大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 30.2

30.2

Section Two. Regarding the commentary's "Like a thorn in the mud, one does not notice its wound": being covered by passionate desire is like being submerged in mud, so that one is unaware of its injury. As for "like a thorn in a sore": this is a thorn of flesh, which is why the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] calls it a polyp. That sūtra's thirteenth fascicle says: "Contemplating this desire deeply, there are in general nine kinds: first, like remaining debt; second, like a rākṣasa woman; third, like a venomous snake beneath the stem of a wondrous lotus; fourth, like an aversion to a bad food, which is forced upon oneself though unsuitable; fifth, like a courtesan; sixth, like a mālukā seed; seventh, like a polyp in a sore; eighth, like a violent gale; ninth, like a comet." The first is the residual habit-energy of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. The second eats its child upon giving birth and later eats its husband; desire consumes the good child and later consumes sentient beings, causing them to fall into the three bad destinations. The third is the venomous snake of desire beneath the flower of the five desires, causing one's life to end. The fourth is falling into the three bad destinations under the affliction of forced eating. The fifth is intercourse with desire, which plunders one's wholesome dharmas, causing one to be cast out and fall into the three bad destinations. The sixth entangles ordinary beings' wholesome dharmas, causing them to perish. The seventh is like a person with a chronic sore in which a polyp grows: that person must diligently treat it and not give rise to neglect; if they give rise to neglect, the polyp grows larger and maggots appear, so that because of these causes and conditions they immediately die. The sores of the five aggregates of ordinary fools are also like this: desire is the polyp within them, and one should diligently treat the polyp of desire. If one does not treat it, upon death one will fall into the three bad destinations; only bodhisattvas are excepted. This is called the polyp in a sore. The eighth is a violent gale, which can topple mountains and level peaks, uprooting trees with deep roots. When desire gives rise to an evil mind toward one's parents, it uproots the root of bodhi. The ninth is the comet of desire, which can sever all wholesome roots, rendering ordinary persons destitute and starving. Here, the text specifically employs the single meaning of the polyp in a sore.