維摩經義記卷第四 4.22

4.22

From "Thereupon Mañjuśrī asked Vimalakīrti" downward is the third section, explaining how Vimalakīrti dispatched Mañjuśrī's words with wordlessness. When Mañjuśrī praised him, saying, "Excellent!", he was praising Vimalakīrti's wordlessness conforming to the principle. Above, Śāriputra was silent and was rebuked; here, Vimalakīrti is wordless, so why does he elicit praise? It is simply that Śāriputra was unable to realize the principle of emptiness directly through words, and so in staying in emptiness he obstructed words; for this reason he was rebuked. Vimalakīrti, however, understood that the essence of speech is empty, which is itself wordlessness; although silent, it did not obstruct the understanding that conforms to the principle through speech. That is why it elicited praise. It was fitting to dispatch Mañjuśrī's words through silence; the matter required silence.