阿彌陀經要解 1.15

1.15

與者，共義。大比丘者，受具足戒出家人也。比丘是梵語，含三義故不翻：一、乞士義，謂一鉢資身無所蓄藏專求出要；二、破惡義，謂正慧觀察破煩惱惡不墮愛見；三、怖魔義，謂發心受戒羯磨成就魔即怖也。僧者，具云僧伽，此翻和合眾，理和則同證無為解脫。事和則有六種：所謂身和同住、口和無諍、意和同悅、見和同解、戒和同修、利和同均也。千二百五十人者，三迦葉波兄弟師資共千人；舍利弗、目犍連師資二百人；耶舍長者子等五十人，皆佛成道未久先得度脫，感佛深恩故為常隨眾也。

"Together with" has the meaning of "accompanied by". "Great bhikṣus" are renunciants who have received the full precepts. Bhikṣu is a Sanskrit word that contains three meanings, hence it is not translated: first, the meaning of "mendicant", meaning they sustain the body with a single bowl, accumulate nothing, and exclusively seek the essential escape; second, the meaning of "destroyer of evil", meaning they use correct wisdom to observe and destroy the evil of afflictions, not falling into attachment and views; third, the meaning of "frightener of Māra", meaning when they resolve to receive the precepts and the karmavācanā is accomplished, Māra is frightened. "Community" (seng) in full is "saṅgha", translated here as "harmonious assembly". In terms of noumenal harmony, they jointly realize unconditioned liberation. In terms of phenomenal harmony, there are six kinds: bodily harmony in dwelling together, verbal harmony without disputes, mental harmony in shared joy, view harmony in shared understanding, precept harmony in shared practice, and material harmony in equal distribution. As for the "one thousand two hundred and fifty": the three Kāśyapa brothers, masters and disciples together, numbered one thousand; Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, masters and disciples, were two hundred; the elder's son Yaśas and others were fifty. All of them were delivered not long after the Buddha attained enlightenment, and being deeply grateful for the Buddha's kindness, they became his constant retinue.