新華嚴經論 9.27

9.27

一定傳教人者，如三乘中《大智度論》第二卷所釋「如來臨入涅槃時告阿難：『十二部經汝當流通。』告優波離：『一切戒律汝當受持。』告阿那律：『汝得天眼，當守護舍利，勸人供養。』告大眾言：『我若住一劫、若減一劫，會亦當滅。』語已雙林北首而臥入般涅槃。阿難親屬，愛習未除、心沒憂海。阿泥盧豆語阿難：『汝是守護佛法藏者，不應如凡夫人自沒憂海。諸有為法並是無常，汝何愁憂？又佛世尊手付汝法，汝今愁悶，失所受事。世尊今日雖在，明朝即無，汝當問佛未來要事。』」盧豆教問要事有四：一問如來在世，親自說法人皆信受，如來滅後一切經首當置何言。二問如來在世，諸比丘等以佛為師，如來滅後以何為師。三問如來在世，諸比丘，等依佛而住，如來滅後依誰而住。四問如來在世，惡性車匿佛自治之，佛滅度後云何共住。阿難如教請問世尊，世尊答云：經首當置「如是我聞一時」等六字為句。二云諸比丘皆以波羅提木叉為師。三云諸比丘皆以四念處為住。四云惡性比丘以梵檀治之，此云默擯，若心軟伏為說《迦旃延經》，此云離有無破我慢心。又如五卷《大悲經》中，阿難請佛：「云何結集法眼？」佛告阿難：「我滅度後，大德比丘應如是問：『世尊何處說大阿陀那等經？』汝應如是答：『如是我聞，一時佛在摩伽陀國菩提樹下初成正覺說法，乃至娑羅雙樹間說。』」如是等二十餘處所說之經，佛自重教阿難結集如是。是故此六字句義，佛教立故，斷後聞經者疑，知非是他餘人說故，亦非阿難自說，依涅槃安立如經初。准科文，從「如是我聞一時至始成正覺」有八句，依五卷經說令眾斷疑。一者如是是一句；我聞是二句；一時是三句；佛在是四句；摩竭提國阿蘭若法菩提場中，此之三句義唯是一，但陳其一處三法是一。并始成正覺為六句。是故「如是我聞一時佛在菩提場中始成正覺」，總為六句。今言如是者，如即如佛所言。是者，是佛所說，簡非異說。兩名相順契信不殊，明真是佛說，非阿難自說，亦非魔梵所說。又我聞一句，是阿難從佛所聞，非轉轉傳聞故，亦非是非人所制故，又非如外道經書，青烏銜來、石崖崩得，是斷疑成信分。如真諦三藏云：「依微細律，阿難當昇法座之時，其身如佛具足相好。眾見此瑞，遂生三疑：一疑佛大師從涅槃起，更為眾生說法；二疑他方佛來；三疑阿難轉身成佛。今為除此三疑，故安立六字，是阿難自稱如是之法我從佛聞，知非是佛重起所說法，亦非他方佛來，又非阿難自身成佛，但以法力故令我似佛。是故下高座已，還復本形。」以此義故，以此六字用斷眾疑問。如三乘中說阿難，既是佛得道夜生，年二十方為佛弟子，其二十年已後經是親聞，已前傳聞。故《轉法輪經》云「阿難結集，自說偈曰：『佛初說法時，爾時我不見，如是展轉聞。佛遊波羅奈，為五比丘眾，轉四諦法輪。』」故知以前非親聞故。又薩婆多論云「阿難為佛作侍者時，請願言：『願佛二十年中所說之經，盡為我說。勿與我故衣及殘食。』」將知此也是觀聞。又如《涅槃經》云「阿難多聞士，若在若不在，自然常解了，常與無常義。又阿難得覺意三昧，佛所說經遠近常聞。」此以阿難傳法，並是三乘經中所說。如此《大方廣佛華嚴經》傳法阿難，非如上說。夫天中之天十方調御化儀主伴，豈是小緣？自非器類齊肩示陰陽而影響，三世九世窮劫一念而知，無盡古今常如即夕，今以三乘情見延促始終者，未可詳其傳教之主。今此《華嚴經》明傳教主伴者，皆是神洞玄源、道齊智海，如文殊、普賢互為師範之者所為也。豈論生時年歲作前後之見？如是佛出興世轉法輪時，如來以性海大智之印，印眾生情欲為文字，於一音中無前後際一時普印。隨樂不同，各隨自心所樂之法皆得聞之。設阿難示行傳教之主伴者，是普賢行海隨器高低出沒任流、依根現跡，皆不得以三乘定例。如上所說，並是聖賢密潛同事，是應三乘權化，未為了教。如《阿闍世王懺悔經》有三種阿難：一阿難陀，此云慶喜，持聲聞法藏，於上二乘隨力隨分。二阿難陀跋陀羅，此云慶喜賢，持中乘法藏，於上大乘隨力隨分，於下小乘容與兼持。三阿難陀娑伽羅，此云慶喜海，菩薩持大乘法藏，於下小乘容與兼持，此者亦是三乘中傳教阿難，未為實教。如是《華嚴經》傳教阿難者，正阿難昇高座時身同諸佛，一時頓演四乘等教，隨根結集。即阿難與佛體用不殊，此釋亦不違道理。又如《涅槃經》云「阿難所未聞經，弘廣菩薩當為流通。」若望此經非三乘所知，即此弘廣菩薩傳教非謬。今此稱如是我聞者，弘廣菩薩也。又《大智度論》云是文殊師利稱如是我聞，以彼論中云「文殊師利，佛涅槃後四百年中，時文殊師利猶在世間故。」又如《大智度論》云「文殊師利與阿難在餘清淨處結集摩訶衍藏。」如上所釋，總是聖者隨方便言。若以大體論之，總是如來、文殊師利、普賢菩薩隨事之行故。設言三身阿難，亦復如是，總是佛自普賢行中隨根方便、隨器高低故。已上定傳教人竟。

First, determining the persons who transmitted the teaching: as explained in the second fascicle of the Da zhidu lun of the Three Vehicles: "When the Tathāgata was on the verge of entering nirvāṇa, he addressed Ānanda: 'You must circulate the twelve divisions of the sūtras.' He addressed Upāli: 'You must uphold all the vinaya precepts.' He addressed Aniruddha: 'You have attained the divine eye; you must guard the relics and encourage people to make offerings to them.' He addressed the great assembly, saying: 'Whether I were to stay for an eon or decrease it by an eon, my extinction is also inevitable.' Having spoken, he lay down with his head to the north between the twin trees and entered parinirvāṇa. As Ānanda was a relative whose habitual attachments had not yet been eliminated, his mind sank into a sea of sorrow. Aniruddha said to Ānanda: 'You are the keeper of the treasury of the Buddha's Dharma; you should not sink yourself into a sea of sorrow like an ordinary person. All conditioned dharmas are impermanent—why do you grieve? Moreover, the Buddha, the World-Honoured One, personally entrusted the Dharma to you; if you are now depressed with grief, you will fail in what you have undertaken. Although the World-Honoured One is here today, tomorrow morning he will be gone; you must ask the Buddha about the essential matters of the future.'" Aniruddha instructed him to ask four essential matters: First, asking: "While the Tathāgata was in the world, he preached the Dharma in person and everyone believed and accepted it; after the Tathāgata's extinction, what words should be placed at the head