大方廣佛華嚴經疏 10.28

10.28

Sixth is the section where the great assembly praises and makes requests. Previously the assembly questioned the Buddha, and the Buddha indicated the master of the Dharma; the assembly, seeing him arise from samādhi, therefore praises and makes requests to Samantabhadra. Previously there was only the existing assembly, but here it encompasses both the new and the old, hence it says "all." The questions are the same as before, so they are only briefly mentioned. The ten verses are divided into three: first, eight verses praise the master and make requests, showing that he is able to speak; next, one verse adduces the Dharma to make requests, directly setting forth what is doubted; last, one verse praises the assembly and makes requests, explaining that they are vessels capable of hearing. In the first [part], there are two: first, five verses praise Samantabhadra's deep and vast virtues of cause and effect, explaining that he has the causes for speaking; later, three verses praise his virtue of being able to shower the Dharma pervading dust-mote kṣetras, explaining that he has the fruits for speaking. Now for the first, each gāthā has a separate meaning. The first one praises his already purified dharmakāya, with three lines explaining the cause and one line explaining the fruit. The cause has three meanings: first, arising from cultivating the Dharma, its meaning encompassing both condition and manifestation; second, arising from great vows, which is the conditioning cause; third, relying on the tathāgatagarbha to realize true equality, which is the direct cause. Tathatā is the non-empty, and empty space is the empty garbha. "Equality" and "garbha" encompass the above two meanings. The second [gāthā] praises his dwelling everywhere in buddha-kṣetras. The third line is the cause of pervasion, and the rest are all marks of pervasion. Because in the cause he is endowed with the adornment of wisdom, he can equally illumine, and being endowed with the adornment of merit, he causes everyone to see him. The third praises his proximity to the buddhas. The fourth praises his constant samādhi. Being "within real realms" means not turning in accordance with conceptualization. "Cáo" (class) means type. The fifth praises his utmost thoroughness in delivering sentient beings. "Paramāṇu" refers to the fact that within minute places there are many sentient beings. Second, there are three verses within the fruit of expounding the Dharma. The first praises his constant preaching of the great Dharma. From the words "like space" onward, it illustrates its vastness. The preceding was an analogy for being inexhaustible and without distinction. The next one praises his preaching of the peerless Dharma. There are two aspects to "peerless": first, the power of the one who is able to preach is superior, because he is endowed with the two adornments; second, what is preached is peerless, because he preaches what the buddhas practice. The last verse adduces causes to form results, revealing that his virtues have an origin. Because his causes were perfected over vast kalpas, he is able to preach the Dharma like clouds and rain. Second, in the single verse adducing the Dharma to make requests, although the questions in the previous chapter had many approaches, when unified in their essential point they do not exceed the three kinds of worlds, so now the three lines each reveal one of them. Moreover, the previous questions comprehensively encompassed all assemblies, while this causes the present assembly to respond. The final verse praises the assembly and makes requests, and is also called self-narration. This has two meanings: first, with reverence and single-mindedness, they are internally capable of receiving the Dharma; second, the buddhas rejoice in accord, and externally there are superior conditions, hence he should speak. If he speaks, it accords above with the Buddha's mind and follows below the desires of living beings.