華嚴經 品三十七 如來出現品 · 出現境界Avataṃsaka Sūtra · The Appearance of the Tathāgata · The Realm of the Appearance

The fifth portion, ‘the realm of the appearance’, is Samantabhadra’s answer to 「菩薩摩訶薩應云何知如來、應、正等覺境界」 tr. “how should the bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the realm of the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One” . He first lists the ten realms (the world · the three times · the lands · the dharmas · sentient beings · suchness without difference · the Dharma realm without obstruction · the true limit without bound · empty space without measure · the realm that is no realm); next, by extension, he displays that they are measureless and that in no place at all are they to be found; afterwards he takes the nearest thing, the minds of sentient beings, in order to compare with them the realm of a buddha, setting up three similes — the great dragon sending down rain according to his mind, the ocean’s water arising from the power of the dragon king’s mind, and the vastness and depth of the ocean’s water — and at the end joins them into four measureless things, the ocean of wisdom · the mass of jewels · sentient beings · the ground they dwell on, and so concludes. Chengguan judges this passage 「正顯分齊之境，兼辨所緣之境」 tr. “it directly displays the realm that is the bounds, and along with it sets forth the realm that is the object” , and Fazang judges it as 「明性起境界」 tr. “making clear the realm of nature-arising” ; and as for 「無境界境界」 tr. “the realm that is no realm” among the ten realms, Fazang explains it as the realm in which realm and wisdom are not two — this is the most perilous and the most vital sentence of the portion.

I. Doctrinal Outline and Placement

The reason for its coming, and the two senses completing each other — Chengguan ties this fifth portion to the fourth that precedes it, ‘the mind and intent of the appearance’, making clear that the wisdom which is able to know and the realm which is known complete each other:

「已下入第五十二經第五明出現境界，正顯分齊之境，兼辨所緣之境。依初義者，前約智以顯心，此正明智用分齊。依後義者，前明能知，今辨所緣，由所緣無邊故，顯分齊難思，分齊難思故，方窮所緣之境。二義相成，如函蓋相稱。」 tr. “From here begins the fifty-second scroll of the scripture, the fifth, making clear the realm of the appearance; it directly displays the realm that is the bounds, and along with it sets forth the realm that is the object. Taking it by the first sense: before, the mind was displayed with respect to wisdom, and here the bounds of the working of wisdom are directly made clear. Taking it by the latter sense: before, what is able to know was made clear, and now what is taken as object is set forth; because the object is boundless, the bounds are displayed to be hard to think, and because the bounds are hard to think, the object can thereupon be exhausted. The two senses complete each other, as a lid answers to its box.” 〔T35n1735 0880c08〕

Fazang ties it by the same measure, and gives it the name 「性起境界」 tr. “the realm of nature-arising”:

「第五明性起境界。前既有能知大智，今明所知境也。於中，先徵問、後顯釋。顯釋亦三：先舉能知、二顯所知、三總結彼知。」 tr. “The fifth, making clear the realm of nature-arising. Since there was already the great wisdom that is able to know, now what is known is made clear. Within it, first the question is raised, afterwards it is displayed and explained. The display and explanation is likewise in three: first, raising what is able to know; second, displaying what is known; third, concluding that knowing in general.” 〔T35n1733 0412a04〕

The prose in three parts (Chengguan) —

「文中，長行分三，謂標、釋、結。釋中二：先法、後喻。法中亦二：先廣取所緣，顯分齊境；後近取諸心，以況佛境。前中又二：先列所緣無邊、後顯分齊無量。」 tr. “Within the text, the prose divides in three, namely the heading, the explanation, and the conclusion. Within the explanation there are two: first by way of dharma, afterwards by way of simile. Within the dharma there are likewise two: first he takes the object broadly, displaying the realm that is the bounds; afterwards he takes minds as the nearest thing, so as to compare with them the realm of a buddha. Within the former there are two again: first the listing of the object as boundless, afterwards the displaying of the bounds as measureless.” 〔T35n1735 0880c13〕

The inner outline of the section of similes:

「文有三喻：前二喻無縛無脫；後一喻無量無邊，無量無邊通前二段。」 tr. “The text has three similes: the first two are similes for being without bondage and without release; the last is a simile for being measureless and boundless, and measureless and boundless runs through the two passages before it.” 〔T35n1735 0881a10〕

「喻中三：初別顯水多，文有四節：一四洲水、二龍王雨水、三宮殿出水、四娑竭龍王兼雨兼出，皆後後倍前以顯深廣。」 tr. “Within the simile there are three: the first separately displays that the water is much, and the text has four sections — first the water of the four continents, second the rain-water of the dragon kings, third the water pouring from the palaces, fourth the dragon king Sāgara both raining and pouring forth; and in each the later doubles the earlier, so as to display the depth and breadth.” 〔T35n1735 0881a18〕