of all sūtras?" Second, asking: "While the Tathāgata was in the world, the monks took the Buddha as their teacher; after the Tathāgata's extinction, whom should they take as their teacher?" Third, asking: "While the Tathāgata was in the world, the monks dwelt relying on the Buddha; after the Tathāgata's extinction, on whom should they dwell relying?" Fourth, asking: "While the Tathāgata was in the world, the Buddha himself disciplined the ill-natured Channa; after the Buddha's extinction, how should we dwell together with him?" Ānanda questioned the World-Honoured One as instructed, and the World-Honoured One replied: "At the head of the sūtras should be placed the six words 'Thus have I heard: at one time', making a phrase. Second, all monks should take the prātimokṣa as their teacher. Third, all monks should dwell in the four applications of mindfulness. Fourth, ill-natured monks should be dealt with by the brahmadanda—translated here as silent dismissal; if their minds become soft and submissive, speak the Kātyāyana Sūtra to them—translated here as leaving behind existence and non-existence and breaking the conceited mind." Furthermore, as in the five-fascicle Mahākāruṇika Sūtra, Ānanda asked the Buddha: "How should we compile the eye of the Dharma?" The Buddha told Ānanda: "After my extinction, when venerable monks ask thus: 'Where did the World-Honoured One preach sūtras such as the Great Ādāna?', you should answer thus: 'Thus have I heard: at one time the Buddha was in the country of Magadha, beneath the Bodhi tree, having first attained right enlightenment, preaching the Dharma,' up to 'preached between the twin sāla trees.'" Regarding the sūtras preached in these more than twenty places, the Buddha himself repeatedly instructed Ānanda to compile them in this manner. Therefore, because these six words and their meaning were established by the Buddha's teaching, they resolve the doubts of those who hear the sūtra later, letting them know that it was not spoken by anyone else, nor was it Ānanda's own speech; they were established at the beginning of the sūtra according to the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra]. Based on the structural analysis of the text, from "Thus have I heard: at one time" to "first attained right enlightenment" there are eight phrases; based on what is taught in the five-fascicle sūtra, they cause the assembly to sever doubt. First, "Thus" is one phrase; "have I heard" is the second phrase; "at one time" is the third phrase; "the Buddha was" is the fourth phrase; "in the country of Magadha, in an araṇya, the Dharma bodhimaṇḍa"—these three phrases have only one meaning, merely stating one place whose three dharmas are one. Together with "first attained right enlightenment", there are six phrases. Therefore, "Thus have I heard: at one time the Buddha was in the bodhimaṇḍa, having first attained right enlightenment" consists altogether of six phrases. Now, regarding "Thus": "as such" means just as what the Buddha spoke. "This is" means this is what the Buddha preached, distinguishing it from different teachings. When the two designations correspond, they accord with faith without divergence, making it clear that it is truly what the Buddha spoke, not Ānanda's own speech, nor spoken by Māra or Brahmā. Furthermore, the phrase "have I heard" means what Ānanda heard from the Buddha, not what was heard through successive transmission, nor what was fabricated by non-humans, nor like the scriptures of non-Buddhists, brought in the beak of a blue bird or