新譯華嚴經七處九會頌釋章 1.14

1.14

問曰：長行是十二分教中契經教，何故今云長行頌合名四萬五千偈耶？答曰：案藏法師疏第二卷云「又頌有四種：一數字頌，謂依梵本三十二字以為一頌，不問長行及偈。二伽他頌，此云諷頌或云直頌，謂不頌長行也。三祇夜頌，此云應頌，謂應重頌長行法也。四嗢陀南頌，此云集施，謂以少言含攝多義云集，用以施人令易受持故云集施。」此上三種頌或七言或五四三言，皆以四句為一頌。今長行合云頌者，依四頌中數字頌說，處會別名如下具說。

Question: Prose constitutes the sūtra teaching among the twelve divisions of the teaching; why is it now said that combining prose and verse is named forty-five thousand gāthās? Answer: Master Fazang's Commentary, fascicle two, states: "Moreover, there are four kinds of verses: first, syllable-count verses, meaning that based on the Sanskrit original, thirty-two syllables constitute one verse, regardless of prose or verse. Second, gāthā verses, translated here as chanted verses or direct verses, meaning verses that do not versify prose. Third, geya verses, translated here as responding verses, meaning verses that reiterate in verse the prose teachings. Fourth, udāna verses, translated here as collected offerings, meaning that condensing many meanings in few words is called collecting, which is offered to people to make it easy to receive and maintain, hence called collected offerings." These latter three kinds of verses, whether in seven syllables, five, four, or three syllables, all take four lines as one verse. The prose being combined here and called verses is spoken according to the syllable-count verse among the four kinds of verses. The specific names of the locations and assemblies are fully explained below.