華嚴經 品三十九 入法界品 · 婆珊婆演底夜神（寄歡喜地）Avataṃsaka Sūtra · Entering the Dharma Realm · The Night Goddess Vāsantī (Assigned to the Joyful Ground)
善財到城，從東門進去，站了一會兒，太陽就落了。
要見守夜的人，得等天黑。
她在虛空裡，「一切星宿炳然在體」。他問法，她答：「我得菩薩破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫。」
然後她說她做的事。夜深人靜、密雲重霧的時候，海上的人她變成船師，陸上的人她變成日月，山裡的人她變成一味會發光的草。每救一次，後面接一個願。
善財問她：這樣多久了。
她說了兩世。兩世都是同一個畫面——她在睡覺，有一位夜神來把她弄醒。第一次搖瓔珞，第二次震動屋子。醒了，才去見佛；見佛，才得三昧；得三昧能聞法，聞法才得這個解脫。
末了她指路，說下一位在菩提場內，名普德淨光——澄觀判此為當年叫醒她的那一位。
『所謂善知識，是在你睡著的時候發出聲音的人。』
且看到此地。
Sudhana came to the city, entered by the east gate, stood a little while, and the sun went down.
To see the one who keeps watch through the night, you must wait for the dark.
She was in empty space, 「一切星宿炳然在體」 tr. “all the constellations appearing plainly upon her body.” He asked for the Dharma, and she answered: 「我得菩薩破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫。」 tr. “I have gained the bodhisattva liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings.”
Then she told what she does. When the night is deep and the voices still, when the clouds are dense and the fog heavy — for the people at sea she becomes the shipmaster, for the people on land she becomes the sun and the moon, for the people in the mountains she becomes a single herb that gives off light. Every time she rescues, a vow follows after.
Sudhana asked her: how long has this been going on.
She told two lives. Both lives are the same picture — she is asleep, and a night goddess comes and wakes her. The first time by shaking necklaces, the second time by shaking the house. Awake, she goes to see the Buddha; seeing the Buddha, she gains the samādhi; the samādhi lets her hear the Dharma; and only from hearing the Dharma does she gain this liberation.
At the end she points the road, saying that the next one is within the site of awakening, named Universal Virtue Pure Light — whom Chengguan judges to be the very one who woke her in those days.
‘A good friend, so called, is the one who makes a sound while you are asleep.’
Let it stand here for now.
〔T10 0369〕
爾時，善財童子一心思惟安住神教，憶持菩薩不可沮壞智藏解脫，修其三昧，學其軌則，觀其遊戲，入其微妙，得其智慧，達其平等，知其無邊，測其甚深。
漸次遊行，至於彼城，從東門入，佇立未久，便見日沒。心念隨順諸菩薩教，渴仰欲見彼主夜神，於善知識生如來想，復作是念：「由善知識得周遍眼，普能明見十方境界；由善知識得廣大解，普能了達一切所緣；由善知識得三昧眼，普能觀察一切法門；由善知識得智慧眼，普能明照十方剎海。」
作是念時，見彼夜神於虛空中，處寶樓閣香蓮華藏師子之座，身真金色，目髮紺青，形貌端嚴，見者歡喜，眾寶瓔珞以為嚴飾，身服朱衣，首戴梵冠，一切星宿炳然在體。於其身上一一毛孔，皆現化度無量無數惡道眾生，令其免離險難之像；是諸眾生，或生人中，或生天上，或有趣向二乘菩提，或有修行一切智道。又彼一一諸毛孔中，示現種種教化方便，或為現身，或為說法，或為示現聲聞乘道，或為示現獨覺乘道，或為示現諸菩薩行、菩薩勇猛、菩薩三昧、菩薩自在、菩薩住處、菩薩觀察、菩薩師子頻申、菩薩解脫遊戲，如是種種成熟眾生。
善財童子見聞此已，心大歡喜，以身投地，禮夜神足，遶無數匝，於前合掌而作是言：「聖者！我已先發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，我心冀望依善知識獲諸如來功德法藏。唯願示我一切智道，我行於中，至十力地！」
時，彼夜神告善財言：
「善哉善哉！善男子！汝能深心敬善知識，樂聞其語，修行其教；以修行故，決定當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。
「善男子！我得菩薩破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫。善男子！我於惡慧眾生，起大慈心；於不善業眾生，起大悲心；於作善業眾生，起於喜心；於善惡二行眾生，起不二心；於雜染眾生，起令生清淨心；於邪道眾生，起令生正行心；於劣解眾生，起令興大解心；於樂生死眾生，起令捨輪轉心；於住二乘道眾生，起令住一切智心。善男子！我以得此解脫故，常與如是心共相應。
「善男子！我於夜闇人靜，鬼、神、盜賊、諸惡眾生所遊行時，密雲重霧、惡風暴雨、日月星宿並皆昏蔽不見色時，見諸眾生，若入於海，若行於陸，山林、曠野、諸險難處，或遭盜賊，或乏資糧，或迷惑方隅，或忘失道路，慞惶憂怖不能自出；我時即以種種方便而救濟之。
「為海難者，示作船師、魚王、馬王、龜王、象王、阿脩羅王及以海神；為彼眾生，止惡風雨，息大波浪，引其道路，示其洲岸，令免怖畏，悉得安隱。復作是念：『以此善根，迴施眾生，願令捨離一切諸苦。』
「為在陸地一切眾生於夜暗中遭恐怖者，現作日月及諸星宿、晨霞、夕電種種光明，或作屋宅，或為人眾，令其得免恐怖之厄。復作是念：『以此善根，迴施眾生，悉令除滅諸煩惱暗。』一切眾生，有惜壽命，有愛名聞，有貪財寶，有重官位，有著男女，有戀妻妾，未稱所求，多生憂怖；我皆救濟，令其離苦。
「為行山險而留難者，為作善神，現形親近；為作好鳥，發音慰悅；為作靈藥，舒光照耀；示其果樹，示其泉井，示正直道，示平坦地，令其免離一切憂厄。
「為行曠野、稠林、險道，藤蘿所羂、雲霧所暗而恐怖者，示其正道，令得出離。作是念言：『願一切眾生，伐見稠林，截愛羅網，出生死野，滅煩惱暗，入一切智平坦正道，到無畏處畢竟安樂。』
「善男子！若有眾生，樂著國土而憂苦者；我以方便，令生厭離。作是念言：『願一切眾生不著諸蘊，住一切佛薩婆若境。』
「善男子！若有眾生，樂著聚落，貪愛宅舍，常處黑暗，受諸苦者；我為說法，令生厭離，令法滿足，令依法住。作是念言：『願一切眾生，悉不貪樂六處聚落，速得出離生死境界，究竟安住一切智城。』
「善男子！若有眾生行暗夜中，迷惑十方，於平坦路生險難想，於險難道起平坦想，以高為下，以下為高，其心迷惑，生大苦惱。我以方便舒光照及，若欲出者，示其門戶；若欲行者，示其道路；欲度溝洫，示其橋梁；欲涉河海，與其船筏；樂觀方者，示其險易安危之處；欲休息者，示其城邑、水、樹之所。作是念言：『如我於此照除夜暗，令諸世事悉得宣敘；願我普於一切眾生生死長夜、無明暗處，以智慧光普皆照了。是諸眾生無有智眼，想心見倒之所覆翳，無常常想，無樂樂想，無我我想，不淨淨想，堅固執著我人眾生、蘊界處法，迷惑因果，不識善惡，殺害眾生，乃至邪見，不孝父母，不敬沙門及婆羅門，不知惡人，不識善人，貪著惡事，安住邪法，毀謗如來，壞正法輪，於諸菩薩呰辱傷害，輕大乘道，斷菩提心，於有恩人反加殺害，於無恩處常懷怨結，毀謗賢聖，親近惡伴，盜塔寺物，作五逆罪，不久當墮三惡道處。願我速以大智光明，破彼眾生無明黑暗，令其疾發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。』既發心已，示普賢乘，開十力道，亦示如來法王境界，亦示諸佛一切智城、諸佛所行、諸佛自在、諸佛成就、諸佛總持、一切諸佛共同一身、一切諸佛平等之處，令其安住。
〔T10 0370〕
「善男子！一切眾生，或病所纏，或老所侵，或苦貧窮，或遭禍難，或犯王法，臨當受刑，無所依怙，生大怖畏；我皆救濟，使得安隱。復作是念：『願我以法普攝眾生，令其解脫一切煩惱、生老病死、憂悲苦患，近善知識，常行法施，勤行善業，速得如來清淨法身，住於究竟無變易處。』
「善男子！一切眾生入見稠林，住於邪道，於諸境界起邪分別，常行不善身、語、意業，妄作種種諸邪苦行，於非正覺生正覺想，於正覺所非正覺想，為惡知識之所攝受，以起惡見，將墮惡道；我以種種諸方便門而為救護，令住正見，生人天中。復作是念：『如我救此將墜惡道諸眾生等，願我普救一切眾生，悉令解脫一切諸苦，住波羅蜜出世聖道，於一切智得不退轉，具普賢願，近一切智，而不捨離諸菩薩行，常勤教化一切眾生。』」
爾時，婆珊婆演底主夜神，欲重宣此解脫義，承佛神力，觀察十方，為善財童子而說頌言：
「我此解脫門，生淨法光明，
能破愚癡暗，待時而演說。
我昔無邊劫，勤行廣大慈，
普覆諸世間，佛子應修學。
寂靜大悲海，出生三世佛，
能滅眾生苦，汝應入此門。
能生世間樂，亦生出世樂，
令我心歡喜，汝應入此門。
既捨有為患，亦遠聲聞果，
淨修諸佛力，汝應入此門。
我目甚清淨，普見十方剎，
亦見其中佛，菩提樹下坐，
相好莊嚴身，無量眾圍遶，
一一毛孔內，種種光明出；
見諸群生類，死此而生彼，
輪迴五趣中，常受無量苦。
我耳甚清淨，聽之無不及，
一切語言海，悉聞能憶持；
諸佛轉法輪，其聲妙無比，
所有諸文字，悉皆能憶持。
我鼻甚清淨，於法無所礙，
一切皆自在，汝應入此門。
我舌甚廣大，淨好能言說，
隨應演妙法，汝應入此門。
我身甚清淨，三世等如如，
隨諸眾生心，一切悉皆現。
我心淨無礙，如空含萬像，
普念諸如來，而亦不分別。
了知無量剎，一切諸心海，
諸根及欲樂，而亦不分別。
我以大神通，震動無量剎，
其身悉遍往，調彼難調眾。
我福甚廣大，如空無有盡，
供養諸如來，饒益一切眾。
我智廣清淨，了知諸法海，
除滅眾生惑，汝應入此門。
我知三世佛，及以一切法，
亦了彼方便，此門遍無等。
一一塵中見，三世一切剎，
亦見彼諸佛，此是普門力。
十方剎塵內，悉見盧舍那，
菩提樹下坐，成道演妙法。」
爾時，善財童子白夜神言：「汝發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心為幾時耶？得此解脫其已久如，乃能如是饒益眾生？」
其神答言：
「善男子！乃往古世，過如須彌山微塵數劫，有劫名：寂靜光，世界名：出生妙寶，有五億佛於中出現。彼世界中有四天下，名：寶月燈光，有城，名：蓮華光，王名：善法度，以法施化，成就七寶，王四天下。王有夫人，名：法慧月，夜久眠寐。時，彼城東有一大林，名為：寂住，林中有一大菩提樹，名：一切光摩尼王莊嚴身出生一切佛神力光明。
〔T10 0371〕
「爾時，有佛名：一切法雷音王，於此樹下成等正覺，放無量色廣大光明，遍照出生妙寶世界。蓮華光城內有主夜神，名為：淨月，詣王夫人法慧月所，動身瓔珞以覺夫人，而告之言：『夫人當知，一切法雷音王如來，於寂住林成無上覺，及廣為說諸佛功德自在神力、普賢菩薩所有行願。』令王夫人發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提意，供養彼佛及諸菩薩、聲聞、僧眾。
「善男子！時王夫人法慧月者，豈異人乎？我身是也！
「我於彼佛所發菩提心種善根故，於須彌山微塵數劫，不生地獄、餓鬼、畜生諸惡趣中，亦不生於下賤之家，諸根具足，無有眾苦，於天人中福德殊勝，不生惡世，恒不離佛及諸菩薩、大善知識，常於其所種植善根，經八十須彌山微塵數劫常受安樂，而未滿足菩薩諸根。
「過此劫已，復過萬劫，於賢劫前，有劫名：無憂遍照，世界名：離垢妙光。其世界中淨穢相雜，有五百佛於中出現。其第一佛，名：須彌幢寂靜妙眼如來、應、正等覺；我為：名稱長者；女名：妙慧光明，端正殊妙。彼淨月夜神，以願力故，於離垢世界一四天下妙幢王城中生，作主夜神，名：清淨眼。我於一時，在父母邊，夜久眠息。彼清淨眼來詣我所，震動我宅，放大光明，出現其身，讚佛功德言：『妙眼如來坐菩提座，始成正覺。』勸諭於我及以父母并諸眷屬，令速見佛；自為前導，引至佛所，廣興供養。
「我纔見佛，即得三昧，名：出生見佛調伏眾生三世智光明輪。獲此三昧故，能憶念須彌山微塵數劫，亦見其中諸佛出現，於彼佛所聽聞妙法；以聞法故，即得此破一切眾生暗法光明解脫。得此解脫已，即見其身遍往佛剎微塵數世界，亦見彼世界所有諸佛，又見自身在其佛所；亦見彼世界一切眾生，解其言音，識其根性，知其往昔曾為善友之所攝受，隨其所樂而為現身，令生歡喜。
「我時於彼所得解脫，念念增長，此心無間；又見自身遍往百佛剎微塵數世界，此心無間；又見自身遍往千佛剎微塵數世界，此心無間；又見自身遍往百千佛剎微塵數世界。如是，念念乃至不可說不可說佛剎微塵數世界，亦見彼世界中一切如來；亦自見身在彼佛所，聽聞妙法，受持憶念，觀察決了；亦知彼佛諸本事海、諸大願海，彼諸如來嚴淨佛剎，我亦嚴淨；亦見彼世界一切眾生，隨其所應而為現身教化調伏。此解脫門，念念增長，如是乃至充滿法界。
「善男子！我唯知此菩薩破一切眾生暗法光明解脫。如諸菩薩摩訶薩，成就普賢無邊行願，普入一切諸法界海，得諸菩薩金剛智幢自在三昧，出生大願，住持佛種；於念念中，成滿一切大功德海，嚴淨一切廣大世界；以自在智，教化成熟一切眾生；以智慧日，滅除一切世間暗障；以勇猛智，覺悟一切眾生惛睡；以智慧月，決了一切眾生疑惑；以清淨音，斷除一切諸有執著；於一切法界一一塵中，示現一切自在神力，智眼明淨，等見三世。而我何能知其妙行、說其功德、入其境界、示其自在？
「善男子！此閻浮提摩竭提國菩提場內，有主夜神，名：普德淨光。我本從其發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，常以妙法開悟於我。汝詣彼問：菩薩云何學菩薩行、修菩薩道。」
爾時，善財童子向婆珊婆演底神而說頌曰：
「見汝清淨身，相好超世間，
如文殊師利，亦如寶山王。
汝法身清淨，三世悉平等，
世界悉入中，成壞無所礙。
我觀一切趣，悉見汝形像，
一一毛孔中，星月各分布。
汝心極廣大，如空遍十方，
諸佛悉入中，清淨無分別。
一一毛孔內，悉放無數光，
十方諸佛所，普雨莊嚴具。
一一毛孔內，各現無數身，
十方諸國土，方便度眾生。
一一毛孔內，示現無量剎，
隨諸眾生欲，種種令清淨。
若有諸眾生，聞名及見身，
悉獲功德利，成就菩提道。
多劫在惡趣，始得見聞汝，
亦應歡喜受，以滅煩惱故。
千剎微塵劫，歎汝一毛德，
劫數猶可窮，功德終無盡。」
〔T10 0372〕
時，善財童子說此頌已，頂禮其足，遶無量匝，慇懃瞻仰，辭退而去。
〔卷69〕
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.
依前修證（澄觀科）：把上一位善知識的法門帶在身上走
那時候，善財童子一心思惟安住地神所給的教，憶持著菩薩「不可沮壞智藏」解脫，修習他的三昧，學習他的軌則，觀察他的遊戲（自在無礙的作用），進入他的微妙，得到他的智慧，通達他的平等，知道他的無邊，測知他的甚深。
趣求後友（澄觀科）：從東門進城，站了一會兒，太陽就落了
他漸漸地一路遊行，到了那座城，從東門進去，站立沒有多久，就見到日頭落下。他心裡念著、隨順著諸菩薩的教誨，渴仰地想見那位主夜神，對善知識生起如同對如來一樣的想，又這樣想著：
「由於善知識，得到周遍之眼，普遍能夠明見十方的境界；由於善知識，得到廣大之解，普遍能夠了達一切所緣（心所攀緣的一切境）；由於善知識，得到三昧之眼，普遍能夠觀察一切法門；由於善知識，得到智慧之眼，普遍能夠明照十方的剎海（無數國土之海）。」
見友依正（澄觀科）：星宿都在她的身上
正這樣想的時候，就見到那位夜神在虛空之中，坐在寶樓閣裡香蓮華藏的師子之座上，身是真金之色，眼與髮是紺青色（深青帶紅），形貌端正莊嚴，見到的人都歡喜，眾多寶物瓔珞用來莊嚴她的身，身上穿著朱紅之衣，頭上戴著梵冠，一切星宿明明白白地現在她的身體上。
在她身上一一的毛孔裡，都現出化度無量無數惡道眾生、令他們免離險難的影像；這些眾生，有的生在人中，有的生在天上，有的趣向二乘（聲聞與獨覺）的菩提，有的修行一切智之道。又在那一一的諸毛孔中，示現種種教化的方便：有的為他們現身，有的為他們說法，有的為他們示現聲聞乘之道，有的為他們示現獨覺乘之道，有的為他們示現諸菩薩之行、菩薩的勇猛、菩薩的三昧、菩薩的自在、菩薩的住處、菩薩的觀察、菩薩的師子頻申（如師子伸展之相，喻無畏的大用）、菩薩的解脫遊戲——像這樣種種地成熟眾生。
設敬諮問（澄觀科）：我要走到十力之地
善財童子見到、聽到這些以後，心裡大大歡喜，把身體投在地上，禮拜夜神之足，繞行無數匝，在她面前合掌而這樣說：
「聖者！我已經在先前發了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心（無上正等正覺之心），我心裡冀望依靠善知識，獲得諸如來的功德法藏。唯願為我開示一切智之道，我在這道中行，走到十力之地（十力即如來的十種智力）！」
稱讚（澄觀科）：你這樣敬善知識，決定會得到
那時候，那位夜神告訴善財說：
「善哉善哉！善男子！你能夠以深心恭敬善知識，樂於聽聞他的話，修行他的教；因為修行的緣故，決定會得到阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。
標名體（澄觀科）：破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫
「善男子！我得到菩薩『破一切眾生癡暗法光明』解脫。
九種眾生·九種心：對每一種人，起一種心
「善男子！我對於惡慧的眾生（見解顛倒的人），起大慈之心；對於造不善業的眾生，起大悲之心；對於造善業的眾生，起隨喜之心；對於善惡二種行都有的眾生，起不二之心（不分別取捨的心）；對於雜染的眾生，起令他生起清淨的心；對於走邪道的眾生，起令他生起正行的心；對於劣解的眾生（所解狹小的人），起令他興起大解的心；對於樂著生死的眾生，起令他捨離輪轉的心；對於住在二乘之道的眾生，起令他安住一切智的心。善男子！我因為得到這個解脫的緣故，常常與這樣的心互相應合。
十門救攝（澄觀科）·總明：夜深人靜，天地全暗的時候
「善男子！我在夜色昏暗、人聲寂靜，鬼、神、盜賊、諸惡眾生出來遊行的時候，濃密的雲、厚重的霧、惡風、暴雨，日月星宿全都被遮蔽而看不見顏色的時候，見到眾生，有的進入海中，有的行走陸地，在山林、曠野、諸險難之處，有的遭遇盜賊，有的缺乏資糧，有的迷惑了方位，有的忘失了道路，驚惶憂怖而不能自己出來——我那時就用種種方便去救濟他們。
第一門 救海難：現作船師·魚王·海神
「為那些遭海難的人，示現作船師、魚王、馬王、龜王、象王、阿脩羅王以及海神；為那些眾生，止住惡風雨，息滅大波浪，引導他們的道路，指示他們洲岸的所在，令他們免除怖畏，全都得到安穩。又這樣想著：『用這個善根，迴向布施給眾生，願令他們捨離一切諸苦。』
第二門 救陸地夜暗：現作日月星宿·晨霞夕電
「為在陸地的一切眾生，在夜暗之中遭遇恐怖的，現作日、月以及諸星宿、清晨的霞、傍晚的電，種種的光明，或者作房屋住宅，或者作人群，令他們得以免除恐怖的災厄。又這樣想著：『用這個善根，迴向布施給眾生，全都令他們除滅諸煩惱之暗。』
第三門 救求不得及行山險：未稱所求的六樣
一切眾生，有的愛惜壽命，有的愛好名聞，有的貪求財寶，有的看重官位，有的執著男女，有的戀著妻妾——所求未能稱心，多生憂怖；我都救濟他們，令他們離苦。
第三門之續 山險：作善神·好鳥·靈藥
「為那些行走山中險路而有留難的人，為他們作善神，現形親近；為他們作好鳥，發出聲音來安慰使他喜悅；為他們作靈藥，舒放光明照耀；指示他們果樹所在，指示他們泉井所在，指示正直之道，指示平坦之地，令他們免離一切憂厄。
第三門之末 曠野：把地上的路轉成心上的路
「為那些行走曠野、稠密之林、險道，被藤蘿纏羂、被雲霧所暗而恐怖的人，指示他們正道，令他們得以出離。這樣發願說：『願一切眾生，砍伐見的稠林，截斷愛的羅網，走出生死的曠野，滅除煩惱的暗，進入一切智的平坦正道，到達無畏之處而畢竟安樂。』
第四門 救樂著國土：令他生厭離
「善男子！如果有眾生，樂著於國土而因此憂苦的；我用方便，令他生起厭離。這樣發願說：『願一切眾生不執著諸蘊（色受想行識五類身心之法），安住在一切佛的薩婆若（一切智）之境。』
第五門 救樂著聚落：六處就是那座聚落
「善男子！如果有眾生，樂著於聚落，貪愛宅舍，常處在黑暗之中，受諸般苦的；我為他說法，令他生起厭離，令法在他身上滿足，令他依法而住。這樣發願說：『願一切眾生，全都不貪樂六處（眼耳鼻舌身意六個門）這座聚落，速得出離生死的境界，究竟安住在一切智之城。』
第六門 救闇夜：把平路看成險路的人
「善男子！如果有眾生行走在暗夜之中，迷惑了十方，在平坦的路上生起險難之想，在險難的道上生起平坦之想，把高的當作低的，把低的當作高的，他的心迷惑，生起大苦惱。
我用方便舒放光明照到他，若想出來的，指示他門戶；若想行走的，指示他道路；想渡溝洫的，指示他橋梁；想涉河海的，給他船筏；喜歡觀看方位的，指示他險易安危之處；想休息的，指示他城邑、水、樹的所在。
這樣發願說：『如同我在這裡照除夜暗，令諸般世間之事全都得以陳述明白；願我普遍在一切眾生生死的長夜、無明的暗處，用智慧之光普遍照了。
第七門 救惑業：從四種顛倒到五逆
這些眾生沒有智慧之眼，被顛倒的想心與見所覆蓋障翳：無常的當作常，無樂的當作樂，無我的當作我，不淨的當作淨；堅固地執著我、人、眾生，執著蘊界處之法（界即六根、六塵、六識十八界，處即六根、六塵相對之十二處）；迷惑於因果，不認識善惡，殺害眾生，乃至起邪見，不孝父母，不敬沙門以及婆羅門，不知道誰是惡人，不認識誰是善人，貪著惡事，安住邪法，毀謗如來，破壞正法之輪，對諸菩薩呰罵羞辱傷害，輕視大乘之道，斷絕菩提之心，對有恩的人反而加以殺害，在無恩之處常常懷著怨結，毀謗賢聖，親近惡伴，盜取塔寺之物，造作五逆之罪（殺父、殺母、殺阿羅漢、出佛身血、破和合僧五者）——不久將要墮到三惡道之處。
願我速以大智光明，破除那些眾生的無明黑暗，令他們迅速發起阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。』
既然他們已經發心了，就為他們示現普賢之乘，開示十力之道，也為他們示現如來法王的境界，也為他們示現諸佛的一切智城、諸佛的所行、諸佛的自在、諸佛的成就、諸佛的總持、一切諸佛共同一身、一切諸佛平等之處，令他們安住在其中。
第八門 救八苦：病老貧窮與臨刑，無所依怙的時候
「善男子！一切眾生，有的被病所纏，有的被老所侵，有的苦於貧窮，有的遭遇禍難，有的觸犯王法、將要受刑，沒有可依靠的，生起大怖畏；我都救濟他們，使他們得到安穩。又這樣想著：『願我用法普遍攝受眾生，令他們解脫一切煩惱、生老病死、憂悲苦患，親近善知識，常行法施，勤行善業，速得如來的清淨法身，住在究竟不變易之處。』
第九門 救惡見：把正覺當作不是正覺的人
「善男子！一切眾生進入見的稠林，住在邪道上，對諸般境界起邪的分別，常行不善的身業、語業、意業，虛妄地作種種邪的苦行，對不是正覺的生起正覺之想，對正覺之所在反而生起不是正覺之想，被惡知識所攝受，因此起了惡見，將要墮入惡道；我用種種諸方便之門而為他們救護，令他們住於正見，生在人天之中。
又這樣想著：『如同我救這些將要墜入惡道的諸眾生一樣，願我普遍救護一切眾生，全都令他們解脫一切諸苦，住在波羅蜜（到彼岸之行）出世的聖道，對一切智得不退轉，具足普賢之願，親近一切智，而不捨離諸菩薩行，常常勤於教化一切眾生。』」
重宣（澄觀科）（一）：法門名體與四無量
那時候，婆珊婆演底主夜神，想要重新宣說這個解脫的義理，承著佛的神力，觀察十方，為善財童子而說偈頌說：
「我這個解脫之門，生出清淨的法光明，能夠破除愚癡之暗——待時機到了才演說。
「我在往昔無邊的劫中，勤行廣大的慈，普遍覆蓋諸般世間——佛子應當修學。
「寂靜的大悲之海，出生三世諸佛，能夠滅除眾生之苦——你應當進入這個門。
「能生世間的樂，也生出世間的樂，令我心中歡喜——你應當進入這個門。
「既已捨去有為之患，也遠離聲聞之果，清淨修習諸佛之力——你應當進入這個門。
重宣（澄觀科）（二）：六根清淨——目·耳·鼻·舌
「我的眼極清淨，普遍見到十方剎土，也見到其中的佛在菩提樹下坐著，
相好莊嚴之身，被無量大眾圍繞，一一毛孔之內，種種光明放出；
見到諸群生之類，死在這裡而生到那裡，輪迴在五趣之中，常受無量的苦。
「我的耳極清淨，所聽的沒有不到的，一切語言之海，全都聽聞而能憶持；
諸佛轉法輪，那聲音微妙無比，所有的諸般文字，全都能夠憶持。
「我的鼻極清淨，對於法沒有障礙，一切都得自在——你應當進入這個門。
「我的舌極廣大，潔淨美好而能言說，隨著所應而演說妙法——你應當進入這個門。
重宣（澄觀科）（三）：身與心
「我的身極清淨，於三世平等如如，隨著諸眾生的心，一切全都顯現。
「我的心清淨無礙，如同虛空含著萬像，普遍憶念諸如來，而也不起分別。
了知無量的剎土、一切諸心之海、諸根以及欲樂，而也不起分別。
重宣（澄觀科）（四）：業用廣大
「我以大神通，震動無量剎土，我的身全都遍往，調伏那些難調的眾生。
「我的福極廣大，如同虛空沒有窮盡，供養諸如來，饒益一切眾生。
「我的智廣大清淨，了知諸法之海，除滅眾生的疑惑——你應當進入這個門。
「我知道三世諸佛以及一切法，也了達他們的方便，這個門周遍而無可等比。
「在一一微塵之中見到三世一切剎土，也見到那裡的諸佛——這是普門之力。
「十方剎土微塵之內，全都見到盧舍那，在菩提樹下坐著，成道演說妙法。」
興二問（澄觀科）：你發心多久了
那時候，善財童子對夜神說：「你發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心是多久以前呢？得到這個解脫又已經多久，才能這樣饒益眾生？」
答發心時節（澄觀科）·本生第一世：那時我是王的夫人
那位神回答說：
「善男子！在往古之世，過如須彌山微塵數那麼多的劫以前，有一個劫名叫『寂靜光』，有一個世界名叫『出生妙寶』，有五億尊佛在其中出現。那個世界之中有四天下，名叫『寶月燈光』；有一座城，名叫『蓮華光』；王的名字叫『善法度』，以法施行教化，成就七寶，統王四天下。王有一位夫人，名叫『法慧月』，夜深了正在睡眠。當時，那座城的東邊有一片大林，名叫『寂住』，林中有一棵大菩提樹，名叫『一切光摩尼王莊嚴身出生一切佛神力光明』。
「那時候，有一尊佛名叫『一切法雷音王』，在這棵樹下成就等正覺，放出無量顏色的廣大光明，遍照出生妙寶世界。蓮華光城內有一位主夜神，名叫『淨月』，到王夫人法慧月的處所，搖動身上的瓔珞來覺醒夫人，而告訴她說：
『夫人應當知道，一切法雷音王如來，在寂住林中成就無上之覺。』並且廣為她說諸佛的功德、自在神力，以及普賢菩薩所有的行願。
於是令王夫人發起阿耨多羅三藐三菩提之意，供養那尊佛以及諸菩薩、聲聞、僧眾。
結會古今（澄觀科）：那位夫人就是我
「善男子！當時的王夫人法慧月，難道是別人嗎？就是我這個身！
發心成益（澄觀科）：八十須彌山微塵數劫常受安樂
「我在那尊佛的處所發菩提心、種善根的緣故，在須彌山微塵數劫之中，不生在地獄、餓鬼、畜生諸惡趣之中，也不生在下賤之家，諸根具足，沒有眾苦，在天人之中福德殊勝，不生在惡世，恒常不離佛以及諸菩薩、大善知識，常常在他們的處所種植善根，經過八十須彌山微塵數劫常受安樂——而菩薩的諸根還未圓滿。
答得法久近（澄觀科）·本生第二世：那時我是名稱長者之女
「過了這個劫以後，又過了萬劫，在賢劫之前，有一個劫名叫『無憂遍照』，世界名叫『離垢妙光』。那個世界之中淨與穢互相夾雜，有五百尊佛在其中出現。其中第一尊佛，名叫『須彌幢寂靜妙眼』如來、應（應供）、正等覺；我是名稱長者的女兒，名叫『妙慧光明』，端正殊妙。
那位淨月夜神，因為願力的緣故，在離垢世界的一個四天下、妙幢王城中受生，作了主夜神，名叫『清淨眼』。我在某一個時候，在父母身邊，夜深了正在睡息。那位清淨眼來到我的處所，震動我的宅舍，放出大光明，顯現他的身，讚歎佛的功德說：
『妙眼如來坐在菩提之座，剛剛成就正覺。』
於是勸諭我以及父母、還有諸眷屬，令我們趕快去見佛；他自己在前面作引導，把我們引到佛的處所，廣大地興起供養。
得三昧與得解脫（澄觀科）：一見佛就得了
「我一見到佛，就得到一個三昧，名叫『出生見佛調伏眾生三世智光明輪』。因為獲得這個三昧的緣故，能夠憶念須彌山微塵數劫，也見到其中諸佛出現，在那些佛的處所聽聞妙法；因為聞法的緣故，就得到這個『破一切眾生暗法光明』解脫。
得到這個解脫以後，就見到自己的身遍往佛剎微塵數的世界，也見到那些世界所有的諸佛，又見到自身在那些佛的處所；也見到那些世界一切眾生，理解他們的言音，識知他們的根性，知道他們往昔曾經被善友所攝受，隨著他們所樂而為他們現身，令他們生歡喜。
廣顯業用（澄觀科）：念念增長，直到充滿法界
「我當時在那裡所得到的解脫，念念增長，這個心沒有間斷；又見到自身遍往百佛剎微塵數的世界，這個心沒有間斷；又見到自身遍往千佛剎微塵數的世界，這個心沒有間斷；又見到自身遍往百千佛剎微塵數的世界。像這樣，念念相續乃至遍往不可說不可說佛剎微塵數的世界，也見到那些世界中一切如來；也自己見到身在那些佛的處所，聽聞妙法，受持憶念，觀察決了；也知道那些佛諸般本事之海、諸大願之海；那些如來嚴淨佛剎，我也嚴淨；也見到那些世界一切眾生，隨著他們所應的而為他們現身、教化調伏。這個解脫之門，念念增長，像這樣乃至充滿法界。
謙推（澄觀科）：我只知道這一個
「善男子！我只知道這個菩薩『破一切眾生暗法光明』解脫。至於諸位菩薩摩訶薩，他們成就普賢無邊的行願，普遍進入一切諸法界之海，得到諸菩薩金剛智幢自在三昧，出生大願，住持佛的種性；在念念之中，成滿一切大功德之海，嚴淨一切廣大世界；用自在之智，教化成熟一切眾生；用智慧之日，滅除一切世間的暗障；用勇猛之智，覺悟一切眾生的惛睡；用智慧之月，決了一切眾生的疑惑；用清淨之音，斷除一切諸有的執著；在一切法界一一微塵之中，示現一切自在神力，智眼明淨，平等見於三世——而我又怎麼能夠知道他們的妙行、說他們的功德、進入他們的境界、示現他們的自在呢？
指示後友（澄觀科）：菩提場內的普德淨光
「善男子！這個閻浮提摩竭提國的菩提場內，有一位主夜神，名叫『普德淨光』。我本來就是從他那裡發起阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心的，他常常用妙法開悟我。你到他那裡去問：菩薩應當怎樣學菩薩行、修菩薩道。」
戀德偈讚（澄觀科）（一）：讚身心超勝
那時候，善財童子向著婆珊婆演底神而說偈頌說：
「見到你清淨之身，相好超過世間，如同文殊師利，也如同寶山之王。
「你的法身清淨，於三世全都平等，世界全都入在其中，成與壞都無所障礙。
「我觀看一切趣，全都見到你的形像，一一毛孔之中，星與月各自分布。
「你的心極廣大，如同虛空遍滿十方，諸佛全都入在其中，清淨而無分別。
戀德偈讚（二）：明大用無涯
「一一毛孔之內，全都放出無數的光，在十方諸佛之所，普遍雨下莊嚴之具。
「一一毛孔之內，各各現出無數的身，在十方諸國土中，以方便度脫眾生。
「一一毛孔之內，示現無量的剎土，隨著諸眾生的欲樂，種種地令他們清淨。
戀德偈讚（三）：益物不虛
「如果有諸眾生，聽到名字以及見到身，全都獲得功德之利，成就菩提之道。
「多劫在惡趣之中，才得以見到聽到你，也應當歡喜地領受，因為能滅煩惱的緣故。
戀德偈讚（四）：結德無盡
「以千剎微塵數的劫，讚歎你一根毛的德，劫數還可以窮盡，功德終究沒有窮盡。」
戀德禮辭（澄觀科）
那時候，善財童子說完這段偈頌以後，頂禮她的足，繞行無量匝，慇懃地瞻仰，辭別退去。
Cultivating and Realizing in Accord with What Came Before (Chengguan’s Outline): Carrying the Dharma Gate of the Friend Before Him Along the Road
At that time, Sudhana the youth pondered with a single mind the teaching given him by the earth goddess Peaceful Abiding, holding in memory the bodhisattva’s liberation of ‘the Indestructible Treasury of Wisdom,’ cultivating her samādhi, learning her rule and standard, contemplating her sporting (that working which is at will and unobstructed), entering her subtlety, gaining her wisdom, penetrating her evenness, knowing her boundlessness, and fathoming her utter depth.
Seeking the Friend Who Comes Next (Chengguan’s Outline): He Entered the City by the East Gate, Stood a Little While, and the Sun Went Down
He traveled on little by little, stretch after stretch, until he came to that city, and entered it by the east gate; and he had not stood there long when he saw the sun go down. In his mind he called to mind and accorded with the instruction of the bodhisattvas, thirsting to see that night goddess, and toward the good friend he gave rise to the thought that he was looking upon a tathāgata; and he thought further in this way:
“By the good friend one gains the eye that reaches everywhere, and is everywhere able to see clearly the objective realms of the ten directions; by the good friend one gains the vast and great understanding, and is everywhere able to penetrate all that the mind takes as its object (every objective realm upon which the mind lays hold); by the good friend one gains the eye of samādhi, and is everywhere able to contemplate all Dharma gates; by the good friend one gains the eye of wisdom, and is everywhere able to illumine clearly the seas of buddha-lands in the ten directions.”
Seeing the Friend, Her Recompense and Her Setting (Chengguan’s Outline): The Constellations Are All Upon Her Body
Just as he was thinking in this way, he saw that night goddess in the midst of empty space, seated within a jeweled storied pavilion upon a lion throne in a treasury of fragrant lotus flowers, her body the color of true gold, her eyes and hair blue-black (a deep blue tinged with red), her form and features upright and adorned, so that all who saw her rejoiced; with the many kinds of jeweled necklaces her body was adorned, she was clothed in a vermilion garment, upon her head she wore a brahmā crown, and all the constellations appeared plainly upon her body.
Within each and every pore upon her body there appeared images of her converting and delivering measureless and numberless sentient beings of the evil destinies and causing them to escape from peril; and of these sentient beings, some were born among human beings, some were born among the devas, some turned toward the awakening of the two vehicles (the śrāvakas and the pratyekabuddhas), some cultivated the way of all-knowledge. And within each and every one of those pores she displayed every kind of skillful means of teaching and converting: for some she manifested a body, for some she expounded the Dharma, for some she displayed the way of the śrāvaka vehicle, for some she displayed the way of the pratyekabuddha vehicle, for some she displayed the practices of the bodhisattvas, the bodhisattvas’ valor, the bodhisattvas’ samādhi, the bodhisattvas’ mastery, the bodhisattvas’ dwelling place, the bodhisattvas’ contemplation, the bodhisattvas’ lion’s stretching (the mark of a lion stretching itself out, a simile for the great working that is without fear), the bodhisattvas’ sporting in liberation — in such ways as these did she bring sentient beings to ripeness.
