勝鬘寶窟 2.22

2.22

From "guarding the six sense-faculties" below, the second is the pāramitā of discipline (śīlapāramitā). It also has three parts: first, indicating receptive capacities; second, distinguishing the bodhisattva's maintenance of discipline; third, concluding that the practice is perfected and named a pāramitā. "Should be matured through discipline": this indicates the receptive capacity. Question: What kind of capacity is this? Answer: There are also many kinds. There are capacities characterized by breaking discipline, causing them to repent and maintain discipline; there are those who originally had no discipline, causing them to receive the precepts; there are those who see the maintenance of discipline and give rise to love and reverence; and there are those who see the maintenance of discipline and attain awakening to the path. Question: Why are multiple capacities presented in each and every pāramitā? Answer: If as in the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā, within each and every pāramitā there are four clauses: first, practicing the six pāramitās oneself; second, teaching others to practice; third, praising the practice of the teaching; fourth, praising the practitioner; then the six pāramitās correspond to six respective capacities. Now in this text, the medicines are distinct while the diseases are general: since it clarifies six practices, the medicines are distinct; but the capacities to which they correspond are not separately indicated, showing that the diseases are general. From "by guarding the six sense-faculties" below, the second part clarifies the bodhisattva's maintenance of discipline. In the text there are two parts: first, clarifying the bodhisattva's own maintenance of discipline; second, clarifying that the bodhisattva maintains discipline to cause beings to gain benefit. "Guarding the six sense-faculties": the six sense-faculties are like gates that allow passage, through which the evil thieves of the six sense-objects ruin moral goodness; therefore, they must be guarded and protected. The method of guarding and protecting consists solely of mindfulness and wisdom: the mindful mind guards the object, and wisdom skillfully discriminates to know harm and benefit. "Purifying the karma of body, speech, and mind": the bodhisattva's maintenance of discipline has a beginning and an end; guarding the six sense-faculties is its beginning, and purifying the body, speech, and mind is the perfection of the practice of discipline. Within perfection, purifying body, speech, and mind is fundamental discipline, abandoning natural offenses (prakṛtivadya). "Even to the point of rectifying the four postures": this refers to abandoning prohibitive offenses (pratikṣepaṇavadya). "Even to the point of" is likewise an expression denoting reaching the utmost limit. Natural offenses are easy to abandon, while prohibitive offenses are difficult to guard against; moving from the easy to the difficult, and also from the heavy to the light, it therefore says "even to the point of rectifying the four postures." "Protecting their intentions": the preceding first part clarified the bodhisattva's maintenance of discipline; now the second part clarifies causing others to practice discipline, fully explained as above.