[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [大乘起信論義疏](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1843) › 1.6 # 大乘起信論義疏 1.6 大乘起信論義疏 1.6 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1843.1.6) 言「馬鳴菩薩造」者，是為題其論主名也。亦釋幡者，如龍樹論釋「所以菩薩造此論者，佛滅度後，正法之時，大聖去近，人根厚信，故無異端。七百歲後，大聖去遠，聖弟子眾遂佛滅度，人根薄信。以世衰故，外道異端競興於世，所謂青同仙人出《建陀論》二十卷，過去無因為宗；黃頭仙人出《闡陀論》自然為宗，及《衛世師論》第十八部是也。於時有沙門釋子，號曰法勝，對破外道故，依《毘婆娑廣論》西方沙門及薩婆多，抄出二百五十行偈，造出四卷毘曇。雖然人根薄心鈍故，《毘婆沙廣論》不能受持；四卷其略，不得義理；是故須出《達磨多羅廣論》之中，依西方沙門義與譬喻義，加二百五十行偈，抄以用造作《雜心》十一卷論也。」故論初言「極略難解知，極廣令智退。我今處中說，廣說義莊嚴。」此二論主并宣有相之教，令退異乘，因緣為宗。雖明空理，但法上橫計定性不定法體。「又後八百九十歲後，出呵梨跋摩，前雖造論，滅邪外道，觀有相故，不得聖道。依《毘婆沙》此方沙門義與曇無德義，造《成實論》二十卷也。《廣論》之中偏宣無相之教，明生法二空，觀空得道為宗。雖三論主造論宣通，猶謂六識名相之事，非題極理；而眾人等競習此論，執為究竟，興弘於世，將欲隱沒牟尼大意。是故復出馬鳴菩薩，愍傷眾生拕非人流，感𭆖佛出極意潛沒，依《楞伽經》造出《起信論》一卷也。雖文略少，義無不盡。八識常住為體、修行趣入為宗。習六七識妄故修盡，拔眾人等執究根原，釋八九識真故湛然，示迷方類趣入處也。」造意如是。 > As for "Composed by Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa": this is to state the name of the treatise master. It is also an explanation of the banner, as in Nāgārjuna's treatise commentary: "As for why the bodhisattva composed this treatise: after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, during the era of the True Dharma, the Great Sage was not long gone, and people's capacities possessed deep faith; thus there were no divergent heresies. After seven hundred years, the Great Sage was long gone, the assembly of holy disciples had followed the Buddha into nirvāṇa, and people's capacities possessed shallow faith. Because the world was in decline, non-Buddhist divergent heresies competed in arising in the world: namely, the Green-Eye ṛṣi produced the Gandha-śāstra in twenty fascicles, taking past absence of cause as its doctrine; the Yellow-Head ṛṣi produced the Chanda-śāstra, taking spontaneity as its doctrine; as well as the eighteenth school of the Vaiśeṣika-śāstra. At that time, there was a śramaṇa disciple of Śākya named Dharmaśreṣṭhin. To refute the non-Buddhists, relying on the Western śramaṇas of the Great Vibhāṣā-śāstra and the Sarvāstivāda, he extracted two hundred and fifty lines of verse and composed a four-fascicle abhidharma. However, because people's capacities were shallow and their minds dull, they could not uphold the Great Vibhāṣā-śāstra; yet the four fascicles were so concise that they could not grasp the essential meaning. Therefore it was necessary to extract from within the Dharmatrāta-mahā-śāstra, relying on the tenets of the Western śramaṇas and the Sautrāntika tenets, adding two hundred and fifty lines of verse, extracting them to compose the eleven-fascicle Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya-śāstra." Therefore the beginning of that treatise states: "The extremely concise is difficult to understand, while the extremely extensive causes wisdom to withdraw. Now I shall speak moderately, adorning it with an extensive explanation of meaning." These two treatise masters both proclaimed the teaching of existent marks in order to turn back divergent vehicles, taking causes and conditions as their doctrine. Although they clarified the principle of emptiness, they merely fabricated fixed natures upon phenomena without settling the essence of dharmas. "Furthermore, eight hundred or nine hundred years later, Harivarman appeared. Although treatises had previously been composed to eliminate heretical non-Buddhists, because they contemplated existent marks, they could not attain the noble path. Relying on the tenets of the śramaṇas of this region in the Vibhāṣā and the tenets of the Dharmaguptaka, he composed the twenty-fascicle Tattvasiddhi-śāstra. In that extensive treatise, he exclusively proclaimed the teaching of marklessness, clarifying the two emptinesses of persons and dharmas, and taking the attainment of the path through contemplating emptiness as doctrine. Although these three treatise masters composed treatises and propagated them, they still spoke of the matters of names and marks of the six consciousnesses, not designating the ultimate principle; yet people competed in studying these treatises, grasping them as ultimate, propagating them widely in the world, about to obscure the great intent of Muni. Therefore, Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa again appeared; pitying sentient beings who were carried away into non-human currents, and lamenting that the Buddha's ultimate intent had submerged, he relied on the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra to compose the one-fascicle Awakening of Faith. Although its text is brief, its meaning is entirely comprehensive. It takes the eternal presence of the eight consciousnesses as essence, and cultivation and entry as principal theme. Practicing to eliminate the delusion of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses entirely through cultivation, uprooting the attachments of people to the ultimate root source, it explains that the eighth and ninth consciousnesses are true and therefore serene, pointing out the place of entry for those who have lost their way." Such was the intention behind its composition. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1843.1.5) - [Next: 1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1843.1.7) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1843.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1843~en-mt.1.6) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1843.1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1843.1.6) · Pramāṇa