釋摩訶衍論 4.25

4.25

論曰：十方三世一切諸佛報無明恩，盡未來際無有窮盡。所以者何？一切覺者以無明作無為因，具足莊嚴法身果故。本來清淨契經中作如是說：文殊師利則白佛言：「世尊！無量劫中不惜身命，斷一切惡修一切善，圓滿行因莊嚴性海，喜樂自在德用無礙。何因緣故作如是言：『我有多恩，盡未來際不能盡報。』」佛言：「我由無明以之為質成正覺道，是故我說有極重恩，於塵劫中報恩不盡。」以此義故，無明住地亦名報恩無盡住地故。無始有終住地者，字義差別其相云何？頌曰：

The treatise says: All buddhas of the ten directions and the three times requite the kindness of avidyā to the end of the future without exhaustion. Why is that? Because all awakened ones take avidyā as the unconditioned cause for fully adorning the fruit of the dharmakāya. As is stated in the Mūla-viśuddha-sūtra: Mañjuśrī addressed the Buddha, saying: 'World-Honoured One! For immeasurable kalpas you did not spare body or life, severing all evil and cultivating all good, completing the practice of causes to adorn the ocean of nature, joyful and sovereign, with virtue and function unobstructed. For what reason do you make such a statement: "I have great kindness [received], which cannot be fully repaid to the end of the future"?' The Buddha said: 'Taking avidyā as the material, I accomplished the path of correct awakening; therefore I say there is an extremely heavy debt of kindness, which cannot be fully repaid throughout dust-mote kalpas.' By this meaning, avidyāvāsabhūmi is also called the stage of inexhaustible requital of kindness. As for the stage of beginningless having an end, what are its characteristics according to the distinct meanings of the characters? The verse says: