大般涅槃經義記 2.118

2.118

上來第一明邪異正，自下第二辯正異邪。初先法說、次喻、後合。「是故如來出世之後乃為演說常等法說」，是破外道妄說常樂我淨法故，佛為正說常樂淨等。喻中六句：一如來出現喻，「輪王」喻佛，化現世間名「出於世」；二「福德力」下外道退散喻；三「牛無損」下正法無損喻；四「王以諸牛付一牧」下付人修學喻，佛以正法付諸菩薩名付牧人多巧便者；五「是人」下修學得常喻，菩薩巧修證會常法名得醍醐；六「醍醐」下得常廣益喻，以己所得化他同證，令出生死，名無患苦。合中，「聖王出現世時」合上初句。「諸凡夫」下合第二句，先合、後帖。「如來善說世、出世法」合第三句。「牛無損命為眾生」下合第四句，付一牧人，「為眾生故，令諸菩薩隨而演說」。「菩薩既得」合第五句，是人方便即得醍醐，正應說言既得常果，法從喻稱，故云醍醐。「復令」已下合第六句，然上喻中云無患苦，今此合中言得常樂，言左右耳。

The above was the first [part], clarifying that the heterodox differs from the orthodox; below is the second, distinguishing how the orthodox differs from the heterodox. First there is an exposition in terms of Dharma, next a simile, and then the application. "Therefore, after the Tathāgata appears in the world, he expounds the Dharma of eternity and so on" means that in order to refute the non-Buddhists' false teachings of eternity, bliss, self, and purity, the Buddha correctly expounds eternity, bliss, purity, and so forth. In the simile there are six clauses: first, the simile of the Tathāgata's appearance: the "wheel-turning king" is a simile for the Buddha, and manifesting in the world is called "appearing in the world"; second, "the power of meritorious virtue..." onwards is the simile of the non-Buddhists retreating and dispersing; third, "the cows are unharmed..." onwards is the simile of the true Dharma remaining unharmed; fourth, "the king entrusted the cows to a cowherd..." onwards is the simile of entrusting them to people to practice and learn: the Buddha entrusting the true Dharma to bodhisattvas is called entrusting them to a cowherd with many skillful expedients; fifth, "this person..." onwards is the simile of practicing and attaining eternity: the bodhisattva skillfully practicing and verifying the eternal Dharma is called obtaining ghee; sixth, "ghee..." onwards is the simile of attaining eternity and broadly benefiting: transforming others with what one has attained so that they jointly verify it and are caused to leave birth and death is called "free from suffering and distress." In the application: "When the sacred king appears in the world" applies to the first clause above. "The ordinary beings..." onwards applies to the second clause, first applying and then corresponding. "The Tathāgata skillfully expounds worldly and world-transcending dharmas" applies to the third clause. "The cows' lives being unharmed for the sake of sentient beings..." onwards applies to the fourth clause, entrusting to a single cowherd: "For the sake of sentient beings, he causes bodhisattvas to expound accordingly." "When the bodhisattva has obtained..." applies to the fifth clause, where this person with expedients immediately obtains ghee; properly speaking it should say having attained the eternal fruit, but the dharma follows the name in the simile, hence it says "ghee." "Furthermore causes..." onwards applies to the sixth clause; however, while the simile above says "free from suffering and distress," here the application says "obtaining eternal bliss," which are simply two ways of saying the same thing.