翻譯名義集 4.92

4.92

[Bala] translates as power. The Yinchiru jing says: "What should power be taken to mean? Answer: Being incapable of being destroyed is the meaning of power; bringing benefit is the meaning of power; possessing courage is the meaning of power; being able to provide reliance is the meaning of power." The Ekottarika Āgama explains six kinds of power: a small child takes crying as power, a woman takes anger as power, śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas take forbearance as power, and arhats take vigor as power (and so on). Furthermore, there are the five powers of beings on the causal stage and the ten powers of the Buddha's fruit. The five powers of beings on the causal stage are: 1. power of faith, 2. power of vigor, 3. power of mindfulness, 4. power of samādhi, 5. power of wisdom (the five faculties, seven factors of enlightenment, and eightfold noble path are found in the Fajie cidi). The Great Treatise explains: when the faculty of faith gains power, one can decisively accept and uphold without doubt. Due to the power of vigor, though one has not yet seen the Dharma, one seeks the path single-mindedly, not sparing body or life, without rest or pause. Due to the power of mindfulness, one constantly remembers the master's instruction, letting wholesome dharmas come in and not letting unwholesome dharmas come in, like a gatekeeper. Due to the power of samādhi, one collects the mind in one place without moving, in order to assist wisdom. Due to the power of wisdom, one can contemplate the true characteristic of all dharmas in accordance with reality. As for the ten powers of the Buddha's fruit, a verse is now composed: 'Powers of what is possible and impossible, two of karma / Samādhi, faculties, inclinations, natures, and path leading everywhere / Past lives, divine eye, and tenth, exhaustion of outflows / Fully explained in the Great Treatise, chapter eighty-eight.' The Treatise asks: 'Regarding the Buddha's ten powers, if spoken of in terms of general characteristics, the Buddha has only one power, namely the power of the knowledge of all aspects; if spoken of in terms of particular characteristics, there are thousands, ten thousands, and billions of kinds of powers, named according to the dharmas. Why now speak only of ten powers?' Answer: 'The Buddha truly possesses immeasurable powers of knowledge, but because sentient beings cannot attain them and cannot practice them, they are not spoken of. These ten powers suffice to accomplish the work of saving sentient beings, therefore ten powers are spoken of.' The Treatise asks: 'The Buddha has ten powers; do bodhisattvas have them or not?' Answer: 'They have them. Which ones? 1. The firm power of generating the mind of omniscience; 2. the power of great loving-kindness in not abandoning sentient beings; 3. the power of being endowed with great compassion; 4. the power of vigor in having faith in all Buddha-dharmas; 5. the power of meditative concentration in contemplative practice; 6. the power of wisdom in eliminating the two extremes; 7. the power of maturing sentient beings; 8. the power of contemplating the true characteristic of dharmas; 9. the power of entering the three gates of liberation; 10. the power of unobstructed knowledge.'