大毘盧遮那成佛經疏 18.5

18.5

Next is keeping the precept against false speech: [The sūtra says,] "Through false speech for the purpose of maintaining life throughout one's days, / One should keep the precept against false speech throughout one's entire lifespan (reading the syntax in reverse order). / Even for the sake of preserving one's life, one should not engage in false speech; / To do so is to deceive the bodhi of the buddhas. / Lord of Secrets! This is called the bodhisattva abiding in the supreme Great Vehicle. / If one speaks falsely, one transgresses the bodhi of the buddhas. / Therefore, Lord of Secrets! / This Dharma gateway should be understood in this manner: / Abandoning deeds of false speech which ought not to be done; / This is called not deceiving the bodhi of all buddhas. / Lord of Secrets! For the bodhisattva in the supreme Great Vehicle, / If one speaks falsely, one transgresses and loses the bodhi of the buddhas. / Lord of Secrets! This Dharma gateway should be understood in this manner: / Not abandoning truthful speech." This is the fourth precept. "For the purpose of maintaining life" refers to matters such as various types of fame and gain, or on account of food and drink, clothing, imprisonment, distress, and hardship of such kinds. If one were to speak falsely, one's physical life would be preserved; if one were not to do so, one's contingent body would not survive. Hence it is called "reasons for maintaining life." Even if a bodhisattva faces such circumstances, at that time they do not give rise to a single thought of wanting to deceive another, much less apply skillful means to do so. Generally speaking, there are eight unnoble expressions and eight noble expressions: namely, saying one has seen when one has not seen; saying one has heard, felt, or known when one has not heard, felt, or known; saying one has not seen when one has seen; and saying one has not heard, felt, or known when one has heard, felt, or known. These are the eight unnoble expressions. The reverse of these are called the eight noble expressions: namely, saying one has seen when one has seen (and the other three likewise), and saying one has not seen when one has not seen (and the other three likewise), as explained in the Vinaya. As for the major precept against false speech in the fivefold division [of precepts], if a bodhisattva violates it in this way, it constitutes slandering the bodhi of the buddhas. Why is this? Bodhi is strictly the real meaning, whereas this is the cause of deceit and falsehood, running directly counter to it; therefore it is called "destroying bodhi." Furthermore, because the Tathāgata has cultivated truthfulness and sincerity for immeasurable kalpas, whatever he speaks is accepted with faith by all people. Even when he expounds inconceivable dharmas that are beyond the reach of their ordinary minds, hard to believe and hard to understand, because of the Buddha's truthfulness for immeasurable kalpas, people also believe them. Now, if a bodhisattva deceives sentient beings, that constitutes producing the conditions for their deceiving the Dharma, which also destroys bodhi. Therefore, a bodhisattva who abides in this supreme Great Vehicle stage of mantra practice must not give rise to a single thought of deceiving another or produce its various conditions. The marks are fully explained in the Vinaya; if one transgresses, one falls away from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Here too there should be skillful-means speech adapted to their category, which is omitted in the text. As expounded in the Great Text on Bodhisattva Precepts: There was a woman who killed her father and mother. Having committed this unpardonable karma, she thought to herself, "Because of this evil karma of mine, I will definitely enter the unpardonable hell. Since this ultimate evil has already been committed, what wholesome Dharma could ever approach me?" For this reason, she would no longer reform her faults and cultivate the good, but merely sat silently with folded hands awaiting punishment. The bodhisattva used various means to encourage her to repent and cultivate goodness, even telling her, "In the Mahāyāna teachings there are skillful means capable of extinguishing this sin." Yet she never accepted it with faith. The bodhisattva generated great compassion and miraculously transformed himself into a woman who went to lodge with her, saying of her own accord, "I too have committed such deeds." That woman thought to herself, "Have others committed this deed as well? Now that I have a companion, we can dwell together." After a long time passed in this manner, that transformed person gradually used skillful means, wishing to repent and cultivate goodness together with her. But she would not follow her words, saying, "If you definitely wish to do so, then go ahead; but I think to myself that in the end it will be of no benefit." Thereupon, that transformed person, while dwelling together with her, showed herself performing wholesome deeds, gradually obtaining the benefits of the Dharma, and displaying great spiritual penetrations for her to see, telling her, "Now that I cultivate goodness, my former sins have been extinguished and I have now attained this Dharma. If the sinful karma could not be extinguished through the Dharma, how could I have achieved such things?" The woman gave rise to a feeling of wonder, saying, "She committed the same offense as I did. Since she was able to eliminate it, why should I not do so?" Consequently, she practiced together with her. The bodhisattva used skillful means to transform her; the defilement of her sins was eliminated, and she gradually entered the Buddha-Dharma. This is how, by virtue of wisdom and skillful means, a bodhisattva can uphold the precepts in this way, which is not shared by the two vehicles or worldly people. Furthermore, the Saṃghāṭa-sūtra explains: There was a gentleman whose wife was charming, graceful, and exceptionally beloved by him. Later, when she passed away, his affection could not let go, and he continually carried her corpse as he walked, even when it dried up and decayed, refusing to discard it. The bodhisattva, unable to convert him, transformed himself into a woman who also carried a man's corpse, saying, "This person was my beloved. Although his life has ended, my affection cannot be severed, and so I continually carry him." The man thought to himself, "This person is my companion, doing the same thing as I am." Consequently, they lived together. Later, the bodhisattva watched for a skillful opportunity and threw both corpses into the Gaṅgā River. When the woman and the man searched for the corpses, they suddenly could find neither, and she lamented resentfully, "We carried them even until they dried up and decayed. Now that they have encountered another partner, they have formed an attachment to each other and abandoned us. One must understand that affection cannot be relied upon! If even ghosts are like this, how much more so the living?" Seeing this matter, the man's longing immediately ceased, and he gave rise to the aspiration to revile desire and cultivate the path. Because the bodhisattva possesses such wisdom and skillful means, he practiced deceit; it was not done with an evil mind.