大乘起信論廣釋卷第三．四．五 4.99

4.99

[Treatise:] Furthermore, ordinary beings [see only its coarse marks; according to the six destinies, each sees difference, with manifold dissimilarities, not marks of receiving bliss; therefore] it is said to be the nirmāṇakāya. [Commentary:] The above directly revealed [it]. Next below restates [it]. Herein there are two [parts]: first, nirmāṇa; second, saṃbhoga. This is the first. Previously it was said that the nirmāṇakāya is seen generally by ordinary beings; however, since what is seen by ordinary beings and the Hinayāna differs, now to reveal these different manifestations, it re-clarifies the nirmāṇakāya; hence it says 'Furthermore, ordinary beings see,' and so forth. Followers of the two vehicles see the Buddha as a supramundane body, an arhat's body, a golden person's body, and so on. What ordinary beings see differs across the six destinies: in hell they see the Buddha like black elephant legs; those attached to physical forms see a body of three feet; non-Buddhists see him as an ash-smeared body, and so forth. Moreover, Trapuṣa and others, through human and heavenly virtues, saw him as a spiritual being, a heavenly immortal, and so forth. According to this, what the six destinies see is distinct; none of them are supramundane marks, being identical with the truth of suffering; therefore they are called 'not marks of receiving bliss.' The fruit does not match the cause; it is not the retribution of an external cause; it merely manifests according to persons, and is said to be nirmāṇa.