Fazang’s judgment of the three similes:

「喻中有三：初龍王心雨喻，喻佛依心無本智；二海從龍願喻，喻佛心願所起智；三海水宏深喻，喻佛深廣無涯智。」 tr. “Within the simile there are three: first the simile of the dragon king’s raining according to his mind, a simile for the wisdom of a buddha which depends on mind and has no root; second the simile of the ocean arising from the dragon’s vow, a simile for the wisdom that arises from the vow of a buddha’s mind; third the simile of the vastness and depth of the ocean’s water, a simile for the deep and broad and shoreless wisdom of a buddha.” 〔T35n1733 0412b05〕

The concluding part — Chengguan: 「大文第三總結。即結云知意，不知佛境安能利生？」 tr. “The third part of the main text is the general conclusion. That is, it concludes by stating the intent of knowing: not knowing the Buddha’s realm, how should one be able to benefit beings?” 〔T35n1735 0881a27〕

II. Terminology

III. Similes and Rhetoric

(1) The simile of the great dragon king sending down rain according to his mind — 「佛子！如大龍王隨心降雨，其雨不從內出、不從外出。如來境界亦復如是，隨於如是思惟分別，則有如是無量顯現，於十方中悉無來處。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is like a great dragon king sending down rain according to his own mind: that rain does not come forth from within, nor does it come in from without. So it is too with the realm of the Tathāgata: according to such pondering and discriminating there are such measureless appearings, and yet within the ten directions there is nowhere at all that they come from.” 〔T10n0279 0273c20〕〔T10n0279 0273c〕:

• The ground of the simile: the dragon king rains according to his mind, and the rain comes neither from within nor from without.
• The thing likened: the realm of the Tathāgata appears measurelessly according to pondering and discriminating, and in the ten directions there is nowhere at all that it comes from.
• The sense displayed: Chengguan judges it a simile for 「無縛無脫」 tr. “without bondage and without release” — 「前明降雨無從喻，正喻無縛脫。既無來處，有何縛脫耶？」 tr. “the former makes clear the simile of the rain’s coming down from nowhere, which directly likens the absence of bondage and release. Since there is no place it comes from, what bondage or release should there be?” 〔T35n1735 0881a12〕 Fazang judges it as 「喻佛依心無本智」 tr. “a simile for the wisdom of a buddha which depends on mind and has no root” 〔T35n1733 0412b06〕.

(2) The simile of the ocean’s water arising from the power of the dragon king’s mind — 「佛子！如大海水，皆從龍王心力所起。諸佛如來一切智海亦復如是，皆從如來往昔大願之所生起。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is like the water of the great ocean, which all arises from the power of the mind of the dragon king. So it is too with the ocean of all-knowing wisdom of all the buddhas and tathāgatas: it all arises from the great vows that the Tathāgata made in ages past.” 〔T10n0279 0273c23〕〔T10n0279 0273c〕:

• The ground of the simile: the water of the great ocean all arises from the power of the dragon king’s mind.
• The thing likened: the ocean of all-knowing wisdom of all the buddhas all arises from the great vows of ages past.
• The sense displayed: Chengguan: 「後明海水從心喻，喻無縛脫所因。水從心力為因，非定內外。智從昔願，緣起故來即無來。」 tr. “afterwards he makes clear the simile of the ocean’s water arising from mind, a simile for that on which the absence of bondage and release depends. The water has the power of mind for its cause, and is not fixed as within or without. Wisdom comes from the vow of long ago, and because it arises from conditions its coming is a coming that is no coming.” 〔T35n1735 0881a13〕 Fazang: 「二海從龍願喻，喻佛心願所起智」 tr. “second, the simile of the ocean arising from the dragon’s vow, a simile for the wisdom that arises from the vow of a buddha’s mind” 〔T35n1733 0412b06〕.

(3) The simile of the vastness and depth of the ocean’s water — four sections, each doubling the one before: the river-water of the four continents 〔0273c–0274a〕 · the rain-water of the eighty koṭis of dragon kings 〔0274a〕 · the water pouring from the palaces of the dragon kings 〔0274a〕 · the dragon king Sāgara both raining and pouring forth 〔0274a〕:

• The ground of the simile: twenty-five thousand rivers flow on without break into the ocean, while the rain of the dragon kings and the water of their palaces each doubles the one before.
• The thing likened: the depth and breadth of the Tathāgata’s ocean of wisdom.
• The sense displayed: Chengguan judges it 「二海水宏深喻，喻無量無邊」 tr. “second, the simile of the vastness and depth of the ocean’s water, a simile for being measureless and boundless” 〔T35n1735 0881a15〕, and within it there are three passages — setting out the heading and bidding them listen · displaying the simile · joining the dharma to it; Fazang: 「三海水宏深喻，喻佛深廣無涯智」 tr. “third, the simile of the vastness and depth of the ocean’s water, a simile for the deep and broad and shoreless wisdom of a buddha” 〔T35n1733 0412b07〕.

