無量壽經連義述文贊 1.32

1.32

經曰「奮大光明」至「皆令降伏」者，述云：第四、智力降魔也。有說：此魔義通八種，無為四倒近壞正解、遠障真德，雖非聲聞之患，亦是菩薩之怨，名為魔故。此必不然，諸有往來即應天魔故；又示作相，必非常等故。今即魔雖多種，而此所伏正是天魔故。菩薩坐菩提座已，今當成正覺，魔王波旬應召降伏令發菩提心，即放白毫相光遍照三千世界傍耀波旬之宮。魔王聞光中偈「世有最勝清淨人，經歷多時修行滿，是彼釋種捨王位，今現坐於菩提場。汝自稱有大勇猛，當往樹下共相校。」波旬聞此偈已，夢見其宮殿皆黑闇震動不安。寤已遍體戰慄，心懷懼恐。魔有千子，五百在魔王右，歸依菩薩；五百在魔王左，贊助魔王。魔王語諸子：「以何方計能摧伏彼？」右面魔子名曰有信，白波旬言：「假使力碎三千界，如是大力滿恒沙，不動菩薩之一毛，何足能傷智慧者？」左面魔子名曰百臂，復白波旬言：「我今身有百臂，一一皆能放百箭。大王但去不假憂，如此沙羅何足害。」諸子慰諫不可備引。魔王又命諸女：「汝等往彼菩提樹下，誘此釋子壞其淨行。」放諸魔女詣菩薩前，綺言妖姿三十二種媚惑菩薩，復說頌曰：「初春和暖好時節，眾草林木盡敷榮。大夫為樂宜及時，一棄盛年難可再。仁雖端正美顏色，世間五欲亦難求，對斯勝境可歡娛，何為樂彼菩提法？」菩薩聞已心生哀愍，即以妙偈云：「我觀五欲多過患，由是煩惱失神通。譬如火坑及毒匳，眾生赴之而不覺。是身虛妄從業生，四大五蘊假合成，筋骨相纏而暫有，智者誰應耽著此？凡夫迷故生欲心，我已解脫於世間，如空中風難可繫。革囊盛糞非淨物，我今不喜應疾去。」諸女不能得，即以華散菩薩上，右遶三匝作禮去，白魔王言：「我等昔來未曾見有如是之士，於欲界中覩我姿容而心不動。唯願大王勿與此人共為嫌障。」時波旬詣菩提樹告菩薩言：「汝應速起必得輪王，菩提難得勿自勞形。」菩薩報云：「我不樂五欲，如既吐食。既坐金剛座，勿得菩提。汝不應作此說，而宜疾去。」波旬瞋恨，即發兵眾無量無邊百千萬億，側塞填呾菩提樹邊，皆不能害。波旬欲近菩薩，亦不能進。菩薩語言：「汝以微善，今獲天報。我無量劫修習聖行，當得菩提。」手指大地，地神即於菩薩前出，自我為證。作此語時，大千震動，出大音聲，魔眾皆散，魔亦還宮。總而言之，大明者，即眉間白毫之光遍大千界，故復云大。使魔知者，即夢所見不吉祥之相。來逼試者，即將諸兵眾欲近菩薩之時。魔者魔羅，此云弊惡，亦名殺者。有說：智力者即十力智，令魔降伏。若爾，如何亦云降魔是慈定力故。今即智者菩薩之道，力者威神之力。欲壞自利，即智能伏；若破利他，即神力伏。隨善一種，義即闕焉，故兼之也。神力必由慈定發，故云智力皆令降伏，即《智論》云「由得菩薩道」，餘經亦云「由慈三昧」是也。

