金光明經文句記 1.26

1.26

First, citing precedents from other works. The Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra takes the cause and effect of the Buddha-land as the main body; since it has no introductory chapter, the various masters take half of the chapter on "Buddha-land" as the preface division. As for the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, in the "Introductory Chapter" it says: "The Buddha, knowing that the great assembly had already gathered, addressed Śāriputra: 'If a bodhisattva wishes to know all dharmas with the wisdom of all modes, he should train in and practice the prajñāpāramitā,'" and so forth; what is spoken like this is already the main body, yet the text is in the preface division. As for the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, eternal life is the main body; since it has no introductory chapter, it takes the gathering of the assembly in the "Chapter on the Lifespan" as the preface; this is according to the northern text. In the southern text, as revised and fixed by Duke Xie, he took the text of gathering the assembly in "Lifespan" and titled it "Introductory Chapter." In these three sūtras, either the preface enters the main body or the main body enters the preface, and the various masters do not doubt it when analyzing them; how can they solely doubt the present judgment that the preface division enters into the "Span of Life"?