beings rely,’ and divides them in two: the first three praise the Buddha's excellent virtues, and the last seven exhort to cultivation and discern its benefit.
The first three verses. The first sets forth that the Buddha's substance is apart from words: the Tathāgata is excellent beyond compare, so profound that he cannot be told, and he has passed beyond the path of words, pure as empty space. The second is the manifesting of marks by the markless: look upon that lion among men and his power of sovereign spiritual penetration — he himself has already left discrimination behind, and yet he can let others see him within their discriminating; this one line is the pivot of the whole segment, joining at a stroke “the Buddha does not discriminate” to ‘sentient beings see a discriminated mark.’ The third says why the marks are manifested at all: the Guide, for the sake of sentient beings, opens up and expounds the profound and subtle dharma, and it is because of this cause and condition that this body beyond compare is manifested — the body is manifested for the sake of expounding the dharma, not for the sake of being fine to look at.
The last seven verses raise the benefit of cultivating practice, and thereby display in reverse the depth of the Buddha's virtue. The fourth points to the virtue and exhorts one to rely on it: this is the great wisdom, the place where the buddhas walk, and one who wishes to understand it should constantly draw near to the Buddha. The fifth, sixth, and seventh display those who are able to enter, so as to make one strive to be their equal: let the karma of the mind be constantly pure and make offerings to the tathāgatas without weariness, and one is able to enter the path of the Buddha; be furnished with inexhaustible merit and abide firmly in the mind of awakening, and thereby the net of doubt is removed and one gazes upon the Buddha without being sated; penetrate all dharmas thoroughly and one is a true son of the Buddha, and such a one is able to understand the power of the sovereign freedom of the buddhas — each of these verses first raises the practice and afterward makes plain its benefit.
The eighth, ninth, and tenth verses are the proper exhortation to advance in cultivation, and here Chengguan inserts the densest passage of doctrine in the segment. He says that for advancing in cultivation there are, in brief, five dharmas: desire, vigor, recollection, skillful insight, and one-pointedness. The eighth verse sets forth “desire” — what the vast wisdom expounds: desire is the root of all dharmas, and therefore one should give rise to an excellent hope and set one's will upon seeking the unsurpassed awakening; and he says further that the last two lines are meant to distinguish away evil desire, and that only so is it called “an excellent hope.” The ninth verse sets forth “recollection” — if one reveres the Buddha and is mindful of repaying the Buddha's kindness, that person will in the end never depart from the dwelling of all the buddhas. The tenth verse sets forth “skillful insight,” and does so from the negative side — where is there a man of wisdom who, having gained the sight and hearing of the Buddha, would not cultivate the pure vow nor tread the path that the Buddha treads? He says that the first two verses set it forth directly and this one displays it in reverse; and as for one-pointedness and vigor, they are subsumed under the two graphs “set one's will upon seeking.” He also cites the nine goods of the Tihu yu jing as cited in the treatise of Maitreya: all dharmas have desire for their root, are born of attention, are gathered and arise from contact, are drawn in and taken up by feeling, have recollection for their master, concentration for their chief, insight for what is most excellent, liberation for their firmness, and going forth for their farthest bound — where the former is present the latter need not be, but where the latter is present the former must be, and therefore desire is spoken of first as their root.
Clear away one error: “desire is the root of all dharmas” is not telling anyone to give free rein to craving. Chengguan has already distinguished it beforehand — what is wanted is the excellent hope, not evil desire. Where it comes down: this passage is the most directly practicable in the chapter. If you ask ‘where am I to begin,’ the answer is to begin with the first item: first have the mind that wants it, and then the rest can be ranged in order.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Valiant Banner: Seeing the Buddha Is a Matter of Causes and Conditions Coming Together
The third is Valiant Banner. Chengguan says that this name takes its sense from seeing the Buddha to the very source and bottom by the wisdom-power of a pure mind, and thereby being equal to all buddhas; hence the name Valiant. He determines that the ten verses divide in two: the first six set forth the mutual traffic of stimulus and response, the seeing of the Buddha and the hearing of the dharma; the last four make one cast away the false and seek the true, wiping away the marks of what is seen and heard. Among the first six, in the first five the upper half is a simile and the lower half the dharma matched to it.
The first two verses speak of seeing the Buddha. The first is the bone of the segment: just as a bright and clear eye, by the light of the sun, sees every sort of form, so too is the pure mind, which by the Buddha's power sees the Tathāgata. Chengguan assigns a place to each of the three items: the pure mind is like the pure eye and is the cause of the seeing; the Buddha's power is like the sun and is the condition of the seeing; the Tathāgata is like the form and is the object of the seeing. He then raises two counter-instances — a man goes into a dark room and sees nothing at all, which is having the cause only and not seeing; and under the bright clear light of the sun a blind man still does not see, which is having the condition only and not seeing. Therefore the seeing of the Buddha is a thing accomplished only when cause and condition come together. The second verse raises the side of stimulus in particular, taking the cause in place of the condition: as by the power of vigor one can exhaust the source and bottom of the sea, so too the power of wisdom gains the sight of measureless buddhas.
The last four of the first six speak of hearing the dharma. The third displays that the cause is able to give birth to the dharma: just as in a good and fertile field what is sown must grow, so such a pure mind-ground can bring forth the dharma of the buddhas. The fourth and fifth display the benefit of gaining the dharma, and what is gained is not the same in the two: of the fourth, “just as a man who obtains a treasury of jewels is forever parted from the suffering of poverty,” Chengguan says that this is gaining provisional wisdom, which can part one from the defilement of the mind that is the object of knowledge; of the fifth, “just as the agada medicine can neutralize every poison,” he says that this is having root wisdom, which can remove the trouble of the afflictions — read together, the two verses are precisely the two wisdoms each removing one hindrance. The sixth displays the condition: the true and real good friend is one whom the Tathāgata praises, and it is because of that one's awesome spiritual power that one gains the hearing of the dharma of the buddhas.
The last four cast away the false and seek the true. The seventh displays the false so that one may cast it away: though for numberless kalpas one gave wealth and jewels to the Buddha, if one does not know the Buddha's true mark, this is still not called giving — because the giving dwells in marks. The eighth and the ninth display the true Buddha: measureless forms of every sort adorn the body of the Buddha, and yet it is not within those forms that one is able to see the Buddha; the Tathāgata, the perfectly awakened one, is still and constantly unmoving, and yet he is able to manifest his body everywhere, filling the worlds of the ten directions — Chengguan says that the former is that the very marks are markless and therefore he cannot be seen by form, and the latter is that the very stillness responds and therefore he may not be seized by “stillness” either. The tenth displays the true dharma: just as the realm of empty space neither arises nor perishes, so too is the dharma of the buddhas, ultimately without arising or perishing.
Clear away one error: the seventh verse is not saying that giving is of no use. What Chengguan points to are the four graphs “because the giving dwells in marks.” Where it comes down: read the first verse and the seventh together, and this segment gives a very practical inspection — when you cannot see and cannot advance in cultivation, ask first whether the cause is insufficient (the mind is not pure) or the condition is insufficient (you have not met a true good friend), rather than asking first whether you are devout enough.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Light Banner: The Buddha-Body Is Not a Transformation, Nor Is It a Non-Transformation
The fourth is Light Banner. Chengguan says that this name has two layers: with the power of great compassion he sets in motion the light of wisdom, illumining away that darkness upon darkness, so that there is nowhere it does not reach; and again, by wisdom he causes all roots of goodness to reach everywhere — and therefore this segment mostly displays the virtue of the Tathāgata's giving rise to the function of converting from the very substance, universally and everywhere. He determines that the ten verses divide in three: the first verse sets forth the breadth of the function of converting, the middle seven set forth its depth, and the last two conclude both.
The first verse speaks of breadth: in all the many worlds, among humans and in the heavens above, everywhere they see the Tathāgata's pure and subtle body of form — first the “places” are spread out full.
The middle seven speak of depth, and Chengguan divides them again into four layers. The first four set forth both that which depends and that which is depended on. The second verse sets forth in general that one and many are unobstructed — just as the power of one mind can bring forth every sort of mind, so one buddha-body manifests everywhere all buddhas; Chengguan says that this is transforming out many mind-kings and mental factors in dependence upon one general mind, and responding and converting in many ways within one real buddha, and therefore unobstructed. The third verse speaks of the unobstructedness of marks and of the two — awakening has no second dharma and no marks either, and yet within the two dharmas he manifests an adorned body that has marks; he says this is manifesting marks while markless, and manifesting two while not-two. The fourth verse displays arising in dependence upon nature — understanding that the nature of dharmas is empty and still and arises as an illusion arises, what he practices is without end, and thus does the Guide manifest; he says that the arising is not other than the nature, and therefore it is like an illusion and without end. The fifth verse speaks of the flowing forth from the dharma-body — the dharma-bodies of all the buddhas of the three times are wholly pure, and according to what should be converted he manifests everywhere the subtle body of form. The sixth verse wipes away the mind that does the converting — the Tathāgata does not give rise to the thought that he will make such a body, but manifests of himself and spontaneously, never having given rise to discrimination; Chengguan takes the maṇi jewel as a simile, saying that it accomplishes things without any private intent. The seventh verse wipes away the substance that is depended upon — the Dharma realm is without difference and has nothing it rests upon, and yet within the world he manifests measureless bodies; he says that the Dharma realm is of itself without difference, and that there is no definitely existent thing that could serve as the support of the converting.
The eighth verse is the densest in the segment, and is also the fourth of the four layers — the sovereign freedom in which the two are fused: the buddha-body is not a transformation, nor is it a non-transformation; within the dharma that is without transformation he manifests a form that has transformation. Chengguan first distinguishes the three graphs “nor a non-transformation”: this is borrowing “non-transformation” in order to dispel “transformation,” not saying that it is the thing called “non-transformation.” Then he opens two gates. Within the gate of opening out the senses, the real has two senses: the sense of not changing — although in transformation it is constantly of itself limpid, which the upper half of the line displays; and the sense of according with conditions — not keeping to its own nature and so there is nothing it does not manifest, and therefore it says “nor is it a non-transformation.” Transformation too has two senses: the sense of having no substance and so being empty — gathered from conditions and so without own-nature, and therefore it says “within the dharma that is without transformation”; and the sense of illusory being arisen from conditions, and therefore it says “he manifests a form that has transformation.” Within the gate of fusing, first the real and the transformed are joined each severally, forming ‘both real and not real, neither real nor not unreal’ and ‘both transformed and untransformed, neither transformed nor untransformed’; then the real and the transformed are made to interpenetrate, and at the last he closes with a single sentence: the manifesting and the transforming are in profusion and yet have never not been still, and the real nature is limpid and yet has never not transformed — the real and the transformed are fused into one unobstructed and pure Dharma realm.
The last two verses conclude both. The ninth returns and concludes upon the substance: the perfect awakening cannot be measured, is equal to the Dharma realm and to empty space, deep and vast without shore or bottom, and the path of words is wholly cut off; Chengguan says that because it is equal to the Dharma realm it is deep without bottom, and because it is equal to empty space it is vast without shore. The tenth raises the cause and explains how this comes about: the Tathāgata is well able to penetrate through and to walk the path in every place, and in the Dharma realm and all its many lands, wherever he goes there is no obstruction — so the reason the Dharma realm is unobstructed is that wisdom and practice reach everywhere.
Clear away one error: the eighth verse is not going round in circles about ‘it is and it isn't.’ Chengguan has already given a very good comparison for it (found in the Yanyi chao): at night one sees a wooden stake and takes it for a man; a wise man tells you ‘this is not a man,’ but that only negates the grasping at “man” in your mind — yet a fool, hearing it, then takes the stake to be a “non-man,” and a non-man is a ghost, so that though the grasping at man is gone the grasping at a ghost has arisen. Where it comes down: in reading this verse, whatever new answer you catch hold of along the way must be let go of once again.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Wisdom Banner: Just as the Pure Full Moon Appears Everywhere in All Waters
The fifth is Wisdom Banner. Chengguan says that this name has two layers: within the realm of the Buddha's stillness and functioning he decides without obstruction, and again with wisdom he leads the ten thousand practices and brings them forth inexhaustibly. He determines that the ten verses divide in two: the first verse announces the theme and exhorts to faith, and the last nine are the excellent virtues believed in; and among the nine, the second verse is the general and the remaining eight are the particular.
The first verse announces the theme: if one can believe and accept that omniscience is unobstructed and cultivate the practice of awakening, his mind cannot be measured — Chengguan says this is faith having the benefit of the cultivation of practice. The second verse is the general: within all lands he manifests everywhere measureless bodies, and yet the body is not in any place, nor does it abide in any dharma; he says that the upper half is functioning that is inexhaustible and the lower half is stillness that abides nowhere, so that clinging neither to the place of the response nor to the substance of dharma is precisely the double stillness of root and branch.
Within the particular, the first two verses set forth inexhaustibility. The third says that of every single tathāgata the bodies manifested by spiritual power cannot be exhausted by reckoning through inconceivable kalpas; the fourth displays it by comparison: the sentient beings of the three times may still have their number known, but the number of what the Tathāgata manifests cannot be got at. Chengguan puts it very precisely — sentient beings can be counted, the Buddha cannot.
The last six set forth unobstructedness, and Chengguan divides them into three layers. The first four are the unobstructedness of one and many, and they walk the four steps of ‘dharma, simile, matching, and explanation’ to the end: the fifth verse is the dharma — at times he manifests one body or two or on to measureless bodies, manifesting everywhere in the lands of the ten directions and yet in truth there are not two; the sixth is the simile, and it is also the most famous simile in the chapter — just as the pure full moon appears everywhere in all the waters, though the images are measureless the moon itself has never been two; the seventh is the matching — such unobstructed wisdom accomplished the right and perfect awakening, manifesting everywhere in all the buddha-lands, and yet the substance of the Buddha too is not two; the eighth is the explanation — it is not one, nor is it two, nor is it measureless, but according to what should be converted he manifests measureless bodies. Read together, the four verses are the most complete demonstration of an argument-form in this chapter. The ninth verse is the unobstructedness of the drawn-out and the compressed: the buddha-body is neither past nor future, and within a single thought it manifests birth, the attaining of the path, and nirvāṇa — the three times are pressed into a single thought. The tenth is the unobstructedness of nature and marks: as the forms made by an illusion have no birth and no arising, so too is the buddha-body, manifesting and yet without birth.
Clear away one error: the simile of the moon stamped upon ten thousand rivers is most easily read as ‘there is only one Buddha and there are many reflections.’ The seventh verse itself blocks that — what it says is “the substance of the Buddha too is not two,” not ‘the real Buddha is up in the sky and the false ones are in the water.’ And the eighth verse negates “one” as well: it is not one, nor is it two. Where it comes down: that portion of the Buddha which you see at this moment is neither a second-rate reflection nor the one true body; the very asking of ‘which one is the real one’ is what the eighth verse would have you put down.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Jewel Banner: The Tathāgata's Attaining of Awakening Is Truly Not Tied to a Day
The sixth is Jewel Banner. Chengguan says that this name takes its sense from illumining the principle of equality with the wisdom that is round and pure, not obstructing the response and manifesting, and according with everything, like the maṇi jewel. He determines that the ten verses divide in two: the first five display in general that he is hard to conceive of, and the last five that he far transcends time and number.
The first five verses. The first and second set it forth directly: the buddha-body has no measure and yet can manifest a body that has measure, and according to what sentient beings ought to see, thus does the Guide manifest — this is transcending measure and yet manifesting measure; the buddha-body has no place and yet fills every place, like empty space without bound and thus hard to conceive of — this is transcending place and yet pervading places. The third through the fifth are “an explanation carried through by stages” — Chengguan strings them together with a series of questions and answers of his own. Why is he hard to conceive of? Because neither the body nor the place is an object within the range of the mind of arising and perishing (the third verse). Why is he not an object of mind? Because the Buddha himself does not give rise to mind. Why does he not give rise to mind? Because his substance is without arising and perishing. Then if it is so, why do we plainly see him now? The fourth verse answers: it is like what is seen by an eye with cataract, which takes its own portion of form; do not take it for something real. Then if that is so, is there no appearing of a tathāgata in the world at all? The fifth verse answers: it is only one's own stimulus and perception — for the sake of benefiting sentient beings the Tathāgata appears in the world, and sentient beings see that there is an appearing, and yet in truth there is no arising in the world. And he cites the Zhufa wuxing jing in attestation: the Tathāgata does not appear in the world and does not deliver sentient beings; it is sentient beings who forcibly discriminate and make up a Buddha delivering sentient beings.
The last five verses transcend time. The sixth concludes what precedes and announces the theme: one may not see the Buddha by lands or by day and night, and the year, the month, and a single kṣaṇa should be known to be all of them likewise. The seventh through the tenth display the transcending of time in particular, and here Chengguan sets up a full argument in the manner of logic. The seventh verse sets up the thesis: the upper half, “sentient beings speak in this way: on such a day the Buddha attained the path,” is a rehearsal of the false notion, and only the lower half is the proper setting up — awakening is the subject, and “is determinately not tied to time” is what is predicated of it. The eighth verse sets up three reasons: the Tathāgata has left discrimination behind, and therefore his wisdom is without discrimination; he does not belong to the world, and therefore the three times do not shift him; he transcends every sort of number, and therefore his substance is not a number belonging to the conditioned. The ninth verse raises the positive example: just as the pure orb of the sun is not joined with the darkness of night, and yet men say a certain day and a certain night. The tenth matches and concludes: all the kalpas of the three times are not joined with the Tathāgata, and yet men speak of the buddhas of the three times. Chengguan also points out in particular that the matching statement of the tenth verse is inverted — were it stated in the straight order, it should read “all the tathāgatas are not joined with the three times.”
Clear away one error: these five verses are not a denial of the commemorations of the Buddha's birth and his attaining of the path. The ninth verse itself gives the measure — the orb of the sun is not itself joined with the darkness of night, and yet men say a certain day and a certain night all the same, and that manner of speaking is not wrong. Where it comes down: an anniversary is ‘spoken according to the reflection,’ not ‘the Buddha really tied to that day’; grasp this distinction and one need neither abolish the commemoration nor take the commemoration for the Buddha himself.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Vigor Banner: The Body Is the Same, and the Import Too Is the Same
The seventh is Vigor Banner. Chengguan says that this name takes its sense from diligently contemplating that the Tathāgata's true body and responsive body are alike the same, and thereby being able to accord equally with all sentient beings. He determines that the ten verses divide in two: the first verse is the general announcement, and the remaining nine are the particular explanation.
The first verse: all the Guides are the same in body, and so too in import; everywhere in the lands of the ten directions they manifest in every sort of way according to what is fitting. Chengguan treats “the same in body” and “the same in import” separately. As to sameness of body, the three bodies and the ten bodies are all the same. As to sameness of import, he says it holds several layers of meaning: with respect to the three bodies, the three senses of substance, support, and gathering are all the same, and what is awakened to, what awakens, and the awakening of others are the same as well; and again, “import” just means “the wherefore” — the reason one gains the name of Buddha is that right awakening, true wisdom, the powers, the fearlessnesses, and the rest are all fully present, and it is so with every buddha, and therefore the import is the same; and again, the function of responding, converting, benefiting, and gladdening is in no case different, and he cites in attestation the She lun: “the dharma-body of all buddhas should be known to be able at all times to perform the five works.” With respect to the ten bodies, they all run through the three world-realms, and looked at one against another there is no difference; and the reason it is so has three grounds: the sea of practice is equally full, the great vows are equally complete, and the dharma-nature is one and the same — and it is not merely that they are alike, but that one is all and they mutually interfuse. He also, in passing, opens “everywhere” into two senses: first with respect to all buddhas, that there is no buddha who does not pervade the ten directions; second with respect to one buddha, that there is no quarter in which he does not manifest.
The last nine verses are the particular explanation, and Chengguan divides them into the first four as the direct explanation and the last five as the turned-back explanation. The four of direct explanation: the second verse explains “everywhere in the ten directions with nothing left out” — look upon that Muni, the World-Honored One, and what he does, which is utterly extraordinary, filling the Dharma realm with nothing left out. The third verse explains “manifests” — the buddha-body is neither within nor without, and it appears because of spiritual power; he says that it is only when there is stimulus that it manifests, and therefore it is said to be not within, and that it is spiritual power that is able to manifest it, and therefore it is said to be not without. The fourth verse explains “in every sort of way according to what is fitting” — according to the karma amassed in former lives by the several kinds of sentient beings, bodies of these several sorts are manifested, each of them different. The fifth verse returns and completes the “sameness of body” of the first verse and displays that it is hard to conceive of — the bodies of the buddhas are thus, measureless and beyond counting, and save only for the World-Honored One of great awakening there is none able to conceive of them; he says that the reason it is “save only for the one of great awakening” is that buddha and buddha realize the same thing.
The five of turned-back explanation, which Chengguan says explain the four verses above in reverse order, from the last backward. The sixth and seventh verses explain the fifth verse's “none able to conceive of them”: the sixth takes “self” as a simile — as that self is hard to conceive of and mind and karma cannot get hold of it, so too is the Buddha's being hard to conceive of; he says that the falsely reckoned “self” has from the first no existence and therefore cannot be conceived of, which is a case of what is present to feeling but absent in principle and is not the object of a noble one's wisdom, used to draw a comparison with the dharma-body, which is present in principle but absent to feeling and is not what those in the lower stations can fathom. The seventh takes a buddha-land as a simile — as a land is inconceivable and yet its pure adornments are seen, so too is the Buddha's being hard to conceive of, and yet no subtle mark of his is unmanifested; he says that this is being cut off from marks and hard to conceive of, and yet not obstructing the having of marks. The eighth verse explains the fourth verse's manifesting differently according to karma — just as all dharmas arise because of a multitude of conditions, so too is the seeing of the Buddha, which must borrow a multitude of good karma. The ninth verse explains the third verse's being neither within nor without — just as the wish-fulfilling jewel can satisfy the minds of sentient beings, so, as the jewel manifests things, though it is neither within nor without it can satisfy the mind of the thing. The tenth verse explains the second verse's filling the Dharma realm — within measureless lands the Guides arise in the world, and because of the power of their vows they respond everywhere in the ten directions; he says that the reason he can fill it is that the original vow is universally all-embracing.
Clear away one error: do not read “the same in body and so too in import” as ‘all the buddhas are really one and the same buddha.’ The lower half of the first verse has already given the other half: he manifests in every sort of way according to what is fitting. Where it comes down: this segment settles a very common doubt — since buddha and buddha share one path, why is the Buddha that each person sees not the same? The fourth verse and the eighth taken together are the answer: what differs is not on the Buddha's side, but in the karma amassed in former lives and in the multitude of conditions.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Stainless Banner: Taking the Buddha as One's Object, Single-Mindedly Recollecting Without Ceasing
The eighth is Stainless Banner. Chengguan says that this name takes its sense from the substance of suchness being pure from the first, able to accomplish the white and pure dharma, and able also to purify the world. He determines that the ten verses mostly praise the Tathāgata's virtue of purity, and divides them in two: the first six are the purifying of others, and the last four are the purifying of oneself.
Among the first six, the first two set it forth in general. The first is the purity of wisdom: the Tathāgata's light of great wisdom purifies everywhere the many worlds, and when the worlds have been purified he opens up and reveals to them the dharma of the buddhas; Chengguan says that when false afflictions have been stilled true wisdom is not absent, and that what is opened and revealed is no-self and the knowledge and vision of nature and marks, and that this is why it is called dharma. The second is the purity of body: suppose there were one who wished to see buddhas as many as the number of sentient beings, there is none that would not accord with his mind, and yet in truth there is no place from which they come; he says that this wipes away the responsive body so as to display the true body.
The last four of the six are the particular explanation, and their sequence is inverted — the first two explain the second verse and the last two explain the first verse. The third verse sets forth directly that one who wishes to see the buddhas should be single-minded upon the Buddha as object: taking the Buddha as one's object and single-mindedly recollecting without ceasing, this person gains the sight of the Buddha, and the number he sees is equal to his mind; Chengguan says that they manifest according as one recollects, and this is why it is called “equal to the mind,” and says further that to know that mind and object are just the Buddha's true nature is the point — deluded, one does not know it; recollecting, it appears at once. The fourth verse explains in turn how “single-minded recollection” is possible at all: accomplishing the white and pure dharma and being furnished with every sort of merit, toward omniscience he single-mindedly recollects and does not let go with his mind — because he is undefiled and furnished with virtue, therefore he can recollect single-mindedly. The fifth verse explains “purifies everywhere the worlds”: the Guide, for the sake of sentient beings, expounds the dharma according to what is fitting, and wherever there are those who may be converted he manifests everywhere his most excellent body — expounding the dharma and manifesting a body both purify others. The sixth verse explains “opens up and reveals the dharma of the buddhas”: the buddha-body and the world are all of them without self, and awakening to this he accomplishes the perfect awakening and again expounds it for sentient beings — Chengguan says that this displays the two no-selves to which he has awakened.
The last four are the purifying of oneself. The seventh is the differentiated function of one already purified: all the lions among men have measureless power of sovereign freedom, and they manifest bodies as many as the recollections of beings, each of those bodies different. The last three are the three virtues of inward purity. The eighth is seeing the nature and becoming a buddha, opening the dharma-body for oneself: the world is a body such as this, and the bodies of the buddhas too are thus, and to understand their own-nature is what is called the Buddha. The ninth is becoming a buddha with nothing gained, opening prajñā for oneself: the Tathāgata knows and sees everywhere and understands clearly all dharmas, and yet the Buddha's dharma and awakening alike cannot be got at; Chengguan says that the Buddha's dharma is what is awakened to and awakening is what awakens, and that what awakens and what is awakened to must depend upon one another, and therefore neither of the two can be got at, and it is the one who gains nothing who gains awakening. The tenth is becoming a buddha by leaving the false behind, opening liberation for oneself: the Guide has no coming and going nor any dwelling, and being far removed from every sort of inversion is called right and perfect awakening; he says that when the false and inverted have been stilled, this is named true liberation.
Clear away one error: the third verse's “the number he sees is equal to his mind” is not saying that you get as many buddhas as you want to see, your wishes granted. The second verse has already written it down beforehand — “and yet in truth there is no place from which they come.” Where it comes down: this segment gives a sequence that is rarely met with — first single-minded recollection, and afterward the knowing that nothing is got. It is not that one first thinks through “it cannot be got at” and then goes and recollects the Buddha; it is that only by recollecting to the point where ‘what is seen is equal to the mind’ does one come to know that what awakens and what is awakened to have from the first depended upon one another.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Constellation Banner: Who Is Able to Conceive of the Buddha?
The ninth is Constellation Banner. Chengguan says that this name takes its sense from understanding the Buddha's body that responds everywhere throughout the Dharma realm while not departing from the dharma-nature, just as those constellations are spread brilliantly across the sky and cannot be bound. He determines that the ten verses divide in three: the first three display in general the response that is one with the substance, the middle six explain in particular the sovereign freedom of the substance and its response, and the last one wipes away the traces of that sovereign freedom.
