大般涅槃經義記 2.45

2.45

Question: Below it is said that all śrāvakas and Mahākāśyapa are all impermanent; the Mahāyāna should be entrusted to the bodhisattvas to cause the Dharma to abide long, not entrusted to śrāvakas. Why is it now said that the unsurpassable correct Dharma is entirely entrusted to Kāśyapa? Answer: Distinctions in entrusting the Dharma are of three kinds: First, distinction in terms of time. Time is of two kinds: first, constant entrustment from beginning to end, entrusted to the bodhisattvas; because the bodhisattvas can always uphold it and spread it without cessation, it is specifically entrusted [to them]; śrāvaka disciples such as Mahākāśyapa are all impermanent and cannot circulate it, so it is not entrusted [to them]. Second, specific entrustment according to the time, entrusted generally to both śrāvakas and bodhisattvas: as the Fu fazang [zhuan] says, although the śrāvaka disciples cannot constantly circulate the Dharma-transformation, they can also guide and transform for a time to benefit beings, hence it is generally entrusted to them. Now saying that the correct Dharma is entirely entrusted to Kāśyapa corresponds to this latter approach: because Kāśyapa widely propagated the correct Dharma during the twenty years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, it was entrusted to him. Saying below that the Mahāyāna is entrusted to bodhisattvas corresponds to the former approach. Second, distinction in terms of persons, whose meaning has three variants: first, general entrustment to ordinary people and sages, as the text below says, "The Tathāgata now entrusts the unsurpassable correct Dharma to kings, ministers, prime ministers, the fourfold assembly," and so forth; second, selecting sages over ordinary people, entrusting only to śrāvakas and bodhisattvas, as the Fu fazang says; third, selecting the great over the small, entrusting only to bodhisattvas, as the text below says. In this text, the statement of entrusting to Kāśyapa corresponds to the second; the entrustment below to bodhisattvas corresponds to the third. Third, distinction in terms of dharmas, whose meaning has three variants: first, distinction between Great and Small: the Small is entrusted to śrāvakas and the Great to bodhisattvas, hence the text below says, "Among the twelve divisions of scriptures, only the vaipulya section is upheld by bodhisattvas, and the remaining eleven divisions are upheld by the two vehicles"; second, distinction between shallow and deep regarding the Mahāyāna: the shallow is entrusted to śrāvakas and the deep to bodhisattvas, hence Nāgārjuna says that the shallow meaning of the Prajñā[pāramitā] is entrusted to śrāvakas, while the deep meaning of the Lotus [Sūtra] is entrusted to bodhisattvas. The Prajñā[pāramitā] mostly speaks of the principle of emptiness that breaks marks without yet revealing the real meaning, hence it is termed shallow; the Lotus [Sūtra] proclaims that śrāvakas become buddhas, revealing that they have the nature, hence it is termed deep; third, distinction between teaching and meaning in profound sūtras: discussing their teaching, it is generally entrusted to śrāvakas; their meaning is entrusted to bodhisattvas. Thus the text below says: "I now ask Ānanda wishing to cause him to uphold the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra; what Bhikṣu Ānanda has not heard," vast and great bodhisattvas will be able to circulate. Truly because entrusting the Dharma has these many meanings, what is said here differs from what comes later; the metaphor and application may be known [accordingly].