大般涅槃經疏 5.5

5.5

Next, from "You may according to the time" onward is the discussion of returning to the essential principle. The text has four parts: first, returning to the essential principle to urge the offering, which contains both an urging and a reprimand; second, the Tathāgata's endorsement and praise, confirming what preceded and initiating what follows; third, clarifying rejoicing and approving, which contains questions and answers; fourth, praising and revealing, praising Cunda's exposition and revealing Mañjuśrī's provisional traces. The first again has two parts: first urging, then reprimanding. Regarding urging the offering, there are three points: first, urging according to the time; second, urging haste; third, urging offering to the Buddha. Urging according to the time means: as at the time of first setting out, the time of first arrival, the time of illness, or when produce is newly ripe—here the final offering is the time of first departing. Second, urging haste means: in the practice of the ancient Buddhas, after midday they do not eat, so now one must quickly attend to this time. Third, urging offering to the Buddha means: specifically for the final offering to the Buddha's nirvāṇa. Next, Cunda's reprimand also has three points: first, not knowing the time; second, not knowing haste; third, not knowing the Buddha. First, regarding commanding the time: you command giving according to the time; for the Buddha it may be giving according to the time, but the entire great assembly does not all enter nirvāṇa, so this is not the time. Demanding a gift at the improper time in principle borders on greed. Next, regarding not knowing haste: during six years of austerities the Buddha lived on a single hemp seed and a single grain of rice; now in an instant, what need is there for haste? Third, regarding not knowing the Buddha: do you think the Tathāgata really needs food? Mañjuśrī shared the view of others that he needed mixed coarse food; Cunda stated his own understanding that eating is non-eating, and therefore reprimanded Mañjuśrī for falling into the three kinds of not knowing. Next, from "At that time the Buddha addressed..." onward, the Tathāgata's endorsement and praise confirms what preceded and initiates what follows. Endorsing his reprimand confirms what preceded; praising his wisdom initiates what follows. Third, from "Mañjuśrī said to Cunda" onward clarifies rejoicing and approving. The text has five parts: first, biasedly rejoicing and approving; second, refuting biased rejoicing and approving; third, challenging [the claim of] rejoicing and approving; fourth, resolving rejoicing and approving; fifth, quiescent and transcending rejoicing and approving. The assembly at the time thought Cunda's practice was shallow, so the Buddha endorsed what gave him joy in order to dispel the assembly's sentiments. First, Mañjuśrī used this to biasedly rejoice with him: "Because you spoke of the unconditioned, you received the Buddha's rejoicing and approval." Next, Cunda immediately used the perfect to refute the biased: "Not only does he rejoice and approve of me, but also of all." Third, Mañjuśrī made a two-fold dilemma to press him, first determining: if he definitely rejoices and approves of all sentient beings, then when I spoke of the conditioned, he should also rejoice and approve; if he does not rejoice in me, the universal rejoicing refutes the meaning of 'all,' and if that is not established, it is still biased rejoicing, establishing that the Buddha has love and hatred—this constitutes an implicit challenge. Fourth, Cunda perceived his implicit challenge and in turn resolved both horns: first, there is no biased, defiled rejoicing and approval; second, there is universal, pure rejoicing and approval. The absence of bias has three points: first, censuring [the claim of] biased rejoicing and approval; second, explaining the meaning of the absence of bias; third, adducing an analogy to reveal it, as in the text. Next, from "Viewing all equally" onward clarifies that there is universal, pure rejoicing and approval, which is the realm of the Tathāgata, not something that can be known by such as me, and so forth. Fifth, from "A king" onward clarifies quiescent and transcending rejoicing and approval: one should not calculate it as biased or universal. Above, Mañjuśrī stated that conditioned and unconditioned should temporarily be set aside together, which is the rejoicing that transcends words and cannot be spoken. The meaning here clarifies that whether there is rejoicing or no rejoicing is the Buddha's realm, which cannot be calculated, and is rejoicing and approval that transcends thought. The first analogy shows partial wisdom falling short of the ultimate: a royal carriage drawn by four horses illustrates ultimate wisdom; the inferior donkey-drawn carriage illustrates partial true wisdom. The latter analogy