Ch.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
CHAPTER V.
ON PLANTS.
Thereupon
the Lord addressed the venerable Mahâ-Kâsyapa and the
other senior great disciples, and said: Very well, very
well, Kâsyapa; you have done very well to proclaim the
real qualities of the Tathâgata. They are the real
qualities of the Tathâgata, Kâsyapa, but he has many
more, innumerable, incalculable, the end of which it
would be difficult to reach, even were one to continue
enumerating them for immeasurable Æons. The Tathâgata,
Kâsyapa, is the master of the law, the king, lord, and
master of all laws. And whatever law for any case has
been instituted by the Tathâgata, remains unchanged. All
laws, Kâsyapa, have been aptly instituted by the
Tathâgata. In his Tathâgata-wisdom he has instituted them
in such a manner that all those laws finally lead to the
stage of those who know all. The Tathâgata also
distinctly knows the meaning of all laws. The Tathâgata,
the Arhat, &c. is possessed of the faculty of
penetrating all laws, possessed of the highest perfection
of knowledge, so that he is able to decide all laws, able
to display the knowledge of the allknowing, impart the
knowledge of the all-knowing, and lay down (the rules of)
the knowledge of the all-knowing.
It is a case, Kâsyapa, similar to that of a great cloud
big with rain, coming up in this wide universe over all
grasses, shrubs, herbs, trees of various species and
kind, families of plants of different names growing on
earth, on hills, or in mountain caves, a cloud covering
the wide universe to pour down its rain everywhere and at
the same time. Then, Kâsyapa, the grasses, shrubs, herbs,
and wild trees in this universe, such as have young and
tender stalks, twigs, leaves, and foliage, and such as
have middle-sized stalks, twigs, leaves, and foliage, and
such as have the same fully developed, all those grasses,
shrubs, herbs, and wild trees, smaller and greater
(other) trees will each, according to its faculty and
power, suck the humid element from the water emitted by
that great cloud, and by that water which, all of one
essence, has been abundantly poured down by the cloud,
they will each, according to its germ, acquire a regular
development, growth, shooting up, and bigness; and so
they will produce blossoms and fruits, and will receive,
each severally, their names. Rooted in one and the same
soil, all those families of plants and germs are drenched
and vivified by water of one essence throughout.
In the same manner, Kâsyapa, does the Tathâgata, the
Arhat, &c. appear in the world. Like unto a great
cloud coming up, the Tathâgata appears and sends forth
his call to the whole world, including gods, men, and
demons'. And even as a great cloud, Kâsyapa, extending
over the whole universe, in like manner, Kâsyapa, the
Tathâgata, the Arhat, &c., before the face of the
world, including gods, men, and demons, lifts his voice
and utters these words: I am the Tathâgata, O ye gods and
men! the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened one; having
reached the shore myself, I carry others to the shore;
being free, I make free; being comforted, I comfort;
being perfectly at rest, I lead others to rest. By my
perfect wisdom I know both this world and the next, such
as they really are. I am all-knowing, all-seeing. Come to
me, ye gods and men! hear the law. I am he who indicates
the path; who shows the path, as knowing the path, being
acquainted with the path. Then, Kâsyapa, many hundred
thousand myriads of kotis of beings come to hear the law
of the Tathâgata; and the Tathâgata, who knows the
difference as to the faculties and the energy of those
beings, produces various Dharmaparyâyas, tells many
tales, amusing, agreeable, both instructive and pleasant,
tales by means of which all beings not only become
pleased with the law in this present life, but also after
death will reach happy states, where they are to enjoy
many pleasures and hear the law. By listening to the law
they will be freed from hindrances and in due course
apply themselves to the law of the all-knowing, according
to their faculty, power, and strength.
Even as the great cloud, Kâsyapa, after expanding over
the whole universe, pours out the same water and
recreates by it all grasses, shrubs, herbs, and trees;
even as all these grasses, shrubs, herbs, and trees,
according to their faculty, power, and strength, suck in
the water and thereby attain the full development
assigned to their kind; in like manner, Kâsyapa, is the
law preached by the Tathâgata, the Arhat, &c., of one
and the same essence, that is to say, the essence of it
is deliverance, the final aim being absence of passion,
annihilation, knowledge of the all-knowing. As to that,
Kâsyapa, (it must be understood) that the beings who hear
the law when it is preached by the Tathâgata, who keep it
in their memory and apply themselves to it, do not know,
nor perceive, nor understand their own self. For,
Kâsyapa, the Tathâgata only really knows who, how, and of
what kind those beings are; what, how, and whereby they
are meditating; what, how, and whereby they are
contemplating; what, why, and whereby they are attaining.
