佛說盂蘭盆經疏 2.8

2.8

則佛臨滅度時，阿難請問四事，佛令置此言也。所問四事，佛一一答，謂一依四念處、二以戒為師、三默擯惡性比丘、四一切經初皆云如是我聞一時佛在某處與某處若干人俱。諸經多具六種成就，文或闕略，義必具之，謂一信、二聞、三時、四主、五處、六眾。六緣不具，教則不興。必須具六，故云成就。今經闕於列眾也。又聞成就為初，異餘經者，各是譯人之意。謂或云如是之法我從佛聞，或云我於佛邊聞如是法，皆是指法之詞也。不云我者，意彰聖人皆證無我理故。餘經有者，即阿難自指五蘊假者，不同情計之我，亦無過也。聞，謂耳根發識聽彼外聲。次云如是者，信成就也。夫信者言是事如是，不信者言是事不如是。故肇公云：「信順之詞也。」一時者，師資合會說聽究竟，總名一時；簡異餘時也。謂如來說經，時有無量，不能別舉，一言略周故但云一。諸方時分延促不定，故總言一時。然諸經中不指定時、指定處者，有解招難，故不用之。今詳其意，以處則不過十六國中遊化住止之處而有其數，易為標指。時則年月春秋寒熱晝夜寅卯須臾等時，變異迅速、積數無量、不可說錄，難為標指故。佛者，梵語佛陀，此云覺者，謂覺了真妄性相之者也。覺有三義：一、自覺我空，簡異凡夫。二、覺他法空，簡異二乘。三、覺滿俱空，合於本覺，名究竟覺或名大覺妙覺，簡異菩薩。在舍衛等者，處成就也。真諦記云「住處有二：一境界處，謂化在俗之流。二依止處，謂統出家之眾。初即舍衛，後即祇園。」《婆沙論》云「舉舍衛者，令遠人知；舉祇園者，令近人知。」舍衛，此云聞物，謂具足財寶之物、多聞解脫之人，遠聞諸國故。義淨三藏譯《金剛經》云名稱大城。祇樹等者，即祇陀太子所施之樹、給孤長者所買之園。祇陀，此云戰勝，波斯匿王太子也。生時王與外國戰勝，因以為名。給孤獨者，是臣之號，本名須達多，此云善施，謂給孤獨即是善施。又常行施故名善施，鄉人美之號給孤獨。然園是須達所買、樹是祇陀所施，園總樹別先合標園，今以禮別尊卑故樹先園後。西國呼寺為僧伽藍摩，此云眾園。以佛教東流初至中國，止鴻臚寺賓異域僧；僧既漸多，散置別館，存其本號皆曰寺焉。其買園施樹者，《涅槃經》說：須達長者為兒聘婦，詣王舍城。因見佛發心，請入舍衛說法。佛令舍利弗隨歸，先揀住處。擇得祇陀太子之園，長者問買，太子戲云：「側布黃金，滿即賣之。」長者便欲交付。太子云：「是戲言。」共請斷事之人斷之，彼斷令依先語。長者載金側布，唯少一隅。太子見其不惜財寶，知佛殊勝，遂施所餘之地置立門屋，施園中樹以為林蔭。二人共成精舍，請佛居之，故云祇樹等也。闕眾成就者，但文略也，如《無常經》等。然有其時，必具徒眾，故經末云「四輩弟子歡喜奉行。」

When the Buddha was about to enter extinction, Ānanda inquired about four matters, and the Buddha commanded that these words be placed [at the beginning]. The Buddha answered each of the four matters inquired about, namely: 1. Rely on the four stations of mindfulness; 2. Take the precepts as teacher; 3. Practice silent expulsion toward monks of bad character; 4. At the beginning of all sūtras, say: 'Thus have I heard: at one time the Buddha was at such-and-such place together with such-and-such number of people from such-and-such place.'

Sūtras mostly possess the six kinds of fulfillments; even if the text is omitted or abbreviated, the meaning is necessarily complete with them: namely, 1. Faith; 2. Hearing; 3. Time; 4. Host; 5. Place; 6. Assembly. If the six conditions are not complete, the teaching will not arise. Because they must be complete in all six, they are called 'fulfillments.' The present sūtra lacks the listing of the assembly. Furthermore, that hearing-fulfillment comes first, differing from other sūtras, is in each case due to the intention of the translator. That is, some say 'a dharma such as this, I heard from the Buddha,' and some say 'I heard such a dharma from the Buddha's presence'; these are all expressions pointing to the dharma. Not saying 'I' is intended to show that all holy ones realize the principle of non-self. When other sūtras have it, Ānanda is referring to the provisional self of the five aggregates, which is not the self conceived by emotional attachment, so there is also no fault.

