法華玄論 1.45

1.45

In prefacing its critical intent, there are briefly five points: First, relying on Mahāyāna treatises to penetrate the vaipulya [scriptures], which is the grand guideline for explaining sūtras and the fundamental school for penetrating the teachings. As for Mahāyāna treatises, there are two kinds in all: One generally explains the Mahāyāna, namely the Madhyamaka-śāstra, the Śata-śāstra, the Dvādaśamukha-śāstra, the Bodhisattvabhūmi-śāstra, the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, and so forth. The second specifically explains a single text, namely the Da zhidu lun, the Daśabhūmika-śāstra, the Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā-śāstra, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkopadeśa, and so forth. Only one who fully understands both the general and specific treatises can begin to discern the purport of the Mahāyāna and may lecture on Mahāyāna sūtras. As for Hīnayāna treatises, there are also two kinds: One generally explains the Tripiṭaka, namely the Jñānaprasthāna, the Mahāvibhāṣā, the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra, and so forth. The second specifically explains a single teaching, such as the Venerable Pārśva composing the *Catuḥsūtra-śāstra to specifically explain the teachings of the four Āgamas. The Vibhāṣās of the eighteen schools specifically explain the Vinayas of the eighteen schools, such as the Samantapāsādikā and its kind. The Śāriputrābhidharma specifically explains the Buddha's ninefold Abhidharmapiṭaka. Only when one fully understands both the general and specific treatises may one lecture on Hīnayāna sūtras. Therefore, Aśvaghoṣa and Nāgārjuna composed Mahāyāna treatises to penetrate the Mahāyāna, while Dharmaśrī and Harivarman composed Hīnayāna treatises to explain the Tripiṭaka. These are as distinct as vermilion and purple, or as separate currents of the Jing and Wei rivers. To adopt the Abhidharma treatises as primary to penetrate the vaipulya texts has, going forward, no merit in propagating the scriptures, and going backward, the fault of doing violence to the treatises.