Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra

問事品第一

Chapter One: Inquiry

佛在羅閱祇摩訶桓迦憐，摩訶比丘僧五百
人，皆得阿羅漢，獨阿難未。

The Buddha was at Rājagṛha, in the Mahāvana-Kalandaka, together with a great community of bhikṣus, five hundred in number, all of whom had attained arhatship; only Ānanda had not yet done so.

爾時，有菩薩名
颰陀和，與五百菩薩俱——皆持五戒——晡時至

佛所前，以頭面著佛足，却坐一面。并與五
百沙門俱至佛所，前為佛作禮，却坐一面。

At that time there was a bodhisattva named Bhadrapāla who, together with five hundred bodhisattvas, all of them keeping the five precepts, came in the late afternoon before the place where the Buddha was. They bowed their heads to the Buddha’s feet, then withdrew and sat to one side. Together with five hundred śramaṇas they also came to where the Buddha was, made their reverence before the Buddha, then withdrew and sat to one side.

時佛放威神，諸比丘所在遠方無不來者。
即時十萬比丘俱相隨來會佛所，前為佛
作禮，却坐一面。

At that time the Buddha sent forth his awesome spiritual might, and the bhikṣus, wherever they were in distant regions, all came without exception. Then one hundred thousand bhikṣus, following one upon another, came to assemble where the Buddha was. They came forward and paid homage to the Buddha, then withdrew and sat to one side.

佛復放威神，摩訶波和提比
丘尼與三萬比丘尼俱相隨至佛所，前為
佛作禮，却坐一面。

The Buddha again sent forth his awesome spiritual might, and the bhikṣuṇī Mahāprajāpatī, together with thirty thousand bhikṣuṇīs, all following one another, came to where the Buddha was. They came forward and paid homage to the Buddha, then withdrew and sat to one side.

佛復放威神，羅憐那竭
菩薩從舍衛墮梨大國出、橋曰兜菩薩從
占波大國出、那羅達菩薩從波羅斯大國
出、須深菩薩從加羅衛大國出、摩訶須薩
和菩薩與阿難邠坻迦羅越俱從舍衛大國
出、因坻達菩薩從鳩睒彌大國出、和輪調
菩薩從沙祇大國出，一一菩薩各與二萬八
千人俱來到佛所，前為佛作禮，皆却坐一
面。

Again the Buddha sent forth his awesome spiritual might.

The bodhisattva Ratnākara came forth from Vaiśālī. The bodhisattva Guhyagupta came forth from the great kingdom of Campā. The bodhisattva Naradatta came forth from the great kingdom of Vārāṇasī. The bodhisattva Susīma came forth from the great kingdom of Kapilavastu. The bodhisattva Mahāsusārthavāha, together with Anāthapiṇḍika the householder, came forth from the great kingdom of Śrāvastī. The bodhisattva Indradatta came forth from the great kingdom of Kauśāmbī. The bodhisattva Varuṇadeva came forth from the great kingdom of Sāketa.

Each bodhisattva, accompanied by twenty-eight thousand people, came to where the Buddha was. They came forward, paid homage to the Buddha and all withdrew to sit to one side.

羅閱祇王阿闍世與十萬人俱來到佛
所，前為佛作禮，却坐一面。

King Ajātaśatru of Rājagṛha, together with a hundred thousand people, came to where the Buddha was, came forward, paid homage to the Buddha, and withdrew to sit to one side.

四天王、釋提桓因、
梵三鉢摩夷亘天、阿迦膩吒天，各各與若
干億億百千天子俱來到佛所，前為佛作
禮，却住一面。

The Four Heavenly Kings, Śakra, Brahmā Sahāmpati, the deva Maheśvara, and the devas of the Akaniṣṭha heaven, each together with many myriads upon myriads of koṭis of devaputras, came to where the Buddha was, came forward, paid homage to the Buddha, and withdrew to stand to one side.

難頭和難龍王、沙竭龍王、摩
難斯龍王、阿耨達龍王，各各與若干龍王億
億百千萬俱來到佛所，前為佛作禮，却住
一面。

The nāga king Nandopananda, the nāga king Sāgara, the nāga king Manasvin, and the nāga king Anavatapta, each accompanied by countless myriads of koṭis of nāga kings, came together to where the Buddha was, made obeisance before the Buddha, and withdrew and stood to one side.

四面阿須倫王各與若干阿羞倫民
億億百千萬俱來到佛所，前為佛作禮，却
住一面。

The asura kings of the four quarters, each together with their asura subjects, in countless hundreds of thousands of koṭis, came to where the Buddha was, came forward, paid homage to the Buddha, and withdrew to stand to one side.

時諸比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷，諸
天、諸龍、諸阿羞倫民、諸閱叉鬼神、諸迦樓羅
鬼神、諸甄多羅鬼神、諸摩睺勒鬼神、諸人非
人無央數都不可計。

At that time the bhikṣus, the bhikṣuṇīs, the upāsakas, the upāsikās, the devas, the nāgas, the asuras, the yakṣa spirits, the garuḍa spirits, the kiṃnara spirits, the mahoraga spirits, and humans and nonhumans, innumerable and beyond all reckoning, were gathered there.

颰陀和菩薩從坐起，
正衣服，叉手長跪白佛言：「願欲有所問，
既問者為有所因故。天中天！聽我言者，今

當問佛。」

Then the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla rose from his seat, arranged his robes, joined his palms, and kneeling upright addressed the Buddha, saying: “I wish to ask something, and what I ask is asked for a reason. Honoured One among gods, if you will permit my words, I will now put my question to the Buddha.”

佛告颰陀和菩薩：「所因故者便問，
佛當為若說之。」

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla: “Ask whatever you have grounds to ask, and the Buddha will explain it for you.”

颰陀和菩薩問佛言：「菩薩
當作何等三昧？所得智慧如大海、如須彌
山，所聞者不疑，終不失人中之將，自致
成佛終不還、終不生愚癡之處。豫知去
來之事，未曾離佛時，若於夢中亦不離
佛。端政姝好，於眾中顏色無比。少小常
在尊貴大姓家生，若其父母、兄弟、宗親、知識
無不敬愛者。高才廣博，所議作者與眾絕
異，自守節度，常內慚色終不自大，常有慈
哀。智慮通達於智中明，無有與等者。威神
無比，精進難及，入諸經中，多入諸經中，諸
經中無不解。安樂，入禪、入定，入空、無想、
無所著，於是三事中不恐，多為人說經，
便隨護之。在所欲生何所，自恣無異。本功
德力、所信力，多所至到處。其筋力強，無不
欲愛力、無不有根力，明於所向力、明於
所念力、明於所視力、明於所信力、明於
所願力。在所問如大海，無有減盡時，如月
盛滿時悉遍照，無有不感明者，如日初出
時、如炬火在所照，無所罣礙。不著心如虛
空無所止、如金剛鑽無所不入、安如須彌
山不可動、如門閫正住堅。心軟如鵠毛，無
有麁爽；身無所慕樂，於山川如野獸。

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla asked the Buddha, “What samādhi should a bodhisattva cultivate so that the wisdom he attains is like the great ocean and like Mount Sumeru; so that he does not doubt what he hears, never loses his standing as a leader among human beings, advances of himself to buddhahood without ever turning back, and is never born in a place of delusion?

“So that he knows in advance the affairs of past and future, is never apart from the Buddha at any time, and even in dreams is not apart from the Buddha; so that he is upright, handsome and beautiful, his appearance incomparable among the assembly; so that from youth he is always born into honoured and noble families, and his parents, brothers, kinsmen and acquaintances all respect and love him?

“So that his talent is lofty and his learning broad, and what he discusses and undertakes is entirely different from others; so that he guards his own conduct and measure, always has a look of inward modesty, never exalts himself, and always has loving compassion?

“So that his wisdom and discernment are penetrating and luminous within wisdom, with none equal to him; so that his awesome spiritual might is incomparable and his diligence hard to match; so that he enters the sūtras, deeply enters the many sūtras, and among the sūtras there is none he does not understand?

“So that he is at peace and ease, enters dhyāna, enters samādhi, enters emptiness, signlessness and non-attachment, and is unafraid within these three; so that he often teaches the sūtras for others and then protects them accordingly; so that wherever he wishes to be born, he is freely born there without obstruction?

“Through the power of his root merit and the power of his faith, he reaches many places. His sinews and strength are firm. There is no power of desire and love that he lacks; there is no power of faculties that he lacks. He is clear in the power of what he aims toward, clear in the power of what he remembers, clear in the power of what he sees, clear in the power of what he believes, and clear in the power of what he vows.

“In whatever he is asked, he is like the great ocean, never diminished or exhausted; like the full moon, shining everywhere, with none who does not receive its light; like the sun when it first rises; like a torch wherever it shines, with nothing to obstruct it.

“His mind does not cling, like empty space, which abides nowhere; like a diamond drill, there is nothing it does not penetrate. He is stable like Mount Sumeru, which cannot be moved, and firm like a threshold set straight in place. His mind is soft like swan’s down, without anything coarse or harsh. His body longs for no pleasure; among mountains and rivers he is like a wild beast.

「常自守，不與人從事。若沙門道人多所教
授皆護視，若有輕嬈者終無瞋恚心，一切
諸魔不能動。解於諸經，入諸慧中。學諸佛
法，無有能為作師者；威力聖意，無有能動
搖者。深入之行常隨無所行、常柔軟，於經

中常悲，承事於諸佛無有厭。所行種種功
德悉逮及，所行常至、所信常政，無有能
亂者；所行常淨潔，臨事能決，無有難。清淨
於智，慧悉明，得所樂行，盡於五蓋，智慧
所行稍稍追成佛之境界。

“He constantly guards himself and does not involve himself in worldly affairs. Toward śramaṇas and men of the Way who give much instruction, he extends protective care to all of them; should any treat him lightly or harass him, he never harbours a mind of anger, and all the māras cannot move him. He understands the sūtras and enters into the wisdoms. He learns the Dharma of the buddhas, so that none can act as his teacher; his might and his noble intent cannot be shaken by anyone. His practice of deep penetration constantly accords, yet there is nothing he grasps as practised; he is always pliant, and within the sūtras his heart is always one of compassion. He serves the buddhas and is never wearied. The manifold merits of his practice he attains in full; his conduct always reaches its mark, his faith is always upright, and none can throw him into disorder. His conduct is always pure and clean; facing a task he is able to decide it, and nothing is too hard for him. He is pure in knowledge, his wisdom is wholly clear, he gains the practice in which he delights, and he brings the Five Hindrances to an end. By the practice of wisdom he gradually pursues and approaches the realm of buddhahood.

「莊嚴諸國土，
於戒中清淨，却羅漢、辟支佛心，所作為者
皆究竟。所作功德常在上首，教授人民亦
然。於菩薩中所教授無有厭，當所作者
度無有極，一切餘道無有能及者。未嘗
離佛、不見佛，常念諸佛如父母無異。
稍稍得諸佛威神，悉得諸經。明眼所視無
所罣礙，諸佛悉在前立。

“He adorns the buddha-lands. He is pure within the precepts. He turns away from the aspiration of the arhat and the pratyekabuddha, and all that he undertakes he brings to completion. The merit of his deeds is always foremost, and so too is his teaching of the people. Among the bodhisattvas his instruction never tires, and what he undertakes liberates beings without limit, so that none of all the other paths can match it. He is never apart from the buddhas, never without sight of them, but constantly holds the buddhas in mind as one would one’s own father and mother, no different. Gradually he gains the awesome spiritual might of the buddhas, and he grasps all the sūtras. With clear eyes he sees without any obstruction, and all the buddhas stand before him.

「譬如幻師自在
所化，作諸法，不豫計念，便成法，亦無所
從來、亦無所從去。如化作，念過去、當來、今
現在如夢中，所有分身悉遍至諸佛剎。如
日照水中影悉遍見，所念悉得如嚮，亦
不來、亦不去。生、死如影之分，便所想識如
空，於法中無想，莫不歸仰者。一切平等
無有異，於經中悉知。心不可計，一切諸
剎心不著，無所適念；出於諸佛剎，無所
復罣礙。悉入諸陀憐尼門，於諸經中聞
一知萬，諸佛所說經悉能受持。

“Just as an illusionist, freely conjuring whatever he conjures, fashions things without deliberating beforehand, and they are at once fashioned, yet neither come from anywhere nor go anywhere: so it is with what is conjured. To recollect the past, the future, and the present is as in a dream, in which the multiplied body pervades all the buddha-fields. Just as the sun’s light shows its reflections everywhere in water, seen yet neither coming nor going, so too what is recollected is wholly obtained as an echo, neither coming nor going. Birth and death are like the dividing of a reflection. Then what is conceived and cognised is like empty space, and within dharmas there is no conceiving, and there are none who do not turn to him in reverence. All is equal, without any difference, and within the sūtras he knows all. The mind cannot be measured. In none of the buddha-fields does the mind attach, and it settles upon no object. It issues forth from the buddha-fields, no longer met by any hindrance. He enters all the dhāraṇī gateways, and within the sūtras, hearing one matter he knows ten thousand, and the teachings spoken by all the buddhas he is wholly able to uphold and retain.

「侍諸佛悉
得諸佛力、悉得佛威神，勇猛無所難，行
步如猛師子無所畏。於諸國土無不用

言者，所聞者未曾有忘時，一切諸佛之議
等無有異。悉了知本，無經不恐，欲得諸
經便自知說，如諸佛終無厭。為世間人之
師，無不依附者，其行方幅無有諂偽；諸
剎照明朗，不著於三處，所行無所罣礙。
於眾輩中無所適、於本際法中無所慕，
持薩芸若教人入佛道中，未曾恐怖、無
有畏懼時。悉曉知佛諸經所有卷，所在眾會
中無不蒙福者。見佛極大慈歡喜，所學諸
佛經通利，於大眾中無所畏、於大眾中無
有能過者，名聲極遠。破壞諸疑難無不
解，於經中極尊、於師子座上坐自在，如
諸佛法教，悉曉知佛萬種語、悉入萬億音。
愛重諸佛經，常念在左右側，未曾離於
諸佛慈。於佛經中樂行、常隨佛出入、常在
善知識邊，無有厭極時。

“Attending upon the buddhas, he obtains the power of all the buddhas and obtains the awesome spiritual might of the buddhas. He is bold and finds nothing difficult; he walks with the stride of a fierce lion, without fear.

“In all lands, there is none who does not heed his words. What he has heard, he never forgets. The discourse of all the buddhas is equal and without difference. He fully understands the root, and there is no sūtra before which he is daunted. When he wishes to expound the sūtras, he knows of himself how to speak them, just as the buddhas do, and he never wearies.

“He is a teacher to the people of the world, and there is none who does not rely upon him. His conduct is upright and square, without flattery or falsehood. He illumines all buddha-fields brightly. He is not attached to the three realms, and his practice is without obstruction. Among the assemblies, he has no partiality. In relation to the Dharma of ultimate reality, he craves nothing.

“Holding sarvajña, he teaches people to enter the path of buddhahood, never frightened and never afraid. He fully understands all the scrolls of all the buddhas’ sūtras, and in whatever assembly he is present, there is none who does not receive blessing. Seeing the buddhas in their boundless great loving-kindness, he rejoices. He has mastered with ease the buddhas’ sūtras that he has studied.

“In the great assembly, he is without fear. In the great assembly, there is none who can surpass him. His renown reaches extremely far. He shatters all doubts and difficulties, and there is none he cannot resolve. Among the sūtras, he is supremely honoured. Upon the lion throne, he sits at ease. According to the Dharma teaching of the buddhas, he fully understands the myriad languages of the buddhas and enters into their myriad-koṭi sounds.

“He cherishes the sūtras of the buddhas and always keeps them at his side. He is never apart from the loving-kindness of the buddhas. He delights in practising within the buddhas’ sūtras, constantly follows the buddhas in their going out and coming in, and always remains beside the good spiritual friend, never growing weary.

「於十方諸佛剎無
所適止，悉逮得願行；度脫十方萬民，智慧
珍寶悉逮得經藏。

“Throughout the buddha-fields of the ten directions, he has no fixed dwelling-place, and he fully attains the practice of his vows. He delivers and liberates the myriad beings of the ten directions, and through the precious jewel of wisdom he fully obtains the sūtra treasury.

「身如虛空無有想，教
人求菩薩道，使佛種不斷。行菩薩道未曾
離摩訶衍，逮得摩訶僧那僧涅極曠大道，
疾逮得一切智。諸佛皆稱譽，近佛十力地，一
切所想悉入中、一切所計悉了知、世間之
變悉曉知，成敗之事、生者、滅者悉曉知。入經
海寶開第一之藏悉布施、悉於諸剎行願
亦不在中止，極大變化如佛所樂行。心一
反念，佛悉在前立，一切適不復願、適無所
生處；十方不可計佛剎悉見，聞諸佛所說
經；一一佛比丘僧悉見。是時，不持仙道、羅漢、
辟支佛眼視，不於是間終生彼間佛剎爾

乃見，便於是間坐悉見諸佛、悉聞諸佛所
說經、悉皆受。譬如我今於佛前面見佛菩
薩，如是未曾離佛、未曾不聞經。」

“The body is like empty space, without conceptual notions. He teaches others to seek the bodhisattva path, so that the lineage of the buddhas is not cut off. Practising the bodhisattva path, he has never departed from the Mahāyāna. He attains the vast and great path of the bodhisattva’s great armour-like resolve and swiftly attains omniscience.

“All the buddhas praise him, and he draws near to the ground of the buddha’s ten powers. All that is conceived enters therein; all that is reckoned he understands clearly; the transformations of the world he wholly comprehends; matters of success and failure, what arises and what perishes, he wholly comprehends.

“He enters the ocean of the sūtras, opens the foremost treasury and gives it all away. Throughout the buddha-fields he carries out his vows, yet does not abide within them. With transformations vast and great, he practises as the buddhas delight to do.

“With a single turn of recollection, the buddhas all stand before him. There is nothing further to aspire to, and there is no place of arising whatsoever. He sees the countless buddha-fields of the ten directions in their entirety and hears the sūtras preached by the buddhas. He sees each buddha together with the community of bhikṣus.

“At that time, he does not see by means of the eye of the path of the seers, nor by the eye of the arhat or the pratyekabuddha. Nor does he die here and then be born in those buddha-fields, only afterward seeing them. Rather, seated here, he sees all the buddhas, hears all the sūtras preached by the buddhas and receives them all.

“Just as I now, before the Buddha, see the Buddha face to face, so the bodhisattva has never been apart from the buddhas and has never failed to hear the sūtras.”

佛告颰
陀和菩薩：「善哉善哉！所問者多所度脫、多
所安隱，於世間人民不可復計，天上、天下
悉安之。今若能問佛如是，若乃前世過去
佛時所聞地行作功德所致，供養若干
佛以所致，樂於經中所致，作道行、守禁
戒所致。自守法，行清白不煩濁，輒以乞
匃自食。多成就諸菩薩合會，教語諸菩薩。
用是故極大慈哀，一切人民皆於等心，隨
時欲見佛即見佛。所願極廣大甚深之
行，常念佛智慧，悉持經戒、悉具足佛種聖
心如金剛、悉知世間人民心所念、悉在諸
佛前。」

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, “Excellent, excellent! What you ask will deliver and liberate many, bring peace and security to many, and benefit the people of the world beyond reckoning, bringing peace to those in heaven and those below.

“That you are now able to ask the Buddha in this way is due to what you heard in former lives, in the time of past buddhas, and to the merit you cultivated through grounded practice. It is due to your having made offerings to many buddhas. It is due to your delighting in the sūtras. It is due to your having undertaken the practice of the path and guarded the prohibitive precepts.

“You have guarded yourself in the Dharma, your conduct pure and white, untroubled and unmuddied, always sustaining yourself by begging for alms. You have brought to maturity many assemblies of bodhisattvas and instructed those bodhisattvas.

“For this reason, because of your exceedingly great loving compassion, you hold an equal mind toward all people. Whenever you wish to see the Buddha, you immediately see the Buddha.

“Your aspiration is exceedingly vast and your practice deeply profound. You constantly recollect the Buddha’s wisdom, fully uphold the sūtras and precepts, are fully endowed with the lineage of the buddhas, and your noble mind is firm as adamant. You know all the thoughts in the minds of the people of the world, and you stand present before all the buddhas.”

佛告颰陀和菩薩：「若功德以不可復
計。」

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla: “Your merit, indeed, cannot be reckoned.”

佛言：「今現在佛悉在前立三昧，其有行
是三昧，若所問者悉可得。」

The Buddha said: “There is the samādhi in which the buddhas of the present all stand before one. Whoever practises this samādhi can obtain all that you have asked about.”

颰陀和菩薩白
佛言：「願佛哀說之。今佛說者，多所過度、
多所安隱，願佛為諸菩薩現大明。」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla said to the Buddha, “May the Buddha, out of compassion, expound it. If the Buddha now expounds it, it will carry many across to liberation and bring many to peace and security. May the Buddha, for the sake of the bodhisattvas, manifest the great illumination.”

佛告颰
陀和菩薩：「一法行，常當習持、常當守，不復
隨餘法，諸功德中最第一。何等為第一法
行？是三昧名現在佛悉在前立三昧。」

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, “There is a single practice that should always be cultivated and upheld, that should always be guarded, and one should no longer follow other dharmas. Among all merits, it is the foremost.

“What is this foremost single practice? It is the samādhi named ‘the samādhi in which the buddhas of the present all stand before one.’”

行品第二

Chapter Two: Practice

佛告颰陀和菩薩：「若有菩薩所念現在定
意向十方佛，若有定意，一切得菩薩高行。

The Buddha addressed the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, “If there is a bodhisattva whose recollection is fixed in the present concentration directed towards the buddhas of the ten directions, and if he has such concentration, he attains in full the exalted practice of a bodhisattva.

「何等為定意？從念佛因緣，向佛念，意不亂，
從得黠，不捨精進。與善知識共行空——除
睡眠不聚會——避惡知識，近善知識，不亂
精進。飯知足、不貪衣、不惜壽命，孓身避

親屬、離鄉里，習等意、得悲意，心護行，棄
蓋習禪。不隨色、不受陰、不入衰，不念
四大、不失意、不貪性，解不淨。不捨十方
人、活十方人，十方人計為是我所、十方
人計為非我所。一切欲受，不貿戒，習
空行，欲諷經。不中犯戒、不失定意、不
疑法、不諍佛、不却法、不亂比丘僧。離
妄語，助道德家，避癡人世間語，不喜不欲。

“What is the concentrated mind? It arises from the causes and conditions of recollecting the Buddha. One turns one’s recollection towards the Buddha, and the mind is not scattered. From this one gains discernment and does not abandon diligence.

“One practises emptiness together with good spiritual friends, reduces sleep and avoids gatherings. One shuns bad spiritual friends and draws near to good spiritual friends, and one’s diligence is not disturbed.

“One is content with food, does not crave robes and does not cling to life. One goes alone, avoiding kin, and leaves one’s home village. One cultivates the even mind and attains the mind of compassion. One guards the mind, casts off the hindrances and practises dhyāna.

“One does not follow form, does not grasp the aggregates and does not enter the sense-fields. One does not dwell upon the four great elements, does not lose the concentrated mind, does not crave one’s own nature and understands impurity.

“One does not abandon the people of the ten directions, but gives life to them. One regards them as one’s own; one does not regard them as one’s possession. One wishes to accept all things and does not barter away the precepts. One practises the conduct of emptiness and wishes to recite the sūtras.

“One does not violate the precepts, does not lose the concentrated mind, does not doubt the Dharma, does not dispute with the Buddha, does not reject the Dharma and does not disturb the community of bhikṣus. One abandons false speech, aids households devoted to the Way and virtue, shuns the worldly talk of foolish people, and neither delights in it nor desires it.”

「聞道語，具欲聞亦喜。從因緣畜生生，不
欲聞六味。習為五習，為離十惡；為習十
善，為曉九惱；行八精進、捨八懈怠，為習
八便；為習九思，八道家念。又不著禪
聞，不貢高、棄自大，聽說法、欲聞經、欲行
法，不隨歲計、不受身想。離十方人，不
欲受、不貪壽，為了陰不隨惑，為不隨
所有求無為。不欲生死、大畏生死，計陰
如賊、計四大如蛇，十二衰計空。久在三界
不安隱，莫忘得無為。不欲貪欲，願棄
生死；不隨人諍，不欲墮生死。

“One hears words of the Path, wishes to hear them fully and rejoices. Knowing that through causes and conditions one may be born among animals, one does not wish even to hear of the six flavours.

“One cultivates the five trainings, abandons the ten evils, practises the ten wholesome deeds and understands the nine afflictions. One practises the eight forms of diligence and casts off the eight forms of indolence. One cultivates the eight skilful means, cultivates the nine reflections and the mindfulness belonging to the Noble Eightfold Path.

“Moreover, one does not cling to dhyāna or to what one has heard. One is not arrogant and casts off self-importance. One listens to the teaching of the Dharma, wishes to hear the sūtras and wishes to practise the Dharma. One does not reckon by the passing of years and does not accept the perception of a body.

“One remains apart from the people of the ten directions, does not wish to grasp and does not crave long life. Understanding the aggregates, one does not follow delusion. Not pursuing possessions, one seeks the unconditioned.

“One does not desire birth and death, and greatly dreads birth and death. One regards the aggregates as like a thief, regards the four great elements as like a snake and regards the twelve sense-fields as empty.

“Long dwelling in the three realms is not peaceful. One should not forget the attainment of the unconditioned. One does not desire craving and vows to cast off birth and death. One does not follow others into dispute and does not wish to fall into birth and death.”

「常立佛
前，受身計如夢。以受信不復疑，意無有
異，一切滅思想——過去事、未來事、今現在
事等意。

“He constantly stands before the buddhas, and he regards embodied experience as like a dream. Having received faith and no longer doubting, his mind has no divergence. He brings all conceptualisation to cessation. Towards events past, events future and events now present, his mind is even.”

