維摩義記 2.36

2.36

Next, [the Buddha] addressed Ānanda, instructing him to go and inquire after [Vimalakīrti's] illness. In contrast to the previous nine persons, regarding whom causal practice was explained, below, in contrast to Ānanda, the Buddha's fruit-virtues are made manifest. Ānanda was the Buddha's paternal cousin; his name means 'Joy.' There are three meanings to joy, as explained at length previously. Among the Buddha's disciples, he was foremost in erudition (bahuśruta), which is why [the Buddha] now addressed him. First he addressed him, and then [Ānanda] declined. In his declination, first there is a general statement, from 'for what reason' onward is the explanation, and from 'therefore' onward is the conclusion. In the explanation, 'for what reason' inquires into what preceded to introduce what follows. Below, in distinguishing it, the text specifically has five parts: first, adducing the circumstances under which he was formerly rebuked; second, from 'Stop, stop' onward, explaining the words of instruction and rebuke; third, from 'At that time, World-Honoured One, I was truly ashamed' onward, showing his own shortcoming; fourth, from 'Then I heard' onward, explaining that a voice from the sky harmonized the two sides; fifth, from 'World-Honoured One, Vimalakīrti's wisdom and eloquence' onward, concluding with praise for Vimalakīrti and showing that he himself was not up to it. In the first part, 'I recall that formerly' sets forth the time he was rebuked. From 'The World-Honoured One' onward, it adduces the matter of his being rebuked. The matter comprises three sentences: first, explaining that the Buddha had an illness and he was begging milk for him; second, Vimalakīrti's question; third, Ānanda's answer. The text can be understood in all cases. Below is the second part, Vimalakīrti's instruction and rebuke. Why was this necessary? In order to cause Ānanda and all worldly people to know that the Buddha is eternally blissful, unconditioned, and free from distress, to put an end to heterodox slander, and to cherish and seek after it, this instruction and rebuke was necessary. Therein are four parts: first, rebuking him and making him stop; second, from 'go silently' onward, driving him away and making him leave; third, from 'go on' onward, urging him to leave quickly; fourth, from 'you should secretly' onward, instructing him to leave secretly. In the first section, first there is rebuke and then instruction. 'Stop, stop, Ānanda, do not speak such words' is the wording of rebuke. From 'The Tathāgata' onward is the instruction. 'The Tathāgata's body is a vajra-body' explains that the Buddha's body is firm. Its essence is firm and hard to destroy, just like vajra. 'All evils are already severed and all goods are universally gathered' manifests the completeness of the Buddha's virtues. That all evils are already severed means the virtue of severance is perfect. That all goods are universally gathered means the virtue of practice is complete. This explains what he possesses. 'What illness could there be? What distress could there be?' manifests what he lacks. What illness could there be? Internally there is no suffering from illness. What distress could there be? Externally there is no decline or damage. This concludes the first section. Below is the second part, driving him away and making him leave. Therein are three parts: first, dispatching him to go silently; second, rebuking and admonishing him, not allowing him to slander the Buddha; third, proper instruction. 'Go silently, Ānanda' is the first, dispatching him. He must stop speaking of illness with his mouth, therefore he must be silent. His body must keep distant from the place of begging, which is why he must go. From 'Do not slander' onward is the second part, the rebuke. 'Do not slander the Tathāgata' forbids what he said. The Buddha is truly without illness; saying he has an illness wrongs the Buddha, hence it is called slander. Slandering the Buddha harms oneself, which is why it must be stopped. 'Do not cause other' and so on stops his transmission of it. Transmitting slander harms others, so that too must be stopped. People are heterodox or correct; the heterodox, upon hearing it, defame and slander, which is why he admonishes him. 