出三藏記集 8.17

8.17

The Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra is the maxim that exhausts principle and plumbs nature, the grand guideline for bodhisattvas to achieve buddhahood. If the guideline were not grand, it would not suffice to unify differing views and point them to their return; if nature were not exhausted, how could beings ascend the place of awakening and achieve perfect enlightenment? The reason perfect enlightenment is achieved and the differing views are unified—how could it not stem from this path? Therefore, diverse teachings were diligently offered, and the three reassurances were repeatedly issued; merits were layered and compared, and the nine increases frequently occurred. As when questioning characteristics marks the mystery and makes mysterious its mystery; the chapter on illusions forgets attachment and forgets its forgetting; the Daoxing smoothens its ford; difficult questions exhaust its source; rejoicing forgets destinations to summarize the end; and illumination does not transform so as to identify with the mystery. Although the chapters are thirty, what runs through them is the Way; although the words are a hundred thousand, what doubles them is practice. When practice coalesces, there is non-arising; when the Way is sufficient, there is one life away from buddhahood (eka-jāti-pratibaddha); reaching this, it transforms into all-knowledge (sarvajñatā). The Lotus mirrors the root to coalesce illumination, while prajñā unifies the branches to release suspension. Releasing suspension guides the principle, heading along the bodhisattva path; coalescing illumination mirrors the root, announcing its conclusion. If the conclusion is not obliterated, the return path will branch out, leaving traces of three realities; if the provisional responses are not levelled, the chaotic threads will be tangled, giving rise to diverse bewildered destinies. Therefore, the Lotus and prajñā rely upon each other to await completion; expedient means and true transformation unify to exhaustively encompass all. Speaking of exhausting principle and plumbing nature, and levelling and illuminating the myriad practices, reality is not as good as illumination; taking its grand illumination of true transformation and realizing that originally there are no three, illumination is not as good as reality. For this reason, when praising profundity, the merit of prajñā is weighty; when extolling reality, the function of the Lotus is subtle. The veneration of this sūtra, with its three reassurances and three entrustments, is not at all surprising. There was a Crown Prince of Qin who lodged his presence in the eastern palace while matching his aspirations beyond the mundane realm. Savoring this sūtra, his dreaming aspirations intensified, and aligning his understanding with the Large Perfection, he deeply recognized the faults of earlier translators. Just then, he heard that Master Kumārajīva had divinely been conferred its text, and the true original was still preserved. On the sixth day of the second month of the tenth year of the Hongshi era, he requested that it be produced. On the thirtieth day of the fourth month, the collation was entirely completed. Examining it against the old translations, it was truly as if, in weeding the crops of an overgrown field, more than half had been weeded away, yet not excessively so. The authentic text of this sūtra has four versions in all, which are the Buddha's extensive and abridged expositions suited to conversions at different times. The longest is said to have one hundred thousand verses, and the shortest six hundred verses. This Large Perfection is indeed the medium version in India. Being words according with what was appropriate, why must one calculate their quantity or debate their complexity and simplicity? The foreign text was refined and plain; translating it according to the original, it fell short in ornate skill, but had an excess of simple correctness. Fortunately, I hope that worthy individuals of literary discernment will set aside its flourishes and approach its reality.