「常念諸佛功德，自歸為依佛，定意
得自在，不隨佛身相法。一切一計不與天
下諍，所作不諍，從因緣生受了。從佛
地度，得可法中，法中得下，以了空意計
人，亦不有、亦不滅。自證無為，𭶑眼以淨，一
切不二覺，意不在中邊。一切佛為一念入，
無有疑𭶑、無有能呵。自得曉覺意故，佛
𭶑不從他人待。得善知識計如佛，無有

異意。一切在菩薩，無有離時，縱一切魔不
能動；一切人如鏡中像，見一切佛如晝；
一切從法行，為入清淨菩薩行如是。」

“Constantly he recollects the qualities of all the buddhas; he takes himself in refuge, relying on the Buddha; in concentrated mind he attains mastery; he does not pursue the Buddha through the marks of the Buddha’s body. Regarding all things as one, he does not contend with the world; in all he does, he does not contend; he fully understands that appearances arise from causes and conditions. Crossing over by means of the buddha-ground, he attains acceptance within the Dharma, and within the Dharma he settles. With a mind that has fathomed emptiness he discerns persons as neither existent nor extinguished. He personally realises the unconditioned; his eye of wisdom is purified; in all things he awakens to non-duality; his mind dwells neither in the middle nor at the extremes. All the buddhas are entered in a single thought-moment, without any doubt, with nothing that could rebuke. Because he himself has gained the awakened mind, he does not wait upon others for the Buddha’s wisdom. Having met a good spiritual friend, he reckons him as the Buddha, without any divergent intention. All things abide in the bodhisattva, with no time of separation; though all the Māras together come, they cannot shake him. All persons are like images in a mirror; he sees all the buddhas as clearly as in daylight; in all things he practises according to the Dharma. Such is the entry into the pure practice of the bodhisattva.”

佛言：
「持是行法故致三昧，便得三昧現在諸佛
悉在前立。何因致現在諸佛悉在前立三
昧？如是，颰陀和！其有比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、
優婆夷，持戒完具，獨一處止，心念西方阿
彌陀佛今現在。隨所聞，當念去是間千億
萬佛剎，其國名須摩提，在眾菩薩中央說
經，一切常念阿彌陀佛。」

The Buddha said: “By upholding this practice, one reaches samādhi and attains the samādhi in which the buddhas of the present all stand before one. What causes one to attain this samādhi? It is as follows, Bhadrapāla. Any bhikṣu, bhikṣuṇī, upāsaka or upāsikā who keeps the precepts completely should dwell alone in a secluded place and recollect Amitābha Buddha, who is now present in the western direction. According to what one has heard, one should recollect that his land, Sukhāvatī, lies a thousand koṭis of myriads of buddha-fields from here. There, amid an assembly of bodhisattvas, he expounds the sūtras. One should constantly recollect Amitābha Buddha.”

佛告颰陀和：「譬如
人臥出於夢中，見所有金銀、珍寶、父母、兄
弟、妻子、親屬、知識，相與娛樂，喜樂無輩。其
覺已為人說之，後自淚出，念夢中所見。
如是，颰陀和！菩薩若沙門白衣所聞西方阿
彌陀佛剎，當念彼方佛，不得缺戒，一心
念——若一晝夜、若七日七夜——過七日以後
見阿彌陀佛，於覺不見，於夢中見之。譬
如人夢中所見，不知晝、不知夜，亦不
知內、不知外，不用在冥中故不見、不
用有所蔽礙故不見。

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “It is like a person who lies down and, in a dream, sees all manner of gold, silver, precious jewels, father and mother, brothers, wife and children, kin and companions. Together with them he takes his pleasure, and his joy is beyond compare. When he has awakened, he tells others about it. Afterwards he himself weeps, recollecting what he saw in the dream.

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. If a bodhisattva, whether a renunciant or a layperson, has heard of the western buddha-field of Amitābha Buddha, he should recollect the Buddha of that field. He must not be deficient in the precepts, but should recollect him single-mindedly, whether for one day and night or for seven days and seven nights. After seven days have passed, he sees Amitābha Buddha. If he does not see him while awake, then he sees him in a dream.

“It is like what a person sees in a dream: he knows neither day nor night, and he knows neither what is within nor what is without. It is not because he is in darkness that he does not see, nor is it because there is some obstruction that he does not see.”

「如是，颰陀和！菩薩
心當作是念。

Just so, Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva should let his mind form this thought:

「時諸佛國界名大山須彌山，
其有幽冥之處悉為開闢，目亦不蔽、心
亦不礙。是菩薩摩訶薩，不持天眼徹視、不
持天耳徹聽、不持神足到其佛剎、不於
是間終生彼間佛剎乃見，便於是間坐
見阿彌陀佛，聞所說經悉受得，從三昧中
悉能具足，為人說之。

“At that time, throughout the buddha-realms, wherever there are dark and hidden places, even among the great mountains and Mount Sumeru, all are opened up. The eye is not screened, and the mind is not obstructed.

“This bodhisattva mahāsattva does not see through by means of the divine eye, does not hear through by means of the divine ear, does not reach that buddha-field by supernormal power, and does not die here and take birth in that buddha-field in order then to see the Buddha.

“Rather, seated here, he sees Amitābha Buddha. He hears the sūtras that are taught, receives and retains them all, and from within the samādhi is fully able to possess them and teach them to others.”

「譬若有人聞墮舍
利國中有婬女人名須門，若復有人聞婬
女人阿凡和梨，若復有人聞優陂洹作

婬女人。是時各各思念之。其人未曾見此
三女人，聞之婬意即為動，便於夢中各往
到其所。是時三人皆在羅閱祇國同時念，
各於夢中到是婬女人所與共棲宿，其覺
已各自念之。」

“It is like this: a man hears that in the country of Vaiśālī there is a courtesan named Sumanā; another hears of the courtesan Āmrapālī; and yet another hears that Utpalavarṇā has become a courtesan.

“At that time, each thinks of her. These men have never seen the three women, yet when they hear of them, desire is at once stirred. Then, in a dream, each goes to where she is.

“At that time, the three men are all in Rājagṛha, thinking of them at the same time, and each in his dream comes to where the courtesan is and spends the night with her. When they have awakened, each recollects it for himself.”

佛告颰陀和：「我持三人以
付，若持是事為人說經，使解此慧至不
退轉地得無上正真道，然後得佛號曰善
覺。如是，颰陀和！菩薩於是間國土聞阿彌
陀佛，數數念，用是念故見阿彌陀佛。見佛
已從問：『當持何等法生阿彌陀佛國？』爾時，
阿彌陀佛語是菩薩言：『欲來生我國者，常
念我，數數常當守念，莫有休息，如是得
來生我國。』」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “I entrust to you the matter of the three persons. If, holding to this matter, you expound the sūtra to others and cause them to understand this wisdom, they will reach avaivartika, the stage of irreversibility and attain the unexcelled, complete and true Way. Thereafter they will become buddhas named Well-Awakened.

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. A bodhisattva in this land hears of Amitābha Buddha and recollects him again and again. By means of this recollection, he sees Amitābha Buddha. Having seen the Buddha, he asks him, ‘What Dharma should one uphold in order to be born in Amitābha Buddha’s land?’

“At that time, Amitābha Buddha says to this bodhisattva, ‘Whoever wishes to come and be born in my land should constantly recollect me. Again and again, he should constantly guard this recollection and not let it cease. In this way, he will come and be born in my land.’”

佛言：「是菩薩用是念佛故，當得
生阿彌陀佛國。常當念如是佛身有三十
二相悉具足，光明徹照，端正無比。在比丘僧
中說經，說經不壞敗色。何等為不壞敗
色？痛痒、思想，生死、識、魂神，地、水、火、風，世間、
天上——上至梵摩訶梵——不壞敗色。用念佛故
得空三昧，如是為念佛。」

The Buddha said, “Because this bodhisattva practises recollection of the Buddha, he will attain rebirth in the land of Amitābha Buddha.

“He should constantly recollect the Buddha’s body in this way: it is fully endowed with the thirty-two marks, its radiance shines through and penetrates, and it is upright and incomparable. In the midst of the community of bhikṣus, he expounds the sūtras, expounding the form that does not decay.

“What is the form that does not decay? Sensation, conceptualisation, birth and death, consciousness and vital spirit; earth, water, fire and wind; the world and the heavens above, up to Brahmā and Mahā-Brahmā, all these are the form that does not decay.

“Because of recollecting the Buddha in this way, one attains the samādhi of emptiness. This is what it is to recollect the Buddha.”

佛告颰陀和：「菩薩
於三昧中誰當證者？我弟子摩訶迦葉、因
坻達菩薩、須真天子及時知是三昧者，有
行得是三昧者是為證。何等為證？證是三
昧知為空定。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “Who, within this samādhi, can bear witness for the bodhisattva? My disciple Mahākāśyapa, the bodhisattva Indradatta, the devaputra Suvikrāntacinta, and those who at that time know this samādhi. Those who, through practice, have attained this samādhi are the ones who bear witness.

“And what is meant by bearing witness? To bear witness to this samādhi is to know it as the samādhi of emptiness.”

佛告颰陀和：「乃往去時有
佛名須波日。時有人行出入大空澤中，不
得飲食，飢渴而臥出，便於夢中得香甘美
食，飲食已。其覺腹中空，自念：『一切所有皆如
夢耶？』」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “Long ago there was a buddha named Xubori. At that time, there was a man travelling through a vast desolate wilderness. He could find no food or drink. Starving and thirsty, he lay down and fell asleep. Then, in a dream, he obtained fragrant, sweet and delicious food and drink, and ate and drank his fill.

“When he awoke, his belly was empty, and he reflected to himself, ‘Is all that exists just like a dream?’”

佛言：「其人用念空故，便逮得無所
從生法樂，即逮得阿惟越致。如是，颰陀和！
菩薩其所向方聞現在佛，常念所向方，欲

見佛即念佛，不當念有，亦無我所立。如
想空當念佛立，如以珍寶倚琉璃上，
菩薩如是見十方無央數佛清淨。譬如人遠
出到他郡國，念本鄉里、家室、親屬、財產。其
人於夢中歸到故鄉里，見家室、親屬，喜共
言語。於夢中見以，覺為知識說之：『我歸
到故鄉里，見我家室親屬。』」

The Buddha said, “Because that man recollected emptiness, he attained the joy of the Dharma of non-arising, and at once attained the stage of irreversibility.

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. When a bodhisattva hears of a present buddha in a particular direction, he should constantly recollect that direction. Wishing to see the Buddha, he recollects the Buddha. He should not recollect anything as truly existent, nor establish any notion of self or mine.

“As one contemplates emptiness, so should one recollect the Buddha standing there. It is like setting a precious jewel upon lapis lazuli. In this way, the bodhisattva sees the pure buddhas of the ten directions, countless in number.

“It is like a person who travels far away to another province or country and recollects his native village, his household, his kin and his wealth. In a dream, that person returns to his old village, sees his household and kin, and joyfully speaks together with them. Having seen this in the dream, upon waking he tells an acquaintance, ‘I returned to my old village and saw my household and kin.’”

佛言：「菩薩如是
其所向方聞佛名，常念所向方欲見佛，
菩薩一切見佛，如持珍寶著琉璃上。譬如
比丘觀死人骨著前，有觀青時、有觀白
時、有觀赤時、有觀黑時。其骨無有持來
者、亦無有是骨、亦無所從來，是意所作想
有耳。菩薩如是持佛威神力於三昧中
立，在所欲見何方佛，欲見即見。何以故
如是？颰陀和！是三昧佛力所成。持佛威神
於三昧中立者有三事：持佛威神力、持
佛三昧力、持本功德力，用是三事故得
見佛。譬若，颰陀和！年少之人端正姝好，莊
嚴已，如持淨器盛好麻油、如持好器盛
淨水、如新磨鏡、如無瑕水精，欲自見影，
於是自照悉自見影。云何，颰陀和！其所麻
油、水鏡、水精，其人自照，寧有影從外入中
不？」

The Buddha said, “Thus it is, Bhadrapāla. When a bodhisattva hears the name of a buddha in a particular direction, he constantly recollects that direction, wishing to see the Buddha. In this way, the bodhisattva sees the Buddha in every respect, as one sets a jewel upon lapis lazuli.

“It is like a bhikṣu who contemplates the bones of a dead person placed before him. At one time he contemplates them as blue, at one time as white, at one time as red and at one time as black. Yet no one has brought those bones, nor are there any actual bones, nor have they come from anywhere. They are only mental images fashioned by the mind.

“In this way, the bodhisattva, sustained by the power of the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might, abides within the samādhi. Whatever buddha in whatever direction he wishes to see, he sees the moment he wishes it.

“Why is this so, Bhadrapāla? This samādhi is accomplished by the power of the Buddha. For one who abides within the samādhi through the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might, there are three things: the power of the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might, the power of the Buddha’s samādhi and the power of one’s own former merit. By means of these three things, one attains the sight of the Buddha.

“It is as if, Bhadrapāla, a young person, upright and comely, having adorned himself, takes a clean vessel filled with fine sesame oil, or a fine vessel filled with pure water, or a newly polished mirror, or flawless crystal. Wishing to see his own reflection, he looks into them and clearly sees his reflection there.

“What do you think, Bhadrapāla? As to that sesame oil, that water, that mirror and that crystal in which the person sees himself, has the reflection entered into them from outside, or not?”

颰陀和言：「不也。天中天！用麻油、水精、水
鏡淨潔故，自見其影耳。其影亦不從中出、
亦不從外入。」

Bhadrapāla said, “No, Honoured One among gods. It is because the sesame oil, the crystal and the water-mirror are pure and clean that one sees one’s own reflection in them. That reflection neither emerges from within nor enters from outside.”

佛言：「善哉善哉！颰陀和！如是，
颰陀和！色清淨，所有者清淨，欲見佛即見。
見即問，問即報，聞經大歡喜，作是念：『佛
從何所來？我為到何所？』自念：『佛無所從
來，我亦無所至。』自念：『三處——欲處、色處、無想

處——是三處意所為耳。我所念即見，心作佛、
心自見，心是佛、心是怛薩阿竭，心是我身，心
見佛，心不自知心、心不自見心，心有想
為癡、心無想是泥洹。是法無可樂者，皆念
所為，設使念為空耳，設有念者亦了無所
有。』如是，颰陀和！菩薩在三昧中立者所見
如是。」

The Buddha said, “Excellent, excellent, Bhadrapāla! It is so, Bhadrapāla.

“When form is pure and what is possessed is pure, wishing to see a buddha, one sees a buddha. Having seen, one asks; having asked, one receives an answer. Hearing the sūtras, one rejoices greatly and reflects, ‘From where did the buddha come? To where did I go?’

“One reflects, ‘The buddha came from nowhere, and I too went nowhere.’ One reflects, ‘The three realms, the realm of desire, the realm of form and the realm of no-perception, these three realms are only the activity of mind. What I recollect, I see. Mind makes the buddha; mind itself sees. Mind is the buddha; mind is the Tathāgata; mind is my own body. Mind sees the buddha, yet mind does not itself know mind, and mind does not itself see mind. Mind with perception is delusion; mind without perception is nirvāṇa.

‘There is nothing in these dharmas in which one may delight. All are made by recollection. Even if recollection occurs, it is only empty. Even if there is something recollected, one fully understands that it has no existence.’

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. What the bodhisattva who stands within the samādhi sees is just like this.”

佛爾時頌偈曰：

Then the Buddha spoke a verse, saying:

「心者不知心，有心不見心，

心起想則癡，無想是泥洹。

是法無堅固，常立在於念，

以解見空者，一切無想念。

“The mind does not know the mind;
having mind, it does not see the mind.

When the mind gives rise to conceptual perception, this is delusion;
without perception, this is nirvāṇa.

These dharmas have no firm substance;
they are always established in thought.

One who, through understanding, sees emptiness
is free from all perception and thought.”

四事品第三

Chapter Three: The Four Matters

「菩薩有四事法疾逮得三昧。何等為四？
一者、所信無有能壞者，二者、精進無有能
逮者，三者、所入智慧無有能及者，四者、常
與善師從事；是為四。

“The bodhisattva has four dharmas by which he swiftly attains this samādhi. What are the four?

First, faith that none can destroy.

Second, diligent effort that none can surpass.

Third, wisdom into which he has entered, which none can reach.

Fourth, always attending upon and serving a good teacher.

These are the four.”

「菩薩復有四事疾得
是三昧。何等為四？一者、不得有世間思想，
如指相彈頃三月；二者、不得臥出三月，如
指相彈頃；三者、經行不得休息、不得坐三
月，除其飯食左右；四者、為人說經不得
望人衣服、飲食；是為四。

“The bodhisattva further has four dharmas by which he swiftly attains this samādhi. What are the four?

First, for three months he must not give rise to worldly thought, not even for the time it takes to snap one’s fingers.

Second, for three months he must not lie down to sleep, not even for the time it takes to snap one’s fingers.

Third, for three months he practises walking meditation without rest and does not sit down, except around the times of eating and drinking.

Fourth, when he expounds the sūtras for others, he must not look to them for robes, clothing, food or drink.

These are the four.”

「菩薩復有四事
疾得是三昧。何等為四？一者、合會人至
佛所，二者、合會人使聽經，三者、不嫉妬，四
者、教人學佛道；是為四。

“Again, the bodhisattva has four dharmas by which he swiftly attains this samādhi. What are the four?

First, gathering people together and bringing them into the Buddha’s presence.

Second, gathering people together and causing them to listen to the sūtras.

Third, being free from jealousy and envy.

Fourth, teaching others to study the way of the Buddha.

These are the four.”

「菩薩復有四事疾
得是三昧。何等為四？一者、作佛形像、若作
畫，用是三昧故；二者、用是三昧故，持好
疋素令人寫是三昧；三者、教自貢高人內
佛道中；四者、常護佛法；是為四。」

“Again, the bodhisattva has four dharmas by which he swiftly attains this samādhi. What are the four?

First, for the sake of this samādhi, making images of the Buddha, whether sculpted or painted.

Second, for the sake of this samādhi, providing fine plain silk and having someone copy out this samādhi.

Third, bringing self-exalting and arrogant people into the way of the Buddha.

Fourth, constantly guarding the Buddha-Dharma.

These are the four.”

時佛說
偈而歎曰：「常當樂信於佛法，誦經念空

莫中止，精進除睡臥，三月莫得懈。

At that time the Buddha spoke in verse and praised it, saying:

Constantly take joy and faith in the Buddha-Dharma,
Recite the sūtras and be mindful of emptiness; do not break off midway,
With diligence dispel sleep and lying down,
For three months do not slacken.

「坐說經
時安諦受學極當廣遠，若有供養、饋遺者
莫得喜，無所貪慕得經疾。佛者，色如金
光，身有三十二相，一相有百福功德，端政
如天金成作。過去佛、當來佛悉豫自歸、今現
在佛皆於人中最尊，常念供養。當供養於
佛，花香、擣香、飯食具足；當持善意，用是故
三昧離不遠；持常鼓樂、倡伎樂於佛心，常
當娛樂。

“When seated to hear the sūtra expounded, one should receive and study it calmly and attentively, and one’s aspiration should be exceedingly broad and far-reaching.

If there are those who make offerings or present gifts, one must not delight in them. Having nothing that one covets or longs for, one swiftly obtains the sūtra.

The Buddha’s colour is like golden radiance. His body has the thirty-two marks, and each mark possesses the merit of a hundred blessings. He is upright and well-formed, as though fashioned from heavenly gold.

To the buddhas of the past and the buddhas of the future, one should already take refuge in advance; and the buddhas now present are all the most honoured among human beings. One should constantly recollect and make offerings to them.

One should make offerings to the Buddha: flowers, fragrant incense, ground incense, and food in full measure. One should uphold a wholesome intention. For this reason, the samādhi is not far away.

With constant drumming and music, song and performance, one should always rejoice in the mind of the Buddha.”

「為求是三昧者當作佛像，種種
具足、種種姝好，面目如金光。求是三昧者，
所施常當自樂與，持戒當清潔高行，棄捐
懈怠，疾得是三昧不久。瞋恚不生，常行於
慈心、常行悲哀、等心無所憎惡，今得是三
昧不久。極慈於善師，視當如佛，瞋、恚、嫉、
貪不得有，於經中施不得貪。如是教當
堅持，諸經法悉當隨是入，是為諸佛之道
徑。如是行者，今得三昧不久。」

“One who seeks this samādhi should make a buddha-image, complete in every adornment and beautiful in every feature, with face and eyes like golden light.

One who seeks this samādhi should always give gladly and of his own accord. In keeping the precepts, his conduct should be pure, stainless and lofty. He should cast off indolence, and before long he will swiftly attain this samādhi.

Anger should not arise. He should constantly practise loving-kindness, constantly practise compassion, and with an even mind have no hatred or aversion. Before long, he will attain this samādhi.

He should show the utmost loving-kindness towards the good teacher and regard him as a buddha. Anger, wrath, jealousy and greed must not be present. In giving with respect to the sūtras, he must not be grasping.

He should firmly uphold this teaching. All Dharma teachings in the sūtras should be entered through this. This is the path and way of all the buddhas. One who practises in this way will attain the samādhi before long.”

佛告颰陀和：「如是等菩薩當慈心常樂
於善師所，視師當如佛，悉具足承事。欲
書是三昧經時、若欲學時，菩薩敬師如是。
颰陀和！菩薩於善師有瞋恚、有持善師
短、視善師不如佛者，得三昧難。譬如，颰
陀和！菩薩明眼人夜半視星宿，見星其眾
多。如是，颰陀和！菩薩持佛威神於三昧中
立，東向視見若干百佛、若干千佛、若干
萬佛、若干億佛；如是十方等悉見諸佛。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “Bodhisattvas such as these should keep a mind of loving-kindness and always take joy in the presence of the good teacher. They should regard the teacher as a buddha and serve him fully in every respect.

“When they wish to copy this samādhi-sūtra, or when they wish to study it, bodhisattvas should revere the teacher in this way.

“Bhadrapāla, if a bodhisattva harbours anger or wrath towards the good teacher, dwells on the good teacher’s shortcomings, or does not regard the good teacher as a buddha, then the samādhi will be difficult to attain.

“It is like this, Bhadrapāla. A clear-eyed person, looking at the constellations at midnight, sees that the stars are very many.

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. Sustained by the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might, the bodhisattva stands within the samādhi. Looking towards the east, he sees many hundreds of buddhas, many thousands of buddhas, many myriads of buddhas and many koṭis of buddhas. In this same way, throughout the ten directions alike, he sees all the buddhas.”

佛
告颰陀和：「是菩薩如佛眼悉知悉見。如是，
颰陀和！是菩薩欲得今現在諸佛悉在前
立三昧，布施、當具足持戒，如是忍辱、精進、

一心、智慧、度脫智慧，身悉具足。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “This bodhisattva knows all and sees all as if with the buddha-eye.

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. The bodhisattva who wishes to attain the samādhi in which the buddhas of the present all stand before one should fully perfect giving and should fully keep the precepts. So too, he should fully perfect patience, vigour, concentration and wisdom, the wisdom that liberates, all completely accomplished in his own person.”

時佛歎曰：
「如淨眼人夜半上向視星宿不可計，晝日
思念悉見。菩薩如是逮得三昧者，見不可
復計百千佛，從三昧中覺以悉念見，自恣
為諸弟子說。」

At that time the Buddha praised this, saying,

“It is like a person with clear eyes who, at midnight, looks upward and sees stars beyond counting; by day, recollecting them in thought, he sees them all.

“So it is with the bodhisattva who has attained this samādhi. He sees buddhas beyond counting, hundreds of thousands of them. Having emerged from the samādhi, he fully recollects and sees them, and freely expounds this to the disciples.”

佛言：「如我眼清淨，常見於世
間，菩薩如是得三昧，以見不可復計佛，
見佛不視身相，但視十種力。不如世間人
有貪，消滅諸毒以，清淨不復想，菩薩逮功
德如是。聞是經，遵是經如泥洹；聞是法
空空，無有恐怖。我當作是說經，用眾人
民故皆令得佛道。」

The Buddha said, “Just as my eye is pure and constantly sees the world, so the bodhisattva who has attained this samādhi sees buddhas beyond reckoning.

“In seeing the buddhas, he does not look upon their bodily marks, but looks upon their ten powers. He is unlike worldly people, who have craving. With all the poisons extinguished, he is pure and no longer forms conceptual perception. Such is the merit attained by the bodhisattva.

“To hear this sūtra and to follow this sūtra is like nirvāṇa. Hearing this Dharma of the emptiness of emptiness, one has no terror.

“I expound the sūtra in this way for the sake of the multitude of people, so that all may attain the way of the Buddha.”

佛言：「如我比丘阿難
黠慧，聞經即受持，菩薩如是逮得是三昧
以，聞不可計經卷悉受持。」

The Buddha said, “Just as my bhikṣu Ānanda, with his keen intelligence, hears a sūtra and at once receives and upholds it, so too the bodhisattva, once he has attained this samādhi, hears incalculable sūtras and receives and upholds them all.”

佛言：「如阿彌陀

佛剎諸菩薩，常見不可計佛。如是，菩薩得
三昧以，常見不可計佛，所信常有哀心，
譬如渴者欲得飲。常有極大慈、棄捐世
俗事、常樂持經施，用是故清淨，得三昧不
久。」

The Buddha said, “Just as the bodhisattvas in the buddha-field of Amitābha Buddha constantly behold innumerable buddhas, so too the bodhisattva, once he has attained this samādhi, constantly beholds innumerable buddhas.

“His faith is always joined with a heart of compassionate longing, like a thirsty person wishing to obtain drink. He always has exceedingly great loving-kindness, casts off worldly affairs and constantly delights in upholding and giving the sūtra.

“For this reason he is purified, and before long he attains the samādhi.”

