金剛般若經旨贊 2.208

2.208

Sūtra: [“Subhūti,] if [a bodhisattva were to fill worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges with] the seven treasures and give them as gifts...” / Praise: Below clarifies not abiding in transmigration. The text is divided into two: first, clarifying that having merit means not being afflicted by suffering; second, clarifying that receiving retribution entails not abiding or clinging. The first part also has two: first, presenting the inferior; second, showing the superior. This is the first. It is feared that bodhisattvas might give rise to such a thought: “If one does not abide in nirvāṇa, one should be oppressed by the suffering of saṃsāra.” To dispel this mind of attachment and doubt, he speaks of having merit without suffering or affliction; therefore, he adduces ordinary persons whose merit-cause of giving treasures induces the rewards of a wheel-turning king, Śakra, Brahmā, and so on, which, though not perfect or superior, are not yet oppressed by suffering—how much less so the superior merit of Buddhas and bodhisattvas? As the sūtra says: “A wheel-turning sage king, by virtue of lesser merit, shall attain freedom from illness,” and so forth.