翻譯名義集 4.104

4.104

[Vāc / Śabda (婆闍尼娑婆啉)] Here translated as "sound" or "voice." The Fajie cidi says: "As for sound (yin), vocal utterance that articulates principle is called yin. The sounds produced by the Buddha, whenever articulate and expounded, are clear and elegant in wording; listeners never tire of them and can never hear enough. Capable of being the cause and condition for bestowing happiness and eradicating suffering for all, nothing matches the benefit of hearing his voice, which is cultivating speech through compassion. Hence there are eight voices: first, the supremely good voice; second, the soft and gentle voice; third, the harmonious voice; fourth, the noble and wise voice; fifth, the non-feminine voice; sixth, the unerring voice; seventh, the deep and far-reaching voice; eighth, the inexhaustible voice." The Śūraṅgama-sūtra says: "The true body of teaching in this realm is purely found in hearing sound; if one wishes to attain samādhi, one truly enters through hearing." The Da zhidu lun says: "The voices of bodhisattvas are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The reach of the Buddha's voice has no limit. As expounded in the Guhyakādhipati-sūtra, Maudgalyāyana tested the Buddha's voice and reached as far as the western direction, yet he still heard the Buddha's voice as if face to face. Question: 'If so, the Buddha is constantly in countries and villages preaching the Dharma to transform beings. Yet if the people within Jambudvīpa do not go near the Buddha, they do not hear it. How is this known? Because many come from afar wishing to hear the preaching of the Dharma.' Answer: 'The Buddha's voice has two kinds: first, the secret vocal voice; second, the non-secret voice. The secret voice has already been explained; the non-secret voice is heard only when one comes near the Buddha. There are also two kinds of disciples: first, the world-transcending noble ones; second, worldly ordinary persons. World-transcending noble ones, like Maudgalyāyana and others, are able to hear the subtle and secret voice. Ordinary persons hear it only according to their proximity.'" The Da zhidu lun says: "The voice of Buddhas and bodhisattvas has three kinds: First, due to causes and conditions of planting good sounds in past lives, they obtain the subtle four elements in the throat, capable of producing various wondrous, pleasing, far and near sounds, extending over one li, two li, three li, ten li, a hundred or a thousand li, up to filling the trichiliocosm. Second, by the power of spiritual penetrations, sound produced from the four elements of the throat fills the trichiliocosm and worlds in the ten directions numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Third, the Buddha's voice is constantly able to fill the empty space of the ten directions. Question: 'If the Buddha's voice can constantly fill [space], why do sentient beings today not always hear it?' Answer: 'Sentient beings have been covered by evil karma committed since beginningless kalpas, and therefore do not hear it. Just as with thunder and lightning, the deaf do not hear it, yet the sound of thunder is not diminished. The Buddha is likewise: he constantly preaches the Dharma for sentient beings like a dragon resounding with great thunder, yet sentient beings, due to their sins, do not hear it themselves.'" Nouns have eight case inflections (vibhakti): first, nominative (kartṛ/prathamā, 'substance'); second, accusative (karman, 'action'); third, instrumental (karaṇa, 'instrument'); fourth, dative (sampradāna, 'for'); fifth, ablative (apādāna, 'from'); sixth, genitive (sambandha, 'belonging'); seventh, locative (adhikaraṇa, 'in/on'); eighth, vocative (sambodhana, 'calling'). The seven cases are commonly used, while the vocative is rarely used, hence they are often just called the seven. According to the method of the Western Regions, if one wishes to study and read Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts, one must understand the eight cases of grammar (śabda-vidyā) before knowing the scope of the textual meaning: First, puruṣaḥ (補沙): this directly points out and states the sound, like pointing out a man chopping a tree, which is the nominative. Second, puruṣam (補盧衫): this is the sound of the object acted upon, like the tree being chopped, hence called the accusative. Third, puruṣeṇa (補盧崽拏): this is the instrument of action, like chopping by means of an axe, hence called the instrumental. Fourth, puruṣāya (補盧沙耶): this is the sound of purpose, like chopping for someone's sake, hence called the dative. Fifth, puruṣāt (補盧沙䫂): this is the sound of origin ('from'), like building a house derived from a person, hence called the ablative, 'from' meaning that which is the cause. Sixth, puruṣasya (補盧殺娑): this is the sound of belonging, like a servant belonging to a master, hence called the genitive. Seventh, puruṣe (補盧鎩): this is the sound of location, like a guest depending on a host, hence called the locative, location meaning the sense of reliance. Eighth, he puruṣa (稧補盧沙): this is the sound of calling out, hence called the vocative. Furthermore, in dhāraṇīs, if two syllables combine into a single sound, it is called a conjunct of two (saṃyukta), such as stha and tta. Or if three syllables are pronounced consecutively and combined into one word chanted rapidly, it is called a conjunct of three, such as bhrūṃ and krośa. The Book of Han says: "Sounds are the gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu notes." The Gouyin tu says: "Sound belongs to yang; pitch-pipes belong to yin." Yangzi says: "Sound is born from the sun; pitch-pipes are born from the celestial signs."