大般涅槃經義記 2.121

2.121

第二段中，先請，後難。請中初言「佛法性者，其義云何」，諮請佛義。「我今欲」下，求請佛說。難中四句：一有性無身難。「夫法性者」，牒佛向前涅槃法性即是捨身，准小類大，謂同小乘捨身、捨智方為涅槃。言「捨身」者，名無所有，釋大同小，同於小乘滅無所有，若無所有，身云何存？執無難有。二「身若存」下有身無性難。「身若存者」，縱聽有身。「云何而言身有法性」，難破有性，由身存故，不得滅身以為涅槃，故無法性。三「身有性」下雙牒並徵。噵言「身」者，牒後有身；「有法性」者，牒前有性；「云何存」者，就以並徵。若言有身，法性之義云何得存？若有法性，法性是無，身云何存？四「我今」下彰己不知，請佛釋通。

In the second section, first he requests, and afterwards he raises a difficulty. In the request, it first says, "As for the Dharma-nature of the Buddhas, what is its meaning?"—inquiring about the Buddha's meaning. From "I now wish..." onwards, he asks and requests the Buddha to explain. In the difficulty there are four lines. First is the difficulty of having nature but no body: "Now, as for the Dharma-nature..." takes up the Buddha's earlier statement that the Dharma-nature of nirvāṇa is just the relinquishing of the body; judging the Mahāyāna by the standard of the Hīnayāna, he assumes that, identically to the Hīnayāna, relinquishing the body and relinquishing wisdom is only then nirvāṇa. The phrase "relinquishing the body" denotes having nothing at all, interpreting the Mahāyāna as identical to the Hīnayāna, identical to the extinction into nothingness of the Hīnayāna; if there is nothing at all, how could a body survive? He grasps non-existence to challenge existence. Second, from "If the body survives..." onwards is the difficulty of having a body but no nature: "If the body survives" tentatively grants that there is a body; "How can it be said that the body has Dharma-nature?" challenges and refutes having a nature, [arguing that] because the body survives, one cannot take the extinction of the body to be nirvāṇa, and therefore there is no Dharma-nature. Third, from "The body has a nature..." onwards, he takes up both together and questions them simultaneously: the words "The body" take up the later [statement that] there is a body; "has a Dharma-nature" takes up the earlier [statement that] there is a nature; "How could it survive?" brings them together to question them simultaneously: if one says there is a body, how could the meaning of Dharma-nature survive? If there is a Dharma-nature, Dharma-nature is non-existence, so how could the body survive? Fourth, from "I now..." onwards, he manifests his own ignorance and requests the Buddha to explain and resolve it.