菩薩戒本疏 1.2

1.2

The Bodhisattva-prātimokṣa of the Brahmajāla-sūtra is indeed the grand model for the manifestation [of Buddhas] throughout the three times, and the essential gateway for the seven assemblies to enter the stages. For this reason, those who have written commentaries and partitioned its sections number more than ten masters. Among those that survive today, there are only Fazang, Tiantai, Mingkuang, and Taehyeon; the rest have all become lost works. Alas, how lamentable! The compositions of these four masters each possess their own distinct excellence, like orchids and chrysanthemums; and the disciples of the precepts in this world mostly adhere to Master Taehyeon. Yet in his commentary he frequently cites the two commentaries of Fazang and Uijeok, indefatigably adducing them to verify meanings and explain the text. Among widely read scholars, few indeed have not turned to look into them. It was only to be regretted that while Fazang's commentary survived, Uijeok's commentary had already perished. I once visited the sūtra repository of Chanlin in Luodong, where I chanced to pay homage to a surviving volume; having suffered long from the passage of time, it was considerably moth-eaten and damaged, and through repeated copying many omissions had also accumulated. I searched far and wide for a complete edition, but no one dared report one, and so I sighed over this for many a winter and summer. To the north of the city was Dharma Master Hongyuan, who had long preserved this commentary and kept it secretly as a family treasure. Once, upon reading my moth-eaten volume, he supplemented the lost passages, and from this a complete edition was first obtained. On another day, a carver of printing blocks came with that moth-eaten volume in his sleeve, saying: 'If you would kindly mend it, I will commit it to print.' Delighted to broaden its transmission, I thereupon undertook its revision and repair. Vinaya Master Bian of Mi'yan then promptly added the phonetic glosses and collated the various editions to give them to the carver, and when the book was finished, he requested a preface. In the midst of my rejoicing, forgetting my own unworthiness, I forthwith recorded the circumstances from beginning to end to serve as a prefix to the head of the commentary. May its circulation be unimpeded, and may it be transmitted far to the time of the Dragon Flower!