維摩經略疏 5.57

5.57

「佛告優婆離」，八、命優婆離。文為二：一命問疾、二辭不堪。所以次命者，以其弟子中持律第一。優婆離，此云上首，有翻化生。是人恐從念數入道。所以然者，三藏修多羅、阿毘曇有是佛說，或弟子、化人、諸天仙等隨機而說，佛印成經。毘尼結戒，皆佛自制。為欲住持佛法正內眷屬，此須念持令不忘失，念力若強則無遺漏。復次持戒秉律，若不專念明識輕重則多有所犯，行事僻謬故。佛教諸比丘，清旦常修六念則無所犯，行事無謬，故得持戒之上也。深求其致，乃至成前五種利益，具如身子章。

"The Buddha told Upāli": eighth, charging Upāli. The text has two parts: first, charging him to inquire after the illness; second, declining as incompetent. The reason for charging him next is that he was foremost in upholding the vinaya among the disciples. "Upāli" is translated here as "foremost" (Śreṣṭha); some translate it as "transformational birth." This person probably entered the path by means of mindfulness. Why is this so? Among the sūtras and abhidharma of the Tripiṭaka, some were spoken by the Buddha, while others were spoken by disciples, transformed persons, heavenly beings, ṛṣis, and so forth according to capacity, and the Buddha sealed them to become sūtras. But the setting down of precepts in the vinaya was entirely formulated by the Buddha himself. In order to sustain the Buddha-Dharma and rectify the inner retinue, this must be held in mindfulness so that it is not forgotten or lost; if the power of mindfulness is strong, there will be no omissions. Furthermore, in upholding the precepts and administering the vinaya, if one is not dedicated in mindfulness and does not clearly distinguish light from heavy offenses, there will be many transgressions and actions will be erroneous. Therefore, the Buddha taught all the monks to constantly cultivate the six recollections at dawn so that there would be no transgressions and their actions would be free from error; thus he attained the foremost position in upholding the precepts. Investigating its ultimate significance deeply, it even accomplishes the aforementioned five kinds of benefit, fully explained as in the section on Śāriputra.