譬喻品第四

Chapter Four: Similes

佛告颰陀和：「菩薩慈求三昧者，得是三昧
已，不精進行者，譬如，颰陀和！有人載滿
舡珍寶欲持度大海，未至舡中道壞，閻
浮利人皆大悲念：『亡我爾所珍寶。』如是，颰
陀和！是菩薩聞是三昧已，不書、不學、不誦、
不持如中法，一切諸天人民皆為大悲憂，
言：『乃亡我爾所經寶。』用失是深三昧故。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “As for the bodhisattva who has earnestly sought this samādhi: having attained this samādhi, if he then does not practise with diligence, then, Bhadrapāla, it is like this. Suppose a man loads a ship full of precious treasure, intending to carry it across the great ocean, and before he reaches the far shore the ship breaks apart in mid passage. All the people of Jambudvīpa are filled with great grief and say, ‘We have lost all that treasure of ours.’ Just so, Bhadrapāla, when this bodhisattva, having heard this samādhi, does not write it out, does not study it, does not recite it, does not uphold it in accordance with the Dharma, all the devas and people are filled with great grief and sorrow, and they say, ‘We have now lost all that sūtra-treasure of ours.’ For he has forfeited this profound samādhi.”

佛
言：「是三昧經者，是佛所囑、佛所稱譽。聞是
深三昧經者，不書、不學、不誦、不守、不持如
法者，反復愚癡。自用以為高耶？不受是
經，意欲高才反不肯學是三昧。譬如，颰陀
和！愚癡之子，有人與滿手栴檀香，不肯
受之，反謂與之不淨栴檀香。其貨主語其
人言：『此栴檀香，卿莫謂不淨乎。且取嗅之
知香不？試視之知淨不？』癡人閉目不視、不
肯嗅。」

The Buddha said, “This samādhi-sūtra is what the Buddha has entrusted and what the Buddha has praised.

“One who hears this profound samādhi-sūtra, yet does not copy it, does not study it, does not recite it, does not guard it and does not uphold it in accordance with the Dharma, is foolish again and again.

“Does he, relying on himself, think himself superior? He does not accept this sūtra. Wishing to be honoured for his cleverness, he instead refuses to learn this samādhi.

“It is like this, Bhadrapāla. A foolish son is given a handful of sandalwood incense by someone, but he refuses to accept it. Instead, he says that what is given to him is impure sandalwood incense.

“The owner of the goods says to him, ‘This is sandalwood incense, sir. Surely you should not call it impure. Take it and smell it: will you not then know that it is fragrant? Try looking at it: will you not then know that it is pure?’

“But the foolish man shuts his eyes and will not look, and he refuses to smell it.”

佛言：「其聞是三昧者，如是不肯受
之反棄捨去，是為不持戒人；反捨是珍寶
經，是為愚癡無智。自用得禪具足為度，反
呼世間為有，不入空、不知無。其人聞是
三昧已，不樂、不信、不入中，反作輕戲語：
『佛亦有深經乎？亦有威神乎？』反形言：『世間
亦有比丘如阿難乎？』」

The Buddha said, “One who hears this samādhi, yet in this way is unwilling to receive it and instead casts it away and departs, is a person who does not keep the precepts. In casting away this precious sūtra-treasure, he is foolish and without wisdom.

“Relying on himself, he supposes that having fully attained dhyāna is deliverance. Instead, he declares the world to be truly existent, does not enter into emptiness and does not understand non-existence.

“After hearing this samādhi, such a person takes no joy in it, does not believe in it and does not enter into it. Instead, he speaks frivolous and mocking words: ‘Does the Buddha also have profound sūtras? Does he also have awesome spiritual might?’

“Again he speaks disparagingly, saying, ‘Is there in the world a bhikṣu like Ānanda?’”

佛言：「其人從持是三
昧者，所去兩兩三三相與語云：『是語是何

等說乎？是何從所得是語乎？是為自合
會作是語耳，是經非佛所說。』」

The Buddha said, “There are people who go away from those who uphold this samādhi and, gathering together in twos and threes, say to one another, ‘What sort of words are these? From where did these words come? This is merely something made up by people gathering together. This sūtra is not what the Buddha spoke.’”

佛告颰陀和：
「譬如賈客持摩尼珠示田家癡子，其人問
賈客：『評此幾錢？』賈客答言：『夜半時於冥
處持是摩尼珠著冥中，其明所照至，直
滿其中寶。』」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “It is like this. A merchant shows a maṇi-jewel to a foolish country lad. The lad asks the merchant, ‘Appraise this. How much is it worth?’

“The merchant answers, ‘At midnight, in a dark place, take this maṇi-jewel and set it in the darkness. The space reached by its radiance, if filled entirely with treasure, would be its worth.’”

佛言：「其人殊不曉其價，反形是
摩尼珠言：『其價能與一頭牛等不？寧可貿
一頭牛。』想是不復過，此與我者善、不肯者
已。如是，颰陀和！其人聞是三昧不信者，反
形是經如是。」

The Buddha said, “That man knows nothing at all of its worth. Instead, he disparages the maṇi-jewel, saying, ‘Could its value be equal to a single ox? It might as well be bartered for one ox.’

“He thinks it is worth no more than this: ‘If he gives it to me, well and good; if he is unwilling, then let it be.’

“In just this way, Bhadrapāla, one who hears of this samādhi and does not believe disparages this sūtra in the same fashion.”

佛言：「如菩薩持是三昧，受信
者便隨行，四面皆擁護無所畏，持禁戒完
具，為得高明黠慧，深入為他人說之。菩
薩當持是三昧，分布語人展轉相傳，當
令是三昧久在。」

The Buddha said, “When a bodhisattva upholds this samādhi and receives it in faith, he then follows and practises it. He is protected on all four sides and is without fear. He keeps the precepts complete and intact, attains lofty illumination and penetrating wisdom, enters deeply into it and expounds it to others.

“A bodhisattva should uphold this samādhi, distribute it and speak of it to people, handing it on from one to another in succession, so that this samādhi may long endure.”

佛言：「癡人自於前世佛所
不供養、不作功德，反自貢高，多行誹謗、嫉
妬。用財利故，但欲求名、但欲嘩說，不得
善師、亦不明經。聞是三昧已，不信、不樂、
不入中，反誹謗人言：『是彼不知愧，為自
作是經耳，是經非佛所說。』」

The Buddha said, “The foolish person, in his former lives, made no offerings under the buddhas of the past and cultivated no merit. Instead, he exalts himself in arrogance and often engages in slander and jealousy.

“Because of material gain, he seeks only fame and wants only noisy talk. He does not obtain a good teacher and is not clear about the sūtras.

“Having heard this samādhi, he does not believe in it, he does not delight in it and he does not enter into it. Instead, he slanders others, saying, ‘That one has no sense of shame. He has made this sūtra himself. This sūtra was not spoken by the Buddha.’”

佛告颰陀和：
「今我具語汝，如是，颰陀和！求菩薩道者——若
善男子、善女人——持是三千國土滿其中珍
寶施與佛，設有是功德，不如聞是三昧。
若有菩薩聞是三昧信樂者，其福轉倍多。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “Now I tell you fully, Bhadrapāla: one who seeks the bodhisattva path, whether a son of good family or a daughter of good family, might take this three-thousandfold world-system, fill it with precious treasures and give it to the Buddha.

“Even if there were such merit, it would not equal hearing this samādhi.

“If there is a bodhisattva who, on hearing this samādhi, has faith and delight in it, his merit is multiplied many times over.”

時佛歎曰：「是三千國土，滿其中珍寶施
於佛，持用求佛。復有異人——持是三昧者——是
佛所稱譽，聞信者其福倍多。」

Then the Buddha extolled this, saying, “Suppose one were to fill this three-thousandfold world-system with precious treasures and offer them to the Buddha, using this to seek buddhahood.

“Again, there is another person, one who upholds this samādhi. Such a one is commended by the Buddha. The merit of one who hears and has faith is many times greater.”

佛言：「是迷惑自
貢高人、不信者及與惡知識從事，聞是經
不信、不樂，是為於我經中怨家無異。是
不持戒人在自大中，其餘人展轉聞其言

信隨之，此為壞佛法。其人相告言：『是經為
非佛所說。』直作是誹謗。」

The Buddha said, “This confused person, exalting himself in arrogance, lacking faith and keeping company with bad friends, hears this sūtra yet does not believe in it and does not delight in it. He is no different from an enemy of my sūtra.

“This person who does not keep the precepts dwells in self-importance. Others, hearing his words as they are passed from one to another, believe them and follow him. This corrupts the Buddha-Dharma.

“They tell one another, saying, ‘This sūtra was not spoken by the Buddha.’

“In just this way they commit slander.”

佛言：「有信是三
昧者，其人宿命曾見過去佛，已用是故，我
為是信者說是三昧耳。是輩之人常護佛
法，聞是經信樂者當作是知，離佛不遠。
若持戒堅者常正心恭敬於經，我用是故，
為是人說耳。」

The Buddha said, “One who has faith in this samādhi is someone who, in a former life, once saw the buddhas of the past. For this reason, I expound this samādhi only for such a believer.

“People of this kind always guard the Buddha-Dharma. One who hears this sūtra and has faith and delight in it should understand this: he is not far from the Buddha.

“One who is firm in keeping the precepts, constantly rectifies the mind and is reverent towards the sūtra: for this reason, I expound it only for such a person.”

佛告跋陀和：「我所說無有異爾，故說是語
耳。今見我說是三昧者，其人却後世時，聞
是三昧終不疑、不形笑、不言不信，除在
惡師邊。正使在善師邊，其功德薄少，如是
輩人復轉與惡師從事，是輩人者聞是三
昧，不信、不樂、不入中。何以故？其人未久學，
所更佛少所信，智慧少故不信耳。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “What I have taught has nothing different in it; therefore I speak these words.

“Those who now see me expound this samādhi, when they hear this samādhi in a later age, will in the end never doubt it, will not greet it with derisive laughter and will not declare disbelief in it, unless they are in the company of a bad teacher.

“Even if they are in the company of a good teacher, if their merit is thin and slight, people such as these may again turn and keep company with a bad teacher. Such people, when they hear this samādhi, do not believe in it, do not delight in it and do not enter into it.

“Why is this? Because they have not practised for long, have encountered few buddhas, have little faith and have little wisdom. For this reason, they do not believe.”

佛告颰
陀和：「其有菩薩聞是三昧，不形笑、不誹
謗者，歡喜不中疑、不言乍信乍不信，樂書、
樂學、樂誦、樂持。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “When there is a bodhisattva who hears this samādhi and does not greet it with derisive laughter, does not slander it, rejoices without harbouring doubt within, does not say that he now believes and now does not believe, but delights in copying it, delights in studying it, delights in reciting it and delights in upholding it…”

佛言：「我悉豫知豫見已，
其人不獨於一佛所作功德，不於二、若三、
若十，悉於百佛所聞是三昧。却後世時聞
是三昧者，書、學、誦持經卷，最後守一日一
夜，其福不可計，自致阿惟越致，所願者
得。」

The Buddha said, “All this I have known in advance and seen in advance.

“Such a person did not make merit in the presence of one Buddha alone, nor in the presence of two, or three, or ten. It was in the presence of a hundred buddhas that he heard this samādhi.

“In a later age, those who hear this samādhi, copy, study, recite and uphold the sūtra-scroll, and at the last guard it for a single day and a single night, will have merit beyond reckoning. They themselves will reach the stage of irreversibility, and will obtain whatever they aspire to.”

佛告颰陀和：「聽我說譬喻。譬如，颰陀
和！有人取一佛剎悉破碎如塵，其人取
此一塵悉復破盡如一佛剎塵，都盧悉取
一一塵皆復塵碎盡如一佛剎塵。云何，颰

陀和！是塵其數寧多不？」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “Listen as I speak a simile.

“It is like this, Bhadrapāla. Suppose a person were to take a single buddha-field and grind it all to dust. Then suppose that person were to take one mote of that dust and grind it completely into as many motes of dust as there would be if a whole buddha-field were ground to dust.

“Then suppose he were to take absolutely every one of those motes and grind each one again completely into as many motes of dust as there would be if a whole buddha-field were ground to dust.

“What do you think, Bhadrapāla? Would the number of those motes of dust be many, or not?”

颰陀和言：「甚多甚多。
天中天！」

Bhadrapāla said, “Very many, very many, Honoured One among gods!”

佛告颰陀和：「我為汝曹引此譬
喻，若有一菩薩盡取是一塵置一佛剎，
其數爾所佛剎滿其中珍寶悉持供養諸
佛，不如聞是三昧。若復有一菩薩聞是
三昧已，書、學、誦持、為他人說須臾間，是
菩薩功德不可復計。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “I have drawn this simile for you all.

“Suppose there were a bodhisattva who took every one of these motes of dust, and for each mote there were one buddha-field; and suppose he filled that many buddha-fields with precious treasures and offered them all to the buddhas.

“This would not equal hearing this samādhi.

“And if there were a bodhisattva who, having heard this samādhi, wrote it out, studied it, recited and upheld it, and expounded it to others even for a brief moment, the merit of that bodhisattva would be beyond reckoning.”

佛言：「持是三昧者，書、
學、誦持、為他人說，其福乃爾，何況守是三
昧悉具足者？」

The Buddha said, “For one who upholds this samādhi by copying it, studying it, reciting and upholding it, and expounding it to others, the merit is as great as this. How much more, then, for one who guards this samādhi and fully perfects it?”

佛爾時頌偈曰：

The Buddha then spoke a verse, saying:

「三千大千之國土，滿中珍寶用布施，

設使不聞是像經，其功德福為薄少。

若有菩薩求眾德，當講奉行是三昧，

疾悉諷誦此經法，其功德福無有量。

如一佛國塵世界，皆破壞碎以為塵，

彼諸佛土過是數，滿中珍寶用布施；

其有受持是世尊，四句之義為人說，

是三昧者諸佛慧，得聞功德叵比喻。

何況有人自講說、受持、諷誦念須臾，

轉加增進奉行者，其功德福無有量。

假使一切皆為佛，聖智清淨慧第一，

皆於億劫過其數，講說一偈之功德，

至於泥洹讚詠福，無數億劫悉歎誦，

不能盡究其功德，於是三昧一偈事。

一切佛國所有地，四方、四隅及上、下，

滿中珍寶以布施，用供養佛天中天。

若有聞是三昧者，得其福祐過於彼，

安諦、諷誦、講說者，引譬功德不可喻。

其人貢高終不起，亦無有趨惡道時，

解了深法不疑結，行斯三昧德如是。

學士為以見奉吾，德重精進普不著，

增益信明為菩薩，力學三昧佛所讚。

屬累汝等常勸教，力行精進無放逸，

自勖勇猛勤修行，令得大道不復反。

其有誦受是三昧，已為面見百千佛，

假使最後大恐懼，持此三昧無所畏。

行是比丘以見我，常為隨佛不遠離，

菩薩聞習三昧者，義當受持為人說。

菩薩得是三昧者，爾乃名曰博達慧，

為逮總持佛稱譽，疾成佛道智如海。

常恒誦說是三昧，當從佛法世尊教，

聞其種姓得等覺，如佛所說無有異。」

“If one filled the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system
with precious treasures and gave them in generosity,
yet did not hear such a sūtra as this,
his merit and blessing would be thin and slight.

If there is a bodhisattva seeking the multitude of virtues,
he should expound, uphold and practise this samādhi.
Swiftly he should recite this Dharma of the sūtra;
his merit and blessing would be without measure.

Suppose worlds as numerous as the dust-motes of a single buddha-land
were all broken, crushed and ground to dust,
and buddha-lands exceeding even that number
were filled with precious treasures and given in generosity.

Yet if someone receives and upholds this teaching of the World-Honoured One
and explains to others the meaning of even a four-line verse,
this samādhi is the wisdom of the buddhas:
the merit of hearing it admits of no comparison.

How much more, then, if someone himself expounds it,
receives and upholds it, recites it and recollects it even for a moment,
then turns ever further to increase in practising it:
his merit and blessing would be without measure.

Suppose all beings were to become buddhas,
foremost in noble wisdom and pure insight,
and for kalpas beyond even koṭis in number
were to expound the merit of a single verse.

Even down to nirvāṇa, praising and extolling its blessing,
for numberless koṭis of kalpas reciting its praise,
they could not exhaustively fathom the merit
of a single verse of this samādhi.

All the earth there is in every buddha-land,
in the four directions, the four intermediate directions, above and below,
filled with precious treasures and given in generosity,
offered to the Buddha, the Honoured One among gods:

if someone hears this samādhi,
the blessing he obtains surpasses that.
For one who calmly and truly recites and expounds it,
the merit drawn by this simile cannot be likened to anything.

Arrogance will never arise in that person,
nor will there be a time when he goes to an evil destiny.
He understands the deep Dharma and is free from the knot of doubt:
such is the virtue of practising this samādhi.

The learner has thereby seen and served me;
his virtue is weighty, he is diligent and unattached to all.
Increasing in faith and clarity, he becomes a bodhisattva;
with effort he studies the samādhi praised by the buddhas.

I entrust this to you all: constantly exhort and teach.
Practise with strength and diligence, without heedlessness.
Urge yourselves on, heroic, and cultivate with effort,
so that you may attain the great way and turn back no more.

Whoever recites and receives this samādhi
has already seen face to face hundreds of thousands of buddhas.
Even if, at the very end, there is great terror,
one who holds this samādhi has nothing to fear.

The bhikṣu who practises this has thereby seen me,
always following the Buddha and never being far apart.
A bodhisattva who hears and trains in this samādhi
should rightly receive and uphold it, and explain it to others.

The bodhisattva who attains this samādhi
is then called one of broad and penetrating wisdom.
He attains dhāraṇī and is praised by the buddhas;
he swiftly accomplishes the way of the Buddha, his wisdom like the sea.

Constantly reciting and expounding this samādhi,
he should follow the Buddha-Dharma, the teaching of the World-Honoured One.
Hearing its lineage, he attains complete awakening,
just as the Buddha has spoken, without any difference.”

無著品第五

Chapter Five: Non-Attachment

佛告颰陀和：「是菩薩三昧當云何？譬如佛
今於若前說經，菩薩當作是念：『諸佛悉在
前立。』當具足念諸佛端正，悉欲逮見一一
想；當想識無有能見諸佛頂上者，悉具
足作是想見諸佛。當作是念：『我身亦當
逮得如是、亦當逮得身想如是、亦當逮
得持戒三昧如是。』當作是念：『我當從心
得、從身得？』復更作念：『佛亦不用心得、亦
不用身得；亦不用心得佛、亦不用色得
佛。何以故？心者，佛無心；色者，佛無色。不用

是心、色得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。何以故？佛
色以盡，佛痛痒、思想、生死、識了盡。佛所說
盡者，愚癡不見、不知，智者曉了之。』作是念：
『當持何等念得佛？當持身得佛、當持智
慧得佛？』復作是念：『亦不用身得佛、亦不
用智慧得佛。何以故？智慧索不能得，自
復索我了不可得，亦無所得、亦無所見。
一切法本無所有，念有因著，無有反言有
亦著，是兩者亦不念，亦不復適得其中。但
用是故，亦不在邊、亦不在中，亦不有、亦
不無。何以故？諸法空。如是泥洹，亦不壞、亦
不腐、亦不堅，亦不在是間、亦不在彼邊，無
有想、不動搖。何等為不動搖？智者不計，
是故不動搖。』如是，颰陀和！菩薩見佛，以
菩薩心念無所著。何以故說無所有？經
說無所有中，不著、壞本、絕本是為無所
著。

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “How should this samādhi of the bodhisattva be practised?

“It is like this: just as the Buddha now expounds the sūtra before you, so the bodhisattva should form this recollection: ‘All the buddhas stand before me.’

“He should fully recollect the buddhas as upright and well-formed, wishing to attain the vision of each one, perception by perception. He should form the perception and understanding that none can see the crowns of the buddhas’ heads. Fully forming such perception, he sees the buddhas.

“He should form this thought: ‘My body too should attain such a state. I too should attain such perception of the body. I too should attain such precept-keeping and such samādhi.’

“He should form this thought: ‘Shall I attain it through mind, or shall I attain it through body?’

“Again he should reflect: ‘The Buddha is not attained through mind, and he is not attained through body. The Buddha is not attained by mind, and the Buddha is not attained by form.

“Why is this? As for mind, the Buddha has no mind. As for form, the Buddha has no form. It is not by this mind or by this form that anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi is attained.

“Why is this? The Buddha’s form is exhausted. The Buddha’s feeling, perception, formations and consciousness are entirely exhausted. The exhaustion spoken of by the Buddha is neither seen nor known by the foolish, but the wise understand it.’

“He should form this thought: ‘By what recollection shall I attain the Buddha? Shall I attain the Buddha by means of the body, or shall I attain the Buddha by means of wisdom?’

“Again he should reflect: ‘The Buddha is not attained by means of the body, nor is the Buddha attained by means of wisdom.

“Why is this? Even when sought through wisdom, he cannot be obtained. When one again seeks the self, it too is utterly unobtainable. There is nothing attained and nothing seen.

“All dharmas are fundamentally without own-being. To think ‘there is’ is attachment through grasping. Though they are non-existent, to turn around and say ‘there is’ is also attachment. Neither of these two should be recollected. Nor should one then settle in some middle between them.

“For this reason, it is neither at an extreme nor in the middle, neither existent nor non-existent.

“Why is this? All dharmas are empty.

“So too is nirvāṇa: it neither decays, nor rots, nor is fixed. It is neither here nor on the far shore. It is without conceptual perception and does not move.

“What is meant by not moving? The wise do not reckon. Therefore, there is no movement.’

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. When the bodhisattva sees the Buddha, his bodhisattva-mind recollects without attachment.

“Why is ‘there is nothing’ spoken of? The sūtra says: within what is without anything, not clinging, destroying the root and severing the root: this is non-attachment.”

「如是，颰陀和！是菩薩守是三昧，當作是
見佛，不當著佛。何以故？設有所著為自
燒。譬如大叚鐵著火中燒正赤，有智者不
當以手持。何以故？燒人手。如是，颰陀和！
菩薩見佛不當著，色、痛痒、思想、生死、識不
當著。何以故？著者為燒身。見佛但當念
其功德，當索摩訶衍。」

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. The bodhisattva who guards this samādhi should see the Buddha in this way, but should not grasp at the Buddha.

“Why is this? If there is any grasping, one burns oneself.

“It is like a great mass of iron placed in the fire and heated until it glows red. A wise person should not take it up in his hand.

“Why is this? Because it burns the hand.

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. When the bodhisattva sees the Buddha, he should not grasp. He should not grasp at form, feeling, perception, formations or consciousness.

“Why is this? One who grasps burns his own body.

“When he sees the Buddha, he should only recollect the Buddha’s qualities and should seek the Mahāyāna.”

佛告颰陀和：「是菩薩
於三昧中不當有所著，不著者疾得是
三昧。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “Within this samādhi the bodhisattva should not become attached to anything; and the one who is free of attachment swiftly attains this samādhi.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

The Buddha then uttered the following verses, saying:

「如新磨鏡盛油器，女人莊飾自照形，

於中起生婬欲心，放逸恣態甚迷荒。

追不至誠虛捐法，為色走使燒其身，

女人患害從是起。用不解法非常空，

有想菩薩亦如是：『我當成佛逮甘露，

度脫人民憂惱患。』有人想故為不解。

求索人本不可得，亦無生死及泥洹，

法不可擁如水月，觀察佛道無歸趣。

黠慧菩薩當了是，解知世間悉本無，

於諸人物無所著，疾速於世得佛道。

諸佛從心解得道，心者清淨明無垢，

五道鮮潔不受色，有解是者成大道。

一切諸法無色漏，離想者空無想空，

絕去婬欲則脫心，有解此者得三昧。

精進奉行求佛道，常聽諸法本清淨，

無得行求、無不求，於是三昧不難得。

觀察所有如虛空，道意寂然審第一，

無想、無作、亦無聞，是為解了尊佛道。

見一切色不想念，眼無所著、無往來，

常觀諸佛等如空，已度世間諸所求。

其人清淨眼無垢，奉行精進常寂然，

無量經法悉受持，思惟分別是三昧。

行是三昧無所著，除一切冥得定意，

不見世雄無賢聖，諸外異道聞此惑。

超度思想當志求，心以清淨得見佛，

覩諸佛已不復見，爾乃解是尊三昧。

於地、水、火莫能礙，風種虛空亦不蔽，

行是精進見十方，坐遙聽受所化法。

如我於是講說經，樂道法者面見佛，

作行懃力而不著，唯從世尊所說法。

行者如是無所念，專聽道義興法施，

常念解了是三昧，普諦受誦佛所講。

過去諸佛皆論法，當來世尊亦復然，

讚說宣布分別義，皆共嘆講是三昧。

我亦如是為人尊，在世無上眾生父，

皆悉解知此道眼，故解說示寂三昧。

其有講受是三昧，身常安隱意不荒，

是為諸佛無量德，致尊佛道獲不難。

廣採眾經不可議，欲達一切諸佛化，

速疾去欲諸垢塵，精進行是淨三昧。

現世欲見無數佛，樂從諸尊聽受法，

速疾去色除所著，行是清淨寂三昧。

於是無貪及瞋恚，捨離愚癡捐憎愛，

棄遠無黠除狐疑，如是得解空三昧。」

“Like a newly polished mirror, or a vessel filled with oil,
a woman adorns herself and looks upon her form;
within this, a mind of sensual desire arises,
heedless, self-indulgent, deeply lost in confusion.

Pursuing what is not true, one vainly casts away the Dharma;
running as a servant of form, one burns one’s own body.
From this the affliction and harm connected with women arise,
because one does not understand that dharmas are impermanent and empty.

A bodhisattva who has conception is also like this, thinking:
‘I shall become a Buddha and attain the deathless;
I shall liberate people from sorrow, distress and affliction.’
Because there is conception of a person, he has not understood.

When one seeks the root of a person, it cannot be found;
there is neither birth and death nor nirvāṇa.
dharmas cannot be grasped, like the moon in water;
when one observes the way of the Buddha, there is no destination.

The wise bodhisattva should understand this,
knowing that the world is wholly without root.
Towards all persons and things he has no attachment,
and swiftly, within the world, he attains the way of the Buddha.

The buddhas awaken to the Way through understanding mind;
mind is pure, luminous and without stain.
The five destinies are pure and clear, not receiving form;
one who understands this accomplishes the great Way.

All dharmas are without the outflow of form.
For one who has departed from conception there is emptiness;
the conceptionless is empty.
When sensual desire is cut off, the mind is liberated.
One who understands this attains the samādhi.

Diligently and reverently practising, seeking the way of the Buddha,
one constantly hears that all dharmas are originally pure.
Neither practising seeking nor yet not seeking,
this samādhi is not difficult to attain.

