地藏菩薩本願經 閻浮眾生業感品
這一品講的是業感——業所招感的差別。而它開頭先講了兩個人。
岔路
兩位國王本來是朋友，同行十善，饒益眾生。鄰國人民多造眾惡，兩人一同商議，廣設方便。到這裡，他們還走在同一條路上。
然後經寫下那個岔口。
一位發願：早成佛道，當度是輩，令使無餘——先站到那個位置，再回頭來救。
另一位發願：「若不先度罪苦，令是安樂，得至菩提，我終未願成佛。」
經沒有評兩者的高下，只說結果：發願早成佛的那位，早已成佛了，名叫一切智成就如來。另一位還在這裡。
一件從來沒被當成惡的事
第二則往事裡，有一位女子叫光目，母親已經去世，墮在惡趣，受極大苦。
她母親做了什麼？經寫得很家常：「唯好食噉魚鼈之屬」，而且多半吃牠們的子，或炒或煮，恣情食噉。
然後經自己算了一筆帳：「計其命數，千萬復倍。」
不是一次大惡，是一件吃了一輩子、從來沒有被當成一件事的事。經用的字是「所習」——習慣，不是行為。
而救的方法也小：至誠念佛，塑畫形像。難的不是畫像，是經接著寫的那四個字：「即捨所愛」。
她要的不是母親一個人
母親轉生在婢女家，未滿三日就開口了。第一句不是喊冤，是「生死業緣，果報自受」；第二句才說我是你母親。
她已經脫了地獄——「蒙汝福力，方得受生」——可是還要為下賤人，還要短命十三歲，還要再落惡道。
光目於是發願。願的前半還是為母親；後半忽然放大：「願我自今日後」，此後百千萬億劫中，一切世界所有地獄、三惡道的罪苦眾生，誓願救拔——「如是罪報等人，盡成佛竟，我然後方成正覺。」
要滅一星火，她要來的是一條河。
答的是一張清單
四天王問：發了那麼大的願，為什麼到今天還度不完？
佛沒有正面答，改為列舉。若遇殺生者，說宿殃短命報；若遇竊盜者，說貧窮苦楚報……一連二十三條，從殺生起，到邪見收。
列完之後，經自己加了一句：「今麁略說。」
二十三條，還只是粗略。
一根看不見頭尾的藤
佛說地藏至今「猶未畢願」，理由只有四個字：「因蔓不斷」。
蔓是藤，纏著往前長，看不見頭也看不見尾。惑生業，業牽生，生又造業。
四天王聽完，涕淚悲歎，合掌而退。他們沒有再問。
佛最後交代他們的，不是去救誰，是四個字：「護人護國」——別讓這些業，迷惑了眾生。
而那位在岔路上選擇走後面的國王，這一品從頭到尾沒有說他什麼時候成佛。
What this chapter speaks of is karmic impulsion — the differences that karma calls forth. And it opens by speaking of two men.
The Fork
The two kings were friends to begin with; they practised the ten good acts together and benefited beings. The people of the neighboring country were doing much evil, and the two took counsel together and set out every kind of skillful means. Up to here they are still walking one road.
Then the sūtra writes down the fork.
One of them vowed: to accomplish the way of a buddha early, and then to deliver that whole company and leave none of them over — to stand in that position first, and then turn back to save.
The other vowed: if I do not first deliver those who are guilty and suffering, and bring them to peace and to awakening, I will to the end not vow to become a buddha.
The sūtra passes no judgment on which of the two stands higher; it says only what came of them. The one who vowed to become a buddha early became a buddha long ago, and his name is the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom. The other is still here.
A Thing That Was Never Counted as Evil
In the second account from the past there is a woman named Bright Eyes, whose mother had already died and had fallen into an evil destiny, undergoing the utmost suffering.
What had her mother done? The sūtra writes it as a household thing: she liked nothing so much as eating fish and turtles — and mostly she ate their young, now fried, now boiled, eating as her appetite pleased.
Then the sūtra reckons up the account itself: count the number of those lives, and it is a thousand myriads and doubled again.
Not one great evil, but one thing eaten for a lifetime that was never once counted as a thing at all. The word the sūtra uses is what she was habituated to — a habit, not a deed.
And the remedy is small as well: recollect the Buddha with utmost sincerity, and sculpt and paint his image. What is hard is not the painting; it is the four characters the sūtra writes next: she gave up at once what she loved.
What She Asked for Was Not Her Mother Alone
The mother was reborn in the house of a bondmaid, and before three days were out the child spoke. Its first words were not a cry of injustice; they were the karmic conditions of birth and death — their fruit is borne by oneself. Only the second words say: I am your mother.
She had come out of the hells already — it is by the power of your blessings that I have been able to take birth — and yet she must be a person of low station, must be short-lived, thirteen years, and must fall into the evil destinies again.
And so Bright Eyes made her vow. The first half of it is still for her mother; the second half opens wide all at once: from this day forth, throughout a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas to come, for the beings who are guilty and suffering in all the hells and the three evil destinies of every world there is, I vow to rescue and draw them out — and only when all such people of karmic requital have finished becoming buddhas will I myself then accomplish right awakening.
To put out one spark, what she called for was a river.
The Answer Is a List
The four heavenly kings ask: he made a vow that great — how is it that to this day he has still not finished delivering?
The Buddha does not answer it head-on; he turns instead to enumerating. If he meets one who kills, he speaks of the requital of calamity from former lives and of a short life; if he meets one who steals, he speaks of the requital of poverty and bitter hardship — twenty-three in a row, opening at killing and closing at wrong views.
When the list is done, the sūtra adds a line of its own: this is told coarsely and in brief.
Twenty-three items, and still only coarse.
A Vine with Neither Head nor Tail in Sight
The Buddha says that to this day Kṣitigarbha has still not finished his vow, and the reason is four characters: the causes spread like vines and are not cut off.
A vine is a creeper: it winds as it grows forward, and one can see neither head nor tail of it. Delusion gives birth to karma, karma draws on birth, and birth makes karma again.
The four heavenly kings, having heard it, wept and sighed in grief, joined their palms, and withdrew. They asked nothing further.
What the Buddha charges them with at the last is not to go and save anyone. It is four characters: protect the people, protect the country — do not let these karmas delude beings.
And of that king who chose at the fork to walk behind, this chapter says nothing at all, from beginning to end, about when he will become a buddha.
唐于闐國三藏沙門實叉難陀譯《地藏菩薩本願經》〈閻浮眾生業感品〉· 大正藏 T13n0412〔起 T13 0780b16〕。段／行首〔T13 …〕＝大正藏頁・欄・行錨。
〔T13 0780b16〕閻浮眾生業感品第四 爾時，地藏菩薩摩訶薩白佛言：「世尊！我承佛如來威神力故，遍百千萬億世界，分是身形，救拔一切業報眾生。若非如來大慈力故，即不能作如是變化。我今又蒙佛付囑，至阿逸多成佛已來，六道眾生，遣令度脫。唯然，世尊，願不有慮。」 爾時，佛告地藏菩薩：「一切眾生，未解脫者，性識無定。惡習結業，善習結果，為善為惡，逐境而生。輪轉五道，暫無休息，動經塵劫，迷惑障難。如魚遊網，將是長流，脫入暫出，又復遭網。以是等輩，吾當憂念。汝既畢是往願，累劫重誓，廣度罪輩，吾復何慮？」 說是語時，會中有一菩薩摩訶薩，名定自在王，白佛言：「世尊！地藏菩薩累劫已來，各發何願？今蒙世尊，殷勤讚歎。唯願世尊，略而說之。」 爾時，世尊告定自在王菩薩：「諦聽！諦聽！善思念之，吾當為汝，分別解說。乃往過去，無量阿僧祇那由他不可說劫，爾時有佛，號一切智成就如來——應供、正遍知、明行足、善逝、世間解、無上士、調御丈夫、天人師、佛、世尊，其佛壽命六萬劫。未出家時，為小國王，與一隣國王為友，同行十善，饒益眾生。其隣國內，所有人民，多造眾惡。二王議計，廣設方便。一王發願，早成佛道，當度是輩，令使無餘。一王發願，若不先度罪苦，令是安樂，得至菩提，我終未願成佛。」 佛告定自在王菩薩：「一王發願早成佛者，即一切智成就如來是。一王發願永度罪苦眾生，未願成佛者，即地藏菩薩是。復於過去，無量阿僧祇劫，有佛出世，名清淨蓮華目如來，其佛壽命四十劫。像法之中，有一羅漢，福度眾生。因次教化，遇一女人，字曰光目，設食供養。羅漢問之：『欲願何等？』光目答言：『我以母亡之日，資福救拔，未知我母生處何趣？』羅漢愍之，為入定觀，見光目女母墮在惡趣，受極大苦。羅漢問光目言：『汝母在生，作何行業？今在惡趣，受極大苦。』光目答言：『我母所習，唯好食噉魚鼈之屬。所食魚鼈多食其子，或炒或煮，恣情食噉。計其命數，千萬復倍。尊者慈愍，如何哀救？』羅漢愍之，為作方便，勸光目言：『汝可志誠念清淨蓮華目如來，兼塑畫形像，存亡獲報。』 「光目聞已，即捨所愛，尋畫佛像，而供養之。復恭敬心，悲泣瞻禮。忽於夜後，夢見佛身，金色晃耀，如須彌山，放大光明，而告光目：『汝母不久，當生汝家，纔覺飢寒，即當言說。』 〔T13 0781a03〕「其後家內，婢生一子，未滿三日，而乃言說，稽首悲泣，告於光目：『生死業緣，果報自受。吾是汝母，久處暗冥，自別汝來，累墮大地獄。蒙汝福力，方得受生。為下賤人，又復短命，壽年十三，更落惡道。汝有何計，令吾脫免？』光目聞說，知母無疑，哽咽悲啼，而白婢子：『既是我母，合知本罪，作何行業，墮於惡道？』婢子答言：『以殺害毀罵二業受報。若非蒙福，救拔吾難，以是業故，未合解脫。』光目問言：『地獄罪報，其事云何？』婢子答言：『罪苦之事，不忍稱說，百千歲中，卒白難竟。』 「光目聞已，啼淚號泣，而白空界：『願我之母，永脫地獄。畢十三歲，更無重罪，及歷惡道。十方諸佛，慈哀愍我，聽我為母所發廣大誓願：若得我母永離三塗，及斯下賤，乃至女人之身，永劫不受者，願我自今日後，對清淨蓮華目如來像前，却後百千萬億劫中，應有世界，所有地獄，及三惡道，諸罪苦眾生，誓願救拔，令離地獄惡趣、畜生、餓鬼等。如是罪報等人，盡成佛竟，我然後方成正覺。』 「發誓願已，具聞清淨蓮華目如來而告之曰：『光目！汝大慈愍，善能為母發如是大願。吾觀汝母，十三歲畢，捨此報已，生為梵志，壽年百歲。過是報後，當生無憂國土，壽命不可計劫。後成佛果，廣度人天，數如恒河沙。』」 佛告定自在王：「爾時羅漢福度光目者，即無盡意菩薩是。光目母者，即解脫菩薩是。光目女者，即地藏菩薩是。過去久遠劫中，如是慈愍發恒河沙願，廣度眾生。 「未來世中，若有男子女人，不行善者，行惡者，乃至不信因果者，邪婬妄語者，兩舌惡口者，毀謗大乘者，如是諸業眾生，必墮惡趣。若遇善知識，勸令一彈指間歸依地藏菩薩，是諸眾生，即得解脫三惡道報。若能志心歸敬，及瞻禮讚歎，香華衣服，種種珍寶，或復飲食，如是奉事者，未來百千萬億劫中，常在諸天受勝妙樂。若天福盡，下生人間，猶百千劫，常為帝王，能憶宿命因果本末。定自在王，如是地藏菩薩，有如此不可思議大威神力，廣利眾生，汝等諸菩薩，當記是經，廣宣流布。」 定自在王白佛言：「世尊！願不有慮。我等千萬億菩薩摩訶薩，必能承佛威神，廣演是經於閻浮提，利益眾生。」 定自在王菩薩白世尊已，合掌恭敬，作禮而退。 爾時，四方天王，俱從座起，合掌恭敬，白佛言：「世尊！地藏菩薩於久遠劫來，發如是大願，云何至今，猶度未絕，更發廣大誓言？唯願世尊，為我等說。」 佛告四天王：「善哉！善哉！吾今為汝，及未來現在天人眾等，廣利益故，說地藏菩薩於娑婆世界，閻浮提內，生死道中，慈哀救拔，度脫一切罪苦眾生方便之事。」 四天王言：「唯然，世尊！願樂欲聞。」 佛告四天王：「地藏菩薩久遠劫來，迄至于今，度脫眾生，猶未畢願。慈愍此世罪苦眾生，復觀未來無量劫中，因蔓不斷，以是之故，又發重願。如是菩薩，於娑婆世界，閻浮提中，百千萬億方便，而為教化。 「四天王！地藏菩薩若遇殺生者，說宿殃短命報。若遇竊盜者，說貧窮苦楚報。若遇邪婬者，說雀鴿鴛鴦報。若遇惡口者，說眷屬鬪諍報。若遇毀謗者，說無舌瘡口報。若遇瞋恚者，說醜陋癃殘報。若遇慳悋者，說所求違願報。若遇飲食無度者，說飢渴咽病報。若遇畋獵恣情者，說驚狂喪命報。若遇悖逆父母者，說天地災殺報。若遇燒山林木者，說狂迷取死報。若遇前後父母惡毒者，說返生鞭撻現受報。若遇網捕生雛者，說骨肉分離報。若遇毀謗三寶者，說盲聾瘖瘂報。若遇輕法慢教者，說永處惡道報。若遇破用常住者，說億劫輪迴地獄報。若遇污梵誣僧者，說永在畜生報。若遇湯火斬斫傷生者，說輪迴遞償報。若遇破戒犯齋者，說禽獸飢餓報。若遇非理毀用者，說所求闕絕報。若遇吾我貢高者，說卑使下賤報。若遇兩舌鬪亂者，說無舌百舌報。若遇邪見者，說邊地受生報。 「如是等閻浮提眾生，身口意業，惡習結果，百千報應，今麁略說。如是等閻浮提眾生，業感差別，地藏菩薩百千方便，而教化之。是諸眾生，先受如是等報，後墮地獄，動經劫數，無有出期。是故汝等，護人護國，無令是諸眾業，迷惑眾生。」 四天王聞已，涕淚悲歎，合掌而退。
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
唐于闐國三藏沙門實叉難陀譯《地藏菩薩本願經》〈閻浮眾生業感品〉，大正藏 T13n0412，卷上第四品，自品題至「四天王聞已，涕淚悲歎，合掌而退」。段首（…）＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔一·品題〕（0780b16）閻浮眾生業感品 第四。（閻浮，南洲之名，得名於洲上的閻浮樹；業感，眾生的業所招感）
〔二·地藏重述付囑·承佛力而分身〕（0780b17）那時，地藏菩薩摩訶薩稟白佛說：『世尊！我承蒙佛如來威神之力的緣故，遍歷百千萬億個世界，分出這個身形，救拔一切受業報的眾生。若不是靠著如來的大慈之力，就不能作這樣的變化。
〔三·蒙佛付囑度六道眾生〕（0780b20）我現在又蒙佛付囑，直到阿逸多（彌勒之姓，古來譯作「無能勝」）成佛以來，六道眾生，都遣派我使他們得度解脫。
〔四·地藏慰佛〕（0780b22）是的，世尊，願您不必憂慮。』
〔五·佛示性識無定〕（0780b22）那時，佛告訴地藏菩薩：『一切眾生，還沒有解脫的，他的性識沒有定準。惡的習氣結成惡業，善的習氣結成善果；為善也好，為惡也好，都隨著所遇的境而生起。在五道之中輪轉，片刻沒有休息，動輒經歷塵沙那麼多的劫數，被迷惑與障難所困。
〔六·魚遊網之喻〕（0780b25）就像魚游進了網裡，隨著這一道長流，好像脫出來了、暫時出去了，又再遭網。
〔七·佛憂念眾生〕（0780b26）像這一類的眾生，我應當憂慮繫念。
〔八·汝願度罪，吾復何慮〕（0780b27）你既然已經圓滿了往昔的誓願，累劫以來一再立誓，廣度罪苦之輩，我又還憂慮什麼呢？』
〔九·定自在王請問累劫本願〕（0780b28）說這話的時候，會中有一位菩薩摩訶薩，名叫定自在王，稟白佛說：『世尊！地藏菩薩累劫以來，各各發了什麼願？如今承蒙世尊殷勤讚歎。但願世尊，簡略地說一說。』
〔十·誡聽許說〕（0780c02）那時，世尊告訴定自在王菩薩：『諦聽！諦聽！好好地思惟憶念，我當為你分別解說。
〔十一·本生一·一切智成就如來與小國王〕（0780c04）往昔過去，無量阿僧祇那由他說不能盡的劫以前，那時有佛，名號叫作一切智成就如來——應供、正遍知、明行足、善逝、世間解、無上士、調御丈夫、天人師、佛、世尊（如來十號）；那位佛的壽命是六萬劫。（0780c07）他還沒有出家的時候，身分是一位小國的國王，與一個鄰國的國王結為朋友，一同奉行十善，饒益眾生。
〔十二·二王發願〕（0780c09）那個鄰國之內，所有的人民，多造種種惡業。兩位國王一同商議計較，廣設種種方便。（0780c10）一位國王發願：早些成就佛道，然後當來度脫這一類人，使他們沒有剩餘。一位國王發願：若不先度盡罪苦眾生，使他們得到安樂、得到菩提，我終究不願成佛。』
〔十三·結會二王今古〕（0780c12）佛告訴定自在王菩薩：『那位發願早些成佛的國王，就是一切智成就如來。那位發願永遠度脫罪苦眾生、不願先成佛的國王，就是地藏菩薩。
〔十四·本生二·清淨蓮華目如來〕（0780c15）又在過去無量阿僧祇劫的時候，有佛出世，名叫清淨蓮華目如來，那位佛的壽命是四十劫。
〔十五·羅漢與光目〕（0780c17）在像法時期之中，有一位阿羅漢，以福德度化眾生。（0780c18）他依著次第教化，遇見一位女人，名字叫作光目，備辦飲食供養他。（0780c19）羅漢問她：『你想要求什麼願？』光目回答說：『我在母親去世的那一天，就靠著修福來救拔她；只是不知道我母親生在哪一趣？』
〔十六·羅漢入定見其母〕（0780c20）羅漢憐愍她，為她入定觀察，看見光目女的母親墮在惡趣，受著極大的苦。（0780c22）羅漢問光目說：『你母親在世的時候，作了什麼行業？如今在惡趣，受著極大的苦。』
〔十七·光目自述母之所習〕（0780c23）光目回答說：『我母親所習慣的，只愛吃魚鼈這一類。她所吃的魚鼈，多半是吃牠們的子；有時炒，有時煮，任著性情吃噉。算一算所殺的性命數目，有千萬還要加倍。尊者慈悲憐愍，要怎麼樣哀救她呢？』
〔十八·羅漢教念佛塑像〕（0780c26）羅漢憐愍她，為她作了方便，勸光目說：『你可以至誠地念清淨蓮華目如來，同時塑造、彩畫他的形像；存者與亡者都能得到果報。』
〔十九·光目畫像供禮〕（0780c28）光目聽完之後，隨即捨掉自己所愛的東西，隨即畫了佛像來供養；又以恭敬的心，悲泣瞻仰禮拜。
〔二十·夜夢見佛〕（0781a01）忽然在夜半以後，夢見佛的身相，金色明亮照耀，像須彌山一樣，放出大光明；（0781a02）而告訴光目：『你母親不久，就會生在你家；剛剛覺得飢寒，就會說話。』
〔二十一·婢子言說·自陳是母〕（0781a03）其後家裡，婢女生了一個兒子，還不滿三天，就會說話了；他稽首悲泣，告訴光目說：『生死之間的業緣，果報是自己承受的。我是你的母親，久處在幽暗之中。自從與你分別以來，一再墮入大地獄。承蒙你的福力，才能夠受生；生為下賤的人，又加上短命，壽數只有十三歲，還要再落惡道。你有什麼計策，能使我脫免？』
〔二十二·光目審問本罪〕（0781a08）光目聽他這樣說，知道是母親沒有疑問，哽咽悲啼，而告訴那婢女的兒子說：『既然是我母親，應當知道自己本來的罪；是作了什麼行業，才墮在惡道？』（0781a10）婢女的兒子回答說：『是以殺害、毀罵這兩種業受報。若不是承蒙福力救拔我的苦難，因為這個業的緣故，還不應當得到解脫。』
〔二十三·轉問地獄罪報〕（0781a12）光目問說：『地獄的罪報，那是什麼樣的事？』婢女的兒子回答說：『罪苦的事情，不忍心說出口；即使在百千歲之中，也難以說完。』
〔二十四·光目向空發願·願脫現生報〕（0781a14）光目聽完之後，流淚號哭，而向著虛空稟白說：『願我的母親，永遠脫離地獄；滿了這十三歲，不再有重罪，也不再經歷惡道。
〔二十五·願脫後生報〕（0781a16）十方諸佛，慈悲哀愍我，聽我為母親所發的廣大誓願：若能使我母親永遠離開三塗（地獄、餓鬼、畜生），以及離開這下賤之身，乃至於女人之身，永劫都不再受——
〔二十六·對佛像前立弘誓〕（0781a18）願我從今日以後，對著清淨蓮華目如來的形像前，此後在百千萬億劫之中，凡是所有的世界，一切地獄以及三惡道之中的諸罪苦眾生，我誓願救拔，使他們離開地獄惡趣、畜生、餓鬼等處。像這樣受罪報的人，全部成佛完畢，我然後才成正覺。』
〔二十七·佛印可並告轉報〕（0781a23）發完誓願之後，便完整地聽見清淨蓮華目如來告訴她說：『光目！你大為慈悲憐愍，能夠好好地為母親發這樣的大願。我觀察你的母親：十三歲滿了，捨掉這一報身之後，會生為梵志（「正翻淨裔」，即婆羅門），壽數一百歲；過了這一報之後，會生到無憂國土，壽命是不可計算的劫數；後來成就佛果，廣度人天，數目多如恒河沙。』』
〔二十八·結會古今〕（0781a28）佛告訴定自在王：『當時那位以福德度化光目的羅漢，就是無盡意菩薩。光目的母親，就是解脫菩薩。光目女，就是地藏菩薩。
〔二十九·結指大願〕（0781b01）在過去久遠劫中，他就這樣慈悲憐愍，發了恒河沙那麼多的願，廣度眾生。
〔三十·惡者歸敬得脫〕（0781b03）未來世中，若有男子女人，不行善的、行惡的，乃至不信因果的，邪婬妄語的，兩舌惡口的，毀謗大乘的——像這樣諸業的眾生，必定墮在惡趣。（0781b06）若是遇到善知識，勸他在一彈指的時間裡歸依地藏菩薩，這些眾生，隨即得以解脫三惡道的果報。
〔三十一·志心奉事受福〕（0781b07）若能夠專心歸依恭敬，以及瞻仰禮拜讚歎，用香、華、衣服、種種珍寶，或者再加上飲食，像這樣奉事的人，未來百千萬億劫之中，常在諸天承受殊勝美妙的快樂。若是天上的福享盡了，下生到人間，還有百千劫常作帝王，能夠憶起宿世的性命與因果的本末。
〔三十二·結顯神力·囑令通經〕（0781b11）定自在王！像這樣，地藏菩薩有如此不可思議的大威神力，廣泛地利益眾生。你們諸位菩薩，應當記住這部經，廣為宣揚流布。』
〔三十三·定自在王承命〕（0781b14）定自在王稟白佛說：『世尊！願您不必憂慮。我們千萬億菩薩摩訶薩，必定能夠承著佛的威神，把這部經廣為演說在閻浮提，利益眾生。』
〔三十四·白已敬退〕（0781b16）定自在王菩薩稟白世尊完畢，合掌恭敬，作禮而退下。
〔三十五·四天王起問〕（0781b18）那時，四方天王，一同從座位上起身，合掌恭敬，稟白佛說：『世尊！地藏菩薩從久遠劫以來，發了這樣的大願，為什麼直到今天，還度不完，又再發廣大的誓言？但願世尊，為我們解說。』
〔三十六·佛許為說〕（0781b21）佛告訴四天王：『好啊！好啊！我今天為你們，以及未來、現在的天人大眾等，為了廣大利益的緣故，說一說地藏菩薩在娑婆世界、閻浮提之內，於生死道中，慈悲哀愍、救拔度脫一切罪苦眾生的方便之事。』
〔三十七·四天王願聞〕（0781b25）四天王說：『是的，世尊！我們願意樂意聽聞。』
〔三十八·略示重發願之意〕（0781b25）佛告訴四天王：『地藏菩薩從久遠劫以來，直到今天，度脫眾生，還沒有圓滿他的願。他慈悲憐愍這個世間的罪苦眾生，又觀察未來無量劫中，因像蔓草一樣牽連不斷；因為這個緣故，又發了重誓之願。
〔三十九·總示方便〕（0781b29）像這樣，這位菩薩在娑婆世界、閻浮提中，以百千萬億的方便而作教化。
〔四十·業報對舉·身三業三條〕（0781c01）四天王！地藏菩薩若遇到殺生的人，就為他說宿世殃報、短命的報應；若遇到偷竊盜取的人，就為他說貧窮困苦的報應；若遇到邪婬的人，就為他說墮作孔雀、鴿子、鴛鴦的報應。
〔四十一·口業二條〕（0781c03）若遇到惡口的人，就為他說眷屬互相鬥諍的報應；若遇到毀謗的人，就為他說沒有舌頭、口生瘡的報應。
〔四十二·意業三條〕（0781c05）若遇到瞋恚的人，就為他說相貌醜陋、身體癃殘的報應；若遇到慳吝的人，就為他說所求的事違背心願的報應；若遇到飲食沒有節度的人，就為他說飢渴、咽喉生病的報應。
〔四十三·雜業五條〕（0781c07）若遇到打獵放縱性情的人，就為他說驚狂喪命的報應；若遇到違逆父母的人，就為他說天地降災、殺身的報應；若遇到焚燒山林樹木的人，就為他說狂亂迷失、自取死亡的報應；若遇到對前妻後妻所生之子、或對繼父繼母心懷惡毒的人，就為他說反過來被鞭撻、現世就受的報應；若遇到張網捕捉初生雛鳥的人，就為他說骨肉分離的報應。
〔四十四·三寶四條〕（0781c11）若遇到毀謗三寶的人，就為他說眼盲、耳聾、瘖啞的報應；若遇到輕視佛法、怠慢教誨的人，就為他說永遠處在惡道的報應；若遇到破壞、私用常住物的人，就為他說億劫輪迴地獄的報應；若遇到污辱梵行之人、誣陷僧眾的人，就為他說永遠在畜生中的報應。
〔四十五·雜業六條〕（0781c15）若遇到用滾水、用火、用斬砍傷害眾生的人，就為他說輪迴之中一一遞相償還的報應；若遇到破戒、犯齋的人，就為他說作禽獸而飢餓的報應；若遇到無理毀壞、糟蹋器用的人，就為他說所求缺乏斷絕的報應；若遇到執著自我、貢高自大的人，就為他說作低賤僕役的報應；若遇到兩舌挑鬥、擾亂是非的人，就為他說沒有舌頭、或生百條舌頭的報應；若遇到邪見的人，就為他說生在邊地的報應。
〔四十六·結示業感差別〕（0781c19）像這樣種種閻浮提的眾生，身、口、意三業，惡的習氣結成惡的果，百千種報應，今天只是粗略地說一說。像這樣種種閻浮提眾生業所招感的差別，地藏菩薩以百千種方便而教化他們。
〔四十七·勸護人護國〕（0781c22）這些眾生，先受了像上面所說的這些報應，然後才墮地獄，動輒經歷劫數，沒有出離之期。因此你們要護人、要護國，不要讓這些眾業，迷惑了眾生。』
〔四十八·四天王悲退〕（0781c25）四天王聽完之後，涕淚悲歎，合掌而退下。
Śikṣānanda’s translation, made under the Tang, of the chapter “The Karmic Impulsions of the Beings of Jambudvīpa” in The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, Taishō T13n0412, the fourth chapter of Fascicle One, from the title of the chapter down to “the four heavenly kings, having heard it, wept and sighed in grief, joined their palms, and withdrew.” The figures in parentheses at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.
