大般涅槃經集解 1.13

1.13

案智秀曰：斯蓋圓極至德之總名也。若備稱舊本，應云摩訶般涅槃那。夫道絕百非，而理歸一致。歸一致故，則有識斯成；絕百非故，則無言可極。然既因迹見名，亦尋名知本。但名迹之興，乃肇自天竺。在我大梁，亦理應有稱。而弘道之近既發彰西域，未測此方何以譯翻。是以先賢後哲皆脩舊本，述而無作，故題之經首，體德名也。夫名以名體，體故有德。體者圓極妙有之本也，德者波若解脫之流也。談德乃眾，論體唯一；名雖有殊，實則無異。何者？即圓極之體有可軌之義名為法身，有靜照之功號為般若，有無累之德稱之解脫。是則解脫之體能照，亦能照之體解脫，更無別體而有眾德也，故以涅槃總名冠目。圓體名總，體圓故備含眾義矣。下經文〈名字功德品〉以眾義釋於名云「八味具足名大涅槃，八味者，一常、二恒、三安、四清涼、五不老、六不死、七無垢、八快樂」也。尋此經致教之意，如來化始鹿園、旨窮鷲岳，唯明道極灰盡、善必菩提，未辨含情抱氣悉成無等，但說壽量長遠復倍上數，未明正覺虛凝湛焉不滅。今此經者，以至極妙有為指南、常住佛性為宗致，明闡提則正因無改，辨法身則圓果嶷然，所謂無餘之至教、究竟之極說也。經者，經由義也。天竺以詮理文，總曰脩多羅。脩多羅者，備含眾義。何者？如出生、微發、涌泉、繩墨之流也。至於經由之義，亦其一耳。但梁之墳籍，皆以經為目。是以通方之士簡繁從略，舉要而稱焉，進不乖含總之一義，退且循俗而得簡也。

Zhixiu's note: This is the comprehensive name for the supreme virtue of complete ultimate perfection. If stated fully according to the old version, it should be *mahāparinirvāṇa*. The Path cuts off the hundred negations, yet the principle returns to a single unity. Because it returns to a single unity, those with consciousness all attain it; because it cuts off the hundred negations, no words can exhaust it. Yet since we see the name through traces, we also seek the root through the name. The arising of names and traces began in India. In our Great Liang, it should in principle also have a title. But while the recent expansion of the Path was made manifest in the Western Regions, it is unknown how this region could translate it. For this reason, former and later sages all adhered to the old version, transmitting without creating; thus it was inscribed at the head of the sūtra, naming both essence and virtues. A name is used to name an essence, and the essence therefore possesses virtues. The essence is the root of the wondrous existence of complete ultimate perfection; the virtues are the streams of prajñā and vimokṣa. Discussing the virtues, they are manifold; considering the essence, it is only one. Although the names differ, in reality there is no distinction. Why? The very essence of complete ultimate perfection, having the meaning of an exemplary model, is named dharmakāya; possessing the function of tranquil illumination, it is designated prajñā; possessing the virtue of freedom from encumbrance, it is termed vimokṣa. Thus, the essence of vimokṣa is capable of illumination, and the essence capable of illumination is vimokṣa; there is no separate essence that possesses manifold virtues. Hence the comprehensive name 'nirvāṇa' crowns the title. The complete essence is called comprehensive, and because the essence is complete, it fully contains manifold meanings. The subsequent text in the 'Chapter on the Merits of the Name' explains the name with manifold meanings, saying: 'Endowed with the eight flavors, it is called mahānirvāṇa. The eight flavors are: first, permanent; second, constant; third, peaceful; fourth, cool; fifth, unaging; sixth, deathless; seventh, stainless; and eighth, delightful.' Examining the intention of this sūtra in establishing the teaching: the Tathāgata began transforming beings in the Deer Park and exhausted his purport at Vulture Peak, clarifying only that the culmination of the path is ashes and extinguishment, and that goodness must lead to bodhi; he did not yet distinguish that all who possess consciousness and harbor breath will achieve the peerless, but only spoke of a lifespan twice the previous number, without clarifying that the Correct Awakening is empty, concentrated, serene, and unextinguished. Now this sūtra takes the wondrous existence of the ultimate limit as its compass and the permanently abiding buddhadhātu as its core doctrine, clarifying that for icchantikas the primary cause does not change, and distinguishing that the dharmakāya stands lofty as the complete fruit—it is the supreme teaching of the remainderless, the ultimate discourse of the definitive. *Jing* means 'to pass through.' In India, texts expressing principle are collectively called *sūtra*. *Sūtra* fully encompasses manifold meanings. What are they? Such as producing, subtly manifesting, gushing spring, and chalk line. As for the meaning of 'passing through,' it is merely one of them. However, the classical works of the Liang all take *jing* as their title. Therefore, universal scholars simplify the complex and follow the concise, citing the essential to name it, which neither contradicts the meaning of comprehensive inclusion, nor departs from common usage, thereby achieving conciseness.