Paying Respect and Inquiring (Chengguan’s Outline): I Would Walk to the Ground of the Ten Powers
When Sudhana the youth had seen and heard all this, his mind was greatly gladdened; he threw his body down upon the ground, bowed to the feet of the night goddess, circled her numberless times, and before her joined his palms and spoke in this way:
“Holy one! I have already, before this, raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi (the mind of unsurpassed, right, and equal awakening), and in my mind I hope, relying upon good friends, to obtain the treasury of the Dharma that is the merit and virtue of all the tathāgatas. Would that you would reveal to me the way of all-knowledge, so that walking in that way I may come to the ground of the ten powers (the ten powers being a tathāgata’s ten kinds of knowledge-power)!”
Praise (Chengguan’s Outline): Since You Revere the Good Friend in This Way, You Will Certainly Gain It
At that time, that night goddess said to Sudhana:
“Good, good! Son of good family! You are able, with a deep mind, to revere good friends, to delight in hearing their words, and to cultivate their teaching; and because of that cultivating, you will certainly gain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.
Setting Forth the Name and the Substance (Chengguan’s Outline): The Liberation of the Light of the Dharma That Breaks the Deluded Darkness of All Sentient Beings
“Son of good family! I have gained the bodhisattva liberation of ‘the light of the Dharma that breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings.’
Nine Kinds of Sentient Being, Nine Kinds of Mind: For Every Kind of Person, One Kind of Mind
“Son of good family! Toward sentient beings of evil understanding (people whose views are upside down) I raise the mind of great kindness; toward sentient beings who do unwholesome deeds I raise the mind of great compassion; toward sentient beings who do wholesome deeds I raise the mind of rejoicing; toward sentient beings who have both kinds of conduct, good and evil, I raise the mind that is not two (the mind that does not discriminate and take up or reject); toward defiled sentient beings I raise the mind that causes purity to arise in them; toward sentient beings on wrong paths I raise the mind that causes right conduct to arise in them; toward sentient beings of low understanding (people whose understanding is narrow) I raise the mind that causes great understanding to be roused in them; toward sentient beings who delight in birth and death I raise the mind that causes them to cast off turning in the round; toward sentient beings who abide in the way of the two vehicles I raise the mind that causes them to abide in all-knowledge. Son of good family! Because I have gained this liberation, I am constantly matched with minds such as these.
The Ten Gates of Rescuing and Gathering In (Chengguan’s Outline) · The General Statement: When the Night Is Deep, the Voices Still, and Heaven and Earth Wholly Dark
“Son of good family! At the time when the color of night is dark and the voices of people are still, when ghosts, spirits, robbers, and every kind of evil being come forth to roam; at the time when dense clouds, heavy fogs, evil winds, and violent rains cover over the sun, the moon, and the constellations so that no color of them can be seen — I see sentient beings, some entering the sea, some walking upon the land, in mountain forests, in the wilds, in every kind of perilous place, some meeting with robbers, some lacking provisions, some confused as to their direction, some having lost the road, alarmed and afraid and unable to get themselves out — and at that time I rescue them by every kind of skillful means.
The First Gate: Rescuing from Peril at Sea — She Becomes Shipmaster, Fish King, Sea God
“For those in peril at sea, I display myself as a shipmaster, a fish king, a horse king, a tortoise king, an elephant king, an asura king, and a sea spirit; for those sentient beings I still the evil winds and rains, quiet the great waves, lead them upon their road, and show them where the shore and the islands are, causing them to be free of dread and all to gain peace and security. And I think further in this way: ‘With these roots of goodness I dedicate and bestow upon sentient beings, vowing to cause them to cast off every kind of suffering.’
The Second Gate: Rescuing from the Darkness of Night upon Land — She Becomes Sun, Moon, and Constellations, Morning Haze and Evening Lightning
“For all sentient beings upon the land who meet with dread in the darkness of night, I manifest myself as the sun, as the moon, and as the constellations, as the haze of morning and the lightning of evening, as every kind of light; or I make houses and dwellings, or I make crowds of people, causing them to be freed from the calamity of dread. And I think further in this way: ‘With these roots of goodness I dedicate and bestow upon sentient beings, causing them all to put out the darkness of the afflictions.’
The Third Gate: Rescuing Those Who Do Not Gain What They Seek and Those Who Walk in Mountain Peril — Six Things Not Answering to What Was Sought
All sentient beings — some cherish long life, some love a good name, some covet wealth and treasure, some hold rank and office weighty, some cling to sons and daughters, some are enamored of wife and concubine — and when what they seek does not answer to their mind, sorrow and dread arise in them abundantly; all of these I rescue, causing them to leave suffering behind.
The Third Gate, Continued — Mountain Peril: She Becomes a Good Spirit, a Fine Bird, a Numinous Herb
“For those who walk the perilous roads among the mountains and are held back by hindrances, I become for them a good spirit, manifesting a form and drawing near; I become for them a fine bird, putting forth a voice to console and gladden them; I become for them a numinous herb, spreading out a light and shining upon them; I show them where the fruit trees are, I show them where the springs and wells are, I show them the straight road, I show them the level ground, causing them to escape from every sorrow and calamity.
The Third Gate, Concluded — The Wilds: Turning the Road on the Ground into the Road in the Mind
“For those who walk in the wilds, in dense forests, upon perilous roads, who are entangled by creepers and darkened by cloud and fog and are afraid, I show them the right road, causing them to get out. And I make a vow in this way: ‘May all sentient beings fell the dense forest of views, cut through the net of craving, come out of the wilds of birth and death, put out the darkness of the afflictions, enter the level and right road of all-knowledge, and reach the place without fear, in ultimate peace and joy.’
The Fourth Gate: Rescuing Those Who Delight in and Cling to Their Land — She Makes Them Weary of It
“Son of good family! If there are sentient beings who delight in and cling to their land and are made sorrowful by it, I use skillful means to make weariness and detachment arise in them. And I make a vow in this way: ‘May all sentient beings not cling to the aggregates (the five classes of dharmas of body and mind — form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness), and may they abide in the objective realm of the sarvajña (all-knowledge) of all the buddhas.’
The Fifth Gate: Rescuing Those Who Delight in and Cling to Their Village — The Six Sense-Fields Are That Village
“Son of good family! If there are sentient beings who delight in and cling to their village, who covet and love their houses, who dwell constantly in darkness and undergo every kind of suffering, I expound the Dharma for them, causing weariness and detachment to arise in them, causing the Dharma to be complete in them, causing them to abide by the Dharma. And I make a vow in this way: ‘May all sentient beings none of them covet and delight in that village which is the six sense-fields (the six gates of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind), may they swiftly get out of the objective realm of birth and death, and may they ultimately abide in the city of all-knowledge.’
The Sixth Gate: Rescuing from the Dark Night — Those Who Take the Level Road for a Perilous One
“Son of good family! If there are sentient beings who walk in the dark of night, who are confused as to the ten directions, who upon a level road give rise to the thought of peril and upon a perilous road give rise to the thought of levelness, who take what is high for low and what is low for high, their minds confused, so that great suffering and vexation arise in them —
I use skillful means to spread out a light and shine upon them; for those who would come out, I show them the doorway; for those who would walk, I show them the road; for those who would cross a ditch or a channel, I show them the bridge; for those who would ford a river or a sea, I give them a boat or a raft; for those who like to look out upon the directions, I show them where it is perilous and where easy, where safe and where dangerous; for those who would rest, I show them where the walled towns, the waters, and the trees are.
And I make a vow in this way: ‘Just as here I shine upon the darkness of night and put it away, causing all the affairs of the world to be set out plainly, so may I everywhere, in the long night of birth and death of all sentient beings and in the dark places of ignorance, shine upon them all with the light of wisdom.
The Seventh Gate: Rescuing from Delusion and Karma — From the Four Inversions to the Five Heinous Deeds
These sentient beings have no eye of knowledge, and are covered and veiled by the thought, the mind, and the views that are upside down: they take what is impermanent for permanent, what is not joy for joy, what is not self for self, what is impure for pure; they hold firmly to a self, a person, a sentient being, they hold to the dharmas of the aggregates, the elements (the eighteen elements: the six faculties, six objects, and six consciousnesses), and the sense-fields (the twelve sense-fields: the six faculties and their six objects); they are confused about cause and effect, they do not recognize good and evil, they kill sentient beings and so on to raising wrong views, they are unfilial to father and mother, they do not revere śramaṇas or brahmins, they do not know who is an evil person, they do not recognize who is a good person, they covet and cling to evil affairs, they abide in wrong dharmas, they slander the tathāgatas, they break the wheel of the right Dharma, they curse, shame, and injure the bodhisattvas, they slight the way of the Great Vehicle, they sever the mind of awakening, they turn upon those to whom they owe kindness and kill them instead, and where no kindness is owed they constantly harbor grudges, they slander the worthies and the sages, they draw near to evil companions, they steal what belongs to stūpas and temples, they commit the five heinous deeds (killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an arhat, shedding a buddha’s blood, and breaking the harmony of the saṃgha) — and before long they will fall into the place of the three evil destinies.
May I swiftly, with the light of great knowledge, break the dark ignorance of those sentient beings, and cause them speedily to raise the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.’
And once they have raised that mind, I then display for them the vehicle of Samantabhadra, and open up for them the way of the ten powers; and I display for them also the objective realm of the tathāgata, the Dharma-king; and I display for them also the city of all-knowledge of all the buddhas, the conduct of all the buddhas, the mastery of all the buddhas, the accomplishment of all the buddhas, the comprehensive holding of all the buddhas, the one body that all the buddhas share in common, and the place where all the buddhas are equal, causing them to abide therein.
The Eighth Gate: Rescuing from the Eight Sufferings — Sickness, Age, Poverty, and the Hour of Execution, When There Is Nothing to Rely On
“Son of good family! Among all sentient beings, some are bound by sickness, some are encroached upon by age, some are made to suffer by poverty, some meet with calamity, some transgress the king’s law and are about to undergo punishment, having nothing to rely upon, so that great dread arises in them; all of these I rescue, causing them to gain peace and security. And I think further in this way: ‘May I, by the Dharma, everywhere gather in sentient beings, causing them to be liberated from every affliction, from birth, old age, sickness, and death, from sorrow, grief, and the trouble of suffering, to draw near to good friends, constantly to practice the giving of the Dharma, diligently to practice wholesome deeds, swiftly to gain the pure Dharma body of a tathāgata, and to abide in the place that is ultimate and does not change.’
The Ninth Gate: Rescuing from Evil Views — Those Who Take the Rightly Awakened for the Not Rightly Awakened
“Son of good family! Among all sentient beings, there are those who enter the dense forest of views, who abide upon wrong paths, who give rise to wrong discrimination toward every kind of objective realm, who constantly do unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, who falsely perform every kind of wrong austerity, who toward what is not the rightly awakened give rise to the thought of the rightly awakened and toward the very place of the rightly awakened give rise instead to the thought of what is not the rightly awakened, who are gathered in by evil friends and thereby raise evil views and are about to fall into the evil destinies; and I, by every kind of gate of skillful means, rescue and guard them, causing them to abide in right view and to be born among human beings and gods.
And I think further in this way: ‘Just as I rescue these sentient beings who are about to fall into the evil destinies, so may I everywhere rescue and guard all sentient beings, causing them all to be liberated from every kind of suffering, to abide in the sagely way of the pāramitās (the practices that reach the far shore) that goes beyond the world, to be irreversible with respect to all-knowledge, to be furnished with the vow of Samantabhadra, to draw near to all-knowledge and yet not to cast off the practices of the bodhisattvas, and constantly to be diligent in teaching and converting all sentient beings.’”
Restating in Verse (Chengguan’s Outline) (1): The Name and Substance of the Dharma Gate, and the Four Measureless Minds
At that time, Vāsantī, the goddess who presides over the night, wishing to state again the meaning of this liberation, received the spiritual power of the Buddha, contemplated the ten directions, and spoke verses for Sudhana the youth, saying:
“This gate of liberation of mine brings forth the pure light of the Dharma, and is able to break the darkness of delusion — when the time comes, only then is it expounded.
“In the boundless kalpas of the past I diligently practiced vast and great kindness, covering over all the worlds everywhere — this the sons of the Buddha ought to learn.
“The still sea of great compassion brings forth the buddhas of the three times and is able to put out the suffering of sentient beings — you ought to enter this gate.
“It can give birth to the joy of the world, and gives birth also to the joy beyond the world, and makes my mind rejoice — you ought to enter this gate.
“Having already cast away the trouble of what is conditioned, and being far also from the fruit of the śrāvakas, purely do I cultivate the powers of the buddhas — you ought to enter this gate.
Restating in Verse (Chengguan’s Outline) (2): The Purity of the Six Sense-Faculties — Eye, Ear, Nose, Tongue
“My eye is utterly pure, and everywhere sees the lands of the ten directions, and sees also the buddhas within them seated beneath the tree of awakening,
bodies adorned with the marks and signs, surrounded by measureless assemblies, and within each and every pore every kind of light coming forth;
and I see the kinds of living beings dying here and being born there, turning in the round among the five destinies, constantly undergoing measureless suffering.
“My ear is utterly pure, and there is nothing it hears that it does not reach; the whole sea of speech and language it hears entire and is able to hold in memory;
and when the buddhas turn the wheel of the Dharma, that sound is subtle and beyond compare, and all the graphs that there are it is wholly able to hold in memory.
“My nose is utterly pure, and toward the Dharma is unobstructed; in all things it gains mastery — you ought to enter this gate.
“My tongue is utterly broad and great, clean and fine and able to speak, and according to what is fitting expounds the wondrous Dharma — you ought to enter this gate.
Restating in Verse (Chengguan’s Outline) (3): Body and Mind
“My body is utterly pure, even and just so throughout the three times, and according to the minds of all sentient beings it wholly appears.
“My mind is pure and unobstructed, as empty space holds the ten thousand images; everywhere it calls the tathāgatas to mind, and yet it raises no discrimination.
It knows measureless lands, the whole sea of all minds, the faculties and the desires and delights, and yet it raises no discrimination.
Restating in Verse (Chengguan’s Outline) (4): The Vastness of the Working
“With great spiritual power I shake measureless lands, and my body wholly goes everywhere, taming those sentient beings who are hard to tame.
“My merit is utterly vast and great, as empty space is without end; I make offerings to the tathāgatas and benefit all sentient beings.
“My knowledge is vast, great, and pure, and knows the sea of all dharmas, and puts away the doubts of sentient beings — you ought to enter this gate.
“I know the buddhas of the three times and all dharmas as well, and penetrate also their skillful means; this gate reaches everywhere and has no compare.
“Within each and every dust mote I see all the lands of the three times, and see also the buddhas therein — this is the power of the universal gate.
“Within the dust motes of the lands of the ten directions I wholly see Rocana seated beneath the tree of awakening, accomplishing the way and expounding the wondrous Dharma.”
Raising Two Questions (Chengguan’s Outline): How Long Ago Did You Raise the Mind
At that time, Sudhana the youth said to the night goddess: “How long ago was it that you raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? And how long has it been since you gained this liberation, that you are able to benefit sentient beings in this way?”
Answering the Time of Raising the Mind (Chengguan’s Outline) · The First Life of the Past: In That Life I Was the King’s Consort
That goddess answered, saying:
“Son of good family! In an age of long ago, past kalpas as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru, there was a kalpa named ‘Still Light,’ and a world named ‘Bringing Forth Wondrous Jewels,’ and five hundred million buddhas appeared within it. Within that world there were four continents named ‘Jewel-Moon Lamplight’; and there was a city named ‘Lotus Light’; and the king’s name was ‘Good Dharma Measure,’ who carried on his teaching by the Dharma, accomplished the seven treasures, and reigned as king over the four continents. The king had a consort named ‘Dharma-Wisdom Moon,’ and the night being deep she was asleep. At that time, to the east of that city there was a great forest named ‘Still Dwelling,’ and in the forest there was a great tree of awakening named ‘the Light of the Spiritual Power of All Buddhas Brought Forth from the Body Adorned by the King of All-Light Maṇi Jewels.’
“At that time there was a buddha named ‘King of the Thunder-Voice of All Dharmas,’ who beneath this tree accomplished right and equal awakening, and sent forth a vast and great light of measureless colors that shone throughout the world Bringing Forth Wondrous Jewels. Within the city Lotus Light there was a goddess who presides over the night, named ‘Pure Moon,’ who came to the place of the king’s consort Dharma-Wisdom Moon and shook the necklaces upon her body to wake the consort, and told her, saying:
‘Let the consort know that the tathāgata King of the Thunder-Voice of All Dharmas has accomplished unsurpassed awakening in the forest Still Dwelling.’ And she expounded for her at length the merit and virtue of the buddhas, their mastery and spiritual power, and all the practices and vows of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra.
Thereupon she caused the king’s consort to raise the intent of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi and to make offerings to that buddha and to the bodhisattvas, the śrāvakas, and the assembly of monks.
Bringing Past and Present Together (Chengguan’s Outline): That Consort Was I
“Son of good family! The king’s consort Dharma-Wisdom Moon of that time — could she be another person? She is this very body of mine!
The Benefit Accomplished by Raising the Mind (Chengguan’s Outline): For Eighty Kalpas of Sumeru-Dust I Constantly Received Peace and Joy
“Because in the presence of that buddha I raised the mind of awakening and planted roots of goodness, for kalpas as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru I was not born among the evil destinies of the hells, the hungry ghosts, or the animals, nor was I born into a lowly house; my faculties were complete, I had no sufferings, among gods and human beings my merit was surpassing, I was not born in an evil age, I was constantly not apart from the buddhas and from the bodhisattvas and the great good friends, and constantly in their presence I planted roots of goodness, and through kalpas as many as the dust motes of eighty Mount Sumerus I constantly received peace and joy — and yet the faculties of a bodhisattva were not yet complete in me.
Answering How Long Ago the Dharma Was Gained (Chengguan’s Outline) · The Second Life of the Past: In That Life I Was the Daughter of the Elder Renown
“When that kalpa had passed, and a further ten thousand kalpas had passed, before the Worthy Kalpa there was a kalpa named ‘Sorrowless Universal Shining,’ and a world named ‘Stainless Wondrous Light.’ Within that world the pure and the defiled were mingled together, and five hundred buddhas appeared within it. The first of these buddhas was named ‘Sumeru-Banner Still and Wondrous Eye,’ tathāgata, worthy (worthy of offerings), rightly and equally awakened; I was the daughter of the elder Renown, named ‘Wondrous Wisdom Light,’ upright and surpassingly fine.
That night goddess Pure Moon, by the power of her vow, was born in one set of four continents in the world Stainless, in the city of King Wondrous Banner, and became a goddess presiding over the night, named ‘Pure Eye.’ At a certain time I was at the side of my father and mother, and the night being deep I was asleep and resting. That Pure Eye came to where I was, shook my house and dwelling, sent forth a great light, made her body appear, and praised the merit and virtue of the Buddha, saying:
‘The tathāgata Wondrous Eye is seated upon the seat of awakening and has just now accomplished right awakening.’
Thereupon she exhorted me, and my father and mother, and all our kinsfolk, to go swiftly and see the Buddha; and she herself went before as our guide and led us to where the Buddha was, and we set forth offerings on a great scale.
Gaining the Samādhi and Gaining the Liberation (Chengguan’s Outline): At the First Sight of the Buddha, the Samādhi · Because of Hearing the Dharma, the Liberation
“No sooner had I seen the Buddha than I gained a samādhi named ‘the Wheel of the Light of Knowledge of the Three Times That Brings Forth the Seeing of Buddhas and the Taming of Sentient Beings.’ Because I obtained this samādhi, I was able to call to mind kalpas as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru, and to see also the buddhas who appeared within them, and in the presence of those buddhas to hear the wondrous Dharma; and because of hearing the Dharma, I then gained this liberation of ‘the light of the Dharma that breaks the darkness of all sentient beings.’
Having gained this liberation, I then saw my own body going everywhere to worlds as many as the dust motes of buddha-lands, and saw also all the buddhas of those worlds, and saw further my own body in the presence of those buddhas; and I saw also all the sentient beings of those worlds, and understood their speech and sounds, and knew their faculties and natures, and knew that in the past they had been gathered in by good friends, and according to what they delighted in I manifested a body for them, causing gladness to arise in them.
Displaying the Working at Length (Chengguan’s Outline): Growing Thought by Thought, until It Fills the Dharma Realm
“The liberation that I gained there at that time grew thought by thought, and this mind had no interval; and I saw further my own body going everywhere to worlds as many as the dust motes of a hundred buddha-lands, and this mind had no interval; and I saw further my own body going everywhere to worlds as many as the dust motes of a thousand buddha-lands, and this mind had no interval; and I saw further my own body going everywhere to worlds as many as the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands. In this way, thought following upon thought, and so on until I went everywhere to worlds as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, and I saw also all the tathāgatas within those worlds; and I saw myself, too, in the presence of those buddhas, hearing the wondrous Dharma, holding and remembering it, contemplating and resolving it; and I knew also the seas of the past deeds of those buddhas and the seas of their great vows; and the buddha-lands that those tathāgatas adorned and purified, I too adorned and purified; and I saw also all the sentient beings of those worlds, and according to what was fitting for them I manifested a body for them and taught, converted, and tamed them. This gate of liberation grew thought by thought, and in this way it came at last to fill the Dharma realm.
Humbling Herself and Pointing to the Superior (Chengguan’s Outline): I Know Only This One
“Son of good family! I know only this bodhisattva liberation of ‘the light of the Dharma that breaks the darkness of all sentient beings.’ As for the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, they accomplish the boundless practices and vows of Samantabhadra, they enter everywhere the seas of all Dharma realms, they gain the bodhisattvas’ samādhi of the mastery of the adamantine banner of knowledge, they bring forth great vows, they hold and sustain the lineage of the buddhas; in thought after thought they fill out and complete the whole sea of great merit and virtue, and adorn and purify all vast and great worlds; with knowledge that is at will they teach, convert, and ripen all sentient beings; with the sun of wisdom they put away the dark obstacles of all the worlds; with valiant knowledge they awaken all sentient beings from their torpid sleep; with the moon of wisdom they resolve the doubts of all sentient beings; with a pure voice they sever the clinging of all becoming; and within each and every dust mote of all the Dharma realm they display all mastery and spiritual power, their eye of knowledge clear and pure, seeing evenly throughout the three times — and how then could I be able to know their wondrous practice, or to tell of their merit and virtue, or to enter their objective realm, or to display their mastery?
Pointing Out the Next Friend (Chengguan’s Outline): Universal Virtue Pure Light, within the Site of Awakening
“Son of good family! Here in Jambudvīpa, within the site of awakening in the country of Magadha, there is a goddess who presides over the night, named ‘Universal Virtue Pure Light.’ It was from her that I originally raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, and she constantly awakens me with the wondrous Dharma. Go to her and ask: how is a bodhisattva to learn the bodhisattva practice and to cultivate the bodhisattva way?”
Verses Cherishing Her Virtue (Chengguan’s Outline) (1): Praising the Surpassing Excellence of Her Body and Mind
At that time, Sudhana the youth, facing the goddess Vāsantī, spoke verses, saying:
“I see your pure body, its marks and signs surpassing the world, like Mañjuśrī, and like the king of jeweled mountains.
“Your Dharma body is pure, and throughout the three times wholly even; the worlds enter wholly within it, and neither their forming nor their breaking obstructs it.
“I look upon all the destinies, and everywhere see your form and image; and within each and every pore the stars and the moon are set out each in its place.
“Your mind is utterly vast and great, filling the ten directions as empty space does; the buddhas enter wholly within it, pure and without discrimination.
Verses Cherishing Her Virtue (2): Making Clear That the Great Working Has No Bound
“Within each and every pore numberless lights are wholly sent forth, and in the presence of the buddhas of the ten directions they everywhere rain down the implements of adornment.
“Within each and every pore numberless bodies each appear, and within the lands of the ten directions by skillful means they deliver sentient beings.
“Within each and every pore measureless lands are displayed, and according to the desires and delights of sentient beings they are purified in every kind of way.
Verses Cherishing Her Virtue (3): The Benefit to Beings Is Not in Vain
“If there are sentient beings who hear your name and see your body, they all obtain the benefit of merit and virtue and accomplish the way of awakening.
“Those who for many kalpas have been in the evil destinies only then get to see and hear of you, and they too ought to receive it with gladness, because it can put out the afflictions.
Verses Cherishing Her Virtue (4): Concluding That Her Virtue Is Without End
“Through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a thousand lands one might praise the virtue of a single hair of yours; the number of the kalpas could still be exhausted, but the merit and virtue would in the end have no end.”
Cherishing Her Virtue and Taking Leave (Chengguan’s Outline)
At that time, when Sudhana the youth had finished speaking these verses, he bowed to her feet, circled her measureless times, gazed up at her with earnest longing, and took his leave and departed.
從這一位起，善財走進了十地
前面三十位善知識，善財一站一站問過來。到這一位婆珊婆演底夜神，本會之科換了一段。澄觀在此立一總綱，說「自下大文第五有十善友，寄十地位，即分十段。第一婆珊婆演底夜神，寄歡喜地」——自此以下十位善友，古德配為十地，這一位配初地歡喜地。
澄觀明判
要先排一個誤解：這個『配』不是經文自己說的。經文從頭到尾沒有一句說這位夜神是初地。澄觀於本品科段早已把分寸交代清楚，說「二皆有理，謂隨一一位具多法門，豈容凡心不得習求善友之法，故不配有理。然無次位中不礙次位，顯位是常規，配亦無失」——配也有理，不配也有理；位次是常規，配上去不會錯，但也不礙一位之中具足多門。
落到地上：讀這一節時，『初地』是一副眼鏡，不是一道判決。戴上它看得見脈絡，摘下它經文照樣完整。
出發之前，先把上一位的東西帶上
本節起手不是走路，是憶持。善財「一心思惟安住神教，憶持菩薩不可沮壞智藏解脫」，接著八個動詞：修其三昧、學其軌則、觀其遊戲、入其微妙、得其智慧、達其平等、知其無邊、測其甚深——一路加深。
為什麼要這樣寫？因為前一位安住地神所授的是「不可沮壞智藏」，這種法不是聽懂就算得到，要在路上一層一層地進去。澄觀科這一段，說是「先依前修證、後「漸次」下趣求後友」——先把已得的坐實了，才談往下一位去。
排一個誤解：以為參學是換題目。經文的次第正相反——上一站的所得，就是走向下一站的腳力。落到地上：離開一位老師之後那段路上你在做什麼，決定了到下一位那裡能看見什麼。
從東門進去，站了一會兒，太陽落了
善財到城，「從東門入，佇立未久，便見日沒」。這兩句像行路的閒筆，澄觀卻各給了一義：東門者，「開明之初，顯入證之始故」；日沒者，「是夜神故，表分別見日皆已亡故」。
一句話裡兩層意思：東方是天亮的方向，配初入證位之始；日沒不是天黑倒楣，是那個分別的太陽落下去了——要見夜神，先得天黑。
排一個誤解：以為經文寫日落是為了交代時間。若只是交代時間，何必偏偏配上東門。落到地上：所有靠著分別之明看見的東西，在真正的夜裡都不管用；肯讓那個明落下去，才等得到另一種光。
四個「由善知識」
善財等待的時候，心裡起了四念，句句以「由善知識」起：得周遍眼，能明見十方境界；得廣大解，能了達一切所緣；得三昧眼，能觀察一切法門；得智慧眼，能明照十方剎海。
為什麼在見面之前先起這四念？因為眼與解不是善知識送你的物件，是隨著親近而在自己身上長出來的。四句之中兩句是眼、一句是解、一句還是眼——三眼一解，所對的是境界、所緣、法門、剎海。
排一個誤解：以為「由善知識得」是把功勞讓給別人的客氣話。經文列的是四種能力的來歷，不是禮貌。落到地上：檢查自己親近了誰，看的不是感情，是這四樣有沒有在長。
她在虛空裡，一身星宿
念頭正起的時候，人就見到了：夜神在虛空之中，坐寶樓閣香蓮華藏師子之座，身真金色，目髮紺青，眾寶瓔珞，身服朱衣，首戴梵冠，「一切星宿炳然在體」。
為什麼不在地上見，要在空中見？澄觀說「於空見者，城表教道，空表證道，宗說兼通，如日處空故。服朱衣者，證智明顯故」——城是教、空是證，人在城裡而見在空中，是說教與證同時現前。至於一身星宿，澄觀又說「法門星像不離一身，如體化生作用不離一毛之性」。
排一個誤解：以為這是神話式的裝飾。落到地上：滿天的星不在天上而在她身上——所化的一切，本來就沒有離開能化者的體。
毛孔裡演的，是她做過的事
接著經文寫毛孔。先說「於其身上一一毛孔，皆現化度無量無數惡道眾生，令其免離險難之像」——每個毛孔裡都在演救人；救出來的眾生，有的生人中，有的生天上，有的趣二乘菩提，有的修一切智道。
再說毛孔中「示現種種教化方便」：現身、說法、示聲聞乘道、示獨覺乘道，乃至示諸菩薩行、勇猛、三昧、自在、住處、觀察、師子頻申、解脫遊戲。前一段是果——救成了什麼；後一段是因——用什麼手段救。
排一個誤解：以為毛孔現相是善知識在顯神通給客人看。落到地上：善財還沒問一個字，這位老師的履歷已經全部攤開了。所謂授法，先授的是『我做過什麼』。
善財要的不是安慰，是十力之地
善財見了，投地禮足，繞無數匝，合掌說：我已先發菩提心，冀望依善知識獲諸如來功德法藏，「唯願示我一切智道，我行於中，至十力地」。
這句話有三節：先報自己的起點——已發心；再說所求的來源——依善知識；末說目的地——十力地。十力是佛的十力，所以他要的不是脫難，是走到底。
夜神的回答先不給法，先給一句印可：「善哉善哉！善男子！汝能深心敬善知識，樂聞其語，修行其教」——敬、聞、修三事俱，才接「以修行故，決定當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」。
排一個誤解：以為稱讚是客套。她讚的是三件具體的事，而且把「決定當得」繫在第三件上。落到地上：敬與聞若不落到修，那句「決定」就沒有著落處。
法門的名字裡，藏著它的體
她自報法門：「我得菩薩破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫」。名字三節：所破是眾生癡暗，能破是法光明，所成是解脫。
澄觀就這個名字拆了兩層。第一層配所破能破，說「一切眾生癡暗者，即所破二愚。法光明者，即是能破二無我智」——癡暗不是籠統的糊塗，是有所指的二愚；法光明也不是泛說的光，是二無我智。第二層合而為一，說「又破眾生闇為悲，法光明是智，悲智具故」。
那二愚各指什麼？澄觀於〈十地品〉釋初地所斷，說「一執著我法愚，即異生障；二惡趣雜染愚，即惡趣諸業果等」。前一愚是執我執法之愚，所斷者即異生性障——凡夫之所以為凡夫的那一分，此障障於初地；後一愚是造惡趣之業、受惡趣之果的那一分雜染。能破的二無我智，即人無我與法無我：破執我之愚者是人無我，破執法之愚者是法無我；我法之執一破，異生性隨之而斷，惡趣的業果也就不再續造。澄觀於本節只標其名而指歸〈十地品〉，其《演義鈔》亦說「其二愚二無我等，並如〈地品〉」。
排一個誤解：以為「破一切眾生癡暗」是破別人的暗。所破的二愚是一切眾生分上的，她自己當初也在其中——第二世的她，正是被夜神震動宅舍叫醒的。落到地上：能破他人之暗的那個光，與斷自己異生性的那個智，是同一個。
排一個誤解：以為這個法門是『照亮別人』的慈善事業。落到地上：破他人之暗那一面是悲，法光明那一面是智；名字裡本來就有兩隻手，缺一隻就不是這個法門。
九種人，九種心
法門既標，先說心。她列九對：對惡慧眾生起大慈心，對不善業眾生起大悲心，對作善業眾生起於喜心，對善惡二行眾生起不二心，對雜染眾生起令生清淨心，對邪道眾生起令生正行心，對劣解眾生起令興大解心，對樂生死眾生起令捨輪轉心，對住二乘道眾生起令住一切智心。
前四心是慈悲喜與不二，後五心句句作「令生」「令興」「令捨」「令住」——前四是自己心上的量，後五是對他人的引。她末後說「我以得此解脫故，常與如是心共相應」——這九心不是臨事才調，是解脫之後的常態。
排一個誤解：以為對作善業的人只需隨喜、對作惡的人才需慈悲。經文九種人一個不漏，連善惡混雜的、連已在二乘道上的，都各有一心。落到地上：能對哪一種人起不出心來，那一格就是自己的缺口。
十門救攝：從一個「夜」字開始
心說完，說事。她先總明時處：「我於夜闇人靜，鬼、神、盜賊、諸惡眾生所遊行時」，密雲重霧、惡風暴雨、日月星宿並皆昏蔽，見眾生入海行陸、遇盜乏糧、迷方失路，慞惶憂怖不能自出，「我時即以種種方便而救濟之」。
澄觀把這一段拆成四事，說「今初，有四種：一夜等為救時、二海等為救處、三遭盜等為所救、四種種方便為能救」——時、處、機、法四樣齊了，才談得上救。以下九門是這四樣的展開，澄觀科其全段云「於中十門：初一總明、「為海難」下別顯」。