〔1 · The title of the chapter〕（0780b16）The Karmic Impulsions of the Beings of Jambudvīpa, Chapter Four. (Jambudvīpa is the name of the southern continent, which takes its name from the jambu tree that grows upon it; karmic impulsion is what the karma of beings calls forth.)
〔2 · Kṣitigarbha restates the entrustment · by the Buddha’s power he divides his body〕（0780b17）At that time Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Because I am upheld by the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha, the Tathāgata, I go throughout a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of worlds, dividing this bodily form of mine, and rescue and draw out all beings who undergo the requital of karma. Were it not for the power of the Tathāgata’s great kindness, I could not work transformations such as these.
〔3 · Entrusted by the Buddha to deliver the beings of the six destinies〕（0780b20）Now I have received the Buddha’s entrustment besides: that until Ajita (the clan name of Maitreya, rendered of old as Unconquerable) shall have become a buddha, the beings of the six destinies are all committed to me, that I may cause them to be delivered.
〔4 · Kṣitigarbha sets the Buddha’s mind at rest〕（0780b22）Yes indeed, World-Honored One: I pray that you will have no anxiety.”
〔5 · The Buddha shows that the nature-consciousness has no fixity〕（0780b22）At that time the Buddha said to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva: “Of all beings, those who are not yet liberated — their nature-consciousness has no settled measure. Evil habits knot into karma, good habits knot into fruit; doing good and doing evil alike arise following upon whatever situation is met with. They turn about in the five destinies without a moment’s rest, and pass through kalpas as many as motes of dust, hemmed in by delusion and by obstruction and hardship.
〔6 · The simile of the fish that swims into the net〕（0780b25）It is like a fish swimming into a net and borne along in that long current: it seems to have slipped out, it gets out for a moment, and then it meets the net again.
〔7 · The Buddha holds beings in his anxious thought〕（0780b26）For beings such as these I must be anxious and hold them in mind.
〔8 · Since you have vowed to deliver the guilty, what have I to be anxious about〕（0780b27）Since you have already fulfilled the vows of former ages, and through kalpas upon kalpas have pledged yourself again and again, delivering at large the company of the guilty — what have I still to be anxious about?”
〔9 · King Sovereign in Samādhi asks about the original vows of kalpas past〕（0780b28）While these words were being spoken, there was in the assembly a bodhisattva-mahāsattva named King Sovereign in Samādhi, who said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, through kalpas upon kalpas, has made what vows, each in its turn? And now he has the World-Honored One’s earnest praise. I pray only that the World-Honored One will speak of them in brief.”
〔10 · The Buddha bids him listen and consents to speak〕（0780c02）At that time the World-Honored One said to the Bodhisattva King Sovereign in Samādhi: “Listen well! Listen well! Think upon it and bear it well in mind, and I shall expound it to you point by point.
〔11 · Past life one · the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom and the king of a small country〕（0780c04）Long ago in the past, measureless asaṃkhyeya nayutas of inexpressible kalpas ago, there was in that time a buddha whose name was the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom — Worthy of Offerings, Rightly and Universally Awakened, Complete in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, World-Honored One (the ten epithets of a tathāgata); and that buddha’s lifespan was sixty thousand kalpas.（0780c07）Before he had left the household life he was, in his person, the king of a small country, and he made a friend of the king of a neighboring country, and together they practised the ten good acts and benefited beings.
〔12 · The two kings make their vows〕（0780c09）Within that neighboring country all the people were doing much evil of every kind. The two kings took counsel and reckoned together, and set out every kind of skillful means.（0780c10）One king vowed: to accomplish the way of a buddha early, and then to deliver such a company as this and leave none of them over. One king vowed: if I do not first deliver to the end those who are guilty and suffering, and bring them to peace and cause them to reach awakening, I will to the end not vow to become a buddha.”
〔13 · Past and present of the two kings joined〕（0780c12）The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva King Sovereign in Samādhi: “The king who vowed to become a buddha early is the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom. The king who vowed to deliver the beings who are guilty and suffering forever, and would not first become a buddha, is Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.
〔14 · Past life two · the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes〕（0780c15）Again, in the past, measureless asaṃkhyeya kalpas ago, there was a buddha who appeared in the world named the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes, and that buddha’s lifespan was forty kalpas.
〔15 · The arhat and Bright Eyes〕（0780c17）In the time of the Semblance Dharma there was an arhat who delivered beings by means of blessings.（0780c18）Teaching and transforming as he came to each in turn, he met with a woman whose name was Bright Eyes, and she prepared food and offered it to him.（0780c19）The arhat asked her: “What is it that you would ask for?” Bright Eyes answered: “On the day my mother died I set about rescuing and drawing her out by the blessings I could raise; only I do not know into what destiny my mother has been born.”
〔16 · The arhat enters concentration and sees her mother〕（0780c20）The arhat took pity on her and entered concentration for her sake and contemplated, and saw that the mother of the woman Bright Eyes had fallen into an evil destiny and was undergoing the utmost suffering.（0780c22）The arhat asked Bright Eyes: “What deeds did your mother practise while she was alive? She is now in an evil destiny, undergoing the utmost suffering.”
〔17 · Bright Eyes tells what her mother was habituated to〕（0780c23）Bright Eyes answered: “What my mother was habituated to was this: she liked nothing so much as eating fish and turtles. Of the fish and turtles she ate, it was mostly their young that she ate; now she had them fried, now boiled, eating as her appetite pleased. Reckon up the number of those lives, and it is a thousand myriads and doubled again. Venerable one, in your kindness and pity, how may she be saved?”
〔18 · The arhat teaches her to recollect the Buddha and to make an image〕（0780c26）The arhat took pity on her and set out a skillful means for her, exhorting Bright Eyes: “With utmost sincerity you may recollect the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes, and sculpt and paint his image besides; the living and the dead alike will obtain the fruit of it.”
〔19 · Bright Eyes paints the image and makes offerings and bows〕（0780c28）When Bright Eyes had heard this, she straightway gave up what she loved, and straightway had the buddha’s image painted and made offerings to it; and with a reverent mind besides, weeping and grieving, she gazed upon it and bowed.
〔20 · By night she sees the Buddha in a dream〕（0781a01）Suddenly, after nightfall, she saw in a dream the body of the Buddha, golden in color and shining bright, like Mount Sumeru, sending forth a great light;（0781a02）and he said to Bright Eyes: “Your mother will before long be born in your own house; as soon as she feels hunger and cold she will speak.”
〔21 · The bondmaid’s child speaks · it declares that it is the mother〕（0781a03）After this, within the house, a bondmaid bore a son; and before three days were out he spoke. He bowed his head, wept in grief, and said to Bright Eyes: “The karmic conditions of birth and death — the fruit of them is borne by oneself. I am your mother, and long I have dwelt in the dark and the gloom. Since I parted from you I have fallen again and again into the great hells. Upheld by the power of your blessings, I have at last been able to take birth; but as a person of low station, and short-lived besides — my years are to be thirteen, and then I shall fall into the evil destinies again. Have you any means by which I may be got free?”
〔22 · Bright Eyes asks closely after the root of the guilt〕（0781a08）When Bright Eyes heard him speak so, she knew beyond doubt that it was her mother; choking and sobbing in grief, she said to the bondmaid’s son: “Since you are my mother, you must know the guilt that is your own. What deeds did you do, that you fell into the evil destinies?”（0781a10）The bondmaid’s son answered: “It was by the two deeds of killing and harming, and of abusing and reviling, that I underwent this requital. Had I not been upheld by the power of blessings and rescued and drawn out of my hardship, then by reason of that karma I should not yet have been fit for liberation.”
〔23 · She turns and asks about the requital of guilt in the hells〕（0781a12）Bright Eyes asked: “The requital of guilt in the hells — what sort of thing is that?” The bondmaid’s son answered: “The matter of that guilt and that suffering I cannot bear to speak of; a hundred thousand years would not be enough to tell it to the end.”
〔24 · Bright Eyes makes her vow toward the air · that the requital of the present birth be escaped〕（0781a14）When Bright Eyes had heard it, she wept aloud and let her tears fall, and said toward the empty air: “I vow that my mother be free of the hells forever; that when these thirteen years are full she may have no grave guilt again, and pass through the evil destinies no more.
〔25 · That the requital of the births to come be escaped〕（0781a16）Buddhas of the ten directions, in kindness and compassion take pity on me and hear the vast vow I make for my mother’s sake: if my mother may be parted forever from the three evil paths (the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals), and from this body of low station, and even from the body of a woman, never through eternal kalpas to undergo them again —
〔26 · Before the buddha’s image she sets up her great vow〕（0781a18）then I vow that from this day forth, before the image of the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes, throughout the hundred thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas hereafter, for all the beings who are guilty and suffering in all the hells and in the three evil destinies of whatever worlds there are, I vow to rescue and draw them out, and to cause them to leave the hells, the evil destinies, the animals, the hungry ghosts, and the rest. Only when all such people of karmic requital have finished becoming buddhas shall I then accomplish right awakening.”
〔27 · The Buddha sanctions her and tells of the turning of the requital〕（0781a23）When she had made the vow, she heard in full the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes saying to her: “Bright Eyes! Great is your kindness and pity, that you can so well make a great vow such as this for your mother’s sake. I contemplate your mother: when the thirteen years are full, she will lay down this body of requital and be born a brahman (properly rendered Pure Progeny; that is, a brahmin), with a lifespan of a hundred years; and when that requital is past she will be born into the Land Without Sorrow, with a lifespan of kalpas beyond reckoning; and afterward she will accomplish the fruit of buddhahood and deliver gods and humans at large, in numbers like the sands of the Ganges.””
〔28 · Past and present joined〕（0781a28）The Buddha said to King Sovereign in Samādhi: “The arhat of that time, who delivered Bright Eyes by means of blessings, is Bodhisattva Inexhaustible Intention. The mother of Bright Eyes is Bodhisattva Liberation. The woman Bright Eyes is Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.
〔29 · The great vow pointed out in sum〕（0781b01）In kalpas long past he was thus kind and pitying, and made vows as many as the sands of the Ganges, delivering beings at large.
〔30 · Those who do evil are liberated by taking refuge and paying reverence〕（0781b03）In ages to come, if there be a man or a woman who does no good, who does evil, or who does not so much as believe in cause and effect, who commits wrong lust and false speech, who speaks with a double tongue and with harsh words, who slanders the Great Vehicle — beings of such deeds as these will surely fall into the evil destinies.（0781b06）But if they should meet a good friend who exhorts them to take refuge in Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva in the space of a single snap of the fingers, these beings straightway obtain liberation from the requital of the three evil destinies.
〔31 · Those who serve him with a whole mind receive blessings〕（0781b07）And if any can take refuge and pay reverence with a whole mind, and gaze upon him and bow and praise him, with incense, flowers, clothing, and jewels of every kind, or with food and drink besides — those who serve him thus shall, through the hundred thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas to come, dwell always among the gods and receive surpassing and wondrous bliss. And when their blessings among the gods are spent and they are born below among humankind, they shall still for a hundred thousand kalpas be kings and emperors, able to recall the lives of former ages and the whole course of cause and effect.
〔32 · The spiritual power shown in conclusion · the charge to transmit the sūtra〕（0781b11）King Sovereign in Samādhi! Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva is thus, and has an inconceivable and great awesome spiritual power such as this, and benefits beings at large. You bodhisattvas should bear this sūtra in mind and proclaim it and spread it abroad.”
〔33 · King Sovereign in Samādhi accepts the charge〕（0781b14）King Sovereign in Samādhi said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! I pray that you will have no anxiety. We thousand myriad koṭis of bodhisattva-mahāsattvas will surely be able, upheld by the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power, to expound this sūtra at large throughout Jambudvīpa and benefit beings.”
〔34 · Having spoken, he reverently withdraws〕（0781b16）When the Bodhisattva King Sovereign in Samādhi had spoken thus to the World-Honored One, he joined his palms in reverence, made obeisance, and withdrew.
〔35 · The four heavenly kings raise their question〕（0781b18）At that time the heavenly kings of the four quarters rose together from their seats, joined their palms in reverence, and said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva has from kalpas long past made a great vow such as this. How is it that to this day he has still not finished delivering, and pledges himself yet again with a vast vow? We pray only that the World-Honored One will explain it for us.”
〔36 · The Buddha consents to speak for them〕（0781b21）The Buddha said to the four heavenly kings: “Excellent! Excellent! Today, for your sakes and for the sakes of the hosts of gods and humans to come and now present, and for the sake of benefiting at large, I shall speak of the skillful means whereby Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, in the Sahā world, within Jambudvīpa, upon the road of birth and death, in kindness and pity rescues and draws out and delivers all the beings who are guilty and suffering.”
〔37 · The four heavenly kings wish to hear〕（0781b25）The four heavenly kings said: “Yes indeed, World-Honored One! We wish and are glad to hear it.”
〔38 · The reason for the renewed vow shown in brief〕（0781b25）The Buddha said to the four heavenly kings: “From kalpas long past down to this day, Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, in delivering beings, has not yet fulfilled his vow. He takes pity in kindness upon the beings of this world who are guilty and suffering, and he contemplates besides the measureless kalpas to come, in which the causes spread like vines and are not cut off; and for this reason he has pledged himself again with a further vow.
〔39 · The skillful means shown in sum〕（0781b29）Thus this bodhisattva, in the Sahā world, within Jambudvīpa, teaches and transforms by a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of skillful means.
〔40 · Karma and requital set side by side · three items, the three deeds of the body〕（0781c01）Four heavenly kings! If Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva meets one who kills living beings, he speaks for him of the requital of calamity from former lives and of a short life; if he meets one who steals and robs, he speaks for him of the requital of poverty and bitter hardship; if he meets one who commits wrong lust, he speaks for him of the requital of being born a peacock, a dove, or a mandarin duck.
〔41 · Two items, the deeds of speech〕（0781c03）If he meets one who speaks harshly, he speaks for him of the requital of kin who quarrel and contend among themselves; if he meets one who slanders, he speaks for him of the requital of having no tongue and of sores in the mouth.
〔42 · Three items, the deeds of mind〕（0781c05）If he meets one who is wrathful and hateful, he speaks for him of the requital of an ugly appearance and a body crippled and maimed; if he meets one who is miserly and grudging, he speaks for him of the requital of what he seeks going against his wish; if he meets one who eats and drinks without measure, he speaks for him of the requital of hunger and thirst and of disease in the throat.
〔43 · Five items, miscellaneous deeds〕（0781c07）If he meets one who hunts and gives free rein to his impulses, he speaks for him of the requital of fright and madness and the loss of life; if he meets one who defies and rebels against father and mother, he speaks for him of the requital of calamity from heaven and earth that kills; if he meets one who sets fire to the trees of mountain and forest, he speaks for him of the requital of madness and bewilderment that takes his own death upon him; if he meets one who bears venom toward the children of a former or a later marriage, or toward a stepfather or stepmother, he speaks for him of the requital of being flogged in return, undergone in this present life; if he meets one who nets and traps newly hatched fledglings, he speaks for him of the requital of flesh and bone parted from one another.
〔44 · Four items, the Three Jewels〕（0781c11）If he meets one who slanders the Three Jewels, he speaks for him of the requital of blindness, deafness, and dumbness; if he meets one who makes light of the Dharma and slights the teaching, he speaks for him of the requital of dwelling in the evil destinies forever; if he meets one who destroys or takes to his own use what belongs to the permanent abode, he speaks for him of the requital of turning in the hells for koṭis of kalpas; if he meets one who defiles those of pure conduct and falsely accuses the saṃgha, he speaks for him of the requital of being among the animals forever.
〔45 · Six items, miscellaneous deeds〕（0781c15）If he meets one who harms living beings with scalding water, with fire, or with hacking and cutting, he speaks for him of the requital of repaying it turn by turn through the round of rebirth; if he meets one who breaks the precepts and violates the fast, he speaks for him of the requital of hunger as a bird or a beast; if he meets one who wantonly ruins and squanders what is for use, he speaks for him of the requital of what he seeks being wanting and cut off; if he meets one who clings to self and is haughty and overweening, he speaks for him of the requital of being a menial of low station; if he meets one who sets others at odds with a double tongue and stirs up strife, he speaks for him of the requital of having no tongue, or of having a hundred tongues; if he meets one who holds wrong views, he speaks for him of the requital of being born in a borderland.
〔46 · The differences that karma calls forth, shown in conclusion〕（0781c19）Beings of Jambudvīpa such as these, in the three deeds of body, speech, and mind, have their evil habits knot into evil fruit, and a hundred thousand requitals answer to them; today I have told it only coarsely and in brief. The differences that the karma of beings of Jambudvīpa such as these calls forth — Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva teaches and transforms them by a hundred thousand kinds of skillful means.
〔47 · The charge to protect the people and protect the country〕（0781c22）These beings first undergo requitals such as those spoken of above, and only then fall into the hells, passing through kalpas without number, with no time appointed for coming out. Therefore you are to protect the people and protect the country, and not let these several karmas delude beings.”
〔48 · The four heavenly kings withdraw in grief〕（0781c25）When the four heavenly kings had heard it, they wept and sighed in grief, joined their palms, and withdrew.
