妙法蓮華經玄義 10.25

10.25

次難褒貶教是第三時。雖七百阿僧祇，猶是無常，不明常住，直是彈訶褒揚而已。今問：說般若時，諸大弟子皆轉教說法，雖不悕取，咸以具知菩薩法門，何得被訶？茫然不識是何言，不知以何答，故知褒貶不應在般若之後，非第三時也。又彌勒等亦被屈折，何但聲聞。若言七百阿僧祇者，此亦不然。其文自說佛身無為，不墮諸數，金剛之體，何疾何惱？為度眾生，現斯事耳！文辨金剛，而人判七百；《涅槃》亦辨金剛，那忽常住？又云：「觀身實相，觀佛亦然」，又不思議解脫有三種：真性、實慧、方便，即是三佛性義。且復塵勞之儔是如來種，豈非正因佛性；不斷癡愛起諸明脫，明即了因性，脫即緣因性。三義宛然，判是無常；涅槃三種佛性，何得是常耶？

Next, refuting the teaching of praise and disparagement as the third period: [They hold that] though it spans seven hundred asaṃkhyeyas, it is still impermanent and does not clarify permanent abiding, but is merely rebuking and praising. Now I ask: when prajñā was preached, the great disciples all transmitted the teaching and preached the Dharma; although they did not aspire to take hold of it, they all fully knew the bodhisattva's dharma-gates—how could they be rebuked? Being utterly bewildered as to what words these were, and not knowing how to reply—therefore we know that praising and disparaging should not come after prajñā, and is not the third period. Furthermore, Maitreya and others were also humbled; why only the śrāvakas? Moreover, if one asserts 'seven hundred asaṃkhyeyas', this too is incorrect. Its text itself says that the Buddha's body is unconditioned and does not fall into numbers; with an adamantine essence, what illness or distress could there be? It is solely to save sentient beings that he manifests these things! The text discerns the adamantine, yet people designate seven hundred; the *Nirvāṇa-sūtra* also discerns the adamantine, so how could [only the latter] be permanently abiding? Furthermore, it says: 'Contemplating the real mark of the body, one contemplates the Buddha likewise.' Moreover, inconceivable liberation has three kinds: true nature, real wisdom, and expedient means; these are precisely the meanings of the three buddha-natures. Furthermore, the company of defilements is the lineage of the Tathāgata—is this not the direct cause buddha-nature? Without severing ignorance and craving, giving rise to all forms of clarity and liberation: clarity is the disclosing cause nature, and liberation is the conditioning cause nature. The three meanings are fully present, yet they judge it to be impermanent; how then could the three kinds of buddha-nature in the *Nirvāṇa-sūtra* be permanent?