注維摩詰經 9.374

9.374

什曰：見其神德奇絕，來處必尊，故問其所從也。維摩恐人存沒生，故下反問，以明無沒生。亦云或有謂維摩生分未盡，故問其沒生。下答不盡善、不長惡，明生分盡也。不直答者，一欲屈聲聞、二不欲自顯所從之美也。肇曰：上云如自觀身實相。實相無生，而今現有生，將成其自觀之義，故以沒生問之也。

[Kumāra]jīva says: Seeing that his divine virtue was extraordinary and peerless, the place he came from must be sublime; hence he asked where he originated. Vimalakīrti feared people might harbor notions of passing away and being born, so he questioned him in return below to clarify that there is no passing away or being born. It is also said that some thought Vimalakīrti's allotment of rebirth was not yet exhausted, so they asked about his passing away and birth. The answer below—that he does not exhaust the good or foster evil—clarifies that his allotment of rebirth is exhausted. The reason he did not answer directly is, first, to humble the śrāvakas, and second, because he did not wish to flaunt the excellence of his own origin. [Seng]zhao says: Above it was said that he contemplates the real mark of the body as he contemplates his own. The real mark is unborn, yet now he manifests having birth; in order to accomplish the meaning of his self-contemplation, [Śāriputra] asked about passing away and being born.