起信論疏筆削記 1.51

1.51

慨此下二句，所歎。初句歎教，無聲之歎曰慨。頹綱者，喻也。圓實之教尋繹既罕，沈廢不行，如大綱既頹，綱目何整，人天魚無其澇漉，佛彼岸何由得致？游泳苦海，無能出期。道之不行，職由斯也。悼斯下，傷迷。悼，傷。淪，沈。溺，沒也。大士見教綱沈，綱頹而不舉，迷徒溺喪，淪而不升，歎之傷之，寧不思救？故經云：我以佛眼觀見六道眾生貧窮無福慧，入生死險道，相續苦不斷，乃至不求大勢佛，及以斷苦法，為是眾生故而起大悲心等。

The two lines from "Lamenting this..." onward are that which is lamented. The first line laments the teaching; a soundless sigh is called lamenting. "The collapsed net" is a metaphor. Since inquiry into the perfect and real teaching was rare and it was submerged, abandoned, and unpracticed, it was like a great net collapsing—how could the meshes of the net be put in order? Without fishing out the fish of gods and humans, by what means could the Buddha's other shore be reached? Swimming in the ocean of suffering, there would be no time of escape. That the Way was not practiced was due precisely to this. From "Grieving over these..." onward, it grieves over the deluded. "Grieving" means lamenting. "Sinking" means going down. "Drowning" means being submerged. When the Great Being saw the net of the teaching submerged and collapsed without being hoisted, and the deluded followers drowning and perishing, sinking without ascending, sighing and grieving over them, how could he not think of rescuing them? Thus a sūtra says: "With my Buddha-eye I observe the sentient beings of the six destinies, impoverished and lacking merit and wisdom, entering the perilous paths of saṃsāra, their suffering continuing without break, up to their not seeking the Buddha of great power or the dharmas that sever suffering; for the sake of these sentient beings, I give rise to a mind of great compassion," and so forth.