俱舍論記 11.113

11.113

「上所說劫至為中為大」者，問。其劫量為以壞攝空四十劫名為一劫。為二十成劫為一劫？為約住劫中一下一上一中劫為一劫？為約八十中劫為一大劫？以佛經中或說一中劫為一劫，如無間果。或二十中劫為一劫，如成劫等。或四十中劫為一劫，如梵輔天。或說八十中劫為一劫，如少光天等。由此不同，故為此問。又解：以壞攝空四十劫，以成攝住四十劫。中謂一上下，大謂八十中劫。壞、成雖復時等，乘前論文壞、成起問，故兩種俱說。又解：為壞二十中劫，為成二十中劫，為一上一下中劫為八十大劫。

Regarding "Are the kalpas spoken of above […] medium or great?": this is the question. As for the measure of these kalpas: does it take forty kalpas subsuming destruction and emptiness as one kalpa? Does it take twenty kalpas of formation as one kalpa? Does it take one descent and one ascent within an abiding kalpa—one intermediate kalpa—as one kalpa? Or does it take eighty intermediate kalpas as one great kalpa? For in the Buddha's sūtras, sometimes one intermediate kalpa is spoken of as a kalpa, as with the retribution of Avīci; sometimes twenty intermediate kalpas are a kalpa, as with the formation kalpa and so forth; sometimes forty intermediate kalpas are a kalpa, as with the Brahmapurohita heaven; sometimes eighty intermediate kalpas are spoken of as a kalpa, as with the Parīttābha heaven and so forth. Because of these differences, this question is posed. Another explanation: forty kalpas of destruction subsuming emptiness, and forty kalpas of formation subsuming abiding. "Medium" refers to one ascent and descent; "great" refers to eighty intermediate kalpas. Although destruction and formation are equal in time, following the preceding treatise text where destruction and formation give rise to the question, both kinds are spoken of. Another explanation: whether it is twenty intermediate kalpas of destruction, twenty intermediate kalpas of formation, or one ascent and descent as an intermediate kalpa, or eighty as a great kalpa.