妙法蓮華經文句 1.84

1.84

Regarding “bhikṣu”: Master Sengzhao said: “In the language of Qin, it means ‘pure livelihood’; begging for food, destroying afflictions, being able to maintain the precepts, and frightening Māra—in India, a single term contains these four meanings. In Qin there was no equivalent translation, so the original name was retained.” Master Kumārajīva said: “When first leaving the household of wife and children, one should sustain oneself by begging for food, living purely; finally, upon leaving the household of the triple realm, one must destroy afflictions and guard oneself by keeping the precepts. Possessing these two meanings, the heavenly demon is frightened that they will leave his realm.” The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: “Frightening Māra, destroying evil, and mendicant: Māra delights in birth and death; when someone leaves the household and furthermore transforms other people, both departing the triple realm, this goes against Māra’s will. Māra uses power to restrain them, yet is inversely bound by five ties and can only be sorrowful and fearful; hence the name ‘frightening Māra.’ Those who leave the household must destroy the seven evil deeds of body and speech, hence it is said ‘destroying evil.’ For householders there are three kinds of dharmic livelihood: first, farming; second, commerce; and third, civil service, used to sustain life. For renunciants, the Buddha did not permit these, allowing only begging to sustain oneself, so that the body is at peace, the Way is preserved, and blessings benefit the dānapati; these three meanings mutually complement each other and constitute the meaning of bhikṣu.” The Nirvāṇa Sūtra and the Ratnakāraṇḍaka Sūtra both cite ‘destroying evil’ to define bhikṣu, which is not an exhaustive explanation. Now I clarify that these three meanings should apply to both the initial and final stages: as when first renouncing the household during the fourfold karmavācanā, the power of unmanifest precept extends throughout all realms, reversing unmanifest evil; when first cultivating dhyāna-meditation, the dhyāna-concomitant precepts arise, preventing and subduing greed and anger in the mental ground from arising; when first cultivating contemplative wisdom, the resembling path-concomitant precepts arise, able to subdue afflictions. The initial mind is also called ‘destroying evil’; why should it apply solely to the final mind? As for ‘frightening Māra’: when first shaving the hair and receiving the precepts, one already causes Māra sorrow; cultivating concentration to subdue afflictions and cultivating wisdom to destroy afflictions, the initial mind also causes Māra fright; why should it apply solely to the final mind? As for ‘mendicant’: initially leaving behind wrong livelihood to sustain oneself through begging, moving through sensory objects while cultivating meditation, seeking concentration and cultivating wisdom directed toward principle to seek the undefiled—all of these are ‘mendicants.’ How much more so when one is in resonance? Could one not be a mendicant? Endowed with these meanings, they are generally named bhikṣu. When relying on scripture, they all praise the bhikṣu of the final mind; these are all the intentions of the Tripiṭaka teaching. If one proceeds through conditions to seek the truth, this is called ‘mendicant’; destroying the delusions that obstruct principle is called ‘destroying evil’; cultivating this practice and frightening the four Māras is the meaning of the shared teaching. If one proceeds through the three truths to seek principle, this is called ‘mendicant’; eliminating shared and distinctive delusions is called ‘destroying evil’; frightening the eight Māras and ten Māras is the distinctive meaning. If one seeks the flavor of the true mark directly within birth and death, this is called ‘mendicant’; penetrating afflictions as identical to bodhi is called ‘destroying evil’; and recognizing the realm of Māra as identical to the realm of the Buddha is the meaning of the perfect teaching. If the traces have not yet been revealed, only the former two meanings are explained; if the origin has already been disclosed, it is endowed with the latter intentions.