金光明經文句記 2.20

2.20

First, citing a person to clarify phenomenal killing. In the 'Chapter on Noble Practice' of the Great Sūtra, the Buddha spoke of a past life when he was a king named Senyo who cherished the Mahāyāna. At that time, there was no Buddha in the world. For twelve years he served a brāhmaṇa as his master, and subsequently exhorted him to generate the bodhi-mind. But the brāhmaṇa did not believe and slandered the Dharma; the king thereupon killed him, yet the king did not fall into hell because he was free of the sin of killing. Coming to the 'Chapter on Pure Practice,' the Buddha said that the fruit of the compassionate mind is dwelling in the stage of an only child. Kāśyapa objected, saying: 'If a bodhisattva dwells in the stage of an only child, why did the Buddha in the past, as a king, sever the life of a brāhmaṇa?' The Buddha said: 'I severed it out of love and affection, not with an evil mind. When that brāhmaṇa died and was born into the Avīci Hell, he had three thoughts: first, knowing he came from the human realm; second, knowing this was hell; third, knowing he slandered the Dharma and was killed by the king. Having thought this, he immediately believed in the Mahāyāna, shortly died, and was born in the world of the King of the Drum of Nectar, with a lifespan there of ten kalpas. In the past, I actually gave him this lifespan of ten kalpas; how could it be called killing?' Thus one must clarify the attainment of the Dharma-gate of killing, causing that loving concern to become conditionless compassion; only then does it accord with the commentary's statement: 'Only killing and only compassion.'