大方廣圓覺修多羅了義經略疏 1.523

1.523

然偈有二種：一、伽陀，此云諷頌，謂孤起偈，今非此也；二、祇夜，此云應頌，頌長行也，或為鈍根重說、或為後來之徒、或為增明前說故，今此經偈皆祇夜也。然凡言長行、偈諷相望，有五對之例：謂有無、廣略、離合、先後、隱顯。今經問目皆長，有偈無答，皆長廣偈略。餘隨相當，對文當指。

Now verses are of two kinds: first, *gāthā*, translated here as 'chants,' referring to isolated verses, which is not the case here; second, *geya*, translated here as 'reiterative verses,' which reiterate the prose, either re-expounded for those of dull faculties, or for followers of later times, or to further clarify the previous exposition. Now the verses of this sūtra are all *geya*. Generally speaking, when comparing prose and verses, there are five pairs of models: existence and non-existence, broad and brief, separate and combined, preceding and succeeding, and hidden and manifest. In the present sūtra, the questions are all in prose; there are verses without separate answers; and all are broad in prose and brief in verse. The rest will be pointed out in alignment with the text as appropriate.