仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經疏 1.151

1.151

The commentary explains: The auspicious signs before a sūtra are each different, guiding according to the occasion and performed in response to capacities: sometimes radiance flows from between the eyebrows to symbolize the One Vehicle, or umbrellas merge to display wonders manifesting unfathomable virtues. Now, this prajñā is the mother of the buddhas; therefore it is at the beginning of the year, symbolizing its preeminence above all dharmas. "At that time" means the time when the sūtra was about to be spoken. "World-Honoured One" is the tenth epithet, having the majestic virtue of destroying Māra, its meaning being as explained before. "The eighth day of the first month of the year" reveals the time of proclamation. In this land there are four seasons, each season having three months, and the imperial calendar of the August Tang takes the *yin* month as the first month. In the Western land there are three seasons, each season having four months; the beginning of the cold season corresponds to the eleventh month, which is the same as the ancient calendar taking the *zi* month as the first. The dark half marks the beginning, so the twenty-third day is the eighth day. Furthermore, the ninth chapter of the *Suvarṇaprabhāsa* establishes four seasons, and as the second fascicle of the *Record of the Western Regions* states: "From the sixteenth day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the fourth month is the three months of spring," so the twenty-third day of the first month is the eighth day of the first month of the year; the choices are according to the texts. As for "entered the great tranquility", "entered" means realized and entered, and "great tranquility" refers to supreme meditative absorption. If according to the explanation of Nāgasena in the *Buddhabhūmi*, among the Buddha's three dharmas, it is the great absorption.