(4) The joining of the simile in four measureless things — 「如是大海，其水無量，眾寶無量，眾生無量，所依大地亦復無量。」 tr. “Such is the great ocean: its water is measureless, its many jewels are measureless, its sentient beings are measureless, and the great earth upon which it rests is likewise measureless.” 〔T10n0279 0274a21〕〔T10n0279 0274a〕 is joined as the four measureless things, the ocean of wisdom · the mass of jewels · the sentient beings who dwell there · the ground they dwell on:

「後合大海中有四種無量：初發心等，合海中水無量；二道品等，合海中末尼等寶無量；三無量眾生等，合海中眾生無量；四大地等，合海中有大地無量也。」 tr. “Afterwards it is joined to the four kinds of measurelessness in the great ocean: the first arousing of the thought and the rest are joined to the measurelessness of the water in the ocean; the second, the factors of the path and the rest, are joined to the measurelessness of the maṇi and other jewels in the ocean; the third, measureless sentient beings and the rest, are joined to the measurelessness of the sentient beings in the ocean; the fourth, the great earth and the rest, are joined to the measurelessness of the great earth that the ocean has.” 〔T35n1733 0412b11〕

Within Chengguan’s joining there are likewise two: 「先合水無量。佛智一念即無窮盡，況盡三際、周乎十方，重重重重，安可喻顯？」 tr. “first the joining of the measurelessness of the water. The Buddha’s wisdom in a single thought is already without end; how much more, exhausting the three limits of time and encompassing the ten directions, layer upon layer upon layer — how should a simile display it?” 〔T35n1735 0881a23〕 And again 「非唯智為佛境，菩提分等皆分齊境也。」 tr. “it is not that wisdom alone is the Buddha’s realm; the factors of awakening and the rest are all realms that are the bounds.” 〔0881a26〕

(5) The simile’s limiting of itself — at the end of the simile the scriptural text breaks its own simile: 「但隨眾生心為作譬諭，而佛境界非譬所及。」 tr. “it is only in accordance with the minds of sentient beings that a simile is made for them, and the Buddha’s realm is not what a simile can reach.” 〔T10n0279 0274a26〕〔T10n0279 0274a〕 — to set up a simile and then to say that the simile does not reach is the pivot of this portion’s rhetoric.

(6) The simile of the pore within the verses — the repeated verses: 「若有淨心則現身，量等法界入毛孔」 tr. “if there be one whose mind is pure, the Buddha manifests his body before him — a body whose measure equals the Dharma realm, and yet able to enter a single pore” 〔T10n0279 0274b12〕〔T10n0279 0274b〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「無量諸境界，悉從心緣起，一切諸法界，皆入一毛道」 tr. “the measureless realms of every kind all arise from the conditions of mind, and all the Dharma realms alike enter one hair’s path” 〔T09n0278 0626a05〕.

IV. Collation with Parallel Translations

The Chinese witnesses for this portion: Śikṣānanda T279 (the base text · the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata, the thirty-seventh, the fifth portion) · Buddhabhadra T278 (the Jin translation of the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata, the thirty-second, part three, 〔T09n0278 0625a14〕 onward, ending just before 〔0626a15〕). This portion has no separately circulating sūtra and no treatise that quotes and explains it 〔not found〕. What follows is recorded in full, sentence by sentence, without adjudication.

Sentence One　The Listing of the Ten Realms

Where the divergences lie: (a) the eighty 「真如無差別境界」 tr. “the realm of suchness without difference” ↔ the sixty 「如如不壞境界」 tr. “the realm of suchness undestroyed”. (b) The eighty 「無境界境界」 tr. “the realm that is no realm” ↔ the sixty 「非境界境界」 tr. “the realm that is not a realm”. (c) Before the ten realms the sixty sets out separately the clause 「知一切眾生，是如來境界」 tr. “he knows all sentient beings — this is the realm of the Tathāgata”, and lists besides 「一切眾生行」 tr. “the conduct of all sentient beings”, which differs in its gathering and dividing from the eighty’s 「一切眾生境界」 tr. “the realm of all sentient beings”. (d) The eighty 「虛空無分量」 tr. “empty space without measure” ↔ the sixty 「無量虛空」 tr. “measureless empty space”.

Sentence Two　The Extension to Measurelessness and to Being Found in No Place

Where the divergences lie: the eighty has 「一切處無有」 tr. “in no place at all is it to be found”, the sixty has 「至一切處而無所至」 tr. “reaches to every place and yet there is nothing it reaches” — the sentence-forms by which pervading and not-reaching are set forth differ.

