大般涅槃經集解 23.36

23.36

Sengliang comments: The Tathāgata's teaching is shallow first and deep later; only the Nirvāṇa is definitive, with no delusion left uneradicated. Baoliang comments: The twelfth parable serves as an illustration alongside the sūtras prior to the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra. Because it eliminates the three poisons together with their equal combinations, and the four inversions, it speaks of 'eight arts'. Being extensively knowledgeable beyond the eight kinds is likened to the Nirvāṇa Sūtra's teaching having twelve arts. The reason these two parables take persons as illustrations is to dispel doubts among beings.