大般涅槃經義記 4.41

4.41

In the preceding refutation of 'existence', the text cites to question directly: 'Regarding what the Buddha has stated, that there is cheese within milk—what is the meaning of this?' Below, objections are formulated. The objections consist of four clauses. First, refuting existence by means of origination: 'If it is asserted that the characteristic of cheese definitely exists within milk, but is not seen because it is subtle' cites the Buddha's assertion of existence, while from 'why is it said' downward, it refutes it through origination; 'newly originated from milk' shows that it does not inherently pre-exist. Second, from 'if originally non-existent' downward, it establishes reasoning to press the inquiry further: having been originally non-existent and now existing, it can be called origination; if it already pre-existed, how could it be called origination? Third, from 'if it is asserted that definitely within milk' downward, it cites the cause to refute by analogy: grass is the cause of milk; by citing that within that grass there pre-exists the nature of milk, it refutes by analogy that within milk there pre-exists the nature of cheese. 'If it is asserted that within milk there definitely exists the characteristic of cheese' recites the preceding assertion of existence, and 'grass should contain milk' properly refutes it by analogy. Fourth, 'likewise within milk there should also be grass' cites the effect to refute by analogy: fearing that the Buddha, when pressed, might claim that grass contains milk, it now refutes by analogy that milk should contain grass; this is citing the effect to analogously reverse upon its cause.