'Heard' means the ear faculty giving rise to consciousness to listen to that external sound. Next, saying 'thus' is the fulfillment of faith. For one who has faith says 'this matter is thus,' while one without faith says 'this matter is not thus.' Therefore Master Sengzhao says: 'It is an expression of faithful compliance.'

'At one time' means the meeting of teacher and disciple when preaching and listening are culminated; it is collectively called 'one time,' to distinguish it from other times. This means that when the Tathāgata expounds a sūtra, the times are immeasurable and cannot be separately enumerated; a single word briefly encompasses them, so it merely says 'one.' Because the divisions of time in various regions are of unfixed length, it simply says 'at one time.' However, as for why sūtras do not specify a fixed time but do specify a fixed place: some explanations invite objections, so they are not adopted here. Now, examining the intention: places did not exceed the dwelling places where he traveled and transformed throughout the sixteen states and had their fixed count, so they were easy to mark and point out. As for time, years, months, spring, autumn, cold, heat, day, night, *yin*, *mao*, and momentary instants change rapidly and accumulate in immeasurable numbers that cannot be spoken of or recorded, so they are difficult to mark and point out.

'Buddha' is the Sanskrit *buddha*, rendered here as 'awakened one,' meaning one who has awakened to the nature and characteristics of the true and the false. Awakening has three meanings: 1. Self-awakening to the emptiness of the self, distinguishing from ordinary beings; 2. Awakening others to the emptiness of dharmas, distinguishing from the two vehicles; 3. Awakening fulfilled and both [self and dharmas] empty, matching original awakening, termed ultimate awakening or termed great awakening and marvelous awakening, distinguishing from bodhisattvas.

'In Śrāvastī,' and so forth, is the fulfillment of place. The notes of Paramārtha state: 'There are two kinds of dwelling places: 1. The objective-realm place, which refers to transforming the worldly stream; 2. The reliance place, which refers to presiding over the assembly of renunciants. The first is Śrāvastī; the second is the Jeta Grove.' The *Mahāvibhāṣā-śāstra* says: 'Citing Śrāvastī is to let those far away know; citing the Jeta Grove is to let those nearby know.' Śrāvastī is translated here as 'hearing things,' meaning that it was replete with the goods of wealth and treasures, and people of broad learning and liberation, being heard of far away in various countries. Tripiṭaka Master Yijing's translation of the *Vajracchedikā* calls it 'the Great City of Renown.'

'The Jeta Grove,' and so forth, refers to the trees donated by Prince Jeta and the park purchased by Elder Anāthapiṇḍada. Jeta is translated here as 'victorious in battle'; he was the crown prince of King Prasenajit. At the time of his birth, the king was victorious in battle against a foreign country, so he was named after it. 'Anāthapiṇḍada' (Provider for the Destitute) is an official's title; his original name was Sudatta, which is translated here as 'good giver,' meaning that providing for the destitute is itself good giving. Moreover, because he constantly practiced giving, he was called Good Giver; the local people praised him with the title Provider for the Destitute. However, the park was purchased by Sudatta, and the trees were donated by Jeta; the park was general and the trees particular, so the park should properly have been indicated first, but now, by the propriety of distinguishing the noble and the base, the trees come first and the park after.

In Western countries, a monastery is called a *saṅghārāma*, which is translated here as 'community park.' When Buddhism flowed east and first arrived in China, [the monks] stayed in the Court of State Ceremonial (Honglusi) to host foreign monks; once the monks gradually increased, they were placed separately in other lodges, retaining their original designation, all being called *si* (monasteries). As for purchasing the park and donating the trees, the *Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra* explains: Elder Sudatta sought a wife for his son and went to Rājagṛha. Because of seeing the Buddha, he gave rise to the aspiration and invited him to enter Śrāvastī to preach the dharma. The Buddha instructed Śāriputra to return with him to first select a dwelling place. Having selected Prince Jeta's park, the Elder asked to purchase it; the Prince joked: 'Cover it sideways with yellow gold; when it is filled, I will sell it.' The Elder then wished to deliver it. The Prince said: 'Those were words spoken in jest.' Together they asked an arbitrator to judge it, and he judged that they must abide by the former words. The Elder transported the gold and spread it sideways, with only one corner short. Seeing that he did not begrudge wealth and treasures, the Prince knew the Buddha was extraordinary, and thereupon donated the remaining land to establish the gatehouse, and donated the trees in the park to provide shade. The two together completed the monastery and invited the Buddha to dwell there; hence it says 'the Jeta Grove,' and so forth.

Lacking the fulfillment of the assembly is merely an omission of the text, as in the *Anityatā-sūtra* and others. However, having that time, there must have been the retinue of followers; therefore the end of the sūtra says: 'The disciples of the four assemblies rejoiced and practiced accordingly.'