唐護法沙門法琳別傳 1.6

1.6

詔問。遂陳對曰。琳聞。至道絕言。豈九流能辯。法身無像。非十翼所詮。但以四趣茫茫漂淪欲海。三界蠢蠢顛墜邪山。諸子迷以自焚。凡夫溺而不出。大聖為之興世。至人所以降靈。遂開解脫之門。示以安隱之路。於是剎利王種。辭恩愛而出家。天竺貴族。捨榮華而入道。是以悉達太子。去袞龍之衣。就福田之服。誓出二種生死。志求一妙涅槃。弘道以報四恩。育德以資三有。此其利益也。案佛本行。經剃髮出家品偈云。

imperial question. He then presented his reply, saying: 'Falin has heard: The ultimate Dao is beyond words—how could the Nine Schools debate it? The dharmakāya is without form—it is not something the Ten Wings can elucidate. It is only because the four destinies are vast and beings drift into the ocean of desire, and the three realms wriggle and fall headlong into the mountain of heterodoxy; the sons are deluded and burn themselves, while ordinary mortals drown and cannot get out, that the Great Sage arose in the world, and the Perfect Man descended in spirit. He thereupon opened the gates of liberation and showed the path of tranquility. Thereupon, those of the kṣatriya royal lineage renounced love and affection to go forth from the household; the noble clans of India abandoned glory and splendor to enter the Dao. Thus Prince Siddhārtha cast off the imperial dragon robes to take up the robes of the puṇyakṣetra, vowing to escape the two kinds of birth and death, and aspiring to seek the single wondrous nirvāṇa; propagating the Dao to repay the four debts of gratitude, and nurturing virtue to benefit the three existences. This is its benefit. The chapter on Shaving the Hair and Going Forth from the Household in the *Sūtra of the Buddha's Former Deeds* says in verse: