Overall Teaching

The chief priest suggests ornamenting the Bodhisattva. After ornaments are placed on him their glory is eclipsed by that of his own body. The goddess Vimala suggests they remove them as the Bodhisattva needs no ornamentation, and give them to Chanda.

Summary

1.     Chief priest Udayana tells the king that it is time for making the prince’s ornaments. 

2. King Śuddhodana had 500 types of ornaments made by 500 Śākyas.

a.     The king suggests that the Śākyas ornament the prince, and the Śākyas suggest that he wear those ornaments for seven days and nights to make their efforts meaningful.

3.     At dawn Mahāprajāpatī and the Bodhisattva entered the park and after thousands of the Śākyas gazed upon his appearance, the Śākyas put the ornaments on his body.

4.     The light radiating from the Bodhisattva’s body eclipsed the lustre of all of those ornaments on his body.

5. The goddess of the park, Vimala, appeared, and said in verse:

a.     The gold from the Jambū river would steal the splendour of any gold coin, but the light from the Guide would outshine even that and appear like soot.

b.     The Bodhisattva is adorned by his own magnificence/qualities and his body is stainless and not beautified by ornaments.

c.     The signs of his body are the result of previous virtue; he brings supreme knowledge, and does not wear artificial ornaments.[1]

d.     Give these jewels instead to Chanda, the Bodhisattva’s servant.

6. The Śākyas were amazed.

7. After spreading flowers over the Bodhisattva, the goddess disappeared.

[1] Recall also that the Prajñāpāramitā texts emphasise the qualities of the Tathāgata and the Prajñāpāramitā as being boundless, inexpressible, incomprehensible, and so forth. E.g., “Endowed with great qualities is this perfection of wisdom, with immeasurable qualities, with boundless qualities.’ (Chapter IV of 8000 Line Version) An ornamentation is an addition, or modification, to the nature of something, but the nature of Buddhahood is beyond modification or discrimination. As the above text also states, “when a Bodhisattva courses in perfect wisdom and develops it, he should so train himself that he does not pride himself on that thought of enlightenment with which he has begun his career. That thought is no thought, since in its essential nature thought is transparently luminous. … That thought is no thought. … It is without modification or discrimination.” (Chapter I)