排一個誤解：以為「夜」只是背景。落到地上：這位善知識的一切作用都設在最暗的那一刻——不是等天亮再說，是就在看不見的時候動手。
每一門都有兩節：先救眼前，後發大願
九門的體例是同一個。澄觀點得很清楚，說「後九門別顯中，文皆有二：先救世苦令得世樂、後以迴向大願令其究竟離苦得樂」。先一節寫現形作事，後一節以「復作是念」或「作是念言」領起一段迴向願；只有第七門惑業之救承著第六門的願文說下去，不另起領句。經文中這兩個領句，救攝諸門之內復作是念四見、作是念言四見；另有善財未見夜神之前的四念也作復作是念，不在救攝之列，合全段則復作是念五見。
為什麼要有第二節？因為第一節救的是這一次的難，第二節要的是永不再有這種難。少了後一節，這位夜神就只是個救援隊。
排一個誤解：以為發願是救完之後的形式禮節。落到地上：眼前這件事做完了還肯再發一個願，那個願才是把一次的善行接上無盡的接口。
第一門 海裡：她變成船師，也變成海神
「為海難者，示作船師、魚王、馬王、龜王、象王、阿脩羅王及以海神」——七種身。所作是止惡風雨、息大波浪、引其道路、示其洲岸，令免怖畏悉得安隱。願是「以此善根，迴施眾生，願令捨離一切諸苦」。
七種身裡，有人、有獸、有神。她不挑一個體面的身分，只挑當下這片海裡最能救人的那個。所作四事也極實際：止風、息浪、指路、指岸——沒有一句是說法。
排一個誤解：以為菩薩救人一定先講道理。落到地上：人在浪裡的時候，救他上岸就是那一刻唯一該做的法。願放在後面，不放在前面。
第二門 陸上：她變成日月，也變成一群人
「為在陸地一切眾生於夜暗中遭恐怖者」，她現作日月星宿、晨霞夕電種種光明，或作屋宅，或為人眾。願是令眾生「悉令除滅諸煩惱暗」。
第三門 求不得及行山險：未稱所求的六樣
第二門之後還接一段：眾生有惜壽命、有愛名聞、有貪財寶、有重官位、有著男女、有戀妻妾，未稱所求多生憂怖，「我皆救濟，令其離苦」。澄觀牒此句為第三門之首，作「一切眾生」下救求不得及行山險眾生——求不得與山險合為一門，其下曠野一段亦屬之。
排一個誤解：以為夜裡的恐怖只是黑。經文接著列的六樣——命、名、財、位、子女、配偶——沒有一樣是黑暗造成的，卻同樣叫人夜裡睡不著。落到地上：「或為人眾」四個字最見手段，怕黑的人有時只需要旁邊有人。
第三門之續 山裡：善神·好鳥·靈藥
「為行山險而留難者，為作善神，現形親近；為作好鳥，發音慰悅；為作靈藥，舒光照耀」，又示果樹、示泉井、示正直道、示平坦地，令其免離一切憂厄。
三現四示。現的是有情——神、鳥、藥草之光；示的是無情——樹、井、道、地。前者給的是陪伴與安心，後者給的是食、水、路、落腳處。山裡人所缺的，這七樣分毫不差。
排一個誤解：以為靈藥是給人吃的。經文說的是「舒光照耀」——在山裡發光的藥草，先是路標，才是藥。落到地上：救一個困在山裡的人，要的是這七件具體東西，不是一句鼓勵。
第三門之末 曠野：把地上的路換成心上的路
「為行曠野、稠林、險道，藤蘿所羂、雲霧所暗而恐怖者，示其正道，令得出離」。前一節極短，重量全在後面那個願：「願一切眾生，伐見稠林，截愛羅網，出生死野，滅煩惱暗，入一切智平坦正道，到無畏處畢竟安樂。」
看這兩節的字：稠林對見稠林，藤蘿對愛羅網，曠野對生死野，雲霧所暗對煩惱暗，正道對一切智平坦正道。前一節的每一樣東西，在願裡都換了一個對應的心上之物。
排一個誤解：以為這是修辭上的巧合。四樣一一對上，不是巧合，是有意的鋪排。落到地上：一個人真正走不出去的曠野，多半不在腳下。
第四門 樂著國土：她讓人生厭
「若有眾生，樂著國土而憂苦者；我以方便，令生厭離」，願是「願一切眾生不著諸蘊，住一切佛薩婆若境」。
這一門與前三門手法相反。前三門是給——給船、給光、給藥、給路；這一門是拿走，令他厭離。為什麼？前三門所救的是海、陸、山曠之難，其第三門已兼及惜命、愛名、貪財、重位、著男女、戀妻妾的未稱所求——那是求而不得之苦；這一門的苦卻在樂著已得的國土，是捨不得之苦。捨不得之苦，給再多也不解。願中把「國土」換成「諸蘊」——真正被貪著的那塊土地，是這副身心。
排一個誤解：以為「令生厭離」是叫人消沉。落到地上：厭離的對面不是空無，是薩婆若之境——拿走一樣，是為了放進另一樣。
第五門 樂著聚落：六個門的那座村子
「若有眾生，樂著聚落，貪愛宅舍，常處黑暗，受諸苦者；我為說法，令生厭離，令法滿足，令依法住」，願是「願一切眾生，悉不貪樂六處聚落，速得出離生死境界，究竟安住一切智城」。
這一門的手段是說法，而且三句遞進：令生厭離、令法滿足、令依法住——拿走、填滿、安住。願裡「六處聚落」四字最見經文的取喻：眼耳鼻舌身意六個門的那個村落，就是人捨不得搬走的宅舍；而所歸之處也是聚居之所——一切智城。
排一個誤解：以為出離就是離開人群。經文換的不是離群索居，是把村子換成城。落到地上：問題從來不是住在哪裡，是住的那個地方有沒有六個漏風的門。
第六門 闇夜：把平路看成險路的人
「若有眾生行暗夜中，迷惑十方，於平坦路生險難想，於險難道起平坦想，以高為下，以下為高」，心迷惑而生大苦惱。她的救法極細：欲出者示門戶，欲行者示道路，欲度溝洫示橋梁，欲涉河海與船筏，樂觀方者示險易安危之處，欲休息者示城邑水樹之所——六種人六樣東西，各給各的。
願分兩層。先是「如我於此照除夜暗，令諸世事悉得宣敘」，後是「願我普於一切眾生生死長夜、無明暗處，以智慧光普皆照了」。世間的夜與生死的長夜，用同一個「照」字接上。
排一個誤解：以為迷路的人需要的是同一份地圖。經文給了六樣不同的東西。落到地上：先問他想做什麼，再給那一樣。
第七門 惑業：從四種顛倒到五逆
這個願接下去，寫的不再是路，是眾生的病歷。先是四倒——「無常常想，無樂樂想，無我我想，不淨淨想」；再是執著我人眾生與蘊界處法；再往下，迷惑因果、不識善惡、殺害眾生乃至邪見、不孝父母、毀謗如來、壞正法輪、於諸菩薩呰辱傷害、輕大乘道、斷菩提心、盜塔寺物、作五逆罪——「不久當墮三惡道處」。
前面九句是見上的顛倒，後面一長串是行上的墜落；經文把二者接在一起寫，是說行的墜落從見的顛倒來。所以她的願不是願他們少造罪，是「願我速以大智光明，破彼眾生無明黑暗，令其疾發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心」。
排一個誤解：以為這一段是在指責眾生。這一段在願文之內，是所救的名單，不是罪狀。落到地上：對治的下手處不在行為的末端，在那個「想」字。
第七門之續：發心之後給什麼
「既發心已，示普賢乘，開十力道，亦示如來法王境界」，又示諸佛一切智城、諸佛所行、諸佛自在、諸佛成就、諸佛總持、一切諸佛共同一身、一切諸佛平等之處，令其安住。
注意這一句的位置——它接在『令其疾發菩提心』之後。前面千辛萬苦是為了把人從惡道邊上拉回來並令他發心；發心之後，她給的不是保護，是路：普賢乘、十力道，直到諸佛平等之處。善財一開始所求的「至十力地」，在這裡原句奉還。
排一個誤解：以為救度到發心就結束了。落到地上：發心不是終點，是這位善知識真正開始給東西的地方。
第八門 八苦：病老貧窮與臨刑，無所依怙的人
「一切眾生，或病所纏，或老所侵，或苦貧窮，或遭禍難，或犯王法，臨當受刑，無所依怙，生大怖畏；我皆救濟，使得安隱。」澄觀牒「或病所纏」立此為救八苦眾生一門。
願是：「願我以法普攝眾生，令其解脫一切煩惱、生老病死、憂悲苦患，近善知識，常行法施，勤行善業，速得如來清淨法身，住於究竟無變易處。」五件苦事在前，願裡卻先說「近善知識」再說「常行法施」——受過救的人，下一步是去救人。
排一個誤解：以為病老貧窮之苦只能靠緣分改善。落到地上：願的末句是「無變易處」——所有這些苦的共相是變易，所以究竟的解不在改善境遇，在那個不變易的地方。
第九門 惡見：把正覺當作不是正覺
末一門救的是見上出錯的人：「入見稠林，住於邪道，於諸境界起邪分別」，常行不善三業，妄作種種諸邪苦行，「於非正覺生正覺想，於正覺所非正覺想」，被惡知識攝受而起惡見，將墮惡道。她的救法是「令住正見，生人天中」。
但願文不止於人天。接著說「如我救此將墜惡道諸眾生等，願我普救一切眾生」，其所願者四節相承：「悉令解脫一切諸苦」是離苦；「住波羅蜜出世聖道」是從人天的正見更進一步——正見只把人拉回善趣，到彼岸之行才出得了世；「於一切智得不退轉」是這一步再不退回去；末後「具普賢願，近一切智，而不捨離諸菩薩行，常勤教化一切眾生」是不退之後不入寂滅——既近一切智而仍不捨菩薩行，仍舊回到眾生裡去教化。人天、出世、不退、不捨，一節深似一節，而末一節反身走回起點。
九門至此，從海難一路走到惡見。前八門所救之難多在遭遇——海、陸、山、曠野、國土、聚落、闇夜，以及病老貧窮；其第七門已就惑業說到見上的顛倒。這一門則專救見上出錯的人：於非正覺生正覺想，於正覺所非正覺想。判斷一錯，苦行越勤墮得越深。所以這一門所現的不是形、不是光，是正見。
排一個誤解：以為認錯老師只是運氣不好。經文說得直白——「為惡知識之所攝受，以起惡見」。落到地上：全篇讚歎善知識的一子，末一門正對著它的反面收尾。
二十一頌：把長行再說一遍，但換一種說法
長行說完，她「承佛神力，觀察十方」，為善財說二十一頌。澄觀判其分四：初一頌法門名體，次四頌舉因勸修即四無量，次十頌顯果令入即六處殊勝，後六頌明業用廣大。
第一頌標名，說「我此解脫門，生淨法光明，能破愚癡暗，待時而演說」——與長行的名字對上，末句多一個「待時」。次四頌是慈、悲、喜、捨：勤行廣大慈、寂靜大悲海、令我心歡喜、既捨有為患。四頌之中有二句是長行所無：第三頌說大悲「出生三世佛」——慈悲不只是救苦的手段，是出生諸佛的因地；第五頌說「既捨有為患，亦遠聲聞果」——捨有為是一重，遠聲聞果又是一重：出了有為之患而停在聲聞的果上，於這個法門仍是未到。
中十頌逐言目、耳、鼻、舌、身、心六根之清淨，各有其獨說之義。目所見者是十方剎中的佛坐菩提樹下，亦見眾生「輪迴五趣中，常受無量苦」——一眼之中，佛與眾生同時在內。耳所聞者是「一切語言海，悉聞能憶持」，聞而不失。鼻「於法無所礙」，舌「隨應演妙法」——一是入，一是出。身一頌最要緊：「三世等如如，隨諸眾生心，一切悉皆現」——身隨眾生之心而現，而其體三世平等如如；現而不動，動而不失其如。心二頌各繫一個否定：「普念諸如來，而亦不分別」「諸根及欲樂，而亦不分別」——遍念諸佛而不分別，遍知眾生根欲而不分別。無分別不是不知，是遍知而不起分別之想；若一起分別，所念之佛與所知之眾生就成了兩邊的東西。
後六頌言業用：神通震動無量剎而「調彼難調眾」——所調者是難調的那一類；福如虛空無盡而供佛饒益；智了諸法海而「除滅眾生惑」，又知三世佛及一切法與其方便；末二頌是一塵之中見三世一切剎、十方剎塵之內悉見盧舍那。業用之廣，末後歸在一塵之見上，與長行毛孔現化的那一段正相接：廣不在向外鋪開，在一處之中無所不見。
排一個誤解：以為重頌是重複。長行講的是她做了什麼，頌講的是她成了什麼——同一件事的因面與果面。落到地上：全頌之中「汝應入此門」一句六見，這是她說頌的用意，不是自述。
善財問的兩件事
頌畢，善財問：「汝發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心為幾時耶？得此解脫其已久如，乃能如是饒益眾生？」澄觀說「三得法久近中，先興二問、後還兩答」——發心多久是一問，得法多久是另一問，下面的長篇本生就是兩答。
為什麼要問久近？因為他剛看見的是一身星宿、毛孔現剎的成就。人見到大成就，第一個要問的往往是『怎麼做到的』；善財問的卻是『多久』。時間裡才有次第，次第才是他能學的東西。
排一個誤解：以為問久近是好奇。落到地上：問『多久』的人，是準備自己走一遍的人。
第一世：一個在睡覺的王后
答的第一段從極遠處起：過須彌山微塵數劫，有劫名寂靜光，世界名出生妙寶，五億佛於中出現；四天下名寶月燈光，城名蓮華光，王名善法度，王有夫人名法慧月——「夜久眠寐」。城東有林名寂住，林中大菩提樹名一切光摩尼王莊嚴身出生一切佛神力光明。
一連串的名相之後，落在一個具體的畫面上：夜深了，王后在睡覺。這是本生一段的起點——不是禪定，不是苦行，是睡著。
排一個誤解：以為前身故事都從發願或苦修起頭。落到地上：這一段是說，被叫醒的那一刻之前，人本來就是在睡的。
誰把她叫醒
「爾時，有佛名：一切法雷音王，於此樹下成等正覺」，放無量色廣大光明遍照世界。蓮華光城內有主夜神名淨月，到王夫人處，「動身瓔珞以覺夫人」，告訴她如來已於寂住林成無上覺，並廣為說諸佛功德自在神力與普賢菩薩所有行願。於是令王夫人發菩提心，供養彼佛及諸菩薩聲聞僧眾。
看叫醒的方式：不是說法，是搖動瓔珞的聲音。先有聲，人醒了，才有話；先有話，人動了，才有供養。三節一節不跳。
排一個誤解：以為善知識的第一件事是講法。落到地上：那位夜神做的第一件事，只是弄出一點聲音——在別人睡著的時候。
那位夫人就是我
「善男子！時王夫人法慧月者，豈異人乎？我身是也！」——本生的結會古今，一句話點破。
接著說發心之後的利益：於須彌山微塵數劫「不生地獄、餓鬼、畜生諸惡趣中」，亦不生下賤之家，諸根具足，無有眾苦，於天人中福德殊勝，不生惡世，恒不離佛及諸菩薩大善知識，常於其所種植善根，「經八十須彌山微塵數劫常受安樂」。末後一句轉：「而未滿足菩薩諸根。」
排一個誤解：以為這一段在誇發心的功德。八十須彌山微塵數劫的安樂之後，接的是「未滿足」三個字。落到地上：不墮惡趣、常受安樂，仍然只是條件，不是完成。
第二世：又一個在睡覺的人
「過此劫已，復過萬劫」，於賢劫前有劫名無憂遍照，世界名離垢妙光，其中淨穢相雜，五百佛出現，第一佛名須彌幢寂靜妙眼；那一世她是名稱長者之女，名妙慧光明——底本此句作「我為：名稱長者；女名：妙慧光明」，今行標點分讀為長者與其女二人；六十作「明勝長者女，名勝慧光」、四十作「名稱長者女，字妙慧光明」，皆作長者之女，下文「在父母邊」亦自是女，今從之；標點分讀一讀並錄不判。
而那位淨月夜神「以願力故」，在離垢世界的妙幢王城中受生，又作主夜神，名清淨眼。「我於一時，在父母邊，夜久眠息」——同一個場景重演：她又在睡，那一位又來了，「震動我宅，放大光明，出現其身」，讚佛功德說妙眼如來坐菩提座始成正覺，勸諭她與父母眷屬速去見佛，自為前導引至佛所。
排一個誤解：以為兩世是兩段獨立的故事。兩段的結構逐一對稱：她在睡、他來叫、佛剛成道、去供養。落到地上：善知識做的是同一件事，只是做了兩次。
一見佛，就得了
「我纔見佛，即得三昧，名：出生見佛調伏眾生三世智光明輪。」澄觀說這是「方便三昧，謂上見諸佛、下化眾生」——名字裡本來就有兩頭：見佛與調伏眾生。
得了這個三昧，就「能憶念須彌山微塵數劫」，也見其中諸佛出現，於彼佛所聽聞妙法；「以聞法故，即得此破一切眾生暗法光明解脫」。次第是：見佛得三昧，因三昧能憶劫、能見佛、能聞法，因聞法才得本節的這個解脫門。
排一個誤解：以為得三昧就是得解脫。經文中間隔著憶念、見佛、聞法三道。落到地上：定不直接生解脫，定讓你聽得見法，法才生解脫。
得解脫之後所見：身遍往、見諸佛、見眾生
「得此解脫已，即見其身遍往佛剎微塵數世界」，也見彼世界所有諸佛，又見自身在其佛所；再往下，是見彼世界一切眾生——「解其言音，識其根性，知其往昔曾為善友之所攝受，隨其所樂而為現身，令生歡喜」。
三句寫眾生：懂他的話、識他的根、知道他從前被誰接引過。第三句最要緊——她救人之前先查的是這個人的善根來歷。
排一個誤解：以為神通所見的是境界。落到地上：這個解脫門所開的眼，看的是每一個人身上前人留下的線頭；接上那根線，才叫隨其所樂。
念念增長：一個沒有間斷的心
末段寫業用之廣：「我時於彼所得解脫，念念增長，此心無間」，於是遍往百佛剎微塵數世界，此心無間，又遍往千佛剎、百千佛剎，「如是，念念乃至不可說不可說佛剎微塵數世界」。所往之處亦見如來、亦聽妙法、亦知彼佛本事海與大願海，「彼諸如來嚴淨佛剎，我亦嚴淨」。末句總收：「此解脫門，念念增長，如是乃至充滿法界。」
三次重出「此心無間」是這一段的骨。廣不是一次跳到無量，是一念接一念沒有斷口地長出來的。李通玄就此數目立一語，說這是初地「以百為首，便滿十方一切法界無盡佛剎」。
排一個誤解：以為法界之廣是一種尺寸。落到地上：那個「無間」比那些數字要緊——中間斷過的心，數字再大也長不到法界。
我只知道這一個
「善男子！我唯知此菩薩破一切眾生暗法光明解脫。」剛說完充滿法界，下一句就是我只知道這一個。
接著是推勝：諸菩薩摩訶薩成就普賢無邊行願，普入一切諸法界海，得諸菩薩金剛智幢自在三昧，出生大願，住持佛種；念念中成滿一切大功德海，嚴淨一切廣大世界；以自在智教化成熟一切眾生，以智慧日滅除一切世間暗障，以勇猛智覺悟一切眾生惛睡，以智慧月決了一切眾生疑惑，以清淨音斷除一切諸有執著——「而我何能知其妙行、說其功德、入其境界、示其自在？」
逐目看這些德，各有所對：「成就普賢無邊行願」是願之無邊，「普入一切諸法界海」是所入之無際，「得諸菩薩金剛智幢自在三昧」是定之堅不可壞，「出生大願，住持佛種」是紹隆不斷；「成滿一切大功德海」是自行之滿，「嚴淨一切廣大世界」是國土之淨，「教化成熟一切眾生」是化他之熟。末四句逐一配所治：「以智慧日，滅除一切世間暗障」治暗，「以勇猛智，覺悟一切眾生惛睡」治睡，「以智慧月，決了一切眾生疑惑」治疑，「以清淨音，斷除一切諸有執著」治著；而「於一切法界一一塵中，示現一切自在神力」是前四之所以能遍——日、月、音、智所及之處，不出一塵。末後「智眼明淨，等見三世」是這一切的眼：神力遍於一塵，靠的不是力，是眼明；眼明而三世等見，故所現無不當機。
排一個誤解：以為這是謙虛的套語。她所推的四樣——智慧日、勇猛智、智慧月、清淨音——正是她自己那個法門的同類。落到地上：知道自己所得與所推的是同一路，才說得出『唯知此一』而不失分寸。
下一位，就是當年叫醒我的那位
「善男子！此閻浮提摩竭提國菩提場內，有主夜神，名：普德淨光。我本從其發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，常以妙法開悟於我。汝詣彼問：菩薩云何學菩薩行、修菩薩道。」
澄觀據此句判「即前淨月，故云本從發心」——她所指示的下一位，就是本生裡兩次把她叫醒的那位夜神。又釋其名，說「友名普德者，最勝法界無德不具故。淨光者，正智證入離誤犯之垢故」；釋其處，說「云菩提場內者，得無誤犯，由契理故。理即菩提場」。
排一個誤解：以為指示後友只是報一個地址。落到地上：她把善財送到自己的發心之源去——這一句話，把整段本生的用意收在了一處。
十偈與一個辭字
善財以十偈讚。澄觀分四：初四讚身心超勝，次三明大用無涯，次二益物不虛，後一結德無盡。初四偈讚清淨身、法身平等、一切趣中見其形像、心廣如空——第二偈「世界悉入中，成壞無所礙」最要看：法身既平等於三世，世界之成與壞都在其中，成不添一分，壞不減一分，所以無礙；次三偈皆以「一一毛孔內」起，言放光、現身、示剎；次二偈言聞名見身者「悉獲功德利，成就菩提道」——所獲之利不止於福，直至成就菩提；「多劫在惡趣，始得見聞汝，亦應歡喜受，以滅煩惱故」——在惡趣多劫之後才得見聞，這見聞本身就是煩惱之滅，故當歡喜受之；末偈說「千剎微塵劫，歎汝一毛德，劫數猶可窮，功德終無盡」。
讚畢，「頂禮其足，遶無量匝，慇懃瞻仰，辭退而去」。三個動作之後才是一個辭字。
排一個誤解：以為辭退是散場。落到地上：把一位善知識的德讚到「劫數猶可窮」而後轉身就走——戀德與前行，在這一節裡是同一個動作。
承衍
本節之文，向下所開之流有三條。
其一是寄位之線。澄觀立十地十善友之科，以本友寄歡喜地。
澄觀明判
寄位之配當，澄觀於品科段自陳二皆有理，說「然無次位中不礙次位，顯位是常規，配亦無失」。
李通玄於本友之釋自分正入當位與推德昇進二段，又於十地通論中判此為「初歡喜地善知識，以檀波羅蜜為主，餘九為伴」，又說「此明入俗同纏長養大慈悲門，具足檀波羅蜜令得圓滿」。其論於十地總說之處另有三處提到這一位，皆就名與位而說：或云「亦名依止無畏，謂與一切眾生作依止無畏」，或云「此神表初歡喜地」，或云「以表大悲，主當眾生發生菩提芽故」——與本段之釋同一意趣。二家所繫之骨不同，皆古德成說。
其二是夜神與女身之線。澄觀說「地上多見夜神者，證智玄妙，雜相破闇故」，又說「下九天神，準梵本皆是女神。瞿波亦女者，地上證於同體慈悲，女之狀故」。李通玄同繫慈悲一義而語更詳，說「十箇善知識無出家相，總為女天」，並以女能長養子孫無疲勞表菩薩養眾生。
其三是諸家異釋之線。本節之科，澄觀作六段而於稱讚授法內復開三；李通玄則於正入當位法門立五門、見夜神復立六門、申請所求立十七門，其推德昇進一段別立五門。
友名之訓，四家所說可合為三義。澄觀作春與主當二字分釋，李通玄合作主當春生——此二家所釋是八十本的名形。法藏與智儼所釋則是六十本的名形：法藏訓其名為依止不畏，說她「即下文廣與怖畏眾生而作依止故也」，又取天竺本之名而作春，說「謂表能生長萬行，如春時也」；智儼於《孔目章》之夾注亦作依止不畏。一名三義：依止不畏是就她所與眾生者說——怕的人有所依，就不再怕；春是就時節說；能生長萬行是就初地說。三義本是一事——肯在最黑的夜裡讓人有所依止的，才是那個能生長萬行的春。
城名之表，澄觀取黃是中色表契中道並取佛生之城表初地生佛家，李通玄取黃為福慶之色。此諸異釋皆古德成說，誌錄不判。
一個守夜的人，做的事是在最黑的時候讓人看見路；而她自己的來歷，也不過是兩次在睡夢中被人弄出的一點聲音叫醒。初地的樣子，這一節給的就是這個。
From This Friend Onward, Sudhana Walks into the Ten Grounds
The thirty good friends before this Sudhana has asked of, station by station. At this friend, the night goddess Vāsantī, the outline of this assembly changes to a new passage. Chengguan sets up here a general framework, saying, “from here on, the fifth of the great divisions of the text has ten good friends, assigned to the positions of the ten grounds, and so is divided into ten passages; the first, the night goddess Vāsantī, is assigned to the Joyful Ground” — from here on, ten good friends, whom the ancient worthies match to the ten grounds, and this one is matched to the first ground, the Joyful Ground.
Chengguan’s Explicit Judgment
A misreading must first be set aside: this ‘matching’ is not something the scripture text says of itself. From beginning to end the scripture text has not one clause saying that this night goddess is the first ground. Chengguan, in the outline passage for this chapter, has already stated the measure of it plainly, saying, “both have their reason: namely, since each and every position is furnished with many Dharma gates, how could it be that an ordinary mind may not learn and seek the dharma of the good friends? — and therefore not to match them has its reason. Yet within there being no sequence of positions the sequence of positions is not obstructed, and to display the positions is the constant rule; so to match them, too, is no fault” — to match them has its reason, and not to match them has its reason; the sequence of positions is the constant rule, and to match them is not wrong, yet neither does it obstruct one position’s being furnished with many gates.
Brought down to the ground: in reading this section, ‘the first ground’ is a pair of spectacles, not a verdict. Put them on and the connective thread can be seen; take them off and the scripture text is whole all the same.
Before Setting Out, Take Up What the Friend Before Him Gave
This section begins not with walking but with holding in memory. Sudhana “with a single mind pondered the teaching of the goddess Peaceful Abiding, and held in memory the bodhisattva liberation of the Indestructible Treasury of Wisdom,” and then eight verbs follow: cultivating her samādhi, learning her rule and standard, contemplating her sporting, entering her subtlety, gaining her wisdom, penetrating her evenness, knowing her boundlessness, fathoming her utter depth — deepening the whole way along.
Why write it so? Because what the earth goddess Peaceful Abiding before her conferred was the Indestructible Treasury of Wisdom, and a dharma of that kind is not gained merely by understanding what one has heard; one must enter into it layer by layer along the road. Chengguan outlines this passage, saying it is “first, the cultivating and realizing in accord with what came before; afterward, from ‘little by little’ onward, the seeking of the friend who comes next” — first make firm what has already been gained, and only then speak of going on to the next friend.
Set aside a misreading: that going about to learn means changing the subject. The sequence of the scripture text is just the opposite — what was gained at the last station is the very strength of foot with which one walks toward the next. Brought down to the ground: what you are doing on that stretch of road after leaving one teacher decides what you will be able to see when you reach the next.
He Entered by the East Gate, Stood a Little While, and the Sun Went Down
Sudhana came to the city, “entered by the east gate, and had not stood there long when he saw the sun go down.” These two clauses look like an idle stroke of travel writing, yet Chengguan gives each of them a meaning: of the east gate, “it is the beginning of the opening of brightness, displaying the start of the entering into realization”; of the sun’s going down, “it is because she is a night goddess, signifying that the sun of discriminative seeing has already wholly perished.”
Two layers in one clause: the east is the quarter where the sky grows light, matched to the start of first entering the position of realization; and the sun’s going down is not the ill luck of nightfall, it is that sun of discrimination sinking away — to see the night goddess, one must first have the dark.
Set aside a misreading: that the scripture text writes the sunset in order to state the time. If it were only stating the time, why match it with the east gate in particular? Brought down to the ground: everything seen by the light of discrimination is of no use in the real night; only by being willing to let that brightness go down does one wait out the time for another kind of light.
The Four Clauses of “By the Good Friend”
While Sudhana waited, four thoughts arose in his mind, each clause beginning with “by the good friend”: gaining the eye that reaches everywhere, able to see clearly the objective realms of the ten directions; gaining the vast and great understanding, able to penetrate all that the mind takes as its object; gaining the eye of samādhi, able to contemplate all Dharma gates; gaining the eye of wisdom, able to illumine clearly the seas of buddha-lands in the ten directions.
Why raise these four thoughts before the meeting? Because the eye and the understanding are not objects that a good friend hands over to you; they are what grows out upon your own body as you draw near. Of the four clauses two are eyes, one is understanding, and one is again an eye — three eyes and one understanding, set over against the objective realms, what the mind lays hold of, the Dharma gates, and the seas of lands.
Set aside a misreading: that “by the good friend one gains” is a courteous phrase yielding the credit to another. What the scripture text sets out is the provenance of four capacities, not a politeness. Brought down to the ground: to examine whom you have drawn near to, what you look at is not the feeling but whether these four are growing.
She Is in Empty Space, Her Body All Constellations
Just as the thought was arising, the person was seen: the night goddess in the midst of empty space, seated in a jeweled storied pavilion upon a lion throne in a treasury of fragrant lotus flowers, her body the color of true gold, her eyes and hair blue-black, her necklaces of many jewels, her body clothed in a vermilion garment, upon her head a brahmā crown, and “all the constellations appearing plainly upon her body.”
Why not see her upon the ground, but see her in space? Chengguan says, “that she is seen in space: the city signifies the way of teaching, and space signifies the way of realization, so that the doctrine and the telling of it are penetrated together, as the sun stands in space. That she is clothed in a vermilion garment: the knowledge of realization is bright and manifest” — the city is the teaching, space is the realization, and the man being within the city while the seeing is in space says that teaching and realization appear at one and the same moment. As for a body all constellations, Chengguan says further, “the star-images of the Dharma gates are not apart from the one body, just as the working of transformation-births from the substance is not apart from the nature of a single hair.”
Set aside a misreading: that this is decoration of a mythic kind. Brought down to the ground: a whole sky of stars is not in the sky but upon her body — everything that is transformed has never been apart from the substance of the one who transforms it.
What Is Played Out in the Pores Is What She Has Done
Next the scripture text writes of the pores. First it says, “within each and every pore upon her body there appeared images of her converting and delivering measureless and numberless sentient beings of the evil destinies and causing them to escape from peril” — within every pore a rescue is being played out; and of the sentient beings rescued, some are born among human beings, some among the devas, some turn toward the awakening of the two vehicles, some cultivate the way of all-knowledge.
Then it says that within the pores she “displayed every kind of skillful means of teaching and converting”: manifesting a body, expounding the Dharma, displaying the way of the śrāvaka vehicle, displaying the way of the pratyekabuddha vehicle, and so on to displaying the practices of the bodhisattvas, their valor, their samādhi, their mastery, their dwelling place, their contemplation, their lion’s stretching, their sporting in liberation. The former passage is the fruit — what the rescuing accomplished; the latter is the cause — by what means the rescuing was done.
Set aside a misreading: that the pores manifesting their marks is the good friend showing off spiritual powers to a guest. Brought down to the ground: Sudhana has not yet asked a single graph, and this teacher’s whole record of service is already spread open. What is called conferring the Dharma confers first of all ‘what I have done.’
What Sudhana Wants Is Not Consolation but the Ground of the Ten Powers
Having seen her, he threw his body down and bowed to her feet, circled her numberless times, joined his palms, and said: I have already raised the mind of awakening beforehand, and hope, relying upon good friends, to obtain the treasury of the Dharma that is the merit and virtue of all the tathāgatas — “would that you would reveal to me the way of all-knowledge, so that walking in that way I may come to the ground of the ten powers.”
This speech has three joints: first he reports his own starting point — the mind already raised; then he states the provenance of what he seeks — relying upon good friends; and last the destination — the ground of the ten powers. The ten powers are a buddha’s ten powers, and so what he wants is not to be got out of trouble but to walk the whole way.
The night goddess’s answer does not give the Dharma first; it gives first a word of confirmation: “good, good! Son of good family! You are able, with a deep mind, to revere good friends, to delight in hearing their words, and to cultivate their teaching” — reverence, hearing, and cultivating, all three together, and only then follows “and because of that cultivating, you will certainly gain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.”
Set aside a misreading: that the praise is a courtesy. What she praises are three concrete matters, and she fastens the “will certainly gain” to the third of them. Brought down to the ground: if reverence and hearing do not come down into cultivating, that word “certainly” has no place to land.
Within the Name of the Dharma Gate Its Substance Is Hidden
She reports her own Dharma gate: “I have gained the bodhisattva liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings.” The name has three joints: what is broken is the deluded darkness of sentient beings, what breaks it is the light of the Dharma, and what is accomplished is liberation.
Chengguan takes this name apart in two layers. The first layer matches what is broken with what breaks, saying, “the deluded darkness of all sentient beings is the twofold folly that is broken; the light of the Dharma is the knowledge of the twofold selflessness that breaks it” — the deluded darkness is not muddle in general, it is a twofold folly with a definite reference; and the light of the Dharma is not light spoken of loosely, it is the knowledge of the twofold selflessness. The second layer joins them into one, saying, “further, the breaking of the darkness of sentient beings is compassion, and the light of the Dharma is knowledge, and so compassion and knowledge are both furnished.”
And what does that twofold folly refer to? Chengguan, glossing what is cut off upon the first ground in the Chapter on the Ten Grounds, says, “first, the folly of holding to self and dharmas, which is the hindrance of the nature of an ordinary being; second, the folly of the defilement of the evil destinies, which is the deeds and fruits of the evil destinies and the rest.” The former folly is the folly of holding to a self and holding to dharmas, and what is cut off is the hindrance of the nature of an ordinary being — the very portion by which an ordinary being is ordinary, the hindrance that obstructs the first ground; the latter is that portion of defilement which makes the deeds of the evil destinies and undergoes their fruits. The twofold selflessness that breaks them is the selflessness of the person and the selflessness of dharmas: what breaks the folly of holding to a self is the selflessness of the person, and what breaks the folly of holding to dharmas is the selflessness of dharmas; once the holding to self and dharmas is broken, the nature of an ordinary being is cut off along with it, and the deeds and fruits of the evil destinies are no longer made. Chengguan in this section only sets forth their names and refers them to the Chapter on the Ten Grounds, and his Yanyi chao likewise says, “its twofold folly and twofold selflessness and the rest are all as in the Chapter on the Grounds.”
Set aside a misreading: that “breaking the deluded darkness of all sentient beings” is breaking someone else’s darkness. The twofold folly that is broken belongs to all sentient beings, and she herself was once within it — she herself in the second life was precisely the one who had to be woken, when the night goddess shook the house. Brought down to the ground: the light that can break another’s darkness and the knowledge that cuts off one’s own nature of an ordinary being are one and the same.
Set aside a misreading: that this Dharma gate is a charitable enterprise of ‘lighting up other people.’ Brought down to the ground: the side that breaks another’s darkness is compassion, and the side that is the light of the Dharma is knowledge; the name has two hands in it from the start, and lacking either it is not this Dharma gate.
Nine Kinds of Person, Nine Kinds of Mind
The Dharma gate having been set forth, she speaks first of the mind. She lists nine pairs: toward sentient beings of evil understanding she raises the mind of great kindness, toward sentient beings of unwholesome deeds the mind of great compassion, toward sentient beings who do wholesome deeds the mind of rejoicing, toward sentient beings of both kinds of conduct the mind that is not two, toward defiled sentient beings the mind that causes purity to arise, toward sentient beings on wrong paths the mind that causes right conduct to arise, toward sentient beings of low understanding the mind that causes great understanding to be roused, toward sentient beings who delight in birth and death the mind that causes them to cast off turning in the round, toward sentient beings abiding in the way of the two vehicles the mind that causes them to abide in all-knowledge.
The first four minds are kindness, compassion, rejoicing, and non-duality; the latter five all read “causes to arise,” “causes to be roused,” “causes to cast off,” “causes to abide” — the first four are measures upon her own mind, the latter five are leadings of others. At the end she says, “because I have gained this liberation, I am constantly matched with minds such as these” — these nine minds are not tuned up only when the occasion comes; they are the constant state after liberation.
Set aside a misreading: that toward one who does wholesome deeds only rejoicing is needed, and that only toward one who does evil is compassion needed. The scripture text leaves out not one of the nine kinds of person; even those mingled in good and evil, even those already upon the way of the two vehicles, each has a mind of its own. Brought down to the ground: the kind of person toward whom you cannot get a mind to arise — that square is your own gap.
The Ten Gates of Rescuing and Gathering In: Beginning from the One Graph “Night”
The mind spoken of, she speaks of the matter. She states first the time and the place in general: “at the time when I am in the dark of night and the voices of people are still, when ghosts, spirits, robbers, and every kind of evil being come forth to roam,” with dense clouds and heavy fogs, evil winds and violent rains, and the sun, moon, and constellations all covered over; and she sees sentient beings entering the sea and walking the land, meeting robbers and lacking provisions, confused as to direction and having lost the road, alarmed and afraid and unable to get themselves out — “and at that time I rescue them by every kind of skillful means.”
Chengguan takes this passage apart into four matters, saying, “now the first has four kinds: first, the night and the rest as the time of rescuing; second, the sea and the rest as the place of rescuing; third, the meeting with robbers and the rest as those who are rescued; fourth, every kind of skillful means as that which rescues” — time, place, occasion, and dharma, all four in place, and only then can there be talk of rescuing. The nine gates below are the unfolding of these four, and Chengguan outlines the whole passage, saying, “within it there are ten gates: the first one states them in general, and from ‘for those in peril at sea’ onward they are displayed one by one.”
Set aside a misreading: that “night” is only a backdrop. Brought down to the ground: every working of this good friend is set at the very darkest moment — not waiting for daybreak to speak of it, but setting hand to it just when nothing can be seen.
Every Gate Has Two Joints: First the Rescue at Hand, Afterward the Great Vow
The style of the nine gates is one and the same. Chengguan points it out very plainly, saying, “within the nine gates displayed one by one afterward, the text in every case has two: first the rescuing from the world’s suffering so that they gain the world’s joy; afterward, by dedication and the great vow, causing them ultimately to leave suffering and gain joy.” The first joint writes the manifesting of forms and the doing of deeds, and the latter joint begins with “and I think further in this way” or “and I make a vow in this way,” leading into a passage of dedicatory vow; only the seventh gate, the rescue from delusion and deeds, runs on from the vow of the sixth without a leading clause of its own. Of these two leading clauses in the scripture text, within the gates of rescuing and gathering in “and I think further in this way” occurs four times and “and I make a vow in this way” four; the four thoughts Sudhana raises before he sees the night goddess are also led in by “and I think further in this way,” but they are no vow of rescuing, so that in the whole passage “and I think further in this way” occurs five times.
Why must there be a second joint? Because what the first joint rescues from is this one occasion of peril, and what the second wants is that such peril never be again. Lacking the latter joint, this night goddess would be no more than a rescue party.
Set aside a misreading: that making a vow is a formal courtesy after the rescuing is over. Brought down to the ground: to be still willing to make one more vow when the matter at hand is done — that vow is the socket by which a single act of goodness is joined to the endless.
The First Gate — At Sea: She Becomes the Shipmaster, and Becomes the Sea God Too
“For those in peril at sea, I display myself as a shipmaster, a fish king, a horse king, a tortoise king, an elephant king, an asura king, and a sea spirit” — seven kinds of body. What she does is to still the evil winds and rains, quiet the great waves, lead them upon their road, and show them where the shore and the islands are, causing them to be free of dread and all to gain peace and security. The vow is, “with these roots of goodness I dedicate and bestow upon sentient beings, vowing to cause them to cast off every kind of suffering.”
Among the seven kinds of body there are human, beast, and god. She does not pick out a dignified station; she picks only the one that in this particular sea can best rescue people. And the four things she does are utterly practical: stilling the wind, quieting the waves, pointing the road, pointing the shore — not one clause of them is expounding the Dharma.
Set aside a misreading: that a bodhisattva rescuing people must first set out the principle. Brought down to the ground: when a man is in the waves, getting him ashore is the only dharma that ought to be done at that moment. The vow is placed afterward, not before.
The Second Gate — On Land: She Becomes Sun and Moon, and Becomes a Crowd of People Too
“For all sentient beings upon the land who meet with dread in the darkness of night,” she manifests herself as sun, moon, and constellations, as the haze of morning and the lightning of evening, as every kind of light, or makes houses and dwellings, or becomes a crowd of people. The vow is to cause sentient beings “all to put out the darkness of the afflictions.”
The Third Gate — Not Gaining What Is Sought, and Walking in Mountain Peril: Six Things Not Answering to What Was Sought
After the second gate a further passage follows: among sentient beings some cherish long life, some love a good name, some covet wealth and treasure, some hold rank and office weighty, some cling to sons and daughters, some are enamored of wife and concubine, and when what they seek does not answer to their mind, sorrow and dread arise abundantly, and “all of these I rescue, causing them to leave suffering behind.” Chengguan cites this clause as the head of the third gate, making it: from “all sentient beings” onward, the rescuing of sentient beings who do not gain what they seek and who walk in mountain peril — not gaining what is sought and mountain peril joined into one gate, with the passage on the wilds below belonging to it as well.
Set aside a misreading: that the dread of the night is only the dark. What the scripture text lists next — life, name, wealth, rank, children, spouse — not one of them is made by darkness, and yet they keep a man awake at night just the same. Brought down to the ground: the four graphs “or becomes a crowd of people” show the skill best of all; one who fears the dark sometimes needs only that someone be beside him.
The Third Gate, Continued — In the Mountains: A Good Spirit · A Fine Bird · A Numinous Herb
“For those who walk in mountain peril and are held back by hindrances, I become for them a good spirit, manifesting a form and drawing near; I become for them a fine bird, putting forth a voice to console and gladden them; I become for them a numinous herb, spreading out a light and shining upon them,” and further she shows them the fruit trees, shows them the springs and wells, shows them the straight road, shows them the level ground, causing them to escape from every sorrow and calamity.
Three manifestings and four showings. What is manifested is sentient — spirit, bird, and the light of a herb; what is shown is insentient — tree, well, road, and a place to set the foot. The former give company and ease of mind, the latter give food, water, road, and a place to stop. What a man in the mountains lacks, these seven meet to the last particular.
Set aside a misreading: that the numinous herb is for people to eat. What the scripture text says is “spreading out a light and shining upon them” — an herb that shines in the mountains is first a road-marker and only then a medicine. Brought down to the ground: to rescue a man stranded in the mountains, what is wanted is these seven concrete things, not a word of encouragement.
The Third Gate, Concluded — The Wilds: Exchanging the Road on the Ground for the Road in the Mind
“For those who walk in the wilds, in dense forests, upon perilous roads, who are entangled by creepers and darkened by cloud and fog and are afraid, I show them the right road, causing them to get out.” The first joint is extremely short, and the whole weight is in the vow that follows: “may all sentient beings fell the dense forest of views, cut through the net of craving, come out of the wilds of birth and death, put out the darkness of the afflictions, enter the level and right road of all-knowledge, and reach the place without fear, in ultimate peace and joy.”
Look at the graphs of these two joints: the dense forest against the dense forest of views, the creepers against the net of craving, the wilds against the wilds of birth and death, the darkening by cloud and fog against the darkness of the afflictions, the right road against the level and right road of all-knowledge. Every single thing in the first joint is exchanged in the vow for a corresponding thing in the mind.
Set aside a misreading: that this is a coincidence of rhetoric. Four things matching one to one is not coincidence; it is a deliberate laying out. Brought down to the ground: the wilds a man truly cannot walk out of are for the most part not underfoot.
The Fourth Gate — Delighting in and Clinging to the Land: She Makes Them Weary of It
“If there are sentient beings who delight in and cling to their land and are made sorrowful by it, I use skillful means to make weariness and detachment arise in them,” and the vow is, “may all sentient beings not cling to the aggregates, and may they abide in the objective realm of the sarvajña of all the buddhas.”
This gate is opposite in method to the three before it. The three before give — give a ship, give light, give a herb, give a road; this one takes away, making them weary and detached. Why? The three gates before rescue from peril at sea, upon land, and in mountain and wilds, and the third of them already takes in the cherishing of long life, the love of a good name, the coveting of wealth, the weighing of rank, the clinging to sons and daughters and to wife and concubine, where what is sought does not answer — that is the suffering of not getting; the suffering of this gate lies rather in delighting in and clinging to the land already had — the suffering of not letting go. And the suffering of not letting go is not resolved however much is given. In the vow, “the land” is exchanged for “the aggregates” — the plot of ground truly clung to is this body and mind.
Set aside a misreading: that “making weariness and detachment arise” is telling a man to grow despondent. Brought down to the ground: what stands opposite weariness and detachment is not emptiness, it is the objective realm of the sarvajña — to take one thing away is in order to put another in.
The Fifth Gate — Delighting in and Clinging to the Village: That Village with Six Gates
“If there are sentient beings who delight in and cling to their village, who covet and love their houses, who dwell constantly in darkness and undergo every kind of suffering, I expound the Dharma for them, causing weariness and detachment to arise in them, causing the Dharma to be complete in them, causing them to abide by the Dharma,” and the vow is, “may all sentient beings none of them covet and delight in that village which is the six sense-fields, may they swiftly get out of the objective realm of birth and death, and may they ultimately abide in the city of all-knowledge.”
The method of this gate is expounding the Dharma, and its three clauses advance in order: causing weariness and detachment to arise, causing the Dharma to be complete, causing them to abide by the Dharma — taking away, filling up, settling down. In the vow, the four graphs “that village which is the six sense-fields” show the scripture text’s taking of the simile best of all: that village of the six gates of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind is the very house a man cannot bear to move out of; and the place he returns to is likewise a place of dwelling together — the city of all-knowledge.
Set aside a misreading: that getting out means leaving the crowd. What the scripture text exchanges is not gregariousness for solitude; it exchanges the village for the city. Brought down to the ground: the question was never where one lives, but whether the place one lives in has six gates that let in the wind.
The Sixth Gate — The Dark Night: Those Who Take the Level Road for a Perilous One
“If there are sentient beings who walk in the dark of night, who are confused as to the ten directions, who upon a level road give rise to the thought of peril and upon a perilous road give rise to the thought of levelness, who take what is high for low and what is low for high,” their minds confused and great suffering and vexation arising in them. Her way of rescuing is extremely fine: for those who would come out, she shows the doorway; for those who would walk, the road; for those who would cross a ditch, the bridge; for those who would ford a river or a sea, a boat or a raft; for those who like to look out upon the directions, where it is perilous and where easy, where safe and where dangerous; for those who would rest, where the walled towns, the waters, and the trees are — six kinds of person, six kinds of thing, to each his own.
The vow divides into two layers. First is “just as here I shine upon the darkness of night and put it away, causing all the affairs of the world to be set out plainly,” and afterward, “so may I everywhere, in the long night of birth and death of all sentient beings and in the dark places of ignorance, shine upon them all with the light of wisdom.” The night of the world and the long night of birth and death are joined by the one graph “shine.”
Set aside a misreading: that a man who has lost his way needs the same one map. The scripture text gives six different things. Brought down to the ground: ask him first what he means to do, and then give that one thing.
The Seventh Gate — Delusion and Karma: From the Four Inversions to the Five Heinous Deeds
What follows on from this vow is no longer a road but the case history of sentient beings. First the four inversions — “taking what is impermanent for permanent, what is not joy for joy, what is not self for self, what is impure for pure”; then the holding to a self, a person, and a sentient being, and to the dharmas of the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields; and further down, being confused about cause and effect, not recognizing good and evil, killing sentient beings and so on to wrong views, being unfilial to father and mother, slandering the tathāgatas, breaking the wheel of the right Dharma, cursing, shaming, and injuring the bodhisattvas, slighting the way of the Great Vehicle, severing the mind of awakening, stealing what belongs to stūpas and temples, committing the five heinous deeds — “and before long they will fall into the place of the three evil destinies.”
The nine clauses before are inversions upon view, and the long string after is a falling upon conduct; the scripture text writes the two joined together, saying that the falling in conduct comes from the inversion in view. And so her vow is not that they may commit fewer offenses, but “may I swiftly, with the light of great knowledge, break the dark ignorance of those sentient beings, and cause them speedily to raise the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.”
Set aside a misreading: that this passage is a reproach of sentient beings. This passage stands within the text of the vow; it is the roll of those to be rescued, not a bill of charges. Brought down to the ground: the place to set hand to the remedy is not at the far end of behavior, but at that one graph “thought.”
The Seventh Gate, Continued: What Is Given After the Mind Is Raised
“Once they have raised that mind, I display for them the vehicle of Samantabhadra, open up the way of the ten powers, and display for them also the objective realm of the tathāgata, the Dharma-king,” and further displays the city of all-knowledge of all the buddhas, the conduct of all the buddhas, the mastery of all the buddhas, the accomplishment of all the buddhas, the comprehensive holding of all the buddhas, the one body that all the buddhas share in common, and the place where all the buddhas are equal, causing them to abide therein.
Note where this clause stands — it follows upon ‘causing them speedily to raise the mind of awakening.’ All the toil before was to pull a man back from the edge of the evil destinies and cause him to raise the mind; and after the mind is raised, what she gives is not protection but a road: the vehicle of Samantabhadra, the way of the ten powers, on to the place where all the buddhas are equal. What Sudhana asked for at the outset, “coming to the ground of the ten powers,” is here handed back in the very same words.
Set aside a misreading: that the delivering ends when the mind is raised. Brought down to the ground: raising the mind is not the terminus; it is the place where this good friend truly begins to give things.
The Eighth Gate — The Eight Sufferings: Sickness, Age, Poverty, and the Hour of Execution, with No One to Rely On
“Among all sentient beings, some are bound by sickness, some are encroached upon by age, some are made to suffer by poverty, some meet with calamity, some transgress the king’s law and are about to undergo punishment, having nothing to rely upon, so that great dread arises in them; all of these I rescue, causing them to gain peace and security.” Chengguan cites “some are bound by sickness” to set this up as the one gate of rescuing sentient beings from the eight sufferings.
The vow is: “may I, by the Dharma, everywhere gather in sentient beings, causing them to be liberated from every affliction, from birth, old age, sickness, and death, from sorrow, grief, and the trouble of suffering, to draw near to good friends, constantly to practice the giving of the Dharma, diligently to practice wholesome deeds, swiftly to gain the pure Dharma body of a tathāgata, and to abide in the place that is ultimate and does not change.” Five sufferings stand in front, and yet in the vow she says first “to draw near to good friends” and then “constantly to practice the giving of the Dharma” — one who has been rescued goes next to rescue others.
Set aside a misreading: that the suffering of sickness, age, and poverty can only be bettered by circumstance. Brought down to the ground: the last clause of the vow is “the place that does not change” — the shared mark of all these sufferings is change, and so the ultimate resolution lies not in bettering one’s circumstance but in that place which does not change.
The Ninth Gate — Evil Views: Taking the Rightly Awakened for the Not Rightly Awakened
The last gate rescues those who have gone wrong upon view: “entering the dense forest of views, abiding upon wrong paths, giving rise to wrong discrimination toward every kind of objective realm,” constantly doing the three unwholesome kinds of deed, falsely performing every kind of wrong austerity, “toward what is not the rightly awakened giving rise to the thought of the rightly awakened, and toward the very place of the rightly awakened giving rise to the thought of what is not the rightly awakened,” being gathered in by evil friends and thereby raising evil views, and about to fall into the evil destinies. Her way of rescuing is to “cause them to abide in right view and to be born among human beings and gods.”
But the vow does not stop at human beings and gods. It goes on, “just as I rescue these sentient beings who are about to fall into the evil destinies, so may I everywhere rescue all sentient beings,” and what is vowed has four joints following one upon another: “causing them all to be liberated from every kind of suffering” is the leaving of suffering; “to abide in the sagely way of the pāramitās that goes beyond the world” is one step further than the right view of human beings and gods — right view only pulls a man back into the good destinies, and only the practices that reach the far shore get him beyond the world; “to be irreversible with respect to all-knowledge” is that this step is never again turned back from; and last, “to be furnished with the vow of Samantabhadra, to draw near to all-knowledge and yet not to cast off the practices of the bodhisattvas, and constantly to be diligent in teaching and converting all sentient beings” is that after irreversibility one does not enter quiescence — drawing near to all-knowledge and still not casting off the bodhisattva practices, still going back among sentient beings to teach and convert them. Human and divine, beyond the world, irreversible, not cast off: each joint deeper than the last, and the last joint turns back to where it began.
The nine gates have come, at this point, from peril at sea all the way to evil views. The perils the eight gates before rescue from lie for the most part in what befalls one — the sea, the land, the mountains, the wilds, the land one dwells in, the village, the dark night, and sickness, age, and poverty; and the seventh of them has already spoken, upon delusion and karma, of inversion in view. This gate rescues those who have gone wrong upon view in particular: toward what is not the rightly awakened giving rise to the thought of the rightly awakened, and toward the very place of the rightly awakened giving rise to the thought of what is not. Once judgment is wrong, the more diligent the austerity the deeper the fall. And so this gate manifests neither a form nor a light, but right view.
Set aside a misreading: that mistaking one’s teacher is only bad luck. The scripture text says it outright — “gathered in by evil friends, and thereby raising evil views.” Brought down to the ground: a section that praises good friends from end to end closes with a last gate set exactly opposite them.
Twenty-One Verses: Saying the Prose Passage Over Again, but in Another Way
The prose passage finished, she “received the spiritual power of the Buddha and contemplated the ten directions,” and spoke twenty-one verses for Sudhana. Chengguan judges them to divide into four: the first one verse gives the name and substance of the Dharma gate; the next four raise the cause and exhort to cultivate, that is, the four measureless minds; the next ten display the fruit and cause entering, that is, the surpassing excellence of the six sense-fields; the last six make clear the vastness of the working.
The first verse sets forth the name, saying, “this gate of liberation of mine brings forth the pure light of the Dharma, and is able to break the darkness of delusion — when the time comes, only then is it expounded” — matched with the name in the prose passage, with the one addition of “when the time comes” in the last clause. The next four verses are kindness, compassion, rejoicing, and equanimity: diligently practicing vast and great kindness; the still sea of great compassion; making my mind rejoice; having already cast away the trouble of what is conditioned. Two clauses among these four the prose passage does not have: the third verse says of great compassion that it “brings forth the buddhas of the three times” — kindness and compassion are not merely the means of rescuing from suffering, they are the causal ground from which buddhas are brought forth; and the fifth verse says, “having already cast away the trouble of what is conditioned, and gone far as well from the fruit of the śrāvakas” — casting away the conditioned is one layer, and going far from the fruit of the śrāvakas is another: to have come out of the trouble of the conditioned and then to stop at the fruit of the śrāvakas is, for this Dharma gate, still not to have arrived.
The middle ten verses speak in turn of the purity of the six faculties, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and each has its own thing to say. What the eye sees is the buddhas of the lands of the ten directions seated beneath the tree of awakening, and it sees as well sentient beings “turning in the round among the five destinies, constantly undergoing measureless suffering” — buddhas and sentient beings are within one and the same sight. What the ear hears is “the whole sea of speech and language, all of it heard and able to be held in memory,” heard without loss. The nose is “without obstruction among the dharmas,” the tongue “expounds the wondrous Dharma as is fitting” — the one is a taking in, the other a giving out. The one verse of the body matters most: “the three times are evenly thus and thus, and according to the minds of sentient beings all is manifested” — the body is manifested according to the minds of sentient beings, while in substance it is evenly thus and thus through the three times; it manifests without moving, and moves without losing its suchness. The two verses of the mind each carry a negation: “everywhere calling the tathāgatas to mind, and yet not discriminating,” “knowing the faculties and the desires and delights, and yet not discriminating” — calling all the buddhas to mind without discriminating, knowing the faculties and desires of all beings without discriminating. Not discriminating is not failing to know; it is knowing everywhere without raising the thought that discriminates; for once discrimination arises, the buddhas called to mind and the beings known become things standing over against one.
The last six verses speak of the working: spiritual power shakes measureless lands and “tames those hard to tame” — what is tamed is the very kind that is hard to tame; merit is inexhaustible as space, making offerings to the buddhas and benefiting beings; knowledge penetrates the sea of dharmas and “puts away the delusions of sentient beings,” and knows besides the buddhas of the three times, all dharmas, and their skillful means; and the last two verses see within a single dust mote all the lands of the three times, and within the dust motes of the lands of the ten directions wholly see Rocana. The working is of the utmost vastness, and it comes to rest at the end upon a seeing within one dust mote, joining the passage of the prose where the pores manifest her converting: vastness is not a spreading outward, it is that within one place nothing is unseen.
Set aside a misreading: that restating in verse is repetition. The prose passage tells what she did; the verses tell what she became — the causal face and the fruitional face of one and the same thing. Brought down to the ground: within the whole set of verses the clause “you ought to enter this gate” occurs six times, and this is her purpose in speaking them; they are not a recital of herself.
The Two Things Sudhana Asked
The verses done, Sudhana asks: “how long ago was it that you raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? And how long has it been since you gained this liberation, that you are able to benefit sentient beings in this way?” Chengguan says, “within the third, how long ago the Dharma was gained, first two questions are raised and afterward two answers are returned” — how long since the mind was raised is one question, how long since the Dharma was gained is the other, and the long birth-story below is the two answers.
Why ask how long ago? Because what he has just seen is an accomplishment of a body all constellations and pores manifesting lands. When a man sees a great accomplishment, the first thing he asks is usually ‘how was it done’; but what Sudhana asks is ‘how long.’ Only within time is there sequence, and sequence is the thing he can learn.
Set aside a misreading: that asking how long ago is curiosity. Brought down to the ground: the man who asks ‘how long’ is the man preparing to walk it himself.
The First Life: A Queen Who Was Asleep
The answer to the first question begins from the utmost distance: past kalpas as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru, there was a kalpa named Still Light, a world named Bringing Forth Wondrous Jewels, and five hundred million buddhas appeared within it; four continents named Jewel-Moon Lamplight, a city named Lotus Light, a king named Good Dharma Measure, and the king had a consort named Dharma-Wisdom Moon — “the night being deep, she was asleep.” East of the city was a forest named Still Dwelling, and in the forest a great tree of awakening named the Light of the Spiritual Power of All Buddhas Brought Forth from the Body Adorned by the King of All-Light Maṇi Jewels.
After a string of names and terms, it comes to rest upon one concrete picture: the night is deep, and the queen is asleep. This is the starting point of the birth-story passage — not meditative absorption, not austerity, but being asleep.
Set aside a misreading: that stories of former lives all begin from making a vow or from hard practice. Brought down to the ground: this passage says that, before the moment of being woken, a person was simply asleep all along.
Who Woke Her
“At that time there was a buddha named King of the Thunder-Voice of All Dharmas, who beneath this tree accomplished right and equal awakening,” and sent forth a vast and great light of measureless colors that shone throughout the world. Within the city Lotus Light there was a goddess presiding over the night named Pure Moon, who came to where the king’s consort was and “shook the necklaces upon her body to wake the consort,” and told her that the tathāgata had accomplished unsurpassed awakening in the forest Still Dwelling, and expounded for her at length the merit and virtue of the buddhas, their mastery and spiritual power, and all the practices and vows of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. Thereupon she caused the king’s consort to raise the mind of awakening and to make offerings to that buddha and to the bodhisattvas, the śrāvakas, and the assembly of monks.
Look at the manner of the waking: not the expounding of the Dharma, but the sound of shaking necklaces. First there is a sound, and the person wakes, and only then are there words; first there are words, and the person moves, and only then is there offering. Three joints, and not one of them is skipped.
Set aside a misreading: that a good friend’s first business is to give a Dharma talk. Brought down to the ground: the first thing that night goddess did was only to make a little noise — while someone else was asleep.
That Consort Was I
“Son of good family! The king’s consort Dharma-Wisdom Moon of that time — could she be another person? She is this very body of mine!” — the bringing together of past and present in the birth-story, laid bare in one clause.
Then she speaks of the benefit after the mind was raised: for kalpas as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru she was “not born among the evil destinies of the hells, the hungry ghosts, or the animals,” nor born into a lowly house; her faculties were complete, she had no sufferings, among gods and human beings her merit was surpassing, she was not born in an evil age, she was constantly not apart from the buddhas and from the bodhisattvas and the great good friends, and constantly in their presence she planted roots of goodness, and “through kalpas as many as the dust motes of eighty Mount Sumerus she constantly received peace and joy.” And the last clause turns: “and yet the faculties of a bodhisattva were not yet complete.”
Set aside a misreading: that this passage is praising the merit of raising the mind. After the peace and joy of kalpas as many as the dust motes of eighty Mount Sumerus, what follows is the three graphs “not yet complete.” Brought down to the ground: not falling into the evil destinies and constantly receiving peace and joy are still only conditions, not completion.
The Second Life: Another Person Asleep
“When that kalpa had passed, and a further ten thousand kalpas had passed,” before the Worthy Kalpa there was a kalpa named Sorrowless Universal Shining and a world named Stainless Wondrous Light, within which the pure and the defiled were mingled and five hundred buddhas appeared, the first named Sumeru-Banner Still and Wondrous Eye; and in that life she was the daughter of the elder Renown, named Wondrous Wisdom Light — the base text has this clause as “I was: the elder Renown; the daughter was named: Wondrous Wisdom Light,” in the punctuation now current, which reads it apart as two persons, the elder and his daughter; while the sixty-fascicle witness has “the daughter of the elder Bright and Surpassing, named Surpassing Wisdom Light” and the forty-fascicle witness “the daughter of the elder Renown, styled Wondrous Wisdom Light,” both making her the elder’s daughter, and the words below, “at the side of my father and mother,” likewise show a daughter — the reading followed here; the punctuated reading apart is recorded side by side without adjudication.
And that night goddess Pure Moon, “by the power of her vow,” was born in the city of King Wondrous Banner in the world Stainless, and again became a goddess presiding over the night, named Pure Eye. “At a certain time I was at the side of my father and mother, and the night being deep I was asleep and resting” — the same scene played over: she was asleep again, and that one came again, “shook my house and dwelling, sent forth a great light, made her body appear,” and praised the merit and virtue of the Buddha, saying that the tathāgata Wondrous Eye was seated upon the seat of awakening and had just accomplished right awakening, and exhorted her and her father and mother and kinsfolk to go swiftly and see the Buddha, herself going before as guide and leading them to where the Buddha was.
Set aside a misreading: that the two lives are two independent stories. The structure of the two passages is symmetrical point for point: she is asleep, that goddess comes to wake her, a buddha has just accomplished the way, they go to make offerings. Brought down to the ground: the good friend did the same one thing, only twice.
At the First Sight of the Buddha, She Gained It
“No sooner had I seen the Buddha than I gained a samādhi named: the Wheel of the Light of Knowledge of the Three Times That Brings Forth the Seeing of Buddhas and the Taming of Sentient Beings.” Chengguan says this is the “samādhi of skillful means, that is, above, the seeing of the buddhas, and below, the converting of sentient beings” — the name has two ends in it from the start: seeing buddhas and taming sentient beings.
Having gained this samādhi, she was “able to call to mind kalpas as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru,” and saw also the buddhas appearing within them, and in their presence heard the wondrous Dharma; “and because of hearing the Dharma, I then gained this liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the darkness of all sentient beings.” The sequence is: seeing the Buddha, she gains the samādhi; by the samādhi she can call to mind kalpas, can see buddhas, can hear the Dharma; and because of hearing the Dharma she gains this liberation gate of the present section.
Set aside a misreading: that gaining the samādhi is gaining the liberation. In the scripture text three passes lie between — calling to mind, seeing buddhas, hearing the Dharma. Brought down to the ground: concentration does not give birth to liberation directly; concentration lets you hear the Dharma, and the Dharma gives birth to liberation.
What She Saw After Gaining the Liberation: Her Body Going Everywhere, the Buddhas, the Sentient Beings
“Having gained this liberation, I then saw my own body going everywhere to worlds as many as the dust motes of buddha-lands,” and saw also all the buddhas of those worlds, and saw further her own body in the presence of those buddhas; and further down, what she saw was all the sentient beings of those worlds — “understanding their speech and sounds, knowing their faculties and natures, knowing that in the past they had been gathered in by good friends, and according to what they delighted in manifesting a body for them, causing gladness to arise in them.”
Three clauses write of sentient beings: understanding his speech, knowing his faculties, knowing by whom he was led in before. The third clause matters most — before she rescues a man, what she looks into first is the provenance of his roots of goodness.
Set aside a misreading: that what spiritual power sees is objective realms. Brought down to the ground: the eye this liberation gate opens looks at the thread-end left upon each person by those who went before; to take up that thread is what is meant by “according to what they delighted in.”
Growing Thought by Thought: A Mind Without Interval
The last passage writes the vastness of the working: “the liberation that I gained there at that time grew thought by thought, and this mind had no interval,” and so she went everywhere to worlds as many as the dust motes of a hundred buddha-lands, and this mind had no interval, and went everywhere further to a thousand buddha-lands and a hundred thousand buddha-lands, “in this way, thought following upon thought, and so on until worlds as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands.” In the places she went she saw the tathāgatas as well, heard the wondrous Dharma as well, knew the seas of those buddhas’ past deeds and the seas of their great vows as well, and “the buddha-lands that those tathāgatas adorned and purified, I too adorned and purified.” The last clause gathers it all in: “this gate of liberation grew thought by thought, and in this way it came at last to fill the Dharma realm.”
The three occurrences of “this mind had no interval” are the bone of this passage. Vastness is not a single leap to the measureless; it is grown out thought upon thought with no break in between. Li Tongxuan sets up a word upon these numbers, saying that this is the first ground “taking the hundred for its head, and thereupon filling the endless buddha-lands of the whole Dharma realm of the ten directions.”
Set aside a misreading: that the vastness of the Dharma realm is a kind of measurement. Brought down to the ground: that “no interval” matters more than those numbers — a mind that has been broken off in the middle will not grow to the Dharma realm however great the numbers are.
I Know Only This One
“Son of good family! I know only this bodhisattva liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the darkness of all sentient beings.” She has just finished saying that it fills the Dharma realm, and the very next clause is that she knows only this one.
Then comes the pointing to the superior: the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas accomplish the boundless practices and vows of Samantabhadra, enter everywhere the seas of all Dharma realms, gain the bodhisattvas’ samādhi of the mastery of the adamantine banner of knowledge, bring forth great vows, and hold and sustain the lineage of the buddhas; in thought after thought they fill out the whole sea of great merit and virtue, and adorn and purify all vast and great worlds; with knowledge that is at will they teach, convert, and ripen all sentient beings; with the sun of wisdom they put away the dark obstacles of all the worlds; with valiant knowledge they awaken all sentient beings from their torpid sleep; with the moon of wisdom they resolve the doubts of all sentient beings; with a pure voice they sever the clinging of all becoming — “and how then could I be able to know their wondrous practice, or to tell of their merit and virtue, or to enter their objective realm, or to display their mastery?”
Looked at one by one, each of these virtues answers to something: “accomplishing the boundless practices and vows of Samantabhadra” is the boundlessness of the vow; “entering everywhere the seas of all Dharma realms” is the shorelessness of what is entered; “gaining the bodhisattvas’ samādhi of the mastery of the adamantine banner of knowledge” is a concentration hard as adamant and not to be broken; “bringing forth great vows and holding and sustaining the lineage of the buddhas” is a succession never cut off; “filling out the whole sea of great merit and virtue” is the fullness of one’s own practice; “adorning and purifying all vast and great worlds” is the purity of the lands; “teaching, converting, and ripening all sentient beings” is the ripening of others. The last four clauses answer one by one to what they cure: “with the sun of wisdom putting away the dark obstacles of all the worlds” cures darkness; “with valiant knowledge awakening all sentient beings from their torpid sleep” cures sleep; “with the moon of wisdom resolving the doubts of all sentient beings” cures doubt; “with a pure voice severing the clinging of all becoming” cures clinging; and “within each and every dust mote of the whole Dharma realm displaying every mastery of spiritual power” is why the four before can reach everywhere — sun, moon, voice, and knowledge reach no further than a single dust mote and no less far. The closing “the eye of knowledge bright and pure, seeing the three times as equal” is the eye of all this: that spiritual power pervades a single mote rests not on power but on the clearness of the eye; the eye being clear and the three times seen as equal, nothing manifested fails to meet its occasion.
Set aside a misreading: that this is a set phrase of modesty. The four things she points to — the sun of wisdom, valiant knowledge, the moon of wisdom, the pure voice — are of the very same kind as that Dharma gate of her own. Brought down to the ground: only one who knows that what she has gained and what she points to are of one road can say ‘I know only this one’ without losing the measure of it.
The Next Friend Is the One Who Woke Me Long Ago
“Son of good family! Here in Jambudvīpa, within the site of awakening in the country of Magadha, there is a goddess who presides over the night, named: Universal Virtue Pure Light. It was from her that I originally raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, and she constantly awakens me with the wondrous Dharma. Go to her and ask: how is a bodhisattva to learn the bodhisattva practice and to cultivate the bodhisattva way?”
Upon this clause Chengguan judges, “she is the former Pure Moon, and so it is said ‘originally from her the mind was raised’” — the next friend she points out is that very night goddess who twice woke her in the birth-story. He glosses the name further, saying, “the friend is named Universal Virtue because in the most surpassing Dharma realm there is no virtue she is not furnished with; and Pure Light because right knowledge realizes and enters, apart from the defilement of mistaken transgression”; and he glosses the place, saying, “as for ‘within the site of awakening,’ it is being without mistaken transgression, by reason of according with principle. Principle is the site of awakening.”
Set aside a misreading: that pointing out the next friend is only reporting an address. Brought down to the ground: she sends Sudhana off to the very source of her own raising of the mind — and this one clause gathers the whole purport of the birth-story into one place.
Ten Verses and One Graph of Farewell
Sudhana praises her with ten verses. Chengguan divides them into four: the first four praise the surpassing excellence of body and mind; the next three make clear that the great working has no bound; the next two show that the benefit to beings is not in vain; the last concludes that her virtue is without end. The first four verses praise her pure body, the evenness of her Dharma body, the seeing of her form and image within all the destinies, and a mind vast as space — the second verse, “the worlds all enter within it, their forming and their perishing meet no obstruction,” is the one most to be looked at: the Dharma body being equal through the three times, the forming and the perishing of worlds are both within it, forming adds nothing and perishing takes nothing away, and therefore there is no obstruction; the next three verses all begin with “within each and every pore,” speaking of sending forth light, manifesting bodies, and displaying lands; the next two verses say that those who hear her name and see her body “all obtain the benefit of merit and virtue, and accomplish the way of awakening” — the benefit obtained stops not at merit but reaches the accomplishing of awakening; and “those who for many kalpas were in the evil destinies and only now get to see and hear of you ought also to receive it with gladness, because their afflictions are extinguished” — the seeing and hearing that comes after many kalpas in the evil destinies is itself the extinguishing of affliction, and therefore is to be received with gladness; and the last verse says, “through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a thousand lands one might praise the virtue of a single hair of yours; the number of the kalpas could still be exhausted, but the merit and virtue would in the end have no end.”
The praising done, “he bowed to her feet, circled her measureless times, gazed up at her with earnest longing, and took his leave and departed.” Three actions, and only then one graph of farewell.
Set aside a misreading: that taking leave is the breaking up of the gathering. Brought down to the ground: to praise a good friend’s virtue up to “the number of the kalpas could still be exhausted” and then turn and walk away — cherishing her virtue and going forward are, in this section, one and the same action.
Lineage
Of the text of this section, three streams open downward from it.
The first is the thread of assigned position. Chengguan sets up the outline of ten good friends for the ten grounds, and assigns this friend to the Joyful Ground.
Chengguan’s Explicit Judgment
As to the matching of assigned positions, Chengguan in the chapter outline passage states of himself that both have their reason, saying, “yet within there being no sequence of positions the sequence of positions is not obstructed, and to display the positions is the constant rule; so to match them, too, is no fault.”
Li Tongxuan divides his gloss upon this friend into the two sections of entering the position proper and pointing to virtue and advancing upward, and in his general discussion of the ten grounds judges this to be “the good friend of the first ground, the Joyful, with dāna-pāramitā as principal and the other nine as companions,” and says further, “this makes clear the gate of entering the worldly, being bound along with beings, and nourishing great kindness and compassion, and being furnished with the dāna-pāramitā so that it is brought to completion.” His treatise mentions this friend at three further places in its general discussion of the ten grounds, all upon her name and her position: in one place, “she is also named reliance without fear, that is, she is a reliance without fear for all sentient beings”; in another, “this spirit signifies the first ground, the Joyful”; in another, “so as to signify great compassion, since she presides over the sprouting of the shoot of awakening in sentient beings” — of one purport with his gloss upon this passage. The bone to which the two houses fasten differs, and both are settled sayings of the ancient worthies.
The second is the thread of the night goddesses and the female body. Chengguan says, “that upon the grounds night goddesses are seen for the most part is because the knowledge of realization is profound and wondrous, and it breaks the darkness among mingled marks,” and says further, “the nine deva-spirits below are, according to the Sanskrit witness, all goddesses. That Gopā too is female is because upon the grounds one realizes a compassion of one same substance, which is the state of a woman.” Li Tongxuan fastens it to the same one sense of compassion but tells it more fully, saying, “the ten good friends have no marks of one gone forth from home, and all together are heavenly women,” and takes a woman’s being able to nourish sons and grandsons without weariness as a sign of the bodhisattva’s nourishing of sentient beings.
The third is the thread of the divergent interpretations of the commentators. As to the outline of this section, Chengguan makes six passages and within the praising and conferring opens three further; Li Tongxuan sets up five gates within the Dharma gate of truly entering the present position, six gates further for seeing the night goddess, and seventeen gates within the making of the request for what is sought, with five gates apart for the one passage of pointing to virtue and advancing upward.
As to the gloss of the friend’s name, what the four houses say may be gathered into three senses. Chengguan glosses the two graphs separately as spring and as presiding over, and Li Tongxuan joins them into the single phrase presiding over the springing forth of spring — these two glossing the form of the name in the eighty-fascicle witness. What Fazang and Zhiyan gloss is the form of the name in the sixty-fascicle witness: Fazang renders the name as reliance without fear, saying of her that “in the text below she at length becomes a reliance for sentient beings who are afraid,” and takes besides the name of the Indian witness and renders it as spring, saying, “that is, signifying that she is able to grow the ten thousand practices, as in the season of spring”; and the interlinear note of Zhiyan’s Kongmu zhang likewise has reliance without fear. One name, three senses: reliance without fear is said upon what she gives to sentient beings — one who is afraid has something to rely on, and so is afraid no longer; spring is said upon the season; and being able to grow the ten thousand practices is said upon the first ground. The three senses are at bottom one thing — she who is willing, in the blackest night, to let people have something to rely on is the very spring that can grow the ten thousand practices.
As to what the city’s name signifies, Chengguan takes yellow to be the central color and to signify according with the middle way, and takes it further as the city of the Buddha’s birth, signifying that upon the first ground one is born into the house of the buddhas; Li Tongxuan takes yellow to be the color of blessing and felicity. All these divergent interpretations are settled sayings of the ancient worthies, and are recorded without adjudication.
One who keeps watch through the night does this: in the darkest hour she lets people see the road. And her own provenance is no more than this — twice, while she was asleep and dreaming, a little noise someone made woke her. What the first ground looks like, this section gives just this.
