起信論疏筆削記 18.38

18.38

乃至等者，以小況大，意云：小罪尚須生畏，大過豈得安然？超越之言故云乃至。欲作即怖，已作即畏，畏墮苦故。慚天愧人，故云慚愧。又慚謂崇重賢善，愧謂輕拒暴惡。改悔者，改於往過，別修善業，悔前所作，憶恨在心。不得輕戒者，如《菩薩戒》說，於十重戒中犯微塵許罪，便不得發菩提心，失比丘位、國王位乃至佛位。仍二劫三劫墮三塗中，不聞父母三寶名字，何況具足犯十戒也。故戒序云：莫輕小罪以為無殃，水滴雖微，漸盈大器，剎那造罪，殃墜無間。故《涅槃》中有浮囊之譬，故知佛所制戒，豈得輕而犯之？疏　攝善法者，依此戒約，則一切善法自然攝取。護戒心者，謂夕惕若厲，造次弗離，護之若珠，纖毫無犯也。

[On the treatise's words,] "even to [the smallest]" and so forth: this illustrates the great by means of the small. The idea is: if one must still give rise to dread over small transgressions, how could one remain at ease over great offenses? Because it is an expression of leaping [from lesser to greater], it says "even to." When about to commit [a transgression], one feels dread; having committed it, one feels fear, because one fears falling into suffering. Feeling shame toward heaven and guilt toward humans is why it says "shame and guilt." Furthermore, "shame" (can) means honoring and respecting the virtuous and good, while "guilt" (kui) means despising and rejecting violence and evil. "Repenting and reforming" means reforming past errors and cultivating distinct wholesome karmas, regretting what was previously done with mindful remorse in one's heart. Regarding "must not take the precepts lightly": as stated in the *Bodhisattva Precepts*, if one commits an offense as minute as a speck of dust regarding the ten major precepts, one immediately cannot generate the bodhicitta, losing one's status as a monk, as a king, and even up to the status of a Buddha. Furthermore, for two or three kalpas one falls into the three evil destinies, not hearing the names of parents or the Three Jewels—how much more so if one violates all ten precepts completely! Thus the Precept Preface states: "Do not make light of small offenses, thinking they bring no calamity; though water drops are tiny, they gradually fill a great vessel; committing an offense in a single kṣaṇa brings calamity that drops one into the Avīci [Hell]." Thus in the *Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra* there is the parable of the floating bladder; hence we know: regarding the precepts formulated by the Buddha, how could one take them lightly and transgress them? Commentary: "The [precepts of] embracing wholesome dharmas": relying on this restraint of the precepts, all wholesome dharmas are naturally embraced. "Guarding the precept-mind": it means being vigilant as if facing danger even at dusk, never parting from it even in moments of haste, guarding it like a pearl, without transgressing in the slightest.