Chapter 21: On Śūrabala

21.1At that point, the Blessed One remained at the hill, Vulture Peak, together with the bodhisattvas and great disciples. The Blessed One rested in the afternoon and then he got up and taught the Dharma. Then the sixty thousand inhabitants of the great city of Rājagṛha, including King Ajātaśatru and his household, came to know that the Blessed One had returned. So in the afternoon they took flowers, incense, garlands, and scented oils, left the great city of Rājagṛha and came to the hill, Vulture Peak, and into the presence of the Blessed One. They bowed their heads at the Blessed One’s feet and sat to one side. As they were sitting to one side, King Ajātaśatru spoke to the Blessed One.

21.2“Blessed One,” he said, “I was sitting in my assembly hall, and my son, Given by the Frightful One, was there, too, and he said to me, ‘Father, I heard that the Blessed One had a meal [F.185.b] in the capital city of Aḍagavatī in the abode of Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, and now he has returned.’ Regarding this, Blessed One, I had the following thought:

21.3“ ‘For what reason was the Blessed One invited to the capital city of Aḍagavatī in the abode of Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas? He must have gone to the capital city of Aḍagavatī in order to bring beings there to maturity, because there is no class of beings that is abandoned by the realized ones. The application of the blessed buddhas’ great compassion to those beings is marvelous! By making a prediction of Vajrapāṇi’s determination for the Dharma, the Realized One has delighted the Lord of the Guhyakas. The Blessed One’s greatness of self is marvelous!’

21.4“In the company of how many realized ones, worthy ones, fully awakened buddhas has Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, cultivated roots of virtue, Blessed One, so that he now possesses such inspired eloquence?”

21.5This is what he said, and the Blessed One then responded to King Ajātaśatru, “Great King, it is difficult for beings who have not developed the roots of virtue to take an interest in this matter. However, those who have developed the roots of virtue could take an interest in it. Great King, it is possible to comprehend an endpoint to the number of worlds throughout the ten directions, which are equal in number as the grains of sand in the Ganges, by doing a calculation. However, it is not possible to comprehend, by doing a calculation, an endpoint to the number of blessed buddhas worshiped and served by Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas. He has come to possess such inspired eloquence by leading the holy life in their vicinity.

21.6“It is in this fashion, Great King, that you should understand the following: Once upon a time, Great King, in a past eon, going back an incalculable eon, [F.186.a] going back more than an incalculable eon, going back a limitless, inconceivable, and immeasureable span of time, there was an eon called Irreproachable. At that time, in a world called Land of Victory, there appeared a realized one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one, one perfected in knowledge and conduct, a sublime one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassable trainer of those ready to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, a blessed buddha whose name was Vaiśramaṇa. The blessed realized one Vaiśramaṇa gave only teachings for bodhisattvas, such as, ‘Noble sons, you should practice with heroic effort, giving up even your body and life!’

21.7“At that time, Great King, there was a bodhisattva named Śūrabala sitting in the assembly, and he said this to that blessed one:

21.8“ ‘The Blessed One has said to the bodhisattvas that we should practice, giving up even our bodies and lives. Regarding the meaning of the Blessed One’s statement, I would ask if it is appropriate, Blessed One, to say that those bodhisattvas who think that they should quickly awaken to unsurpassable and perfect awakening should be known as slothful ones for thinking such a thing. Why do I say so? Blessed One, bodhisattvas who practice with heroic effort do not conceive the thought of being exhausted by saṃsāra. Blessed One, bodhisattvas hold the view that saṃsāra is something to be celebrated because it enables them to bring beings to maturity, but they do not view nirvāṇa in this way. Blessed One, bodhisattvas work on behalf of beings. Why do I say so? Blessed One, for bodhisattvas who are ardently devoted to heroic effort, saṃsāra is a great pleasure, but they do not view nirvāṇa in this way. Why do I say so? Blessed One, bodhisattvas who work on behalf of beings become happy to the degree that they do the work that benefits beings. [F.186.b]

21.9“ ‘What is there to be done, Blessed One, by someone who has passed into nirvāṇa? Bodhisattvas who think in this way, Blessed One, make saṃsāra their field of action even though the pleasures of saṃsāra do not have any flavor. They do not make nirvāṇa their field of action. Blessed One, bodhisattvas who make saṃsāra their field of action, even though the pleasures of saṃsāra do not have any flavor, and work on behalf of beings gain the vision of an immeasurable number of blessed buddhas, hear about the immeasurable nature of the Dharma, and bring an immeasurable number of beings to maturity. Blessed One, bodhisattvas who make saṃsāra their field of action become immersed in the field of action of beings. Blessed One, bodhisattvas who take nirvāṇa as their field of action sink into apathy. When bodhisattvas are fearful of saṃsāra as a field of action, Blessed One, they fall into the state of having no field of action, and subsequently they do not work on behalf of beings. They do not become established in the field of action of the realized ones, and they do not become someone on whom all beings can depend.

21.10“ ‘What is the state of having no field of action? It is the state sought by disciples and solitary buddhas, a state of laxity in regard to the work of bringing beings to maturity. What is the reason for that? Blessed One, the disciple’s field of action is not the bodhisattva’s field of action. What is the reason for that? The field of action of the disciples and solitary buddhas is that of one who is afraid of saṃsāra. The bodhisattvas’ grasp of saṃsāra is immeasurable. In this respect, Blessed One, bodhisattvas dwell in their own field of action.’

21.11“This is what he said, Great King, and the realized one Vaiśramaṇa then said this to the bodhisattva Śūrabala: ‘Excellent, my good man, excellent! What you have said has been well said. [F.187.a] Bodhisattvas should be focused on what needs to be done in their own field of action. They should work within their own field of action, and they should not work within the field of action of others.’

21.12“ ‘What is the bodhisattvas’ own field of action, Blessed One?’

“ ‘The bodhisattva’s own field of action, noble son, is the field of action of one who does not fear the immeasurable grasp of saṃsāra; one who celebrates the way of the bodhisattva; one who does not wish for the level of a disciple or a solitary buddha; one who gathers the means to sever the connection to rebirth in the three worlds, while knowing that there is no such connection; one who is skilled in the ways of making the roots of virtue grow; one who knows the means of drawing others to oneself; one who is skilled in accumulating all virtues; one who is skilled in not using up the supply of one’s merit, while understanding the nature of extinction; and one who is skilled in deliberately being reborn while realizing what is never born.

21.13“ ‘It is the field of action of one who is skilled in bringing beings to maturity, even though there is no such thing as a being; one who is skilled in grasping the true Dharma, while knowing all things to be isolated and free; one who is skilled in purifying a buddha domain, while knowing that space is the true nature of all buddha domains; one who is skilled in the acquisition of the distinctive features and secondary marks of a great being, while knowing that one possesses the Dharma body of all the buddhas; one who is skilled in not severing the roots of virtue, which are themselves conditioned things, while knowing what is unconditioned; and one who knows the joy that is the isolated and free state of one’s mind and body, while being skilled in doing what all beings need done, even when there is little need and little desire for the enjoyment of conditioned things.

21.14“ ‘It is the field of action of one who is wise to censure those who argue their positions, and yet does not fail to teach the Dharma; one who does not relish the flavor of meditative concentration, while still producing a state of meditative concentration; one who is skilled in revealing teachings and engaging in the various actions of beings, while still comprehending the profound Dharma; [F.187.b] one who deliberately grasps the world of becoming, even while knowing what does not arise at all; one who knows deep insight, but is skilled in not causing oneself to obtain the fruit of such knowledge; one who is skilled in not cutting the thread of desire for the liberation of the realized ones, while still being within the range of the disciples and the solitary buddhas; and one who is skilled in seeing the range of the buddhas, while still knowing not to neglect the actions of a bodhisattva. This, noble son, is the bodhisattvas’ own field of action.’

