大般涅槃經義記 1.96

1.96

魔王獻中，文別有六：一標供主，并歎所作；二辯供奉佛；三獻神呪；四請佛受供；五佛許受呪，不受其供；六不果却住。初中「欲界魔王波旬」標列供主，魔羅梵語，此云殺者，害人善故。波旬梵語，此云極惡，依於佛法而得善利，不念酬報，反欲加毀，故名極惡。他化天上別有魔界，通亦是其他化天攝，故今說為欲界魔王，此多菩薩隨化示作，故引眷屬來此供養。「開地獄」下歎其所為，先救獄苦，後攝魔民。救獄苦中，初明所與、後明所去。所與是何？與樂、與善，開獄、施水，是與樂也；「因告」已下是與善也。乘前施水，兼勸以善，故曰因告。「汝無能為」，彰所不堪，不堪供佛。「唯當」已下，量其所堪，教修善意，初教念佛、後教隨喜。「當令汝」下明修利益，生死昏寢說之為夜，輪轉無際謂之為長，得善自寧名為獲安，此明所與。「魔於地獄悉除刀」下明其所云，為除刀劍、注雨滅火，此是眾生惡業果報，魔復安能為之除遣？直爾不得，由前教勸，念佛隨喜，罪垢消薄，故得滅除。又，魔是其不思菩薩，有逢遇者，必定是其宿世善人，受報可轉，故為除之。如人貧窮，雖是果報，可以財救，彼亦同爾，上救獄苦，下攝魔民，以佛神力，生心所由，復發是心，重起化意。「令諸」已下誡捨鬪具，魔專壞亂，壞人善時多以鬪具恐怖行者，今勸捨之。

In the demon king's offering, the text has six distinct parts: first, designating the maker of the offering and praising his deeds; second, explaining the presentation of offerings to the Buddha; third, presenting the dhāraṇī spell; fourth, requesting the Buddha to accept the offering; fifth, the Buddha consenting to accept the spell but not accepting his offering; sixth, failing in his aim, he withdraws and stays put. In the first part, "Pāpīyas, the demon king of the desire realm" designates and lists the maker of the offering. "Māra" is Sanskrit, translated here as "killer," because he harms the goodness of humans. "Pāpīyas" is Sanskrit, translated here as "extremely wicked": relying on the Buddha's teaching he obtained wholesome benefits, yet instead of considering recompense, he sought to bring harm, hence he is called "extremely wicked." Above the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven there is a separate demon realm, which is also generally subsumed under the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven; hence he is now called the demon king of the desire realm. This is often a bodhisattva manifesting in accord with transformation, which is why he led his retinue here to make offerings. From "opening the hells" downward praises his deeds: first rescuing the sufferings of the hells, and then gathering in the demon subjects. In rescuing the sufferings of the hells, it first clarifies what was given and then what was removed. What was given? Bestowing joy and bestowing goodness: opening the hells and bestowing water is the bestowing of joy; from "consequently proclaimed" downward is the bestowing of goodness. Taking advantage of the preceding gift of water, he also encouraged them with goodness; hence it says "consequently proclaimed." "You are unable to do anything" reveals their incapacity: incapable of making offerings to the Buddha. From "you should only..." downward measures their capacity and teaches them to cultivate wholesome intentions: first teaching mindfulness of the Buddha, and then teaching rejoicing in accordance. From "it shall cause you..." downward clarifies the benefits of cultivation: the stupor and sleep of birth-and-death is called "night"; revolving boundlessly is called "long"; and attaining goodness and finding self-tranquility is called "obtaining peace"—this clarifies what was given. From "the demon in the hells completely eliminated the knives..." downward clarifies what was removed: removing knives and swords, pouring down rain to extinguish fire. These are the retributions of sentient beings' evil karma; how could the demon eliminate and dispel them? He could not do so straightforwardly; it was due to the previous encouragement to be mindful of the Buddha and rejoice in accordance, whereby the defilements of sin were thinned and diminished, that they could be extinguished and removed. Moreover, the demon is an inconceivable bodhisattva, and those who encounter him must certainly be people with past-life goodness whose retributions can be averted, which is why he eliminated them. Just as when a person is impoverished, although it is a karmic retribution, he can be rescued with wealth, so too is it in this case. Above, he rescues the sufferings of the hells; below, he gathers in the demon subjects: through the Buddha's supernatural power, which was the cause of generating this mind, he again generated this intention and reaffirmed his wish to convert. From "causing all..." downward is the admonition to abandon weapons of combat. The demon is dedicated to corruption and disorder; when destroying people's goodness he often terrifies practitioners with weapons of combat, but now he urges them to abandon them.