大般涅槃經集解 1.36

1.36

Baoliang comments: In broad outline, this sūtra has four distinct parts: first, from this point through the parable of the two men, old and young, is the exhortation to question; second, from Kāśyapa of the Tāla settlement onward, is the raising of questions; third, from the Buddha's praise of Kāśyapa downward through the end of "Kāśyapa", is the answering of questions; and fourth, from Kauṇḍinya through the end of the sūtra, is the entrustment and dissemination. The reason why the first part is collectively taken as the exhortation to question is that this sūtra takes question and answer as its central tenet. What was spoken prior to the Twin Śāla Trees was all the half-word of inexplicit meaning; [the Buddha] wishes to cause sentient beings to ask questions if they have doubts.