淨名玄論 7.12

7.12

In the four assemblies of this sūtra, five persons in all speak. In the initial gathering in the ten-foot square room, Vimalakīrti speaks himself. In the next assembly in the Āmrapālī grove, it is spoken by the Tathāgata. In the repeated gathering at Vaiśālī, four persons in all speak: first, Vimalakīrti speaks; second, Mañjuśrī speaks; third, the devī speaks; fourth, the various bodhisattvas speak. In the repeated assembly in the Āmrapālī grove, the Buddha and Vimalakīrti speak together. Question: The five hundred śrāvakas and eight thousand bodhisattvas all relate Vimalakīrti's words; why are they not called speakers? Answer: They all relate Vimalakīrti's past words; they are not their own speaking. If one clarifies the two speeches of past and present: two chapters of the sūtra clarify Vimalakīrti's past speech, and twelve chapters of the sūtra recount Vimalakīrti's present speech. Question: Do the two chapters, "Disciples" and "Bodhisattvas", belong to the initial assembly or to the later assembly? Are they the main text or the introductory discourse? Answer: One should view them from both perspectives. Since they are recounted in the Āmrapālī grove, they belong to the prior assembly; as the occasion for inquiring after his illness, they belong to the later gathering. Relaying Vimalakīrti's past speech, they are therefore the main text; as originating the inquiry into his illness, they may also serve as the introduction. Question: Why did the Buddha not directly dispatch Mañjuśrī to challenge him, but instead also commanded the śrāvakas and bodhisattvas? Answer: Five meanings are briefly clarified: First, to demonstrate the Tathāgata's great compassion and impartiality, he therefore commanded them all. Second, wishing to praise Vimalakīrti's virtue, to cause the congregation of that time to venerate the person and esteem the Dharma. Third, to demonstrate the sublimity of Mañjuśrī's path, causing everyone to follow along. Fourth, to demonstrate that the inconceivable liberation is exceedingly profound, beyond the fathom of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas; each recounted Vimalakīrti's past words to benefit the conditions of the present day. Fifth, to clarify the stages of cultivation: the "Upāya Chapter" refutes ordinary beings, the "Disciples Chapter" refutes śrāvakas, and the "Bodhisattvas Chapter" refutes bodhisattvas; taking from shallow to deep as the sequence, thereafter they together enter the unimpeded Dharma gate and jointly realize the inconceivable liberation. Question: Vimalakīrti and Maitreya are of equal rank in having received office; why did Maitreya suffer humiliation and Vimalakīrti was able to rebuke him? Answer: It may possess three meanings: One says: A bodhisattva of the tenth bhūmi has no cognition that does not penetrate and no response that is not universal; how could it be that in meeting gods and humans he suffered humiliation from Vimalakīrti? It is solely that together they transformed beings, so apparent advantage and loss accommodated conditions. Second, although they are both of the tenth bhūmi, within the tenth bhūmi there are naturally three positions: namely, entering, abiding, and full; or perhaps Maitreya was a great being of the tenth bhūmi, while Vimalakīrti was a person of the adamantine mind. Third, Maitreya's rank resides in equal enlightenment (samyak-saṃbodhi), the honoured one of the future; Vimalakīrti was at the stage of wondrous enlightenment, an already accomplished Buddha. Question: Since five persons spoke together, why is it solely called the Vimalakīrti Sūtra? Answer: The others spoke little and Vimalakīrti spoke much; following the majority over the minority, it is called the Vimalakīrti Sūtra. Furthermore, when the Tathāgata taught the Dharma in the Āmrapālī grove, he gathered the multitude for him, dispatched messengers to inquire about the illness, and expounded the Dharma gates extensively, thereby completing his exposition. Moreover, the first assembly's canopy-joining manifesting the lands and the pressing of the earth to transform it pure briefly opened the inception of the inconceivable. In the repeated assembly at the Āmrapālī grove, the certification and praise brought the sūtra to completion, causing later generations to faithfully accept it. Thus the first assembly opened its principle and the later gathering certified its exposition; from beginning to end, they all formed the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, hence it is exclusively designated as Vimalakīrti's exposition. Question: Since the first assembly opened its principle and the later gathering certified its exposition, why are they not the introduction and the dissemination? Answer: At first, the proper exposition opened the proper exposition, so the beginning is not an introduction; the later gathering certified and completed it, yet also commanded the extensive preaching of the wondrous, so it is not dissemination. Furthermore, as for the meaning of looking at it from both sides, the previous intent has already clarified this.