四分律行事鈔資持記 1.62

1.62

正明中，初科，前二句標難。上句指佛心，下句即祖意。何下，釋難裁所以，初徵。原下，釋。上二句約人推教，則教密難裁；又下，就教推機，而機差叵究。原亦推也，窮即極也。眾生性欲，唯佛窮盡；隨宜授道，毫釐不差；既出聖謀，故非凡測。若取偶對，上句對下，合云識病之人；下句對上，合云受法之器；法喻互舉，語簡義彰。所以下，雙結。扣音口，亦去呼，擊也。方謂方所。如來立法，量同空界；群生萬類，無不沾益；故其所利，不在一隅，故曰無方。既其無方，則非思議所能及，故云豈可等。

Under the direct explanation, in the first section, the first two sentences indicate the difficulty. The upper sentence refers to the Buddha's mind, and the lower sentence refers to the Patriarch's intent. The text beginning with "Why..." explains the reason why it is difficult to determine, first questioning. The text beginning with "Tracing..." explains it. The first two sentences deduce the teaching from the person, showing that the teaching is subtle and difficult to determine; the next sentence deduces the capacity from the teaching, showing that differences in capacities are impossible to exhaustively probe. Yuan also means to deduce, and qiong means to take to the limit. The nature and inclinations of sentient beings are exhaustively known by the Buddha alone; adapting to their needs, he imparts the path without an iota of error; since it issues from the Sage's design, it cannot be fathomed by ordinary people. If considered as parallel couplets, the upper sentence corresponds to the lower, meaning "the person who discerns the disease"; the lower sentence corresponds to the upper, meaning "the vessel that receives the Dharma"; principle and metaphor are mutually raised, with concise language and evident meaning. The text beginning with "Therefore..." concludes both. The character kou is pronounced kou, or in the departing tone, meaning to strike. Fang means location. The Tathāgata's establishment of the Dharma is as vast as empty space; of the myriad kinds of living beings, none fail to receive its benefit; therefore what it benefits is not restricted to one corner, hence it says "limitless." Since it is limitless, it is beyond what thought and deliberation can reach, hence it says "How could it be..." and so forth.