Overall Teaching

After giving rise to ten wholesome mental factors, a bodhisattva on the Second Stage, Purity, first gives rise to the ten virtuous ways of acting, understands the ensnarements of beings and wishes to counteract them, sees trillions of buddhas and offers to them, and by greatly purifying all bad behaviour, they come to be strong in the second perfection, morality.

Summary

1.     Request for the teaching on the Second Stage [714i]

a.     The bodhisattvas praise Vajragarbha’s teaching and request the second stage.

2.     Requisites for the Second Stage [714ii]

a.     While in the first stage, ten mental factors give rise to the second, Purity:

                                               i.         Honesty

                                             ii.         Gentleness

                                            iii.         Capability

                                            iv.         Docility

                                             v.         Tranquillity

                                            vi.         Goodness

                                          vii.         Non-defilement

                                         viii.         Non-attachment

                                            ix.         Broad-mindedness

                                             x.         Magnanimity

3.     The Ten Virtuous Ways of Acting [714iii–717i]

a.     Bodhisattvas on the stage of purity give rise to the ten virtuous ways of acting:

                                               i.         Avoiding taking life: abandon weapons, become compassionate to all beings, and not even have fantasies about harming beings.

                                             ii.         Abandoning taking what is not given: become satisfied with what they have, and wouldn’t take as much as a blade of grass that doesn’t belong to them.

                                            iii.         Abandoning sexual misconduct: are satisfied with their own spouses and don’t even have desire for others’ spouses.

                                            iv.         Abandoning false speech: speak truthfully, timely, and act on their words. Don’t lie intending to deceive, even in dreams.

                                             v.         Abandoning malicious talk: they don’t enjoy separation or speak words that cause separation, whether they’re true or not.

                                            vi.         Abandoning coarse speech: give up annoying, dirty, outrageous, disruptive speech, and speak only what is gentle and pleasant, clear, and liked by many.

                                          vii.         Abandoning useless speech: speak words with content, with reflection, even before telling a joke, and don’t chat at random.

                                         viii.         Becoming free from covetousness: don’t even desire what belongs to others, or gain.

                                            ix.         Becoming free from malevolence: only loving and kind to beings, reflecting on the beneficial and what is kind.

                                             x.         Coming to have right insight and follow the right Path: give up divination and don’t practice deception, setting their minds on the Triple Gem.

b.     In this way, they intend to avoid all evil states of woe, and intend to help others abide in right action—but it is impossible to help others if one doesn’t oneself abide in right action. Lower realms are established from bad ways of action, and the higher realms from good ways.

c.     If one follows the ten ways, but lacks compassion and is taught by another, it is Śrāvakayāna (listener’s vehicle), if one lacks compassion but is self-awakened, it is Pratyekabuddhayāna (solitary buddha vehicle), but if one has compassion and skilful means, one fulfils the ten stages and six perfections and becomes a buddha.

d.     Following the opposite of the ten leads to hell or animality and, if human these corresponding results:

                                               i.         Killing to short life and sickness

                                             ii.         Stealing to material poverty and communal possession

                                            iii.         Sexual misconduct to unruly society and unfaithful spouses

                                            iv.         Lying leads to slander and unreliability

                                             v.         Divisive speech to broken homes and wretched families

                                            vi.         Harsh speech to hearing the displeasing or argumentativeness

                                          vii.         Useless talk to unbelieved speech and unclear speech

                                         viii.         Covetousness to dissatisfaction and ambitiousness

                                            ix.         Anger to bad views or becoming tricky and deceitful

e.     Abandoning bad ways, they think of all beings with kindness, as examples, and teachers.

4.     Understanding the Ensnarement of Beings and Desiring to Rescue Them [717ii–718i]

a.     These bodhisattvas understand the following ways of ensnarement of beings and wish to right their wrongs and set them on the path to awakening:

                                               i.         Fallen into wrong views, travelling on erroneous paths

                                             ii.         At odds, in disputes, burning with hatred

                                            iii.         Insatiable, coveting others goods

                                            iv.         Following the motivations of the three poisons, not seeking nirvāṇa

                                             v.         Availed by darkness and in a wilderness of wrong views

                                            vi. Traveling in the desert of routine existence, bound by the rope of demons (sense objects), and in the wasteland of the mundane whirl, not the city of fearlessness and knowledge

                                          vii. Sunk in the waves of great torrents, in the flows of defilements and going along creepers of misconduct, not escaping the danger of the village of the six senses.

                                         viii. Locked up in sadness, bonds of love and hate, prison of the triple world

                                            ix. Attached to self and possessions.

                                             x. With base and narrow aspirations, even if they want to escape, they think only of the lower two vehicles and not that of supreme Buddhahood.

5.     Perceptions of Buddhas [718ii]

a.     On this stage bodhisattvas are perceived by trillions of buddhas.

b.     They see and make offerings to those buddhas, dedicating the merit to awakening.

c.     They learn the ten way of actions from them and gradually rid themselves of envy and bad behaviour, attaining purity of generosity and morality.

6.     Qualities of Bodhisattvas on this Stage [718iii–719ii]

a.     Bodhisattvas on this stage by ridding impurities of envy and bad behaviour become more and more pure like gold in vitriol.

b.     For them, kind speech is the most paramount means and morality the most paramount perfection. They practice the others as appropriate.

c.     Many bodhisattvas in this stage are monarchs of the four continents.

d.     All their thoughts are those of the triple gem, bodhisattvas, their practices and qualities in order to become the best leaders, guides, and refuges.

e.     In a single instant they can attain a thousand samādhis, seeing a thousand buddhas, go to and liberate a thousand worlds, live for a thousand years, etc.

f.      They can transform their bodies, powers, etc. in countless ways.

7.     Summary in Verse [719iii–721i]

Nāgārjuna’s comments on the Second Stage from Ratnāvalī

443. The second is called the Stainless

Because all ten [virtuous] actions

Of body, speech, and mind are stainless

And they naturally abide in those [deeds of morality].

444. Through the maturation of those [good qualities]

The perfection of morality becomes supreme.

They become Universal Monarchs helping beings,

Masters of the glorious [four continents] and of the seven precious objects.