佛祖統紀 5.4

5.4

止觀論之辭曰。行人若聞付法藏。則識宗元。付法藏人。始迦葉終師子。二十三人。末田地與商那同時。取之則二十四人。諸師皆金口所記（事出輔行）並是聖人能多利益（按法藏經。我滅度後。有二十四尊者。出現於世。流傳我法）輔行云。像末四依弘宣佛化傳中既云並是聖人。故多是四依。亦可通於三二。以初依屬凡。不得名聖也（妙玄云。五品六根為初依。十住為二依。十行十向為三依。十地等覺為四依。此約大乘論四依。若涅槃經云。有四種人能護正法為世所依。初依小乘內外凡。二依初果。三依二三果。四依四果。此約小乘論四依。今言付法。乃是大乘。故輔行所言。是大乘四依也。言傳中者。即付法藏傳。一根名付法藏因緣經）今論祖承傳大法。而毱多諸祖。云證小果者。準荊溪意。謂四果是真福田。化道易行。宜作此像。即是四依為四果像。是知金口諸師皆破無明位在四依。內弘大法而外示小像。為明付法撰二十四祖紀。

The treatise of the *Zhiguan* says: 'If practitioners hear of the transmission of the Dharma treasury, they will know the source of the lineage. Those who transmitted the Dharma treasury began with Kāśyapa and ended with Āryasiṃha, numbering twenty-three people. Madhyāntika was contemporary with Śāṇakavāsa; including him, there are twenty-four people. All masters were prophesied by the golden mouth (the matter appears in the *Fuxing*), and all were sages capable of bringing great benefit.' (Examining the *Sūtra on the Dharma Treasury*, it says: 'After my extinction, there will be twenty-four venerables who appear in the world and disseminate my Dharma.') The *Fuxing* says: 'In the semblance and final [Dharma ages], the four reliances broadly propagate the Buddha's transformation.' Since the *Account* says they were all sages, most of them were of the fourth reliance, though it may also extend to the third or second, because the first reliance pertains to ordinary mortals and cannot be called sages. (The *Miaoxuan* says: 'The five grades and six sense organs are the first reliance; the ten stages of abiding are the second reliance; the ten practices and ten dedications are the third reliance; the ten stages and equal awakening are the fourth reliance.' This discusses the four reliances in terms of the Mahāyāna. If according to the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra*, it says: 'There are four kinds of persons who can protect the True Dharma and serve as reliances for the world: the first reliance is the internal and external ordinary mortals of the Hīnayāna; the second reliance is the first fruit; the third reliance is the second and third fruits; the fourth reliance is the fourth fruit.' This discusses the four reliances in terms of the Hīnayāna. Now speaking of transmitting the Dharma, it is Mahāyāna; hence what the *Fuxing* states refers to the Mahāyāna four reliances. What is referred to as 'in the Account' is the *Account of the Transmission of the Dharma Treasury*, an alternate title of which is the *Sūtra on the Causes and Conditions of the Transmission of the Dharma Treasury*.) Now, in discussing the ancestral succession transmitting the Great Dharma, while patriarchs like Upagupta are said to have verified the lesser fruits, according to Jīngxī's meaning, the four fruits are true fields of merit, and the way of transformation is easily practiced through them; thus it was fitting to assume this image. That is, those of the four reliances assumed the image of the four fruits. From this we know that all the masters of the golden mouth destroyed ignorance and occupied the rank of the four reliances, inwardly propagating the Great Dharma while outwardly manifesting the image of the lesser [vehicle]. In order to clarify the transmission of the Dharma, the Record of the Twenty-Four Patriarchs has been compiled.