新華嚴經論 1.30

1.30

四請法主別者，說《法華經》時，請法主者即是舍利弗，以為勸請之首。說《華嚴經》時，佛令文殊、普賢隨位菩薩，各自說自位法門為說法首。佛表果法，舉果為因，大悲行成根本智，果體自成，故無言不說也。以大悲行從無作根本智起故，文殊普賢表因位可說，說佛果法示悟眾生。〈阿僧祇品〉世間數法廣大難量，唯佛究竟，不屬五位中因果門故，是佛自位內法門，還佛自說。〈隨好光明功德品〉則是如來自成因果，後佛自說法爾之力，恒常福智光明之法門，示為不屬五位之內行相因果，故佛亦自說。此明佛果無二愚也。除此二品經外，諸餘三十八品，皆是五位之內行相法門，是故佛不自說，總令十信、十住、十行等當位之內菩薩自說，佛但放光表之。其所放光，表法之相，後當廣明。當說《華嚴經》時，一無聲聞及小菩薩為請法主，皆佛果位內諸大菩薩，自相問答安立佛果法門行相，為悟大根者故，頓將佛果直受為因。因即以果為因、果即以因為果，如種種子等。以定慧力，思之可見。是故今言請法主別。

Fourth, the difference in the requesters of the Dharma: when the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra was expounded, the requester of the Dharma was Śāriputra, who served as the leader of those exhorting and requesting. When the Avataṃsaka Sūtra was expounded, the Buddha had Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, and the bodhisattvas corresponding to each stage each expound the Dharma gate of their own stage as the leaders of the exposition. The Buddha exemplifies the fruit-dharma; taking the fruit as cause, the practice of great compassion accomplishes fundamental wisdom, and the substance of the fruit naturally completes itself; hence, wordlessly he does not speak. Because the practice of great compassion arises from the unconditioned fundamental wisdom, Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra exemplify that the causal stage can be expounded, expounding the Buddha's fruit-dharma to reveal it and awaken sentient beings. The worldly methods of calculation in the Chapter on Asamkhyeyas are vast and difficult to measure; only the Buddha has fathomed them exhaustively, and as they do not belong to the gates of cause and effect within the five stages, they are the Dharma gate within the Buddha's own stage, which the Buddha himself expounds. The Chapter on the Merits of the Radiance of the Secondary Marks concerns the Tathāgata's own completed cause and effect, where the Buddha subsequently expounds the Dharma gate of the power of intrinsic nature and the constant radiance of merit and wisdom, revealing that it does not belong to the active causes and effects within the five stages; hence, the Buddha also expounds it himself. This shows that the Buddha-fruit is free from the two kinds of delusion. Except for these two chapters of the scripture, all the remaining thirty-eight chapters are Dharma gates of practices within the five stages; therefore, the Buddha does not expound them himself, but entirely directs the bodhisattvas of the respective stages—the ten faiths, ten abodes, ten practices, and so forth—to expound them themselves, the Buddha merely emitting light to signify them. The characteristics of the Dharma signified by the light he emits will be explained in detail later. When the Avataṃsaka Sūtra was expounded, there was not a single śrāvaka or minor bodhisattva serving as requester of the Dharma; it was entirely the great bodhisattvas within the Buddha's fruit stage who asked and answered among themselves, establishing the practices of the Buddha-fruit's Dharma gates. In order to awaken those of great faculties, they suddenly took the Buddha-fruit and directly received it as the cause. Cause takes the fruit as cause, and fruit takes the cause as fruit, like planting seeds. Through the power of concentration and wisdom, by contemplating it, this can be seen. Therefore, we now speak of the difference in the requesters of the Dharma.