考據Apparatus
善財第三十一友婆珊婆演底夜神，是寄十地十善友之首。澄觀於此立一段總綱，說「自下大文第五有十善友，寄十地位，即分十段。第一婆珊婆演底夜神，寄歡喜地」，本會之科自此轉入寄十地位一段。此段經文四千餘字，長行以九種心起，繼以十門救攝——初一總明夜闇諸難，後九門逐難別顯，門門先救世苦、後以迴向大願令其究竟；次以二十一頌重宣，澄觀判其四分為法門名體·四無量·六處殊勝·業用廣大；再答發心久近，以二世本生自述前身為法慧月夫人與名稱長者，皆由夜神覺悟而發心；末謙己推勝、指示後友普德淨光，善財以十偈讚而辭去。友名之義，澄觀傳「婆珊者，此云春也。婆演底者，此云主當」，李通玄同作主當春生。法門名於底本三見而有二形——標名處作「破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫」，得法與結歎二處作「破一切眾生暗法光明解脫」，本考據照底本逐字不齊。本節偈行六十二，分二段：夜神自說二十一頌四十二行、善財讚歎十頌二十行。
一、科判定位
| 科判系統 | 此節經文 之位 |
|---|---|
| 底本 T279 三十九品 | 品三十九 入法界品（第九會 逝多林）；婆珊婆演底夜神＝卷六十八〔T10 0369a16〕–〔0372a10 前〕 |
| 澄觀《華嚴經疏》 | 十地十善友總綱起〔T35n1735 0941a19〕；本節正釋〔0941a19〕–〔0941c19 前〕（訖於第二普德淨光夜神科起） |
| 澄觀《演義鈔》 | 五十四友二十類攝表〔T36n1736 0663b15–b16〕（品友分類之總說）；本友專釋段〔0681b06〕–〔0681c05〕（寄初歡喜地之義·春生·斷分別見·法門星象·二愚二無我指歸〈地品〉） |
| 法藏《探玄記》 | 本友專釋段〔T35n1733 0473b06〕–〔0474b04〕；其所釋者六十本之名形「婆娑婆陀」（八十本名形「婆珊婆演底」於此記零命中） |
| 智儼《搜玄記》 | 本友專釋段〔T35n1732 0097c06〕–〔0098a08〕；其所釋亦是六十本之名形，作「婆娑婆陀」〔0097c07〕 |
| 李通玄《新華嚴經論》 | 推德昇進五門〔T36n1739 0986a23〕（前友段〔0985a15〕之五門指本友，為界外引介）；正入當位法門五門與見夜神六門〔0985b05〕；申請所求十七門〔0985b23〕；本地主伴與女身表法〔0986a13–0986a22〕 |
澄觀之十地總綱——本節所繫之大科：
「自下大文第五有十善友，寄十地位，即分十段。第一婆珊婆演底夜神，寄歡喜地」〔T35n1735 0941a19–0941a20〕
澄觀之六段科——本節之骨：
〔T35n1735 0941a28–0941a29〕「第一依教趣求中，先依前修證、後「漸次」〔0941a29〕下趣求後友」
〔T35n1735 0941b03〕「第二「作是念時」〔0941b03〕下明見敬諮問」
〔T35n1735 0941b08–0941b10〕「第三「時彼夜神」〔0941b09〕下稱讚授法，中二：初稱讚、後「善男子我得」〔0941b09〕下授己法界」
「第四謙推，可知。第五指示後友」〔T35n1735 0941c11〕
〔T35n1735 0941c15〕「第六「爾時善財」〔0941c15〕下戀德禮辭」
第三稱讚授法一段復開三：
「於中三：一標名體、二顯業用、三得法久近」〔T35n1735 0941b10〕
顯業用又開二，長行之內立十門：
〔T35n1735 0941b14–0941b16〕「二「我於惡慧」〔0941b14〕下明業用，中二：先長行、後偈頌。前中二：先興救物之心、二「我於夜闇」〔0941b15〕下正明對緣救攝」
〔T35n1735 0941b16〕「於中十門：初一總明、「為海難」〔0941b16〕下別顯」
「今初，有四種：一夜等為救時、二海等為救處、三遭盜等為所救、四種種方便為能救」〔T35n1735 0941b17〕
後九門之通則與逐目：
「後九門別顯中，文皆有二：先救世苦令得世樂、後以迴向大願令其究竟離苦得樂」〔T35n1735 0941b19–0941b21〕
〔T35n1735 0941b21–0941b26〕「九中，一救海難眾生、二「為在陸地」〔0941b21〕下救處陸眾生、三「一切眾生」〔0941b22〕下救求不得及行山險眾生、四救樂國土眾生、五救著聚落眾生、六救闇夜眾生、七「是諸眾生無有智」〔0941b24〕下救惑業眾生、八「或病所纏」〔0941b25〕下救八苦眾生、九「入見稠林」〔0941b26〕下救惡見眾生，文並可知」
澄觀所牒之四句於底本皆可尋：「一切眾生」即陸地門末之「一切眾生，有惜壽命」段〔T10n0279 0369c10–c11〕，「是諸眾生無有智」在闇夜門迴向願中〔0370a08〕，「或病所纏」〔0370a23〕、「入見稠林」〔0370a29〕各起一段。底本自總明段以下，段界逐字數之為十（總明一·別顯九）。
得法久近一段之二問兩答：
「三得法久近中，先興二問、後還兩答。答中有二：先答發心時節、後答得法久近」〔T35n1735 0941c01–0941c02〕
〔T35n1735 0941c03–0941c06〕「今初，有六：初總顯本事因緣、二「時彼城東」〔0941c03〕下明初佛興世、三「蓮華城內」〔0941c04〕下善友勸發、四「令王夫人」〔0941c04〕下正發大心、五「時王夫人」〔0941c05〕下結會古今、六「我於彼佛」〔0941c06〕下發心成益」
〔T35n1735 0941c06–0941c11〕「二「過此劫已」〔0941c06〕下答得法久近。於中二：初總顯得法因緣、後「我纔見佛」〔0941c08〕下正明得法。於中三：初得方便三昧，謂上見諸佛、下化眾生；次「以聞法故」〔0941c09〕下得此解脫；後「得此解脫已」〔0941c10〕下廣顯業用」
李通玄之門數（就八十本·本友之釋自分二段，十地通論中復有夾釋）：本友之釋分二大段——正入當位法門〔T36n1739 0985b05〕–〔0986a22〕·推德昇進〔0986a23〕–〔0986b17〕。其前一段〔0985a15〕–〔0985a19〕屬前友安住地神推德昇進中指示本友之文，錄之為界外之引介：
〔T36n1739 0985a15–0985a19〕「第二推德昇進中，從「如諸菩薩摩訶薩」〔0985a15〕已下至「辭退而去」〔0985a16〕有七行半經，約立五門：一推德昇進；二示善知識所在，云在此閻浮提摩竭提國；三舉城之名號迦毘羅；四舉善知識夜神號婆珊婆演底；五禮敬辭去」
本友正入當位一段之門：
〔T36n1739 0985b05–0985b07〕「第一正入當位法門中，從「爾時善財童子」〔0985b05〕已下至「我唯知此破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫門」〔0985b06〕，於中約立五門」
「約位昇進，即分於申請所求中復立十七門」〔T36n1739 0985b23〕
本友推德昇進一段之門（其所指之後友為普德淨光）：
〔T36n1739 0986a23–0986a29〕「第二推德昇進中，從「如諸菩薩摩訶薩」〔0986a23〕已下至「辭退而去」〔0986a24〕長行有十五行半經、偈頌十行經，於中約立五門：一推德昇進；二示善知識居處所在，云此閻浮提摩竭提國菩提場內，有主夜神名普德淨光；三善財說頌歎婆珊婆演底夜天神德；四善財說頌已頂禮夜神足；五辭退而去」
二、術語
| 漢 | 古德傳梵（羅馬字·發音輔助） | 所徵 | 精義 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 婆珊婆演底 | — | 本節「爾時，婆珊婆演底主夜神，欲重宣此解脫義」〔T10n0279 0370b09–b10〕 | 第三十一善友之名；澄觀傳「婆珊者，此云春也。婆演底者，此云主當，以於春時主當苗稼故」〔T35n1735 0941a23–a25〕；李通玄「此云主當春生」〔T36n1739 0985a29〕。六十本作婆娑婆陀，四十本作春和；法藏就六十本名形訓為「此名依止不畏」〔T35n1733 0473b12–b13〕，智儼《孔目章》夾注同作「此云依止不畏」〔T45n1870 0589a29〕 |
| 迦毘羅 | — | 澄觀「城名迦毘羅者，此云黃色，往昔黃頭仙人依此處故」〔T35n1735 0941a20–a22〕 | 本友所住之城；城名不出於本節界內之底本文，唯見前友指示句與二疏。六十本作迦毘羅婆 |
| 主夜神 | — | 本節「渴仰欲見彼主夜神」〔T10n0279 0369a21〕 | 主當夜分之神；澄觀「地上多見夜神者，證智玄妙，雜相破闇故」〔T35n1735 0941a26–a27〕 |
| 破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫 | — | 本節「我得菩薩破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫」〔T10n0279 0369b17–b18〕 | 本友所得法門之標名；澄觀「一切眾生癡暗者，即所破二愚。法光明者，即是能破二無我智」〔T35n1735 0941b11–b13〕 |
| 破一切眾生暗法光明解脫 | — | 本節「即得此破一切眾生暗法光明解脫」〔T10n0279 0371b07〕·「我唯知此菩薩破一切眾生暗法光明解脫」〔0371b23〕 | 同一法門之第二形（無「癡」字）；底本三見二形，本考據照底本逐字不齊 |
| 十力地 | — | 本節「唯願示我一切智道，我行於中，至十力地」〔T10n0279 0369b13–b14〕 | 善財所求之地；六十本作「若有菩薩向此道者，得十力地」〔T09n0278 0720b21–b22〕 |
| 薩婆若 | sarvajña（「薩婆若」本即古傳音寫） | 本節「願一切眾生不著諸蘊，住一切佛薩婆若境」〔T10n0279 0369c22–c23〕 | 一切智；樂著國土門之迴向願 |
| 六處聚落 | — | 本節「願一切眾生，悉不貪樂六處聚落」〔T10n0279 0369c26〕 | 以聚落喻六處；樂著聚落門之迴向願，取喻與所喻同辭 |
| 出生見佛調伏眾生三世智光明輪 | — | 本節「我纔見佛，即得三昧，名：出生見佛調伏眾生三世智光明輪」〔T10n0279 0371b03–b04〕 | 本友再前身初見佛時所得三昧；澄觀判為「方便三昧」，云「初得方便三昧，謂上見諸佛、下化眾生」〔T35n1735 0941c08–c09〕 |
| 一切法雷音王 | — | 本節「爾時，有佛名：一切法雷音王，於此樹下成等正覺」〔T10n0279 0371a06〕 | 本生第一世之佛；六十本作一切法雷王佛，四十本作一切法大吼聲王 |
| 淨月 | — | 本節「蓮華光城內有主夜神，名為：淨月」〔T10n0279 0371a08〕 | 覺悟法慧月夫人之夜神；澄觀「即前淨月，故云本從發心」〔T35n1735 0941c14〕，指其即後友普德淨光 |
| 清淨眼 | — | 本節「妙幢王城中生，作主夜神，名：清淨眼」〔T10n0279 0371a27〕 | 淨月夜神以願力所生之後身；覺悟名稱長者之女妙慧光明 |
| 普德淨光 | — | 本節「有主夜神，名：普德淨光」〔T10n0279 0371c06〕 | 第三十二善友；澄觀「友名普德者，最勝法界無德不具故。淨光者，正智證入離誤犯之垢故」〔T35n1735 0941c13–c14〕 |
| 盧舍那 | — | 本節「十方剎塵內，悉見盧舍那」〔T10n0279 0370c23〕 | 夜神頌末偈所見之佛；六十本作「見盧舍那佛，道場成正覺」〔T09n0278 0721c19〕 |
三、譬喻·修辭
(一) 夜與暗之一貫取譬——本節自始至終以夜為場、以暗為所破。善財到城「從東門入，佇立未久，便見日沒」〔T10n0279 0369a20〕；所遇者是主夜神；所得法門名中有「暗」；所救之難皆繫於「我於夜闇人靜」〔0369b25〕之時；所發之願是「願我普於一切眾生生死長夜、無明暗處，以智慧光普皆照了」〔0370a06–a08〕。澄觀就此二端各下一語：於日沒云「見日沒者，是夜神故，表分別見日皆已亡故」〔T35n1735 0941b02–b03〕；於夜神之為友云「地上多見夜神者，證智玄妙，雜相破闇故」〔0941a26–a27〕。世間之夜與眾生之無明長夜，於本節是同一個字的兩重用法。
(二) 十門救攝之二重句式——後九門之文多作兩節：先寫所現之形與所作之事，後以「復作是念」或「作是念言」領起一段迴向願；唯第七惑業門承第六門之願文而下，不另起領句。澄觀直指此式，云「後九門別顯中，文皆有二：先救世苦令得世樂、後以迴向大願令其究竟離苦得樂」〔T35n1735 0941b19–b21〕。底本此二領句，救攝諸門之內「復作是念」四見·「作是念言」四見；別有善財未見夜神前之四念作「復作是念」〔T10n0279 0369a22〕，不屬救攝之願，合全段則「復作是念」五見。以救海難一門為例，先云「止惡風雨，息大波浪，引其道路，示其洲岸，令免怖畏，悉得安隱」〔T10n0279 0369c04–c05〕，後云「以此善根，迴施眾生，願令捨離一切諸苦」〔0369c05–c06〕——前者是眼前之出險，後者是究竟之離苦。
(三) 世間難與法上難之對取——曠野一門之願最見此體：「願一切眾生，伐見稠林，截愛羅網，出生死野，滅煩惱暗，入一切智平坦正道，到無畏處畢竟安樂」〔T10n0279 0369c18–c21〕。所行之曠野、稠林、藤蘿、雲霧四事，逐一轉為見稠林、愛羅網、生死野、煩惱暗；所示之「正道」亦轉為「一切智平坦正道」。同一組物象，前半是地上的路，後半是心上的路。
(四) 迷方之倒——闇夜一門先寫方位之倒：「於平坦路生險難想，於險難道起平坦想，以高為下，以下為高」〔T10n0279 0369c28–0370a01〕；其願中復寫想心之倒：「無常常想，無樂樂想，無我我想，不淨淨想」〔0370a09–a10〕。前者是夜行人之所倒，後者是眾生之所倒，二者同用一個「想」字承接。
(五) 六處殊勝之排比頌——夜神二十一頌之中，第六至第十五凡十頌以「我目」「我耳」「我鼻」「我舌」「我身」「我心」六句起，逐根言其清淨與所及。澄觀判此十頌云「三有十頌顯果令入，即六處殊勝」〔T35n1735 0941b28–b29〕。「汝應入此門」一句於全頌段六見（第三·四·五·十一·十二·十八頌），是重宣一段之勸修句式。
(六) 毛孔之現——善財初見夜神時，見「於其身上一一毛孔，皆現化度無量無數惡道眾生，令其免離險難之像」〔T10n0279 0369b01–0369b02〕；末後善財讚頌，復以「一一毛孔內」三偈連下，各言放光、現身、示剎〔0371c18–0371c23〕。一見一讚，前後相應：所見者是像，所讚者是用。
(七) 星宿在體——「一切星宿炳然在體」〔T10n0279 0369a29〕一句，寫夜神之身即是夜空。澄觀就其服色與身相下一語，云「於空見者，城表教道，空表證道，宗說兼通，如日處空故。服朱衣者，證智明顯故」〔T35n1735 0941b05–b06〕，又云「法門星像不離一身，如體化生作用不離一毛之性」〔0941b06–b08〕。善財讚頌亦回應此象，云「一一毛孔中，星月各分布」〔T10n0279 0371c15〕。
四、異譯對勘
本節經文要句之漢譯校本：實叉難陀 T279（底本·卷六十八）· 佛馱跋陀羅 T278（晉譯六十華嚴〈入法界品第三十四〉·卷五十一）· 般若 T293（四十華嚴《入不思議解脫境界普賢行願品》·卷十七）。
句一 友名·城名·法門名
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 爾時，婆珊婆演底主夜神，欲重宣此解脫義 | T10n0279 0370b09–b10 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 此閻浮提有城，名曰迦毘羅婆；彼有夜天，名婆娑婆陀 | T09n0278 0720a19–a21 |
| 般若 T293 | 渴仰欲見春和夜神 | T10n0293 0738b21 |
| 實叉 T279 | 我得菩薩破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫 | T10n0279 0369b17–b18 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 我已成就菩薩光明，普照諸法，壞散眾生愚癡法門 | T09n0278 0720b25–b26 |
| 般若 T293 | 我得菩薩教化調伏破一切眾生癡闇法光明解脫門 | T10n0293 0738c25–c26 |
異文所繫：(甲) 友名三本三形——八十作婆珊婆演底，六十作婆娑婆陀，四十作春和。四十之譯以義代音，正與澄觀所傳「婆珊者，此云春也」〔T35n1735 0941a23〕之訓相應。(乙) 城名，八十本節界內無之（唯前友指示句與二疏有），六十作迦毘羅婆，四十作迦毘羅並繫方位「北度恒河，向迦毘羅城」〔T10n0293 0738b19〕。(丙) 法門名三本三形：八十作「破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫」，六十以「光明普照諸法，壞散眾生愚癡」為名而不作解脫，四十於首加「教化調伏」四字並以「解脫門」結。(丁) 八十本此名於本節三見二形——標名處有「癡」字，得法處〔T10n0279 0371b07〕與結歎處〔0371b23〕皆無「癡」字；四十本標名處作「教化調伏破一切眾生癡闇法光明解脫門」〔T10n0293 0738c25–c26〕，得法處與結歎處作「教化調伏破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫門」〔0741a15–a16·0741b02–b03〕——闇與暗二形之參差在此本，而三處皆有「教化調伏」四字。誌錄不判。
句二 四種善知識想
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 由善知識得周遍眼，普能明見十方境界；由善知識得廣大解，普能了達一切所緣；由善知識得三昧眼，普能觀察一切法門；由善知識得智慧眼，普能明照十方剎海 | T10n0279 0369a22–a26 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 於善知識發如來想，普眼境界顯現，諸方智慧悉至，一切境界清淨，法眼普見一切諸法界海 | T09n0278 0720b02–b04 |
| 般若 T293 | 由善知識得周遍眼，普能明見十方境界；由善知識得廣大解，普能了達一切所緣；由善知識得三昧眼，普能觀察一切法門；由善知識得智慧眼，普能明照十方剎海 | T10n0293 0738b22–b26 |
異文所繫：八十與四十此四句逐字全同，四十唯於上文多「北度恒河」「至城南門，敬心右遶」二事〔T10n0293 0738b19–b20〕。六十此處不作四句排比，而以「普眼境界顯現」以下四短句承之，句數同四而句式與所繫之名皆異，且無「由善知識」之領句。李通玄就八十本立此段為一門，云「三以四種念善知識勝德」〔T36n1739 0985b09〕。誌錄不判。
句三 九種眾生·九種心
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 我於惡慧眾生，起大慈心；於不善業眾生，起大悲心；於作善業眾生，起於喜心；於善惡二行眾生，起不二心；於雜染眾生，起令生清淨心；於邪道眾生，起令生正行心；於劣解眾生，起令興大解心；於樂生死眾生，起令捨輪轉心；於住二乘道眾生，起令住一切智心 | T10n0279 0369b18–b24 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 我於惡眾生發大慈心，於不善業眾生發大悲心，於修善眾生發歡喜心，於善惡眾生發無二心，於染污眾生發清淨心，於邪道眾生發正道心，於樂不淨眾生發樂淨心，於樂生死眾生發隨順法輪心，於樂聲聞、緣覺眾生發安立一切智道心 | T09n0278 0720b26–0720c03 |
| 般若 T293 | 我於惡慧眾生起大慈心，於不善業眾生起大悲心，於作善法眾生起於喜心，於善惡二行眾生起不二心，於雜染眾生起令生清淨心，於邪行眾生起令生正行心，於劣解眾生起令興大解心，於嬾憜眾生起令生精進心，於樂生死眾生起令捨輪轉心，於住二乘道眾生起令住一切智心 | T10n0293 0738c26–0739a04 |
異文所繫：(甲) 心之數，八十九·六十九·四十十——四十於「劣解」與「樂生死」之間多「於嬾憜眾生起令生精進心」一心。(乙) 第七心所對之機，八十作「劣解」而對以「大解」，六十作「樂不淨」而對以「樂淨」，四十同八十。(丙) 第八心，八十作「令捨輪轉」，六十作「隨順法輪」。(丁) 八十逐句以「於」起、以「心」結而句中有頓，六十用「發」字，四十用「起」字。誌錄不判。
句四 十門救攝之開合
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 為海難者，示作船師、魚王、馬王、龜王、象王、阿脩羅王及以海神 | T10n0279 0369c02–c03 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 我於爾時或作船形，或作馬王、象王、狗王、阿脩羅王、海神王形 | T09n0278 0720c11–c13 |
| 般若 T293 | 為海難者示作船師、魚王、馬王、龜王、象王、阿脩羅王，及以海神、捕漁人像 | T10n0293 0739a12–a13 |
| 實叉 T279 | 為行曠野、稠林、險道，藤蘿所羂、雲霧所暗而恐怖者，示其正道，令得出離 | T10n0279 0369c16–c18 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 為曠野眾生，種種方便令其悅樂，入正見道，除滅飢渴 | T09n0278 0720c22–c23 |
| 般若 T293 | 為行曠野、險道、稠林，毒樹、藤蘿交蔽隱密，闍努囉獸潛伏傷殘，震吼出聲驚駭聞者 | T10n0293 0739b02–b04 |
異文所繫：(甲) 救海難所現之形，八十七事（船師·魚王·馬王·龜王·象王·阿脩羅王·海神），六十六事而無魚王龜王、別有狗王，四十於八十之七事外加「捕漁人像」。(乙) 曠野一門，六十文最簡，八十列藤蘿雲霧二事，四十復增毒樹與獸名一目。(丙) 四十於八十九門之外別出一門，云「若有眾生戰諍城邑，乃至小獸忿競無時，我以方便使其和好」〔T10n0293 0739b10–b11〕，八十六十皆無此門。(丁) 六十之門序與八十不盡相當：八十之樂著國土門〔T10n0279 0369c21〕與樂著聚落門〔0369c23〕，六十作「見樂著國土眾生」〔T09n0278 0720c25–c26〕與「見著聚落眾生」〔0720c28〕，而其前之山難、曠野二門所現之形與八十互異。誌錄不判。
句五 重宣之頌
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 我此解脫門，生淨法光明，能破愚癡暗，待時而演說 | T10n0279 0370b12–b13 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 我所成妙法，知時諸門地，照除愚癡闇，普觀一切法 | T09n0278 0721b08–b09 |
| 實叉 T279 | 十方剎塵內，悉見盧舍那，菩提樹下坐，成道演妙法 | T10n0279 0370c23–c24 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 見盧舍那佛，道場成正覺，十方剎微塵，悉轉正法輪 | T09n0278 0721c19–c20 |
異文所繫：(甲) 二本此段皆二十一頌四十二行（底本逐字計；澄觀云「二偈頌中二十一頌，分四」〔T35n1735 0941b26–b27〕）。(乙) 首頌，八十以「我此解脫門」標名，六十作「我所成妙法」而以「知時諸門地」承——八十之「待時而演說」與六十之「知時」同繫一義而句位互易。(丙) 末頌次第互倒：八十先剎後佛，六十先佛後剎。(丁) 六十諸頌多以「善財」「佛子」直呼（如「善財應速具」〔T09n0278 0721b11〕·「佛子應究竟」〔0721c02〕），八十多作「汝應入此門」（六見），唯第二頌作「佛子應修學」〔T10n0279 0370b15〕。(戊) 六根之頌，六十作「淨天眼」「淨天耳海」「淨鼻根」〔0721b18·0721b24·0721b28〕，八十作「我目甚清淨」「我耳甚清淨」「我鼻甚清淨」〔T10n0279 0370b22·0370b28·0370c03〕。誌錄不判。
句六 本生二世
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 有劫名：寂靜光，世界名：出生妙寶，有五億佛於中出現 | T10n0279 0370c28–c29 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 有世界名寶德，劫名寂靜。有五百億佛出興於世 | T09n0278 0721c24–c25 |
| 般若 T293 | 有劫名寂靜光，世界名出生吉祥寶，五百億佛於中出現 | T10n0293 0740c03–c04 |
| 實叉 T279 | 王有夫人，名：法慧月，夜久眠寐 | T10n0279 0371a03 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 王玉女寶，名法慧月蓮華光 | T09n0278 0722a01 |
| 般若 T293 | 王有夫人名法智月，妓樂自娛，夜久眠寢 | T10n0293 0740c07–c08 |
| 實叉 T279 | 我為：名稱長者；女名：妙慧光明，端正殊妙 | T10n0279 0371a25 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 我於爾時為明勝長者女，名勝慧光，端正殊妙 | T09n0278 0722a19–a20 |
| 般若 T293 | 我為名稱長者女，字妙慧光明，端正殊妙，人相具足 | T10n0293 0741a02–a04 |
異文所繫：(甲) 佛數，八十作五億，六十四十皆作五百億。(乙) 第一世之身，八十作王夫人法慧月，六十作王玉女寶法慧月蓮華光，四十作王夫人法智月；王名八十作善法度，六十同，四十作妙法岸。(丙) 第二世之身，八十此句作「我為：名稱長者；女名：妙慧光明」，六十作「明勝長者女，名勝慧光」，四十作「名稱長者女，字妙慧光明」——六十四十皆明作長者之女；李通玄依八十本釋此段，亦作「有五百佛於中出現，我為長者女名妙慧光明」〔T36n1739 0985c13–c14〕。八十此句今行標點作分讀，為長者與其女二人；然下文「在父母邊，夜久眠息」〔T10n0279 0371a28〕，說者自是有父母之女，與六十、四十及李通玄之讀同。本帙四層取長者之女一讀；句六之表照底本標點錄文，一字不改；標點分讀為另一讀，並存。(丁) 覺悟之夜神名，第一世八十六十皆作淨月，四十作淨月光；第二世八十作清淨眼，六十同，四十作妙淨眼。(戊) 第二世之劫名，八十作無憂遍照·世界離垢妙光·佛須彌幢寂靜妙眼；六十作劫離憂·世界離垢勝·佛須彌寂靜眼；四十作劫無憂遍照·世界離垢勝德·佛須彌幢大寂靜吉祥眼。(己) 所得三昧，八十一名「出生見佛調伏眾生三世智光明輪」〔T10n0279 0371b04〕，六十作「菩薩三昧，名曰見佛」〔T09n0278 0722a26〕，四十開為二名「調伏眾生見佛三昧」與「普照三世智光明輪三昧」〔T10n0293 0741a10–a12〕。誌錄不判。
句七 謙己推勝·指示後友
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 善男子！我唯知此菩薩破一切眾生暗法光明解脫 | T10n0279 0371b22–b24 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 善男子！我唯知此光明普照諸法、壞散眾生愚癡法門 | T09n0278 0722b11–b12 |
| 般若 T293 | 善男子！我唯知此菩薩教化調伏破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫門 | T10n0293 0741b02–b03 |
| 實叉 T279 | 善男子！此閻浮提摩竭提國菩提場內，有主夜神，名：普德淨光 | T10n0279 0371c05–c06 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 此閻浮提摩竭提國有一夜天，名甚深妙德離垢光明 | T09n0278 0722b23–b24 |
| 般若 T293 | 善男子！此閻浮提恒河南岸，摩竭提國菩提場中，有主夜神名普遍吉祥無垢光 | T10n0293 0741b14–b16 |
異文所繫：(甲) 後友之名三本三形——八十普德淨光·六十甚深妙德離垢光明·四十普遍吉祥無垢光。(乙) 後友所在，八十四十皆繫「菩提場內」，四十復加「恒河南岸」；六十但云「此閻浮提摩竭提國」而不出菩提場。澄觀就八十本之菩提場立表詮，云「云菩提場內者，得無誤犯，由契理故。理即菩提場」〔T35n1735 0941c11–c13〕。(丙) 請問之語，八十作「菩薩云何學菩薩行、修菩薩道」〔T10n0279 0371c08〕，六十作「云何菩薩學菩薩行、修菩薩道」〔T09n0278 0722b24–b25〕——語序互易；四十同八十。(丁) 八十四十皆有「我本從其發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心」一句〔T10n0279 0371c06–c07〕〔T10n0293 0741b16–b17〕，繫後友即本生中之淨月夜神；六十之相應段但云「此閻浮提摩竭提國有一夜天，名甚深妙德離垢光明」〔T09n0278 0722b23–b24〕而不載此句；澄觀據此判云「即前淨月，故云本從發心」〔T35n1735 0941c14〕。誌錄不判。
句八 善財讚頌
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 見汝清淨身，相好超世間，如文殊師利，亦如寶山王 | T10n0279 0371c10–c11 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 我見清淨身，相好自莊嚴，如文殊師利，亦如寶山王 | T09n0278 0722b26–b27 |
| 般若 T293 | 我今見汝清淨身，色相端嚴如妙德，威光超世無能比，殊特猶若寶山王 | T10n0293 0741b21–b22 |
| 實叉 T279 | 千剎微塵劫，歎汝一毛德，劫數猶可窮，功德終無盡 | T10n0279 0371c28–c29 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 千剎微塵劫，讚歎其功德，諸劫猶可盡，功德無窮已 | T09n0278 0722c15–c16 |
| 般若 T293 | 於千佛剎微塵劫，讚歎汝身一毛德，微塵劫數猶可窮，汝身功德終無盡 | T10n0293 0741c10–c11 |
異文所繫：(甲) 三本此段皆十頌（底本逐字計；澄觀云「於中十偈，分四」〔T35n1735 0941c16〕）。(乙) 頌之字句，八十六十皆五言二十行，四十作七言二十行。(丙) 首頌之比況三本皆取文殊與寶山王，四十以「妙德」譯文殊之名。(丁) 第八第九二頌，八十作「聞名及見身」與「多劫在惡趣，始得見聞汝」〔T10n0279 0371c24·0371c26〕，六十作「若有見聞者」二頌重起〔T09n0278 0722c11·0722c13〕，四十作「見汝身，聞名愛樂生歡喜」與「墮於惡趣無邊劫」〔T10n0293 0741c06·0741c08〕。誌錄不判。
五、宗義之經據〔眼〕
(一) 寄歡喜地之判。本節居十地十善友之首，此判繫澄觀所立之大科：
「自下大文第五有十善友，寄十地位，即分十段。第一婆珊婆演底夜神，寄歡喜地」〔T35n1735 0941a19–0941a20〕
澄觀明判（寄位之配當）
寄位之配當，澄觀於本品科段先錄古來二說，次自下明判，明其所以配、亦明不配之亦有理：
「二皆有理，謂隨一一位具多法門，豈容凡心不得習求善友之法，故不配有理。然無次位中不礙次位，顯位是常規，配亦無失」〔T35n1735 0918b04–0918b07〕
此語出於品科總段，非本友窗內之文，錄之以明寄位之配所依者何、其分寸又何在。
(二) 城名·友名之表初地。澄觀就迦毘羅與婆珊婆演底二名，各立與初地相應之表詮：
「城名迦毘羅者，此云黃色，往昔黃頭仙人依此處故。黃是中色，表契中道故。又此是佛生之城，表初地生佛家故」〔T35n1735 0941a20–0941a23〕
「婆珊者，此云春也。婆演底者，此云主當，以於春時主當苗稼故。謂顯初入地，能生長萬行，護眾生故」〔T35n1735 0941a23–0941a26〕
李通玄同其大意而語別：
「城名迦毘羅者，此云黃色，此城上古有黃頭仙於此修仙道，故立名也」〔T36n1739 0985a20–0985a21〕
「此十地中初地菩薩位，會如來智慧入纏大慈悲中菩提果故」〔T36n1739 0985a27–0985a28〕
(三) 何以地上多見夜神·何以皆女神。十地十友之中夜神居其多，澄觀就此下二語：
「地上多見夜神者，證智玄妙，雜相破闇故」〔T35n1735 0941a26–0941a27〕
「下九天神，準梵本皆是女神。瞿波亦女者，地上證於同體慈悲，女之狀故」〔T35n1735 0941a27–0941a28〕
李通玄所立同繫慈悲一義而更詳：
「十箇善知識無出家相，總為女天，說多生因本發菩提心時亦是女身，以表十地是入眾生界長養大慈悲之行也，以表女是慈悲能長養子孫無疲勞故，用明菩薩養眾生故」〔T36n1739 0986a18–0986a22〕
(四) 法門名之體——二愚·二無我智·悲智具。標名體一科，澄觀就「癡暗」與「法光明」二詞各配所破能破，復合為悲智：
「一切眾生癡暗者，即所破二愚。法光明者，即是能破二無我智」〔T35n1735 0941b11–0941b13〕
「又破眾生闇為悲，法光明是智，悲智具故」〔T35n1735 0941b13–0941b14〕
(五) 救攝之二重——世樂與究竟。十門之通則已見科判目；此判之義在：所現之船師靈藥、所示之泉井橋梁，皆非止於出險，其後必有一願承之。澄觀之語為：
「後九門別顯中，文皆有二：先救世苦令得世樂、後以迴向大願令其究竟離苦得樂」〔T35n1735 0941b19–0941b21〕
底本闇夜一門之願，正以此二重相銜——先云「如我於此照除夜暗，令諸世事悉得宣敘」，即接「願我普於一切眾生生死長夜、無明暗處，以智慧光普皆照了」〔T10n0279 0370a05–0370a08〕。
(六) 二十一頌之四分。重宣一段，澄觀判其骨為四：
「二偈頌中二十一頌，分四：初一頌法門名體；二有四頌舉因勸修，即四無量；三有十頌顯果令入，即六處殊勝；四有六頌明業用廣大」〔T35n1735 0941b26–0941c01〕
依此判，第一頌「我此解脫門」〔T10n0279 0370b12〕標名體；第二至第五頌之慈·悲·喜·捨四義，各與「勤行廣大慈」〔0370b14〕「寂靜大悲海」〔0370b16〕「令我心歡喜」〔0370b19〕「既捨有為患」〔0370b20〕相當；第六至第十五頌逐言目耳鼻舌身心；第十六至第二十一頌言神通·福·智·三世·塵中見剎·見盧舍那。
(七) 初地以百為首。得法久近末段所言之遍往世界，其數自佛剎微塵數而百、而千、而百千、而不可說。李通玄就此判其為初地之相：
「此是初地以百為首，便滿十方一切法界無盡佛剎。不同三乘但言百佛，不云百佛剎微塵及以不可說佛剎微塵世界等事」〔T36n1739 0986a09–0986a12〕
(八) 檀波羅蜜為主。李通玄復就本地之行配一度為主：
「此是初歡喜地善知識，以檀波羅蜜為主，餘九為伴」〔T36n1739 0986a13–0986a14〕
「此明入俗同纏長養大慈悲門，具足檀波羅蜜令得圓滿。以修慈故，多生不離女身，以表無出世相、常處俗流也」〔T36n1739 0986a15–0986a17〕
六、諸家異釋（古德·標宗）
澄觀《華嚴經疏》T35n1735 ·《演義鈔》T36n1736（八十華嚴逐文·主）
科：「自下大文第五有十善友，寄十地位，即分十段」〔T35n1735 0941a19〕
趣求之表：「從東門入者，開明之初，顯入證之始故。見日沒者，是夜神故，表分別見日皆已亡故」〔T35n1735 0941b01–0941b03〕
見友依正之表：「於空見者，城表教道，空表證道，宗說兼通，如日處空故。服朱衣者，證智明顯故」〔T35n1735 0941b05–0941b06〕；「法門星像不離一身，如體化生作用不離一毛之性」〔0941b06–0941b08〕
總明四種：「今初，有四種：一夜等為救時、二海等為救處、三遭盜等為所救、四種種方便為能救」〔T35n1735 0941b17–0941b19〕
得法久近之六：〔T35n1735 0941c03–0941c06〕「今初，有六：初總顯本事因緣、二「時彼城東」〔0941c03〕下明初佛興世、三「蓮華城內」〔0941c04〕下善友勸發、四「令王夫人」〔0941c04〕下正發大心、五「時王夫人」〔0941c05〕下結會古今、六「我於彼佛」〔0941c06〕下發心成益」
後友名之釋：「友名普德者，最勝法界無德不具故。淨光者，正智證入離誤犯之垢故。即前淨月，故云本從發心」〔T35n1735 0941c13–0941c15〕
戀德十偈之四分：「於中十偈，分四：初四讚身心超勝、次三明大用無涯、次二益物不虛、後一結德無盡」〔T35n1735 0941c16–0941c18〕
澄觀明判（寄位之配當·品科段·非本友窗）
澄觀於〈入法界品〉總科處先錄古來二說：〔T35n1735 0918b02–0918b04〕「六分五相者，若意法師及臺山論，但隨文散釋，更無別配；光統等師皆配地位」；次即自下其明判：「二皆有理，謂隨一一位具多法門，豈容凡心不得習求善友之法，故不配有理。然無次位中不礙次位，顯位是常規，配亦無失」〔T35n1735 0918b04–0918b07〕。所錄之二說並錄不判，此一語則是澄觀自下之明判。
《演義鈔》之本友專釋：〔T36n1736 0681b06–0681b08〕「疏「大文第五。有十善友，寄十地。」〔0681b06〕「第一婆珊婆演底夜神寄初歡喜地」〔0681b06〕者，初獲聖性，具證二空，能益自他，生大歡喜故」；就春生一義云〔0681b08–0681b09〕「「以於春時主當」〔0681b08〕等者，盛德如春，和暢發生故」；就日沒一義云〔0681b09–0681b10〕「「表分別見日皆已亡」〔0681b09〕者，初地斷見惑，即分別煩惱故」；就星象一義云〔0681c01–0681c04〕「疏「法門星象」〔0681c01〕下，此中法喻雙辯。一身以表如體，星象以表法門。星象不離一身，猶法門不離如體。下對亦然，教化表於大用，毛孔以況真性」；其於二愚二無我則指歸〈十地品〉，云「其二愚二無我等，並如〈地品〉」〔0681c04–0681c05〕。澄觀於〈十地品〉釋此二愚云「一執著我法愚，即異生障；二惡趣雜染愚，即惡趣諸業果等」〔T35n1735 0756b11–0756b12〕。
《演義鈔》之二十類攝表：「二十諸神，攝其十：一安住地神、二婆珊婆演底夜神、三普德淨光夜神」〔T36n1736 0663b15–0663b16〕。此鈔段復引二論以辨菩薩五生，云〔0663b21–0663b22〕「疏「四約相辯異不出菩薩五生」〔0663b21〕者，即《瑜伽》四十八品中辨」，其第四生云「從初地至十地、為諸王等」〔0663b25–0663b26〕；又云「《攝論》第六，明勝生亦名最勝生，謂諸世間安樂生處，應知」〔0663b27–0663b29〕。此段屬品友分類總說，非本節專釋。
法藏《探玄記》T35n1733（六十華嚴疏·所釋為六十本名形「婆娑婆陀」）
本友專釋段〔T35n1733 0473b06〕–〔0474b04〕。此記所釋者六十本之名形，八十本之名形於此記零命中。
科：「自下從婆娑婆陀至瞿夷有十善知識，明十地位行。第一歡喜地知識內，亦為五分」〔T35n1733 0473b06–0473b07〕
城名：「正云迦毘羅婆窣堵，此云黃物城，則往古黃頭仙人先在此處，後於此作城，故立斯號」〔T35n1733 0473b08–0473b10〕；「表初地已上生佛家，故在佛生城也」〔0473b11–0473b12〕
名訓：「婆娑婆陀者，正云婆羅婆薩那，此名依止不畏，即下文廣與怖畏眾生而作依止故也」〔T35n1733 0473b12–0473b14〕；「天竺本婆僧多，此云春也，謂表能生長萬行，如春時也」〔0473b14–0473b15〕
夜天與女天之表：「夜天者，同初會中主夜神等，謂在於夜中耀光救物，故以為名，表證智妙離眾相，破闇障故也」〔T35n1733 0473b15–0473b17〕；「此九種夜天，依梵本皆是女天，表是慈悲之狀也」〔0473b17–0473b18〕
九門二救：「別顯九門救處難眾生，皆有二救：一以世間救、二以出世救」〔T35n1733 0473c19–0473c21〕
偈頌四分：「二偈頌中二十一頌，分四：初一頌法門名體；二有四頌明四無量心，是能救生心；三有十頌明六處殊勝，初三眼、次二耳、次一鼻、次一舌、次一身、次二意；四末後六頌明業用廣大」〔T35n1733 0474a14–0474a18〕
智儼《搜玄記》T35n1732（六十華嚴疏·所釋為六十本名形「婆娑婆陀」）
本友專釋段〔T35n1732 0097c06〕–〔0098a08〕。
科與名：「自此已下有十知識。此一歡喜地菩薩也」〔T35n1732 0097c06〕；「天名婆娑婆陀，入光明普照諸法壞散眾生愚癡法門」〔0097c07–0097c08〕
城名：「加毘羅城，國名舍夷，是佛生處，表初地生如來家也」〔T35n1732 0097c09–0097c11〕
何以皆是夜天：「所以此後皆是夜天欲彰此下得理自在，輝光大夜處，深闇化故也」〔T35n1732 0097c11–0097c12〕
對化十七文：「二對化中有十七文：初總救、二救海難、三救陸難、四為依、五救山難、六救曠野難、七救苦難、八救著國土、九救著五陰、十救著聚落、十一救著六入、十二救迷惑、十三救惡業、十四救厄難、十五救苦等三障、十六救邪三業、十七普賢行攝也」〔T35n1732 0097c23–0097c29〕
偈之四分：「偈有二十一偈：初一頌前法門、次四頌初入地四無量行勸令究竟、次十三偈六入勝用勸修究竟、次三偈總歎所得法門勝用」〔T35n1732 0098a01–0098a04〕
李通玄《新華嚴經論》T36n1739（表法異軌）
釋名：「神名婆珊婆演底者，此云主當春生，為此神主當眾生春生諸苗稼也」〔T36n1739 0985a28–0985b01〕
夜天之義：「以能常於生死海，破一切眾生為明暗故，名為夜天。又智自在故，名之為天」〔T36n1739 0985b02–0985b04〕
城名之表：「表法中，以夜神智會中道，合中宮黃色，黃為福慶之色」〔T36n1739 0985a21–0985a22〕
門數：正入當位法門五門〔0985b05–b07〕·見夜神復立六門〔0985b12–b18〕·申請所求十七門〔0985b23〕·推德昇進五門〔0986a23–a29〕——與澄觀之六段科所依之骨不同。前友安住地神推德昇進中指示本友之五門〔0985a15–a19〕屬界外之文，不入本友之科。
十地之總表：「此十地中，總明處世長養大慈悲門」〔T36n1739 0986a17–0986a18〕
推德昇進段之釋（本友段之末·指後友·禮辭）：「此普德淨光夜神，是婆珊婆演底往劫為王夫人時，於夜覺悟之師」〔T36n1739 0986a29–0986b01〕；「不云南方，直云摩竭提國菩提場內者，表修行處生死之慈悲，不出菩提體別有世間慈悲行故」〔0986b03–0986b05〕；「明會世間慈悲之行是菩提心內所行之行，不別有也，表處纏大慈大悲之行與覺體一也。明果作因，因果一也」〔0986b07–0986b09〕；「以明修大慈悲行要經多劫住生死苦海不以為厭，慈悲行方得成就故。明修出世道，一念而即現前；行大慈大悲行，不限劫數也」〔0986b11–0986b14〕；「多劫約俗，一念約真，二事通融自體無礙，即乃是一念中多劫、多劫中一念」〔0986b14–0986b16〕
十地通論中之三處直釋（在本段 0985–0986 之外，就本友之名與位而說）：「此云春時主當，明此神春時主當苗稼。亦名依止無畏，謂與一切眾生作依止無畏」〔T36n1739 0873b05–0873b06〕；「此神表初歡喜地，自第九迴向已來直至第九地，總入神位」〔0873b13–0873b14〕；「四十地初發心，修長養大慈大悲增勝，即以夜神婆珊婆演底，此云主當春生神，以表大悲，主當眾生發生菩提芽故」〔0915a07–0915a09〕；「名婆珊婆演底，此名主當春生苗稼，亦名依止無畏，為明表主當眾生初發心之菩提苗稼。亦名主當眾生，與作依止使令無畏」〔0930a01–0930a03〕
誌錄不判
本節之科，澄觀作六段（依教趣求·見敬諮問·稱讚授法·謙推·指示後友·戀德禮辭），而於稱讚授法之內復開標名體·顯業用·得法久近三科；李通玄不作六段，而於正入當位法門立五門·見夜神復立六門·申請所求立十七門，其推德昇進一段別立五門，其分數與所依之骨與澄觀俱異。友名之訓，澄觀作春與主當二字分釋，李通玄合作主當春生一語。城名之表，澄觀取黃是中色表契中道，兼取佛生之城表初地生佛家二義；李通玄取黃為福慶之色、夜神智會中道一義。夜神之為友，澄觀繫證智玄妙雜相破闇，李通玄繫常於生死海破眾生明暗。女身之表，澄觀繫地上證於同體慈悲，李通玄繫女能長養子孫無疲勞。本地之行，李通玄立檀波羅蜜為主餘九為伴，澄觀於本節窗內未別立主伴之目。法藏《探玄記》與智儼《搜玄記》所釋者六十本之名形婆娑婆陀；訓其名為依止不畏者，法藏《探玄記》與智儼《孔目章》之夾注，法藏復取天竺本婆僧多而作春，與澄觀·李通玄就八十本名形所傳之春·主當春生一訓並存。偈頌之分，澄觀與法藏皆作一·四·十·六，智儼作一·四·十三·三。此諸異釋皆古德成說，誌錄之。
七、互讀·承衍
本節之文，承衍之繫鏈如下：
- 華嚴宗論五本：《華嚴一乘教義分齊章》T45n1866 ·《華嚴一乘十玄門》T45n1868 ·《華嚴經旨歸》T45n1871 ·《華嚴經孔目章》T45n1870 ·《華嚴法界玄鏡》T45n1883，以「婆珊婆演底」及「破一切眾生癡暗」二詞逐一檢之，五本皆零命中〔查無〕——八十本之名形與法門之名不入此五本之議論。
- 智儼《孔目章》T45n1870 之名目：此章別以六十本之名形出本友之處與名，云〔T45n1870 0589a28–0589a29〕「三十二名摩竭提國迦毘羅住處夜天名婆娑婆陀」，其夾注釋名云「此云依止不畏。準梵本應云婆娑婆也多」〔0589a29〕——與法藏《探玄記》之名訓同其一義。
- 本節疏窗內之他論牒引：澄觀《疏》本節窗〔T35n1735 0941a19–0941c19〕之內，檢《瑜伽》《本業》二名皆零命中——澄觀於本節科文未牒引他論〔查無〕。
- 《演義鈔》之二論引：《瑜伽》四十八之菩薩五生與《攝論》第六之勝生，見於品友二十類攝之總說段〔T36n1736 0663b21–0663b29〕，非本節專釋，已錄於目六，不別立繫鏈。
- 唯識軸：本節非〈十地品〉，不另立唯識繫鏈。
- 本經內部之互讀：本友所指之後友普德淨光，即本生第一世覺悟法慧月夫人之淨月夜神——底本自云「我本從其發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心」〔T10n0279 0371c06–c07〕，澄觀據此判「即前淨月，故云本從發心」〔T35n1735 0941c14〕。前友安住地神之指示句在本節界外，四十本作「善男子！此閻浮提摩竭提國恒河北岸」〔T10n0293 0738b09〕，六十本作「善男子！此閻浮提有城，名曰迦毘羅婆」〔T09n0278 0720a19〕，二本皆於前友段內出城名。
八、校本定位
- 實叉 T279（底本）：婆珊婆演底夜神子〔T10n0279 0369a16〕起（卷六十八）–〔0372a10 前〕訖。依前修證 0369a16–a19 · 趣求至城見日沒 0369a19–a21 · 四種善知識想 0369a22–a26 · 見夜神依正 0369a26–0369b09 · 設敬諮問 0369b09–b14 · 稱讚 0369b14–b17 · 標名體 0369b17–b18 · 九種心 0369b18–b25 · 十門救攝總明 0369b25–0369c02 · 救海難 0369c02–c06 · 救陸地 0369c06–c13 · 救山險 0369c13–c16 · 救曠野 0369c16–c21 · 救樂著國土 0369c21–c23 · 救樂著聚落 0369c23–c27 · 救闇夜迷方 0369c28–0370a22 · 救病老貧窮 0370a23–a29 · 救見稠林 0370a29–0370b09 · 重宣二十一頌 0370b09–0370c24 · 善財問久近 0370c25–c27 · 本生第一世 0370c27–0371a21 · 本生第二世 0371a21–0371b03 · 得三昧與得解脫 0371b03–b12 · 廣顯業用 0371b12–b22 · 謙己推勝 0371b22–0371c05 · 指示後友 0371c05–c08 · 善財讚頌十偈 0371c08–c29 · 禮辭 0372a01–a02。偈行六十二（夜神頌四十二·善財頌二十）。卷六十八訖於 0372a03，次子起於卷六十九〔0372a10〕。
- 佛馱 T278（晉譯主對校）：本節〔T09n0278 0720a24〕起（卷五十一）–〔0722c19 前〕訖（卷五十一）。前友指示句 0720a19–a23 · 念教趣求 0720a24–0720b02 · 見夜天依正 0720b02–b17 · 設敬諮問 0720b17–b22 · 稱讚與標名 0720b22–b26 · 九心 0720b26–0720c03 · 救攝諸門 0720c03–0721b06 · 重宣二十一頌 0721b06–0721c20 · 問久近 0721c21–c23 · 本生二世 0721c23–0722b11 · 謙己推勝 0722b11–b22 · 指示後友 0722b22–b25 · 善財讚頌十偈 0722b25–0722c16 · 辭退 0722c17–c18。
- 般若 T293（四十華嚴對校）：本節〔T10n0293 0738b15〕起（卷十七）–〔0741c21 前〕訖（卷十七）。前友末句 0738b09 · 念教趣求北度恒河 0738b15–b21 · 四種善知識想 0738b21–b26 · 見夜神依正 0738b26–0738c13 · 設敬諮問 0738c13–c20 · 稱讚與標名 0738c20–0739a05 · 十心 0738c26–0739a04 · 救攝諸門 0739a05–0740b27（別出戰諍一門 0739b10–b13）· 重宣頌訖 0740b27 · 問久近 0740b28–0740c02 · 本生二世 0740c02–0741b02 · 謙己推勝 0741b02–b14 · 指示後友 0741b14–b18 · 善財讚頌十偈 0741b19–0741c11 · 辭退 0741c12–c13。卷十七訖 0741c14，卷十八起 0741c15。
- 澄觀《疏》T35n1735：本節正釋 0941a19 起 · 十地十友總綱 0941a19–a20 · 城名友名之表 0941a20–a26 · 夜神與女身之表 0941a26–a28 · 第一依教趣求 0941a28–0941b03 · 第二見敬諮問 0941b03–b09 · 第三稱讚授法 0941b09–0941c11（標名體 0941b10–b14 · 顯業用長行十門 0941b14–b26 · 偈頌四分 0941b26–0941c01 · 得法久近 0941c01–c11）· 第四謙推·第五指示後友 0941c11–c15 · 第六戀德禮辭 0941c15–c19 · 訖於第二普德淨光科起 0941c19。本節窗外之寄位持平語見 0918b04–b07（品科總段）。
- 澄觀《鈔》T36n1736：本友專釋段 0681b06 起–0681c05 訖（寄初歡喜地之義 0681b06–b08 · 春生 0681b08–b09 · 斷分別見 0681b09–b10 · 宗說兼通引《楞伽》0681b10–b29 · 法門星象 0681c01–c04 · 二愚二無我指歸〈地品〉0681c04–c05）。別見於五十四友二十類攝表 0663b15–b16（第二十類）；同段之《瑜伽》五生與《攝論》勝生引 0663b21–0663b29 屬品友分類總說，非本友專釋。
- 法藏《探玄記》T35n1733：本友專釋段 0473b06 起–0474b04 訖（就六十本名形·科 0473b06–b07 · 城名 0473b08–b12 · 名訓 0473b12–b15 · 夜天與女天 0473b15–b18 · 依教趣入 0473b19–b23 · 見敬申請 0473b23–c05 · 示己法界 0473c05–c12 · 九門二救 0473c12–0474a13 · 偈頌四分 0474a14–a19 · 得法因緣 0474a19–b02 · 仰推 0474b02–b04）。
- 智儼《搜玄記》T35n1732：本友專釋段 0097c06 起–0098a08 訖（就六十本名形·科與名 0097c06–c08 · 城名 0097c09–c11 · 何以皆是夜天 0097c11–c12 · 依入七科 0097c13–c17 · 正入三科 0097c17–c23 · 對化十七文 0097c23–c29 · 偈之四分 0098a01–a05 · 得法因緣 0098a06–a08）。
- 李通玄《論》T36n1739：本友二大段——正入當位法門 0985b05 起–0986a22 訖（正入當位五門 0985b05–b12 · 見夜神六門 0985b12–b23 · 申請所求十七門 0985b23–0986a08 · 初地以百為首 0986a09–a13 · 檀度為主 0986a13–a17 · 十地女身總表 0986a17–a22）；推德昇進 0986a23 起–0986b17 訖（五門 0986a23–a29 · 後友即覺悟之師 0986a29–b03 · 菩提場內與世間慈悲 0986b03–b09 · 多劫與一念 0986b09–b17）。其前之 0985a15–a19（城名之表 0985a20–a24 · 友名之訓 0985a28–0985b04 同段）屬前友安住地神推德昇進中指示本友之文，界外引介。別有十地通論中三處直釋 0873b04–b16 · 0915a05–a15 · 0930a01–a05。
- 異讀：本單元 T279 範圍〔0369a16〕–〔0372a09〕內大正校記 9 條，逐條照錄不判（底本【大】｜他本異讀；多本異讀以／分列）：〔0369a17〕藏【大】｜慧【宋】 · 〔0369a20〕久【大】｜定【宮】 · 〔0369b08〕頻【大】｜嚬【明】 · 〔0369b08〕申【大】｜呻【宮】 · 〔0369c08〕晨【大】｜辰【宮】 · 〔0370c09〕像【大】｜象【宋】【元】【明】 · 〔0371a08〕華【大】｜無此字【宮】 · 〔0371b01〕諭【大】｜喻【宮】 · 〔0371c04〕何【大】｜云何【宮】。
- 異讀補記：CBETA 回改 2 條（不入上列大正校記之數）：〔0369c15〕果【CB】【麗-CB】【磧-CB】｜界【大】 · 〔0370b11〕言【CB】【麗-CB】｜曰【大】／言【宋】【元】【宮】。
- 異讀補記：夾注已於原典層剝除誌錄。
- 本節內之逐字不齊（照底本不改）：法門名三見二形（0369b17 有「癡」·0371b07 與 0371b23 無「癡」）；迴向願之領句二形（救攝諸門之內「復作是念」四見·「作是念言」四見；別有善財未見夜神前之「復作是念」一見〔0369a22〕不屬願文，合全段則「復作是念」五見）；本生二世之覺悟者名二（淨月·清淨眼）而澄觀判為一人之前後身。
- 查無條目：T45n1866 · T45n1868 · T45n1871 · T45n1870 · T45n1883 五部檢「婆珊婆演底」「破一切眾生癡暗」皆零命中（《孔目章》T45n1870 別以六十本名形「婆娑婆陀」出本友之處與名〔0589a28–a29〕，不在此二詞之內）；澄觀本節疏窗內《瑜伽》《本業》零命中。
Sudhana’s thirty-first friend, the night goddess Vāsantī, is the first of the ten good friends assigned to the positions of the ten grounds. Chengguan sets up here a general framework for one whole passage, saying 「自下大文第五有十善友，寄十地位，即分十段。第一婆珊婆演底夜神，寄歡喜地」 tr. “from here on, the fifth of the great divisions of the text has ten good friends, assigned to the positions of the ten grounds, and so is divided into ten passages; the first, the night goddess Vāsantī, is assigned to the Joyful Ground,” and from this point the outline of this assembly turns into the one passage of assignment to the positions of the ten grounds. This passage of the scripture text runs to four thousand graphs and more. The prose passage begins with nine kinds of mind, and goes on to the ten gates of rescuing and gathering in — the first one stating in general the many perils of the dark of night, the latter nine displaying one by one, peril by peril, each gate first rescuing from the world’s suffering and afterward, by dedication and the great vow, bringing them to the ultimate; next there are twenty-one verses restating it, which Chengguan judges to divide into four as the name and substance of the Dharma gate · the four measureless minds · the surpassing excellence of the six sense-fields · the vastness of the working; then she answers how long ago the mind was raised and the Dharma gained, telling of two lives of the past in which she was the consort Dharma-Wisdom Moon and the elder Renown, in both of which she was awakened by a night goddess and raised the mind; and at the end she humbles herself and points to the superior, points out the next friend Universal Virtue Pure Light, and Sudhana praises her in ten verses and takes his leave. As to the sense of the friend’s name, Chengguan transmits 「婆珊者，此云春也。婆演底者，此云主當」 tr. “posan means spring in this tongue; and poyandi means to preside over,” and Li Tongxuan likewise makes it presiding over the springing forth of spring. The name of the Dharma gate appears three times in the base text in two forms — at the setting forth of the name it reads 「破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫」 tr. “the liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings,” and at the gaining of the Dharma and at the concluding acclaim it reads 「破一切眾生暗法光明解脫」 tr. “the liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the darkness of all sentient beings,” and this apparatus follows the base text graph for graph in its unevenness. The verse lines of this section are sixty-two, in two passages: the night goddess speaks twenty-one verses in forty-two lines, and Sudhana’s praise is ten verses in twenty lines.
I. Doctrinal Outline and Placement
| Outline system | The place of this section’s scripture text within it |
|---|---|
| The base text T279, in thirty-nine chapters | Chapter 39, Entering the Dharma Realm (the ninth assembly, in the Jeta Grove); the night goddess Vāsantī = fascicle sixty-eight 〔T10 0369a16〕–〔0372a10 前〕 |
| Chengguan, Huayan jing shu | The general framework of the ten good friends of the ten grounds begins 〔T35n1735 0941a19〕; the direct gloss on this section runs 〔0941a19〕–〔0941c19 前〕 (ending where the outline of the second friend, the night goddess Universal Virtue Pure Light, begins) |
| Chengguan, Yanyi chao | The table gathering the fifty-four friends into twenty classes 〔T36n1736 0663b15–b16〕 (the general discussion classifying the friends of the chapter); the passage of direct gloss on this friend 〔0681b06〕–〔0681c05〕 (the sense of her assignment to the first ground, the Joyful · the springing forth of spring · the cutting off of discriminative seeing · the star-images of the Dharma gates · the twofold folly and the twofold selflessness referred to the Chapter on the Ten Grounds) |
| Fazang, Tanxuan ji | The passage of direct gloss on this friend 〔T35n1733 0473b06〕–〔0474b04〕; what it glosses is the form of the name in the sixty-fascicle witness, 「婆娑婆陀」 tr. “Posuoputuo” (the eighty-fascicle form of the name 「婆珊婆演底」 tr. “Vāsantī” gives zero hits in this commentary) |
| Zhiyan, Souxuan ji | The passage of direct gloss on this friend 〔T35n1732 0097c06〕–〔0098a08〕; what it glosses is likewise the form of the name in the sixty-fascicle witness, 「婆娑婆陀」 tr. “Posuoputuo” 〔0097c07〕 |
| Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun | The five gates of pointing to virtue and advancing upward 〔T36n1739 0986a23〕 (the five gates in the previous friend’s passage 〔0985a15〕 point to this friend and are an introduction from outside the bounds); the five gates of truly entering the present position and the six gates of seeing the night goddess 〔0985b05〕; the seventeen gates of making the request for what is sought 〔0985b23〕; the principal and companions of this ground, and the female body as a sign 〔0986a13–0986a22〕 |
Chengguan’s general framework of the ten grounds — the great outline to which this section is fastened:
「自下大文第五有十善友，寄十地位，即分十段。第一婆珊婆演底夜神，寄歡喜地」 tr. “From here on, the fifth of the great divisions of the text has ten good friends, assigned to the positions of the ten grounds, and so is divided into ten passages. The first, the night goddess Vāsantī, is assigned to the Joyful Ground.” 〔T35n1735 0941a19–0941a20〕
Chengguan’s outline in six passages — the bone of this section:
〔T35n1735 0941a28–0941a29〕「第一依教趣求中，先依前修證、後「漸次」〔0941a29〕下趣求後友」 tr. “Within the first, the seeking in accord with the teaching, first is the cultivating and realizing in accord with what came before, and afterward, from ‘little by little’ onward, the seeking of the friend who comes next.”
〔T35n1735 0941b03〕「第二「作是念時」〔0941b03〕下明見敬諮問」 tr. “Second, from ‘just as he was thinking in this way’ onward, makes clear the seeing, the paying of respect, and the inquiring.”
〔T35n1735 0941b08–0941b10〕「第三「時彼夜神」〔0941b09〕下稱讚授法，中二：初稱讚、後「善男子我得」〔0941b09〕下授己法界」 tr. “Third, from ‘at that time that night goddess’ onward, is the praising and the conferring of the Dharma, within which there are two: first the praising, afterward, from ‘son of good family, I have gained’ onward, the conferring of her own Dharma realm.”
「第四謙推，可知。第五指示後友」 tr. “Fourth, the humbling of herself and the pointing to the superior, which may be understood as it stands. Fifth, the pointing out of the next friend.” 〔T35n1735 0941c11〕
〔T35n1735 0941c15〕「第六「爾時善財」〔0941c15〕下戀德禮辭」 tr. “Sixth, from ‘at that time Sudhana’ onward, is the cherishing of her virtue and the taking of leave with respects.”
The one passage of praising and conferring the Dharma, the third, is opened further into three:
「於中三：一標名體、二顯業用、三得法久近」 tr. “Within it there are three: first, the setting forth of the name and the substance; second, the displaying of the working; third, how long ago the Dharma was gained.” 〔T35n1735 0941b10〕
The displaying of the working is opened further into two, and within the prose passage ten gates are set up:
〔T35n1735 0941b14–0941b16〕「二「我於惡慧」〔0941b14〕下明業用，中二：先長行、後偈頌。前中二：先興救物之心、二「我於夜闇」〔0941b15〕下正明對緣救攝」 tr. “Second, from ‘toward sentient beings of evil understanding’ onward, makes clear the working, within which there are two: first the prose passage, afterward the verses. Within the former there are two: first the raising of the mind that rescues beings; second, from ‘at the time when the color of night is dark’ onward, the direct making clear of the rescuing and gathering in that answers to the conditions.”
〔T35n1735 0941b16〕「於中十門：初一總明、「為海難」〔0941b16〕下別顯」 tr. “Within it there are ten gates: the first one states them in general, and from ‘for those in peril at sea’ onward they are displayed one by one.”
「今初，有四種：一夜等為救時、二海等為救處、三遭盜等為所救、四種種方便為能救」 tr. “Now the first has four kinds: first, the night and the rest as the time of rescuing; second, the sea and the rest as the place of rescuing; third, the meeting with robbers and the rest as those who are rescued; fourth, every kind of skillful means as that which rescues.” 〔T35n1735 0941b17〕
The common rule of the latter nine gates, and the gates one by one:
「後九門別顯中，文皆有二：先救世苦令得世樂、後以迴向大願令其究竟離苦得樂」 tr. “Within the nine gates displayed one by one afterward, the text in every case has two: first the rescuing from the world’s suffering so that they gain the world’s joy; afterward, by dedication and the great vow, causing them ultimately to leave suffering and gain joy.” 〔T35n1735 0941b19–0941b21〕
〔T35n1735 0941b21–0941b26〕「九中，一救海難眾生、二「為在陸地」〔0941b21〕下救處陸眾生、三「一切眾生」〔0941b22〕下救求不得及行山險眾生、四救樂國土眾生、五救著聚落眾生、六救闇夜眾生、七「是諸眾生無有智」〔0941b24〕下救惑業眾生、八「或病所纏」〔0941b25〕下救八苦眾生、九「入見稠林」〔0941b26〕下救惡見眾生，文並可知」 tr. “Among the nine: first, the rescuing of sentient beings in peril at sea; second, from ‘for those upon the land’ onward, the rescuing of sentient beings in the place that is the land; third, from ‘all sentient beings’ onward, the rescuing of sentient beings who do not gain what they seek and who walk in mountain peril; fourth, the rescuing of sentient beings who delight in their land; fifth, the rescuing of sentient beings who cling to their village; sixth, the rescuing of sentient beings in the dark of night; seventh, from ‘these sentient beings have no knowledge’ onward, the rescuing of sentient beings of delusion and karma; eighth, from ‘some are bound by sickness’ onward, the rescuing of sentient beings from the eight sufferings; ninth, from ‘entering the dense forest of views’ onward, the rescuing of sentient beings of evil views — and the text of them may all be understood as it stands.”
The four clauses Chengguan cites may all be found in the base text: 「一切眾生」 tr. “all sentient beings” is the passage at the end of the gate of the land, 「一切眾生，有惜壽命」 tr. “all sentient beings, some cherishing long life” 〔T10n0279 0369c10–c11〕; 「是諸眾生無有智」 tr. “these sentient beings have no knowledge” stands within the dedicatory vow of the gate of the dark night 〔0370a08〕; and 「或病所纏」 tr. “some are bound by sickness” 〔0370a23〕 and 「入見稠林」 tr. “entering the dense forest of views” 〔0370a29〕 each begin a passage of their own. In the base text, from the passage of general statement onward, the passage boundaries, counted in the base text itself, are ten (one of general statement · nine of displaying one by one).
The two questions and the two answers of the one passage on how long ago the Dharma was gained:
「三得法久近中，先興二問、後還兩答。答中有二：先答發心時節、後答得法久近」 tr. “Within the third, how long ago the Dharma was gained, first two questions are raised and afterward two answers are returned. Within the answers there are two: first the answering of the time when the mind was raised, afterward the answering of how long ago the Dharma was gained.” 〔T35n1735 0941c01–0941c02〕
〔T35n1735 0941c03–0941c06〕「今初，有六：初總顯本事因緣、二「時彼城東」〔0941c03〕下明初佛興世、三「蓮華城內」〔0941c04〕下善友勸發、四「令王夫人」〔0941c04〕下正發大心、五「時王夫人」〔0941c05〕下結會古今、六「我於彼佛」〔0941c06〕下發心成益」 tr. “Now the first has six: first, the general display of the causes and conditions of the past deeds; second, from ‘at that time, to the east of that city’ onward, the making clear of the first buddha’s appearing in the world; third, from ‘within the city Lotus’ onward, the good friend’s exhorting and rousing; fourth, from ‘causing the king’s consort’ onward, the true raising of the great mind; fifth, from ‘the king’s consort of that time’ onward, the bringing together of past and present; sixth, from ‘because in the presence of that buddha’ onward, the benefit accomplished by raising the mind.”
〔T35n1735 0941c06–0941c11〕「二「過此劫已」〔0941c06〕下答得法久近。於中二：初總顯得法因緣、後「我纔見佛」〔0941c08〕下正明得法。於中三：初得方便三昧，謂上見諸佛、下化眾生；次「以聞法故」〔0941c09〕下得此解脫；後「得此解脫已」〔0941c10〕下廣顯業用」 tr. “Second, from ‘when that kalpa had passed’ onward, is the answering of how long ago the Dharma was gained. Within it there are two: first the general display of the causes and conditions of gaining the Dharma, afterward, from ‘no sooner had I seen the Buddha’ onward, the direct making clear of the gaining of the Dharma. Within it there are three: first the gaining of the samādhi of skillful means, which is, above, the seeing of the buddhas and, below, the converting of sentient beings; next, from ‘because of hearing the Dharma’ onward, the gaining of this liberation; afterward, from ‘having gained this liberation’ onward, the displaying of the working at length.”
Li Tongxuan’s count of gates (upon the eighty-fascicle witness; his gloss upon this friend falls of itself into two sections, and his general discussion of the ten grounds glosses her further in passing): his gloss upon this friend falls into two great passages — the Dharma gate of truly entering the present position 〔T36n1739 0985b05〕–〔0986a22〕· the pointing to virtue and advancing upward 〔0986a23〕–〔0986b17〕. The passage before them 〔0985a15〕–〔0985a19〕 belongs to the pointing to virtue and advancing upward of the friend before, the earth goddess Peaceful Abiding, where she points this friend out; it is recorded here as an introduction from outside the bounds:
〔T36n1739 0985a15–0985a19〕「第二推德昇進中，從「如諸菩薩摩訶薩」〔0985a15〕已下至「辭退而去」〔0985a16〕有七行半經，約立五門：一推德昇進；二示善知識所在，云在此閻浮提摩竭提國；三舉城之名號迦毘羅；四舉善知識夜神號婆珊婆演底；五禮敬辭去」 tr. “Within the second, the pointing to virtue and advancing upward, from ‘as for the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas’ down to ‘took his leave and departed’ there are seven and a half lines of scripture, and upon these five gates are set up: first, pointing to virtue and advancing upward; second, showing where the good friend is, saying that it is here in Jambudvīpa in the country of Magadha; third, raising the name of the city, Jiapiluo; fourth, raising the title of the good friend, the night goddess Vāsantī; fifth, paying reverence and taking leave.”
The gates of the one passage in which this friend truly enters the present position:
〔T36n1739 0985b05–0985b07〕「第一正入當位法門中，從「爾時善財童子」〔0985b05〕已下至「我唯知此破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫門」〔0985b06〕，於中約立五門」 tr. “Within the first, the Dharma gate of truly entering the present position, from ‘at that time Sudhana the youth’ down to ‘I know only this liberation gate of the light of the Dharma that breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings,’ five gates are set up within it.”
「約位昇進，即分於申請所求中復立十七門」 tr. “Upon the advancing upward through the positions, that is, within the making of the request for what is sought there are seventeen gates further set up.” 〔T36n1739 0985b23〕
The gates of the one passage in which this friend points to virtue and advances upward (the friend she points to being Universal Virtue Pure Light):
〔T36n1739 0986a23–0986a29〕「第二推德昇進中，從「如諸菩薩摩訶薩」〔0986a23〕已下至「辭退而去」〔0986a24〕長行有十五行半經、偈頌十行經，於中約立五門：一推德昇進；二示善知識居處所在，云此閻浮提摩竭提國菩提場內，有主夜神名普德淨光；三善財說頌歎婆珊婆演底夜天神德；四善財說頌已頂禮夜神足；五辭退而去」 tr. “Within the second, the pointing to virtue and advancing upward, from ‘as for the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas’ down to ‘took his leave and departed,’ the prose passage has fifteen and a half lines of scripture and the verses ten lines of scripture, and within them five gates are set up: first, pointing to virtue and advancing upward; second, showing where the good friend dwells, saying that within the site of awakening in the country of Magadha here in Jambudvīpa there is a goddess who presides over the night named Universal Virtue Pure Light; third, Sudhana speaks verses praising the virtue of the night goddess Vāsantī; fourth, Sudhana, having spoken the verses, bows his head to the night goddess’s feet; fifth, he takes his leave and departs.”
II. Terminology
| Term | Sanskrit as transmitted by the ancient worthies (roman letters · pronunciation aid) | Attestation | Essential sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vāsantī | — | this unit: 「爾時，婆珊婆演底主夜神，欲重宣此解脫義」 tr. “at that time, Vāsantī, the goddess who presides over the night, wishing to state again the meaning of this liberation” 〔T10n0279 0370b09–b10〕 | The name of the thirty-first good friend; Chengguan transmits 「婆珊者，此云春也。婆演底者，此云主當，以於春時主當苗稼故」 tr. “posan means spring in this tongue; and poyandi means to preside over, since in the season of spring it presides over the sprouting crops” 〔T35n1735 0941a23–a25〕; Li Tongxuan: 「此云主當春生」 tr. “this means presiding over the springing forth of spring” 〔T36n1739 0985a29〕. The sixty-fascicle witness has Posuoputuo, the forty-fascicle witness Spring Harmony; Fazang glosses the sixty-fascicle form of the name as 「此名依止不畏」 tr. “this name is reliance without fear” 〔T35n1733 0473b12–b13〕, and the interlinear note of Zhiyan’s Kongmu zhang likewise has 「此云依止不畏」 tr. “this in this tongue is reliance without fear” 〔T45n1870 0589a29〕 |
| Jiapiluo | — | Chengguan: 「城名迦毘羅者，此云黃色，往昔黃頭仙人依此處故」 tr. “as for the city named Jiapiluo, this in this tongue is yellow color, because in the past the yellow-headed seer dwelt in this place” 〔T35n1735 0941a20–a22〕 | The city where this friend dwells; the city’s name does not appear in the base text within the bounds of this section, but only in the clause where the friend before points her out, and in the two commentaries. The sixty-fascicle witness has Jiapiluopo |
| goddess who presides over the night | — | this unit: 「渴仰欲見彼主夜神」 tr. “thirsting to see that goddess who presides over the night” 〔T10n0279 0369a21〕 | A goddess presiding over the watches of the night; Chengguan: 「地上多見夜神者，證智玄妙，雜相破闇故」 tr. “that upon the grounds night goddesses are seen for the most part is because the knowledge of realization is profound and wondrous, and it breaks the darkness among mingled marks” 〔T35n1735 0941a26–a27〕 |
| the liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings | — | this unit: 「我得菩薩破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫」 tr. “I have gained the bodhisattva liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings” 〔T10n0279 0369b17–b18〕 | The setting forth of the name of the Dharma gate this friend has gained; Chengguan: 「一切眾生癡暗者，即所破二愚。法光明者，即是能破二無我智」 tr. “the deluded darkness of all sentient beings is the twofold folly that is broken; the light of the Dharma is the knowledge of the twofold selflessness that breaks it” 〔T35n1735 0941b11–b13〕 |
| the liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the darkness of all sentient beings | — | this unit: 「即得此破一切眾生暗法光明解脫」 tr. “then gained this liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the darkness of all sentient beings” 〔T10n0279 0371b07〕· 「我唯知此菩薩破一切眾生暗法光明解脫」 tr. “I know only this bodhisattva liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the darkness of all sentient beings” 〔0371b23〕 | The second form of the same Dharma gate (without the graph 「癡」 tr. “deluded”); the base text has three occurrences in two forms, and this apparatus follows the base text graph for graph in its unevenness |
| the ground of the ten powers | — | this unit: 「唯願示我一切智道，我行於中，至十力地」 tr. “would that you would reveal to me the way of all-knowledge, so that walking in that way I may come to the ground of the ten powers” 〔T10n0279 0369b13–b14〕 | The ground Sudhana seeks; the sixty-fascicle witness has 「若有菩薩向此道者，得十力地」 tr. “if there is a bodhisattva who turns toward this way, he gains the ground of the ten powers” 〔T09n0278 0720b21–b22〕 |
| sarvajña | sarvajña (the graphs 「薩婆若」 tr. “sarvajña” are themselves a transcription transmitted from of old) | this unit: 「願一切眾生不著諸蘊，住一切佛薩婆若境」 tr. “may all sentient beings not cling to the aggregates, and may they abide in the objective realm of the sarvajña of all the buddhas” 〔T10n0279 0369c22–c23〕 | All-knowledge; the dedicatory vow of the gate of delighting in and clinging to the land |
| the village of the six sense-fields | — | this unit: 「願一切眾生，悉不貪樂六處聚落」 tr. “may all sentient beings none of them covet and delight in the village of the six sense-fields” 〔T10n0279 0369c26〕 | The village taken as a simile for the six sense-fields; the dedicatory vow of the gate of delighting in and clinging to the village, in which the simile and what it is a simile for are named in the one phrase |
| the Wheel of the Light of Knowledge of the Three Times That Brings Forth the Seeing of Buddhas and the Taming of Sentient Beings | — | this unit: 「我纔見佛，即得三昧，名：出生見佛調伏眾生三世智光明輪」 tr. “no sooner had I seen the Buddha than I gained a samādhi named: the Wheel of the Light of Knowledge of the Three Times That Brings Forth the Seeing of Buddhas and the Taming of Sentient Beings” 〔T10n0279 0371b03–b04〕 | The samādhi this friend gained in her second former life when she first saw the Buddha; Chengguan judges it to be the 「方便三昧」 tr. “samādhi of skillful means,” saying 「初得方便三昧，謂上見諸佛、下化眾生」 tr. “first the gaining of the samādhi of skillful means, which is, above, the seeing of the buddhas and, below, the converting of sentient beings” 〔T35n1735 0941c08–c09〕 |
| King of the Thunder-Voice of All Dharmas | — | this unit: 「爾時，有佛名：一切法雷音王，於此樹下成等正覺」 tr. “at that time there was a buddha named: King of the Thunder-Voice of All Dharmas, who beneath this tree accomplished right and equal awakening” 〔T10n0279 0371a06〕 | The buddha of the first life of the past; the sixty-fascicle witness has the buddha King of the Thunder of All Dharmas, the forty-fascicle witness King of the Great Roaring Sound of All Dharmas |
| Pure Moon | — | this unit: 「蓮華光城內有主夜神，名為：淨月」 tr. “within the city Lotus Light there was a goddess who presides over the night, named: Pure Moon” 〔T10n0279 0371a08〕 | The night goddess who awakened the consort Dharma-Wisdom Moon; Chengguan: 「即前淨月，故云本從發心」 tr. “she is the former Pure Moon, and so it is said ‘originally from her the mind was raised’” 〔T35n1735 0941c14〕, pointing out that she is the next friend, Universal Virtue Pure Light |
| Pure Eye | — | this unit: 「妙幢王城中生，作主夜神，名：清淨眼」 tr. “was born in the city of King Wondrous Banner and became a goddess presiding over the night, named: Pure Eye” 〔T10n0279 0371a27〕 | The later body in which the night goddess Pure Moon was born by the power of her vow; she awakened Wondrous Wisdom Light, the daughter of the elder Renown |
| Universal Virtue Pure Light | — | this unit: 「有主夜神，名：普德淨光」 tr. “there is a goddess who presides over the night, named: Universal Virtue Pure Light” 〔T10n0279 0371c06〕 | The thirty-second good friend; Chengguan: 「友名普德者，最勝法界無德不具故。淨光者，正智證入離誤犯之垢故」 tr. “the friend is named Universal Virtue because in the most surpassing Dharma realm there is no virtue she is not furnished with; and Pure Light because right knowledge realizes and enters, apart from the defilement of mistaken transgression” 〔T35n1735 0941c13–c14〕 |
| Rocana | — | this unit: 「十方剎塵內，悉見盧舍那」 tr. “within the dust motes of the lands of the ten directions I wholly see Rocana” 〔T10n0279 0370c23〕 | The buddha seen in the last verse of the night goddess’s verses; the sixty-fascicle witness has 「見盧舍那佛，道場成正覺」 tr. “I see the buddha Rocana accomplishing right awakening at the place of the Way” 〔T09n0278 0721c19〕 |
III. Similes and Rhetoric
(1) The one consistent simile of night and darkness — from beginning to end this section takes night for its setting and darkness for what is broken. Sudhana comes to the city and 「從東門入，佇立未久，便見日沒」 tr. “entered by the east gate, and had not stood there long when he saw the sun go down” 〔T10n0279 0369a20〕; the one he meets is a goddess presiding over the night; within the name of the Dharma gate he gains stands the graph 「暗」 tr. “darkness”; the perils she rescues from are all fastened to the time 「我於夜闇人靜」 tr. “at the time when I am in the dark of night and the voices of people are still” 〔0369b25〕; and the vow she makes is 「願我普於一切眾生生死長夜、無明暗處，以智慧光普皆照了」 tr. “may I everywhere, in the long night of birth and death of all sentient beings and in the dark places of ignorance, shine upon them all with the light of wisdom” 〔0370a06–a08〕. Upon these two ends Chengguan sets down one word each: of the sun’s going down he says 「見日沒者，是夜神故，表分別見日皆已亡故」 tr. “that he saw the sun go down is because she is a night goddess, signifying that the sun of discriminative seeing has already wholly perished” 〔T35n1735 0941b02–b03〕; and of a night goddess’s being the friend he says 「地上多見夜神者，證智玄妙，雜相破闇故」 tr. “that upon the grounds night goddesses are seen for the most part is because the knowledge of realization is profound and wondrous, and it breaks the darkness among mingled marks” 〔0941a26–a27〕. The night of the world and the long night of sentient beings’ ignorance are, in this section, two uses of the one same graph.
(2) The twofold sentence pattern of the ten gates of rescuing and gathering in — the text of the latter nine gates for the most part makes two joints: first is written the form manifested and the deed done, and afterward a passage of dedicatory vow is led in by 「復作是念」 tr. “and I think further in this way” or by 「作是念言」 tr. “and I make a vow in this way”; only the seventh gate, that of delusion and deeds, runs on from the vow of the sixth without a leading clause of its own. Chengguan points straight at this pattern, saying 「後九門別顯中，文皆有二：先救世苦令得世樂、後以迴向大願令其究竟離苦得樂」 tr. “within the nine gates displayed one by one afterward, the text in every case has two: first the rescuing from the world’s suffering so that they gain the world’s joy; afterward, by dedication and the great vow, causing them ultimately to leave suffering and gain joy” 〔T35n1735 0941b19–b21〕. Of these two leading clauses, within the gates of rescuing and gathering in 「復作是念」 tr. “and I think further in this way” occurs four times · 「作是念言」 tr. “and I make a vow in this way” four; apart from them, the four thoughts Sudhana raises before he sees the night goddess are also led in by 「復作是念」 tr. “and I think further in this way” 〔T10n0279 0369a22〕, which is no vow of rescuing, so that in the whole passage 「復作是念」 tr. “and I think further in this way” occurs five times. Taking the one gate of rescuing from peril at sea for an instance, she says first 「止惡風雨，息大波浪，引其道路，示其洲岸，令免怖畏，悉得安隱」 tr. “stilling the evil winds and rains, quieting the great waves, leading them upon their road, showing them where the shore and the islands are, causing them to be free of dread and all to gain peace and security” 〔T10n0279 0369c04–c05〕, and afterward 「以此善根，迴施眾生，願令捨離一切諸苦」 tr. “with these roots of goodness I dedicate and bestow upon sentient beings, vowing to cause them to cast off every kind of suffering” 〔0369c05–c06〕 — the former is the escape from present peril, the latter the ultimate leaving of suffering.
(3) The taking together of the world’s perils and the perils upon the Dharma — the vow of the one gate of the wilds shows this manner best: 「願一切眾生，伐見稠林，截愛羅網，出生死野，滅煩惱暗，入一切智平坦正道，到無畏處畢竟安樂」 tr. “may all sentient beings fell the dense forest of views, cut through the net of craving, come out of the wilds of birth and death, put out the darkness of the afflictions, enter the level and right road of all-knowledge, and reach the place without fear, in ultimate peace and joy” 〔T10n0279 0369c18–c21〕. The four matters walked among — the wilds, the dense forest, the creepers, the cloud and fog — are turned one by one into the dense forest of views, the net of craving, the wilds of birth and death, and the darkness of the afflictions; and the 「正道」 tr. “right road” that is shown is turned likewise into the 「一切智平坦正道」 tr. “level and right road of all-knowledge.” One and the same set of images: the first half is the road on the ground, the latter half the road in the mind.
(4) The inversion of losing one’s direction — the one gate of the dark night writes first the inversion of the quarters: 「於平坦路生險難想，於險難道起平坦想，以高為下，以下為高」 tr. “upon a level road they give rise to the thought of peril, and upon a perilous road they give rise to the thought of levelness, taking what is high for low and what is low for high” 〔T10n0279 0369c28–0370a01〕; and within its vow it writes further the inversion of the thinking mind: 「無常常想，無樂樂想，無我我想，不淨淨想」 tr. “taking what is impermanent for permanent, what is not joy for joy, what is not self for self, what is impure for pure” 〔0370a09–a10〕. The former is what is inverted for one walking by night, the latter what is inverted for sentient beings, and the two are carried on by the one same graph 「想」 tr. “thought.”
(5) The parallel verses on the surpassing excellence of the six sense-fields — among the night goddess’s twenty-one verses, the sixth through the fifteenth, ten verses in all, begin with the six clauses 「我目」 tr. “my eye,” 「我耳」 tr. “my ear,” 「我鼻」 tr. “my nose,” 「我舌」 tr. “my tongue,” 「我身」 tr. “my body,” 「我心」 tr. “my mind,” and faculty by faculty tell of their purity and their reach. Chengguan judges these ten verses, saying 「三有十頌顯果令入，即六處殊勝」 tr. “third, there are ten verses displaying the fruit and causing entering, that is, the surpassing excellence of the six sense-fields” 〔T35n1735 0941b28–b29〕. The one clause 「汝應入此門」 tr. “you ought to enter this gate” occurs six times in the whole passage of verses (in the third · fourth · fifth · eleventh · twelfth · eighteenth verses), and is the exhorting pattern of the one passage of restating.
(6) The manifesting within the pores — when Sudhana first sees the night goddess, he sees 「於其身上一一毛孔，皆現化度無量無數惡道眾生，令其免離險難之像」 tr. “within each and every pore upon her body there appeared images of her converting and delivering measureless and numberless sentient beings of the evil destinies and causing them to escape from peril” 〔T10n0279 0369b01–0369b02〕; and at the end, in Sudhana’s verses of praise, three verses follow one upon another with 「一一毛孔內」 tr. “within each and every pore,” each telling of sending forth light, manifesting bodies, and displaying lands 〔0371c18–0371c23〕. The one seeing and the one praising answer to each other before and after: what is seen is images, what is praised is the working.
(7) The constellations upon her body — the one clause 「一切星宿炳然在體」 tr. “all the constellations appearing plainly upon her body” 〔T10n0279 0369a29〕 writes the night goddess’s body as being itself the night sky. Upon the color of her garment and the marks of her body Chengguan sets down one word, saying 「於空見者，城表教道，空表證道，宗說兼通，如日處空故。服朱衣者，證智明顯故」 tr. “that she is seen in space: the city signifies the way of teaching, and space signifies the way of realization, so that the doctrine and the telling of it are penetrated together, as the sun stands in space. That she is clothed in a vermilion garment: the knowledge of realization is bright and manifest” 〔T35n1735 0941b05–b06〕, and saying further 「法門星像不離一身，如體化生作用不離一毛之性」 tr. “the star-images of the Dharma gates are not apart from the one body, just as the working of transformation-births from the substance is not apart from the nature of a single hair” 〔0941b06–b08〕. Sudhana’s verses of praise answer to this image as well, saying 「一一毛孔中，星月各分布」 tr. “within each and every pore the stars and the moon are set out each in its place” 〔T10n0279 0371c15〕.
IV. Collation with Parallel Translations
The Chinese witnesses for the essential sentences of this section’s scripture text: Śikṣānanda T279 (the base text · fascicle sixty-eight) · Buddhabhadra T278 (the Jin translation, the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, 〈Entering the Dharma Realm, chapter thirty-four〉· fascicle fifty-one) · Prajñā T293 (the forty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, the Chapter on the Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra, Entering the Inconceivable Objective Realm of Liberation · fascicle seventeen).
Sentence 1 · The friend’s name · the city’s name · the Dharma gate’s name
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | At that time, Vāsantī, the goddess who presides over the night, wishing to state again the meaning of this liberation | T10n0279 0370b09–b10 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Here in Jambudvīpa there is a city named Jiapiluopo; there is a goddess of the night named Posuoputuo | T09n0278 0720a19–a21 |
| Prajñā T293 | Thirsting to see the night goddess Spring Harmony | T10n0293 0738b21 |
| Śikṣānanda T279 | I have gained the bodhisattva liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings | T10n0279 0369b17–b18 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | I have already accomplished the bodhisattva light that shines everywhere upon all dharmas and breaks apart the delusion of sentient beings, a Dharma gate | T09n0278 0720b25–b26 |
| Prajñā T293 | I have gained the bodhisattva liberation gate of the light of the Dharma that teaches, converts, tames, and breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings | T10n0293 0738c25–c26 |
What the variants are fastened to: (a) The friend’s name has three forms in three witnesses — the eighty-fascicle witness has Vāsantī, the sixty-fascicle Posuoputuo, the forty-fascicle Spring Harmony. The rendering of the forty-fascicle witness puts sense in place of sound, and answers exactly to the gloss Chengguan transmits, 「婆珊者，此云春也」 tr. “posan means spring in this tongue” 〔T35n1735 0941a23〕. (b) The city’s name: the eighty-fascicle witness lacks it within the bounds of this section (it is only in the clause where the friend before points her out, and in the two commentaries), the sixty-fascicle witness has Jiapiluopo, and the forty-fascicle witness has Jiapiluo and fastens a quarter to it, 「北度恒河，向迦毘羅城」 tr. “crossing the Gaṅgā to the north, going toward the city of Jiapiluo” 〔T10n0293 0738b19〕. (c) The Dharma gate’s name has three forms in three witnesses: the eighty-fascicle witness has 「破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫」 tr. “the liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings”; the sixty-fascicle witness takes 「光明普照諸法，壞散眾生愚癡」 tr. “a light shining everywhere upon all dharmas, breaking apart the delusion of sentient beings” for the name and does not make it a liberation; the forty-fascicle witness adds the four graphs 「教化調伏」 tr. “teaches, converts, and tames” at the head and closes with 「解脫門」 tr. “liberation gate.” (d) In the eighty-fascicle witness this name appears three times in two forms within this section — at the setting forth of the name the graph 「癡」 tr. “deluded” is present, and at the gaining of the Dharma 〔T10n0279 0371b07〕 and at the concluding acclaim 〔0371b23〕 the graph 「癡」 tr. “deluded” is absent; in the forty-fascicle witness the setting forth of the name has 「教化調伏破一切眾生癡闇法光明解脫門」 tr. “the liberation gate of the light of the Dharma that teaches, converts, tames, and breaks the deluded obscurity of all sentient beings” 〔T10n0293 0738c25–c26〕 while the gaining of the Dharma and the concluding acclaim have 「教化調伏破一切眾生癡暗法光明解脫門」 tr. “the liberation gate of the light of the Dharma that teaches, converts, tames, and breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings” 〔0741a15–a16·0741b02–b03〕 — the unevenness of the two graphs for obscurity and darkness lies in that witness, while all three places have the four graphs 「教化調伏」 tr. “teaches, converts, and tames.” Recorded without adjudication.
Sentence 2 · The four thoughts upon the good friend
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | By the good friend one gains the eye that reaches everywhere, and is everywhere able to see clearly the objective realms of the ten directions; by the good friend one gains the vast and great understanding, and is everywhere able to penetrate all that the mind takes as its object; by the good friend one gains the eye of samādhi, and is everywhere able to contemplate all Dharma gates; by the good friend one gains the eye of wisdom, and is everywhere able to illumine clearly the seas of buddha-lands in the ten directions | T10n0279 0369a22–a26 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Toward the good friend he gave rise to the thought of a tathāgata; the objective realm of the universal eye appeared; wisdom reached wholly to every quarter; every objective realm was pure; the eye of the Dharma saw everywhere the whole sea of all Dharma realms | T09n0278 0720b02–b04 |
| Prajñā T293 | By the good friend one gains the eye that reaches everywhere, and is everywhere able to see clearly the objective realms of the ten directions; by the good friend one gains the vast and great understanding, and is everywhere able to penetrate all that the mind takes as its object; by the good friend one gains the eye of samādhi, and is everywhere able to contemplate all Dharma gates; by the good friend one gains the eye of wisdom, and is everywhere able to illumine clearly the seas of buddha-lands in the ten directions | T10n0293 0738b22–b26 |
What the variants are fastened to: These four clauses are wholly the same, graph for graph, in the eighty-fascicle and forty-fascicle witnesses, the forty-fascicle witness having only, in the text above them, the two further matters 「北度恒河」 tr. “crossing the Gaṅgā to the north” and 「至城南門，敬心右遶」 tr. “coming to the south gate of the city and circling to the right with a reverent mind” 〔T10n0293 0738b19–b20〕. The sixty-fascicle witness here makes no parallel of four clauses, but carries it on with four short clauses beginning from 「普眼境界顯現」 tr. “the objective realm of the universal eye appeared,” the same four in number but differing in pattern and in the names to which they are fastened, and without the leading clause 「由善知識」 tr. “by the good friend.” Li Tongxuan, upon the eighty-fascicle witness, sets this passage up as one gate, saying 「三以四種念善知識勝德」 tr. “third, by four kinds of calling to mind the surpassing virtue of the good friend” 〔T36n1739 0985b09〕. Recorded without adjudication.
Sentence 3 · Nine kinds of sentient being · nine kinds of mind
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Toward sentient beings of evil understanding I raise the mind of great kindness; toward sentient beings of unwholesome deeds I raise the mind of great compassion; toward sentient beings who do wholesome deeds I raise the mind of rejoicing; toward sentient beings of the two kinds of conduct, good and evil, I raise the mind that is not two; toward defiled sentient beings I raise the mind that causes purity to arise; toward sentient beings on wrong paths I raise the mind that causes right conduct to arise; toward sentient beings of low understanding I raise the mind that causes great understanding to be roused; toward sentient beings who delight in birth and death I raise the mind that causes them to cast off turning in the round; toward sentient beings abiding in the way of the two vehicles I raise the mind that causes them to abide in all-knowledge | T10n0279 0369b18–b24 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Toward evil sentient beings I put forth the mind of great kindness; toward sentient beings of unwholesome deeds I put forth the mind of great compassion; toward sentient beings who cultivate goodness I put forth the mind of gladness; toward sentient beings good and evil I put forth the mind without duality; toward defiled sentient beings I put forth the mind of purity; toward sentient beings on wrong paths I put forth the mind of the right path; toward sentient beings who delight in the impure I put forth the mind that delights in purity; toward sentient beings who delight in birth and death I put forth the mind of according with the wheel of the Dharma; toward sentient beings who delight in the śrāvakas and the pratyekabuddhas I put forth the mind that settles them in the way of all-knowledge | T09n0278 0720b26–0720c03 |
| Prajñā T293 | Toward sentient beings of evil understanding I raise the mind of great kindness; toward sentient beings of unwholesome deeds I raise the mind of great compassion; toward sentient beings who do wholesome dharmas I raise the mind of rejoicing; toward sentient beings of the two kinds of conduct, good and evil, I raise the mind that is not two; toward defiled sentient beings I raise the mind that causes purity to arise; toward sentient beings of wrong conduct I raise the mind that causes right conduct to arise; toward sentient beings of low understanding I raise the mind that causes great understanding to be roused; toward indolent sentient beings I raise the mind that causes vigor to arise; toward sentient beings who delight in birth and death I raise the mind that causes them to cast off turning in the round; toward sentient beings abiding in the way of the two vehicles I raise the mind that causes them to abide in all-knowledge | T10n0293 0738c26–0739a04 |
What the variants are fastened to: (a) The number of minds — the eighty-fascicle witness nine · the sixty-fascicle nine · the forty-fascicle ten: the forty-fascicle witness has, between 「劣解」 tr. “low understanding” and 「樂生死」 tr. “delighting in birth and death,” the further one mind 「於嬾憜眾生起令生精進心」 tr. “toward indolent sentient beings I raise the mind that causes vigor to arise.” (b) The occasion to which the seventh mind is set over against: the eighty-fascicle witness has 「劣解」 tr. “low understanding” and sets over against it 「大解」 tr. “great understanding”; the sixty-fascicle witness has 「樂不淨」 tr. “delighting in the impure” and sets over against it 「樂淨」 tr. “delighting in purity”; the forty-fascicle witness is the same as the eighty-fascicle. (c) The eighth mind: the eighty-fascicle witness has 「令捨輪轉」 tr. “causing them to cast off turning in the round,” the sixty-fascicle 「隨順法輪」 tr. “according with the wheel of the Dharma.” (d) The eighty-fascicle witness begins each clause with 「於」 tr. “toward” and closes it with 「心」 tr. “mind,” with a pause within the clause; the sixty-fascicle witness uses the graph 「發」 tr. “put forth,” the forty-fascicle the graph 「起」 tr. “raise.” Recorded without adjudication.
Sentence 4 · The opening out and gathering in of the ten gates of rescuing and gathering in
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | For those in peril at sea, I display myself as a shipmaster, a fish king, a horse king, a tortoise king, an elephant king, an asura king, and a sea spirit | T10n0279 0369c02–c03 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | At that time I make myself the form of a ship, or a horse king, an elephant king, a dog king, an asura king, or the form of a sea spirit king | T09n0278 0720c11–c13 |
| Prajñā T293 | For those in peril at sea I display myself as a shipmaster, a fish king, a horse king, a tortoise king, an elephant king, an asura king, and a sea spirit, and as the image of a fisherman | T10n0293 0739a12–a13 |
| Śikṣānanda T279 | For those who walk in the wilds, in dense forests, upon perilous roads, who are entangled by creepers and darkened by cloud and fog and are afraid, I show them the right road, causing them to get out | T10n0279 0369c16–c18 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | For sentient beings in the wilds, by every kind of skillful means I cause them to be glad and joyful, to enter the way of right view, and to put away hunger and thirst | T09n0278 0720c22–c23 |
| Prajñā T293 | For those who walk in the wilds, upon perilous roads, in dense forests, where poison trees and creepers are interwoven and hide the way, where shenulo beasts lie hidden and wound and maim, and roaring aloud startle those who hear them | T10n0293 0739b02–b04 |
What the variants are fastened to: (a) The forms manifested for rescuing from peril at sea: the eighty-fascicle witness has seven matters (shipmaster · fish king · horse king · tortoise king · elephant king · asura king · sea spirit); the sixty-fascicle witness has six matters, lacking the fish king and the tortoise king and having a dog king besides; the forty-fascicle witness adds 「捕漁人像」 tr. “the image of a fisherman” to the seven matters of the eighty-fascicle witness. (b) The one gate of the wilds: the text of the sixty-fascicle witness is the plainest, the eighty-fascicle witness sets out the two matters of creepers and of cloud and fog, and the forty-fascicle witness adds further the poison trees and the name of a beast. (c) Besides the nine gates of the eighty-fascicle witness the forty-fascicle witness brings out one gate apart, saying 「若有眾生戰諍城邑，乃至小獸忿競無時，我以方便使其和好」 tr. “if there are sentient beings contending in battle over cities and towns, and so on to the small beasts angrily striving without ceasing, I by skillful means bring them to concord” 〔T10n0293 0739b10–b11〕, which neither the eighty-fascicle nor the sixty-fascicle witness has. (d) The order of the gates in the sixty-fascicle witness does not everywhere answer to the eighty-fascicle: the gate of delighting in and clinging to the land 〔T10n0279 0369c21〕 and the gate of delighting in and clinging to the village 〔0369c23〕 of the eighty-fascicle witness are, in the sixty-fascicle, 「見樂著國土眾生」 tr. “seeing sentient beings who delight in and cling to their land” 〔T09n0278 0720c25–c26〕 and 「見著聚落眾生」 tr. “seeing sentient beings who cling to their village” 〔0720c28〕, while the two gates before them, of mountain peril and of the wilds, differ from the eighty-fascicle in the forms manifested. Recorded without adjudication.
Sentence 5 · The verses of restating
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | This gate of liberation of mine brings forth the pure light of the Dharma, and is able to break the darkness of delusion — when the time comes, only then is it expounded | T10n0279 0370b12–b13 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | The wondrous Dharma I have accomplished knows the time and the ground of all the gates; it shines upon and puts away the obscurity of delusion, and everywhere contemplates all dharmas | T09n0278 0721b08–b09 |
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Within the dust motes of the lands of the ten directions I wholly see Rocana seated beneath the tree of awakening, accomplishing the way and expounding the wondrous Dharma | T10n0279 0370c23–c24 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | I see the buddha Rocana accomplishing right awakening at the place of the Way; in the dust motes of the lands of the ten directions he wholly turns the right wheel of the Dharma | T09n0278 0721c19–c20 |
What the variants are fastened to: (a) In both witnesses this passage has twenty-one verses in forty-two lines (counted in the base text itself; Chengguan says 「二偈頌中二十一頌，分四」 tr. “second, within the verses there are twenty-one verses, divided into four” 〔T35n1735 0941b26–b27〕). (b) The first verse: the eighty-fascicle witness sets forth the name with 「我此解脫門」 tr. “this gate of liberation of mine,” while the sixty-fascicle has 「我所成妙法」 tr. “the wondrous Dharma I have accomplished” and carries it on with 「知時諸門地」 tr. “knows the time and the ground of all the gates” — the eighty-fascicle’s 「待時而演說」 tr. “when the time comes, only then is it expounded” and the sixty-fascicle’s 「知時」 tr. “knows the time” are fastened to the one same sense, with the clauses in exchanged positions. (c) The order of the last verse is inverted between them: the eighty-fascicle witness has the lands first and the buddha after, the sixty-fascicle the buddha first and the lands after. (d) The verses of the sixty-fascicle witness address him for the most part directly as 「善財」 tr. “Sudhana” or 「佛子」 tr. “the sons of the Buddha” (as in 「善財應速具」 tr. “Sudhana ought swiftly to be furnished with it” 〔T09n0278 0721b11〕· 「佛子應究竟」 tr. “the sons of the Buddha ought to bring it to the ultimate” 〔0721c02〕), while the eighty-fascicle witness for the most part has 「汝應入此門」 tr. “you ought to enter this gate” (six occurrences), the second verse alone having 「佛子應修學」 tr. “sons of the Buddha, you ought to cultivate and learn” 〔T10n0279 0370b15〕. (e) The verses on the six faculties: the sixty-fascicle witness has 「淨天眼」 tr. “the pure heavenly eye,” 「淨天耳海」 tr. “the sea of the pure heavenly ear,” 「淨鼻根」 tr. “the pure faculty of the nose” 〔0721b18·0721b24·0721b28〕, the eighty-fascicle 「我目甚清淨」 tr. “my eye is utterly pure,” 「我耳甚清淨」 tr. “my ear is utterly pure,” 「我鼻甚清淨」 tr. “my nose is utterly pure” 〔T10n0279 0370b22·0370b28·0370c03〕. Recorded without adjudication.
Sentence 6 · The two lives of the past
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | There was a kalpa named: Still Light, and a world named: Bringing Forth Wondrous Jewels, and five hundred million buddhas appeared within it | T10n0279 0370c28–c29 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | There was a world named Jewel-Virtue, and a kalpa named Still. Fifty thousand million buddhas arose in the world | T09n0278 0721c24–c25 |
| Prajñā T293 | There was a kalpa named Still Light, and a world named Bringing Forth Auspicious Jewels, and fifty thousand million buddhas appeared within it | T10n0293 0740c03–c04 |
| Śikṣānanda T279 | The king had a consort named: Dharma-Wisdom Moon, and the night being deep she was asleep | T10n0279 0371a03 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | The king’s jade-maiden treasure was named Dharma-Wisdom Moon Lotus Light | T09n0278 0722a01 |
| Prajñā T293 | The king had a consort named Dharma-Knowledge Moon, who took her pleasure in music, and the night being deep she was asleep | T10n0293 0740c07–c08 |
| Śikṣānanda T279 | I was the daughter of the elder Renown, named Wondrous Wisdom Light, upright and surpassingly fine | T10n0279 0371a25 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | At that time I was the daughter of the elder Bright and Surpassing, named Surpassing Wisdom Light, upright and surpassingly fine | T09n0278 0722a19–a20 |
| Prajñā T293 | I was the daughter of the elder Renown, styled Wondrous Wisdom Light, upright and surpassingly fine, complete in the marks of a person | T10n0293 0741a02–a04 |
What the variants are fastened to: (a) The number of the buddhas: the eighty-fascicle witness has five hundred million, the sixty-fascicle and forty-fascicle both fifty thousand million. (b) The body of the first life: the eighty-fascicle witness has the king’s consort Dharma-Wisdom Moon, the sixty-fascicle the king’s jade-maiden treasure Dharma-Wisdom Moon Lotus Light, the forty-fascicle the king’s consort Dharma-Knowledge Moon; the king’s name is Good Dharma Measure in the eighty-fascicle witness and the same in the sixty-fascicle, while the forty-fascicle has Wondrous Dharma Shore. (c) The body of the second life: the eighty-fascicle witness has this clause as 「我為：名稱長者；女名：妙慧光明」 tr. “I was the daughter of the elder Renown, named Wondrous Wisdom Light,” the sixty-fascicle 「明勝長者女，名勝慧光」 tr. “the daughter of the elder Bright and Surpassing, named Surpassing Wisdom Light,” the forty-fascicle 「名稱長者女，字妙慧光明」 tr. “the daughter of the elder Renown, styled Wondrous Wisdom Light” — the sixty-fascicle and forty-fascicle both plainly make her the elder’s daughter; and Li Tongxuan, glossing this passage upon the eighty-fascicle witness, likewise has 「有五百佛於中出現，我為長者女名妙慧光明」 tr. “five hundred buddhas appeared within it, and I was the elder’s daughter named Wondrous Wisdom Light” 〔T36n1739 0985c13–c14〕. The punctuation now current for this clause in the eighty-fascicle witness reads it apart, as two persons, the elder and his daughter (“I was: the elder Renown; the daughter was named: Wondrous Wisdom Light”); yet the words below, 「在父母邊，夜久眠息」 tr. “I was at the side of my father and mother, and the night being deep I was asleep and resting” 〔T10n0279 0371a28〕, show the speaker to be herself a daughter with father and mother, at one with the reading of the sixty-fascicle, the forty-fascicle, and Li Tongxuan. The four layers of this edition take the reading of the elder’s daughter; the table of sentence six records the base text with its punctuation, not a character changed; the punctuated reading apart stands as another reading, kept alongside. (d) The name of the night goddess who awakened her: in the first life the eighty-fascicle and sixty-fascicle witnesses both have Pure Moon and the forty-fascicle has Pure Moonlight; in the second life the eighty-fascicle has Pure Eye, the sixty-fascicle the same, and the forty-fascicle Wondrous Pure Eye. (e) The names of the second life’s kalpa: the eighty-fascicle witness has the kalpa Sorrowless Universal Shining · the world Stainless Wondrous Light · the buddha Sumeru-Banner Still and Wondrous Eye; the sixty-fascicle has the kalpa Apart from Sorrow · the world Stainless and Surpassing · the buddha Sumeru Still Eye; the forty-fascicle has the kalpa Sorrowless Universal Shining · the world Stainless Surpassing Virtue · the buddha Sumeru-Banner Greatly Still and Auspicious Eye. (f) The samādhi gained: the eighty-fascicle witness has one name, 「出生見佛調伏眾生三世智光明輪」 tr. “the Wheel of the Light of Knowledge of the Three Times That Brings Forth the Seeing of Buddhas and the Taming of Sentient Beings” 〔T10n0279 0371b04〕; the sixty-fascicle has 「菩薩三昧，名曰見佛」 tr. “a bodhisattva samādhi named Seeing the Buddha” 〔T09n0278 0722a26〕; the forty-fascicle opens it into the two names 「調伏眾生見佛三昧」 tr. “the Samādhi of Taming Sentient Beings and Seeing Buddhas” and 「普照三世智光明輪三昧」 tr. “the Samādhi of the Wheel of the Light of Knowledge Shining Everywhere upon the Three Times” 〔T10n0293 0741a10–a12〕. Recorded without adjudication.
Sentence 7 · Humbling herself and pointing to the superior · pointing out the next friend
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Son of good family! I know only this bodhisattva liberation of the light of the Dharma that breaks the darkness of all sentient beings | T10n0279 0371b22–b24 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Son of good family! I know only this Dharma gate of the light that shines everywhere upon all dharmas and breaks apart the delusion of sentient beings | T09n0278 0722b11–b12 |
| Prajñā T293 | Son of good family! I know only this bodhisattva liberation gate of the light of the Dharma that teaches, converts, tames, and breaks the deluded darkness of all sentient beings | T10n0293 0741b02–b03 |
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Son of good family! Here in Jambudvīpa, within the site of awakening in the country of Magadha, there is a goddess who presides over the night, named: Universal Virtue Pure Light | T10n0279 0371c05–c06 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Here in Jambudvīpa, in the country of Magadha, there is a goddess of the night named Utterly Deep Wondrous Virtue Stainless Light | T09n0278 0722b23–b24 |
| Prajñā T293 | Son of good family! Here in Jambudvīpa, on the south bank of the Gaṅgā, within the site of awakening in the country of Magadha, there is a goddess who presides over the night named Universally Auspicious Undefiled Light | T10n0293 0741b14–b16 |
What the variants are fastened to: (a) The next friend’s name has three forms in three witnesses — the eighty-fascicle witness Universal Virtue Pure Light · the sixty-fascicle Utterly Deep Wondrous Virtue Stainless Light · the forty-fascicle Universally Auspicious Undefiled Light. (b) Where the next friend is: the eighty-fascicle and forty-fascicle witnesses both fasten it to 「菩提場內」 tr. “within the site of awakening,” and the forty-fascicle adds further 「恒河南岸」 tr. “the south bank of the Gaṅgā”; the sixty-fascicle says only 「此閻浮提摩竭提國」 tr. “here in Jambudvīpa, in the country of Magadha” and does not bring out the site of awakening. Chengguan sets up a signifying gloss upon the site of awakening in the eighty-fascicle witness, saying 「云菩提場內者，得無誤犯，由契理故。理即菩提場」 tr. “as for ‘within the site of awakening,’ it is being without mistaken transgression, by reason of according with principle. Principle is the site of awakening” 〔T35n1735 0941c11–c13〕. (c) The words of the request: the eighty-fascicle witness has 「菩薩云何學菩薩行、修菩薩道」 tr. “how is a bodhisattva to learn the bodhisattva practice and to cultivate the bodhisattva way” 〔T10n0279 0371c08〕, the sixty-fascicle 「云何菩薩學菩薩行、修菩薩道」 tr. “how does a bodhisattva learn the bodhisattva practice and cultivate the bodhisattva way” 〔T09n0278 0722b24–b25〕 — the order of the words exchanged; the forty-fascicle is the same as the eighty-fascicle. (d) The eighty-fascicle and forty-fascicle witnesses both have the one clause 「我本從其發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心」 tr. “it was from her that I originally raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi” 〔T10n0279 0371c06–c07〕〔T10n0293 0741b16–b17〕, fastening the next friend to the night goddess Pure Moon of the birth-story; the corresponding passage of the sixty-fascicle witness says only 「此閻浮提摩竭提國有一夜天，名甚深妙德離垢光明」 tr. “here in Jambudvīpa, in the country of Magadha, there is a goddess of the night named Utterly Deep Wondrous Virtue Stainless Light” 〔T09n0278 0722b23–b24〕 and does not carry this clause; Chengguan judges upon this, saying 「即前淨月，故云本從發心」 tr. “she is the former Pure Moon, and so it is said ‘originally from her the mind was raised’” 〔T35n1735 0941c14〕. Recorded without adjudication.
Sentence 8 · Sudhana’s verses of praise
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | I see your pure body, its marks and signs surpassing the world, like Mañjuśrī, and like the king of jeweled mountains | T10n0279 0371c10–c11 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | I see the pure body, its marks and signs adorning it of themselves, like Mañjuśrī, and like the king of jeweled mountains | T09n0278 0722b26–b27 |
| Prajñā T293 | I now see your pure body, its color and marks upright and adorned like Wondrous Virtue, its majestic light surpassing the world beyond compare, singular as the king of jeweled mountains | T10n0293 0741b21–b22 |
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a thousand lands one might praise the virtue of a single hair of yours; the number of the kalpas could still be exhausted, but the merit and virtue would in the end have no end | T10n0279 0371c28–c29 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a thousand lands one might praise her merit and virtue; the many kalpas could still be exhausted, but the merit and virtue would be without end | T09n0278 0722c15–c16 |
| Prajñā T293 | Through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a thousand buddha-lands one might praise the virtue of a single hair of your body; the number of the dust-mote kalpas could still be exhausted, but the merit and virtue of your body would in the end have no end | T10n0293 0741c10–c11 |
What the variants are fastened to: (a) In all three witnesses this passage has ten verses (counted in the base text itself; Chengguan says 「於中十偈，分四」 tr. “within it there are ten verses, divided into four” 〔T35n1735 0941c16〕). (b) The graphs and clauses of the verses: the eighty-fascicle and sixty-fascicle witnesses both have twenty lines of five graphs, the forty-fascicle twenty lines of seven graphs. (c) The comparison of the first verse takes Mañjuśrī and the king of jeweled mountains in all three witnesses, the forty-fascicle rendering Mañjuśrī’s name as 「妙德」 tr. “Wondrous Virtue.” (d) The eighth and ninth verses: the eighty-fascicle witness has 「聞名及見身」 tr. “who hear your name and see your body” and 「多劫在惡趣，始得見聞汝」 tr. “those who for many kalpas have been in the evil destinies only then get to see and hear of you” 〔T10n0279 0371c24·0371c26〕; the sixty-fascicle has 「若有見聞者」 tr. “if there are those who see and hear” beginning both verses over again 〔T09n0278 0722c11·0722c13〕; the forty-fascicle has 「見汝身，聞名愛樂生歡喜」 tr. “seeing your body and hearing your name, they love it and gladness arises” and 「墮於惡趣無邊劫」 tr. “fallen into the evil destinies for boundless kalpas” 〔T10n0293 0741c06·0741c08〕. Recorded without adjudication.
V. Scriptural Grounds of Sectarian Doctrine (the doctrinal eye)
(1) The judgment of assignment to the Joyful Ground. This section stands at the head of the ten good friends of the ten grounds, and this judgment is fastened to the great outline Chengguan sets up:
「自下大文第五有十善友，寄十地位，即分十段。第一婆珊婆演底夜神，寄歡喜地」 tr. “From here on, the fifth of the great divisions of the text has ten good friends, assigned to the positions of the ten grounds, and so is divided into ten passages. The first, the night goddess Vāsantī, is assigned to the Joyful Ground.” 〔T35n1735 0941a19–0941a20〕
Chengguan’s Explicit Judgment (the matching of assigned positions)
As to the matching of assigned positions, Chengguan, in the outline passage of this chapter, first records two sayings that have come down from of old and then sets down his own explicit judgment, making clear both why they are matched and that not to match them also has its reason:
「二皆有理，謂隨一一位具多法門，豈容凡心不得習求善友之法，故不配有理。然無次位中不礙次位，顯位是常規，配亦無失」 tr. “Both have their reason: namely, since each and every position is furnished with many Dharma gates, how could it be that an ordinary mind may not learn and seek the dharma of the good friends? — and therefore not to match them has its reason. Yet within there being no sequence of positions the sequence of positions is not obstructed, and to display the positions is the constant rule; so to match them, too, is no fault.” 〔T35n1735 0918b04–0918b07〕
This speech comes from the general outline passage of the chapter and is not text within the window of this friend; it is recorded here to make clear upon what the matching of assigned positions relies, and where its measure lies.
(2) The city’s name and the friend’s name as signs of the first ground. Upon the two names Jiapiluo and Vāsantī, Chengguan sets up for each a signifying gloss answering to the first ground:
「城名迦毘羅者，此云黃色，往昔黃頭仙人依此處故。黃是中色，表契中道故。又此是佛生之城，表初地生佛家故」 tr. “As for the city named Jiapiluo, this in this tongue is yellow color, because in the past the yellow-headed seer dwelt in this place. Yellow is the central color, signifying according with the middle way. Further, this is the city of the Buddha’s birth, signifying that upon the first ground one is born into the house of the buddhas.” 〔T35n1735 0941a20–0941a23〕
「婆珊者，此云春也。婆演底者，此云主當，以於春時主當苗稼故。謂顯初入地，能生長萬行，護眾生故」 tr. “posan means spring in this tongue; and poyandi means to preside over, since in the season of spring it presides over the sprouting crops. That is, it displays that upon first entering the ground one is able to grow the ten thousand practices and to guard sentient beings.” 〔T35n1735 0941a23–0941a26〕
Li Tongxuan is of the same general purport, though his words differ:
「城名迦毘羅者，此云黃色，此城上古有黃頭仙於此修仙道，故立名也」 tr. “As for the city named Jiapiluo, this in this tongue is yellow color; in high antiquity there was a yellow-headed seer who cultivated the way of the seers in this city, and therefore the name was set up.” 〔T36n1739 0985a20–0985a21〕
「此十地中初地菩薩位，會如來智慧入纏大慈悲中菩提果故」 tr. “This is the position of the bodhisattva of the first of the ten grounds, where the wisdom of the tathāgata meets the fruit of awakening within the great kindness and compassion that enters the bonds.” 〔T36n1739 0985a27–0985a28〕
(3) Why night goddesses are seen for the most part upon the grounds · why they are all goddesses. Among the ten friends of the ten grounds night goddesses are the many, and upon this Chengguan sets down two words:
「地上多見夜神者，證智玄妙，雜相破闇故」 tr. “That upon the grounds night goddesses are seen for the most part is because the knowledge of realization is profound and wondrous, and it breaks the darkness among mingled marks.” 〔T35n1735 0941a26–0941a27〕
「下九天神，準梵本皆是女神。瞿波亦女者，地上證於同體慈悲，女之狀故」 tr. “The nine deva-spirits below are, according to the Sanskrit witness, all goddesses. That Gopā too is female is because upon the grounds one realizes a compassion of one same substance, which is the state of a woman.” 〔T35n1735 0941a27–0941a28〕
What Li Tongxuan sets up is fastened to the same sense of kindness and compassion, and is fuller:
「十箇善知識無出家相，總為女天，說多生因本發菩提心時亦是女身，以表十地是入眾生界長養大慈悲之行也，以表女是慈悲能長養子孫無疲勞故，用明菩薩養眾生故」 tr. “The ten good friends have no marks of one gone forth from home, and all together are heavenly women; and it is said that in the causal ground of many lives, when the mind of awakening was raised, they were likewise in a woman’s body — thereby signifying that the ten grounds are the practice of entering the realm of sentient beings and nourishing great kindness and compassion, and signifying that a woman is one whose kindness and compassion can nourish sons and grandsons without weariness, whereby is made clear the bodhisattva’s nourishing of sentient beings.” 〔T36n1739 0986a18–0986a22〕
(4) The substance of the Dharma gate’s name — the twofold folly · the knowledge of the twofold selflessness · compassion and knowledge both furnished. Upon the one outline division of setting forth the name and the substance, Chengguan matches the two terms 「癡暗」 tr. “deluded darkness” and 「法光明」 tr. “the light of the Dharma” each to what is broken and what breaks it, and then joins them into compassion and knowledge:
「一切眾生癡暗者，即所破二愚。法光明者，即是能破二無我智」 tr. “The deluded darkness of all sentient beings is the twofold folly that is broken; the light of the Dharma is the knowledge of the twofold selflessness that breaks it.” 〔T35n1735 0941b11–0941b13〕
「又破眾生闇為悲，法光明是智，悲智具故」 tr. “Further, the breaking of the darkness of sentient beings is compassion, and the light of the Dharma is knowledge, and so compassion and knowledge are both furnished.” 〔T35n1735 0941b13–0941b14〕
(5) The twofold layer of rescuing and gathering in — the world’s joy and the ultimate. The common rule of the ten gates has already appeared under the outline heading; the sense of this judgment lies here: the shipmaster and the numinous herb manifested, the springs and wells and bridges shown, do not stop at escape from peril, but after every one of them a vow must follow. Chengguan’s words are:
「後九門別顯中，文皆有二：先救世苦令得世樂、後以迴向大願令其究竟離苦得樂」 tr. “Within the nine gates displayed one by one afterward, the text in every case has two: first the rescuing from the world’s suffering so that they gain the world’s joy; afterward, by dedication and the great vow, causing them ultimately to leave suffering and gain joy.” 〔T35n1735 0941b19–0941b21〕
The vow of the one gate of the dark night in the base text joins these two layers exactly: it says first 「如我於此照除夜暗，令諸世事悉得宣敘」 tr. “just as here I shine upon the darkness of night and put it away, causing all the affairs of the world to be set out plainly,” and then at once 「願我普於一切眾生生死長夜、無明暗處，以智慧光普皆照了」 tr. “may I everywhere, in the long night of birth and death of all sentient beings and in the dark places of ignorance, shine upon them all with the light of wisdom” 〔T10n0279 0370a05–0370a08〕.
(6) The fourfold division of the twenty-one verses. Upon the one passage of restating, Chengguan judges its bone to be four:
「二偈頌中二十一頌，分四：初一頌法門名體；二有四頌舉因勸修，即四無量；三有十頌顯果令入，即六處殊勝；四有六頌明業用廣大」 tr. “Second, within the verses there are twenty-one verses, divided into four: the first one verse gives the name and substance of the Dharma gate; second, there are four verses raising the cause and exhorting to cultivate, that is, the four measureless minds; third, there are ten verses displaying the fruit and causing entering, that is, the surpassing excellence of the six sense-fields; fourth, there are six verses making clear the vastness of the working.” 〔T35n1735 0941b26–0941c01〕
By this judgment, the first verse, 「我此解脫門」 tr. “this gate of liberation of mine” 〔T10n0279 0370b12〕, sets forth the name and substance; the four senses of kindness · compassion · rejoicing · equanimity in the second through the fifth verses answer severally to 「勤行廣大慈」 tr. “diligently I practiced vast and great kindness” 〔0370b14〕, 「寂靜大悲海」 tr. “the still sea of great compassion” 〔0370b16〕, 「令我心歡喜」 tr. “makes my mind rejoice” 〔0370b19〕, and 「既捨有為患」 tr. “having already cast away the trouble of what is conditioned” 〔0370b20〕; the sixth through the fifteenth verses tell in turn of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind; and the sixteenth through the twenty-first verses tell of spiritual power · merit · knowledge · the three times · seeing the lands within a dust mote · seeing Rocana.
(7) The first ground takes the hundred for its head. The worlds gone to everywhere, spoken of in the last passage on how long ago the Dharma was gained, are in number the dust motes of buddha-lands, then a hundred, then a thousand, then a hundred thousand, then the unspeakable. Li Tongxuan judges this to be the mark of the first ground:
「此是初地以百為首，便滿十方一切法界無盡佛剎。不同三乘但言百佛，不云百佛剎微塵及以不可說佛剎微塵世界等事」 tr. “This is the first ground taking the hundred for its head, and thereupon filling the endless buddha-lands of the whole Dharma realm of the ten directions. It is not as in the three vehicles, where a hundred buddhas only are spoken of, and nothing is said of the dust motes of a hundred buddha-lands, or of such matters as worlds many as the dust motes of unspeakable buddha-lands.” 〔T36n1739 0986a09–0986a12〕
(8) The dāna-pāramitā as principal. Li Tongxuan further matches one perfection as principal to the practice of this ground:
「此是初歡喜地善知識，以檀波羅蜜為主，餘九為伴」 tr. “This is the good friend of the first ground, the Joyful, with dāna-pāramitā as principal and the other nine as companions.” 〔T36n1739 0986a13–0986a14〕
「此明入俗同纏長養大慈悲門，具足檀波羅蜜令得圓滿。以修慈故，多生不離女身，以表無出世相、常處俗流也」 tr. “This makes clear the gate of entering the worldly, being bound along with beings, and nourishing great kindness and compassion, and being furnished with the dāna-pāramitā so that it is brought to completion. Because she cultivates kindness, through many lives she is not apart from a woman’s body, thereby signifying that she has no mark of going beyond the world and constantly dwells within the current of the worldly.” 〔T36n1739 0986a15–0986a17〕
VI. Divergent Interpretations of the Commentators (the ancient worthies · with their houses marked)
Chengguan, Huayan jing shu T35n1735 ·Yanyi chao T36n1736 (upon the eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, clause by clause · principal)
The outline: 「自下大文第五有十善友，寄十地位，即分十段」 tr. “from here on, the fifth of the great divisions of the text has ten good friends, assigned to the positions of the ten grounds, and so is divided into ten passages” 〔T35n1735 0941a19〕
What the seeking signifies: 「從東門入者，開明之初，顯入證之始故。見日沒者，是夜神故，表分別見日皆已亡故」 tr. “that he entered by the east gate is the beginning of the opening of brightness, displaying the start of the entering into realization. That he saw the sun go down is because she is a night goddess, signifying that the sun of discriminative seeing has already wholly perished” 〔T35n1735 0941b01–0941b03〕
What the seeing of the friend, her recompense and her setting, signifies: 「於空見者，城表教道，空表證道，宗說兼通，如日處空故。服朱衣者，證智明顯故」 tr. “that she is seen in space: the city signifies the way of teaching, and space signifies the way of realization, so that the doctrine and the telling of it are penetrated together, as the sun stands in space. That she is clothed in a vermilion garment: the knowledge of realization is bright and manifest” 〔T35n1735 0941b05–0941b06〕; 「法門星像不離一身，如體化生作用不離一毛之性」 tr. “the star-images of the Dharma gates are not apart from the one body, just as the working of transformation-births from the substance is not apart from the nature of a single hair” 〔0941b06–0941b08〕
The four kinds of the general statement: 「今初，有四種：一夜等為救時、二海等為救處、三遭盜等為所救、四種種方便為能救」 tr. “now the first has four kinds: first, the night and the rest as the time of rescuing; second, the sea and the rest as the place of rescuing; third, the meeting with robbers and the rest as those who are rescued; fourth, every kind of skillful means as that which rescues” 〔T35n1735 0941b17–0941b19〕
The six of how long ago the Dharma was gained: 〔T35n1735 0941c03–0941c06〕「今初，有六：初總顯本事因緣、二「時彼城東」〔0941c03〕下明初佛興世、三「蓮華城內」〔0941c04〕下善友勸發、四「令王夫人」〔0941c04〕下正發大心、五「時王夫人」〔0941c05〕下結會古今、六「我於彼佛」〔0941c06〕下發心成益」 tr. “now the first has six: first, the general display of the causes and conditions of the past deeds; second, from ‘at that time, to the east of that city’ onward, the making clear of the first buddha’s appearing in the world; third, from ‘within the city Lotus’ onward, the good friend’s exhorting and rousing; fourth, from ‘causing the king’s consort’ onward, the true raising of the great mind; fifth, from ‘the king’s consort of that time’ onward, the bringing together of past and present; sixth, from ‘because in the presence of that buddha’ onward, the benefit accomplished by raising the mind”
The gloss of the next friend’s name: 「友名普德者，最勝法界無德不具故。淨光者，正智證入離誤犯之垢故。即前淨月，故云本從發心」 tr. “the friend is named Universal Virtue because in the most surpassing Dharma realm there is no virtue she is not furnished with; and Pure Light because right knowledge realizes and enters, apart from the defilement of mistaken transgression. She is the former Pure Moon, and so it is said ‘originally from her the mind was raised’” 〔T35n1735 0941c13–0941c15〕
The fourfold division of the ten verses cherishing her virtue: 「於中十偈，分四：初四讚身心超勝、次三明大用無涯、次二益物不虛、後一結德無盡」 tr. “within it there are ten verses, divided into four: the first four praise the surpassing excellence of body and mind; the next three make clear that the great working has no bound; the next two show that the benefit to beings is not in vain; the last one concludes that her virtue is without end” 〔T35n1735 0941c16–0941c18〕
Chengguan’s Explicit Judgment (the matching of assigned positions · the chapter outline passage · not the window of this friend)
At the general outline of 〈Entering the Dharma Realm〉 Chengguan first records two sayings that have come down from of old: 〔T35n1735 0918b02–0918b04〕「六分五相者，若意法師及臺山論，但隨文散釋，更無別配；光統等師皆配地位」 tr. “as for the sixth, the distinguishing of the five aspects: the Dharma master Yi and the Taishan treatise merely gloss the text as it runs and make no separate matching, while Guangtong and the other masters all match them to the ground positions”; and then he sets down his own explicit judgment: 「二皆有理，謂隨一一位具多法門，豈容凡心不得習求善友之法，故不配有理。然無次位中不礙次位，顯位是常規，配亦無失」 tr. “both have their reason: namely, since each and every position is furnished with many Dharma gates, how could it be that an ordinary mind may not learn and seek the dharma of the good friends? — and therefore not to match them has its reason. Yet within there being no sequence of positions the sequence of positions is not obstructed, and to display the positions is the constant rule; so to match them, too, is no fault” 〔T35n1735 0918b04–0918b07〕. The two sayings recorded are recorded without adjudication; this one speech is the explicit judgment Chengguan himself sets down.
The direct gloss upon this friend in the Yanyi chao: 〔T36n1736 0681b06–0681b08〕「疏「大文第五。有十善友，寄十地。」〔0681b06〕「第一婆珊婆演底夜神寄初歡喜地」〔0681b06〕者，初獲聖性，具證二空，能益自他，生大歡喜故」 tr. “as for the commentary’s ‘the fifth of the great divisions of the text has ten good friends, assigned to the ten grounds’ and ‘the first, the night goddess Vāsantī, is assigned to the first ground, the Joyful’: it is because one first obtains the nature of a noble one, is fully furnished with the realization of the twofold emptiness, is able to benefit oneself and others, and so great joy arises”; upon the springing forth of spring it says 〔0681b08–0681b09〕「「以於春時主當」〔0681b08〕等者，盛德如春，和暢發生故」 tr. “as for ‘since in the season of spring it presides over’ and the rest: her abounding virtue is like the spring, harmonious and outflowing, bringing things to birth”; upon the sun’s going down it says 〔0681b09–0681b10〕「「表分別見日皆已亡」〔0681b09〕者，初地斷見惑，即分別煩惱故」 tr. “as for ‘signifying that the sun of discriminative seeing has already wholly perished’: upon the first ground the delusions of view are cut off, which are the afflictions of discrimination”; upon the star-images it says 〔0681c01–0681c04〕「疏「法門星象」〔0681c01〕下，此中法喻雙辯。一身以表如體，星象以表法門。星象不離一身，猶法門不離如體。下對亦然，教化表於大用，毛孔以況真性」 tr. “from the commentary’s ‘the star-images of the Dharma gates’ onward, here the dharma and the simile are set forth together: the one body signifies the substance of suchness, and the star-images signify the Dharma gates; the star-images are not apart from the one body, just as the Dharma gates are not apart from the substance of suchness. The correspondence below is likewise: teaching and converting signify the great working, and the pores are likened to the true nature”; and as for the twofold folly and the twofold selflessness it refers them to the Chapter on the Ten Grounds, saying 「其二愚二無我等，並如〈地品〉」 tr. “its twofold folly and twofold selflessness and the rest are all as in the Chapter on the Grounds” 〔0681c04–0681c05〕. Chengguan glosses this twofold folly in the Chapter on the Ten Grounds, saying 「一執著我法愚，即異生障；二惡趣雜染愚，即惡趣諸業果等」 tr. “first, the folly of holding to self and dharmas, which is the hindrance of the nature of an ordinary being; second, the folly of the defilement of the evil destinies, which is the deeds and fruits of the evil destinies and the rest” 〔T35n1735 0756b11–0756b12〕.
The table of twenty classes in the Yanyi chao: 「二十諸神，攝其十：一安住地神、二婆珊婆演底夜神、三普德淨光夜神」 tr. “the twentieth class, the spirits, gathers ten: first the earth goddess Peaceful Abiding, second the night goddess Vāsantī, third the night goddess Universal Virtue Pure Light” 〔T36n1736 0663b15–0663b16〕. This passage of the Chao further cites two treatises so as to discern the five births of a bodhisattva, saying 〔0663b21–0663b22〕「疏「四約相辯異不出菩薩五生」〔0663b21〕者，即《瑜伽》四十八品中辨」 tr. “as for the commentary’s ‘fourth, upon the marks discerning the differences, they do not go beyond the five births of a bodhisattva,’ this is discerned within chapter forty-eight of the Yuqie”, whose fourth birth reads 「從初地至十地、為諸王等」 tr. “from the first ground to the tenth ground, being kings and the like” 〔0663b25–0663b26〕; and it says further 「《攝論》第六，明勝生亦名最勝生，謂諸世間安樂生處，應知」 tr. “in the sixth of the She lun, the surpassing birth, also named the most surpassing birth, is made clear — namely, the places of birth in the many worlds where there is peace and joy, as should be known” 〔0663b27–0663b29〕. This passage belongs to the general discussion classifying the friends of the chapter, and is not a direct gloss on this section.
Fazang, Tanxuan ji T35n1733 (the commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka · what it glosses is the sixty-fascicle form of the name 「婆娑婆陀」 tr. “Posuoputuo”)
The passage of direct gloss on this friend 〔T35n1733 0473b06〕–〔0474b04〕. What this commentary glosses is the form of the name in the sixty-fascicle witness; the form of the name in the eighty-fascicle witness gives zero hits in it.
The outline: 「自下從婆娑婆陀至瞿夷有十善知識，明十地位行。第一歡喜地知識內，亦為五分」 tr. “from here on, from Posuoputuo to Gopā, there are ten good friends, making clear the practices of the positions of the ten grounds. Within the friend of the first ground, the Joyful, there are likewise five divisions” 〔T35n1733 0473b06–0473b07〕
The city’s name: 「正云迦毘羅婆窣堵，此云黃物城，則往古黃頭仙人先在此處，後於此作城，故立斯號」 tr. “properly it is Kapilavastu, which in this tongue is the city of yellow things; in high antiquity the yellow-headed seer was first in this place, and afterward a city was made here, and therefore this title was set up” 〔T35n1733 0473b08–0473b10〕; 「表初地已上生佛家，故在佛生城也」 tr. “it signifies that from the first ground upward one is born into the house of the buddhas, and therefore it is in the city of the Buddha’s birth” 〔0473b11–0473b12〕
The gloss of the name: 「婆娑婆陀者，正云婆羅婆薩那，此名依止不畏，即下文廣與怖畏眾生而作依止故也」 tr. “as for Posuoputuo, properly it is Polaposana, and this name is reliance without fear, since in the text below she at length becomes a reliance for sentient beings who are afraid” 〔T35n1733 0473b12–0473b14〕; 「天竺本婆僧多，此云春也，謂表能生長萬行，如春時也」 tr. “the Indian witness has Posengduo, which in this tongue is spring, that is, signifying that she is able to grow the ten thousand practices, as in the season of spring” 〔0473b14–0473b15〕
What the goddess of the night and the female form signify: 「夜天者，同初會中主夜神等，謂在於夜中耀光救物，故以為名，表證智妙離眾相，破闇障故也」 tr. “as for a goddess of the night, she is the same as the goddesses presiding over the night in the first assembly and the rest, that is, within the night she shines a light and rescues beings, and therefore it is taken for her name, signifying that the knowledge of realization is wondrously apart from the many marks and breaks the obstacle of darkness” 〔T35n1733 0473b15–0473b17〕; 「此九種夜天，依梵本皆是女天，表是慈悲之狀也」 tr. “these nine kinds of goddess of the night are, according to the Sanskrit witness, all female deities, signifying that this is the state of kindness and compassion” 〔0473b17–0473b18〕
The twofold rescue of the nine gates: 「別顯九門救處難眾生，皆有二救：一以世間救、二以出世救」 tr. “the nine gates displayed one by one, which rescue sentient beings in places of peril, have in every case two rescues: first rescuing by the worldly, second rescuing by what goes beyond the world” 〔T35n1733 0473c19–0473c21〕
The fourfold division of the verses: 「二偈頌中二十一頌，分四：初一頌法門名體；二有四頌明四無量心，是能救生心；三有十頌明六處殊勝，初三眼、次二耳、次一鼻、次一舌、次一身、次二意；四末後六頌明業用廣大」 tr. “second, within the verses there are twenty-one verses, divided into four: the first one verse gives the name and substance of the Dharma gate; second, there are four verses making clear the four measureless minds, which are the mind that can rescue beings; third, there are ten verses making clear the surpassing excellence of the six sense-fields — the first three the eye, the next two the ear, the next one the nose, the next one the tongue, the next one the body, the next two the mind; fourth, the last six verses make clear the vastness of the working” 〔T35n1733 0474a14–0474a18〕
Zhiyan, Souxuan ji T35n1732 (the commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka · what it glosses is the sixty-fascicle form of the name 「婆娑婆陀」 tr. “Posuoputuo”)
The passage of direct gloss on this friend 〔T35n1732 0097c06〕–〔0098a08〕.
The outline and the name: 「自此已下有十知識。此一歡喜地菩薩也」 tr. “from here on there are ten friends. This one is a bodhisattva of the first ground, the Joyful” 〔T35n1732 0097c06〕; 「天名婆娑婆陀，入光明普照諸法壞散眾生愚癡法門」 tr. “the goddess is named Posuoputuo, and she enters the Dharma gate of the light that shines everywhere upon all dharmas and breaks apart the delusion of sentient beings” 〔0097c07–0097c08〕
The city’s name: 「加毘羅城，國名舍夷，是佛生處，表初地生如來家也」 tr. “the city Jiapiluo, the country named Shayi, is the place of the Buddha’s birth, signifying that upon the first ground one is born into the house of the tathāgatas” 〔T35n1732 0097c09–0097c11〕
Why all of them are goddesses of the night: 「所以此後皆是夜天欲彰此下得理自在，輝光大夜處，深闇化故也」 tr. “the reason all of them from here on are goddesses of the night is that it would make manifest that from here on mastery of principle is gained, and that a radiance shines in the place of the great night, converting within the deep darkness” 〔T35n1732 0097c11–0097c12〕
The seventeen texts of answering and converting: 「二對化中有十七文：初總救、二救海難、三救陸難、四為依、五救山難、六救曠野難、七救苦難、八救著國土、九救著五陰、十救著聚落、十一救著六入、十二救迷惑、十三救惡業、十四救厄難、十五救苦等三障、十六救邪三業、十七普賢行攝也」 tr. “second, within the answering and converting there are seventeen texts: first the general rescuing; second rescuing from peril at sea; third rescuing from peril on land; fourth being a reliance; fifth rescuing from mountain peril; sixth rescuing from the peril of the wilds; seventh rescuing from the peril of suffering; eighth rescuing those who cling to their land; ninth rescuing those who cling to the five aggregates; tenth rescuing those who cling to their village; eleventh rescuing those who cling to the six entries; twelfth rescuing the confused; thirteenth rescuing from evil deeds; fourteenth rescuing from calamity; fifteenth rescuing from suffering and the rest, the three obstacles; sixteenth rescuing from the three wrong kinds of deed; seventeenth the gathering in by the practice of Samantabhadra” 〔T35n1732 0097c23–0097c29〕
The fourfold division of the verses: 「偈有二十一偈：初一頌前法門、次四頌初入地四無量行勸令究竟、次十三偈六入勝用勸修究竟、次三偈總歎所得法門勝用」 tr. “the verses are twenty-one: the first one restates the Dharma gate above; the next four, upon the four measureless practices of first entering the ground, exhort to bring them to the ultimate; the next thirteen, upon the surpassing working of the six entries, exhort to cultivate them to the ultimate; the next three praise in general the surpassing working of the Dharma gate gained” 〔T35n1732 0098a01–0098a04〕
Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun T36n1739 (a different track of signifying reading)
The gloss of the name: 「神名婆珊婆演底者，此云主當春生，為此神主當眾生春生諸苗稼也」 tr. “as for the spirit named Vāsantī, this in this tongue is presiding over the springing forth of spring, since this spirit presides over the springing forth of the crops of sentient beings in spring” 〔T36n1739 0985a28–0985b01〕
The sense of a goddess of the night: 「以能常於生死海，破一切眾生為明暗故，名為夜天。又智自在故，名之為天」 tr. “because she constantly, in the sea of birth and death, breaks the brightness and darkness of all sentient beings, she is named a goddess of the night. And because knowledge is at will, she is named a goddess” 〔T36n1739 0985b02–0985b04〕
What the city’s name signifies: 「表法中，以夜神智會中道，合中宮黃色，黃為福慶之色」 tr. “within the signifying reading, the night goddess’s knowledge meets the middle way, matching the yellow color of the central palace, yellow being the color of blessing and felicity” 〔T36n1739 0985a21–0985a22〕
The count of gates: five gates of truly entering the present position 〔0985b05–b07〕· six gates further set up for seeing the night goddess 〔0985b12–b18〕· seventeen gates of making the request for what is sought 〔0985b23〕· five gates of pointing to virtue and advancing upward 〔0986a23–a29〕 — a bone other than that upon which Chengguan’s outline in six passages relies. The five gates of the friend before, the earth goddess Peaceful Abiding, where within her pointing to virtue and advancing upward she points this friend out 〔0985a15–a19〕, are text outside the bounds and do not enter the outline of this friend.
The general sign of the ten grounds: 「此十地中，總明處世長養大慈悲門」 tr. “within these ten grounds, the gate of dwelling in the world and nourishing great kindness and compassion is made clear throughout” 〔T36n1739 0986a17–0986a18〕
The gloss upon the passage of pointing to virtue and advancing upward (the end of this friend’s passage · pointing out the next friend · taking leave): 「此普德淨光夜神，是婆珊婆演底往劫為王夫人時，於夜覺悟之師」 tr. “this night goddess Universal Virtue Pure Light is the teacher who awakened Vāsantī in the night when, in a kalpa gone by, she was the king’s consort” 〔T36n1739 0986a29–0986b01〕; 「不云南方，直云摩竭提國菩提場內者，表修行處生死之慈悲，不出菩提體別有世間慈悲行故」 tr. “that it does not say the south but says directly ‘within the site of awakening in the country of Magadha’ signifies that the kindness and compassion practiced amid birth and death do not go outside the substance of awakening as some separate worldly practice of kindness and compassion” 〔0986b03–0986b05〕; 「明會世間慈悲之行是菩提心內所行之行，不別有也，表處纏大慈大悲之行與覺體一也。明果作因，因果一也」 tr. “it makes clear that the practice of worldly kindness and compassion, brought together, is a practice carried out within the mind of awakening and is not something apart; it signifies that the practice of great kindness and great compassion amid the bonds is one with the substance of awakening. It makes clear that the fruit acts as the cause, and that cause and fruit are one” 〔0986b07–0986b09〕; 「以明修大慈悲行要經多劫住生死苦海不以為厭，慈悲行方得成就故。明修出世道，一念而即現前；行大慈大悲行，不限劫數也」 tr. “this makes clear that to cultivate the practice of great kindness and compassion one must pass through many kalpas dwelling in the sea of the suffering of birth and death without wearying of it, and only then is the practice of kindness and compassion accomplished. It makes clear that in cultivating the way that goes beyond the world, a single thought brings it at once before one; but in carrying out the practice of great kindness and great compassion there is no limit of kalpas” 〔0986b11–0986b14〕; 「多劫約俗，一念約真，二事通融自體無礙，即乃是一念中多劫、多劫中一念」 tr. “many kalpas are upon the conventional, a single thought is upon the real; the two matters interpenetrate and their own substance is unobstructed, and so it is many kalpas within a single thought and a single thought within many kalpas” 〔0986b14–0986b16〕
Three direct glosses within the general discussion of the ten grounds (outside this passage 0985–0986, spoken upon this friend’s name and position): 「此云春時主當，明此神春時主當苗稼。亦名依止無畏，謂與一切眾生作依止無畏」 tr. “this in this tongue is presiding in the season of spring, making clear that this spirit presides over the crops in the season of spring. She is also named reliance without fear, that is, she is a reliance without fear for all sentient beings” 〔T36n1739 0873b05–0873b06〕; 「此神表初歡喜地，自第九迴向已來直至第九地，總入神位」 tr. “this spirit signifies the first ground, the Joyful; from the ninth dedication onward down to the ninth ground, all enter the rank of spirits” 〔0873b13–0873b14〕; 「四十地初發心，修長養大慈大悲增勝，即以夜神婆珊婆演底，此云主當春生神，以表大悲，主當眾生發生菩提芽故」 tr. “fourth, the first raising of the mind upon the ten grounds, where the cultivating and nourishing of great kindness and great compassion grows surpassing, is taken as the night goddess Vāsantī, which in this tongue is the spirit presiding over the springing forth of spring, so as to signify great compassion, since she presides over the sprouting of the shoot of awakening in sentient beings” 〔0915a07–0915a09〕; 「名婆珊婆演底，此名主當春生苗稼，亦名依止無畏，為明表主當眾生初發心之菩提苗稼。亦名主當眾生，與作依止使令無畏」 tr. “named Vāsantī, this name being presiding over the springing forth of the crops of spring, and also named reliance without fear, so as to make clear and signify that she presides over the shoot of awakening at sentient beings’ first raising of the mind. She is also named one who presides over sentient beings and becomes a reliance for them, causing them to be without fear” 〔0930a01–0930a03〕
Recorded without adjudication
As to the outline of this section, Chengguan makes six passages (seeking in accord with the teaching · seeing, paying respect, and inquiring · praising and conferring the Dharma · humbling herself and pointing to the superior · pointing out the next friend · cherishing her virtue and taking leave), and within the praising and conferring of the Dharma opens the three further of setting forth the name and substance · displaying the working · how long ago the Dharma was gained; Li Tongxuan makes no six passages, but sets up five gates within the Dharma gate of truly entering the present position · six gates further for seeing the night goddess · seventeen gates within the making of the request for what is sought, and five gates apart for the one passage of pointing to virtue and advancing upward; and both his counts and the bone he relies upon differ from Chengguan’s. As to the gloss of the friend’s name, Chengguan glosses the two graphs separately as spring and as presiding over, while Li Tongxuan joins them into the single phrase presiding over the springing forth of spring. As to what the city’s name signifies, Chengguan takes yellow to be the central color, signifying according with the middle way, and takes it also as the city of the Buddha’s birth, signifying that upon the first ground one is born into the house of the buddhas — two senses; Li Tongxuan takes the one sense that yellow is the color of blessing and felicity and that the night goddess’s knowledge meets the middle way. As to a night goddess’s being the friend, Chengguan fastens it to the knowledge of realization being profound and wondrous and breaking the darkness among mingled marks, and Li Tongxuan to her constantly breaking the brightness and darkness of beings in the sea of birth and death. As to what the female body signifies, Chengguan fastens it to realizing upon the grounds a compassion of one same substance, and Li Tongxuan to a woman’s being able to nourish sons and grandsons without weariness. As to the practice of this ground, Li Tongxuan sets up the dāna-pāramitā as principal with the other nine as companions, while Chengguan, within the window of this section, sets up no separate heading of principal and companions. What Fazang’s Tanxuan ji and Zhiyan’s Souxuan ji gloss is the sixty-fascicle form of the name, Posuoputuo; those who render the name as reliance without fear are Fazang’s Tanxuan ji and the interlinear note in Zhiyan’s Kongmu zhang, and Fazang takes besides the Indian witness’s Posengduo and renders it as spring — these standing together with the one gloss of spring · presiding over the springing forth of spring that Chengguan and Li Tongxuan transmit upon the eighty-fascicle form of the name. As to the division of the verses, Chengguan and Fazang both make it one · four · ten · six, while Zhiyan makes it one · four · thirteen · three. All these divergent interpretations are settled sayings of the ancient worthies, and are recorded as such.
VII. Cross-Reading and Lineage
Of the text of this section, the chains of lineage are as follows:
- The five treatises of the Huayan house: the Huayan yisheng jiaoyi fenqi zhang T45n1866 · the Shixuan men T45n1868 · the Huayan jing zhigui T45n1871 · the Huayan jing kongmu zhang T45n1870 · the Fajie xuanjing T45n1883 — each searched with the two terms 「婆珊婆演底」 tr. “Vāsantī” and 「破一切眾生癡暗」 tr. “breaking the deluded darkness of all sentient beings,” and all five give zero hits 〔not found〕 — the eighty-fascicle form of the name and the name of her Dharma gate do not enter the discussions of these five works.
- The list of names in Zhiyan’s Kongmu zhang T45n1870: this work brings out this friend’s place and name apart, in the sixty-fascicle form of the name, saying 〔T45n1870 0589a28–0589a29〕「三十二名摩竭提國迦毘羅住處夜天名婆娑婆陀」 tr. “the thirty-second is named: in the dwelling place Jiapiluo in the country of Magadha, a goddess of the night named Posuoputuo,” and its interlinear note glosses the name, saying 「此云依止不畏。準梵本應云婆娑婆也多」 tr. “this in this tongue is reliance without fear. According to the Sanskrit witness it should be said Posuopoyeduo” 〔0589a29〕 — one and the same sense as the gloss of the name in Fazang’s Tanxuan ji.
- The citation of other treatises within the commentary window of this section: within the window of Chengguan’s Shu upon this section 〔T35n1735 0941a19–0941c19〕, a search for the two titles Yuqie and Benye gives zero hits in both — within the outline text of this section Chengguan cites no other treatise 〔not found〕.
- The two treatises cited in the Yanyi chao: the five births of a bodhisattva from the forty-eighth of the Yuqie and the surpassing birth from the sixth of the She lun appear in the general passage classifying the friends of the chapter into twenty classes 〔T36n1736 0663b21–0663b29〕, and not in a direct gloss on this section; they have already been recorded under heading six, and no separate chain is set up for them.
- The Yogācāra axis: this section is not the Chapter on the Ten Grounds, and no separate Yogācāra chain is set up.
- Cross-reading within this scripture itself: the next friend whom this friend points out, Universal Virtue Pure Light, is the very night goddess Pure Moon who awakened the consort Dharma-Wisdom Moon in the first life of the birth-story — the base text says of itself 「我本從其發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心」 tr. “it was from her that I originally raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi” 〔T10n0279 0371c06–c07〕, and Chengguan judges upon this, 「即前淨月，故云本從發心」 tr. “she is the former Pure Moon, and so it is said ‘originally from her the mind was raised’” 〔T35n1735 0941c14〕. The clause in which the friend before, the earth goddess Peaceful Abiding, points her out lies outside the bounds of this section; the forty-fascicle witness has 「善男子！此閻浮提摩竭提國恒河北岸」 tr. “son of good family! Here in Jambudvīpa, in the country of Magadha, on the north bank of the Gaṅgā” 〔T10n0293 0738b09〕 and the sixty-fascicle witness 「善男子！此閻浮提有城，名曰迦毘羅婆」 tr. “son of good family! Here in Jambudvīpa there is a city named Jiapiluopo” 〔T09n0278 0720a19〕, both witnesses bringing out the city’s name within the passage of the friend before.
VIII. Edition Location Register
- Śikṣānanda T279 (the base text): the unit of the night goddess Vāsantī begins 〔T10n0279 0369a16〕 (fascicle sixty-eight) and ends 〔0372a10 前〕. Cultivating and realizing in accord with what came before 0369a16–a19 · seeking on to the city and seeing the sun go down 0369a19–a21 · the four thoughts upon the good friend 0369a22–a26 · seeing the night goddess, her recompense and her setting 0369a26–0369b09 · paying respects and inquiring 0369b09–b14 · praising 0369b14–b17 · setting forth the name and the substance 0369b17–b18 · the nine kinds of mind 0369b18–b25 · the general statement of the ten gates of rescuing and gathering in 0369b25–0369c02 · rescuing from peril at sea 0369c02–c06 · rescuing upon the land 0369c06–c13 · rescuing from mountain peril 0369c13–c16 · rescuing in the wilds 0369c16–c21 · rescuing those who delight in and cling to their land 0369c21–c23 · rescuing those who delight in and cling to their village 0369c23–c27 · rescuing from the dark night and the losing of direction 0369c28–0370a22 · rescuing from sickness, age, and poverty 0370a23–a29 · rescuing from the dense forest of views 0370a29–0370b09 · the twenty-one verses of restating 0370b09–0370c24 · Sudhana asks how long ago 0370c25–c27 · the first life of the past 0370c27–0371a21 · the second life of the past 0371a21–0371b03 · gaining the samādhi and gaining the liberation 0371b03–b12 · displaying the working at length 0371b12–b22 · humbling herself and pointing to the superior 0371b22–0371c05 · pointing out the next friend 0371c05–c08 · Sudhana’s ten verses of praise 0371c08–c29 · taking leave 0372a01–a02. Verse lines sixty-two (the night goddess’s verses forty-two · Sudhana’s verses twenty). Fascicle sixty-eight ends at 0372a03, and the next unit begins in fascicle sixty-nine 〔0372a10〕.
- Buddhabhadra T278 (the Jin translation, principal for collation): this section begins 〔T09n0278 0720a24〕 (fascicle fifty-one) and ends 〔0722c19 前〕 (fascicle fifty-one). The clause in which the friend before points her out 0720a19–a23 · calling the teaching to mind and seeking on 0720a24–0720b02 · seeing the goddess of the night, her recompense and her setting 0720b02–b17 · paying respects and inquiring 0720b17–b22 · praising and the setting forth of the name 0720b22–b26 · the nine minds 0720b26–0720c03 · the many gates of rescuing and gathering in 0720c03–0721b06 · the twenty-one verses of restating 0721b06–0721c20 · asking how long ago 0721c21–c23 · the two lives of the past 0721c23–0722b11 · humbling herself and pointing to the superior 0722b11–b22 · pointing out the next friend 0722b22–b25 · Sudhana’s ten verses of praise 0722b25–0722c16 · taking leave 0722c17–c18.
- Prajñā T293 (the forty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, for collation): this section begins 〔T10n0293 0738b15〕 (fascicle seventeen) and ends 〔0741c21 前〕 (fascicle seventeen). The last clause of the friend before 0738b09 · calling the teaching to mind and seeking on, crossing the Gaṅgā to the north 0738b15–b21 · the four thoughts upon the good friend 0738b21–b26 · seeing the night goddess, her recompense and her setting 0738b26–0738c13 · paying respects and inquiring 0738c13–c20 · praising and the setting forth of the name 0738c20–0739a05 · the ten minds 0738c26–0739a04 · the many gates of rescuing and gathering in 0739a05–0740b27 (with the gate of contending in battle brought out apart 0739b10–b13) · the verses of restating end 0740b27 · asking how long ago 0740b28–0740c02 · the two lives of the past 0740c02–0741b02 · humbling herself and pointing to the superior 0741b02–b14 · pointing out the next friend 0741b14–b18 · Sudhana’s ten verses of praise 0741b19–0741c11 · taking leave 0741c12–c13. Fascicle seventeen ends 0741c14, and fascicle eighteen begins 0741c15.
- Chengguan, Shu T35n1735: the direct gloss on this section begins 0941a19 · the general framework of the ten friends of the ten grounds 0941a19–a20 · what the city’s name and the friend’s name signify 0941a20–a26 · what the night goddess and the female body signify 0941a26–a28 · first, seeking in accord with the teaching 0941a28–0941b03 · second, seeing, paying respect, and inquiring 0941b03–b09 · third, praising and conferring the Dharma 0941b09–0941c11 (setting forth the name and substance 0941b10–b14 · displaying the working, the ten gates of the prose passage 0941b14–b26 · the fourfold division of the verses 0941b26–0941c01 · how long ago the Dharma was gained 0941c01–c11) · fourth, humbling herself and pointing to the superior, and fifth, pointing out the next friend 0941c11–c15 · sixth, cherishing her virtue and taking leave 0941c15–c19 · ending where the outline of the second friend, Universal Virtue Pure Light, begins 0941c19. The even-handed speech upon assigned positions, outside the window of this section, is at 0918b04–b07 (the general outline passage of the chapter).
- Chengguan, Chao T36n1736: the passage of direct gloss on this friend begins 0681b06 and ends 0681c05 (the sense of her assignment to the first ground, the Joyful 0681b06–b08 · the springing forth of spring 0681b08–b09 · the cutting off of discriminative seeing 0681b09–b10 · the citation of the Laṅkāvatāra upon doctrine and telling penetrated together 0681b10–b29 · the star-images of the Dharma gates 0681c01–c04 · the twofold folly and the twofold selflessness referred to the Chapter on the Grounds 0681c04–c05). Apart from this it appears at 0663b15–b16 (the twentieth class of the table gathering the fifty-four friends into twenty classes); the citation in that same passage of the five births from the Yuqie and the surpassing birth from the She lun, at 0663b21–0663b29, belongs to the general discussion classifying the friends of the chapter and is not a direct gloss on this friend.
- Fazang, Tanxuan ji T35n1733: the passage of direct gloss on this friend begins 0473b06 and ends 0474b04 (upon the sixty-fascicle form of the name · the outline 0473b06–b07 · the city’s name 0473b08–b12 · the gloss of the name 0473b12–b15 · the goddess of the night and the female form 0473b15–b18 · entering in accord with the teaching 0473b19–b23 · seeing, paying respects, and making the request 0473b23–c05 · showing her own Dharma realm 0473c05–c12 · the twofold rescue of the nine gates 0473c12–0474a13 · the fourfold division of the verses 0474a14–a19 · the causes and conditions of gaining the Dharma 0474a19–b02 · the pointing upward 0474b02–b04).
- Zhiyan, Souxuan ji T35n1732: the passage of direct gloss on this friend begins 0097c06 and ends 0098a08 (upon the sixty-fascicle form of the name · the outline and the name 0097c06–c08 · the city’s name 0097c09–c11 · why all of them are goddesses of the night 0097c11–c12 · the seven divisions of entering in accord 0097c13–c17 · the three divisions of truly entering 0097c17–c23 · the seventeen texts of answering and converting 0097c23–c29 · the fourfold division of the verses 0098a01–a05 · the causes and conditions of gaining the Dharma 0098a06–a08).
- Li Tongxuan, Lun T36n1739: two great passages upon this friend — the Dharma gate of truly entering the present position, beginning 0985b05 and ending 0986a22 (five gates of truly entering the present position 0985b05–b12 · six gates of seeing the night goddess 0985b12–b23 · seventeen gates of making the request for what is sought 0985b23–0986a08 · the first ground taking the hundred for its head 0986a09–a13 · the perfection of giving as principal 0986a13–a17 · the general sign of the female body in the ten grounds 0986a17–a22); and the pointing to virtue and advancing upward, beginning 0986a23 and ending 0986b17 (the five gates 0986a23–a29 · the next friend being the very teacher who awakened her 0986a29–b03 · the site of awakening and worldly kindness and compassion 0986b03–b09 · many kalpas and a single thought 0986b09–b17). The passage before them, 0985a15–a19 (with what the city’s name signifies 0985a20–a24 · the gloss of the friend’s name 0985a28–0985b04 in the same passage), belongs to the friend before, the earth goddess Peaceful Abiding, where within her pointing to virtue and advancing upward she points this friend out — an introduction from outside the bounds. There are besides three direct glosses within his general discussion of the ten grounds, 0873b04–b16 · 0915a05–a15 · 0930a01–a05.
- Variant readings: within the range of T279 covered by this unit, 〔0369a16〕–〔0372a09〕, the Taishō base text carries 9 collation notes, recorded one by one without adjudication (base reading 【大】｜variant readings of other witnesses, several witnesses separated by ／): 〔0369a17〕藏【大】｜慧【宋】 · 〔0369a20〕久【大】｜定【宮】 · 〔0369b08〕頻【大】｜嚬【明】 · 〔0369b08〕申【大】｜呻【宮】 · 〔0369c08〕晨【大】｜辰【宮】 · 〔0370c09〕像【大】｜象【宋】【元】【明】 · 〔0371a08〕華【大】｜無此字【宮】 · 〔0371b01〕諭【大】｜喻【宮】 · 〔0371c04〕何【大】｜云何【宮】.
- A further note upon the variant readings: 2 CBETA emendations (not counted among the Taishō collation notes listed above): 〔0369c15〕果【CB】【麗-CB】【磧-CB】｜界【大】 · 〔0370b11〕言【CB】【麗-CB】｜曰【大】／言【宋】【元】【宮】.
- Supplementary note on variant readings: the interlinear notes have been stripped away and recorded at the layer of the source text.
- The unevenness graph for graph within this section (following the base text without alteration): the Dharma gate’s name appears three times in two forms (0369b17 has the graph 「癡」 tr. “deluded” · 0371b07 and 0371b23 lack the graph 「癡」 tr. “deluded”); the leading clause of the dedicatory vow has two forms (within the gates of rescuing and gathering in, 「復作是念」 tr. “and I think further in this way,” four occurrences · 「作是念言」 tr. “and I make a vow in this way,” four; apart from them the four thoughts Sudhana raises before he sees the night goddess are also led in by 「復作是念」 tr. “and I think further in this way” 〔0369a22〕, which is no vow, so that in the whole passage 「復作是念」 tr. “and I think further in this way” has five occurrences); the awakener in the two lives of the past bears two names (Pure Moon · Pure Eye), whom Chengguan judges to be the earlier and later bodies of one person.
- Entries recorded as not found: the five works T45n1866 · T45n1868 · T45n1871 · T45n1870 · T45n1883, searched for 「婆珊婆演底」 tr. “Vāsantī” and 「破一切眾生癡暗」 tr. “breaking the deluded darkness of all sentient beings,” all give zero hits (the Kongmu zhang T45n1870 brings out this friend’s place and name apart, in the sixty-fascicle form of the name 「婆娑婆陀」 tr. “Posuoputuo” 〔0589a28–a29〕, which does not fall under these two terms); the titles Yuqie and Benye give zero hits within the window of Chengguan’s commentary on this section.