大般涅槃經集解 44.58

44.58

案僧亮曰：先總以三法為譬，楊葉譬人天乘四果；牛馬人天等一乘男女譬眾生；啼哭譬造惡業。三十三天者，別合楊葉。所以明者，凡著有不說涅槃。「眾生厭時至二乘之實」則合牛馬。所以然者，以厭生死者，不說人天因也。有斷不斷者，智煩惱斷，習不斷也。已下類爾。「非金中生金想至而說為淨」，總合上四果為淨。「於非牛馬作牛馬想至說非道為道」，總合四乘為道。說假名眾生，合男女別墮邪見，墮斷滅也。是故如來說有眾生者，說假名眾生，除其斷見。於眾生中作眾生想者，說計我者普也。於眾生破眾生見者，明說假名眾生亦破常見，不但此也。

Sengliang comments: First, three dharmas are used in general as analogies: the willow leaves analogize the four fruits of the human and heavenly vehicles; cows, horses, humans, and devas, etc., the single vehicle; men and women analogize sentient beings; crying analogizes committing evil karma. The Trāyastriṃśa Heaven specifically corresponds to the willow leaves. The reason this is explained is that to those attached to existence, nirvāṇa is not preached. 'When sentient beings become weary, to the reality of the two vehicles' corresponds to the cows and horses. The reason for this is that to those weary of saṃsāra, the causes of human and heavenly rebirth are not preached. Having severed or not severed: wisdom severs afflictions, but latencies are not severed. The rest below are similar. 'Giving rise to the notion of gold in what is not gold [...] up to preaching it as pure' generally unites the above four fruits as pure. 'Forming the notion of cows and horses regarding what are not cows and horses [...] up to preaching what is not the path as the path' generally unites the four vehicles as the path. Preaching conventionally designated sentient beings corresponds to men and women separately falling into wrong views and falling into annihilation. Therefore, when the Tathāgata preaches the existence of sentient beings, he preaches conventionally designated sentient beings to remove their nihilistic views. 'Forming the notion of sentient beings among sentient beings' means preaching that those who posit a self are pervasive. 'Destroying the view of sentient beings among sentient beings' clarifies that preaching conventionally designated sentient beings also destroys the view of permanence, not merely this.