華嚴經 品三十七 如來出現品 · 見聞親近所種善根Avataṃsaka Sūtra · The Appearance of the Tathāgata · The Roots of Goodness Planted by Seeing, Hearing, and Drawing Near
吞下去的那一點金剛，身體留不住它。
十義說到最後，普賢終於轉過頭來問你：你在佛那裡見過一眼、聽過一聲、拜過一次，那一點善根算不算數。他答得斬釘截鐵——「皆悉不虛」，然後連下三個譬喻替這三個字擔保。
金剛喻說：質地不同，所以煩惱消化不了它。火喻說：能燒的那一邊再少也是能燒的，可燒的那一邊再多也只是可燒之物。藥王樹喻說：見它、聞它、嗅它、觸它，連取它樹下的土，都得利益。
然後是全段最讓人怔住的一句——「設有眾生見聞於佛，業障纏覆不生信樂，亦種善根無空過者。」連信都還沒生起的人，也已經種下了。澄觀順著逼上來：『謗尚遠益，況深信耶。』
三喻說完，經文自己把喻推倒：「無有譬諭能說此法。」先給你一個量，再告訴你這個量不夠——這是本品一貫的手法。
末後給了十個名字，說這法門不入餘眾生手，如輪王之寶唯太子承得住。承得住的條件只有一樣：生如來家。而澄觀說，凡夫的一念解心，也叫生家。
所以最後一偈才敢那樣說話——「此為超世第一財……汝等當持莫放逸。」
The little diamond that has been swallowed — the body cannot keep it.
At the last of the ten senses Samantabhadra turns round at length and asks you: the once you saw the Buddha, the once you heard him, the once you made your bow — does that little root of goodness count for anything? He answers without hesitation — “all of them not in vain” — and then sets down three similes one after another to stand surety for those words.
The simile of the diamond says: the substance is of a different kind, and so the afflictions cannot digest it away. The simile of the fire says: the side that is able to burn is able to burn however little of it there is, and the side that can be burned is only so much combustible stuff however much of it there is. The simile of the king of medicine trees says: seeing it, hearing it, smelling it, touching it — and even taking the earth from beneath it — all bring benefit.
And then the sentence in the whole passage that stops one short — “suppose there were sentient beings who saw the Buddha and heard the Buddha, and yet, bound and covered over by karmic obstruction, could not bring forth a mind of faith and delight — they too have planted roots of goodness, with nothing passing away in vain.” Even one in whom faith has not yet arisen has planted it already. Chengguan presses on from there: ‘if even slander brings benefit far off, how much more deep faith.’
The three similes done, the scripture topples the similes itself: “there is no simile that can speak this Dharma.” First it gives you a measure, and then it tells you the measure will not do — this is the manner of the whole chapter.
At the end it gives ten names, and says that this gate of Dharma does not fall into the hands of the remaining beings, as the wheel-turning king’s treasures can be borne only by the crown prince. And there is only one condition for being able to bear them: to be born into the family of the Tathāgata. And Chengguan says that a single thought of understanding in an ordinary person is also called being born into the family.
That is why the last verse dares to speak as it does — “this is the first wealth that surpasses the world … you should hold to it and not be heedless.”
〔T10 0277〕
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應云何知於如來、應、正等覺見聞親近所種善根？佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應知於如來所見聞親近所種善根皆悉不虛，出生無盡覺慧故，離於一切障難故，決定至於究竟故，無有虛誑故，一切願滿故，不盡有為行故，隨順無為智故，生諸佛智故，盡未來際故，成一切種勝行故，到無功用智地故。佛子！譬如丈夫，食少金剛，終竟不消，要穿其身，出在於外。何以故？金剛不與肉身雜穢而同止故。於如來所種少善根亦復如是，要穿一切有為諸行煩惱身過，到於無為究竟智處。何以故？此少善根不與有為諸行煩惱而共住故。佛子！假使乾草積同須彌，投火於中如芥子許，必皆燒盡。何以故？火能燒故。於如來所種少善根亦復如是，必能燒盡一切煩惱，究竟得於無餘涅槃。何以故？此少善根性究竟故。佛子！譬如雪山有藥王樹，名曰：善見。若有見者，眼得清淨；若有聞者，耳得清淨；若有嗅者，鼻得清淨；若有嘗者，舌得清淨；若有觸者，身得清淨；若有眾生取彼地土，亦能為作除病利益。佛子！如來、應、正等覺無上藥王亦復如是，能作一切饒益眾生。若有得見如來色身，眼得清淨；若有得聞如來名號，耳得清淨；若有得嗅如來戒香，鼻得清淨；若有得嘗如來法味，舌得清淨，具廣長舌，解語言法；若有得觸如來光者，身得清淨，究竟獲得無上法身；若於如來生憶念者，則得念佛三昧清淨；若有眾生供養如來所經土地及塔廟者，亦具善根，滅除一切諸煩惱患，得賢聖樂。佛子！我今告汝，設有眾生見聞於佛，業障纏覆不生信樂，亦種善根無空過者，乃至究竟入於涅槃。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應如是知於如來所見聞親近所種善根，悉離一切諸不善法，具足善法。
「佛子！如來以一切譬諭說種種事，無有譬諭能說此法。何以故？心智路絕，不思議故。諸佛菩薩但隨眾生心，令其歡喜，為說譬諭，非是究竟。佛子！此法門名為：如來祕密之處，名：一切世間所不能知，名：入如來印，名：開大智門，名：示現如來種性，名：成就一切菩薩，名：一切世間所不能壞，名：一向隨順如來境界，名：能淨一切諸眾生界，名：演說如來根本實性不思議究竟法。佛子！此法門，如來不為餘眾生說，唯為趣向大乘菩薩說，唯為乘不思議乘菩薩說；此法門不入一切餘眾生手，唯除諸菩薩摩訶薩。佛子！譬如轉輪聖王所有七寶，因此寶故顯示輪王，此寶不入餘眾生手，唯除第一夫人所生太子，具足成就聖王相者。若轉輪王無此太子具眾德者，王命終後，此諸寶等於七日中悉皆散滅。佛子！此經珍寶亦復如是，不入一切餘眾生手，唯除如來法王真子，生如來家，種如來相諸善根者。佛子！若無此等佛之真子，如是法門不久散滅。何以故？一切二乘不聞此經，何況受持、讀誦、書寫、分別解說！唯諸菩薩乃能如是。是故，菩薩摩訶薩聞此法門應大歡喜，以尊重心恭敬頂受。何以故？菩薩摩訶薩信樂此經，疾得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提故。佛子！設有菩薩於無量百千億那由他劫行六波羅蜜，修習種種菩提分法。若未聞此如來不思議大威德法門，或時聞已不信、不解、不順、不入，不得名為真實菩薩，以不能生如來家故。若得聞此如來無量不可思議無障無礙智慧法門，聞已信解，隨順悟入，當知此人生如來家，隨順一切如來境界，具足一切諸菩薩法，安住一切種智境界，遠離一切諸世間法，出生一切如來所行，通達一切菩薩法性，於佛自在心無疑惑，住無師法，深入如來無礙境界。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩聞此法已，則能以平等智知無量法，則能以正直心離諸分別，則能以勝欲樂現見諸佛，則能以作意力入平等虛空界，則能以自在念行無邊法界，則能以智慧力具一切功
〔T10 0278〕
德，則能以自然智離一切世間垢，則能以菩提心入一切十方網，則能以大觀察知三世諸佛同一體性，則能以善根迴向智普入如是法，不入而入；不於一法而有攀緣，恒以一法觀一切法。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩成就如是功德，少作功力，得無師自然智。」
爾時，普賢菩薩欲重明此義而說頌言：
「見聞供養諸如來，所得功德不可量，
於有為中終不盡，要滅煩惱離眾苦。
譬人吞服少金剛，終竟不消要當出；
供養十力諸功德，滅惑必至金剛智。
如乾草積等須彌，投芥子火悉燒盡；
供養諸佛少功德，必斷煩惱至涅槃。
雪山有藥名善見，見聞嗅觸消眾疾；
若有見聞於十力，得勝功德到佛智。」
爾時，佛神力故，法如是故，十方各有十不可說百千億那由他世界六種震動，所謂：東涌西沒，西涌東沒，南涌北沒，北涌南沒，邊涌中沒，中涌邊沒。十八相動，所謂：動、遍動、等遍動，起、遍起、等遍起，涌、遍涌、等遍涌，震、遍震、等遍震，吼、遍吼、等遍吼，擊、遍擊、等遍擊。雨出過諸天一切華雲、一切蓋雲、幢雲、幡雲、香雲、鬘雲、塗香雲、莊嚴具雲、大光明摩尼寶雲、諸菩薩讚歎雲、不可說菩薩各差別身雲，雨成正覺雲、嚴淨不思議世界雲，雨如來言語音聲雲，充滿無邊法界。如此四天下，如來神力如是示現，令諸菩薩皆大歡喜；周遍十方一切世界，悉亦如是。
是時，十方各過八十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數世界外，各有八十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數如來，同名：普賢，皆現其前而作是言：
「善哉！佛子！乃能承佛威力，隨順法性，演說如來出現不思議法。佛子！我等十方八十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數同名諸佛皆說此法；如我所說，十方世界一切諸佛亦如是說。佛子！今此會中，十萬佛剎微塵數菩薩摩訶薩，得一切菩薩神通三昧；我等皆與授記，一生當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。佛剎微塵數眾生，發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心；我等亦與授記，於當來世經不可說佛剎微塵數劫，皆得成佛，同號：佛殊勝境界。我等為令未來諸菩薩聞此法故，皆共護持。如此四天下所度眾生，十方百千億那由他無數無量，乃至不可說不可說法界虛空等一切世界中所度眾生，皆亦如是。」
爾時，十方諸佛威神力故，毘盧遮那本願力故，法如是故，善根力故，如來起智不越念故，如來應緣不失時故，隨時覺悟諸菩薩故，往昔所作無失壞故，令得普賢廣大行故，顯現一切智自在故，十方各過十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數世界外，各有十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數菩薩來詣於此，充滿十方一切法界，示現菩薩廣大莊嚴，放大光明網，震動一切十方世界，壞散一切諸魔宮殿，消滅一切諸惡道苦，顯現一切如來威德，歌詠讚歎如來無量差別功德法，普雨一切種種雨，示現無量差別身，領受無量諸佛法，以佛神力各作是言：
「善哉！佛子！乃能說此如來不可壞法。佛子！我等一切皆名：普賢，各從普光明世界普幢自在如來所而來於此，彼一切處亦說是法，如是文句，如是義理，如是宣說，如是決定，皆同於此，不增不減。我等皆以佛神力故，得如來法故，來詣此處為汝作證。如我來此，十方等虛空遍法界一切世界諸四天下亦復如是。」
爾時，普賢菩薩承佛神力，觀察一切菩薩大眾，欲重明如來出現廣大威德，如來正法不可沮壞，無量善根皆悉不空，諸佛出世必具一切最勝之法，善能觀察諸眾生心，隨應說法未曾失時，生諸菩薩無量法光，一切諸佛自在莊嚴，一切如來一身無異，從本大行之所生起，而說頌言：
「一切如來諸所作，世間譬諭無能及，
為令眾生得悟解，非諭為諭而顯示。
如是微密甚深法，百千萬劫難可聞；
精進智慧調伏者，乃得聞此祕奧義。
若聞此法生欣慶，彼曾供養無量佛，
為佛加持所攝受，人天讚歎常供養。
此為超世第一財，此能救度諸群品，
此能出生清淨道，汝等當持莫放逸。」
〔卷53〕
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.
徵起：見過佛、聽過佛、親近過佛所種下的善根，該怎麼知道
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應該怎樣知道：在如來、應、正等覺那裡，因見、因聞、因親近而種下的善根呢？
十一句不虛：所種的善根沒有一分是落空的
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應該知道：在如來那裡因見、因聞、因親近所種下的善根，全都不是虛的——因為它能出生沒有窮盡的覺悟智慧的緣故，因為它能遠離一切障礙與艱難的緣故，因為它決定能到達究竟的緣故，因為它沒有虛假欺誑的緣故，因為它能滿足一切的願的緣故，因為它不會把有為的行用盡的緣故，因為它能隨順無為的智的緣故，因為它能生出諸佛的智的緣故，因為它盡未來際不斷的緣故，因為它能成就一切種類的殊勝之行的緣故，因為它能到達不必用力的智地〔無功用智地·任運而行不假造作的地位〕的緣故。
金剛喻：吞下一點金剛，終究要穿身而出
「佛子！譬如一個人，吃下一點點金剛，那金剛終究不會被消化掉，一定要穿透他的身體，出到身外。為什麼呢？因為金剛不會跟血肉之身的雜穢一同安住的緣故。
「在如來那裡種下的一點點善根也是這樣：一定要穿透一切有為諸行的煩惱之身而過去，到達無為的、究竟的智慧之處。為什麼呢？因為這一點點善根不會跟有為諸行的煩惱共同安住的緣故。
火喻：一粒芥子大的火，能燒盡須彌那麼大的乾草
「佛子！假使有一堆乾草，堆得和須彌山一樣大，把芥子那麼一點點的火投進去，這堆草必定全部燒盡。為什麼呢？因為火能燒的緣故。
「在如來那裡種下的一點點善根也是這樣：必定能燒盡一切煩惱，究竟得到沒有剩餘的涅槃。為什麼呢？因為這一點點善根的體性是究竟的緣故。
藥王樹喻：雪山有一棵樹，名叫善見
「佛子！譬如雪山有一棵藥王樹，名字叫做善見。如果有人看見它，眼就得到清淨；如果有人聽見它，耳就得到清淨；如果有人嗅到它，鼻就得到清淨；如果有人嘗到它，舌就得到清淨；如果有人觸到它，身就得到清淨；如果有眾生取那棵樹底下的地土，也能為人作除病的利益。
合藥王喻：如來就是那無上的藥王
「佛子！如來、應、正等覺這位無上的藥王也是這樣，能夠作一切饒益眾生的事。
「如果有人得以見到如來的色身，眼就得到清淨；如果有人得以聽聞如來的名號，耳就得到清淨；如果有人得以嗅到如來的戒香〔持戒之德如香氣可聞〕，鼻就得到清淨；如果有人得以嘗到如來的法味，舌就得到清淨，具足廣長之舌，通解一切語言之法；如果有人得以觸到如來的光明，身就得到清淨，究竟獲得無上的法身；如果有人對如來生起憶念，就得到念佛三昧的清淨。
遺迹之益：佛所經行的土地與塔廟
「如果有眾生供養如來所經行過的土地以及塔廟，也具足善根，滅除一切煩惱的患難，得到賢聖之樂。
不信亦種：業障纏身而生不起信樂的人，善根也沒有落空
「佛子！我現在告訴你：假設有眾生見到佛、聽到佛，卻被業障纏縛覆蓋，生不起信樂之心，他也一樣種下了善根，沒有空過的，乃至於究竟能入於涅槃。
結示：這就是應該知道的
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應該像這樣知道：在如來那裡因見、因聞、因親近所種下的善根，都遠離了一切不善之法，具足了善法。
揀喻異法：說了這麼多譬喻，沒有一個譬喻說得到這個法
「佛子！如來用一切譬喻來說種種事，卻沒有哪一個譬喻能說得到這個法。為什麼呢？因為心與智的路都斷絕了，不可思議的緣故。諸佛菩薩只是隨順眾生的心，讓他們歡喜，才為他們說譬喻；譬喻並不是究竟。
顯名：這個法門有十個名字
「佛子！這個法門名叫『如來祕密之處』，名叫『一切世間所不能知』，名叫『入如來印』，名叫『開大智門』，名叫『示現如來種性』，名叫『成就一切菩薩』，名叫『一切世間所不能壞』，名叫『一向隨順如來境界』，名叫『能淨一切諸眾生界』，名叫『演說如來根本實性不思議究竟法』。
辨定法器：這個法門不為其餘的眾生說
「佛子！這個法門，如來不為其餘的眾生說，只為趣向大乘的菩薩說，只為乘著不可思議之乘的菩薩說；這個法門不會落入其餘一切眾生的手中，唯獨除了諸位菩薩摩訶薩。
七寶喻：輪王的七寶，只有太子拿得住
「佛子！譬如轉輪聖王所擁有的七寶，因為有這些寶的緣故，才顯示出他是輪王；這些寶不會落入其餘眾生的手中，唯獨除了第一夫人所生的太子，而且是具足成就了聖王之相的那一位。如果轉輪王沒有這樣一位具足眾德的太子，那麼王壽終之後，這些寶物在七天之中就全部散失壞滅了。
合七寶喻：這部經的珍寶，只有法王真子承得住
「佛子！這部經的珍寶也是這樣，不會落入其餘一切眾生的手中，唯獨除了如來法王的真子——生在如來之家、種下如來之相的種種善根的那些人。
「佛子！如果沒有這樣一些佛的真子，這樣的法門不久就散失壞滅了。為什麼呢？因為一切二乘〔聲聞、緣覺〕連聽都聽不到這部經，何況受持、讀誦、書寫、分別解說！只有諸位菩薩才能夠這樣做。
勸修：聽到這個法門應當大歡喜
「所以，菩薩摩訶薩聽聞這個法門，應該生大歡喜，以尊重之心恭敬地頂戴領受。為什麼呢？因為菩薩摩訶薩信樂這部經，能很快得到阿耨多羅三藐三菩提〔無上正等正覺〕的緣故。
反顯：多劫修六度而不聞此法，還不算真實菩薩
「佛子！假設有菩薩在無量百千億那由他劫之中修行六波羅蜜〔布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、智慧六種到彼岸之行〕，修習種種菩提分法；如果他還沒有聽聞這個如來不可思議大威德的法門，或者聽了之後不信、不解、不隨順、不悟入，那就不能稱為真實的菩薩，因為他不能生在如來之家的緣故。
順釋：聞已信解，這個人就生在如來之家
「如果有人得以聽聞這個如來無量不可思議、沒有障礙的智慧法門，聽了之後信受理解，隨順悟入，應當知道這個人生在如來之家，隨順一切如來的境界，具足一切菩薩之法，安住在一切種智的境界，遠離一切世間之法，出生一切如來的所行，通達一切菩薩的法性，對於佛的自在心中沒有疑惑，安住在不必從師而得的法上，深入如來沒有障礙的境界。
十句無礙：聽了這個法之後所成就的行
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩聽聞這個法之後，就能夠以平等之智知道無量的法，就能夠以正直之心離開種種分別，就能夠以殊勝的欲樂現前見到諸佛，就能夠以作意之力進入平等的虛空界，就能夠以自在之念行於無邊的法界，就能夠以智慧之力具足一切功德，就能夠以自然之智離開一切世間的垢染，就能夠以菩提心進入一切十方之網，就能夠以廣大的觀察知道三世諸佛同是一個體性，就能夠以善根迴向之智普遍進入這樣的法——不入而入；不對任何一法有所攀緣，恆常以一法觀照一切法。
總結：少作功力，得無師自然智
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩成就這樣的功德，只要少少地用一點功力，就能得到不必從師而有的自然之智。」
重頌四偈：普賢重新闡明這個義理
那時，普賢菩薩想要重新闡明這個義理，而說偈頌道：
「見到、聽到、供養諸位如來，所得到的功德不可稱量；在有為之中終究不會用盡，一定要滅盡煩惱、離開眾苦。
「譬如有人吞服了一點金剛，終究不消化，一定要出來；供養具十力者的種種功德，滅除迷惑必定到達金剛之智。
「就像乾草堆積得和須彌一樣，投入芥子那麼點的火就全燒盡了；供養諸佛的少許功德，也必定斷除煩惱而到達涅槃。
「雪山有一種藥名叫善見，見它、聞它、嗅它、觸它就消除眾病；如果有人見聞具十力的佛，就得到殊勝的功德而到達佛的智慧。」
現瑞：大地六種震動，天上雨下種種雲
那時，因為佛的神力的緣故，因為法本來如此的緣故，十方各有十不可說百千億那由他世界起六種震動，就是：東邊涌起西邊沉沒，西邊涌起東邊沉沒，南邊涌起北邊沉沒，北邊涌起南邊沉沒，邊上涌起中間沉沒，中間涌起邊上沉沒。
還有十八種相的動，就是：動、遍動、等遍動，起、遍起、等遍起，涌、遍涌、等遍涌，震、遍震、等遍震，吼、遍吼、等遍吼，擊、遍擊、等遍擊。
又雨下超過諸天所有的一切華雲、一切蓋雲、幢雲、幡雲、香雲、鬘雲、塗香雲、莊嚴具雲、大光明摩尼寶雲、諸菩薩讚歎雲、不可說菩薩各各差別身雲，雨下成正覺雲、嚴淨不思議世界雲，雨下如來言語音聲雲，充滿無邊的法界。
就像這個四天下，如來的神力這樣示現，讓諸菩薩都大歡喜；周遍十方一切世界，也全都是這樣。
果人證：十方同名普賢的諸佛現前作證
這時候，十方各各超過八十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數的世界之外，各有八十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數的如來，同樣名叫普賢，都現身在普賢菩薩面前而這樣說：
〔十方同名普賢的諸佛說〕
「善哉！佛子！你竟能承著佛的威力，隨順法性，演說如來出現的不可思議之法。
「佛子！我們十方八十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數同一名號的諸佛，都說這個法；像我所說的一樣，十方世界一切諸佛也都這樣說。
「佛子！如今這個法會之中，有十萬佛剎微塵數的菩薩摩訶薩，得到了一切菩薩的神通三昧；我們都為他們授記，一生之後就當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。又有佛剎微塵數的眾生，發起了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心；我們也為他們授記，在將來之世經過不可說佛剎微塵數劫，都能成佛，同一名號叫做『佛殊勝境界』。
「我們為了讓未來的諸菩薩能聽到這個法的緣故，都共同護持它。像這個四天下所度的眾生一樣，十方百千億那由他無數無量、乃至不可說不可說如法界虛空一般的一切世界中所度的眾生，也全都是這樣。」
因人證：十方同名普賢的諸菩薩來集作證
那時，因為十方諸佛威神力的緣故，因為毘盧遮那本願力的緣故，因為法本來如此的緣故，因為善根力的緣故，因為如來生起智慧不越過一念的緣故，因為如來應眾生之緣不失時節的緣故，因為隨時覺悟諸菩薩的緣故，因為往昔所作沒有失壞的緣故，因為要令眾生得普賢廣大之行的緣故，因為要顯現一切智自在的緣故——十方各各超過十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數世界之外，各有十不可說百千億那由他佛剎微塵數的菩薩來到這裡，充滿十方一切法界，示現菩薩廣大的莊嚴，放出大光明之網，震動一切十方世界，壞散一切諸魔的宮殿，消滅一切諸惡道之苦，顯現一切如來的威德，歌詠讚歎如來無量差別的功德之法，普遍雨下一切種種的雨，示現無量差別之身，領受無量諸佛之法，以佛的神力各各這樣說：
〔十方來集的諸菩薩說〕
「善哉！佛子！你竟能宣說這個如來不可壞的法。
「佛子！我們一切人都名叫普賢，各各從普光明世界普幢自在如來那裡來到這裡；那一切地方也都說這個法——像這樣的文句，像這樣的義理，像這樣的宣說，像這樣的決定，全都和這裡相同，不增也不減。
「我們都因為佛神力的緣故，因為得到如來之法的緣故，來到此處為你作證。像我來到這裡一樣，十方等同虛空、遍滿法界的一切世界、諸四天下，也都是這樣。」
品末流通：普賢以四偈總攝全品
那時，普賢菩薩承著佛的神力，觀察一切菩薩大眾，想要重新闡明如來出現的廣大威德、如來正法不可沮壞、無量善根都不落空、諸佛出世必定具足一切最殊勝之法、善能觀察諸眾生之心、隨應說法不曾失時、能生諸菩薩無量的法光、一切諸佛自在的莊嚴、一切如來同一身而無有差異、從根本大行之所生起——而說偈頌道：
「一切如來的種種所作，世間的譬喻沒有能及得上的；為了讓眾生得以領悟理解，才用不是譬喻的東西當作譬喻來顯示。
「像這樣微密甚深之法，百千萬劫也難以聽聞；精進而有智慧、能調伏自己的人，才得以聽聞這祕奧的義理。
「如果聽聞這個法而生起欣喜慶幸，那人曾經供養過無量的佛，是被佛的加持所攝受的，人天都讚歎他、常常供養他。
「這是超越世間的第一等財富，這能救度種種群品，這能出生清淨之道；你們應當受持，不要放逸。」
The Question Raised: How One Is to Know the Roots of Goodness Planted by Having Seen the Buddha, Heard the Buddha, and Drawn Near to the Buddha
“Sons of the Buddha! How should a bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the roots of goodness that are planted, at the place of the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, through seeing, through hearing, and through drawing near?
