金光明最勝王經疏 4.85

4.85

The ten pāramitās are distinguished through five approaches: 1. explaining the name; 2. identifying the essential nature; 3. establishing and setting aside; 4. explaining their characteristics; 5. various categorical inquiries. The first, explaining the name, consists of first explaining the general name and then explaining the specific names. In Sanskrit it is called daśa-pāramitā. Daśa is ten; pāra is the other shore; mita is leaving or reaching. Altogether it means ten [practices of] leaving for and reaching the other shore; "ten" is the number. The other shore has five [aspects]: 1. the knowable; 2. teaching; 3. principle; 4. practice; 5. fruit. Through these ten practices, one can exhaustively know all realms of emptiness and existence, exhaustively understand all the teachings of the five sciences, exhaustively penetrate all principles of truth and convention, exhaustively cultivate all practices of merit and wisdom, and exhaustively realize the fruit of bodhi; hence it is called "reaching the other shore." Bodhi and cessation are both named bodhi, because both bodhi and nirvāṇa are called bodhi. If there is the slightest thing not exhausted among these five, it is not called reaching the other shore. "Leaving" means going far away. Through these ten practices one can leave far behind the phenomena of the five skandhas of saṃsāra, and reach the five kinds of other shores that are the knowable; hence they are named the ten pāramitās. This explanation is given according to the Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra; it is an appositional compound with a numeral. According to Asabhāva's commentary, among all the worldly roots of goodness of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, giving and so forth are the most supreme and able to reach the other shore; therefore they are universally called pāramitās. If explained in terms of what one is capable of reaching by oneself, the Mahāyānasaṃgraha excludes others because those of the two vehicles do not cultivate and realize all of these five. The Mahāyānasūtrālaṅkāra explains it with four meanings. The Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and Yogācārabhūmi fascicle 78 explain it with five meanings. The Abhidharmasamuccayavyākhyā fascicle 11 explains it with twelve meanings. This sūtra has seventeen meanings, as explained in the subsequent text.