The first three verses. The first displays the pervasiveness of the body with respect to place: the Tathāgata dwells nowhere and yet dwells everywhere in all the lands, going to all lands and being seen in all places. Chengguan here divides four layers: with respect to the dharma-nature body he dwells nowhere; with respect to the self-enjoyment body there is nowhere he does not dwell, which is called dwelling everywhere; with respect to the enjoyment body for others and the transformation body, where there is stimulus he goes, and therefore it says he goes to all lands; and with respect to the ten bodies there is no place that is not the Buddha, and therefore it says he is seen in all places. The second displays the manyness of the body with respect to the faculties of beings: the Buddha, according to the minds of sentient beings, manifests everywhere every sort of body — the attaining of the path, the turning of the wheel of the Dharma, and the entering into parinirvāṇa; the matters of the eight aspects all come to be through the stimulus of sentient beings. The third concludes by sighing that he is hard to conceive of, and is the bone of the whole segment: the buddhas are inconceivable — who is able to conceive of the Buddha? who is able to see the perfect awakening? who is able to manifest the most excellent one? Chengguan says that the first line is the general announcement and the three lines below display the aspects — two of the lines are with respect to the one stimulated not being able to conceive, conceiving being spoken of with respect to the mind while seeing runs through both mind and eye, and the last line is with respect to the responsive manifesting being hard to conceive of, and therefore it says “who is able to manifest.” These three questions are the topics of the six verses that follow.
Of the middle six, Chengguan says that the first three explain in the direct order and the last three in the reverse. The three of direct explanation answer one question each. The fourth verse answers “who is able to manifest”: all dharmas are suchness and the realm of the buddhas is likewise, and there is not so much as one dharma that within suchness has arising or perishing — the manifesting is the same as suchness, because there is no arising or perishing. The fifth verse answers “who is able to conceive”: sentient beings falsely discriminate and say this is the Buddha, this is the world, while one who understands thoroughly the nature of dharmas has no Buddha and no world — to give rise to a mind and conceive is just falsely to discriminate that there is a dependent realm and a proper realm, whereas within the nature of dharmas both what grasps and what is grasped are stilled. The sixth verse answers “who is able to see”: the Tathāgata appears everywhere before sentient beings and causes them to give rise to faith and joy, and yet the substance of the Buddha cannot be got at and they too have seen nothing — the responding is according with conditions and the substance is of itself absent, so what after all has the stimulated faculty seen?
The three of reverse explanation, which Chengguan says display in reverse, out of ‘no conceiving and no seeing,’ that those who above had conceiving and seeing did not understand the Buddha's realm. The seventh is the conceiving that is no conceiving: if one is able, toward the world, to leave every attachment behind and with an unobstructed mind to rejoice, then one is able to gain awakening in regard to the dharma — one must be unattached and unobstructed for this. The eighth is the manifesting that is no manifesting: what is manifested by spiritual power is what is called the Buddha, and yet seek it throughout all the times of the three times and it is nowhere to be had — what spiritual power manifests is in its substance of itself empty. The ninth is the seeing that is no seeing: if one is able in this way to understand mind and mentation and all dharmas, then one knows and sees all of them and swiftly gains the accomplishing of the Tathāgata — treading upon the foregoing “nowhere to be had” and thereupon seeing, such a seeing in accord with the real not only sees the Buddha but also swiftly accomplishes.
The tenth verse wipes away the traces: within words are displayed all the sovereign freedoms of the Buddha, and the perfect awakening passes beyond words and is expounded only by borrowing words. Chengguan says that all this talk of sovereign freedom above is still a borrowing of verbal expression; and since perfect awakening passes beyond words, the very traces of the words must be wiped away — and the sentence “it passes beyond words” is itself likewise a borrowing, so that one should forget words and tally with it.
Clear away one error: the three questions of the third verse are not rhetorical exclamations. They are topics, and the six verses that follow answer them one topic at a time, and when the answering is done the answers themselves are wiped away. Where it comes down: this is the most thoroughgoing close of any segment in the chapter — if, having read it, you feel that ‘I have understood that the Buddha is inconceivable,’ the tenth verse was written for just that sentence.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Dharma Banner: Rather Undergo All the World's Suffering Than Fail to See Him
The tenth is Dharma Banner. Chengguan says that this name takes its sense from knowing the true and real dharma and entering everywhere into the Dharma realm, so that the practices cultivated are all beyond measure; and he says further that to know the dharma is just what is named Buddha, and therefore this segment first praises the benefit of seeing the Buddha. He determines that the ten verses display in pairs how hard both the Buddha and the dharma are to hear of, and divides them in two: the first four praise the Buddha and exhort people to hear and see him, and the last six praise the dharma and exhort people to hear and seek it.
The first four verses. The first is the direct injunction: rather would one constantly and fully undergo all the sufferings of every world than in the end be far from the Tathāgata and fail to behold his power of sovereign freedom — this is the line of heaviest feeling in the chapter, and the only line that is stated with “rather would one.” The last three explain the reason for it, and Chengguan says that they raise three matters in brief. The second is the benefit of hearing the name: if there be sentient beings who have not yet given rise to the mind of awakening, once they gain the hearing of the Buddha's name they are determined to accomplish awakening. The third is the benefit of raising the mind: if there be a man of wisdom who within a single thought gives rise to the mind that seeks the path, he will surely accomplish the unsurpassed World-Honored One; only let him give rise to no doubt. The fourth is the benefit of giving rise to faith: the Tathāgata's power of sovereign freedom is hard to meet with even through measureless kalpas, and if one can give rise to a single thought of faith one swiftly ascends the unsurpassed path. Chengguan takes the four verses together and says: since one who undergoes suffering can still gain the hearing and accomplish such excellent benefit, then one who enjoys pleasure and yet fails to see him cannot escape long sinking and drifting — and therefore one should be content to undergo suffering and draw near to the Buddha.
The last six verses praise the dharma. Chengguan says that having already met with a good physician one still needs the medicine of the dharma; and the six verses divide into three pairs, of which the first two pairs each have one negative and one positive. The first pair is that by hearing the real dharma one is able to accomplish the dharma of practice: the fifth verse is the negative — though thought after thought one made offerings to measureless buddhas, if one does not know the true and real dharma this is not called making offerings; the sixth is the positive — if one hears a dharma such as this (that the buddhas are born from just this), then though one pass through measureless suffering one will not cast away the practice of awakening. The second pair is that by hearing the wisdom of principle one accomplishes the dharma of the fruit: the seventh verse is the positive — once one hears this great wisdom, the dharma into which the buddhas enter, one is able everywhere within the Dharma realm to become a Guide of the three times; the eighth is the negative — though one journeyed to the very limit of the future through all the buddha-lands, if one does not seek this subtle dharma one will in the end not accomplish awakening. The third pair explains it by way of stimulus and response: the ninth verse says whence it is that the buddhas arise in the world — sentient beings from a beginningless beginning have long drifted and turned within birth and death and cannot understand the true and real dharma, and it is for this that the buddhas arise in the world; the tenth says what dharma it is that is expounded — the dharmas cannot be destroyed nor is there any that can destroy them, and the great light of sovereign freedom is displayed everywhere throughout the world. Chengguan explains the last verse thus: without stirring the true limit he establishes all dharmas, and therefore the nature cannot be destroyed; without destroying provisional names he expounds the real mark, and therefore the marks cannot be destroyed — and thus the demons of Māra and the outer paths and all the rest are alike the seal of the dharma, and therefore there is none that can destroy them.
Clear away one error: the fifth verse is not saying that making offerings to the Buddha is without merit. The comparison holds precisely because the side of ‘thought after thought making offerings to measureless buddhas’ is itself of the utmost weight. Where it comes down: read the first verse and the fifth together, and this segment answers the last practical question of the chapter — what then am I actually to do? The answer is: draw near to him, and seek that dharma; and as for doing only the former and not the latter, the eighth verse has already stated the outcome.
Why This Chapter Ends with No Concluding Extension to the Ten Directions
In the verses of praise of the preceding assemblies, after the verses have been spoken there is usually one further line of concluding extension to the ten directions — saying that in the worlds of the ten directions it is likewise so. This chapter has none. Chengguan for this reason sets up an explanation of his own: the reason there is no concluding extension after the verses is to display that the virtues praised in all the Tuṣita heavens of the Dharma realm are each of them different, just as with those Mañjuśrīs everywhere and their verses each distinct, which precisely displays that the Buddha's virtue is inexhaustible. That is to say, the absence of the concluding extension is not an omission; it is a deliberate letting of things stand unmatched.
Fazang explains it differently on the sixty-fascicle text. He says that after these verses there ought properly to have been words of concluding extension to the worlds of the ten directions, but that since each of the bodhisattvas before had said “contemplated everywhere the ten directions,” it has thereby already been displayed, and so it is not discussed further. The two explanations are recorded together without adjudication: the one says it is unextended in order to display each as distinct; the other says it is already extended and therefore need not be said again.
The Yanyi chao supplies a further layer of reason from the side of the station: this passage that follows is absent in the two preceding assemblies, and afterward likewise it is absent as in the two preceding assemblies — because this is the last of the three worthy stages.
At the very end of the chapter Chengguan also leaves a sentence that holds the whole together: the verses of these ten bodhisattvas should be read by the perfect interfusion of the six characteristics. The Yanyi chao matches the six characteristics one by one: the whole is the general displaying of the Buddha's virtue; the parts are the ten kinds of virtue each distinct; sameness is their setting forth the Buddha's virtue in common; difference is the ten virtues being unlike when looked at one against another; formation is their jointly forming the Buddha's virtue; and disintegration is their each abiding in its own nature. Fazang too, on the sixty-fascicle text, gathers “the hundred verses of the ten bodhisattvas above praising the Buddha” by the six characteristics, and himself lists six clauses: or generally, taking them as fused into one Dharma-realm buddha; or particularly, by the differentiation of the virtues of ten buddhas and a hundred gates; or as the same, since not one of the hundred verses fails to display the Buddha's virtue; or as different, since gate differs from gate; or as formation, since by these virtues the fruit of buddhahood is established through conditions; or as disintegration, since each abides in its own dharma and originally does not act. Both masters gather these hundred verses by the six characteristics, but the items they match are in the one case elaborate and in the other spare, and both are recorded without adjudication.
Clear away one error: do not suppose, because ‘there is no concluding extension,’ that a passage of the scripture has gone missing. Where it comes down: when in reading the Avataṃsaka one comes to a place that is unmatched, first hold it just as it stands — the unmatchedness of this chapter was read by the ancient worthies as an import in its own right.
Lineage
The import of this chapter was carried on by the ancient worthies along four tracks, all recorded without adjudication.
The line of Chengguan: he explains the chapter by four gates — the reason for its coming is attached to the extolling and praising that assists the converting and to displaying what the substance of the station rests upon; the explanation of the name is established from the bodhisattvas of the ten directions praising the Buddha's real virtues in this palace; and the tenet and aim take the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise as the tenet, with the expounding of the dedications as the aim. In explaining the text he determines three portions — the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise; within the portion of the gathering of the assembly he makes a long division into ten segments (the general raising of the chief ones, the number of the retinue, the nearness or distance of the place they come from, the names of the chief bodhisattvas, the lands they come from, the buddhas they originally served, the paying of reverence, the fine abiding in deportment, the emitting of light that benefits beings, and the brief praise of their excellent virtues), and in the last segment the brief praise of their excellent virtues opens ten gates; the portion of the emitting of light is divided in four, upon the wheels of the knees three senses are set up, and within it the twenty clauses praising the virtues of the assembly are bound into ten pairs; and the portion of the verses of praise is determined as ten bodhisattvas making ten segments, matched in order to the ten directions, with an explanation of the name and a classification of the verses set up for each segment. The three densest places of doctrine in the whole chapter are these: the fusing of the real and the conventional under “number is of two kinds” at the end of the portion of the emitting of light; the rebuttal of “the vajra is not a simile for wisdom alone” in the segment of Vajra Banner; and the two gates, of opening out the senses and of fusing, on arising in dependence upon the real in the segment of Light Banner. His establishing of the five dharmas of advancing in cultivation and citing of the nine goods in the segment of Firm Banner, his setting up of thesis, reason, and example in the segment of Jewel Banner with the determination that “awakening is the subject and being determinately not tied to time is what is predicated,” and his running of the three questions of who conceives, who sees, who manifests through the direct and reverse order of the six verses in the segment of Constellation Banner, are each the guiding thread of their segment. At the end of the whole chapter he gathers the ten segments by the perfect interfusion of the six characteristics and explains the import of there being no concluding extension after the verses.
Chengguan's Yanyi chao: he explains his own words in the commentary — on the five senses of the banner he points out the seven senses they derive from and explains why two were left out; for the ten pairs of the commentary he points out clause by clause where they stand in the scriptural text; for the three reasons in the segment of Jewel Banner he frames each as a formal argument, and recasts them as five-graph and seven-graph verses for ease of recitation; for the six characteristics he sets out the items one by one; and at the end he points out that the passage that follows is absent in both the preceding and the following assemblies, this being the last of the three worthy stages.
The line of Fazang: on the sixty-fascicle text, in “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha,” he establishes the explanation of the name upon four things — place, person, bodily karma, and verbal karma; and in explaining the text he determines four portions — the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, the praising of the assembly, and the praising of the Buddha — which is a different opening and joining from Chengguan's three portions. He takes the name of the lands, Firm, as betokening that the practice relied upon is accomplished and hard to destroy, and takes the buddhas and bodhisattvas sharing the name Banner as betokening that the cause and fruit of skillfulness in dedication stand out alone and subdue; at the place of the emitting of light he says that the two knees pass beyond the toes of the preceding assembly, betokening that the practice grows gradually more excellent; of the ten Dharma-gates he says explicitly that they should be gathered and interfused by the six characteristics; and his explanations of the names and classifications of the verses for each segment form a line of his own (the fourth he gives as Night-Radiance Banner and the ninth as True Banner). His setting of a question, at the line “it is not a place the mind can reach” in the segment of Jewel Banner, as to whether at the stage of buddhahood there are mind and mental factors, answered by distinguishing four gates — the initial teaching, the final teaching, the sudden teaching, and the perfect teaching — is a passage found in no other master on this chapter. At the end he gathers the hundred verses by six clauses of the six characteristics and explains the absence of a concluding extension after the verses as being because the several bodhisattvas each said “contemplated everywhere the ten directions” and so it has already been displayed.
The line of Zhiyan: his commentary is the most spare of all, and yet his classification of the verses of the ten segments is complete. He establishes the explanation of the name upon four senses — place, person, bodily bearing, and verbal karma — and determines the text into three prefaces; on the emitting of light from the two knees he says that it is the mark, within the practice of the dharma-body, of entering the realm of the Buddha and increasing in excellence and subtlety, and that the knee betokens the aspect of the skillful means of advancing; and he explains Vajra Banner as the own-substance being true and real, able to consume and destroy the encumbrance of marks, and as the path that transcends the world marking off victory from defeat. Two things in him are most worth noting. The first is that in the segment of Jewel Banner he sets himself the question “why does the classification of this scriptural text mostly follow the three vehicles?” and answers himself, “because those for whom it is meant are mostly of the three vehicles.” The second is that at the very end of the chapter he leaves himself a way out — it may also be said that the praises of the virtues of these ten bodhisattvas need no separate classification at all, since every single clause of import is itself one gate of skillful means; and this is taking the text with respect to the import of the One Vehicle.
