大般涅槃經義記 2.69

2.69

就初段中麁分有二：初請、後答，偈來是請、偈後是答。細分有五：一如來勸問、二「爾時會中有菩薩」下迦葉請問、三「佛讚」下如來讚問、四「迦葉白佛我無智」下迦葉謙問、五「諦聽」下如來答問。就初段中，先告比丘、後告大眾。比丘所為，故先告之。亦可乘上哀嘆章中對其言便，是以先告。彼辭不堪，高推菩薩，故後告眾。前中有三：一直告令問、二重勸令問、三舉益勸問，良以聖意丁寧故爾。就初告中，佛先勸問；「我已修」下，比丘自誇，拒勸不問；「汝等莫」下，佛呵令問。初中，「佛告汝於戒律有疑問者」，正勸令問。得常因中戒學為首，又復戒律比丘所習，故勸令問。「我當解說」，許為酬答，令汝心喜，彰己善答。比丘拒中，「我已修學一切諸法本性空」者，人解不定，有人釋言：此是佛語，如來道己知法空寂，欲令比丘就之諮問。依六卷經，此比丘語，故彼經中比丘白佛「我已修法本性空寂，了了通達。」比丘道已我於諸法先已通達，何須更問？五陰是其一切諸法，比丘觀法但從緣生，無有本性，名性空寂。解過始學，名了了達。下佛呵中，「莫謂如來唯修諸法本性空」者，如來彰己更有大乘不空之德，明須問也。故經說言「諸佛如來不以得此一無分別法說名為佛。」

In the first division, roughly speaking, there are two parts: first the request, and afterward the answer. Up to the verses is the request; after the verses is the answer. Divided in detail, there are five: first, the Tathāgata encourages questioning; second, from "At that time, in the assembly there was a bodhisattva" onward, Kāśyapa makes a request by questioning; third, from "The Buddha praised" onward, the Tathāgata praises the question; fourth, from "Kāśyapa addressed the Buddha: 'I have no wisdom'" onward, Kāśyapa modestly asks; fifth, from "Listen attentively" onward, the Tathāgata answers the question. Within the first division, [the Buddha] first addresses the monks, and afterward addresses the great assembly. Because it is on behalf of the monks, he addresses them first. Alternatively, taking advantage of the convenience of having just spoken to them in the chapter on lamentation, he addresses them first. Because they decline, claiming incapability, and defer upward to the bodhisattvas, he afterward addresses the assembly. In the former, there are three parts: first, directly instructing them to ask; second, repeatedly encouraging them to ask; third, citing the benefits to encourage them to ask—this is truly out of the Sage's earnestness. Within the first address, the Buddha first encourages questioning; from "I have already practiced" onward, the monks boast of themselves, rejecting the encouragement and not asking; from "Do not [think]" onward, the Buddha rebukes them and orders them to ask. In the first part, "The Buddha addressed [them]: 'If you have doubts regarding the vinaya rules...'" directly encourages questioning. Among the causes of attaining constancy, the training in morality is foremost; moreover, the vinaya rules are what the monks practice, so he encourages them to ask. "I shall explain them" promises to answer, causing your hearts to rejoice and showing his own excellence in answering. In the monks' refusal, regarding "I have already studied and practiced the original nature of all dharmas as empty," people's interpretations are not uniform. Some explain: these are the Buddha's words; the Tathāgata stated that he himself knows the emptiness and quiescence of dharmas, wishing to have the monks consult and question him on this basis. Relying on the six-fascicle sūtra, these are the words of the monks, for in that sūtra the monks addressed the Buddha: "I have already practiced the original nature of dharmas as empty and quiescent, and thoroughly comprehended it." The monks said of themselves: "I have previously already comprehended all dharmas, so why need I ask further?" The five aggregates are those "all dharmas"; the monks contemplate dharmas as merely arising from conditions and having no intrinsic nature, which is called "nature empty and quiescent." Their understanding has surpassed beginners, which is called "thoroughly comprehending." In the Buddha's subsequent rebuke, regarding "Do not say that the Tathāgata has only practiced the original nature of all dharmas as empty," the Tathāgata showed that he possesses further the Mahāyāna virtues of non-emptiness, clarifying that they must ask. Therefore the sūtra states: "Buddha-Tathāgatas are not named Buddhas because of having attained this single non-conceptual dharma."