No one but the Tathâgata, Kâsyapa, is there present,
seeing all intuitively, and seeing the state of those
beings in different stages, as of the lowest, highest,
and mean grasses, shrubs, herbs, and trees. I am he,
Kâsyapa, who, knowing the law which is of but one
essence, viz. the essence of deliverance, (the law) ever
peaceful, ending in Nirvâna, (the law) of eternal rest,
having but one stage and placed in voidness, (who knowing
this) do not on a sudden reveal to all the knowledge of
the all-knowing, since I pay regard to the dispositions
of all beings.
You are astonished, Kâsyapa, that you cannot fathom the
mystery expounded by the Tathâgata. It is, Kâsyapa,
because the mystery expounded by the Tathâgatas, the
Arhats, &c. is difficult to be understood.
And on that occasion, the more fully to explain the same
subject, the Lord uttered the following stanzas:
1. I am the Dharmarâga, born in the world as the
destroyer of existence. I declare the law to all beings
after discriminating their dispositions.
2. Superior men of wise understanding guard the word,
guard the mystery, and do not reveal it to living beings.
3. That science is difficult to be understood; the
simple, if hearing it on a sudden, would be perplexed;
they would in their ignorance fall out of the way and go
astray.
4. I speak according to their reach and faculty; by means
of various meanings I accommodate my view (or the
theory).
5. It is, Kâsyapa, as if a cloud rising above the horizon
shrouds all space (in darkness) and covers the earth.
6. That great rain-cloud big with water, is wreathed with
flashes of lightning and rouses with its thundering call
all creatures.
7. By warding off the sunbeams, it cools the region; and
gradually lowering so as to come in reach of hands, it
begins pouring down its water all around.
8. And so, flashing on every side, it pours out an
abundant mass of water equally, and refreshes this earth.
9. And all herbs which have sprung up on the face of the
earth, all grasses, shrubs, forest trees, other trees
small and great;
10. The various field fruits and whatever is green; all
plants on hills, in caves and thickets;
11. All those grasses, shrubs, and trees are vivified by
the cloud that both refreshes the thirsty earth and
waters the herbs.
12. Grasses and shrubs absorb the water of one essence
which issues from the cloud according to their faculty
and reach.
13. And all trees, great, small, and mean, drink that
water according to their growth and faculty, and grow
lustily.
14. The great plants whose trunk, stalk, bark, twigs,
pith, and leaves are moistened by the water from the
cloud develop their blossoms and fruits.
15. They yield their products, each according to its own
faculty, reach, and the particular nature of the germ;
still the water emitted (from the cloud) is of but one
essence.
16. In the same way, Kâsyapa, the Buddha comes into the
world like a rain-cloud, and, once born, he, the world's
Lord, speaks and shows the real course of life.
17. And the great Seer, honoured in the world, including
the gods, speaks thus: I am the Tathâgata, the highest of
men, the Gina; I have appeared in this world like a
cloud.
18. I shall refresh all beings whose bodies are withered,
who are clogged to the triple world. I shall bring to
felicity those that are pining away with toils, give them
pleasures and (final) rest.
19. Hearken to me, ye hosts of gods and men; approach to
behold me: I am the Tathâgata, the Lord, who has no
superior, who appears in this world to save.
20. To thousands of kotis of living beings I preach a
pure and most bright law that has but one scope, to wit,
deliverance and rest.
21. I preach with ever the same voice, constantly taking
enlightenment as my text. For this is equal for all; no
partiality is in it, neither hatred nor affection.
22. I am inexorable, bear no love nor hatred towards any
one, and proclaim the law to all creatures without
distinction, to the one as well as the other.
23. Whether walking, standing, or sitting, I am
exclusively occupied with this task of proclaiming the
law. I never get tired of sitting on the chair I have
ascended.
24. I recreate the whole world like a cloud shedding its
water without distinction; I have the same feelings for
respectable people as for the low; for moral persons as
for the immoral;
25. For the depraved as for those who observe the rules
of good conduct; for those who hold sectarian views and
unsound tenets as for those whose views are sound and
correct.