The line of Li Tongxuan: he explains the chapter by three gates, and makes a long outline of the chapter into eleven segments (the gathering of the assembly, fifty-two lines of scripture, and the remaining ten segments each being one bodhisattva's ten lines of verse); and in explaining the meaning as he follows the text he further opens the portion of the gathering of the assembly into ten segments and sets up ten gates. What sets his track apart from all three of the others is his matching: he matches the ten perfections one by one to the ten bodhisattvas, takes the names of the ten worlds as betokening the practices cultivated in the ten dedications, and takes the names of the ten buddhas as betokening the fruit of the present station, explaining them largely by the positions of the eight trigrams; he also sets the “Grove” of the station of the ten practices against the “Banner” of the station of the ten dedications, saying that the former betokens the broad shelter and abundance of practice while the latter betokens that the practice of great compassion dwells in the great sea of birth and death while its own wisdom is never overturned. On the two verses of Constellation Banner and Dharma Banner, taken together, he says that the one breaks the attachment to being and the other the attachment to non-being, and that the two verses complete one another lest people fall into extreme views. And in two places the graphs by which he presents the scripture differ from the base text: he presents Stainless Banner as Undefiled Banner, and “sentient beings falsely discriminate” as “sentient beings have discrimination”; both are recorded without adjudication.
The number of the outline segments established by the four masters is not the same (Chengguan three portions and ten segments, Fazang four portions, Zhiyan three prefaces, Li Tongxuan eleven segments); the matchings they make are not the same (Chengguan matching the ten worlds to the Dharma-gates of the ten dedications, Li Tongxuan matching the ten perfections to the ten bodhisattvas); and the explanations of the names segment by segment are likewise not the same (the fourth Chengguan gives as Light Banner while Fazang gives Night-Radiance Banner; the ninth Chengguan gives as Constellation Banner while Fazang gives True Banner, this being caused by the difference of text between the two versions). There are divergences among the ancients, and they are recorded, with no adjudication of which stands higher.
As for the carrying on of this chapter in other books, its scantiness is recorded as it stands: Zhiyan's Kongmu zhang, in listing the chapters himself, gives “The Bodhisattvas of the Tuṣita Palace Come and Speak Verses, chapter 28,” the chapter number differing from the present text, which comes of his own differing reckoning of the chapters; the Zhigui mentions Tuṣita in five places, all of them general references to the Tuṣita Heaven or to the matter of the Tuṣita gods and the ten grounds, and not explanations of the text of this chapter; and in the Shixuan men the whole book returns no result. Nor has this chapter any treatise that presents and explains it, as “The Ten Grounds” has. Compared with “Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Yāma Heaven,” which produced the line “the mind is like a skilled painter” and was thereafter widely cited, this chapter's hundred verses show no single line that has been cited to a like degree — and this accords with the character of this chapter: from beginning to end it is engaged in taking away, not in setting up any term that might be lifted out.
Last, the joining of this chapter to what precedes and follows. Above it receives “Ascent to the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven” — the preceding chapter is the Buddha going to the Tuṣita Heaven without leaving the foot of the tree of awakening, the summit of Sumeru, and the palace of the Yāma Heaven, and this chapter is the bodhisattvas of the ten directions coming and assembling and praising in verse; below it joins to “The Ten Dedications” — and Chengguan's one sentence on the tenet and aim has already buckled the two chapters into one matter: this chapter takes the verses of praise as its tenet and the expounding of the dedications as its aim. Li Tongxuan says it still more directly: this chapter is in order to accomplish the Dharma-gate of cause and fruit within the ten dedications, and therefore it must come. The names of the ten bodhisattvas, the ten worlds they come from, and the ten buddhas they serve, taken together, are the table of contents of the next chapter.
考據Apparatus
兜率宮中偈讚品＝世尊既昇兜率天宮，佛神力故十方各有一大菩薩，一一各與萬佛剎微塵數諸菩薩俱，從萬佛剎微塵數國土外諸世界中來詣佛所，其名皆以「幢」為稱；所從來之十世界皆以「妙」為首，所事之十佛亦皆以「幢」為稱。菩薩至已頂禮佛足，以佛神力化作妙寶藏師子之座，寶網彌覆，隨所來方結跏趺坐，其身放清淨光明而略讚勝德十一句；世尊從兩膝輪放百千億那由他光明，普照十方盡法界虛空界一切世界，令彼此互見，並顯此諸菩薩與毘盧遮那如來往昔同種善根。此後金剛幢、堅固幢、勇猛幢、光明幢、智幢、寶幢、精進幢、離垢幢、星宿幢、法幢十菩薩各承佛神力而說頌，十段各十偈，全品一百偈、偈行二百行，世尊未親說一字。十段起句句型全同，「承佛神力」十見、「普觀十方」十見、「而說頌言」十見，逐字照底本並錄不改，本品無〈夜摩宮中偈讚品〉之「承佛威力」與「遍觀十方」二形。澄觀四門釋之，判全品為集眾、放光、偈讚三分，偈讚分十段而以金剛幢為會主，逐段各配十方之一方並各立釋名，末結云十菩薩之偈應以六相圓融、偈後無結通者為顯讚德各別；法藏於六十本判釋文為集眾、放光、歎眾、歎佛四分，並以六相總會「上十菩薩百偈歎佛」；智儼疏文最簡而十段偈科具足，並自設「何故科此經文多依三乘」之問答；李通玄則長科一品為十一段，以十波羅蜜配十菩薩、以十世界表十向所修、以十佛號表當位之果。四家所立之科段、分位與配法各異，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 | 品二十四 兜率宮中偈讚品（第五會 兜率天宮 · 卷二十三〔T10n0279 0121a12〕起–下品〈十迴向品第二十五之一〉品題〔0124a24〕前訖） |
| 澄觀《華嚴經疏》 | 兜率宮中偈讚品疏〔T35n1735 0690c17〕起–下品〈十迴向品第二十五〉科〔0694c05〕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） | 兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品第二十〔T35n1733 0239a17〕起–〔0241c23〕前訖；釋名・來意・宗・釋文（釋文為四分） |
| 智儼《搜玄記》（六十華嚴疏） | 兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品第二十〔T35n1732 0042a16〕起–〔0042c02〕前訖；四門同上 |
| 李通玄《新華嚴經論》 | 兜率天宮中偈讚品第二十四〔T36n1739 0854b20〕起–下品〈十迴向品第二十五〉品題〔0856c05〕前訖；三門：釋品名目・釋品來意・隨文解釋 |
來意——澄觀立三義，兼顯此會位體之所依：
「初來意者，前明化主赴感，今明助化讚揚，及顯位體所依，故次來也。」〔T35n1735 0690c18〕
李通玄則繫於成十迴向之因果：
「第二釋品來意者，此品為欲成十迴向中因果法門故，此品須來也。」〔T36n1739 0854b27〕
釋名——澄觀就處、人、事三者立名，並指同於第三會之通釋：
「二釋名者，謂十方菩薩於此宮中讚佛實德，故受斯名。通二種釋，如第三會。」〔T35n1735 0690c19〕
六十本品名作〈兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品〉，故法藏就處、人、身業、語業四者釋：
「初釋名者，明如來將說妙法，必英徒影赴電速雲臻，遍滿虛空集於法界，各以妙偈嘆佛實德，故以為名。又天宮是處，菩薩顯人，雲集是身業自在，讚佛是語業功德，約身語處用以題名。」〔T35n1733 0239a18〕
智儼所立與法藏同其四目而最簡：
「四門同上。一釋名者，有四義：一處、二人、三身儀、四口業。或六句，可知。」〔T35n1732 0042a17〕
李通玄則就所讚之法立名：
「第一釋品名目者，明以金剛幢等十菩薩各從異佛剎來，處兜率天宮，至如來所，各化作妙寶藏師子之座已，各以十迴向法門因果而偈讚之，故名〈偈讚品〉。」〔T36n1739 0854b22〕
宗趣——澄觀以此品為次品之所趣：
「三宗趣者，集眾放光偈讚為宗，為說迴向為趣。」〔T35n1735 0690c21〕
智儼於六十本判其異在所歎：「三宗，亦同前准之。但迴入此品，歎方便佛行為異耳。」〔T35n1732 0042a19〕
正釋文——澄觀總為三分，法藏於六十本作四分，二家開合不同：
「四釋文亦三，初集眾、二放光、三偈讚。初中二：先明集因，謂佛神力。」〔T35n1735 0690c22〕
「四釋文中四：一集眾、二放光、三歎眾、四歎佛。」〔T35n1733 0239a23〕
澄觀於集眾分內復長分十段：
「今初，長分十段：一總舉上首。二眷屬數、三來處遠近，位增數增故各一萬。四主菩薩名，同名幢者略有五義」〔T35n1735 0690c25〕
其十段之目依次為總舉上首、眷屬數、來處遠近、主菩薩名、所從來剎、本所事佛、已修敬、善住威儀、放光利物、略讚勝德，末一段之內復開十門〔T35n1735 0691b01〕。
李通玄十一段長科——與澄觀三分、法藏四分皆不同：
「一長科經意者，於此一品大意，前後總作十一段長科。一從「爾時佛神力故」已下至「而說頌言」有五十二行經，明金剛幢等十菩薩眾十方來集，彰因示果不二分。」〔T36n1739 0854c02〕「二「如來不出世」已下有十行頌，明佛以實示權分。」〔0854c05〕
其第二至第十一段各配一菩薩之十行頌，凡十段，皆以「有十行頌」立量。
二、術語
| 漢 | 所徵 | 精義 |
|---|---|---|
| 幢（十菩薩十佛同名） | 澄觀：「四主菩薩名，同名幢者略有五義：一高出義，表三賢位極故。二建立義，大悲大智建立眾生及菩提故。三歸向義，謂大悲攝生，智願攝善，歸向菩提及實際故。四摧殄義，如猛將幢，降伏一切諸魔軍故。五滅怖畏義，如帝釋幢，不怖惑業故。」〔T35n1735 0690c27〕 | 五義表十向之體・「異名即表十向行體，至偈當明」〔0691a03〕 |
| 幢（五義之出處） | 澄觀《演義鈔》：「疏文中「幢者略有五義」者，《刊定》有七，今略其二」〔T36n1736 0363a25〕・七義為「一堅固義、二滅恐怖義、三歸向義、四建立義、五高顯義、六摧殄義、七不為他壞義」〔0363b02〕 | 鈔引《涅槃》三十一「修戒定慧如帝釋幢，不移轉故。」〔T36n1736 0363b06〕 |
| 幢（六十本之釋） | 智儼：「金剛者，因行堅也。幢者，行成高出也，亦有攝伏義耳。」〔T35n1732 0042b03〕 | 法藏：「佛與菩薩同名幢者，表迴向善巧因果獨出攝伏故也。」〔T35n1733 0239a28〕 |
| 妙（十世界同稱） | 澄觀：「五所從來剎皆稱妙者，迴向之力微，善彌於法界。故其別名即表十向所修法門」〔T35n1735 0691a04〕 | 逐一配十迴向・如「一救護眾生離眾生相，最可貴故」〔0691a06〕 |
| 十佛名（表當位之果） | 澄觀：「六本所事佛同名幢，義不異菩薩。別名即表修十向智，亦表當位之果。謂一救護之心不可盡，故成無盡佛。」〔T35n1735 0691a13〕 | 十佛逐一配十向之智與果 |
| 妙寶藏師子之座 | 底本：「以佛神力，即化作妙寶藏師子之座，寶網彌覆，周匝遍滿」〔T10n0279 0121a25〕 | 澄觀：「今十向大悲處於生死，普該萬法不拘乎一故。座體直云妙寶，不限色類，以教行遍周籠攝眾生，如以寶網彌覆其上。」〔T35n1735 0691a24〕 |
| 兩膝輪（放光處） | 底本：「爾時，世尊從兩膝輪，放百千億那由他光明」〔T10n0279 0121b15〕 | 澄觀：「言膝輪者，位漸高故。又表迴因向果等，有屈申進趣之相故。又悲智相導，屈申無住故。」〔T35n1735 0691b07〕 |
| 兩膝（六十本作） | 六十本：「爾時，世尊從兩膝放百千億那由他光明」〔T09n0278 0485b09〕 | 法藏：「第二放光中，兩膝放者，過前足指，表行漸勝故也。又膝有屈申進趣用，表迴因向果進昇之相故也。」〔T35n1733 0239b10〕 |
| 十對二十句（勝德） | 澄觀：「文有二十句，束為十對：一離障成身對；二入剎近佛對；三用速心淨對；四外護內證對；五能覺所覺對……十得通立法對，由得通故調化無數，由離數故而能安立。」〔T35n1735 0691b14〕 | 第九對即會主之名所出：「此位中顯名金剛幢對，金剛定即菩提智」〔0691b19〕 |
| 數（二種） | 澄觀：「數有二種：一數量數、二色心有為皆名為數。今文具二，謂由不著一多，能立一切故；不著於有，能安立故。」〔T35n1735 0691b22〕 | 釋底本「於一切數，雖無所著，善能修學，成就究竟，方便安立一切諸法」〔T10n0279 0121c02〕 |
| 伽陀藥 | 底本：「譬如伽陀藥，能消一切毒，佛法亦如是，滅諸煩惱患。」〔T10n0279 0122b03〕 | 六十本作「譬如伽陀藥，能消一切毒，天尊亦如是，滅除煩惱毒。」〔T09n0278 0486a25〕 |
| 隨意珠 | 底本：「譬如隨意珠，能滿眾生心，諸佛法如是，悉滿一切願。」〔T10n0279 0123b12〕 | 澄觀：「如珠現物，雖非內外，能滿物心。」〔T35n1735 0693c23〕 |
| 翳眼 | 底本：「如翳眼所覩，非內亦非外，世間見諸佛，應知亦如是。」〔T10n0279 0123a09〕 | 澄觀：「病眼所覩，取色分齊，勿謂為實。」〔T35n1735 0693a24〕 |
| 六相圓融 | 澄觀：「上十菩薩之偈，應以六相圓融。」〔T35n1735 0694b22〕 | 《演義鈔》釋之：「言「六相」者，一總顯佛德、二別則十種德殊、三同則同明佛德、四異則十德互望不同、五成則共成佛德、六壞則各住自性。」〔T36n1736 0365b12〕 |
三、譬喻·修辭
- 明淨眼與日（勇猛幢第一偈·喻因緣和合方能見佛）——「譬如明淨眼，因日覩眾色，淨心亦復然，佛力見如來。」〔T10n0279 0122a24〕；澄觀釋云「淨心，如淨眼為見之因，佛力如日為見之緣，如來如色為見之境。如人入闇則無所見，斯則獨因不見也。如明淨日，瞽者莫見，獨緣不見也。此辨因緣和合方能見也。」〔T35n1735 0692b01〕；六十本作「有眼有日光，能見細微色，最勝神力故，淨心見諸佛。」〔T09n0278 0486a17〕
- 盡海源底（勇猛幢第二偈·喻智力窮見）——「如以精進力，能盡海源底，智力亦如是，得見無量佛。」〔T10n0279 0122a26〕；法藏於六十本判為「明見難盡，謂要以普賢猛智方盡原底」〔T35n1733 0240a12〕
- 良沃田（勇猛幢第三偈·喻淨心地出生佛法）——「譬如良沃田，所種必滋長，如是淨心地，出生諸佛法。」〔T10n0279 0122a28〕；六十本作「譬如好良田，植種必滋繁」〔T09n0278 0486a21〕
- 獲寶藏（勇猛幢第四偈·喻得佛法離垢）——「如人獲寶藏，永離貧窮苦，菩薩得佛法，離垢心清淨。」〔T10n0279 0122b01〕；六十本作「如貧得寶藏，除滅飢寒苦」〔T09n0278 0486a23〕
- 伽陀藥（勇猛幢第五偈·喻佛法滅煩惱）——「譬如伽陀藥，能消一切毒」〔T10n0279 0122b03〕；澄觀判此二偈為「前偈得權智，能離所知心垢；後偈有根本智，能除煩惱之患」〔T35n1735 0692b07〕
- 虛空界（勇猛幢第十偈·喻諸佛法畢竟無生滅）——「譬如虛空界，不生亦不滅，諸佛法如是，畢竟無生滅。」〔T10n0279 0122b13〕
- 一心力生種種心（光明幢第二偈·喻一佛身普現一切佛）——「譬如一心力，能生種種心，如是一佛身，普現一切佛。」〔T10n0279 0122b19〕；澄觀釋云「依一總心變多王所，於一實佛應化多端，故無礙也。」〔T35n1735 0692b23〕；六十本作「如來一法身，出生諸佛身」〔T09n0278 0486b13〕
- 淨滿月普現一切水（智幢第六偈·全品最著之喻）——「譬如淨滿月，普現一切水，影像雖無量，本月未曾二。」〔T10n0279 0122c20〕；澄觀判此四偈為「一異無礙，亦是本末無礙，一法、二喻、三合、四釋」〔T35n1735 0693a12〕，此偈即其中之喻；六十本同作「譬如淨滿月，普現一切水，影像雖無量，本月未曾二。」〔T09n0278 0486c13〕
- 淨日輪不與昏夜合（寶幢第九偈·喻佛不繫於時）——「譬如淨日輪，不與昏夜合，而說某日夜，諸佛法如是。」〔T10n0279 0123a19〕；澄觀判為同喻並立因明三支：「次偈舉同喻，謂日體常明，故不合昏夜。後偈合結，上半合、下半結。」〔T35n1735 0693b07〕
- 眾緣生起（精進幢第八偈·喻見佛必假眾善業）——「譬如一切法，眾緣故生起，見佛亦復然，必假眾善業。」〔T10n0279 0123b10〕；澄觀：「所以要隨業者，同一切法必假緣故，此以總喻別。」〔T35n1735 0693c21〕
- 隨意珠（精進幢第九偈·喻悉滿一切願）——「譬如隨意珠，能滿眾生心」〔T10n0279 0123b12〕
- 翳眼（寶幢第四偈·喻世間見佛）——「如翳眼所覩，非內亦非外」〔T10n0279 0123a09〕
- 我之難思（精進幢第六偈·以妄計之我為喻）——「如以我難思，心業莫能取，佛難思亦爾，非心業所現。」〔T10n0279 0123b06〕；澄觀：「謂如妄計之我，本無所有，故不可思。此以妄計情有理無，非聖智境。以況法身理有情無，非下位測。」〔T35n1735 0693c17〕
- 剎之難思（精進幢第七偈）——「如剎不可思，而見淨莊嚴，佛難思亦爾，妙相無不現。」〔T10n0279 0123b08〕；澄觀：「後偈以剎為喻，喻雖絕相難思，而不礙相。」〔T35n1735 0693c19〕
- 幻所作色（智幢第十偈）——「如幻所作色，無生亦無起，佛身亦如是，示現無有生。」〔T10n0279 0122c28〕；六十本作「譬如幻化色，不生亦不滅，佛身亦如是，寂然無生滅。」〔T09n0278 0486c21〕
- 星宿羅空（第九菩薩之名所取之喻·出澄觀疏而非經文）——澄觀：「解佛遍應法界之身，而不離法性，若彼星宿粲然羅空不可縛著，故以為名。」〔T35n1735 0694a13〕
- 重言之體例——十段起句句型全同（『爾時，某幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言』）：「承佛神力」十見逐字全同、「普觀十方」十見逐字全同、「而說頌言」十見逐字全同。本品無〈夜摩宮中偈讚品〉之「承佛威力」與覺林一段之「遍觀十方」，逐字實掃底本，「承佛威力」零見、「遍觀十方」零見，據實記。六十本十段亦皆作「承佛神力，普觀十方，以偈頌曰」〔T09n0278 0485c01〕。
- 本品段末無推功句·品末無結通——十段末偈皆無推功於前一說者之句，逐段實計；全品末偈訖即下品品題，經家無結語。澄觀特為此立說：「所以偈後無結通者，為顯法界兜率讚德異故，猶彼處處文殊、偈偈各別，顯佛德無盡故。」〔T35n1735 0694b23〕；法藏所釋不同：「又此偈後應有結通十方世界，但為前諸菩薩各云普觀十方，則已顯現，故不更論。」〔T35n1733 0241c19〕二說並錄不判。
- 「譬如」九見·「假使」零見——「譬如」九見（勇猛幢四・光明幢一・智幢一・寶幢一・精進幢二，逐段實計）；「假使」零見，逐字掃底本，據實記。
四、異譯對勘
本品之漢譯校本：實叉難陀 T279（底本·〈兜率宮中偈讚品第二十四〉）· 佛馱跋陀羅 T278（晉譯六十華嚴·〈兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品第二十〉〔T09n0278 0485a05〕起–下品〈金剛幢菩薩十迴向品之一〉品題〔0488a17〕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 | 兜率宮中偈讚品第二十四 | T10n0279 0121a12 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品第二十 | T09n0278 0485a05 |
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，一一各與萬佛剎微塵數諸菩薩俱，從萬佛剎微塵數國土外諸世界中，來詣佛所。 | T10n0279 0121a13 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 爾時，佛神力故，十方各過萬佛世界塵數剎外 | T09n0278 0485a06 |
句三 十菩薩名
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 金剛幢菩薩、堅固幢菩薩、勇猛幢菩薩、光明幢菩薩、智幢菩薩、寶幢菩薩、精進幢菩薩、離垢幢菩薩、星宿幢菩薩、法幢菩薩。 | T10n0279 0121a15 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 其名曰金剛幢；次名堅固幢；次名勇猛幢；次名夜光幢；次名智幢；次名寶幢；次名精進幢；次名離垢幢；次名真實幢；次名法幢。 | T09n0278 0485a14 |
句四 十世界名
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 妙寶世界、妙樂世界、妙銀世界、妙金世界、妙摩尼世界、妙金剛世界、妙波頭摩世界、妙優鉢羅世界、妙栴檀世界、妙香世界。 | T10n0279 0121a19 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 彼有世界，名堅固寶；次名堅固樂；次名堅固寶王；次名堅固金；次名堅固摩尼；次名堅固金剛；次名堅固蓮華；次名堅固青蓮華；次名堅固栴檀；次名堅固香。 | T09n0278 0485a07 |
句五 十佛名
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 無盡幢佛、風幢佛、解脫幢佛、威儀幢佛、明相幢佛、常幢佛、最勝幢佛、自在幢佛、梵幢佛、觀察幢佛。 | T10n0279 0121a22 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 其佛號壽無盡幢；次號風幢；次號清白幢；次號威儀幢；次號明相幢；次號常幢；次號上幢；次號自在幢；次號梵幢；次號寧泰幢。 | T09n0278 0485a10 |
句六 化座句
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 以佛神力，即化作妙寶藏師子之座，寶網彌覆，周匝遍滿；諸菩薩眾，隨所來方，各於其上結跏趺坐。 | T10n0279 0121a25 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 佛神力故，隨所來方，化作如意寶藏師子之座，充滿十方，結跏趺坐；白淨寶網，以覆其身。 | T09n0278 0485a19 |
句七 放光句
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 爾時，世尊從兩膝輪，放百千億那由他光明，普照十方盡法界、虛空界、一切世界。 | T10n0279 0121b15 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 爾時，世尊從兩膝放百千億那由他光明，普照十方虛空法界等一切世界諸四天下兜率天宮，一切如來神力自在，皆悉顯現。 | T09n0278 0485b09 |
句八 同種善根句
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 如是菩薩皆與毘盧遮那如來，於往昔時，同種善根，修菩薩行 | T10n0279 0121b18 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 皆是盧舍那如來、應供、等正覺，行菩薩道，修習無量諸法門時，善知識也。 | T09n0278 0485b13 |
句九 說者標句
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 爾時，金剛幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方而說頌言： | T10n0279 0121c07 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 爾時，金剛幢菩薩承佛神力，普觀十方，以偈頌曰： | T09n0278 0485b29 |
句十 金剛幢第一偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 如來不出世，亦無有涅槃，以本大願力，示現自在法。 | T10n0279 0121c09 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 如來不出世，亦無有涅槃，以本大願力，顯現自在法。 | T09n0278 0485c02 |
句十一 金剛幢第三偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 色身非是佛，音聲亦復然，亦不離色聲，見佛神通力。 | T10n0279 0121c13 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 色身非如來，音聲亦如是，亦不離色聲，有佛自在力。 | T09n0278 0485c06 |
句十二 金剛幢第十偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 若有見如來，如是威神力，當於最勝尊，供養勿生疑。 | T10n0279 0121c27 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 如是見如來，無量自在力，除疑常親近，無上善知識。 | T09n0278 0485c20 |
句十三 堅固幢第一偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 如來勝無比，甚深不可說，出過言語道，清淨如虛空。 | T10n0279 0122a02 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 最上無過者，甚深不可說，一切語言斷，清淨如虛空。 | T09n0278 0485c24 |
句十四 勇猛幢第七偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 設於無數劫，財寶施於佛，不知佛實相，此亦不名施。 | T10n0279 0122b07 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 無量無數劫，常行無上施，若能化一人，功德超於彼。 | T09n0278 0486a29 |
句十五 寶幢第四偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 如翳眼所覩，非內亦非外，世間見諸佛，應知亦如是。 | T10n0279 0123a09 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 譬如無目人，不覩內外色，如來不出世，不見一切法。 | T09n0278 0487a02 |
句十六 精進幢第三偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 佛身不在內，亦復不在外，神力故顯現，導師法如是。 | T10n0279 0123a29 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 如來淨法身，非是內身數，如來淨法身，亦非外身數。 | T09n0278 0487a22 |
句十七 離垢幢第六偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 佛身及世間，一切皆無我，悟此成正覺，復為眾生說。 | T10n0279 0123b28 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 佛身非我所，世界亦如是，說心非我所，覺無我菩提。 | T09n0278 0487b21 |
句十八 星宿幢第一偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 如來無所住，普住一切剎，一切土皆往，一切處咸見。 | T10n0279 0123c11 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 正覺遊十方，一切諸世界，不離於一剎，普現諸國土。 | T09n0278 0487c04 |
句十九 星宿幢第三偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 諸佛不思議，誰能思議佛？誰能見正覺？誰能現最勝？ | T10n0279 0123c15 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 誰為思議佛？誰為不思議？誰見諸如來？誰為等正覺？ | T09n0278 0487c08 |
句二十 法幢第一偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 寧可恒具受，一切世間苦，終不遠如來，不覩自在力。 | T10n0279 0124a04 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 寧於無量劫，具受一切苦，終不遠如來，不覩自在力。 | T09n0278 0487c26 |
句二十一 全品結偈
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 諸法不可壞，亦無能壞者，自在大光明，普示於世間。 | T10n0279 0124a22 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 諸法不可壞，亦無壞法者，照明諸世間，示現自在法。 | T09n0278 0488a15 |
開合與名目之異——二本十菩薩之名有二異：八十本作光明幢、星宿幢，六十本作夜光幢、真實幢，餘八名全同。十世界名二本全異：八十本十名皆以「妙」為首，六十本十名皆以「堅固」為首。十佛名二本大同而四異：八十本作無盡幢、解脫幢、最勝幢、觀察幢，六十本作壽無盡幢、清白幢、上幢、寧泰幢。二本偈數同為十段各十偈，全品一百偈，法藏於六十本亦作「上十菩薩百偈歎佛」〔T35n1733 0241c15〕。又六十本本品全在卷第十六之內，八十本則全品在卷二十三之內，二本皆無卷界落於本品之中。
五、宗義之經據〔眼〕
(一) 同名幢，表三賢位極而歸向菩提——十菩薩與十佛皆以幢為名，澄觀立五義釋之，其第一義即繫於三賢之終：
「四主菩薩名，同名幢者略有五義：一高出義，表三賢位極故。二建立義，大悲大智建立眾生及菩提故。三歸向義，謂大悲攝生，智願攝善，歸向菩提及實際故。四摧殄義，如猛將幢，降伏一切諸魔軍故。五滅怖畏義，如帝釋幢，不怖惑業故。」〔T35n1735 0690c27〕
其下更點出別名之所表：「異名即表十向行體，至偈當明。」〔T35n1735 0691a03〕
(二) 十世界之名即十迴向之所修——澄觀逐一以十世界別名配十迴向法門：
「五所從來剎皆稱妙者，迴向之力微，善彌於法界。故其別名即表十向所修法門：一救護眾生離眾生相，最可貴故。二得不壞信，常樂因故。三等佛白淨故。四如金遍至諸色像故。五出用無盡，如摩尼故。六善根堅固，如金剛故。七隨順眾生，不染塵故。八真如之因如水生華，最為勝故。九如白栴檀，能去熱惱之縛著故。十如彼香氣，能普周故。」〔T35n1735 0691a04〕
其末並繫於下文之事：「故下文慈氏座前燒一丸香彌滿法界，即其事也。」〔T35n1735 0691a12〕
(三) 十佛之名即修十向之智與當位之果——
「六本所事佛同名幢，義不異菩薩。別名即表修十向智，亦表當位之果。謂一救護之心不可盡，故成無盡佛。二如空中風，不住不壞故。三等佛解脫故。四四威儀中無不至故。五明了功德相故。六常能隨順善根故。七隨順眾生，善最勝故。八同於真如，得自在故。九淨無垢染，不縛著故。十觀察即是入法界故。」〔T35n1735 0691a13〕
(四) 座體直云妙寶，不限色類——三會座體之異，澄觀以位釋之：
「座體云妙寶者，十住以慧光遍照故，以毘盧遮那藏為體。十行以行淨離垢故，以摩尼藏為體。今十向大悲處於生死，普該萬法不拘乎一故。座體直云妙寶，不限色類，以教行遍周籠攝眾生，如以寶網彌覆其上。」〔T35n1735 0691a21〕
(五) 放光在膝輪，表迴因向果屈申進趣——
「言膝輪者，位漸高故。又表迴因向果等，有屈申進趣之相故。又悲智相導，屈申無住故。」〔T35n1735 0691b07〕
李通玄列五位放光之處以顯昇進：
「明十信足下輪中放光，以信為初。如十住足指端，明入聖位之初。十行足趺，明依聖性法身起行。十迴向即於膝上放光者，明表法光明，以膝者人之坐起迴旋卷舒自在之所由也。」〔T36n1739 0856b12〕
(六) 真俗鎔融·有空空有體一名殊——放光分末「於一切數，雖無所著」一句，澄觀由「數」開出全品最密之一段：
「即真俗鎔融，謂世俗幻有之相，相本自空；勝義真空之理，理常自有。有是空有非常有，斯有未曾不空；空是有空非斷空，此空何嘗不有。有空空有，體一名殊。名殊故真俗互乖，迢然不雜；體一故空有相順，冥然不二。一與不一，不即不離，鎔融無礙。菩薩智契其源，所以雖逈絕無寄而善修安立。」〔T35n1735 0691b24〕
(七) 金剛不獨喻智——悲智相導方為真實不共般若——會主金剛幢之名，澄觀由此立一破：
「金剛者，堅利也，即悲之智。二乘實際不能壞，堅也；斷難斷惑，利也。故文云「智慧到彼岸」。即智之悲，愛見不能動，堅也；無所不救，利也。」〔T35n1735 0691c06〕
「故知金剛不獨喻智。攻般若者不得此意，但以標名，獨將金剛喻於般若，不觀文中悲濟九類而無所度，悲智相導方為真實不共般若。智者應知。」〔T35n1735 0691c14〕
其所引之證：「七十八云「譬如金剛，唯從金剛處及金處生，非餘寶處生。菩提心金剛亦復如是，唯從大悲救護眾生金剛處，一切智智殊勝境界金處而生，非餘眾生善根處生。」」〔T35n1735 0691c10〕
(八) 進修五法與九善——堅固幢段勸修三偈，澄觀立五法而引慈氏論所引《醍醐喻經》：
「然夫進修，略有五法，謂欲、精進、念、巧慧、一心。初偈明欲、次偈辨念、後偈巧慧。」〔T35n1735 0692a14〕
「又慈氏論引《醍醐喻經》共說九善，謂一切法欲為根本，作意所生，觸所集起，受所引攝，以念為主，定為上首，慧為最勝，解脫為堅固，出離為後邊。有前未必有後，有後定須有前，是故先說欲為其本。」〔T35n1735 0692a17〕
(九) 依真起化二門——開義與融合——光明幢第八偈「佛身非變化，亦復非非化」，澄觀開二門而終歸鎔融：
「且依真起化，略有二門：一開義、二融合。初中，真應各有二義。真中，一不變義，謂雖化而常湛然，初句顯之。二隨緣義，謂不守自性，無不現故，故云亦復非非化。」〔T35n1735 0692c11〕
「是故現化紛然未嘗不寂，真性湛然未曾不化。真化鎔融為一無礙清淨法界，宜審思之。」〔T35n1735 0692c26〕
(十) 佛不繫於日——因明三支立量——寶幢後五偈，澄觀立宗、因、喻而判之：
「後四別顯超時，初偈立宗，上半牒妄情，下半正立菩提是有法、定不繫時是宗法。次偈立三因：一智無分別故、二三世不遷故、三體非有為之數故。次偈舉同喻，謂日體常明，故不合昏夜。後偈合結，上半合、下半結。」〔T35n1735 0693b03〕
其於「合中語倒」一節並示順說之式：「合中語倒，若順應云一切諸如來不與三世合。」〔T35n1735 0693b08〕
(十一) 眾生強分別，作佛度眾生——寶幢第五偈「而實無興世」之義，澄觀引經為證：
「故《諸法無行經》云「如來不出世，亦不度眾生。眾生強分別，作佛度眾生。」」〔T35n1735 0693a28〕
(十二) 身同義亦然——三身十身皆同——精進幢第一偈之總標，澄觀開多義釋之：
「言身同者，三身十身皆悉同故。義亦然者，此含多意：一且約三身，體依聚義，無不同故。所覺能覺，覺他同故。」〔T35n1735 0693b19〕
「二約十身釋義同者，皆通三世間，彼此互望無差別故。種種利樂居然是同，此有三因：一行海齊滿、二大願齊具、三同一法性故。非唯相似，亦一即一切互相融故。」〔T35n1735 0693b27〕
其所引之論證：「故《攝論》第十云「諸佛法身應知恒時能作五業」等。」〔T35n1735 0693b25〕
(十三) 普有二義——同段下半「普於十方剎」之普，澄觀開二：
「然普有二義：一約諸佛，謂無有佛不遍十方故。二約一佛，謂無一方而不現故。」〔T35n1735 0693c04〕
(十四) 星宿幢三總三順三反——星宿幢一段之判，澄觀以誰思、誰見、誰現三問為骨：
「十頌顯佛此德，分為三別：初三總顯即體之應、次六別釋體應自在、後一拂去自在之迹。」〔T35n1735 0694a14〕
「次六別釋中，初三順釋、後三反釋。」〔T35n1735 0694a24〕
其於末偈之拂：「三一偈拂自在之迹者，上明自在尚假言詮，正覺超言，故拂言迹。超言亦假，應忘言契之。」〔T35n1735 0694b05〕
(十五) 不壞假名而說實相——全品結偈之義：
「不動真際建立諸法則性不可壞，不壞假名而說實相則相不可壞，斯則天魔外道等皆法印故無能壞。餘如〈十藏品〉。」〔T35n1735 0694b19〕
(十六) 十偈應以六相圓融——澄觀於全品之末總結：
「上十菩薩之偈，應以六相圓融。所以偈後無結通者，為顯法界兜率讚德異故，猶彼處處文殊、偈偈各別，顯佛德無盡故。」〔T35n1735 0694b22〕
法藏於六十本同以六相總會而所開之目為六：
「上十菩薩百偈歎佛，或總為一，以融會為一法界佛故。或別，以十佛百門德差別故。或同，以百偈無非顯佛德故。或異，以門門相別故。或成，由此德緣佛果立故。或壞，各住自法本不作故。准思之。」〔T35n1733 0241c15〕
六、諸家異釋（古德·標宗）
澄觀《華嚴經疏》T35n1735（八十華嚴逐文·主）
十段配十方而各立釋名——澄觀判「第三偈讚中，十菩薩即為十段。亦十方如次，皆先標說人及說儀式。」〔T35n1735 0691c03〕，逐段所立之名義與偈科如次：
「今初東方金剛幢者，此是會主，名含總別。總顯迴向不出悲智。」〔T35n1735 0691c05〕・「十頌歎佛寂用無礙德，大分為二：初八讚佛勝德、後二結勸修行。」〔0691c19〕
「第二南方堅固者，表不壞迴向故、菩提心堅故、觀佛無厭故。十頌多明如來為物所依德。於中分二：初三讚佛勝德、後七勸修辨益。」〔T35n1735 0692a06〕
「第三西方菩薩，淨心智力見佛盡源，等一切佛，故名勇猛。十頌分二：前六明感應道交，見佛聞法；後四令捨偽求真，拂見聞相故。」〔T35n1735 0692a24〕
「第四北方菩薩。以大悲力運智慧光，朗彼重昏無所不至，名光明幢。又以智慧令諸善根無所不至，故此頌中多顯如來即體化用周普之德。十頌分三：初一化用廣，亦明化處；次七化用深，亦明化依；後二雙結」〔T35n1735 0692b15〕
「第五東北方。於佛寂用之境決斷無礙故，又智導萬行出生無盡故，名智幢故。頌中多歎如來應現出生無盡無礙之德。十頌分二：初一標章勸信，信有修行之益；後九所信勝德」〔T35n1735 0693a03〕
「第六東南方菩薩。以圓淨智照平等理，不礙應現，隨順一切如摩尼寶，故名寶幢。頌中多顯平等超世之德。十頌分二：前五總顯難思、後五逈超時數。」〔T35n1735 0693a14〕
「第七西南方。勤觀如來真應皆同，故能平等隨順一切眾生，名精進幢。十頌顯此同義。文分為二：初一總標、餘九別釋。」〔T35n1735 0693b16〕
「第八西北方菩薩。真如體淨，能成白法，復淨世間，故名離垢。十頌多歎如來淨德，前六淨他、後四自淨。」〔T35n1735 0693c24〕
「第九下方菩薩。解佛遍應法界之身，而不離法性，若彼星宿粲然羅空不可縛著，故以為名。」〔T35n1735 0694a12〕
「第十上方菩薩。知真實之法，普入法界，則所修行皆無分量，故名法幢。知法名佛，故先讚見佛之益。十頌雙顯佛法難聞，於中分二：前四讚佛勸人聞見、後六讚法勸物聞求。」〔T35n1735 0694b07〕
自設問答以通疑——寶幢一段之次第，澄觀以連環設難之式釋之：