Observing all that exists as like empty space,
the mind set on the Way is still and truly foremost.
Without conception, without fabrication and also without hearing:
this is understanding the honoured way of the Buddha.

Seeing all forms, he does not conceive of them;
the eye has no attachment, no coming and no going.
He constantly observes the buddhas as equal to empty space,
having crossed beyond all that the world seeks.

That person is pure, his eye without stain;
reverently practising with diligence, he is constantly still.
He receives and upholds immeasurable sūtra-dharmas,
contemplating and discerning this samādhi.

Practising this samādhi, he has no attachment;
removing all darkness, he attains the concentrated mind.
He does not see the Hero of the World, nor worthy ones or noble ones;
those of other paths, hearing this, are bewildered.

Transcending conception, he should set his resolve to seek;
when the mind is purified, he comes to see the buddhas.
Having beheld the buddhas, he no longer sees them;
only then does he understand this honoured samādhi.

Earth, water and fire cannot obstruct him;
the element of wind and empty space do not cover him.
Practising with such diligence, he sees the ten directions;
seated far away, he hears and receives the Dharma taught there.

Just as I now expound the sūtra here,
those who delight in the Way and the Dharma see the buddhas face to face.
They practise with diligent effort yet without attachment,
following only the Dharma spoken by the World-Honoured One.

The practitioner in this way has nothing he conceives.
Intent on hearing the meaning of the Way, he gives rise to the gift of Dharma.
Constantly recollecting and understanding this samādhi,
he universally and truly receives and recites what the buddhas teach.

The buddhas of the past all discoursed on this Dharma;
the World-Honoured Ones of the future will likewise do so.
Praising it, proclaiming it and discerning its meaning,
all together they extol and teach this samādhi.

I too am thus, honoured among human beings,
unsurpassed in the world, father of beings.
Having fully understood this eye of the Way,
I therefore explain and reveal the still samādhi.

Whoever teaches and receives this samādhi
has a body always at peace and a mind not confused.
This is the immeasurable virtue of all buddhas;
to attain the honoured way of the Buddha is not difficult.

Gathering widely from the many inconceivable sūtras,
wishing to penetrate all the buddhas’ transformative teaching,
swiftly removing desire and the dust of all defilements,
one diligently practises this pure samādhi.

In the present life, wishing to see innumerable buddhas,
delighting to hear and receive the Dharma from the honoured ones,
swiftly removing form and casting off attachment,
one practises this pure and still samādhi.

Within this there is no greed and no anger;
one abandons delusion and casts away hatred and love.
Casting far away ignorance and dispelling doubt,
in this way one understands the samādhi of emptiness.”

般舟經四輩品第六

Chapter Six: The Four Assemblies

颰陀和菩薩白佛：「難及，天中天說三昧者。若
有菩薩棄愛欲作比丘，聞是三昧已當
云何學？云何持？云何行？」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla said to the Buddha, “Difficult to attain, Honoured One among gods, is the samādhi you have expounded.

“If there is a bodhisattva who has cast off craving and desire and become a bhikṣu, after hearing this samādhi, how should he study it? How should he keep it? How should he practise it?”

佛言：「若有菩薩棄
愛欲作比丘，意欲學是三昧者、誦是三
昧者、持是三昧者，當清淨持戒，不得缺
戒大如毛髮。何等為菩薩不缺戒？一切悉
護禁法，出入行法悉當護，不得犯戒大如
毛髮。常當怖畏、遠離於諛諂，悉當護禁，
作是護者是為清淨持戒。何等為菩薩缺
戒者？是菩薩求色。何等為求色？其人意念：
『持是功德使我後世生若作天、若作遮迦
越王。』」

The Buddha said, “If there is a bodhisattva who casts off craving and desire and becomes a bhikṣu, and who wishes to study this samādhi, recite this samādhi and uphold this samādhi, he should keep the precepts in purity. He must not be deficient in the precepts by so much as a hair’s breadth.

“What is it for a bodhisattva not to be deficient in the precepts?

“He guards all the prohibitory rules completely. In all his comings and goings, he should guard his conduct. He must not transgress the precepts by so much as a hair’s breadth. He should always be fearful of fault and keep far away from flattery and deceit. He should guard all the prohibitions. One who guards them in this way is one who keeps the precepts in purity.

“What is it for a bodhisattva to be deficient in the precepts?

“It is when this bodhisattva seeks desirable form.

“What is meant by seeking desirable form?

“That person thinks, ‘By upholding this merit, may I in a future life be reborn either as a deva or as a wheel-turning king.’”

佛言：「用是比丘菩薩為缺戒。其人
久持是行、持是戒，持是自守福，欲所生處
樂於愛欲中，是為毀戒。」

The Buddha said, “Because of this, that bhikṣu-bodhisattva is deficient in the precepts.

“Although that person has long upheld this practice, upheld these precepts and upheld the merit of self-guarding, he wishes that the place where he is reborn may be one where he delights amid craving and desire.

“This is damaging the precepts.”

佛告颰陀和：「是菩
薩比丘欲學是三昧者，清淨持戒，完具持
戒不諛諂。持戒當為智者所稱譽、為羅
漢所稱譽。於經中當布施、當精進所念

強、當多信勸樂。常承事於和上，當承事
於善師。所從聞是三昧者、所可聞是三
昧處，當視其人如佛。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “The bodhisattva-bhikṣu who wishes to study this samādhi should keep the precepts in purity, keep the precepts whole and complete, and be free from flattery and deceit.

“His keeping of the precepts should be praised by the wise and praised by the arhats. With respect to the sūtra, he should practise generosity; he should be vigorous, with strong recollection; he should have abundant faith, and should encourage others with delight.

“He should constantly serve and attend upon his preceptor, and should serve and attend upon a good teacher.

“Whoever it is from whom he hears this samādhi, and wherever he hears this samādhi, he should regard that person as the Buddha.”

佛告颰陀和：「是菩
薩視師如視佛者，得三昧疾。設不恭敬
善師、輕易於善師、欺調於善師，正使久
學是三昧，久持、久行，設不恭敬師者，疾
亡之。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “The bodhisattva who regards the teacher as he regards the Buddha swiftly attains the samādhi.

“But if he does not honour the good teacher, if he makes light of the good teacher, if he deceives and mocks the good teacher, then even if he has long studied this samādhi, long upheld it and long practised it, because he does not honour the teacher, he will swiftly lose it.”

佛告颰陀和：「是菩薩若從比丘、比
丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷所得聞是三昧，當視
如佛，所聞三昧處當尊敬。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “If this bodhisattva hears this samādhi from a bhikṣu, a bhikṣuṇī, an upāsaka or an upāsikā, he should regard that person as he regards the Buddha, and should honour the place where the samādhi was heard.”

佛告颰陀和：
「菩薩所聞是三昧處，不當持諂意向是。
菩薩不得諂意，常當樂獨處止。不惜身
命，不得悕望人有所索，常行乞食，不受
請。不嫉妬，自守節度如法住，所有趣足而
已，經行不得懈、不得臥出。如是，颰陀和！
如是經中教，其棄愛欲作比丘學是三昧
者，當如是守如是。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “As for the place where the bodhisattva has heard this samādhi, he should not turn towards it with a flattering mind.

“The bodhisattva must not have a flattering mind. He should always delight in dwelling alone in solitude. He should not spare body or life. He must not harbour the expectation that he will seek to obtain something from others.

“He should always practise begging for alms and should not accept invitations to meals. He should not be jealous. He should guard himself with measured restraint and dwell in accordance with the Dharma. Whatever he has should be sufficient, and that is all.

“In walking meditation he must not slacken, and he must not lie down.

“So it is, Bhadrapāla. Such is the teaching in this sūtra. One who has cast off craving and desire, become a bhikṣu and studies this samādhi should guard himself in this way, and in this way abide.”

颰陀和菩薩白佛：「難及，
天中天所說法。若有後世懈怠菩薩，聞是
三昧已不肯精進，其人自念：『我當於後當
來佛所索是三昧耳。云何言我曹身羸極、
有病瘦恐不能求，聞是經已懈怠不精
進？』若復有菩薩精進者欲學是經，當教之
隨是經中法教。用是經故，不惜軀命、不
望人有所得者、有人稱譽者不用喜、不
大貪鉢、震越，無所愛慕、常無所欲。聞是
經不懈怠，常精進，其人不念：『我當於後當
來佛所乃求索。』自念：『使我筋、骨、髓、肉皆使
枯腐，學是三昧終不懈怠。』自念：『我終不懈
怠死也，聞是經已無不歡樂。』」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla said to the Buddha, “Hard to reach, Honoured One among gods, is the Dharma you have spoken.

“If, in a later age, there is an indolent bodhisattva who, after hearing this samādhi, is unwilling to be diligent, that person reflects to himself: ‘I shall seek this samādhi later, in the presence of a buddha yet to come. How can it be said that people like us, whose bodies are extremely weak, who are sick and wasted and fear that they cannot seek it, having heard this sūtra, are indolent and not diligent?’

“But if again there is a diligent bodhisattva who wishes to study this sūtra, he should be taught to follow the Dharma-instruction within this sūtra. For the sake of this sūtra, he does not spare body or life. He does not hope to obtain anything from others. If someone praises him, he does not rejoice in it. He is not greatly greedy for bowl or robe. He has nothing he cherishes or longs for, and is always without desire.

“Having heard this sūtra, he is not indolent, but is always diligent. That person does not think, ‘I shall seek it later, in the presence of a buddha yet to come.’

“He reflects to himself: ‘Even if my sinews, bones, marrow and flesh all wither and decay, in studying this samādhi I shall never be indolent.’

“He reflects to himself: ‘I would sooner die than be indolent. Having heard this sūtra, there is nothing in which I do not rejoice.’”

時佛言：「善
哉善哉！颰陀和！所說者無有異，我助其

歡喜，過去、當來、今現在佛悉助歡喜。」

Then the Buddha said: “Excellent, excellent, Bhadrapāla! What you have said is without error, and I rejoice together with you in it. The buddhas of the past, the future, and the present all likewise rejoice in it.”

佛爾
時頌偈言：

The Buddha then spoke in verse, saying:

「如我今所說法，悉受學獨處止，

行功德、自守節，是三昧不難得。

常乞食、不受請，悉棄捨諸欲樂，

所從聞是三昧，敬法師如世尊。

有誦行是三昧，常精進莫懈怠，

不得惜於經法，不求供乃與經。

其有受是三昧，爾乃為是佛子，

學奉行如是者，得三昧終不久。

常懃力不懈怠，除睡眠心開解，

當遠離惡知識，然後從是法行。

去放逸不休息，常捨離眾聚會，

比丘求斯三昧，隨佛教當如是。」

“As I now teach the Dharma,
receive and study it all, dwelling alone in solitude.
Practise merit and guard your own restraint;
this samādhi is not difficult to attain.

Always beg for alms and do not accept invitations;
abandon all pleasures of desire.
From whomever you hear this samādhi,
honour that Dharma teacher as the World-Honoured One.

Whoever recites and practises this samādhi
should always be diligent and never indolent.
He must not be sparing with the sūtra-Dharma,
nor seek offerings before giving the sūtra.

Whoever receives this samādhi
is then a child of the Buddha.
One who studies and practises in this way
will attain the samādhi before long.

Always exert strength and never be indolent;
remove sleepiness, and the mind opens in understanding.
One should keep far away from bad friends,
and only then practise according to this Dharma.

Casting off heedlessness, never resting,
always leaving behind crowds and gatherings,
a bhikṣu who seeks this samādhi
should follow the Buddha’s teaching in this way.”

颰陀和菩薩白佛：「比丘尼求菩薩道，欲學
是三昧、欲守是三昧，當持何等法住、學、守
是三昧？」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla said to the Buddha, “When a bhikṣuṇī who seeks the bodhisattva path wishes to study this samādhi and wishes to guard this samādhi, in what dharma should she abide, and how should she study and guard this samādhi?”

佛告颰陀和：「比丘尼求摩訶衍三
拔致，是三昧學、守者，當謙敬，不當嫉妬、
不得瞋恚。去自貢高、去自貴大，却於懈
怠，當精進，棄於睡眠，不得臥出。悉却財
利，悉當淨潔護，不得惜軀命。常樂於
經、當求多學，當棄婬、恚、癡，出魔羅網去。
當棄所好服飾、珠環，不得惡口，不得貪
愛好鉢、震越。當為人所稱譽，不得有諛
諂。學是三昧時，當敬善師視如佛，當承
是經中教，守是三昧。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “A bhikṣuṇī who seeks to set out in the Mahāyāna, and who would study and guard this samādhi, should be humble and reverent. She should not be jealous and should not give rise to anger.

“She should cast off self-conceit and cast off self-exaltation. She should turn away from indolence and be diligent. She should abandon sleepiness and must not lie down.

“She should cast away all wealth and gain. She should keep herself pure and guard herself. She must not spare body or life.

“She should always delight in the sūtra and should seek much learning. She should abandon lust, hatred and delusion, and escape from Māra’s net.

“She should abandon the garments, ornaments, jewels and bracelets that she has loved. She must not speak harsh words. She must not crave fine bowls or robes.

“She should be praised by others and must not have flattery or deceit.

“When studying this samādhi, she should honour the good teacher and regard him as the Buddha. She should receive the teaching contained in this sūtra and guard this samādhi.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke in verse, saying:

「比丘尼行恭敬，不妬嫉、離瞋恚、

除憍慢、去自大，行是者得三昧。

當精進却睡臥，捐所欲不貪壽，

一心慈於是法，求三昧當如是。

無得聽貪婬心，棄瞋、恚及愚癡，

莫得墮魔羅網，求三昧當如是。

設有學是三昧，無調戲捨貪身，

一切捐眾狐疑，當至誠不虛飾。

捨小慈常大慈，敬善師無己已，

當去離於眾惡，求三昧當如是。

行求法欲得者，不貪著鉢震越，

從人聞爾三昧，視如佛等無異。」

“Let the bhikṣuṇī practise reverence, abandon jealousy, be free of anger,
remove arrogance, cast off self-importance; one who acts thus attains the samādhi.

Apply diligent effort and ward off sleep and lying down,
relinquish what is desired and crave not long life,
with single-minded loving-kindness toward this Dharma;
thus should one seek the samādhi.

Let no lustful mind be heeded,
put away anger, ill-will, and delusion,
fall not into the net of Māra;
thus should one seek the samādhi.

Whoever would learn this samādhi,
let there be no idle play, let attachment to the body be relinquished,
cast off entirely all hesitating doubt,
and be wholly sincere, without false adornment.

Relinquish lesser loving-kindness and abide in constant great loving-kindness,
revere the good teacher and hold to no self;
depart from all evils;
thus should one seek the samādhi.

Whoever, practising and seeking the Dharma, would attain it,
let her not be attached to bowl and robe,
and hearing this samādhi from a person,
let her regard that one as equal to a Buddha, no different.”

颰陀和菩薩白佛：「若有白衣菩薩居家修
道，聞是三昧已欲學者、欲守者，當云何
於法中立、學、守是三昧？」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla addressed the Buddha: “If there is a white-robed bodhisattva, a layman who cultivates the path while dwelling at home, who has heard this samādhi and wishes to learn it and to guard it, how should he establish himself in the Dharma, and learn and guard this samādhi?”

佛告颰陀和：「白衣
菩薩聞是三昧已欲學、守者，當持五戒
堅淨潔住；酒不得飲，亦不得飲他人；不
得與女人交通，不得自為，亦不得教他
人為；不得有恩愛於妻子，不得念男女；
不得念財產。常念：『欲棄妻子，行作沙門。』
常持八關齋，齋時常當於佛寺齋；常當念
布施，不念我當自得其福，當用萬民故
施；常當大慈於善師，見持戒比丘不得輕
易、說其惡。作是行已，當學、當守是三昧。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “When a lay bodhisattva, having heard this samādhi, wishes to study and guard it, he should firmly keep the five precepts and abide in purity and cleanliness.

“He must not drink alcohol, nor give it to others to drink. He must not have sexual relations with women, must not do so himself and must not cause others to do so.

“He must not have attachment and affection for wife and children. He must not dwell on thoughts of sons and daughters. He must not dwell on wealth and property.

“He should constantly think, ‘I wish to leave wife and children behind and go forth to become a śramaṇa.’

“He should constantly keep the eight precepts of the uposatha fast. At the time of fasting, he should always observe the fast at a Buddhist temple.

“He should constantly think of giving. He should not think, ‘I myself will obtain the merit from this.’ He should give for the sake of the multitude of people.

“He should constantly cultivate great loving-kindness towards the good teacher. When he sees a bhikṣu who keeps the precepts, he must not make light of him or speak of his faults.

“Having practised in this way, he should study and guard this samādhi.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke in verse, saying:

「有居家菩薩，欲得是三昧，

常當學究竟，心無所貪慕。

誦是三昧時，思樂作沙門，

不得貪妻子，捨離於財色。

常奉持五戒，一月八關齋，

齋時於佛寺，學三昧通利。

不得說人惡，無形輕慢行，

心無所榮冀，當行是三昧。

奉敬諸經法，常當樂於道，

心無有諂偽，棄捨慳妬意。

有學是三昧，常當行恭敬，

捨自大放逸，奉事比丘僧。」

“If there is a householder bodhisattva
who wishes to attain this samādhi,
he should always train towards completion,
his mind having nothing it craves or longs for.

When reciting this samādhi,
he should think with joy of becoming a śramaṇa.
He must not crave wife and children,
but should leave behind wealth and sensual pleasure.

He should always uphold the five precepts,
and each month observe the eight-precept fast.
At the time of fasting, at a Buddhist temple,
he should study the samādhi until it is mastered.

He must not speak of others’ faults,
and must not act with contempt or arrogance.
His mind should have no hope for glory;
he should practise this samādhi.

He should reverently honour the sūtra-Dharma,
and should always delight in the Way.
His mind should have no flattery or falseness,
and he should cast off stinginess and jealousy.

Whoever studies this samādhi
should always practise reverence.
He should cast off self-importance and heedlessness,
and should serve the community of bhikṣus.”

颰陀和菩薩白佛：「若有優婆夷求摩訶衍
三拔致，聞是三昧已欲學、守者，當行何
等法學、守是三昧？」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla addressed the Buddha: “If there is an upāsikā who seeks to set out in the Mahāyāna, and who, having heard this samādhi, wishes to study and preserve it, what practice should she undertake in order to study and preserve this samādhi?”

佛告颰陀和：「若優婆夷
求摩訶衍三拔致，聞是三昧已欲學、守者，
當持五戒，自歸於三。何等為三？自歸於佛、
歸命於法、歸命於比丘僧。不得事餘道、不
得拜於天、不得示吉良日、不得調戲、不
得慢恣、不得有貪心。優婆夷常當念布
施，歡樂欲聞經，力多學問。優婆夷常當敬
重於善師，心常不倦不懈。若比丘、比丘尼
過者，常以坐席、賓主飲食待之。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “If an upāsikā who seeks to set out in the Mahāyāna, having heard this samādhi, wishes to learn it and to guard it, she should keep the five precepts and take refuge in the Three Jewels. What are the three? Take refuge in the Buddha, take refuge in the Dharma, take refuge in the saṅgha of bhikṣus. She must not serve other paths, she must not worship the gods, she must not divine auspicious days, she must not give herself to frivolity, she must not give herself to arrogance and licence, she must hold no covetous mind. The upāsikā should be constantly mindful of giving, should delight in hearing the sūtras, and should apply her strength to learning. The upāsikā should constantly revere her good teacher, with a mind that is never weary and never slack. When a bhikṣu or a bhikṣuṇī comes to visit, she should always receive them as host receives guest, with a seat and with food and drink.”

佛爾時頌
偈言：

At that time the Buddha uttered this verse, saying:

「若有優婆夷，誦是三昧者，

當從佛法教，奉五戒完具。

守是三昧時，當尊敬於佛，

及法比丘眾，恭敬其善師。

不得事餘道，勿祠祀於天，

行是三昧者，見人立迎逆。

除去殺、盜、婬，至誠不兩舌，

無得向酒家，當行是三昧。

心不得懷貪，常當念施與，

除去諛諂意，無得說人短。

常當恭敬事，比丘、比丘尼，

聞法語悉受，學三昧如是。」

“If there is an upāsikā who recites this samādhi,
she is to follow the teaching of the Buddha’s Dharma,
and uphold the five precepts in full.

When she keeps this samādhi,
she should honour the Buddha,
the Dharma and the community of bhikṣus
and revere her good teacher.

She must not serve other paths,
she must not sacrifice to the devas;
she who practises this samādhi,
seeing others, rises to greet them.

Let her put away killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct;
with utmost sincerity, no double-tongued speech.
She must not go to the taverns,
but is to practise this samādhi.

The mind must harbour no greed;
always she is to be mindful of giving.
Let her remove all flattery and fawning of mind,
and never speak of others’ faults.

Always she is to honour and serve
the bhikṣus and the bhikṣuṇīs;
whatever Dharma words she hears, she receives them wholly:
thus is the samādhi learned.”

般舟經授決品第七

Chapter Seven: The Prediction

颰陀和菩薩問佛：「少有及者，天中天！怛薩阿
竭乃說是三昧，諸菩薩所樂精進行，無有
懈怠於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。佛般泥洹
後，是三昧者當在閻浮利內不？」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla asked the Buddha, “Few can reach it, Honoured One among gods. The Tathāgata has now expounded this samādhi, in which bodhisattvas delight to practise with diligence and without indolence towards anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

“After the Buddha has entered parinirvāṇa, will this samādhi remain within Jambudvīpa?”

佛告颰陀
和菩薩：「我般泥洹後，是三昧者當現在四十
歲，其後不復現。却後亂世佛經且欲斷時，
諸比丘不復承用佛教。然後亂世時，國國相
伐，於是時是三昧當復現閻浮利內。用
佛威神故，是三昧經復為出。」

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, “After my parinirvāṇa, this samādhi will remain manifest for forty years. After that, it will no longer appear.

“Later, in an age of turmoil, when the Buddha’s sūtras are about to be cut off and the bhikṣus no longer receive and practise the Buddha’s teaching, then, in that age of turmoil, when kingdom attacks kingdom, this samādhi will again appear within Jambudvīpa.

“Because of the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might, this samādhi-sūtra will come forth again.”

颰陀和菩薩、
羅隣那竭菩薩從坐起，正衣服，叉手於佛
前，白佛：「佛般泥洹後亂世時，我曹共護是
三昧、持是三昧，具足為人說之，聞是經卷
無有厭極時。」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla and the bodhisattva Ratnākara rose from their seats, arranged their robes, and with palms joined before the Buddha, addressed the Buddha: “After the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, in the age of disorder, we together will guard this samādhi and uphold this samādhi, and we will expound it to others completely, never wearying, even to exhaustion, of hearing this sūtra.”

摩訶須薩和菩薩、憍曰兜菩
薩、那羅達菩薩、須深菩薩、因坻達菩薩、和輪
調菩薩共白佛言：「佛般泥洹去却後亂世
時，是經卷者我輩自共護持，使佛道久在。
其有未聞者，我輩當共為說，教授是深經；
世間少有信者，我曹悉受之。」

The bodhisattva Mahāsusārthavāha, the bodhisattva Guhyagupta, the bodhisattva Naradatta, the bodhisattva Susīma, the bodhisattva Indradatta and the bodhisattva Varuṇadeva together said to the Buddha, “After the Buddha has entered parinirvāṇa and departed, in the later age of turmoil, we ourselves together will guard and uphold this sūtra, so that the way of the Buddha may long remain.

“For those who have not yet heard it, we together will explain it to them and instruct them in this profound sūtra. Though there are few in the world who have faith, we will all receive and uphold it.”

時五百人從
坐起——比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷——皆叉手
於佛前住，白佛：「佛般泥洹後亂世時，聞是
三昧悉自持、護願持，我五百人囑累是八菩
薩。」

Then the five hundred rose from their seats, bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās, and with palms joined they stood before the Buddha and addressed him: “After the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, in the troubled age, when we hear this samādhi we will all ourselves uphold it and guard it, vowing to uphold it. We five hundred entrust this charge to these eight bodhisattvas.”

時佛笑，口中金色光出，至十方不可計佛
國悉照明，還遶身三匝從頭上入。阿難從
坐起，更被袈裟，前至佛所為佛作禮，却住
叉手以偈讚曰：

Then the Buddha smiled, and a golden-coloured light issued from his mouth. It reached the incalculable buddha-lands of the ten directions and illuminated them all. Then it returned, circled his body three times and entered through the crown of his head.

Ānanda rose from his seat, rearranged his kaṣāya, came forward to where the Buddha was and made obeisance to him. Then he withdrew, stood with palms joined and praised him in verse, saying:

「其心清淨行無穢，神通無極大變化，

已過諸礙超眾智，光明除冥去垢塵。

智慧無量心普解，佛天中天鶡鴨音，

一切外道莫能動，何緣而笑出妙光？

願正真覺為解說，慈愍一切眾生尊，

若有聞佛柔濡音，解釋達聖化俗行。

世尊所感非唐舉，眾聖導師不妄笑，

今者誰當在決中？世雄願為解此意。

今日誰住道德堅？誰當逮得興妙行？

誰今受得深法藏，無上道德眾所歸？

今日誰當愍世間？誰當奉受是法教？

誰堅立於佛智慧？世尊願為解說之。」

“His mind is pure, his conduct without defilement;
his supernormal powers are limitless, his transformations vast.
He has passed beyond all obstructions and surpassed the wisdom of the multitude;
his light dispels darkness and removes the dust of defilement.

His wisdom is immeasurable, his mind universally understands;
the Buddha, Honoured One among gods, has a wondrous voice.
None among all followers of other paths can move him.
For what reason does he smile and send forth this wondrous light?

May the Perfectly and Truly Awakened One explain it,
the honoured one who, in loving-kindness, has compassion for all beings.
If any hear the Buddha’s soft and gentle voice,
they understand and penetrate the noble teaching, transforming worldly conduct.

What moves the World-Honoured One is not done in vain;
the guide of the noble assembly does not smile idly.
Who now shall be included in the assurance?
May the Hero of the World explain this meaning.