Sentence Three　The Realm of the Mind

Where the divergences lie: the eighty has the pair 「無縛無脫」 tr. “without bondage and without release”, which the sixty lacks; Chengguan founds his explanation of the depth and stillness of substance and nature precisely upon 「無縛無脫」 tr. “without bondage and without release” 〔T35n1735 0881a05〕, while Fazang, upon the sixty-fascicle text, has 「釋云隨心無量生智亦爾也」 tr. “the explanation says that, following upon the mind’s being measureless, the arising of wisdom is likewise so” 〔T35n1733 0412a29〕.

Sentence Four　The Simile of the Great Dragon Sending Down Rain according to His Mind

Where the divergences lie: the eighty 「無量顯現」 tr. “measureless appearings” ↔ the sixty 「出生無量不思議智」 tr. “brings forth measureless and inconceivable wisdom” — as to what is displayed, the eighty speaks with respect to the realm and the sixty with respect to wisdom.

Sentence Five　The Number of the Rivers of the Four Continents

Where the divergences lie: for the number of Pūrvavideha the eighty has 「七千五百」 tr. “seven thousand five hundred” and the sixty 「八千四百」 tr. “eight thousand four hundred”; for the total the eighty has 「二萬五千」 tr. “twenty-five thousand” and the sixty 「二萬五千九百」 tr. “twenty-five thousand nine hundred”. Each of the two texts is internally consistent (the four numbers of the eighty add to twenty-five thousand; the four numbers of the sixty add to twenty-five thousand nine hundred, agreeing with its own total 〔T09n0278 0625b04／b08〕). Recorded as they stand, without forcing an explanation.

Sentence Six　The Roll of the Dragon Kings’ Names

Where the divergences lie: (a) the eighty 「雷震」 tr. “Thunder-Peal” ↔ the sixty 「大雷」 tr. “Great Thunder”. (b) The eighty 「連霔不斷」 tr. “Unceasing Downpour” ↔ the sixty 「流注不斷」 tr. “Unceasing Flow”. (c) For the tenth the eighty has 「大奮迅龍王」 tr. “the dragon king Great Rousing” and the sixty 「金剛光明龍王」 tr. “the dragon king Vajra Light”. (d) The crown prince’s name in the eighty is 「閻浮幢」 tr. “Jambu Banner” ↔ in the sixty 「佛生」 tr. “Buddha-Born”; the dragon king’s name in the eighty is 「娑竭羅」 tr. “Sāgara” ↔ in the sixty 「娑伽羅」 tr. “Sāgara” (a differing transcription of the same name). (e) The eighty has 「宮殿」 tr. “palaces” and the sixty 「所住淵池」 tr. “the deep pools where they dwell”.

Sentence Seven　The Four Measureless Things of the Ocean’s Water, and the Tide

Where the divergences lie: the eighty 「紺瑠璃色」 tr. “of the colour of dark-blue beryl” ↔ the sixty 「青瑠璃色」 tr. “of the colour of blue beryl”; the eighty 「眾寶」 tr. “many jewels” ↔ the sixty 「珍寶」 tr. “precious jewels”; the eighty 「所依大地」 tr. “the great earth upon which it rests” ↔ the sixty 「大地」 tr. “the great earth”.

Sentence Eight　The Conclusion of What Is to Be Known

Where the divergences lie: (a) for the epithets of the Buddha the eighty has 「如來、應、正等覺」 tr. “the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One” and the sixty 「如來、應供、等正覺」 tr. “the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Rightly and Fully Awakened One”. (b) The eighty has throughout 「知」 tr. “knowing”, while the sixty raises the two graphs 「知、見」 tr. “knowing and seeing” together.

Sentence Nine　The First of the Repeated Verses

Where the divergences lie: (a) the verses of the eighty are five verses of seven graphs to the line, those of the sixty are of five graphs. (b) The sixty’s first verse, 「離垢淨境界」 tr. “the realm pure and free of defilement”, is a verse that the eighty does not have; the eighty begins its verses directly with the realm of the mind. (c) As to the reckoning of the number of the verses: Chengguan, upon the eighty-fascicle text, has 「第二偈頌。五偈分二：初一頌法說；餘頌前喻。」 tr. “second, the verses. The five verses divide in two: the first one versifies the statement of the Dharma; the rest versify the foregoing similes.” 〔T35n1735 0881a29〕, and Fazang, upon the sixty-fascicle text, has 「頌中十偈，初二頌法說、次四頌初二喻」 tr. “within the verses there are ten: the first two are verses on the exposition in terms of dharma, the next four verses on the first two similes” 〔T35n1733 0412b15〕 — the number of verses in the two texts is itself different, and the two commentaries each follow the text they comment upon; recorded in full without adjudication.

