大般涅槃經義記 4.54

4.54

就初段中，先明難見，「若剎利」下明諸菩薩依經見性。明難見中句別有四：一略喻難見，所謂㹀牛眾生薄福，不見雪山肥膩之草；二「佛性」下合；三「如大海」下廣喻難見，於中海喻喻妄含真，雪山之喻喻真含妄；四「眾生」下合，於中初先合喻明有，「所謂」已下出其有體，恐畏世人執法同喻，故說佛性非是作法，「但為」已下明諸眾生不見所由，此即明其難見義也。

In the first section, it first explains that it is difficult to see, and from 'if kṣatriyas' downward, it explains that bodhisattvas see the nature relying on the sūtra. Within explaining that it is difficult to see, there are four distinct clauses: first, briefly analogising that it is difficult to see, namely that cows—sentient beings of meager merit—do not see the rich, fertile grass of the Snowy Mountains; second, from 'buddha-nature' downward is the correlation; third, from 'like the great ocean' downward extensively analogises that it is difficult to see, in which the simile of the ocean analogises the false containing the true, while the simile of the Snowy Mountains analogises the true containing the false; fourth, from 'sentient beings' downward is the correlation, within which it first correlates the simile to explain existence; from 'namely' downward, it brings out its existent substance—fearing that people of the world might cling to dharmas as identical to the simile, it therefore states that buddha-nature is not a conditioned dharma; from 'only because' downward, it explains the reason why sentient beings do not see it; this then explains the meaning of its being difficult to see.