Who today abides firmly in the Way and virtue?
Who shall attain and bring forth wondrous practice?
Who now receives the deep treasury of the Dharma,
the unsurpassed Way and virtue to which the multitude returns?

Who today shall have compassion for the world?
Who shall receive and uphold this Dharma-teaching?
Who is firmly established in the Buddha’s wisdom?
May the World-Honoured One explain it.”

佛爾時為阿難說偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke a verse to Ānanda, saying:

「佛語阿難！汝見不？五百人等在前立，

其心歡然歌頌曰：『我等亦當逮是法。』

顏色和悅敬視佛：『我等何時得如是？』

皆悉竦立嗟嘆佛：『我輩會當逮如是。』

五百人等今現在，名字雖異本行同，

常樂奉受是深經，於當來世亦復然。

今我囑累告汝等，佛慧無量知彼本，

是等不獨見一佛，亦不立此得其慧。

徹照彼之宿世命，以曾更見八萬佛，

五百人等存在道，常解經義勉行成。

勸助無數諸菩薩，常行慈哀護經法；

勸化一切眾人民，悉令逮得大道行。

知見過去諸世尊，覩八十億那術數，

名德普大脫於心，擁護是法三轉行。

現世於此受我教，分布供養是舍利，

安諦受習佛所化，皆悉諷誦有所付。

著於塔寺及山中，若付天、龍、乾陀羅，

各各轉授經卷已，壽命終訖生天上。

天上壽盡還世間，各各而生異種姓，

當復取此佛道行，分別是經如所願。

用愛樂斯經法故，求輒得之持奉行，

令無數人得聽聞，欣踊難量心無等。

是等黠慧不厭法，非貪軀體及壽命，

降伏一切諸外道，授與經法弘其志。

是經法者無能得，及持、諷誦、講說者，

今四輩人住我前，五百之眾能堪持。

是八菩薩颰陀和、羅隣那竭、那羅達、

摩訶須薩、和輪調、因坻、須深、憍曰兜，

比丘及尼、清信士，奉玄妙法上義句，

常以經道哀世間，宣暢方等普流化。

颰陀和等八菩薩，於五百眾為英雄，

常當奉持方等經，於世之俗無所著。

釋一切縛解空慧，紫磨金色百福相，

恒行慈哀度眾生，施以安隱滅諸塵。

壽終之後生法家，不復歸於三惡道，

世世相隨常和協，然後逮得尊佛道。

已棄捐於八難處，遠離一切諸惡道，

其功德行莫能稱，所受福祐無能量。

當復值見彌勒佛，咸同一心往自歸，

悉共供養等慈哀，逮於無上寂滅句。

其心僉然而和同，正意奉事人中尊，

不猗俗事得法忍，疾逮無上大道行。

彼常奉持此經法，夙興夜寐而諷誦，

殖眾功德修梵行，覩彌勒時義若此。

於是賢劫所興佛，慈哀世間放光明，

每所在處普持法，奉事去來現在佛。

皆悉供養諸世雄，見三世尊無眾毒，

當疾逮得尊佛道，不可思議無有量。

中有前得佛道者，後人展轉相供養，

不可計劫那術數，如是終竟乃斷絕。

於是居士颰陀和、羅隣那竭、那羅達、

及須薩和、憍曰兜，曾見諸佛如恒沙。

常當奉事正法化，宣布諸佛無億教，

道行無量不可稱，至于無數億劫中。

假使有人受持名，所周旋處若夢中，

如是勇猛導世間，皆當逮得無上道。

若有覩見及聞聲，其心欣然踊躍者，

皆得佛道不復疑，何況奉受供養者？

若瞋恚之及罵詈、持惡意向、撾捶者，

於是八人威神恩，尚使得佛況恭敬？

彼所受法不可議，名稱無量及壽命，

光明無限德無疑，智慧無量行亦然。

常得面見無量佛，清淨之戒如恒沙，

於是廣普行布施，以用求索無上道。

無數億劫說其福，莫能齊限厥功德，

受是經法誦習者，逮於大道不復難。

其有愛樂此經卷，受誦、諷持、講說者，

當知五百人中人，其心愛樂終不疑。

假使施得是經法，愛樂道義加精進，

行清淨戒除睡臥，逮是三昧終不難。

欲獲安隱布經戒，比丘受學在閑居，

常行分衛知止足，逮是三昧終不難。

捨離眾閙不受請，口莫貪味棄愛欲，

所從聞是經法者，敬如世尊常供事。

除去慳貪受是法，斷絕婬欲棄愚癡，

發起大道心無疑，然後學行是三昧；

行無所著捨諸欲，常自謹慎棄恚恨，

精進奉行佛法教，然後受學是三昧；

不貪男女及所有，遠離憍慢并妻妾，

居家修道常慚愧，然後學誦是三昧；

無賊害心行柔順，不樂謗訕捨諸惡，

不用色求得法忍，當善諷誦是三昧。

若比丘尼學是法，常當恭敬棄憍慢，

遠離調戲及貢高，得是三昧不復難；

常行精進除睡臥，不計吾我諸人物，

愛樂法者不惜命，然後學誦是三昧；

制婬妷意捨所著，無瞋恚心棄諛諂，

終不復墮魔羅網，持是三昧得如是。

於諸眾生行平等，除去放逸眾塵埃，

性無卒暴及麁言，然後學誦是三昧；

於鉢、震越及衣服，不得須臾有貪愛，

尊敬善師視如佛，然後學誦是三昧。

以逮善利離惡道，一心信樂佛法教，

遠離一切八難處，持是經者得如是。」

The Buddha said to Ānanda, “Do you see them?
The five hundred stand before me.
Their hearts are joyful, and they sing in praise, saying,
‘We too shall attain this Dharma.’

With gentle and delighted faces, they gaze reverently upon the Buddha, saying,
‘When shall we attain such a state?’
All of them stand upright and praise the Buddha, saying,
‘We too shall surely attain such a state.’

These five hundred are now present here.
Though their names differ, their former practice is the same.
They have always delighted to receive this profound sūtra,
and in the future age they will do so again.

Now I entrust this to you and tell you all:
the Buddha’s wisdom is immeasurable and knows their roots.
These ones have not seen only a single Buddha,
nor is it only here that they have established this wisdom.

I see clearly into their former lives:
they have formerly encountered eighty thousand Buddhas.
These five hundred remain upon the Way,
always understanding the meaning of the sūtra and striving to complete the practice.

They encourage and aid countless bodhisattvas,
always practising loving compassion and guarding the sūtra-Dharma.
They exhort and transform all the people,
causing them all to attain the practice of the great Way.

They have known and seen the World-Honoured Ones of the past,
beholding Buddhas to the number of eighty koṭi nayutas.
Their name and virtue are vast and universal, their minds liberated,
and they guard this Dharma that moves in three turnings.

In this present world they receive my teaching,
distribute offerings to these relics,
peacefully and firmly receive and practise what the Buddha has taught,
reciting it all and entrusting it onward.

They place it in stūpas, temples and mountains,
or entrust it to devas, nāgas and gandharvas.
After each has handed on the sūtra-scroll,
when their lifespans come to an end, they are born in heaven.

When their lifespans in heaven are exhausted, they return to the world.
Each is born into a different lineage,
and each again takes up this practice of the way of the Buddha,
distinguishing and explaining this sūtra according to his vow.

Because they love and delight in this sūtra-Dharma,
when they seek it they obtain it at once, uphold it and practise it.
They cause countless people to hear it,
and their joy and delight are immeasurable, their minds unequalled.

These ones are wise and do not weary of the Dharma.
They are not greedy for body or life.
They subdue all followers of other paths,
bestowing the sūtra-Dharma and broadening their resolve.

This sūtra-Dharma cannot be obtained by just anyone,
nor can just anyone uphold it, recite it and expound it.
Now the fourfold assembly stands before me,
and the assembly of five hundred is able to uphold it.

These eight bodhisattvas are Bhadrapāla,
Ratnākara, Naradatta,
Mahāsusārthavāha, Varuṇadeva,
Indradatta, Susīma and Guhyagupta.

Together with bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs and laymen of pure faith,
they uphold the profound and wondrous Dharma and its supreme words of meaning.
They always use the way of the sūtras to have compassion for the world,
proclaiming and spreading the Vaipulya sūtras, causing their teaching to flow everywhere and transform all.

Bhadrapāla and the other eight bodhisattvas
are heroes among the five hundred.
They will always uphold the Vaipulya sūtras,
and towards worldly things they have no attachment.

They release all bonds through the wisdom that understands emptiness.
With purple-golden colour and the marks born of a hundred merits,
they constantly practise loving compassion and carry beings across.
They bestow peace and security and extinguish all defilements.

After their lives end, they are born into a Dharma-family
and no longer return to the three evil destinies.
Life after life they follow one another, always in harmony,
and thereafter they attain the honoured way of the Buddha.

They have already cast away the eight inopportune states
and are far removed from all evil destinies.
The merit of their practice cannot be described,
and the blessings they receive cannot be measured.

They will again meet Maitreya Buddha.
All with one mind, they will go to take refuge in him.
All together they will make offerings to the One of equal loving compassion
and attain the unsurpassed word of peaceful cessation.

Their minds will be united and harmonious.
With right intention they will serve the Honoured One among humans.
Not relying on worldly affairs, they will attain acceptance of dharmas
and swiftly attain the unsurpassed practice of the great Way.

They will always uphold this sūtra-Dharma,
rising early and resting late while reciting it.
They will plant many merits and cultivate pure conduct.
Such will be their meaning when they behold Maitreya.

Among the Buddhas who arise in this Bhadrakalpa,
who in loving compassion shine their light upon the world,
wherever they are, they will everywhere uphold the Dharma
and serve the Buddhas of the past, future and present.

They will all make offerings to the Heroes of the World.
Seeing the World-Honoured Ones of the three times, free from all poisons,
they will swiftly attain the honoured way of the Buddha,
inconceivable and immeasurable.

Among them there are those who will attain the way of the Buddha earlier.
Those who come later will in turn make offerings to one another.
Through incalculable kalpas and nayutas,
in this way it will finally come to an end.

These householders, Bhadrapāla,
Ratnākara, Naradatta,
Mahāsusārthavāha and Guhyagupta,
have formerly seen Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

They will always serve the transformative work of the true Dharma,
proclaiming the countless teachings of the Buddhas.
Their practice of the Way is immeasurable and cannot be described,
extending through countless koṭis of kalpas.

Suppose there are those who receive and uphold the names
of these valiant ones who guide the world.
Wherever they move, even if in a dream,
they shall all attain the unsurpassed Way.

If there are those who see them or hear their voices
and whose minds rejoice and leap with joy,
they will all attain the way of the Buddha and will no longer doubt.
How much more, then, those who receive, uphold and make offerings?

If there are those who become angry with them, revile them,
direct evil intentions towards them, or strike and beat them,
still, through the awesome spiritual might and grace of these eight persons,
they will be caused to attain buddhahood. How much more, then, those who revere them?

The Dharma they have received is inconceivable.
Their names are immeasurable, and so too are their lifespans.
Their light is limitless, their virtue beyond doubt;
their wisdom is immeasurable, and so too is their practice.

They constantly behold immeasurable Buddhas face to face.
Their pure precepts are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.
In this, they practise vast and universal giving,
using it to seek the unsurpassed Way.

Even if one spoke of their merit for countless koṭis of kalpas,
one could not reach the limit of their merit.
Those who receive this sūtra-Dharma and recite and study it
will attain the great Way without further difficulty.

If there are those who love and delight in this sūtra-scroll,
receive and recite it, chant and uphold it, and expound it,
know that they are people from among the five hundred.
Their minds love and delight in it, and in the end they do not doubt.

Suppose someone obtains this sūtra-Dharma,
loves and delights in the meaning of the Way, and increases in diligence.
If he practises pure precepts and removes sleep and lying down,
to attain this samādhi will in the end not be difficult.

If a bhikṣu wishes to obtain peace and security and spread the sūtra and precepts,
he should receive and study them while dwelling in seclusion,
always going on alms-round and knowing contentment.
To attain this samādhi will in the end not be difficult.

He should abandon crowds and clamour and not accept invitations.
His mouth should not crave flavours, and he should cast off craving and desire.
From whomever he hears this sūtra-Dharma,
he should honour that person as the World-Honoured One and always serve him.

Removing stinginess and greed, he receives this Dharma.
Cutting off lust and desire, abandoning folly and delusion,
he gives rise to the mind of the great Way without doubt,
and only then studies and practises this samādhi.

Practising without attachment and abandoning all desires,
always cautious and restrained in himself, casting off anger and resentment,
he diligently reveres and practises the teaching of the Buddha-Dharma,
and only then receives and studies this samādhi.

He should not crave sons or daughters or any possessions.
He should keep far away from arrogance and pride, and from wife and concubines.
Dwelling at home and cultivating the Way, always with shame and moral restraint,
only then should he study and recite this samādhi.

With no mind of harm or robbery, practising gentleness and compliance,
not delighting in slander and abandoning all evils,
not seeking by means of form, he attains acceptance of dharmas.
He should then properly recite this samādhi.

If a bhikṣuṇī studies this Dharma,
she should always be reverent and cast off arrogance and pride.
Far removed from frivolity and self-exaltation,
to attain this samādhi will no longer be difficult.

She should always practise diligence and remove sleep and lying down.
She should not reckon in terms of self, persons or things.
One who loves and delights in the Dharma does not spare her life,
and only then studies and recites this samādhi.

She should restrain lustful intent and abandon what she is attached to.
With no mind of anger, casting off flattery and deceit,
she will never again fall into Māra’s net.
By upholding this samādhi, she attains such a result.

Towards all beings she should practise equality,
removing heedlessness and the dust of defilement.
Her nature should be without sudden violence or coarse speech,
and only then should she study and recite this samādhi.

With regard to bowl, robe and garments,
she must not for even a moment have craving or attachment.
She should honour the good teacher and regard him as the Buddha,
and only then should she study and recite this samādhi.

Having attained such good benefit and departed from the evil destinies,
single-mindedly believing and delighting in the teaching of the Buddha-Dharma,
far removed from all the eight inopportune states:
one who upholds this sūtra attains such a result.”

般舟經擁護品第八

Chapter Eight: Protection

颰陀和菩薩、羅隣那竭菩薩、憍曰兜菩薩、
那羅達菩薩、須深菩薩、摩訶須薩和菩薩、因
坻達菩薩、和倫調菩薩見佛所說，是八菩
薩皆大歡喜，持五百劫波育錦衣、持珍寶
布施、持身自歸供養佛。

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva Ratnākara, the bodhisattva Guhyagupta, the bodhisattva Naradatta, the bodhisattva Susīma, the bodhisattva Mahāsusārthavāha, the bodhisattva Indradatta, and the bodhisattva Varuṇadeva witnessed the Buddha’s teaching. These eight bodhisattvas all rejoiced greatly.

They brought five hundred brocade robes of fine cotton. They brought jewels and precious treasures as offerings. Offering even their own persons, they took refuge in the Buddha and made offerings to him.

佛語阿難：「是颰陀
和等於五百菩薩人中之師，常持中正法，
合會隨順教莫不歡喜者——歡樂心、隨時
心、清淨心、却欲心。」

The Buddha said to Ānanda, “Bhadrapāla and the others are teachers among the five hundred bodhisattvas. They constantly uphold the upright and correct Dharma. They gather in harmony, accord with the teaching and all rejoice, possessing a joyful mind, a mind responsive to the occasion, a pure mind and a mind that has cast off desire.”

是時五百人皆叉手立佛
前，颰陀和菩薩白佛言：「菩薩持幾事得是
三昧？天中天！」

At that time, all five hundred stood before the Buddha with palms joined. The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla addressed the Buddha, saying, “How many things must a bodhisattva uphold to attain this samādhi, Honoured One among gods?”

佛言：「菩薩有四事疾得是三
昧。何等為四？一者、不信餘道，二者、斷愛欲，

三者、如法行，四者、無所貪生。是為四，菩薩
疾得是三昧。」

The Buddha said, “A bodhisattva swiftly attains this samādhi through four things. What are the four? First, he places no faith in other paths. Second, he cuts off craving and desire. Third, he practises in accordance with the Dharma. Fourth, he has no craving for existence. These are the four through which a bodhisattva swiftly attains this samādhi.”

佛告颰陀和：「若有菩薩學是
三昧者，若持、若誦、若守，今世即自得五百功
德。譬如，颰陀和！慈心比丘終不中毒、終不
中兵、火不能燒、入水不死、帝王不能得
其便。如是，菩薩守是三昧者，終不中毒、終
不中兵、終不為火所燒、終不為水所沒、
終不為帝王得其便。譬如，颰陀和！劫盡壞
燒時，持是三昧菩薩者正使墮是火中，火
即為滅，譬如大甖水滅小火。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “If a bodhisattva studies this samādhi, whether he upholds it, recites it or guards it, he will, in this very life, himself obtain five hundred merits.

“It is like this, Bhadrapāla. A bhikṣu who practises loving-kindness will never be poisoned and will never be struck by weapons; fire cannot burn him, he enters water but does not die and no ruler can find an opening against him. So too, a bodhisattva who guards this samādhi will never be poisoned, will never be struck by weapons, will never be burned by fire and will never be submerged in water; nor will any ruler ever find an opening against him.

“It is like this, Bhadrapāla. At the end of the kalpa, when the world is destroyed by fire, even were a bodhisattva who upholds this samādhi to fall into that fire, the fire would immediately be extinguished, just as a great jar of water extinguishes a small fire.”

佛告颰陀和：
「我所語無有異。是菩薩持是三昧者，若帝
王、若賊、若水、若火、若龍、若蛇、若閱叉鬼神、若
猛獸、若大蟒、若蛟龍、若師子、若虎、若狼、若狗、
若人、若非人、若㹢玃、若薜荔、若鳩洹鬼神，
若欲嬈人、若欲殺人、若欲奪人鉢震越、
若壞人禪奪人念，設欲中是菩薩者，終
不能中。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “What I have said is not otherwise. As for a bodhisattva who upholds this samādhi, whatever the danger, whether a ruler, whether a bandit, whether water, whether fire, whether a nāga, whether a snake, whether a yakṣa spirit, whether a fierce beast, whether a great python, whether a kumbhīra, whether a lion, whether a tiger, whether a wolf, whether a dog, whether a human, whether a non-human, whether a fierce ape, whether a preta or whether a kumbhāṇḍa spirit, if any being wishes to harass him, if it wishes to kill him, if it wishes to take his bowl and robe, or if it wishes to disrupt his meditation and rob him of mindfulness, even should it seek to harm this bodhisattva, it will never be able to harm him.”

佛言：「如我所語無有異，除其宿
命所請，其餘無有能中者。」

The Buddha said, “What I have said is not otherwise. Except for what is brought about by his past karma, nothing else can harm him.”

佛言：「我所語
無有異。若有菩薩持是三昧者，終不病
目，若耳、鼻、口，身體無病，其心終不憂、終不
厄。是菩薩若死、若近死，設有是患者，佛
語為有異；除其宿命所作。

The Buddha said, “What I have said is not otherwise. If a bodhisattva upholds this samādhi, his eyes will never become diseased, nor will his ears, nose or mouth; his body will be free from disease. His mind will never grieve and will never be distressed. If this bodhisattva, when dying or near death, should suffer any such affliction, the Buddha’s words would be otherwise, unless the affliction resulted from deeds done in past lives.

「復次，颰陀和！是
菩薩諸天皆稱譽、諸龍皆稱譽、諸閱叉鬼神
皆稱譽、諸阿須輪皆稱譽，迦留羅鬼神、真
陀羅鬼神、摩睺勒鬼神、若人非人皆稱譽是
菩薩，諸佛天中天皆稱譽是菩薩。

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, this bodhisattva is praised by all devas, praised by all nāgas, praised by all yakṣa spirits and praised by all asuras. Garuḍa spirits, kiṃnara spirits, mahoraga spirits, humans and non-humans all praise this bodhisattva. All the buddhas, Honoured Ones among gods, praise this bodhisattva.

「復次，颰
陀和！是菩薩為諸天所護、為諸龍所護，四
天王、釋提桓因、梵三鉢天皆護是菩薩，閱
叉鬼神、乾陀羅鬼神、阿須倫鬼神、迦留羅鬼

神、真陀羅鬼神、摩睺勒鬼神、若人非人皆共
擁護是菩薩，諸佛天中天皆共擁護是菩
薩。

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, this bodhisattva is guarded by all devas and is guarded by all nāgas. The Four Heavenly Kings, Śakra and Brahmā Sahāmpati all guard this bodhisattva. Yakṣa spirits, gandharva spirits, asura spirits, garuḍa spirits, kiṃnara spirits, mahoraga spirits, humans and non-humans all join in guarding and protecting this bodhisattva. All the buddhas, Honoured Ones among gods, join in guarding and protecting this bodhisattva.

「復次，颰陀和！是菩薩為諸天所敬愛，諸
龍閱叉鬼神、乾陀羅鬼神、阿須倫鬼神、迦留
羅鬼神、真陀羅鬼神、摩睺勒鬼神、若人非人
皆共敬愛是菩薩，諸佛天中天——皆無有愛
欲——以道德故皆復敬愛是菩薩。

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, this bodhisattva is revered and cherished by the devas. Nāgas, yakṣa spirits, gandharva spirits, asura spirits, garuḍa spirits, kiṃnara spirits, mahoraga spirits, humans and non-humans all join in revering and cherishing this bodhisattva. Although all the buddhas, Honoured Ones among gods, are free from craving and desire, on account of the Way and virtue they too revere and cherish this bodhisattva.

「復次，颰陀
和！是菩薩諸天皆欲見之，諸龍、閱叉鬼神、
乾陀羅鬼神、阿須倫鬼神、迦留羅鬼神、真陀
羅鬼神、摩睺勒鬼神、若人非人皆思樂欲
見是菩薩，諸佛天中天皆各各欲使是
菩薩往到其所——用人民故欲使往。

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, all the devas wish to see this bodhisattva. Nāgas, yakṣa spirits, gandharva spirits, asura spirits, garuḍa spirits, kiṃnara spirits, mahoraga spirits, humans and non-humans all think of this bodhisattva with delight and wish to see him. All the buddhas, Honoured Ones among gods, each wish to have this bodhisattva come to them. For the sake of the people, they wish to have him go.

「復次，颰
陀和！是菩薩諸天皆來至其所，諸龍、閱叉鬼
神、乾陀羅鬼神、阿須輪鬼神、迦留羅鬼神、真
陀羅鬼神、摩睺勒鬼神、若人非人皆來至是
菩薩所，與共相見。諸佛天中天，菩薩不但晝
日見，夜於夢中若見諸佛身、若諸佛各各
自說其名字。

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, all the devas come to where this bodhisattva is. Nāgas, yakṣa spirits, gandharva spirits, asura spirits, garuḍa spirits, kiṃnara spirits, mahoraga spirits, humans and non-humans all come to where this bodhisattva is and meet with him. As for the buddhas, Honoured Ones among gods, the bodhisattva sees them not only by day. At night, in a dream, he sees the bodies of the buddhas, and the buddhas each declare their own names.

「復次，颰陀和！是菩薩所未誦
經、前所不聞經卷，是菩薩持是三昧威神，
夢中悉自得其經卷名，各各悉見悉聞經
聲——若晝日不得者，若夜於夢中悉見得。」

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, as for sūtras that this bodhisattva has not recited and sūtra-scrolls that he has not previously heard, through the awesome spiritual might of this samādhi which he upholds, he himself obtains the titles of all those sūtra-scrolls in a dream. One by one, he sees them all and hears the sounds of the sūtras. Whatever he does not obtain by day, he sees and obtains in full at night in a dream.”

佛
告颰陀和：「若一劫、若復過一劫，我說是菩
薩持是三昧者，說其功德不可盡竟，
何況力求得是三昧者？」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla, “Even if, for one kalpa or for more than one kalpa, I were to speak of this bodhisattva who upholds this samādhi, I could not finish speaking of his merits. How much more so, then, for one who strives diligently to attain this samādhi?”

佛爾時頌偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke these verses, saying:

「若有菩薩學誦是，佛說三昧寂定義，

假使欲嘆其功德，譬如恒邊減一沙。

刀刃、矛戟不中傷，盜賊、怨家無能害，

國王、大臣喜悅向，學此三昧得如是。

蚖蛇含毒誠可畏，見彼行者毒疾除，

不復瞋恚吐惡氣，誦是三昧得如是。

怨讐、嫌隙莫能當，天、龍、鬼、神、真陀羅，

覩其威光皆嘿然，學此三昧得如是。

山野弊狼及大蟒、師子、猛虎、鹿、㹢玃，

無傷害心攝藏毒，悉來親護是行者；

弊惡鬼神將人魂，諸天人民懷害心，

感其威神自然伏，學此三昧得如是。

其人不病無苦痛，耳目聰明無闇塞，

言辭辯慧有殊傑，行三昧者速逮是；

其人終不墮地獄，離餓鬼道及畜生，

世世所生識宿命，學此三昧得如是。

鬼神、乾陀共擁護，諸天人民亦如是，

并阿須倫、摩睺勒，行此三昧得如是。

諸天悉共頌其德，天、人、龍、鬼、真陀羅，

諸佛嗟歎令如願，諷誦說經為人故。

其人道意不退轉，法慧之義而無盡，

姿顏美艶無與等，誦習此經開化人。

國國相伐民荒亂，飢饉荐臻懷苦窮，

終不於中夭其命，能誦此經化人者。

勇猛降伏諸魔事，心無所畏毛不竪，

其功德行不可議，行此三昧得如是。

妖蠱幻化及符書，穢濁邪道不正行，

終無有能中其身，用愛樂法達本故。

一切悉共歌其德，具足空慧佛尊子，

然後當來最末世，手得是經得如是。

常行精進懷喜踴，同心和悅奉此法，

受持經卷講諷誦，今我以是為彼說。」

“If a bodhisattva studies and recites
the meaning of the samādhi of stillness taught by the Buddha,
even if one wished to praise his merits,
it would be like removing one grain of sand from the bank of the Ganges.