V. Scriptural Grounds of Sectarian Doctrine (the eye)

(1) The realm that is no realm = realm and wisdom are not two — the last clause of the ten realms, 「無境界境界是如來境界」 tr. “the realm that is no realm is the realm of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0273c11〕〔T10n0279 0273c〕, and Fazang’s explanation of it is where the doctrinal eye of this portion lies:

「十境智不二名非境界，以不異智之境名為非境，即以此非境為如來境。」 tr. “the tenth is that realm and wisdom are not two, and this is named no realm; because it is a realm not other than wisdom it is named no realm, and it is just this no-realm that is taken as the realm of the Tathāgata.” 〔T35n1733 0412a23〕

And he distinguishes it from the realm of consciousness: 「言非境界境界者，非是識所變境故云也。」 tr. “as for saying ‘the realm that is not a realm’, it is because it is not a realm transformed by consciousness that it speaks so.” 〔0412a11〕 Chengguan for his part gathers up the nine that go before by a double negation: 「後一雙非，顯前九境即同無故。」 tr. “the last is a double negation, displaying that the nine realms before are the same as not being.” 〔T35n1735 0880c24〕 — when the realm is exhausted to no-realm, only then is it the realm of a buddha; this is the scriptural ground for ‘what is known is what is able to know’ under the gate of nature-arising.

(2) Taking the nearest thing, one’s own mind, to compare with it the realm of a buddha — 「菩薩摩訶薩應知心境界是如來境界」 tr. “the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should know that the realm of the mind is the realm of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0273c16〕〔T10n0279 0273c〕. Chengguan explains the intent of the question:

「次徵意云：何以將心況於佛境？釋意云：菩薩自心隨思即顯，故無分量。佛境亦爾，隨機顯現若身若智，何有量耶？智假思顯則性無縛脫，不為相縛後無脫故。」 tr. “Next, the intent of the question is: why compare the Buddha’s realm with mind? The intent of the explanation is: the bodhisattva’s own mind displays according as he thinks, and therefore has no measure. The Buddha’s realm is so as well, manifesting according to what meets it, whether body or wisdom — how should it have measure? Since wisdom is displayed by the borrowing of thought, its nature is without bondage or release, for it is not bound by marks and so is afterwards without release.” 〔T35n1735 0881a06〕

Fazang likewise says 「然智必依心，故云心境界也」 tr. “yet wisdom must depend upon mind, and therefore it says ‘the realm of the mind’” 〔T35n1733 0412a28〕 — to take the one mind that sentient beings have before them as the rod for measuring the Buddha’s realm is the stroke of this portion that comes nearest to the reader.

(3) The ocean of wisdom arising from the vow (the sense of nature-arising) — 「諸佛如來一切智海亦復如是，皆從如來往昔大願之所生起。」 tr. “so too is the ocean of all-knowing wisdom of all the buddhas and tathāgatas: it all arises from the great vows that the Tathāgata made in ages past.” 〔T10n0279 0273c24〕〔T10n0279 0273c〕 Fazang writes the name of this portion’s section outright as 「明性起境界」 tr. “making clear the realm of nature-arising” 〔T35n1733 0412a04〕; Chengguan explains it as 「智從昔願，緣起故來即無來」 tr. “wisdom comes from the vow of long ago, and because it arises from conditions its coming is a coming that is no coming” 〔T35n1735 0881a15〕 — the manifesting of the fruit-virtue is not newly made but is the arising of an old vow, and this is the bone of the whole Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata.

(4) The realm that is the bounds and the realm that is the object — Chengguan opens two senses: 「正顯分齊之境，兼辨所緣之境」 tr. “it directly displays the realm that is the bounds, and along with it sets forth the realm that is the object” 〔T35n1735 0880c08〕; Fazang opens the same two senses: 「境界有二義，上來十種約所緣明境；此下約分齊明境，即以如來智慧大海為分齊境。」 tr. “the realm has two senses: the ten above make the realm clear with respect to the object; from here on the realm is made clear with respect to the bounds, that is, the great ocean of the Tathāgata’s wisdom is taken as the realm that is the bounds.” 〔T35n1733 0412b03〕 — that the one name ‘realm’ contains the two tracks, the object and the bounds, is the key to reading this portion without confusion.

(5) The scriptural ground for the pore’s containing all — the repeated verses, 「量等法界入毛孔」 tr. “a body whose measure equals the Dharma realm, and yet able to enter a single pore” 〔T10n0279 0274b12〕〔T10n0279 0274b〕, and the sixty-fascicle text, 「一切諸法界，皆入一毛道」 tr. “all the Dharma realms alike enter one hair’s path” 〔T09n0278 0626a06〕 — the later Huayan house speaks of the Dharma realm layer within layer by such teachings as ‘the gate of the unobstructed mastery of the broad and the narrow’, and one of the scriptural grounds within the chapter is just this verse 〔recorded without adjudication〕.

