大般涅槃經疏 16.14

16.14

「爾時眾中」下，是第二章歎經。經詮聖行，依教奉行，革凡成聖，故可稱歎。文為四：一無垢歎教、二如來述歎、三迦葉自誓、四如來述誓。歎教為二：先經家敘、次正歎教。初經家敘內德外儀。初內中有大威德者，總論無畏地之體用。威是外用、德是內證，備內外德，故言具大威德。大神通者，即歎外用，如自在地有吹山覆海之用。得大總持者，得二十五三昧王，持諸三昧。得無所畏者，備如佛說。上諸功德皆悉具足。即從座起，是敘外儀。「世尊」下，是正歎教，又二：先領佛旨結下況高百千功德、次歎上說次第不次第別圓之教。何故謂佛菩薩不如大乘？大乘是佛母，母能生子則教可尊崇，文云「方等力故能生諸佛」。若就道不自弘、佛能說教，則佛勝於教。佛能弘教，此就化他；教能生佛，此就自行。藏王所歎，舉自行邊。

From "At that time, in the assembly" onward is the second chapter, praising the sūtra. The sūtra expounds holy practice; practicing according to the teaching transforms an ordinary person into a sage, and therefore it is worthy of praise. The text has four parts: first, Vimalaprabhā praises the teaching; second, the Tathāgata endorses the praise; third, Kāśyapa makes his vow; fourth, the Tathāgata endorses the vow. Praising the teaching has two parts: first, the compiler of the sūtra narrates; next, directly praising the teaching. First, the compiler of the sūtra narrates the internal virtues and external deportment. First, within the internal, possessing great awe-inspiring virtue speaks generally of the essence and function of the Stage of Fearlessness. Awe-inspiring is external function, and virtue is internal realization; being equipped with internal and external virtues, it is said to possess great awe-inspiring virtue. Great supernatural powers praises the external function, like the Sovereign Stage having the function of blowing away mountains and overturning seas. Having obtained great dhāraṇī means having obtained the king of the twenty-five samādhis and retaining all samādhis. Having obtained fearlessness is fully as the Buddha explained. The above virtues are all completely fulfilled. "Arising from his seat" narrates the external deportment. From "World-Honoured One" onward is directly praising the teaching, which again has two parts: first, receiving the Buddha's intent to conclude the lower to illustrate the high by comparison with hundreds of thousands of virtues; next, praising the aforementioned sequential and non-sequential, distinct and perfect teachings. Why is it said that Buddhas and bodhisattvas are not equal to the Great Vehicle? The Great Vehicle is the mother of the Buddhas; a mother can give birth to a child, so the teaching is worthy of veneration. The text says, "Due to the power of the vaipulya, it can give birth to all Buddhas." If considered in terms of the fact that the Way does not propagate itself, but the Buddha can preach the teaching, then the Buddha is superior to the teaching. That the Buddha can propagate the teaching pertains to transforming others; that the teaching can give birth to Buddhas pertains to self-cultivation. What the King of the Treasury praises takes the side of self-cultivation.