「後三展轉釋成，初云何以難思？若身若處，非生滅心行之境故。何以非心境？佛自不起心故。何以不起？體無生滅故。若爾，何以現見？次偈釋云：病眼所覩，取色分齊，勿謂為實。次疑云：若爾，豈無如來出現世耶？次偈釋云：自機見耳。」〔T35n1735 0693a21〕
《隨疏演義鈔》T36n1736（澄觀自釋疏語）
幢之五義出於七義之略——「疏文中「幢者略有五義」者，《刊定》有七，今略其二」〔T36n1736 0363a25〕；其七為「一堅固義、二滅恐怖義、三歸向義、四建立義、五高顯義、六摧殄義、七不為他壞義」〔0363b02〕，鈔並說明何以略二：「今以堅固即不為他壞，準上引經即建立中攝。又他不壞，在滅恐怖中攝」〔0363b04〕。
十對之經文所指——鈔為疏之十對逐一指出經文：「疏「一離障成身對」等者，以文易故，疏不指經，今當指之。二入一切土下，入剎對，三於一念下是，四無量無數下是，五恒以淨念下是，六以小入大下是，七獲一切智下是，八一切如來下是，九到金剛下是，十已得諸佛自在神通下是。」〔T36n1736 0363b23〕
因明立量之式——寶幢段疏文之三因，鈔逐一作量並改作偈式：「作初偈量云「日體無分別，不與昏夜合；如來無分別，不與三世合」」〔T36n1736 0364c12〕・「若七言云：日體恒明隨映殊，不合昏夜說昏夜；佛體湛然隨機應，已超三世說三世。」〔0365a05〕
六相之目——「言「六相」者，一總顯佛德、二別則十種德殊、三同則同明佛德、四異則十德互望不同、五成則共成佛德、六壞則各住自性。」〔T36n1736 0365b12〕
法藏《探玄記》T35n1733（六十華嚴疏〈兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品〉）
釋文四分——「四釋文中四：一集眾、二放光、三歎眾、四歎佛。」〔T35n1733 0239a23〕，與澄觀三分不同。
國名堅固之表——「國名堅固者，表顯所依行成難壞故也。佛與菩薩同名幢者，表迴向善巧因果獨出攝伏故也。寶網覆身，表德備也。放光，用廣也。」〔T35n1733 0239a27〕
十法門應以六相融攝——「一身遍遊、二智見理、三多身遍、四入果用、五得果智、六巧便光、七廣辨、八深持、九見法界、十盡虛空，應以六相融攝思准。」〔T35n1733 0239b07〕
逐段釋名與偈科（依六十本立）——「第二以觀佛心堅名堅固幢。十偈分三：初七歎佛德、次二勸修趣入、後一結見聞益。」〔T35n1733 0239c22〕・「第三智力勇健盡佛海原名勇猛幢。十偈分二：初七歎佛為修行勝緣、後三顯佛自在之德。」〔0240a08〕・「第四以於生死夜現暉智光名夜光幢。十偈分三：初一歎佛用廣，十方普見故；次七明佛用深，融理而起故；後二雙結深廣，無涯底故。」〔0240a18〕・「第五深慧無礙名智幢。十偈分三：初四歎佛德用無限、次四歎佛一異無礙、後二歎佛生滅自在。」〔0240b22〕・「第六照理可貴故名寶幢。十偈分二：初三歎佛身心自在、後七歎佛出世自在。」〔0240c13〕・「第七勤觀妙理名精進幢。十偈分二：初一汎舉諸佛標德同應異、後九正歎此佛。」〔0241a18〕・「第八淨慧照實染障已除名離垢幢。十偈分四」〔0241b07〕・「第九了佛應身即同真故名真實幢。十偈分二：初二明佛無方大用」〔0241b19〕・「第十善解成佛之法故名法幢。十偈分四：初二明近佛益」〔0241c02〕
佛地心心法之四教分別——寶幢段「非心所行處，心不於中起」一句，法藏設問而以初、終、頓、圓四門答之：
「《智論》云「佛地無有心心法」也。問：若約法身，可如上說。約受用身無心法，豈可令佛同非情類？答：若依初教，佛地具有清淨八識及二十一心所。設言無者，但無染識，非謂無淨。」〔T35n1733 0240c17〕
「若約圓教，既理智混融，舉法界俱為智，說十顯無盡，是故此智未嘗不即法界。思准之。」〔T35n1733 0240c28〕
偈後無結通之所以——「又此偈後應有結通十方世界，但為前諸菩薩各云普觀十方，則已顯現，故不更論。前會等處皆准此知。」〔T35n1733 0241c19〕
智儼《搜玄記》T35n1732（六十華嚴疏〈兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品〉）
三序之科——「四釋文者，此品三序：初文集眾序內，先舉佛神力顯分齊；次辨所集眾；後「如此」下結所集眾。」〔T35n1732 0042a20〕
兩膝放光之表——「兩膝放勝光者，法身行中入佛境界增長勝妙相也。膝者，表進方便相也。」〔T35n1732 0042a28〕
金剛幢之釋——「又十菩薩中，初名金剛幢者，明自體真實，能消殄相累，超世之道標別勝負，故名金剛幢也。餘相可知。」〔T35n1732 0042b05〕
逐段偈科（全品最簡而十段具足）——「初偈有三：初五自利德、次三利他、次二勸修也。堅固偈，有三：初三歎佛自利堅固、次四歎利他堅固、次三勸修也。勇猛偈，有三：初二辨法界海深、次五辨利用廣大、次三結體用圓極也。夜光偈，有二：初四歎法身自在、次六歎化用自在。」〔T35n1732 0042b10〕・「智偈，有二：初一歎即位德、次九辨所見勝。所見，文有二：初一總、次八別。別文有三：初二歎佛德、次四明佛離數相、次二辨離世相耳。」〔0042b15〕・「寶偈，有三：初一化身、次二法身、次七報身。」〔0042b19〕・「精進偈，有二：初六通三身自在、次四約四喻辨成。」〔0042b22〕・「離垢偈，有三：初七歎智身、次二歎法身、次一總釋。」〔0042b23〕・「真實偈，有五：初二歎化身自在、次二法性身自在、次四重成前化、次一辨趣方儀、次一結成身離相。」〔0042b24〕・「法偈，有四：初二辨明策修者意、次三總舉損益釋成、次四廣辨損益相以歎德、次一顯德相也。」〔0042b26〕
自設科依三乘之問答——智儼於寶幢段下自問自答：
「又問：何故科此經文多依三乘者，何也？答：所為人三乘者多，故爾也。一乘義文，准之可知。」〔T35n1732 0042b20〕
其末並自留一路不科：「又亦可此十菩薩德歎不須別科，一一句義即一方便法也，此約一乘意取文也。」〔T35n1732 0042b29〕
李通玄《新華嚴經論》T36n1739（表法異軌）
十一段長科——「一長科經意者，於此一品大意，前後總作十一段長科。」〔T36n1739 0854c02〕，其第一段為集眾五十二行經，第二至第十一段各為一菩薩之十行頌。
以十波羅蜜配十菩薩——「二釋菩薩名下之義者，其名曰金剛幢菩薩者，菩薩，前已釋訖。金剛幢者，明堅固不動義。」〔T36n1739 0855b08〕，其下逐一配：「此約檀度行。堅固幢菩薩者，此大悲為戒體故。勇猛幢菩薩者，此約大悲為忍，是勇猛義。光明幢菩薩者，此約大悲為精進之體，長處生死之夜，以智發明故。智幢菩薩者，此位大智，於生死之中恒明常破闇故，以為定體。」〔0855b14〕・「寶幢菩薩者，明以大悲大智慧善施教網，名為寶幢。明教可貴故，非世寶也。精進幢菩薩者，此位是第七方便行，善能知根同事，處俗不迷、同塵不污，是精進幢義故。」〔0855b19〕・「無垢幢菩薩者，是此第八願波羅蜜」〔0855b23〕・「星宿幢菩薩者，此力波羅蜜法王位成差別智，明善知眾根，猶如星宿大小皆明。法幢菩薩者，此位是智波羅蜜，善安立諸法，無能摧破者，是法幢義故。」〔0855b24〕〔按：離垢幢一位，通玄牒作「無垢幢菩薩」，與底本「離垢幢菩薩」〔T10n0279 0121a17〕異，並錄不判。〕
十行位與十向位之名對比——「前十行位菩薩名林，表行覆蔭廣多義故。此位菩薩以幢為稱者，明大悲之行，處生死大海，能摧破一切眾生煩惱，自智無傾動故。」〔T36n1739 0855b10〕
十世界逐一表法——「所從來國謂妙寶世界，明以妙法普施含生是可貴義。世界名妙樂者，明大悲為戒，處生死利眾生，令得大樂。妙銀世界者，明以法身理智以成忍體，猶如白銀柔軟明淨。」〔T36n1739 0855b29〕；其末並立一語：「世間以土地山河為世界，智人以智德妙用為世界。」〔0855c18〕
座體之四位對比——「十信位中座體約果成名，以寶蓮華藏為體。十住位中約得如來智慧大悲而成體，即以毘盧遮那藏為體……十行位中以淨行離垢師子座，即以蓮華藏為體。十迴向位明大悲處生死設教行普該萬法不拘一法故，座體直以寶為名，不限色類」〔T36n1739 0856a27〕
二頌相成有無——通玄於星宿幢與法幢二頌合觀：
「或但說有眾生著有，或但說無眾生著無。如經星宿幢菩薩頌云「眾生有分別，是佛是世界。了達法性者，無佛無世界。」如下文法幢頌云「寧可恒具受，一切世間苦，終不遠如來，不覩自在力。」此二頌皆相成就有無，恐墮邊見，餘例知。」〔T36n1739 0855a01〕
〔按：通玄所牒「眾生有分別」〔T36n1739 0854c29〕與底本「眾生妄分別」〔T10n0279 0123c19〕異，並錄不判。〕
普觀十方之意——「如觀十方何，意為觀眾意之同別，亦觀十方世界諸佛法同不二。」〔T36n1739 0855a03〕
餘九例知——「十明隨位進修因果者，明金剛幢菩薩是所修行之人，妙寶世界是所修之行，無盡幢佛是所行之果。餘九例知倣此。已下有十段頌，一頌十行，一行一頌。」〔T36n1739 0856b27〕
誌錄不判：本品之科段，澄觀判為集眾、放光、偈讚三分而偈讚分十段並配十方，法藏於六十本判為集眾、放光、歎眾、歎佛四分，智儼判為三序，李通玄則長科一品為十一段。就十菩薩之表法而言，澄觀以幢立五義而表三賢位極、以十世界名配十迴向所修、以十佛名配修十向智與當位之果；法藏以幢表迴向善巧因果獨出攝伏、以國名堅固表所依行成難壞；智儼以幢為行成高出兼攝伏義；李通玄則以十波羅蜜逐一配十菩薩並多借卦象方位釋十佛名（「風幢佛者，明巽為風」〔0855c24〕・「是西方兌」〔0856a04〕・「主艮位」〔0856a19〕）。就偈後無結通一事，澄觀釋為顯讚德各別、佛德無盡，法藏釋為諸菩薩各云普觀十方則已顯現故不更論，二說不同。又離垢幢一位，通玄牒作無垢幢；星宿幢一位，六十本作真實幢；光明幢一位，六十本作夜光幢。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〈昇兜率天宮品第二十三〉、下接〈十迴向品第二十五〉。澄觀繫之於「前明化主赴感，今明助化讚揚，及顯位體所依，故次來也」〔T35n1735 0690c18〕，並以宗趣一門直指所趣：「集眾放光偈讚為宗，為說迴向為趣。」〔0690c21〕；李通玄繫之於成十迴向之因果——「此品為欲成十迴向中因果法門故，此品須來也。」〔T36n1739 0854b27〕
- 與前三會偈讚品之繫：澄觀於釋名處指同於第三會之通釋——「通二種釋，如第三會。」〔T35n1735 0690c20〕；智儼則指所歎為異——「但迴入此品，歎方便佛行為異耳。」〔T35n1732 0042a19〕。放光之處三會遞昇，法藏於六十本明言「兩膝放者，過前足指，表行漸勝故也」〔T35n1733 0239b10〕，李通玄則列五位放光之處成一線〔T36n1739 0856b12〕。
- 本品為三賢之最後：《演義鈔》於全品之末點出此位之殊：「從「所以偈後」下，彰無結意。此後一段前二會無，此後例前二會無，亦是三賢之最後故。」〔T36n1736 0365b15〕
- 《華嚴經孔目章》所列品目之異：智儼《孔目章》自列品目作「如來昇入兜率陀天品第二十七」「兜率宮菩薩來說偈品第二十八」〔T45n1870 0588b21〕，與今本品二十三、品二十四之品次不同，係孔目章自身品第異算，並錄不判。
- 《華嚴經旨歸》之「兜率」五見：〔T45n1871 0593b23〕・〔0596a08〕・〔0596a11〕・〔0596a16〕・〔0596a27〕五處皆泛引兜率天或兜率天子十地之事，非釋本品經文，據實記，非本品偈句之承衍。
- 〔查無〕：《華嚴一乘十玄門》T45n1868 全檔「兜率」零命中，據實記闕。本品亦無牒經論釋之別行論（不同於〈十地品〉之有《十地經論》），記闕。本品十菩薩百偈之中，未見如〈夜摩宮中偈讚品〉「心如工畫師」一句之為華嚴宗綱領書所廣引者，本目據實標闕。
八、校本定位
- 實叉 T279（底本）：〈兜率宮中偈讚品第二十四〉〔T10n0279 0121a12〕起（卷二十三內）–下品〈十迴向品第二十五之一〉品題〔0124a24〕前訖。集眾分 0121a13（十菩薩名 0121a15 · 十世界名 0121a18 · 十佛名 0121a22 · 化座 0121a25 · 放光利物 0121a27 · 略讚勝德 0121b03 · 結通 0121b11）· 放光分 0121b15（同種善根 0121b18）· 偈讚分十段：金剛幢 0121c07（偈起 0121c09）· 堅固幢 0121c29（偈起 0122a02）· 勇猛幢 0122a22（偈起 0122a24）· 光明幢 0122b15（偈起 0122b17）· 智幢 0122c08（偈起 0122c10）· 寶幢 0123a01（偈起 0123a03）· 精進幢 0123a23（偈起 0123a25）· 離垢幢 0123b16（偈起 0123b18）· 星宿幢 0123c09（偈起 0123c11）· 法幢 0124a02（偈起 0124a04 · 訖 0124a22）。十段各十偈，共一百偈；偈行二百行，逐行實計，十段各二十行。
- 佛馱 T278（晉譯主對校）：〈兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品第二十〉〔T09n0278 0485a05〕起–下品〈金剛幢菩薩十迴向品之一〉品題〔0488a17〕前訖。十世界名 0485a07 · 十佛名 0485a10 · 十菩薩名 0485a14 · 化座 0485a19 · 放光句 0485b09 · 金剛幢偈起 0485c02 · 堅固幢偈起 0485c24 · 勇猛幢偈起 0486a17 · 夜光幢偈起 0486b10 · 智幢偈起 0486c03 · 寶幢偈起 0486c25 · 精進幢偈起 0487a18 · 離垢幢偈起 0487b11 · 真實幢偈起 0487c04 · 法幢偈起 0487c26（訖 0488a16）。
- 澄觀《疏》T35n1735：兜率宮中偈讚品疏 0690c17 起（來意 0690c18 · 釋名 0690c19 · 宗趣 0690c21 · 釋文三分 0690c22 · 集眾長分十段 0690c25 · 幢之五義 0690c27 · 十剎稱妙 0691a04 · 十佛表果 0691a13 · 座體妙寶 0691a21 · 略讚勝德十門 0691b01 · 放光四別 0691b06 · 膝輪之表 0691b07 · 二十句十對 0691b14 · 數有二種 0691b22 · 真俗鎔融 0691b24 · 偈讚十段配十方 0691c03 · 金剛幢釋名 0691c05 · 金剛不獨喻智 0691c14 · 金剛幢十頌分二 0691c19 · 堅固幢 0692a06 · 進修五法 0692a14 · 慈氏論九善 0692a17 · 勇猛幢 0692a24 · 因緣和合方能見 0692b01 · 光明幢 0692b15 · 依真起化二門 0692c11 · 真化鎔融 0692c26 · 智幢 0693a03 · 寶幢 0693a14 · 展轉釋成 0693a21 · 《諸法無行經》引 0693a28 · 因明立宗三因同喻 0693b03 · 精進幢 0693b16 · 身同義同 0693b19 · 《攝論》五業引 0693b25 · 普有二義 0693c04 · 離垢幢 0693c24 · 星宿幢 0694a12 · 三順三反 0694a24 · 拂言迹 0694b05 · 法幢 0694b07 · 不壞假名 0694b19 · 六相圓融與無結通 0694b22）–0694c05 前訖。疏文跨《華嚴經疏》卷第二十五、卷第二十六，卷跋 0694b26。
- 澄觀《演義鈔》T36n1736：對應窗 0363a25 起（幢五義出《刊定》七義 0363a25 · 《涅槃》帝釋幢引 0363b06 · 慈氏座前燒香 0363b19 · 十對指經 0363b23 · 《仁王》引 0363c05 · 金剛結彈與《金剛經》引 0363c12 · 五法與《止觀》 0363c20 · 九善逐釋 0364a08 · 《金剛經》日光喻 0364a19 · 夜見杌喻 0364a29 · 真化四句 0364b18 · 因明作量 0364c12 · 七言偈式 0365a05 · 《攝論》五業 0365a16 · 星宿幢十身 0365b08 · 六相六目 0365b12 · 三賢之最後 0365b15）–0365b18 前訖。
- 法藏《探玄記》T35n1733：〈兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品第二十〉0239a17 起（釋名 0239a18 · 來意及宗 0239a22 · 釋文四分 0239a23 · 國名堅固 0239a27 · 十法門六相 0239b07 · 兩膝放光 0239b10 · 歎眾德 0239b14 · 金剛幢十頌分五 0239c02 · 堅固幢 0239c22 · 勇猛幢 0240a08 · 夜光幢 0240a18 · 《攝論》摩尼天鼓引 0240a24 · 真化二門 0240b03 · 智幢 0240b22 · 寶幢 0240c13 · 佛地心心法四教分別 0240c17 · 《諸法無行經》引 0241a04 · 精進幢 0241a18 · 無性《攝論》引 0241a23 · 離垢幢 0241b08 · 真實幢 0241b19 · 法幢 0241c02 · 百偈六相 0241c15 · 無結通之釋 0241c19）–0241c23 前訖。
- 智儼《搜玄記》T35n1732：〈兜率天宮菩薩雲集讚佛品第二十〉0042a16 起（四門同上 0042a17 · 釋名四義 0042a17 · 來意 0042a18 · 宗 0042a19 · 釋文三序 0042a20 · 歎德三 0042a24 · 放光序 0042a26 · 兩膝放光之表 0042a28 · 讚佛序 0042b03 · 金剛幢釋名 0042b04 · 十段偈科 0042b09 · 三乘科文之問答 0042b20 · 一乘意取文 0042b29）–0042c02 前訖。全品疏文最簡，十段偈科具足。
- 李通玄《論》T36n1739：〈兜率天宮中偈讚品第二十四〉0854b20 起（三門 0854b21 · 釋品名目 0854b22 · 釋品來意 0854b27 · 十一段長科 0854c02 · 二頌相成有無 0854c27 · 普觀十方之意 0855a03 · 隨文釋義十段 0855a06 · 十門 0855a24 · 萬佛剎微塵之數 0855b02 · 十波羅蜜配十菩薩 0855b08 · 十世界表法 0855b28 · 十佛名因果 0855c20 · 座體四位 0856a25 · 菩薩身光 0856b06 · 放光處表法 0856b12 · 從誰發心 0856b21 · 隨位進修因果 0856b27）–0856c05 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。 - 本品全稱句之實計（逐字掃底本）：偈行二百行 · 十段各二十行 · 「承佛神力」十見 · 「承佛威力」零見 · 「普觀十方」十見 · 「遍觀十方」零見 · 「而說頌言」十見 · 「譬如」九見 · 「假使」零見 · 「導師」十一見 · 半形標點零見。
- 異讀：本單元 T279 範圍〔0121a12〕–〔0124a23〕內大正校記 7 條，逐條照錄不判（底本【大】｜他本異讀；多本異讀以／分列）：〔0121a27〕跏【大】｜加【宋】【元】【明】 · 〔0121c08〕言【大】｜曰【宮】 · 〔0121c21〕法【大】｜身【聖】 · 〔0122a02〕勝【大】｜最【聖】 · 〔0122c17〕示【大】｜不【聖】 · 〔0123b06〕取【大】｜收【宮】 · 〔0124a11〕登【大】｜證【明】【聖】。
- 異讀補記：CBETA 回改 2 條（不入上列大正校記之數）：〔0121b01〕願【CB】【麗-CB】｜眼【大】／願【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】 · 〔0121c07〕幢【CB】【麗-CB】【磧-CB】｜憧【大】。
The chapter Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven = when the World-Honored One had ascended to the palace of the Tuṣita Heaven, then by the Buddha's spiritual power there was in each of the ten directions one great bodhisattva, each of them together with bodhisattvas as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands, who came from among the worlds beyond lands as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands to where the Buddha was, and whose names all took 「幢」 tr. “Banner” for their designation; the ten worlds they came from all began with 「妙」 tr. “Wondrous”, and the ten buddhas they served likewise all took 「幢」 tr. “Banner” for their designation. When the bodhisattvas had arrived they bowed their heads to the Buddha's feet; by the Buddha's spiritual power there was conjured a lion throne of the treasury of wondrous jewels with a net of jewels spread over it, and following the quarter from which each had come they sat with legs crossed, their bodies emitting pure light; and their excellent virtues are briefly praised in eleven clauses. The World-Honored One emitted from the wheels of his two knees a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of rays of light, illumining everywhere all the worlds of the ten directions to the limit of the Dharma realm and the realm of empty space, causing the two sides to see one another, and displaying also that these bodhisattvas had in ages past planted roots of goodness together with the Tathāgata Vairocana. Thereafter the ten bodhisattvas Vajra Banner, Firm Banner, Valiant Banner, Light Banner, Wisdom Banner, Jewel Banner, Vigor Banner, Stainless Banner, Constellation Banner, and Dharma Banner each, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, spoke verses, ten segments of ten verses each, a hundred verses in the whole chapter, two hundred verse lines, while the World-Honored One did not himself speak a single word. The opening line of the ten segments is identical in form throughout: 「承佛神力」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power” appears ten times, 「普觀十方」 tr. “contemplated everywhere the ten directions” appears ten times, and 「而說頌言」 tr. “and spoke these verses” appears ten times, all recorded verbatim after the base text without alteration; this chapter does not have the two forms of “Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Yāma Heaven,” 「承佛威力」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's awesome power” and 「遍觀十方」 tr. “contemplated throughout the ten directions”. Chengguan explains it by four gates, determining the whole chapter into three portions — the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise — with the portion of the verses of praise divided into ten segments and Vajra Banner as the lord of the assembly, each segment matched to one of the ten directions and each given its own explanation of the name; and he concludes at the end that the verses of the ten bodhisattvas should be read by the perfect interfusion of the six characteristics, and that there is no concluding extension after the verses in order to display that the virtues praised are each distinct. Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, determines the explanation of the text into four portions — the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, the praising of the assembly, and the praising of the Buddha — and gathers by the six characteristics 「上十菩薩百偈歎佛」 tr. “the hundred verses of the ten bodhisattvas above praising the Buddha”. Zhiyan's commentary is the most spare of all, and yet his verse-classification of the ten segments is complete, and he sets himself the question and answer 「何故科此經文多依三乘」 tr. “why does the classification of this scriptural text mostly follow the three vehicles”. Li Tongxuan makes a long outline of the chapter into eleven segments, matching the ten perfections to the ten bodhisattvas, taking the ten worlds as betokening what the ten dedications cultivate, and taking the titles of the ten buddhas as betokening the fruit of the present station. The outline segments, the divisions of station, and the matchings established by the four masters each differ; there are divergences among the ancients, and they are recorded without adjudication.
I. Doctrinal Outline and Placement
| Outline system | The place of this chapter within it |
|---|---|
| The base text T279, in thirty-nine chapters | Chapter 24, Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven (the fifth assembly, the palace of the Tuṣita Heaven · beginning in fascicle twenty-three at 〔T10n0279 0121a12〕 – ending before the title of the next chapter, “The Ten Dedications,” chapter 25, part one, at 〔0124a24〕) |
| Chengguan, Huayan jing shu | The commentary on Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven begins at 〔T35n1735 0690c17〕 – ending before the outline of the next chapter, “The Ten Dedications,” chapter 25, at 〔0694c05〕; 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 taken as three portions in all) |
| Fazang, Tanxuan ji (commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka) | The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha, chapter 20, begins at 〔T35n1733 0239a17〕 – ending before 〔0241c23〕; the explanation of the name · the reason for its coming · the tenet · the explanation of the text (the explanation of the text in four portions) |
| Zhiyan, Souxuan ji (commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka) | The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha, chapter 20, begins at 〔T35n1732 0042a16〕 – ending before 〔0042c02〕; the same four gates as above |
| Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun | Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven, chapter 24, begins at 〔T36n1739 0854b20〕 – ending before the title of the next chapter, “The Ten Dedications,” chapter 25, at 〔0856c05〕; three gates: explaining the title of the chapter · explaining the reason for the chapter's coming · explaining the meaning as one follows the text |
The reason for its coming — Chengguan establishes three senses, displaying at the same time what the substance of this assembly's station rests upon:
「初來意者，前明化主赴感，今明助化讚揚，及顯位體所依，故次來也。」 tr. “As for the first, the reason for its coming: earlier what was made clear was the lord of the converting responding to what stimulates him; now what is made clear is the extolling and praising that assists the converting, and further the displaying of what the substance of the station rests upon — therefore it comes next.” 〔T35n1735 0690c18〕
Li Tongxuan attaches it to the accomplishing of the cause and fruit of the ten dedications:
「第二釋品來意者，此品為欲成十迴向中因果法門故，此品須來也。」 tr. “Second, explaining the reason for the chapter's coming: this chapter is in order to accomplish the Dharma-gate of cause and fruit within the ten dedications, and therefore this chapter must come.” 〔T36n1739 0854b27〕
The explanation of the name — Chengguan establishes the name upon three things, the place, the persons, and the matter, and points out that the general explanation is the same as in the third assembly:
「二釋名者，謂十方菩薩於此宮中讚佛實德，故受斯名。通二種釋，如第三會。」 tr. “Second, the explanation of the name: that is to say, the bodhisattvas of the ten directions praise in this palace the real virtues of the Buddha, and therefore it receives this name. It runs through the two kinds of explanation, as in the third assembly.” 〔T35n1735 0690c19〕
In the sixty-fascicle text the chapter is titled “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha,” and so Fazang explains it upon four things — the place, the persons, the bodily karma, and the verbal karma:
「初釋名者，明如來將說妙法，必英徒影赴電速雲臻，遍滿虛空集於法界，各以妙偈嘆佛實德，故以為名。又天宮是處，菩薩顯人，雲集是身業自在，讚佛是語業功德，約身語處用以題名。」 tr. “The first, the explanation of the name: it makes clear that when the Tathāgata is about to expound the subtle dharma, the company of the eminent must arrive like shadows, come as swiftly as lightning and gather like clouds, filling all of empty space and assembling in the Dharma realm, each praising with wondrous verses the real virtues of the Buddha — and therefore it is taken as the name. Moreover, the heavenly palace is the place, the bodhisattvas display the persons, gathering like clouds is the sovereign freedom of bodily karma, and praising the Buddha is the merit of verbal karma; the title is set with respect to body, speech, place, and function.” 〔T35n1733 0239a18〕
What Zhiyan establishes has the same four items as Fazang's, and is the sparest of all:
「四門同上。一釋名者，有四義：一處、二人、三身儀、四口業。或六句，可知。」 tr. “The four gates are the same as above. First, the explanation of the name, which has four senses: first the place, second the persons, third the bodily bearing, fourth the verbal karma. Or six clauses, as may be known.” 〔T35n1732 0042a17〕
Li Tongxuan establishes the name upon the dharma that is praised:
「第一釋品名目者，明以金剛幢等十菩薩各從異佛剎來，處兜率天宮，至如來所，各化作妙寶藏師子之座已，各以十迴向法門因果而偈讚之，故名〈偈讚品〉。」 tr. “First, explaining the title of the chapter: it makes clear that the ten bodhisattvas, Vajra Banner and the rest, each came from a different buddha-land, took their place in the palace of the Tuṣita Heaven, arrived where the Tathāgata was, and when each had conjured a lion throne of the treasury of wondrous jewels, each praised in verse the cause and fruit of the Dharma-gate of the ten dedications — and therefore it is named the chapter Verses of Praise.” 〔T36n1739 0854b22〕
The tenet and aim — Chengguan makes this chapter the aim that tends toward the next chapter:
「三宗趣者，集眾放光偈讚為宗，為說迴向為趣。」 tr. “Third, the tenet and aim: the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise are the tenet, and the expounding of the dedications is the aim.” 〔T35n1735 0690c21〕
Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle text, determines that its difference lies in what is praised: 「三宗，亦同前准之。但迴入此品，歎方便佛行為異耳。」 tr. “Third, the tenet, which is likewise to be taken as the same as before. Only, turning into this chapter, the difference is that it praises the buddha-practice of skillful means.” 〔T35n1732 0042a19〕
The proper explanation of the text — Chengguan takes it as three portions in all, while Fazang on the sixty-fascicle text makes four; the two masters open and join it differently:
「四釋文亦三，初集眾、二放光、三偈讚。初中二：先明集因，謂佛神力。」 tr. “Fourth, the explanation of the text, likewise three: first the gathering of the assembly, second the emitting of light, third the verses of praise. Within the first there are two: first is made clear the cause of the gathering, namely the Buddha's spiritual power.” 〔T35n1735 0690c22〕
「四釋文中四：一集眾、二放光、三歎眾、四歎佛。」 tr. “Fourth, within the explanation of the text there are four: first the gathering of the assembly, second the emitting of light, third the praising of the assembly, fourth the praising of the Buddha.” 〔T35n1733 0239a23〕
Chengguan further makes a long division of the portion of the gathering of the assembly into ten segments:
「今初，長分十段：一總舉上首。二眷屬數、三來處遠近，位增數增故各一萬。四主菩薩名，同名幢者略有五義」 tr. “Now the first, long-divided into ten segments: first, the general raising of the chief ones. Second, the number of the retinue; third, the nearness or distance of the place they come from — as the station increases the number increases, and therefore each is ten thousand. Fourth, the names of the chief bodhisattvas: that they share the name Banner has, in brief, five senses.” 〔T35n1735 0690c25〕
The items of his ten segments run in order thus: the general raising of the chief ones, the number of the retinue, the nearness or distance of the place they come from, the names of the chief bodhisattvas, the lands they come from, the buddhas they originally served, the paying of reverence, the fine abiding in deportment, the emitting of light that benefits beings, and the brief praise of their excellent virtues; and within the last of these segments ten further gates are opened 〔T35n1735 0691b01〕.
