大般涅槃經集解 23.22

23.22

案僧亮曰：醫譬佛也，子譬菩薩也。無上況術，譬佛性常也。若龍若蝮，譬二重罪也。藥譬名味句身也。革履譬書之於紙墨也。觸諸虫者，譬讀誦也。毒為之消，譬發心也。法瑤曰：良醫譬經文。子譬常住二字也。欲明但聞二字，已是滅惡，況具聞經耶？滅四重五逆，故譬塗革履，觸諸毒虫，毒即消也。

Sengliang comments: The physician is likened to the Buddha; the son is likened to the bodhisattva. The supreme wondrous art is likened to the permanence of the buddhadhātu. Nāgas and vipers are likened to the two grave sins. The medicine is likened to the sets of names, phrases, and syllables. The leather boots are likened to writing it with paper and ink. Touching the insects is likened to reading and reciting. The poison being dissolved for them is likened to generating the aspiration [for awakening]. Fayao comments: The skilled physician is likened to the text of the sūtra. The son is likened to the two characters 'eternal abiding' (changzhu). It seeks to clarify that merely hearing these two characters is already the eradication of evil, how much more so hearing the sūtra in full? Eradicating the four grave offences and the five heinous crimes is therefore likened to smearing leather boots: when touching toxic insects, the poison is immediately dissolved.