出三藏記集 8.47

8.47

This sūtra is named after what Vimalakīrti expounded because of honoring the person and esteeming the Dharma. It was praised and related by five hundred arhats, admired and submitted to by all bodhisattvas, and clearly answered in dialogue with Mañjuśrī; the essential words on universally manifesting physical bodies are all his exposition. Borrowing seats from the King of Lamps, bringing food from the land of Accumulated Fragrance, receiving the great assembly in his right palm, and placing the realm of Abhirati inside the Sahā world—matters beyond the reach of Ānanda—are all his inconceivabilities. His exalted standard surpassed the ten bhūmis, and therefore Maitreya yielded to him and humbled himself; his towering walls exceeded the realm of learners, and therefore from Mañjuśrī on down, none had entered his courtyard. His Dharma words are expansive, pointing to the arcane gate and forgetting expectations; his observation of phenomena was impartial and illuminating, gathering the root of transformation in dark contemplation. Magnificently, the drum of Dharma was sounded in Vaiśālī, and in the worlds of the ten directions there were none who did not awaken to its rare sound. Broadly, he moved the Buddhas into a single room, and the right-awakened ones numerous as the sands of the Ganges all responded to his empty request. When I first generated the mind [for awakening] to open my ignorance, I chanted and investigated this [text], regarding it as throat and collar. Receiving the arcane purport from former masters, I still did not understand where its boundless [meaning] was open or blocked. Having received Dharma Master Kumārajīva's rectification of the arcane text and extraction of the concealed purport, I first realized the injuries to the root in previous translations and the divergence of intent in erroneous phrasing. As for taking 'not-coming characteristic' as 'disgracing to come,' 'not-seeing characteristic' as 'meeting each other,' 'phenomena not yet conditioned' as 'initial spirit,' and 'phenomena coming together by conditions' as 'stopping the mind'—instances such as these existed in every chapter, and no section was without them. Only then did I know that biased sentiments and perverse views can hardly be in accord with the true words or take part in arcane enlightenment. Ever since the wind of wisdom blew eastward and the Dharma words flowed and were chanted, although lecture seats were held, the 'concept-matching' (geyi) was roundabout and diverged from the root, and the six schools were biased and failed to align with the doctrine of the emptiness of nature. Testing them today, this [translation] attains the ultimate reality; yet regarding the work of smelting and refinement, one slightly regrets it is not exhaustive. This must be because there was no [further] teaching to pursue, not that it could not be attained through pursuit. How is this known? In the scriptures previously produced in this land, there are few places that clearly speak of the consciousness-spirit being empty of nature, whereas texts preserving the spirit are very numerous. The two treatises of the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā and the Śataśāstra had not yet reached here, and there was no comprehensive insight; who was there to rectify it? This is precisely why former masters stopped their pens, sighed deeply from afar, and longed to decide the words with Maitreya! Prior to Deva, none of the scholarly monks of Tianzhu had arrived. Now, hearing for the first time the grand singing of the great doctrine, those who dare to participate in seeking its flavor exhaust their intellects and fix their minds. Yet the function of receiving and comprehending is easily retained, while the power of memory and retention is difficult to command. Unless prajñā illuminates one's wisdom of hearing, and dhāraṇī inscribes one's storehouse of contemplation, how could one cause opportunities not to be lost as they pass, and the spirit to be attuned without dimming? Therefore, using paper and ink, I recorded the words beyond the text; relying on the many listeners, I gathered the explanations of completed affairs. What is cumbersome rather than concise was due to omitting none of the affairs; what is plain rather than ornate was due to giving weight to the meaning. Its purport is subtle and graceful; its phrasing is broad and deep. Were it not for a scribal recorder, how could it be sustained? Thus, following the lectures, I composed a commentary as a record, hoping that worthy persons of broad understanding will not blame it for being cumbersome and unconcise.