觀音義疏 1.19

1.19

Second, explaining "encountering suffering": this refers to experiencing various afflictions. These words fulfill the meaning above: the hundreds of thousands above referred to commonality of karma, while here it says "various afflictions." If one affliction corresponds to one karma, and there are altogether hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of them, one therefore knows that there are various hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis. The preceding explained the commonality of the number, whereas the subsequent explains the distinctness of the karma. Applying this meaning across the myriads of capacities in the ten dharma realms, they are unspeakable and unspeakable. Now when it says "experiencing afflictions," this refers precisely to presently encountering distress and suffering; this suffering is due to the multiplicity of results from bound karma, and therefore the causes are also manifold. This is the general reply: its phrasing is concise yet its meaning is broad, universally encompassing the ten realms rather than stopping at the human realm alone. Later, in the specific reply, the phrasing is broad yet the meaning is narrow, specifically singling out only the seven disasters of the human world; therefore, here is the general reply.