大般涅槃經義記 2.23

2.23

In the third request, first an analogy is established; from "I have not yet" onward, they show that they are not yet equal [to this]; from "How could..." onward, they inquire and request the Buddha to remain. In the analogy, "Just as an elephant is bound by a human" is an analogy for the buddhas and bodhisattvas originally being bound by the afflictions of the four entrenchments. The human is an analogy for the objects of delusion; the reins and fetters are an analogy for the afflictions; entanglement of the mind is called being bound. "Though there is a good trainer, he cannot restrain it" is an analogy for the aforementioned five desires and the hosts of Māra being unable to bind them. "Suddenly breaking the reins and fetters, it departs at will" is an analogy for the buddhas and bodhisattvas severing hindrances and departing. Next, drawing upon the preceding analogy, they show that they are not yet equal [to this]. "I am not yet like this" means not yet equal to the scent-elephant; "Not yet free from the fifty-seven afflictions" is a phrasing whose textual source I have not personally seen. Some report that it comes from the *Fo piposha* (Buddha-vibhāṣā), which has eighteen fascicles; it states that the delusions of seeing are fifty—namely, the ten defilements deludingly covering the five aggregates—and the delusions of cultivation are seven: four in the desire realm, namely craving, anger, delusion, and conceit; and three in the higher realms, with ill-will excluded and the rest remaining. The meaning is very apt, but the *Fo piposha* is not in the sūtra catalogues, so whether it is authentic or not is unknown. From "How could..." onward, they inquire and request the Buddha to remain.