大乘在西 The Greater Vehicle Lies in the West
菩薩道：「你那法師講的是小乘教法，度不得亡者昇天。我有大乘佛法三藏，可以度亡脫苦，壽身無壞。」太宗正色喜問道：「你那大乘佛法在於何處？」菩薩道：「在大西天天竺國大雷音寺我佛如來處，能解百冤之結，能消無妄之災。」太宗道：「你可記得麼？」菩薩道：「我記得。」太宗大喜道：「教法師引去，請上臺開講。」菩萨道：「你那法师讲的是小乘教法，度不得亡者升天。我有大乘佛法三藏，可以度亡脱苦，寿身无坏。」太宗正色喜问道：「你那大乘佛法在于何处？」菩萨道：「在大西天天竺国大雷音寺我佛如来处，能解百冤之结，能消无妄之灾。」太宗道：「你可记得么？」菩萨道：「我记得。」太宗大喜道：「教法师引去，请上台开讲。」
逐句解 Line by line
The Bodhisattva said: 'That Master of yours expounds the teaching of the Lesser Vehicle, which cannot deliver the dead to ascend to heaven.'
那 is the pointing nà; 乘 in 小乘 is shèng; 得 in 度不得 is dé.
'I have the Greater Vehicle Buddha-dharma of the Three Baskets, which can deliver the dead and free them from suffering, and make the lifespan-body imperishable.'
乘 in 大乘 is shèng; 藏 in 三藏 is zàng; 佛 is the global fó. She hands the three key terms back to the emperor unaltered, which is how an answer gets fixed in the hearer's mind.
Taizong, with a grave countenance, gladly asked: 'Where is this Greater Vehicle Buddha-dharma of yours?'
正色, a grave countenance, reads 正 as zhèng; 那 is the pointing nà; 乘 is shèng. The emperor stops being annoyed and starts being interested, and the text marks the change in his face before it reaches his words.
The Bodhisattva said: 'It is in the Great Thunderclap Monastery in the land of India, in the Great Western Heaven, at the place of my Buddha the Tathagata; it can loose the knot of a hundred grievances and dispel unforeseen calamity.'
大雷音寺, the Great Thunderclap Monastery, in 天竺, India, where the Tathagata dwells: the destination of the whole pilgrimage, named aloud for the first time. 佛 is the global fó.
Taizong said: 'Can you remember it?' The Bodhisattva said: 'I remember it.'
Both occurrences of 得 in 記得, remember, are the toneless de.
Taizong said with great joy: 'Have the Master lead you up — please ascend the platform and expound.'
教 in 教法師引去, have the Master lead you up, is jiào. The emperor invites the beggar onto the platform, which is the whole opening she needs.
The exchange names, for the first time, both the goal and the destination of the great quest: the Greater Vehicle Tripitaka, which can deliver the dead and confer imperishable life, lies in the Great Thunderclap Monastery of India, at the abode of the Tathagata himself.
Taizong's response — grave now, and earnest — marks the moment the emperor grasps that his completed rite was only a beginning, and that scriptures must be fetched from the West. His invitation that the mendicant ascend the platform and expound is the last step before disclosure: the disguised beggar is about to reveal herself as the Bodhisattva Guanyin, and the whole assembled city is about to learn why the pilgrimage must be made.