注大乘入楞伽經 1.14

1.14

From here below, the sūtra text and its meanings are formally explained, divided into three parts: the preface, the main body, and the dissemination. This chapter is the preface portion. From the 'Questions and Answers Chapter' to the extensive recapitulatory verses, spanning seventeen chapters, it is called the main body portion. The final verse is called the dissemination portion. In the initial four-fascicle edition, this entire single chapter was lacking, having only six lines of text at the beginning to serve as a brief preface. As for 'Rāvaṇa', no official translation has been seen; he is the yakṣa king. He entreats the Tathāgata to enter the jewel mountain to expound the Dharma of his own inner realization, and further requests the Bodhisattva Mahāmati to be the leader of those posing inquiries; hence it is called 'entreaty'. As for 'chapter' (pin), meanings of the same category are gathered together in one section, hence it is called a chapter. This sūtra has four thousand verses in total and contains eighteen chapters. This chapter is established as the beginning, hence it is called the first.