大毘盧遮那成佛經疏 1.3

1.3

As for "Mahāvairocana-abhisaṃbodhi-vikurvitādhiṣṭhāna": the Sanskrit word Vairocana is an alternative name for the sun, meaning to dispel darkness and illumine everywhere. However, the mundane sun has spatial bounds: if it illumines the outside, it cannot reach the inside; when light is on one side, it does not reach the other side; and moreover it shines only by day, its light not illuminating the night. The tathāgata's sunlight of wisdom is not like this: it provides great illumination everywhere, without distinction of inside or outside, direction or location, day or night. Furthermore, when the sun moves across Jambudvīpa, all grasses, trees, thickets, and forests grow in accordance with their respective natures and shares, and all mundane tasks are thereby accomplished; the tathāgata's sunlight shines everywhere upon the dharmadhātu, and can also equally unfold the various good roots of immeasurable sentient beings, so that even mundane and supramundane excellent activities are all brought to completion by means of it. Furthermore, just as when heavy overcast darkens and conceals the solar disc, its disappearance is not destruction, and when a fierce wind blows away the clouds and the sunlight shines brilliantly, it is not a new birth, the sun of the Buddha-mind is also like this: although covered and obstructed by the heavy clouds of avidyā, afflictions, and prapañca, it does not decrease; and when the samādhi of the dharmatā of all dharmas is fully realized, perfectly clear and boundless, it does not increase. Through such various conditions, the mundane sun cannot serve as a [complete] metaphor; taking only a partial resemblance, the great name is added, calling him Mahāvairocana.