金剛般若經贊述 1.72

1.72

"At that time, the Venerable": in the Western regions, one of senior age and honor is called a venerable (āyuṣmat); if one is young yet possesses virtue, one has the title "great virtue" (bhadanta), which is not the same as in this land. "Subhūti" is an erroneous transcription; it should be Subhūti, translated here as "Shanxian" (Good Manifestation), who was foremost among the Bhagavat's disciples in understanding emptiness. That is, corresponding to the Buddha's era, he was immediately able to manifest birth; or he was well able to manifest before him and thoroughly penetrate the meaning of emptiness; or when he was first born and manifested, his chamber was empty and serene, and a physiognomist divined it and named him Shanxian. "Xian" means to appear: when he was born, all within the chamber was empty and serene, symbolizing that when grown up he would be adept at understanding the meaning of emptiness, hence he was named Shanxian. In the newly translated Vajracchedikā, he is called "the Long-Lived Shanxian" (āyuṣmat Subhūti). There are two kinds of life: first, supramundane life, which is wisdom; second, mundane life, which is the continuous holding of the succession of form and mind. If one only designates the life of wisdom, it does not subsume the mundane; if one speaks only of longevity, it does not extend to the supramundane; showing that he is endowed with both, it says "endowed with life" (āyuṣmat). That is, Shanxian has two aspects: first, attaining the supramundane life of wisdom; second, attaining mundane long life; therefore he is also called "the Venerable" (āyuṣmat).