無量壽經連義述文贊 3.101

3.101

經曰「生死常道」至「甚可傷」者，述云：此後、正申癡過。有二：此初、對父子以顯其過也。有說：少者早夭、老者後死，故云顛倒。不報上下，死之同然，故云上下。非也。若如所言，應云顛倒不報上人下人故。今即顛倒者，即相錯之義，上者上昇、下者下墜故。五道相錯，或昇善趣、或墜惡趣，故云上下。無常根本者，即無一常本之業。當者受也。蒙，又作曚皆（莫公反），蒙覆不明也。冥（鳴央反），暗昧無知也。曚，有眸子而無見也。又曚𭧫（下牛對反）生聾。又蒙籠（盧紅反），蒙籠謂不明了也。抵（都禮反），拒也摧也。突（徒骨反），觸冐也。狼者，貪過也。

The sūtra says: "Birth and death are the constant path" down to "deeply lamentable." The commentary states: Next, it directly explains the fault of delusion. There are two parts: this first reveals the fault with respect to fathers and sons. Some say: the young die prematurely and the old die later, hence it says "inverted." Death does not report to superiors or inferiors, and death is the same for all, hence it says "superiors and inferiors." This is incorrect. If it were as they say, it should say "inverted, not reporting to superiors or inferiors of men." Now, "inverted" means the sense of mutual confusion: "superior" means ascending, "inferior" means plunging down. The five destinies are confused with one another: sometimes one ascends to the good destinies, sometimes one plunges into the evil destinies; hence it says "superiors and inferiors." "The root of impermanence" means lacking any constant, fundamental karma. "Dang" (當) means "receive." "Meng" (蒙), also written as "meng" (曚, both mo-gong fan), means shrouded, covered, and dim. "Ming" (冥, ming-yang fan) means dark, murky, and devoid of knowledge. "Meng" (曚) means having pupils but lacking vision. Also, "meng-deng" (曚𭧫, the latter niu-dui fan) means born deaf. Also, "meng-long" (蒙籠, lu-hong fan): "meng-long" means unclear. "Di" (抵, du-li fan) means resist or break. "Tu" (突, tu-gu fan) means collide with or rush into. "Wolfish" (lang) is the fault of greed.