大般涅槃經集解 12.80

12.80

Sengliang states: "When the cause and effect of the afflictions of fragmented birth and death are both exhausted, it is like the extinction of a lamp. With body and wisdom still remaining, it is not mahānirvāṇa, but is already the lesser nirvāṇa. That one cannot say it is identical to this extinction of the lamp means that when the afflictions of fragmented birth and death are not yet exhausted, it is not identical to the extinction of a lamp. An elliptical exposition of the Dharma means that all the Buddha's fetters are exhausted, and his body and wisdom are also nirvāṇa, namely mahānirvāṇa. In the past he spoke in general characteristics, and thus did not distinguish between the lesser and the greater; hence it is called elliptical."