維摩義記 2.5

2.5

Next, explaining the text. First, the initial section explaining Vimalakīrti's thought is interpreted. 'At that time' refers to the moment when the thought arose. 'The elder Vimalakīrti' indicates the person who generated the thought. 'Reflected to himself on his illness' and so forth constitutes the actual arousal of the thought in his mind. Yet, in this phrase, he is thinking of awaiting inquiry from the sages, not dwelling on his illness; for truly, Vimalakīrti's compassion for sentient beings was profound, and his longing to convert them was like thirst, which is why he generated this thought. Vimalakīrti manifested illness solely for the sake of beings; though his intention was for beings, only by obtaining the Buddha's responsiveness would the work of conversion succeed. Therefore, he thought to himself, 'I am lying sick in bed; would the World-Honoured One of great mercy not deign to take pity on me?' Because illness serves as the object of mercy, he thought of himself lying sick in bed. Because only the Buddha pities suffering, he thought of the World-Honoured One. Because the Buddha possesses deep mercy and has abundant compassion for suffering, he thought of great compassion. Adducing the Buddha's great mercy, he wished to lead the Tathāgata to pity his own painful illness and also have compassion for those to be converted, so that [the Buddha] would certainly send someone to inquire on his behalf. Since one possessing great mercy, seeing this, ought to take pity, he further expressed wonder and remonstrance: 'How could he not deign to take pity?' 'Ning' (寧) means 'how could' (an 安). 'When I am now suffering from illness, how could he bear this and not deign to take pity?' A higher mind having pity on an inferior is called 'deigning' (chui 垂). 'Pity' (min 愍) means compassionate pity. Below, the Buddha, knowing his thought, sends someone to go inquire. 'The Buddha knew his thought' explains the reason for making the announcement. Below is the actual announcement. First addressing those who are not capable, and afterwards addressing those who are capable, is sufficient; for what reason did the Buddha address those who were not capable across the board? The explanation has three meanings: First, to manifest the Tathāgata's impartial and unprejudiced mind, he therefore addressed them all. This is similar to [the passage in] the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] where he universally addressed the great assembly, bidding them to ask questions. Second, in order to extensively rely on the words of the assembly to reveal Vimalakīrti's virtue, it was necessary to address them all. Announcing to those who were not capable reveals how high his virtue was; announcing to those who were capable reveals how wondrous his virtue was. Third, in order to extensively rely on the words of the assembly to reveal the Dharma taught by Vimalakīrti, it was necessary to address them all. Therefore, in the text below, first addressing those who were not capable reveals what had been taught previously, and afterwards addressing those who were capable explains what was taught at present. Since he addressed them all equally, for what reason did he first address those who were not capable, and afterwards address those who were capable? The explanation has two meanings: First, he wished to address them in an equal, orderly sequence to bid them inquire, thus fulfilling the three meanings above; for this reason, he first addressed those who were not capable. If he had first addressed those who were capable, afterwards there would have been no occasion to address those who were not capable. Second, he wished, by contrast with those who were not capable, to reveal the one who would subsequently be able to inquire; when the person inquiring is exalted, what is taught must be profound, causing people to thirst and yearn for it; for this reason, he first addressed those who were not capable. Among those not capable, he first addressed the śrāvakas, and afterwards addressed the bodhisattvas. Since the Tathāgata well knew that the śrāvakas were not capable, why did he trouble himself to address them all? The explanation also has three points: First, to reveal the equality of the Buddha's mind, which is similar to [the passage in] the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] where he first addressed the monks, bidding them ask questions. Second, wishing to extensively contrast with the multitude of persons to reveal Vimalakīrti's virtue, it was necessary to address them all. Therefore, in the text below, first addressing the śrāvakas reveals, by contrast with them, that Vimalakīrti's high virtue surpasses the two vehicles; afterwards addressing the