26. I preach the law to the inferior (in mental culture)
as well as to persons of superior understanding and
extraordinary faculties; inaccessible to weariness, I
spread in season the rain of the law.
27. After hearing me, each according to his faculty, the
several beings find their determined place in various
situations, amongst gods, men, beautiful beings, amongst
Indras, Brahmas, or the monarchs, rulers of the universe.
28. Hear, now, I am going to explain what is meant by
those plants of different size, some of them being low in
the world, others middle-sized and great.
29. Small plants are called the men who walk in the
knowledge of the law, which is free from evil after the
attaining of Nirvâna, who possess the six transcendent
faculties and the triple science.
30. Mean plants are called the men who, dwelling in
mountain caverns, covet the state of a Pratyekabuddha,
and whose intelligence is moderately purified.
31. Those who aspire to become leading men (thinking), I
will become a Buddha, a chief of gods and men, and who
practise exertion and meditation, are called the highest
plants.
32. But the sons of Sugata, who sedulously practise
benevolence and a peaceful conduct, who have arrived at
certainty about their being leading men, these are called
trees.
33. Those who move forward the wheel that never rolls
back, and with manly strength stand firm in the exercise
of miraculous power, releasing many kolis of beings,
those are called great trees.
34. Yet it is one and the same law which is preached by
the Gina, like the water emitted by the cloud is one and
the same; different only are the faculties as described,
just as the plants on the face of the earth.
35. By this parable thou mayst understand the skilfulness
of the Tathâgata, how he preaches one law, the various
developments whereof may be likened to drops of rain.
36. I also pour out rain: the rain of the law by which
this whole world is refreshed; and each according to his
faculty takes to heart this wellspoken law that is one in
its essence.
37. Even as all grasses and shrubs, as well as plants of
middle size, trees and great trees at the time of rain
look bright in all quarters;
38. So it is the very nature of the law to promote the
everlasting weal of the world; by the law the whole world
is recreated, and as the plants (when refreshed) expand
their blossoms, the world does the same when refreshed.
39. The plants that in their growth remain middle-sized,
are Arhats (saints) stopping when they have overcome
frailties, (and) the Pratyekabuddhas who, living in woody
thickets, accomplish this well-spoken law.
40. (But) the many Bodhisattvas who, thoughtful and wise,
go their way all over the triple world, striving after
supreme enlightenment, they continue increasing in growth
like trees.
41. Those who, endowed with magical powers and being
adepts in the four degrees of meditation, feel delight at
hearing of complete voidness and emit thousands of rays,
they are called the great trees on earth.
42. So then, Kâsyapa, is the preaching of the law, like
the water poured out by the cloud everywhere alike; by
which plants and men(?) thrive, endless (and eternal)
blossoms (are produced).
43. I reveal the law which has its cause in itself; at
due time I show Buddha-enlightenment; this is my supreme
skilfulness and that of all leaders of the world.
44. What I here say is true in the highest sense of the
word; all my disciples attain Nirvâna; by following the
sublime path of enlightenment all my disciples shall
become Buddhas.
And further, Kâsyapa, the Tathâgata, in his educating
creatures, is equal (i.e. impartial) and not unequal (i.
e. partial). As the light of the sun and moon, Kâsyapa,
shines upon all the world, upon the virtuous and the
wicked, upon high and low, upon the fragrant and the
ill-smelling; as their beams are sent down upon
everything equally, without inequality (partiality); so,
too, Kâsyapa, the intellectual light of the knowledge of
the omniscient, the Tathâgatas, the Arhats, &c., the
preaching of the true law proceeds equally in respect to
all beings in the five states of existence, to all who
according to their particular disposition are devoted to
the great vehicle, or to the vehicle of the
Pratyekabuddhas, or to the vehicle of the disciples. Nor
is there any deficiency or excess in the brightness of
the Tathâgataknowledge up to one's becoming fully
acquainted with the law. There are not three vehicles,
Kâsyapa; there are but beings who act differently;
therefore it is declared that there are three vehicles.
When the Lord had thus spoken, the venerable Mahâ-Kâsyapa
said to him: Lord, if there are not three vehicles, for
what reason then is the designation of disciples
(Srâvakas), Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas kept up in the
present times?
