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Chapter XXIII
The Superior Position of Bodhisattvas
When the sun rises, free from clouds and one blaze of rays,
Having dispelled the entire blinding and confusing darkness,
It outshines all animals such as glowworms,
And also all the hosts of the stars, and the lustre of the moon.
Just so the wise Bodhisattva, who courses in wisdom, the foremost perfection:
Having destroyed the jungle of views,
The Bodhisattva who courses in emptiness and the signless
Very much surpasses the whole world, as well as the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas.
The Simile of the King and the Crown Prince
Just as the son of a king, a giver of wealth, desiring the welfare [of others],
Becomes a person of authority among all, much sought after.
For even now he makes [many] beings happy,
How much more so when he will be established as the resourceful [ruler] of the kingdom!
Just so the wise Bodhisattva, who courses in wisdom,
A donor of the deathless, dear to gods and men.
Already now he is interested in the happiness of [many] beings,
How much more so when he will be established as king of the Dharma!
Chapter XXIV
How Mara is Discomforted and Defeated
But Mara at that time becomes like one who feels a thorn in his flesh,
Afflicted with sorrow, miserable, displeased, of little stamina.
[He manifests] a conflagration on the horizon, he hurls a meteor, in order to cause fear,
'How can this Bodhisattva be made to become despondent in his mind!'
When the wise become resolutely intent,
Day and night beholding the meaning of wisdom, the foremost perfection,
Then their bodies, thoughts and speech become [free] like a bird in the sky.
How can the Kinsman of Darkness gain entrance to them?
What Makes Mara Contented
When a Bodhisattva has taken to quarrels and disputes,
And when the thoughts [of two Bodhisattvas] become mutually conflicting and angry,
Then Mara becomes contented, and supremely elated, [thinking:]
'Both these remain far distant from the cognition of the Jinas.
Both these remain far distant [from it], comparable to malignant demons;
Both these will effect for themselves a waning of their pledge.
Those who are full of hate, deficient in patience, how can they have enlightenment?' -
Then Mara becomes contented, together with his host.
The Bodhisattva's Pride and Repentance
If a Bodhisattva who has not had his prediction
Should have angry thoughts for one who has had it, and should bring about a dispute:
For as many moments as he persists in his obstinate faulty thoughts,
For so many aeons he must again put on the armour.
Then he sets up mindfulness, and [he reflects], 'These are unwholesome thoughts;
By means of the perfection of patience do the Buddhas experience enlightenment.'
He confesses his fault, and afterwards he restrains himself,
Or he desists, and trains himself in this Buddha-dharma.
Chapter XXV
How a Bodhisattva Is Trained
When he trains himself, he does not anywhere approach a training,
Nor does he get at one who trains, or at the dharmas which [constitute] training.
Who trains himself, without discriminating between both, - training and no-training, -
He trains himself in this Buddha-dharma.
The Bodhisattva who thus cognizes this training,
He does not ever become deficient in training, or immoral.
Having found pleasure in them, he trains himself in these Buddha-dharmas.
He trains himself, skilful in [the superior] training, but without apprehending anything,
When they train thus in wisdom, to the wise shedders of light
Not even one single thought arises that is unwholesome:
As when the sun goes through the sky, before the impact of its rays
No darkness can maintain itself in the intermediate space.
Perfect Wisdom Comprehends All the Perfections
For those who have effected a training in the perfection of wisdom
All the [other] perfections are comprehended in it.
As in the false view of individuality all the sixty-two false views
Are included, so are these perfections [included in the perfection of wisdom].
As when the life faculty has been stopped
Also all the other faculties that may exist are stopped:
Just so, when the best of the wise course in wisdom,
All these perfections have been said to be therein comprehended.
Bodhisattvas and Disciples
In all the qualities of the Disciples and likewise of the Pratyekabuddhas,
The wise Bodhisattva becomes trained:
But he does not stand in them, nor does he long for them.
'In that [also] should I be trained,' [he thinks].
In that sense he trains himself [in them].
Chapter XXVI
Rejoicing and Perfect Wisdom
If someone resolutely rejoices in the productions of thought
[Of a Bodhisattva who] has set out for the best enlightenment and is irreversible [from it];
One might [measure] the Merus in up to a trichiliocosm by comparing them [with a tip of straw],
But not that merit derived from rejoicing.
They rejoice at the heap of merit of all beings that there are,
Who desire what is wholesome, land] who want emancipation.
