大般涅槃經疏 4.12

4.12

First, making the request due to a cause has two parts: first the prose, and second the verses. The first part has two: namely, joy and praise. At first he did not accept the offerings, so they were choked with grief. Now, hearing that he universally accepts them, all are joyful; their joy is due to Cunda, and therefore they praise him; wishing to fulfill their original intent, they therefore proceed to make their request. The praise has two parts: first brief, second broad. The brief raises four praises: namely, name, benefit, virtue, and vow. As for "name": the fine name was established first, and the wondrous meaning arose later; verifying the earlier by the later, the name was not praised in vain; therefore they praised him with one voice, saying: "Rare, O Cunda!" Speaking of "great meaning": horizontally, it is vast and boundless. Speaking of "wondrous meaning": vertically, it is profound and bottomless. Furthermore, the eternal and non-eternal is the profound meaning; the single eternal and all eternal is the great meaning; neither eternal nor non-eternal is the wondrous meaning, as explained before. Next, from "You now..." downward: "benefit" refers to the auspicious field of merit. The entire land assembled together, and the ten directions echoed in gathering; banners hung up to the Brahmā world, and canopies covered the three thousand [worlds]; yet the Tathāgata remained silent and accepted nothing at all. Cunda requested later, and the previous offerings were universally gathered in; such renown is peerless and surpasses the world, so the assembly praised him, saying: "In this present life you have attained great renown and benefit." "Virtue" is the single word "virtue": the ten deferrals come last, and the five fruits take precedence. Being just a single person and [his offering] meager at eight hu, he thereby perfected the perfection of giving—this is his virtue. "Vow" is the three characters "equal to vows" and so forth; "fulfilled" runs through the above four being complete; because the vow was made under the previous Buddha and now the vow is rounded out under this Buddha, it is said that "his vow is fulfilled." From "Most extraordinary, Cunda!" onward is the broad praise, praising the four virtues from the latter to the former. First, it further raises six difficulties to broadly praise the fourth, the fulfillment of his vow. When the lives of the devas come to an end and the signs of the five decays manifest, the other devaputras chant prayers for them, saying: "May you be born in a good place; may you obtain good benefit." The "place" is the human realm; the "benefit" is upholding the precepts. Below, the text says: "The earth in the ten directions is much; the earth on a fingernail is little." Relinquishing a human or divine body, one mostly obtains the three evil destinies; relinquishing a human or divine body, few obtain human or divine states. Relinquishing the divine to obtain the divine, the devas do not rejoice; relinquishing the divine to obtain the human, that is what the devas desire. It is like two persons on two Mount Sumerus: one stands a needle vertically with its eye up, and the other lets loose a thread with the wind; for it to enter the needle's eye is extremely difficult; for one in the human realm to be able to uphold the precepts is even more difficult than this. A blind turtle at the bottom of the sea surfaces once every thousand years, encounters the hole in a floating log, and enters the hole to dwell; this is extremely difficult; for one in the human realm to encounter the presence of a Buddha in the world is even more difficult than this. Pointing a needle upward on the ground and casting a mustard seed from the Brahmā palace so that it lands on the tip of the needle: this is extremely difficult; encountering a Buddha and generating faith is even more difficult than this; generating faith and hearing the Dharma is even more difficult than this; preparing the final offering is even more difficult than this. These six are difficult for others, but easy for Cunda; therefore the great assembly praised him, saying: "Most extraordinary, Cunda, who has further attained the difficult-to-attain, unsurpassed benefit!" "Like the udumbara flower": the flower portends a wheel-turning king; being able to make the final offering and attain the fruit of the five things, he will certainly become a Dharma King; the great assembly has already bestowed the prediction upon him. The broad praise of the fulfillment of his vow is finished. Next, from "Namo..." onward broadly praises his virtue. "Namo" is translated by some as "save me," by some as "taking refuge with life," or by some as "bending the knees," meaning bending both knees. Because he has the virtue of the ten deferrals, the five fruits, and the perfection of giving, they now praise him. Furthermore, "namo" possesses three meanings: the verbal utterance is vocal karma; bending the knees is physical karma; and taking refuge with life is mental karma. Third, from "Like the autumn moon..." onward broadly praises his benefit. Autumn is the yin season, and the moon is the essence of yin; when its time arrives it flourishes, outshining the multitude of stars, shining solitary and uniquely outstanding, beautifying heaven and illuminating earth, looked up to by all. Cunda is also like this: having wondrous benefit, he meets with the supreme and wondrous time and establishes the wondrous meaning; before the great assembly, none could precede him; facing the Buddha, he opened up the eternal and received the universal acceptance of the offerings, with the entire great assembly taking refuge in and revering him with their three karmas. Fourth, from "Namo to Cunda, whose mind is like the Buddha's mind" downward broadly praises his name. Above, it said his name was a hu of wondrous meaning, so his name accords with the Dharma; his mind is like the Buddha's mind, so his name accords with the Buddha; being truly a son of the Buddha, his name accords with the Saṅgha. According with the Three Jewels reveals that his body is the single-essence Three Jewels, and also the five fruits, three dots, four virtues, five Buddhas, and nature equal to the entire dharmadhātu, fully as explained earlier. Praising his attaining a master: his mind is like the Buddha's mind; praising his attaining a teacher: his name understands the wondrous meaning; praising his attaining a parent: he is like Rāhula (and so forth).