Verses of Praise by Akṣayamati (Āryākṣaya­mati­nirdeśa­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra)

In the Āryākṣaya­mati­nirdeśa­nāma­mahāyāna­sūtra, the bodhisattva Akṣayamati praised the Blessed One with these verses:

“Immaculate one without impurities, hero free of desire, 

Your three eyes [1] are purified and there is no obscuration to your wisdom. 

You have given up hate, rejecting the three kinds of moral filth [2] and harshness [3]. 

To the awakened one with no impurities, I bow.

“Without fear, doing away with delusion, 

You are endowed with the ten powers [4], and you are hard to subdue for loquacious opponents. 

You frighten those who walk on faulty paths, 

And you walk the earth like a fearless lion.

“In the celestial worlds your body shines, faultless and pure. 

You have done away with dark ignorance. 

Blinding, you shine like the sun 

Freed from the net of clouds.

“The worlds, without refuge and protection, are suffering, 

Tormented by old age and death, without any firm standing. 

Greatest of beings, 

Come here out of compassion to free us, like a physician!

“Out of the sea of existence, ignorance, and delusion, hard to cross, 

Out of the many billowing clouds of afflictions and all kinds of fiction, 

You emerge by yourself, not having heard from others [5]. 

You come here undefiled like a lotus [6].

“All these phenomena are essentially without a self [7]. 

They arise under certain conditions, just like the sound of an echo [8]. 

Protector of the world, for the good of living beings you teach that they are not made [9], 

That there is no maker [10] or any entity to experience them [11].

“The ways of the world are changeable like a mountain brook in this world. 

Still, the ignorant beings cling to that which has no core. 

When they know that all phenomena are like autumn clouds, 

They pass beyond existence, and they despise it [12].

“Your eyes are like blooming red lotus flowers 

That shine more brightly than a hundred suns and moons. 

You are worthy of praise, you are praised and extolled by the whole world, 

And you are freed from the illness that is the lack of discipline [13]. To you I bow.

“Mighty one, you have reached unlimited perfection, 

And your qualities have been perfected in the most distinguished way. 

The qualities of the Bliss-Gone One cannot be measured. 

I bow down to the Awakened One, the field of merit.” 

1. "There are another three things, which are three eyes: The flesh eye, heavenly eye, and wisdom eye." (DĀ 9). Flesh eye (māmsacakṣu) refers to the physical organ, heavenly eye (divyacakṣu) refers to clairvoyance, and wisdom eye (prajñācakṣu) refers to knowledge of all conditioned and unconditioned dharmas and freedom from all projections.
2. The three kinds of moral filth are greed (rāgamala), aversion (dveṣamala), and delusion (mohamala) (SĀ 490; Yogācārabhūmiśāstra).
3. "He has abandoned harsh speech, including all speech that is coarse, fierce, bitter, and vile, which incites others to hatred, or which, attended by glowering or arrogance, incites fearfulness, affliction, or heated anger in others. This includes speech that would not please others, that no one would enjoy, that could bring harm to himself, or that could bring harm to others. He has entirely cast aside and abandoned all such forms of speech as these." (Daśabhūmikasūtra).
4. The ten powers are (1) the knowledge of what is possible and not possible; (2) the knowledge of the ripening of karma; (3) the knowledge of the variety of aspirations; (4) the knowledge of the variety of natures; (5) the knowledge of the different levels of capabilities; (6) the knowledge of the destinations of all paths; (7) the knowledge of various states of meditation; (8) the knowledge of remembering previous lives; (9) the knowledge of deaths and rebirths; and (10) the knowledge of the cessation of defilements (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha Glossary).
5. We are currently under the dispensation (śāsana) of Śākyamuni Buddha. Not having heard from others means he did not attain awakening under the dispensation of another buddha and, by his own strength, have come to know, practice, understand, and teach the Dharma.
6. A lotus does not become stained by the dirty pond by the muddy water it has rooted itself in.
7. There is no enduring, independent, permanent existence or self that can be attributed to any phenomenon. "Whether Realized Ones arise or not, this law of nature persists, this regularity of natural principles, this surety of natural principles: all things are not-self. A Realized One awakens to this and comprehends it, then he explains, teaches, asserts, establishes, clarifies, analyzes, and discloses it: ‘All things are not-self.’" (AN 3.136).
8. This refers to the concept of dependent origination.
9. This refers to the Buddhist rejection of creationism or the idea that sentient beings were made.
10. In relation to point 9, as sentient beings are not made, there is no creator to speak of. In response to  the Brahmā described as "the Fortunate, the Transformer, the Exalted, the Maker, the Creator, and the Father" by Māra Pāpīyān: “Brahmā, you are saying what’s impermanent is permanent, what’s not eternal is eternal, and what’s not enduring is enduring. You are saying what’s not essential is essential, something that ends is something that doesn’t end, and what’s not an escape is the escape that has no escape that goes beyond it. That it’s supreme, marvelous, and exceptional. Brahmā, you [say that] in ignorance. Brahmā, you [say that] in ignorance.” (MĀ 78).
11. This refers to anātman, in that there is no permanent, eternal self that experiences things as if the body and the mind are simply vehicles for that separate entity.
12. “You should observe that form is impermanent… painful… empty… not self. Observing it in this way is right view. Correctly observing it gives rise to disillusionment. When someone is disillusioned, delight and greed end. When delight and greed end, I say one’s mind is liberated. Thus observe that feeling… conception … volition … awareness is impermanent… painful… empty… not self. Observing it in this way is right view. Correctly observing it gives rise to disillusionment. When someone is disillusioned, delight and greed end. When delight and greed end, I say one’s mind is liberated." (SĀ 1.1-4)
13. "Ethical discipline is the supreme physician for illness, a lamp in darkness, a refuge for the destitute, a protection in fear, a kinsman to the poor, and a ship for the shoreless ocean of death." (Śīlaparikathā).