金剛經纂要刊定記 2.83

2.83

答：「所以能攝者，有二意。一能顯文字有其三處。謂：心上顯即意識境，聲上顯即耳識境，色上顯即眼識境。今取初者故能攝之。二有聲未必有名、句、文，有文則必有聲、名、句，前前未必有後後，後後必有於前前，如苗必有根，根未必有苗也。以是義故，故攝聲等。文字性空下。明攝所詮理也。謂依於般若顯乎文字，文字本空即是般若，無別文字體也。然有二意：一體屬緣生無自體故。二非別有一法為文字體故。此皆意顯般若是文字體也。其猶鎔金成像，像即是金也。」

Answer: "That they can subsume them has two meanings. First, the phonemes (letters) that can manifest exist in three loci: manifested upon the mind, they are the realm of the mental consciousness; manifested upon sounds, they are the realm of the ear consciousness; manifested upon forms, they are the realm of the eye consciousness. Now, taking the first, they are therefore able to subsume them. Second, where there is sound, there are not necessarily names, phrases, and phonemes; where there are phonemes, there must be sounds, names, and phrases. The earlier does not necessarily have the later, but the later must have the earlier, just as a sprout must have a root, but a root does not necessarily have a sprout. By this meaning, they therefore subsume sounds and the rest. As for 'the nature of letters is empty' and so forth: This clarifies subsuming the principle that is the signified. This means that in reliance on prajñā, letters are manifested; letters are originally empty, which is precisely prajñā; there is no separate substance of letters. There are two meanings: first, their substance belongs to conditioned arising and lacks self-substance; second, there is not a separate phenomenon that serves as the substance of letters. These both intend to reveal that prajñā is the substance of letters. It is just like melting gold to form an image: the image is precisely gold."