Li Tongxuan's long outline in eleven segments — differing from both Chengguan's three portions and Fazang's four:
「一長科經意者，於此一品大意，前後總作十一段長科。一從「爾時佛神力故」已下至「而說頌言」有五十二行經，明金剛幢等十菩薩眾十方來集，彰因示果不二分。」 tr. “First, the long outline of the import of the scripture: upon the general purport of this one chapter, from beginning to end, a long outline is made in eleven segments in all. The first, from ‘at that time, because of the Buddha's spiritual power’ down to ‘and spoke these verses,’ comprises fifty-two lines of scripture, and makes clear that the multitude of ten bodhisattvas, Vajra Banner and the rest, came and gathered from the ten directions — the portion that manifests the cause and displays the fruit as not two.” 〔T36n1739 0854c02〕 「二「如來不出世」已下有十行頌，明佛以實示權分。」 tr. “The second, from ‘the Tathāgata does not appear in the world’ onward, comprises ten lines of verse — the portion in which the Buddha displays the provisional by means of the real.” 〔0854c05〕
His second through eleventh segments are each matched to one bodhisattva's ten lines of verse, ten segments in all, and each is stated by the measure 「有十行頌」 tr. “comprises ten lines of verse”.
II. Terminology
| Chinese | What is adduced | The essential sense |
|---|---|---|
| Banner (the shared name of the ten bodhisattvas and the ten buddhas) | Chengguan: 「四主菩薩名，同名幢者略有五義：一高出義，表三賢位極故。二建立義，大悲大智建立眾生及菩提故。三歸向義，謂大悲攝生，智願攝善，歸向菩提及實際故。四摧殄義，如猛將幢，降伏一切諸魔軍故。五滅怖畏義，如帝釋幢，不怖惑業故。」 tr. “Fourth, the names of the chief bodhisattvas: that they share the name Banner has, in brief, five senses. First, the sense of standing out high, betokening that the stations of the three worthy stages have reached their utmost. Second, the sense of establishing, because great compassion and great wisdom establish sentient beings and awakening. Third, the sense of turning toward and going home, that is, because great compassion gathers in beings and wisdom and vow gather in what is good, and they turn toward awakening and toward the true limit. Fourth, the sense of crushing and destroying, because like the banner of a fierce general it subdues all the armies of Māra. Fifth, the sense of extinguishing fear, because like the banner of Śakra it does not fear the afflictions and karma.” 〔T35n1735 0690c27〕 | The five senses betoken the substance of the ten dedications · 「異名即表十向行體，至偈當明」 tr. “the differing names betoken the very substance of the practice of the ten dedications, which will be made clear when the verses are reached” 〔0691a03〕 |
| Banner (the provenance of the five senses) | Chengguan, Yanyi chao: 「疏文中「幢者略有五義」者，《刊定》有七，今略其二」 tr. “As to the words in the commentary, ‘the banner has, in brief, five senses’ — the Kanding has seven, and here two of them are left out” 〔T36n1736 0363a25〕 · the seven senses are 「一堅固義、二滅恐怖義、三歸向義、四建立義、五高顯義、六摧殄義、七不為他壞義」 tr. “first the sense of firmness, second the sense of extinguishing dread, third the sense of turning toward and going home, fourth the sense of establishing, fifth the sense of standing high and manifest, sixth the sense of crushing and destroying, seventh the sense of not being destroyed by another” 〔0363b02〕 | The Yanyi chao cites the Nirvāṇa, fascicle thirty-one: 「修戒定慧如帝釋幢，不移轉故。」 tr. “to cultivate precepts, concentration, and wisdom is like the banner of Śakra, because it does not shift or turn.” 〔T36n1736 0363b06〕 |
| Banner (as explained on the sixty-fascicle text) | Zhiyan: 「金剛者，因行堅也。幢者，行成高出也，亦有攝伏義耳。」 tr. “Vajra is the firmness of the practice that is the cause. Banner is the practice accomplished and standing out high, and it also has the sense of subduing.” 〔T35n1732 0042b03〕 | Fazang: 「佛與菩薩同名幢者，表迴向善巧因果獨出攝伏故也。」 tr. “That the buddhas and the bodhisattvas share the name Banner is because it betokens that the cause and fruit of skillfulness in dedication stand out alone and subdue.” 〔T35n1733 0239a28〕 |
| Wondrous (the shared name of the ten worlds) | Chengguan: 「五所從來剎皆稱妙者，迴向之力微，善彌於法界。故其別名即表十向所修法門」 tr. “Fifth, that the lands they come from are all called wondrous: the power of dedication is slight, and yet the good fills the Dharma realm. Therefore their particular names betoken the Dharma-gates cultivated in the ten dedications” 〔T35n1735 0691a04〕 | Matched one by one to the ten dedications · as in 「一救護眾生離眾生相，最可貴故」 tr. “first, rescuing and guarding sentient beings while free of the mark of sentient beings, because it is the most precious of all” 〔0691a06〕 |
| The names of the ten buddhas (betokening the fruit of the present station) | Chengguan: 「六本所事佛同名幢，義不異菩薩。別名即表修十向智，亦表當位之果。謂一救護之心不可盡，故成無盡佛。」 tr. “Sixth, the buddhas they originally served share the name Banner, and the import is no different from that of the bodhisattvas. Their particular names betoken the wisdom of the ten dedications that is cultivated, and betoken also the fruit of the present station. That is to say, first, the mind of rescuing and guarding cannot be exhausted, and therefore he becomes the Buddha Inexhaustible.” 〔T35n1735 0691a13〕 | The ten buddhas matched one by one to the wisdom and the fruit of the ten dedications |
| The lion throne of the treasury of wondrous jewels | The base text: 「以佛神力，即化作妙寶藏師子之座，寶網彌覆，周匝遍滿」 tr. “by the Buddha's spiritual power there was conjured up a lion throne of the treasury of wondrous jewels, with a net of jewels spread over it, filling everywhere all around” 〔T10n0279 0121a25〕 | Chengguan: 「今十向大悲處於生死，普該萬法不拘乎一故。座體直云妙寶，不限色類，以教行遍周籠攝眾生，如以寶網彌覆其上。」 tr. “Now in the ten dedications great compassion dwells within birth and death and comprehends the ten thousand dharmas everywhere without being confined to any one. Therefore the substance of the throne says simply ‘wondrous jewel’, with no color or kind specified, because the teaching and the practice are everywhere complete and gather in sentient beings, just as the net of jewels is spread over it above.” 〔T35n1735 0691a24〕 |
| The wheels of the two knees (the place of the emitting of light) | The base text: 「爾時，世尊從兩膝輪，放百千億那由他光明」 tr. “at that time the World-Honored One emitted from the wheels of his two knees a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of rays of light” 〔T10n0279 0121b15〕 | Chengguan: 「言膝輪者，位漸高故。又表迴因向果等，有屈申進趣之相故。又悲智相導，屈申無住故。」 tr. “That it says the wheels of the knees is because the station gradually rises. Again, it betokens the turning of the cause toward the fruit and the like, because there is the aspect of bending and stretching and advancing. Again, compassion and wisdom lead one another, bending and stretching without dwelling anywhere.” 〔T35n1735 0691b07〕 |
| The two knees (as the sixty-fascicle text has it) | The sixty-fascicle text: 「爾時，世尊從兩膝放百千億那由他光明」 tr. “at that time the World-Honored One emitted from his two knees a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of rays of light” 〔T09n0278 0485b09〕 | Fazang: 「第二放光中，兩膝放者，過前足指，表行漸勝故也。又膝有屈申進趣用，表迴因向果進昇之相故也。」 tr. “Second, within the emitting of light: that it is emitted from the two knees passes beyond the toes of the feet before, because it betokens that the practice grows gradually more excellent. Again, the knee has the function of bending and stretching and advancing, because it betokens the aspect of turning the cause toward the fruit and rising in advance.” 〔T35n1733 0239b10〕 |
| The twenty clauses in ten pairs (the excellent virtues) | Chengguan: 「文有二十句，束為十對：一離障成身對；二入剎近佛對；三用速心淨對；四外護內證對；五能覺所覺對……十得通立法對，由得通故調化無數，由離數故而能安立。」 tr. “The text has twenty clauses, bound into ten pairs: first, the pair of leaving hindrances and perfecting the body; second, the pair of entering lands and drawing near the buddhas; third, the pair of swiftness of function and purity of mind; fourth, the pair of outward guarding and inward realizing; fifth, the pair of what awakens and what is awakened to … tenth, the pair of gaining the penetrations and establishing dharmas, since by gaining the penetrations they discipline and convert numberless beings, and by being free of number they are able to establish.” 〔T35n1735 0691b14〕 | The ninth pair is where the lord of the assembly's name comes from: 「此位中顯名金剛幢對，金剛定即菩提智」 tr. “within this station the pair that displays the name Vajra Banner, for the samādhi of the vajra is just the wisdom of awakening” 〔0691b19〕 |
| Number (of two kinds) | Chengguan: 「數有二種：一數量數、二色心有為皆名為數。今文具二，謂由不著一多，能立一切故；不著於有，能安立故。」 tr. “Number is of two kinds: first, number as quantity; second, whatever is form or mind and conditioned is likewise called number. The present text has both, that is to say, because they cling neither to one nor to many they are able to establish all things, and because they cling not to being they are able to set things up.” 〔T35n1735 0691b22〕 | Explaining the base text's 「於一切數，雖無所著，善能修學，成就究竟，方便安立一切諸法」 tr. “toward all numbers, although they clung to nothing, they were well able to train in them and to accomplish them ultimately, establishing all dharmas by skillful means” 〔T10n0279 0121c02〕 |
| The agada medicine | The base text: 「譬如伽陀藥，能消一切毒，佛法亦如是，滅諸煩惱患。」 tr. “Just as the agada medicine can neutralize every poison, so too is the Buddha's dharma: it extinguishes every trouble of the afflictions.” 〔T10n0279 0122b03〕 | The sixty-fascicle text has 「譬如伽陀藥，能消一切毒，天尊亦如是，滅除煩惱毒。」 tr. “Just as the agada medicine can neutralize every poison, so too is the Honored One of the gods: he removes the poison of the afflictions.” 〔T09n0278 0486a25〕 |
| The wish-fulfilling jewel | The base text: 「譬如隨意珠，能滿眾生心，諸佛法如是，悉滿一切願。」 tr. “Just as the wish-fulfilling jewel can satisfy the minds of sentient beings, so too is the dharma of the buddhas: it satisfies all vows entirely.” 〔T10n0279 0123b12〕 | Chengguan: 「如珠現物，雖非內外，能滿物心。」 tr. “As the jewel manifests things, though it is neither within nor without, it can satisfy the mind of the thing.” 〔T35n1735 0693c23〕 |
| The eye with cataract | The base text: 「如翳眼所覩，非內亦非外，世間見諸佛，應知亦如是。」 tr. “What an eye with cataract sees is neither within nor without; when the world sees the buddhas, one should know that it is likewise.” 〔T10n0279 0123a09〕 | Chengguan: 「病眼所覩，取色分齊，勿謂為實。」 tr. “What a diseased eye sees takes its own portion of form; do not call it real.” 〔T35n1735 0693a24〕 |
| The perfect interfusion of the six characteristics | Chengguan: 「上十菩薩之偈，應以六相圓融。」 tr. “The verses of the ten bodhisattvas above should be taken by the perfect interfusion of the six characteristics.” 〔T35n1735 0694b22〕 | The Yanyi chao explains it: 「言「六相」者，一總顯佛德、二別則十種德殊、三同則同明佛德、四異則十德互望不同、五成則共成佛德、六壞則各住自性。」 tr. “As to the words ‘the six characteristics’: first, the whole is the general displaying of the Buddha's virtue; second, the parts are the ten kinds of virtue each distinct; third, sameness is their setting forth the Buddha's virtue in common; fourth, difference is the ten virtues being unlike when looked at one against another; fifth, formation is their jointly forming the Buddha's virtue; sixth, disintegration is their each abiding in its own nature.” 〔T36n1736 0365b12〕 |
III. Similes and Rhetoric
- The bright clear eye and the sun (Valiant Banner's first verse · a simile for causes and conditions coming together before one can see the Buddha) — 「譬如明淨眼，因日覩眾色，淨心亦復然，佛力見如來。」 tr. “Just as a bright and clear eye, by the sun, sees every sort of form, so too is the pure mind: by the Buddha's power it sees the Tathāgata.” 〔T10n0279 0122a24〕; Chengguan explains it thus: 「淨心，如淨眼為見之因，佛力如日為見之緣，如來如色為見之境。如人入闇則無所見，斯則獨因不見也。如明淨日，瞽者莫見，獨緣不見也。此辨因緣和合方能見也。」 tr. “The pure mind is like the pure eye and is the cause of the seeing; the Buddha's power is like the sun and is the condition of the seeing; the Tathāgata is like the form and is the object of the seeing. As when a man goes into the dark and sees nothing at all, this is having the cause alone and not seeing. As under the bright clear sun a blind man does not see, this is having the condition alone and not seeing. This discerns that only when cause and condition come together can there be seeing.” 〔T35n1735 0692b01〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「有眼有日光，能見細微色，最勝神力故，淨心見諸佛。」 tr. “Having an eye and having the sun's light, one can see the finest of forms; because of the most excellent spiritual power, the pure mind sees the buddhas.” 〔T09n0278 0486a17〕
- Exhausting the source and bottom of the sea (Valiant Banner's second verse · a simile for the power of wisdom seeing to the end) — 「如以精進力，能盡海源底，智力亦如是，得見無量佛。」 tr. “As by the power of vigor one can exhaust the source and bottom of the sea, so too is the power of wisdom: it gains the sight of measureless buddhas.” 〔T10n0279 0122a26〕; Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, determines it as 「明見難盡，謂要以普賢猛智方盡原底」 tr. “making clear that the seeing is hard to exhaust, that is, it takes the fierce wisdom of Samantabhadra to exhaust the source and bottom” 〔T35n1733 0240a12〕
- The good and fertile field (Valiant Banner's third verse · a simile for the pure mind-ground bringing forth the Buddha's dharma) — 「譬如良沃田，所種必滋長，如是淨心地，出生諸佛法。」 tr. “Just as in a good and fertile field what is sown must grow, so such a pure mind-ground brings forth the dharma of the buddhas.” 〔T10n0279 0122a28〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「譬如好良田，植種必滋繁」 tr. “just as in a fine good field what is planted must flourish” 〔T09n0278 0486a21〕
- Obtaining a treasury of jewels (Valiant Banner's fourth verse · a simile for gaining the Buddha's dharma and leaving defilement) — 「如人獲寶藏，永離貧窮苦，菩薩得佛法，離垢心清淨。」 tr. “As a man who obtains a treasury of jewels is forever parted from the suffering of poverty, so the bodhisattva who gains the Buddha's dharma is parted from defilement and his mind is pure.” 〔T10n0279 0122b01〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「如貧得寶藏，除滅飢寒苦」 tr. “as a poor man obtaining a treasury of jewels removes and extinguishes the suffering of hunger and cold” 〔T09n0278 0486a23〕
- The agada medicine (Valiant Banner's fifth verse · a simile for the Buddha's dharma extinguishing the afflictions) — 「譬如伽陀藥，能消一切毒」 tr. “just as the agada medicine can neutralize every poison” 〔T10n0279 0122b03〕; Chengguan determines these two verses as 「前偈得權智，能離所知心垢；後偈有根本智，能除煩惱之患」 tr. “the former verse is gaining provisional wisdom, which can part one from the defilement of the mind that is the object of knowledge; the latter verse is having root wisdom, which can remove the trouble of the afflictions” 〔T35n1735 0692b07〕
- The realm of empty space (Valiant Banner's tenth verse · a simile for the dharma of the buddhas being ultimately without arising or perishing) — 「譬如虛空界，不生亦不滅，諸佛法如是，畢竟無生滅。」 tr. “Just as the realm of empty space neither arises nor perishes, so too is the dharma of the buddhas: ultimately without arising or perishing.” 〔T10n0279 0122b13〕
- The power of one mind bringing forth every sort of mind (Light Banner's second verse · a simile for one buddha-body manifesting everywhere all buddhas) — 「譬如一心力，能生種種心，如是一佛身，普現一切佛。」 tr. “Just as the power of one mind can bring forth every sort of mind, so does one buddha-body manifest everywhere all buddhas.” 〔T10n0279 0122b19〕; Chengguan explains it thus: 「依一總心變多王所，於一實佛應化多端，故無礙也。」 tr. “In dependence upon one general mind he transforms out many mind-kings and mental factors, and within one real buddha he responds and converts in many ways, and therefore it is unobstructed.” 〔T35n1735 0692b23〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「如來一法身，出生諸佛身」 tr. “the one dharma-body of the Tathāgata brings forth the bodies of the buddhas” 〔T09n0278 0486b13〕
- The pure full moon appearing everywhere in all waters (Wisdom Banner's sixth verse · the most famous simile in the chapter) — 「譬如淨滿月，普現一切水，影像雖無量，本月未曾二。」 tr. “Just as the pure full moon appears everywhere in all the waters — though the images are measureless, the moon itself has never been two.” 〔T10n0279 0122c20〕; Chengguan determines these four verses as 「一異無礙，亦是本末無礙，一法、二喻、三合、四釋」 tr. “the unobstructedness of one and many, which is also the unobstructedness of root and branch: first the dharma, second the simile, third the matching, fourth the explanation” 〔T35n1735 0693a12〕, and this verse is the simile among them; the sixty-fascicle text has the same, 「譬如淨滿月，普現一切水，影像雖無量，本月未曾二。」 tr. “Just as the pure full moon appears everywhere in all the waters — though the images are measureless, the moon itself has never been two.” 〔T09n0278 0486c13〕
- The pure orb of the sun not joined with the darkness of night (Jewel Banner's ninth verse · a simile for the Buddha not being tied to time) — 「譬如淨日輪，不與昏夜合，而說某日夜，諸佛法如是。」 tr. “Just as the pure orb of the sun is not joined with the darkness of night, and yet one speaks of a certain day and night, so too is the dharma of the buddhas.” 〔T10n0279 0123a19〕; Chengguan determines it as the positive example and sets up the three members of a formal argument: 「次偈舉同喻，謂日體常明，故不合昏夜。後偈合結，上半合、下半結。」 tr. “The next verse raises the positive example, that is, the substance of the sun is constantly bright and therefore is not joined with the darkness of night. The last verse matches and concludes: the upper half matches and the lower half concludes.” 〔T35n1735 0693b07〕
- Arising through a multitude of conditions (Vigor Banner's eighth verse · a simile for the seeing of the Buddha needing a multitude of good karma) — 「譬如一切法，眾緣故生起，見佛亦復然，必假眾善業。」 tr. “Just as all dharmas arise because of a multitude of conditions, so too is the seeing of the Buddha: it must borrow a multitude of good karma.” 〔T10n0279 0123b10〕; Chengguan: 「所以要隨業者，同一切法必假緣故，此以總喻別。」 tr. “The reason it must follow upon karma is that, like all dharmas, it must borrow conditions; this uses the general as a simile for the particular.” 〔T35n1735 0693c21〕
- The wish-fulfilling jewel (Vigor Banner's ninth verse · a simile for satisfying all vows entirely) — 「譬如隨意珠，能滿眾生心」 tr. “just as the wish-fulfilling jewel can satisfy the minds of sentient beings” 〔T10n0279 0123b12〕
- The eye with cataract (Jewel Banner's fourth verse · a simile for the world's seeing of the Buddha) — 「如翳眼所覩，非內亦非外」 tr. “what an eye with cataract sees is neither within nor without” 〔T10n0279 0123a09〕
- The hardness of conceiving the self (Vigor Banner's sixth verse · taking the falsely reckoned self as a simile) — 「如以我難思，心業莫能取，佛難思亦爾，非心業所現。」 tr. “As that self is hard to conceive of and mind and karma cannot get hold of it, so too is the Buddha hard to conceive of: he is not what mind or karma manifests.” 〔T10n0279 0123b06〕; Chengguan: 「謂如妄計之我，本無所有，故不可思。此以妄計情有理無，非聖智境。以況法身理有情無，非下位測。」 tr. “That is to say, like the falsely reckoned self, which from the first has no existence and therefore cannot be conceived of. This is a case of what is falsely reckoned, present to feeling but absent in principle, which is not the object of a noble one's wisdom; and it is used to draw a comparison with the dharma-body, present in principle but absent to feeling, which is not to be fathomed by the lower stations.” 〔T35n1735 0693c17〕
- The hardness of conceiving a buddha-land (Vigor Banner's seventh verse) — 「如剎不可思，而見淨莊嚴，佛難思亦爾，妙相無不現。」 tr. “As a land cannot be conceived of, and yet its pure adornments are seen, so too is the Buddha hard to conceive of: there is no subtle mark of his that is unmanifested.” 〔T10n0279 0123b08〕; Chengguan: 「後偈以剎為喻，喻雖絕相難思，而不礙相。」 tr. “The latter verse takes a land as a simile, a simile for being cut off from marks and hard to conceive of, and yet not obstructing marks.” 〔T35n1735 0693c19〕
- Forms made by an illusion (Wisdom Banner's tenth verse) — 「如幻所作色，無生亦無起，佛身亦如是，示現無有生。」 tr. “As the forms made by an illusion have no birth and no arising, so too is the buddha-body: it manifests, and yet there is no birth.” 〔T10n0279 0122c28〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「譬如幻化色，不生亦不滅，佛身亦如是，寂然無生滅。」 tr. “Just as forms conjured by illusion neither arise nor perish, so too is the buddha-body: still, and without arising or perishing.” 〔T09n0278 0486c21〕
- The constellations spread across the sky (the simile from which the ninth bodhisattva's name is taken · from Chengguan's commentary, not from the scriptural text) — Chengguan: 「解佛遍應法界之身，而不離法性，若彼星宿粲然羅空不可縛著，故以為名。」 tr. “He understands the Buddha's body that responds everywhere throughout the Dharma realm while not departing from the dharma-nature, just as those constellations are spread brilliantly across the sky and cannot be bound; and therefore it is taken as his name.” 〔T35n1735 0694a13〕
- The formula of repeated wording — the opening line of the ten segments is identical in form throughout (‘at that time the bodhisattva such-and-such Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses’): 「承佛神力」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power” appears ten times, verbatim identical throughout; 「普觀十方」 tr. “contemplated everywhere the ten directions” appears ten times, verbatim identical throughout; 「而說頌言」 tr. “and spoke these verses” appears ten times, verbatim identical throughout. This chapter does not have the 「承佛威力」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's awesome power” of “Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Yāma Heaven,” nor the 「遍觀十方」 tr. “contemplated throughout the ten directions” of the Grove of Awakening segment there; the base text was scanned graph by graph, and 「承佛威力」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's awesome power” returns no occurrence and 「遍觀十方」 tr. “contemplated throughout the ten directions” returns no occurrence, recorded as it stands. In the sixty-fascicle text the ten segments likewise all read 「承佛神力，普觀十方，以偈頌曰」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions, and in verse said” 〔T09n0278 0485c01〕.
- In this chapter there is no clause deferring merit at the end of a segment, and no concluding extension at the end of the chapter — none of the last verses of the ten segments has a clause deferring merit to the speaker before, counted segment by segment; and the last verse of the chapter is followed immediately by the title of the next chapter, the compilers adding no closing words. Chengguan sets up an explanation for this in particular: 「所以偈後無結通者，為顯法界兜率讚德異故，猶彼處處文殊、偈偈各別，顯佛德無盡故。」 tr. “The reason there is no concluding extension after the verses is to display that the virtues praised in the Tuṣita heavens of the Dharma realm are distinct, just as with those Mañjuśrīs everywhere, whose verses are each distinct, because it displays that the Buddha's virtue is inexhaustible.” 〔T35n1735 0694b23〕; what Fazang explains is different: 「又此偈後應有結通十方世界，但為前諸菩薩各云普觀十方，則已顯現，故不更論。」 tr. “Moreover, after these verses there ought to be a concluding extension to the worlds of the ten directions; but since the several bodhisattvas before each said ‘contemplated everywhere the ten directions,’ it has thereby already been displayed, and therefore it is not discussed further.” 〔T35n1733 0241c19〕 The two explanations are recorded together without adjudication.