The Eleven Clauses on Nothing Being in Vain: Of the Roots of Goodness Planted Not One Part Falls Empty
“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva should know that the roots of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata through seeing, through hearing, and through drawing near are, all of them, not in vain — because they give birth to unending wisdom of awakening; because they leave behind every obstruction and hardship; because they are certain to arrive at the ultimate; because there is in them no falsity and no deceit; because they fulfill all vows; because they do not use up the conditioned practices; because they accord with unconditioned wisdom; because they give birth to the wisdom of the buddhas; because they run on unbroken to the end of all future time; because they bring to accomplishment every kind of surpassing practice; and because they reach the ground of the wisdom that needs no effort to be applied 〔the ground of effortless wisdom · the station in which one moves along spontaneously, contriving nothing〕.
The Simile of the Diamond: Swallow a Little Diamond, and in the End It Must Pass Out Through the Body
“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when a man swallows a little diamond: that diamond will in the end not be digested away, but must pass through his body and come out beyond it. Why is this? Because the diamond will not abide together with the filth of a body of flesh and blood.
“So it is too with the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata: it must pass through the body of the afflictions, which is all the conditioned practices, and reach the unconditioned, ultimate place of wisdom. Why is this? Because that little root of goodness will not abide together with the afflictions that are the conditioned practices.
The Simile of the Fire: A Fire the Size of a Mustard Seed Can Burn Up Dry Grass as Great as Mount Sumeru
“Sons of the Buddha! Suppose there were a heap of dry grass piled up as great as Mount Sumeru, and one were to throw into it a fire no bigger than a mustard seed: that heap of grass would certainly be burned up entire. Why is this? Because fire is able to burn.
“So it is too with the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata: it is certainly able to burn up all the afflictions, and ultimately to attain the nirvāṇa in which nothing is left over. Why is this? Because the very nature of that little root of goodness is ultimate.
The Simile of the King of Medicine Trees: In the Snow Mountains There Is a Tree Named Well-Seen
“Sons of the Buddha! It is as though in the Snow Mountains there were a king of medicine trees, named Well-Seen. If someone sees it, his eye attains purity; if someone hears it, his ear attains purity; if someone smells it, his nose attains purity; if someone tastes it, his tongue attains purity; if someone touches it, his body attains purity; and if any sentient being takes the earth from beneath that tree, that too can work for people the benefit of removing sickness.
The Joining of the Simile of the King of Medicines: The Tathāgata Is That Unsurpassed King of Medicines
“Sons of the Buddha! So it is too with the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, that unsurpassed king of medicines: he is able to do everything that benefits sentient beings.
“If someone gets to see the form-body of the Tathāgata, his eye attains purity; if someone gets to hear the name of the Tathāgata, his ear attains purity; if someone gets to smell the fragrance of the Tathāgata’s discipline 〔the virtue of keeping the precepts is like a fragrance that can be smelled〕, his nose attains purity; if someone gets to taste the Dharma-flavor of the Tathāgata, his tongue attains purity, and he comes to possess the broad and long tongue and to understand the ways of all speech; if someone gets to touch the light of the Tathāgata, his body attains purity, and he ultimately obtains the unsurpassed dharma-body; and if someone gives rise to mindful recollection of the Tathāgata, he attains the purity of the samādhi of the recollection of the Buddha.
The Benefit of What Remains Behind: The Ground the Buddha Walked Upon, and the Stūpas and Shrines
“And if there are sentient beings who make offerings to the ground the Tathāgata walked upon, and to his stūpas and shrines, they too come to possess roots of goodness, extinguish all the troubles of the afflictions, and attain the joy of the noble ones.
Even Without Faith the Root Is Planted: For One Bound by Karmic Obstruction Who Cannot Bring Forth Faith and Delight, the Root of Goodness Still Does Not Fall Empty
“Sons of the Buddha! I tell you now: suppose there were sentient beings who saw the Buddha and heard the Buddha, and yet, bound and covered over by karmic obstruction, could not bring forth a mind of faith and delight — they too have planted roots of goodness all the same, with nothing passing away in vain, and they will even, in the end, be able to enter nirvāṇa.
The Concluding Statement: This Is What Is to Be Known
“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva should know in just this way that the roots of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata through seeing, through hearing, and through drawing near have all left behind every unwholesome dharma and have come to possess the wholesome dharmas.
Setting the Similes Apart from the Dharma: For All These Similes Spoken, Not One Simile Reaches This Dharma
“Sons of the Buddha! The Tathāgata uses every simile to speak of every sort of matter, and yet there is no simile that can speak this Dharma. Why is this? Because the road of mind and of knowing is cut off, and it is beyond conceiving. The buddhas and bodhisattvas merely follow along with the minds of sentient beings, so as to make them glad, and for their sake speak similes; the simile is not the ultimate.
The Revealing of the Names: This Gate of Dharma Has Ten Names
“Sons of the Buddha! This gate of Dharma is named ‘the Secret Place of the Tathāgata’; it is named ‘That Which No World Can Know’; it is named ‘Entering the Seal of the Tathāgata’; it is named ‘Opening the Gate of Great Wisdom’; it is named ‘Revealing the Lineage-Nature of the Tathāgata’; it is named ‘Bringing All Bodhisattvas to Accomplishment’; it is named ‘That Which No World Can Destroy’; it is named ‘Wholly According with the Realm of the Tathāgata’; it is named ‘Able to Purify the Realms of All Sentient Beings’; it is named ‘The Setting Forth of the Inconceivable, Ultimate Dharma That Is the Root Real Nature of the Tathāgata’.
Determining Who Is a Vessel for the Dharma: This Gate of Dharma Is Not Spoken for the Remaining Sentient Beings
“Sons of the Buddha! This gate of Dharma the Tathāgata does not speak for the remaining sentient beings; he speaks it only for bodhisattvas who are headed toward the Great Vehicle, only for bodhisattvas who ride the inconceivable vehicle. This gate of Dharma does not fall into the hands of any of the remaining sentient beings, save only the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas.
The Simile of the Seven Treasures: Of the Wheel-Turning King’s Seven Treasures, Only the Crown Prince Can Hold Them
“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with the seven treasures possessed by a wheel-turning sage king: it is because he has these treasures that he is shown to be the wheel-turning king; and these treasures do not fall into the hands of the remaining sentient beings, save only the crown prince born of the first consort, and that one who has come to possess in full the marks of a sage king. If the wheel-turning king had no such prince endowed with all the virtues, then after the king’s life had ended these treasures would within seven days all be scattered and destroyed.
The Joining of the Simile of the Seven Treasures: The Treasure of This Scripture Only a True Son of the Dharma-King Can Bear
“Sons of the Buddha! So it is too with the treasure of this scripture: it does not fall into the hands of any of the remaining sentient beings, save only the true sons of the Tathāgata, the Dharma-king — those who are born into the family of the Tathāgata and who have planted the various roots of goodness that are the marks of the Tathāgata.
“Sons of the Buddha! If there were none of these true sons of the Buddha, such a gate of Dharma would before long be scattered and destroyed. Why is this? Because all of the two vehicles 〔the śrāvakas and the pratyekabuddhas〕 do not so much as get to hear this scripture, much less receive and keep it, read and recite it, copy it out, or discern and expound it! Only the bodhisattvas are able to do so.
The Exhortation to Cultivate: On Hearing This Gate of Dharma One Should Greatly Rejoice
“Therefore, when a bodhisattva-mahāsattva hears this gate of Dharma, he should give rise to great rejoicing, and with a mind of reverence should receive it respectfully upon his head. Why is this? Because a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who has faith in and delights in this scripture will swiftly attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi 〔unsurpassed perfect awakening〕.
The Showing by Contrast: To Cultivate the Six Perfections for Many Aeons and Yet Not Hear This Dharma Is Still Not to Be a True Bodhisattva
“Sons of the Buddha! Suppose there were a bodhisattva who through measureless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of aeons practiced the six perfections 〔giving, keeping the precepts, forbearance, vigor, meditative concentration, and wisdom: the six practices of crossing to the other shore〕 and cultivated all sorts of factors of awakening; if he has still not heard this gate of the Dharma of the Tathāgata’s inconceivable great majestic virtue, or, having heard it, does not believe it, does not understand it, does not accord with it, and does not enter into it, then he cannot be called a true bodhisattva, because he is not able to be born into the family of the Tathāgata.
The Showing by Accord: Having Heard It, He Believes and Understands — and This Person Is Born into the Family of the Tathāgata
“If someone gets to hear this gate of Dharma of the Tathāgata’s measureless, inconceivable wisdom that is without obstruction and without hindrance, and having heard it receives it in faith and understands it, according with it and awakening into it, one should know that this person is born into the family of the Tathāgata, accords with the realm of every Tathāgata, possesses in full all the dharmas of a bodhisattva, abides in the realm of the knowledge of all modes, leaves behind all worldly dharmas, gives birth to all that the Tathāgata practices, penetrates the dharma-nature of all bodhisattvas, has in his mind no doubt about the Buddha’s sovereign mastery, dwells in the Dharma that is attained without a teacher, and enters deeply into the unobstructed realm of the Tathāgata.
The Ten Clauses of Unobstructedness: The Practice Brought to Accomplishment After Hearing This Dharma
“Sons of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva has heard this Dharma, he is then able, with impartial knowing, to know measureless dharmas; he is then able, with an upright mind, to leave behind every sort of discrimination; he is then able, with a surpassing zeal and delight, to see the buddhas present before him; he is then able, by the power of the turning of his attention, to enter the impartial realm of space; he is then able, with sovereign mindfulness, to move through the boundless Dharma realm; he is then able, by the power of wisdom, to possess in full all merits; he is then able, with spontaneous knowing, to leave behind all the defilements of the world; he is then able, with the mind of awakening, to enter the net of all the ten directions; he is then able, with a vast contemplation, to know that the buddhas of the three times are of one and the same nature; he is then able, with the knowing that dedicates and directs his roots of goodness, universally to enter into such a Dharma as this — entering without entering; and he takes no single dharma as an object of clinging, but ever contemplates all dharmas by way of one dharma.
The General Conclusion: With Little Effort Applied, He Attains the Spontaneous Knowing That Has No Teacher
“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who brings such merits as these to accomplishment need apply only a little effort, and he attains the spontaneous knowing that is had without a teacher.”
The Four Verses in Repetition: Samantabhadra Sets Forth This Meaning Once More
At that time the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, wishing to set forth this meaning once more, spoke these verses:
“Seeing, hearing, and making offerings to the tathāgatas, / the merit thereby attained cannot be measured; / within the conditioned it will never be used up, / but must extinguish the afflictions and depart from all suffering.
“It is as when a man swallows a little diamond: / in the end it is not digested and must come out; / the various merits of making offerings to him of the ten powers / extinguish confusion and must reach the diamond knowing.
“As dry grass heaped up equal to Sumeru / is all burned away by throwing in a mustard-seed fire, / so the slight merit of making offerings to the buddhas / must likewise cut off the afflictions and reach nirvāṇa.
“In the Snow Mountains there is a medicine named Well-Seen: / seeing it, hearing it, smelling it, touching it dispels the host of ailments; / if anyone sees or hears the Buddha of the ten powers, / he attains surpassing merit and reaches the Buddha’s knowing.”
The Manifesting of Portents: The Great Earth Quakes in Six Ways, and from the Heavens Rain Down Every Sort of Cloud
At that time, by the spiritual power of the Buddha and because the Dharma is so of itself, in each of the ten directions worlds as many as ten unspeakable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas quaked with the six kinds of quaking, namely: the east surged up and the west sank down, the west surged up and the east sank down, the south surged up and the north sank down, the north surged up and the south sank down, the edges surged up and the middle sank down, the middle surged up and the edges sank down.
There were also the quakings in eighteen aspects, namely: they moved, moved throughout, moved throughout alike; they rose, rose throughout, rose throughout alike; they surged, surged throughout, surged throughout alike; they shook, shook throughout, shook throughout alike; they roared, roared throughout, roared throughout alike; they struck, struck throughout, struck throughout alike.
And there rained down, surpassing all that the heavens possess, clouds of every flower, clouds of every canopy, clouds of banners, clouds of pennants, clouds of incense, clouds of garlands, clouds of perfumed unguents, clouds of adornments, clouds of great luminous maṇi jewels, clouds of the praises of the bodhisattvas, clouds of the several distinct bodies of unspeakably many bodhisattvas; there rained down clouds of the accomplishing of right awakening, clouds of adorned and purified inconceivable worlds, and there rained down clouds of the sound of the Tathāgata’s speech, filling the boundless Dharma realm.
And just as, in these four continents, the spiritual power of the Tathāgata was manifested in this way, making all the bodhisattvas greatly rejoice, so throughout all the worlds of the ten directions it was entirely so as well.
The Attestation by Those of the Fruit: The Buddhas of the Ten Directions, All Named Samantabhadra, Appear and Bear Witness
At that time, in each of the ten directions, beyond worlds as many as the dust motes of eighty unspeakable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of buddha-lands, there were tathāgatas as many as the dust motes of eighty unspeakable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of buddha-lands, all alike named Samantabhadra, who all manifested their bodies before the bodhisattva Samantabhadra and spoke thus:
〔The buddhas of the ten directions, all named Samantabhadra, speak〕
“Excellent, Son of the Buddha! You have indeed been able, borne up by the Buddha’s majestic power, to accord with the nature of the Dharma and set forth the inconceivable Dharma of the appearance of the Tathāgata.
“Son of the Buddha! We buddhas of the ten directions, of one and the same name, as many as the dust motes of eighty unspeakable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of buddha-lands, all speak this Dharma; and just as we speak it, so do all the buddhas of the worlds of the ten directions speak it as well.
“Son of the Buddha! Here in this assembly now there are bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands who have attained the samādhi of the spiritual penetrations of all bodhisattvas; upon all of them we confer the prediction that after one more birth they shall attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. And there are sentient beings as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land who have given rise to the aspiration for anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi; upon them too we confer the prediction that in ages to come, after aeons as many as the dust motes of unspeakably many buddha-lands, they shall all be able to become buddhas, all of one and the same name, ‘The Surpassing Realm of the Buddhas’.
“So that the bodhisattvas of the future may be able to hear this Dharma, we all together guard and uphold it. And just as it is with the sentient beings brought across in these four continents, so it is entirely as well with the sentient beings brought across in all the worlds of the ten directions — hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of them, numberless and measureless, and on to worlds unspeakably unspeakable, like the Dharma realm and like space.”
