..续本文上一页 will never be exhausted,
And neither will my vows.
With myriad jewels in boundless lands in all directions,
I make decorations and offerings to the Thus Come Ones.
For eons as numerous as the motes of dust in all lands, I bring
The foremost peace and joy to gods and humans.
Yet, if anyone believes in these Great Vows,
As they pass by the ear but a single time,
And in search of Bodhi thirstily craves these vows,
The merits and virtues gained will Surpass these offerings.
With bad advisors forever left behind,
From paths of evil he departs for eternity,
Soon to see the Buddha of Limitless Light
And perfect Samantabhadra”s Supreme Vows.
Easily obtaining the blessings of long life,
Assured of a noble rebirth in the human realm,
Before long he will perfect and complete
The practices of Samantabhadra.
In the past, owing to a lack of wisdom power,
The five offenses of extreme evil he has committed;
In one thought they can all be wiped away by reciting
The Great Vows of Samantabhadra.
His clan, race, and color, marks and characteristics
With his wisdom are all perfected and complete;
Demons and externalists will haveno way to harm,
And he will be a field of merits in the Three Realms.[16]
To the regal Bodhi free he will quickly go,
And seated there subdue hordes of demons.
Supremely and perfectly enlightened, he will turn the Dharma wheel,
To benefit the host of living beings.
If anyone can read, recite, receive, and hold high
Samantabhadra”s Vows and proclaim them,
His reward only the Buddhaswill know,
And he will obtain Bodhi”s highest path.
If anyone recites Samantabhadra”s Vows,
I will speak of a portion of his good roots:
In one single thought he can fulfill
The pure vows of sentient beings.
The supreme and endless blessings from Samantabhadra”s conduct
I now universally transfer.
May every living being, drowning and adrift,
Soon return to the Land of Limitless Light!
When the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Samantabhadra finished speaking these pure verses on the Great Vows of Samantabhadra before the Thus Come One, the youth Sudhana was overwhelmed with boundless joy. All the Bodhisattvas were extremely happy as well, and the Thus Come One applauded saying, ”Good indeed, good indeed!"
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Notes:
[1]Sometimes translated as "Universal Worthy."
[2]In Sanskrit,"Tathagata,"i.e., Buddha Sakyamuni or the Buddhas in general.
[3]The main protagonist in the next-to-last and longest chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Seeking Enlightenment, he visited and studied with fifty-three spiritual advisors and become the equal of the Buddha in one lifetime. When he was born, myriad treasures suddenly appeared in his father”s home. Thus the name "Sudhana" or "Good Wealth."Sometimes translated as "Good Wealth."
[4]May also be translated as "era." In Sanskrit, "kalpa."
[5]Bodhimandala: literally, seat or site of Enlightenment. By extension, a temple or place of retreat.
[6]Bodhi Mind, (Bodhicitta, Great Mind). The spirit of Enlightenmnet, the aspiration to achieve it, the Mind set on Enlightenment. It involves two parallel aspects: i)the determination to achieve Buddhahood and ii)the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings.
[7]Lions Among Men: i.e., Buddhas.
[8]Learners and Those-Past-Study in the Two Vehicles. This is a reference to the Arhats (Those-Past-Study) and the three levels of sagehood immediately below them (learners). The term "Two Vehicles" refers to the Theravada tradition as opposed to the Mahayana.
[9]Lamps of the Worlds, Lamps of the Future: metaphors or the Buddhas.
[10]Without outflows: i.e., unconditioned (transcendental). Anything free of the three marks of greed, anger and delusion.
[11]This stanza expresses a key concept of the Avatamsaka school: the complete interpenetration of time and space.
[12]In Buddhism, time is a relative concept; it can be long or short, depending on the state of mind.
[13]All the Buddhas are present in one thought. As the sixth Patriarch said, "An enlightened thought makes one aBuddha" (Platform Sutra, ch. 2).
[14]Dharma(s). a) The teachings of the Buddhas; b)things, events,phenomena, everything; c)duty, law, doctrine.When caphalized, itrefers to the teachings of the Buddha.
[15]This stanza and the following one are well-known in Pure Land. They are incorporated into the daily liturgy and recited over and over.
[16]Fields of merits: Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats and all sentient beings, whether friends or foes, are fields of merits for the cultivator because they provide him with an opportunity to cultivate merits and virtues. For example, needy people provide the opportunity for the cultivator to practice charity. Thus, they are a field of merits for him. As this text states, "Bodhi belongs to living beings.Without living beings, no Bocihisattva could achieve Supreme,Perfect Enlightenment."
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《普贤行愿品 AVATAMSAKA SUTRA, chapter 40 Translated by the Buddhist Text Translation Society》全文阅读结束。