Blades, spears and halberds do not strike or wound him;
thieves, bandits and enemies cannot harm him.
Kings and great ministers turn towards him with delight;
such is what one attains by studying this samādhi.

A venomous serpent, bearing poison, is truly fearsome;
when it sees that practitioner, its venom is swiftly dispelled.
It no longer grows angry or spews its harmful breath;
such is what one attains by reciting this samādhi.

Enemies and those who bear grudges cannot withstand him;
devas, nāgas, ghosts, spirits and kiṃnaras,
on beholding his awesome radiance, all fall silent;
such is what one attains by studying this samādhi.

The vicious wolves of the mountains and wilds, great pythons,
lions, fierce tigers, deer and apes,
harbour no thought of harming him and restrain their venom;
they all come to draw near and protect this practitioner.

Malevolent spirits that carry off human souls,
devas and people who harbour thoughts of harm,
on encountering his awesome spiritual might, naturally submit;
such is what one attains by studying this samādhi.

That person knows neither illness nor pain;
his ears and eyes are keen, without darkness or obstruction.
His speech is eloquent and his wisdom outstanding;
one who practises this samādhi quickly attains this.

That person will never fall into the hells;
he is freed from the hungry ghost destiny and from birth as an animal.
Life after life, wherever he is born, he knows his former lives;
such is what one attains by studying this samādhi.

Spirits and gandharvas together guard and protect him;
devas and people do likewise,
as do asuras and mahoragas;
such is what one attains by practising this samādhi.

All the devas together sing his virtues;
devas, humans, nāgas, ghosts and kiṃnaras do likewise.
The buddhas praise him and fulfil his wishes,
because he recites and teaches the sūtra for others.

His aspiration to the Way does not regress;
his understanding of the wisdom of the Dharma is inexhaustible.
His form and countenance are beautiful beyond compare,
for he recites and studies this sūtra and instructs and transforms others.

When kingdoms attack one another and the people fall into chaos,
when famine comes again and again and they endure bitter destitution,
the life of one who can recite this sūtra and transform others
will never be cut short amid such calamities.

Valiantly he subdues all the works of Māra;
his mind has no fear and his hair does not stand on end.
His meritorious conduct is inconceivable;
such is what one attains by practising this samādhi.

Malignant sorcery, illusory transformations and talismanic writings,
defiled and corrupt heterodox paths and improper practices,
can never harm his body,
because he loves and delights in the Dharma and understands its foundation.

All beings together sing his virtues,
this honoured child of the Buddha, complete in the wisdom of emptiness.
Then, in the final age to come,
one who receives this sūtra into his hands attains such benefits.

Always practising diligently, his heart leaps with joy;
with one mind, harmonious and joyful, he upholds this Dharma.
He receives and upholds the sūtra-scrolls, expounds them and recites them;
I now speak this for the sake of such a person.”

般舟經羼羅耶佛品第九

Chapter Nine: The Buddha Kṣemarāja

佛告颰陀和：「乃往昔時不可計阿僧祇劫，爾

時有佛名羼羅耶佛、怛薩阿竭、阿羅訶、三耶
三佛，於世間極尊，安定於世間；於經中大
明，天上天下號曰天中天。爾時，有長者子
名須達，與二萬人俱來至羼羅耶佛所，為
佛作禮却坐一面。須達長者子問羼羅耶
佛是三昧。羼羅耶佛知須達長者子心所念，
便為說是三昧。須達長者子聞是三昧已
大歡喜，即悉諷受得作沙門，求是三昧
八萬歲。時長者子須達從佛聞經甚眾多——
悉從無央數佛聞經——其智慧甚高明。長者
子須達其後壽終生忉利天上，以後復從天
上來下生世間。爾時，故劫中復有佛，名術
闍波提怛薩阿竭、阿羅呵、三耶三菩。時佛在
剎利家生，爾時長者子須達復於佛所聞
是三昧，復求之。時長者子須達其後復於
故劫中復有佛，名賴毘羅耶怛薩阿竭、阿羅
呵、三耶三佛，婆羅門種。時長者子須達復於
佛所受是三昧，求守八萬四千歲。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “Long ago, incalculable asaṃkhyeya kalpas in the past, there was a buddha named Kṣemarāja, a Tathāgata, an Arhat and a Samyaksaṃbuddha. He was supremely honoured in the world and brought peace and stability to the world. He possessed great illumination concerning the sūtras, and throughout heaven above and all under heaven he was called the Honoured One among gods.

“At that time there was an elder’s son named Sudatta. Together with twenty thousand people, he came to where Buddha Kṣemarāja was. They paid homage to the Buddha, then withdrew and sat to one side. Sudatta, the elder’s son, asked Buddha Kṣemarāja about this samādhi. Buddha Kṣemarāja knew what Sudatta, the elder’s son, held in mind and then expounded this samādhi to him.

“When Sudatta, the elder’s son, had heard this samādhi, he rejoiced greatly. He immediately recited and received it in full, became a śramaṇa and sought this samādhi for eighty thousand years. At that time Sudatta, the elder’s son, heard a great many sūtras from the Buddha. He also heard sūtras from innumerable buddhas, and his wisdom was exceedingly lofty and luminous.

“Later, when the life of Sudatta, the elder’s son, came to an end, he was born in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. Afterwards he descended again from heaven and was born in the world. At that time, during that former kalpa, there was again a buddha named Vidyuddeva, a Tathāgata, an Arhat and a Samyaksaṃbuddha. That buddha was born into a kṣatriya family. At that time Sudatta, the elder’s son, again heard this samādhi in that buddha’s presence and again sought it.

“Later, during that former kalpa, there was again a buddha named Raśmirāja, a Tathāgata, an Arhat and a Samyaksaṃbuddha, of brahmin lineage. At that time Sudatta, the elder’s son, again received this samādhi in that buddha’s presence and sought and guarded it for eighty-four thousand years.”

佛告颰陀
和：「長者子須達却後八萬劫得作佛，名提
和竭羅。爾時，長者子須達為人高明勇猛，智
慧甚廣。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “After eighty thousand kalpas, Sudatta, the elder’s son, became a buddha named Dīpaṃkara. At that time Sudatta, the elder’s son, was brilliant and valiant, and his wisdom was exceedingly vast.”

佛言：「見是三昧不？颰陀和！饒益乃
爾，使人成就得佛道。若有菩薩得是三昧
者，當學誦、當持、當教人、當守，如是者得
佛不久。若曹知不？颰陀和！是三昧者是菩
薩眼、諸菩薩母、諸菩薩所歸仰、諸菩薩所
出生。若知不？颰陀和！是三昧者破去於冥，
明於天上天下。若知不？颰陀和！是菩薩三
昧者，是諸佛之藏、諸佛之地，是珍寶淵海之
泉、是無量功德之鎮益；明哲之經當作是

知。三昧所出如是，從是中出佛、聞經、
正立於四意止中。何等為四意止中？一者，自
觀身、觀他人身、自觀身觀他人身者本
無身；二者，自觀痛痒、觀他人痛痒、自觀
痛痒觀他人痛痒者本無痛痒；三者，自
觀意、觀他人意、自觀意觀他人意者本無
意；四者，自觀法、觀他人法、自觀法觀他人
法者本無法。」

The Buddha said: “Do you see this samādhi, Bhadrapāla? Its benefits are such that it enables people to attain the way of the Buddha. If a bodhisattva attains this samādhi, he should study and recite it, uphold it, teach it to others and guard it. Whoever does so will attain buddhahood before long.

“Do you all know this, Bhadrapāla? This samādhi is the eye of bodhisattvas, the mother of all bodhisattvas, that to which all bodhisattvas turn in refuge and reverence and that from which all bodhisattvas are born.

“Do you know this, Bhadrapāla? This samādhi dispels darkness and gives light throughout heaven above and all under heaven.

“Do you know this, Bhadrapāla? This bodhisattva samādhi is the treasury of the buddhas, the ground of the buddhas, the fountainhead of the deep ocean of precious jewels and that which secures and increases immeasurable merit. It should be known as the sūtra of the wise.

“Such is what the samādhi brings forth. From it arise buddhas, the hearing of sūtras and right establishment in the four foundations of mindfulness. What are the four foundations of mindfulness?

“First, one contemplates one’s own body and contemplates another’s body. In contemplating one’s own body and another’s body, fundamentally there is no body.

“Second, one contemplates one’s own feelings and contemplates another’s feelings. In contemplating one’s own feelings and another’s feelings, fundamentally there are no feelings.

“Third, one contemplates one’s own mind and contemplates another’s mind. In contemplating one’s own mind and another’s mind, fundamentally there is no mind.

“Fourth, one contemplates one’s own dharmas and contemplates another’s dharmas. In contemplating one’s own dharmas and another’s dharmas, fundamentally there are no dharmas.”

佛告颰陀和：「是三昧誰當信
者？獨怛薩阿竭、阿羅呵、三耶三佛、阿惟越致、
阿羅漢乃信之耳。有愚癡迷惑心者，離是
現在佛前立三昧遠。何以故？是法當念
佛、當見佛。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “Who will believe in this samādhi? Only Tathāgatas, who are Arhats and Samyaksaṃbuddhas, irreversible bodhisattvas and arhats will believe in it. Those whose minds are foolish and deluded are far removed from the samādhi in which the buddhas of the present stand before one. Why is this so? In this Dharma one should recollect the Buddha and should see the Buddha.”

佛告颰陀和：「是菩薩當念佛、
當見佛、當聞經，不當有著。何以故？佛本
無是、法無所因。何以故？本空無所有，各
各行法念。是法中無所取、是法無所著，
如空等甚清淨，是法人所想了無所有。
無所有是法，假所因者空寂耳，如泥洹。
是法無所有，本無是法，無所從來、亦無
所從去。人本無是法，不著者近、有著者遠。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “This bodhisattva should recollect the Buddha, should see the Buddha and should hear sūtras, but should not become attached. Why is this? The Buddha is fundamentally nonexistent. This Dharma has no causal basis. Why is this? It is fundamentally empty and without anything whatsoever. Each person practises recollection of dharmas.

“Within this Dharma there is nothing to grasp and nothing to which one can become attached. It is like empty space and exceedingly pure. This Dharma is conceived by people and is entirely without anything whatsoever.

“This Dharma has nothing whatsoever. Whatever is provisionally dependent upon causes is merely empty and quiescent, like nirvāṇa. This Dharma has nothing whatsoever. Fundamentally, there is no such Dharma. It comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. The person too is fundamentally nonexistent. Those who are not attached to this Dharma are near; those who are attached are far.”

佛告颰陀和：「若有守是三昧者，因想入
無想中見佛、念佛。守覺聞經念法，守覺不
得念我、不得著法。何以故？有守覺，颰陀
和！有守覺不見佛，有所著如毛髮不得
法。施他人有所悕望為不施、持戒有
所悕望為不淨、貪於法不得泥洹、於經
中有諛諂不得為高明。樂於眾會中、喜
於餘道，終不能得一行。於欲中念難，
有瞋恚不能忍辱、有所憎惡不得說
他人。善求阿羅漢道者不得於是見現在

佛悉在前立三昧中，不逮無所從來生法，
樂於中立，有所著不得空。菩薩終不得
慳貪，有懈怠不得道、有婬妷不入觀、
有所念不入三昧。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “If anyone guards this samādhi, through perception he enters non-perception. There he sees the Buddha, recollects the Buddha and maintains awareness; he hears sūtras, recollects dharmas and maintains awareness. He must not think of a self or cling to dharmas.

“Why is this? Some maintain awareness, Bhadrapāla. Some maintain awareness yet do not see the Buddha. If one has attachment even as slight as a hair, one cannot attain the Dharma.

“Giving to others while hoping for something is not giving. Observing the precepts while hoping for something is impure. If one covets the Dharma, one cannot attain nirvāṇa. Flattery and obsequiousness concerning the sūtras prevent one from becoming brilliant. If one delights in assemblies and takes pleasure in other paths, one can never attain the single practice. Amid desire, recollection is difficult. With anger, one cannot practise patient forbearance. Harbouring hatred, one cannot teach others.

“One who diligently seeks the arhat path cannot, within this samādhi, see all the buddhas of the present standing before one. Such a person neither attains the joy of the Dharma of non-arising nor becomes established therein. One who has attachment cannot attain emptiness.

“A bodhisattva must never be miserly or covetous. If indolent, one cannot attain the Way. If licentious, one cannot enter contemplation. If one has any object of thought, one cannot enter samādhi.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke the following verse:

「是等功德不可計，奉戒具足無瑕穢，

其心清淨離垢塵，行此三昧得如是。

設有持是三昧者，智慧普大無缺減，

博達眾義常不忘，功德之行如月明。

設有持是三昧者，解了覺意不可識，

曉知無量之道法，無數諸天護其德。

設有持是三昧者，常自面見無數佛，

聞無量佛講說法，輒能受持念普行。

設有持是三昧者，惡罪懃苦皆滅除，

諸佛於世行愍哀，悉共嗟嘆是菩薩。

假使菩薩欲覩見，當來無數佛、世尊，

一心踴躍住正法，當學諷誦是三昧。

其有持是三昧者，其功德福不可議，

逮得人身最第一，出家超異行分衛。

若有末後得是經，逮功德利最第一，

得其福祐不可限，住是三昧得如是。」

“These merits are beyond measure.
They uphold the precepts in full, without flaw or stain.
Their minds are pure, freed from defilement and dust.
Such are the fruits of practising this samādhi.

“If one upholds this samādhi,
Their wisdom is all-embracing and undiminished.
They broadly comprehend the many meanings and never forget them.
Their meritorious conduct is bright as the moon.

“If one upholds this samādhi,
Their understanding and aspiration to awakening cannot be fathomed.
They clearly know immeasurable dharmas of the Way.
Countless devas guard their virtue.

“If one upholds this samādhi,
They always behold countless buddhas face to face.
They hear countless buddhas expound the Dharma.
At once they receive and uphold it, recollect it and practise it widely.

“If one upholds this samādhi,
Their evil deeds, offences and hardships are all extinguished.
The buddhas show compassion in the world
And all together praise this bodhisattva.

“If bodhisattvas wish to behold
Countless future buddhas, World-Honoured Ones,
With one mind, rejoicing, they should abide in the true Dharma
And study and recite this samādhi.

“Those who uphold this samādhi
Have merit and blessings beyond conception.
They attain the foremost human birth
And are preeminent in leaving home and practising mendicancy.

“Those who obtain this sūtra in the latter age
Attain the foremost merit and benefit.
Their blessings and protection have no limit.
Such are the fruits of abiding in this samādhi.”

請佛品第十

Chapter Ten: Inviting the Buddha

跋陀和菩薩政衣服，長跪叉手白佛言：「我
欲請佛及比丘僧明日於舍食，願佛哀受

請。」佛及比丘僧默然悉受請。

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla arranged his robes, knelt upright with palms joined and addressed the Buddha, saying: “I wish to invite the Buddha and the bhikṣu-saṅgha to take a meal at my house tomorrow. May the Buddha, out of compassion, accept my invitation.” The Buddha and the bhikṣu-saṅgha all accepted the invitation in silence.

跋陀和菩薩
知佛已受請，起至摩訶波喻提比丘尼所，
白比丘尼言：「願受我請，明日與比丘尼俱
於舍小飯。」摩訶波喻提比丘尼即受請。

When the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla knew that the Buddha had accepted his invitation, he rose and went to the bhikṣuṇī Mahāprajāpatī. Addressing her, he said: “May you accept my invitation to take a modest meal at my house tomorrow together with the bhikṣuṇīs.” The bhikṣuṇī Mahāprajāpatī at once accepted the invitation.

跋
陀和菩薩語羅隣那竭菩薩：「舍第！諸郡國其
有新來人，悉請會佛所。」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla said to the bodhisattva Ratnākara: “Younger brother, invite all the newcomers from the various provinces and kingdoms to assemble where the Buddha is.”

羅隣那竭菩薩前
至佛所，為佛作禮，長跪叉手白佛言：「我兄
請佛、所有新來人悉欲請於舍食，願哀受
之。」

The bodhisattva Ratnākara came before the Buddha, paid homage to him, knelt upright with palms joined and addressed him, saying: “My elder brother has invited the Buddha and also wishes to invite all the newcomers to take a meal at his house. May the Buddha, out of compassion, accept the invitation.”

跋陀和菩薩、羅隣那竭菩薩、憍曰兜菩薩、
那羅達菩薩、須深菩薩、摩訶須薩和菩薩、因
坻達菩薩、和倫調菩薩悉與宗親俱前，以
頭面著佛足，及為比丘僧作禮。作禮已
竟從佛所去，歸到羅閱祇國，至跋陀和菩
薩家，共相佐助作諸飯具。

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva Ratnākara, the bodhisattva Guhyagupta, the bodhisattva Naradatta, the bodhisattva Susīma, the bodhisattva Mahāsusārthavāha, the bodhisattva Indradatta and the bodhisattva Varuṇadeva all came forward together with their kinsfolk. They bowed until their foreheads touched the Buddha’s feet and paid homage to the bhikṣu-saṅgha. When they had completed their homage, they left the Buddha’s presence and returned to the city of Rājagṛha. They went to the house of the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, where they helped one another prepare all the food.

四天王、釋提桓
因、梵三鉢皆共疾來，佐助跋陀和菩薩作
眾飯具。

The Four Heavenly Kings, Śakra and Brahmā Sahāmpati all came swiftly to assist the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla in preparing all the food.

爾時，跋陀和菩薩宗親共莊嚴羅閱
祇國，持若干種雜繒帳覆一國中，其街巷
市里皆懸繒幡，舉一國中悉散華、燒香，作
百種味飯具，用佛故，比丘僧、比丘尼、優婆塞、
優婆夷及諸貧窮乞匃者，其飯具適等。何以
故？不有偏施，於人民及蜎飛蠕動之類悉
平等。

At that time, the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla and his kinsfolk together adorned the city of Rājagṛha. They covered the entire city with silk canopies of various kinds, hung silk banners throughout its streets, lanes and marketplaces, and scattered flowers and burned incense throughout the city. For the sake of the Buddha, they prepared dishes of a hundred flavours. The food provided for the bhikṣu-saṅgha, the bhikṣuṇīs, the upāsakas, the upāsikās, all the poor and the beggars was equally fine. Why was this? Because there was no partiality in their giving. They treated people and creatures that fly or crawl entirely equally.

跋陀和與八菩薩與諸宗親，以飯時
俱往詣佛前，以頭面著佛足，却白佛言：
「飯食具以辦，願佛可行。」

At mealtime, Bhadrapāla, together with the eight bodhisattvas and their kinsfolk, went before the Buddha. They bowed until their foreheads touched the Buddha’s feet, then stepped back and addressed him, saying: “The meal is ready. May the Buddha be pleased to come.”

時佛與比丘僧皆
著衣持鉢，俱詣來會者皆隨行。佛入羅閱
祇國中到跋陀和菩薩家。跋陀和菩薩作是
念：「今佛威神故，令我舍極廣大，悉作琉
璃，表裏悉相見——城外悉見我舍中，我舍
中悉見城外。」佛即知跋陀和心所念，佛便

放威神令跋陀和舍極廣大，舉一國中人
民悉見於舍中。

At that time, the Buddha and the bhikṣu-saṅgha all donned their robes and took up their alms bowls. They went together, followed by all those who had assembled. The Buddha entered the city of Rājagṛha and came to the house of the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla.

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla thought: “Now, through the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might, may my house become immensely spacious and be made entirely of beryl, so that inside and outside are visible to each other. May all those outside the city see within my house, and may those within my house see everything outside the city.”

The Buddha immediately knew what Bhadrapāla was thinking and manifested his awesome spiritual might, causing Bhadrapāla’s house to become immensely spacious. All the people throughout the city could see inside it.

佛前入跋陀和菩薩家坐，
比丘僧、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷各各異部悉
坐於舍中。跋陀和菩薩見佛、比丘僧坐已，自
供養佛、比丘僧，若干百種飯手自斟酌。佛及
比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷皆已乃飯，諸貧
窮者悉等與、悉各平足，皆持佛威神恩使
之足。跋陀和菩薩見佛諸弟子悉飯已，前行
澡水，畢竟持一小机，於佛前坐聽經。為
跋陀和菩薩及四輩弟子說經，莫不歡喜
者、莫不樂聞者、莫不欲聞者。佛以經
請比丘僧及諸弟子，佛起與比丘僧俱去。

The Buddha entered first and sat down in the house of the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla. The bhikṣu-saṅgha, the bhikṣuṇīs, the upāsakas and the upāsikās all sat within the house, each group separately.

When the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla saw that the Buddha and the bhikṣu-saṅgha were seated, he personally made offerings to them, serving several hundred kinds of food with his own hands. When the Buddha, the bhikṣus, the bhikṣuṇīs, the upāsakas and the upāsikās had all finished eating, he gave food equally to all the poor, and each was fully satisfied. Through the grace of the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might, every one of them had enough.

When the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla saw that all the Buddha’s disciples had finished eating, he came forward with water for washing. Afterward, he took a small low seat and sat before the Buddha to listen to the sūtra. The Buddha expounded the sūtra to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla and the disciples of the four assemblies. There was no one who did not rejoice, no one who did not delight in hearing it and no one who did not wish to hear it.

Having thus instructed the bhikṣu-saṅgha and all the disciples through the sūtra, the Buddha rose and departed together with the bhikṣu-saṅgha.

跋陀和菩薩飯已，與宗親俱出羅閱祇國
到佛所，前為佛作禮，皆却坐一面。及羅隣
那竭菩薩、橋曰兜菩薩、那羅達菩薩、須深
菩薩、摩訶須薩和菩薩、因坻達菩薩、和倫
調菩薩、跋陀和菩薩見人眾皆安坐已，前
問佛：「菩薩用幾事得見現在佛悉在前立
三昧？」

When the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla had finished his meal, he and his kinsfolk left the city of Rājagṛha together and went to where the Buddha was. They came forward, paid homage to the Buddha, then withdrew and sat to one side together with the bodhisattva Ratnākara, the bodhisattva Guhyagupta, the bodhisattva Naradatta, the bodhisattva Susīma, the bodhisattva Mahāsusārthavāha, the bodhisattva Indradatta and the bodhisattva Varuṇadeva.

When the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla saw that the assembly was comfortably seated, he came forward and asked the Buddha: “By means of how many things does a bodhisattva attain the samādhi in which the buddhas of the present all stand before one?”

佛告跋陀和菩薩：「菩薩有五事疾得
見現在佛悉在前立三昧，學、持、諦行心不
轉。何等為五？一者、樂於深經無有盡時，不
可得極，悉脫於眾災變去、以脫諸垢中、
以去冥入明，諸曚曨悉消盡。」

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla: “A bodhisattva who possesses five things swiftly attains the samādhi in which the buddhas of the present all stand before one. He studies it, upholds it and practises it carefully, his mind never turning back. What are the five?

“First, he delights in the profound sūtras, which are never exhausted and whose limit cannot be reached. Through this he is wholly delivered from every calamity, freed from all defilements and led out of darkness into light, so that all obscurities are completely dispelled.”

佛告跋陀
和：「是菩薩逮得無所從來生法樂、逮得是三
昧。復次，跋陀和！不復樂所向生是為二；不
復樂喜於餘道是為三；不復樂於愛欲中
是為四；自守行無有極是為五。

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “This bodhisattva attains acceptance of the Dharma of non-arising and attains this samādhi.

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, he no longer delights in any destination of rebirth. This is the second. He no longer delights in other paths. This is the third. He no longer delights in craving and desire. This is the fourth. He guards himself and practises without limit. This is the fifth.

「菩薩復
有五事疾得是三昧。何等為五？一者、布施
心不得悔、無所貪、無所惜，從是不得有

所悕望，施人已後不復恨。復次，跋陀和！
菩薩持經布施，為他人說經，所語者安諦
無有疑、無所愛惜，說佛深語身自行立是
中。復次，跋陀和！菩薩不嫉妬，所作無有疑，
却睡臥、却五所欲、不自說身善、亦不說
他人惡。若有罵者、若有刑者，亦不得恚、
亦不得恨、亦不得懈。何以故？入空行
故。復次，跋陀和！菩薩是三昧自學復教他
人，書是經著好疋素上使久在。復次，跋陀
和！菩薩所信多樂，敬長老及知識。於新學
人若得所施，當念報恩、常有識信。受
人小施念報大，何況於多者？菩薩常樂重
於經，棄捐無反復之意，常念有反復，
如是者得三昧疾。」

“There are a further five things by which a bodhisattva swiftly attains this samādhi. What are the five?

“First, when he gives, his mind is free from regret. He covets nothing and withholds nothing, expects nothing in return and, after giving to another, does not regret it later.

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva gives the gift of the sūtra. He expounds the sūtra to others, speaking calmly, without doubt and without withholding anything. He teaches the Buddha’s profound words and personally practises them, establishing himself within them.

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva is free from jealousy and has no doubt about what he does. He casts off sleep and lying down, casts off the five sensual desires, does not praise his own goodness and does not speak of the faults of others. If anyone reviles or strikes him, he does not become angry, harbour resentment or grow remiss. Why is this? Because he has entered the practice of emptiness.

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva studies this samādhi himself and in turn teaches it to others. He copies this sūtra onto a fine length of plain silk so that it may long endure.

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva’s faith is abundant, and he delights in honouring elders and spiritual friends. If he receives a gift from a new student, he should remember to repay the kindness. He always maintains discerning faith. When he receives even a small gift from another, he thinks of repaying it with a greater one. How much more so when the gift is substantial? The bodhisattva always delights in honouring the sūtra. He casts away every ungrateful thought and remains mindful of requiting kindness. One who acts in this way swiftly attains the samādhi.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke this verse, saying:

「常愛樂法在深解，於諸習欲不貪生，

遊步五道無所著，如是行者得三昧。

好喜布施不想報，所惠無著不追念，

所與不見有受者，唯欲得解佛深慧。

愍傷眾生行布施，其心喜踊不悔恨，

常立布施及戒忍，精進一心智慧事。

具足六度攝一切，慈悲喜護四等心，

善權方便濟眾生，如是行者得三昧。

若有興施除慳貪，其心歡踊而授與，

既施之後恒欣喜，如是行者得三昧。

曉知經法分別句，聞深要義佛所教，

講說微妙道德化，如是行者得三昧。

其人學誦是三昧，具足解慧為人說，

令此經法得永存，如是行者得三昧。

常不祕奧佛經法，不望供養乃為講，

唯求安隱佛道地，如是行者得三昧。

除去所著棄諸蓋，捐去貢高及慢大，

不自稱譽說彼短，終不復起吾我想。

其有寂定意不起，便能解是道定慧，

棄捐諛諂心清淨，用是速逮不起忍。

常行至誠無綺飾，其願具足無缺減，

殖眾正德無邪行，愛樂法者得道疾。

所誦習經常不忘，常護禁戒清淨行，

如是行者得佛疾，何況奉是寂三昧？」

“They always love and delight in the Dharma, abiding in profound understanding.
Amid all habitual desires they do not crave rebirth.
They journey through the five destinies without attachment.
Those who practise in this way attain the samādhi.

