大方廣佛華嚴經疏 32.16

32.16

第五雙歎人法請中，復重請者，示彼疑惑應須斷之，豈可避之？避之不說，有多過咎。何等過咎？不得成就一切佛法。文中，先長行、後偈頌。長行中三；初標請、次「何以故」下釋請、後「是故佛子」下結請。釋中二：先直徵釋、後轉徵釋。前中，先徵意云：何以當得佛護而能信耶？釋云：法應得護，由得護故必能信受。二轉徵釋中，先徵、後釋。徵意云：何以說十地時法應得佛護耶？下釋意云：如來說法不離教證，最所要故。文中三，謂法、喻、合。法中，最初所行者，依阿含行故。成就一切諸佛法者，是證智故。此即九種教證中第四修成相對。二喻中，以字母喻於地智為諸法本。論云「書者是字相，如嘶字師子形相等」者，以書記字，非正字體。言師子形者，謂𭀛字如蹲踞形。有云：如呼師子為𭗺（詞孕）多故。𭗺字像形似師子頭尾者，全不似也。字者，論云「噁阿等」者，即十四音正是字體，字即文也。等餘十二。然有十四音，二音不入字母，謂里、梨二字。數者，名句此二是數。義者，謂有二字、多字名，必以多字成句，故皆數也。說者是語言，皆以字母為本者，明末依本，喻果依因。字母究竟者，明本能攝末，喻因無不攝。上二順明。無有少分離字母者，反成上二。言字母者，即迦佉等三十四字，以前十二音入此三十四字，則一一字中成十二字。復有二合三合乃至六合，展轉相從出一切字，故名為母。論經名為初章者，以梵章之中悉談字母最在初故。然五天口呼則輕重有異，書之貝葉字體不殊，梵天之書千古無易，不同此土篆隷隨時，故此為母，亦常楷定。三合中，初合末依於本、後十地究竟合因無不攝。所以須此二者，若但言為本，容非是末。如以百錢為本，成多財貨等。今明如水為海本，無海非水故。云究竟無有離者，又為本者非但因為果本，亦乃後為前本，地前望證修阿含故，初心即以智觀如故。第三結請，可知。問：若依上義，諸佛有力能令信者，何故今後眾生於彼法中亦有謗意？答：有二種定，則不可加。一感報定，以先世今世造定業故；二作業定，宿惡熏心猛利纏起，難曉喻故。上如釋種，下如琉璃。

Fifth, within the request doubly praising the persons and the Dharma, that he requests again is to show that their doubts and confusion must be severed—how could one avoid them? Avoiding them without preaching brings many faults. What kind of faults? Failing to achieve all Buddha-dharmas. In the text, first is prose, followed by verses. In the prose are three parts: first, setting forth the request; next, from 'Why is this?' onward, explaining the request; finally, from 'Therefore, O sons of the Buddha' onward, concluding the request. In the explanation are two: first, a direct inquiry and explanation; second, a further inquiry and explanation. In the former, the inquiry first means: Why will they receive the Buddha's protection and thus be able to believe? The explanation states: By the nature of the Dharma, they should receive protection, and because they receive protection, they will surely be able to believe and accept it. In the second, the further inquiry and explanation, there is first the inquiry, then the explanation. The intent of the inquiry is: Why is it that when expounding the ten stages, the Dharma should receive the Buddha's protection? The explanation below intends: The Tathāgata's preaching does not depart from teaching and realization, which are the most essential. Within the text are three parts: namely, the Dharma, the metaphor, and the application. In the Dharma, 'what is practiced initially' refers to practicing in accordance with the āgama. 'Accomplishing all Buddha-dharmas' refers to realized wisdom. This is the fourth reciprocal pairing of cultivation and accomplishment among the nine kinds of teaching and realization. In the second, the metaphor, the letters of the alphabet metaphorize the wisdom of the stages being the root of all dharmas. The treatise says: 'Writing refers to the marks of characters, like the character *sī* having the form of a lion, and so forth.' This means that writing records characters, but is not the actual essence of the characters. Regarding 'the form of a lion', it refers to the character resembling a crouching shape. Some say: it is because when calling a lion, it is *siṃha*; the character's pictographic form is said to resemble the head and tail of a lion, but it does not resemble it at all. As for 'character', the treatise says: '*a*, *ā*, and so forth,' which are the fourteen vowels that are the very essence of the characters; characters are phonemes. 'And so forth' includes the remaining twelve. However, of the fourteen vowels, two vowels do not enter the alphabet, namely the two characters *ṛ* and *ṝ*. 'Numbers' refers to names and phrases, both being counted entities. 'Meanings' refers to having names of two characters or multiple characters, which must use multiple characters to form a phrase; thus they are all counted. 'Speech' refers to spoken language. That all take the alphabet as their root clarifies that the branches rely on the root, metaphorizing that the fruit relies on the cause. That 'the alphabet is ultimate' clarifies that the root can encompass the branches, metaphorizing that the cause leaves nothing unencompassed. The above two explain in the forward order. 'Not the slightest part is separate from the alphabet' conversely confirms the above two. Regarding 'alphabet' (mātṛkā), it refers to the thirty-four characters such as *ka*, *kha*, and so forth; when the former twelve vowels enter these thirty-four characters, then within each character twelve characters are formed. Furthermore, there are conjuncts of two, three, up to six characters, combining consecutively to produce all characters; hence they are called 'mothers' (mātṛkā). The translated text of the treatise calls this the 'First Chapter', because among Sanskrit texts, the Siddham alphabet is at the very beginning. However, in the speech of the Five Indias, tones differ in lightness and heaviness, yet written on palm leaves, the forms of the letters are identical; the script of Brahmā has remained unchanged through thousands of ages, unlike the seal and clerical scripts of this land which change with the times; hence this serves as the mother and is also permanently standardized. In the third part, the application, first, the branches rely on the root is applied; second, 'the ten stages are ultimate' applies the cause leaving nothing unencompassed. Why are these two necessary? If one merely said it is the root, it might not be the branches—just as taking a hundred coins as capital may produce many goods and wealth. Here it clarifies that just as water is the root of the ocean, there is no ocean that is not water. Thus it says 'ultimate and not separate'. Moreover, as for being the root, not only is the cause the root of the fruit, but also the subsequent is the root of the antecedent, because prior to the stages one cultivates the āgama in anticipation of realization, and from the initial mind one contemplates suchness with wisdom. Third, the concluding request is self-evident. Question: If, according to the above meaning, the Buddhas have the power to make them believe, why is it that sentient beings now and in the future also have intentions of slandering that Dharma? Answer: There are two kinds of determinacy that cannot be augmented or overcome: first, determinacy of karmic retribution, because they committed determinate karma in past or present lives; second, determinacy of karmic action, because past evils perfume their minds and violent entanglements arise, making it difficult to instruct them. The former is like the Śākya clan; the latter is like Virūḍhaka.