大般涅槃經集解 9.50

9.50

Sengzong comments: If speaking of the matter, it was only eighty years. Yet saying it is the very foremost among all permanent dharmas cannot be without purpose; therefore, he asks how it is permanent. Zhixiu comments: From here below answers the second question regarding the fruit of long life. Answering questions is not uniform: sometimes one must restate the question to seek an answer; sometimes one asks directly; sometimes one proceeds from the momentum of the preceding answer to provide an answer. In this answer there are three distinctions: first, properly answering the meaning of long life; second, setting up an objection; third, correcting the three refuges. From here up to ‘lifespan is foremost’ properly answers the question. There are two meanings: first, Kāśyapa asks; second, the Buddha answers.