“They delight in giving, without thought of recompense.
Unattached to what they bestow, they do not dwell upon it.
In what they give, they perceive no recipient.
They seek only to understand the Buddha’s profound wisdom.

“Moved by compassion for beings, they practise giving.
Their hearts leap with joy, without regret.
They remain established in generosity, moral discipline and patience,
In diligence, concentration and wisdom.

“They perfect the six pāramitās and gather in all beings.
They cultivate loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, the four boundless states.
Through skilful means they deliver beings.
Those who practise in this way attain the samādhi.

“Those who undertake giving cast off miserliness and greed.
Their hearts leap with joy as they give.
Having given, they remain ever joyful.
Those who practise in this way attain the samādhi.

“They clearly understand the Dharma of the sūtras and discern its phrases.
They hear the profound and essential meaning taught by the Buddha.
They expound the subtle and wondrous Way, bringing transformation through virtue.
Those who practise in this way attain the samādhi.

“They study and recite this samādhi.
Fully endowed with understanding and wisdom, they expound it for others.
They cause the Dharma of this sūtra to endure forever.
Those who practise in this way attain the samādhi.

“They never conceal or keep secret the Dharma of the Buddha’s sūtras.
They expound it without expecting offerings.
They seek only the peaceful ground of the way of the Buddha.
Those who practise in this way attain the samādhi.

“They remove all attachments and cast off the hindrances.
They abandon haughtiness and great pride.
They do not praise themselves or speak of the faults of others.
They never again give rise to thoughts of ‘I’ or ‘self’.

“When they rest in tranquil concentration, their minds do not stir.
They can then understand the concentration and wisdom of this path.
They cast off servile flattery and purify their minds.
Through this they swiftly attain acceptance of the Dharma of non-arising.

“They always act with perfect sincerity, free from artifice.
Their vows are fulfilled, neither deficient nor diminished.
They cultivate many true virtues and are free from wrongful conduct.
Those who love and delight in the Dharma swiftly attain the path.

“They never forget the sūtras they recite and study.
They always guard the precepts and maintain pure conduct.
Those who practise in this way swiftly attain buddhahood.
How much more so those who uphold this tranquil samādhi?”

佛告跋陀和菩薩：「往昔無數劫提和竭羅佛
時，我於提和竭羅佛所聞是三昧，即受持
是三昧，見十方無央數佛，悉從聞經、悉受
持。爾時，諸佛悉語我言：『却後無央數劫，汝
當作佛名釋迦文。』」

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla: “In the past, innumerable kalpas ago, during the time of the Buddha Dīpaṃkara, I heard this samādhi in the presence of the Buddha Dīpaṃkara and at once received and upheld it. I saw innumerable buddhas throughout the ten directions. From them all I heard sūtras, and I received and upheld them all. At that time, all those buddhas said to me: ‘After innumerable kalpas have passed, you shall become a buddha named Śākyamuni.’”

佛告跋陀和菩薩：「我故
語汝，今自致作佛，是三昧若曹當學，為
知內法第一眾所不能及，出眾想去，其
有於是三昧中立者念得佛道。」

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla: “It is for this reason that I tell you: now, by my own effort, I have attained buddhahood. You and your companions should train in this samādhi, knowing it to be the foremost among the inner dharmas, beyond the reach of the multitude, transcending the host of perceptions. Whoever becomes established in this samādhi attains the way of the Buddha through mindful recollection.”

佛爾時頌
偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke these verses:

「憶念我昔定光佛，於時逮得是三昧，

即見十方無數佛，聞說尊法深妙義。

譬有德人行採寶，所望如願輒得之，

菩薩大士亦如是，經中求寶即得佛。」

“I remember that long ago, in the time of the Buddha Dīpaṃkara,
I then attained this samādhi.
At once I saw innumerable buddhas throughout the ten directions
And heard them proclaim the profound and subtle meaning of the noble Dharma.

“It is like a virtuous man who goes in search of treasure
And straightaway obtains what he hoped for, just as he wished.
The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise:
Seeking treasure within the sūtra, he at once attains buddhahood.”

跋陀和菩薩白佛：「當云何守是三昧？天中
天！」

The bodhisattva Bhadrapāla addressed the Buddha: “How should one guard this samādhi, O Honoured One among gods?”

佛告跋陀和菩薩：「色不當著、不當有
所向生、當行空，是三昧當守。何等為三
昧？當隨是法行。

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla: “One should not be attached to form, one should not incline towards any rebirth and one should practise emptiness. This is how this samādhi should be guarded. What is meant by samādhi? One should practise in accordance with this Dharma.”

「復次，跋陀和！菩薩自觀身
無身，亦無所觀、亦無所見、亦無所著。
本亦無所盲、亦無所聾，如經中法，視住
亦無所見、亦無所著，無所著為守道者。

於法中無所疑，不疑者為見佛；見佛者
為疑斷。諸法無所從來生。何以故？菩薩有
法疑想便為著。何等為著？有人、有壽命、
有德、有陰、有人、有對、有想、有根、有欲，是為
著。何以故？菩薩見諸法無所著，是法亦
不念、亦不見。何等為不見？譬如愚人學
餘道自用，有人謂有身，菩薩不作是見。
菩薩何等為見？譬如怛薩阿竭、阿羅訶、三耶
三佛、阿惟越致、辟支佛、阿羅漢所見，不喜、
不憂；菩薩如是見，亦不喜，亦不憂；守是三
昧者亦不喜、亦不憂。

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva contemplates his own body as no body. There is nothing contemplated, nothing seen and nothing to which he is attached. From the beginning, he is neither blind nor deaf to anything. In accordance with the Dharma taught in the sūtra, even while abiding in seeing, he sees nothing and is attached to nothing. One who is attached to nothing is one who guards the path.

“With regard to the dharmas, there is nothing to doubt. One who does not doubt sees the Buddha, and one who sees the Buddha has severed doubt. dharmas do not arise from anywhere. Why is this so? If a bodhisattva gives rise to a doubtful conception regarding any dharma, he thereby becomes attached.

“What is attachment? That there is a person, that there is a lifespan, that there is merit, that there are the aggregates, that there is a self, that there is an object, that there is perception, that there are faculties and that there is desire: this is attachment.

“Why is this so? The bodhisattva sees that no dharma offers anything to which one may be attached. He neither thinks of nor sees those dharmas. What is meant by not seeing? A bodhisattva does not see as does a foolish person who studies other paths, relies upon himself and asserts that a body exists. The bodhisattva does not form such a view.

“Then how does a bodhisattva see? Just as Tathāgatas, who are Arhats and Samyaksaṃbuddhas, together with irreversible bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas and arhats, see without delight or grief, so too does the bodhisattva see without delight or grief. One who guards this samādhi is likewise without delight or grief.”

「譬如虛空，無色、無
想、清淨無瑕穢。菩薩見諸法如是，眼無
所罣礙見諸法，用是故見諸佛。見諸佛
如以明月珠持著琉璃上、如日初出時、如
月十五日在眾星中央時、如遮迦越王與
諸群臣相隨時、如忉利天王釋提桓因在諸
天中央時、如梵天王在眾梵天中央最高
坐、如炬火在高山頂燒、如醫王持藥行愈
人病、如師子出獨步、如眾野鴈飛行虛空
中前有導、如冬月高山上積雪四面皆見、
如天地大界金剛山却臭穢、如下水持地、
如風持水諸穢濁悉清淨、如虛空等、如須
彌山上忉利天為莊嚴。諸佛如是，佛持戒、
佛威神、佛功德，無央數國土悉極明。是菩薩
見十方佛如是，聞經悉受得。」

“It is like empty space: without form, without conception, pure and unstained. The bodhisattva sees all dharmas in this way. His vision encounters no obstruction as he sees all dharmas, and for this reason he sees all the buddhas.

“He sees the buddhas like a radiant moon pearl set upon beryl; like the sun when it first rises; like the moon on the fifteenth day amid the host of stars; like a Cakravartin accompanied by all his ministers; like Śakra, king of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, amid the devas; like Brahmā seated highest at the centre of the host of Brahmā gods; like a torch burning upon the summit of a high mountain; like the King of Physicians going forth with medicines and curing people’s illnesses; like a lion coming forth to walk alone; like a flock of wild geese flying through empty space with a leader before them; like snow heaped upon a high mountain in winter, visible from all four sides; like the Vajra Mountain forming the great boundary of heaven and earth and repelling foul impurities; like the waters below supporting the earth; like the wind supporting the waters and cleansing all foulness and turbidity; like empty space itself; and like the Trāyastriṃśa heaven adorning the summit of Mount Sumeru.

“The buddhas are like this. The buddhas’ observance of the precepts, the buddhas’ awesome spiritual might and the buddhas’ merit shine with utmost brilliance throughout countless lands. In this way, the bodhisattva sees the buddhas of the ten directions, hears the sūtras and receives them all.”

佛爾時頌偈
言：

At that time the Buddha spoke these verses, saying:

「佛無垢穢離塵勞，功德眾竟無所著，

尊大神通妙音聲，法鼓導義喻諸音。

覺天中天脫諸慧，種種香華以供養，

以無數德奉舍利，幡蓋雜香求三昧。

聞法普妙學具足，遠離顛倒喻滅度，

終不想著於空法，當志解妙無礙慧。

清淨如月日出光、譬如梵天立本宮，

常清淨心念世尊，意無所著不相空。

譬如冬月高山雪、若如國王人中尊，

摩尼清淨超眾寶，觀佛相好當如是。

如鴈王飛前有導，虛空清淨無穢亂，

紫磨金色佛如是，佛子念此供養尊。

去諸幽冥除闇愚，即悉速逮淨三昧，

捐捨一切諸想求，無垢穢行得定意。

無有塵勞釋垢穢，棄去瞋恚無愚癡，

其目清淨自然明，念佛功德無罣礙。

思佛世尊清淨戒，心無所著不相求，

不見吾我及所有，亦不起在諸色相。

捨離生死無眾見，棄捨貢高慧清淨，

遠除憍慢不自大，聞寂三昧離邪見。

其有比丘佛子孫、信比丘尼、清信士、

除去貪欲清信女，念精進學得是法。」

“The buddhas are free from stains and impurities, far removed from defilement.
Their manifold meritorious qualities are complete, and they are attached to nothing.
The Honoured Ones possess great spiritual powers and wondrous voices.
With the Dharma drum they convey meaning and instruct through every sound.

“To the Awakened One, the Honoured One among gods, liberated through wisdom,
Make offerings of many kinds of incense and flowers.
With measureless merit, venerate the relics.
With banners, canopies and blended incense, seek the samādhi.

“Hear the universally wondrous Dharma and master it fully.
Leave inverted views far behind and understand nirvāṇa.
Never conceive of or become attached to empty dharmas.
Resolve to understand wondrous and unobstructed wisdom.

“Pure as the moon and the radiance of the rising sun,
Like Brahmā abiding in his own palace,
With an ever pure mind, recollect the World-Honoured One.
With the mind attached to nothing, do not conceptualise emptiness.

“Like winter snow upon a high mountain,
Like a king, the honoured one among men,
Like a pure maṇi surpassing every other jewel,
Thus should one contemplate the Buddha’s marks and characteristics.

“Like the king of geese flying foremost as their guide,
Like empty space, pure and free from stain or disorder,
So is the Buddha, the colour of refined purple gold.
Children of the Buddha, recollect this and honour the Honoured One.

“Cast off all darkness and dispel the gloom of ignorance.
Then swiftly attain the pure samādhi.
Relinquish every conception and longing.
Through conduct free from stain, attain a concentrated mind.

“Be free from defilement and cast off stains and impurities.
Abandon anger and remain without delusion.
Let your eyes be pure and naturally bright.
Recollect the Buddha’s merit without obstruction.

“Contemplate the pure precepts of the Buddha, the World-Honoured One.
Let the mind be unattached and seek no characteristics.
See neither ‘I’ nor ‘self’ nor anything possessed.
Nor let anything arise among forms and characteristics.

“Abandon birth and death and be free from all views.
Cast off conceit, and let wisdom be pure.
Put pride far away and do not exalt yourself.
Upon hearing the tranquil samādhi, leave wrong views behind.

“Bhikṣus who are descendants of the Buddha,
Faithful bhikṣuṇīs, laymen of pure faith
And laywomen of pure faith who have cast off craving
Will attain this Dharma by recollecting it and training diligently.”

無想品第十一

Chapter Eleven: Freedom from Conceptual Notions

佛告跋陀和菩薩：「若有菩薩欲學是三昧、
疾得是，當先斷色思想、當棄自貢高。已
斷思想、已不自貢高，已却當學是三昧，不
當諍。何等為諍？誹謗於空。是故，不當共
諍，不當誹謗空却誦是三昧。」

The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla: “If a bodhisattva wishes to study this samādhi and swiftly attain it, he should first eliminate conceptions of form and cast off self-conceit. Once he has eliminated these conceptions and no longer exalts himself, he should then study this samādhi. He should not engage in disputation. What is disputation? Slandering emptiness is disputation. Therefore, he should neither dispute with others nor slander emptiness. Only then should he recite this samādhi.”

佛告跋陀
和：「若有菩薩學誦是三昧者，有十事於
其中立。何等為十？一者、其有他人若饋遺
鉢、震越、衣服者不嫉妬；二者、悉當愛敬人，
孝順於長老；三者、當有反復念報恩；四者、

不妄語，遠離非法；五者、常行乞食，不受
請；六者、當精進經行；七者、晝夜不得臥出；
八者、常欲布施天上、天下無所惜、終不悔；
九者、深入慧中無所著；十者、先當敬事善
師視如佛；乃當却誦是三昧，是為十事。

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “For any bodhisattva who studies and recites this samādhi, there are ten things in which he should become established. What are the ten?

“First, if other people are presented with alms bowls, monastic robes or other clothing, he does not become jealous. Second, he should love and respect everyone and show filial respect to elders. Third, he should remain mindful of requiting kindness. Fourth, he should refrain from false speech and keep far from what is contrary to the Dharma. Fifth, he should always practise the alms round and not accept invitations. Sixth, he should diligently practise walking meditation. Seventh, he should not lie down by day or night. Eighth, he should always wish to give to all throughout heaven and earth, withholding nothing and never regretting it. Ninth, he should enter deeply into wisdom and remain attached to nothing. Tenth, he should first honour and serve a good teacher, regarding the teacher as a buddha.

“Only then should he recite this samādhi. These are the ten things.”

「當
如法作是行者，便得八事。何等為八事？
一者、於戒清淨至究竟；二者、不與餘道從
事、出入智慧中；三者、於智慧中清淨，無所
復貪生；四者、眼清淨，不復欲生死；五者、高
明無所著；六者、清淨於精進自致得佛；
七者、若有人供養者不用故喜；八者、正在
阿耨多羅三藐三菩提不復動；是為八事。」

“One who practises in this way in accordance with the Dharma will attain eight things. What are the eight?

“First, his observance of the precepts is pure to perfection. Second, he does not engage in other paths, but moves freely within wisdom. Third, he is pure within wisdom and no longer craves existence. Fourth, his vision is pure and he no longer desires birth and death. Fifth, he is lofty in understanding and attached to nothing. Sixth, he is pure in diligent effort and through his own exertion attains buddhahood. Seventh, if anyone makes offerings to him, he does not rejoice on that account. Eighth, he is rightly established in anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi and never again wavers.

“These are the eight things.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

The Buddha then spoke in verse, saying:

「有黠慧者不起想，棄捐貢高及自大，

常行忍辱無麁漏，爾乃為學是三昧。

智者心明不諍空，無想寂定是滅度，

不誹謗法莫諍佛，如是行者得三昧。

明者於是無憍慢，常念佛恩及法師，

堅住淨信志不動，爾時為學是三昧。

心不懷嫉遠窈冥，不起狐疑常有信，

當行精進不懈怠，如是行者得三昧。

比丘學是常分衛，不行就請及聚會，

心無所著不畜積，如是行者得三昧。

設使手得斯法教，及持奉行此經卷，

已具足意得如佛，然後學誦是三昧。

住是至德行誠信，設有學誦三昧者，

速逮疾得是八法，清淨無垢諸佛教。

其清淨戒有究竟，三昧無瑕得等見，

以為空淨於生死，住於是法得具足。

智慧清淨無有餘，無穢行者亦不著，

博聞採智捨唐捐，得行如是為黠慧。

志精進者無所失，於供養利而不貪，

疾得無上成佛道，學如是德為明智。」

“Those who possess keen wisdom do not give rise to concepts;
They cast away conceit and self importance.
Always practising patient endurance, free from coarse faults,
Only then are they fit to learn this samādhi.

“The wise are clear in mind and do not dispute about emptiness;
Freedom from concepts and tranquil concentration are nirvāṇa.
They do not slander the Dharma or contend with the Buddha;
Those who practise in this way attain this samādhi.

“The discerning are free from arrogance concerning this;
They remain mindful of the kindness of the Buddha and their Dharma teacher.
They stand firmly in pure faith, their resolve unmoved;
Only then are they fit to learn this samādhi.

“Their hearts harbour no jealousy, and they leave darkness far behind;
They do not give rise to doubt, but remain constant in faith.
They should practise diligently and never become negligent;
Those who practise in this way attain this samādhi.

“Bhikṣus who train in this always practise the alms round;
They do not accept invitations or attend gatherings.
Their minds are attached to nothing, and they store nothing away;
Those who practise in this way attain this samādhi.

“If this Dharma teaching comes into their hands,
And they uphold and practise this sūtra-scroll,
They should devote themselves wholly and regard it as a buddha;
Only then should they study and recite this samādhi.

“Abiding in this supreme virtue and practising with sincere faith,
Those who study and recite this samādhi
Swiftly attain these eight qualities,
The pure and undefiled teaching of all the buddhas.

“Their pure observance of the precepts reaches perfection;
Their samādhi is flawless, and they attain the vision of sameness.
Regarding birth and death as empty and pure,
They abide in this Dharma and attain fulfilment.

“Their wisdom is wholly pure, with nothing remaining;
Practitioners free from defilement are likewise unattached.
They learn broadly and gather wisdom, never squandering it;
Those who practise in this way possess keen wisdom.

“Those resolute in diligent effort lose nothing;
They do not crave offerings or gain.
They swiftly attain the unsurpassed way of the Buddha;
Those who cultivate such virtues possess clear wisdom.”

十八不共十種力品第十二

Chapter Twelve: The Eighteen Distinctive Qualities and the Ten Powers

佛言：「得是上八事者便獲佛十八事。何等
為十八事？一者、用某日得佛、用某日般
泥洹，從初得佛日至般泥洹日佛無難；二
者、無短；三者、無忘；四者、無不定時；五者、終
無生法想言我所；六者、無有不能忍時；
七者、無有不樂時；八者、無有不精進時；九
者、無有不念時；十者、無有不三昧時；十
一者、無有不知時；十二者、無有不脫見慧
時；十三者、過去無央數世事，無有能止佛無
所罣礙所見慧時；十四者、當來無央數世
事，無有能止佛無所罣礙所見慧時；十五
者、今現在十方無央數世事，無有能止佛無
所罣礙所見慧時；十六者、身所行事智慧
是本常與智慧俱；十七者、口所言事智慧
是本常與智慧俱；十八者、心所念事智慧
是本常與智慧俱；是為佛十八事。」

The Buddha said: “One who has gained these prior eight things then obtains the eighteen distinctive attributes of a buddha. What are these eighteen attributes? First, throughout the span from the day on which he attains buddhahood to the day on which he enters parinirvāṇa, the Buddha is without fault. Second, he is without shortcoming. Third, he is without lapse of mindfulness. Fourth, there is never a time when he is without composure. Fifth, to the very end there arises in him no notion of any dharma as self or as mine. Sixth, there is never a time when he is unable to endure. Seventh, there is never a time when he is without joy. Eighth, there is never a time when he is without diligence. Ninth, there is never a time when he is without mindfulness. Tenth, there is never a time when he is out of samādhi. Eleventh, there is never a time when he does not know. Twelfth, there is never a time when he is without liberated insight and wisdom. Thirteenth, with regard to the innumerable affairs of past ages, there is never a time when anything can obstruct the Buddha’s unimpeded knowledge and vision. Fourteenth, with regard to the innumerable affairs of ages to come, there is never a time when anything can obstruct the Buddha’s unimpeded knowledge and vision. Fifteenth, with regard to the innumerable affairs of the present throughout the ten directions, there is never a time when anything can obstruct the Buddha’s unimpeded knowledge and vision. Sixteenth, in the deeds his body performs, wisdom is their ground and they are ever accompanied by wisdom. Seventeenth, in the words his mouth speaks, wisdom is their ground and they are ever accompanied by wisdom. Eighteenth, in the things his mind considers, wisdom is their ground and they are ever accompanied by wisdom. These are the Buddha’s eighteen distinctive attributes.”

佛告跋
陀和：「若有菩薩無所復著求法悉護，學是
三昧者有十法護。何等為十法護？佛十種
力。何等為十種力？一者、有限、無限悉知；二
者、過去、當來、今現在本末悉知；三者、棄脫定
清淨悉知；四者、諸根精進，種種各異所念悉
知；五者、種種所信悉知；六者、若干種變無
央數事悉知；七者、悉曉、悉了、悉知；八者、眼
所視無所罣礙悉知；九者、本末無極悉知；

十者、過去、當來、今現在悉平等，無所適著。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “If a bodhisattva is no longer attached to anything, seeks the Dharma and guards it completely, and trains in this samādhi, there are ten dharmas that protect him. What are these ten protective dharmas? They are the ten powers of a buddha. What are the ten powers?

“First, he knows completely everything finite and infinite. Second, he knows completely the past, the future, and the present, from beginning to end. Third, he knows completely the purity of liberation and concentration. Fourth, he knows completely the faculties and exertions of beings, together with all their various and differing thoughts. Fifth, he knows completely the various dispositions of beings.

“Sixth, he knows completely the manifold transformations and innumerable events. Seventh, he understands all, comprehends all, and knows all. Eighth, his vision is unobstructed, and he knows completely everything he sees. Ninth, he knows completely beginning and end, without limit. Tenth, he regards the past, the future, and the present with complete equality, without preference or attachment.”

佛
告跋陀和：「若有菩薩無所從生法悉護，是
菩薩得佛十種力。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “If a bodhisattva fully safeguards the Dharma of non-arising, that bodhisattva attains the ten powers of a buddha.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke this verse, saying:

「十八不共正覺法，世尊之力現有十，

設使奉行是三昧，疾速逮此終不久。」

“The eighteen distinctive dharmas of the Perfectly Awakened One,
And the World-Honoured One’s powers, which number ten:
Whoever reverently practises this samādhi
Will swiftly attain them, before very long.”

勸助品第十三

Chapter Thirteen: Rejoicing

佛告跋陀和：「是菩薩持有四事，於是三昧
中助其歡喜，過去佛時持是三昧助歡喜；
學是經者自致阿耨多羅三耶三菩阿惟
三佛，其智悉具足，我助歡喜如是。復次，跋
陀和！當來諸佛，求菩薩道者於是三昧中
助歡喜，學是三昧者自致阿耨多羅三耶
三菩阿惟三佛，其智悉具足，其皆助歡喜
如是。復次，跋陀和！今現在十方無央數佛，本
求菩薩道時於是三昧中者助歡喜，學是
三昧者自致得阿耨多羅三耶三菩阿惟三
佛，其智悉具足，其皆助歡喜福。令其與十
方人民及蜎飛蠕動之類共得阿耨多羅三
耶三菩阿惟三佛，持是三昧助歡喜功德
令其疾得是三昧，作阿耨多羅三耶三菩
阿惟三佛得不久。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “There are four matters through which this bodhisattva cultivates rejoicing in this samādhi.

“At the time of the past buddhas, those buddhas upheld this samādhi and rejoiced in it. Those who studied this sūtra attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi for themselves and became fully awakened buddhas, their wisdom wholly complete. Thus do I rejoice.

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, the future buddhas, while seeking the bodhisattva path, will rejoice in this samādhi. Those who study this samādhi will attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi for themselves and become fully awakened buddhas, their wisdom wholly complete. They all rejoice in this way.

“Furthermore, Bhadrapāla, the innumerable buddhas presently abiding throughout the ten directions, when they first sought the bodhisattva path, dwelt within this samādhi and rejoiced in it. Those who study this samādhi attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi for themselves and become fully awakened buddhas, their wisdom wholly complete.

“May all the merit of their rejoicing cause them, together with the people of the ten directions and every creature that flies or crawls, to attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi and become fully awakened buddhas. May the merit of upholding this samādhi and rejoicing in it cause them swiftly to attain this samādhi and, before long, realise anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi as fully awakened buddhas.”

佛告跋陀和：「是菩薩功
德於是三昧中四事助歡喜，我於是中說
少所譬喻。譬如人壽百歲，墮地行至百歲
無有休息時，其人行使過疾風，周匝四方
上下。云何，跋陀和！寧有能計其道里者
不？」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “As for the merit acquired by this bodhisattva through the four matters of rejoicing in this samādhi, I will give a small illustration.

“Suppose there were a man whose lifespan was one hundred years. From the moment he was born until he reached one hundred years of age, he travelled continuously without ever resting. His pace surpassed that of a swift wind, and he journeyed throughout the four directions, above and below.

