大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 44.83

44.83

In the Commentary, from "How to know" onwards, the fourth [part] explains the characteristics of knowing. This is the sense of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, which was already cited previously. Within the initial knowing of characteristics, when it says "material form takes mutability and obstruction as its characteristic," in the first fascicle of the Kośa, material form has two meanings: First, the meaning of mutability and decay. The treatise asks: "Starting from the eye faculty and ending with the unmanifest, why did the World-Honoured One describe them as material form? Answer: Because they can be altered and destroyed, they are called the aggregate of material form." Exposition: "Altered" reveals moment-by-moment impermanence, and "destroyed" reveals the impermanence of the generic group. The treatise asks: "What can alter and destroy it? Namely, contact by hands and so forth (and so on); thus it is immediately altered and destroyed, up to contact with mosquitoes, gnats, and so forth in detail." This "mutability and decay" is precisely the meaning of being destructible. Second is the meaning of mutability and obstruction. The treatise says: "Some say: Because of mutability and obstruction, it is called material form." Exposition: Mutability means alteration and destruction; obstruction means having spatial resistance. "If so, an infinitesimal particle should not be called material form, because it lacks mutability and obstruction. This objection is not so: no single particle abides in a separate place; when a mass of particles accumulates, the meaning of mutability and obstruction is established." The rest is as detailed there. The Abhidharmasamuccayavyākhyā also has two meanings: First, it asks: "What is the characteristic of the aggregate of material form? Answer: The characteristic of manifesting alteration is the characteristic of material form. This has two kinds: first, alteration upon contact; second, spatial manifestation. Alteration upon contact means that when touched by others—such as hands, feet, or even mosquitoes and gnats—it is immediately altered and destroyed. Spatial manifestation means manifesting in accordance with whatever characteristic according to its spatial location, such as this form being like this, that form, and so on."