維摩經義疏 2.4.1

2.4.1

"At that time, seeing the Buddha's spiritual power, the entire great assembly marveled at what they had never seen before, joined their palms in reverence to the Buddha, and gazed upward at his revered face without looking away for an instant." From here below is the third [section], the joy and praise of the assembly of the time. Because sincerity of faith and joy arose from within, the expression of gazing and praising manifested externally.

"Ratnakūṭa, the elder's son, then immediately before the Buddha spoke in praise with verses." Above, the general narrative described the great assembly's rejoicing; here, it specifically clarifies Ratnakūṭa's praising by reciting verses. There are two purposes in general: first, to encompass the Buddha's manifold virtues in concise words; second, through skillful expression, to delight the hearts of the listeners. Regardless of whether the words are few or many, a verse must necessarily comprise four lines to form a gāthā. *Gāthā* is Sanskrit, and *song* (hymn) is the term here in [Chinese]; the two are combined here to explain it. As for why he praised in verses, there are four causes and conditions: First, offering the canopies demonstrated material offerings; reciting verses of praise distinguished Dharma offerings. Second, previously he showed reverence through bodily action; now he made offerings through vocal action. Third, the earlier manifestation of physical reverence was insufficient to fully express his mind; now, by reflecting with the mind and chanting wondrous words with the mouth, the three karmic actions are fully complete. Fourth, though the Tathāgata's preaching of the Dharma and display of spiritual powers caused mixed joy and reverence in the great assembly, they had not yet understood the reason for it; therefore, he recited verses of praise and explanation to bring the assembly of the time to comprehension.

The verses have five sections: first, praising the fundamental virtues; second, praising the trace-functions; third, praising the fundamental [virtues] again; fourth, praising the trace-[functions] again; fifth, a concluding overall praise.

"His eyes are pure, long, and broad, like a blue lotus." This line praises the Buddha's physical form. Physical form has five features, with the eyes being the foremost, so he praises them beginning with the first. Moreover, worldly people commonly say: a seven-foot body is not equal to a one-foot face, and a one-foot face is not equal to a one-inch eye. Therefore, the head is the foremost part of the entire body, and the eyes are the hallmark of a face, so he praises them in terms of their excellence. Furthermore, the Buddha looks equally upon sentient beings with eyes of compassion, and compassion is the root of virtue, so he praises them in terms of the root. In addition, Ratnakūṭa looked upon his face and composed the hymn, and thus praised the eyes. The *Dazhidulun* says: "Among land-growing [flowers], the sumana is foremost; among water-growing [flowers], the blue lotus is number one." In India there are blue lotus flowers whose petals are slender and broad, with blue and white distinct, having the appearance of a great person's eyes, and thus they are used here as a metaphor.

"His mind is pure, having already crossed over all dhyānas and samādhis." Pure eyes praise the physical form, while a pure mind praises virtue. The eyes are the first of the five sensory capacities, and the mind is the root of myriad virtues, so he praises the mind. Moreover, when the mind is pure, the eyes are bright; the mind is adduced to corroborate the eyes. Dhyāna and samādhi are deep and vast like a great ocean; only the Buddha's pure mind reaches its other shore, hence it is called "having crossed over."

"Having long accumulated pure karma, his praises are immeasurable." The reason why physical form and virtue are both wondrous is certainly due to having long purified the three karmas; this adduces causal practices to explain the fruit-virtues. Because the causes and effects are already wondrous, the ten epithets are heard abroad, hence it says "his praises are immeasurable."

"Leading the multitude by means of quiescence, therefore I bow my head." Because he establishes fame through virtue, he is able to guide beings. The method of leading the multitude is quiescent cessation and the unconditioned, as the *Lotus Sūtra* says: "Ultimate nirvāṇa, constantly possessing the mark of quiescent cessation." Since this is the true essence of all dharmas, it is specifically spoken of. Having concluded this one praise, he therefore bows his head. Furthermore, the preceding was vocal action, and this is physical reverence. Throughout, this verse altogether contains five pairs: form and mind, cause and effect, virtue and fame, self and other, and praise and reverence.

