大般涅槃經集解 20.84

20.84

案僧亮曰：金錍譬諸經教，一指譬三乘諸經。說三涅槃，實欲顯一常住涅槃。文隱義微，譬一指也。二譬法花破二涅槃，一乘雖顯，常我未明，譬二指也。三指者，譬今日佛性常樂之說。即便少見者，見已居終也。終則感果理彰，說已便見；始則事微難說，雖示不了。是以經說十地菩薩見終不見始也。僧宗曰：盲人譬十地已還，生死者也。百者，蓋十數之極耳。造醫者，善感聖也。寶亮曰：所問難見性者，正因性也。今答中乃明緣因者，正以得佛果之日方明識正因也。非唯果性難識，因性亦難知也。下文言「十地知終不知始」，是以問在正因，答以緣因。

Sengliang states: The golden probe symbolizes the teachings of the various sūtras. One finger symbolizes the sūtras of the three vehicles. Preaching three nirvāṇas, they actually intended to reveal the one eternally abiding nirvāṇa. Because the phrasing is concealed and the meaning subtle, it is likened to one finger. Two fingers symbolize the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra dismantling the two nirvāṇas: although the One Vehicle was revealed, the permanent and the self were not yet made clear, so it is likened to two fingers. The three fingers symbolize today's preaching of the buddhadhātu as permanence and bliss. As for 'they immediately saw a little,' having seen it, they reside at the culmination. At the culmination, the principle of invoking the fruit is manifest, so having been spoken to, they immediately see; at the beginning, the matter is subtle and difficult to explain, so although shown, they did not fully understand. Therefore the sūtra states that bodhisattvas of the ten grounds see the end but do not see the beginning. Sengzong states: The blind persons symbolize those from below the tenth ground down who are in saṃsāra. 'A hundred' is merely the ultimate among numbers of tens. Approaching the physician symbolizes the good invoking the sage. Baoliang states: The difficult-to-see nature asked about is the primary-cause nature. Now, in the reply, the contributory cause is explained precisely because on the day one attains the fruit of buddhahood, one clearly recognizes the primary cause for the first time. Not only is the nature of the fruit difficult to recognize, but the nature of the cause is also difficult to know. The text below states: 'The ten grounds know the end but do not know the beginning.' Therefore the question concerned the primary cause, while the answer was given in terms of the contributory cause.