When for the weal of beings they have reached the infinite qualities of a Jina,
They will give the Dharma to the world for the complete extinction of suffering.
The Bodhisattva who, not discriminating, comprehends
All dharmas as empty, signless and unimpeded,
Without any dualism he seeks in wisdom for enlightenment.
Devoted to the foremost perfection of wisdom is that Yogin.
The Simile of Space and the Firmament
An obstruction of the space-element by the firmament
Cannot be found anywhere by anyone.
Just so the wise Bodhisattva, coursing in wisdom,
Is just like open space, and he courses calmly quiet.
The Simile of the People Created by Magic
As it does not occur to a man whom a magician has conjured up [when he looks at the audience]:
'I will please those people,' and nevertheless he performs his work;
They see him exhibiting manifold illusory works,
Although he has no body, thought, or name.
Just so it never occurs to one who courses in wisdom:
'Having known enlightenment I will set free the world!'
In his various rebirths he is associated with manifold works,
Which he manifests like magical illusions, but he does not course in false discrimination.
The Simile of the Buddha's Magical Creations
As a Buddha's magical creation performs a Buddha's work,
But, when he does so, no thought of self-conceit arises in him:
Just so the wise Bodhisattva, who courses in wisdom,
Manifests all works, comparable to a fictitious magical illusion.
The Simile of the Machine
An expert and experienced mason has made a wooden apparatus;
Comparable to a man or a woman it performs here all its works.
Just so the wise Bodhisattva, coursing in wisdom,
Performs all his work by his cognition, but without discrimination.
Chapter XXVII
The Bodhisattva Worthy of Homage
To the wise, who courses thus, many congregations of gods,
Having bent forth their outstretched hands, in respectful salutation, will pay homage.
The Buddhas also, as many as there are in the world-systems in the ten directions,
Effect the proclamation of the garland of the praises of his qualities.
Mara Is Powerless against Certain Bodhisattvas
If as many beings as there are in the fields countless like the sands of the Ganges
Would all, let us assume, become Maras;
And if every single hair on their bodies would again magically create a snare,
They all could not hinder the wise.
For four reasons does the powerful and wise Bodhisattva
Become unassailable by the four Maras, [and] unshakable:
He becomes one who dwells in the empty; and yet he is not one who abandons beings;
He acts as he speaks; he is sustained by the Sugatas.
The True Attitude to Suchness
The Bodhisattva who resolutely believes when this perfection of wisdom,
The mother of the Tathagatas, is being taught,
And who practises the progressive path with resolution,
He should be known as having well set out towards all-knowledge.
But he does not come to a standing place in the Suchness of the Dharma-element.
He becomes as one who, like a cloud, stands in the sky without anywhere to stand on,
As a sorcerer who, like a bird, rides on the wind which offers him no support,
Or as one who, by the force of his spells, miraculously produces on a tree full-blown flowers out of season.
The Bodhisattva Dwells Supreme
The wise and learned Bodhisattva who courses thus
Does not get at one who wakes up to enlightenment, nor also at the Buddha-dharmas,
Nor at one who demonstrates, nor also at one who loves and sees the Dharma.
This is the dwelling of those who desire calm, of those who delight in the precious qualities.
As many as there are the dwellings of Disciples and Pratyekabuddilas,
Associated with the peace and happiness of calm concentration:
With the exception of the Arhat-liberation of the Tathagatas
This dwelling is among all the foremost and the unsurpassed.
How and Why One Should Dwell in Emptiness
A bird dwells in space, but does not fall down.
A fish dwells amidst water, but does not die.
Just so the Bodhisattva who through the trances and powers has gone beyond,
Dwells in the empty, but does not reach the Blessed Rest.
One who wants to go to the summit of the qualities of all beings,
To experience the best, the exceedingly wonderful, Buddha-cognition,
To give the best gift of the highest and supreme Dharma,
He should resort to this best dwelling of those who bring benefit.
Chapter XXVIII
Who Trains in Perfect Wisdom Trains in Buddhahood
Of all the trainings which have been revealed by the Leader,
This teaching is the best and unsurpassed.
One who, wise in all trainings, wishes to go Beyond,
He should train in this perfection of wisdom, in the Buddha-training.
Inexhaustibility of Perfect Wisdom
This is the best receptacle, the storehouse of the supreme Dharma,
The treasury of happiness and ease of those people who belong to the clan of the Buddhas.
The past and future world saviours, [and those who are at present] in the ten directions,
They have come forth from this, and yet the Dharma-element does not get exhausted.
