1 The Occasion
[ ]=Jens Braarvig
Thus have I heard. The Blessed One was residing in Rajagrha…
[“House of the King”, the great town of Rajagrha, or, in the highest meaning (paramarthatas), the place of the Awakened Lord who is the king of religion (dharmaraja), namely the pure sphere of all moments of existence (visuddhadharmadhatu). The tika understands the place of the Lord on two levels, it is the actual town of Rajagrha where his body is, but as the Awakened he is also one with total or absolute reality]
…the supernal Abode of all the Tathagatas wherein is stored great reserves of adorned merits that were the result of spiritual maturation in direct ascendancy of the Unborn Absolute; also the abode of Bodhisattvas-Mahāsattvas who effortlessly displayed the infinite sphere encompassing the whole of existence—all blessed with the magical presence of the Tathagatas.
[thus making the inexistent exist, and changing base things like stone and wood into precious things like gold, silver and jewels] (tathagatavikurvanadhisthane); [(b) the magic of being the basis of no vices (nisklesasrayarddhi)]
Thus ennobling the way of the Element of Truth (Dharmadhatu) through unbridled Buddha-gnosis; this is the great source of all bliss…
[the magic of not being mistaken (aviparyasarddhi) ]
…the incorruptible way into the Recollective Resolve bridled with acute awareness and intuitive capacity that can never be disparaged…
[the magic of the intention to teach disciples according to their individual needs (pprayojanarddhi) ]
…bracketed by Holy Gnosis…
[the magic enjoying the religion [Dharma] of the great way (mahayanadharmaparibhogarddhi) ]
…never clinging to defiled dharmata…
[the activity of the above-mentioned wisdom, nor to the activity of worldly knowledge (lokajhanavicara)]
…to be honored by all future kalpas, associated with auspicious qualities.
[the worldly and unworldly qualities like recollection (smrti), etc., the wings of awakening (bodhipaksika), the powers and intrepidities (balavaisaradya), etc., the qualities of the Buddhas] (sarvagunaprameyasamcaye) ]
The Blessed One awoke and keenly discerned that all particles of existence bear the same mark, thus spinning the Dharmachakra into motion henceforth teaching an endless multitude of adepts thereby attaining mastery over all the elements of existence; he detected the intentions of sentient beings by having developed exquisite abilities of observation; he was skillful in moderating the habits of all sentitalia thereby never failing to effortlessly perform Buddha-activities.
Amassed with the Blessed One was a magnificent audience of six million monks, all of them exhibiting great erudition and Recollective Repose. They were fully attuned with Right Knowledge thereby subduing all habitual vices that incur ignoble rebirths. They were astute sons of the Tathagata, the Dharma-King, becoming ambassadors to the Noble territory of the Buddhadharma; self-perfected in transcending surface-layer objectifications, perfectly instilled with courteous mannerisms thus incurring the flowering of perfect reciprocal giftedness…
[as the fruit of giving to them will be great] (mahadaksiniyais) ]
…forever punctual in observing the Buddha-gnosis of the Tathagata.
Also accompanying the Blessed One was a great company of Bodhisattvas-Mahāsattvas, assembling from diverse Buddhafields and ceremoniously displaying their innumerable and immeasurable and ineffable origin. They were all fully empowered to traverse an infinite array of Buddhafields in a single instant, thus being skilled in coming and going, forever ready to pay homage in service to all the Tathagatas. Untiring was their great quest to hear and absorb the teaching of the Buddhadharma, hence bringing and instilling all beings with an aptitude for spiritual maturity. Their accomplishments in utmost skillful means and unhindered insights established an enduring pattern and liberation through Buddha-gnosis that transcended all feeble thought-constructions, imaginations and discursive modes of thinking. This all empowered them to approach the final stages of Omniscience.
[the fruit, the stage of a Buddha]
They were the Bodhisattva Vidyuddeva, the Bodhisattva Yuddhajaya, the Bodhisattva Vairocanagarbha, the Bodhisattva Parakramavikrama, the Bodhisattva Vimatisamudghatin, the Bodhisattva Vighustasabda, the Bodhisattva Vyavalokanacaksur, the Bodhisattva Vigatatamas, the Bodhi- sattvas Maitreya and Manjusri and so on, with innumerable bodhisattvas, great Noble beings whose number was immeasurable, thus beyond measure and unthinkable, unequalled, unrivaled, unsurpassed, infinite, and unutterable.