- Nine occurrences of 「譬如」 tr. “just as” · no occurrence of 「假使」 tr. “suppose that”— 「譬如」 tr. “just as” occurs nine times (Valiant Banner four · Light Banner one · Wisdom Banner one · Jewel Banner one · Vigor Banner two, counted segment by segment); 「假使」 tr. “suppose that” returns no occurrence, the base text having been scanned graph by graph, and this is recorded as it stands.
IV. Collation with Parallel Translations
The Chinese witnesses collated for this chapter: Śikṣānanda, T279 (the base text · “Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven,” chapter 24) · Buddhabhadra, T278 (the Jin-dynasty translation in sixty fascicles · “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha,” chapter 20, beginning at 〔T09n0278 0485a05〕 – ending before the title of the next chapter, “The Bodhisattva Vajra Banner's Ten Dedications,” part one, at 〔0488a17〕). 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 in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven, chapter 24 | T10n0279 0121a12 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha, chapter 20 | T09n0278 0485a05 |
Passage Two · The Opening Line of the Gathering of the Assembly
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | At that time, because of 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 ten thousand buddha-lands, who came to where the Buddha was from among the worlds beyond lands as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands. | T10n0279 0121a13 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | At that time, because of the Buddha's spiritual power, in each of the ten directions, beyond lands as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-worlds | T09n0278 0485a06 |
Passage Three · The Names of the Ten Bodhisattvas
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The bodhisattva Vajra Banner, the bodhisattva Firm Banner, the bodhisattva Valiant Banner, the bodhisattva Light Banner, the bodhisattva Wisdom Banner, the bodhisattva Jewel Banner, the bodhisattva Vigor Banner, the bodhisattva Stainless Banner, the bodhisattva Constellation Banner, the bodhisattva Dharma Banner. | T10n0279 0121a15 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Their names: Vajra Banner; next named Firm Banner; next named Valiant Banner; next named Night-Radiance Banner; next named Wisdom Banner; next named Jewel Banner; next named Vigor Banner; next named Stainless Banner; next named True Banner; next named Dharma Banner. | T09n0278 0485a14 |
Passage Four · The Names of the Ten Worlds
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The world Wondrous Jewel, the world Wondrous Joy, the world Wondrous Silver, the world Wondrous Gold, the world Wondrous Maṇi, the world Wondrous Vajra, the world Wondrous Padma, the world Wondrous Utpala, the world Wondrous Sandalwood, the world Wondrous Fragrance. | T10n0279 0121a19 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | There are worlds there, named Firm Jewel; next named Firm Joy; next named Firm Jewel King; next named Firm Gold; next named Firm Maṇi; next named Firm Vajra; next named Firm Lotus; next named Firm Blue Lotus; next named Firm Sandalwood; next named Firm Fragrance. | T09n0278 0485a07 |
Passage Five · The Names of the Ten Buddhas
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The Buddha Inexhaustible Banner, the Buddha Wind Banner, the Buddha Liberation Banner, the Buddha Deportment Banner, the Buddha Bright-Mark Banner, the Buddha Constant Banner, the Buddha Most Excellent Banner, the Buddha Sovereign Banner, the Buddha Brahmā Banner, the Buddha Contemplation Banner. | T10n0279 0121a22 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Those buddhas are titled Banner of Inexhaustible Life; next titled Wind Banner; next titled Pure-White Banner; next titled Deportment Banner; next titled Bright-Mark Banner; next titled Constant Banner; next titled Supreme Banner; next titled Sovereign Banner; next titled Brahmā Banner; next titled Tranquil Banner. | T09n0278 0485a10 |
Passage Six · The Line on the Conjuring of the Throne
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | By the Buddha's spiritual power there was straightway conjured up a lion throne of the treasury of wondrous jewels, with a net of jewels spread over it, filling everywhere all around; and the multitude of bodhisattvas, following the quarter from which each had come, sat upon them with legs crossed. | T10n0279 0121a25 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Because of the Buddha's spiritual power, following the quarter from which each had come, there was conjured up a lion throne of the treasury of wish-fulfilling jewels, filling the ten directions, and they sat with legs crossed; and a net of white and pure jewels covered their bodies. | T09n0278 0485a19 |
Passage Seven · The Line on the Emitting of Light
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | At that time the World-Honored One emitted from the wheels of his two knees a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of rays of light, illumining everywhere all the worlds of the ten directions to the limit of the Dharma realm and the realm of empty space. | T10n0279 0121b15 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | At that time the World-Honored One emitted from his two knees a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of rays of light, illumining everywhere all the worlds of the ten directions equal to empty space and the Dharma realm, and the palaces of the Tuṣita Heaven in every set of four continents; and the spiritual power and sovereign freedom of all the tathāgatas were entirely displayed. | T09n0278 0485b09 |
Passage Eight · The Line on Planting Roots of Goodness Together
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | These bodhisattvas had all, together with the Tathāgata Vairocana, in ages past planted roots of goodness and cultivated the practice of a bodhisattva | T10n0279 0121b18 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | They were all good friends of the Tathāgata Rocana, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, at the time when he practiced the bodhisattva path and cultivated measureless Dharma-gates. | T09n0278 0485b13 |
Passage Nine · The Line Marking the Speaker
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | At that time the bodhisattva Vajra Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions and spoke these verses: | T10n0279 0121c07 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | At that time the bodhisattva Vajra Banner, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated everywhere the ten directions, and in verse said: | T09n0278 0485b29 |
Passage Ten · Vajra Banner's First Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The Tathāgata does not appear in the world, nor is there any nirvāṇa; it is by the power of his original great vow that he manifests the dharma of sovereign freedom. | T10n0279 0121c09 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The Tathāgata does not appear in the world, nor is there any nirvāṇa; it is by the power of his original great vow that he displays the dharma of sovereign freedom. | T09n0278 0485c02 |
Passage Eleven · Vajra Banner's Third Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The body of form is not the Buddha, and with sound it is likewise; yet neither is it apart from form and sound that one sees the Buddha's power of spiritual penetration. | T10n0279 0121c13 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The body of form is not the Tathāgata, and with sound it is likewise; yet neither is it apart from form and sound that there is the Buddha's power of sovereign freedom. | T09n0278 0485c06 |
Passage Twelve · Vajra Banner's Tenth Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | If there be one who sees the Tathāgata's awesome spiritual power such as this, he should make offerings to the most excellent Honored One and give rise to no doubt. | T10n0279 0121c27 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Seeing the Tathāgata thus, with his measureless power of sovereign freedom, one removes doubt and constantly draws near to the unsurpassed good friend. | T09n0278 0485c20 |
Passage Thirteen · Firm Banner's First Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The Tathāgata is excellent beyond compare, so profound that he cannot be told; he passes beyond the path of words, pure as empty space. | T10n0279 0122a02 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Supreme, with none surpassing him, so profound that he cannot be told; all words are cut off, pure as empty space. | T09n0278 0485c24 |
Passage Fourteen · Valiant Banner's Seventh Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | Though for numberless kalpas one gave wealth and jewels to the Buddha, if one does not know the Buddha's true mark, this too is not called giving. | T10n0279 0122b07 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Through measureless, numberless kalpas one constantly practices unsurpassed giving; but if one can convert a single person, the merit surpasses that. | T09n0278 0486a29 |
Passage Fifteen · Jewel Banner's Fourth Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | What an eye with cataract sees is neither within nor without; when the world sees the buddhas, one should know that it is likewise. | T10n0279 0123a09 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Just as a man without eyes sees no form either within or without, so when the Tathāgata does not appear in the world, one does not see any dharma at all. | T09n0278 0487a02 |
Passage Sixteen · Vigor Banner's Third Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The buddha-body is not within, nor is it without; it appears because of his spiritual power: such is the dharma of the Guide. | T10n0279 0123a29 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The Tathāgata's pure dharma-body is not a number belonging to what is within; the Tathāgata's pure dharma-body is likewise not a number belonging to what is without. | T09n0278 0487a22 |
Passage Seventeen · Stainless Banner's Sixth Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The buddha-body and the world, all of them are without self; awakening to this he accomplishes the perfect awakening, and again expounds it for sentient beings. | T10n0279 0123b28 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The buddha-body is not what belongs to a self, and the world is likewise; expounding that mind is not what belongs to a self, he awakens to the awakening that is without self. | T09n0278 0487b21 |
Passage Eighteen · Constellation Banner's First Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The Tathāgata dwells nowhere, and yet he dwells everywhere in all the lands; to all lands he goes, and in all places he is seen. | T10n0279 0123c11 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The Perfectly Awakened One journeys throughout the ten directions, through all the worlds; without departing from a single land, he manifests everywhere in all lands. | T09n0278 0487c04 |
Passage Nineteen · Constellation Banner's Third Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The buddhas are inconceivable — who is able to conceive of the Buddha? Who is able to see the perfect awakening? Who is able to manifest the most excellent one? | T10n0279 0123c15 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Who is it that conceives of the Buddha? Who is it that is inconceivable? Who sees the tathāgatas? Who is the perfectly awakened one? | T09n0278 0487c08 |
Passage Twenty · Dharma Banner's First Verse
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | Rather would one constantly and fully undergo all the sufferings of every world than in the end be far from the Tathāgata and not behold his power of sovereign freedom. | T10n0279 0124a04 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | Rather would one through measureless kalpas fully undergo every suffering than in the end be far from the Tathāgata and not behold his power of sovereign freedom. | T09n0278 0487c26 |
Passage Twenty-One · The Closing Verse of the Chapter
| Text collated | Verbatim, rendered | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda, T279 | The dharmas cannot be destroyed, nor is there any that can destroy them; the great light of sovereign freedom is displayed everywhere throughout the world. | T10n0279 0124a22 |
| Buddhabhadra, T278 | The dharmas cannot be destroyed, nor is there any destroyer of dharmas; illumining the worlds, he manifests the dharma of sovereign freedom. | T09n0278 0488a15 |
What the differences of opening, joining, and naming attach to — the names of the ten bodhisattvas differ in two places between the two versions: the eighty-fascicle text has Light Banner and Constellation Banner, while the sixty-fascicle text has Night-Radiance Banner and True Banner, the remaining eight names being wholly the same. The names of the ten worlds differ wholly between the two versions: the ten names of the eighty-fascicle text all begin with 「妙」 tr. “Wondrous”, while the ten names of the sixty-fascicle text all begin with 「堅固」 tr. “Firm”. The names of the ten buddhas are largely the same in the two versions with four differences: the eighty-fascicle text has Inexhaustible Banner, Liberation Banner, Most Excellent Banner, and Contemplation Banner, while the sixty-fascicle text has Banner of Inexhaustible Life, Pure-White Banner, Supreme Banner, and Tranquil Banner. The number of verses is the same in the two versions, ten segments of ten verses each, a hundred verses in the whole chapter, and Fazang on the sixty-fascicle text likewise writes 「上十菩薩百偈歎佛」 tr. “the hundred verses of the ten bodhisattvas above praising the Buddha” 〔T35n1733 0241c15〕. Again, in the sixty-fascicle text this chapter lies wholly within fascicle sixteen, while in the eighty-fascicle text the whole chapter lies within fascicle twenty-three; in neither version does a fascicle boundary fall within this chapter.
V. Scriptural Grounds of Sectarian Doctrine (the doctrinal eye)
(1) Sharing the name Banner, betokening that the three worthy stages have reached their utmost and turn toward awakening — the ten bodhisattvas and the ten buddhas all take Banner for their name, and Chengguan establishes five senses in explaining it, the first of which is attached to the end of the three worthy stages:
「四主菩薩名，同名幢者略有五義：一高出義，表三賢位極故。二建立義，大悲大智建立眾生及菩提故。三歸向義，謂大悲攝生，智願攝善，歸向菩提及實際故。四摧殄義，如猛將幢，降伏一切諸魔軍故。五滅怖畏義，如帝釋幢，不怖惑業故。」 tr. “Fourth, the names of the chief bodhisattvas: that they share the name Banner has, in brief, five senses. First, the sense of standing out high, betokening that the stations of the three worthy stages have reached their utmost. Second, the sense of establishing, because great compassion and great wisdom establish sentient beings and awakening. Third, the sense of turning toward and going home, that is, because great compassion gathers in beings and wisdom and vow gather in what is good, and they turn toward awakening and toward the true limit. Fourth, the sense of crushing and destroying, because like the banner of a fierce general it subdues all the armies of Māra. Fifth, the sense of extinguishing fear, because like the banner of Śakra it does not fear the afflictions and karma.” 〔T35n1735 0690c27〕
Below this he points out further what the particular names betoken: 「異名即表十向行體，至偈當明。」 tr. “The differing names betoken the very substance of the practice of the ten dedications, which will be made clear when the verses are reached.” 〔T35n1735 0691a03〕
(2) The names of the ten worlds are what the ten dedications cultivate — Chengguan matches the particular names of the ten worlds one by one to the Dharma-gates of the ten dedications:
「五所從來剎皆稱妙者，迴向之力微，善彌於法界。故其別名即表十向所修法門：一救護眾生離眾生相，最可貴故。二得不壞信，常樂因故。三等佛白淨故。四如金遍至諸色像故。五出用無盡，如摩尼故。六善根堅固，如金剛故。七隨順眾生，不染塵故。八真如之因如水生華，最為勝故。九如白栴檀，能去熱惱之縛著故。十如彼香氣，能普周故。」 tr. “Fifth, that the lands they come from are all called wondrous: the power of dedication is slight, and yet the good fills the Dharma realm. Therefore their particular names betoken the Dharma-gates cultivated in the ten dedications. First, rescuing and guarding sentient beings while free of the mark of sentient beings, because it is the most precious of all. Second, gaining indestructible faith, because it is constantly a cause of joy. Third, because it is equal to the buddhas in white purity. Fourth, because like gold it reaches everywhere among all forms and images. Fifth, because its issuing in function is inexhaustible, like the maṇi. Sixth, because the roots of goodness are firm, like vajra. Seventh, because it accords with sentient beings and is undefiled by dust. Eighth, because the cause that is suchness is like a flower born in water, and is most excellent of all. Ninth, because like white sandalwood it can remove the bondage of the fever of affliction. Tenth, because like that fragrance it can reach everywhere throughout.” 〔T35n1735 0691a04〕
At the end he further attaches this to a matter further on in the text: 「故下文慈氏座前燒一丸香彌滿法界，即其事也。」 tr. “Therefore in the text below, the single pellet of incense burned before Maitreya's seat, whose fragrance fills the Dharma realm, is precisely this matter.” 〔T35n1735 0691a12〕
(3) The names of the ten buddhas are the wisdom of cultivating the ten dedications and the fruit of the present station —
「六本所事佛同名幢，義不異菩薩。別名即表修十向智，亦表當位之果。謂一救護之心不可盡，故成無盡佛。二如空中風，不住不壞故。三等佛解脫故。四四威儀中無不至故。五明了功德相故。六常能隨順善根故。七隨順眾生，善最勝故。八同於真如，得自在故。九淨無垢染，不縛著故。十觀察即是入法界故。」 tr. “Sixth, the buddhas they originally served share the name Banner, and the import is no different from that of the bodhisattvas. Their particular names betoken the wisdom of cultivating the ten dedications, and betoken also the fruit of the present station. That is to say: first, the mind of rescuing and guarding cannot be exhausted, and therefore he becomes the Buddha Inexhaustible. Second, because like the wind in the sky it neither abides nor is destroyed. Third, because it is equal to the liberation of the buddhas. Fourth, because within the four deportments there is nowhere it does not reach. Fifth, because it clearly understands the marks of merit. Sixth, because it is constantly able to accord with roots of goodness. Seventh, because it accords with sentient beings and is most excellent in goodness. Eighth, because being the same as suchness it gains sovereign freedom. Ninth, because it is pure and undefiled and is not bound. Tenth, because contemplation is just the entering into the Dharma realm.” 〔T35n1735 0691a13〕
(4) The substance of the throne says simply “wondrous jewel,” with no color or kind specified — the difference in the substance of the throne across the three assemblies, which Chengguan explains by the station:
「座體云妙寶者，十住以慧光遍照故，以毘盧遮那藏為體。十行以行淨離垢故，以摩尼藏為體。今十向大悲處於生死，普該萬法不拘乎一故。座體直云妙寶，不限色類，以教行遍周籠攝眾生，如以寶網彌覆其上。」 tr. “That the substance of the throne says ‘wondrous jewel’: the ten abodes illumine everywhere with the light of insight, and therefore they take the Vairocana Treasury for their substance. The ten practices are pure in practice and parted from defilement, and therefore they take the maṇi treasury for their substance. Now in the ten dedications great compassion dwells within birth and death and comprehends the ten thousand dharmas everywhere without being confined to any one. Therefore the substance of the throne says simply ‘wondrous jewel’, with no color or kind specified, because the teaching and the practice are everywhere complete and gather in sentient beings, just as the net of jewels is spread over it above.” 〔T35n1735 0691a21〕
(5) The light is emitted at the wheels of the knees, betokening the turning of the cause toward the fruit, the bending and stretching and advancing —
「言膝輪者，位漸高故。又表迴因向果等，有屈申進趣之相故。又悲智相導，屈申無住故。」 tr. “That it says the wheels of the knees is because the station gradually rises. Again, it betokens the turning of the cause toward the fruit and the like, because there is the aspect of bending and stretching and advancing. Again, compassion and wisdom lead one another, bending and stretching without dwelling anywhere.” 〔T35n1735 0691b07〕
Li Tongxuan lists the places of the emitting of light at the five stations so as to display the rising advance:
「明十信足下輪中放光，以信為初。如十住足指端，明入聖位之初。十行足趺，明依聖性法身起行。十迴向即於膝上放光者，明表法光明，以膝者人之坐起迴旋卷舒自在之所由也。」 tr. “It makes clear that in the ten faiths the light is emitted from within the wheels beneath the feet, because faith is the beginning. As in the ten abodes it is at the tips of the toes, making clear the beginning of entering the station of a noble one. In the ten practices it is at the insteps, making clear that practice arises in dependence upon the dharma-body that is the nature of a noble one. That in the ten dedications the light is emitted upon the knees makes clear the betokening light of dharma, since the knee is that whereby a person sits and rises, turns about, and rolls up and spreads out at will.” 〔T36n1739 0856b12〕
(6) The fusing of the real and the conventional · being-in-emptiness and emptiness-in-being are one in substance and different in name — at the clause 「於一切數，雖無所著」 tr. “toward all numbers, although they clung to nothing” at the end of the portion of the emitting of light, Chengguan opens out from the word 「數」 tr. “number” the densest passage in the chapter:
「即真俗鎔融，謂世俗幻有之相，相本自空；勝義真空之理，理常自有。有是空有非常有，斯有未曾不空；空是有空非斷空，此空何嘗不有。有空空有，體一名殊。名殊故真俗互乖，迢然不雜；體一故空有相順，冥然不二。一與不一，不即不離，鎔融無礙。菩薩智契其源，所以雖逈絕無寄而善修安立。」 tr. “This is the fusing of the real and the conventional. That is to say: the mark of conventional illusory being is a mark from the first empty of itself; the principle of the real emptiness of the ultimate is a principle constantly of itself existing. Being is empty being and not constant being, and so this being has never not been empty; emptiness is existent emptiness and not annihilating emptiness, and when has this emptiness ever not been existent? Empty being and existent emptiness are one in substance and different in name. Because the names are different, the real and the conventional run counter to one another and stand far apart unmingled; because the substance is one, the empty and the existent accord with one another and merge darkly into no-two. One and not-one are neither identical nor apart, fused and unobstructed. The bodhisattva's wisdom tallies with the source of this, and therefore, although utterly cut off with nothing to lodge in, he is nonetheless good at cultivating and setting up.” 〔T35n1735 0691b24〕
(7) The vajra is not a simile for wisdom alone — only compassion and wisdom leading one another is the true and uncommon prajñā — upon the name of the lord of the assembly, Vajra Banner, Chengguan sets up a rebuttal:
「金剛者，堅利也，即悲之智。二乘實際不能壞，堅也；斷難斷惑，利也。故文云「智慧到彼岸」。即智之悲，愛見不能動，堅也；無所不救，利也。」 tr. “Vajra means firm and sharp: it is the wisdom within compassion. The true limit of the two vehicles cannot destroy it, and this is firmness; it cuts off the afflictions that are hard to cut off, and this is sharpness — therefore the text says ‘wisdom has gone to the other shore’. It is the compassion within wisdom: craving and views cannot shake it, and this is firmness; there is nothing it does not rescue, and this is sharpness.” 〔T35n1735 0691c06〕
「故知金剛不獨喻智。攻般若者不得此意，但以標名，獨將金剛喻於般若，不觀文中悲濟九類而無所度，悲智相導方為真實不共般若。智者應知。」 tr. “Therefore know that the vajra is not a simile for wisdom alone. Those who work upon prajñā do not catch this import; going only by the name given, they take the vajra as a simile for prajñā alone, and do not look into how within the text compassion rescues the nine classes and yet none are delivered. It is compassion and wisdom leading one another that is the true and uncommon prajñā. The wise should know it.” 〔T35n1735 0691c14〕
The attestation he cites: 「七十八云「譬如金剛，唯從金剛處及金處生，非餘寶處生。菩提心金剛亦復如是，唯從大悲救護眾生金剛處，一切智智殊勝境界金處而生，非餘眾生善根處生。」」 tr. “Fascicle seventy-eight says: ‘Just as the vajra is born only from the place of vajra and the place of gold, and not from the place of any other jewel, so too is the vajra that is the mind of awakening: it is born only from the vajra-place of great compassion that rescues and guards sentient beings and from the gold-place of the excellent realm of the wisdom of omniscience, and not from the place of the roots of goodness of other sentient beings.’” 〔T35n1735 0691c10〕
(8) The five dharmas of advancing in cultivation and the nine goods — upon the three verses of exhortation in the segment of Firm Banner, Chengguan sets up five dharmas and cites the Tihu yu jing as cited in the treatise of Maitreya:
「然夫進修，略有五法，謂欲、精進、念、巧慧、一心。初偈明欲、次偈辨念、後偈巧慧。」 tr. “Now for advancing in cultivation there are, in brief, five dharmas: desire, vigor, recollection, skillful insight, and one-pointedness. The first verse sets forth desire, the next verse discerns recollection, and the last verse skillful insight.” 〔T35n1735 0692a14〕
「又慈氏論引《醍醐喻經》共說九善，謂一切法欲為根本，作意所生，觸所集起，受所引攝，以念為主，定為上首，慧為最勝，解脫為堅固，出離為後邊。有前未必有後，有後定須有前，是故先說欲為其本。」 tr. “Again, the treatise of Maitreya cites the Tihu yu jing, which together expounds nine goods, namely: all dharmas have desire for their root, are born of attention, are gathered and arise from contact, are drawn in and taken up by feeling, have recollection for their master, concentration for their chief, insight for what is most excellent, liberation for their firmness, and going forth for their farthest bound. Where the former is present the latter need not be, but where the latter is present the former must be; and therefore desire is expounded first as their root.” 〔T35n1735 0692a17〕
(9) The two gates of arising in dependence upon the real — the opening out of the senses and the fusing — upon Light Banner's eighth verse, 「佛身非變化，亦復非非化」 tr. “the buddha-body is not a transformation, nor is it a non-transformation”, Chengguan opens two gates and comes home at last to fusion:
「且依真起化，略有二門：一開義、二融合。初中，真應各有二義。真中，一不變義，謂雖化而常湛然，初句顯之。二隨緣義，謂不守自性，無不現故，故云亦復非非化。」 tr. “Now as to arising in dependence upon the real, there are in brief two gates: first the opening out of the senses, second the fusing. Within the first, the real and the responsive each have two senses. Within the real: first, the sense of not changing, that is, although in transformation it is constantly limpid, which the first line displays; second, the sense of according with conditions, that is, it does not keep to its own nature and so there is nothing it does not manifest, and therefore it says ‘nor is it a non-transformation’.” 〔T35n1735 0692c11〕
「是故現化紛然未嘗不寂，真性湛然未曾不化。真化鎔融為一無礙清淨法界，宜審思之。」 tr. “Therefore the manifesting and transforming are in profusion and yet have never not been still, and the real nature is limpid and yet has never not transformed. The real and the transformed are fused into one unobstructed and pure Dharma realm; it is fitting to ponder this carefully.” 〔T35n1735 0692c26〕
(10) The Buddha is not tied to a day — the three members of a formal argument — upon the last five verses of Jewel Banner, Chengguan sets up thesis, reason, and example, and determines them:
「後四別顯超時，初偈立宗，上半牒妄情，下半正立菩提是有法、定不繫時是宗法。次偈立三因：一智無分別故、二三世不遷故、三體非有為之數故。次偈舉同喻，謂日體常明，故不合昏夜。後偈合結，上半合、下半結。」 tr. “The last four display in particular the transcending of time. The first verse sets up the thesis: the upper half rehearses the false notion, and the lower half properly sets it up — awakening is the subject, and ‘determinately not tied to time’ is what is predicated of it. The next verse sets up three reasons: first, because his wisdom is without discrimination; second, because the three times do not shift him; third, because his substance is not a number belonging to the conditioned. The next verse raises the positive example, that is, the substance of the sun is constantly bright and therefore is not joined with the darkness of night. The last verse matches and concludes: the upper half matches and the lower half concludes.” 〔T35n1735 0693b03〕
On the section 「合中語倒」 tr. “the wording of the matching is inverted” he also displays the form of the straight statement: 「合中語倒，若順應云一切諸如來不與三世合。」 tr. “The wording of the matching is inverted; were it in the straight order it should say, ‘all the tathāgatas are not joined with the three times’.” 〔T35n1735 0693b08〕
(11) Sentient beings forcibly discriminate and make up a Buddha delivering sentient beings — for the sense of Jewel Banner's fifth verse, 「而實無興世」 tr. “and yet in truth there is no arising in the world”, Chengguan cites a scripture in attestation:
