維摩義記 1.17

1.17

次第二、明立意。佛本何故教置如是我聞之言？為生物信。如是之言若為生信？言如是者，阿難彰己信順佛語，噵佛所說為如，言佛所說為是，令他眾生同己生信。我聞云何生信？阿難自是不足之人，若言此法是己所說，人多不信；由言此法從佛聞故，人皆歸信。信有何義而為生乎？信者，入法初門、攝法上首，凡入佛法要先起信。故《華嚴》中說信為手，如人有手至珍寶所隨意採取，若當無手，空無所獲。入佛法者事亦同爾。有信心手，隨意採取道法之寶；若無信心，空無所得。信有此要，故為生之。

Next, second, explaining the intention in establishing [them]. Why did the Buddha originally teach the placement of the words "Thus have I heard"? It was to give rise to faith in sentient beings. How do the words "thus" generate faith? In saying "thus," Ānanda demonstrates his own faith and compliance with the Buddha's words, stating that what the Buddha said conforms to [reality], and stating that what the Buddha said is correct, so as to cause other sentient beings to generate faith along with him. How does "I heard" generate faith? Ānanda himself was a deficient person; if he said that this Dharma was spoken by himself, many people would not believe it. Because he said this Dharma was heard from the Buddha, all people take refuge and believe. What significance does faith have that it should be generated? Faith is the initial gate for entering the Dharma, the foremost head for gathering the Dharma; whenever entering the Buddha-Dharma, one must first arouse faith. Therefore, in the Avataṃsaka [Sūtra], it says that faith is like hands: just as a person who has hands arrives at a place of rare treasures and gathers them as he pleases, but if he has no hands he gets nothing in vain, the case is also the same for one who enters the Buddha-Dharma. Possessing the hands of the faithful mind, one gathers the treasures of the path-Dharma as one pleases; if one lacks the faithful mind, one gains nothing in vain. Because faith has this vital importance, it is generated for its sake.