因明入正理論疏 1.6

1.6

There was the Bodhisattva Diṅnāga, acclaimed as epoch-making, one of the thousand buddhas of the Fortunate Kalpa. Hiding his traces in rocky groves and dwelling on mountain crags in meditative absorption, he observed the advantages and disadvantages of composition and weighed the abundance and conciseness of the texts and their meanings. At that time, the cliffs and valleys roared, the clouds and mists changed their colors, and a mountain spirit held up the Bodhisattva's feet several hundred feet high, proclaiming: 'The Buddha's exposition of hetuvidyā is profound, subtle, and difficult to fathom. After the Tathāgata's parinirvāṇa, the great meaning was lost. Now, through your far-reaching merit and wisdom, you have deeply penetrated the sage's intention; we pray that you once again propagate the path of hetuvidyā.' The Bodhisattva then emitted a spiritual light, illuminating those who had the capacity to respond. At that time, the king of the Andhra kingdom in southern India, seeing the light shine, suspected he had entered the vajra-like samādhi and requested him to realize the fruit of no-further-learning. The Bodhisattva said: 'I entered absorption to observe so that I may explain the profound sūtras. My mind aspires to great awakening, not to the small fruit.' The king said: 'The fruit of no-further-learning is that toward which all the sages look up; I ask the venerable one to realize it quickly.' As the Bodhisattva was consoling him and wishing to comply with the king's request, the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī warned him by snapping his fingers, saying: 'Why abandon the great mind and just now give rise to small aspiration? If you wish to bring extensive benefit, you should transmit the Yogācārabhūmi spoken by Maitreya to correct the collapsing guidelines, and you may compose [treatises on] hetuvidyā to reconstruct the rules.' Diṅnāga reverently accepted his guidance and acted in accordance with it. Thereupon, meditating deeply and investigating thoroughly, he composed the Nyāyamukha. 'Nyāya' refers to the fundamental and true substance and meaning of all phenomena. 'Mukha' (gate) refers to that from which the balancing scale illuminates and understands.