bodhisattvas reveals, by contrast with them, that Vimalakīrti's high virtue exceeds that of all the bodhisattvas. Third, wishing to extensively rely on the words of the assembly to reveal the Dharma taught by Vimalakīrti, it was necessary to address them all. Therefore, in the text below, first addressing the śrāvakas clarifies that what he taught was the teaching for śrāvakas; afterwards addressing the bodhisattvas clarifies that what he taught was the teaching for bodhisattvas. Since he addressed them all equally, for what reason did he first address the śrāvakas and afterwards address the bodhisattvas? The explanation has three meanings: First, the śrāvakas were near to the Buddha, and following proximity he addressed them first; the bodhisattvas were not so, and for this reason were addressed afterwards. Second, wishing to address both śrāvakas and bodhisattvas equally to bid them inquire, fulfilling the three earlier meanings; for this reason, he first addressed the śrāvakas. If the Tathāgata had first addressed the bodhisattvas, afterwards there would have been no occasion to further address the śrāvakas, because the latter were inferior. The third meaning concerns the sequence of dharmas: in the preceding chapter, he clarified the teaching for ordinary people, proceeding from the ordinary to the noble; therefore, in this chapter, he next addressed the śrāvakas, using this to reveal that the teaching for śrāvakas proceeds from the small to the great; hence, only when reaching the subsequent chapter does he address the bodhisattvas, using this to reveal the teaching for bodhisattvas; the method of conversion should be like this. In this chapter, the śrāvakas addressed total five hundred; the first ten are listed individually, and the remainder are all brought up collectively. Among the first ten, in relation to the first nine people, the cause of the dharmakāya is clarified; in relation to the last one person, the fruit of the dharmakāya is clarified. Among the first nine, in relation to the first eight people, the dharma of cultivation is clarified; in relation to the last one person, the dharma of leaving household life is clarified. Among the first eight, in relation to the first seven people, the dharma of cultivating wholesome dharmas is clarified; in relation to the last one person, the dharma of extinguishing evil dharmas is revealed. Among the first seven, in relation to the first six people, the practice of cultivating the path is clarified; in relation to the last one person, the practice of giving rise to supernormal powers is clarified. Cultivating the path practices the essence, while giving rise to supernormal powers practices the function. Among the first six, first, regarding Śāriputra, non-abiding practice is clarified; next, regarding Maudgalyāyana, the practice of entering realization is clarified; regarding the latter four people, the practice of aids to the path is clarified. These are the three paths of identical characteristics in the Daśabhūmika Sūtra. Regarding the first person, [the Buddha] first makes the announcement, and afterwards [the disciple] declines. 'He then said to Śāriputra: You go and inquire after his illness,' is the announcement. The name Śāriputra has already been analyzed above; he was the son of a Brahmin of Rājagṛha. His father was originally from South India. His maternal grandfather was formerly a great master of disputation in Rājagṛha, upon whom the king had bestowed a fief. When Śāriputra's father arrived, he engaged in disputation with him; the maternal grandfather suffered defeat, and the king stripped him of his fief and gave it to Śāriputra's father. Thereupon, the maternal grandfather gave his daughter in marriage to him, and she gave birth to Śāriputra. Śāriputra's mother had formerly engaged in discussions with her brother Mahākauṣṭhila and had always been inferior to her brother; but when she conceived Śāriputra, she consistently triumphed in debate, on account of which Kauṣṭhila went abroad to study further. Later, when Śāriputra was born, at only seven years of age, he was foremost in debate among the sixteen great kingdoms. Later, when the Buddha appeared in the world, he renounced the household life under the Buddha, becoming foremost in wisdom among the Buddha's disciples. Therefore, in other treatises, Śāriputra is praised, saying that, leaving aside only the Buddha, the World-Honoured One, if the wisdom and extensive erudition of all sentient beings were compared to Śāriputra, it could not equal even a sixteenth part of his. Now [the Buddha] addresses him first. Why does he address him first? Because his wisdom is supreme and he stands out among the disciples; for this reason, he is addressed first.