VI. Divergent Interpretations of the Commentators (the ancient worthies · with their houses named)

Chengguan, Huayan jing shu T35n1735 (following the text of the eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka · the principal commentary)

The outline of the ten clauses of the object:

「後正顯所緣，文有十句：一通舉所化。二化時。三化處。四化法。五所化人。六七八三皆明所證，於中真如語其體，常一味故，云無差別。法界生法所依，故云無礙實際。是窮事至實，故云無邊。九化處分齊。後一遍通。」 tr. “Afterwards the object is directly displayed, and the text has ten clauses: first, raising in general those who are transformed. Second, the time of transforming. Third, the place of transforming. Fourth, the dharma of transforming. Fifth, the persons transformed. The sixth, seventh, and eighth, these three, all make clear what is realized; among these, suchness names its substance, and because it is constantly of one taste it is called without difference. The Dharma realm is that upon which beings and dharmas depend, and therefore it is called unobstructed; the true limit is the exhausting of affairs to their reality, and therefore it is called without bound. Ninth, the bounds of the place of transforming. The last one runs through all universally.” 〔T35n1735 0880c17〕

The threefold gathering and judging (the two truths · the three truths · the five realms):

「若約二諦境，前五為俗、次三為真，九通真俗，事空理空俱是空故。後一雙非，顯前九境即同無故。若約三諦，空即是真，三真為中道。若以五界攝之，初三是世界無量，四即調伏及調伏加行界，五即眾生，次三即法界，餘二雙非。」 tr. “If it be taken with respect to the realms of the two truths, the first five are conventional, the next three are real, and the ninth runs through both the real and the conventional, since the emptiness of affairs and the emptiness of principle are alike emptiness. The last is a double negation, displaying that the nine realms before are the same as not being. If it be taken with respect to the three truths, emptiness is itself the real, and the three reals are the middle way. If they be gathered by the five realms, the first three are the measurelessness of worlds; the fourth is the realm of the disciplined and of the preparatory practice of disciplining; the fifth is sentient beings; the next three are the Dharma realm; the remaining two are the double negation.” 〔T35n1735 0880c22〕

Displaying the measurelessness of the bounds:

「先約十境以顯分齊，境智相稱故皆無量；後約無境顯其非有，乃至真如皆不可得故。是以諸境雲興而常寂也。」 tr. “First, with respect to the ten realms, the bounds are displayed, and because realm and wisdom answer to each other both are measureless; afterwards, with respect to no-realm, he displays that it is not existent, even to this, that suchness itself cannot be got at. And therefore the realms rise like clouds and are yet constantly still.” 〔T35n1735 0880c28〕

Fazang, Tanxuan ji T35n1733 (the commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata)

The five senses in which the ten realms are explained:

「前中有五義：一約二諦境，初五約俗量智境、後五約真理智境。言非境界境界者，非是識所變境故云也。二約三性境，初五依他性、次四圓成實、後一遍計所執。三約五海境，初一眾生海；次二及第九世界海；次二是根欲性海；次三是法界海；後一是佛海，謂佛智是非境故。四約前〈明難品〉，佛境十種相攝可知。」 tr. “Within the former there are five senses. First, with respect to the realms of the two truths: the first five are with respect to the realm of the wisdom that measures the conventional, the latter five with respect to the realm of the wisdom of the real principle. As for saying ‘the realm that is not a realm’, it is because it is not a realm transformed by consciousness that it speaks so. Second, with respect to the realms of the three natures: the first five are the other-dependent nature, the next four the perfectly accomplished, the last one what is wholly imagined and grasped. Third, with respect to the realms of the five oceans: the first one is the ocean of sentient beings; the next two and the ninth are the ocean of worlds; the next two are the ocean of faculties, inclinations, and natures; the next three are the ocean of the Dharma realm; the last one is the ocean of buddhas, that is, because the Buddha’s wisdom is no realm. Fourth, with respect to the earlier Chapter on the Clarification of Difficulties, the mutual gathering of the ten kinds of the Buddha’s realm may be understood.” 〔T35n1733 0412a10〕

The ten clauses in the explanation of the text:

「五釋文中，初一是所化；二是化所依時，三世劫等；三所化處；四化所用法；五化所成行；六法界體不壞；七法界用無礙；八體用俱實。」 tr. “Fifth, in the explanation of the text: the first is those who are transformed; the second is the time upon which the transforming depends, the kalpas of the three times and the rest; the third, the place of those transformed; the fourth, the dharma used in transforming; the fifth, the practice accomplished by transforming; the sixth, the substance of the Dharma realm is not destroyed; the seventh, the function of the Dharma realm is unobstructed; the eighth, substance and function are both real.” 〔T35n1733 0412a17〕

