大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 5.18

5.18

From the commentary's 'Expressing the subtle...' downward, the second part resolves the objection. It briefly raises two points to counter the previous three points. Saying 'subtle and hard to know' counters the previous 'identical preaching' and 'all preaching'. Previously, when the bodhisattva spoke, because he received empowerment, it represented the Buddha's identical preaching. Here, because the calculation of the Saṃkhya is multiple and subtle, only the Buddha can know it. Regarding the merits of the secondary marks and light, a single mark and a single light can destroy the hells; being triply and suddenly complete, they are also difficult to know, and only the Buddha can comprehend them, so the Buddha speaks them himself. When the commentary says 'transcending cause and effect,' this counters the previous ineffability of the ocean of the result. The sense of the previous objection was: if the bodhisattva represents the cause and the Buddha now speaks himself, it should represent that the result is effable. Hence it now replies: cause is spoken in contrast to result, meaning that cause is effable. Cause does not exist outside of result; since it sinks into and becomes identical with the ocean of the result, cause is also ineffable, just as a bird's tracks are identical with empty space and the tracks are also ineffable. Since cause is not cause, result is also not result; wishing to sweep away the previous characteristics of cause and effect, the Buddha speaks himself.