The Attestation by Those of the Cause: The Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions, All Named Samantabhadra, Gather and Bear Witness
At that time, because of the majestic spiritual power of the buddhas of the ten directions, because of the power of Vairocana’s original vows, because the Dharma is so of itself, because of the power of the roots of goodness, because the wisdom the Tathāgata gives rise to does not overstep a single thought, because the Tathāgata answers the conditions of sentient beings without missing the season, because he awakens the bodhisattvas in accordance with the time, because what was done in ages past has suffered no loss, because sentient beings are to be made to attain the vast practice of Samantabhadra, and because the sovereign mastery of the knowledge of all is to be revealed — in each of the ten directions, beyond worlds as many as the dust motes of ten unspeakable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of buddha-lands, there were bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes of ten unspeakable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of buddha-lands who came to this place, filling all the Dharma realm of the ten directions, manifesting the vast adornments of a bodhisattva, sending forth nets of great light, shaking all the worlds of the ten directions, breaking up and scattering the palaces of all the demons, extinguishing the sufferings of all the evil destinies, revealing the majestic virtue of all the tathāgatas, singing in praise of the measureless and manifold merit-dharmas of the Tathāgata, universally raining down all the various rains, manifesting measureless and manifold bodies, receiving the dharmas of measureless buddhas; and by the spiritual power of the Buddha they each spoke thus:
〔The bodhisattvas gathered from the ten directions speak〕
“Excellent, Son of the Buddha! You have indeed been able to proclaim this indestructible Dharma of the Tathāgata.
“Son of the Buddha! Every one of us is named Samantabhadra, and each of us has come to this place from the world Universal Light, from the Tathāgata Universal Banner of Sovereign Mastery; and in all those places too this Dharma is spoken — with such phrasing as this, such meaning as this, such proclaiming as this, such determining as this, all the same as it is here, neither added to nor taken from.
“We have all come to this place to bear witness for you, because of the spiritual power of the Buddha and because we have attained the Dharma of the Tathāgata. And just as we have come here, so it is too in all the worlds of the ten directions, equal to space and filling the Dharma realm, and in all their four continents.”
The Circulating at the Chapter’s End: Samantabhadra Gathers Up the Whole Chapter in Four Verses
At that time the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, borne up by the spiritual power of the Buddha, surveyed the whole great assembly of bodhisattvas, and wishing to set forth once more the vast majestic virtue of the appearance of the Tathāgata, that the true Dharma of the Tathāgata cannot be broken down, that measureless roots of goodness none of them fall empty, that when the buddhas come forth into the world they must possess in full all the most surpassing dharmas, that he is well able to observe the minds of all sentient beings, that he speaks the Dharma in response and has never missed the season, that he can give birth in the bodhisattvas to measureless light of the Dharma, the sovereign adornment of all the buddhas, that all the tathāgatas are of one body and without difference, and that all this arises out of the root great practice — spoke these verses:
“Every sort of deed the tathāgatas do / no simile in the world can come up to; / but so that sentient beings may come to comprehend, / what is not a simile is used as a simile to reveal it.
“A Dharma subtle and secret and profound as this / is hard to hear even in hundreds of thousands of myriads of aeons; / only those vigorous and possessed of wisdom, who can tame themselves, / get to hear this hidden and deep meaning.
“If, hearing this Dharma, one gives rise to joy and gladness, / that person has made offerings to measureless buddhas in the past, / and is embraced and upheld by the Buddha’s sustaining power; / gods and men praise him and ever make him offerings.
“This is the first wealth that surpasses the world, / this is what can bring across the many kinds of beings, / this is what can give birth to the pure path; / you should hold to it and not be heedless.”
為什麼十義之末要問「見聞親近所種善根」
前面九義說的是如來出現的法、身、語、意、境界、行、成正覺、轉法輪、涅槃——從頭到尾，一期出現的始終都說盡了。這一義忽然轉了個方向，不再說佛那邊如何，而問：你在佛那裡見過、聽過、親近過，所種下的那一點善根，該怎麼認識它。
有人會覺得這是餘論，前九義才是正文。澄觀正好相反，他判此義為「前九門出現，一期始終；今明於上見聞功深益遠，獎物進修」。前九義是把果德展開給你看，這一義是把展開的果德接回到你身上——見聞功深，所以益遠；益遠，所以能獎勵眾生進修。少了這一義，前面九義就成了一場與己無關的壯觀。
法藏繫得更緊，他把此義接在前一義涅槃之後：「前既示涅槃，今明供養餘跡，成益不虛，故次明也。」佛已示現涅槃，那見不到佛的後人怎麼辦？答案就是這一義——所經的土地還在，塔廟還在，名號還在。落到讀者這裡，這一問其實就是：我沒有生在佛世，我這一點禮拜、一聲稱念，究竟算不算數。
十一句：所種的善根為什麼「皆悉不虛」
普賢先給一個總斷——「皆悉不虛」，然後用十一個「故」字排開理由：出生無盡覺慧、離於一切障難、決定至於究竟、無有虛誑、一切願滿、不盡有為行、隨順無為智、生諸佛智、盡未來際、成一切種勝行、到無功用智地。
要當心把這十一句讀成十一件好處的清單。澄觀指出它們有一個骨架：「即示不虛之相，有十一句，不出智斷恩德，思之。」——不出智德、斷德、恩德三類。這正是底下三喻所要分別配的三樣，所以這十一句不是鋪陳，是為三喻預先立好的綱。
法藏則從「所種」那一頭立綱，他把「見聞親近」開為四位：「若見佛及像、若聞名及稱念、若三業恭敬、若四事供養，於此四位所種善根，廣多無限不可稱說。」見佛之像也算見，稱一聲名號也算聞——門檻低到這個地步，是本義最要緊的一著。
落地處在於：不虛，不是說你將來一定會感覺到它，而是說它不會因為你忘了、退了、甚至謗了而消滅。底下三喻，全是在解釋這個「不虛」憑什麼成立。
金剛喻：吞下去的那一點，身體留不住它
第一喻極其鮮明：一個人吞下少許金剛，終竟不消，一定要穿透身體出到外面。為什麼？「金剛不與肉身雜穢而同止故。」
先排一個誤解：這不是說善根會傷人。喻的著眼點只在一件事——質地不同，所以不能同住。血肉之軀能消化的是與它同類的東西；金剛不與雜穢同類，所以身體奈何不了它，它必定要穿出去。合到法上：於如來所種的少善根，要穿一切有為諸行煩惱身過，到於無為究竟智處，因為「此少善根不與有為諸行煩惱而共住故」。
澄觀判此喻為智德：「初少服金剛喻，喻於智德。智慧破惑，如金剛故。以有智慧者必無煩惱，故不共住。」法藏則判為「德窮來際果」，說得是「微少善根性不可盡也」。二家一就德說、一就果說。
對讀者最實的一句是：你不必擔心自己的善根太少而被煩惱淹沒。少不少不是問題，同不同類才是問題。煩惱再多也消化不了它，它遲早要穿出去。
火喻：多的那一邊反而是可以燒盡的
第二喻把大小顛倒過來說一遍：乾草堆得像須彌山那麼大，投進去芥子那麼一點火，必定全部燒盡。為什麼？「火能燒故。」
這一喻常被讀成『小兵立大功』的勵志話，那就淺了。它真正的意思是：可以被燒盡的東西，再多也只是可燒之物；能燒的那個，再少也是能燒的。多與少不在同一個秤上。合到法上：少善根「必能燒盡一切煩惱，究竟得於無餘涅槃」，所以者何——「此少善根性究竟故」。關鍵在「性究竟」三字，不在分量。
澄觀判此喻為斷德，並把「性究竟」解得極深：「第二少火燒多喻，喻斷德。性究竟者，了惑本寂故。」煩惱本來就是寂的，所以一點覺照便能燒盡；不是以少勝多，是本來就不必比多少。法藏則配「斷滅惑障果」，並別出一釋：「又釋：前滅所知障，後滅煩惱障。」
與前喻合看：前喻說煩惱消不掉善根，此喻說善根燒得掉煩惱。一守一攻，兩面都堵死了『我這點善根不管用』的疑慮。
藥王樹喻：連走過那塊地的土，都能治病
第三喻換了一種氣息。雪山有藥王樹，名叫善見——見它的眼淨、聞它的耳淨、嗅它的鼻淨、嘗它的舌淨、觸它的身淨，甚至取那樹下的地土，也能為人除病。
前二喻說的是善根自身的性質，此喻說的是佛這一邊的能力。澄觀判為恩德：「第三藥王遍益喻，喻恩德，種種利生故。」法藏配「成大菩提果」。三喻至此，智、斷、恩三德備足，正對前面十一句所立之綱。
要留意「善見」這個名字。樹之所以能六根俱益，不在它做了什麼，在它是那樣的一棵樹。合到佛身上也如此：如來不是特意為你做了什麼才利益到你，是凡與他接觸的每一個根門都自然得淨。
六根合喻：見色身、聞名號、嗅戒香、嘗法味、觸光明、生憶念
合喻一句一句對過來：見如來色身則眼淨、聞名號則耳淨、嗅戒香則鼻淨、嘗法味則舌淨而且「具廣長舌，解語言法」、觸如來光則身淨而且「究竟獲得無上法身」、於如來生憶念則「得念佛三昧清淨」。
這裡有一個讀者最切身的問題：佛已滅度，這六樣還算不算？澄觀直接回答了：「六根皆通在世滅後，滅後亦有見故，況憶念等。」在世可見，滅後也可見——見像即是見，何況憶念一門根本不受時劫所限。他並引《寶性論》為證，說該論「亦明如來與菩薩為六根境界，大同於此」。法藏所引更全，是那一段「諸佛如來身，如虛空無相，為諸勝智者，作六根境界」的偈文。
要排一個誤解：這不是說看一眼佛像眼睛就變乾淨了。六根之淨，說的是根門與佛境相接時，那一接便已在你身上種下不可消之物——如前二喻所言，不與煩惱同住，性又究竟。淨是那個種子的名字，不是當下的感覺。
遺迹之益：土地與塔廟
合喻之後還補一句：供養如來所經行的土地及塔廟者，「亦具善根，滅除一切諸煩惱患，得賢聖樂」——正對喻中「取彼地土」一節。
澄觀在此分得很細：「所經土地，猶通現滅。其塔廟者，唯約滅後。」佛所經行過的土地，佛在世時可供養，滅後也可供養，所以通於二時；塔廟則是滅後才有的事。他還舉《法華》「乃至舉一手等，皆已成佛道」為同一路數。
這一句是整段裡最貼近後世佛弟子的一句。你我見不到佛的色身，聽不到佛的音聲，但這一句把門開在滅後——一塊佛走過的地，一座塔，一次禮拜，都在「見聞親近」的範圍之內。前面說的三喻之益，不是只給佛世的人的。
不信亦種：連生不起信心的人，也沒有落空
到這裡經文說了整段最令人意外的一句：「設有眾生見聞於佛，業障纏覆不生信樂，亦種善根無空過者，乃至究竟入於涅槃。」
先問：那不是等於說信不信都一樣嗎？不是。澄觀判此為「明不信益者，此明益深」——不是說信不重要，是說這個法門的益深到連不信也蓋不住。他引《如來祕密藏經》「罵藥，服之得力。罵沈，燒已還香。罵佛，猶勝敬諸外道」為證，並且立刻自問自答，把最容易被誤讀的地方堵住：「若爾，豈無罵罪？罵罪非無，今語遠益故。」罵的罪照樣有，經文說的是遠處的那個益，不是替罵開脫。
他又引《法華》跋陀婆羅等罵常不輕、千劫受苦而畢罪之後仍遇常不輕教化，引《涅槃》毒鼓之喻——聞者無不死。然後一路逼上來：「謗尚遠益，況深信耶！況解行耶！況證悟耶！弘持之者，勉思此文。」法藏所引則是五卷《大悲經》袈裟著身者佛記其不出賢劫當般涅槃一段，同明如來法之不思議。
落地在最後那句「弘持之者，勉思此文」：這段話不是給不信的人自寬的，是給弘法的人壯膽的——你所種的，對方即使當場不信，也不會空過。
揀喻異法：說了三個譬喻，末了自己說譬喻不夠
三喻說完，經文自己把喻推倒：「如來以一切譬諭說種種事，無有譬諭能說此法。何以故？心智路絕，不思議故。」並補一句方便之所以：「諸佛菩薩但隨眾生心，令其歡喜，為說譬諭，非是究竟。」
要排兩個相反的誤解。其一，以為既然設了喻，佛法大概就是那個樣子——那就把金剛與草火當成了尺寸。其二，以為既然喻不及，那三喻是白說的——也不對；若不先隨著金剛、隨著火、隨著藥樹走一遍，你根本不知道被推倒的是多高的台。
澄觀把這一推的用意講得極透：「上來〈性起〉請說因喻，〈普賢〉依請明十出現，皆借象取譬，意顯佛旨深玄。深玄之旨尚不可以智知，豈言象之能及？故令外亡言象、內絕思求，則庶幾於〈出現〉之旨。」外面放下言與象，裡面斷了思與求，才勉強挨得上〈出現〉的旨。法藏亦云：「以非世喻所能類，故云過思議也。」
十名：這個法門叫什麼
推倒了喻，經文轉入顯名——一連給出十個名字：如來祕密之處、一切世間所不能知、入如來印、開大智門、示現如來種性、成就一切菩薩、一切世間所不能壞、一向隨順如來境界、能淨一切諸眾生界、演說如來根本實性不思議究竟法。
十個名字不是同義反覆。澄觀把它們兩兩成對，開為五對：「一內深外絕對，謂內證三德祕密藏故，外則凡小不能測故。二證寂開智對。三現果成因對，謂性淨萬德即是佛種，今十門出現即是現義。四越世順佛對，世尚不知，安能破壞？此十通是佛分齊境。五淨機演實對，知生佛同源則能淨故。」內與外、寂與智、果與因、越世與順佛、淨機與演實——每一對都是一開一合。他又點出末名的地位：「前九別義，後一總該。」前九各說一義，最後一名總收。
而何以「不思議」「究竟」二語落在末名，澄觀說：「隨緣不變之性，諸佛本故。而性相無礙、因果圓融為不思議，過此更無為究竟法。」
法藏之判：〈性起品〉的品名，就從第五個名字立的
十名之中，法藏於第五名下留了一句對華嚴一宗極要緊的話：「五明開發示現如來種性經，〈性起品〉名從此而立。又釋：令佛種性起用現前，名開示也。」
這句話交代的是一段來歷：六十華嚴此品名〈寶王如來性起品〉，八十華嚴改題〈如來出現品〉。法藏說，六十本那個「性起」的品名，正是從此處十名中第五名「開發示現如來種性」立出來的。他並在顯名分之首解釋為何要在此立名：「何故此中辨名持者？顯義實故、以性起是法體故、要妙故。」性起是這一品的法體，所以立名必落在這裡。
這是本義最須繫屬清楚的一處：性起之名與體皆出法藏所判，非經文自說；八十本經文只給十個名字，並未說哪一個名字生出品名。二本題名之異、性起一門之判——誌錄之，不判。
辨定法器：不是保密，是接不住
顯名之後，經文轉出一句聽起來很嚴的話：「此法門，如來不為餘眾生說，唯為趣向大乘菩薩說，唯為乘不思議乘菩薩說；此法門不入一切餘眾生手。」
先問：這是不是說法有階級、佛有偏心？澄觀的解釋把「不為」從佛那邊挪到了根機這邊：「非器不為，所謂權小乘、可思議乘，歷次修故，名餘眾生；是器則為，所謂圓機，不揀凡聖。」注意「不揀凡聖」四字——器與非器的分界不在凡與聖，在圓與不圓。他又釋「不思議乘」：「一運一切運，十信滿心即攝諸位，圓融無礙名不思議乘。」一動全動，才叫不思議。
至於「不入手」，澄觀解為受與不受：「有圓信手能受眾行，故上為之；權小於斯不盡能受，是故不為。」手是信解之手。他引《法集經》「是經雖行閻浮提，於能信深法者，常住如是眾生心手中行」為證。經在世間流通，落在誰的手裡，看的是誰有那隻手。
七寶喻：沒有太子，寶自己會散
法器之義立完，經文設喻：轉輪聖王的七寶，因寶而顯示輪王；此寶不入餘眾生手，唯除第一夫人所生、具足成就聖王之相的太子。若無這樣的太子，王命終之後，這些寶在七日之中就散滅了。
喻的重心在最後那一句。寶不是被人奪走的，是自己散的——沒有承得住它的人，它就留不住。合到法上：「此經珍寶亦復如是……唯除如來法王真子，生如來家，種如來相諸善根者。佛子！若無此等佛之真子，如是法門不久散滅。」
澄觀逐一對位：「以經合七寶者，若無此法，非真佛故。生如來家，合第一夫人所生太子。如來相者，初心頓行佛行故。」並把「散滅」開為二義：「一不能信受則教不行故、二不能修行則行不行故。」教不行、行不行，經就散了。
這一喻對讀者是一句重話：法門的存亡不繫於經卷是否還在，繫於有沒有人承得住。而承得住的條件，經文只給一樣——生如來家。
反顯：修了無量劫六度，仍可能不算真實菩薩
接下來一段話很不客氣：設有菩薩於無量百千億那由他劫行六波羅蜜、修習種種菩提分法，若未聞此法門，或聞已不信、不解、不順、不入，「不得名為真實菩薩，以不能生如來家故」。
先問：修了那麼久還不算，是不是把行門看輕了？不是。澄觀的解釋落在『依不依此教』上：「若不依此教，縱多劫修行，尚非真實，況能疾得菩提？」不是行不算數，是行需要一個究竟的歸處。
他還替讀者問了兩個很自然的疑。其一，「設有」二字是不是只是假設？他答：「此中設有之言，似當假設……斯則舉權顯實，非假設也。」並以慈氏讚善財一生淨佛剎、餘菩薩須百千萬億那由他劫方滿願行為比對——舉權顯實而已。其二，若真有這樣不信的人，在什麼位次？他答得很誠實：「文無定判，義當三賢，以入證聖必信圓故。」經文沒有定判，依義推當在三賢。末了他還補一句最切近凡夫的話：「所以凡夫頓能信者，宿因聞熏為種別故。今更不信，當來豈聞？」
順釋：聞已信解，當下就生在如來家
反面說完，正面接上：若得聞此法門，「聞已信解，隨順悟入，當知此人生如來家」，以下九句展開——隨順一切如來境界、具足一切諸菩薩法、安住一切種智境界、遠離一切諸世間法、出生一切如來所行、通達一切菩薩法性、於佛自在心無疑惑、住無師法、深入如來無礙境界。
澄觀以「生如來家為總，餘句為別」，並逐句配出九種「家」：以如境為家、以行法為家、以俗境為家、遠離非家、以佛行為家、菩薩法性為家、淨當佛家、住本佛家、因果事理無礙家；前六為自分家，後三為勝進家。他引無性論「生如來家者，謂佛法界，於此證會故，名為生家」、世親釋「由此能令諸佛種性不斷絕故」、《十住毘婆沙》第一「今此菩薩行如來道，相續不斷故」為據。
最要緊的是他末後那一段通判：「前來初住見心性故，故名生家；四地寄出世故，生道品家；八地無功用故，生無生法忍家。今此通三，兼顯凡夫解心亦名生家，因果無礙故。」初住、四地、八地各有其生家之義，而此處三者皆通——並且明說凡夫的一念解心也叫生家。這一句是把整段的門檻放到最低處：不必等到登地，你此刻聽懂了、信得下，就已經在家裡。
十句無礙與「不入而入」
聞信之後是行。經文以十個「則能」排開：以平等智知無量法、以正直心離諸分別、以勝欲樂現見諸佛、以作意力入平等虛空界、以自在念行無邊法界、以智慧力具一切功德、以自然智離一切世間垢、以菩提心入一切十方網、以大觀察知三世諸佛同一體性、以善根迴向智普入如是法。
澄觀把這十句兩兩成對，開為五對無礙：「一即觀不礙於止、二見佛不礙入法、三智行法界不礙起福、四智不染世不礙悲入、五體絕三世不礙用而迴向。」每一對都是一動一靜而不相妨。
十句之末忽然出現「不入而入；不於一法而有攀緣，恒以一法觀一切法」。這一句最易被當成玄語，澄觀解得極穩：「智體即如，如外無法而可攀緣，故無可入。心行處滅，寂然無入。不失照用故，恒以一如而觀諸法，故名而入。此二無礙，方為真入。」智的本體就是如，如之外沒有另一個東西可攀，所以沒有可入之處；而照用不失，所以又叫入。無可入與而入兩不相礙，才是真入。他又補：「又一即是如，便於一中已見一切。」
長行至此收於一句：「成就如是功德，少作功力，得無師自然智。」前面說了那麼多不可思議，落腳處卻是「少作功力」——與三喻之「少善根」首尾相應。
重頌四偈與澄觀所留的一個疑
長行說完，普賢以四偈重明。澄觀科之：「四偈分二：初一頌法說、後三如次頌前三喻。」——初偈頌見聞供養之功德不可量、於有為中終不盡，後三偈依次頌金剛、火、藥王樹。頌中並無長行所無之新義，唯以韻語收攝。
值得誌一筆的是澄觀在此留了一個疑而不改經文：「第二偈頌，即屬第十見聞之益。不頌顯名受持，顯名受持後文自頌。此頌應在揀法異喻之前，以前長行鉤鎖顯名亦是見聞益故。若迴此偈於現瑞後，與後偈相續，文理甚順。」他認為依文理，這四偈本該安在揀法異喻之前，或移到現瑞之後與後面的流通偈相接才順。但他只是說「文理甚順」，並未改動。古德於經次有疑而不擅改，誌錄之，不判。
現瑞與二證：為什麼果人因人都要來作證
頌畢，大地六種震動、十八相動，天雨種種雲——澄觀只用一句解釋這排場：「動剎等數皆廣多者，法難思故。」瑞相之廣，是為了對得起法之難思。
接著是兩重作證：先是十方同名普賢的諸佛現前印可，說「我等十方……同名諸佛皆說此法」，並為會中菩薩與發心眾生授記；後是十方同名普賢的諸菩薩來集，說「彼一切處亦說是法，如是文句，如是義理，如是宣說，如是決定，皆同於此，不增不減」。
為何要具此二證？澄觀答：「所以具二者，法玄妙故，因果交徹之法故，因圓果滿之法故。前來諸會唯菩薩者，唯因行故。發心品中唯果證者，果之本故……隨義各別，所以互無，唯斯具二。」別會或唯因或唯果，唯獨此品因果並證，因為此法本身就是因果交徹的。
他又解兩處易滑過的字。其一，菩薩從十方來，是不是真有來去？「雖來自十方而周遍法界，則來即無來矣。」其二，何以來者與佛皆同名普賢、而佛名各異？「皆同普者，普法同故。界佛名異者，不失主伴故。普光明者，常寂光土無不遍故。佛名普幢自在者，本智高出無所不摧，事理無礙故。」同名以顯普法之同，異名以存主伴之別。
品末流通：全品收在「汝等當持莫放逸」
最後普賢承佛神力，觀察大眾，以十句敘意而說四偈——這四偈不只收本義，是收〈如來出現〉一整品。澄觀指出那十句敘意「句各一門」，正對前面十門出現：「一成正覺、二即法輪、三是見聞生善……九即是身，約本說一故；十即是行，果中說因故。」
四偈之科，澄觀分為：「初一頌說分中結酬，以此總包十段意故；後三頌顯名受持，初句顯名、餘皆勸持。且分為三：初偈歎深難聞、次一偈明文由多善、後偈舉勝勸持。」第二偈「如是微密甚深法，百千萬劫難可聞」是歎其難；第三偈「若聞此法生欣慶，彼曾供養無量佛」是回頭指出——你今天聽了能歡喜，本身就是宿善的證明，正與本義開頭『見聞所種善根不虛』首尾扣合；末偈「此為超世第一財……汝等當持莫放逸」是勸持。
澄觀於品末有一段總歎，可以當作讀這一品的收梢：「然此一品文旨宏奧，能頓能圓，究眾生之本源、罄諸佛之淵海……並居凡類之心，少功而能速證。安得自欺不受，長淪生死之中？今聞解能欣，尤須自慶昔善。」他把整品的重量壓在最後兩句上——不受，是自欺；今日能欣，該慶幸的是自己過去所種。
承衍
本義為華嚴宗性起一門之名據所在。法藏於六十本十名之第五「開發示現如來種性經」下明言「〈性起品〉名從此而立」，又於顯名分之首云「以性起是法體故」——性起之名與體，其經據即在此顯名分。八十本改題〈如來出現品〉，經文十名之次第與詞句亦與六十本不同（八十本「示現如來種性」，六十本作「開發示現如來種性」又有「如來所印大智光明」之名）。二本題名之異、性起一門之判，誌錄之，不判。
三喻之配，澄觀配智德、斷德、恩德，法藏配德窮來際果、斷滅惑障果、成大菩提果——澄觀就德說、法藏就果說，前二喻之配序因而相反；法藏於火喻別出「前滅所知障，後滅煩惱障」一釋，為澄觀所不出。十名之攝，澄觀作五對而法藏依光統等逐名出所以。偈頌之位，澄觀別出一議謂應在揀法異喻之前，或迴於現瑞之後為順，而不改經文。古有異說，誌錄之，不判。
異譯之異亦誌於考據：六十本於顯名之前有諸菩薩二問（當何名此經·云何奉持），八十本無問而逕答，澄觀已明言「準晉經，此前有諸菩薩發二種問……今但有答」；七寶散滅八十本有「於七日中」之限而六十本唯作「自然散滅」；金剛喻八十本作「要穿其身，出在於外」而六十本作「至金剛輪際，然後乃住」；藥樹之名八十本作「善見」而六十本作「善現」；「不入而入」為八十本所獨有。又六十本於果人證段以「說此經時」標會眾證果，八十本作「今此會中」標現前之眾，敘事重心不同；六十本並將本願一段繫於諸佛所言之末，八十本則為經家敘語。照實錄，不強解。
至於《大乘起信論》、《華嚴一乘教義分齊章》、《十玄門》、《華嚴法界玄鏡》以及成唯識、攝論、瑜伽、解深密諸論，於本義之專屬牒句皆零命中——本義無承衍論之直接文據，據實標闕，不以他處之文充之。李通玄《新華嚴經論》於本義無專屬科段，唯有一處明引本品之付囑流通，性質相涉而已，亦誌其實。
Why the Last of the Ten Senses Asks About the Roots of Goodness Planted by Seeing, Hearing, and Drawing Near
The nine senses before this one spoke of the Dharma of the Tathāgata’s appearance, his body, his speech, his mind, his realm, his practice, his accomplishing of right awakening, his turning of the Dharma wheel, and his nirvāṇa — from the beginning to the end, the whole span of one appearance was spoken out entire. This sense suddenly turns in another direction. It no longer speaks of how things stand on the Buddha’s side; it asks instead: that small root of goodness you planted when you saw him, heard him, drew near to him — how are you to know it?
Someone may feel that this is an appendix, and that the first nine senses are the text proper. Chengguan holds exactly the opposite. He judges this sense to be “the nine gates before it set forth the appearance, the whole span from beginning to end; now it is made clear that upon all of that the merit of seeing and hearing is deep and the benefit far-reaching, so as to encourage beings to advance in cultivation.” The first nine senses unfold the virtue of the fruit for you to look at; this sense joins that unfolded fruit-virtue back onto you — the merit of seeing and hearing is deep, therefore the benefit is far-reaching; the benefit is far-reaching, therefore beings can be encouraged to advance. Without this sense, the nine before it become a magnificence that has nothing to do with oneself.
