[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) › [大乘起信論廣釋卷第三．四．五](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2814) › 3.23 # 大乘起信論廣釋卷第三．四．五 3.23 大乘起信論廣釋卷第三．四．五 3.23 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [3.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2814.3.23) 論。所謂無量至得利益故　釋曰。此辨釋也。文有七句。顯其四義。初之二句橫顯業德廣多無量。次之一句竪顯業根流窮三際。次之二句顯業勝能無功應機。後之二句顯業勝益利潤不虛。即是根作真如大用無始無終相續不絕。故金光明經云。應身者從無始生死相續不斷故。一切諸佛不共之法能攝持故。眾生不盡用亦不盡故說常住。寶性論云。何者成就自身利益。謂得解脫遠離煩惱障智障得無障礙清淨法身。是名成就自身利益。何者成就他身利益。既得成就自身利已。無始世來自然依彼二種佛身現世間自在力行。是名成就化身利益。問。始得自利已方起利他業。云何利他說無始耶。答。有二義。有義。如來一念真智遍應三世。所應無前際。能應亦無始。猶如圓智一念遍達極三際境。境無邊故智亦無邊。無邊之智所現之相故得無始亦能無終。不可難言過去眾生已入現世無所利應。以眾生體遍三際故。三際互融皆具有故。三際時分無定實故。說眾生界無增減故。前際若滅乃成減故。後際若生是增見故。故雖前際亦能利益。此非心識思量所測。是故復名不思議業。有義。前說理未圓明。於正理教猶乖疎故。若說眾生體遍三際。是則便無利他之義。眾生與佛其體同誰。既眾生界前際不滅。亦即佛界後際不增。誰起化用無始應耶。若雖同體亦有利者亦可應說眾生利佛。以同一體成利他故。更有諸過不能繫取。故知此說理未圓顯。應言利他說無始者不約所應無始而說。但約佛。佛體同而異。謂利他者即始覺也。始覺同本。其體不殊。本覺之體諸佛無別。覺體同故佛亦無差。前佛所化即今佛利。前既無始。今亦無初。故雖始得法身自利。而起應化利他無始。此既真用不待作意。是故名為不思議業。此與眾生心本無二。但為無明用則不現。若有厭求真用漸顯。則於彼心稱根現起而不作意。我現差別故云隨根自體相應。現無不盡盡無不益。故云種種而現得利益故等。此等諸文新論少差。能尋其義不越於此。 > Treatise: "That is to say, immeasurable… because they obtain benefit." / Commentary: This explains it. The text has seven phrases, revealing four meanings. The first two phrases horizontally reveal that the karmic virtues are vast and immeasurable. The next phrase vertically reveals that the root-flow of karma exhausts the three times. The next two phrases reveal the supreme capability of the karmic \[activity\], responding to capacities without effort. The final two phrases reveal the supreme benefit of the karmic \[activity\], whose enriching moisture is not in vain. That is, it functions as the great activity of tathatā, continuous and uninterrupted without beginning or end. Therefore the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra says: "Because the responsive body continues uninterruptedly from beginningless saṃsāra, because it can maintain the unshared dharmas of all buddhas, and because sentient beings are never exhausted, its activity is also never exhausted; hence it is said to be permanently abiding." The Ratnagotravibhāga says: "What is accomplishing benefit for oneself? It means attaining liberation, leaving far behind the affliction obstacle and the cognitive obstacle, and obtaining the unobstructed, pure dharmakāya; this is called accomplishing benefit for oneself. What is accomplishing benefit for others? Having accomplished benefit for oneself, from beginningless ages naturally relying on those two kinds of Buddha-bodies, one manifests the sovereign practice of power in the world; this is called accomplishing the benefit of the transformation body." / Question: Only after first attaining self-benefit does one initiate the karmic \[activity\] of benefiting others; how can benefiting others be said to be beginningless? / Answer: There are two interpretations. / One interpretation holds: A single thought of the Tathāgata's true wisdom universally responds across the three times. That which is responded to has no prior limit, and that which responds is likewise beginningless. Just as the round wisdom in a single thought universally reaches the objects that culminate across the three times, because the objects are boundless, the wisdom is also boundless. The forms manifested by boundless wisdom can therefore be without beginning and also without end. One must not object by saying that past sentient beings have already entered the present world and there is nothing to benefit or respond to. Because the substance of sentient beings pervades the three times, the three times interpenetrate and fully possess one another, and temporal divisions of the three times have no fixed reality. Because it is said that the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases: if the prior limit were extinguished, that would constitute a decrease; if the latter limit were born, that would be the view of increase. Therefore, even the prior limit can be benefited. This cannot be measured by the deliberations of the conscious mind; hence it is again called inconceivable karmic \[activity\]. / Another interpretation holds: The previous explanation's principle is not yet completely clear, as it is still somewhat at variance with correct doctrine and teaching. If one says that the substance of sentient beings pervades the three times, then there would be no meaning of benefiting others. With whom would the substance of sentient beings and Buddhas be identical? Since the prior limit of the realm of sentient beings is not extinguished, the latter limit of the Buddha realm likewise does not increase; who then would initiate the transformation activity to respond beginninglessly? If, despite being of the same substance, there were still benefiting, one might as well say that sentient beings benefit the Buddhas, because being of the same substance accomplishes benefiting others. There are yet further faults, so one cannot adopt \[this view\]. Therefore we know this explanation's principle is not completely manifest. / One should say that when benefiting others is said to be beginningless, it is not spoken with reference to that which is responded to being beginningless. It is only spoken with reference to the Buddha. The Buddhas are identical in substance yet distinct. That is, that which benefits others is initial awakening. Initial awakening is identical with original \[awakening\]; their substance is not different. The substance of original awakening is without distinction among all buddhas. Because the substance of awakening is identical, the Buddhas are also without difference. That which was transformed by past buddhas is precisely what is benefited by the present Buddha. Since the past is beginningless, the present is likewise without beginning. Therefore, although one has just attained the dharmakāya of self-benefit, initiating responsive transformation to benefit others is beginningless. Since this is true activity that does not depend on deliberate intention, it is called inconceivable karmic \[activity\]. / This is originally not two from the minds of sentient beings; it is merely that due to ignorance, the activity does not appear. If there is aversion and seeking, the true activity gradually becomes manifest; then, within that mind, it manifests in accordance with capacities without deliberate intention. \[The text says:\] "I manifest distinctions"; hence it says "it accords with one's capacity and responds of its own nature." Among what appears, there is nothing not exhausted, and all of it is beneficial; hence it says "manifesting in various ways, because they obtain benefit," and so forth. Among these various passages, the new translation differs slightly; if one can seek out its meaning, it does not go beyond this. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 3.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2814.3.22) - [Next: 3.24](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2814.3.24) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2814.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2814~en-mt.3.23) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (3) - [大乘起信論義記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1846.2.168) — Classical Chinese - [大乘起信論內義略探記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1849.1.32) — Classical Chinese - [起信論疏](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1844.1.23) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2814.3.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2814.3.23) · Pramāṇa