阿彌陀經通贊疏 3.23

3.23

贊曰：第三辨多少、四明證相。如是等恒河沙數諸佛，是辨多少。各於其國，辨明證相也。如是等佛數比河沙而不具列，故言等也。恒河數者，梵云殑伽，訛略云恒河，是河神之名，河從彼稱。殑音其[(美-(王/大)+弔)*令]反去聲也。經中說河沙為喻。無熱惱池出四大河，此河即一也。由具五義：一、由沙多；二、由世人共為福水，入洗罪滅、投死生天；三、雖經劫壞名字常在；四、佛多近此宣說妙法；五、眾人共委，故多為喻。仍取初出池口方四十里河以為喻，明證相。諸佛各於其國出廣長舌相者，即各在本國舒舌相也。三千大千世界者，准《大論》云：千須彌山、千日月、千四天下，及千梵王是謂小千，以小千為一數至千名大千，故名三千，非小中故為大千。《俱舍論》云：小千至初禪，中千至二禪，大千至三禪，俱同一成壞遍，此故云遍，故云遍覆三千大千世界也，表無量劫來口離四過感此舌相也。證小事即覆面門以至髮際，今證大事故至三千。今說因微果勝，恐眾生疑，此乃拋苦惱之要門、證常樂之疾路，事既廣大，現瑞非輕，舒舌相而遍覆大千，證西方而真快樂。

Commentary: Third, distinguishing the number, and fourth, clarifying the signs of confirmation. 'Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Gaṅgā like these' distinguishes the number. 'Each in his own land' distinguishes and clarifies the signs of confirmation. The number of Buddhas like these is comparable to the sands of the river and cannot be listed in full, hence it says 'and... like these.' As for the number of the Gaṅgā, in Sanskrit it is Gaṅgā, corrupted and abbreviated as Henghe; it is the name of a river goddess, and the river is named after her. The pronunciation of jing is qi-ling fan in the departing tone. Sūtras use the sands of this river as a metaphor. From the Anavatapta Lake four great rivers flow out, and this river is one of them. It has five points: 1. because of the abundance of sand; 2. because people in the world regard it as auspicious water, in which washing eradicates sins and throwing oneself to death brings rebirth in heaven; 3. although kalpas are destroyed, its name always remains; 4. the Buddha often proclaimed the wondrous Dharma near it; 5. it is familiar to everyone; therefore, it is often used as a metaphor. Furthermore, it takes the river of forty square li where it first emerges from the mouth of the lake as the metaphor. Clarifying the signs of confirmation: 'the Buddhas each in his own land extending the broad and long tongue mark' means each extends the mark of the tongue in his own land. As for the 'trichiliocosm,' according to the Da zhidu lun: one thousand Mount Merus, one thousand suns and moons, one thousand sets of four continents, and one thousand Brahmā Kings constitute a small chiliocosm; taking the small chiliocosm as one unit up to a thousand is called a great chiliocosm, hence it is called three thousand [fold], and being neither small nor medium it is called a great chiliocosm. The Abhidharmakośa states: the small chiliocosm reaches up to the First Dhyāna, the medium chiliocosm reaches up to the Second Dhyāna, and the great chiliocosm reaches up to the Third Dhyāna; they share a single cycle of formation and destruction all across, hence it is said to cover all over, and so it says 'covering all over the trichiliocosm.' This expresses that through countless kalpas the mouth has been free from the four faults, thereby inducing this tongue mark. To confirm a small matter, it covers the face up to the hairline; now, confirming a great matter, it extends to the three thousand [worlds]. Now, teaching that the cause is subtle yet the fruit is supreme, he feared sentient beings might doubt; this is indeed the essential gate for casting off suffering and distress, the swift path to realising eternal bliss. Since the matter is vast, the auspicious sign manifested is not slight: extending the tongue mark to cover the great chiliocosm confirms that the Western realm is true bliss.