'Do not cause other people to hear these coarse words'—speaking of illness is slanderous, hence it is called 'coarse.' If the correct hear it, they would also be deeply perplexed, which must also be admonished against; therefore it says, 'Do not let the devas of great majesty and virtue and the bodhisattvas of other directions hear these words.' From 'The wheel-turning holy' onward is the third section, instructing with principle. 'Even a wheel-turning holy king, on account of a little merit, is free from illness' adduces the inferior to contrast with the superior. 'How much more the Tathāgata of immeasurable merit' and so on distinguishes how the superior exceeds the inferior. This concludes the second part. Below is the third part, urging him to leave quickly. Therein are two parts: first, urging his body to leave quickly; second, forbidding his speech. 'Go on, Ānanda' is the first section. Quickly abandoning this place and departing is called 'go on.' From 'Do not let us' onward is the second section, forbidding his speech. 'Do not let us incur this shame' adduces the fault to forbid it generally. The Buddha is the teacher of the world, revered by the whole world. When his illness is spoken of and admonished by others, both sides share in shame; hence it says 'Do not let us incur this shame.' From 'The non-Buddhists and brahmins' onward distinguishes the fault to forbid it specifically. Non-Buddhists and brahmins are cited to admonish against slandering persons. Establishing doctrines outside the Buddha's teaching is called 'non-Buddhist.' Directing their intention to seek purity is described as 'brahmins.' 'If they hear these words' explains the source of the slander. Hearing these words of Ānanda speaking of illness, 'they will think: What kind of teacher is this?' explains their mind of slight and slander. 'He cannot cure his own illness, yet can he cure the illnesses of others?' explains their words of slight and slander. This concludes the third part. Below is the fourth part, enjoining him to leave secretly. Therein are three parts: first, admonishing his body to leave secretly and quickly. If not secretly, others will see; if not quickly, others will know; for this reason it must be quickly. Second, forbidding his speech, not letting others hear. Third, awakening his mind, correctly instructing with principle. In the instruction, first he explains what is right; from 'is not a body of desire' onward, he reveals what is not right. From 'Such a body' onward, he concludes what is right to distinguish it from what is not right. In what is right, 'The bodies of all Tathāgatas are dharmakāyas' generally adduces the category to make it evident. It explains that the Buddha's response-body (nirmāṇakāya) is itself the true dharmakāya of merit, and is also the true dharmatā-kāya. As the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra's 'Vajrakāya Chapter' and below in this text, the chapter 'Beholding Akṣobhya', explain in full detail. In what is not right, 'is not a body of desire' means being free from the cause of fragmented [samsāra]. 'The Buddha is the World-Honoured One, transcending the three realms' means being free from the fruit of fragmented [samsāra]. 'The Buddha's body is uncontaminated (anāsrava), all contaminations (āsrava) being ended' means being free from the cause of transformational [samsāra]; the non-exhaustion of uncontaminated dharmas refers to the ground of ignorance, which the Buddha has completely eliminated. 'The Buddha's body is unconditioned (asaṃskṛta) and does not fall into any reckoning' means being free from the fruit of transformational [samsāra]; it does not fall into the reckoning of conditioned arising and ceasing, nor does it fall into the reckoning of sentient beings. What is not right is like this. 'What illness could such a body have?' concludes what is right to distinguish it from what is not right. Such a dharmakāya, up to an unconditioned body that does not fall into reckoning, is forever free from all afflictions; what illness could it have? The above is the second part, explaining the words of instruction. Below is the third part, Ānanda presenting his own shortcoming to the Buddha. 'At that time, World-Honoured One, I was truly ashamed' and so on is an inversion in the text; if stated correctly, it should say: 'World-Honoured One, at that time I was truly ashamed: could I have misheard?' 'At that time' refers to the original time of being rebuked. 'I' is Ānanda, referring to himself. Saying 'World-Honoured One' is reporting truthfully to the Buddha. 'Was truly ashamed' and so on is expressing his own mind as being truly ashamed. Being ashamed of what he had said, he was ashamed of his earlier words that [the Buddha] was ill and needed milk. 