As many trees, fruits, flowers and forest trees as there are,
They all have come out of the earth and originate in it.
And yet the earth does not undergo exhaustion, or growth,
It does not get tired, does not dwindle away, making no discrimination.
The Buddha's offspring, the Disciples and Pratyekabuddhas,
The gods, and the dharmas which lead to the ease and happiness of all the world, - as many as there are,
They all have issued from wisdom, the foremost perfection,
And yet wisdom does not ever get exhausted, nor does it increase.
As many beings as there are in the low, middle and high [regions of the] world,
They have all, so has the Sugata said, been brought about by ignorance.
The machinery of ill is kept going by the full complement of the conditions,
And yet the machinery of ignorance does not get exhausted, nor does it grow.
As many roots of skilful devices as there are, or doors and methods of cognition,
They all have issued from wisdom, the foremost perfection.
The machinery of cognition is kept going by the full complement of conditions,
And yet the perfection of wisdom does not increase or become diminished.
Conditioned Coproduction
But the Bodhisattva who understands conditioned coproduction as non-production
And this wisdom as non-extinction:
As the rays of the sun freed from the covering of the clouds,
So he has dispelled the covering of ignorance, and become one Self-Existent.
Chapter XXIX
The Perfection of Concentration
Those of great might who dwell in the four Trances
Do not make them into a place to settle down in, nor into a home.
But these four Trances, with their limbs, will in their turn become
The basis for the attainment of the supreme and unsurpassed enlightenment.
One who is established in the Trances becomes one who obtains the foremost wisdom;
And also when he experiences the four most excellent Formless Trances,
He makes these Trances subservient to the best and foremost enlightenment.
But it is not for the extinction of the outflows that the Bodhisattva trains himself in these.
Astonishing and wonderful is this accumulation of precious qualities.
When they have dwelled in Trance and Concentration, there is then no sign.
When the personality of those who have stood therein breaks up,
They are reborn again in the world of sense-desire, as [and where] they had intended.
As some man from Jambudvipa who had in the past been a god,
Would, after reaching again the highest abodes of the gods,
See the apartments contained in them
And would then again come back, and not make his home therein;
Just so those Bodhisattvas, bearers of the best qualities,
Having dwelt in Trance and Concentration, Yogins who have exerted themselves,
Become again established in the sense-world, unstained
As the lotus in water, independent of the dharmas of the fools.
Except in order to mature beings, to purify the [Buddha-] field,
To fulfil these perfections, the Great-souled ones
Do not strive after rebirth in the formless world,
Lest there be a loss of the perfections and of the qualities of enlightenment therein.
It is as if some man, having found a deposit of jewels,
Would not generate longing in his intelligence with regard to it.
At some other time he may acquire a few of them;
Having taken hold of them, having entered his home, he would not be covetous [for any more?].
Just so the wise Bodhisattvas who have gained
The calm concentration of the four Trances, which gives joy and ease,
Having let go the acquisition of the joy and ease of Trance and concentration,
They enter again into the sensuous world, compassionate for all that lives.
When a Bodhisattva dwells in the concentration of the Trances,
He generates no longing in his intelligence for the vehicle of the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas:
[For then] he becomes unconcentrated, in his thought distracted and puffed up,
He has lost the qualities of a Buddha, a sailor who suffers shipwreck.
Although he applies himself to the five sense-qualities, -
To form and sound, and likewise smell, and taste, and touch,
When free from the vehicle of the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas, the joyous Bodhisattva
Should, a hero, be wisely known as being constantly concentrated.
The Perfection of Vigour
They have pure and courageous minds and are linked to other beings and persons,
[When] they are practising the excellent perfection of Vigour.
As a maid servant is submissive to her master who is not subject to anyone else,
So do the firmly wise submit to subjection by all beings.
The servant does not answer back to her master,
Even when abused, struck, or beaten.
Exceedingly trembling in mind, and overcome by fear,
She thinks, 'He surely will kill me for that!'
Just so the Bodhisattva who has set out for the foremost enlightenment,
Should behave towards the entire world like a true servant.
Thereupon he obtains enlightenment, and the fulfilment of the qualities takes place.
Fire, which has arisen from grass and sticks, [then] burns them up.
Having renounced a happy destiny for himself,
Practising his duty towards other beings, day and night, in his thought free from hesitation:
Like a mother, ministering to [her] only child,
He abides in his resolute intention unexhausted.
