It is only the buddhas who can fully comprehend all their special qualities: each pore of the form body of the illustrious buddhas, their marks and signs of a great being, their powers, confidences, unique buddha qualities and so forth. But if they were to speak of them, blessing their lifespan to last for inconceivably countless aeons, not engaging in any other activity, and express them in rapid succession, all these qualities could not be mentioned. The bodhisattvas are not able to express the buddhas’ qualities in their entirety, not to mention the solitary buddhas or hearers. To express this through an example it is said:

It’s not the limit of the sky that halts a bird.
It has to stop because its strength has reached its end.
Disciples and the buddha heirs are likewise stopped
From voicing all the sky-like buddha qualities. (11.41)

It is not the sky’s limit being reached that halts the garuḍa’s journey as the wind supports its flight across the skies, but rather that it lacks the strength to continue soaring. Likewise, even when a bodhisattva has reached the inconceivable liberation of the tenth ground they will not be able to fully express the qualities of a tathāgata. And it is not the qualities being completed that prevents this sky-like boundlessness, they are thwarted by the inadequacy of their mental powers. No need to mention then how it is for the solitary buddhas and hearers trying to grasp the scope of these qualities.

That being the situation for them in relation to understanding and expressing the qualities of the buddhas, how could one such as myself, blinded by the cataracts of ignorance, have any hope of expressing the qualities of the tathāgatas when the true way of things remains hidden? To express this it was said:

So how could someone such as me be able to
Perceive and then convey these qualities of yours?
But noble Nāgārjuna did describe them, so
I put my qualms to rest and mentioned them in brief. (11.42)

Although I do not really understand even a fraction of the tathāgatas’ qualities, I have disregarded my hesitation and touched on them briefly, basing myself on another. All that I have said has been explained by the noble Nāgārjuna.

In summary, this treatise has expressed the qualities of the Buddha to be profound, the reality of things (dharmatā), and vast. With regard to that:

What is profound is emptiness;
The vast, the other attributes.
By knowing the profound and vast
One will gain all these qualities. (11.43)

To explain about how the nirmāṇakāya (the emanation body) spontaneously emerges to bring about the attainment of joyous states and so forth; appearing as ordinary objects and ordinary methods for hearers, solitary buddhas and bodhisattvas,¹ and appearing in ways suitable to ordinary beings, it was said:

Unwavering in form, and yet again you come into the world.
You manifest descent and birth, and turn the wheel of wakening
And peace; thus, through compassion guiding this entire troubled world
Entangled in the noose of our obsessions to the tranquil state. (11.44)

Even though the Illustrious One has transcended the three realms, through his nirmāṇakāya manifestations he demonstrates, in accord with the ways of the world, the relationships of father, mother, son and so forth. And having come into the world, gives teachings he considers appropriate to the various abilities and ways of sentient beings to establish them in nirvana. This is done out of compassion, and not with aims such as fame, reward and so forth.

Thus, having established the forms of the Tathāgata, it is now explained how teaching a single vehicle as three vehicles is done with an underlying intention:

To know the true reality, which is unchanging, has no types,
Will be the only way that one can rid oneself of every stain.
The wisdom that discerns it can’t be classified in any way.
The unmatched vehicle you taught is therefore indivisible. (11.45)

Without knowing the true reality of things, one will not be able to overcome all the afflictions, and as has already been explained, one cannot make any distinctions with respect to the unarisen nature that is the actual reality of all things. The actual reality of things is unchanging, since although things may seem different there are in fact no distinctions. And since there are no distinctions and no change, the wisdom that perceives this reality is also of a single nature.

If the nature of wisdom was in fact multiple, it couldn’t know the actual reality of things, since it would be unable to know which aspect of the nature was the true one. But since there is only one actual reality, the wisdom that takes this reality as its object cannot be differentiated. This is why there is only one vehicle and not three, as stated:

O Kāśyapa. Nirvana takes place when one understands the equality of all things; this being one thing, and not two or three.²

In the term Great Vehicle (mahāyāna), the word great (mahat) refers to the illustrious buddhas, since they have rid themselves of all ignorance and therefore possess unstained wisdom. Their vehicle is the Great Vehicle, and because of the rule ‘pṛṣodara and so forth…’ the t becomes a.³ Alternatively, the Great Vehicle is a vehicle and it is also great. Since it is where the inconceivable wisdom of the buddhas rests, incorporates all of the inconceivable divisions of things, and completely dispels ignorance, the Great Vehicle is a vehicle which is great.

