Introduction
i.1The short Mahāyāna sūtra known as Like Gold Dust presents a dialogue in which Ānanda questions the Buddha on the theme of limitlessness.
i.1稱為《如金粉經》的短篇大乘經，呈現了一場對話，在這場對話中，阿難向佛陀提出關於無限性的問題。
i.2In response to Ānanda’s persistent inquiries, the Buddha illustrates, by means of analogy, both the limitlessness of the miraculous abilities acquired by realized beings, and the limitless multiplicity of the world systems in which bodhisattvas and buddhas are found. The analogy he uses to illustrate miraculous abilities is the extraordinary speed with which his disciple Mahāmaudgalyāyana can travel across world systems. As a starting point for trying to imagine such speed, the Buddha offers a vivid description of a fine chariot racing through water so fast that the water does not even touch the rims of its wheels. This, he goes on to explain, is but a vanishingly small fraction of the speed with which Mahāmaudgalyāyana can traverse world systems.
i.2阿難持續的提問，佛陀以比喻來說明已證悟的聖者所獲得的神通力是無限的，以及菩薩和佛陀存在於其中的世界也是無限多的。佛陀用來說明神通力的比喻，是以他的弟子大目犍連能以非凡的速度穿越世界。作為幫助理解這種速度的起點，佛陀生動地描述了一輛精美的車在水中疾馳，快到水甚至不能接觸車輪輪圈的情景。他接著解釋，這只是大目犍連穿越世界速度的極其微小的一部分。
i.3The analogy is then extended to illustrate the limitless number of worlds in which there are buddhas and bodhisattvas. If one were to travel in each of the ten directions at this lightning speed for seven days and seven nights without stopping, and then enclose the enormous area thus delimited within a fence, and create in it a single gargantuan city, then the number of mustard seeds it would take to completely fill such a city from top to bottom would barely begin to approach the number of world systems in which bodhisattvas are striving at various stages of the journey to awakening.
i.3這個比喻接著被延伸用來說明擁有佛陀和菩薩的世界數量是無限的。如果一個人以這樣的閃電般速度在十個方向上行進七天七夜而不停止，然後用圍欄圍住由此劃定的巨大區域，並在其中創造一個單一的巨大城市，那麼用芥子籽來完全填滿這樣的城市從上到下所需的數量，才剛剛開始接近那些菩薩們正在覺悟旅程的各個階段奮力跨越的世界系統的數量。
i.4The Buddha then concludes his teaching with a further analogy—referenced in the sūtra’s title—to illustrate that although buddhas and bodhisattvas are innumerable, it is nevertheless extremely rare and precious to find a buddha within any given world system, or to find a world system in which bodhisattvas engage sincerely in bodhisattva conduct. To encounter such things, he says, is as rare as finding a single grain of gold dust among all the sands of the ocean, or all the sands of the mighty river Gaṅgā.
i.4佛陀隨後以另一個比喻來總結他的教導——這個比喻也體現在經的標題中——用來說明，雖然佛陀和菩薩數量無限，但在任何特定世界中發現一尊佛陀，或發現一個世界系統中的菩薩真摯地從事菩薩行，卻是極其罕見和珍貴的。他說，遇見這樣的事物，就像在大海的所有沙粒中，或強大的恆河的所有沙粒中，找到單一一粒金粉一樣罕見。
i.5According to its colophon, the Tibetan translation of Like Gold Dust was made by the Indian masters Surendrabodhi and Prajñāvarman working with the Tibetan master translator and editor Yeshé Dé, indicating a translation made during the height of the Tibetan imperial patronage of Buddhism in the early ninth century ᴄᴇ. This is corroborated by the text’s inclusion in the Denkarma imperial catalog.
i.5根據其跋文，《如金粉經》的藏文譯本是由印度大師蘇朱提和般若護與藏文大譯師編輯家智慧光合作完成的，這表明該譯本是在西元九世紀初期藏帝國對佛教進行最高程度贊助期間完成的。這一點得到了該經文被收入《頓珠目錄》皇帝目錄中的證實。
i.6No extant parallel versions of this text have been identified in either Sanskrit or Chinese. An English translation, together with a brief introduction, is included in Peter Skilling’s recent anthology, Questioning the Buddha: A Selection of Twenty-Five Sutras.
i.6目前尚未發現該經文在梵文或漢文中存有對應的版本。彼得·斯基林最近編纂的文集《詰問佛陀：二十五部經文選集》中收錄了英文譯本及簡短的介紹。
i.7The present translation is based on the Tibetan as found in the Degé Kangyur, with reference to the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace Kangyur version.
i.7本譯文以德格版大藏經所載之藏文為基礎，並參照對比版本（dpe bsdur ma）及斯托克宮大藏經版本而成。