21.15“When the bodhisattva Śūrabala heard this teaching from the blessed realized one Vaiśramaṇa on the purification of the field of action, Great King, he was awestruck, and he said this to that realized one: ‘It is marvelous, Blessed One, how well the Realized One has expressed this teaching on the purification of the bodhisattvas’ own field of action!

21.16“ ‘If I were to express my own understanding of the meaning of what the Blessed One has just taught, I would say that bodhisattvas who have mastered skill in means have all things as their own field of action. Just as, Blessed One, space has a field of action that has all forms as its appearance, because it has no resting place, because the appearances of all forms are by nature without obstruction, and because the range of action of space is by nature without obstruction, in precisely the same way, Blessed One, bodhisattvas who have mastered skill in means have all things as their own field of action, because they have the nature of perfect and complete awakening.

21.17“ ‘To draw another analogy, Blessed One, just as space has a field of action that has all forms as its appearance, because it is not injured thereby, in the sense that whatever poisonous trees, medicinal trees, thorny trees, flowering trees, fruit trees, and fragrant trees there are, [F.188.a] all of them grow in space, and yet space is not sullied or cleansed by them, and it does not become stuck on them or repelled by them, in precisely the same way, Blessed One, bodhisattvas who have mastered skill in means and become adept at wisdom have all things as their own field of action, including the qualities of ordinary people, the qualities of those who are still undergoing training and of those who have reached the stage of no more training, the qualities of the solitary buddhas, and the qualities of bodhisattvas, as well as the qualities of the realized ones, for the reason that all these qualities are things to which the bodhisattva should become perfectly and completely awakened.

21.18“ ‘Indeed, Blessed One, to make another analogy, just as there is no grass or type of wood whatsoever that can escape from fire, but all of them can be made into something useful when set alight as a burning torch, in precisely the same way, Blessed One, bodhisattvas have all things as their own field of action, because they are set alight by the burning torch of wisdom.

21.19“ ‘Indeed, Blessed One, just as the body of a being with a great physique cannot be burned by fire, pierced by a weapon, or killed by poison, and it is not an object of attack by another, in precisely the same way, Blessed One, the knowledge and wisdom of a bodhisattva cannot be subdued by close acquaintance with disciples, by close acquaintance with solitary buddhas, or by close acquaintance with the afflictions‍—and what is more, the closer a bodhisattva’s acquaintance with them becomes, the more a bodhisattva comes to be fixed on deep insight and refines wisdom.

21.20“ ‘To draw another analogy, Blessed One: just as a water-purifying precious jewel purifies water of all pollutants, in precisely the same way, Blessed One, the bodhisattva’s jewel of wisdom purifies beings of the filth of all the afflictions.

21.21“ ‘Indeed, Blessed One, [F.188.b] to make one more analogy, just as the medicine known as a purgative does not remain in the body along with the poison, but eliminates all the poison, in precisely the same way, Blessed One, a bodhisattva’s cultivation of wisdom and skill in means does not remain along with beings’ afflictions or the bodhisattva’s own afflictions, but eliminates the poison of all afflictions. In this manner, Blessed One, bodhisattvas have all things as their own field of action.’

21.22“When the bodhisattva Śūrabala gave this instruction, Great King, eight thousand beings conceived the aspiration for unsurpassable and perfect awakening, and two hundred bodhisattvas gained the acceptance of that fact that things do not arise. Moreover, if you were to think, Great King, that the bodhisattva Śūrabala, when he was in dialogue with the realized one, the blessed Vaiśramaṇa, was someone else at that moment and time, then it should not be seen in that way. The bodhisattva Śūrabala at that moment and time was this very Lord of the Guhyakas, Vajrapāṇi. As such, Great King, this good man is, indeed, arrayed with the strong armor of heroic effort as well as someone who has attended upon many buddhas.”

21.23This was the twenty-first chapter, “On Śūrabala.”