A further explanation by the three greatnesses:

「又釋：此三，初真如體大；次相大，具恒沙功德名法界，迭不相妨名無礙；後體相無二名實際。又釋：此三如次，即三無性真如。九虛空是事無為境。」 tr. “A further explanation: of these three, the first is suchness, the greatness of substance; the next is the greatness of characteristic, and because it is furnished with merits as many as the sands of the Ganges it is named the Dharma realm, and because they do not obstruct one another in turn it is named unobstructed; the last, that substance and characteristic are not two, is named the true limit. A further explanation: these three in their order are the suchness of the three non-natures. The ninth, empty space, is the realm of the unconditioned that is an affair.” 〔T35n1733 0412a20〕

Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun T36n1739

No section belonging specifically to this portion is seen (Li Tongxuan sets up four gates for this chapter and outlines two long sections 〔T36n1739 0938a07／0939a22–26〕; on the sense of the realm he has only the single sentence 「眾生境界是如來境界」 tr. “the realm of sentient beings is the realm of the Tathāgata” 〔0940b23〕 gathering it up, with no section proper to it) — 〔not found〕.

Chengguan, Yanyi chao T36n1736

Within this range no independently titled section-opening is seen — 〔not found〕.

Recorded without adjudication: as to the gathering of the ten realms, Chengguan gathers them by three schemes, the two truths, the three truths, and the five realms, while Fazang gathers them by the two truths, the three natures, the five oceans, the ten aspects of the Chapter on the Clarification of Difficulties, and the five senses in the explanation of the text; the two houses differ in how they gather and divide the ten clauses (Chengguan has 「前五為俗、次三為真」 tr. “the first five are conventional, the next three are real”, with the ninth running through both the real and the conventional and the last a double negation; Fazang has 「初五約俗量智境、後五約真理智境」 tr. “the first five are with respect to the realm of the wisdom that measures the conventional, the latter five with respect to the realm of the wisdom of the real principle”); Fazang sets out besides one track of the three natures (the first five other-dependent · the next four perfectly accomplished · the last one wholly imagined), which Chengguan does not give. As to the reckoning of the number of the verses, Chengguan, following the eighty-fascicle text, makes five verses, and Fazang, following the sixty-fascicle text, makes ten. Which of the track of the three natures and the track of the two truths is the correct explanation, and how the number of verses in the two texts is to be gathered or divided — there were divergent explanations among the ancients; they are recorded here, and no judgment is made.

VII. Cross-Reading and Lineage

• The sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata 〔T09n0278 0625a14–0626a15 前〕: the complete parallel translation of this portion, wholly the same in the structure of its scene (the ten realms · the dragon’s rain · the ocean arising from the vow · the number of the rivers of the four continents · the eighty koṭis of dragon kings doubling the rain · the four measureless things · the conclusion · the repeated verses); for the collation clause by clause see heading four.
• The Huayan house’s sense of nature-arising: upon the sixty-fascicle text Fazang marks this portion’s section outright as 「性起境界」 tr. “the realm of nature-arising” 〔T35n1733 0412a04〕; that the ocean of wisdom arises from the great vows of long ago, and that realm and wisdom being not two is named no realm — the scriptural ground of the gate of nature-arising lies here. 〔recorded without adjudication〕
• The Dasheng qixin lun, the Awakening of Faith, T32n1666: examined for 「如來智海」 tr. “the Tathāgata’s ocean of wisdom” and 「性起」 tr. “nature-arising”, zero hits — 〔not found〕.
• Fazang’s Huayan yisheng jiaoyi fenqi zhang T45n1866: no independent citation of this portion’s 「如來境界」 tr. “the realm of the Tathāgata” is seen (the clauses it cites from the Chapter on Nature-Arising belong to the class of ‘the ten minds expounded in the Chapter on Nature-Arising’, and do not attach to this portion) — 〔not found〕.
• The treatises of the lineage (the Cheng weishi lun T31n1585 · the She dacheng lun T31n1594 · the Yuqie shidi lun T30n1579): examined for 「如來智海」 tr. “the Tathāgata’s ocean of wisdom” and ‘the dragon king raining upon the ocean’, zero hits — 〔not found〕. This portion has no direct quoted text of a lineage along the consciousness-only axis; the lack is recorded in accordance with fact, and nothing from elsewhere is used to fill it.

VIII. Edition Location Register

• Śikṣānanda T279 (the base text): chapter thirty-seven, the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata, the fifth portion, the realm of the appearance, 〔T10n0279 0273c06〕 onward, ending just before 〔0274b17〕 (the seventh assembly, the return to the palace of Universal Light). The order of the passages: the raising of the question and the listing of the ten realms 〔0273c〕 · the extension to measurelessness 〔0273c〕 · the realm of the mind 〔0273c〕 · the simile of the dragon’s rain 〔0273c〕 · the simile of the ocean arising from the dragon’s mind 〔0273c〕 · the setting out of the heading with the bidding to listen, and the number of the rivers of the four continents 〔0273c–0274a〕 · the dragon kings’ doubling of the rain and the water pouring from the palaces 〔0274a〕 · the tides not missing their time, and the four measureless things 〔0274a〕 · the ocean not reaching the ocean of wisdom 〔0274a〕 · the joining of the dharma to the four measureless things, and the general conclusion 〔0274a–0274b〕 · the five repeated verses 〔0274b〕. 〔Recorded · the granularity of the sources〕 For this portion the eighty-fascicle text is given sources at the level of the line, clause by clause; where a unique location could not be established, the source is marked at the level of the column.
• Buddhabhadra T278 (the Jin translation, the principal witness collated): the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata, the thirty-second, part three, 〔T09n0278 0625a14〕 onward, ending just before 〔0626a15〕. The ten realms 0625a15 · reaching every place and reaching nothing 0625a22 · the realm of the mind 0625a24 · the simile of the dragon’s rain 0625a26 · the ocean from the dragon’s vow 0625a29 · the bidding to listen 0625b02 · the number of the rivers of the four continents 0625b04 (the total 0625b08) · the rain-water of the dragon kings 0625b10 · the water of the deep pools 0625b21 · the tides not missing their time, and the four measureless things 0625c08 · the ocean not reaching the ocean of wisdom 0625c13 · the joining of the dharma to the four measureless things 0625c15 · the conclusion 0625c20 · the beginning of the repeated verses 0625c23 (the first verse 0625c24 · the verse on the hair-track 0626a06).
• Chengguan, Shu, T35n1735: the fifth, making clear the realm of the appearance, 0880c08 onward, ending just before 0881b03. The reason for its coming, in two senses, 0880c08 · the prose in three parts 0880c13 · the wisdom able to know 0880c16 · the ten clauses of the object 0880c17 · the threefold gathering and judging 0880c22 · the displaying of the measurelessness of the bounds 0880c28 · the direct making clear of the realm of the mind 0881a03 · the explanation of without bondage and without release 0881a05 · the question and its explanation 0881a06 · the general judgment of the three similes 0881a10 · the explanation of the first two similes 0881a12 · the outline of the simile of the vastness and depth of the ocean’s water 0881a15 · the three sections within the simile 0881a18 · the aspect of the tide 0881a21 · the joining of the dharma 0881a23 · the general displaying of measurelessness 0881a25 · the general conclusion 0881a27 · the five verses 0881a29. The Chao T36n1736: an independent section-opening within this range 〔not found〕.
• Fazang, Tanxuan ji, T35n1733: the fifth, making clear the realm of nature-arising, 0412a04 onward, ending just before 0412b17. The name of the section and the three parts 0412a04 · what is able to know 0412a07 · the five senses of the ten realms 0412a10 · the ten clauses in the explanation of the text 0412a17 · the further explanation by the three greatnesses 0412a20 · realm and wisdom not two 0412a23 · the three parts displaying breadth with respect to wisdom 0412a26 · measurelessness following upon mind 0412a29 · the two senses of realm 0412b03 · the three similes 0412b05 · the joining of the dharma in the four measureless things 0412b11 · the general conclusion and the outline of the verses 0412b15.
• Li Tongxuan, Lun, T36n1739: a section proper to this portion 〔not found〕.
• Variant readings: within the range of T279 covered by this unit, 〔0273c06〕–〔0274b16〕, the Taishō base text carries 6 collation notes, recorded one by one without adjudication (base reading 【大】｜variant readings of other witnesses, several witnesses separated by ／): 〔0274a07〕霔【大】＊｜澍【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊（＊同校並繫〔0274a14〕〔0274b09〕之霔字） · 〔0274a13〕震【大】｜覆【聖】 · 〔0274a19〕出【大】｜山【宋】 · 〔0274a19〕入【大】｜八【聖】 · 〔0274a24〕諭【大】＊｜喻【宋】【元】【明】【宮】＊（＊同校並繫〔0277a15〕〔0277b21〕〔0277b23〕之諭字） · 〔0274a24〕如來【大】｜如是【聖】. (＊ ＝ a Taishō asterisked collation: the same note also governs the remaining occurrences of that graph in the text; for notes of this class the T279 XML supplies no corresp for the recurrences, so the asterisk alone is shown and no second anchor is created.) The interlinear notes (phonetic and collation glosses) were stripped and recorded at the level of the original-text layer.