Chapter XXX
The Perfection of Vigour (Continued)
The Bodhisattva who intends to wander about in birth-and-death for [a] long [time],
A Yogin devoted to the purification of the [Buddha-] field for the welfare of beings,
And who does not produce the least thought of fatigue,
He is endowed with the perfection of vigour, and undaunted.
If the unwise Bodhisattva counts the kotis of aeons,
And has the notion that it is long until the full attainment of enlightenment, he is bound to suffer,
And for a long time he will be suffering while moving unto Dharma.
Therefore he is inferior in the perfection of vigour, and essentially indolent.
Beginning with the production of the first thought of the foremost enlightenment,
Until in the end he reaches the unsurpassed Bliss,
If night and day he would persevere single-mindedly,
The wise and learned should be known as one who has put forth vigour.
If someone would say, 'On condition that you have shattered Mount Sumeru,
You will be one who will attain to the foremost enlightenment,'
And if he [then] effects a thought of fatigue or limitation [to his efforts],
Then that Bodhisattva is affected by indolence.
But when there arises to him the mindful thought, 'That is nothing difficult.
In a mere moment Sumeru [will] break up into dust,'
Then the wise Bodhisattva becomes one who puts forth vigour.
Before long he will attain the foremost enlightenment of the Leaders.
If he would exert himself with body, thought and speech, [thinking]
'Having matured [it] I will work the weal of the world,'
Then, established in the notion of a self, he is affected by indolence.
He is as far distant from the meditational development of not-self as the sky is from the ground.
When one has no notion of either body, or thought, or a being,
Standing rid of perception, coursing in the non-dual Dharma,
That has been called by Him who bestows benefits the perfection of vigour
Of those who desire the blissful, imperishable, foremost enlightenment.
The Perfection of Patience
When he hears someone else speaking to him harshly and offensively
The wise Bodhisattva remains quite at ease and contented.
[He thinks: I 'Who speaks? Who hears? How, to whom, by whom?'
The discerning is [then] devoted to the foremost perfection of patience.
If a Bodhisattva, devoted to the precious Dharma, remains patient, -
And if someone else would give the trichiliocosm filled with precious things
To the Buddhas, Knowers of the world, and to the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas, -
Infinitesimal only will be [by comparison] the merit from that heap of gifts.
The personality of one who is established in patience is completely purified,
Exalted by the thirty-two marks, [it becomes] boundless.
He preaches the best empty Dharma to beings.
Dear to the entire world do the patient and discerning become.
If someone had taken a basket containing sandalwood power,
And, with respect and affection, strewed it over the Bodhisattva;
And if a second one were to throw live coals over his head, -
He should produce a mind equal to both of them.
Having thus been patient, the wise and learned Bodhisattva
Dedicates that production of thought to the foremost enlightenment.
The hero who remains patient in all the worlds, surpasses
Whatever Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas there may be in the world of beings.
Again, one who is patient should produce a thought [thus]
'In the hells, in the world of animals and in the Yama world there are many ills.
With the sense-pleasures as cause one must experience much that causes displeasure.
Better, for the sake of enlightenment, to be patient today!'
'Whip, stick, sword, murder, imprisonment, and blows,
Decapitation, and amputation of ears, hands and feet, and of nose,
As many ills as there are in the world, [all] that I [will] endure,'
[When he thinks thus, then] the Bodhisattva stands in the perfection of patience.
Chapter XXXI
The Perfection of Morality
By morality those who hanker after calm are lifted up,
Established in the sphere of those with the ten powers, unbroken in their morality.
How ever many actions of restraint they comply with,
They dedicate them to enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.
If he generates a longing for the enlightenment of Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas,
He becomes immoral, unwise, and likewise faulty in his coursing.
But when one turns over [all one's merit] into the utmost Bliss of enlightenment,
Then one is established in the perfection of morality, [although] joined to the sense-qualities.
The Dharma from which come the qualities of the enlightenment of the Gentle,
That is the object of the morality of those who are endowed with the qualities of Dharma.
The Dharma which [involves] the loss of the qualities of the enlightenment of those who act for the weal of the world,
As immorality has that been proclaimed by the Leader.
When a Bodhisattva tastes of the five sense-qualities,
But has gone for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the holy Sangha
And has turned his attention towards all-knowledge, [thinking] 'I will become a Buddha,' -
As established in the perfection of morality should that discerning one be known.
If, when coursing for kotis of aeons in the ten paths of wholesome action,
He engenders a longing for Arhatship or Pratyekabuddhahood,
Then he becomes one whose morality is broken, and faulty in his morality.
