大般涅槃經義記 2.157

2.157

第三釋中，先解自正，初問、次釋、後牒總結。釋中有二：一約教法以明自正、二「若言如來法僧」已下約就常義以明自正。前中假就比丘說之。「若佛如來見佛因緣而有說」者，假舉如來驗誡之言，佛於一時見大火聚熾然因緣，便告比丘：「汝寧抱是熾然火聚？寧說如來十二部經及祕密藏云波旬說？」名見因緣而有所說。「譬如」已下，對問以明比丘自正，舉彼類顯菩薩自正，故云譬如十二小教、祕藏大教，自正心堅，故寧抱火不敢說此為波旬說。何故而然？欲明抱火但壞一身，謗法能壞無量世身；又復抱火但壞肉身，謗法之罪能壞法身，為是不說。後自正中，句別有五：一知他宣說三寶無常，有大衰損，自侵損己，欺人損他，邪法教他，名為欺人；二「寧以刀」下自制不為，寧刀斷舌，不說無常，與前抱火其事相似；三「若聞他」下聞說不受；四「於此」下見說生憐，憐彼當受無量苦故；五「如來法僧不可思」下以理自遮。

In the third part, the explanation, self-rectification is explained first: first questioning, then explaining, and finally recapitulating in a general conclusion. Within the explanation there are two parts: first, explaining self-rectification in terms of the doctrinal teachings; second, from "If it is said that the Tathāgata, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha" onward, explaining self-rectification in terms of the meaning of permanence. In the former, it is provisionally explained in terms of a monk. "If the Buddha, the Tathāgata, saw the cause and condition of a fire and spoke of it" provisionally adduces the Tathāgata's words of testing and admonishing: at one time, on the occasion of seeing a great mass of blazing fire, the Buddha said to the monks: "Would you rather embrace this blazing mass of fire, or speak of the Tathāgata's twelve divisions of scriptures and secret storehouse, saying they were spoken by Pāpīyas?" This is called having spoken upon seeing causes and conditions. From "Just as" onward, answering the question clarifies the monk's self-rectification, adducing that case to illustrate the bodhisattva's self-rectification; hence it says that, just as with the twelve [divisions of] lesser teachings and the secret store of the great teachings, their self-rectifying mind was firm, so they would rather embrace fire than dare to say that these were spoken by Pāpīyas. Why is this so? It is intended to show that embracing fire destroys only a single body, while slandering the Dharma can destroy bodies across immeasurable lifetimes; furthermore, embracing fire destroys only the physical flesh body, while the sin of slandering the Dharma can destroy the dharmakāya; for this reason they do not speak thus. In the subsequent [section on] self-rectification, there are five distinct sentences: first, knowing that another's preaching of the impermanence of the Three Jewels causes great decline and loss—it harms oneself and deceives others, harming others, and teaching perverse doctrines to others is called deceiving others; second, from "rather with a knife" onward, self-restraint from doing it, preferring to cut out one's tongue with a knife rather than speak of impermanence, which is similar to the earlier case of embracing fire; third, from "if hearing another" onward, hearing it spoken and not accepting it; fourth, from "thereupon" onward, seeing it spoken and giving rise to pity, pitying them because they will suffer immeasurable pain; fifth, from "the Tathāgata, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha are inconceivable" onward, restraining oneself through principle.