shows partial severance falling short of the ultimate: the turtle and dragon in water illustrate having ignorance; because the bodhisattva still moves, his vision is not clear. The garuḍa soaring in the sky illustrates the exhaustion of ignorance; because the Buddha does not move, his vision is clear. Kāishàn says: the former is the lower not knowing the higher, and the latter is the higher being able to know the lower. Yěchéng says: both analogies are the lower not knowing the higher—the first is not knowing the higher wisdom, and the second is not knowing the higher realm. Língwèi says: the first is not knowing the dharmakāya, and the second is not knowing the nirmāṇakāya, and so forth. Fourth, from "Mañjuśrī" onward is praising and revealing. Praising Cunda's exposition, he therefore says, "So it is, so it is." Because he exalted the Buddha's realm as beyond reckoning, he praised him. 'Revealing' means brushing away my attachment to a single path: "Because you tested me, a test is not real; therefore, conditioned is not conditioned. You deduced it without thorough understanding; therefore, unconditioned is not unconditioned." Earlier, Mañjuśrī said, "Let us temporarily set them aside together," which means the path of language is cut off. Now Cunda says, "It is the Buddha's realm and not what I can know," which means the place of mental activity is extinguished. When examined to the subtle, speech is exhausted; when investigated to the utmost, thought is depleted; therefore, exposition and contemplation are both quiescent. From "At that time from his face..." onward is the fourth, urging the offering. The text has four parts: first, urging the offering; second, requesting him to remain; third, receiving and understanding; fourth, preparing the offering. The various previous auspicious signs each had their own signification, so we know this light was specifically to urge the offering. Earlier Mañjuśrī urged Cunda to make the timely offering, and Cunda stubbornly censured and reprimanded him; now that the Buddha personally urges it, he dares not refuse. The text of urging has two parts: urging by light and urging by voice. Urging by light has two parts: first, urging; second, silence. The first, urging, again has three points: first, emitting light; second, understanding the light; third, surging of the light. First, in emitting light, that it illuminated Mañjuśrī means: above, the Buddha endorsed Cunda's exposition as conforming to the teaching and fitting the capacity; now the light illuminating Mañjuśrī also supports the superior to transform the inferior; the two men's debate and challenge were both due to the Buddha's power. Next, "immediately knowing this matter" is the understanding. Masters of the Abhidharma say that by seeing visible form one knows the mind; Mañjuśrī saw the light and thereupon understood the Buddha's intent. Third, the surging light urges the offering, as in the text. Next, grieving in silence: he grieves because of the urging of the offering, and is silent because he has not yet consented. Next, urging by voice also has two parts: first, urging three times; second, weeping with sorrow. Next, from "He again addressed the great assembly" onward, he requests him to remain. The text has two parts: first, addressing the assembly to request together; second, requesting again. First, addressing the assembly has two parts: first, addressing the assembly to request; second, the Buddha's response. Addressing to request is as in the text. Next, in the Buddha's response there are two parts: first, stopping the disturbance; second, speaking the five-gate contemplation. In the contemplation there are two parts: first, performing the contemplation; second, concluding. First, six analogies for emptiness, three analogies for impermanence, three analogies for impurity, two analogies for non-self, and finally a general conclusion. Why speak the five gates? You requested me to remain in the world fundamentally to open the path; if one can perform the five contemplations, it is no different from my remaining; if one cannot contemplate, what benefit is there in remaining in the world? The *Bequeathed Teaching* says: "When one can maintain the precepts, it is no different from the Buddha being present." It is precisely this meaning. Next, requesting again also has two parts: there is a request and there is a response. The request is as in the text. The second response has two parts: first, the response; second, the explanation. In the first text: you request me to remain long out of pity and compassion, but I enter cessation out of pity and compassion, and so forth. In the explanation there are two parts: prose and verses. The prose is as in the text. The verses share the same meaning with the two verses below, which will be explained later. In the verses there are two parts: first, the verses; second, prose stopping [them].