大般涅槃經義記 2.72

2.72

第三告中，初佛勸問，次諸比丘高推菩薩，後佛述讚。初中佛告「汝今若問，能益一切」，舉益勸問。「是故」已下，結勸所以。就明比丘推菩薩中，初推菩薩，「我等智慧如蚊虻」下，謙己不堪；「時聲聞」下，謙已默住。初中先喻、次合、後結。喻中有五，與前相似：一喻菩薩有能持德、二「亦有人」下喻佛應付、三「有壯人」下喻菩薩應受、四「其人遇病命家屬」下明受者得、五「智者」下喻付者得。初中，「如人年二十五」，喻諸菩薩法身充盛，取少為喻，不取其數；智解不邪，故曰「端正」；具眾善法，名「多財寶」；父母、妻子、眷屬、宗親，如《維摩》說智度為母、方便父等。第二段中，類前稱「亦」。「有人」喻佛，委法菩薩名「寄寶物」，「語其人」下顯委付相，義同上釋。第三段中，「壯人護物如己有」者，如己自心所證法也。第四段中，菩薩於此感化已周，名為「遇病」；告傳法人，名「命家屬」；語其所付是諸佛法，名「他所有」；勸令堅持，復聖本化，義言「來索，悉皆還之」。第五段中，「智者善量」，喻佛善付。聖復本化，名為「行還」。先所委法住持如本，義言「索物皆得無失」。下次合之，文中但合第二、第四。合第二中，「世尊亦爾」，合前富人。若以佛法付迦葉等，舉失顯得，反合應付，先明其失，「何以」下釋。「如彼老」下舉喻類顯，「是故應」下彰得異失，正合應付。「以諸菩薩善能問」下合第四句，先舉其法與前少異，向前喻中明由付後財無損失，今此合中明諸菩薩能善問答，法得久住，言左右耳。「如彼壯」下，舉喻以帖。上來合竟。以是義故，菩薩能問，結推菩薩。上來仰推菩薩能問，次謙、後默，文顯可知。

In the third address, first the Buddha encourages questioning; next, the monks defer upward to the bodhisattvas; afterward, the Buddha approves and praises them. In the first part, the Buddha addresses them: "If you now ask, you can benefit everyone," citing the benefits to encourage questioning. From "Therefore" onward, he concludes with the reason for encouraging them. In clarifying the monks' deferring to the bodhisattvas, first they defer to the bodhisattvas; from "Our wisdom is like mosquitoes and gnats" onward, they humble themselves as incapable; from "At that time the śrāvakas" onward, having humbled themselves, they remain silent. In the first part, there is first the simile, next the application, and afterward the conclusion. In the simile there are five, similar to the preceding: first, a simile for the bodhisattvas possessing the virtue of being able to uphold; second, from "There is also a person" onward, a simile for the Buddha ought to entrust; third, from "There is a robust man" onward, a simile for the bodhisattva ought to accept; fourth, from "That man, encountering illness, instructs his family" onward, clarifying the gain on the part of the recipient; fifth, from "The wise man" onward, a simile for the gain on the part of the entruster. In the first, "like a man twenty-five years old" is a simile for the bodhisattvas' dharmakāya being flourishing and full, taking youth as the simile, not the specific number; intellectual understanding being non-erroneous is why it says "upright and handsome"; possessing manifold wholesome dharmas is called "having much wealth and jewels"; parents, wife, children, retinue, and clansmen are, as the Vimalakīrti says, perfection of wisdom being the mother, expedient means the father, and so forth. In the second section, it is called "also" to parallel the preceding. "A person" is a simile for the Buddha; delegating the Dharma to the bodhisattvas is called "depositing precious goods"; from "telling that person" onward reveals the manner of entrustment, the meaning being the same as the explanation above. In the third section, "the robust man protects the goods as his own" means as the dharma realized in his own mind. In the fourth section, the bodhisattva's transformation according with conditions being complete here is called "encountering illness"; addressing the persons who transmit the Dharma is called "instructing his family"; telling them that what was entrusted is the Dharma of the Buddhas is called "belonging to another"; encouraging them to firmly maintain it and return it to the Sage's original transformation is the meaning of "when he comes to claim it, return it entirely to him." In the fifth section, "the wise man evaluates well" is a simile for the Buddha's good entrustment. The Sage returning to his original transformation is called "traveling and returning." The previously entrusted Dharma being maintained and preserved as originally was is the meaning of "claiming the goods, he recovers them all without loss." Next is the application: within the text, only the second and fourth are applied. In applying the second, "the World-Honoured One is also thus" applies to the previous wealthy man. If one entrusts the Buddha-Dharma to Kāśyapa and the others, by citing the loss to reveal the gain, it conversely applies to [who] ought to be entrusted: first it clarifies the loss; from "Why?" downward explains it. From "Like that old [man]" onward cites the simile to reveal it comparatively; from "Therefore he ought to" downward shows that gain differs from loss, directly applying to the proper entrustment. From "Because the bodhisattvas are skilled at questioning" onward applies to the fourth clause: first citing its dharma differs slightly from the preceding, for earlier in the simile it clarified that through the entrustment the subsequent wealth suffered no loss, while now in this application it clarifies that the bodhisattvas are skilled at questioning and answering so that the Dharma can abide long; the phrasing is just complementary. From "Like that robust [man]" onward, the simile is brought forward to match it. The above completes the application. By this meaning, bodhisattvas are able to ask, concluding the deferral to the bodhisattvas. The above was reverently deferring to the bodhisattvas as able to ask; next they humble themselves, and afterward remain silent, which is obvious from the text.