梵網經古迹記 2.73

2.73

The commentary states: This is the third gate, concluding and establishing. Here there are three passages: encouraging non-transgression, revealing the loss and destruction incurred by offense, and admonishing training while indicating the broader exposition. Regarding the first, as the sūtra states, "Those who train well..." down to "...transgress the ten precepts": "train well" excludes the non-wholesome training of non-Buddhists as well as the non-ultimate training of the two vehicles. As fascicle eighty states: "Furthermore, although those śrāvakas have reached culmination, they are not venerated and praised by those devas, humans, and others as is a bodhisattva residing in initial practice cultivating the bodhisattva deeds." Here, "should not violate even a speck of dust's worth" means that although a fault is trifling, when accumulated it becomes great. As a sūtra verse states: "Do not slight a small evil, thinking it brings no calamity; though water drops are minute, they gradually fill a large vessel." Or again, when a foolish person commits a small offense it is heavy, hence one should not transgress even a speck of dust's worth. As a verse states: "A fool falls into evil even with a small sin; the wise escapes suffering even when committing a great sin. Just as a small ball of iron sinks in water, yet when made into a large iron bowl it can float." That is, as the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: "The mind of wisdom is hollow [within], just as a bowl can float." Question: Doing an act intentionally while knowing it is blamed by the world, unlike the acts of a madman which are not blamed. Should it not also be so when the wise and the foolish commit offenses? Why is it light for the wise and heavy for the foolish? Answer: This objection is not so; one reaps what oneself sows, and it is not imposed by another. It is like a madman touching a blade and being harmed, whereas a wise person, though touching it, avoids the edge and suffers no injury. Again, it is like in a dark room: knowing there is a pillar, one touches it lightly; not knowing there is a pillar, one strikes it heavily. The principle of the foolish and the wise committing offenses is also like this. In the Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā, a sin committed by the wise is like throwing salt into a pond, as its verse says: "If a bushel of salt is thrown into a great pond, its flavor does not change; if thrown into a small vessel of water, it is salty, bitter, and undrinkable." Second, regarding the loss and destruction incurred by offense: as the sūtra states, "If anyone violates..." down to "...violate each one." Here, "if one violates them, one cannot generate the bodhicitta in this present life" means that if one commits the ten major offenses and enters the seven impediments, one can never again receive the bodhisattva precepts. The remainder are not like this, since the Yogācārabhūmi and Benye allow receiving them again. Question: If committing a major offense loses the precepts, why does the Benye jing state that for bodhisattva precepts there is a method of receiving but no method of abandoning, and so forth at length? Answer: There are many explanations for this. Master Wŏnhyo says: according to the teaching of the three vehicles, giving rise to the aspiration [for bodhi] entails loss; but if one hears the teaching of the one vehicle, there is never any regression. However, the tenets of the new teaching are difficult to rely upon as definitive. Master Uijŏk says: although the functional efficacy is lost, the seed-substance always remains; the Yogācārabhūmi and Benye state differences respectively. This too is difficult to understand, since the precept-seed of the śrāvaka also always remains. The present explanation accords with the Essentials. As for "also losing the position of a wheel-turning king," etc.: this shows that because the cause is destroyed, the resultant benefit is lost. One will fall into evil destinies, losing and destroying the results of the mundane world and the two vehicles, not to mention the wonderful fruits of the Great Vehicle's three classes of worthies, ten classes of sages, and three bodies. "Buddha-nature" refers to the dharmakāya, by virtue of its substantial nature. "Ever-abiding" applies to the remaining two bodies, because in order, their nature is eternal and their uninterrupted continuity is eternal. "Not hearing the names of parents and the Three Jewels" reveals that there is no one in the mundane or supramundane world who can save them. The rest of the text is easy to understand.