「故《諸法無行經》云「如來不出世，亦不度眾生。眾生強分別，作佛度眾生。」」 tr. “Therefore the Zhufa wuxing jing says: ‘The Tathāgata does not appear in the world, nor does he deliver sentient beings. Sentient beings forcibly discriminate and make up a Buddha delivering sentient beings.’” 〔T35n1735 0693a28〕
(12) The same in body and so too in import — the three bodies and the ten bodies are alike the same — upon the general announcement of Vigor Banner's first verse, Chengguan opens several senses in explaining it:
「言身同者，三身十身皆悉同故。義亦然者，此含多意：一且約三身，體依聚義，無不同故。所覺能覺，覺他同故。」 tr. “That it says ‘the same in body’ is because the three bodies and the ten bodies are all alike the same. That it says ‘and so too in import’ holds several meanings. First, taking it with respect to the three bodies, the senses of substance, of support, and of gathering are in no case different; and what is awakened to, what awakens, and the awakening of others are the same.” 〔T35n1735 0693b19〕
「二約十身釋義同者，皆通三世間，彼此互望無差別故。種種利樂居然是同，此有三因：一行海齊滿、二大願齊具、三同一法性故。非唯相似，亦一即一切互相融故。」 tr. “Second, explaining the sameness of import with respect to the ten bodies: they all run through the three world-realms, and looked at one against another there is no difference. The several kinds of benefiting and gladdening are plainly the same, and this has three grounds: first, the sea of practice is equally full; second, the great vows are equally complete; third, the dharma-nature is one and the same. It is not merely that they are alike, but that one is all and they mutually interfuse.” 〔T35n1735 0693b27〕
The treatise-attestation he cites: 「故《攝論》第十云「諸佛法身應知恒時能作五業」等。」 tr. “Therefore the She lun, fascicle ten, says, ‘the dharma-body of all buddhas should be known to be able at all times to perform the five works,’ and so on.” 〔T35n1735 0693b25〕
(13) “Everywhere” has two senses — upon the “everywhere” of the lower half of the same segment, 「普於十方剎」 tr. “everywhere in the lands of the ten directions”, Chengguan opens two:
「然普有二義：一約諸佛，謂無有佛不遍十方故。二約一佛，謂無一方而不現故。」 tr. “Now ‘everywhere’ has two senses: first, with respect to all buddhas, that is, because there is no buddha who does not pervade the ten directions; second, with respect to one buddha, that is, because there is no single quarter in which he does not manifest.” 〔T35n1735 0693c04〕
(14) Constellation Banner: three of general display, three of direct explanation, three of reverse explanation — for the determination of the segment of Constellation Banner, Chengguan takes the three questions of who conceives, who sees, and who manifests as its bone:
「十頌顯佛此德，分為三別：初三總顯即體之應、次六別釋體應自在、後一拂去自在之迹。」 tr. “The ten verses display this virtue of the Buddha and are divided into three: the first three display in general the response that is one with the substance; the next six explain in particular the sovereign freedom of the substance and its response; the last one wipes away the traces of that sovereign freedom.” 〔T35n1735 0694a14〕
「次六別釋中，初三順釋、後三反釋。」 tr. “Within the next six of particular explanation, the first three explain in the direct order and the last three in the reverse.” 〔T35n1735 0694a24〕
His wiping away at the last verse: 「三一偈拂自在之迹者，上明自在尚假言詮，正覺超言，故拂言迹。超言亦假，應忘言契之。」 tr. “Third, the one verse that wipes away the traces of sovereign freedom: the setting forth of sovereign freedom above still borrows verbal expression, and since perfect awakening passes beyond words, the traces of words are therefore wiped away. ‘Passing beyond words’ is likewise a borrowing; one should forget words and tally with it.” 〔T35n1735 0694b05〕
(15) Without destroying provisional names he expounds the real mark — the sense of the closing verse of the chapter:
「不動真際建立諸法則性不可壞，不壞假名而說實相則相不可壞，斯則天魔外道等皆法印故無能壞。餘如〈十藏品〉。」 tr. “Without stirring the true limit he establishes all dharmas, and so the nature cannot be destroyed; without destroying provisional names he expounds the real mark, and so the marks cannot be destroyed. Thus the demons of Māra and the outer paths and the rest are all of them the seal of the dharma, and therefore there is none that can destroy them. For the rest, as in ‘The Ten Treasuries’.” 〔T35n1735 0694b19〕
(16) The ten sets of verses should be taken by the perfect interfusion of the six characteristics — Chengguan's general conclusion at the end of the chapter:
「上十菩薩之偈，應以六相圓融。所以偈後無結通者，為顯法界兜率讚德異故，猶彼處處文殊、偈偈各別，顯佛德無盡故。」 tr. “The verses of the ten bodhisattvas above should be taken by the perfect interfusion of the six characteristics. The reason there is no concluding extension after the verses is to display that the virtues praised in the Tuṣita heavens of the Dharma realm are distinct, just as with those Mañjuśrīs everywhere, whose verses are each distinct, because it displays that the Buddha's virtue is inexhaustible.” 〔T35n1735 0694b22〕
Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, likewise gathers by the six characteristics, but the items he opens out are six:
「上十菩薩百偈歎佛，或總為一，以融會為一法界佛故。或別，以十佛百門德差別故。或同，以百偈無非顯佛德故。或異，以門門相別故。或成，由此德緣佛果立故。或壞，各住自法本不作故。准思之。」 tr. “The hundred verses of the ten bodhisattvas above praising the Buddha: or generally as one, because they are fused into one Dharma-realm buddha; or particularly, because of the differentiation of the virtues of ten buddhas and a hundred gates; or as the same, because not one of the hundred verses fails to display the Buddha's virtue; or as different, because gate differs from gate in aspect; or as formation, because by these virtues the fruit of buddhahood is established through conditions; or as disintegration, because each abides in its own dharma and originally does not act. Ponder it accordingly.” 〔T35n1733 0241c15〕
VI. Divergent Interpretations of the Commentators
Chengguan, Huayan jing shu, T35n1735 (following the eighty-fascicle text phrase by phrase · the principal commentary)
The ten segments matched to the ten directions, each with its own explanation of the name — Chengguan determines that 「第三偈讚中，十菩薩即為十段。亦十方如次，皆先標說人及說儀式。」 tr. “Third, within the verses of praise, the ten bodhisattvas make ten segments. They also follow the ten directions in order, and in each the speaker and the manner of speaking are marked first.” 〔T35n1735 0691c03〕, and the sense of the name he establishes for each segment, together with the classification of the verses, runs as follows:
「今初東方金剛幢者，此是會主，名含總別。總顯迴向不出悲智。」 tr. “Now the first, Vajra Banner of the east: this is the lord of the assembly, and his name holds both the general and the particular. Generally it displays that dedication does not go beyond compassion and wisdom.” 〔T35n1735 0691c05〕 · 「十頌歎佛寂用無礙德，大分為二：初八讚佛勝德、後二結勸修行。」 tr. “The ten verses praise the Buddha's virtue of the unobstructedness of stillness and function, and are broadly divided into two: the first eight praise the Buddha's excellent virtues, and the last two conclude by exhorting to the cultivation of practice.” 〔0691c19〕
「第二南方堅固者，表不壞迴向故、菩提心堅故、觀佛無厭故。十頌多明如來為物所依德。於中分二：初三讚佛勝德、後七勸修辨益。」 tr. “Second, Firm of the south: because it betokens the indestructible dedication, because the mind of awakening is firm, and because he gazes upon the Buddha without being sated. The ten verses mostly make clear the virtue by which the Tathāgata is that upon which beings rely. Within them there are two: the first three praise the Buddha's excellent virtues, and the last seven exhort to cultivation and discern its benefit.” 〔T35n1735 0692a06〕
「第三西方菩薩，淨心智力見佛盡源，等一切佛，故名勇猛。十頌分二：前六明感應道交，見佛聞法；後四令捨偽求真，拂見聞相故。」 tr. “Third, the bodhisattva of the west: by the wisdom-power of a pure mind he sees the Buddha to the very source and is equal to all buddhas, and therefore he is named Valiant. The ten verses divide in two: the first six make clear the mutual traffic of stimulus and response, the seeing of the Buddha and the hearing of the dharma; the last four make one cast away the false and seek the true, because they wipe away the marks of what is seen and heard.” 〔T35n1735 0692a24〕
「第四北方菩薩。以大悲力運智慧光，朗彼重昏無所不至，名光明幢。又以智慧令諸善根無所不至，故此頌中多顯如來即體化用周普之德。十頌分三：初一化用廣，亦明化處；次七化用深，亦明化依；後二雙結」 tr. “Fourth, the bodhisattva of the north. With the power of great compassion he sets in motion the light of wisdom, illumining that darkness upon darkness so that there is nowhere it does not reach, and he is named Light Banner. Again, by wisdom he causes all roots of goodness to reach everywhere, and therefore these verses mostly display the Tathāgata's virtue of the function of converting that is one with the substance and is universally everywhere. The ten verses divide in three: the first one is the breadth of the function of converting, which also makes clear the place of converting; the next seven are the depth of the function of converting, which also makes clear what the converting depends on; the last two conclude both” 〔T35n1735 0692b15〕
「第五東北方。於佛寂用之境決斷無礙故，又智導萬行出生無盡故，名智幢故。頌中多歎如來應現出生無盡無礙之德。十頌分二：初一標章勸信，信有修行之益；後九所信勝德」 tr. “Fifth, the northeast. Because within the realm of the Buddha's stillness and function he decides without obstruction, and again because with wisdom he leads the ten thousand practices and brings them forth inexhaustibly, he is therefore named Wisdom Banner. The verses mostly praise the Tathāgata's virtue of responsive manifesting and bringing forth, inexhaustible and unobstructed. The ten verses divide in two: the first one announces the theme and exhorts to faith, faith having the benefit of the cultivation of practice; the last nine are the excellent virtues believed in” 〔T35n1735 0693a03〕
「第六東南方菩薩。以圓淨智照平等理，不礙應現，隨順一切如摩尼寶，故名寶幢。頌中多顯平等超世之德。十頌分二：前五總顯難思、後五逈超時數。」 tr. “Sixth, the bodhisattva of the southeast. With wisdom round and pure he illumines the principle of equality, not obstructing responsive manifesting and according with all things like the maṇi jewel, and therefore he is named Jewel Banner. The verses mostly display the virtue of equality that transcends the world. The ten verses divide in two: the first five display in general that he is hard to conceive of, and the last five that he far transcends time and number.” 〔T35n1735 0693a14〕
「第七西南方。勤觀如來真應皆同，故能平等隨順一切眾生，名精進幢。十頌顯此同義。文分為二：初一總標、餘九別釋。」 tr. “Seventh, the southwest. He diligently contemplates that the Tathāgata's true body and responsive body are alike the same, and therefore is able to accord equally with all sentient beings, and is named Vigor Banner. The ten verses display this sense of sameness. The text divides in two: the first one is the general announcement, and the remaining nine are the particular explanation.” 〔T35n1735 0693b16〕
「第八西北方菩薩。真如體淨，能成白法，復淨世間，故名離垢。十頌多歎如來淨德，前六淨他、後四自淨。」 tr. “Eighth, the bodhisattva of the northwest. The substance of suchness is pure, able to accomplish the white dharma and able further to purify the world, and therefore he is named Stainless. The ten verses mostly praise the Tathāgata's virtue of purity: the first six are the purifying of others, and the last four the purifying of oneself.” 〔T35n1735 0693c24〕
「第九下方菩薩。解佛遍應法界之身，而不離法性，若彼星宿粲然羅空不可縛著，故以為名。」 tr. “Ninth, the bodhisattva of the nadir. He understands the Buddha's body that responds everywhere throughout the Dharma realm while not departing from the dharma-nature, just as those constellations are spread brilliantly across the sky and cannot be bound; and therefore it is taken as his name.” 〔T35n1735 0694a12〕
「第十上方菩薩。知真實之法，普入法界，則所修行皆無分量，故名法幢。知法名佛，故先讚見佛之益。十頌雙顯佛法難聞，於中分二：前四讚佛勸人聞見、後六讚法勸物聞求。」 tr. “Tenth, the bodhisattva of the zenith. He knows the true and real dharma and enters everywhere into the Dharma realm, and so the practices he cultivates are all beyond measure, and therefore he is named Dharma Banner. To know the dharma is what is named Buddha, and therefore he first praises the benefit of seeing the Buddha. The ten verses display in pairs that the Buddha and the dharma are hard to hear of, and within them there are two: the first four praise the Buddha and exhort people to hear and see him, and the last six praise the dharma and exhort beings to hear and seek it.” 〔T35n1735 0694b07〕
Setting up his own questions and answers to resolve doubt — for the sequence of the segment of Jewel Banner, Chengguan explains it by a chain of raised difficulties:
「後三展轉釋成，初云何以難思？若身若處，非生滅心行之境故。何以非心境？佛自不起心故。何以不起？體無生滅故。若爾，何以現見？次偈釋云：病眼所覩，取色分齊，勿謂為實。次疑云：若爾，豈無如來出現世耶？次偈釋云：自機見耳。」 tr. “The last three explain it through by stages. The first says: why is he hard to conceive of? Because neither the body nor the place is an object within the range of a mind of arising and perishing. Why is he not an object of mind? Because the Buddha himself does not give rise to mind. Why does he not give rise to it? Because his substance is without arising and perishing. If it is so, why then do we plainly see him? The next verse explains: what a diseased eye sees takes its own portion of form; do not call it real. Next the doubt says: if it is so, then is there no appearing of a tathāgata in the world at all? The next verse explains: it is only one's own faculty perceiving.” 〔T35n1735 0693a21〕
The Suishu yanyi chao, T36n1736 (Chengguan explaining his own words in the commentary)
The five senses of the banner as an abridgment of seven — 「疏文中「幢者略有五義」者，《刊定》有七，今略其二」 tr. “As to the words in the commentary, ‘the banner has, in brief, five senses’ — the Kanding has seven, and here two of them are left out” 〔T36n1736 0363a25〕; the seven are 「一堅固義、二滅恐怖義、三歸向義、四建立義、五高顯義、六摧殄義、七不為他壞義」 tr. “first the sense of firmness, second the sense of extinguishing dread, third the sense of turning toward and going home, fourth the sense of establishing, fifth the sense of standing high and manifest, sixth the sense of crushing and destroying, seventh the sense of not being destroyed by another” 〔0363b02〕, and the chao explains as well why two were left out: 「今以堅固即不為他壞，準上引經即建立中攝。又他不壞，在滅恐怖中攝」 tr. “here, since firmness is just not being destroyed by another, and according to the scripture cited above it is subsumed under establishing; and again, not being destroyed by another is subsumed under the extinguishing of dread” 〔0363b04〕.
Where the ten pairs point in the scriptural text — the chao points out, one by one, the scriptural text for the commentary's ten pairs: 「疏「一離障成身對」等者，以文易故，疏不指經，今當指之。二入一切土下，入剎對，三於一念下是，四無量無數下是，五恒以淨念下是，六以小入大下是，七獲一切智下是，八一切如來下是，九到金剛下是，十已得諸佛自在神通下是。」 tr. “As to the commentary's ‘first, the pair of leaving hindrances and perfecting the body’ and the rest — because the text is easy, the commentary does not point to the scripture, and it shall be pointed to here. The second is from ‘entering all lands’ onward, the pair of entering lands; the third is from ‘within a single thought’ onward; the fourth is from ‘measureless, numberless’ onward; the fifth is from ‘constantly with pure recollection’ onward; the sixth is from ‘entering the great with the small’ onward; the seventh is from ‘obtained omniscience’ onward; the eighth is from ‘all the tathāgatas’ onward; the ninth is from ‘reached the vajra’ onward; the tenth is from ‘had already gained the sovereign spiritual penetrations of the buddhas’ onward.” 〔T36n1736 0363b23〕
The form of the formal argument — for the three reasons in the commentary on the segment of Jewel Banner, the chao frames each as an argument and recasts them as verse: 「作初偈量云「日體無分別，不與昏夜合；如來無分別，不與三世合」」 tr. “Framing the argument of the first verse it says: ‘The substance of the sun is without discrimination and is not joined with the darkness of night; the Tathāgata is without discrimination and is not joined with the three times.’” 〔T36n1736 0364c12〕 · 「若七言云：日體恒明隨映殊，不合昏夜說昏夜；佛體湛然隨機應，已超三世說三世。」 tr. “In seven graphs to the line it says: the substance of the sun is constantly bright and differs as it is reflected, and though not joined with the darkness of night, night and darkness are spoken of; the substance of the Buddha is limpid and responds to the faculties of beings, and though he has already transcended the three times, the three times are spoken of.” 〔0365a05〕
The items of the six characteristics — 「言「六相」者，一總顯佛德、二別則十種德殊、三同則同明佛德、四異則十德互望不同、五成則共成佛德、六壞則各住自性。」 tr. “As to the words ‘the six characteristics’: first, the whole is the general displaying of the Buddha's virtue; second, the parts are the ten kinds of virtue each distinct; third, sameness is their setting forth the Buddha's virtue in common; fourth, difference is the ten virtues being unlike when looked at one against another; fifth, formation is their jointly forming the Buddha's virtue; sixth, disintegration is their each abiding in its own nature.” 〔T36n1736 0365b12〕
Fazang, Tanxuan ji, T35n1733 (commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha”)
The explanation of the text in four portions — 「四釋文中四：一集眾、二放光、三歎眾、四歎佛。」 tr. “Fourth, within the explanation of the text there are four: first the gathering of the assembly, second the emitting of light, third the praising of the assembly, fourth the praising of the Buddha.” 〔T35n1733 0239a23〕, differing from Chengguan's three portions.
What the name of the lands, Firm, betokens — 「國名堅固者，表顯所依行成難壞故也。佛與菩薩同名幢者，表迴向善巧因果獨出攝伏故也。寶網覆身，表德備也。放光，用廣也。」 tr. “That the lands are named Firm is because it betokens and displays that the practice relied upon is accomplished and hard to destroy. That the buddhas and the bodhisattvas share the name Banner is because it betokens that the cause and fruit of skillfulness in dedication stand out alone and subdue. The net of jewels covering the body betokens that the virtues are complete. The emitting of light is the breadth of the function.” 〔T35n1733 0239a27〕
The ten Dharma-gates should be gathered and interfused by the six characteristics — 「一身遍遊、二智見理、三多身遍、四入果用、五得果智、六巧便光、七廣辨、八深持、九見法界、十盡虛空，應以六相融攝思准。」 tr. “First, the body journeying everywhere; second, wisdom seeing the principle; third, many bodies pervading; fourth, entering the function of the fruit; fifth, gaining the wisdom of the fruit; sixth, the light of skillful means; seventh, breadth of discernment; eighth, depth of retention; ninth, seeing the Dharma realm; tenth, exhausting empty space — these should be gathered and interfused by the six characteristics and pondered accordingly.” 〔T35n1733 0239b07〕
The explanation of the names and the classification of the verses segment by segment (established upon the sixty-fascicle text) — 「第二以觀佛心堅名堅固幢。十偈分三：初七歎佛德、次二勸修趣入、後一結見聞益。」 tr. “Second, from the firmness of the mind that gazes upon the Buddha he is named Firm Banner. The ten verses divide in three: the first seven praise the Buddha's virtues, the next two exhort to cultivate and enter, and the last one concludes with the benefit of seeing and hearing.” 〔T35n1733 0239c22〕 · 「第三智力勇健盡佛海原名勇猛幢。十偈分二：初七歎佛為修行勝緣、後三顯佛自在之德。」 tr. “Third, from the wisdom-power that is valiant and strong and exhausts the source of the Buddha's sea he is named Valiant Banner. The ten verses divide in two: the first seven praise the Buddha as the excellent condition for the cultivation of practice, and the last three display the Buddha's virtue of sovereign freedom.” 〔0240a08〕 · 「第四以於生死夜現暉智光名夜光幢。十偈分三：初一歎佛用廣，十方普見故；次七明佛用深，融理而起故；後二雙結深廣，無涯底故。」 tr. “Fourth, from manifesting the shining light of wisdom in the night of birth and death he is named Night-Radiance Banner. The ten verses divide in three: the first one praises the breadth of the Buddha's function, because he is seen everywhere in the ten directions; the next seven make clear the depth of the Buddha's function, because it arises fused with principle; the last two conclude both depth and breadth, because they have no shore or bottom.” 〔0240a18〕 · 「第五深慧無礙名智幢。十偈分三：初四歎佛德用無限、次四歎佛一異無礙、後二歎佛生滅自在。」 tr. “Fifth, from deep insight that is unobstructed he is named Wisdom Banner. The ten verses divide in three: the first four praise the limitlessness of the Buddha's virtue and function, the next four praise the Buddha's unobstructedness of one and many, and the last two praise the Buddha's sovereign freedom in arising and perishing.” 〔0240b22〕 · 「第六照理可貴故名寶幢。十偈分二：初三歎佛身心自在、後七歎佛出世自在。」 tr. “Sixth, because illumining the principle is precious he is named Jewel Banner. The ten verses divide in two: the first three praise the sovereign freedom of the Buddha's body and mind, and the last seven praise the sovereign freedom of the Buddha's appearing in the world.” 〔0240c13〕 · 「第七勤觀妙理名精進幢。十偈分二：初一汎舉諸佛標德同應異、後九正歎此佛。」 tr. “Seventh, from diligently contemplating the subtle principle he is named Vigor Banner. The ten verses divide in two: the first one broadly raises all the buddhas and marks that the virtue is the same while the response differs, and the last nine properly praise this buddha.” 〔0241a18〕 · 「第八淨慧照實染障已除名離垢幢。十偈分四」 tr. “Eighth, since pure insight illumines the real and the hindrance of defilement has been removed, he is named Stainless Banner. The ten verses divide in four” 〔0241b07〕 · 「第九了佛應身即同真故名真實幢。十偈分二：初二明佛無方大用」 tr. “Ninth, because he understands that the Buddha's responsive body is just the same as the real, he is named True Banner. The ten verses divide in two: the first two make clear the Buddha's great function that has no fixed quarter” 〔0241b19〕 · 「第十善解成佛之法故名法幢。十偈分四：初二明近佛益」 tr. “Tenth, because he well understands the dharma of becoming a buddha, he is named Dharma Banner. The ten verses divide in four: the first two make clear the benefit of drawing near the Buddha” 〔0241c02〕
The four-teaching distinction concerning mind and mental factors at the stage of buddhahood — upon the line 「非心所行處，心不於中起」 tr. “it is not a place the mind can reach, nor does the mind arise within it” in the segment of Jewel Banner, Fazang sets a question and answers it by the four gates of the initial, final, sudden, and perfect teachings:
「《智論》云「佛地無有心心法」也。問：若約法身，可如上說。約受用身無心法，豈可令佛同非情類？答：若依初教，佛地具有清淨八識及二十一心所。設言無者，但無染識，非謂無淨。」 tr. “The Zhi lun says, ‘at the stage of buddhahood there are no mind and mental factors.’ Question: if it is with respect to the dharma-body, it may be as stated above; but if with respect to the enjoyment body there were no mental factors, how could one make the Buddha the same as the class of insentient things? Answer: if one follows the initial teaching, the stage of buddhahood is fully possessed of the pure eight consciousnesses and the twenty-one mental factors. Where it is said that there are none, it is only that there is no defiled consciousness; it does not mean that there is no pure one.” 〔T35n1733 0240c17〕
「若約圓教，既理智混融，舉法界俱為智，說十顯無盡，是故此智未嘗不即法界。思准之。」 tr. “If with respect to the perfect teaching: since principle and wisdom are blended and fused, the whole Dharma realm is raised up as wisdom, and ten are expounded to display the inexhaustible; therefore this wisdom has never not been just the Dharma realm. Ponder it accordingly.” 〔T35n1733 0240c28〕
Why there is no concluding extension after the verses — 「又此偈後應有結通十方世界，但為前諸菩薩各云普觀十方，則已顯現，故不更論。前會等處皆准此知。」 tr. “Moreover, after these verses there ought to be a concluding extension to the worlds of the ten directions; but since the several bodhisattvas before each said ‘contemplated everywhere the ten directions,’ it has thereby already been displayed, and therefore it is not discussed further. The preceding assemblies and the like are all to be known accordingly.” 〔T35n1733 0241c19〕
Zhiyan, Souxuan ji, T35n1732 (commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha”)
The outline of three prefaces — 「四釋文者，此品三序：初文集眾序內，先舉佛神力顯分齊；次辨所集眾；後「如此」下結所集眾。」 tr. “Fourth, the explanation of the text: this chapter has three prefaces. Within the first text, the preface of the gathering of the assembly, first the Buddha's spiritual power is raised to display the measure; next what is gathered as the assembly is discerned; last, from ‘just as this’ onward, the gathered assembly is concluded.” 〔T35n1732 0042a20〕
What the emitting of light from the two knees betokens — 「兩膝放勝光者，法身行中入佛境界增長勝妙相也。膝者，表進方便相也。」 tr. “That excellent light is emitted from the two knees is the mark, within the practice of the dharma-body, of entering the realm of the Buddha and increasing in excellence and subtlety. The knee betokens the aspect of the skillful means of advancing.” 〔T35n1732 0042a28〕
The explanation of Vajra Banner — 「又十菩薩中，初名金剛幢者，明自體真實，能消殄相累，超世之道標別勝負，故名金剛幢也。餘相可知。」 tr. “Again, among the ten bodhisattvas, the first, named Vajra Banner, makes clear that his own substance is true and real and is able to consume and destroy the encumbrance of marks, the path that transcends the world marking off victory from defeat; and therefore he is named Vajra Banner. The remaining aspects may be known.” 〔T35n1732 0042b05〕
The classification of the verses segment by segment (the sparest in the whole chapter, and yet complete for the ten segments) — 「初偈有三：初五自利德、次三利他、次二勸修也。堅固偈，有三：初三歎佛自利堅固、次四歎利他堅固、次三勸修也。勇猛偈，有三：初二辨法界海深、次五辨利用廣大、次三結體用圓極也。夜光偈，有二：初四歎法身自在、次六歎化用自在。」 tr. “The first set of verses has three: the first five are the virtue of benefiting oneself, the next three benefiting others, the next two exhorting to cultivation. The Firm verses have three: the first three praise the Buddha's firmness in benefiting himself, the next four praise the firmness in benefiting others, the next three exhort to cultivation. The Valiant verses have three: the first two discern the depth of the sea of the Dharma realm, the next five discern the breadth and greatness of beneficial function, the next three conclude that substance and function are perfect and utmost. The Night-Radiance verses have two: the first four praise the sovereign freedom of the dharma-body, the next six praise the sovereign freedom of the function of converting.” 〔T35n1732 0042b10〕 · 「智偈，有二：初一歎即位德、次九辨所見勝。所見，文有二：初一總、次八別。別文有三：初二歎佛德、次四明佛離數相、次二辨離世相耳。」 tr. “The Wisdom verses have two: the first one praises the virtue of the very station, the next nine discern the excellence of what is seen. As to what is seen, the text has two: the first one is general, the next eight particular. The particular text has three: the first two praise the Buddha's virtues, the next four make clear that the Buddha is free of the characteristic of number, the next two discern his being free of the characteristics of the world.” 〔0042b15〕 · 「寶偈，有三：初一化身、次二法身、次七報身。」 tr. “The Jewel verses have three: the first one the transformation body, the next two the dharma-body, the next seven the reward body.” 〔0042b19〕 · 「精進偈，有二：初六通三身自在、次四約四喻辨成。」 tr. “The Vigor verses have two: the first six run through the sovereign freedom of the three bodies, and the next four discern and accomplish it by four similes.” 〔0042b22〕 · 「離垢偈，有三：初七歎智身、次二歎法身、次一總釋。」 tr. “The Stainless verses have three: the first seven praise the wisdom body, the next two praise the dharma-body, the next one is the general explanation.” 〔0042b23〕 · 「真實偈，有五：初二歎化身自在、次二法性身自在、次四重成前化、次一辨趣方儀、次一結成身離相。」 tr. “The True verses have five: the first two praise the sovereign freedom of the transformation body, the next two the sovereign freedom of the dharma-nature body, the next four again complete the foregoing converting, the next one discerns the manner of tending toward the quarters, and the next one concludes that the body is apart from marks.” 〔0042b24〕 · 「法偈，有四：初二辨明策修者意、次三總舉損益釋成、次四廣辨損益相以歎德、次一顯德相也。」 tr. “The Dharma verses have four: the first two discern and make clear the intent of one who urges on cultivation, the next three generally raise loss and benefit and explain it through, the next four broadly discern the aspects of loss and benefit so as to praise the virtue, and the next one displays the mark of the virtue.” 〔0042b26〕
A question and answer he sets himself, on the outline following the three vehicles — Zhiyan, under the segment of Jewel Banner, asks and answers himself:
「又問：何故科此經文多依三乘者，何也？答：所為人三乘者多，故爾也。一乘義文，准之可知。」 tr. “Again a question: why is it that the classification of this scriptural text mostly follows the three vehicles — how is this? Answer: because those for whom it is meant are mostly of the three vehicles, and so it is thus. The text in the sense of the One Vehicle may be known accordingly.” 〔T35n1732 0042b20〕
At the end he also leaves himself a way out, not classifying: 「又亦可此十菩薩德歎不須別科，一一句義即一方便法也，此約一乘意取文也。」 tr. “Again, it may also be that these ten bodhisattvas' praises of the virtues need no separate classification, since every single clause of import is itself one dharma of skillful means; and this is taking the text with respect to the import of the One Vehicle.” 〔T35n1732 0042b29〕
Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun, T36n1739 (a differing track of symbolic reading)
The long outline in eleven segments — 「一長科經意者，於此一品大意，前後總作十一段長科。」 tr. “First, the long outline of the import of the scripture: upon the general purport of this one chapter, from beginning to end, a long outline is made in eleven segments in all.” 〔T36n1739 0854c02〕; his first segment is the fifty-two lines of scripture on the gathering of the assembly, and his second through eleventh segments are each one bodhisattva's ten lines of verse.