Fazang binds it tighter still, attaching this sense directly after the previous one, nirvāṇa: “Since nirvāṇa has already been shown, now it is made clear that in making offerings to what remains behind, the benefit accomplished is not in vain; and so it is made clear next.” The Buddha has already shown his entering of nirvāṇa — then what are those born after, who cannot see him, to do? The answer is just this sense: the ground he walked on is still there, the stūpas are still there, the name is still there. Brought down to where the reader stands, this one question is really this: I was not born in the Buddha’s lifetime; does this one bow of mine, this one utterance of his name, count for anything at all?
The Eleven Clauses: Why the Roots of Goodness Planted Are All of Them Not in Vain
Samantabhadra first gives a general judgment — “all of them not in vain” — and then lays out eleven reasons, each ending in “because”: they give birth to unending wisdom of awakening; they leave behind every obstruction and hardship; they are certain to arrive at the ultimate; there is in them no falsity and no deceit; they fulfill all vows; they do not use up the conditioned practices; they accord with unconditioned wisdom; they give birth to the wisdom of the buddhas; they run on to the end of all future time; they bring to accomplishment every kind of surpassing practice; they reach the ground of the wisdom that needs no effort.
One must take care not to read these eleven clauses as a list of eleven advantages. Chengguan points out that they have a frame: “this shows the characteristic of their not being in vain; there are eleven clauses, and they do not go outside the virtues of wisdom, of cutting off, and of grace — think it over.” They do not go outside the three: the virtue of wisdom, the virtue of cutting off, and the virtue of grace. These are precisely the three that the three similes below are to be matched with one by one; so these eleven clauses are not an elaboration but a frame set up in advance for the three similes.
Fazang sets up his frame from the other end, the end of what is planted, opening “seeing, hearing, and drawing near” into four positions: “whether one sees the Buddha or his image, whether one hears his name or utters it, whether one is reverent in the three kinds of action, whether one makes the four kinds of offering — the roots of goodness planted in these four positions are vast and limitless and cannot be told.” To see an image of the Buddha counts as seeing; to utter his name once counts as hearing. That the threshold is set as low as this is the most important stroke in this whole sense.
Where it comes down to the ground is this: not in vain does not mean that you are bound to feel it some day; it means that it will not be annihilated because you have forgotten it, or fallen back, or even reviled it. The three similes that follow are all of them explanations of what it is that makes this “not in vain” hold.
The Simile of the Diamond: What Has Been Swallowed, the Body Cannot Keep
The first simile is extremely vivid: a man swallows a little diamond; in the end it is not digested, and it must pass through his body and out. Why? “Because the diamond will not abide together with the filth of a body of flesh and blood.”
First set aside a misunderstanding: this is not saying that a root of goodness injures a person. The whole point of the simile lies in one thing — the substance is of a different kind, and therefore the two cannot abide together. A body of flesh and blood can digest what is of its own kind; a diamond is not of a kind with filth, and so the body can do nothing to it, and it must pass out. Joined to the Dharma: the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata must pass through the body of the afflictions, which is all the conditioned practices, and reach the unconditioned, ultimate place of wisdom, because “that little root of goodness will not abide together with the afflictions that are the conditioned practices.”
Chengguan judges this simile to be the virtue of wisdom: “first, the simile of swallowing a little diamond, which is a simile for the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom breaks confusion as a diamond does; and since one who has wisdom will have no afflictions, they do not abide together.” Fazang judges it instead to be “the fruit of virtue exhausting the future,” saying that it means “the nature of even a slight root of goodness cannot be used up.” One house speaks in terms of virtue, the other in terms of fruit.
The most concrete sentence for a reader is this: you need not fear that your root of goodness is too small and will be drowned by the afflictions. Small or not small is not the question; of a kind or not of a kind is the question. However many the afflictions, they cannot digest it, and sooner or later it must pass out.
The Simile of the Fire: It Is the Side With More That Can Be Burned Away
The second simile says the same thing over again with great and small reversed: dry grass is heaped up as big as Mount Sumeru, and a fire the size of a mustard seed is thrown in — the whole of it is certainly burned away. Why? “Because fire is able to burn.”
This simile is often read as an encouraging saying about ‘a small soldier winning a great merit’, and that is shallow. Its real sense is this: what can be burned away, however much of it there is, is only so much combustible stuff; what is able to burn, however little of it there is, is still what is able to burn. The much and the little are not on one scale. Joined to the Dharma: the little root of goodness “is certainly able to burn up all the afflictions, and ultimately to attain the nirvāṇa in which nothing is left over,” and the reason is — “because the very nature of that little root of goodness is ultimate.” The key lies in the words “the nature is ultimate,” not in the quantity.
Chengguan judges this simile to be the virtue of cutting off, and reads “the nature is ultimate” to its very depth: “second, the simile of a little fire burning much, which is a simile for the virtue of cutting off. That the nature is ultimate means that confusion is understood to be originally quiescent.” The afflictions are quiescent to begin with, and so a single spark of illumination can burn them all away; it is not that the little overcomes the much, it is that there was never any need to compare much with little at all. Fazang matches it instead with “the fruit of cutting off and extinguishing the obstruction of confusion,” and adds a separate explanation: “another explanation: the former extinguishes the obstruction to what is knowable, the latter extinguishes the obstruction of the afflictions.”
Read together with the simile before it: that one says the afflictions cannot digest away the root of goodness; this one says the root of goodness can burn the afflictions away. One holds and one strikes, and both sides of the doubt ‘this little root of goodness of mine is of no use’ are stopped up.
The Simile of the King of Medicine Trees: Even the Earth of the Place It Stood On Can Cure Sickness
The third simile has another air about it. In the Snow Mountains there is a king of medicine trees named Well-Seen — whoever sees it, his eye is purified; whoever hears it, his ear; whoever smells it, his nose; whoever tastes it, his tongue; whoever touches it, his body; and even one who takes the earth from under that tree can have sickness removed by it.
The first two similes spoke of the nature of the root of goodness itself; this one speaks of the capacity on the Buddha’s side. Chengguan judges it to be the virtue of grace: “third, the simile of the king of medicines benefiting everywhere, which is a simile for the virtue of grace, since it benefits beings in every sort of way.” Fazang matches it with “the fruit of accomplishing great awakening.” With this, the three similes have made complete the three virtues — wisdom, cutting off, and grace — answering exactly to the frame set up by the eleven clauses above.
Take note of the name “Well-Seen.” What makes the tree able to benefit all six faculties is not something it does, but that it is the sort of tree it is. Joined to the Buddha it is the same: it is not that the Tathāgata did something particular for you and so benefited you; it is that every faculty that comes into contact with him is of itself made pure.
The Joining of the Six Faculties: Seeing the Form-Body, Hearing the Name, Smelling the Fragrance of Discipline, Tasting the Dharma-Flavor, Touching the Light, Giving Rise to Recollection
The joining runs through phrase by phrase: seeing the Tathāgata’s form-body, the eye is purified; hearing his name, the ear; smelling the fragrance of his discipline, the nose; tasting his Dharma-flavor, the tongue, and moreover one “comes to possess the broad and long tongue and understands the ways of all speech”; touching the Tathāgata’s light, the body, and moreover one “ultimately obtains the unsurpassed dharma-body”; and giving rise to recollection of the Tathāgata, one “attains the purity of the samādhi of the recollection of the Buddha.”
Here there is a question that touches the reader most nearly: the Buddha has already passed into extinction — do these six still count? Chengguan answers directly: “the six faculties all run through both his lifetime and after his extinction; after his extinction there is still the seeing of him, how much more the recollecting of him and the rest.” In his lifetime he could be seen; after his extinction he can be seen too — to see an image is to see; and recollection, for that matter, is not bounded by time or aeon at all. He cites the Baoxing lun in support, saying that this treatise “likewise makes clear that the Tathāgata is an object of the six faculties for bodhisattvas, which is much the same as what is here.” Fazang cites it more fully, that passage in verse which runs “the bodies of the buddhas, the tathāgatas, are like space and without characteristic; for those of surpassing wisdom they act as objects of the six faculties.”
One misunderstanding must be set aside: this is not saying that a single look at an image of the Buddha makes the eyes clean. The purity of the six faculties means that at the moment a faculty meets the Buddha’s realm, that meeting has already planted in you something that cannot be digested away — as the first two similes said, it does not abide together with the afflictions, and its nature is ultimate. Purity is the name of that seed, not the name of a present sensation.
The Benefit of What Remains Behind: The Ground and the Stūpas
After the joining, one more sentence is added: those who make offerings to the ground the Tathāgata walked upon and to his stūpas and shrines “too come to possess roots of goodness, extinguish all the troubles of the afflictions, and attain the joy of the noble ones” — answering exactly to the clause about “taking the earth from beneath that tree” in the simile.
Chengguan draws the distinction finely here: “the ground he walked upon still runs through both his presence and his extinction; the stūpas and shrines are only after his extinction.” The ground the Buddha walked upon could be offered to while he was alive and can be offered to after his extinction, and so it runs through both times; stūpas and shrines are a matter that arises only after his extinction. He also brings forward the Lotus line that “even to raise a single hand” is already to have accomplished the Buddha path, as being of the same kind.
This sentence is, of the whole passage, the one that comes closest to the disciples of later ages. You and I cannot see the Buddha’s form-body and cannot hear the sound of his voice; but this sentence opens the door on the far side of his extinction — a patch of ground the Buddha walked over, a stūpa, a single act of homage, all fall within the compass of “seeing, hearing, and drawing near.” The benefit of the three similes above was not given to the people of the Buddha’s lifetime alone.
Even Without Faith the Root Is Planted: Even One Who Cannot Bring Forth Faith Has Not Fallen Empty
Here the scripture says the most startling sentence in the whole passage: “suppose there were sentient beings who saw the Buddha and heard the Buddha, and yet, bound and covered over by karmic obstruction, could not bring forth a mind of faith and delight — they too have planted roots of goodness, with nothing passing away in vain, and they will even, in the end, enter nirvāṇa.”
First the question: is this not to say that believing and not believing come to the same thing? It is not. Chengguan judges this to be “making clear the benefit for those without faith; this shows that the benefit is deep” — it is not that faith does not matter, it is that the benefit of this Dharma gate is so deep that not even a lack of faith can cover it over. He cites the Rulai mimi zang jing: “revile the medicine, and taking it you still get its power; revile the aloeswood, and burnt it still gives back its fragrance; revile the Buddha, and it is still better than revering the outsiders.” And at once he asks and answers himself, stopping up the place most liable to be misread: “if that is so, is there then no fault in reviling? The fault of reviling is not absent; what is spoken of here is the far-off benefit.” The fault of reviling remains a fault; what the scripture speaks of is the benefit far off, not an excuse for reviling.
He cites further the Lotus — Bhadrapāla and the rest reviled Never Disparaging, suffered a thousand aeons of great pain in the Avīci hell, and after that fault was worked off still met with Never Disparaging’s teaching — and the Nirvāṇa simile of the drum smeared with poison, which none who wish to hear it or not hear it fail to die of. Then he presses all the way up: “if even slander brings benefit far off, how much more deep faith! how much more understanding and practice! how much more realization and awakening! Let those who spread and uphold this take pains to think over this passage.” Fazang’s citation is the passage from the Dabei jing in five fascicles about the one who merely wears the monastic robe upon his body, of whom the Buddha records that he will not pass beyond this worthy aeon without entering final nirvāṇa — the same making clear of the inconceivability of the Tathāgata’s Dharma.
