金光明經文句記 4.148

4.148

二、明同篋，二：初、約身為篋。螫，知列切。又《音釋》音郝，謂行毒也。經舉四蛇以喻四大，意彰四分有毒害義。一分具足二萬一千，四分共具八萬四千，無量劫來法身慧命喪壞由此。《大經》所明身持四大，大不起集，蛇無毒義。如鳥在籠者，次文再舉。疎粗釋之，故注云云。

Second, explaining sharing the same basket, which has two [parts]: first, regarding the body as the basket. Shì (to sting) has the phonetic reading zhī-liè. Also, the Yīnyì reads it as hào, meaning to inflict poison. The sūtra adduces four serpents as a metaphor for the four great elements, intending to reveal that the four divisions possess the meaning of poisonous harm. One division is replete with twenty-one thousand; the four divisions together are replete with eighty-four thousand. For immeasurable kalpas, the demise and destruction of the Dharma-body and wisdom-life have derived from this. What the Great Sūtra explains—that the body upholds the four great elements, and the great [elements] do not give rise to origination—means that the serpents lack the meaning of poison. As for "like a bird in a cage," it is adduced again in the subsequent text. It is explained broadly and roughly; hence the note says "and so forth."