“What do you think, Bhadrapāla? Could anyone calculate the distance he had travelled?”

跋陀和言：「無有能計其道里者。天中
天！獨佛弟子舍利弗羅、阿惟越致菩薩乃能
計之耳。」

Bhadrapāla replied: “No one could calculate the distance he had travelled, O Honoured One among gods. Only the Buddha’s disciple Śāriputra and the irreversible bodhisattvas would be able to calculate it.”

佛告跋陀和：「我故語諸菩薩，若有
善男子、善女人取是四方上下諸國土其人

所行處滿中珍寶布施與佛，不如聞是
三昧。若有菩薩聞是三昧，於是四事中助
歡喜，其福出過布施佛者百倍、千倍、萬倍、
億倍。若見不？跋陀和！是菩薩助歡喜，其福寧
多不？用是故當知之，是菩薩助歡喜其福
甚尊大。」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “For this reason I tell the bodhisattvas: suppose a good man or a good woman were to fill with precious jewels all the lands in the four directions, above and below, wherever that man had travelled, and offer them to the Buddha. This would not equal hearing this samādhi.

“If a bodhisattva hears this samādhi and rejoices in these four matters, that bodhisattva’s merit surpasses the merit of one who makes such an offering to the Buddha by a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten thousandfold and a koṭi-fold.

“Do you see this, Bhadrapāla? Is the merit of this bodhisattva who rejoices not great? Therefore you should understand that the merit of this bodhisattva’s rejoicing is exceedingly great.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke in verse, saying:

「於是經教中，持有四事歡，

過去及當來、現在諸世尊，

勸助功德行，度脫諸十方，

蜎飛之蠕動，悉逮平等覺。

譬如此周匝，四方及上下，

人生行百歲，盡壽行不息。

欲有計道里，其數難度量，

獨佛弟子知，不退轉菩薩。

滿中珍寶施，不如聞是法，

四事之勸助，其福出彼上。

跋陀！且觀是，四事之歡喜，

布施億萬倍，不與勸化等。」

“Within this sūtra teaching, cultivate rejoicing in four matters:
The World-Honoured Ones of the past, future and present.
By rejoicing in and supporting their meritorious conduct, may beings throughout the ten directions be delivered;
May even the creatures that fly or crawl all attain equal awakening.

“Suppose a man travelled all around through the four directions, above and below;
From birth he journeyed for a hundred years, never resting until the end of his life.
If anyone wished to calculate the distance he had travelled, its measure would be difficult to determine;
Only a disciple of the Buddha and irreversible bodhisattvas could know it.

“Even if one filled all those lands with precious treasures and gave them away, this would not equal hearing this Dharma;
The merit of rejoicing in the four matters surpasses that offering.
Bhadrapāla, consider this rejoicing in the four matters:
Giving, even multiplied a myriad-koṭi-fold, cannot equal such rejoicing and encouragement of others.”

師子意佛品第十四

Chapter Fourteen: The Buddha Siṃhamati

佛爾時告跋陀和：「乃去久遠世時，其劫阿僧
祇不可計、不可數、不可量、不可極阿僧祇，乃
爾時有佛名私訶摩提怛薩阿竭、阿羅訶、
三耶三佛——其威神無有與等者，安隱於世
間，於經中之尊，天上天下號曰天中天——於
是國土空閑之處。是閻浮利國土豐熟，人民
熾盛樂。是時閻浮利內廣縱十八萬拘利那
術踰旬。是時閻浮利內凡有六百四十萬
國。爾時，閻浮利有大國名跋登加，其國中
有六十億人。私訶摩提佛在是國中。有遮

迦越王名惟斯芩王，往到私訶摩提佛所，
為佛作禮却坐一面。時，私訶摩提佛即
知其王心所念，便為說是三昧。其王聞是
三昧助歡喜，即持珍寶散佛上，其心即念：
『持是功德令十方人民皆安隱。』

At that time the Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “Long ago, in the distant past, after asaṃkhyeya kalpas, incalculable, innumerable, immeasurable and without limit, there was a buddha named Siṃhamati, a Tathāgata, an Arhat and a Samyaksaṃbuddha.

“None could equal his awesome spiritual might. He brought peace to the world, was supreme within the teaching and was known throughout heaven and earth as the Honoured One among gods. He dwelt in a secluded place within that land.

“At that time Jambudvīpa was rich and fertile. Its people were numerous, prosperous and happy. Jambudvīpa measured one hundred and eighty thousand koṭi nayuta yojanas in both length and breadth. It contained altogether six million four hundred thousand kingdoms.

“In Jambudvīpa there was a great kingdom named Bhadaṅka, containing six thousand million people. The Buddha Siṃhamati dwelt in this kingdom.

“There was a wheel-turning king named Viśeṣagāmin. He went to the Buddha Siṃhamati, paid homage to the Buddha and withdrew to sit to one side. The Buddha Siṃhamati immediately knew what the king was thinking and expounded this samādhi to him.

“When the king heard this samādhi, he rejoiced in it. He took precious jewels and scattered them over the Buddha, thinking, ‘May this merit cause all the people of the ten directions to be at peace.’”

「時私訶摩
提佛般泥洹後，惟斯芩遮迦越王其壽終已
後還生王家作太子，名梵摩達。爾時，閻浮
提有比丘高明名珍寶，是時為四部弟子——
比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷——說是三昧。梵摩
達太子聞是三昧助歡喜，心踊躍樂喜聞
是經，持珍寶直百億散是比丘上，復持好
衣供養之，以發意求佛道。時與千人俱，
於是比丘所剃頭鬚作沙門，即於是比
丘所從索學是三昧。與千比丘共承事
師，八千歲不休懈，前後一反得聞是三昧。
是比丘輩聞是三昧四事助歡喜，入高明
之智。持是助歡喜功德，却後更見六萬八千
佛，輒於一一佛所聞是三昧，自守、學、復教
他人學。其人持是助歡喜功德其後得作
佛，名坻羅惟是逮怛薩阿竭、阿羅訶、三耶
三佛。時是千比丘從得阿耨多羅三耶三菩
阿惟三佛，皆名坻羅首羅欝沈怛薩阿竭、阿
羅訶、三耶三佛，教不可計人民皆求佛道。」

“After the Buddha Siṃhamati entered parinirvāṇa, the wheel-turning king Viśeṣagāmin reached the end of his life and was reborn once more in a royal household as a crown prince named Brahmadatta.

“At that time, in Jambudvīpa, there was a bhikṣu of lofty understanding named Ratnin. He expounded this samādhi to disciples of the four assemblies: bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas and upāsikās.

“Prince Brahmadatta heard this samādhi and rejoiced in it. His heart leapt with joy, and he delighted in hearing this sūtra. He took precious jewels worth a hundred koṭis and scattered them over the bhikṣu. He also offered him fine robes, thereby arousing the resolve to seek the way of the Buddha.

“Then, together with a thousand people, he shaved his head and beard in the presence of this bhikṣu and became a śramaṇa. He immediately requested instruction in this samādhi from the bhikṣu. Together with the thousand bhikṣus, he served his teacher for eight thousand years without rest or slackening. From beginning to end, they were able to hear this samādhi only once.

“When this company of bhikṣus heard this samādhi, they cultivated the four matters of rejoicing and entered into lofty wisdom. By the merit of this rejoicing, they later saw a further sixty-eight thousand buddhas. In the presence of each buddha they heard this samādhi, guarded it themselves, studied it and taught others to study it.

“By the merit of this rejoicing, Brahmadatta later became a buddha named Dṛḍhavīrya, a Tathāgata, an Arhat and a Samyaksaṃbuddha. The thousand bhikṣus subsequently attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi and became fully awakened buddhas, all bearing the name Dṛḍhaśūra, each a Tathāgata, an Arhat and a Samyaksaṃbuddha. They taught incalculable people, causing them all to seek the way of the Buddha.”

佛告跋陀和：「何人聞是三昧不助歡喜者？
何人不學者？何人不為他人說者？何人不
守者？」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “Who, on hearing this samādhi, would not rejoice in it? Who would not study it? Who would not expound it to others? Who would not guard it?”

佛告跋陀和：「若有菩薩守是三昧者
疾逮得佛。跋陀和！若有菩薩在四十里
外聞有持是三昧者，菩薩聞之便當行
求往到其所。但得聞知有是三昧常當

求之，何況乃得聞學者？若去百里者、若遠
四千里，聞有持是三昧者當行學到其所，
但得聞知，何況乃得聞學者？」

The Buddha said to Bhadrapāla: “If a bodhisattva guards this samādhi, he swiftly attains buddhahood.

“Bhadrapāla, if a bodhisattva hears that forty li away there is someone who holds this samādhi, then as soon as he hears this he should set out in search of that person and go to where he is. Even when he has merely heard that this samādhi exists, he should constantly seek it. How much more should he do so when he hears of someone who is studying it?

“Whether that person is a hundred li away or as far as four thousand li, if the bodhisattva hears that someone holds this samādhi, he should set out and go to where that person is in order to study it. If he should go even when he has merely heard and learned of its existence, how much more should he do so when he hears of someone who is studying it?”

佛言：「去人遠
者常當自行求，何況去人十里、二十里，聞
有持是三昧者不行求學？跋陀和！若有
菩薩聞是三昧，欲行至彼聞求是三昧
者，當承事其師十歲、百歲，悉具足供養占
視。是菩薩不得自用，當隨其師教，常當念
師恩。」

The Buddha said: “Even when the person is far away, one should always set out personally to seek him. How much more, if he is only ten li or twenty li away, could one hear that someone holds this samādhi and fail to go seek and study it?

“Bhadrapāla, if a bodhisattva hears of this samādhi and wishes to travel there to hear and seek it, he should serve his teacher for ten years or a hundred years, making all necessary offerings and attending upon him. This bodhisattva must not follow his own will. He should follow his teacher’s instruction and constantly remember his teacher’s kindness.”

佛言：「我故相為說之，若菩薩聞有
是三昧處去四千里者欲往到其所，設不
得聞是三昧者。」

The Buddha said: “It is for this reason that I teach this for your sake. Consider a bodhisattva who hears that this samādhi is taught at a place four thousand li away, wishes to go there and yet does not succeed in hearing it.”

佛言：「我告若曹，其人用
精進行求故終不復失佛道，會自致作佛。
見不？跋陀和！菩薩聞是三昧，念欲求不離，
其得利甚尊。」

The Buddha said: “I tell you all: because that person diligently set out in search of this samādhi, he will never again lose the way of the Buddha and will certainly attain buddhahood for himself.

“Do you see this, Bhadrapāla? When a bodhisattva hears of this samādhi and resolves to seek it without ever abandoning it, the benefit he gains is exceedingly great.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

At that time the Buddha spoke these verses, saying:

「我念過去有如來，人中尊號私訶末，

爾時有王典主人，至於彼佛聞三昧。

至意黠慧聽此經，心悅無量奉持法，

即以珍寶散其上，供師子意人中尊。

心念如是而歎言：『我身於此當來世，

奉行佛教不敢缺，亦當逮得是三昧。』

用是福願壽終後，輒復來還生王家，

爾時見尊大比丘，號曰珍寶智博達。

應時從聞是三昧，踊躍歡喜即受持，

供以好物若千億，珍寶、妙衣用道故。

即與千人除鬚髮，來志樂求是三昧，

同時具足八千歲，常隨比丘不捨離。

一反得聞不復二，是三昧者譬如海，

執持經卷諷誦說，其所生處聞三昧。

用積累是功德故，當見諸佛大神通，

其所具足八萬歲，所見諸佛輒供養。

曾值諸佛六萬億，加復供養六千尊，

聞所說法大歡喜，然後得見師子佛。

蒙此功德生王家，見佛號曰堅精進，

化無數億諸人民，度脫一切生死惱。

諷誦學是法以後，便復見佛名堅勇，

天上世間誦其稱，聞三昧聲得作佛。

何況受持誦說者？於眾世界無所著，

廣宣分流是三昧，未曾疑忘於佛道。

此三昧經真佛語，設聞遠方有是經，

用道法故往聽受，一心諷誦不忘捨。

假使往求不得聞，其功德福不可盡，

無能稱量其德義，何況聞已即受持？

設有欲求是三昧，當念往時彼梵達，

教習奉行莫退轉，比丘得經當如是。」

“I recall that in the past there was a Tathāgata,
The Honoured One among humans named Siṃhamati.
At that time there was a king who ruled the people;
He went to that Buddha and heard this samādhi.

“With utmost sincerity and keen wisdom he listened to this sūtra;
His heart rejoiced beyond measure, and he upheld the Dharma.
He scattered precious jewels over the Buddha,
Making offerings to Siṃhamati, the Honoured One among humans.

“He formed this thought and proclaimed:
‘In a future age, with this very body,
I shall practise the Buddha’s teaching, never daring to neglect it,
And I too shall attain this samādhi.’

“Through the merit of this vow, when his life ended,
He returned and was reborn in a royal household.
At that time he saw a venerable bhikṣu,
Named Ratnin, whose wisdom was vast and penetrating.

“At the proper time he heard this samādhi from him;
Leaping with joy, he immediately received and upheld it.
For the sake of the way he offered fine things worth a thousand koṭis,
Precious jewels and wondrous robes.

“Together with a thousand others he shaved his hair and beard,
Resolutely delighting in the search for this samādhi.
For a full eight thousand years
They constantly followed the bhikṣu and never left him.

“They succeeded in hearing it once, but not a second time;
This samādhi is like the ocean.
They held the sūtra-scroll, reciting and expounding it;
Wherever they were born, they heard this samādhi.

“Because they accumulated this merit,
They saw the buddhas and their great spiritual powers.
Throughout a full eighty thousand years,
Whenever they saw buddhas, they made offerings to them.

“They encountered sixty thousand koṭis of buddhas,
And in addition made offerings to six thousand Honoured Ones.
Hearing the Dharma they taught, they rejoiced greatly;
Afterward they saw the Buddha Siṃhamati.

“Through this merit he was born into a royal household,
And saw the Buddha Dṛḍhavīrya,
Who taught countless koṭis of people,
Delivering them all from the afflictions of birth and death.

“After reciting and studying this Dharma,
He then saw the Buddha Dṛḍhaśūra.
His renown was proclaimed throughout heaven and the world;
On hearing the sound of this samādhi, he attained buddhahood.

“How much more so those who receive, uphold, recite and expound it?
Throughout the many worlds they are attached to nothing.
They widely proclaim and spread this samādhi,
Never doubting or forgetting the way of the Buddha.

“This samādhi-sūtra is truly the word of the Buddha.
If you hear that this sūtra exists in a distant place,
For the sake of the Dharma and the way, go there to hear and receive it;
Recite it single-mindedly, never forgetting or abandoning it.

“Even if you go in search of it but fail to hear it,
Your merit and blessings will be inexhaustible.
No one could measure the worth of such merit;
How much more that of one who hears it and immediately upholds it?

“Whoever wishes to seek this samādhi
Should remember Brahmadatta of old.
Teach it, study it and practise it without turning back;
Thus should a bhikṣu who obtains this sūtra conduct himself.”

至誠佛品第十五

Chapter Fifteen: The Buddha Satyanāma

佛言：「乃往昔時復有佛，名薩遮那摩怛薩阿
竭、阿羅訶、三耶三佛。時有比丘名和輪，其
佛般泥洹後，是比丘持是三昧。我爾時作
國王剎利種，於夢中聞是三昧，覺已便行
求持是三昧比丘，即從作沙門欲得。於是
比丘所一反聞是三昧，承事師三萬六千
歲，魔事數數起不得一反聞。」

The Buddha said: “Long ago, in a former age, there was another buddha named Satyanāma, a Tathāgata, an Arhat and a Samyaksaṃbuddha.

“At that time there was a bhikṣu named Varuṇa. Following that buddha’s parinirvāṇa, this bhikṣu held this samādhi. At that time I was a king of the kṣatriya caste. In a dream I heard of this samādhi, and upon waking I immediately set out in search of the bhikṣu who held it. I became a śramaṇa under him, wishing to obtain this samādhi and to hear it from him even once.

“I served my teacher for thirty-six thousand years. Yet acts of Māra arose repeatedly, and I did not succeed in hearing this samādhi even once.”

佛告比丘、比
丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷：「我故語若曹，若曹當疾
取是三昧，無得忘失。善承事其師，持是三
昧至一劫，若百劫、若千劫，莫得有懈惓，
趣當得是三昧。守善師不離，若飲食、資用、
衣被、床臥、千萬珍寶以用上師，供養於師
無所愛惜；設無有者當行乞食給師，趣

當得是三昧莫厭。」

The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus, the bhikṣuṇīs, the upāsakas and the upāsikās: “For this reason I tell you: you should swiftly take up this samādhi and must not forget or lose it.

“Serve your teacher well and uphold this samādhi. Whether for one kalpa, a hundred kalpas or a thousand kalpas, you must not become indolent or weary. Devote yourselves solely to attaining this samādhi. Remain with the good teacher and do not leave him.

“Provide the teacher with food and drink, necessary provisions, clothing and coverings, beds and bedding and precious treasures by the thousand and myriad. In making offerings to the teacher, hold nothing back. If you possess none of these things, you should go on the alms-round to provide for the teacher. Devote yourselves solely to attaining this samādhi and never grow weary.”

佛言：「置是所供養者，此
不足言耳，常當自割其肌供養於善師，常
不愛惜身，何況其餘？當承事善師如奴
事大夫，求是三昧者當如是。得是三昧
已當堅持，常當念師恩。」

The Buddha said: “Set aside those offerings, for they are not even worth speaking of. He should always be prepared to cut his own flesh and offer it to the good teacher. He should never cherish his own body, how much less anything else?

“He should serve the good teacher as a slave serves his master. One who seeks this samādhi should act in this way. Having attained this samādhi, he should uphold it firmly and always remain mindful of the teacher’s kindness.”

佛言：「是三昧難得
值，正使求是三昧至百億劫，但欲得聞
其名聲不能得聞，何況得學者、轉復行教
人？正使如恒邊沙佛剎，滿其中珍寶持用
布施，其福寧多不？不如書是三昧持經卷
者，其福極不可計。」

The Buddha said: “This samādhi is difficult to encounter. Even if one were to seek this samādhi for a hundred koṭis of kalpas, merely wishing to hear its name, one would still be unable to hear it. How much less could one succeed in studying it, then in turn practise it and teach it to others?

“Suppose that buddha-fields as numerous as the sands of the Ganges were filled with precious treasures and these were all given in generosity. Would that merit not be great? Yet it would not equal the merit of one who writes out this samādhi and preserves the sūtra-scroll, for that merit is utterly beyond calculation.”

佛爾時頌偈言：

The Buddha then spoke these verses, saying:

「我自識念往世時，其數具足六萬歲，

常隨法師不捨離，初不得聞是三昧。

有佛號曰其至誠，時知比丘名和輪，

彼佛世尊泥曰後，比丘常持是三昧。

我時為王君子種，夢中逮聞是三昧，

和輪比丘有斯經，王當從受此定意。

從夢覺已即往求，輒見比丘持三昧，

即除鬚髮作沙門，學八千歲一時聞。

其數具足八萬歲，供養奉事此比丘，

時魔因緣數興起，初未曾得一反聞。

是故，比丘、比丘尼、及清信士、清信女，

持是經法囑汝等，聞是三昧疾受行。

常敬習持是法師，具足一劫無得懈，

勿難千億用道故，當得聞是法三昧。

衣服、床臥若千億，比丘家家行乞食，

以用供養於法師，精進如是得三昧。

燈火、飲食所當得，金、銀、珍寶供養具，

尚當自割其肌肉，以用供養況飲食？

明者得法疾持行，受學經卷有反復，

是三昧者難得值，億那術劫常當求。

所周旋處聞是法，當普宣視諸學者，

假使億千那術劫，求是三昧難得聞。

設令世界如恒沙，滿中珍寶用布施，

若有受是一偈說，敬誦功德過於彼。」

“I myself recall a former age:
For fully sixty thousand years,
I constantly followed a teacher of the Dharma and never left him,
Yet I never succeeded in hearing this samādhi.

“There was a buddha named Satyanāma;
At that time there was a bhikṣu named Varuṇa.
After that buddha, the World-Honoured One, passed into nirvāṇa,
The bhikṣu constantly upheld this samādhi.

“At that time I was a king, born into the kṣatriya lineage;
In a dream I came to hear of this samādhi:
‘The bhikṣu Varuṇa possesses this sūtra.
O King, you should receive this samādhi from him.’

“Upon waking from the dream, I immediately went to seek him,
And at once found the bhikṣu who upheld the samādhi.
I shaved off my hair and beard and became a śramaṇa;
After studying for eight thousand years, I heard it once.

“For a full eighty thousand years
I made offerings to this bhikṣu and served him.
At that time conditions caused by Māra repeatedly arose;
I never once succeeded in hearing it.

“Therefore, bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs,
Men and women of pure faith,
I entrust this sūtra teaching to you.
When you hear this samādhi, swiftly receive and practise it.

“Always honour the Dharma teacher who studies and upholds it.
For a full kalpa, do not grow weary.
For the sake of the Way, do not regard even a thousand koṭis of kalpas as a hardship;
You shall come to hear this Dharma, this samādhi.

“Offer clothing and bedding by the thousand koṭis.
A bhikṣu should go begging from house to house
And use what he receives to make offerings to the Dharma teacher.
Through diligence such as this, one attains the samādhi.

“Whatever lamps, food and drink you obtain,
Gold, silver and precious treasures, prepare them all as offerings.
You should even cut flesh from your own body
And use it as an offering, how much more food and drink?

“The wise, having obtained the Dharma, swiftly uphold and practise it;
When they receive and study the sūtra-scroll, they requite the kindness shown them.
This samādhi is difficult to encounter;
Through a koṭi of nayutas of kalpas, one should constantly seek it.

“Wherever you travel and hear this Dharma,
You should proclaim it widely to all who seek to learn.
Even if one sought this samādhi
For a thousand koṭis of nayutas of kalpas, it would be difficult to hear.

“Suppose worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges
Were filled with precious treasures and given in generosity.
If someone received this samādhi and expounded even a single verse,
The merit of reverently reciting it would surpass that gift.”

佛印品第十六

Chapter Sixteen: The Buddha’s Seal

佛於是語跋陀和：「若有菩薩聞是三昧，聞
者當助歡喜、當學、得學者持佛威神使得
學、當好書是三昧著素上、當得佛印印、
當善供養。何等為佛印？所識不當行，無
所貪、無所求、無所想、無所著、無所願、
無所向生、無所適、無所生、無所有、無
所取、無所顧、無所往、無所礙、無所
有、無所結、所有盡、所欲盡、無所從生、
無所滅、無所壞、無所敗。道要道本是
印中，阿羅漢、辟支佛不能壞、不能敗、不
能缺；愚癡者便疑是印，是印是為佛印。」

The Buddha then said to Bhadrapāla: “If bodhisattvas hear this samādhi, upon hearing it they should rejoice in it and study it. Those who get to study it are enabled to do so by the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might. They should write out a fine copy of this samādhi on plain silk, obtain the Buddha’s seal, seal the copy with it and make proper offerings to it.

“What is the Buddha’s seal? Whatever is cognised is not to be acted upon. There is nothing craved, nothing sought, nothing conceived, nothing clung to, nothing wished for, no orientation towards rebirth, no destination, no arising, no existence, nothing grasped, nothing looked back upon, no going, no obstruction, no existence and no fetter. All that exists is exhausted and all desire is exhausted. Nothing arises from anywhere, nothing ceases, nothing is destroyed and nothing perishes.

“The essence of the Way and the root of the Way are within this seal. Arhats and pratyekabuddhas cannot break it, cannot ruin it and cannot impair it. The foolish, however, doubt this seal. This seal is the Buddha’s seal.”

佛言：「今我說是三昧時，千八百億諸天、阿須
輪、鬼神、龍、人民皆得須陀洹道；八百比丘
皆得阿羅漢道；五百比丘尼皆得阿羅漢道；
萬菩薩皆逮得是三昧、皆逮得無所從生
法樂、於中立；萬二千菩薩不復還。」

The Buddha said: “Now, as I expound this samādhi, one thousand eight hundred koṭis of devas, asuras, ghosts and spirits, nāgas and human beings all attain the path of stream entry; eight hundred bhikṣus all attain the path of arhatship; five hundred bhikṣuṇīs all attain the path of arhatship; ten thousand bodhisattvas all attain this samādhi, all attain the joy of the Dharma of non-arising and become established therein; twelve thousand bodhisattvas will never again regress.”

佛語舍
利弗羅、摩目犍連、比丘阿難、跋陀和菩薩、
羅隣那竭菩薩、憍曰兜菩薩、那羅達菩薩、
須深菩薩、摩訶須薩和菩薩、因坻達菩薩、和
輪調菩薩。佛言：「我從無央數劫求佛道以
來，今以得作佛，持是經囑累若曹，學、
誦、持守無得忘失。若有，跋陀和！菩薩學是
三昧者，當具足安諦學。其欲聞者當具

聞，為他人說者當具說。」

The Buddha addressed Śāriputra, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, the bhikṣu Ānanda, the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva Ratnākara, the bodhisattva Guhyagupta, the bodhisattva Naradatta, the bodhisattva Susīma, the bodhisattva Mahāsusārthavāha, the bodhisattva Indradatta and the bodhisattva Varuṇadeva. The Buddha said: “For innumerable kalpas I have sought the way of the Buddha, and now I have attained buddhahood. I entrust this sūtra to you. Study it, recite it, uphold it and guard it. Do not forget or lose it.

“Bhadrapāla, bodhisattvas who study this samādhi should study it completely, calmly and carefully. Those who wish to hear it should hear it in full, and those who expound it to others should expound it in full.”

佛說經已，跋陀
和菩薩等，舍利弗羅、摩目犍連、比丘阿難
等，諸天、阿須輪、龍、鬼神、人民皆大歡喜，前
為佛作禮而去。

When the Buddha had finished expounding the sūtra, the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla and the other bodhisattvas, Śāriputra, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, the bhikṣu Ānanda and the others, together with the devas, asuras, nāgas, spirits and human beings, all rejoiced greatly. They came forward, paid homage to the Buddha and departed.