Matching the ten perfections to the ten bodhisattvas — 「二釋菩薩名下之義者，其名曰金剛幢菩薩者，菩薩，前已釋訖。金剛幢者，明堅固不動義。」 tr. “Second, explaining the import under the bodhisattvas' names: as to the one named the bodhisattva Vajra Banner — ‘bodhisattva’ has already been explained before. Vajra Banner makes clear the sense of being firm and unmoving.” 〔T36n1739 0855b08〕, and below this he matches them one by one: 「此約檀度行。堅固幢菩薩者，此大悲為戒體故。勇猛幢菩薩者，此約大悲為忍，是勇猛義。光明幢菩薩者，此約大悲為精進之體，長處生死之夜，以智發明故。智幢菩薩者，此位大智，於生死之中恒明常破闇故，以為定體。」 tr. “This is with respect to the practice of the perfection of giving. As to the bodhisattva Firm Banner, this is because great compassion is the substance of discipline. As to the bodhisattva Valiant Banner, this is with respect to great compassion as patience, which is the sense of valiance. As to the bodhisattva Light Banner, this is with respect to great compassion as the substance of vigor, for he dwells long in the night of birth and death and with wisdom kindles brightness. As to the bodhisattva Wisdom Banner, this station is great wisdom, which within birth and death is constantly bright and constantly breaks the darkness, and is therefore taken as the substance of concentration.” 〔0855b14〕 · 「寶幢菩薩者，明以大悲大智慧善施教網，名為寶幢。明教可貴故，非世寶也。精進幢菩薩者，此位是第七方便行，善能知根同事，處俗不迷、同塵不污，是精進幢義故。」 tr. “As to the bodhisattva Jewel Banner: it makes clear that with great compassion and great wisdom he well bestows the net of the teaching, and so he is named Jewel Banner. It makes clear that the teaching is precious; it is not a worldly jewel. As to the bodhisattva Vigor Banner: this station is the seventh, the practice of skillful means; he is well able to know faculties and to share in others' work, dwelling among the worldly without being deluded and mingling with the dust without being stained — this is the sense of Vigor Banner.” 〔0855b19〕 · 「無垢幢菩薩者，是此第八願波羅蜜」 tr. “As to the bodhisattva Undefiled Banner, this is the eighth, the perfection of vow” 〔0855b23〕 · 「星宿幢菩薩者，此力波羅蜜法王位成差別智，明善知眾根，猶如星宿大小皆明。法幢菩薩者，此位是智波羅蜜，善安立諸法，無能摧破者，是法幢義故。」 tr. “As to the bodhisattva Constellation Banner, this is the perfection of power, in which the station of the Dharma-king perfects differentiating wisdom, making clear that he well knows the faculties of the multitude, just as the constellations, great and small, all give light. As to the bodhisattva Dharma Banner, this station is the perfection of wisdom: he well establishes all dharmas, and there is none able to crush or destroy him, and this is the sense of Dharma Banner.” 〔0855b24〕 〔A note: for the one station Stainless Banner, Tongxuan presents 「無垢幢菩薩」 tr. “the bodhisattva Undefiled Banner”, which differs from the base text's 「離垢幢菩薩」 tr. “the bodhisattva Stainless Banner” 〔T10n0279 0121a17〕; both are recorded without adjudication.〕
The names of the station of the ten practices and the station of the ten dedications set against one another — 「前十行位菩薩名林，表行覆蔭廣多義故。此位菩薩以幢為稱者，明大悲之行，處生死大海，能摧破一切眾生煩惱，自智無傾動故。」 tr. “Earlier, in the station of the ten practices, the bodhisattvas are named Grove, because it betokens the sense of practice sheltering broadly and abundantly. That the bodhisattvas of this station take Banner for their designation makes clear that the practice of great compassion dwells in the great sea of birth and death and is able to crush and destroy the afflictions of all sentient beings, while its own wisdom is never overturned.” 〔T36n1739 0855b10〕
The ten worlds read symbolically one by one — 「所從來國謂妙寶世界，明以妙法普施含生是可貴義。世界名妙樂者，明大悲為戒，處生死利眾生，令得大樂。妙銀世界者，明以法身理智以成忍體，猶如白銀柔軟明淨。」 tr. “The land they come from, named the world Wondrous Jewel, makes clear that to bestow the wondrous dharma everywhere upon living beings is the sense of what is precious. That the world is named Wondrous Joy makes clear that great compassion is discipline, dwelling in birth and death to benefit sentient beings and causing them to gain great joy. The world Wondrous Silver makes clear that with the principle-wisdom of the dharma-body one accomplishes the substance of patience, just as white silver is soft, bright, and pure.” 〔T36n1739 0855b29〕; and at the end he sets up a saying: 「世間以土地山河為世界，智人以智德妙用為世界。」 tr. “The world takes soil and mountains and rivers for its worlds; the man of wisdom takes the wondrous functioning of the virtue of wisdom for his world.” 〔0855c18〕
The substance of the throne at four stations set against one another — 「十信位中座體約果成名，以寶蓮華藏為體。十住位中約得如來智慧大悲而成體，即以毘盧遮那藏為體……十行位中以淨行離垢師子座，即以蓮華藏為體。十迴向位明大悲處生死設教行普該萬法不拘一法故，座體直以寶為名，不限色類」 tr. “In the station of the ten faiths the substance of the throne is named with respect to the accomplishing of the fruit, taking the Jeweled Lotus Treasury for its substance. In the station of the ten abodes it is with respect to gaining the Tathāgata's wisdom and great compassion that its substance is accomplished, taking the Vairocana Treasury for its substance … In the station of the ten practices, with the lion throne of pure practice parted from defilement, it takes the Lotus Treasury for its substance. In the station of the ten dedications, since it makes clear that great compassion dwells in birth and death and sets out the teaching and practice that comprehends the ten thousand dharmas everywhere without being confined to any one dharma, the substance of the throne is named simply by the jewel, with no color or kind specified” 〔T36n1739 0856a27〕
The two sets of verses completing one another as to being and non-being — Tongxuan looks at the verses of Constellation Banner and Dharma Banner together:
「或但說有眾生著有，或但說無眾生著無。如經星宿幢菩薩頌云「眾生有分別，是佛是世界。了達法性者，無佛無世界。」如下文法幢頌云「寧可恒具受，一切世間苦，終不遠如來，不覩自在力。」此二頌皆相成就有無，恐墮邊見，餘例知。」 tr. “Or if being alone is expounded, sentient beings become attached to being; or if non-being alone is expounded, sentient beings become attached to non-being. Thus in the scripture the verse of the bodhisattva Constellation Banner says: ‘Sentient beings have discrimination — this is the Buddha, this is the world; but one who understands thoroughly the nature of dharmas has no Buddha and no world.’ And thus in the text below the verse of Dharma Banner says: ‘Rather would one constantly and fully undergo all the sufferings of every world than in the end be far from the Tathāgata and not behold his power of sovereign freedom.’ These two verses both complete one another as to being and non-being, lest one fall into extreme views; the rest may be known by these examples.” 〔T36n1739 0855a01〕
〔A note: what Tongxuan presents as 「眾生有分別」 tr. “sentient beings have discrimination” 〔T36n1739 0854c29〕 differs from the base text's 「眾生妄分別」 tr. “sentient beings falsely discriminate” 〔T10n0279 0123c19〕; both are recorded without adjudication.〕
The import of “contemplating everywhere the ten directions” — 「如觀十方何，意為觀眾意之同別，亦觀十方世界諸佛法同不二。」 tr. “As to what the contemplating of the ten directions is, the intent is to contemplate the sameness and difference of the intentions of the assembly, and also to contemplate that the dharma of the buddhas in the worlds of the ten directions is the same and not two.” 〔T36n1739 0855a03〕
The remaining nine to be known by this example — 「十明隨位進修因果者，明金剛幢菩薩是所修行之人，妙寶世界是所修之行，無盡幢佛是所行之果。餘九例知倣此。已下有十段頌，一頌十行，一行一頌。」 tr. “Tenth, making clear the cause and fruit of advancing in cultivation according to the station: it makes clear that the bodhisattva Vajra Banner is the person who cultivates the practice, the world Wondrous Jewel is the practice cultivated, and the Buddha Inexhaustible Banner is the fruit of what is practiced. The remaining nine are to be known on this example and after this pattern. Below there are ten segments of verse, one set of verses of ten lines, one verse to a line.” 〔T36n1739 0856b27〕
Recorded without adjudication: as to the outline of this chapter, Chengguan determines it as the three portions of the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise, with the portion of the verses of praise divided into ten segments and matched to the ten directions; Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, determines four portions — the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, the praising of the assembly, and the praising of the Buddha; Zhiyan determines three prefaces; and Li Tongxuan makes a long outline of the chapter into eleven segments. As to the symbolic reading of the ten bodhisattvas, Chengguan sets up five senses of the banner and takes them as betokening that the three worthy stages have reached their utmost, matches the names of the ten worlds to what the ten dedications cultivate, and matches the names of the ten buddhas to the wisdom of cultivating the ten dedications and the fruit of the present station; Fazang takes the banner as betokening that the cause and fruit of skillfulness in dedication stand out alone and subdue, and takes the name of the lands, Firm, as betokening that the practice relied upon is accomplished and hard to destroy; Zhiyan takes the banner as the practice accomplished and standing out high, together with the sense of subduing; and Li Tongxuan matches the ten perfections one by one to the ten bodhisattvas and explains the names of the ten buddhas largely by the positions of the trigrams (「風幢佛者，明巽為風」 tr. “As to the buddha Wind Banner, it makes clear that Xun is wind” 〔0855c24〕 · 「是西方兌」 tr. “it is Dui of the west” 〔0856a04〕 · 「主艮位」 tr. “presiding over the position of Gen” 〔0856a19〕). As to there being no concluding extension after the verses, Chengguan explains it as displaying that the virtues praised are each distinct and that the Buddha's virtue is inexhaustible, while Fazang explains it as being because the several bodhisattvas each said “contemplated everywhere the ten directions” and it has thereby already been displayed; the two are not the same. Again, for the one station Stainless Banner, Tongxuan presents Undefiled Banner; for the one station Constellation Banner, the sixty-fascicle text has True Banner; and for the one station Light Banner, the sixty-fascicle text has Night-Radiance Banner. The four run side by side, all of them established sayings of the ancient worthies; they are recorded, with no adjudication of which stands higher.
VII. Cross-Reading and Lineage
- The joining to the chapters before and after: this chapter receives above it “Ascent to the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven,” chapter 23, and is followed below by “The Ten Dedications,” chapter 25. Chengguan joins it by 「前明化主赴感，今明助化讚揚，及顯位體所依，故次來也」 tr. “earlier what was made clear was the lord of the converting responding to what stimulates him; now what is made clear is the extolling and praising that assists the converting, and further the displaying of what the substance of the station rests upon — therefore it comes next” 〔T35n1735 0690c18〕, and with the gate of the tenet and aim points directly at what is tended toward: 「集眾放光偈讚為宗，為說迴向為趣。」 tr. “The gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise are the tenet, and the expounding of the dedications is the aim.” 〔0690c21〕; Li Tongxuan joins it to the accomplishing of the cause and fruit of the ten dedications — 「此品為欲成十迴向中因果法門故，此品須來也。」 tr. “This chapter is in order to accomplish the Dharma-gate of cause and fruit within the ten dedications, and therefore this chapter must come.” 〔T36n1739 0854b27〕
- The joining to the verses of praise of the three preceding assemblies: Chengguan, at the explanation of the name, points out that the general explanation is the same as in the third assembly — 「通二種釋，如第三會。」 tr. “It runs through the two kinds of explanation, as in the third assembly.” 〔T35n1735 0690c20〕; Zhiyan points out that what is praised is different — 「但迴入此品，歎方便佛行為異耳。」 tr. “Only, turning into this chapter, the difference is that it praises the buddha-practice of skillful means.” 〔T35n1732 0042a19〕. The place of the emitting of light rises in succession through the three assemblies, and Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, says explicitly 「兩膝放者，過前足指，表行漸勝故也」 tr. “that it is emitted from the two knees passes beyond the toes of the feet before, because it betokens that the practice grows gradually more excellent” 〔T35n1733 0239b10〕, while Li Tongxuan lays out the places of the emitting of light at five stations in a single line 〔T36n1739 0856b12〕.
- This chapter is the last of the three worthy stages: the Yanyi chao, at the end of the whole chapter, points out what is singular in this station: 「從「所以偈後」下，彰無結意。此後一段前二會無，此後例前二會無，亦是三賢之最後故。」 tr. “From ‘the reason there is no concluding extension after the verses’ onward, the import of there being no conclusion is made manifest. The passage that follows here is absent in the two preceding assemblies, and afterward likewise it is absent as in the two preceding assemblies, because this too is the last of the three worthy stages.” 〔T36n1736 0365b15〕
- The difference in the chapter titles listed in the Kongmu zhang: Zhiyan, in his Kongmu zhang, lists the chapter titles himself as 「如來昇入兜率陀天品第二十七」 tr. “The Tathāgata Ascends and Enters the Tuṣita Heaven, chapter 27” and 「兜率宮菩薩來說偈品第二十八」 tr. “The Bodhisattvas of the Tuṣita Palace Come and Speak Verses, chapter 28” 〔T45n1870 0588b21〕, differing from the present text's numbering of chapter 23 and chapter 24; this comes of the Kongmu zhang's own differing reckoning of the chapters, and both are recorded without adjudication.
- The five occurrences of 「兜率」 tr. “Tuṣita” in the Zhigui: 〔T45n1871 0593b23〕 · 〔0596a08〕 · 〔0596a11〕 · 〔0596a16〕 · 〔0596a27〕 — all five places are general references to the Tuṣita Heaven or to the matter of the Tuṣita gods and the ten grounds, and are not explanations of the text of this chapter; this is recorded as it stands, and is not a carrying on of the verse-lines of this chapter.
- 〔not found〕: in the Shixuan men, T45n1868, the whole file returns no occurrence of 「兜率」 tr. “Tuṣita”, and the lack is recorded as it stands. This chapter likewise has no separately circulating treatise that presents and explains the scripture (unlike “The Ten Grounds,” which has the Shidi jing lun), and this absence too is recorded. Among the hundred verses of the ten bodhisattvas of this chapter, no single line is found that is widely cited by the outline-books of the Huayan school as the line 「心如工畫師」 tr. “the mind is like a skilled painter” of “Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Yāma Heaven” is; and this item records the lack as it stands.
VIII. Edition Location Register
- Śikṣānanda, T279 (the base text): “Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven,” chapter 24, beginning at 〔T10n0279 0121a12〕 (within fascicle twenty-three) – ending before the title of the next chapter, “The Ten Dedications,” chapter 25, part one, at 〔0124a24〕. The portion of the gathering of the assembly 0121a13 (the names of the ten bodhisattvas 0121a15 · the names of the ten worlds 0121a18 · the names of the ten buddhas 0121a22 · the conjuring of the throne 0121a25 · the emitting of light that benefits beings 0121a27 · the brief praise of their excellent virtues 0121b03 · the concluding extension 0121b11) · the portion of the emitting of light 0121b15 (planting roots of goodness together 0121b18) · the ten segments of the portion of the verses of praise: Vajra Banner 0121c07 (verses begin 0121c09) · Firm Banner 0121c29 (verses begin 0122a02) · Valiant Banner 0122a22 (verses begin 0122a24) · Light Banner 0122b15 (verses begin 0122b17) · Wisdom Banner 0122c08 (verses begin 0122c10) · Jewel Banner 0123a01 (verses begin 0123a03) · Vigor Banner 0123a23 (verses begin 0123a25) · Stainless Banner 0123b16 (verses begin 0123b18) · Constellation Banner 0123c09 (verses begin 0123c11) · Dharma Banner 0124a02 (verses begin 0124a04 · ending 0124a22). Each of the ten segments has ten verses, one hundred verses in all; the verse lines number two hundred, counted line by line, twenty lines to each of the ten segments.
- Buddhabhadra, T278 (the principal witness collated, the Jin-dynasty translation): “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha,” chapter 20, beginning at 〔T09n0278 0485a05〕 – ending before the title of the next chapter, “The Bodhisattva Vajra Banner's Ten Dedications,” part one, at 〔0488a17〕. The names of the ten worlds 0485a07 · the names of the ten buddhas 0485a10 · the names of the ten bodhisattvas 0485a14 · the conjuring of the throne 0485a19 · the line on the emitting of light 0485b09 · Vajra Banner's verses begin 0485c02 · Firm Banner's verses begin 0485c24 · Valiant Banner's verses begin 0486a17 · Night-Radiance Banner's verses begin 0486b10 · Wisdom Banner's verses begin 0486c03 · Jewel Banner's verses begin 0486c25 · Vigor Banner's verses begin 0487a18 · Stainless Banner's verses begin 0487b11 · True Banner's verses begin 0487c04 · Dharma Banner's verses begin 0487c26 (ending 0488a16).
- Chengguan, Huayan jing shu, T35n1735: the commentary on Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven begins at 0690c17 (the reason for its coming 0690c18 · the explanation of the name 0690c19 · the tenet and aim 0690c21 · the three portions in explaining the text 0690c22 · the long division of the gathering of the assembly into ten segments 0690c25 · the five senses of the banner 0690c27 · the ten lands called wondrous 0691a04 · the ten buddhas betokening the fruit 0691a13 · the substance of the throne as wondrous jewel 0691a21 · the ten gates of the brief praise of excellent virtues 0691b01 · the four distinctions in the emitting of light 0691b06 · what the wheels of the knees betoken 0691b07 · the twenty clauses in ten pairs 0691b14 · number of two kinds 0691b22 · the fusing of the real and the conventional 0691b24 · the ten segments of the verses of praise matched to the ten directions 0691c03 · the explanation of the name Vajra Banner 0691c05 · the vajra is not a simile for wisdom alone 0691c14 · Vajra Banner's ten verses divided into two 0691c19 · Firm Banner 0692a06 · the five dharmas of advancing in cultivation 0692a14 · the nine goods of the treatise of Maitreya 0692a17 · Valiant Banner 0692a24 · cause and condition coming together before one can see 0692b01 · Light Banner 0692b15 · the two gates of arising in dependence upon the real 0692c11 · the fusing of the real and the transformed 0692c26 · Wisdom Banner 0693a03 · Jewel Banner 0693a14 · the explanation carried through by stages 0693a21 · the citation of the Zhufa wuxing jing 0693a28 · the setting up of thesis, three reasons, and positive example 0693b03 · Vigor Banner 0693b16 · the same in body and the same in import 0693b19 · the citation of the five works from the She lun 0693b25 · “everywhere” in two senses 0693c04 · Stainless Banner 0693c24 · Constellation Banner 0694a12 · three of direct and three of reverse explanation 0694a24 · the wiping away of the traces of words 0694b05 · Dharma Banner 0694b07 · without destroying provisional names 0694b19 · the perfect interfusion of the six characteristics and the absence of a concluding extension 0694b22) – ending before 0694c05. The commentary runs across fascicles twenty-five and twenty-six of the Huayan jing shu, the fascicle colophon at 0694b26.
- Chengguan, Yanyi chao, T36n1736: the corresponding window begins at 0363a25 (the five senses of the banner as drawn from the Kanding's seven 0363a25 · the citation of the banner of Śakra from the Nirvāṇa 0363b06 · the burning of incense before Maitreya's seat 0363b19 · the ten pairs pointed to in the scripture 0363b23 · the citation of the Renwang 0363c05 · the vajra conclusion and rebuke and the citation of the Jingang jing 0363c12 · the five dharmas and the Zhiguan 0363c20 · the nine goods explained one by one 0364a08 · the simile of sunlight from the Jingang jing 0364a19 · the simile of seeing a stake at night 0364a29 · the four propositions of the real and the transformed 0364b18 · the framing of the formal argument 0364c12 · the seven-graph verse form 0365a05 · the five works of the She lun 0365a16 · the ten bodies of Constellation Banner 0365b08 · the six items of the six characteristics 0365b12 · the last of the three worthy stages 0365b15) – ending before 0365b18.
- Fazang, Tanxuan ji, T35n1733: “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha,” chapter 20, begins at 0239a17 (the explanation of the name 0239a18 · the reason for its coming and the tenet 0239a22 · the explanation of the text in four portions 0239a23 · the name of the lands, Firm 0239a27 · the ten Dharma-gates and the six characteristics 0239b07 · the emitting of light from the two knees 0239b10 · the praising of the assembly's virtues 0239b14 · Vajra Banner's ten verses divided into five 0239c02 · Firm Banner 0239c22 · Valiant Banner 0240a08 · Night-Radiance Banner 0240a18 · the citation of the maṇi and the heavenly drum from the She lun 0240a24 · the two gates of the real and the transformed 0240b03 · Wisdom Banner 0240b22 · Jewel Banner 0240c13 · the four-teaching distinction on mind and mental factors at the stage of buddhahood 0240c17 · the citation of the Zhufa wuxing jing 0241a04 · Vigor Banner 0241a18 · the citation of Asvabhāva's She lun 0241a23 · Stainless Banner 0241b08 · True Banner 0241b19 · Dharma Banner 0241c02 · the hundred verses and the six characteristics 0241c15 · the explanation of the absence of a concluding extension 0241c19) – ending before 0241c23.
- Zhiyan, Souxuan ji, T35n1732: “The Bodhisattvas Gather Like Clouds in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven and Praise the Buddha,” chapter 20, begins at 0042a16 (the same four gates as above 0042a17 · the four senses in the explanation of the name 0042a17 · the reason for its coming 0042a18 · the tenet 0042a19 · the explanation of the text in three prefaces 0042a20 · the praising of the virtues in three 0042a24 · the preface of the emitting of light 0042a26 · what the emitting of light from the two knees betokens 0042a28 · the preface of the praising of the Buddha 0042b03 · the explanation of the name Vajra Banner 0042b04 · the classification of the verses of the ten segments 0042b09 · the question and answer on the outline following the three vehicles 0042b20 · taking the text with respect to the import of the One Vehicle 0042b29) – ending before 0042c02. The commentary on the whole chapter is the sparest of all, and its classification of the verses of the ten segments is complete.
- Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun, T36n1739: “Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven,” chapter 24, begins at 0854b20 (the three gates 0854b21 · explaining the title of the chapter 0854b22 · explaining the reason for the chapter's coming 0854b27 · the long outline in eleven segments 0854c02 · the two sets of verses completing one another as to being and non-being 0854c27 · the import of contemplating everywhere the ten directions 0855a03 · explaining the meaning as one follows the text, in ten segments 0855a06 · the ten gates 0855a24 · the number of the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands 0855b02 · the ten perfections matched to the ten bodhisattvas 0855b08 · the ten worlds read symbolically 0855b28 · the cause and fruit of the names of the ten buddhas 0855c20 · the substance of the throne at four stations 0856a25 · the light of the bodhisattvas' bodies 0856b06 · the symbolic reading of the places of the emitting of light 0856b12 · from whom the mind was first raised 0856b21 · the cause and fruit of advancing in cultivation according to the station 0856b27) – ending before 0856c05.
- Graphs in the base-text layer: within the T279 range of this chapter, the missing-graph character
□of the base-text layer returns no occurrence (the whole of this unit’s source-text layer having been scanned graph by graph). As to the inclusion of the Taishō collation variants (<app>) for this chapter, this item records the lack as it stands. - The counting of the universal statements of this chapter (the base text scanned graph by graph): two hundred verse lines · twenty lines to each of the ten segments · 「承佛神力」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power” ten occurrences · 「承佛威力」 tr. “sustained by the Buddha's awesome power” no occurrence · 「普觀十方」 tr. “contemplated everywhere the ten directions” ten occurrences · 「遍觀十方」 tr. “contemplated throughout the ten directions” no occurrence · 「而說頌言」 tr. “and spoke these verses” ten occurrences · 「譬如」 tr. “just as” nine occurrences · 「假使」 tr. “suppose that” no occurrence · 「導師」 tr. “the Guide” eleven occurrences · half-width punctuation no occurrence.
- Variant readings: within the range of T279 covered by this unit, 〔0121a12〕–〔0124a23〕, the Taishō base text carries 7 collation notes, recorded one by one without adjudication (base reading 【大】｜variant readings of other witnesses, several witnesses separated by ／): 〔0121a27〕跏【大】｜加【宋】【元】【明】 · 〔0121c08〕言【大】｜曰【宮】 · 〔0121c21〕法【大】｜身【聖】 · 〔0122a02〕勝【大】｜最【聖】 · 〔0122c17〕示【大】｜不【聖】 · 〔0123b06〕取【大】｜收【宮】 · 〔0124a11〕登【大】｜證【明】【聖】.
- A further note upon the variant readings: 2 CBETA emendations (not counted among the Taishō collation notes listed above): 〔0121b01〕願【CB】【麗-CB】｜眼【大】／願【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】 · 〔0121c07〕幢【CB】【麗-CB】【磧-CB】｜憧【大】.