四明尊者教行錄 3.60

3.60

Answer: This is using the Tripiṭaka to assist the Mahāyāna. Moreover, that sūtra states: King Puming, relying on the Dharma of the seven past Buddhas, invited one hundred Dharma masters, who expounded the Prajñāpāramitā in eight hundred billion verses twice a day. When this was completed, the first Dharma master spoke verses for the king, which were precisely the four on impermanence and the rest. Is this not a primary proclamation of Prajñā with a secondary elaboration on impermanence? The reason for this is that Puming had been captured by Kalmāṣapāda and was about to face death; fearing that the king harbored lingering attachment to his physical life and realm, the import of the verses urged renunciation of body, realm, and so forth. When they finished hearing the verses, all the kings realized the empty absorption of the three gates—this is still the mark of gaining benefit through the Mahāyāna gate. Thus our school clarifies that the three teachings, such as the shared, all use the Tripiṭaka teaching as an aid to the path—this is precisely what it means.