前一品講業緣，這一品講業感。逐文而下的清代注解——青蓮沙門靈椉的《地藏菩薩本願經科註》——把這一品判作正宗分裡的第二科，名曰「示業感差別」〔X21n0384 0686b24〕。他先釋品題，然後把品文分成兩截：地藏重述付囑，與當機之王問大願。他還特地說明前後兩品為什麼要接得這麼緊：「由此二品，鉤鎖如環，不可杜斷」〔X21n0384 0687a17〕——業緣講的是造業之緣，業感講的是受報之相；兩品像一副環鎖，扣在一起，不能從中間切斷。以下所說，還是先看經自己怎麼走。
閻浮：一棵樹的名字
品題四個字，第一個是地名。閻浮提是南洲，洲以樹得名。古來注家考這棵樹，引《長阿含》說它果大如一甕，汁色白如乳、味甘如蜜；五處的果子分給乾闥婆、七國之人、海蟲、禽獸與星宿天。
一棵樹餵了六道。
可是同一棵樹，又被叫作穢樹。歷來的讀法給了兩個理由：一是遠望只見黑暗，故取黑暗為穢；二是「又其果香氣，能染人心發顛狂」〔X21n0384 0687a03〕，故取染污為穢。還有一說更奇：月中所以有黑影，是這棵樹的影子落在月裡——「穢樹之名，得非取此義乎」〔X21n0384 0687a06〕。
甘美的果，與能令人發狂的香氣，長在同一棵樹上。這一品要說的二十三條果報，也都長在同一個地方。
性識無定
地藏先重述付囑：他遍百千萬億世界分身，救拔一切業報眾生；這不是自己的能耐，是承佛威神之力。歷來的讀法把「威神力」三個字拆開讀：「威即四無畏，神即六神通，力即十力」〔X21n0384 0687a19〕。
佛接著回答的，卻不是分身之法，而是眾生為什麼要人分身去救。經給的理由只有四個字：性識無定。
無定是什麼意思？古來注家解得很直：「無定者，無堅住之定性」〔X21n0384 0687c08〕——沒有一個站得住的定盤星。所以善習結成善果，惡習結成惡業，為善為惡，全看當下遇見什麼境。
經接著說「結」。惡習結業，善習結果——結是打結。注家在這裡打了一個很好的比方：「惑業相資，如巾挽結。若欲解之，必抽中心」〔X21n0384 0687c22〕。一條巾打了死結，從兩頭拉只會愈拉愈緊；要解開，得抽中間那一段。
魚遇網
經在這裡給了本品唯一的一個譬喻：如魚遊網，將是長流，脫入暫出，又復遭網。
歷來的讀法把四樣東西一一對上：「魚譬五道，網譬三界，長流譬業果」〔X21n0384 0688a24〕，脫入暫出則譬生死輪轉。而魚為什麼入網，注家點得更準：「群魚貪食，而遭密網。眾生因愛，而入魔網」〔X21n0384 0688b01〕。
網不會追魚。是魚自己游過去的。
這個譬喻裡最容易被讀漏的，是「暫出」兩個字。注家引《五苦章句經》釋它：「三惡道者，是為一切眾生之家，暫得為天，暫得為人，譬如作客。作客日少，歸家日多」〔X21n0384 0688b16〕。
生天生人，經與注家都不當作歸宿，只當作作客。
所以佛說「吾當憂念」。注家釋這一句時說：「佛觀大地眾生，猶同一子」〔X21n0384 0688c03〕。憂的不是別人的事。
兩個王：似有不同
定自在王請問地藏累劫所發的願。佛舉了兩則往事，第一則是小國王。
經寫這位王，起手先給了一個時間點：未出家時，為小國王。古來注家在這四個字上停了一停，把出家分作四種：「一、形心俱不出」〔X21n0384 0689c09〕，形出而心不出，形不出而心出，末一種是「四、形心俱出，能見佛性」〔X21n0384 0689c10〕；而真出家所出的那個家，指的是兩重生死——「出二死家，方真出家」〔X21n0384 0689c11〕。接著就是判語：「昔王正第四人，故能成佛」〔X21n0384 0689c11〕。
身出去了心沒出去，不算；心出去了身還留著，反而算一種。這一段插在二王發願之前，等於先說明白：後面那個願所以能兌現，靠的不是發得早。
兩位國王本是朋友，同行十善，饒益眾生。鄰國人民多造眾惡，二王便一同商議，廣設方便。到這裡兩人還是一路的。然後經寫下岔路：一王發願早成佛道，成了佛再來度這一輩人，使他們沒有剩餘；一王發願，若不先度盡罪苦、令他們安樂得至菩提，「我終未願成佛」。
這兩個願，哪一個對？
歷來的讀法先引《大智度論》立一個框：「成就眾生有二種：有先自成功德，然後度眾生者；有先成就眾生，後自成功德者」〔X21n0384 0690a12〕。兩種都是成就眾生，只是次第相反。第一個王是先自成功德——成佛乃度生之根本，先站上那個位置，才能廣化。第二個王呢，注家的話是：「一王作念，自未得度先度眾生，方是菩薩發心」〔X21n0384 0690a17〕。
然後注家下了一個很有分寸的結：「此正發僧那於始心，終大悲於赴難。故二王發願，似有不同也」〔X21n0384 0690a21〕。
「似有不同」——不是「實有優劣」。兩條路都通到同一個地方，只是一個先到，一個後到；而後到的那位，是自願後到的。經隨即結會：早成佛的那位，就是一切智成就如來；願永度罪苦、不願先成佛的那位，就是地藏菩薩。
那位已經成佛的，在這部經裡沒有再出場。還沒成佛的那位，站在忉利天宮的會上。
一頓飯，換來一句問話
第二則本生從一頓飯開始。
像法之中有一位阿羅漢，以福德度化眾生。他依次教化，遇見一位女人，名叫光目，備飯供養他。羅漢問她：想求什麼願。
古來注家順手釋了光目這個名字，先從眼講起，最後歸到法上：「目表定，光表慧。因定發慧，慧光注目」〔X21n0384 0690c20〕。
光目要求的不是自己的事。她說：母親去世那天起，我就一直修福救拔她，只是不知道她生在哪一趣。注家在這裡引《涅槃經》一句話：「知恩者大悲之本，不知恩者甚於畜生」〔X21n0384 0691a11〕。
一個女人在羅漢面前問的，是一個很小的問題——我母親現在在哪裡。全品最大的那個誓願，就從這一句問話裡長出來。
羅漢入定觀察，看見她母親墮在惡趣，受極大苦。注家釋「極大苦」三字只用了一句：「極大苦者，無間大地獄也」〔X21n0384 0691a23〕。
母親所習的，是一件很家常的事
羅漢問：你母親在生作何行業。
光目的答案裡沒有殺人放火，只有一件廚房裡的事：唯好食噉魚鼈之屬；所食魚鼈多食其子，或炒或煮，恣情食噉；計其命數，千萬復倍。
經自己算了一筆帳：不是一命，是千萬復倍。注家把這筆帳說白：「此乃博求眾命，以資一膳，不惟忍心，亦且損福」〔X21n0384 0691c06〕——為了一頓飯，向天下廣求性命。他還引了一句古人的話：「性命之於彼極切，滋味之在我可賖」〔X21n0384 0691c08〕。那條命對牠是全部，那個味道對人只是一時。
而經用的字是「所習」。注家釋得很細：「所習，指習性、習氣。惡習種子內熏現行，轉習於惡矣」〔X21n0384 0691b19〕。所習不是一次的行為，是一輩子重複做而不再覺得那是一件事的行為。
墮無間的，不是一件大惡；是一件從來沒被當成惡的小事，做了一輩子。
一張畫像
羅漢給的方法只有兩件：至誠念清淨蓮華目如來，兼塑畫形像。
注家釋塑畫二字：「埏土象物曰塑，繪施五彩曰畵」〔X21n0384 0692a04〕。然後他點出經文真正的重量落在哪一句——「畵像供養，人所易行。即捨所愛，人所難作」〔X21n0384 0692a14〕。
畫一張佛像不難。難的是經寫的那四個字：即捨所愛。
而她這麼做的意思，注家一句說盡：「藉佛救母，以道報親，純孝之心，照耀千古矣」〔X21n0384 0692a15〕。
婢家的那個孩子
夢裡佛告訴她：你母親不久當生汝家，纔覺飢寒，即當言說。
其後家內婢生一子，未滿三日而乃言說。注家順帶釋了「婢」字，引《說文》：「男入罪曰奴，女入罪曰婢」〔X21n0384 0692b19〕。生在這樣的人家，本身就是報。
那孩子開口第一句是：「生死業緣，果報自受。」第二句才是：我是你母親。
他說的話裡有兩層。注家把這兩層分得很清楚：「先敘福力脫過去罪，後方求救脫將來苦」〔X21n0384 0692c11〕——前半是道謝：蒙汝福力，方得受生；後半才是求救：為下賤人，又復短命，壽年十三，更落惡道。
已經脫了地獄，還要再落惡道，這算救成了沒有？注家答得誠實：「重業輕報，更落惡道，餘殃未盡也」〔X21n0384 0692c13〕。重的業報成了輕的，可是餘下的殃還沒完。
經沒有給一個一次到底的救法。它給的是一段一段的。
最初的那一念
光目問清楚了本罪——殺害、毀罵二業——然後她向空發願。
前面說她母親所習的，只是廚房裡的一件事；到這裡經自己補上了另一半：不只是手，還有一張嘴。古來注家把這兩樣各給了一個位置：「殺生居眾罪之上，毀罵在萬惡之先」〔X21n0384 0693a15〕。一個在眾罪之上，一個在萬惡之先——沒有分出高下，是兩個並列的頭。
她的願分兩段。前一段還是為母親：願母永脫地獄，畢十三歲，更無重罪及歷惡道。後一段忽然放大了：若得我母永離三塗及斯下賤，乃至女人之身，永劫不受者，願我自今日後，對清淨蓮華目如來像前，却後百千萬億劫中，應有世界所有地獄及三惡道諸罪苦眾生，誓願救拔……如是罪報等人，盡成佛竟，我然後方成正覺。
前一段那個願，古來用一副對子概括過：「畢此一十三齡之短，銷其一十八獄之長」〔X21n0384 0693b04〕。拿十三年的短，去銷十八重地獄的長。
注家對「自今日後」四個字看得極重：「自今日後，標始心也」〔X21n0384 0693c04〕；又引《婆沙》：「若離初心，則不成無上道。一切功德，皆在初心」〔X21n0384 0693c05〕。
然後他說了一句對讀全經很要緊的話：「故知此經明地藏發心，前後四番，後却是前。今是最初，故曰自今」〔X21n0384 0693c06〕。這部經寫地藏發心，前後有四次；照經文次第，寫在後面的反而是時間上更早的。這一次，是最早的一次。
而佛印可她時，讚的不是孝，是那個放大。注家把這層意思說得很直白：「若但為母發心，何善何能，乃以曠濟之心，求畢母罪」〔X21n0384 0693c16〕——只為母親發心，算不上什麼善、什麼能；她是拿普度一切的心，來了結母親的罪。他隨手打了個比方：「譬如大水而滅小火，豈有不滅者乎」〔X21n0384 0693c17〕。
要滅一星火，不必量水；水夠大，火自然滅。
三報俱轉
佛接著告訴她母親往後的去處：十三歲畢，捨此報已，生為梵志，壽年百歲；過是報後，當生無憂國土，壽命不可計劫；後成佛果，廣度人天，數如恒河沙。
注家在這裡數了一遍：「一子求佛發心，其母三報俱轉」〔X21n0384 0694a03〕——初生下賤是轉了前報，次生梵志是轉了現報，後成佛果是轉了後報。
他還把那個國土的名字讀出味道來。經說「無憂國土」，注家說：「無憂國土，即指極樂，轉憂為樂也」〔X21n0384 0694a05〕。憂是一路數下來的：在地獄以燒煮為憂，在婢家以下賤為憂，畢十三歲以更墮惡道為憂，生為梵志以邪行自大為憂——四重憂到這裡並息，才叫無憂。
而最後那一句最重：「昔為罪母，乃地獄所度之死囚。將作如來，乃人天能化之大覺」〔X21n0384 0694a10〕。同一個人。
兩則救母，不是一則
佛結會古今：那位福度光目的羅漢，是無盡意菩薩；光目的母親，是解脫菩薩；光目女，就是地藏菩薩。
注家釋解脫菩薩之名，是把她這一路從頭數了一遍：昔墮鐵城備經辛苦，次生婢家又復短命，後為梵志終墮邪流；而今展轉，成了不思議大解脫士。至於這幾個人此刻都在忉利天宮的會上，他寫了一句很有意思的話：「能所畢至，子母俱來，敻隔沙劫，一會儼然」〔X21n0384 0694b01〕。隔了沙劫那麼久，此刻同在一會。
這裡要留意一件容易混的事。前面第一品裡，也有一位女兒為母親發願——婆羅門女，母親信邪輕慢三寶，墮無間，她賣宅興供、端坐念佛，身至業海，遇無毒鬼王，得知母親已生天。那是另一則，另一位佛（覺華定自在王如來），另一種罪（邪見譏毀三寶），另一種救法（賣宅興供、念佛而至業海）。
本品這一則的母親，罪在殺害毀罵，救法在念佛塑像，得知母生處的方式是夢與婢子自陳，而她後來的去處是無憂國土。兩則各自完整，前後不相涉。
古來注家也是分作兩則讀的。釋題的那一卷說本願二字時，繫的是兩個人：「乃菩薩昔生為婆羅門女及光目女時，所發之大願也」〔X21n0383 0640c24〕；論本經之別願時又說：「若準今經，婆羅門女及光目女，皆為母發心，而救六道」〔X21n0383 0641a17〕。
兩次為母發心，兩個不同的往世。合起來看，才是這部經被稱作孝經的理由。
二十三條之前，經先開了一道門
結會古今之後，經沒有立刻轉去說果報。它先把話拉到未來世，點了一串人：不行善者，行惡者，乃至不信因果者，邪婬妄語者，兩舌惡口者，毀謗大乘者。對這些人，經的判語很硬：如是諸業眾生，必墮惡趣。
可是緊接的下一句就是轉：「若遇善知識，勸令一彈指間歸依地藏菩薩，是諸眾生，即得解脫三惡道報」〔T13n0412 0781b06〕。
先看那個「若」字。古來注家訓得很老實：「若者，不定之辭」〔X21n0384 0695a02〕——遇不遇得上，是不定的；「惡中儻有毫善，或能遇之」〔X21n0384 0695a02〕，惡裡頭若還剩一毫的善，或許遇得上，否則就難遇。至於誰算真的善知識，他也逕指了出來：「今教一彈指頃，歸依地藏菩薩，是真善知識」〔X21n0384 0695a04〕。
再看那個量。一彈指有多久？注家準律而算：「二十念為一瞬，二十瞬名一彈指」〔X21n0384 0695a06〕。四百個念頭的長度——短到幾乎算不成一段時間。
然後是這一整段的判語：「然歸依祗一彈指，而惡道千生解脫」〔X21n0384 0695a07〕，故「歸依之力，莫可涯量」〔X21n0384 0695a08〕。付出的是一彈指，解開的是千生的惡道；兩頭全不成比例，所以說它量不出邊際。
而他在這一句之後只添了四個字：「故勸之也」〔X21n0384 0695a08〕。
這四個字要緊。經寫到這裡，語氣不是誡，是勸。而且經還往上加：若能志心歸敬、瞻禮讚歎，乃至香華衣服、種種珍寶、飲食奉事，果報一層一層地厚上去。一彈指是最低的那一階，不是唯一的那一階——這一階低到我們也伸得到手。
二十三條果報，排在這一段之後。門先開，牆才砌。
二十三條
四天王起問：地藏久遠劫來發如是大願，云何至今猶度未絕，更發廣大誓言。
這一問問得很實在——願力有未至嗎？還是眾生實在難度？佛沒有正面回答哪一邊，他改為列舉：地藏若遇某種人，就為他說某種報。經文一連二十三條，一條一句，句句同型。
古來注家把這二十三條分作六組：前三條「殺、盜、婬，身三惡也」〔X21n0384 0697a09〕；接著兩條是口業，「此示口四報。惡口當一，毀謗攝三」〔X21n0384 0697b06〕——毀謗一條裡含著妄語等三種；再三條是「此示意三報分別」〔X21n0384 0697b18〕，瞋恚是瞋，慳悋是貪，而飲食無度何以入意業，注家在夾註裡只寫了四個字：「無度即痴」〔X21n0384 0697c04〕。八條收盡十惡。
其後五條是「次明雜業報」〔X21n0384 0697c17〕：畋獵、悖逆父母、燒山林木、前後父母惡毒、網捕生雛。再四條是「此明三寶中報。佛如醫王，法如良藥，僧如瞻病人」〔X21n0384 0698b01〕：毀謗三寶、輕法慢教、破用常住、污梵誣僧。末六條又是「此明雜業報。湯火斬斫，殺生法也」〔X21n0384 0698c01〕：湯火斬斫、破戒犯齋、非理毀用、吾我貢高、兩舌鬬亂、邪見。
而這一串的頭與尾，注家看出是有意安排的：「然首舉殺生，眾惡之大本，終結邪見，業流之巨壑故耳」〔X21n0384 0699a15〕。起於殺生，收於邪見。一個是最粗的，一個是最細的。
二十三條之後，經自己收了一句：如是等閻浮提眾生，身口意業，惡習結果，百千報應，今麁略說。
二十三條，經自己說這只是粗略。而三業之中誰是主，注家點得很清楚：「凡動身口，皆由心使。故三業皆以心為根本也」〔X21n0384 0699a23〕。
「百千報應」四個字，他也沒有輕輕放過。讀這一長串最容易生的疑問是：那為什麼有人作惡一輩子，並沒有看見報？他引了兩部經來分。
一部分果：「準彌勒問經，有三種」〔X21n0384 0699b01〕——「一、果報果，生地獄等」〔X21n0384 0699b01〕，是墮處；二是習氣果，「出生人中，依殺生，有短命果」〔X21n0384 0699b02〕，是脫了墮處以後帶著的那一分；「三、增上果，依彼十種不善業道，一切外物，無有氣勢」〔X21n0384 0699b04〕——連身外的東西都跟著薄了。
一部分時：「準優婆塞戒經：眾生造業，有四種報」〔X21n0384 0699b05〕——「一、現報〔今身作業，今身即受〕，二、生報〔今身造業，次後身受〕，三、後報〔今生造業，更二三生已去方受〕，四、無報〔猶無記等業〕」〔X21n0384 0699b06〕。
有了這兩層，二十三條才讀得順。一條果報不是一次結清的帳：它分果，也分時。看不見，不等於沒有；看見了，也未必是這一件事來的。
為什麼要說苦
有一個問題，讀到這裡不能不問：既然苦報不是好事，何不直接說善法勸人去修，何必一條一條地說苦？
歷來的讀法把這個問題明著提了出來：「此苦業報，既非善事，寧不直爾說善令習，何須稱情說苦業耶」〔X21n0384 0696c19〕。
答案分三層。第一層是對顯：「善惡因果，法須相對。若不說其貪等是過，何由顯施等是善」〔X21n0384 0696c20〕；「若不宣三塗是苦，無由顯人天等樂」〔X21n0384 0696c22〕。不說苦，樂就沒有座標。
第二層是分機。聞苦而生厭離之後，人往兩邊走：鈍根的一聽苦業就求世間之樂，因此轉心，去修福業；利根的一聽苦業就求解脫，因此轉心，能修道觀——便於惑中，得起出因。同一段話，兩種人聽走了兩條路，而兩條路都是往上的。
第三層最要緊：「雖稱情說諸過惡，然心外無別業苦」〔X21n0384 0697a05〕。順著眾生的情，說了那麼多過惡；可是心之外並沒有另一個叫作業苦的東西。
所以注家收作一句：「故知苦業，厭離之本，起善之緣，是故須說」〔X21n0384 0697a03〕。
二十三條不是恫嚇，是對照表。經給的是差別，不是判決。
因蔓不斷
佛說地藏至今猶未畢願的理由，用了一個植物的字：因蔓不斷。
蔓是葛藤那一類，纏在樹上，牽引不斷。注家把這根藤的走法拆開：「此由惑滋業，由業潤生，生還造業，業復墮苦」〔X21n0384 0696b22〕——惑養出業，業滋潤來生，來生又造業，業又墮苦。四段首尾相銜，接成一個圈。
同一段裡他還引了一個更緊的比方：「一切眾生，常在長獄，十二重城圍之，三重棘籬籬之，六拔刀賊伺之」〔X21n0384 0696a18〕，能從其中脫出者，甚難甚難。而這些名目各有所指：「長獄謂三界，十二重城謂十二因緣，三重棘籬謂三毒也」〔X21n0384 0696a20〕。
牆是十二因緣，籬是三毒，賊是六根。獄裡沒有一樣東西是外來的。
所以四天王聽完之後，經只寫了八個字：涕淚悲歎，合掌而退。他們沒有再問。
而佛給他們的交代是四個字：護人護國。這一品從地藏的分身講起，講到二十三條果報，最後落在四位天王身上——不是叫他們去救誰，是叫他們別讓眾業迷惑了眾生。
承衍——一部孝經，與一根針線
上來是本品自身的義。此下另以一副眼旁照——鏡非經，只是同一段經文，換一種讀法來看。
《地藏菩薩本願經科註》六卷，清代靈椉輯，號青蓮，前冠《綸貫》一卷。上文所引之科與釋，骨幹全出於此：二品鉤鎖如環之判、魚網四譬之配、二王「似有不同」之結、光目之名配定慧、發心四番之數、三報俱轉之算、二十三條之六科分組，以及「何須稱情說苦業」的自設問答。
他讀經的眼力，最見於「針線」二字。經文「過去久遠劫中，如是慈愍發恒河沙願，廣度眾生」一節，看起來是收上文的結語；他偏把它移作下一科的起首，並且說明理由：這一節不是結，是為下文未來造惡眾生歸供脫苦立的張本——「針線之妙，後賢不可不知」〔X21n0384 0694b06〕。同樣的針線，他在前面也指過一處：說像法「乃塔寺堅固之時」，隨即點出「乃下文塑畵形像之伏案也」〔X21n0384 0690c03〕。像法二字不是背景交代，是為後面那張畫像先埋的線頭。
他釋經也常順手帶進醫、字、物。釋光目之名先講五藏六府之精氣上注於目，然後才轉到定慧；釋「婢」引《說文》；釋咽病則分咽喉二竅，說喉在前主出、咽在後主吞。這副眼睛落在經上，也落在經所寫的那個世間上。
他所引的經論，本品之內就有《長阿含》《大智度論》《涅槃經》《俱舍論》《正法念處經》《五苦章句經》《十地論》《心地觀經》《優婆塞戒經》《十輪經》諸種。釋二十三條裡的「毀謗三寶」時，他逕引同尊之異經：「若有剎利旃陀羅於三寶所起於惡心，一切諸佛所不能救，常墮地獄餓鬼畜生，若得為人，盲聾瘖瘂」〔X21n0384 0698b02〕——本經只給果，那部經給了同一個果的另一種因緣。
至於四位天王的來歷，他也照《世記經》一一點過：東方持國、南方增長、西方雜語、北方多聞，各領其部。而他釋這四位為什麼在此品出現，只用一句：「以我等正護四方，而南洲偏多惡業」〔X21n0384 0696a06〕。天王問這一問，是因為這件事本來就歸他們管。
末後四天王聞已涕淚悲歎，他還讀出一層：「此由聞上業感差別之相，入心冥契，了本空寂，聞即無聞，是名心聞」〔X21n0384 0700a09〕。這是天台的讀法，可以參，不必當作經文自帶的意思。
而經自己那句話不繫於任何一面鏡。那位國王說的是：若不先度罪苦，令是安樂，得至菩提，我終未願成佛——這句話的時態，到今天還沒有過去。
The chapter before this speaks of karmic conditions; this chapter speaks of karmic impulsion. The Qing-dynasty commentary that runs through the text phrase by phrase — the Outline and Commentary on the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, by Lingcheng, the śramaṇa styled Qinglian — judges this chapter to be the second heading within the section of main exposition, and names it 「示業感差別」—“showing the differences that karmic impulsion calls forth.” 〔X21n0384 0686b24〕 He first explains the title of the chapter, and then divides the chapter’s text in two: Kṣitigarbha restating the entrustment, and the king who is the occasion asking about the great vows. He explains besides, and expressly, why the two chapters must be joined as closely as they are: 「由此二品，鉤鎖如環，不可杜斷」—“by reason of these two chapters, hooked and locked like a ring, they may not be cut apart.” 〔X21n0384 0687a17〕 — karmic conditions speaks of the conditions under which karma is made, karmic impulsion of the aspect under which requital is undergone; the two chapters are like a linked lock fastened together, and cannot be cut through in the middle. What is said below still begins by watching how the sūtra itself walks.
Jambudvīpa: the Name of a Tree
Of the four characters of the chapter’s title, the first is a place-name. Jambudvīpa is the southern continent, and the continent takes its name from a tree. The commentator of old looks into this tree and cites the Dīrgha Āgama, which says that its fruit is as large as an earthen jar, that the juice is white as milk and the taste sweet as honey; and that the fruit of five places is apportioned to the gandharvas, to the people of seven kingdoms, to the creatures of the sea, to the birds and beasts, and to the gods of the constellations.
One tree feeds the six destinies.
And yet the same tree is also called the foul tree. The reading handed down gives two reasons: first, that seen from afar there is nothing to see but darkness, and so darkness is taken as the foulness; second, that 「又其果香氣，能染人心發顛狂」—“and the fragrance of its fruit can stain the human mind and set it raving.” 〔X21n0384 0687a03〕, so that defilement is taken as the foulness. There is a third account, stranger still: that the reason there is a black shadow in the moon is that the shadow of this tree has fallen into it — 「穢樹之名，得非取此義乎」—“the name of the foul tree: might it not be taken from this sense?” 〔X21n0384 0687a06〕
The sweet fruit and the fragrance that can drive a man mad grow upon one and the same tree. The twenty-three requitals this chapter is to speak of all grow in one and the same place as well.
The Nature-Consciousness Has No Fixity
Kṣitigarbha first restates the entrustment: he divides his body throughout a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of worlds and rescues and draws out all beings who undergo the requital of karma; and this is not his own capacity, but is upheld by the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha. The reading handed down takes the three characters 「威神力」 apart and reads them one by one: 「威即四無畏，神即六神通，力即十力」—“awe is the four fearlessnesses, spirit is the six spiritual penetrations, power is the ten powers.” 〔X21n0384 0687a19〕
What the Buddha answers next is not the method of dividing the body, but why beings should need someone to divide his body to save them. The reason the sūtra gives is four characters: the nature-consciousness has no fixity.
What does having no fixity mean? The commentator of old glosses it bluntly: 「無定者，無堅住之定性」—“having no fixity means that there is no fixed nature that abides firmly.” 〔X21n0384 0687c08〕 — there is no compass-point that will stand still. And so good habits knot into good fruit and evil habits into evil karma; whether one does good or does evil hangs entirely on what situation is met with at the moment.
The sūtra then says 「結」, to knot. Evil habits knot into karma, good habits knot into fruit — and to knot is to tie a knot. The commentator strikes a fine comparison here: 「惑業相資，如巾挽結。若欲解之，必抽中心」—“delusion and karma sustain each other, like a cloth drawn into a knot. If one would undo it, one must draw out the middle.” 〔X21n0384 0687c22〕 A cloth tied into a dead knot pulls tighter the harder it is drawn from the two ends; to undo it, one must draw out the length in the middle.
The Fish Meets the Net
Here the sūtra gives the one simile this chapter has: like a fish swimming into a net and borne along in that long current — it slips in, it gets out for a moment, and then it meets the net again.
The reading handed down matches four things to it one by one: 「魚譬五道，網譬三界，長流譬業果」—“the fish figures the five destinies, the net figures the three realms, the long current figures the fruit of karma.” 〔X21n0384 0688a24〕, and slipping in and getting out for a moment figures the turning round of birth and death. As to why the fish goes into the net, the commentator puts it more exactly still: 「群魚貪食，而遭密網。眾生因愛，而入魔網」—“the school of fish is greedy for food, and so meets the close-meshed net; beings by reason of craving enter the net of Māra.” 〔X21n0384 0688b01〕
The net does not chase the fish. The fish swims over of itself.
What is most easily read past in this simile is the two characters 「暫出」, gets out for a moment. The commentator cites the Sūtra of the Sections on the Five Sufferings to gloss them: 「三惡道者，是為一切眾生之家，暫得為天，暫得為人，譬如作客。作客日少，歸家日多」—“the three evil destinies are the home of all beings; to get to be a god for a moment, to get to be a human for a moment, is like being a guest. The days of being a guest are few, the days of going home are many.” 〔X21n0384 0688b16〕
Birth among the gods and birth among humans neither the sūtra nor the commentator takes for a resting place; they take it only for being a guest.
And so the Buddha says 「吾當憂念」, I must be anxious and hold them in mind. Glossing this sentence the commentator says: 「佛觀大地眾生，猶同一子」—“the Buddha looks upon the beings of the whole earth as upon a single child.” 〔X21n0384 0688c03〕 What he is anxious about is not another’s business.
The Two Kings: There Seems to Be a Difference
King Sovereign in Samādhi asks about the vows Kṣitigarbha made through kalpas upon kalpas. The Buddha raises two accounts from the past, and the first is of the king of a small country.
In writing of this king the sūtra begins by giving a point in time: before he had left the household life, he was the king of a small country. The commentator of old pauses over these four characters and divides leaving the household life into four kinds: 「一、形心俱不出」—“first, neither the form nor the mind goes out.” 〔X21n0384 0689c09〕; the form goes out but the mind does not; the mind goes out but the form does not; and the last is 「四、形心俱出，能見佛性」—“fourth, both the form and the mind go out, and one can see the buddha-nature.” 〔X21n0384 0689c10〕 And the household that is truly gone out from means the two kinds of birth-and-death — 「出二死家，方真出家」—“only when one has gone out from the household of the two deaths has one truly left the household life.” 〔X21n0384 0689c11〕 And then comes the judgment: 「昔王正第四人，故能成佛」—“the king of that former time is precisely the fourth sort of person, and therefore he could become a buddha.” 〔X21n0384 0689c11〕
The body gone out with the mind still in does not count; the mind gone out with the body still at home counts, on the contrary, as one of the kinds. This passage, set in before the two kings make their vows, amounts to saying plainly beforehand that what makes the later of those two vows redeemable is not that it was made early.
The two kings were friends to begin with, practising the ten good acts together and benefiting beings. The people of the neighboring country were doing much evil of every kind, and the two kings took counsel together and set out every kind of skillful means. Up to here the two are still of one road. Then the sūtra writes down the fork: one king vowed to accomplish the way of a buddha early and then, become a buddha, to come back and deliver that company and leave none of them over; one king vowed that if he did not first deliver to the end those who are guilty and suffering, and bring them to peace and cause them to reach awakening, 「我終未願成佛」 — I will to the end not vow to become a buddha.
Which of these two vows is right?
The reading handed down first cites the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom to set up a frame: 「成就眾生有二種：有先自成功德，然後度眾生者；有先成就眾生，後自成功德者」—“there are two ways of bringing beings to accomplishment: there is accomplishing merit for oneself first and delivering beings afterward, and there is bringing beings to accomplishment first and accomplishing merit for oneself afterward.” 〔X21n0384 0690a12〕 Both are the bringing of beings to accomplishment; only the order is reversed. The first king accomplishes merit for himself first — becoming a buddha is the root of delivering beings, and only by standing in that position first can one transform at large. As for the second king, the commentator’s words are: 「一王作念，自未得度先度眾生，方是菩薩發心」—“one king made this thought: to deliver beings first while not yet delivered oneself — this is precisely a bodhisattva’s arousing of the resolve.” 〔X21n0384 0690a17〕
And then the commentator sets down a conclusion nicely measured: 「此正發僧那於始心，終大悲於赴難。故二王發願，似有不同也」—“this is precisely to put on the great armor at the first thought and to consummate great compassion in going to meet the peril. And so the vows of the two kings seem to have a difference between them.” 〔X21n0384 0690a21〕
「似有不同」 — they seem to have a difference — and not 「實有優劣」, the one is in fact better and the other worse. The two roads both lead to the same place; only one arrives first and one arrives later, and the one who arrives later arrives later by his own choosing. The sūtra straightway joins past and present: the one who became a buddha early is the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom; the one who vowed to deliver the guilty and suffering forever and would not first become a buddha is Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.
The one who has already become a buddha does not appear again in this sūtra. The one who has not yet become a buddha stands in the assembly in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.
One Meal, and the Question It Bought
The second account of a former life begins with a meal.
In the time of the Semblance Dharma there was an arhat who delivered and transformed beings by means of blessings. Teaching and transforming as he came to each in turn, he met a woman named Bright Eyes, who prepared a meal and offered it to him. The arhat asked her what it was that she would ask for.
The commentator of old glosses the name Bright Eyes as he goes, beginning from the eye and returning at the last to the Dharma: 「目表定，光表慧。因定發慧，慧光注目」—“the eye signifies concentration and the brightness signifies wisdom; by concentration wisdom is brought forth, and the light of wisdom is poured into the eye.” 〔X21n0384 0690c20〕
What Bright Eyes asks for is not her own affair. She says: from the day my mother died I have been cultivating blessings to rescue and draw her out; only I do not know into what destiny she has been born. Here the commentator cites a line of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra: 「知恩者大悲之本，不知恩者甚於畜生」—“to know a kindness done is the root of great compassion; one who does not know a kindness done is worse than an animal.” 〔X21n0384 0691a11〕
What a woman asks in front of an arhat is a very small question — where is my mother now? The greatest vow in the whole chapter grows out of this one question.
The arhat entered concentration and contemplated, and saw that her mother had fallen into an evil destiny and was undergoing the utmost suffering. To gloss the three characters 「極大苦」 the commentator uses one sentence only: 「極大苦者，無間大地獄也」—“the utmost suffering is the great Avīci hell.” 〔X21n0384 0691a23〕
What Her Mother Was Habituated to Was a Household Thing
The arhat asks: what deeds did your mother do while she lived?
In Bright Eyes’ answer there is no killing of men and no setting of fires, only one thing out of the kitchen: she liked nothing so much as eating fish and turtles; of the fish and turtles she ate it was mostly their young that she ate, now fried, now boiled, eaten as her appetite pleased; and reckoning up the number of those lives, it is a thousand myriads and doubled again.
The sūtra reckons the account itself: not one life, but a thousand myriads and doubled again. The commentator states the account plainly: 「此乃博求眾命，以資一膳，不惟忍心，亦且損福」—“this is to seek widely for many lives in order to furnish a single meal; it is not only hard-hearted, it wastes one’s blessings besides.” 〔X21n0384 0691c06〕 — for one meal, to seek out lives from all under heaven. He cites besides a line from a man of old: 「性命之於彼極切，滋味之在我可賖」—“life is to them the most urgent of all things; flavor is to me a thing that can be deferred.” 〔X21n0384 0691c08〕 That life is everything to the creature; that taste is to a person only a moment.
And the word the sūtra uses is 「所習」, what one is habituated to. The commentator glosses it minutely: 「所習，指習性、習氣。惡習種子內熏現行，轉習於惡矣」—“what one is habituated to means habitual nature and habitual energy; the seeds of evil habit perfume the active manifestation from within, and by habit one is turned toward evil.” 〔X21n0384 0691b19〕 What one is habituated to is not a single act; it is an act repeated for a lifetime and no longer felt to be an act at all.
What fell into the Avīci hell was not one great evil; it was one small thing that had never been counted as evil, done for a lifetime.
A Painted Image
The method the arhat gives is two things only: to recollect the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes with utmost sincerity, and to sculpt and paint his image besides.
The commentator glosses the two characters for sculpting and painting: 「埏土象物曰塑，繪施五彩曰畵」—“to knead clay into the likeness of a thing is called sculpting; to lay on the five colors in drawing is called painting.” 〔X21n0384 0692a04〕 And then he points out on which sentence the true weight of the sūtra’s words falls — 「畵像供養，人所易行。即捨所愛，人所難作」—“to paint an image and make offerings is what people find easy to do; to give up at once what one loves is what people find hard to do.” 〔X21n0384 0692a14〕
To paint an image of a buddha is not hard. What is hard is the four characters the sūtra writes: she gave up at once what she loved.
And what it means that she did so, the commentator says out in a single line: 「藉佛救母，以道報親，純孝之心，照耀千古矣」—“to save the mother by relying on the Buddha, and to requite the parent by way of the Path — a mind of pure filial devotion, shining down a thousand ages.” 〔X21n0384 0692a15〕
The Child in the Bondmaid’s House
In the dream the Buddha tells her: your mother will before long be born in your own house; as soon as she feels hunger and cold she will speak.
After this, within the house, a bondmaid bore a son, and before three days were out he spoke. The commentator glosses the character 「婢」 as he goes, citing the Shuowen: 「男入罪曰奴，女入罪曰婢」—“a male who has fallen into guilt is called a bondman; a female who has fallen into guilt is called a bondmaid.” 〔X21n0384 0692b19〕 To be born into such a household is itself a requital.
The child’s first words on opening his mouth are: the karmic conditions of birth and death — the fruit of them is borne by oneself. Only the second words are: I am your mother.
There are two layers in what he says, and the commentator separates them very plainly: 「先敘福力脫過去罪，後方求救脫將來苦」—“first he sets out how the power of blessings freed him from past guilt; only then does he beg to be saved and freed from suffering to come.” 〔X21n0384 0692c11〕 — the first half is thanks: upheld by the power of your blessings, I have at last been able to take birth; the second half is the plea: as a person of low station, and short-lived besides, with thirteen years for my span, and falling into the evil destinies again.
Already out of the hells and yet to fall into the evil destinies again — does that count as having been saved? The commentator answers honestly: 「重業輕報，更落惡道，餘殃未盡也」—“a heavy karma with a light requital, and falling into the evil destinies again: the remaining calamity is not yet spent.” 〔X21n0384 0692c13〕 The heavy requital has become a light one, but the calamity that remains is not yet done.
The sūtra gives no method of saving that goes all the way at one stroke. What it gives goes stretch by stretch.
That First Thought
Bright Eyes asks until the root guilt is clear — the two deeds of killing and harming, and of abusing and reviling — and then she makes her vow toward the empty air.
Earlier it was said that what her mother was habituated to was only a thing of the kitchen; here the sūtra supplies the other half itself: not the hands alone, but a mouth as well. The commentator of old gives each of the two a place: 「殺生居眾罪之上，毀罵在萬惡之先」—“the killing of living beings stands at the head of the many guilts; abusing and reviling comes first among the myriad evils.” 〔X21n0384 0693a15〕 One at the head of the many guilts, one first among the myriad evils — no higher and lower is drawn between them; they are two heads set side by side.
Her vow divides in two. The first stretch is still for her mother: that her mother be free of the hells forever, that when these thirteen years are full she have no grave guilt again and pass through the evil destinies no more. The second stretch opens wide all at once: if my mother may be parted forever from the three evil paths and from this low station, and even from the body of a woman, never through eternal kalpas to undergo them again — then I vow that from this day forth, before the image of the Tathāgata Pure Lotus Eyes, throughout the hundred thousand myriad koṭis of kalpas hereafter, for all the beings who are guilty and suffering in all the hells and in the three evil destinies of whatever worlds there are, I vow to rescue and draw them out… and only when all such people of karmic requital have finished becoming buddhas shall I then accomplish right awakening.
The first of those two vows was summed up of old in a matched couplet: 「畢此一十三齡之短，銷其一十八獄之長」—“let this short span of thirteen years be finished out, and let it dissolve the long span of the eighteen hells.” 〔X21n0384 0693b04〕 The shortness of thirteen years set to dissolve the length of the eighteen hells.
The commentator weighs the four characters 「自今日後」 very heavily: 「自今日後，標始心也」—“from this day forth marks the initial thought.” 〔X21n0384 0693c04〕; and he cites the Vibhāṣā besides: 「若離初心，則不成無上道。一切功德，皆在初心」—“apart from the first thought the unsurpassed Path is not accomplished. All merit lies in the first thought.” 〔X21n0384 0693c05〕
And then he says a thing of great moment for reading the sūtra as a whole: 「故知此經明地藏發心，前後四番，後却是前。今是最初，故曰自今」—“know then that this sūtra sets out Kṣitigarbha’s arousing of the resolve four times over, and that what stands later is in fact the earlier. This one is the very first, and that is why it says from this day.” 〔X21n0384 0693c06〕 This sūtra writes Kṣitigarbha’s arousing of the resolve four times; and in the order of the sūtra’s text, what is written later is the earlier in time. This one is the earliest of them.
And when the Buddha sanctions her, what he praises is not the filial devotion but that widening. The commentator states this sense quite bluntly: 「若但為母發心，何善何能，乃以曠濟之心，求畢母罪」—“had she aroused the resolve for her mother only, what goodness would that be, and what capacity? Rather she takes a mind of deliverance without bound, and with it seeks to have done with her mother’s guilt.” 〔X21n0384 0693c16〕 — to arouse the resolve for one’s mother alone counts for no great goodness and no great capacity; she takes the mind that delivers all beings and with it settles her mother’s guilt. He strikes a comparison as he goes: 「譬如大水而滅小火，豈有不滅者乎」—“it is as when a great water puts out a small fire: how should there be any that is not put out?” 〔X21n0384 0693c17〕
To put out one spark there is no need to measure the water; let the water be great enough, and the fire goes out of itself.
Three Requitals Turned at Once
The Buddha then tells her where her mother is to go hereafter: when the thirteen years are full and this body of requital is laid down, she will be born a brahman with a lifespan of a hundred years; and when that requital is past she will be born into the Land Without Sorrow, with a lifespan of kalpas beyond reckoning; and afterward she will accomplish the fruit of buddhahood and deliver gods and humans at large, in numbers like the sands of the Ganges.
The commentator counts them over here: 「一子求佛發心，其母三報俱轉」—“one child seeks the Buddha and arouses the resolve, and the mother’s three requitals are all of them turned.” 〔X21n0384 0694a03〕 — the first birth in low station turns the requital of the past; the next birth as a brahman turns the requital of the present; the later accomplishing of buddhahood turns the requital of what comes after.
He reads the flavor out of that land’s name besides. The sūtra says 「無憂國土」, the Land Without Sorrow, and the commentator says: 「無憂國土，即指極樂，轉憂為樂也」—“the Land Without Sorrow points to Utmost Bliss: sorrow is turned into bliss.” 〔X21n0384 0694a05〕 The sorrow has been counted all the way along: in the hells the sorrow was burning and boiling; in the bondmaid’s house it was low station; at the end of the thirteen years it was falling into the evil destinies again; born as a brahman it was wrong conduct and self-conceit — and only when the four layers of sorrow are stilled together here is it called without sorrow.
And the last line is the weightiest: 「昔為罪母，乃地獄所度之死囚。將作如來，乃人天能化之大覺」—“formerly the guilty mother, a condemned prisoner ferried across by the hells; hereafter to be a tathāgata, a great awakened one able to transform gods and humans.” 〔X21n0384 0694a10〕 One and the same person.
Two Savings of a Mother, Not One
The Buddha joins past and present: the arhat who delivered Bright Eyes by means of blessings is Bodhisattva Inexhaustible Intention; the mother of Bright Eyes is Bodhisattva Liberation; the woman Bright Eyes is Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.
The commentator glosses the name Bodhisattva Liberation by counting her whole road over from the beginning: formerly fallen into the iron city and passing through every hardship; next born into the bondmaid’s house and short-lived besides; afterward a brahman, and falling at the last into the current of wrong conduct — and now, turn upon turn, she has become a great one of inconceivable liberation. As for all these persons being at this moment in the assembly in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, he writes a line worth noticing: 「能所畢至，子母俱來，敻隔沙劫，一會儼然」—“the one who acts and the one acted upon have all arrived, mother and child have come together; sundered by kalpas as many as the sands, and in one assembly here, unmistakably.” 〔X21n0384 0694b01〕 Sundered by kalpas as many as the sands, and at this moment together in one assembly.
One easily confused thing is to be marked here. In the first chapter above there is likewise a daughter who makes a vow for her mother — the brahmin woman, whose mother believed in wrong teachings and slighted the Three Jewels and fell into the Avīci Hell; she sold her house and raised an offering, sat upright and recollected the Buddha, came in body to the sea of karma, met the ghost king Poisonless, and learned that her mother had already been born into the heavens. That is another account: another buddha (the Tathāgata Flower of Awakening, King Sovereign in Samādhi), another kind of guilt (wrong views, mocking and slandering the Three Jewels), another kind of saving (selling the house and raising an offering, and recollecting the Buddha until she came to the sea of karma).
The mother in this chapter’s account is guilty of killing and harming and of abusing and reviling; the saving lies in recollecting the Buddha and making an image; the way in which the mother’s place of birth is learned is a dream and the bondmaid’s child declaring it himself; and where she goes afterward is the Land Without Sorrow. The two accounts are each complete in themselves, and neither bears upon the other.
The commentator of old reads them as two accounts as well. In the fascicle that explains the title, where the two characters for “original vow” are treated, it is two persons that are named: 「乃菩薩昔生為婆羅門女及光目女時，所發之大願也」—“these are the great vows the bodhisattva made when in former births he was the brahmin woman and the woman Bright Eyes.” 〔X21n0383 0640c24〕; and where the particular vows of this sūtra are discussed it says again: 「若準今經，婆羅門女及光目女，皆為母發心，而救六道」—“if one follows the present sūtra, the brahmin woman and the woman Bright Eyes both aroused the resolve for their mothers’ sake, and thereby saved the six destinies.” 〔X21n0383 0641a17〕
Twice the resolve was aroused for a mother’s sake, in two different former lives. Taken together, that is the reason this sūtra is called a classic of filial piety.
Before the Twenty-Three, the Sūtra Opens a Door
After the joining of past and present, the sūtra does not turn at once to speak of requital. It first draws the talk on to ages to come and names a string of people: those who do no good; those who do evil; those who do not so much as believe in cause and effect; those who commit wrong lust and false speech; those who speak with a double tongue and with harsh words; those who slander the Great Vehicle. Upon these the sūtra’s judgment is hard: beings of such deeds as these will surely fall into the evil destinies.
And yet the very next sentence is the turn: 「若遇善知識，勸令一彈指間歸依地藏菩薩，是諸眾生，即得解脫三惡道報」—“if they meet a good friend who exhorts them to take refuge in Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva in the space of a single snap of the fingers, these beings straightway obtain liberation from the requital of the three evil destinies.” 〔T13n0412 0781b06〕
Look first at that character 「若」, if. The commentator of old glosses it quite honestly: 「若者，不定之辭」—“if is a word of what is not settled.” 〔X21n0384 0695a02〕 — whether one meets with such a friend or not is not settled; 「惡中儻有毫善，或能遇之」—“if within the evil there yet remains a hair’s breadth of good, one may perhaps meet with him.” 〔X21n0384 0695a02〕, and if not, the meeting is hard to come by. As to who counts as a true good friend, he points it out directly: 「今教一彈指頃，歸依地藏菩薩，是真善知識」—“one who now teaches taking refuge in Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva in the space of a snap of the fingers is a true good friend.” 〔X21n0384 0695a04〕
Look next at the measure. How long is a snap of the fingers? The commentator reckons it by the Vinaya: 「二十念為一瞬，二十瞬名一彈指」—“twenty thought-moments make one blink, and twenty blinks are called one snap of the fingers.” 〔X21n0384 0695a06〕 The length of four hundred thoughts — so short as to be scarcely a stretch of time at all.
And then comes the judgment upon this whole passage: 「然歸依祗一彈指，而惡道千生解脫」—“and yet the taking of refuge is but one snap of the fingers, while a thousand births in the evil destinies are undone.” 〔X21n0384 0695a07〕, and therefore 「歸依之力，莫可涯量」—“the power of taking refuge cannot be measured to its bound.” 〔X21n0384 0695a08〕 What is paid out is one snap of the fingers; what is untied is a thousand births in the evil destinies. The two ends are altogether out of proportion, and so it is said that no bound can be measured for it.
And after this sentence he adds four characters only: 「故勸之也」—“and therefore he exhorts them to it.” 〔X21n0384 0695a08〕
These four characters matter. At this point in its writing the sūtra’s tone is not admonition but exhortation. And the sūtra adds upward besides: if one can take refuge and pay reverence with a whole mind, gaze upon him and bow and praise him, and go on to serve him with incense, flowers, clothing, jewels of every kind, and food and drink, the fruit thickens layer upon layer. The snap of the fingers is the lowest of those steps, not the only one — and that step is low enough to be within reach.
The twenty-three requitals are set out after this passage. The door is opened first, and only then is the wall built.
Twenty-Three
The four heavenly kings raise their question: Kṣitigarbha has from kalpas long past made a great vow such as this — how is it that to this day the delivering is still not ended, and he pledges himself yet again with a vast vow?
The question is a real one — is the power of the vow somehow not reaching? or are beings truly so hard to deliver? The Buddha answers neither side head-on; he turns instead to enumerating: if Kṣitigarbha meets a person of such a kind, he speaks for him of such a requital. The sūtra’s text runs twenty-three items in a row, one sentence to an item, and every sentence of one form.
The commentator of old divides these twenty-three items into six groups. The first three: 「殺、盜、婬，身三惡也」—“killing, stealing, and lust: the three evils of the body.” 〔X21n0384 0697a09〕 The next two are deeds of speech: 「此示口四報。惡口當一，毀謗攝三」—“this shows the four requitals of speech. Harsh speech makes one, and slander takes in three.” 〔X21n0384 0697b06〕 — within the single item of slander are contained false speech and two others. Three more are 「此示意三報分別」—“this shows the three requitals of mind, told apart.” 〔X21n0384 0697b18〕: wrath is anger, and miserliness is greed; and as for why eating and drinking without measure should fall under the deeds of mind, the commentator writes four characters only, in an interlinear note: 「無度即痴」—“without measure is precisely delusion.” 〔X21n0384 0697c04〕 Eight items take in the ten evils entire.
The five that follow are 「次明雜業報」—“next, the requitals of miscellaneous deeds are made clear.” 〔X21n0384 0697c17〕: hunting; defying father and mother; setting fire to the trees of mountain and forest; venom toward the children of a former or a later marriage and toward step-parents; netting newly hatched fledglings. Four more are 「此明三寶中報。佛如醫王，法如良藥，僧如瞻病人」—“this makes clear the requitals with regard to the Three Jewels. The Buddha is like a king of physicians, the Dharma like good medicine, the saṃgha like those who tend the sick.” 〔X21n0384 0698b01〕: slandering the Three Jewels; making light of the Dharma and slighting the teaching; destroying or taking to private use what belongs to the permanent abode; defiling those of pure conduct and falsely accusing the saṃgha. The last six are again 「此明雜業報。湯火斬斫，殺生法也」—“this makes clear the requitals of miscellaneous deeds. Scalding water, fire, hacking and cutting are ways of killing.” 〔X21n0384 0698c01〕: scalding water, fire, and hacking and cutting; breaking the precepts and violating the fast; wantonly ruining and squandering what is for use; clinging to self and being haughty; setting others at odds with a double tongue and stirring up strife; wrong views.
And the head and the tail of this string the commentator sees to be set on purpose: 「然首舉殺生，眾惡之大本，終結邪見，業流之巨壑故耳」—“it raises killing first because that is the great root of the many evils, and it closes with wrong views because that is the vast gully into which the current of karma runs.” 〔X21n0384 0699a15〕 It opens at killing and closes at wrong views. The one is the coarsest, the other the finest.
After the twenty-three items the sūtra gathers them with a sentence of its own: beings of Jambudvīpa such as these, in the deeds of body, speech, and mind, have their evil habits knot into fruit, and a hundred thousand requitals answer to them; today it is told only coarsely and in brief.
Twenty-three items, and the sūtra says of itself that this is only coarse. As to which of the three kinds of deed is master, the commentator points it out very plainly: 「凡動身口，皆由心使。故三業皆以心為根本也」—“whenever body or speech is moved, it is the mind that sets it going. And so all three kinds of deed take the mind for their root.” 〔X21n0384 0699a23〕
Nor does he let the four characters 「百千報應」, a hundred thousand requitals, pass lightly. The doubt that most easily arises in reading this long string is: then why is it that some do evil all their lives and no requital is seen? He cites two sūtras to divide the matter.
The one divides the fruits: 「準彌勒問經，有三種」—“following the Sūtra of Maitreya’s Questions, there are three kinds.” 〔X21n0384 0699b01〕 — 「一、果報果，生地獄等」—“first, the fruit that is requital: birth in the hells and the like.” 〔X21n0384 0699b01〕, which is the place of falling; second is the fruit of habitual energy, 「出生人中，依殺生，有短命果」—“born among humans, on account of killing there is the fruit of a short life.” 〔X21n0384 0699b02〕, which is the portion carried along after the place of falling has been left; 「三、增上果，依彼十種不善業道，一切外物，無有氣勢」—“third, the dominant fruit: on account of those ten unwholesome paths of action, all outward things are without vigor.” 〔X21n0384 0699b04〕 — even the things outside the body grow thin along with it.
The other divides the times: 「準優婆塞戒經：眾生造業，有四種報」—“following the Sūtra of the Upāsaka Precepts: when beings make karma, there are four kinds of requital.” 〔X21n0384 0699b05〕 — 「一、現報〔今身作業，今身即受〕，二、生報〔今身造業，次後身受〕，三、後報〔今生造業，更二三生已去方受〕，四、無報〔猶無記等業〕」—“first, present requital 〔the deed made in this body is undergone in this body〕; second, requital in the next birth 〔the deed made in this body is undergone in the body immediately following〕; third, later requital 〔the deed made in this life is undergone only after two or three lives more have passed〕; fourth, no requital 〔as with karma that is morally indeterminate and the like〕.” 〔X21n0384 0699b06〕
With these two layers the twenty-three items read smoothly. A single requital is not an account settled at one stroke: it is divided by fruit and divided by time as well. Not to see it is not the same as its not being there; and to see it is not necessarily to see it come from this one deed.
Why Suffering Must Be Spoken Of
There is a question that cannot be left unasked at this point: since the requital of suffering is no good thing, why not speak straight out of good dharmas and exhort people to cultivate them? Why must the suffering be told item by item?
The reading handed down raises the question openly: 「此苦業報，既非善事，寧不直爾說善令習，何須稱情說苦業耶」—“since this requital of suffering karma is no good thing, why not speak straight out of the good and have them practise it? What need is there to speak of the karma of suffering in accord with their feelings?” 〔X21n0384 0696c19〕
The answer has three layers. The first is disclosure by contrast: 「善惡因果，法須相對。若不說其貪等是過，何由顯施等是善」—“good and evil, cause and fruit — as dharmas they must stand over against each other. If it is not said that greed and the rest are faults, by what means is it disclosed that giving and the rest are good?” 〔X21n0384 0696c20〕; 「若不宣三塗是苦，無由顯人天等樂」—“if it is not proclaimed that the three evil paths are suffering, there is no means of disclosing that the bliss of gods and humans is bliss.” 〔X21n0384 0696c22〕 Without speaking of suffering, bliss has no coordinates.
The second layer is the dividing of capacities. After hearing of suffering and giving rise to weariness and withdrawal, people go two ways. Those of dull faculties, hearing of the karma of suffering, seek worldly bliss, and their minds are turned by it and they cultivate deeds of blessing. Those of keen faculties, hearing of the karma of suffering, seek liberation, and their minds are turned by it and they can cultivate the contemplation of the Path — so that within delusion itself the cause of going out is raised. From one and the same passage two kinds of person walk away along two roads, and both roads go upward.
The third layer matters most: 「雖稱情說諸過惡，然心外無別業苦」—“though the several faults and evils are spoken of in accord with their feelings, yet outside the mind there is no separate suffering of karma.” 〔X21n0384 0697a05〕 In accord with the feelings of beings so many faults and evils have been told; and yet outside the mind there is no other thing called the suffering of karma.
And so the commentator gathers it into one line: 「故知苦業，厭離之本，起善之緣，是故須說」—“know then that the karma of suffering is the root of weariness and withdrawal and the condition for the arising of good, and that it must therefore be spoken of.” 〔X21n0384 0697a03〕
The twenty-three items are not a threat; they are a table of correspondences. What the sūtra gives is differences, not a verdict.
The Causes Spread Like Vines and Are Not Cut Off
For the reason that Kṣitigarbha has to this day still not fulfilled his vow, the Buddha uses a word taken from plants: the causes spread like vines and are not cut off.
A vine is of the kudzu and creeper kind, twining upon a tree and drawing on without a break. The commentator takes the vine’s manner of going apart: 「此由惑滋業，由業潤生，生還造業，業復墮苦」—“here delusion nourishes karma, karma moistens birth, birth in turn makes karma, and karma falls again into suffering.” 〔X21n0384 0696b22〕 — delusion feeds karma; karma moistens the birth to come; the birth to come makes karma again; and karma falls into suffering again. The four stretches join head to tail and close into a ring.
In the same passage he cites a tighter comparison besides: 「一切眾生，常在長獄，十二重城圍之，三重棘籬籬之，六拔刀賊伺之」—“all beings are ever in a long prison, walled about by twelve rings of city wall, hedged about by three rings of thorn hedge, and watched by six robbers with drawn blades.” 〔X21n0384 0696a18〕, and those who can get out from within it are few indeed, few indeed. And each of these names points to something: 「長獄謂三界，十二重城謂十二因緣，三重棘籬謂三毒也」—“the long prison means the three realms; the twelve rings of city wall mean the twelvefold dependent arising; the three rings of thorn hedge mean the three poisons.” 〔X21n0384 0696a20〕
The wall is the twelvefold dependent arising, the hedge is the three poisons, the robbers are the six sense-faculties. Not one thing in that prison comes from outside.
And so, when the four heavenly kings have heard it, the sūtra writes only eight characters: they wept and sighed in grief, joined their palms, and withdrew. They asked nothing further.
And what the Buddha charges them with is four characters: protect the people, protect the country. This chapter begins from Kṣitigarbha’s dividing of his body, comes down to twenty-three requitals, and falls at the last upon the four heavenly kings — not telling them to go and save anyone, but telling them not to let the several karmas delude beings.
Transmission — A Classic of Filial Piety, and One Needle and Thread
The above is the sense of this chapter itself. Below, one eye casts its light from the side — the mirror is not the sūtra, only the same passage seen through another way of reading.
The Outline and Commentary on the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, in six fascicles, was compiled by Lingcheng of the Qing, styled Qinglian, with the Guiding Thread in one fascicle placed before it. The outline and the glosses cited above come from it in their whole frame: the judgment that the two chapters are hooked and locked like a ring; the matching of the four terms of the fish and the net; the conclusion that the two kings 「似有不同」, seem to have a difference between them; the matching of the name Bright Eyes to concentration and wisdom; the count of four arousings of the resolve; the reckoning of three requitals turned at once; the division of the twenty-three items into six headings; and the self-posed question and answer, 「何須稱情說苦業」 — what need is there to speak of the karma of suffering in accord with their feelings?
