觀音義疏 2.14

2.14

求女文中但明願與德業不明修行者，行同禮拜，故不重論。願德既殊，故須各辯。女人端正，七德之初，但端正無相者，或早孤少寡，相祿不佳；今明貌與相相扶，彌顯其德，端正則招寵愛，相則招於祿敬，故文云：「眾人愛敬。」若愛帶慢，何謂為德？愛而敬之，故是相也。有人解：「宿植德本是釋疑。」眾人咸謂：「觀音但能交會父母，智慧端正，兒之宿植，若是觀音與其智慧端正則墮無因之過。」私難此語，若言福慧是兒業，觀音唯能會其受生，兒無生緣，觀音會生，兒無福慧，觀音亦能使有，觀音遂不能令無福種福，何能使無生而生？論福畏墮無因，論生何不畏墮無因？若爾，聖人全不能與福慧，只能作媒人。此不可解也。難觀音不能令兒有福慧者，上一人稱名，多人皆脫羅剎之難，此無因而不與彼，無機那忽脫耶？今明聖力甚大，無所不與，能使先世有福慧者託生也，縱令先世不植善緣，亦能令其於中陰中修福，此義出《中陰經》也，今不取此句為釋疑之意。

In the passage on seeking a daughter, only the vow and the virtuous karma are explained, while the practice is not explained, because the practice is the same as prostrations; hence it is not discussed again. Since the vows and virtues are distinct, each must be distinguished. An upright and handsome appearance in a woman is the first of the seven virtues; however, one who is only upright without auspicious marks may be orphaned early or widowed young, with poor fortune in her marks. Here it is explained that appearance and marks assist each other, all the more manifesting her virtue: an upright appearance attracts favor and affection, while marks attract fortune and respect. Thus the text says: "Loved and respected by many." If love carries arrogance, how could it be called a virtue? Loving and respecting her—this is due to her marks. Some explain: "'Having planted roots of virtue in past lives' is to resolve doubts." Everyone says: "Avalokiteśvara can only bring parents together; wisdom and uprightness are the child's own past plantings. If Avalokiteśvara were to grant wisdom and uprightness, one would fall into the error of [effects arising] without a cause." I privately refute this statement: if it is said that fortune and wisdom are the child's karma and Avalokiteśvara can only bring about their taking birth, when the child lacks the conditions for birth, Avalokiteśvara brings about birth; when the child lacks fortune and wisdom, Avalokiteśvara can likewise cause them to have them. If Avalokiteśvara could not cause those without fortune to plant fortune, how could he cause those without birth to be born? In discussing fortune, one fears falling into [the error of] causelessness; in discussing birth, why does one not fear falling into [the error of] causelessness? If that were so, the sage could not grant fortune and wisdom at all, and could only act as a matchmaker. This makes no sense. As for refuting the claim that Avalokiteśvara cannot cause a child to have fortune and wisdom: above, when one person invoked the name, many were freed from the peril of rākṣasas. If this were causeless and not granted by him, how could they suddenly be delivered without a latent capacity? Now it is explained that the power of the sage is exceedingly great and there is nothing it does not grant. He can cause one who has fortune and wisdom from past lives to take rebirth; even if they did not plant good conditions in past lives, he can also cause them to cultivate fortune in the intermediate existence (antarābhava)—this meaning comes from the Sūtra on the Intermediate Existence (Zhongyin jing). We do not now take this phrase as the intention to resolve doubts.