華嚴經內章門等雜孔目章 2.71

2.71

First, sūtra: in this land it is called 'thread', also called 'accordant scripture', also called 'bubbling spring'. Geya scriptures: here translated as 'repeating verse scriptures'. Gāthā: here translated as 'non-repeating verse scriptures'. Vyākaraṇa: here translated as 'prophecy scriptures'. Udāna: here translated as 'scriptures spoken without request'. Nidāna: here translated as 'causal condition scriptures'. Avadāna: here translated as 'parable scriptures'. Itivṛttaka: here translated as 'past events scriptures'. Jātaka: here translated as 'birth story scriptures'. Vaipulya: here translated as 'expansive scriptures', also called 'equal and expansive scriptures'. Adbhutadharma: here translated as 'unprecedented scriptures'. Upadeśa: here translated as 'treatise scriptures'. Scriptures take five dharmas as their essence, namely sound, name, syllable, phrase, and verse. Question: Composition constitutes the essence of verses, and verses use phrases for their composition, so there are only four dharmas; why do you now say that five dharmas constitute their essence? Answer: According to the Hīnayāna, there is no separate verse apart from composition constituting its essence, so there are only four dharmas. Now, according to the Mahāyāna, following different conditions and distinctions, the principle is likewise not one; therefore, following phenomena, five dharmas can constitute their essence. In the deluded-dharma Hīnayāna, based on teaching as real, they are subsumed under the truth of suffering. Why? Because they esteem the principle of non-self and disparage phenomenal teachings. In the Mahāyāna initial teaching, they are the meaning of emptiness and are the true nature. Why? Because they harmonize phenomena into principle and serve well as causal conditions for principle. In the meaning of the final teaching, all are true thusness. In the Ekayāna inexhaustible teaching, they are inexhaustible, not merely twelve. The remaining meanings are as in a separate essay.