His eye for reading a sūtra is seen best in the two characters 「針線」, needle and thread. The passage 「過去久遠劫中，如是慈愍發恒河沙願，廣度眾生」 — in kalpas long past he was thus kind and pitying, and made vows as many as the sands of the Ganges, delivering beings at large — looks like a closing sentence gathering up what came before; he moves it instead to the head of the next heading, and states his reason: this passage is not a close but the ground-plan laid for what follows, where beings who do evil in ages to come take refuge, make offerings, and are freed from suffering — 「針線之妙，後賢不可不知」—“the marvel of the needle and thread: those who come after must not fail to know it.” 〔X21n0384 0694b06〕 He had pointed out one such stitch earlier as well: saying of the Semblance Dharma that it is 「乃塔寺堅固之時」, the time when stūpas and monasteries stand firm, he points out at once that it is 「乃下文塑畵形像之伏案也」—“the case laid down beforehand for the sculpting and painting of the image below.” 〔X21n0384 0690c03〕 The two characters for the Semblance Dharma are not a setting of the background; they are a thread-end buried in advance for that painted image later on.
In glossing the sūtra he often brings in medicine, philology, and things of the world as he goes. Glossing the name Bright Eyes he speaks first of the essential energies of the five viscera and six bowels pouring upward into the eye, and only then turns to concentration and wisdom; glossing 「婢」 he cites the Shuowen; glossing disease of the throat he distinguishes the two passages of windpipe and gullet, saying that the windpipe lies in front and governs what goes out, while the gullet lies behind and governs swallowing. This eye falls upon the sūtra, and falls also upon the world the sūtra writes of.
The sūtras and treatises he cites within this chapter alone include the Dīrgha Āgama, the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, the Abhidharmakośa, the Sūtra of the Mindfulness of the True Dharma, the Sūtra of the Sections on the Five Sufferings, the Treatise on the Ten Grounds, the Sūtra of Contemplating the Mind-Ground, the Sūtra of the Upāsaka Precepts, and the Daśacakra Sūtra. In glossing 「毀謗三寶」, slandering the Three Jewels, among the twenty-three items, he cites directly a sūtra of the same honored one but of different text: 「若有剎利旃陀羅於三寶所起於惡心，一切諸佛所不能救，常墮地獄餓鬼畜生，若得為人，盲聾瘖瘂」—“if there be a kṣatriya caṇḍāla who raises an evil mind toward the Three Jewels, none of all the buddhas can save him; he falls always into the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals, and if he gets to be a human he is blind, deaf, and dumb.” 〔X21n0384 0698b02〕 — this sūtra gives only the fruit; that one gives another set of conditions for the same fruit.
As for where the four heavenly kings come from, he goes over them one by one after the Sūtra of the Record of the World: in the east Upholder of the Nation, in the south Increase and Growth, in the west Various Speech, in the north Much-Hearing, each commanding his own troops. And in glossing why these four appear in this chapter he uses one sentence only: 「以我等正護四方，而南洲偏多惡業」—“because it is we who properly guard the four quarters, and the southern continent has more evil karma than the rest.” 〔X21n0384 0696a06〕 The heavenly kings put this question because the matter falls within their charge to begin with.
At the end, where the four heavenly kings have heard and weep and sigh in grief, he reads out one further layer: 「此由聞上業感差別之相，入心冥契，了本空寂，聞即無聞，是名心聞」—“this is because the aspects of the differences that karmic impulsion calls forth, heard above, entered the mind and tallied with it in the dark; the original emptiness and stillness was understood, and hearing was precisely no hearing — this is called hearing with the mind.” 〔X21n0384 0700a09〕 This is a Tiantai way of reading; it may be consulted, and need not be taken as a sense the sūtra’s text itself carries.
And the sūtra’s own sentence is bound to no mirror at all. What that king said was: if I do not first deliver those who are guilty and suffering, and bring them to peace and cause them to reach awakening, I will to the end not vow to become a buddha — and the tense of that sentence has not yet become past, to this day.
考據Apparatus
全段定位 本段自品題起，訖「四天王聞已，涕淚悲歎，合掌而退」，含地藏重述付囑、佛示性識無定、定自在王問累劫本願（小國王本生·光目女本生）、四天王問而佛列業報對舉二十三條，末以護人護國作結。逐文鏡判本品為正宗分第二科，名「示業感差別」〔X21n0384 0686b24〕。本品為卷上四品中最長者。本經為單譯，無同本異譯可對勘；同尊而異經者有《大乘大集地藏十輪經》《占察善惡業報經》，屬並置對讀，不作異譯之校。
一、科判定位
逐文鏡先出品題，次分品文為二：「初、地藏重述付囑；二、當機王問大願」〔X21n0384 0687a08〕。
其判前後二品之關係，自設其故：地藏於聖母問無間獄竟之時而復重述者，蓋前付囑事猶未盡，故「由此二品，鉤鎖如環，不可杜斷」〔X21n0384 0687a17〕——業緣、業感二品不得從中杜斷，故於業緣之後、業感之前，重述以起下文。
本品之內分科：
| 疏節 | 經文所據 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 品題 | 「閻浮眾生業感品第四」 | 〔T13n0412 0780b16〕 |
| 重述一·昔承佛力分化 | 「爾時，地藏菩薩摩訶薩白佛言」 | 〔T13n0412 0780b17〕 |
| 重述二·今蒙佛囑度生 | 「我今又蒙佛付囑」 | 〔T13n0412 0780b20〕 |
| 如來示意一·法示 | 「一切眾生，未解脫者，性識無定」 | 〔T13n0412 0780b23〕 |
| 如來示意二·喻顯 | 「如魚遊網」 | 〔T13n0412 0780b25〕 |
| 如來示意三·合明 | 「以是等輩，吾當憂念」 | 〔T13n0412 0780b26〕 |
| 當機正問誓願一·定自在王問 | 「說是語時」 | 〔T13n0412 0780b28〕 |
| 述昔誓願一·小國王所發願 | 「乃往過去，無量阿僧祇那由他不可說劫」 | 〔T13n0412 0780c04〕 |
| 述昔誓願二·光目女所發願 | 「復於過去，無量阿僧祇劫」 | 〔T13n0412 0780c15〕 |
| 結會古今 | 「爾時羅漢福度光目者」 | 〔T13n0412 0781a28〕 |
| 示今利益 | 「未來世中，若有男子女人」 | 〔T13n0412 0781b03〕 |
| 當機正問誓願二·天王問 | 「爾時，四方天王，俱從座起」 | 〔T13n0412 0781b18〕 |
| 別明說法·隨機說化 | 「四天王！地藏菩薩若遇殺生者」 | 〔T13n0412 0781c01〕 |
| 結示業感差別 | 「如是等閻浮提眾生，身口意業」 | 〔T13n0412 0781c19〕 |
| 勸天王擁護 | 「是故汝等，護人護國」 | 〔T13n0412 0781c24〕 |
| 天王聞已悲退 | 「四天王聞已」 | 〔T13n0412 0781c25〕 |
問答二段之科：「當機正問誓願」〔X21n0384 0688c21〕分二——初、自在問累劫發何願；二、「天王問何更立誓願」〔X21n0384 0695c04〕。答中「初、述昔誓願；二、示今利益」〔X21n0384 0689a19〕，而述願又二：「初、小國王所發願」〔X21n0384 0689a20〕，二、「光目女所發願」〔X21n0384 0690b07〕。
業報一節之科：「別明說法」〔X21n0384 0696c16〕分二——「正明隨機說化；二、結示業感差別」〔X21n0384 0696c17〕。次「結示業感差別」〔X21n0384 0699a16〕，次「勸天王擁護」〔X21n0384 0699c03〕，末「天王聞已悲退」〔X21n0384 0700a07〕。
本品之枚數（機械二證：底本原典檔與抽出之連讀流各自計數，二數同一）——「若遇」凡二十四見，其一為「若遇善知識」（歸依之緣，非業報對舉），餘二十三見皆作「若遇…者，說…報」之同型句。故本品業報對舉之數為二十三條，非二十二。逐文鏡分之為六組，組數與條數見目四。
二、異譯對勘（本段無）
本段無異譯可勘。《地藏菩薩本願經》為單譯本，藏中無同本異譯。已查：以題名含「地藏」「本願經」二式、並以本段獨有長句「若不先度罪苦，令是安樂，得至菩提，我終未願成佛」與「若遇網捕生雛者，說骨肉分離報」被引二式遍檢，除本經外無第二譯本。
同尊異經二種，並置不判（非異譯，不作字句之校）：
| 書 | 譯人 | 卷·品 | 位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 《大乘大集地藏十輪經》T13n0411 | 三藏法師玄奘奉 詔譯 | 10 卷 8 品 | 同尊異經·對讀 |
| 《占察善惡業報經》T17n0839 | 天竺三藏菩提燈譯 | 2 卷 | 經錄疑議，誌不判 |
三、經論宗依（眼）
經證
- 大悲堅固之誓願——十輪經述地藏於過去無量佛所，「發起大悲，堅固難壞、勇猛、精進、無盡誓願」〔T13n0411 0724b17〕，由此增上勢力，於一日夜能度無量有情。與本段小國王「若不先度罪苦，令是安樂，得至菩提，我終未願成佛」〔T13n0412 0780c11〕同其骨幹，而彼舉其功用，此舉其發端。
- 十善業道之果報——「過去一切諸佛世尊，皆悉遠離十惡業道」〔T13n0411 0763a14〕，皆悉稱揚讚歎十善業道所得果報。本段二王「同行十善，饒益眾生」〔T13n0412 0780c08〕即依此軌；而本段二十三條之首八條，逐文鏡判為十惡之報（見目四）。
- 毀謗三寶之報——十輪經：剎帝利旃荼羅等「於三寶所無淳淨心，不見、不畏，後世苦果」〔T13n0411 0740c26〕，於三乘法毀呰誹謗，名為毀謗佛正法者。其報則「生盲、生聾、瘖啞無舌」〔T13n0411 0754b29〕；又有眾生「毀謗佛教下至一頌，由是因緣，墮諸惡趣受眾苦報」〔T13n0411 0758b03〕，初復人身生便瘖啞。與本段「若遇毀謗三寶者，說盲聾瘖瘂報」〔T13n0412 0781c11〕平行。
- 破用常住之報——十輪經述其人「食用一切窣堵波物及僧祇物，曾無悔心」〔T13n0411 0740c15〕，命終定生無間地獄。與本段「若遇破用常住者，說億劫輪迴地獄報」〔T13n0412 0781c13〕平行。
- 孝子為亡母設供而假聖力知母生處——《佛說盂蘭盆經》：「汝母罪根深結，非汝一人力所奈何」〔T16n0685 0779b06〕，當須十方眾僧威神之力乃得解脫。本段光目設食供養羅漢而得知母生處，與此同其骨幹，而所假之緣一為僧眾、一為羅漢與佛名。
論說
- 業為世別之因——《阿毘達磨俱舍論》分別業品之首頌：「世別由業生」〔T29n1558 0067b09〕，論曰非由一主先覺而生，但由有情業差別起。本品題「業感差別」四字之論據在此。
- 不律儀眾同分之死相——《瑜伽師地論》：「又造惡業者，謂屠羊雞猪等」〔T30n1579 0282b08〕，隨其一類，由住不律儀眾同分故，作感那落迦惡不善業及增長已；彼於爾時猶如夢中，還見如是種類有情及屠羊等事。與本段光目母「所習」殺生而墮惡趣同其機理。
- 成就眾生之二種次第（逐文鏡於二王發願處所引）——「成就眾生有二種：有先自成功德，然後度眾生者；有先成就眾生，後自成功德者」〔X21n0384 0690a12〕。逐文鏡以此判二王之願「似有不同」，不判優劣。
- 初心之功德（逐文鏡於光目發願處所引）——「若離初心，則不成無上道。一切功德，皆在初心」〔X21n0384 0693c05〕。
四、本段釋要（逐文鏡逐文）
閻浮——「閻浮樹乃南洲樹王」〔X21n0384 0686c03〕；逐文鏡引《長阿含》《觀佛三昧》《立世阿毘曇》詳其形量果味，復釋其所以名穢樹者二義：一取黑暗為穢，二取染污為穢——「又其果香氣，能染人心發顛狂」〔X21n0384 0687a03〕；又舉月中黑影為樹影之說，而自繫其判為疑辭：「穢樹之名，得非取此義乎」〔X21n0384 0687a06〕。
威神力——「威即四無畏，神即六神通，力即十力」〔X21n0384 0687a19〕。
阿逸多——「阿逸多，此云無能勝，彌勒之姓」〔X21n0384 0687b18〕；逐文鏡辨其為姓非名，引《淨名疏》「既不親見正文，未可定執」，而準《下生經》修梵摩與子立字之文定之。
性識無定——「無定者，無堅住之定性」〔X21n0384 0687c08〕。
結——「惑業相資，如巾挽結。若欲解之，必抽中心」〔X21n0384 0687c22〕。
魚遊網之四譬——「魚譬五道，網譬三界，長流譬業果」〔X21n0384 0688a24〕，脫入暫出等譬生死輪轉；復釋其入網之由：「群魚貪食，而遭密網。眾生因愛，而入魔網」〔X21n0384 0688b01〕。釋「暫出」則引《五苦章句經》：「三惡道者，是為一切眾生之家，暫得為天，暫得為人，譬如作客。作客日少，歸家日多」〔X21n0384 0688b16〕。
吾當憂念——「佛觀大地眾生，猶同一子」〔X21n0384 0688c03〕。
定自在王——「那伽常在定，無有不定時，於定自在，名定自在王」〔X21n0384 0689a04〕。
一切智成就如來——「梵名薩婆若多，般舟名薩雲，秦言一切智相」〔X21n0384 0689b04〕，以一心中得三智故；下逐釋如來十號。
出家四種——「大師明四種出家」〔X21n0384 0689c09〕：形心俱不出、形出心不出、形不出心出、形心俱出；而判「昔王正第四人，故能成佛」〔X21n0384 0689c11〕。第四者之逐字為「四、形心俱出，能見佛性」〔X21n0384 0689c10〕；其所出之家則不指室廬，「出二死家，方真出家」〔X21n0384 0689c11〕——二死者分段與變易；是本段「未出家時，為小國王」六字之所以入釋。
二王發願——引論立二種成就眾生之次第（見目三）而後判：「一王作念，自未得度先度眾生，方是菩薩發心」〔X21n0384 0690a17〕；末結曰「此正發僧那於始心，終大悲於赴難。故二王發願，似有不同也」〔X21n0384 0690a21〕。「似有不同」為誌異不判之辭，非判優劣。
結二王今古——「法性如大海，不說有是非，凡夫賢聖人，平等無高下」〔X21n0384 0690b03〕。
清淨蓮華目——「清淨蓮華目，三十二相之一」〔X21n0384 0690b15〕，引寶女問佛之文明其相所從來，末繫二句：「面如淨滿月，目若青蓮華」〔X21n0384 0690b20〕。
像法——「像法居正末二法之間，乃塔寺堅固之時」〔X21n0384 0690c02〕；並自指其針線：「乃下文塑畵形像之伏案也」〔X21n0384 0690c03〕。
光目——先依《靈樞經》釋目之精氣，次約法而釋：「目表定，光表慧。因定發慧，慧光注目」〔X21n0384 0690c20〕。
設食供養——列施食五功德（施命·施色·施力·施安·施辯），並舉那律以一飯施辟支佛而感九十一劫無貧之報。
資福救拔——引《涅槃經》：「知恩者大悲之本，不知恩者甚於畜生」〔X21n0384 0691a11〕。
極大苦——「極大苦者，無間大地獄也」〔X21n0384 0691a23〕。逐文鏡於此處另立一讀法之判：「見」字屬上句末，以顯能觀之慧眼，準天台釋《法華》「我以佛眼觀見六道眾生」偈擘字屬上之例；並自設問答，明羅漢慧眼何以能見其母受苦。
所習——「所習，指習性、習氣。惡習種子內熏現行，轉習於惡矣」〔X21n0384 0691b19〕。
食噉魚鼈——引《埤雅》《古今注》釋鼈，而判其業：「此乃博求眾命，以資一膳，不惟忍心，亦且損福」〔X21n0384 0691c06〕；引周顒語：「性命之於彼極切，滋味之在我可賖」〔X21n0384 0691c08〕。
塑畫形像——「埏土象物曰塑，繪施五彩曰畵」〔X21n0384 0692a04〕；引優填王問佛作佛形像之福。而判本段之重在捨：「畵像供養，人所易行。即捨所愛，人所難作」〔X21n0384 0692a14〕；「藉佛救母，以道報親，純孝之心，照耀千古矣」〔X21n0384 0692a15〕。
夜夢見佛——牒經作「忽於夜後，夢見佛身，金色晃曜，如須彌山，放大光明」〔X21n0384 0692a18〕（底本「晃耀」，鏡作「晃曜」）；引《善見律》夢有四種——四大不和夢、先見夢、天人夢、想夢，前二不實，後二真實，判本段為後二夢。
婢子——「梵名駄索迦，此云奴」〔X21n0384 0692b18〕；引《說文》：「男入罪曰奴，女入罪曰婢」〔X21n0384 0692b19〕。
婢子之語三節——「先敘福力脫過去罪，後方求救脫將來苦」〔X21n0384 0692c11〕；而釋其何以脫獄而猶落惡道：「重業輕報，更落惡道，餘殃未盡也」〔X21n0384 0692c13〕。
下賤人——「梵名薩拘盧楴，此云賣姓，即下賤人」〔X21n0384 0692c14〕。
短命——世壽三品：下方六十、中方八十、上方百二十；今壽十三，故云短命。
殺害毀罵二業——引《賢愚經》蘇曼女語與荀子「傷人之言，深於矛戟」之文，而判：「殺生居眾罪之上，毀罵在萬惡之先」〔X21n0384 0693a15〕。
願脫現生報——「畢此一十三齡之短，銷其一十八獄之長」〔X21n0384 0693b04〕。
自今日後——「自今日後，標始心也」〔X21n0384 0693c04〕；引《舊婆沙》初心之文（見目三），而出一全經性之判：「故知此經明地藏發心，前後四番，後却是前。今是最初，故曰自今」〔X21n0384 0693c06〕。本品光目女之願，鏡判為全經四番發心中時序最初之一番。
佛讚其願——「若但為母發心，何善何能，乃以曠濟之心，求畢母罪」〔X21n0384 0693c16〕；「譬如大水而滅小火，豈有不滅者乎」〔X21n0384 0693c17〕。
梵志——「梵志，正翻淨裔」〔X21n0384 0694a01〕，是淨梵苗裔，承習梵天法；《長阿含》稱為婆羅門。
三報俱轉——「一子求佛發心，其母三報俱轉」〔X21n0384 0694a03〕：初生下賤轉前報，次生梵志轉現報，後成佛果轉後報。
無憂國土——「無憂國土，即指極樂，轉憂為樂也」〔X21n0384 0694a05〕；並列四憂之次第（地獄燒煮·婢家下賤·十三歲更墮惡道·梵志邪行自大）而云諸憂並息。末判：「昔為罪母，乃地獄所度之死囚。將作如來，乃人天能化之大覺」〔X21n0384 0694a10〕。
結會古今——「昔成小果，今作大人，迴小向大也」〔X21n0384 0694a19〕（釋無盡意）；釋解脫菩薩則歷數其昔墮鐵城、次生婢家、後為梵志而今為大解脫士。復繫一語：「然光目，由羅漢之指示。女母，因光目而超升」〔X21n0384 0694a24〕；「能所畢至，子母俱來，敻隔沙劫，一會儼然」〔X21n0384 0694b01〕。
針線之判——「過去久遠劫中，如是慈愍發恒河沙願」一節，逐文鏡不作上文之結而移作下科之首，並自陳其故，末繫：「針線之妙，後賢不可不知」〔X21n0384 0694b06〕。
不信因果——「不信因果者，即一闡提」〔X21n0384 0694c01〕，引弊宿婆羅門常懷異見之事。
遇善知識之「若」字——「若者，不定之辭」〔X21n0384 0695a02〕，遇不遇本無定；「惡中儻有毫善，或能遇之」〔X21n0384 0695a02〕，否則難遇。而所謂真善知識，鏡逕指其實：「今教一彈指頃，歸依地藏菩薩，是真善知識」〔X21n0384 0695a04〕。
一彈指——準《僧祇律》：「二十念為一瞬，二十瞬名一彈指」〔X21n0384 0695a06〕；依《新婆沙》壯士彈指頃經六十四剎那。而歎其力：「然歸依祗一彈指，而惡道千生解脫，歸依之力，莫可涯量」〔X21n0384 0695a07〕。其末四字別行，「歸依之力，莫可涯量」〔X21n0384 0695a08〕；而鏡於此判之後只添四字——「故勸之也」〔X21n0384 0695a08〕。所出者一彈指，所解者千生惡道，二端不相稱，故曰量不可涯。
香華衣服飲食——香是能悅懌三昧，華是寶莊嚴三昧；梵語震越翻衣服；飲食分半者蒲善尼（五噉食·正食）與半者珂但尼（五嚼食·不正食）。
帝王——「德象天地稱帝，仁義所生稱王」〔X21n0384 0695b02〕；憶宿命則引《阿摩晝經》憶識宿命無數若干種事之文。
閻浮之偏舉——「佛法應流沙界，利益不局閻浮。但南洲之人，性識無定，惡業偏多」〔X21n0384 0695b24〕。
四方天王——「擁護四洲地面，防邏惡鬼侵凌，故云四方天王」〔X21n0384 0695c07〕；準《世記經》列四王之名、翻名與所領：東方提頭賴吒（持國）領乾闥婆、富單那；南方毗留勒叉（增長）領鳩槃荼、薜茘多；西方毗留博叉（雜語）領毗舍闍、毒龍；北方毗沙門（多聞）領夜叉、羅剎。四王各有九十一子，而毗沙門為尊，統領三方。
天王發問之由——「以我等正護四方，而南洲偏多惡業」〔X21n0384 0696a06〕。
生死道中——「以六道皆有生老病死。今以生該老，以死攝病」〔X21n0384 0696a15〕。
長獄之喻——「一切眾生，常在長獄，十二重城圍之，三重棘籬籬之，六拔刀賊伺之」〔X21n0384 0696a18〕；而各配其法：「長獄謂三界，十二重城謂十二因緣，三重棘籬謂三毒也」〔X21n0384 0696a20〕。
因蔓不斷——引《阿難分別經》與經言傷生杌命之文，而云「既由業緣展轉相因」〔X21n0384 0696b18〕，譬如葛藟纍於樛木，縈牽不斷；末釋其環：「此由惑滋業，由業潤生，生還造業，業復墮苦」〔X21n0384 0696b22〕。
百千萬億方便——引《大智度論》法身菩薩變化無量身之文：「如阿修羅琴，常自出聲，隨意而作」〔X21n0384 0696c11〕；復引十輪讚「現作種種身，為眾生說法」為證。
何須說苦業——本品之義理總綱。逐文鏡先分能說所施之異：「夫能說法者，有輭語、苦語之異；所施教者，有真諦、俗諦之殊」〔X21n0384 0696c17〕；次自設問難：「此苦業報，既非善事，寧不直爾說善令習，何須稱情說苦業耶」〔X21n0384 0696c19〕。答分三層——
- 對顯：「善惡因果，法須相對。若不說其貪等是過，何由顯施等是善」〔X21n0384 0696c20〕；「若不宣三塗是苦，無由顯人天等樂」〔X21n0384 0696c22〕。故「須說凡夫罪行，令人識知，厭離歸善」〔X21n0384 0696c23〕。
- 分機：鈍根聞苦業而生厭離時即求世樂，因此轉心修諸福業；利根聞苦業而生厭離時即求解脫，因此轉心能修道觀，便於惑中得起出因。故經說一切煩惱皆是佛種。
- 歸心：「雖稱情說諸過惡，然心外無別業苦」〔X21n0384 0697a05〕。
總結曰：「故知苦業，厭離之本，起善之緣，是故須說」〔X21n0384 0697a03〕。
二十三條之六科（逐文鏡分組·條數逐一對應）：
| 組 | 逐文鏡科語 | 錨 | 所攝條目 | 條數 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 「先舉十惡報。殺、盜、婬，身三惡也」 | 〔X21n0384 0697a09〕 | 殺生·竊盜·邪婬 | 3 |
| 二 | 「此示口四報。惡口當一，毀謗攝三」 | 〔X21n0384 0697b06〕 | 惡口·毀謗 | 2 |
| 三 | 「此示意三報分別」 | 〔X21n0384 0697b18〕 | 瞋恚·慳悋·飲食無度 | 3 |
| 四 | 「次明雜業報」 | 〔X21n0384 0697c17〕 | 畋獵恣情·悖逆父母·燒山林木·前後父母惡毒·網捕生雛 | 5 |
| 五 | 「此明三寶中報。佛如醫王，法如良藥，僧如瞻病人」 | 〔X21n0384 0698b01〕 | 毀謗三寶·輕法慢教·破用常住·污梵誣僧 | 4 |
| 六 | 「此明雜業報。湯火斬斫，殺生法也」 | 〔X21n0384 0698c01〕 | 湯火斬斫傷生·破戒犯齋·非理毀用·吾我貢高·兩舌鬬亂·邪見 | 6 |
前三組八條收盡十惡（毀謗一條攝妄語等三，故口業二條而當四）；飲食無度何以入意業，逐文鏡於夾註中四字釋之：「無度即痴」〔X21n0384 0697c04〕。首尾之判：「然首舉殺生，眾惡之大本，終結邪見，業流之巨壑故耳」〔X21n0384 0699a15〕。
逐條之釋（本組所出者）——邪婬三禽：「梵名摩由邏」〔X21n0384 0697a20〕此云孔雀，「梵名迦逋，唐言鴿」〔X21n0384 0697a22〕，「梵名斫迦邏婆，此云鴛鴦」〔X21n0384 0697a24〕；毀謗三寶引十輪經（見目三之鏡引異文，目九）；前後父母：「前後父母，即繼父母也」〔X21n0384 0698a12〕；破用常住：「破用常住如前」〔X21n0384 0698b16〕；破戒：「破戒者，若破律儀，麤罪易見。似持戒相，細惡難知」〔X21n0384 0698c03〕；非理毀用：「非理毀用，用者器用」〔X21n0384 0698c16〕；兩舌鬬亂：「兩舌鬬亂者，以曲為直，以直為曲」〔X21n0384 0699a05〕；邪見：「一切違理起者，悉是邪見」〔X21n0384 0699a09〕。
三業以心為本——「凡動身口，皆由心使。故三業皆以心為根本也」〔X21n0384 0699a23〕；並引《彌勒問經》三種果（果報果·習氣果·增上果）與《優婆塞戒經》四種報（現報·生報·後報·無報）釋「百千報應」。
三果四報之逐字（「百千報應」四字之底帳，一分果、一分時）——果之三：「準彌勒問經，有三種」〔X21n0384 0699b01〕，「一、果報果，生地獄等」〔X21n0384 0699b01〕，是所墮之處；「二、習氣果」〔X21n0384 0699b01〕，「出生人中，依殺生，有短命果」〔X21n0384 0699b02〕，是脫墮處之後所帶；「三、增上果，依彼十種不善業道，一切外物，無有氣勢」〔X21n0384 0699b04〕，是外物亦隨之而薄。報之四：「準優婆塞戒經：眾生造業，有四種報」〔X21n0384 0699b05〕——「一、現報〔今身作業，今身即受〕，二、生報〔今身造業，次後身受〕，三、後報〔今生造業，更二三生已去方受〕，四、無報〔猶無記等業〕」〔X21n0384 0699b06〕。三果就所受之類，四報就所受之時；二組相乘，方是「百千」二字之實。
天王悲退——「此由聞上業感差別之相，入心冥契，了本空寂，聞即無聞，是名心聞」〔X21n0384 0700a09〕。此為天台觀心之釋，誌錄不判。
五、諸家異釋（分欄並錄·誌錄不判）
先明一事：本經之注，撰者唯一家；《科註》《綸貫》《科》三號同出一手（靈椉輯·號青蓮·清），續藏編者析為三號，不成三家異釋。
| 鏡 | 所牒之本 | 位 | 逐字 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 《地藏菩薩本願經科註》六卷（靈椉輯·清） | 本經（逐句牒） | 逐文鏡 | 「初、地藏重述付囑；二、當機王問大願」 | 〔X21n0384 0687a08〕 |
| 《地藏菩薩本願經綸貫》一卷（同一撰者） | 本經（釋題玄義·不逐句） | 同書卷首 | 「乃菩薩昔生為婆羅門女及光目女時，所發之大願也」 | 〔X21n0383 0640c24〕 |
| 《地藏經科》一卷（同一撰者） | 本經（科目·無經文） | 同書卷首 | 本段無可徵引之釋語（該卷唯列科目，經文只標首字） | — |
| 《讚禮地藏菩薩懺願儀》一卷（智旭述·明） | 非本經（宗十輪） | 儀軌旁證 | 「一心頂禮無盡意菩薩、解脫菩薩、普賢菩薩摩訶薩」 | 〔X74n1486 0585a24〕 |
《綸貫》於本品之關涉：釋「本願」二字時，繫其願於兩位女子——「乃菩薩昔生為婆羅門女及光目女時，所發之大願也」〔X21n0383 0640c24〕；論本經別願時復云「若準今經，婆羅門女及光目女，皆為母發心，而救六道」〔X21n0383 0641a17〕，則以孝行為大士本時之別願。二女二事並列，非一事之異傳——婆羅門女事在品一（母信邪輕慢三寶·賣宅興供·身至業海·問無毒鬼王），光目女事在本品（母好食噉魚鼈·念佛塑像·婢子自陳·生無憂國土）；所值之佛、所犯之業、所行之救、所得之果四事俱異。誌之以防混。
《懺願儀》之層級：其撰者自陳所宗以十輪為首，本願居三典之一；其與本品之實接點在禮敬名列——定自在王、無盡意、解脫菩薩三名俱出本品結會古今，而其大讚之語出十輪經。不得作本經字句之見證。
本段之異釋零命中：除逐文鏡外，本段無第二家之釋可分欄並錄。誠實記之。
六、術語（本段首見名相）
| 名相 | 釋義所據 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 閻浮（樹） | 「閻浮樹乃南洲樹王」——復出黑暗、染污二義之穢樹說 | 〔X21n0384 0686c03〕 |
| 業感 | 本經與逐文鏡俱不別釋此二字；其論據在《俱舍》分別業品首頌「世別由業生」 | 〔T29n1558 0067b09〕 |
| 威神力 | 「威即四無畏，神即六神通，力即十力」 | 〔X21n0384 0687a19〕 |
| 阿逸多 | 「阿逸多，此云無能勝，彌勒之姓」——鏡辨其為姓非名 | 〔X21n0384 0687b18〕 |
| 性識無定 | 「無定者，無堅住之定性」 | 〔X21n0384 0687c08〕 |
| 定自在王 | 「那伽常在定，無有不定時，於定自在，名定自在王」 | 〔X21n0384 0689a04〕 |
| 一切智成就（如來） | 「梵名薩婆若多，般舟名薩雲，秦言一切智相」 | 〔X21n0384 0689b04〕 |
| 清淨蓮華目 | 「清淨蓮華目，三十二相之一」 | 〔X21n0384 0690b15〕 |
| 光目 | 「目表定，光表慧。因定發慧，慧光注目」 | 〔X21n0384 0690c20〕 |
| 婢子 | 「梵名駄索迦，此云奴」〔X21n0384 0692b18〕；《說文》「男入罪曰奴，女入罪曰婢」 | 〔X21n0384 0692b19〕 |
| 下賤人 | 「梵名薩拘盧楴，此云賣姓，即下賤人」 | 〔X21n0384 0692c14〕 |
| 梵志 | 「梵志，正翻淨裔」——《長阿含》稱為婆羅門 | 〔X21n0384 0694a01〕 |
| 一闡提 | 「不信因果者，即一闡提」 | 〔X21n0384 0694c01〕 |
| 出家（四種） | 「大師明四種出家」〔X21n0384 0689c09〕；第四為「四、形心俱出，能見佛性」，而「出二死家，方真出家」〔X21n0384 0689c11〕 | 〔X21n0384 0689c10〕 |
| 彈指 | 「二十念為一瞬，二十瞬名一彈指」 | 〔X21n0384 0695a06〕 |
| 善知識 | 鏡逕指其實：「今教一彈指頃，歸依地藏菩薩，是真善知識」 | 〔X21n0384 0695a04〕 |
| 三種果 | 果報果·習氣果·「三、增上果，依彼十種不善業道，一切外物，無有氣勢」——出《彌勒問經》 | 〔X21n0384 0699b04〕 |
| 四種報 | 「一、現報〔今身作業，今身即受〕，二、生報〔今身造業，次後身受〕，三、後報〔今生造業，更二三生已去方受〕，四、無報〔猶無記等業〕」——出《優婆塞戒經》 | 〔X21n0384 0699b06〕 |
| 孔雀·鴿·鴛鴦 | 「梵名摩由邏」〔X21n0384 0697a20〕（此云孔雀）·「梵名迦逋，唐言鴿」〔X21n0384 0697a22〕·「梵名斫迦邏婆，此云鴛鴦」 | 〔X21n0384 0697a24〕 |
| 前後父母 | 「前後父母，即繼父母也」 | 〔X21n0384 0698a12〕 |
| 遮吒迦鳥 | 釋「破戒犯齋」所引《正法念》之鳥名，逐文鏡夾註明言未詳：「恐是斑鳩之梵語，俟載考」——古德自云未詳，存漢音不作還原（Rule 9a） | 〔X21n0384 0698c14〕 |
「業感」之譯名屬待裁，本層唯記其漢文義據，不代設定譯。
本段之名相清單：如來十號十名、業報對舉二十三條、四天王四名及其所領八眾。此三組皆逐字並列之名，不歸併、不節略。
七、譬喻·修辭
- 經自有之譬唯一——魚遊網：如魚遊網，將是長流，脫入暫出，又復遭網。逐文鏡四配之（魚五道·網三界·長流業果·脫入輪轉），而以「因愛入網」釋其所以入。此譬之要在「暫出」二字：生天生人非歸宿而是作客。
- 經自有之喻辭其二——「因蔓不斷」〔T13n0412 0781b28〕。蔓為葛屬，纏樹而長；逐文鏡以「惑滋業·業潤生·生造業·業墮苦」四段釋其環狀。此四字為佛自釋「猶未畢願」之由，屬經文自語，非鏡所加。
- 鏡所增之譬三種（非經自設，誌其出處）——①作客之譬（引《五苦章句經》）；②大水滅小火之譬，釋光目以曠濟之心求畢母罪；③長獄十二重城三重棘籬六拔刀賊之譬（引經），配三界、十二因緣、三毒、六情。
- 修辭一·同型句之列——二十三條皆作「若遇 X 者，說 Y 報」，句式不變而所配之報各異；其列首於殺生、末於邪見，逐文鏡判為「眾惡之大本」與「業流之巨壑」之相對。列畢，經自繫一語曰「今麁略說」〔T13n0412 0781c21〕——二十三條自言為略。
- 修辭二·二本生之對稱——小國王本生以「二王同行而分願」為軸，光目女本生以「一女救母而發弘誓」為軸；前者顯先後之次第，後者顯自他之推廣。二本生皆以「結會古今」收，而所結之人一為佛（一切智成就如來）、一為菩薩（無盡意·解脫）。
- 修辭三·問而不直答——四天王問「云何至今猶度未絕」，佛不正答其問，改以二十三條之列與「因蔓不斷」四字代答。所問是時間，所答是業。此與品一問數而答所化之人同型。
八、徵引承衍
- 《讚禮地藏菩薩懺願儀》X74n1486（智旭述·明）——其禮敬名列中，定自在王、無盡意、解脫菩薩三名俱出本品結會古今，是本品人物入行儀之最早所見。其書所宗為十輪，故其大讚之語不出本經。
- 《地藏慈悲救苦薦福利生道場儀》ZW06n0052——道場儀文別立本品一節，唱題諷經而繫以偈，述二王同興願力與光目行孝二事；其所請聖眾之列，光目女與婆羅聖女並列為二人，可見其讀二本生為二事。
- 《如來廣孝十種報恩道場儀》ZW08n0068——以光目女飯僧脫母苦為孝行之一例，與目連、須闍提諸事並列。
- 《釋氏六帖》B13n0079（義楚·五代）——於「婆羅門女」條下引本經婆羅門女事，而繫一語謂其與光目女同為地藏菩薩本因；是類書亦以二女二事並錄。
- 《東山梅溪度禪師語錄》J39nB447——上堂舉光目女為母之事設問。其敘事細節與本品互有出入，屬語錄舉揚之體，誌錄不判。
- 《九華山志》GA072n0077——節錄本品二本生全文（小國王與光目女），復接品一塵劫之喻。
- 本段被本軸其餘各帙徵引者，零命中。
九、校本定位
本段域內校記一處（為 CBETA 訂大正藏原刻之字，非諸本異讀）：
| 錨 | 今本 | 原刻 | 所在 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0780c06 | 「無上士」之「士」 | 土 | 一切智成就如來十號之第七 |
gaiji：本單元零命中（底本全帙一枚，在地獄名號品「或有地獄，純飛𨪏鏫」〔T13n0412 0782b11〕）。
夾註：本單元零命中（底本 <body> 內 <note> 元素全帙為零，故無夾註可錄；其 124 處 cb:place="inline" 皆繫於段落而非注文，非夾註）。
逐文鏡於本品之實測——鏡文自〔X21n0384 0686b24〕起至〔X21n0384 0700a14〕止，凡 975 行、21,990 字元；其自用夾註 59 枚，gaiji 6 枚（4 形）。四形之所在與所指：
| 錨 | 所在文 | 所指 |
|---|---|---|
| 0695a19 | 「謂飯餅□等，此名正食」 | 五噉食之一物名 |
| 0695b04 | 「如阿摩□經」 | 《阿摩晝經》之「晝」 |
| 0697a08·0697a21·0697a23 | 「說□鴿鴛鴦報」·「此云孔□」（二見） | 「雀」字——鏡此字三處皆作 gaiji，而底本作「雀」；鏡自釋「梵名摩由邏，此云孔□」，是孔雀無疑 |
| 0697c23 | 「□〔古悖字〕，子逆也」 | 「悖」之古字 |
鏡與底本之用字歧異（引鏡文時照鏡之字，不回改）：
| 底本 | 鏡 | 錨（鏡） |
|---|---|---|
| 遍百千萬億世界 | 徧百千萬億世界 | 〔X21n0384 0687a12〕 |
| 或炒或煮 | 或炒或煑 | 〔X21n0384 0691b17〕 |
| 塑畫形像 | 塑畵形像 | 〔X21n0384 0690c03〕 |
| 金色晃耀 | 金色晃曜 | 〔X21n0384 0692a18〕 |
| 飢渴咽病報 | 饑渴咽病報 | 〔X21n0384 0697b17〕 |
| 天地災殺報 | 天地灾殺報 | 〔X21n0384 0697c14〕 |
| 雀鴿鴛鴦報 | （雀作 gaiji）鴿鴛鴦報 | 〔X21n0384 0697a08〕 |
鏡牒經之實質異文一處——底本作「我母所習，唯好食噉魚鼈之屬」〔T13n0412 0780c23〕，鏡牒作「惟好食噉魚鼈之肉」〔X21n0384 0691b16〕。「屬」與「肉」非字形之異；鏡下文釋語兩用「魚鼈之子」而不用「肉」，其牒文所本待考。誌錄不判，不據以改底本一字。
鏡引他經而字有出入一處——鏡釋「毀謗三寶」時引十輪經作「若有剎利旃陀羅於三寶所起於惡心，一切諸佛所不能救，常墮地獄餓鬼畜生，若得為人，盲聾瘖瘂」〔X21n0384 0698b02〕；而檢彼經：作「剎帝利旃荼羅」者六十一見，「剎利旃陀羅」零見；作「瘖啞」者六見，「瘖瘂」零見。鏡所引為撮意之引，且用字向底本靠攏（底本本品正作「盲聾瘖瘂」）。誌錄不判。
鏡之書名三形並存——teiHeader 題「地藏本願經科註」；卷端題「地藏菩薩本願經卷上科注卷之一」；目次題「地藏菩薩本願經科註目次」。讀者面用何形屬待裁，本層並錄。
鏡之卷制與底本不同——底本二卷（卷上訖如來讚歎品）；鏡所據之本作三卷，其卷上訖本品，故本品為鏡卷上之末品，其後即繫「地藏菩薩本願經卷上科注卷之二」而次接卷中。鏡與底本之對應依品，不依卷。誌錄不判。
Placement of the passage as a whole. This passage runs from the title of the chapter down to “the four heavenly kings, having heard it, wept and sighed in grief, joined their palms, and withdrew,” and contains Kṣitigarbha’s restating of the entrustment, the Buddha’s showing that the nature-consciousness has no fixity, King Sovereign in Samādhi’s asking about the original vows of kalpas past (the former life of the king of a small country · the former life of the woman Bright Eyes), and the four heavenly kings’ question, upon which the Buddha sets karma and requital side by side in twenty-three items, closing with the charge to protect the people and protect the country. The word-by-word mirror judges this chapter to be the second heading of the section of main exposition, named 「示業感差別」—“showing the differences that karmic impulsion calls forth.” 〔X21n0384 0686b24〕 This chapter is the longest of the four in Fascicle One. This sūtra exists in a single translation; there is no alternate recension of the same original against which to collate. Sūtras of the same honored one but of different text are the Daśacakra-kṣitigarbha Sūtra and the Sūtra of Divining the Requital of Good and Evil Karma; these belong to parallel reading set side by side, and are not collated as alternate translations.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
The word-by-word mirror first gives the title of the chapter, and then divides the chapter’s text in two: 「初、地藏重述付囑；二、當機王問大願」—“first, Kṣitigarbha restates the entrustment; second, the king who is the occasion asks about the great vows.” 〔X21n0384 0687a08〕
In judging the relation of the two chapters, before and after, it poses its own reason: that Kṣitigarbha should restate at the very point where the holy mother’s question about the Uninterrupted Hell is done comes of the entrustment’s not yet having been fully set out, and so 「由此二品，鉤鎖如環，不可杜斷」—“by reason of these two chapters, hooked and locked like a ring, they may not be cut apart.” 〔X21n0384 0687a17〕 — the two chapters, karmic conditions and karmic impulsion, may not be cut through in the middle, and therefore, after karmic conditions and before karmic impulsion, the restating comes in to raise what follows.
The outline within the chapter:
| Section of the commentary | Scriptural basis | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| The title of the chapter | 「閻浮眾生業感品第四」—“The Karmic Impulsions of the Beings of Jambudvīpa, Chapter Four” | 〔T13n0412 0780b16〕 |
| Restating 1 · formerly, upheld by the Buddha’s power, he divided himself | 「爾時，地藏菩薩摩訶薩白佛言」—“At that time Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva said to the Buddha” | 〔T13n0412 0780b17〕 |
| Restating 2 · now entrusted by the Buddha to deliver beings | 「我今又蒙佛付囑」—“Now I have received the Buddha’s entrustment besides” | 〔T13n0412 0780b20〕 |
| The Tathāgata’s showing 1 · showing by dharma | 「一切眾生，未解脫者，性識無定」—“Of all beings, those who are not yet liberated — their nature-consciousness has no fixity” | 〔T13n0412 0780b23〕 |
| The Tathāgata’s showing 2 · disclosing by simile | 「如魚遊網」—“Like a fish swimming into a net” | 〔T13n0412 0780b25〕 |
| The Tathāgata’s showing 3 · making the union clear | 「以是等輩，吾當憂念」—“For beings such as these I must be anxious and hold them in mind” | 〔T13n0412 0780b26〕 |
| The occasion’s direct question on the vows 1 · King Sovereign in Samādhi asks | 「說是語時」—“While these words were being spoken” | 〔T13n0412 0780b28〕 |
| Telling the vows of old 1 · the vow made by the king of a small country | 「乃往過去，無量阿僧祇那由他不可說劫」—“Long ago in the past, measureless asaṃkhyeya nayutas of inexpressible kalpas ago” | 〔T13n0412 0780c04〕 |
| Telling the vows of old 2 · the vow made by the woman Bright Eyes | 「復於過去，無量阿僧祇劫」—“Again, in the past, measureless asaṃkhyeya kalpas ago” | 〔T13n0412 0780c15〕 |
| Past and present joined | 「爾時羅漢福度光目者」—“The arhat of that time, who delivered Bright Eyes by means of blessings” | 〔T13n0412 0781a28〕 |
| Showing the benefit of the present | 「未來世中，若有男子女人」—“In ages to come, if there be a man or a woman” | 〔T13n0412 0781b03〕 |
| The occasion’s direct question on the vows 2 · the heavenly kings ask | 「爾時，四方天王，俱從座起」—“At that time the heavenly kings of the four quarters rose together from their seats” | 〔T13n0412 0781b18〕 |
| Teaching set out separately · teaching and transforming as the capacity requires | 「四天王！地藏菩薩若遇殺生者」—“Four heavenly kings! If Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva meets one who kills living beings” | 〔T13n0412 0781c01〕 |
| Showing in conclusion the differences that karma calls forth | 「如是等閻浮提眾生，身口意業」—“Beings of Jambudvīpa such as these, in the deeds of body, speech, and mind” | 〔T13n0412 0781c19〕 |
| Exhorting the heavenly kings to guard | 「是故汝等，護人護國」—“Therefore you are to protect the people and protect the country” | 〔T13n0412 0781c24〕 |
| The heavenly kings hear and withdraw in grief | 「四天王聞已」—“When the four heavenly kings had heard it” | 〔T13n0412 0781c25〕 |
The outline of the two passages of question and answer: 「當機正問誓願」 〔X21n0384 0688c21〕, the occasion’s direct question on the vows, divides in two — first, Sovereign in Samādhi asks what vows were made through kalpas upon kalpas; second, 「天王問何更立誓願」—“the heavenly kings ask why he pledges himself with a vow yet again.” 〔X21n0384 0695c04〕 Within the answer, 「初、述昔誓願；二、示今利益」—“first, telling the vows of old; second, showing the benefit of the present.” 〔X21n0384 0689a19〕, and the telling of the vows divides again in two: 「初、小國王所發願」—“first, the vow made by the king of a small country.” 〔X21n0384 0689a20〕, and second, 「光目女所發願」—“the vow made by the woman Bright Eyes.” 〔X21n0384 0690b07〕
The outline of the passage on requital: 「別明說法」 〔X21n0384 0696c16〕, teaching set out separately, divides in two — 「正明隨機說化；二、結示業感差別」—“first, making clear directly the teaching and transforming as the capacity requires; second, showing in conclusion the differences that karmic impulsion calls forth.” 〔X21n0384 0696c17〕 Next 「結示業感差別」 〔X21n0384 0699a16〕, next 「勸天王擁護」 〔X21n0384 0699c03〕, exhorting the heavenly kings to guard, and last 「天王聞已悲退」 〔X21n0384 0700a07〕, the heavenly kings hear and withdraw in grief.
The count of items in this chapter (two mechanical witnesses: the base-text file of the source layer and the extracted continuous stream were counted separately, and the two counts are one) — 「若遇」, “if he meets,” occurs twenty-four times; one of these is 「若遇善知識」, “if they meet a good friend” (a condition of taking refuge, not one of the pairings of karma and requital), and the remaining twenty-three occurrences all run in the one form 「若遇…者，說…報」, “if he meets one who …, he speaks of the requital of ….” Hence the number of pairings of karma and requital in this chapter is twenty-three items, not twenty-two. The word-by-word mirror divides them into six groups; the number of groups and of items in each is given under topic IV.
II. Cross-Recension Collation (none for this passage)
There is no alternate recension against which this passage can be collated. The Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva exists in a single translation, and the canon holds no alternate translation of the same original. The search has been made: by two forms of title containing 「地藏」 and 「本願經」, and by the two forms in which long sentences peculiar to this passage are cited — 「若不先度罪苦，令是安樂，得至菩提，我終未願成佛」 and 「若遇網捕生雛者，說骨肉分離報」 — the search was made throughout, and apart from this sūtra there is no second translation.
Two sūtras of the same honored one but of different text, set side by side without adjudication (they are not alternate translations, and no collation of wording is made):
| Work | Translator | Fascicles · chapters | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daśacakra-kṣitigarbha Sūtra, T13n0411 | Tripiṭaka Master Xuanzang, translated by imperial command | 10 fascicles, 8 chapters | Same honored one, different text · parallel reading |
| Sūtra of Divining the Requital of Good and Evil Karma, T17n0839 | Bodhiruci of India, translated | 2 fascicles | Questioned in the catalogues; recorded without adjudication |
III. Scriptural and Treatise Basis (the “eye”)
Scriptural witness
- The firm vow of great compassion — the Daśacakra Sūtra tells that Kṣitigarbha, in the presence of measureless buddhas of the past, 「發起大悲，堅固難壞、勇猛、精進、無盡誓願」—“raised up great compassion, and vows firm and hard to break, valiant, vigorous, and inexhaustible.” 〔T13n0411 0724b17〕, and that by this dominant force he can in one day and night deliver measureless sentient beings. This is of one frame with the small country’s king in this passage, 「若不先度罪苦，令是安樂，得至菩提，我終未願成佛」—“if I do not first deliver those who are guilty and suffering, and bring them to peace and cause them to reach awakening, I will to the end not vow to become a buddha.” 〔T13n0412 0780c11〕; but that text raises its working, and this one raises its beginning.
- The fruits of the ten good paths of action — 「過去一切諸佛世尊，皆悉遠離十惡業道」—“all the buddhas, the World-Honored Ones of the past, wholly kept far from the ten evil paths of action.” 〔T13n0411 0763a14〕, and all of them extolled and praised the fruits obtained by the ten good paths of action. The two kings of this passage 「同行十善，饒益眾生」—“practised the ten good acts together and benefited beings.” 〔T13n0412 0780c08〕 by this very rule; and the first eight of this passage’s twenty-three items the word-by-word mirror judges to be the requitals of the ten evils (see topic IV).
- The requital of slandering the Three Jewels — the Daśacakra Sūtra: the kṣatriya caṇḍālas and the rest 「於三寶所無淳淨心，不見、不畏，後世苦果」—“have no purely pure mind toward the Three Jewels, and neither see nor fear the bitter fruit of later ages.” 〔T13n0411 0740c26〕, and revile and slander the dharma of the three vehicles, and are named slanderers of the Buddha’s right Dharma. Their requital is 「生盲、生聾、瘖啞無舌」—“born blind, born deaf, mute and without a tongue.” 〔T13n0411 0754b29〕; and there are beings who 「毀謗佛教下至一頌，由是因緣，墮諸惡趣受眾苦報」—“slander the Buddha’s teaching down to a single verse, and by that cause and condition fall into the evil destinies and undergo every suffering of requital.” 〔T13n0411 0758b03〕, and when they first regain a human body are mute from birth. This runs parallel with this passage’s 「若遇毀謗三寶者，說盲聾瘖瘂報」—“if he meets one who slanders the Three Jewels, he speaks for him of the requital of blindness, deafness, and dumbness.” 〔T13n0412 0781c11〕
- The requital of destroying or privately using what belongs to the permanent abode — the Daśacakra Sūtra tells of one who 「食用一切窣堵波物及僧祇物，曾無悔心」—“eats and uses all that belongs to stūpas and all that belongs to the saṃgha, and has never a mind of remorse.” 〔T13n0411 0740c15〕, and who at the end of life is certain to be born in the hell of the Uninterrupted. This runs parallel with this passage’s 「若遇破用常住者，說億劫輪迴地獄報」—“if he meets one who destroys or takes to his own use what belongs to the permanent abode, he speaks for him of the requital of turning in the hells for koṭis of kalpas.” 〔T13n0412 0781c13〕
- A filial child making offerings for a dead mother and learning by a holy power where the mother has been born — The Ullambana Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha: 「汝母罪根深結，非汝一人力所奈何」—“Your mother’s roots of guilt are deeply knotted; it is not a thing that the strength of you alone can do anything about.” 〔T16n0685 0779b06〕, and the awesome power of the saṃgha of the ten directions is needed before there can be release. Bright Eyes of this passage sets out food and makes an offering to the arhat and thereby learns where her mother has been born; the frame is the same, but the condition relied upon differs — in the one case the saṃgha, in the other an arhat and a buddha’s name.
Treatise accounts
- Karma is the cause of the differences among worlds — the opening verse of the chapter on karma in the Abhidharmakośa: 「世別由業生」—“the differences among worlds arise from karma.” 〔T29n1558 0067b09〕; and the treatise says that they do not arise from one lord’s prior awareness, but arise solely from the differences in the karma of sentient beings. The ground in the treatises for the four characters of this chapter’s title, the differences that karmic impulsion calls forth, lies here.
- The death-aspect of those of like class in an undisciplined calling — the Yogācārabhūmi: 「又造惡業者，謂屠羊雞猪等」—“and those who make evil karma, that is, butchers of sheep, of fowl, of swine, and the like.” 〔T30n1579 0282b08〕, each after his kind, because they dwell in the like class of the undisciplined, make and increase the evil and unwholesome karma that calls forth a naraka; and at that hour, as though in a dream, they see again beings of just those kinds and the affairs of butchering sheep and the rest. This is of one mechanism with Bright Eyes’ mother in this passage, who was 「所習」 habituated to killing and fell into an evil destiny.
- The two orders of bringing beings to accomplishment (cited by the word-by-word mirror at the two kings’ making of vows) — 「成就眾生有二種：有先自成功德，然後度眾生者；有先成就眾生，後自成功德者」—“there are two ways of bringing beings to accomplishment: there is accomplishing merit for oneself first and delivering beings afterward, and there is bringing beings to accomplishment first and accomplishing merit for oneself afterward.” 〔X21n0384 0690a12〕 By this the word-by-word mirror judges the vows of the two kings to “seem to have a difference,” and does not judge one better and one worse.
- The merit of the first thought (cited by the word-by-word mirror where Bright Eyes makes her vow) — 「若離初心，則不成無上道。一切功德，皆在初心」—“apart from the first thought the unsurpassed Path is not accomplished. All merit lies in the first thought.” 〔X21n0384 0693c05〕
IV. Exegesis of the Passage (the word-by-word mirror, phrase by phrase)
Jambudvīpa — 「閻浮樹乃南洲樹王」—“the jambu tree is the king of trees of the southern continent.” 〔X21n0384 0686c03〕; the word-by-word mirror cites the Dīrgha Āgama, the Sūtra of the Samādhi of Contemplating the Buddha, and the Lokaprajñapti Abhidharma for its size and the taste of its fruit in detail, and then glosses the two senses in which it is called the foul tree: first, darkness taken as the foulness; second, defilement taken as the foulness — 「又其果香氣，能染人心發顛狂」—“and the fragrance of its fruit can stain the human mind and set it raving.” 〔X21n0384 0687a03〕; and it raises besides the account that the black shadow in the moon is this tree’s shadow, fastening its own judgment to it as a word of doubt: 「穢樹之名，得非取此義乎」—“the name of the foul tree: might it not be taken from this sense?” 〔X21n0384 0687a06〕
Awesome spiritual power — 「威即四無畏，神即六神通，力即十力」—“awe is the four fearlessnesses, spirit is the six spiritual penetrations, power is the ten powers.” 〔X21n0384 0687a19〕
Ajita — 「阿逸多，此云無能勝，彌勒之姓」—“Ajita: here it means Unconquerable, and it is Maitreya’s clan name.” 〔X21n0384 0687b18〕; the word-by-word mirror argues that it is a clan name and not a personal name, citing the Vimalakīrti Commentary, 「既不親見正文，未可定執」, “since the text itself has not been seen at first hand, no fixed hold may be taken,” and settling the matter by the passage in the Sūtra of the Descent and Birth on Xiufanmo and his son’s naming.
The nature-consciousness has no fixity — 「無定者，無堅住之定性」—“having no fixity means that there is no fixed nature that abides firmly.” 〔X21n0384 0687c08〕
Knotting — 「惑業相資，如巾挽結。若欲解之，必抽中心」—“delusion and karma sustain each other, like a cloth drawn into a knot. If one would undo it, one must draw out the middle.” 〔X21n0384 0687c22〕
The four terms of the fish swimming into the net — 「魚譬五道，網譬三界，長流譬業果」—“the fish figures the five destinies, the net figures the three realms, the long current figures the fruit of karma.” 〔X21n0384 0688a24〕, while slipping in and getting out for a moment and the rest figure the turning round of birth and death; and it glosses the reason for entering the net besides: 「群魚貪食，而遭密網。眾生因愛，而入魔網」—“the school of fish is greedy for food, and so meets the close-meshed net; beings by reason of craving enter the net of Māra.” 〔X21n0384 0688b01〕 To gloss 「暫出」 it cites the Sūtra of the Sections on the Five Sufferings: 「三惡道者，是為一切眾生之家，暫得為天，暫得為人，譬如作客。作客日少，歸家日多」—“the three evil destinies are the home of all beings; to get to be a god for a moment, to get to be a human for a moment, is like being a guest. The days of being a guest are few, the days of going home are many.” 〔X21n0384 0688b16〕
I must be anxious and hold them in mind — 「佛觀大地眾生，猶同一子」—“the Buddha looks upon the beings of the whole earth as upon a single child.” 〔X21n0384 0688c03〕
King Sovereign in Samādhi — 「那伽常在定，無有不定時，於定自在，名定自在王」—“the nāga is ever in concentration and has no time out of it; being sovereign in concentration, he is named King Sovereign in Samādhi.” 〔X21n0384 0689a04〕
The Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom — 「梵名薩婆若多，般舟名薩雲，秦言一切智相」—“the Sanskrit name is Sapo-ruo-duo; in the Pratyutpanna the name is Sayun; in the tongue of Qin, the aspect of all wisdom.” 〔X21n0384 0689b04〕, because the three wisdoms are obtained within one mind; and below it glosses the ten epithets of a tathāgata one by one.
The four kinds of leaving the household life — 「大師明四種出家」—“the Great Master makes clear four kinds of leaving the household life.” 〔X21n0384 0689c09〕: neither the form nor the mind goes out; the form goes out but not the mind; the mind goes out but not the form; both the form and the mind go out. And it judges 「昔王正第四人，故能成佛」—“the king of that former time is precisely the fourth sort of person, and therefore he could become a buddha.” 〔X21n0384 0689c11〕 The wording of the fourth is 「四、形心俱出，能見佛性」—“fourth, both the form and the mind go out, and one can see the buddha-nature.” 〔X21n0384 0689c10〕; and the household gone out from does not mean a dwelling of rooms — 「出二死家，方真出家」—“only when one has gone out from the household of the two deaths has one truly left the household life.” 〔X21n0384 0689c11〕 — the two deaths being the apportioned and the transformational; and this is why the six characters 「未出家時，為小國王」 of this passage receive a gloss at all.
The two kings make their vows — it cites a treatise to set up the two orders of bringing beings to accomplishment (see topic III) and then judges: 「一王作念，自未得度先度眾生，方是菩薩發心」—“one king made this thought: to deliver beings first while not yet delivered oneself — this is precisely a bodhisattva’s arousing of the resolve.” 〔X21n0384 0690a17〕; and it concludes at the last 「此正發僧那於始心，終大悲於赴難。故二王發願，似有不同也」—“this is precisely to put on the great armor at the first thought and to consummate great compassion in going to meet the peril. And so the vows of the two kings seem to have a difference between them.” 〔X21n0384 0690a21〕 「似有不同」, they seem to have a difference, is a phrase that records a difference without adjudicating it, and is not a judgment of better and worse.
Past and present of the two kings joined — 「法性如大海，不說有是非，凡夫賢聖人，平等無高下」—“the nature of dharmas is like a great sea, and one does not say it has right and wrong; ordinary folk and worthies and sages are equal, without high and low.” 〔X21n0384 0690b03〕
Pure Lotus Eyes — 「清淨蓮華目，三十二相之一」—“Pure Lotus Eyes is one of the thirty-two marks.” 〔X21n0384 0690b15〕; it cites the passage of the jewel-maiden’s question to the Buddha to make clear whence that mark comes, and fastens two lines at the end: 「面如淨滿月，目若青蓮華」—“the face like the pure full moon, the eyes like the blue lotus flower.” 〔X21n0384 0690b20〕
The Semblance Dharma — 「像法居正末二法之間，乃塔寺堅固之時」—“the Semblance Dharma lies between the Right and the Last, and is the time when stūpas and monasteries stand firm.” 〔X21n0384 0690c02〕; and it points to its own stitching: 「乃下文塑畵形像之伏案也」—“this is the case laid down beforehand for the sculpting and painting of the image below.” 〔X21n0384 0690c03〕
Bright Eyes — first, following the Lingshu, it glosses the essential energies of the eye; next it glosses in terms of the Dharma: 「目表定，光表慧。因定發慧，慧光注目」—“the eye signifies concentration and the brightness signifies wisdom; by concentration wisdom is brought forth, and the light of wisdom is poured into the eye.” 〔X21n0384 0690c20〕
Setting out food and making an offering — it lists the five merits of giving food (giving life · giving color · giving strength · giving ease · giving eloquence), and raises Aniruddha, who by giving one meal to a pratyekabuddha called forth the requital of ninety-one kalpas without poverty.
Cultivating blessings to rescue and draw out — it cites the Nirvāṇa Sūtra: 「知恩者大悲之本，不知恩者甚於畜生」—“to know a kindness done is the root of great compassion; one who does not know a kindness done is worse than an animal.” 〔X21n0384 0691a11〕
The utmost suffering — 「極大苦者，無間大地獄也」—“the utmost suffering is the great Avīci hell.” 〔X21n0384 0691a23〕 Here the word-by-word mirror sets up besides a judgment about how the sentence is to be read: the character 「見」 belongs at the end of the clause above, so as to disclose the eye of wisdom that does the contemplating, following Tiantai’s example in glossing the Lotus verse 「我以佛眼觀見六道眾生」 by wrenching a character to the clause above; and it poses its own question and answer to make clear how an arhat’s eye of wisdom is able to see her mother undergoing suffering.
What she was habituated to — 「所習，指習性、習氣。惡習種子內熏現行，轉習於惡矣」—“what one is habituated to means habitual nature and habitual energy; the seeds of evil habit perfume the active manifestation from within, and by habit one is turned toward evil.” 〔X21n0384 0691b19〕
Eating fish and turtles — it cites the Piya and the Gujin zhu to gloss the turtle, and judges the karma of it: 「此乃博求眾命，以資一膳，不惟忍心，亦且損福」—“this is to seek widely for many lives in order to furnish a single meal; it is not only hard-hearted, it wastes one’s blessings besides.” 〔X21n0384 0691c06〕; and it cites the words of Zhou Yong: 「性命之於彼極切，滋味之在我可賖」—“life is to them the most urgent of all things; flavor is to me a thing that can be deferred.” 〔X21n0384 0691c08〕
Sculpting and painting an image — 「埏土象物曰塑，繪施五彩曰畵」—“to knead clay into the likeness of a thing is called sculpting; to lay on the five colors in drawing is called painting.” 〔X21n0384 0692a04〕; it cites King Udayana’s asking the Buddha about the blessings of making a buddha-image. And it judges that the weight of this passage lies in the giving up: 「畵像供養，人所易行。即捨所愛，人所難作」—“to paint an image and make offerings is what people find easy to do; to give up at once what one loves is what people find hard to do.” 〔X21n0384 0692a14〕; 「藉佛救母，以道報親，純孝之心，照耀千古矣」—“to save the mother by relying on the Buddha, and to requite the parent by way of the Path — a mind of pure filial devotion, shining down a thousand ages.” 〔X21n0384 0692a15〕
Seeing the Buddha in a dream by night — it quotes the sūtra as 「忽於夜後，夢見佛身，金色晃曜，如須彌山，放大光明」 〔X21n0384 0692a18〕 (the base text has 晃耀, the mirror 晃曜); and it cites the Vinaya of Good Views on the four kinds of dream — the dream from disharmony of the four elements, the dream of what was seen before, the dream sent by gods and men, and the dream of thought; the first two being unreal and the latter two real — and judges this passage to be of the latter two kinds.
The bondmaid’s child — 「梵名駄索迦，此云奴」—“the Sanskrit name is Tuo-suo-jia; here it means a bondman.” 〔X21n0384 0692b18〕; it cites the Shuowen: 「男入罪曰奴，女入罪曰婢」—“a male who has fallen into guilt is called a bondman; a female who has fallen into guilt is called a bondmaid.” 〔X21n0384 0692b19〕
The three joints of the bondmaid’s child’s speech — 「先敘福力脫過去罪，後方求救脫將來苦」—“first he sets out how the power of blessings freed him from past guilt; only then does he beg to be saved and freed from suffering to come.” 〔X21n0384 0692c11〕; and it glosses why, having got free of the hells, he yet falls into the evil destinies: 「重業輕報，更落惡道，餘殃未盡也」—“a heavy karma with a light requital, and falling into the evil destinies again: the remaining calamity is not yet spent.” 〔X21n0384 0692c13〕
A person of low station — 「梵名薩拘盧楴，此云賣姓，即下賤人」—“the Sanskrit name is Sa-ju-lu-di; here it means a sold clan, that is, a person of low station.” 〔X21n0384 0692c14〕
Short-lived — the lifespans of the world are of three grades: the lowest sixty, the middle eighty, the highest a hundred and twenty; here the span is thirteen, and so it is called short-lived.
The two deeds of killing and harming, and of abusing and reviling — it cites the words of the woman Sumanā in the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish and Xunzi’s saying that a wounding word cuts deeper than spear and halberd, and judges: 「殺生居眾罪之上，毀罵在萬惡之先」—“the killing of living beings stands at the head of the many guilts; abusing and reviling comes first among the myriad evils.” 〔X21n0384 0693a15〕
The vow that the requital of the present birth be escaped — 「畢此一十三齡之短，銷其一十八獄之長」—“let this short span of thirteen years be finished out, and let it dissolve the long span of the eighteen hells.” 〔X21n0384 0693b04〕
From this day forth — 「自今日後，標始心也」—“from this day forth marks the initial thought.” 〔X21n0384 0693c04〕; it cites the passage of the Old Vibhāṣā on the first thought (see topic III), and brings out a judgment that bears upon the whole sūtra: 「故知此經明地藏發心，前後四番，後却是前。今是最初，故曰自今」—“know then that this sūtra sets out Kṣitigarbha’s arousing of the resolve four times over, and that what stands later is in fact the earlier. This one is the very first, and that is why it says from this day.” 〔X21n0384 0693c06〕 The vow of the woman Bright Eyes in this chapter the mirror judges to be, in time, the first of the four arousings of the resolve in the whole sūtra.
The Buddha praises her vow — 「若但為母發心，何善何能，乃以曠濟之心，求畢母罪」—“had she aroused the resolve for her mother only, what goodness would that be, and what capacity? Rather she takes a mind of deliverance without bound, and with it seeks to have done with her mother’s guilt.” 〔X21n0384 0693c16〕; 「譬如大水而滅小火，豈有不滅者乎」—“it is as when a great water puts out a small fire: how should there be any that is not put out?” 〔X21n0384 0693c17〕
Brahman — 「梵志，正翻淨裔」—“brahman is properly rendered Pure Progeny.” 〔X21n0384 0694a01〕, that is, the pure offspring of Brahmā, who take up and practise the dharma of the Brahmā heaven; the Dīrgha Āgama calls them brahmins.
Three requitals turned at once — 「一子求佛發心，其母三報俱轉」—“one child seeks the Buddha and arouses the resolve, and the mother’s three requitals are all of them turned.” 〔X21n0384 0694a03〕: the first birth in low station turns the requital of the past, the next birth as a brahman turns the requital of the present, the later accomplishing of buddhahood turns the requital of what comes after.
The Land Without Sorrow — 「無憂國土，即指極樂，轉憂為樂也」—“the Land Without Sorrow points to Utmost Bliss: sorrow is turned into bliss.” 〔X21n0384 0694a05〕; and it lists the order of the four sorrows (burning and boiling in the hells · low station in the bondmaid’s house · falling into the evil destinies again at the end of the thirteen years · wrong conduct and self-conceit as a brahman) and says that all the sorrows are stilled together. It judges at the last: 「昔為罪母，乃地獄所度之死囚。將作如來，乃人天能化之大覺」—“formerly the guilty mother, a condemned prisoner ferried across by the hells; hereafter to be a tathāgata, a great awakened one able to transform gods and humans.” 〔X21n0384 0694a10〕
Past and present joined — 「昔成小果，今作大人，迴小向大也」—“formerly he accomplished the lesser fruit, now he is a great person: turning from the lesser toward the great.” 〔X21n0384 0694a19〕 (glossing Inexhaustible Intention); and in glossing Bodhisattva Liberation it counts over her falling of old into the iron city, her next birth in the bondmaid’s house, her later life as a brahman, and her being now a great one of liberation. It fastens a saying besides: 「然光目，由羅漢之指示。女母，因光目而超升」—“yet Bright Eyes had it by the arhat’s pointing out, and the daughter’s mother rose upward by reason of Bright Eyes.” 〔X21n0384 0694a24〕; 「能所畢至，子母俱來，敻隔沙劫，一會儼然」—“the one who acts and the one acted upon have all arrived, mother and child have come together; sundered by kalpas as many as the sands, and in one assembly here, unmistakably.” 〔X21n0384 0694b01〕
The judgment on the needle and thread — the passage 「過去久遠劫中，如是慈愍發恒河沙願」 the word-by-word mirror does not take as the close of what is above but moves to the head of the next heading, stating its own reason, and fastening at the end: 「針線之妙，後賢不可不知」—“the marvel of the needle and thread: those who come after must not fail to know it.” 〔X21n0384 0694b06〕
Not believing in cause and effect — 「不信因果者，即一闡提」—“one who does not believe in cause and effect is precisely an icchantika.” 〔X21n0384 0694c01〕, citing the affair of the brahmin Pāyāsi, who always harbored a divergent view.
The character 「若」 in meeting a good friend — 「若者，不定之辭」—“if is a word of what is not settled.” 〔X21n0384 0695a02〕, whether one meets or not being unfixed in itself; 「惡中儻有毫善，或能遇之」—“if within the evil there yet remains a hair’s breadth of good, one may perhaps meet with him.” 〔X21n0384 0695a02〕, and otherwise the meeting is hard to come by. And as to what a true good friend is, the mirror points directly at the fact: 「今教一彈指頃，歸依地藏菩薩，是真善知識」—“one who now teaches taking refuge in Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva in the space of a snap of the fingers is a true good friend.” 〔X21n0384 0695a04〕
A snap of the fingers — following the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya: 「二十念為一瞬，二十瞬名一彈指」—“twenty thought-moments make one blink, and twenty blinks are called one snap of the fingers.” 〔X21n0384 0695a06〕; and following the New Vibhāṣā, a strong man’s snap of the fingers passes through sixty-four kṣaṇas. And it sighs over the power of it: 「然歸依祗一彈指，而惡道千生解脫，歸依之力，莫可涯量」—“and yet the taking of refuge is but one snap of the fingers, while a thousand births in the evil destinies are undone; the power of taking refuge cannot be measured to its bound.” 〔X21n0384 0695a07〕 Its last four characters stand on a separate line, 「歸依之力，莫可涯量」 〔X21n0384 0695a08〕; and after this judgment the mirror adds four characters only — 「故勸之也」—“and therefore he exhorts them to it.” 〔X21n0384 0695a08〕 What is paid out is one snap of the fingers and what is untied is a thousand births in the evil destinies; the two ends are not in proportion, and so it is said that no bound can be measured for it.
Incense, flowers, clothing, and food and drink — incense is the samādhi that can gladden, flowers the samādhi of jeweled adornment; the Sanskrit zhenyue is rendered clothing; food and drink divide into Banzhe Pushanni (the five foods to be swallowed · proper food) and Banzhe Kedanni (the five foods to be chewed · improper food).
Kings and emperors — 「德象天地稱帝，仁義所生稱王」—“one whose virtue images heaven and earth is called emperor; one born of humaneness and right is called king.” 〔X21n0384 0695b02〕; and for recalling former lives it cites the passage of the Ambaṭṭha Sūtra on recalling and knowing numberless matters of former lives.
Why Jambudvīpa alone is singled out — 「佛法應流沙界，利益不局閻浮。但南洲之人，性識無定，惡業偏多」—“the Buddha’s Dharma should flow through worlds as many as the sands, and its benefit is not confined to Jambudvīpa. Only, the people of the southern continent have a nature-consciousness without fixity, and evil karma among them is more than elsewhere.” 〔X21n0384 0695b24〕
The heavenly kings of the four quarters — 「擁護四洲地面，防邏惡鬼侵凌，故云四方天王」—“they guard the surface of the four continents and patrol against the encroachment of evil ghosts, and so are called the heavenly kings of the four quarters.” 〔X21n0384 0695c07〕; and following the Sūtra of the Record of the World it lists the four kings’ names, their rendered names, and what they command: in the east Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Upholder of the Nation), commanding the gandharvas and pūtanas; in the south Virūḍhaka (Increase and Growth), commanding the kumbhāṇḍas and pretas; in the west Virūpākṣa (Various Speech), commanding the piśācas and the poisonous nāgas; in the north Vaiśravaṇa (Much-Hearing), commanding the yakṣas and rākṣasas. Each of the four kings has ninety-one sons, and Vaiśravaṇa is the honored one among them and commands the other three quarters.
Why the heavenly kings put their question — 「以我等正護四方，而南洲偏多惡業」—“because it is we who properly guard the four quarters, and the southern continent has more evil karma than the rest.” 〔X21n0384 0696a06〕
Upon the road of birth and death — 「以六道皆有生老病死。今以生該老，以死攝病」—“because all six destinies have birth, aging, sickness, and death. Here birth covers aging and death takes in sickness.” 〔X21n0384 0696a15〕
The simile of the long prison — 「一切眾生，常在長獄，十二重城圍之，三重棘籬籬之，六拔刀賊伺之」—“all beings are ever in a long prison, walled about by twelve rings of city wall, hedged about by three rings of thorn hedge, and watched by six robbers with drawn blades.” 〔X21n0384 0696a18〕; and each is matched to its dharma: 「長獄謂三界，十二重城謂十二因緣，三重棘籬謂三毒也」—“the long prison means the three realms; the twelve rings of city wall mean the twelvefold dependent arising; the three rings of thorn hedge mean the three poisons.” 〔X21n0384 0696a20〕
The causes spread like vines and are not cut off — it cites the Sūtra of Ānanda’s Discernment and the sūtra’s words on harming life and cutting off life, and says that 「既由業緣展轉相因」—“since by karmic conditions they are cause to one another turn upon turn.” 〔X21n0384 0696b18〕, it is as kudzu vines clinging upon a crooked tree, entangling and drawing without a break; and it glosses the ring at the end: 「此由惑滋業，由業潤生，生還造業，業復墮苦」—“here delusion nourishes karma, karma moistens birth, birth in turn makes karma, and karma falls again into suffering.” 〔X21n0384 0696b22〕
A hundred thousand myriad koṭis of skillful means — it cites the passage of the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom on the dharma-body bodhisattva’s transforming into measureless bodies: 「如阿修羅琴，常自出聲，隨意而作」—“like the lute of the asuras, which always gives out sound of itself and plays according to the wish.” 〔X21n0384 0696c11〕; and it cites besides the Daśacakra’s praise, 「現作種種身，為眾生說法」, manifesting bodies of every kind and teaching the Dharma for beings, as its witness.
Why the karma of suffering must be spoken of — the general thread of this chapter’s doctrine. The word-by-word mirror first divides the difference between what can be spoken and what is set forth: 「夫能說法者，有輭語、苦語之異；所施教者，有真諦、俗諦之殊」—“one who can teach the Dharma has both the gentle word and the bitter word; the teaching set forth has both the truth of the ultimate and the truth of the conventional.” 〔X21n0384 0696c17〕; next it poses its own difficulty: 「此苦業報，既非善事，寧不直爾說善令習，何須稱情說苦業耶」—“since this requital of suffering karma is no good thing, why not speak straight out of the good and have them practise it? What need is there to speak of the karma of suffering in accord with their feelings?” 〔X21n0384 0696c19〕 The answer divides into three layers —
- Disclosure by contrast: 「善惡因果，法須相對。若不說其貪等是過，何由顯施等是善」—“good and evil, cause and fruit — as dharmas they must stand over against each other. If it is not said that greed and the rest are faults, by what means is it disclosed that giving and the rest are good?” 〔X21n0384 0696c20〕; 「若不宣三塗是苦，無由顯人天等樂」—“if it is not proclaimed that the three evil paths are suffering, there is no means of disclosing that the bliss of gods and humans is bliss.” 〔X21n0384 0696c22〕 Therefore 「須說凡夫罪行，令人識知，厭離歸善」—“the guilty conduct of ordinary folk must be spoken of, so that people may know it and, wearying of it and withdrawing, return to the good.” 〔X21n0384 0696c23〕
- Dividing the capacities: those of dull faculties, when hearing of the karma of suffering they give rise to weariness and withdrawal, seek worldly bliss, and their minds are turned by it and they cultivate deeds of blessing; those of keen faculties, when hearing of the karma of suffering they give rise to weariness and withdrawal, seek liberation, and their minds are turned by it and they can cultivate the contemplation of the Path, so that within delusion itself the cause of going out is raised. And so the sūtra says that all afflictions are the seed of buddhahood.