On this speech the Lord answered the venerable
Mahâ-Kâsyapa as follows: It is, Kâsyapa, as if a potter
made different vessels out of the same clay. Some of
those pots are to contain sugar, others ghee, others
curds and milk; others, of inferior quality, are vessels
of impurity. There is no diversity in the clay used; no,
the diversity of the pots is only due to the substances
which are put into each of them. In like manner, Kâsyapa,
is there but one vehicle, viz. the Buddha-vehicle; there
is no second vehicle, no third.
The Lord having thus spoken, the venerable Mahâ-Kâsyapa
said: Lord, if the beings are of different disposition,
will there be for those who have left the triple world
one Nirvâna, or two, or three? The Lord replied: Nirvâna,
Kâsyapa, is a consequence of understanding that all laws
(things) are equal. Hence there is but one Nirvâna, not
two, not three. Therefore, Kâsyapa, I will tell thee a
parable, for men of good understanding will generally
readily enough catch the meaning of what is taught under
the shape of a parable.
It is a case, Kâsyapa, similar to that of a certain
blind-born man, who says: There are no handsome or ugly
shapes; there are no men able to see handsome or ugly
shapes; there exists no sun nor moon; there are no
asterisms nor planets; there are no men able to see
planets. But other persons say to the blind-born: There
are handsome and ugly shapes; there are men able to see
handsome and ugly shapes; there is a sun and moon; there
are asterisms and planets; there are men able to see
planets. But the blind-born does not believe them, nor
accept what they say. Now there is a physician who knows
all diseases. He sees that blind-born man and makes to
himself this reflection: The disease of this man
originates in his sinful actions in former times. All
diseases possible to arise are fourfold: rheumatical,
cholerical, phlegmatical, and caused by a complication of
the (corrupted) humours. The physician, after thinking
again and again on a means to cure the disease, makes to
himself this reflection: Surely, with the drugs in common
use it is impossible to cure this disease, but there are
in the Himalaya, the king of mountains, four herbs, to
wit: first, one called
Possessed-of-all-sorts-of-colours-and-flavours; second,
Delivering-from-all-diseases; third,
Delivering-from-all-poisons; fourth,
Procuring-happiness-to-those-standing-in-the-right-place.
As the physician feels compassion for the blind-born man
he contrives some device to get to the Himalaya, the king
of mountains. There he goes up and down and across to
search. In doing so he finds the four herbs. One he gives
after chewing it with the teeth; another after pounding;
another after having it mixed with another drug and
boiled; another after having it mixed with a raw drug;
another after piercing with a lancet somewhere a vein;
another after singeing it in fire; another after
combining it with various other substances so as to enter
in a compound potion, food, &c. Owing to these means
being applied the blindborn recovers his eyesight, and in
consequence of that recovery he sees outwardly and
inwardly, far and near, the shine of sun and moon, the
asterisms, planets, and all phenomena. Then he says: O
how foolish was I that I did not believe what they told
me, nor accepted what they affirmed. Now I see all; I am
delivered from my blindness and have recovered my
eyesight; there is none in the world who could surpass
me. And at the same moment Seers of the five transcendent
faculties [the five senses], strong in the divine sight
and hearing, in the knowledge of others' minds, in the
memory of former abodes, in magical science and
intuition, speak to the man thus: Good man, thou hast
just recovered thine eyesight, nothing more, and dost not
know yet anything. Whence comes this conceitedness to
thee? Thou hast no wisdom, nor art thou a clever man.
Further they say to him: Good man, when sitting in the
interior of thy room, thou canst not see nor distinguish
forms outside, nor discern which beings are animated with
kind feelings and which with hostile feelings; thou canst
not distinguish nor hear at the distance of five yoganas
the voice of a man or the sound of a drum, conch trumpet,
and the like; thou canst not even walk as far as a kos
without lifting up thy feet; thou hast been produced and
developed in thy mother's womb without remembering the
fact; how then wouldst thou be clever, and how canst thou
say: I see all? Good man, thou takest darkness for light,
and takest light for darkness.
Whereupon the Seers are asked by the man: By what means
and by what good work shall I acquire such wisdom and
with your favour acquire those good qualities (or
virtues)? And the Seers say to that man: If that be thy
wish, go and live in the wilderness or take thine abode
in mountain caves, to meditate on the law and cast off
evil passions. So shalt thou become endowed with the
virtues of an ascetic and acquire the transcendent
faculties. The man catches their meaning and becomes an
ascetic. Living in the wilderness, the mind intent upon
one sole object, he shakes off worldly desires, and
acquires the five transcendent faculties. After that
acquisition he reflects thus: Formerly I did not do the
right thing; hence no good accrued to me. Now, however, I
can go whither my mind prompts me; formerly I was
ignorant, of little understanding, in fact, a blind man.
