大般涅槃經集解 35.6

35.6

案僧亮曰：佛教從小起。牛譬佛也，乳譬三藏，酪譬三乘雜說也，生蘇譬方等，熟蘇譬說空般若，醍醐譬涅槃經法也。法難見者，空有也，以般若說空、涅槃說有也。佛難見涅槃，為勝尊重讚歎也。僧宗曰：聖行所以而成，功由經力生人圓解也。如從牛出乳者，佛說小乘四諦法輪，此是成佛十二年中說也。從乳出酪者，謂十二年後說三乘通教，《大品經》是也。酪出生蘇者，如《思益》、《維摩》，抑挫二乘，稱揚菩薩也。從生蘇出熟蘇者，說《法花》破無三因果也。今此經明佛性常住，窮理盡性，如醍醐也。又出十二部者，小乘十二部也。從十二部出脩多羅者，空教脩多羅也。但言脩多羅者，攝十二部故，但言本耳。出方等理正不耶，二乘等學般若，故以通教為方等也。出般若者，一乘實慧般若也。從般若出大涅槃者，即今教也。又一解云：此經文小誤，般若應為第三，方等應在第四也。寶亮曰：佛如牛也，五味譬五時教也。佛初出世十二年中，小乘三藏別相說法輪，置出世之教，始當十二部之名也。從十二年後，通教門中辨空有，明真俗二諦。理既深廣，如從乳出酪。二諦是空解之主，亦是萬解之本，所以當脩多羅名也。但自通教之前，直明因果，義不辨二諦，忘相故不與本之稱。從脩多羅出方等經者，自通教說後，述維摩、思益進聲聞行，令捨執得解，故以方等經譬如從酪出生蘇也。從方等出般若波羅蜜者，般若言智慧，從說《維摩》後明《法花》，辨一因一果，智慧開明以譬般若，喻之熟蘇也。既說《法花經》竟，涅槃教興，明理具足，猶若醍醐也。

Sengliang comments: The Buddha's teaching begins from the small. The cow exemplifies the Buddha; the milk exemplifies the Tripiṭaka; the curd exemplifies the mixed teachings of the three vehicles; the raw butter exemplifies the vaipulya; the clarified butter exemplifies the prajñā that teaches emptiness; and the ghee exemplifies the Dharma of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. As for the Dharma being difficult to see: this refers to emptiness and existence, since prajñā teaches emptiness and nirvāṇa teaches existence. It is difficult for the Buddha to see nirvāṇa, so he praises and extols it as supreme and honored.
Sengzong says: The reason holy action is accomplished is that its efficacy relies on the power of the sūtra to produce complete understanding in people. 'As from a cow emerges milk': the Buddha preached the small vehicle's wheel of the Dharma of the Four Truths; this was taught in the twelve years after attaining Buddhahood. 'From milk emerges curd': this refers to preaching the shared teaching of the three vehicles after the twelve years; the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā Sūtra is this. 'From curd emerges raw butter': like the Viśeṣacintibrahma-paripṛcchā and the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, which suppress the two vehicles and praise the bodhisattvas. 'From raw butter emerges clarified butter': preaching the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, which destroys the idea that there are three separate causes and fruits. Now, this sūtra illuminates the eternal presence of the buddhadhātu, fathoming principle and exhausting the nature, like ghee.
Furthermore, 'from [the Buddha] emerge the twelve divisions': these are the twelve divisions of the small vehicle. 'From the twelve divisions emerges the sūtra': this is the sūtra of the teaching of emptiness. It is simply called 'sūtra' because it subsumes the twelve divisions; hence it speaks only of the root. As for 'from it emerge the vaipulya': is its principle correct? The two vehicles equally study prajñā, so the shared teaching is taken as vaipulya. 'From it emerges prajñā': this is the real wisdom prajñā of the One Vehicle. 'From prajñā emerges mahānirvāṇa': this is the present teaching. Another interpretation says: there is a slight error in this sūtra text; prajñā should be third, and vaipulya should be fourth.
Baoliang says: The Buddha is like a cow; the five flavors exemplify the teachings of the five periods. When the Buddha first appeared in the world, during the twelve years, the wheel of the Dharma was preached distinctly as the small vehicle Tripiṭaka, setting forth the supramundane teaching; this initially corresponded to the name of the twelve divisions. After the twelve years, within the gateway of the shared teaching, he distinguished emptiness and existence, clarifying the two truths of the ultimate and conventional. Since the principle is deep and broad, it is like curd emerging from milk. The two truths are the master of the understanding of emptiness and the root of myriad understandings; therefore, it corresponds to the name of sūtra. Prior to the shared teaching, it directly clarified cause and fruit without distinguishing the two truths; since it forgot marks, it was not given the title of root. 'From the sūtra emerge the vaipulya sūtras': after the shared teaching was preached, expounding the Vimalakīrti and Viśeṣacinti advanced the practice of the śrāvakas, causing them to abandon attachments and attain understanding; hence the vaipulya sūtras are exemplified by raw butter emerging from curd. 'From the vaipulya emerges prajñāpāramitā': prajñā means wisdom; after expounding the Vimalakīrti, he clarified the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, distinguishing the single cause and single fruit; the opening and brightening of wisdom exemplifies prajñā, compared to clarified butter. After the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra was completely preached, the nirvāṇa teaching arose, fully clarifying the principle, just like ghee.