Weightier than an offence deserving expulsion is such a production of thought.
When he guards morality, he turns [the resulting merit] over to the foremost enlightenment,
But he does not feel conceited about that, nor does he exalt himself.
When he has got rid of the notion of I and the notion of other beings,
Established in the perfection of morality is that Bodhisattva called.
If a Bodhisattva, coursing in the path of the Jinas,
Makes [a difference between] these beings as observers of morality and those as of bad morality,
Intent on the perception of multiplicity he is perfectly immoral.
He is faulty in his morality, not perfectly pure in it.
He who has no notion of I and no notion of a being,
He has performed the withdrawal from perception, [and] he has no [need for] restraint.
One who minds neither about restraint nor about non-restraint,
He has been proclaimed by the Leader as restrained by morality.
The Perfection of Giving
But one who, endowed with morality, a pure being,
Becomes unconcerned about anything that may be dear or unclear,
If, when he renounces head, hands and feet his thought remains undejected,
He becomes one who gives up all he has, always uncowed.
And having known the essential original nature of dharmas as void and without self,
He would renounce his own flesh, undejected in thought,
To say nothing of his renouncing of property and gold.
It is impossible that he should act from meanness.
Through the notion of I comes about a sense of ownership about property, as well as greed;
How can the deluded have the resolve to renunciation?
The mean are reborn in the world of the Pretas,
Or if as humans, then they are poor.
Then the Bodhisattva, having understood why these beings are poverty-stricken,
Becomes resolved on giving, always a generous giver.
When he has given away the four Continents, well adorned, as if they were just spittle,
He becomes elated, for he has not kept the Continents.
Having given gifts, the wise and learned Bodhisattva,
Having brought to mind all the beings that there are in the triple world,
Becomes to all of them a donor, and he turns over
That gift into the most excellent enlightenment, for the weal of the world.
When he has given a gift, he does not make it into a basis or support.
And he does never expect any reward from it.
Having thus renounced, he becomes a wise renouncer of all.
The little he has renounced becomes much and immeasurable.
If all the beings in the entire triple world, as many as there are
Would, let us assume, give gifts for endless aeons,
To the Buddhas, Knowers of the world, to Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas,
But would wish for the virtues of the Disciples;
And if a Bodhisattva, wise and skilled in means,
Would rejoice at the foundation of their meritorious deed,
And would, for the weal of beings, turn it over into the best and most excellent enlightenment, -
By having turned over he surpasses the [merit of the] entire world.
If there were a large heap of spurious glass jewels,
One single gem of lapis lazuli surpasses it all:
Just so the Bodhisattva, who rejoices, surpasses
The [merit from the] whole vast heap of gifts of the entire world.
If the Bodhisattva, when giving gifts to the world
Remains unaffected by a sense of ownership or by affection for his property,
From that his wholesome root grows into something of great might:
As the moon, in the absence of cloud, is a circle of radiant light in the bright half of the lunar month.
Chapter XXXII
Rewards of the Six Perfections
Through Giving a Bodhisattva cuts off rebirth as a Preta.
He also cuts off poverty, and likewise all the defilements.
When he courses in it [i.e. giving] he gains infinite and abundant wealth.
Through [his] giving he matures beings in trouble.
Through Morality he avoids rebirth as one of the many animals,
And also the eight untoward moments; he constantly gains rebirth at an auspicious moment.
Through Patience he gains a perfect and exalted body,
With golden skin, dear to the world to look at.
Through Vigour he does not incur the loss of the bright qualities.
He gains the storehouse of the infinite cognition of the Jinas.
Through Trance he casts off the sense-qualities in disgust,
He acquires the "lore," the superknowledges and concentrations.
Having, through Wisdom, comprehended the essential original nature of dharmas,
He completely transcends the triple world and the states of woe.
Having turned the precious wheel of the Mightiest of Men,
He demonstrates Dharma to the world for the complete extinction of ill.
When the Bodhisattva has fulfilled these dharmas,
He then still receives the purity of the field and the purity of [the] beings [in it].
He also receives the lineage of the Buddha, the lineage of the Dharma,
And likewise the lineage of the Sangha. He receives all dharmas."
Conclusion
The supreme physician who accords medical treatment to the sickness of the world,
Has taught this exposition of wisdom which is the path to enlightenment.
It is called "The Path to enlightenment which is the 'Accumulation of Precious Qualities,' "
And it has been taught so that all beings might reach that Path.