Where it comes down to the ground is in that last line, “let those who spread and uphold this take pains to think over this passage”: these words are not a consolation for the one who does not believe; they are a stiffening of the spine for the one who spreads the Dharma — what you plant will not pass away in vain, even if the one before you does not believe it on the spot.
Setting the Similes Apart from the Dharma: Three Similes Spoken, and Then the Text Itself Says the Similes Do Not Suffice
The three similes done, the scripture itself topples the similes: “the Tathāgata uses every simile to speak of every sort of matter, and yet there is no simile that can speak this Dharma. Why is this? Because the road of mind and of knowing is cut off, and it is beyond conceiving.” And it adds a word about why the similes were skillful means at all: “the buddhas and bodhisattvas merely follow along with the minds of sentient beings, so as to make them glad, and for their sake speak similes; the simile is not the ultimate.”
Two opposite misunderstandings must be set aside. The first is to suppose that, since similes were set up, the Buddha-Dharma is more or less like that — which takes the diamond and the grass-fire for measurements. The second is to suppose that, since the similes do not reach it, the three similes were spoken to no purpose — that is wrong too; if you have not first walked once with the diamond, once with the fire, once with the medicine tree, you cannot know how high the platform is that is being toppled.
Chengguan states the purpose of this toppling through and through: “above, the request in the sense of nature-arising was for causes and similes; Samantabhadra, following the request, made clear the ten senses of the appearance, all of them borrowing images and taking similes, meaning to show that the Buddha’s import is deep and dark. If the deep and dark import cannot even be known by knowing, how could words and images reach it? Therefore let words and images be lost without, and thinking and seeking be cut off within, and one may come near to the import of the appearance.” Let words and images go on the outside, let thought and seeking be cut off on the inside, and only then does one barely come up against the import of the appearance. Fazang likewise says: “because it is not the sort of thing worldly similes can be classed with, it is said to be beyond conceiving.”
The Ten Names: What This Gate of Dharma Is Called
The similes toppled, the scripture turns to the revealing of the names, and gives ten of them one after another: the Secret Place of the Tathāgata; That Which No World Can Know; Entering the Seal of the Tathāgata; Opening the Gate of Great Wisdom; Revealing the Lineage-Nature of the Tathāgata; Bringing All Bodhisattvas to Accomplishment; That Which No World Can Destroy; Wholly According with the Realm of the Tathāgata; Able to Purify the Realms of All Sentient Beings; the Setting Forth of the Inconceivable, Ultimate Dharma That Is the Root Real Nature of the Tathāgata.
The ten names are not ten sayings of one thing. Chengguan pairs them two by two and opens them into five pairs: “first, the pair of the depth within and the cutting off without, that is, within it is the secret store of the three virtues that he realizes, and without, ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicle cannot fathom it. Second, the pair of realizing quiescence and opening wisdom. Third, the pair of manifesting the fruit and accomplishing the cause, that is, the myriad virtues of the pure nature are the very seed of buddhahood, and the appearance in ten gates is the sense of manifesting. Fourth, the pair of surpassing the world and according with the Buddha — if the world does not even know it, how could it destroy it? These ten are all alike the realm proper to a buddha. Fifth, the pair of purifying capacities and setting forth the real, for to know that beings and buddha are of one source is to be able to purify.” Within and without, quiescence and wisdom, fruit and cause, surpassing the world and according with the Buddha, purifying capacities and setting forth the real — each pair is one opening and one closing. And he points out the standing of the last name: “the nine before are separate senses, the last one gathers them all.” The nine each state one sense, and the last name takes them all in.
As for why the words “inconceivable” and “ultimate” fall upon the last name, Chengguan says: “the nature that accords with conditions and yet does not change is the root of the buddhas; and that nature and characteristic are unobstructed and cause and fruit perfectly fused is the inconceivable, beyond which there is nothing further, and so it is the ultimate Dharma.”
Fazang’s Judgment: The Chapter Title ‘Nature-Arising’ Was Established from the Fifth Name
Among the ten names, Fazang leaves under the fifth a sentence of the greatest importance for the Huayan house: “fifth, the scripture that makes clear the opening up and revealing of the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata — from this the name of the Chapter on Nature-Arising was established. Another explanation: to make the function of the buddha lineage-nature arise and appear before one is what is called opening and revealing.”
What this sentence sets out is a piece of history. In the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka this chapter is titled the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata; in the eighty-fascicle it is retitled the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata. Fazang says that the title “nature-arising” in the sixty-fascicle text was established precisely from the fifth of the ten names here, “the opening up and revealing of the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata.” And at the head of the section on revealing the names he explains why the naming had to fall here: “why is the name and the upholding discerned at this point? Because it shows the sense to be real; because nature-arising is the substance of the Dharma; because it is essential and subtle.” Nature-arising is the substance of the Dharma of this chapter, and so the establishing of the name must fall here.
This is the place in this sense where attribution must be kept clearest: the name and the substance of nature-arising both come out of Fazang’s judging, not out of the scripture speaking for itself; the eighty-fascicle text gives ten names only, and does not say which of them the chapter title came out of. The difference of the titles in the two witnesses, and the judging of the gate of nature-arising — these are recorded, and no adjudication is made.
Determining Who Is a Vessel: Not a Withholding, but an Inability to Receive
After the revealing of the names the scripture brings out a sentence that sounds severe: “this gate of Dharma the Tathāgata does not speak for the remaining sentient beings; he speaks it only for bodhisattvas who are headed toward the Great Vehicle, only for bodhisattvas who ride the inconceivable vehicle. This gate of Dharma does not fall into the hands of any of the remaining sentient beings.”
First the question: does this mean there are ranks in the Dharma, and that the Buddha is partial? Chengguan’s explanation shifts the “does not speak for” from the Buddha’s side over to the side of capacity: “what is not a vessel he does not speak for, namely the provisional and lesser vehicles, the conceivable vehicle, since they cultivate through successive stages, and they are named the remaining sentient beings; what is a vessel he does speak for, namely the perfect capacity, without picking between ordinary and holy.” Note those words “without picking between ordinary and holy” — the line between vessel and non-vessel does not fall between the ordinary and the holy, but between the perfect and the not-perfect. And he explains “the inconceivable vehicle”: “one carrying is the carrying of all, and the mind that fills out the ten faiths already gathers in all the stages; being perfectly fused and unobstructed, it is named the inconceivable vehicle.” When one motion is all motion, that is what is called inconceivable.
As for “does not fall into the hands,” Chengguan reads it as receiving and not receiving: “one who has the hand of perfect faith can receive the many practices, and so it is spoken for him; those of the provisional and lesser vehicles cannot fully receive it here, and so it is not spoken for them.” The hand is the hand of faith and understanding. He cites the Faji jing: “though this scripture circulates in Jambudvīpa, it ever moves in the hand of the mind of such beings as can have faith in the deep Dharma.” The scripture circulates in the world; into whose hands it falls depends on who has that hand.
The Simile of the Seven Treasures: Without a Crown Prince, the Treasures Scatter of Themselves
The sense of the vessel being established, the scripture sets up a simile: the seven treasures of a wheel-turning sage king — it is by the treasures that the wheel-turning king is shown; and these treasures do not fall into the hands of the remaining beings, save only the crown prince born of the first consort, who has come to possess in full the marks of a sage king. If there is no such prince, then after the king’s life has ended these treasures are scattered and destroyed within seven days.
The weight of the simile lies in that last sentence. The treasures are not carried off by anyone; they scatter of themselves — with no one able to bear them, they cannot stay. Joined to the Dharma: “so it is too with the treasure of this scripture … save only the true sons of the Tathāgata, the Dharma-king, those born into the family of the Tathāgata and who have planted the various roots of goodness that are the marks of the Tathāgata. Sons of the Buddha! If there were none of these true sons of the Buddha, such a gate of Dharma would before long be scattered and destroyed.”
Chengguan matches it point by point: “joining the scripture to the seven treasures: without this Dharma one is not a true buddha. Being born into the family of the Tathāgata is joined to the crown prince born of the first consort. The marks of the Tathāgata are the initial mind at once practicing the practice of a buddha.” And he opens “scattered and destroyed” into two senses: “first, if it cannot be received in faith the teaching does not go forward; second, if it cannot be cultivated the practice does not go forward.” Teaching not going forward, practice not going forward — and the scripture has scattered.
This simile is a heavy word for the reader: whether a gate of Dharma survives does not hang on whether the scrolls are still there, but on whether there is anyone who can bear it. And the scripture gives only one condition for being able to bear it — to be born into the family of the Tathāgata.
The Showing by Contrast: Six Perfections Cultivated for Measureless Aeons, and Still Perhaps Not a True Bodhisattva
The passage that follows is far from polite: suppose a bodhisattva through measureless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of aeons practices the six perfections and cultivates all sorts of factors of awakening; if he has not heard this gate of Dharma, or having heard it does not believe, does not understand, does not accord, does not enter, he “cannot be called a true bodhisattva, because he is not able to be born into the family of the Tathāgata.”
First the question: after cultivating that long it still does not count — is this to make light of the gate of practice? It is not. Chengguan’s explanation comes down on whether or not one relies on this teaching: “if one does not rely on this teaching, then though one cultivate for many aeons it is still not the real, much less able swiftly to attain awakening.” It is not that practice does not count; it is that practice needs an ultimate place to come home to.
He also asks on the reader’s behalf two very natural doubts. The first: are the words “suppose there were” merely a hypothesis? He answers: “the words ‘suppose there were’ here seem to be a hypothesis … but this is bringing up the provisional to show the real, and is not a hypothesis.” And he sets beside it Maitreya’s praise of Sudhana for purifying a buddha-land in one lifetime, where other bodhisattvas must have hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of aeons to fill out their vows and practices — bringing up the provisional to show the real, no more. The second: if there really are such people without faith, at what stage do they stand? His answer is very honest: “the text gives no fixed judgment; by the sense it should be the three worthy stages, since one who enters the realization of sagehood must be perfect in faith.” And at the end he adds the sentence that comes nearest to ordinary people: “that an ordinary person can all at once have faith is because a cause in the past, perfumed by hearing, has made a seed apart; if now he still does not believe, how shall he hear in time to come?”
The Showing by Accord: Having Heard, He Believes and Understands — and at That Moment He Is Born into the Family of the Tathāgata
The negative side stated, the positive follows: if one gets to hear this gate of Dharma, “having heard it receives it in faith and understands it, according with it and awakening into it, one should know that this person is born into the family of the Tathāgata” — and nine clauses unfold below: he accords with the realm of every Tathāgata; possesses in full all the dharmas of a bodhisattva; abides in the realm of the knowledge of all modes; leaves behind all worldly dharmas; gives birth to all that the Tathāgata practices; penetrates the dharma-nature of all bodhisattvas; has in his mind no doubt about the Buddha’s sovereign mastery; dwells in the Dharma attained without a teacher; enters deeply into the unobstructed realm of the Tathāgata.
Chengguan takes “born into the family of the Tathāgata” as the general and “the remaining clauses as the particular,” and matches out nine kinds of “family” clause by clause: taking the realm of suchness as family; taking the dharmas of practice as family; taking the conventional realm as family; the family of leaving behind what is not family; taking the practice of a buddha as family; the dharma-nature of a bodhisattva as family; purifying the family of buddhahood to come; dwelling in the family of the root buddha; the family in which cause and fruit, phenomena and principle, are unobstructed; the first six being the family of one’s own portion, the last three the family of advancing further. He cites in support Asvabhāva’s treatise, “to be born into the family of the Tathāgata means the buddha Dharma realm, in which one realizes and meets, and so it is called being born into the family”; Vasubandhu’s commentary, “because by this the lineage-nature of the buddhas is made not to be cut off”; and the first fascicle of the Shizhu piposha, “this bodhisattva now practices the way of the Tathāgata, continuing on unbroken.”
The most important thing is the general judgment he makes at the end: “earlier, at the first abiding one sees the nature of mind, and so it is called being born into the family; at the fourth ground one is lodged in what transcends the world, and so one is born into the family of the factors of the path; at the eighth ground one is without effort, and so one is born into the family of the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. Here all three run through, and it further shows that even an ordinary person’s understanding mind is called being born into the family, since cause and fruit are unobstructed.” The first abiding, the fourth ground, and the eighth ground each have their sense of being born into the family, and here all three run through — and he says outright that a single thought of understanding in an ordinary person is also called being born into the family. This sentence puts the threshold of the whole passage at its very lowest: you need not wait until you have entered the grounds; the moment you understand and can believe, you are already inside the house.
The Ten Clauses of Unobstructedness and “Entering Without Entering”
After hearing and believing comes practice. The scripture lays out ten clauses each beginning “he is then able”: with impartial knowing to know measureless dharmas; with an upright mind to leave behind every discrimination; with surpassing zeal and delight to see the buddhas present before him; by the power of the turning of attention to enter the impartial realm of space; with sovereign mindfulness to move through the boundless Dharma realm; by the power of wisdom to possess in full all merits; with spontaneous knowing to leave behind all the defilements of the world; with the mind of awakening to enter the net of all the ten directions; with vast contemplation to know that the buddhas of the three times are of one nature; with the knowing that dedicates and directs his roots of goodness universally to enter such a Dharma as this.
Chengguan pairs these ten clauses two by two and opens them into five pairs of unobstructedness: “first, contemplation does not obstruct stopping; second, seeing the buddhas does not obstruct entering the Dharma; third, that knowing courses through the Dharma realm does not obstruct the raising of merit; fourth, that knowing is undefiled by the world does not obstruct compassion’s entering it; fifth, that in substance it cuts off the three times does not obstruct the function of dedicating and directing.” Each pair is one motion and one stillness that do not hinder each other.
At the end of the ten clauses there suddenly appear the words “entering without entering; he takes no single dharma as an object of clinging, but ever contemplates all dharmas by way of one dharma.” This sentence is the easiest of all to take for dark talk, and Chengguan explains it with great steadiness: “the substance of knowing is suchness itself; outside suchness there is no dharma that could be clung to, and so there is nothing to enter. The place where the mind’s activity is extinguished is still, without entering. Since illumination and function are not lost, one ever contemplates all dharmas by one suchness, and so it is called entering. These two being unobstructed, only then is it true entering.” The substance of knowing is suchness itself; outside suchness there is nothing else to be clung to, and so there is no place to enter; and yet illumination and function are not lost, and so it is also called entering. Having nothing to enter and yet entering do not hinder each other, and that is true entering. He adds: “moreover, the one is suchness itself, and so within the one all is already seen.”
The prose comes to rest here on one line: “a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who brings such merits as these to accomplishment need apply only a little effort, and he attains the spontaneous knowing that is had without a teacher.” After so much that is inconceivable, the place it comes down to is “only a little effort” — answering, head to tail, the “little root of goodness” of the three similes.
The Four Verses in Repetition, and One Doubt Chengguan Left Standing
The prose finished, Samantabhadra sets the meaning forth once more in four verses. Chengguan outlines them: “the four verses divide into two: the first one repeats the statement in prose, and the latter three repeat the three similes in order.” The first verse repeats that the merit of seeing, hearing, and making offerings cannot be measured and will never be used up within the conditioned; the latter three repeat in order the diamond, the fire, and the king of medicine trees. There is no new sense in the verses that the prose did not have; they only gather it up in metre.
What is worth recording is that Chengguan here left a doubt standing and did not alter the text: “the second, the verses, belongs to the tenth, the benefit of seeing and hearing. It does not repeat the revealing of the names and the upholding, for the revealing of the names and the upholding is repeated in verse later on. These verses ought to stand before the setting of the Dharma apart from the similes, since the prose above, linked as it is, makes the revealing of the names also a benefit of seeing and hearing. If these verses were turned round to after the manifesting of the portents, continuous with the verses that follow, text and sense would run very smoothly.” He holds that by text and sense these four verses ought to have stood before the setting of the Dharma apart from the similes, or to have been moved to after the manifesting of the portents so as to join the circulating verses that follow. But he only says that “text and sense would run very smoothly,” and altered nothing. That an ancient worthy had a doubt about the order of a scripture and yet did not presume to alter it — this is recorded, and no adjudication is made.
The Portents and the Two Attestations: Why Both Those of the Fruit and Those of the Cause Must Come to Bear Witness
The verses over, the great earth quakes in six ways and in eighteen aspects, and the heavens rain down every sort of cloud. Chengguan explains this whole display in a single line: “that the numbers of the lands quaking and the rest are all vast and many is because the Dharma is hard to conceive.” The breadth of the portents is to be worthy of the difficulty of conceiving the Dharma.
Then come two layers of witness. First the buddhas of the ten directions, all named Samantabhadra, appear and confirm it, saying “we buddhas of the ten directions, of one and the same name, all speak this Dharma,” and they confer predictions upon the bodhisattvas in the assembly and upon the beings who have raised the aspiration; then the bodhisattvas of the ten directions, all named Samantabhadra, gather and say “in all those places too this Dharma is spoken — with such phrasing as this, such meaning as this, such proclaiming as this, such determining as this, all the same as it is here, neither added to nor taken from.”
Why must both these attestations be had? Chengguan answers: “the reason both are had is that the Dharma is dark and subtle, that it is a Dharma in which cause and fruit interpenetrate, that it is a Dharma of the cause complete and the fruit full. In the assemblies before, only bodhisattvas attested, since those were the practice of the cause. In the chapter on raising the mind only the fruit attested, since that is the root of the fruit … the sense in each case being different, they lack the one or the other; this alone has both.” Other assemblies have either the cause or the fruit; this chapter alone has both attesting, because this Dharma is itself a Dharma in which cause and fruit interpenetrate.
He also explains two words that are easily slipped past. The first: the bodhisattvas come from the ten directions — is there really a coming and going? “Though they come from the ten directions, yet they pervade the Dharma realm; and so their coming is no coming at all.” The second: why are those who come, and the buddhas too, all named Samantabhadra, while the buddhas’ names differ? “That all are named Universal is because the universal Dharma is the same. That the buddhas of the realms have different names is so as not to lose host and guest. Universal Light means that the land of eternal quiescent light is nowhere unpervaded. That the buddha is named Universal Banner of Sovereign Mastery is because root knowing stands out high and there is nothing it does not crush, phenomena and principle being unobstructed.” Sameness of name shows the sameness of the universal Dharma; difference of name preserves the distinction of host and guest.
The Circulating at the Chapter’s End: The Whole Chapter Comes to Rest on “You Should Hold to It and Not Be Heedless”
At the last Samantabhadra, borne up by the Buddha’s spiritual power, surveys the great assembly, states his intent in ten clauses, and speaks four verses — and these four verses gather up not this sense alone but the whole Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata. Chengguan points out that in those ten clauses of intent “each clause is one gate,” answering exactly to the ten gates of the appearance above: “first, the accomplishing of right awakening; second, the Dharma wheel; third, the goodness born of seeing and hearing … ninth, the body, since the one is spoken of in terms of the root; tenth, the practice, since the cause is spoken of within the fruit.”
As for the outline of the four verses, Chengguan divides them thus: “the first verse repeats the concluding response within the section of the exposition, since this takes in the sense of all ten sections; the latter three repeat the revealing of the names and the upholding, the first line revealing the name and the rest all exhorting to uphold. And these divide into three: the first verse praises its depth and the difficulty of hearing it; the next verse makes clear that the text comes of much goodness; the last verse brings up its excellence and exhorts to upholding.” The second verse, “a Dharma subtle and secret and profound as this is hard to hear even in hundreds of thousands of myriads of aeons,” praises its difficulty; the third, “if, hearing this Dharma, one gives rise to joy and gladness, that person has made offerings to measureless buddhas in the past,” turns back to point out that your being able to rejoice at hearing it today is itself the proof of goodness in the past — buckling head to tail with the opening of this sense, that the roots of goodness planted by seeing and hearing are not in vain; and the last verse, “this is the first wealth that surpasses the world … you should hold to it and not be heedless,” exhorts to upholding.
