大毘盧遮那成佛經疏 15.3

15.3

Next, he questioned the Buddha sequentially using verse. Now they are listed in order, not yet formulated into metrical lines: Which task in the maṇḍala is performed first? (This means, among the many tasks in the maṇḍala, which should be done first? That is, which affair is performed first?) How many kinds of ācāryas are there? (Explain this as well.) How many kinds of disciples are there? (Let the Great Sage also explain.) How does one know the configuration of the land? He inquires about whether the ground is good or bad (meaning, choosing superior, middling, or inferior ground for accomplishments, etc.). How does one select the site? Having selected it, how does one purify it? (There are only three questions; furthermore he asks:) Having purified it, how does one abide stably? (Although it has been purified, fearing it might again be troubled by obstructors, he asks how one achieves stable abiding.) There are only three questions; furthermore he asks: How does one purify the disciples? May the Buddha explain. (Previously he asked how many kinds of disciples there are; now, having already obtained disciples, he asks what should be done first.) After they are purified, what are the signs? (Here he asks about the master, asks about the site, and asks about the disciples: three matters in three lines of questioning.) He asks: What is used for protection? Furthermore, how does one make protection for the site? (He also asks about the master making protection for himself, protecting the site, and protecting the disciples; there are three questions.) How does one adhiṣṭhāna the site? Sīmābandha, adhiṣṭhāna, and so on have multiple meanings; he also asks about these three matters. What is the initial operational procedure? (This refers to what should be done regarding the altar after completing the adhiṣṭhāna of the ground, its protection, and its purification. The tasks performed here are of two kinds: outer tasks refer to the various affairs of constructing the altar; inner tasks refer to the master visualizing his own body as Mahāvairocana and various other yogic practices.) What mantras and ritual methods are used? Is protection made first, or is purification performed first? He inquires about the precedence of the preceding matters. These two matters are operations. How many kinds of cords are there? How does one measure the ground? (This refers to measuring the ground with cords and combining the cords.) The cords are used to mark boundaries. How many kinds of offerings are there? How are the flowers, incense, and so forth? (Here there are also paste incense, lamps, and various offering items such as jeweled nets, jeweled pavilions, and trees; perform them following these examples, which is why it says "and so forth." "And so forth" denotes a plural.) He asks: What are the methods for offering incense and flowers? To whom should the flowers be offered? (This means there are various kinds of flowers, and the deities to whom they should be offered also differ. Which flower is used to offer to the Buddha? Which is used for bodhisattvas, devas, and the like?) Incense and the rest are also like this (inquired according to the method). How are the food offerings and the rest (food has superior, middling, and inferior distinctions) and the homa performed? He asks about the order for making offerings to the Buddhas and performing the homa. Listing the rules is the order; this is a general term. How does one present the seats for the deities? (What material should be used for the seats of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, the eight classes, and so forth? How are they offered?) The Dharma teachings, rules, methods, sequences, and ritual procedures all determine the manifest forms, colors, and so forth (manifest refers to the blue, yellow, red, white, etc., of the deities; forms refers to matters of sitting, standing, large, or small; color refers to bodily signs and demeanor, such as joy, laughter, wrath, or peaceful abiding). These are three questions; may you explain them in sequence. The seals and one's own seat that do not conform to the rules (referring to one's own habitual seat for recitation, such as a grass mat; may the Guide explain them). From where do the mudrās arise? For what purpose is the teaching of these mudrās used? (Just as seals are made in the world for kings and others so that people will trust them and not doubt their authenticity, how is it with the Tathāgata's mudrās?) As for the names and titles of the mudrās, how do they obtain them so as to be called mudrās? (He wishes to understand this.) How many kinds of abhiṣeka are there? (He wishes to understand this.) How many kinds of samaya are there? For how long must the practitioner recite? (Accordingly there are three questions.) When a practitioner diligently cultivates the mantra gateway, in how many days can he accomplish the bodhisattva path? May the Omniscient One explain. After how much time should one perceive the truths? (This means attaining true knowledge and vision in the mantra gateway; the time when the meaning is realized.) How many kinds of siddhi are there? (He wishes to understand.) In how much time does siddhi arise? And explain the time of siddhi. (Accordingly there are three questions.) How does one ascend into the great space? How is the body secret? (Accordingly there are two questions.) How does one achieve the body of a celestial sage without relinquishing this body? Once accomplished, how do the various transformations arise? (Meaning that all things are accomplished in accordance with one's thoughts; from where do these arise? From one's own mind? From another?) Who produces the various transformations? Furthermore, from where are they produced? How are the sun, moon, fire, directions, planetary retrogrades, seasonal divisions, and other inauspicious occurrences eliminated? (The sun and moon causing fire calamities, or strange occurrences in the directions. "Mansions" are the twenty-eight lunar mansions; "stars" are the various stars.) And how does one completely eradicate those that arise from suffering the torments of saṃsāra? "Non-being" has the meaning of eradication. How does a practitioner constantly dwell in the same assembly together with all Buddhas? How many kinds of homa are there? Here he asks how many kinds of fire must be used when performing homa; he wishes to know this. "Increasing power within the fire" is the rite of paustika (increase). How many kinds of this increasing power are there? Like flowers and the rest, they are used everywhere. Regarding the natures of the different classes of deities (meaning the forms and types of natures of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and eight classes), one must recognize their fundamental natures—wrathful, peaceful, joyful, and so forth; may the Guide explain them. As for the fruits without remainder in the world and world-transcending, how many are there? What is their count? (World-transcending refers to Buddhas and bodhisattvas; mundane refers to the eight classes and so forth. When they attain siddhi, what are the measure, fruit, and count? There are six questions.) He further asks: What are mundane and world-transcending samādhis? Both possess excellent concentration; together with the former, these make eight. Where are ritual operations accomplished? He asks in what locality one receives the fruit of accomplishment. For those not yet accomplished it is also like this; he asks about non-accomplishment. Furthermore, at what time can one depart from karmic birth and thereby attain liberation? At that time, Vajragarbha, relying on the majestic spiritual power of the Buddhas of the ten directions, spoke verses to question the Buddha, answering the deficiencies of those bodhisattvas who practice mantras, whose essential dharmas and upāyas were not yet complete.