大般涅槃經疏 11.26

11.26

From "Good man, sentient beings have meager merit..." onwards is the third section, praising the teaching and exhorting its upholding, which again has two parts: first, praising the principle of the buddhadhātu; second, praising the teaching. Praising the principle has two parts: first, raising the *kṣānti* grass; second, citing the two analogies. Therein, it first cites the two analogies, and next, from "All sentient beings..." onwards, generally applies both analogies. Next, from "Just as empty space..." onwards, it praises the teaching, which again has two parts: first, praising the sūtra; second, exhorting faith. The first text contains both an analogy and an application: empty space illustrates the dharmakāya, thunder illustrates preaching the Dharma, rising clouds illustrate friendliness and compassion, elephant tusks illustrate sentient beings, and flowers illustrate the buddhadhātu. There are three interpretations. The first says: there is a distinct elephant-tusk grass that produces flowers upon hearing thunder. The second says: it is an elephant's tusks producing flowers; the sūtra says, "When the four elephants, such as Utpala, hear heavenly thunder, flowers appear on their tusks." The third says: this does not mean the elephant tusks produce separate flowers, but simply that there are patterns on the tusks resembling flowers. From "Sentient beings' buddhadhātu..." onwards is the application of the analogy, which has three rounds of application that can be examined. From "If there are good men..." onwards is the second part, concluding by exhorting faith.