"Having seen the Great Sage through spiritual transformations / universally manifest immeasurable lands in the ten directions, / wherein the Buddhas expound the Dharma, / whereupon everything was seen and heard." This is the second [section], praising the traces. Taking the physical form and virtue as the fundamental, and the functions of spiritual powers as the traces, he first praised the root of virtues, and now praises the trace-functions. The *Zhengguan lun* says: "There are three kinds of sages: first, non-Buddhists with the five spiritual powers; second, arhats and pratyekabuddhas; third, dharmakāya mahāsattvas." The Buddha is uniquely supreme among the three kinds of sages, hence he is called "Great"; that which cannot be fathomed is "spiritual," and changing substances is called "transformation." Having seen the spiritual transformation of unifying the canopies, and further manifesting the lands of the ten directions and the teaching gates expounded by the Buddhas, these three constitute the response. That the great assembly saw and heard them is the resonance.

"The Dharma King's Dharma-power surpasses the multitude of beings; / he constantly bestows the wealth of Dharma upon all." This is the third [section], praising the fundamental virtues again. Within this text there are five praises in total: first, the praise of the Dharma King; second, the praise of the Dharma ocean; third, the praise of the mountain king; fourth, the praise of empty space; fifth, the praise of the treasure among humans. As for the praise of the Dharma King: previously he praised spiritual powers, and now he commends the preaching of the Dharma. Spiritual powers cause beings to plant merit, while preaching the Dharma causes them to generate wisdom. Moreover, spiritual powers arouse their faithful mind, while preaching the Dharma generates their wise understanding. A worldly king surpasses his subjects through worldly power, and thus can extend his favor across a single state; the Dharma King surpasses the multitude through the power of Dharma, and thus can bring salvation without boundary.

"He is skilled at distinguishing the characteristics of all dharmas, / yet remains unmoving with respect to the ultimate truth." Above he stated "Dharma King"; here he explains it. Dharmas are indeed inexhaustible, but they do not depart from the two truths; therefore, he draws upon the two truths to explain that the Dharma King's skill in distinguishing the conventional without contradicting the ultimate is called "unmoving."

"He has already attained mastery over all dharmas; / for this reason I bow my head to this Dharma King." Praising the Dharma King has three parts: first stating, next explaining, and now concluding. A worldly king has mastery over the people; the Dharma King has mastery over dharmas. Because dharmas have no fixed characteristics, he distinguishes them in accordance with beings, and by universally according with principle and responding to capacities, this is called "mastery." Moreover, the above-mentioned speaking of the conventional without moving from the ultimate, and discussing the ultimate without contravening the conventional, is precisely "mastery." Having concluded the two lines of praise, he therefore bows his head.

"Preaching the Dharma as neither existing nor non-existing": previously he praised speaking of the conventional without contravening the ultimate. Here he clarifies that speech accords with the Middle Way, which has three aspects: First, the above two truths are combined into the Middle Way; because of the conventional truth it cannot be non-existent, and because of the ultimate truth it cannot be existent. The Tathāgata established the two truths in order to shatter the two views of existence and non-existence, as the treatise master explained in the *Dapin*: "The bodhisattva abides in the two truths to preach the Dharma for sentient beings, preaching non-existence for those attached to existence, and preaching existence for those attached to non-existence." This is precisely that matter. Second, taking the two truths of existence and non-existence to clarify the Middle Way of neither existence nor non-existence. As the *Avataṃsaka* (in five fascicles) says: "All dharmas of existence and non-existence / are fully understood as neither existing nor non-existing." Third, taking the two truths individually to clarify the Middle Way in each. The conventional truth is provisionally existing through causes and conditions; provisional existence cannot be definitely existent, and provisional non-existence cannot be definitely non-existent: neither existing nor non-existing is the Middle Way. The ultimate truth is also like this: provisional existence cannot be definitely existent, and provisional non-existence cannot be definitely non-existent; this is the Middle Way. Now, saying that "he preaches the Dharma as neither existing nor non-existing" encompasses all these meanings. Shi Sengzhao says: "If you wish to say it exists, existence does not arise of itself; if you wish to say it is non-existent, when conditions converge it takes shape. That which converges and takes shape cannot be called non-existent; that which is not non-existent cannot be called existent."