Such, Kâsyapa, is the parable I have invented to make
thee understand my meaning. The moral to be drawn from it
is as follows. The word 'blindborn,' Kâsyapa, is a
designation for the creatures staying in the whirl of the
world with its six states; the creatures who do not know
the true law and are heaping up the thick darkness of
evil passions. Those are blind from ignorance, and in
consequence of it they build up conceptions; in
consequence of the latter name-and-form, and so forth, up
to the genesis of this whole huge mass of evils.
So the creatures blind from ignorance remain in the whirl
of life, but the Tathâgata, who is out of the triple
world, feels compassion, prompted by which, like a father
for his dear and only son, he appears in the triple world
and sees with his eye of wisdom that the creatures are
revolving in the circle of the mundane whirl, and are
toiling without finding the right means to escape from
the rotation. And on seeing this he comes to the
conclusion: Yon beings, according to the good works they
have done in former states, have feeble aversions and
strong attachments; (or) feeble attachments and strong
aversions; some have little wisdom, others are clever;
some have soundly developed views, others have unsound
views. To all of them the Tathâgata skilfully shows three
vehicles.
The Seers in the parable, those possessing the five
transcendent faculties and clear-sight, are the
Bodhisattvas who produce enlightened thought, and by the
acquirement of acquiescence in the eternal law awake us
to supreme, perfect enlightenment.
The great physician in the parable is the Tathâgata. To
the blind-born may be likened the creatures blind with
infatuation. Attachment, aversion, and infatuation are
likened to rheum, bile, and phlegm. The sixty-two false
theories also must be looked upon as such (i. e. as
doshas, 'humours and corrupted humours of the body,'
'faults and corruptions'). The four herbs are like vanity
(or voidness), causelessness (or purposelessness),
unfixedness, and reaching Nirvâna. Just as by using
different drugs different diseases are healed, so by
developing the idea of vanity (or voidness),
purposelessness, unfixedness, (which are) the principles
of emancipation, is ignorance suppressed; the suppression
of ignorance is succeeded by the suppression of
conceptions (or fancies); and so forth, up to the
suppression of the whole huge mass of evils. And thus
one's mind will dwell no more on good nor on evil.
To the man who recovers his eyesight is likened the
votary of the vehicle of the disciples and of
Pratyekabuddhas. He rends the ties of evil passion in the
whirl of the world; freed from those ties he is released
from the triple world with its six states of existence.
Therefore the votary of the vehicle of the disciples may
think and speak thus: There are no more laws to be
penetrated; I have reached Nirvâna. Then the Tathâgata
preaches to him: How can he who has not penetrated all
laws have reached Nirvâna? The Lord rouses him to
enlightenment, and the disciple, when the consciousness
of enlightenment has been awakened in him, no longer
stays in the mundane whirl, but at the same time has not
yet reached Nirvâna. As he has arrived at true insight,
he looks upon this triple world in every direction as
void, resembling the produce of magic, similar to a
dream, a mirage, an echo. He sees that all laws (and
phenomena) are unborn and undestroyed, not bound and not
loose, not dark and not bright. He who views the profound
laws in such a light, sees, as if he were not seeing, the
whole triple world full of beings of contrary and
omnifarious fancies and dispositions.
And on that occasion, in order to more amply explain the
same subject, the Lord uttered the following stanzas:
45. As the rays of the sun and moon descend alike on all
men, good and bad, without deficiency (in one case) or
surplus (in the other);
46. So the wisdom of the Tathâgata shines like the sun
and moon, leading all beings without partiality.
47. As the potter, making clay vessels, produces from the
same clay pots for sugar, milk, ghee, or water;
48. Some for impurities, others for curdled milk, the
clay used by the artificer for the vessels being of but
one sort;
49. As a vessel is made to receive all its distinguishing
qualities according to the quality of the substance laid
into it, so the Tathâgatas, on account of the diversity
of taste,
50. Mention a diversity of vehicles, though the
Buddha-vehicle be the only indisputable one. He who
ignores the rotation of mundane existence, has no
perception of blessed rest;
51. But he who understands that all laws are void and
without reality (and without individual character)
penetrates the enlightenment of the perfectly enlightened
Lords in its very essence.
52. One who occupies a middle position of wisdom is
called a Pratyekagina (i. e. Pratyekabuddha); one lacking
the insight of voidness is termed a disciple.
53. But after understanding all laws one is called a
perfectly-enlightened one; such a one is assiduous in
preaching the law to living beings by means of hundreds
of devices.
54. It is as if some blind-born man, because he sees no
sun, moon, planets, and stars, in his blind ignorance
(should say): There are no visible things at all.
55. But a great physician taking compassion on the blind
man, goes to the Himalaya, where (seeking) across, up and
down,
56. He fetches from the mountain four plants; the herb
Of-all-colours-flavours-and-cases, and others. These he
intends to apply.
57. He applies them in this manner: one he gives to the
blind man after chewing it, another after pounding, again
another by introducing it with the point of a needle into
the man's body.
58. The man having got his eyesight, sees the sun, moon,
planets, and stars, and arrives at the conclusion that it
was from sheer ignorance that he spoke thus as he had
formerly done.
59. In the same way do people of great ignorance, blind
from their birth, move in the turmoil of the world,
because they do not know the wheel of causes and effects,
the path of toils.
60. In the world so blinded by ignorance appears the
highest of those who know all, the Tathâgata, the great
physician, of compassionate nature.
61. As an able teacher he shows the true law; he reveals
supreme Buddha-enlightenment to him who is most advanced.
62. To those of middling wisdom the Leader preaches a
middling enlightenment; again another enlightenment he
recommends to him who is afraid of the mundane whirl.
63. The disciple who by his discrimination has escaped
from the triple world thinks he has reached pure, blest
Nirvâna, but it is only by knowing all laws (and the
universal laws) that the immortal Nirvâna is reached.
64. In that case it is as if the great Seers, moved by
compassion, said to him: Thou art mistaken; do not be
proud of thy knowledge.
65. When thou art in the interior of thy room, thou canst
not perceive what is going on without, fool as thou art.
66. Thou who, when staying within, dost not perceive even
now what people outside are doing or not doing, how
wouldst thou be wise, fool as thou art?
67. Thou art not able to hear a sound at a distance of
but five yoganas, far less at a greater distance.
68. Thou canst not discern who are malevolent or
benevolent towards thee. Whence then comes that pride to
thee?
69. If thou hast to walk so far as a kos, thou canst not
go without a beaten track; and what happened to thee when
in thy mother's womb thou hast immediately forgotten.
70. In this world he is called all-knowing who possesses
the five transcendent faculties, but when thou who
knowest nothing pretendest to be allknowing, it is an
effect of infatuation.
71. If thou art desirous of omniscience, direct thy
attention to transcendent wisdom; then betake thy self to
the wilderness and meditate on the pure law; by it thou
shalt acquire the transcendent faculties.
72. The man catches the meaning, goes to the wilderness,
meditates with the greatest attention, and, as he is
endowed with good qualities, ere long acquires the five
transcendent faculties.
73. Similarly all disciples fancy having reached Nirvâna,
but the Gina instructs them (by saying): This is a
(temporary) repose, no final rest.
74. It is an artifice of the Buddhas to enunciate this
dogma. There is no (real) Nirvâna without
all-knowingness; try to reach this.
75. The boundless knowledge of the three paths (of time),
the six utmost perfections (Pâramitas), voidness, the
absence of purpose (or object), the absence of
finiteness;
76. The idea of enlightenment and the other laws leading
to Nirvâna, both such as are mixed with imperfection and
such as are exempt from it, such as are tranquil and
comparable to ethereal space;
77. The four Brahmavihâras and the four Sangrahas, as
well as the laws sanctioned by eminent sages for the
education of creatures;
78. (He who knows these things) and that all phenomena
have the nature of illusion and dreams, that they are
pithless as the stem of the plantain, and similar to an
echo;
79. And who knows that the triple world throughout is of
that nature, not fast and not looge, he knows rest.
80. He who considers all laws to be alike, void, devoid
of particularity and individuality, not derived from an
intelligent cause; nay, who discerns that nothingness is
law;
81. Such a one has great wisdom and sees the whole of the
law entirely. There are no three vehicles by any means;
there is but one vehicle in this world.
82. All laws (or the laws of all) are alike, equal, for
all, and ever alike. Knowing this, one understands
immortal blest Nirvâna.