Chengguan has at the chapter’s end a general encomium that may be taken as the closing stroke for one’s reading of this whole chapter: “the text and import of this one chapter are grand and deep; it can be sudden and can be perfect; it plumbs the source of sentient beings and drains the ocean-depths of the buddhas … and it lies within the mind of the ordinary kind, where little effort can yet swiftly realize. How can one deceive oneself and not receive it, and be long sunk in birth and death? That today one can hear and understand and rejoice — for this above all one should congratulate oneself on the goodness of the past.” He lays the whole weight of the chapter on those last two lines: not to receive it is to deceive oneself; and if today you can rejoice, what you should be glad of is what you yourself planted in the past.
Lineage
This sense is where the Huayan house finds the scriptural ground for the name of its gate of nature-arising. Under the fifth of the ten names in the sixty-fascicle text, “the scripture that makes clear the opening up and revealing of the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata,” Fazang states outright that “from this the name of the Chapter on Nature-Arising was established,” and at the head of the section on revealing the names says that “nature-arising is the substance of the Dharma” — the name and the substance of nature-arising both have their scriptural ground in this section on the revealing of the names. The eighty-fascicle text retitles the chapter the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata, and the order and wording of the ten names in its text also differ from those of the sixty-fascicle text (the eighty has “revealing the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata,” the sixty has “opening up and revealing the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata” and further a name “the great wisdom-light sealed by the Tathāgata”). The difference of the titles in the two witnesses, and the judging of the gate of nature-arising, are recorded, and no adjudication is made.
As for the matching of the three similes, Chengguan matches them with the virtue of wisdom, the virtue of cutting off, and the virtue of grace, while Fazang matches them with the fruit of virtue exhausting the future, the fruit of cutting off and extinguishing the obstruction of confusion, and the fruit of accomplishing great awakening — Chengguan speaking in terms of virtue and Fazang in terms of fruit, so that the order in which the first two similes are matched is accordingly reversed; and Fazang brings out under the simile of the fire a separate explanation, “the former extinguishes the obstruction to what is knowable, the latter the obstruction of the afflictions,” which Chengguan does not give. In gathering the ten names, Chengguan makes five pairs, while Fazang follows Guangtong and the rest and gives the reason for each name in turn. As to the placing of the verses, Chengguan brings out a separate opinion that they ought to stand before the setting of the Dharma apart from the similes, or would run smoothly if turned round to after the manifesting of the portents, and yet he does not alter the text of the scripture. There are divergent explanations of old; they are recorded, and no adjudication is made.
The differences of the parallel translation are likewise recorded in the apparatus: before the revealing of the names the sixty-fascicle text has two questions from the bodhisattvas (by what name shall this scripture be called; how is it to be upheld), while the eighty-fascicle text has no question and answers directly, and Chengguan has already stated outright that “according to the Jin scripture, before this there are two kinds of question raised by the bodhisattvas … here there is only the answer”; in the scattering of the seven treasures the eighty-fascicle text has the limit “within seven days” while the sixty has only “scatter of themselves”; in the simile of the diamond the eighty has “it must pass through his body and come out beyond it” while the sixty has “it reaches the diamond-wheel limit, and only then does it stay”; the name of the medicine tree is “Well-Seen” in the eighty and “Well-Appearing” in the sixty; and “entering without entering” belongs to the eighty-fascicle text alone. Further, in the section of the attestation by those of the fruit the sixty marks the realization of the assembly with “when this scripture was spoken,” while the eighty has “here in this assembly now,” marking those present — the weight of the narration differing; and the sixty attaches the passage on the original vows to the end of what the buddhas say, while in the eighty it is narration by the compilers of the scripture. These are recorded as they stand, and nothing is forced into an explanation.
As for the Dasheng qixin lun, the Wujiao zhang, the Shixuan men, the Huayan fajie xuanjing, and the Cheng weishi lun, the She dacheng lun, the Yuqie shidi lun, and the Jie shenmi jing — for all of these the hits upon a sentence taking up this sense in particular are zero. This sense has no direct textual warrant among the treatises of the lineage; the absence is recorded in accordance with fact, and nothing from elsewhere is used to fill it. Li Tongxuan’s Xin Huayan jing lun has no outline division proper to this sense; it has only one place where it cites outright the entrusting and circulating of this chapter, which is related in kind and no more, and this too is recorded as it stands.
考據Apparatus
第十義『見聞親近所種善根』＝普賢答「菩薩摩訶薩應云何知於如來、應、正等覺見聞親近所種善根」〔T10n0279 0277a16〕。先以十一句顯所種善根皆悉不虛，次設三喻（食少金剛喻·芥子火燒乾草喻·雪山藥王樹喻），復明業障不信者見聞亦種善根無空過；後總結揀喻異法，出祕密法門十名，明唯為大乘菩薩說，設轉輪王七寶喻辨定法器，反顯順釋聞信之益，終於「少作功力，得無師自然智」〔T10n0279 0278a06〕。重頌四偈之後，現瑞證成（果人證·因人證），末以品末流通四偈總攝——此義兼收〈如來出現品〉全品之流通，為一品之收束。澄觀判本義為「明出現見聞親近所生善根」〔T35n1735 0885c13〕，法藏判為「明性起見聞敬養善根」〔T35n1733 0416a10〕，並以第五名「開發示現如來種性經」〔T35n1733 0416b19〕明〈性起品〉品名之所由立。
一、科判定位
| 科判系統 | 此義之位 |
|---|---|
| 底本 T279 三十九品 | 品三十七 如來出現品（第七會 重會普光明殿）·第十義 見聞親近所種善根〔T10n0279 0277a16〕起–〔0278c22〕訖（含品末流通與重頌·訖品37全品） |
| 澄觀《華嚴經疏》 | 第十明出現見聞親近所生善根〔T35n1735 0885c13〕起；其下更開大文第五顯名受持分〔0886a18〕· 大文第六現瑞證成〔0887a05〕· 大文第七以偈總攝〔0887b03〕–「出現品竟」〔0887b21〕 |
| 澄觀《隨疏演義鈔》 | 本範圍內未見義十獨立科起標記〔查無〕（品37全鈔範圍 0614c12–0637a15 已檢·詳目八） |
| 法藏《探玄記》（六十華嚴〈寶王如來性起品〉疏） | 第十明性起見聞敬養善根〔T35n1733 0416a10〕起–「上來說分竟」〔0416b12〕；緊接第五大段顯名受持分〔0416b12〕起 |
| 李通玄《新華嚴經論》 | 本義專屬科段未見〔查無〕；唯 0725a02 明引「《華嚴經．如來出現品》中付囑流通」與本義流通分相涉（詳目七） |
來意——澄觀繫本義於前九義之後，明前九為出現一期之始終，此第十則辨見聞之益：
「第十明出現見聞親近所生善根。前九門出現，一期始終；今明於上見聞功深益遠，獎物進修。文中三：初徵起、次正顯、後結示。」〔T35n1735 0885c13〕
法藏繫之同揆，而標名逕作「性起見聞敬養善根」〔T35n1733 0416a10〕，並以次第繫於前義涅槃之後：
「第十明性起見聞敬養善根。前既示涅槃，今明供養餘跡，成益不虛，故次明也。長行內釋中三：先就法、二約喻、三簡喻異法。」〔T35n1733 0416a10〕
正顯之內科（澄觀）——
「就正顯中，分二：先明見聞信向益、後見聞不信益。前中，先法、後喻。法中，先總、後別。」〔T35n1735 0885c16〕
四位所種與三種果（法藏）——
「所謂於佛，若見佛及像、若聞名及稱念、若三業恭敬、若四事供養，於此四位所種善根，廣多無限不可稱說，故云功德無盡。」〔T35n1733 0416a13〕
「下別顯中，略舉三種果：一斷滅惑障果、二「於一切」下德窮來際果、三「起諸佛」下成大菩提果。又初唯斷果令得涅槃；後唯智果令得菩提；中間通二，謂棄有為隨順無為故也。」〔T35n1733 0416a16〕
顯名受持分以下三大文（澄觀）——「大文第五「佛子此法門」下顯名受持分。於中分二：先長行、後偈頌。」〔T35n1735 0886a18〕；「大文第六現瑞證成。於中二：先現瑞、後證成。」〔0887a05〕；「大文第七「爾時普賢」下以偈總攝。文中二：先敘意、後正頌。」〔0887b03〕。
二、術語
| 漢 | 所徵 | 精義 |
|---|---|---|
| 見聞親近所種善根 | 本義徵起「菩薩摩訶薩應云何知於如來、應、正等覺見聞親近所種善根」〔T10n0279 0277a16〕 | 法藏開為四位——見佛及像·聞名及稱念·三業恭敬·四事供養〔T35n1733 0416a13〕；60 本作「見聞恭敬供養所種善根」〔T09n0278 0629b11〕 |
| 不虛之相十一句 | 本義「出生無盡覺慧故……到無功用智地故」〔T10n0279 0277a19〕 | 澄觀：「即示不虛之相，有十一句，不出智斷恩德，思之。」〔T35n1735 0885c19〕 |
| 少善根 | 本義「於如來所種少善根亦復如是」〔T10n0279 0277a25〕 | 少而不可消·不可盡；法藏以之屬「微少善根性不可盡」〔T35n1733 0416a21〕 |
| 無為究竟智處 | 本義「要穿一切有為諸行煩惱身過，到於無為究竟智處」〔T10n0279 0277a25〕 | 金剛喻之合處；60 本作「乃至究竟如來涅槃智慧，然後乃住」〔T09n0278 0629b20〕 |
| 藥王樹·善見 | 本義「譬如雪山有藥王樹，名曰：善見」〔T10n0279 0277b03〕 | 六根皆得清淨之喻依；60 本作「大藥王，名曰善現」〔T09n0278 0629b28〕 |
| 六根境界 | 本義「若有得見如來色身，眼得清淨」〔T10n0279 0277b08〕以下六句〔T10n0279 0277b08〕 | 澄觀：「先明為六根境界益，合上藥王遍益。六根皆通在世滅後。」〔T35n1735 0885c25〕；法藏引《寶性論》證同揆〔T35n1733 0416a26〕 |
| 遺迹之益 | 本義「若有眾生供養如來所經土地及塔廟者」〔T10n0279 0277b14〕 | 澄觀：「所經土地，猶通現滅。其塔廟者，唯約滅後。」〔T35n1735 0886a01〕 |
| 無空過 | 本義「亦種善根無空過者，乃至究竟入於涅槃」〔T10n0279 0277b17〕 | 見聞不信益之樞句；60 本作「彼諸眾生於見聞中所種善根果報不虛」〔T09n0278 0629c14〕 |
| 心智路絕 | 本義「何以故？心智路絕，不思議故」〔T10n0279 0277b21〕 | 揀喻異法之由；澄觀：「故令外亡言象、內絕思求。」〔T35n1735 0886a17〕 |
| 如來祕密之處 | 十名之首「此法門名為：如來祕密之處」〔T10n0279 0277b24〕 | 法藏依光統等作「諸佛祕密藏經，以是諸佛內證法故」〔T35n1733 0416b15〕 |
| 示現如來種性 | 十名之第五〔T10n0279 0277b25〕 | 法藏：「〈性起品〉名從此而立。」〔T35n1733 0416b20〕——六十本品名之所由 |
| 不思議乘 | 本義「唯為乘不思議乘菩薩說」〔T10n0279 0277c01〕 | 澄觀：「一運一切運，十信滿心即攝諸位，圓融無礙名不思議乘。」〔T35n1735 0886b08〕 |
| 如來法王真子 | 本義「唯除如來法王真子，生如來家，種如來相諸善根者」〔T10n0279 0277c08〕 | 七寶喻之合處；澄觀：「生如來家，合第一夫人所生太子。」〔T35n1735 0886b16〕 |
| 生如來家 | 本義「當知此人生如來家」〔T10n0279 0277c21〕 | 澄觀開九家而以「生如來家為總，餘句為別」〔T35n1735 0886c06〕 |
| 無師自然智 | 本義「成就如是功德，少作功力，得無師自然智」〔T10n0279 0278a05〕 | 長行之結；60 本作「少作方便，得無師智」〔T09n0278 0630b05〕 |
| 六種震動·十八相動 | 現瑞段〔T10n0279 0278a09〕 | 澄觀：「動剎等數皆廣多者，法難思故。」〔T35n1735 0887a06〕 |
| 普幢自在如來 | 因人證「各從普光明世界普幢自在如來所而來於此」〔T10n0279 0278c01〕 | 澄觀：「佛名普幢自在者，本智高出無所不摧，事理無礙故。」〔T35n1735 0887b01〕；60 本作「普勝如來」〔T09n0278 0631a07〕 |
三、譬喻·修辭
(一) 食少金剛喻——「佛子！譬如丈夫，食少金剛，終竟不消，要穿其身，出在於外。何以故？金剛不與肉身雜穢而同止故。」〔T10n0279 0277a22〕：
- 喻依：人吞少許金剛，終竟不能消化，必穿身而出。
- 喻體：於如來所種少善根，要穿一切有為諸行煩惱身過，到於無為究竟智處。
- 所顯義：澄觀判喻智德——「初少服金剛喻，喻於智德。智慧破惑，如金剛故。以有智慧者必無煩惱，故不共住。」〔T35n1735 0885c21〕法藏則判為「喻前第二德窮來際果，謂微少善根性不可盡也」〔T35n1733 0416a21〕。
- 二本喻依之異：80 作「要穿其身，出在於外」〔T10n0279 0277a23〕，60 作「要從身過；至金剛輪際，然後乃住」〔T09n0278 0629b17〕——出身之後所至，80 不言其處，60 明言至金剛輪際。
(二) 芥子火燒乾草喻——「佛子！假使乾草積同須彌，投火於中如芥子許，必皆燒盡。何以故？火能燒故。」〔T10n0279 0277a28〕：
- 喻依：乾草聚如須彌之大，投入芥子許之火，必盡燒之。
- 喻體：於如來所種少善根，必能燒盡一切煩惱，究竟得於無餘涅槃。
- 所顯義：澄觀判喻斷德——「第二少火燒多喻，喻斷德。性究竟者，了惑本寂故。」〔T35n1735 0885c23〕法藏判為「喻第一斷滅惑障果，謂少善根性能滅惑」〔T35n1733 0416a22〕，並出又釋「前滅所知障，後滅煩惱障」〔T35n1733 0416a23〕。
- 大小之對比為此喻之骨：草多而火少，多者可盡，少者不可盡——與前喻『少金剛不消』互為表裏。
(三) 雪山藥王樹喻——「佛子！譬如雪山有藥王樹，名曰：善見。若有見者，眼得清淨；若有聞者，耳得清淨……若有眾生取彼地土，亦能為作除病利益。」〔T10n0279 0277b03〕：
- 喻依：雪山藥王樹名善見，見·聞·嗅·嘗·觸皆令根淨，取其地土亦能除病。
- 喻體：如來無上藥王能作一切饒益眾生——見色身則眼淨·聞名號則耳淨·嗅戒香則鼻淨·嘗法味則舌淨·觸光明則身淨·生憶念則得念佛三昧清淨；供養所經土地及塔廟者，亦具善根。
- 所顯義：澄觀判喻恩德——「第三藥王遍益喻，喻恩德，種種利生故。」〔T35n1735 0885c24〕法藏判為「喻第三成大菩提果」〔T35n1733 0416a24〕。
- 合之二分：澄觀「先明為六根境界益，合上藥王遍益」〔T35n1735 0885c25〕·〔T35n1735 0885c25〕「後「若有眾生供養如來所經土地」〔T10n0279 0277b14〕下明遺迹之益，合上取彼地土」；法藏同分二——「初以佛合藥樹」〔T35n1733 0416a25〕·「二「若有得經卷」下合地土等，明佛滅後益」〔T35n1733 0416b01〕。
- 法藏引《寶性論》為六根境界之證：「諸佛如來身，如虛空無相，為諸勝智者，作六根境界，示現微妙色，出于妙音聲，令嗅佛戒香，與佛妙法味，使覺三昧觸，令知深妙法。」澄觀亦云「《寶性論》中亦明如來與菩薩為六根境界，大同於此」〔T35n1735 0885c27〕。
(四) 轉輪聖王七寶喻——「佛子！譬如轉輪聖王所有七寶，因此寶故顯示輪王，此寶不入餘眾生手，唯除第一夫人所生太子，具足成就聖王相者。若轉輪王無此太子具眾德者，王命終後，此諸寶等於七日中悉皆散滅。」〔T10n0279 0277c03〕：
- 喻依：輪王七寶唯太子能持，無太子則王沒之後七日散滅。
- 喻體：此經珍寶不入餘眾生手，唯除如來法王真子；若無真子，如是法門不久散滅。
