釋氏要覽 1.248

1.248

即今親教和尚。最後為剃頂上髮也。梵語周羅。此云小結。且三界九地。煩惱見修。所斷有八十一品。即第九地末品煩惱。名小結。微細難除。今此頂髮。喻彼煩惱。九十六種外道。皆不能盡除。唯佛弟子能斷故。親教師最後剃者。表為除殘結。令出三界故。

This is what the preceptor (upādhyāya) of today shaves last: the tuft of hair on the crown of the head. In Sanskrit it is cūḍā, translated here as 'small knot'. Now, across the nine stages of the three realms, the afflictions severed by vision and cultivation have eighty-one grades; namely, the final grade of affliction of the ninth stage is called the 'small knot', which is subtle and difficult to eliminate. Now, this crown hair allegorises those afflictions. The ninety-six kinds of non-Buddhists cannot completely eliminate them; only the Buddha's disciples can sever them. The preceptor shaves it last to symbolise removing the remaining knot, enabling one to escape the three realms.