‘So, if there is only one nirvana, why is it taught that the vehicles of hearers and solitary buddhas lead to final nirvana?’

To explain how these teachings are given with a particular intent it was said:

Because of these corruptions that make beings lapse into misdeeds,
The world lacks access to the buddhas’ province of profundity.
But you, Sugata, are endowed with wisdom and compassion’s means,
And made the pledge to be the liberator of these sentient beings. (11.46)

It is taught that the five corruptions make the body and mind unworkable: the corruptions of sentient beings, aeons, afflictions, views and lifespan. The dominance of the afflictions quells all nobler intentions, and the world cannot therefore access the profound wisdom of the buddhas that is so hard to measure. But still the illustrious ones will not dismiss these beings as unfit vessels for liberation. The illustrious ones are filled with the means of compassion, and having in the past expressed the aspiration that they would liberate all sentient beings, will therefore not remain indifferent to their potential liberation but find means to liberate them, as alternative ways through which they can fulfil their promise certainly exists.

As there are many conditions which obstruct beings from engaging with the Great Vehicle, and yet the whole world must still be brought to the state of nirvana, it was said:

Thus, like the adept who will conjure up a city to relieve
The travellers bound for the jewel island of their weariness,
You taught a vehicle to your disciples that will lead to peace,
While teaching something different for the erudite untrammelled ones. (11.47)

The example referred to here is found in the noble White Lotus of Sacred Dharma Sutra.⁴ To summarise its intent, just as the captain magically made a city appear so that they could rest on their way to the island of jewels, the Illustrious One teaches the two vehicles of the hearers and solitary buddhas which focus on the happiness of the peaceful state before the Great Vehicle, as a skilful way to help them reach their goal. But after they have rid themselves of the afflictions of samsara, he will indeed teach them the Great Vehicle, as they too, like the buddhas, need to complete the accumulations and eventually attain omniscience. The teaching of a single vehicle is confirmed by the Compendium of Sutras⁵ and other sources.

In terms of the time when the Illustrious One reaches awakening and the time he remains, it is said:

O Sugata, through aeons numerous as all
The dust there is, you reach perfect awakening
In all the buddha fields throughout the universe –
But this your secret is not commonly divulged. (11.48)

The illustrious buddhas do demonstrate birth and nirvana through their nirmāṇakāya emanations, but how should one express when the complete awakening of the illustrious ones took place, which is the cause for the appearance of their emanation bodies? The aeons in which the illustrious ones realise true and complete awakening are as numerous as all the minute particles found in the universes that are the objects of the tathāgatas’ wisdom. As this is difficult to appreciate, it is not divulged to those who have not gathered previous roots of virtue; however, is explained to those few who have gathered immense merit and can appreciate it.

Having thus said something about when they reach true and complete awakening, to explain about how long they remain it is said:

O Victor, how could you who were conceived
By Lady Wisdom, by Compassion nursed,
Pass into peace whilst all the world has not
Been brought to peace, while space still has not ceased? (11.49)

Since the Illustrious One is given birth to by Lady Prajñāpāramitā and nursed by Compassion, the form of the Illustrious One will remain until everyone in the world has become buddhas, and until space itself collapses.

How is this compassion of the buddhas, through which they work endlessly to care for all beings, to truly benefit them? As explained:

The love you have for your relations, beings who
In ignorance ingest this poisoned worldly food,
A mother’s pain for poisoned child cannot compare;
And thus, Protector, you do not pass into peace. (11.50)

The words worldly food, refer to the five sense pleasures. To believe in and consume these is poisonous, because it leads to much suffering. And the culprit for the conviction that they are real is ignorant confusion. The love the Illustrious One has for cyclic beings who consume such poisonous worldly food, is even more sincere than the pain a mother feels when her beloved only child has been poisoned. How could someone with such compassion enter final nirvana?