法界次第初門 3.84

3.84

次諸三昧而辯陀羅尼門者，若依論解三昧，但是心相應法。陀羅尼，或心相應、或不相應，故異於三昧。若《法華》所明普現色身三昧，猶是解一切眾生語言陀羅尼。以三昧、陀羅尼既是相成之法，故次而辯之。此五百通名陀羅尼者，陀羅尼是西土之言，此土翻云能持，或言能遮。言能持者，集種種善法，持令不散不失。譬如完器盛水，水不漏散。能遮者，惡不善根生，能遮不令起，故云能遮。又翻為總持，隨有若名若義、若行地功德，皆悉能持，故名總持。今此五百並有持、遮總持之義，故通名陀羅尼。陀羅尼者，略說則有五百，廣明則有八萬四千，乃至無量，悉是菩薩諸佛所得法門，名義皆不與二乘人共也。今依《大智度論》略辯三陀羅尼，以成次第章門。五百之數名義既多，豈可具辯？

As for explaining the gate of dhāraṇīs next after the various samādhis: if one explains samādhi according to the treatises, it is only a mental concomitant dharma. Dhāraṇī may be either associated with mind or dissociated [from mind]; hence it is distinct from samādhi. If one considers the samādhi of universally manifesting physical bodies explained in the Lotus Sūtra, it is still the dhāraṇī of understanding the languages of all sentient beings. Because samādhi and dhāraṇī are dharmas that mutually accomplish each other, they are explained in succession. Regarding these five hundred being collectively termed dhāraṇīs: dhāraṇī is a word from the Western regions; in this land it is translated as 'able to retain', or it is said to mean 'able to avert'. Saying that it is 'able to retain' means that it gathers various wholesome dharmas and retains them, preventing them from scattering or being lost, just as an undamaged vessel holds water so that the water does not leak or scatter. 'Able to avert' means that when unwholesome and unvirtuous roots arise, it is able to avert them and prevent them from arising; hence it is called 'able to avert'. It is also translated as 'total retention': whatever names, meanings, or merits of the stages of practice there may be, it is completely able to retain them; hence it is named 'total retention'. Now these five hundred all possess the meanings of retaining, averting, and total retention, and are therefore collectively termed dhāraṇīs. As for dhāraṇīs, if explained briefly there are five hundred; if elucidated extensively there are eighty-four thousand, up to an immeasurable number. All are Dharma-gates attained by bodhisattvas and the Buddhas, whose names and meanings are not shared with the practitioners of the two vehicles. Now, relying on the Da zhidu lun, three dhāraṇīs are briefly explained to complete the sequence of chapter sections. Since the names and meanings of the five hundred are so numerous, how could they all be explained in detail?