法苑珠林 3.15

3.15

問曰。此火劫起時上至初禪悉皆燒盡。何故論云。大梵天王得壽一劫半耶。答曰。此言一劫半者據積六十小劫為一劫半。不據大劫。若據水火風大劫說者。猶是一劫合成八十小劫。小中尚少二十小劫。與彼一劫半壽義不相違也。云何知然。如舊俱舍論名為別劫。立世阿毘曇論名為小劫。新俱舍論新婆沙論名為中劫。此三名別體唯是一。時量共等。如阿含經說。謂從人壽八萬四千歲。百年減一。乃至十歲。還從十歲復增至八萬四千歲。一上一下。爾許時分名一中劫量（別小亦同）若依俱舍論說。謂天地。始終三災一運盡時始名大劫。隨一水火風災。要經八十中劫。如以一中劫壞一中劫成。十九中劫眾生次第住。二十中劫正住。十九中劫次第壞空。此則一中劫。隨逢一火水風壞器世界。十九中劫。隨逢飢病刀壞眾生世界。以如斯義。是故毘曇說如是言。是處最後住。是處最初空。眾生最後住者。謂是最下阿鼻地獄也。是處最後空。眾生最初住者。其則不定。若據火劫即是初禪。若約水劫是其二禪。若約風劫是其三禪。以此而論。是故一大劫中具彼六十中劫并空劫中二十別劫。合有八十小劫。始為一大劫。辯劫如是。次顯無違。今言初禪第一梵眾天壽命半劫者。當知據彼一別劫中半劫二十中劫為言。第二梵輔天壽命一劫者。所謂據彼一別劫四十中劫為語。第三大梵天壽命一劫半者。當知據彼一別劫半六十中劫而說。以如斯義故。不相違也。初禪如是。二禪已上當知皆據三災大劫以明壽量。不據中別劫也。二禪之中。第一少光天壽命二劫。第二無量光天壽命四劫。第三光音天壽命八劫。若言水災既至二禪。光音諸天何以得壽八大劫者。應知於彼七火災後。方有一水災起上及二禪。是光音得壽八大劫也。三禪之中第一少淨天壽命十六劫。第二無量淨天壽命三十二劫。第三遍淨天壽命六十四劫。若言風災既至三禪。何以遍淨諸天得壽六十四大劫者。此亦應知。彼六十三運水火災後。方有一風災起。是故遍淨得壽六十四劫。云何知然。此如毘曇中說。於七火劫次第起後。然有一水災起。如是七七四十九火起時。是則有其一七水災合說即有五十六劫。更復於此五十六劫之後。復有七火劫起。於此七火之後方有一風災起壞及三禪。并前即為六十四劫。以如斯義。是故遍淨得壽六十四劫。故彼毘曇說是偈言。

Question: When this fire kalpa arises, it burns completely up to the First Dhyāna. Why then does the treatise say that the King of Mahābrahmā obtains a lifespan of one and a half kalpas? Answer: The statement "one and a half kalpas" is based on accumulating sixty antarakalpas to make one and a half kalpas; it is not based on a mahākalpa. If one speaks based on the mahākalpas of water, fire, and wind, that is still eighty antarakalpas combined to form one kalpa; among the antarakalpas there are twenty fewer, which does not contradict the meaning of his one-and-a-half-kalpa lifespan. How is this known to be so? In the old Kośa it is named "distinct kalpa"; in the Lokasthitābhidharma-śāstra it is named "small kalpa"; in the new Kośa and the new Vibhāṣā it is named "medium kalpa". These three names are different, but their reality is identical, and their duration of time is equal. As stated in the Āgamas: from a human lifespan of 84,000 years, diminishing by one [year] every century down to ten years, and then from ten years increasing again up to 84,000 years—one ascent and one descent, this span of time is named the measure of one medium kalpa (the "distinct" and "small" are also the same). If one relies on the Kośa: when the three calamities run their course from beginning to end for heaven and earth, only then is it named a mahākalpa. Any single calamity of water, fire, or wind must pass through eighty medium kalpas: one medium kalpa of destruction, one medium kalpa of formation, nineteen medium kalpas in which sentient beings progressively abide, twenty medium kalpas of proper abiding, and nineteen medium kalpas of progressive destruction and emptiness. This means that in one medium kalpa, whenever one of fire, water, or wind is encountered, the vessel world is destroyed; in nineteen medium kalpas, whenever famine, epidemic, or weapons are encountered, the world of sentient beings is destroyed. Because of this principle, the Abhidharma states: "This place is the last to abide, and this place is the first to become empty." That sentient beings are the last to abide refers to the lowest Avīci Hell. That this place is the first to become empty, and sentient beings are the first to abide, is variable: with respect to a fire kalpa, it is the First Dhyāna; with respect to a water kalpa, it is the Second Dhyāna; with respect to a wind kalpa, it is the Third Dhyāna. Discarding or taking this into account, within one mahākalpa there are those sixty medium kalpas, together with the twenty distinct kalpas in the empty kalpa, totaling eighty small kalpas to constitute one mahākalpa. Explaining the kalpas is like this; next is showing that there is no contradiction. Now, when it is said that the lifespan of the first heaven of the First Dhyāna, the Brahmapāriṣadya, is half a kalpa, one should know that it speaks based on half a kalpa—twenty medium kalpas—within that one distinct kalpa. That the second heaven, the Brahmapurohita, has a lifespan of one kalpa means that it speaks based on forty medium kalpas of that one distinct kalpa. That the third, Mahābrahmā, has a lifespan of one and a half kalpas: one should know that it is said based on sixty medium kalpas, which is one and a half distinct kalpas. Because of this meaning, they do not contradict one another. The First Dhyāna is like this. Above the Second Dhyāna, one should know that all are clarified in terms of their lifespans based on the mahākalpas of the three calamities, and not based on medium or distinct kalpas. In the Second Dhyāna: the first, the Parīttābha Heaven, has a lifespan of two kalpas; the second, the Apramāṇābha Heaven, has a lifespan of four kalpas; the third, the Ābhāsvara Heaven, has a lifespan of eight kalpas. If one asks, "Since the water calamity reaches up to the Second Dhyāna, why do the devas of the Ābhāsvara obtain a lifespan of eight mahākalpas?", one should know that only after seven fire calamities does a single water calamity arise, reaching up to the Second Dhyāna; thus the Ābhāsvara obtain a lifespan of eight mahākalpas. In the Third Dhyāna: the first, the Parīttaśubha Heaven, has a lifespan of sixteen kalpas; the second, the Apramāṇaśubha Heaven, has a lifespan of thirty-two kalpas; the third, the Śubhakṛtsna Heaven, has a lifespan of sixty-four kalpas. If one asks, "Since the wind calamity reaches up to the Third Dhyāna, why do the devas of the Śubhakṛtsna obtain a lifespan of sixty-four mahākalpas?", this too should be known: only after sixty-three rounds of water and fire calamities does a single wind calamity arise; therefore the Śubhakṛtsna obtain a lifespan of sixty-four kalpas. How is this known to be so? This is as stated in the Abhidharma: after seven fire kalpas arise successively, only then does one water calamity arise; when seven times seven, forty-nine fires arise in this manner, there are seven water calamities, which together make fifty-six kalpas; further, after these fifty-six kalpas, seven fire kalpas arise again; only after these seven fires does a single wind calamity arise, destroying up to the Third Dhyāna; combined with the preceding, this makes sixty-four kalpas. By this principle, the Śubhakṛtsna obtain a lifespan of sixty-four kalpas. Therefore that Abhidharma speaks this verse: