[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1736) › 21.45 # 大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 21.45 大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 21.45 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [21.45](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1736.21.45) 疏「本迷無始猶若生盲，雖聞譬喻竟不識乳」者，即《涅槃經》。然《涅槃》總有二文：一即二十八經，明八喻云「善男子！凡所引喻，不必盡取，或取少分、或取多分、或復全取。如言如來面如滿月，是名少分。善男子！譬如盲人初不見乳，轉問他人言：『乳為何類？』彼人答言：『如水蜜貝，水則濕相、蜜則甜相、貝則色相。』雖引三喻，未得乳實。」二者《涅槃》第十四經、南本十三，喻諸外道不識常樂我淨，以四種喻，謂貝、稻米末、雪、鶴。經云「如生盲人不識乳色，便問他言：『乳色何似？』他人答言：『色白如貝。』盲人復問：『是乳色者如貝聲耶？』答言：『不也。』復問：『貝色為何似耶？』答言：『如稻米末。』盲人復問：『貝色柔軟如稻米末耶？稻米末者復何似？』答言：『如雪。』盲人復問言：『彼稻米末冷如雪耶？雪復何似？』答言：『猶如白鶴。』是生盲人雖聞如是四種譬喻，竟不能識得乳真色。」釋曰：貝可喻常，米末可喻樂，雪可喻淨，鶴可喻我。然經中前三，各從領解。而鶴一種略無領悟，應言如鶴動耶？然其四喻，皆是眼境；彼但身觸，何能眼境知耶？非唯外道不知四德，智眼未開、空欲暗證，猶彼盲人觸四境也。言「唯佛出世方能曉之」者，示其出世常樂我淨，開其智眼了見分明耳。 > Regarding the commentary's "Fundamentally deluded from beginninglessness, just like one born blind, who despite hearing analogies never comes to know milk": This is from the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. However, the Nirvāṇa \[Sūtra\] has two passages in total: The first is in the twenty-eighth fascicle, clarifying eight similes, stating: "Good man! Whenever similes are cited, one does not necessarily take them in their entirety; one may take a minor part, take a major part, or take them completely. For example, saying that the Tathāgata's face is like the full moon—this is called a minor part. Good man! It is like a blind person who has never seen milk and in turn asks another person, saying: 'What is milk like?' That person answers, saying: 'It is like water, honey, and a conch shell: water has the characteristic of wetness, honey has the characteristic of sweetness, and a conch shell has the characteristic of color.' Although he cites three similes, \[the blind person\] does not grasp the reality of milk." Second is the fourteenth fascicle of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra (the thirteenth in the southern recension), illustrating that non-Buddhists do not know eternity, bliss, self, and purity through four kinds of similes: namely, a conch shell, rice flour, snow, and a crane. The sūtra states: "It is like a person born blind who does not know the color of milk, and asks another person, saying: 'What is the color of milk like?' The other person answers, saying: 'Its color is white like a conch shell.' The blind person asks again: 'Is the color of milk like the sound of a conch shell?' He answers, saying: 'No.' He asks again: 'What is the color of a conch shell like?' He answers, saying: 'Like rice flour.' The blind person asks again: 'Is the color of milk soft like rice flour? What is rice flour like again?' He answers, saying: 'Like snow.' The blind person asks again, saying: 'Is that rice flour cold like snow? What is snow like again?' He answers, saying: 'Just like a white crane.' Although this person born blind heard four such similes, he never could know the true color of milk." Explanation: The conch shell can illustrate eternity; the rice flour can illustrate bliss; snow can illustrate purity; and the crane can illustrate the self. However, in the sūtra the first three are each based on a conceptual understanding, but for the crane alone there is briefly no comprehension—should one say it moves like a crane? Yet these four similes are all objects of the eye; he merely had tactile contact with his body, so how could he know objects of the eye? Not only do non-Buddhists not know the four virtues, but those whose eye of wisdom is not yet opened and who vainly desire dark realization are like that blind person touching the four objects. As for saying "Only when a Buddha appears in the world can they be enabled to understand it": this shows the transcendent eternity, bliss, self, and purity, opening their eye of wisdom so that they perceive clearly. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 21.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1736.21.44) - [Next: 21.46](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1736.21.46) - [Up: 21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1736.21) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1736~en-mt.21.45) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1736.21.45](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1736.21.45) · Pramāṇa