大般涅槃經疏 1.46

1.46

次列菩薩眾，亦為二（云云）。所召六，謂數、類、位、名、歎、結。初、一恒河沙者，數也。諸經多以恒河為量者，有四義故：一人多識之；二入者得福；三於八河中大；四是佛生處，大聖同鄉故多用之。此乃四悉檀意。次菩薩摩訶薩者，類也。此翻道心、大道心。《釋論》解菩薩十義：一盡教化一切眾生、二盡供養一切諸佛、三盡淨一切佛土、四盡持一切佛法、五盡令一切佛種不斷、六盡分別一切佛土、七盡知一切佛弟子眾、八盡分別一切眾生心、九盡知斷一切眾生煩惱、十盡知一切眾生根。如是十門為首，復有無量阿僧祇門，是故名為菩薩。《大品》佛自明摩訶薩義，亦有十門：一當於無量生死中大莊嚴；二當捨一切所有；三當等心於一切眾生；四當以三乘度脫一切；五當度一切，度一切已忘其度功；六當解一切諸法不生法相；七純以薩婆若心行於六度；八當學智慧了達一切法；九當了達諸法一相；十當了無量相。是十門為首，名摩訶薩。龍樹釋此十義。一大莊嚴者，不計日月歲數百千萬億劫，於生死中利益度脫一切眾生。二捨一切所有者，一切貴賤若內若外無所遺惜。三一切眾生等心者，憎愛厚薄冤親悉均。四三乘度脫者，隨其堪任皆使同到涅槃。五忘其功者，不得彼我亦不見能度所度。六知不生者，一切法皆不生。七行六度者，以清淨無雜心，行六度迴向薩婆若。八了達一切法者，世間所作之事皆悉了達。九一相門者，謂畢竟空也，涅槃相離憶想分別。十無量門者，一二三四諸增數法門。此十門為首，復有無量法門，是名摩訶薩義。此中應明四種菩薩，如別記文中多歎圓菩薩德。

Next, listing the assembly of bodhisattvas, which also has two parts (and so forth). Those summoned have six aspects, namely number, category, rank, name, praise, and conclusion. First, 'equal to the sands of one Ganges' is the number. Sūtras mostly take the Ganges as a measure because of four reasons: first, many people know it; second, entering it brings merit; third, it is the greatest among the eight rivers; fourth, it is the place of the Buddha's birth, so the Great Sage uses it often as it is his homeland. This conveys the intention of the four siddhāntas. Next, 'bodhisattva-mahāsattva' is the category. This is translated as 'mind of awakening' (bodhicitta) and 'great mind of awakening'. The Treatise [on the Great Prajñāpāramitā] explains ten meanings of bodhisattva: 1. completely teaching and transforming all sentient beings; 2. completely making offerings to all buddhas; 3. completely purifying all buddha-lands; 4. completely upholding all buddha-dharmas; 5. completely ensuring that all buddha-lineages are not severed; 6. completely distinguishing all buddha-lands; 7. completely knowing all assemblies of buddha-disciples; 8. completely discerning the minds of all sentient beings; 9. completely knowing and severing the afflictions of all sentient beings; 10. completely knowing the faculties of all sentient beings. With these ten gates as the foremost, there are further immeasurable asaṃkhyeya gates; therefore they are named 'bodhisattvas'. In the Pañcaviṃśati, the Buddha himself explains the meaning of mahāsattva, which also has ten gates: 1. one should produce great adornment throughout immeasurable saṃsāra; 2. one should renounce all that one possesses; 3. one should possess an equal mind toward all sentient beings; 4. one should deliver everyone through the three vehicles; 5. one should deliver everyone, and having delivered everyone, forget one's merit in delivering them; 6. one should understand that all dharmas have no characteristic of arising; 7. one should practice the six perfections purely with a mind of omniscience (sarvajñā); 8. one should train in wisdom to comprehend all dharmas thoroughly; 9. one should comprehend that all dharmas have a single characteristic; 10. one should comprehend immeasurable characteristics. With these ten gates as the foremost, one is named a 'mahāsattva'. Nāgārjuna explains these ten meanings: 1. 'Great adornment' means not calculating the numbers of days, months, years, or hundreds of thousands of koṭis of kalpas, but benefiting and delivering all sentient beings within saṃsāra. 2. 'Renouncing all that one possesses' means withholding nothing, whether noble or base, internal or external. 3. 'An equal mind toward all sentient beings' means that hatred and love, depth and shallowness, enemies and kin, are all equalized. 4. 'Delivering through the three vehicles' means enabling them all to reach nirvāṇa in accordance with their capacities. 5. 'Forgetting one's merit' means apprehending neither self nor other, and seeing neither the deliverer nor the delivered. 6. 'Knowing non-arising' means that all dharmas do not arise. 7. 'Practicing the six perfections' means practicing the six perfections with a pure, unmixed mind, dedicating them toward omniscience. 8. 'Comprehending all dharmas thoroughly' means thoroughly understanding all worldly activities. 9. 'The gate of a single characteristic' refers to ultimate emptiness; the characteristic of nirvāṇa is free from conceptual thought and discrimination. 10. 'The gate of the immeasurable' refers to the dharmas of numerical progression: one, two, three, four. With these ten gates as the foremost, there are further immeasurable dharma-gates; this is the meaning of mahāsattva. Here one should clarify the four kinds of bodhisattvas, as in the separate record where the text mostly praises the virtues of the perfect bodhisattva.