The sūtra says: "Emitted a great brilliance ... and caused all to be subdued." Commentary: This is the fourth [part], the power of wisdom subduing the demons. Some say: this "demon" in meaning encompasses eight kinds, as the four inversions of the unconditioned fundamentally destroy right understanding in the immediate and hinder genuine virtue in the distant; although not the affliction of śrāvakas, they are the foes of bodhisattvas, and are therefore called demons. This is certainly not so, for all the comings and goings [in the text] must correspond to the celestial demon; furthermore, the displayed forms are necessarily not permanent, etc. Now, although demons are of many kinds, what is subdued here is precisely the celestial demon. After the Bodhisattva sat upon the bodhi-seat, now about to attain right awakening, Māra Pāpīyān had to be summoned and subdued to cause him to arouse the bodhi-mind. [The Bodhisattva] then emitted the light of the white curl of hair, universally illuminating the trichiliocosm and shining sideways upon the palace of Pāpīyān. The Demon King heard a verse from within the light: "There is in the world a supreme, pure man / Who has undergone long periods of cultivation and reached fulfillment. / He is of that Śākya clan, having renounced the royal throne, / And is now seated at the bodhimaṇḍa. / You claim yourself to have great valor; / You should go beneath the tree and contend with him." Having heard this verse, Pāpīyān dreamed that his palaces were all dark, trembling, and unsettled. Upon waking, his whole body trembled and his heart was gripped with fear. The demon had a thousand sons: five hundred on the Demon King's right took refuge in the Bodhisattva; five hundred on the Demon King's left supported the Demon King. The Demon King said to his sons: "By what scheme can we crush and subdue him?" The demon son on the right named Faithful addressed Pāpīyān, saying: "Even if with the strength to crush the trichiliocosm, / And such great strength filled the sands of the Ganges, / It could not shake a single hair of the Bodhisattva; / How could it be enough to harm the Wise One?" The demon son on the left named Hundred Arms again addressed Pāpīyān, saying: "My body now has a hundred arms, / Each of which can shoot a hundred arrows. / Great King, simply go and do not worry; / How could such a śramaṇa be capable of harm?" The admonitions and consolations of the sons cannot be cited in full. The Demon King also ordered his daughters: "You go beneath that bodhi tree and seduce this son of the Śākyas to corrupt his pure conduct." He dispatched the demon daughters to go before the Bodhisattva, using alluring words and thirty-two kinds of seductive gestures to beguile the Bodhisattva, further speaking a verse: "Early spring is a mild and fine season; / All grasses, forests, and trees are in full bloom. / A great man should enjoy pleasure in due time; / Once prime youth is abandoned, it is hard to regain. / Although you are handsome with fine features, / The five desires of the world are also hard to find; / Facing this exquisite realm you should take joy and pleasure— / Why delight in that Dharma of bodhi?" The Bodhisattva, having heard this, felt pity in his heart and spoke a wondrous verse: "I view the five desires as having many faults; / Due to these afflictions, spiritual powers are lost. / Like a fire-pit and a venomous vessel, / Sentient beings rush into them without awareness. / This body is illusory, born of karma, / Temporarily compounded of the four elements and five aggregates; / Sinews and bones entwined together, existing only briefly— / What wise person should be attached to this? / Ordinary people, out of delusion, arouse desire; / I have already been liberated from the world, / Like the wind in the sky, hard to bind. / A leather bag filled with dung is not a pure thing; / I do not delight in this now; you should depart quickly." The daughters, unable to succeed, scattered flowers over the Bodhisattva, circumambulated him three times to the right, made obeisance, and departed, saying to the Demon King: "Never before have we seen such a man who, in the desire realm, gazes upon our beauty without his heart being moved. We only pray that the Great King will not form resentment and obstacles against this person." Then Pāpīyān went to the bodhi tree and told the Bodhisattva: "You should quickly rise; you are certain to become a wheel-turning king. Bodhi is hard to attain; do not exhaust your body in vain." The Bodhisattva replied: "I take no delight in the five desires, just as in vomited food. Having sat on the diamond seat, should I not attain bodhi? You should not speak thus; rather, you should leave quickly." Pāpīyān became enraged and dispatched an army of immeasurable, boundless, hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis, tightly crowding and packing the area around the bodhi tree, yet none could do harm. Pāpīyān wished to approach the Bodhisattva, but also could not advance. The Bodhisattva spoke to him: "Through a slight good, you have now obtained this celestial retribution. I have cultivated holy conduct for immeasurable kalpas and am destined to attain bodhi." Pointing his finger to the great earth, the earth spirit immediately emerged before the Bodhisattva: "I bear witness for myself." When these words were spoken, the great chiliocosm shook and a great roar was emitted; the demon hosts all dispersed, and the demon also returned to his palace. In summary, "great brilliance" refers to the light of the white curl between his eyebrows pervading the great chiliocosm, hence it is also called "great." "Causing the demon to know" refers to the inauspicious omens seen in the dream. "Coming to threaten and test" refers to when he led his armies wishing to approach the Bodhisattva. "Demon" is *māra*, translated here as evil or malignant, also named the killer. Some say: "power of wisdom" refers to the wisdom of the ten powers, causing the demon to be subdued. If so, why is it also said that subduing the demon is due to the power of the concentration of benevolence (maitrī-samādhi)? Here, wisdom is the Bodhisattva's Path, and power is the power of majestic spiritual strength. If [the demon] seeks to ruin self-benefit, wisdom can subdue it; if he breaks other-benefit, spiritual power subdues it. Depending on either one alone, the meaning would be incomplete, hence both are included. Spiritual power must arise from the concentration of benevolence; hence it says "the power of wisdom caused all to be subdued." This is what the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa* means by "due to attaining the Bodhisattva's Path," and what other sūtras also mean by "due to the samādhi of benevolence."