西方合論 10.16

10.16

九、疑城胎生者，元魏譯曰：「若有眾生，墮于疑悔，積集善根希求佛智、普遍智、不思議智、無等智、威德智、廣大智，於自善根不能生信，由聞佛名起信心故，以此因緣於五百歲處花胎中，猶如苑觀宮殿之想，不見佛，不聞法，是名胎生。」魏譯曰：「不了佛智，然猶信罪福，修習善本，願生其國，是故胎生。」宋譯曰：「眾生所種善根，不能離相，不求佛慧，妄生分別，深著世樂，人間福報，是故胎生。」王氏本曰：「若有眾生，修諸功德，願生彼剎，後復疑悔，不信有彼佛剎，不信作善得福。其人雖爾，續有念心，暫信暫不信，臨命終時，佛乃化現其身，令彼目見。以心悔故，其過差少，亦生彼剎，是謂胎生。」今按前二譯，但不信自性，不了佛智，名胎生故。宋譯則直言修善求生人天者為胎生，極樂國中無胎生故。若王氏則又以不信佛剎，不信罪福，暫信暫不信為胎生，異前譯中聞名起信，及修習善本二種往生。大約淨土中，略言九品，廣言千萬品，亦不能盡。如今生人中者，種種福報，種種罪業，各各不同，是故諸譯雖互異，皆為實語。就中元魏譯，旨趣尤奧，以不信自善根故，依他起信即是疑城。信自善根者，即頓了自心不從他得，以入悟方能脫疑。是故未悟而修，終隔疑胎。胎以裹蔽為義，未悟之人，諸障未徹，合得是報。此等當在中下、下上品攝，何故？下品後二種，經歷六劫、十二劫方得花開，此但五百歲故。若如王本，則信佛猛利未若最後二種。又所生在其剎邊地，不應五百歲得見佛故。

Ninth, regarding the womb-birth in the City of Doubt: The Yuan Wei translation says: "If there are sentient beings who fall into doubt and regret, yet accumulate roots of goodness to seek the Buddha's wisdom, universal wisdom, inconceivable wisdom, incomparable wisdom, majestic and virtuous wisdom, and vast wisdom, but cannot generate faith in their own roots of goodness, and yet generate faith through hearing the Buddha's name—due to these causes and conditions, they dwell for five hundred years within the calyx of a flower, with the perception of seeing parks, towers, and palaces, but do not see the Buddha and do not hear the Dharma. This is called womb-birth." The Cao Wei translation says: "They do not comprehend the Buddha's wisdom, yet they still believe in sin and merit, cultivate good roots, and vow to be born in that land; therefore they take womb-birth." The Song translation says: "Sentient beings who plant roots of goodness but cannot transcend characteristics, do not seek the Buddha's wisdom, falsely generate discrimination, and deeply cling to worldly pleasures and human karmic rewards—therefore they take womb-birth." The recension of Mr. Wang says: "If there are sentient beings who cultivate various meritorious deeds and vow to be born in that realm, but later have doubts and regrets, not believing that that Buddha-realm exists and not believing that doing good brings merit; yet although that person is like this, they continue to have a mindful heart, temporarily believing and temporarily disbelieving; when they approach the end of life, the Buddha manifests his body by transformation, enabling them to see it with their own eyes; because of their repentant mind, their fault is lessened, and they are also born in that realm: this is called womb-birth." Now, according to the former two translations, it is simply not believing in one's own svabhāva and not comprehending the Buddha's wisdom that is called womb-birth. The Song translation, on the other hand, directly states that those who cultivate goodness seeking birth among humans and devas take womb-birth, for there is no womb-birth in Sukhāvatī. Mr. Wang's version, moreover, takes disbelieving in the Buddha-realm, disbelieving in sin and merit, and temporarily believing and temporarily disbelieving as womb-birth, which differs from the two kinds of rebirth in the earlier translations—arousing faith upon hearing the name, and cultivating roots of goodness. Roughly speaking, in the Pure Land, briefly one speaks of nine grades, but extensively one could speak of millions of grades without exhausting them. Just as those born among humans today have diverse karmic rewards and diverse sinful karmas, each different, so although the various translations differ from one another, they are all true words. Among them, the Yuan Wei translation's import is especially profound: because of not believing in one's own roots of goodness, generating faith dependent on another is itself the City of Doubt. One who believes in their own roots of goodness immediately and completely understands that one's own mind is not obtained from another; only by attaining awakening can one shed doubt. Therefore, cultivating without having awakened ultimately leaves one confined in the womb of doubt. "Womb" carries the meaning of being enveloped and obstructed; for an unawakened person, the various obstacles are not yet penetrated, so they properly receive this retribution. These should be subsumed under the middle-lower and lower-upper grades. Why? Because the latter two kinds of the lower grade must pass six kalpas or twelve kalpas before their flowers open, whereas this is only five hundred years. If it were as in Wang's version, then their fierce faith in the Buddha would not match that of the last two kinds. Furthermore, being born on the borderland of that realm, they should not be able to see the Buddha in five hundred years.