大方廣佛華嚴經疏 1.30

1.30

Second, subsumption by the collections and teachings, which has two parts: first, subsumption by the collections; second, subsumption by the teachings. Within the former there are also two parts: first, the collections; second, subsumption. Now to the first. "Collections" refers to the three collections (piṭaka) and the two collections. They are generally termed "collections" because they contain and subsume. In the first fascicle of Vasubandhu's Commentary on the Mahāyānasaṃgraha and the fourth fascicle of the Sūtrālaṃkāra, both ask: How are those three and two termed collections? The reply says: Because of subsuming; that is, they subsume all the meanings that ought to be known. "Subsuming" means containing. As for the three collections, they are: first, the sūtra collection; second, the vinaya collection; third, the abhidharma collection. Within the first, [we] first analyze the name and afterwards reveal its characteristics. Now to the first. It is also called xiutuolu or sutanlan, which are all dialectal variations of the Sanskrit sound. Ancient translations rendered it as qijing ("concordant classic" / sūtra), and within the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa it is called the sūtra collection. "Concordant" (qi) means according with principle and according with capacity; "classic" (jing) means stringing together and gathering/converting. Thus, it is a "classic that accords with principle and matches capacity," taking its name through a dependent compound (tatpuruṣa). "Concordant classic" (qijing) is itself the collection (zang), which is an appositional compound (karmadhāraya). It is also said: The direct translation is "thread" (sūtra). A thread can string flowers together, and a warp thread (jing) can sustain the weft. This land does not esteem the designation "thread," and so retains "classic" (jing). Some say: "Upon examining the Five Indias, thread, the warp of a mat, a well-rope, and the sacred teaching are all called sūtra. Thus 'warp/classic' (jing) is an exact counter-equivalent, and those ancient worthies who claimed jing is not an exact equivalent are rebuked." Now let us examine this further. If one name with four realities were all exact equivalents, then the ancient [masters] would indeed be refuted as claimed. However, if it also accords with the meaning, jing naturally belongs to the warp of a mat, while the exact equivalent [for the sacred text] should be named "sacred teaching"; hence the Liang dynasty translation of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha translates it as "sacred teaching." That treatise states: "There is an abhidharma that is not sacred teaching; in order to make it sacred teaching, the name sūtra is added." The ancient worthies saw that both Confucians and Mohists referred to their [foundational texts] as jing, and thereupon borrowed the "warp of a mat" to designate the sacred teaching. In this way it doubly contained the two meanings and conformed to both sides. Borrowing the meaning to aid the name, they further added the word "concordant" (qi) to distinguish it from the warp of a mat, which is exceedingly appropriate. Second, revealing its characteristics: although the referents of the four names in the Western Regions differ, their underlying meanings are similar, and therefore they are all called sūtra. Moreover, the sacred teachings contain many meanings and possess the above three meanings. Thus the Saṃyuktābhidharma-hṛdaya states: "A sūtra has five meanings: first, a gushing spring; second, bringing forth; third, revealing; fourth, a carpenter's line; fifth, stringing a garland. A gushing spring pours forth without exhaustion; bringing forth increases and multiplies continuously, its meaning being identical to a well-rope because it draws up and leads forth. Revealing is precisely the sacred teaching, because it reveals phenomena and noumenon. A carpenter's line precisely determines right and wrong, and it is also the cord serving as the warp. Its ability to sustain the weft is identical to the meaning of the warp of a mat. Stringing a garland is identical to a thread, because a thread can string flowers and tie them into a garland." In sum, these five meanings do not go beyond stringing together and gathering. Hence the first fascicle of the Buddhabhūmi-vyākhyāna states: "Because it can string together and gather, it is named a sūtra; for by the Buddha's sacred teaching, the meanings to be explained and the beings to be transformed are strung together and gathered." Here, "stringing together and gathering" applies jointly to both what is explained and who is transformed, or it means stringing together the marks of dharmas and gathering what is transformed. Furthermore, Vasubandhu's Commentary on the Mahāyānasaṃgraha explains "stringing together" as: "It means being able to string together by virtue of basis, by virtue of marks, by virtue of dharmas, and by virtue of meanings. The basis refers to the locus wherein, through which, and for the sake of which there is that which is spoken. The marks refer to the marks of conventional truth and the marks of ultimate truth. The dharmas refer to the aggregates, elements, sense fields, conditioned arising, truths, nutriments, dhyānas, immeasurables, formless [attainments], liberations, spheres of mastery, spheres of totality, factors of bodhi, unobstructed knowledges, non-contention, and so forth. The meanings refer to discourses conforming to esoteric intent, and so forth." The twenty-fifth fascicle of the Yogācārabhūmi and the twentieth fascicle of the Prakaraṇāryavācā are broadly the same as this explanation. The remaining meanings will be clarified in the section on the twelve divisions.