大般涅槃經集解 49.6

49.6

Sengliang comments: Although nirvāṇa has many meanings, it converges on the designation of being free from suffering; all who attain the cessation of suffering receive this name. Baoliang comments: Here ten metaphors are borrowed to distinguish the different characteristics of great and small. It is precisely through the absence of suffering and pleasure that it is called nirvāṇa. If one obtains a little food to dispel the suffering of hunger, it is also called nirvāṇa, but it cannot be called mahānirvāṇa. In these ten metaphors, the meaning is uniform: a small sea is also called a sea, and a great ocean is also called a sea. If one dispels a little suffering, it is called minor nirvāṇa; if one dispels suffering entirely, it is called mahānirvāṇa. Within the text it is naturally clarified in detail. Saying that persons of the two vehicles [practicing for] eighty thousand kalpas down to ten thousand kalpas is called minor nirvāṇa: in the three places explained above it was always said that they reach the Buddha fruit; now here it is called minor nirvāṇa. What is its meaning? If spoken before me, it does not mean that practicing for eighty thousand kalpas to the end is called minor. Before having practiced for eighty thousand kalpas, according to the dwelling place they have attained, in this sense it is minor; when they have practiced for eighty thousand kalpas to the end and attain Buddhahood, it is still called mahānirvāṇa. Although this intention is explained differently within a single work, its nature cannot be fathomed; one must simply settle it in accordance with the meaning.