淨名玄論 5.19

5.19

問：般若等經，為直往菩薩；法華之教，為迴小入大之人。則攝緣已周，涅槃教興復何取為哉？答：設教多意，不可一途。《大品》十九因緣，《涅槃》所為非一。依《法華》意釋此同者，諸子有二：一者失心則鈍根之人、二不失心謂利根人也。雖有直往之與迴小，聞《般若》、《法華》並皆領悟，謂不失心子利根人也。餘失心鈍根猶未服藥，故入雙林唱滅為說《涅槃》，方乃取信。若然者，始蓮華藏、終跋提河，但有利鈍二種緣也。又般若、法華之座，皆已得道，今聞涅槃更復進悟，故云「為人中象王迦葉菩薩說是經」也。又有二緣：一歷教已得悟緣、二直聞涅槃則便受道。故《波若》、《法華》雖為二人，更說涅槃二智也，別論二經。

Question: Sūtras such as the Prajñā[pāramitā] are for bodhisattvas who proceed straight ahead; the teaching of the Lotus [Sūtra] is for those who turn from the small and enter the great. Thus the inclusion of conditions [for liberation] is already complete; what, then, is gained by the arising of the teaching of the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra]?

Answer: Teachings are set forth for many reasons and cannot be reduced to a single pathway. The Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā Sūtra has nineteen causes and conditions, and the purposes of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra are more than one. Explaining this convergence according to the meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, the children are of two kinds: first, those who have lost their minds, who are dull-rooted people; second, those who have not lost their minds, meaning sharp-rooted people. Although there are those who proceed straight ahead and those who turn from the small, those who hear the Prajñā and the Lotus [Sūtras] and both comprehend them are the children who have not lost their minds, the sharp-rooted people. The remaining dull-rooted people who have lost their minds have not yet taken the medicine; therefore, entering the Twin Groves and proclaiming cessation, [the Buddha] taught the Nirvāṇa Sūtra for their sake, and only then did they place their trust. If that is so, from the Lotus Treasury at the beginning to the Bhadrā River at the end, there are only the two kinds of conditions: sharp and dull. Furthermore, in the assemblies of the Prajñā and the Lotus, all had already attained the path, but now upon hearing the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] they advance further in awakening; hence it says: "For the sake of Bodhisattva Kāśyapa, the king of elephants among men, this sūtra is taught." Furthermore, there are two conditions: first, the condition of having attained awakening through going through the [previous] teachings; second, the condition of directly hearing the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] and immediately receiving the path. Therefore, although the Prajñā and the Lotus are for the two types of persons, the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] is taught again for the two cognitions, discussing the two sūtras separately.