釋氏要覽 2.244

2.244

梵云。阿毘曇此云無比法。為分別慧故。而有四種。一梵云摩怛理迦此云本母取出生之義也。二梵云奢薩怛囉此云議論。謂議詳空有。論量假實。三烏波儞舍。此云近說。謂略說經中要義不次第故。四梵云阿毘達磨。此云對法。謂能對所對論也○又有二論。則攝前四焉。一宗論即宗大小乘經造也。二釋論釋大小乘經也。

In Sanskrit it is called abhidharma, translated here as 'incomparable Dharma', because it discerns wisdom. There are four kinds: 1. In Sanskrit called mātṛkā, translated here as 'fundamental mother', taking the sense of bringing forth; 2. In Sanskrit called śāstra, translated here as 'discursive argumentation', meaning examining emptiness and existence in detail, and assessing the provisional and the real; 3. Upadeśa, translated here as 'approaching exposition', meaning briefly expounding the essential meanings in the sūtras out of sequential order; 4. In Sanskrit called abhidharma, translated here as 'facing the Dharma', meaning treatises on that which confronts and that which is confronted. Furthermore, there are two kinds of treatises which subsume the previous four: 1. Treatises on doctrinal tenets, composed based on the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna sūtras; 2. Exegetical treatises, which explain the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna sūtras.