大般涅槃經義記 1.7

1.7

The meaning of 'great' has six aspects: First, it is called great because it is eternal; hence the text below states, 'Great means eternal.' Second, it is called great because it is superior, just as a superior person in the world is called a great person; hence the text below states, 'If this person can securely abide in the correct Dharma, they are called superior among people'—being superior, it is called great, and nirvāṇa is likewise. Third, it is called great because it is vast; hence the text below states, 'Great means vast and expansive'—its essence exhausts the dharmadhātu, hence its nature is called vast and expansive. Fourth, it is called great because it is manifold; hence the text below states, 'Like a great storehouse containing many precious and rare things'—nirvāṇa is likewise, possessing many kinds of wonderful dharmas and precious jewels, hence it is called great. Fifth, it is called great because it is lofty; hence the text below states, 'Like a great mountain that people cannot ascend, hence it is called a great mountain'—nirvāṇa is likewise, because ordinary beings, the two vehicles, and even up to the ten abodes cannot reach it, hence it is called great. Sixth, it is called great because it is deep, just as the ocean is unfathomably deep and is called the great ocean; hence the text below states, 'Great means inconceivable; unfathomably deep and difficult to measure, it is called inconceivable.' As for the substance of the great, it differs and is briefly of three kinds: first, the greatness of essence, which refers to the naturally pure nirvāṇa, whose essence exhausts the true nature and whose meaning fills the dharmadhātu; second, the greatness of characteristics, which refers to the nirvāṇa of expedient means, where faults are utterly exhausted and virtues are fully complete; third, the greatness of function, which refers to the nirvāṇa of manifestation and transformation, whose wonderful function is vast and all-pervading, and whose skillful transformation is inexhaustible. Hence the text below states: 'The Mahāparinirvāṇa can establish great meaning'—meaning is equivalent to function; possessing these three meanings, it is therefore called 'great.'