大般涅槃經集解 18.83

18.83

Daosheng states: Originally having the buddhadhātu is precisely loving kindness and concern for sentient beings. Sengzong states: This is a parable for having it yet not seeing it. It is the nature of women to cherish treasure; because she does not know its location, she is poor. Sentient beings desire bliss but do not attain its basis, and therefore cycle in birth and death. Fayao states: Sentient beings possess the principle of attaining Buddhahood; because this principle originates from compassion, she is a woman. The principle of attaining Buddhahood is not yet of practical use to oneself; this is compared to poverty. Sengzong states: Kāśyapa's question earlier turned back and forth into faults; the Tathāgata now offers a parable, showing that neither extreme entails an error. The principle is like a storehouse of gold: it cannot be said to be non-existent; yet because its function has not manifested, it cannot be said to be existent. 'Woman' takes its meaning from the ability to give birth, and also takes nurturing as its virtue; this compares to the practitioner who inevitably conceives the understanding of permanence, taking the meaning of ability to give birth. The path encompasses what has not yet been heard, taking the virtue of nurturing. Baoliang states: There are five intentions behind the parables. The first parable clarifies that sentient beings in the six destinies all possess the direct cause, which is not something freshly begun. The second parable explains the reason why it could not be expounded immediately. People at that time gave rise to further doubts regarding these two parables, thinking that if it must not be non-existent, it ought to have present function, so Kāśyapa raised eleven objections based on this. The third parable gives a general answer, stating that although the principle of the nature is not non-existent, when one loses understanding, gives rise to delusion, and wanders in birth and death, how could there be present function? The fourth parable, although the above already clarified attaining first and losing later, did not clarify regaining after losing. Furthermore, it clarifies that among sentient beings there are naturally those who have never attained understanding yet have passed through the six destinies; for such persons, why must it be considered existent? Therefore, the present parable expands these two purports: first clarifying that although once lost it is later regained, and next clarifying that the direct cause is never obstructed or destroyed—thus both having undergone loss and having not yet attained are neither of them non-existent. The fifth parable specifically illustrates those who attain, clarifying the meaning of inevitable accomplishment. The 'poor woman' illustrates all sentient beings.