大般涅槃經義記 8.235

8.235

下佛先嘆；次述其言，「所喻二人實難可知」；下教撿驗。於中先教能驗之行，「或有二」下教示所驗。前中，先舉四親近行，初二驗身、後二驗心，廣如上釋。「具足四」下結嘆四能。教所驗中，「戒有二種」舉其所受，「持者亦二」舉其持戒，「究竟不竟」雙列二名。下辯其相令人識知，「有人以緣受持禁戒」明不究竟，為其世事因緣受持名有因緣，「智者觀」下教其撿驗。「如來戒」下明其究竟，於中有四：一明如來不為世事因緣受持故名究竟。二「以是義」下舉因況果明佛究竟。「畢竟究竟」正是一義，重言顯勝。亦可畢竟勝過菩薩，究竟過前不究竟戒。三「我昔」下即事以顯。四「不究竟戒尚不能」下舉劣顯勝成佛究竟。不究竟戒尚不能得二乘道果，況大菩提；佛戒能得無上菩提，明究竟戒。

Below, the Buddha first praises; next, he restates his words: "The two persons in the analogy are truly difficult to know"; below, he teaches how to examine and verify. Therein, he first teaches the practices capable of verifying; from "Or there are two" onward, he teaches and indicates what is verified. In the former, he first raises the four practices of closeness: the first two verify the body, and the latter two verify the mind, as extensively explained above. From "Endowed with the four" onward concludes by praising the four capacities. In teaching what is verified, "There are two kinds of precepts" raises what is received; "The upholders are also two" raises their upholding of precepts; "ultimate and non-ultimate" jointly lists the two names. Below, he explains their characteristics to make them known: "Some uphold the prohibitive precepts on account of conditions" explains the non-ultimate; upholding on account of worldly affairs and conditions is called having conditions; from "The wise person contemplates" onward teaches how to examine and verify. From "The Tathāgata's precepts" onward explains their being ultimate, within which there are four points: First, it clarifies that the Tathāgata does not uphold them on account of worldly affairs and conditions, and hence they are called ultimate. Second, from "By this meaning" onward, it cites the cause to illustrate the fruit, clarifying that the Buddha is ultimate. "Thoroughly ultimate" is precisely one single meaning, repeated to show superiority. Alternatively, "thoroughly" surpasses bodhisattvas, and "ultimate" surpasses the preceding non-ultimate precepts. Third, from "In the past, I..." onward, it elucidates by referring to specific events. Fourth, from "If non-ultimate precepts cannot even..." onward, it cites the inferior to manifest the superior, establishing that the Buddha is ultimate: non-ultimate precepts cannot even attain the paths and fruits of the two vehicles, let alone great bodhi; the Buddha's precepts can attain unsurpassed bodhi, clarifying that they are ultimate precepts.