'Could I have near' and so on means doubting what he had heard. As Vimalakīrti said, the Buddha is truly without illness; having an illness and needing milk—could it be that I, being close to the Buddha, misheard? Below is the fourth part, a voice from the sky harmonizing the two sides. 'Then I heard a voice in the sky' is a general heading. From whom was it issued at that time? Perhaps it was the Buddha, perhaps Vimalakīrti, or perhaps it was uttered by some other deva of great power. Below, it is specifically revealed. 'As the householder has said' confirms Vimalakīrti's words, explaining that it is true that the Buddha's true body has no illness. From 'Only because the Buddha' onward, it corroborates Ānanda's words, explaining that it is not false that the Buddha manifested illness and needed milk. 'Only because the Buddha appeared in the evil [world of the] five turbidities does he manifest this dharma to save sentient beings' responds to Ānanda's earlier statement about mishearing, explaining that his hearing was not an error. These words are inverted; if stated correctly, it should say: 'It is only because the Buddha appeared in the evil world of the five turbidities that he manifests this dharma to save sentient beings.' As for the five turbidities, as explained in the sūtras: first is the turbidity of lifespan, the retribution of lifespan being short, meaning people of the present age have an utmost lifespan of a hundred years, and so forth. Second is the turbidity of sentient beings, lacking human conduct. Third is the turbidity of afflictions, where defilements such as greed, anger, and ignorance are intensified. Fourth is the turbidity of views, where false views are rampant. Fifth is the turbidity of the kalpa, namely famine, pestilence, and warfare. When these five are rampant, it is called an evil world, and the Buddha appears in the world at such a time. 'Manifesting this dharma to save sentient beings' means manifesting the practice of having an illness and begging for help, so as to save sentient beings. The incident is as described in the sūtras: When the Buddha was in the world, in the city of Vaiśālī there was a brahmin who held false views and had no faith. His household had a milk cow, so vicious and violent that it would gore people, and no one dared approach it. In order to convert this brahmin, the Buddha manifested an illness and said he needed milk to cure it. Ānanda held a bowl for the Buddha and went to beg, arriving at his gate. When the brahmin saw him, he asked angrily: 'What do you need?' Ānanda replied: 'The Buddha is ill and needs milk, which is why I have come to beg.' Hearing this, [the brahmin] thought: 'I can let him take it himself, so the cow will gore and kill him.' He then said to Ānanda: 'If you need it, milk it yourself.' Ānanda said: 'Very well.' He then went to the cow, and the cow willingly spread its legs, allowing him to milk it. The cow said to Ānanda: 'May you leave one teat of milk for my calf, and offer all the rest to the Buddha.' The calf then said: 'Offer it all to the Tathāgata; I will eat grass and water.' The brahmin, standing by, saw everything, and immediately repented and reproached himself: 'I am inferior to a cow; I did not recognize the field of merit and generated this evil mind.' Thereupon he developed deep reverence and faith in the Buddha. Therefore it says 'manifesting [this dharma] to save sentient beings, go on!' 'Ānanda, take the milk, do not be ashamed' responds to Ānanda's earlier feeling of true shame, encouraging him not to be ashamed. Encouraging him to go begging, it therefore says 'go on.' Encouraging him to accept the milk, it therefore says 'take the milk.' Going begging to convert others is what a sage ought to do, hence he was encouraged not to be ashamed. This concludes the fourth part. 'World-Honoured One, such was Vimalakīrti's wisdom and eloquence' is the fifth section, concluding with praise for Vimalakīrti. First he declined, then explained, and from 'therefore' onward concluded. The above has specifically addressed the ten persons regarding inquiring after the illness. From 'In this way the five hundred great disciples' onward generally adduces the remaining people. At that time, the Tathāgata addressed them each individually, but it is difficult to list them all exhaustively, so the compiler of the recitation-council presented them as a whole.