大方廣佛華嚴經疏 32.20

32.20

Second, in the verses clarifying the karma of requesting, there are two parts: the first verse is what is relied upon, which, looking back to the preceding, still belongs to the body; afterward are the verse requests proper. The five verses are divided into two: the first four are the empowering request for what is to be expounded; the latter one is the limit of the teaching to be expounded. In the former there are also two: the first two verses bring up the Dharma to request; the latter two verses bring up the benefits to request. In the former there are also two: the first verse directly reveals the conferring of empowerment; the latter verse reveals the purpose of the empowerment. In the first, the three words "empowered him" (jia yu bi) are general, for this verse is specifically for empowerment. "The supreme in the world" is both general and specific: looking toward "empowered him," it is specific, because among the two kinds of empowerment, it is the empowerment endowed with the fruit; looking toward the four superior meanings, it is general, because "supreme" is the meaning of excellence, being endowed with four kinds of supremacy, making him the supreme in the world. As for the four supremacies, they are like those of a worldly king: 1. Supremacy of sovereignty, because what he does is unobstructed; this is the first line of the sūtra saying "the Buddha has no equal." Because he has abandoned the two obscurations, his liberation is sovereign, unstained like space; since those from the tenth stage on down all have no equal to him, repeating "equal" means he is only equal to Buddhas, wishing to reveal that Buddha and Buddha are equal in sambodhi. 2. Supremacy of power, namely the ten powers of the sūtra, because he can subdue the enemies of wrong knowledge. 3. Supremacy of retinue, namely the immeasurable superior merits and the most supreme among humans; in the treatise sūtra this corresponds to "the leader of immeasurable assemblies," meaning that, endowed with merits, he is capable of being the leader of the assembly, hence called "the most supreme among humans." The treatise says "leader of the assemblies" because the Buddha is the most supreme in the world. 4. Supremacy of lineage, meaning the excellence of family and clan; this is the Dharma of the Śākya Lion. Therein are also two: first, "Śākya Lion" is the excellence of his birth family, meaning he should be born into the noble lineage of the Śākya clan's cakravartin, so the Buddhas equally empower him. Singling out the Śākya is because he is currently visible and is the host Buddha. Second, the single word "Dharma" is the excellence of the Dharma family, meaning not only is his birth family excellent, but all Buddhas equally abide in the Dharma of tathatā. Due to the above four meanings, he is praised as the Dharma King and named the supreme in the world. The "two kinds of empowerment" mentioned above are: first, the empowerment endowed with the body, because it relies on the dharmakāya, meaning the Śākya Lion is the body upon which the possessed Dharma relies; second, the empowerment endowed with the fruit, because he has realized the Buddha-fruit, which is precisely "the supreme in the world." And distinguishing the four supremacies differentiates him from a physical body that has not yet attained Buddhahood; now this person endowed with virtue empowers Vajragarbha. As for the second verse, the purpose of the empowerment, it is because he wishes to cause him to reveal the meaning of the Dharma treasury. In the text, the first line and the lower line, "by the Buddha's spiritual power," are what the exposition relies upon; the remaining text directly discriminates the purpose. The line "opening the supreme treasury" is general; the ten characters below are specific. Specifically praising the supreme treasury, there are two kinds: 1. Accomplishment of the treasury of meaning; 2. Accomplishment of the treasury of words. The treasury of meaning is the supreme and wondrous practice: "practice" is the practices of all bodhisattvas, namely the bodhipakṣa-dharmas. "Wondrous" is real wisdom, which is the path of realization. "Supreme" is because his spiritual powers are supreme, which is the non-abiding path, called "spiritual power" because defilement and purity are unobstructed. In this way it reveals profound, wondrous, and supreme meaning. Second, the treasury of words refers to the vast wisdom of the various stages and its discriminative exposition, meaning expounding the distinctive marks of the ten stages. Above, the request by bringing up the Dharma is concluded.