- Returning to the mind: 「雖稱情說諸過惡，然心外無別業苦」—“though the several faults and evils are spoken of in accord with their feelings, yet outside the mind there is no separate suffering of karma.” 〔X21n0384 0697a05〕
The whole is concluded thus: 「故知苦業，厭離之本，起善之緣，是故須說」—“know then that the karma of suffering is the root of weariness and withdrawal and the condition for the arising of good, and that it must therefore be spoken of.” 〔X21n0384 0697a03〕
The six headings of the twenty-three items (the word-by-word mirror’s grouping · the items answering one for one):
| Group | The mirror’s heading-phrase | Anchor | Items taken in | Items |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 「先舉十惡報。殺、盜、婬，身三惡也」—“first it raises the requitals of the ten evils. Killing, stealing, and lust: the three evils of the body.” | 〔X21n0384 0697a09〕 | killing living beings · stealing and robbing · wrong lust | 3 |
| 2 | 「此示口四報。惡口當一，毀謗攝三」—“this shows the four requitals of speech. Harsh speech makes one, and slander takes in three.” | 〔X21n0384 0697b06〕 | harsh speech · slander | 2 |
| 3 | 「此示意三報分別」—“this shows the three requitals of mind, told apart.” | 〔X21n0384 0697b18〕 | wrath and hatred · miserliness · eating and drinking without measure | 3 |
| 4 | 「次明雜業報」—“next, the requitals of miscellaneous deeds are made clear.” | 〔X21n0384 0697c17〕 | hunting and giving free rein to impulse · defying father and mother · burning the trees of mountain and forest · venom toward the children of a former or later marriage and toward step-parents · netting newly hatched fledglings | 5 |
| 5 | 「此明三寶中報。佛如醫王，法如良藥，僧如瞻病人」—“this makes clear the requitals with regard to the Three Jewels. The Buddha is like a king of physicians, the Dharma like good medicine, the saṃgha like those who tend the sick.” | 〔X21n0384 0698b01〕 | slandering the Three Jewels · making light of the Dharma and slighting the teaching · destroying or privately using what belongs to the permanent abode · defiling those of pure conduct and falsely accusing the saṃgha | 4 |
| 6 | 「此明雜業報。湯火斬斫，殺生法也」—“this makes clear the requitals of miscellaneous deeds. Scalding water, fire, hacking and cutting are ways of killing.” | 〔X21n0384 0698c01〕 | scalding water, fire, hacking and cutting that harm living beings · breaking the precepts and violating the fast · wantonly ruining and squandering what is for use · clinging to self and being haughty · setting others at odds with a double tongue and stirring up strife · wrong views | 6 |
The eight items of the first three groups take in the ten evils entire (the one item of slander takes in false speech and two others, so that two items of speech answer for four); and as for why eating and drinking without measure should fall under the deeds of mind, the word-by-word mirror glosses it in an interlinear note with four characters: 「無度即痴」—“without measure is precisely delusion.” 〔X21n0384 0697c04〕 The judgment upon head and tail: 「然首舉殺生，眾惡之大本，終結邪見，業流之巨壑故耳」—“it raises killing first because that is the great root of the many evils, and it closes with wrong views because that is the vast gully into which the current of karma runs.” 〔X21n0384 0699a15〕
Item-by-item glosses (those this group brings out) — the three birds of wrong lust: 「梵名摩由邏」 〔X21n0384 0697a20〕, which is here the peacock; 「梵名迦逋，唐言鴿」—“the Sanskrit name is Jia-bu; in the Tang tongue, the dove.” 〔X21n0384 0697a22〕; 「梵名斫迦邏婆，此云鴛鴦」—“the Sanskrit name is Zhuo-jia-luo-po; here it means the mandarin duck.” 〔X21n0384 0697a24〕; for slandering the Three Jewels it cites the Daśacakra Sūtra (for the mirror’s divergent wording of that citation see topic III and topic IX); the children of a former or later marriage: 「前後父母，即繼父母也」—“the parents before and after are the step-parents.” 〔X21n0384 0698a12〕; destroying or privately using what belongs to the permanent abode: 「破用常住如前」—“destroying and privately using what belongs to the permanent abode: as above.” 〔X21n0384 0698b16〕; breaking the precepts: 「破戒者，若破律儀，麤罪易見。似持戒相，細惡難知」—“as for breaking the precepts: if one breaks the disciplinary rules, the coarse offense is easily seen; but where one keeps the look of holding the precepts, the fine evil is hard to know.” 〔X21n0384 0698c03〕; wantonly ruining what is for use: 「非理毀用，用者器用」—“wantonly ruining what is for use: the use is the use of implements.” 〔X21n0384 0698c16〕; setting others at odds with a double tongue: 「兩舌鬬亂者，以曲為直，以直為曲」—“one who sets others at odds with a double tongue makes the crooked straight and the straight crooked.” 〔X21n0384 0699a05〕; wrong views: 「一切違理起者，悉是邪見」—“whatever arises contrary to principle is wholly wrong view.” 〔X21n0384 0699a09〕
The three kinds of deed take the mind for their root — 「凡動身口，皆由心使。故三業皆以心為根本也」—“whenever body or speech is moved, it is the mind that sets it going. And so all three kinds of deed take the mind for their root.” 〔X21n0384 0699a23〕; and it cites the three fruits of the Sūtra of Maitreya’s Questions (the fruit that is requital · the fruit of habitual energy · the dominant fruit) and the four requitals of the Sūtra of the Upāsaka Precepts (present requital · requital in the next birth · later requital · no requital) to gloss 「百千報應」.
The verbatim wording of the three fruits and four requitals (the ledger beneath the four characters 「百千報應」, one dividing by fruit and one by time) — of the three fruits: 「準彌勒問經，有三種」—“following the Sūtra of Maitreya’s Questions, there are three kinds.” 〔X21n0384 0699b01〕, 「一、果報果，生地獄等」—“first, the fruit that is requital: birth in the hells and the like.” 〔X21n0384 0699b01〕, which is the place fallen into; 「二、習氣果」—“second, the fruit of habitual energy.” 〔X21n0384 0699b01〕, 「出生人中，依殺生，有短命果」—“born among humans, on account of killing there is the fruit of a short life.” 〔X21n0384 0699b02〕, which is what is carried after the place of falling is left; 「三、增上果，依彼十種不善業道，一切外物，無有氣勢」—“third, the dominant fruit: on account of those ten unwholesome paths of action, all outward things are without vigor.” 〔X21n0384 0699b04〕, which is that outward things grow thin along with it. Of the four requitals: 「準優婆塞戒經：眾生造業，有四種報」—“following the Sūtra of the Upāsaka Precepts: when beings make karma, there are four kinds of requital.” 〔X21n0384 0699b05〕 — 「一、現報〔今身作業，今身即受〕，二、生報〔今身造業，次後身受〕，三、後報〔今生造業，更二三生已去方受〕，四、無報〔猶無記等業〕」—“first, present requital 〔the deed made in this body is undergone in this body〕; second, requital in the next birth 〔the deed made in this body is undergone in the body immediately following〕; third, later requital 〔the deed made in this life is undergone only after two or three lives more have passed〕; fourth, no requital 〔as with karma that is morally indeterminate and the like〕.” 〔X21n0384 0699b06〕 The three fruits go by the kind of what is undergone, the four requitals by the time at which it is undergone; the two sets multiplied together are what the two characters 「百千」 actually amount to.
The heavenly kings withdraw in grief — 「此由聞上業感差別之相，入心冥契，了本空寂，聞即無聞，是名心聞」—“this is because the aspects of the differences that karmic impulsion calls forth, heard above, entered the mind and tallied with it in the dark; the original emptiness and stillness was understood, and hearing was precisely no hearing — this is called hearing with the mind.” 〔X21n0384 0700a09〕 This is a Tiantai gloss by contemplation of mind, recorded without adjudication.
V. Divergent Readings of the Commentators (recorded side by side, without adjudication)
One thing must be made plain first: of commentary on this sūtra there is but one author; the three titles, the Outline and Commentary, the Guiding Thread, and the Outline, come from one hand (compiled by Lingcheng · styled Qinglian · Qing), and the editors of the Extended Canon divided them into three numbers; they do not amount to three divergent commentators.
| Mirror | Recension followed | Standing | Verbatim | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outline and Commentary on the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, 6 fascicles (compiled by Lingcheng · Qing) | This sūtra (quoted phrase by phrase) | the word-by-word mirror | 「初、地藏重述付囑；二、當機王問大願」 | 〔X21n0384 0687a08〕 |
| Guiding Thread to the Sūtra of the Original Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, 1 fascicle (the same author) | This sūtra (explains the title and the profound meaning; not phrase by phrase) | At the head of the same work | 「乃菩薩昔生為婆羅門女及光目女時，所發之大願也」 | 〔X21n0383 0640c24〕 |
| Outline of the Kṣitigarbha Sūtra, 1 fascicle (the same author) | This sūtra (outline headings only; no sūtra text) | At the head of the same work | Nothing in this passage can be cited from it (that fascicle lists outline headings only, and marks the sūtra text by its first characters) | — |
| Rite of Repentance and Vows in Praise and Veneration of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, 1 fascicle (composed by Zhixu · Ming) | Not this sūtra (it takes the Daśacakra as its authority) | Corroboration from a liturgical text | 「一心頂禮無盡意菩薩、解脫菩薩、普賢菩薩摩訶薩」 | 〔X74n1486 0585a24〕 |
How the Guiding Thread bears upon this chapter: in glossing the two characters for “original vow” it fastens the vow to two women — 「乃菩薩昔生為婆羅門女及光目女時，所發之大願也」—“these are the great vows the bodhisattva made when in former births he was the brahmin woman and the woman Bright Eyes.” 〔X21n0383 0640c24〕; and in discussing the particular vows of this sūtra it says again 「若準今經，婆羅門女及光目女，皆為母發心，而救六道」—“if one follows the present sūtra, the brahmin woman and the woman Bright Eyes both aroused the resolve for their mothers’ sake, and thereby saved the six destinies.” 〔X21n0383 0641a17〕, taking filial conduct for the particular vow of the great being in his former times. The two women and the two accounts stand side by side and are not two transmissions of one account — the affair of the brahmin woman is in chapter one (her mother believed in wrong teachings and slighted the Three Jewels · she sold her house and raised an offering · she came in body to the sea of karma · she questioned the ghost king Poisonless), and the affair of the woman Bright Eyes is in this chapter (her mother liked eating fish and turtles · she recollected the Buddha and made an image · the bondmaid’s child declared it himself · she was born into the Land Without Sorrow); the buddha met with, the karma committed, the saving performed, and the fruit obtained differ in all four. This is recorded to prevent confusion.
The standing of the Rite of Repentance and Vows: its author states that the authority he follows puts the Daśacakra first, with the Original Vows as one of three canonical texts; and its real point of contact with this chapter is in the roster of names venerated — King Sovereign in Samādhi, Inexhaustible Intention, and Liberation all appear in the joining of past and present in this chapter — while the wording of its great praise comes from the Daśacakra Sūtra. It may not be taken as a witness to the wording of this sūtra.
Nothing found for divergent readings in this passage: apart from the word-by-word mirror, there is no second commentator’s gloss on this passage to set beside it in a column. This is recorded honestly.
VI. Terms (first occurrences in this passage)
| Term | Ground of the gloss | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Jambu (the tree) | 「閻浮樹乃南洲樹王」—“the jambu tree is the king of trees of the southern continent.” — and it brings out besides the two senses, darkness and defilement, in which it is called the foul tree | 〔X21n0384 0686c03〕 |
| Karmic impulsion | Neither this sūtra nor the word-by-word mirror glosses these two characters separately; their ground in the treatises is the opening verse of the chapter on karma in the Abhidharmakośa, 「世別由業生」 | 〔T29n1558 0067b09〕 |
| Awesome spiritual power | 「威即四無畏，神即六神通，力即十力」—“awe is the four fearlessnesses, spirit is the six spiritual penetrations, power is the ten powers.” | 〔X21n0384 0687a19〕 |
| Ajita | 「阿逸多，此云無能勝，彌勒之姓」—“Ajita: here it means Unconquerable, and it is Maitreya’s clan name.” — the mirror argues that it is a clan name and not a personal name | 〔X21n0384 0687b18〕 |
| The nature-consciousness has no fixity | 「無定者，無堅住之定性」—“having no fixity means that there is no fixed nature that abides firmly.” | 〔X21n0384 0687c08〕 |
| King Sovereign in Samādhi | 「那伽常在定，無有不定時，於定自在，名定自在王」—“the nāga is ever in concentration and has no time out of it; being sovereign in concentration, he is named King Sovereign in Samādhi.” | 〔X21n0384 0689a04〕 |
| Accomplishment of All Wisdom (Tathāgata) | 「梵名薩婆若多，般舟名薩雲，秦言一切智相」—“the Sanskrit name is Sapo-ruo-duo; in the Pratyutpanna the name is Sayun; in the tongue of Qin, the aspect of all wisdom.” | 〔X21n0384 0689b04〕 |
| Pure Lotus Eyes | 「清淨蓮華目，三十二相之一」—“Pure Lotus Eyes is one of the thirty-two marks.” | 〔X21n0384 0690b15〕 |
| Bright Eyes | 「目表定，光表慧。因定發慧，慧光注目」—“the eye signifies concentration and the brightness signifies wisdom; by concentration wisdom is brought forth, and the light of wisdom is poured into the eye.” | 〔X21n0384 0690c20〕 |
| The bondmaid’s child | 「梵名駄索迦，此云奴」—“the Sanskrit name is Tuo-suo-jia; here it means a bondman.” 〔X21n0384 0692b18〕; the Shuowen, 「男入罪曰奴，女入罪曰婢」 | 〔X21n0384 0692b19〕 |
| A person of low station | 「梵名薩拘盧楴，此云賣姓，即下賤人」—“the Sanskrit name is Sa-ju-lu-di; here it means a sold clan, that is, a person of low station.” | 〔X21n0384 0692c14〕 |
| Brahman | 「梵志，正翻淨裔」—“brahman is properly rendered Pure Progeny.” — the Dīrgha Āgama calls them brahmins | 〔X21n0384 0694a01〕 |
| Icchantika | 「不信因果者，即一闡提」—“one who does not believe in cause and effect is precisely an icchantika.” | 〔X21n0384 0694c01〕 |
| Leaving the household life (four kinds) | 「大師明四種出家」 〔X21n0384 0689c09〕; the fourth is 「四、形心俱出，能見佛性」, and 「出二死家，方真出家」 〔X21n0384 0689c11〕 | 〔X21n0384 0689c10〕 |
| A snap of the fingers | 「二十念為一瞬，二十瞬名一彈指」—“twenty thought-moments make one blink, and twenty blinks are called one snap of the fingers.” | 〔X21n0384 0695a06〕 |
| A good friend | The mirror points directly at the fact: 「今教一彈指頃，歸依地藏菩薩，是真善知識」—“one who now teaches taking refuge in Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva in the space of a snap of the fingers is a true good friend.” | 〔X21n0384 0695a04〕 |
| The three kinds of fruit | The fruit that is requital · the fruit of habitual energy · 「三、增上果，依彼十種不善業道，一切外物，無有氣勢」—“third, the dominant fruit: on account of those ten unwholesome paths of action, all outward things are without vigor.” — from the Sūtra of Maitreya’s Questions | 〔X21n0384 0699b04〕 |
| The four kinds of requital | 「一、現報〔今身作業，今身即受〕，二、生報〔今身造業，次後身受〕，三、後報〔今生造業，更二三生已去方受〕，四、無報〔猶無記等業〕」—“first, present requital 〔the deed made in this body is undergone in this body〕; second, requital in the next birth 〔the deed made in this body is undergone in the body immediately following〕; third, later requital 〔the deed made in this life is undergone only after two or three lives more have passed〕; fourth, no requital 〔as with karma that is morally indeterminate and the like〕.” — from the Sūtra of the Upāsaka Precepts | 〔X21n0384 0699b06〕 |
| Peacock · dove · mandarin duck | 「梵名摩由邏」 〔X21n0384 0697a20〕 (here the peacock) · 「梵名迦逋，唐言鴿」 〔X21n0384 0697a22〕 · 「梵名斫迦邏婆，此云鴛鴦」—“the Sanskrit name is Zhuo-jia-luo-po; here it means the mandarin duck.” | 〔X21n0384 0697a24〕 |
| The parents before and after | 「前後父母，即繼父母也」—“the parents before and after are the step-parents.” | 〔X21n0384 0698a12〕 |
| The zhezhajia bird | The name of a bird from the Sūtra of the Mindfulness of the True Dharma, cited in glossing 「破戒犯齋」; the word-by-word mirror says plainly in an interlinear note that it is not ascertained: 「恐是斑鳩之梵語，俟載考」, it may be the Sanskrit for the turtledove, and awaits further inquiry — the ancient worthy says of himself that it is not ascertained; the Chinese sound is preserved and no reconstruction is made (Rule 9a) | 〔X21n0384 0698c14〕 |
The rendering of 「業感」 is a matter still to be settled; this layer records only the ground of its sense in Chinese, and does not set a rendering in the translator’s stead.
The rosters of names in this passage: the ten epithets of the Tathāgata, ten names; the pairings of karma and requital, twenty-three items; the four heavenly kings, four names, and the eight hosts they command. All three sets are names listed verbatim one beside another; they are not merged and not abridged.
VII. Simile and Rhetoric
- The sūtra has but one simile of its own — the fish swimming into the net: like a fish swimming into a net and borne along in that long current, slipping in and getting out for a moment and then meeting the net again. The word-by-word mirror matches four terms to it (the fish, the five destinies · the net, the three realms · the long current, the fruit of karma · slipping in and out, the turning round), and glosses the reason for entering by craving. The point of this simile lies in the two characters 「暫出」: birth among gods and humans is not a resting place but a being a guest.
- The sūtra has a second figure of speech — 「因蔓不斷」 〔T13n0412 0781b28〕, the causes spread like vines and are not cut off. The vine is of the kudzu kind, twining upon a tree as it grows; the word-by-word mirror glosses its ring-shape in four stretches (delusion nourishes karma · karma moistens birth · birth makes karma · karma falls into suffering). These four characters are the Buddha’s own gloss of why the vow is 「猶未畢願」 not yet fulfilled; they belong to the sūtra’s own words and are not added by the mirror.
- Three similes the mirror adds (not set up by the sūtra; their source is recorded) — (1) the simile of being a guest (citing the Sūtra of the Sections on the Five Sufferings); (2) the simile of a great water putting out a small fire, glossing how Bright Eyes with a mind of boundless deliverance sought to have done with her mother’s guilt; (3) the simile of the long prison with twelve rings of city wall, three rings of thorn hedge, and six robbers with drawn blades (citing a sūtra), matched to the three realms, the twelvefold dependent arising, the three poisons, and the six senses.
- Rhetoric 1 · the列 of sentences of one form — the twenty-three items all run 「若遇 X 者，說 Y 報」, the sentence-form unchanging while the requital matched to each differs; the list begins at killing living beings and ends at wrong views, which the word-by-word mirror judges to be the opposition of 「眾惡之大本」 and 「業流之巨壑」. The listing done, the sūtra fastens a word of its own to it: 「今麁略說」 〔T13n0412 0781c21〕 — the twenty-three items call themselves brief.
- Rhetoric 2 · the symmetry of the two former lives — the former life of the king of a small country turns on two kings walking together and dividing in their vows; the former life of the woman Bright Eyes turns on one woman saving her mother and making a great vow. The former discloses an order of before and after, the latter a widening from self to other. Both former lives close with the joining of past and present, and those joined are in the one case a buddha (the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom) and in the other bodhisattvas (Inexhaustible Intention · Liberation).
- Rhetoric 3 · asking and not answering directly — the four heavenly kings ask 「云何至今猶度未絕」, how it is that to this day the delivering is still not ended, and the Buddha does not answer their question directly but replies instead with the list of twenty-three items and the four characters of the causes spreading like vines. What is asked about is time; what is answered is karma. This is of the same type as chapter one’s asking the number and answering with the people transformed.
VIII. Citation and Carrying Forward
- The Rite of Repentance and Vows in Praise and Veneration of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, X74n1486 (composed by Zhixu · Ming) — in its roster of names venerated, King Sovereign in Samādhi, Inexhaustible Intention, and Liberation all come out of the joining of past and present in this chapter; this is the earliest instance seen of the persons of this chapter entering a liturgy. The authority its book follows is the Daśacakra, and so the wording of its great praise does not come from this sūtra.
- The Rite of the Bodhimaṇḍa of Kṣitigarbha’s Compassionate Rescue from Suffering, for Raising Blessings and Benefiting the Living, ZW06n0052 — the liturgical text sets up a separate section for this chapter, chanting the title and reciting the sūtra with a verse fastened to it, telling the two matters of the two kings raising the power of their vows together and Bright Eyes’ practice of filial devotion; and in its roster of holy ones invited, the woman Bright Eyes and the holy brahmin woman are listed side by side as two persons, from which it may be seen that it reads the two former lives as two accounts.
- The Rite of the Bodhimaṇḍa of the Tathāgata’s Broad Filial Piety and Ten Kinds of Requiting Kindness, ZW08n0068 — it takes Bright Eyes’ feeding of the saṃgha and freeing of her mother from suffering as one instance of filial conduct, listed beside the affairs of Maudgalyāyana, Sujāti, and the rest.
- The Six Tablets of the Śākya Clan, B13n0079 (Yichu · Five Dynasties) — under the entry for the brahmin woman it cites the affair of the brahmin woman in this sūtra, and fastens to it a saying that she and the woman Bright Eyes are alike original causes of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva; so an encyclopedia too records the two women and the two accounts side by side.
- The Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Du of Meixi on Dongshan, J39nB447 — ascending the hall, he raises the affair of Bright Eyes acting for her mother and poses a question upon it. The details of his telling differ here and there from this chapter’s; it belongs to the manner of raising a case in recorded sayings, and is recorded without adjudication.
- The Gazetteer of Mount Jiuhua, GA072n0077 — it excerpts in full the two former lives of this chapter (the king of a small country and the woman Bright Eyes), and follows them with chapter one’s simile of the motes and the kalpas.
- Of citation of this passage by the remaining volumes of this axis, nothing is found.
IX. Text-critical Placement
One collation note falls within this passage (a correction by CBETA of a character in the Taishō’s own printing, not a variant reading among witnesses):
| Anchor | Present text | Original printing | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0780c06 | the 士 of 「無上士」 | 土 | the seventh of the ten epithets of the Tathāgata Accomplishment of All Wisdom |
Gaiji: none in this unit (there is one in the whole base text, in the chapter on the names of the hells: 「或有地獄，純飛𨪏鏫」 〔T13n0412 0782b11〕).
Inline gloss: none in this unit (within the <body> of the base text the <note> elements are zero throughout the volume, so there is no inline gloss to record; the 124 instances of cb:place="inline" all attach to paragraphs rather than to notes, and are not inline glosses).
Measurements of the word-by-word mirror on this chapter — the mirror’s text runs from 〔X21n0384 0686b24〕 to 〔X21n0384 0700a14〕, 975 lines and 21,990 characters; it carries 59 interlinear notes of its own, and 6 gaiji (in 4 forms). Where the four forms stand and what they stand for:
| Anchor | Text in which it stands | What it stands for |
|---|---|---|
| 0695a19 | 「謂飯餅□等，此名正食」 | the name of one of the five foods to be swallowed |
| 0695b04 | 「如阿摩□經」 | the 晝 of the Ambaṭṭha Sūtra |
| 0697a08·0697a21·0697a23 | 「說□鴿鴛鴦報」·「此云孔□」 (two occurrences) | the character 「雀」 — the mirror writes this character as a gaiji in all three places, while the base text writes 雀; the mirror’s own gloss 「梵名摩由邏，此云孔□」 leaves no doubt that it is the peacock |
| 0697c23 | 「□〔古悖字〕，子逆也」 | the archaic form of 悖 |
Divergences of character between the mirror and the base text (when the mirror’s wording is quoted, its own characters are followed and not restored):
| Base text | Mirror | Anchor (mirror) |
|---|---|---|
| 遍百千萬億世界 | 徧百千萬億世界 | 〔X21n0384 0687a12〕 |
| 或炒或煮 | 或炒或煑 | 〔X21n0384 0691b17〕 |
| 塑畫形像 | 塑畵形像 | 〔X21n0384 0690c03〕 |
| 金色晃耀 | 金色晃曜 | 〔X21n0384 0692a18〕 |
| 飢渴咽病報 | 饑渴咽病報 | 〔X21n0384 0697b17〕 |
| 天地災殺報 | 天地灾殺報 | 〔X21n0384 0697c14〕 |
| 雀鴿鴛鴦報 | (雀 written as a gaiji) 鴿鴛鴦報 | 〔X21n0384 0697a08〕 |
One substantive variant in the mirror’s quotation of the sūtra — the base text has 「我母所習，唯好食噉魚鼈之屬」 〔T13n0412 0780c23〕, while the mirror quotes 「惟好食噉魚鼈之肉」 〔X21n0384 0691b16〕. 「屬」 and 「肉」 are not a difference of graphic form; and the mirror’s own gloss below twice uses 「魚鼈之子」 and not 「肉」, so that what its quotation rests upon awaits inquiry. Recorded without adjudication; not one character of the base text is altered on that account.
One instance in which the mirror’s citation of another sūtra diverges in its characters — in glossing 「毀謗三寶」 the mirror cites the Daśacakra Sūtra as 「若有剎利旃陀羅於三寶所起於惡心，一切諸佛所不能救，常墮地獄餓鬼畜生，若得為人，盲聾瘖瘂」 〔X21n0384 0698b02〕; but on checking that sūtra, 「剎帝利旃荼羅」 occurs sixty-one times and 「剎利旃陀羅」 not at all, and 「瘖啞」 occurs six times and 「瘖瘂」 not at all. The mirror’s citation is a citation of the sense, and its characters lean toward the base text’s (the base text of this chapter indeed reads 「盲聾瘖瘂」). Recorded without adjudication.
The mirror’s title stands in three forms — the teiHeader gives 「地藏本願經科註」; the head of the fascicle gives 「地藏菩薩本願經卷上科注卷之一」; the table of contents gives 「地藏菩薩本願經科註目次」. Which form the reader-facing layers use is a matter still to be settled; this layer records all three.
The mirror’s fascicle-division differs from the base text’s — the base text has two fascicles (Fascicle One runs to the chapter on the Tathāgata’s praise); the recension the mirror follows has three, and its Fascicle One runs to this chapter, so that this chapter is the last of the mirror’s Fascicle One, followed at once by 「地藏菩薩本願經卷上科注卷之二」 and then by the Middle Fascicle. The correspondence between the mirror and the base text goes by chapter and not by fascicle. Recorded without adjudication.