大般涅槃經疏 14.15

14.15

第四觀死苦又二，先正觀死、次「夫死者」下傷痛。初文者何等是死苦？若氣未絕由生非死，若氣絕已不復覺苦。若受地獄即是後身，非關死苦。此事難知。例如責滅，為當未滅時是滅、滅已時是滅？進退難定，似本有今無、本無今有（云云）。今只取將絕未絕名為死苦。至論菩薩未全免死，而言唯除菩薩住於涅槃者，三解：初名佛為菩薩；二云金心菩薩一轉成佛；三云初地菩薩雖未免生死，志求涅槃，不為生死所亂。今明初解是應菩薩，此不會經。次金心一轉，此正是死，何故被除？後解菩薩雖不為所亂，而不免死，何故被除？被除者，是圓教菩薩，煩惱即菩提、生死即涅槃，不可復滅。生死非生死亦非涅槃，生死尚不能生死，生死何能生死非生死？如此菩薩即是被除，不為生死所害。文云「如金剛雨能破一切。」此雨復能破金剛不？若不能破，利義不成；若其被破，堅義不成（云云）。死傷一切如金剛雨，唯有菩薩不為所傷復喻金剛。當知金剛碎散不能傷磐峙金剛，則菩薩不為死所死。摩羅毒蛇者，河西云：黑蛇毒，觸人衣即死，餘人觸此衣亦死。阿竭多星者，此星八月出，若有人得此星呪者，能消其毒。次「夫死者」下，有十句傷痛最為可悲，若離即成二十句。於險難處病，其苦最重。無有資糧者，謂之善法。去處懸遠者，其路無窮。而無伴侶者，孤魂獨逝無隨去者。於十二時常無休息，晝夜常行無前無後，故無邊際。如萬仞坑，故言深邃。以內昏故而外不照，故無有燈明。死為窮道眾路地塞，故言入無門戶。又云死亦不從六根而入，故無門戶。必有來處，故言而有處所。當時恍惚，故言雖無痛處。而良醫拱手，故言不可療治。賢聖所不能制，故言往無遮止，到不得脫。初死儼然，非是刑害，故言無所破壞。而親友悲泣，故言見者愁毒。更非虎狼禽獸所啖，故言非是惡色。無有不畏死者，故言令人怖畏。此即陰身之後，故言敷在身邊。而不測其好惡，故言不自覺知。若依此義，命絕中陰是為死苦。

Fourth, contemplating the suffering of death also has two [parts]: first, directly contemplating death; next, from "Death" below, lamenting it. In the first text: what is the suffering of death? If the breath has not yet ceased, one is still alive and not dead; if the breath has already ceased, one no longer feels suffering. If one receives hell, that is already the next body and does not concern the suffering of death. This matter is difficult to know. It is like interrogating cessation: is it cessation when not yet ceased, or is it cessation when already ceased? Moving forward or backward is difficult to determine; it resembles "originally existing, now non-existent; originally non-existent, now existing" (and so forth). Here we simply take the state of breath about to cease but not yet ceased as the suffering of death. As for the claim that the bodhisattva is not completely exempt from death, yet it says "except only the bodhisattva who abides in nirvāṇa", there are three explanations: first, calling the Buddha a bodhisattva; second, that the adamantine-mind bodhisattva turns once and becomes a Buddha; third, that although a first-stage bodhisattva is not yet exempt from birth and death, because his aspiration seeks nirvāṇa he is not disordered by birth and death. Now we explain: the first explanation refers to a response-body bodhisattva, which does not accord with the sūtra. Next, as for the single turn of the adamantine mind, this is precisely death, so why would it be excluded? In the last explanation, although the bodhisattva is not disordered by it, he is not exempt from death, so why would he be excluded? The one who is excluded is the bodhisattva of the round teaching, for whom afflictions are themselves bodhi and birth-and-death is itself nirvāṇa, and cannot be extinguished again. Birth-and-death is neither birth-and-death nor nirvāṇa; if birth-and-death cannot even subject itself to birth-and-death, how could birth-and-death subject non-birth-and-death to birth-and-death? Such a bodhisattva is precisely the one excluded, not harmed by birth and death. The text says: "Just as diamond rain can shatter everything." Can this rain also shatter diamond? If it cannot shatter it, the meaning of sharpness is not established; if it can be shattered, the meaning of firmness is not established (and so forth). Death injures everything like diamond rain, and only the bodhisattva is not harmed by it, which is again likened to diamond. You should know that shattered and dispersed diamond cannot harm a rock-solid diamond; thus the bodhisattva is not killed by death. As for the māra poisonous snake: Héxī says it is the venom of a black snake; touching a person's clothes brings immediate death, and if other persons touch these clothes, they also die. As for the agada star: this star appears in the eighth month; if someone obtains the mantra of this star, it can neutralise its poison. Next, from "Death" below, there are ten sentences lamenting it that are most sorrowful; if divided, they form twenty sentences. Falling ill in a dangerous and difficult place, its suffering is the heaviest. "Having no provisions" refers to wholesome dharmas. "The destination is far away": its road is endless. "Without companions": the solitary soul departs alone with no one following along. In the twelve divisions of the day, there is constantly no rest; walking day and night with neither before nor after, hence it is "boundless". Like a pit of ten thousand fathoms, hence it says "deep and fathomless". Because the interior is dark, the exterior is unilluminated, hence it has "no lamp or light". Death is a dead end where all roads are blocked, hence it says "entering without gates or doors". Another says: death also does not enter through the six faculties, hence it has "no gates or doors". It must have a place from which it comes, hence it says "and yet having a location". At that time one is dazed and bewildered, hence it says "though having no locus of pain". But skilled physicians fold their hands, hence it says "incurable". Worthies and sages cannot stop it, hence it says "departing without obstruction", and once reached, there is no escape. When newly dead, the corpse is composed and not mutilated by punishment, hence it says "nothing broken or destroyed". Yet relatives and friends weep bitterly, hence it says "those who see it are grieved and pained". Furthermore, it is not devoured by tigers, wolves, birds, or beasts, hence it says "not an evil form". There is no one who does not fear death, hence it says "causing people to be terrified". This is after the body of the aggregates, hence it says "spread out beside the body". Yet one does not perceive whether it is good or bad, hence it says "not conscious of oneself". If one relies on this meaning, the intermediate existence when life has ceased constitutes the suffering of death.