分別功德論 5.4

5.4

As for why the monk Śreṇika is declared foremost in being able to explain the Dharma extensively: For thirty years this monk remained at the level of an ordinary person, extensively expounding the Dharma and differentiating doctrinal principles for people. What is meant by an extensive explanation? At times, because of a single practice, myriad practices are developed, their branches proliferating endlessly. Just as afflictions arise conditionally dependent upon one another, so medicines are established in correspondence with them to bring about their cure. This monk focused primarily on analytical discrimination and did not make the eradication of outflows his priority; therefore, it took him thirty years before he attained the realization of the Way. Entering silent stillness and forgetting words, he abandoned his former traces. Recording his original achievements, he was therefore declared foremost in extensive explanation.