大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 83.34

83.34

Regarding the commentary's statement "First, manifesting a contention over virtue": this is because petty persons contend over strength. "Second, refuting [the question of] whether Māra or the Buddha is superior": "superior" means surpassing. The sūtra text is self-evident; this is also the meaning of the Upāyakauśalya-sūtra. The third condition is the subsequent passage of that sūtra, which states: "Good sons, after the bodhisattva had reflected thus, he emitted a light from the white curl between his eyebrows, which was able to cast the palace of Pāpīyas into darkness. At that time, because this illumination shone upon the trichiliocosm, it universally caused great brightness. From within this illumination a sound emerged as follows: 'That scion of the Śākyas has left home to practice the path, and is now about to achieve anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi, transcending Māra's realm, surpassing Māra's host, and diminishing all future hosts of Māra. Let that bodhisattva engage in battle with Māra!' Good sons, at that time, having heard this sound, Pāpīyas was struck with great sorrow, as though an arrow had pierced his heart. Then Māra Pāpīyas assembled the four kinds of armies, extending thirty-six yojanas, wishing to create obstacles. At that time, the bodhisattva, abiding in great compassion and great wisdom, pointed to the ground with his golden hand of wisdom, whereupon all the hosts of Māra instantly scattered and fell apart. Once the hosts of Māra were destroyed, eighty-four thousand billions of devas, nāgas, ghosts, spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, and kumbhāṇḍas—such a great assembly—saw the bodhisattva's majestic virtue, his exquisitely wonderful body, his dignified and serene countenance, and his valiant might, and they generated the aspiration for anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva practicing upāya." / Explanation: The commentary merely quotes the general sense. The commentary and the Abhiniṣkramaṇa-sūtra share the same general idea, differing only in the sūtra's greater detail. Thus the sūtra's meaning is that the devas originally saw that the Māra king was sovereign and took him to surpass the Buddha; therefore, [the Buddha] resolved their doubts and made them know the Buddha's superiority. / Regarding "Seven, one who is protected": this is also from the Nirvāṇa-sūtra, which says: "At that time, the lord of the desire realm, the Māra king Pāpīyas, together with his retinue, heavenly maidens, and immeasurable, boundless, asamkhyeya multitudes, opened the gates of hell and distributed pure water, whereupon he addressed them, saying: 'You are now capable of doing nothing; you should solely be mindfully recollecting the Tathāgata, Arhat, and Samyaksaṃbuddha, and establishing a final rejoicing offering, so that you may obtain security and bliss throughout the long night.' Then Māra Pāpīyas ceased all swords and blades in the hells." Next it states: "Holding offerings that surpassed all those provided by humans and devas—even the smaller canopies covered the middle chiliocosm—he came before the Buddha, bowed his head to the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: 'We now love and delight in the Great Vehicle and protect the Great Vehicle. World-Honoured One, if there are good sons and good daughters who, for the sake of offerings, for fear, for deceiving others, for wealth and gain, or for following others, accept this Great Vehicle whether genuinely or falsely, we shall at that time eradicate fear for these persons.'" He spoke a dhāraṇī as follows: