[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [請觀音經疏闡義鈔](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801) › 3.3 # 請觀音經疏闡義鈔 3.3 請觀音經疏闡義鈔 3.3 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.3) 「西方去此」等者，語出《大經》。彼文乃是東方不動世界，指此娑婆云西方去此二十恒河沙。若論安養，即如《小彌陀經》云過十萬億佛土也。今但借其語勢以為難辭。「何故」下，問也。「一解」下，答也。他解：約應而失於機，故不取也。今解不爾者，據佛對告長者云去此不遠，乃約機緣，不同他人約應論不遠也。「雖近而遠」者，如舍衛三億不見不聞，其猶八音至近，瞶者不聞。「雖遠必應」者，如今月蓋祈請，三聖即降。有若天月至遠，水清即現。時，謂時節。方，即方所。數，謂數法。佛教所談其理寂絕，無時方數，故五陰、十八本持、十二入之法不能攝也。若外道法中計有時等，即為三科所攝。後漢安世高翻經，謂十八界為本持也。 > Regarding "To the west from here..." and so forth: these words come from the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. That text refers to the Akṣobhya world in the east, pointing toward this Sahā world and saying: "To the west, twenty Ganges sands away from here..." If discussing Sukhāvatī, it is as the Short Amitābha Sūtra says, "past a hundred thousand kotis of Buddha lands." Here it merely borrows that rhetorical momentum to pose an objection. From "Why?" below is the question. From "One explanation" below is the answer. Other explanations interpret it in terms of response and thus lose the capacity of beings, so they are not adopted. Our present explanation is not like that: based on the Buddha's addressing the elder that it is not far from here, it is based on the capacity and conditions, unlike others who discuss "not far" in terms of response. "Although near, it is far": just as the three hundred million of Śrāvastī neither saw nor heard \[the Buddha\], it is like the eight sounds being extremely close, yet the deaf cannot hear them. "Although far, there must be a response": just as now when Candraprabha prays, the three sages descend. It is like the celestial moon being extremely far, yet appearing as soon as the water is clear. "Time" means the seasons and periods. "Direction" means location. "Number" means numerical reckonings. The principle expounded in the Buddha's teaching is profoundly transcendent, devoid of time, direction, or number; therefore, the phenomena of the five aggregates, the eighteen fundamental supports (dhātus), and the twelve sense bases cannot encompass it. If in non-Buddhist teachings they posit the existence of time and so forth, they are encompassed by the three categories. When An Shigao translated sūtras in the Later Han, he called the eighteen realms (dhātus) "fundamental supports." > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.2) - [Next: 3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.4) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801~en-mt.3.3) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.3) · Pramāṇa