obtained from a collapsing cliff; this is the section on severing doubt and establishing faith. As Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha said: "According to the subtle Vinaya, when Ānanda was about to ascend the Dharma seat, his body was like the Buddha's, fully endowed with the marks and signs. Seeing this auspicious sign, the assembly thereupon gave rise to three doubts: first, they suspected that the Great Master Buddha had arisen from nirvāṇa to preach the Dharma for sentient beings once again; second, they suspected that a Buddha from another realm had come; third, they suspected that Ānanda had transformed his body and become a Buddha. Now, to remove these three doubts, these six words were established: Ānanda personally declared that 'Such a Dharma I heard from the Buddha,' letting them know that it was not a teaching spoken by the Buddha arising again, nor a Buddha coming from another realm, nor Ānanda himself becoming a Buddha, but merely that the power of the Dharma caused me to resemble the Buddha. Therefore, after stepping down from the high seat, he returned to his original form." For this reason, these six words were used to sever the questions and doubts of the assembly. As explained in the Three Vehicles, Ānanda was born on the night the Buddha attained the Way and became a disciple of the Buddha only at the age of twenty; the sūtras after those twenty years were heard in person, whereas those prior were heard through transmission. Hence the Dharmacakrapravartana Sūtra says: "When Ānanda compiled [the teaching], he spoke a verse himself: 'When the Buddha first preached the Dharma, / at that time I did not see it; / thus I heard it through successive transmission. / When the Buddha was traveling in Vārāṇasī, / for the assembly of five monks, / he turned the wheel of the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths.'" Thus we know that before that, it was not heard in person. Furthermore, the Sarvāstivāda treatise says: "When Ānanda served as the Buddha's attendant, he made a request, saying: 'I pray that all the sūtras the Buddha preached during those twenty years be preached completely for me. Do not give me old clothes or leftover food.'" From this one should know that this too was heard subsequently. Furthermore, as the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "Ānanda is a man of wide learning; whether present or not present, he naturally and constantly understands the meaning of permanence and impermanence. Moreover, Ānanda attained the samādhi of the factors of awakening; whatever sūtras the Buddha preached, whether near or far, he always heard." All these accounts of Ānanda transmitting the Dharma are what is taught in the sūtras of the Three Vehicles. As for the Ānanda who transmits the Dharma in this Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, it is not as described above. Indeed, for the master and companions in the converting conduct of the Devātideva, the Tamer of the Ten Directions, how could this be a minor condition? Unless their capacities and kinds were of equal shoulder, mirroring yin and yang, knowing the three periods and nine periods, exhausting eons in a single thought, with the infinite past and present always as tonight—if one uses the feelings and views of the Three Vehicles that stretch and shorten beginning and end, one cannot comprehend the master who transmits the teaching. Now, as for the master and companions who transmit the teaching in this Avataṃsaka Sūtra, they are all beings whose spirits penetrate