大般涅槃經集解 21.17

21.17

案僧亮曰：向來諸字，當字表義。今此四字，共表四義。四義者，謂三寶、對法，三寶以善對惡也；對法者，以惡對惡。如調達三逆種種為惡，起制戒因緣，未來惡也。智秀曰：第三段，結成字義也。正是以音表旨，故目此音為字也。字有滿半者，以十四音用表圓理目為滿字，表未圓理謂之半字也。

Sengliang comments: The previous characters each individually expressed a meaning. Now these four characters jointly express four meanings. As for the four meanings, they refer to the Three Jewels and the matched dharmas (pratidharma). The Three Jewels oppose evil with good; the matched dharmas oppose evil with evil. Just as Devadatta committed the three heinous acts and various evils, giving rise to the causes and conditions for laying down the precepts to prevent future evil. Zhixiu comments: The third section concludes the meaning of the characters. It is precisely because sounds express the import that these sounds are designated as characters. As for characters having complete and half: using the fourteen sounds to express the complete principle is designated as complete characters, while expressing the incomplete principle is called half-characters.