起信論疏筆削記 4.4

4.4

三、釋造字。製作者，揀非撰述也。佛滅等者，明造論時，二五百初，解脫者少，故造此論以被入證也。摩耶等者，準《摩訶衍論》說，有六馬鳴，前後異出：一者、《勝頂王經》說：佛成道十七日，有一外道問難於佛，名曰馬鳴。二者、《摩尼清淨經》說：佛滅後一百年，有一菩薩出世名曰馬鳴。三者、《變化功德經》說：佛滅度後三百年，有一菩薩出世，名曰馬鳴。四者、如疏所引。五者、《常德三昧經》說：佛滅後八百年，有一菩薩出世，名曰馬鳴。六者、《莊嚴三昧經》說：過去有一菩薩，名曰馬鳴。具說有六，今當第四矣。然準《大論》所說，此菩薩道成先劫，號大光明佛，今乃助化，示居八地。父名盧伽，母名瞿那。又名功德日菩薩，如別處明。輩，流類也。

Third, explaining the word "composed" (zao). "Composed" differentiates it from mere compilation. "The Buddha's extinction..." and so forth clarifies the time of the śāstra's composition: at the beginning of the second five-hundred-year period, those who attained liberation were few; therefore he composed this treatise to accommodate their entry into realization. "Māyā..." and so forth: according to the Moheyan lun, there were six Aśvaghoṣas who appeared at different times: First, the Shengdingwang jing states: on the seventeenth day after the Buddha's attainment of the path, a non-Buddhist came to question and challenge the Buddha, named Aśvaghoṣa. Second, the Moni qingjing jing states: one hundred years after the Buddha's nirvirāṇa, a bodhisattva appeared in the world named Aśvaghoṣa. Third, the Bianhua gongde jing states: three hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, a bodhisattva appeared in the world named Aśvaghoṣa. Fourth, as cited in the commentary. Fifth, the Changde sanmei jing states: eight hundred years after the Buddha's extinction, a bodhisattva appeared in the world named Aśvaghoṣa. Sixth, the Zhuangyan sanmei jing states: in the past there was a bodhisattva named Aśvaghoṣa. In full, six are mentioned, and the present author corresponds to the fourth. Yet according to what is stated in the Dazhidu lun, this bodhisattva accomplished the path in an earlier kalpa, named the Great Radiance Buddha; now, to assist in teaching, he manifests his dwelling on the eighth bhūmi. His father's name was Luga, and his mother's name was Guna. He was also named Bodhisattva Puṇyārka (Sun of Merit), as explained elsewhere. Bei means class or category.