the profound source and whose path equals the ocean of wisdom, who act like Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra serving mutually as role models. How could one discuss the year of birth or hold views of before and after? In this way, when the Buddha arises in the world and turns the wheel of the Dharma, the Tathāgata, with the seal of great wisdom from the ocean of nature, seals the desires of sentient beings into written words, universally sealing them all at once within a single voice without boundaries of before and after. According to their different inclinations, each hears the Dharma that their own mind delights in. Even if Ānanda manifested the practice of the master and companion who transmits the teaching, it is Samantabhadra's ocean of practice appearing and disappearing at will according to the height or depth of the capacity, manifesting traces in accordance with faculties; none of this can be judged by the fixed rules of the Three Vehicles. What was described above was entirely the secret and hidden shared work of sages and worthies, an expedient transformation responding to the Three Vehicles, not yet the definitive teaching. For instance, according to the Sūtra on the Repentance of King Ajātaśatru, there are three Ānandas: First, Ānanda, translated here as Joyful, who upholds the Dharma treasury of the śrāvakas, and according to his strength and share with respect to the higher two vehicles. Second, Ānandabhadra, translated here as Joyful Sage, who upholds the Dharma treasury of the Middle Vehicle, according to his strength and share with respect to the higher Great Vehicle, and casually embracing and upholding the lower Small Vehicle. Third, Ānandasāgara, translated here as Joyful Ocean, a bodhisattva who upholds the Dharma treasury of the Great Vehicle and casually embraces and upholds the lower Small Vehicle. This also refers to the Ānandas who transmit the teaching within the Three Vehicles, not yet the real teaching. As for the Ānanda who transmits the teaching in this Avataṃsaka Sūtra, right when Ānanda ascends the high seat, his body is identical to all Buddhas, expounding the teachings of the four vehicles all at once, compiling them according to the faculties. That is, Ānanda and the Buddha are not different in essence and function; this explanation also does not contradict principle. Furthermore, as the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "The sūtras that Ānanda has not heard, Bodhisattva Mahāvaipulya will circulate." If viewed from the perspective that this sūtra is not known by the Three Vehicles, then this Bodhisattva Mahāvaipulya transmitting the teaching is not an error. The one who now says "Thus have I heard" is Bodhisattva Mahāvaipulya. Furthermore, the Da zhidu lun says that it was Mañjuśrī who said "Thus have I heard", because that treatise states: "For four hundred years after the Buddha's nirvāṇa, at that time Mañjuśrī was still in the world." Moreover, as the Da zhidu lun says: "Mañjuśrī and Ānanda compiled the Mahāyāna treasury in another pure place." All the explanations given above are merely expedient words of the sages. If discussed from the overall perspective, they are all the practices of the Tathāgata, Mañjuśrī, and Samantabhadra in accordance with affairs. Even if one speaks of the three bodies of Ānanda, it is also like this; it is entirely the Buddha's own expedients suited to faculties and capacities within Samantabhadra's practice. Above, determining the persons who transmitted the teaching is concluded.