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.