[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [出三藏記集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2145) › 8.41 # 出三藏記集 8.41 出三藏記集 8.41 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [8.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2145.8.41) 維摩詰不思議經者。蓋是窮微盡化妙絕之稱也。其旨淵玄。非言像所測。道越三空。非二乘所議。超群數之表。絕有心之境。眇莽無為而無不為。罔知所以然而能然者。不思議也。何則夫聖智無知而萬品俱照。法身無像而殊形並應。至韻無言而玄籍彌布。冥權無謀而動與事會。故能統濟群方開物成務。利現天下於我無為。而惑者覩感照因謂之智。觀應形則謂之身。覿玄籍便謂之言。見變動便謂之權。夫道之極者。豈可以形言權智而語其神域哉。然群生長寢非言莫曉。道不孤運弘之由人。是以如來命文殊於異方。召維摩於他土。爰集毘耶共弘斯道。此經所明。統萬行則以權智為主。樹德本則以六度為根。濟朦惑則以慈悲為首。語宗極則以不二為言。凡此眾說皆不思議之本也。至若借座燈王請飯香土。手接大千室包乾像。不思議之迹也。然幽關難啟聖應不同。非本無以垂迹。非迹無以顯本。本迹雖殊而不思議一也。故命侍者標以為名焉。大秦天王。俊神超世玄心獨悟。弘至治於萬機之上。揚道化於千載之下。每尋翫茲典以為栖神之宅。而恨支竺所出理滯於文。常懼玄宗墜於譯人。北天之運。運通有在也。以弘始八年歲次鶉火。命大將軍常山公左將軍安城侯。與義學沙門千二百人。於常安大寺請羅什法師重譯正本。什以高世之量冥心真境。既盡環中又善方言。時手執胡文口自宣譯道俗虔虔一言三復。陶冶精求務存聖意。其文約而詣。其旨婉而彰。微遠之言於茲顯然。余以闇短時豫聽次。雖思乏參玄。然麁得文意。輒順所聞而為注解。略記成言述而無作。庶將來君子異世同聞焉。 > The Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa (Sūtra on the Inconceivable of Vimalakīrti) is a name that exhausts the minute, fully encompasses transformation, and is wonderfully transcendent. Its purport is profound and mysterious, beyond the reckoning of words and images; its path transcends the three types of emptiness, beyond the contemplation of the two vehicles. It surpasses the bounds of all conditioned numbers and cuts off the domain of the conscious mind. Vast and indistinct, it is non-acting yet leaves nothing undone; not knowing how it is so, yet being able to be so—this is the inconceivable. Why is this? The sage's wisdom is without knowledge, yet illumines all the myriad things; the Dharmakāya is without form, yet responds equally to diverse shapes. The supreme melody is without words, yet the arcane scriptures spread everywhere; the hidden expedients are without premeditation, yet their movements accord with circumstances. Therefore, it can universally rescue all realms, initiate things, and accomplish tasks; it manifests benefit to the world, yet within itself there is non-action. But those who are confused, seeing the responsive illumination, thereupon call it wisdom; observing the responsive forms, they call it the body; beholding the arcane scriptures, they thereupon call it words; seeing transformations, they thereupon call it expedients. How could the extremity of the Way have its spiritual realm expressed through forms, words, expedients, or wisdom? Yet sentient beings have long been asleep, and without words they cannot awaken; the Way does not operate in isolation, but its expansion depends on humans. Thus the Tathāgata summoned Mañjuśrī from a distant direction and invited Vimalakīrti from another land; they gathered in Vaiśālī to propagate this Way together. As for what this sūtra illuminates: in governing the myriad practices, it takes expedient wisdom as the primary; in establishing the roots of virtue, it takes the six perfections as the foundation; in rescuing the blind and bewildered, it takes loving-kindness and compassion as paramount; in expressing the ultimate宗, it speaks in terms of non-duality. All these various expositions are the root of the inconceivable. As for borrowing seats from the King of Lamps, requesting food from the land of Fragrance, catching the great chiliocosm in the palm of a hand, or accommodating the forms of the universe within a single room—these are the traces of the inconceivable. Yet the dark barrier is difficult to unlock, and the sages' responses are not uniform. Without the root, there is nothing with which to extend the traces; without the traces, there is nothing with which to manifest the root. Though root and traces are distinct, they are one in the inconceivable. Therefore, \[the Buddha\] commanded the attendant \[Ānanda\] to mark this as its name. The Heavenly King of the Great Qin is of transcendent spirit surpassing the world, whose mysterious mind awakens on its own; he promotes supreme governance above the myriad affairs of state, and displays the transforming influence of the Way for a thousand years to come. Whenever he studied this scripture, he took it as the abode of his resting spirit; yet he regretted that the translations produced by Zhi and Zhu had their principles obstructed by the text, and constantly feared that the mysterious doctrine would be lost at the hands of translators. The destiny of the Northern Heaven indeed has its appointed place of opening. In the eighth year of Hongshi, the year-counter being in Chunhuo, he ordered the General-in-Chief, the Duke of Changshan, and the General of the Left, the Marquis of Ancheng, together with one thousand two hundred śramaṇas of doctrinal learning, to invite Dharma Master Kumārajīva at the Great Monastery of Chang'an to retranslate an authentic text. Kumārajīva, with his capacity transcending the age, concentrated his mind in the realm of truth; having exhausted the hub of the wheel, he was also skilled in regional languages. At that time, holding the Hu manuscript in his hand, he translated it orally himself, while monastics and laypeople reverently considered each word three times over. Refining and seeking precision, they strove to preserve the holy intention. Its prose is concise and penetrative; its purport is subtle and clear. The subtle and profound words became evident here. Because of my dullness and limited ability, I happened to be present in the audience. Although my thoughts lacked the capacity to plumb the mystery, I nevertheless roughly grasped the meaning of the text. I then followed what I heard and composed an annotated commentary, briefly recording the spoken words, transmitting without fabricating, in the hope that noble persons of the future in different ages may hear it alike. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 8.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2145.8.40) - [Next: 8.42](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2145.8.42) - [Up: 8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2145.8) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2145~en-mt.8.41) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1736.85.2) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2145.8.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2145.8.41) · Pramāṇa