- 所顯義：澄觀合之云：「以經合七寶者，若無此法，非真佛故。生如來家，合第一夫人所生太子。如來相者，初心頓行佛行故。散滅有二義：一不能信受則教不行故、二不能修行則行不行故。」〔T35n1735 0886b15〕
- 二本之異：80 明「於七日中悉皆散滅」〔T10n0279 0277c07〕，60 唯作「自然散滅」〔T09n0278 0630a05〕，無七日之限。
(五) 揀喻異法之自破——「佛子！如來以一切譬諭說種種事，無有譬諭能說此法。何以故？心智路絕，不思議故。諸佛菩薩但隨眾生心，令其歡喜，為說譬諭，非是究竟。」〔T10n0279 0277b20〕——設三喻既竟而自言喻不及法，為本義修辭之樞。澄觀釋其意：
「上來〈性起〉請說因喻，〈普賢〉依請明十出現，皆借象取譬，意顯佛旨深玄。深玄之旨尚不可以智知，豈言象之能及？故令外亡言象、內絕思求，則庶幾於〈出現〉之旨。」〔T35n1735 0886a14〕
法藏亦云：「第三簡喻異法，有標、有釋。以非世喻所能類，故云過思議也。」〔T35n1733 0416b08〕
(六) 重頌之喻對位——重頌四偈，第一偈頌法說，後三偈如次頌三喻：「譬人吞服少金剛，終竟不消要當出」〔T10n0279 0278a10〕·「如乾草積等須彌，投芥子火悉燒盡」〔T10n0279 0278a12〕·「雪山有藥名善見，見聞嗅觸消眾疾」〔T10n0279 0278a14〕。澄觀科之：「四偈分二：初一頌法說、後三如次頌前三喻。」〔T35n1735 0887a04〕
(七) 品末流通頌之「財」喻——「此為超世第一財，此能救度諸群品，此能出生清淨道，汝等當持莫放逸。」〔T10n0279 0278c21〕——以世間之財況出世之法，為全品收束之末句。60 本對位作「一切諸善逝，世上世間勝，最勝歡喜眾，此經為內藏」〔T09n0278 0631b02〕，以「內藏」為喻，喻語不同。
四、異譯對勘
本義之漢譯校本：實叉難陀 T279（底本·〈如來出現品第三十七〉第十義並品末流通）· 佛馱跋陀羅 T278（晉譯六十華嚴〈寶王如來性起品第三十二〉之四〔T09n0278 0629b10〕起–〔0631b06〕訖）。本義無別行經、無牒經論釋〔查無〕。以下逐句全錄不判。
句一 徵起
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應云何知於如來、應、正等覺見聞親近所種善根？ | T10n0279 0277a16 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 佛子！云何菩薩摩訶薩知、見於如來、應供、等正覺所見聞恭敬供養所種善根？ | T09n0278 0629b10 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80 作「見聞親近」、60 作「見聞恭敬供養」。(乙) 80 通作「知」、60 作「知、見」二字連舉。(丙) 佛號 80 作「如來、應、正等覺」、60 作「如來、應供、等正覺」。
句二 不虛之相
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 皆悉不虛，出生無盡覺慧故，離於一切障難故，決定至於究竟故，無有虛誑故，一切願滿故，不盡有為行故，隨順無為智故，生諸佛智故，盡未來際故，成一切種勝行故，到無功用智地故。 | T10n0279 0277a18 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 皆悉不虛，功德無盡；離一切愛，究竟解脫，果報不虛，滿足諸願，於一切有為法中，不可窮盡，而能隨順無為智慧，起諸佛智究竟未來際，具足一切諸如來地。 | T09n0278 0629b13 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80 為十一句「故」字排比，60 為九句短語，開合不同。(乙) 80「離於一切障難」↔ 60「離一切愛」。(丙) 80 末句「到無功用智地」↔ 60「具足一切諸如來地」〔T09n0278 0629b16〕。(丁) 60 有「功德無盡」一句，即法藏所釋之總辨處〔T35n1733 0416a15〕，80 無此四字。
句三 金剛喻
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 譬如丈夫，食少金剛，終竟不消，要穿其身，出在於外。何以故？金剛不與肉身雜穢而同止故。 | T10n0279 0277a23 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 譬如丈夫食少金剛，終竟不消要從身過；至金剛輪際，然後乃住。所以者何？以彼金剛不可消故如是。 | T09n0278 0629b17 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80「要穿其身，出在於外」〔T10n0279 0277a23〕↔ 60「要從身過；至金剛輪際，然後乃住」〔T09n0278 0629b17〕。(乙) 所以之釋 80 作「金剛不與肉身雜穢而同止」〔T10n0279 0277a24〕（就不共住說）、60 作「彼金剛不可消」（就不可消說）。
句四 金剛喻之合
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 於如來所種少善根亦復如是，要穿一切有為諸行煩惱身過，到於無為究竟智處。何以故？此少善根不與有為諸行煩惱而共住故。 | T10n0279 0277a25 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 於如來所少植善根，能壞一切有為煩惱，乃至究竟如來涅槃智慧，然後乃住。所以者何？於如來所植諸善根不可盡故。 | T09n0278 0629b19 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80 作「到於無為究竟智處」〔T10n0279 0277a26〕、60 作「究竟如來涅槃智慧」〔T09n0278 0629b20〕。(乙) 釋所以者 80 作「不與有為諸行煩惱而共住」〔T10n0279 0277a27〕、60 作「所植諸善根不可盡」〔T09n0278 0629b22〕——與句三之異相隨（80 一貫就不共住說，60 一貫就不可盡說）。
句五 火喻並合
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 假使乾草積同須彌，投火於中如芥子許，必皆燒盡。何以故？火能燒故。於如來所種少善根亦復如是，必能燒盡一切煩惱，究竟得於無餘涅槃。何以故？此少善根性究竟故。 | T10n0279 0277a28 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 譬如須彌山等大乾草聚，若有人持如芥子火，悉能燒盡。何以故？火性悉能燒故。佛子！於如來所種少善根亦復如是，悉能燒滅一切煩惱，無有遺餘，究竟涅槃。何以故？於如來所種諸善根性究竟故。 | T09n0278 0629b22 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80「火能燒故」↔ 60「火性悉能燒故」。(乙) 80「究竟得於無餘涅槃」〔T10n0279 0277b02〕↔ 60「無有遺餘，究竟涅槃」〔T09n0278 0629b26〕。
句六 藥王樹喻
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 譬如雪山有藥王樹，名曰：善見。若有見者，眼得清淨；若有聞者，耳得清淨；若有嗅者，鼻得清淨；若有嘗者，舌得清淨；若有觸者，身得清淨；若有眾生取彼地土，亦能為作除病利益。 | T10n0279 0277b03 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 譬如雪山有大藥王，名曰善現，若有見者，眼得清淨；若有聞者，耳得清淨；若聞香者，鼻得清淨；若嘗味者，舌得清淨；若有觸者，身得清淨；若取彼地土，悉能除滅無量眾病，安隱快樂。 | T09n0278 0629b27 |
異文所繫：(甲) 樹名 80 作「善見」、60 作「善現」；80 作「藥王樹」、60 作「大藥王」。(乙) 80「若有嗅者」「若有嘗者」↔ 60「若聞香者」「若嘗味者」。(丙) 地土之益 80 作「除病利益」、60 作「除滅無量眾病，安隱快樂」〔T09n0278 0629c02〕。
句七 六根境界之合
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 若有得嘗如來法味，舌得清淨，具廣長舌，解語言法；若有得觸如來光者，身得清淨，究竟獲得無上法身；若於如來生憶念者，則得念佛三昧清淨。 | T10n0279 0277b11 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 若有得味如來法味，舌得清淨，得金剛廣長清淨舌根，悉能演說一切言音；若有得觸如來光者，彼人即得清淨色身，究竟逮得無上法身；若有念如來者，得念佛三昧，正念不亂。 | T09n0278 0629c07 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80「具廣長舌，解語言法」〔T10n0279 0277b11〕↔ 60「得金剛廣長清淨舌根，悉能演說一切言音」〔T09n0278 0629c07〕。(乙) 觸光之益 80 唯言「身得清淨」，60 加「彼人即得清淨色身」〔T09n0278 0629c09〕。(丙) 念佛三昧 80 作「清淨」、60 作「正念不亂」。
句八 遺迹之益
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 若有眾生供養如來所經土地及塔廟者，亦具善根，滅除一切諸煩惱患，得賢聖樂。 | T10n0279 0277b14 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 若有得經卷地如來塔廟，禮拜供養，彼眾生等具足善根，滅煩惱患，得賢聖樂。 | T09n0278 0629c11 |
異文所繫：80 作「所經土地」、60 作「經卷地」——所供之境二本詞異。澄觀於 80 本判「所經土地，猶通現滅。其塔廟者，唯約滅後」〔T35n1735 0886a01〕；法藏於 60 本科作「「若有得經卷」下合地土等，明佛滅後益」〔T35n1733 0416b01〕。二疏各依所疏之本，全錄不判。
句九 見聞不信益
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 佛子！我今告汝，設有眾生見聞於佛，業障纏覆不生信樂，亦種善根無空過者，乃至究竟入於涅槃。 | T10n0279 0277b16 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 佛子！乃至不信邪見眾生，見聞佛者，彼諸眾生於見聞中所種善根果報不虛，乃至究竟涅槃，斷一切惡諸不善根，具足善根。 | T09n0278 0629c13 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80 標「我今告汝」為誡聽語、60 無。(乙) 所被之機 80 作「業障纏覆不生信樂」〔T10n0279 0277b17〕、60 作「不信邪見眾生」。(丙) 80 別出結句「悉離一切諸不善法，具足善法」〔T10n0279 0277b19〕在後〔T10n0279 0277b19〕，60 則於本句內即收「斷一切惡諸不善根，具足善根」〔T09n0278 0629c15〕。
句十 揀喻異法
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 如來以一切譬諭說種種事，無有譬諭能說此法。何以故？心智路絕，不思議故。諸佛菩薩但隨眾生心，令其歡喜，為說譬諭，非是究竟。 | T10n0279 0277b20 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 佛子！於如來所見聞供養恭敬所種善根不可言說，不可為諭。何以故？如來不可思議，過思議故；但隨所應，佛為作諭。 | T09n0278 0629c16 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80 就法說「無有譬諭能說此法」〔T10n0279 0277b21〕、60 就善根說「所種善根不可言說，不可為諭」〔T09n0278 0629c16〕，所揀之所指開合不同。(乙) 不思議之由 80 作「心智路絕」、60 作「如來不可思議，過思議故」〔T09n0278 0629c17〕。(丙) 80 有「非是究竟」之結、60 無。
句十一 問名與答名
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 佛子！此法門名為：如來祕密之處，名：一切世間所不能知，名：入如來印，名：開大智門，名：示現如來種性，名：成就一切菩薩，名：一切世間所不能壞，名：一向隨順如來境界，名：能淨一切諸眾生界，名：演說如來根本實性不思議究竟法。 | T10n0279 0277b23 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 爾時，諸菩薩摩訶薩白普賢菩薩言：「佛子！當何名此經？云何奉持？」〔T09n0278 0629c21〕「佛子！此經名為一切諸佛微密法藏。一切世間不能思議，如來所印大智光明開發示現如來種性；長養一切菩薩功德，一切世間無能破壞；隨順一切如來境界，令一切眾生皆悉清淨；分別演說佛究竟法。」〔T09n0278 0629c22〕 | T09n0278 0629c20 |
異文所繫：(甲) 60 有諸菩薩二問（何名此經·云何奉持），80 無問逕答。澄觀於此明言：「準晉經，此前有諸菩薩發二種問，謂何名此經？云何奉持？今但有答，即分為二。」〔T35n1735 0886a20〕法藏於六十本亦科作「先興二問、後還兩答」〔T35n1733 0416b13〕。(乙) 十名逐字二本異：80「如來祕密之處」↔ 60「一切諸佛微密法藏」〔T09n0278 0629c22〕；80「入如來印」「開大智門」二名 ↔ 60「如來所印大智光明」〔T09n0278 0629c23〕（名數對位依法藏科·見目六·不判）；80「成就一切菩薩」↔ 60「長養一切菩薩功德」〔T09n0278 0629c24〕；80「能淨一切諸眾生界」〔T10n0279 0277b27〕↔ 60「令一切眾生皆悉清淨」；80「演說如來根本實性不思議究竟法」〔T10n0279 0277b28〕↔ 60「分別演說佛究竟法」〔T09n0278 0629c26〕。
句十二 辨定法器
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 此法門，如來不為餘眾生說，唯為趣向大乘菩薩說，唯為乘不思議乘菩薩說；此法門不入一切餘眾生手，唯除諸菩薩摩訶薩。 | T10n0279 0277b29 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 如是經典，但為乘不思議乘菩薩摩訶薩一向專心求菩提者分別解說，不為餘人。何以故？此經不入一切眾生之手，唯除菩薩。 | T09n0278 0629c27 |
異文所繫：80 標二機（趣向大乘·乘不思議乘）、60 唯標一機而加「一向專心求菩提者」〔T09n0278 0629c28〕。
句十三 七寶喻
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 譬如轉輪聖王所有七寶，因此寶故顯示輪王，此寶不入餘眾生手，唯除第一夫人所生太子，具足成就聖王相者。若轉輪王無此太子具眾德者，王命終後，此諸寶等於七日中悉皆散滅。 | T10n0279 0277c03 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 譬如轉輪聖王所有七寶，因此寶故，行轉輪王法。聖王七寶無堪持者，唯除第一夫人所生太子，具足成就聖王相者。佛子！若轉輪王無此太子具眾德者，王命終後，此諸寶等自然散滅。 | T09n0278 0630a01 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80「因此寶故顯示輪王」〔T10n0279 0277c03〕↔ 60「因此寶故，行轉輪王法」〔T09n0278 0630a01〕。(乙) 80「此寶不入餘眾生手」〔T10n0279 0277c04〕↔ 60「聖王七寶無堪持者」〔T09n0278 0630a02〕。(丙) 80 有「於七日中」之限、60 唯作「自然散滅」。
句十四 合喻與二乘
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 此經珍寶亦復如是，不入一切餘眾生手，唯除如來法王真子，生如來家，種如來相諸善根者。佛子！若無此等佛之真子，如是法門不久散滅。何以故？一切二乘不聞此經，何況受持、讀誦、書寫、分別解說！唯諸菩薩乃能如是。 | T10n0279 0277c07 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 此經如是不入一切眾生之手，唯除如來法王真子：從諸如來種姓家生，種如來相諸善根者；若無此等佛之真子，斯經則滅。何以故？一切聲聞、緣覺不聞此經，何況受持、書寫、解說，無有是處。唯除菩薩摩訶薩能自誦持、書寫經卷。 | T09n0278 0630a05 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80「生如來家」↔ 60「從諸如來種姓家生」〔T09n0278 0630a07〕。(乙) 80「不久散滅」↔ 60「斯經則滅」。(丙) 80 作「一切二乘」、60 開作「一切聲聞、緣覺」。
句十五 反顯
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 設有菩薩於無量百千億那由他劫行六波羅蜜，修習種種菩提分法。若未聞此如來不思議大威德法門，或時聞已不信、不解、不順、不入，不得名為真實菩薩，以不能生如來家故。 | T10n0279 0277c15 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 佛子！菩薩摩訶薩雖無量億那由他劫，行六波羅蜜，修習道品善根，未聞此經，雖聞不信，受持隨順，是等猶為假名菩薩，不從如來種姓家生。 | T09n0278 0630a14 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80 作「不得名為真實菩薩」〔T10n0279 0277c18〕、60 作「猶為假名菩薩」——遮表相反而所指同。(乙) 80 開四句「不信、不解、不順、不入」〔T10n0279 0277c18〕、60 唯「雖聞不信」。澄觀於「設有」二字別致其疑而自解：「此中設有之言，似當假設……斯則舉權顯實，非假設也。」〔T35n1735 0886b25〕
句十六 順釋
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 若得聞此如來無量不可思議無障無礙智慧法門，聞已信解，隨順悟入，當知此人生如來家，隨順一切如來境界，具足一切諸菩薩法，安住一切種智境界，遠離一切諸世間法，出生一切如來所行，通達一切菩薩法性，於佛自在心無疑惑，住無師法，深入如來無礙境界。 | T10n0279 0277c19 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 若菩薩摩訶薩得聞此經，聞已信向受持隨順，當知此等為真佛子，從佛家生，隨順一切如來境界，具足一切菩薩正法，安住一切種智境界，遠離一切世間諸法，出生長養如來所行，到一切菩薩諸法彼岸，於如來自在正法心無疑惑，究竟安住無師之地，深入一切如來境界。 | T09n0278 0630a17 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80「生如來家」↔ 60「為真佛子，從佛家生」〔T09n0278 0630a19〕。(乙) 80「通達一切菩薩法性」〔T10n0279 0277c24〕↔ 60「到一切菩薩諸法彼岸」〔T09n0278 0630a22〕。(丙) 80「深入如來無礙境界」〔T10n0279 0277c25〕有「無礙」二字、60 無。
句十七 十句無礙之行益並結
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 則能以善根迴向智普入如是法，不入而入；不於一法而有攀緣，恒以一法觀一切法。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩成就如是功德，少作功力，得無師自然智。 | T10n0279 0278a03 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 深入此等一切諸法，而無所入，不念一法，不念二法，悉平等觀無量諸法。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩成就如是等功德，少作方便，得無師智。 | T09n0278 0630b02 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80「不入而入」一句為 60 所無，60 唯作「而無所入」。(乙) 80「恒以一法觀一切法」〔T10n0279 0278a04〕↔ 60「不念一法，不念二法，悉平等觀無量諸法」〔T09n0278 0630b03〕。(丙) 80「少作功力，得無師自然智」〔T10n0279 0278a06〕↔ 60「少作方便，得無師智」〔T09n0278 0630b05〕。澄觀正依 80 之「不入而入」立無礙之釋〔T35n1735 0886c23〕。
句十八 重頌
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 見聞供養諸如來，所得功德不可量，於有為中終不盡，要滅煩惱離眾苦。 | T10n0279 0278a08 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 若見聞如來，恭敬及供養，所植諸善根，無量不可稱。一切有為中，不可得窮盡，寂滅諸煩惱，離苦得涅槃。 | T09n0278 0630b07 |
異文所繫：80 頌為七言四偈，60 頌為五言八偈——句式與偈數本異。80 一偈之量，60 分作二偈。
句十九 十八相動
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 動、遍動、等遍動，起、遍起、等遍起，涌、遍涌、等遍涌，震、遍震、等遍震，吼、遍吼、等遍吼，擊、遍擊、等遍擊。 | T10n0279 0278a19 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 動、遍動、等遍動，起、遍起、等遍起，覺、遍覺、等遍覺，震、遍震、等遍震，吼、遍吼、等遍吼，涌、遍涌、等遍涌。 | T09n0278 0630b26 |
異文所繫：80 之第三組作「涌」而第六組作「擊」；60 之第三組作「覺」而第六組作「涌」——60 有「覺」無「擊」，且「涌」之位次不同。
句二十 果人證之授記
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 佛子！今此會中，十萬佛剎微塵數菩薩摩訶薩，得一切菩薩神通三昧；我等皆與授記，一生當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。 | T10n0279 0278b06 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 說此經時，百千佛剎微塵等菩薩，得菩薩一切明，一切三昧，授一生記，當成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。 | T09n0278 0630c13 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80 作「今此會中，十萬佛剎微塵數菩薩摩訶薩」〔T10n0279 0278b07〕、60 作「說此經時，百千佛剎微塵等菩薩」〔T09n0278 0630c13〕——數與時之標舉不同。(乙) 80 明繫「我等皆與授記」於同名諸佛，60 逕作「授一生記」而不別標授者。(丙) 80 云「得一切菩薩神通三昧」〔T10n0279 0278b08〕，澄觀釋「神通三昧即十通十定故」〔T35n1735 0887a16〕；60 作「得菩薩一切明，一切三昧」〔T09n0278 0630c14〕。
句二十一 敘事重心與繫屬
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 爾時，十方諸佛威神力故，毘盧遮那本願力故，法如是故，善根力故，如來起智不越念故…… | T10n0279 0278b16 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 盧舍那佛本願力故，法如是故，善根力故，如來無盡智故，如來不失時故，隨其所應化菩薩故，廣行普賢菩薩行故，示現一切種智故。 | T09n0278 0630c22 |
異文所繫：(甲) 佛名 80 作「毘盧遮那」、60 作「盧舍那佛」。(乙) 繫屬異——80 以此段為經家敘語（「爾時」起，敘因人來集之由），60 則置此段於同名諸佛所言之末（承 0630c10「咸作是言」而下），為佛語之收尾；因人來集之敘另起於 0630c25。(丙) 敘事重心異——60 於果人證段中以「說此經時」標會眾證果（得一切明·一切三昧·授一生記），80 則作「今此會中」標現前之眾。誌錄不判。
句二十二 品末流通頌
| 校本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 實叉 T279 | 此為超世第一財，此能救度諸群品，此能出生清淨道，汝等當持莫放逸。 | T10n0279 0278c21 |
| 佛馱 T278 | 一切諸善逝，世上世間勝，最勝歡喜眾，此經為內藏。能出生無量，一切白淨道，是故離放逸，一心常奉持。 | T09n0278 0631b02 |
異文所繫：(甲) 80 以「超世第一財」為喻、60 以「內藏」為喻。(乙) 80 末句「汝等當持莫放逸」↔ 60「是故離放逸，一心常奉持」〔T09n0278 0631b05〕——勸持之語序相反而義同。(丙) 80 品末流通頌四偈七言、60 六偈五言。
五、宗義之經據〔眼〕
(一) 少善根不可消——見聞即入不退之經據——「於如來所種少善根亦復如是，要穿一切有為諸行煩惱身過，到於無為究竟智處。」〔T10n0279 0277a25〕澄觀以三喻配三德，判此喻智德「智慧破惑，如金剛故」〔T35n1735 0885c21〕；法藏判為「德窮來際果」〔T35n1733 0416a21〕。少而不消·少而能燒——是本義最切近凡夫之一著：所種雖少，性不與煩惱同住，故必至究竟。
(二) 不信亦種善根——「設有眾生見聞於佛，業障纏覆不生信樂，亦種善根無空過者，乃至究竟入於涅槃。」〔T10n0279 0277b16〕澄觀判此為「明不信益者，此明益深」〔T35n1735 0886a04〕，並引三經為證：
〔T35n1735 0886a05〕「《如來祕密藏經》明「罵藥，服之得力。罵沈，燒已還香。罵佛，猶勝敬諸外道。」〔T35n1735 0886a05〕若爾，豈無罵罪？罵罪非無，今語遠益故。」
〔T35n1735 0886a07〕「《法華》云「跋陀婆羅等罵常不輕，千劫於阿毘地獄受大苦惱，畢是罪已，還遇常不輕菩薩教化。」〔T35n1735 0886a07〕《涅槃》喻以毒塗之鼓，欲聞不聞無不死者。故菩薩之名，起自聞謗之日。謗尚遠益，況深信耶！況解行耶！況證悟耶！弘持之者，勉思此文。」
法藏所引則為《如來祕密藏經》與五卷《大悲經》：
〔T35n1733 0416b05〕「五卷《大悲經》「但出家人袈裟著身，假令左手携男、右手携女，從一酒家至一酒家。佛言：我記此人不出賢劫當般涅槃。」〔T35n1733 0416b05〕如是等文，同明如來法不思議也。」
(三) 十名之五對（澄觀）——
「今初，有十名，分為五對：一內深外絕對，謂內證三德祕密藏故，外則凡小不能測故。二證寂開智對。三現果成因對，謂性淨萬德即是佛種，今十門出現即是現義。四越世順佛對，世尚不知，安能破壞？此十通是佛分齊境。五淨機演實對，知生佛同源則能淨故。」〔T35n1735 0886a23〕
「隨緣不變之性，諸佛本故。而性相無礙、因果圓融為不思議，過此更無為究竟法。前九別義，後一總該。」〔T35n1735 0886a29〕
(四) 〈性起品〉品名之所由（法藏）——十名之第五，法藏繫六十本品名於此：
「五明開發示現如來種性經，〈性起品〉名從此而立。又釋：令佛種性起用現前，名開示也。」〔T35n1733 0416b19〕
又標辨名之由：「何故此中辨名持者？顯義實故、以性起是法體故、要妙故。」〔T35n1733 0416b13〕——性起為法體，故必於此立名，是華嚴宗性起一門之名據所在。
(五) 不思議乘與圓機——「唯為趣向大乘菩薩說，唯為乘不思議乘菩薩說」〔T10n0279 0277b29〕。澄觀釋器非器：
「非器不為，所謂權小乘、可思議乘，歷次修故，名餘眾生；是器則為，所謂圓機，不揀凡聖。趣向大乘，揀於小乘。不思議乘，揀於權乘。一運一切運，十信滿心即攝諸位，圓融無礙名不思議乘。」〔T35n1735 0886b05〕
又釋「不入手」之義：「有圓信手能受眾行，故上為之；權小於斯不盡能受，是故不為。」〔T35n1735 0886b10〕並引《法集經》「是經雖行閻浮提，於能信深法者，常住如是眾生心手中行。」〔T35n1735 0886b12〕
(六) 生如來家之九義——「當知此人生如來家」〔T10n0279 0277c21〕。澄觀以「生如來家為總，餘句為別」〔T35n1735 0886c06〕而開九家〔T35n1735 0886c06〕，並引三論為據：無性論「生如來家者，謂佛法界，於此證會故，名為生家。」〔T35n1735 0886c08〕·世親釋「由此能令諸佛種性不斷絕故。」〔T35n1735 0886c10〕·《十住毘婆沙》第一「今此菩薩行如來道，相續不斷故。」〔T35n1735 0886c12〕又通判其位：
「前來初住見心性故，故名生家；四地寄出世故，生道品家；八地無功用故，生無生法忍家。今此通三，兼顯凡夫解心亦名生家，因果無礙故。」〔T35n1735 0886c16〕
(七) 不入而入——「普入如是法，不入而入」〔T10n0279 0278a03〕。澄觀：
「智體即如，如外無法而可攀緣，故無可入。心行處滅，寂然無入。不失照用故，恒以一如而觀諸法，故名而入。此二無礙，方為真入。又一即是如，便於一中已見一切。」〔T35n1735 0886c24〕
十句之行益，澄觀復開五對無礙：「一即觀不礙於止、二見佛不礙入法、三智行法界不礙起福、四智不染世不礙悲入、五體絕三世不礙用而迴向。」〔T35n1735 0886c20〕
(八) 因果交徹之證成——現瑞之後果人因人二證並具，澄觀釋其所以：
「先果人證、後因人證。所以具二者，法玄妙故，因果交徹之法故，因圓果滿之法故。前來諸會唯菩薩者，唯因行故。發心品中唯果證者，果之本故，初心成佛難信受故。隨義各別，所以互無，唯斯具二。」〔T35n1735 0887a08〕
又釋因人來而無來：「雖來自十方而周遍法界，則來即無來矣。」〔T35n1735 0887a26〕；釋同名之義：「皆同普者，普法同故。界佛名異者，不失主伴故。普光明者，常寂光土無不遍故。」〔T35n1735 0887a28〕
(九) 品末總歎（澄觀）——全品收束之判語，亦為本義最後之經義歸結：
「然此一品文旨宏奧，能頓能圓，究眾生之本源、罄諸佛之淵海。根本法輪之內更處，其心生在金輪種中，復為嫡子，妙中之妙、玄中之玄。並居凡類之心，少功而能速證。安得自欺不受，長淪生死之中？今聞解能欣，尤須自慶昔善。出現品竟。」〔T35n1735 0887b16〕
六、諸家異釋（古德·標宗）
澄觀《華嚴經疏》T35n1735（八十華嚴逐文·主）
三喻配三德：「第二喻中三喻，喻其三德。初少服金剛喻，喻於智德……第二少火燒多喻，喻斷德……第三藥王遍益喻，喻恩德，種種利生故。」〔T35n1735 0885c20〕
偈頌之位次別出一議：
「第二偈頌，即屬第十見聞之益。不頌顯名受持，顯名受持後文自頌。此頌應在揀法異喻之前，以前長行鉤鎖顯名亦是見聞益故。若迴此偈於現瑞後，與後偈相續，文理甚順。四偈分二：初一頌法說、後三如次頌前三喻。」〔T35n1735 0886c29〕
品末總攝十句配十門：
「一成正覺、二即法輪、三是見聞生善，此三正顯益故；四即出現之法，是前總門；五即是心，約智顯故；六即圓音；七即境界，境界無量，生光亦多；八即涅槃動寂自在，大般涅槃為佛莊嚴故；九即是身，約本說一故；十即是行，果中說因故。」〔T35n1735 0887b07〕
品末四頌之科：
「後正頌中，四頌：初一頌說分中結酬，以此總包十段意故；後三頌顯名受持，初句顯名、餘皆勸持。且分為三：初偈歎深難聞、次一偈明文由多善、後偈舉勝勸持。」〔T35n1735 0887b12〕
法藏《探玄記》T35n1733（六十華嚴〈寶王如來性起品〉疏）
三喻配三果：「初吞少金剛喻，喻前第二德窮來際果……二小火能燒喻，喻第一斷滅惑障果，謂少善根性能滅惑。又釋：前滅所知障，後滅煩惱障。三藥王多益喻，喻第三成大菩提果。」〔T35n1733 0416a20〕
顯名受持分之科與十名：「上來說分竟。第五大段顯名受持分。於中二：先興二問、後還兩答。」〔T35n1733 0416b12〕；十名依光統等而立，逐名各出所以，其第五名下繫〈性起品〉品名之所由〔0416b19〕；第十名下云：「十名分別說佛究竟經，上約義，此句約教，以所說佛果性起是究竟法故。又義：上十名皆以後釋前可知。」〔T35n1733 0416b28〕
奉持分之四科：「二「佛子如是經典」下答奉持。於中有四：初辨定法器、二舉益勸信受、三信順成益、四明勸修成益。初中三，謂法、喻、合。」〔T35n1733 0416c01〕
澄觀《隨疏演義鈔》T36n1736
品37全鈔範圍（0614c12–0637a15）內未見義十獨立科起標記——〔查無〕。詳目八校本定位之誌。
李通玄《新華嚴經論》T36n1739
本義專屬科段未見——〔查無〕。唯 0725a02 有「《華嚴經．如來出現品》中付囑流通」一語，與本義流通分性質相涉，詳目七。
誌錄不判：三喻所喻，澄觀配智·斷·恩三德，法藏配德窮來際·斷滅惑障·成大菩提三果——澄觀就德說、法藏就果說，前二喻之配序亦因而相反（澄觀以金剛喻智德在先，法藏以金剛喻第二果、以火喻第一果）。法藏於火喻別出「前滅所知障，後滅煩惱障」〔T35n1733 0416a23〕一釋，為澄觀所不出。十名之攝，澄觀作五對、法藏作依光統等十名逐釋。偈頌之位，澄觀別出一議謂此四偈「應在揀法異喻之前」〔T35n1735 0887a01〕「若迴此偈於現瑞後……文理甚順」，而不改經文次第。二本問答之有無（60 有二問·80 無問逕答），二疏各依所疏之本立科。孰為正釋、次第孰順——古有異說，誌錄之，不判。
七、互讀·承衍
- 六十華嚴〈寶王如來性起品〉〔T09n0278 0629b10–0631b06〕：本義之異譯全本，場景結構全同（徵起·不虛之相·三喻·不信益·揀喻異法·問名答名·辨定法器·七寶喻·反顯順釋·得無師智·重頌·現瑞·果人證·因人證·品末流通頌），逐句對勘見目四。惟二本於問答之有無、繫屬與敘事重心有異（見句十一·句二十一），〔誌錄不判〕。
- 華嚴宗性起義之名據：法藏以十名之第五「開發示現如來種性經」〔T35n1733 0416b19〕為〈性起品〉品名之所立〔T35n1733 0416b20〕，又云「以性起是法體故」〔0416b14〕——性起一門之名與體，其經據即在本義之顯名分。〔誌錄不判〕
- 李通玄《新華嚴經論》T36n1739：0725a02 明引「《華嚴經．如來出現品》中付囑流通」，與本義品末流通分性質相涉，然非本義專屬科釋，據實誌錄，不以之充科文。
- 《大乘起信論》T32n1666：以「性起」檢之，全檔 0 命中——〔查無〕。「善根」一詞雖多見，非本義專引，不強引。
- 法藏《華嚴一乘教義分齊章》T45n1866：義十（見聞善根）無專項牒句——〔查無〕（全書帶品名稱引五處，一實引、四泛引，皆非義十獨引）。
- 《華嚴經明法品內立三寶章》T45n1874 · 《華嚴經旨歸》T45n1871：以『見聞．善根』「性起品」檢之，各 0 命中——〔查無〕。
- 承衍論（成唯識論 T31n1585 · 攝大乘論 T31n1594 · 瑜伽師地論 T30n1579 · 解深密經 T16n0676）：本義無專屬牒文，據實標闕，不以他處之文充之。惟澄觀於「生如來家」下引無性論及世親釋〔T35n1735 0886c07〕，是疏家所引，非本義之牒經論釋，誌其所繫。
八、校本定位
- 實叉 T279（底本）：品三十七〈如來出現品〉第十義 見聞親近所種善根〔T10n0279 0277a16〕起–〔0278c22〕訖（第七會 重會普光明殿·卷五十二）。段序：徵起〔0277a16〕· 不虛十一句〔0277a17〕· 金剛喻並合〔0277a22〕· 火喻並合〔0277a28〕· 藥王樹喻〔0277b03〕· 六根境界之合〔0277b07〕· 遺迹之益〔0277b14〕· 不信益〔0277b16〕· 結示〔0277b18〕· 揀喻異法〔0277b20〕· 顯名十名〔0277b23〕· 辨定法器〔0277b29〕· 七寶喻並合〔0277c03〕· 舉益勸修〔0277c12〕· 反顯〔0277c15〕· 順釋生家益〔0277c19〕· 信聞成行益十句〔0277c25〕· 總結得無師自然智〔0278a05〕· 重頌四偈〔0278a06〕· 現瑞〔0278a16〕· 果人證〔0278a28〕· 因人證〔0278b16〕· 品末流通頌四偈〔0278c08〕–〔0278c22〕訖（卷五十二末〔0278c23〕）。 〔誌錄·出處粒度〕本義 80 本逐句繫行級出處；重頌與流通頌篇幅跨頁，頌段唯標首末二錨（〔0278a08〕頃·〔0278c22〕頃），其間逐偈行級出處未核，據實誌之，不以估算充錨。
- 佛馱 T278（晉譯主對校）：〈寶王如來性起品第三十二〉之四〔T09n0278 0629b10〕起–〔0631b06〕訖。徵起 0629b10 · 不虛之相 0629b13 · 金剛喻 0629b17 · 金剛喻合 0629b19 · 火喻 0629b22 · 火喻合 0629b24 · 藥王喻 0629b27 · 六根合 0629c03（舌根 0629c07）· 遺迹 0629c11 · 不信益 0629c13 · 揀喻異法 0629c16 · 二問 0629c20 · 答名 0629c22 · 辨定法器 0629c26 · 七寶喻 0630a01 · 合喻 0630a05 · 勸修 0630a11 · 反顯 0630a14 · 順釋 0630a17 · 行益 0630a24 · 得無師智 0630b04 · 重頌起 0630b05（首偈 0630b07）· 現瑞 0630b23 · 十八相動 0630b26 · 雨雲 0630b29 · 果人證 0630c06 · 授記 0630c13 · 本願段 0630c22 · 因人來集 0630c25 · 因人證言 0631a05 · 敘意 0631a11 · 流通頌起 0631a20（首偈 0631a21 · 末偈 0631b04）。
- 澄觀《疏》T35n1735：第十明出現見聞親近所生善根 0885c13 起。文中三科 0885c15 · 正顯二分 0885c16 · 十一句 0885c19 · 三喻三德 0885c20 · 藥王喻合 0885c25 · 寶性論 0885c27 · 遺迹之益 0885c29 · 不信益 0886a03 · 祕密藏經引 0886a04 · 法華與涅槃引 0886a07 · 結示 0886a12 · 揀喻異法 0886a13 · 顯名受持分 0886a18 · 準晉經二問 0886a20 · 十名五對 0886a23 · 前九後一 0886b02 · 辨定法器 0886b03 · 器非器 0886b05 · 明受非受 0886b09 · 法集經引 0886b12 · 合七寶 0886b15 · 般若論引 0886b19 · 舉益勸修 0886b21 · 反顯 0886b23 · 設有之疑 0886b25 · 不信人何位 0886b29 · 順釋生家益 0886c04 · 九家 0886c06 · 三位通判 0886c16 · 信聞成行益 0886c20 · 不入而入 0886c23 · 偈頌之位 0886c29 · 四偈之科 0887a04 · 現瑞證成 0887a05 · 果因二證 0887a08 · 果人四科 0887a12 · 授益四益 0887a15 · 因人四科 0887a23 · 來即無來 0887a26 · 同名之義 0887a28 · 以偈總攝 0887b03 · 十句配十門 0887b07 · 四頌之科 0887b12 · 品末總歎 0887b16 · 「出現品竟」 0887b21。
- 澄觀《演義鈔》T36n1736：品37全鈔範圍 0614c12–0637a15 內，以「第十明」『見聞．善根』「藥王」「吞少」「顯名受持分」諸式檢之，未見義十獨立科起標記——〔查無〕。鈔於義九（涅槃）之釋篇幅遠過於疏，延及 0631b 之後仍見三德涅槃等釋；義十之鈔文起訖未能定位，據實標闕，不臆造出處。
- 法藏《探玄記》T35n1733：第十明性起見聞敬養善根 0416a10 起。長行三科 0416a11 · 四位總辨 0416a13 · 三種果 0416a16 · 三喻三果 0416a20 · 合藥樹 0416a25 · 寶性論引 0416a26 · 合地土 0416b01 · 深饒益 0416b02 · 祕密藏經引 0416b03 · 大悲經引 0416b05 · 簡喻異法 0416b08 · 偈頌鉤鎖 0416b11 · 「上來說分竟」0416b13 · 顯名受持分 0416b13 · 辨名之由 0416b13 · 十名 0416b14（第五名〈性起品〉之立 0416b20 · 第十名 0416b28）· 答奉持四科 0416c01。〔誌錄〕奉持段 0416c19 以下本考據未核逐字，所引唯止於 0416c05。
- 李通玄《論》T36n1739：本義專屬科段〔查無〕；相涉句 0725a02。
- 異讀：本單元 T279 範圍〔0277a16〕–〔0279a04〕內大正校記 10 條，逐條照錄不判（底本【大】｜他本異讀；多本異讀以／分列）：〔0277a23〕消【大】＊｜銷【宮】【聖】＊（＊同校並繫〔0278a10〕〔0278a14〕〔0278b25〕之消字） · 〔0277b17〕纏【大】｜經【聖】 · 〔0277b29〕餘【大】｜除【聖】 · 〔0277c01〕趣【大】｜起【聖】 · 〔0278a18〕涌【大】｜踊【宋】【元】【明】【宮】 · 〔0278b16〕威【大】｜滅【聖】 · 〔0278b18〕越【大】｜起【宮】 · 〔0278c04〕減【大】｜滅【聖】 · 〔0278c15〕諭【大】＊｜喻【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊（＊同校並繫〔0278c16〕之諭字） · 〔0279a04〕于【大】｜唐于【明】。（＊＝大正星號同校，該校並繫本文其餘同字處；T279 XML 於此類未出 corresp 重出位，故只呈星號、不另造錨）夾注已於原典層剝除誌錄。
- 原印注存目：1 條（大正原印注／CBETA 編者按語·無
<app>校異·不入上列大正校記之數）：〔0279a01＋〕聖本卷首缺。 - 異讀補記：CBETA 回改 1 條（不入上列大正校記之數）：〔0277a20〕於【CB】【麗-CB】｜無此字【大】。
The tenth sense, ‘the roots of goodness planted by seeing, hearing, and drawing near’, = Samantabhadra’s answer to 「菩薩摩訶薩應云何知於如來、應、正等覺見聞親近所種善根」 tr. “how should a bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the roots of goodness planted, at the place of the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, through seeing, through hearing, and through drawing near?” 〔T10n0279 0277a16〕. First, in eleven clauses, it is shown that the roots of goodness planted are all of them not in vain; next three similes are set up (the simile of swallowing a little diamond · the simile of a mustard-seed fire burning dry grass · the simile of the king of medicine trees in the Snow Mountains); next it is made clear that even those bound by karmic obstruction who have no faith plant roots of goodness by seeing and hearing, with nothing passing away in vain. Then comes the general conclusion and the setting of the similes apart from the Dharma; the ten names of this secret gate of Dharma are brought out; it is made clear that it is spoken only for bodhisattvas of the Great Vehicle; the simile of the wheel-turning king’s seven treasures is set up to determine who is a vessel for the Dharma; the benefit of hearing and believing is shown by contrast and by accord; and it ends in 「少作功力，得無師自然智」 tr. “applying only a little effort, he attains the spontaneous knowing that is had without a teacher” 〔T10n0279 0278a06〕. After the four verses in repetition come the portents and the attesting (the attestation by those of the fruit · the attestation by those of the cause), and last the four verses of the circulating at the chapter’s end gather all up — this sense takes in as well the circulating of the whole Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata, and is the closing of a whole chapter. Chengguan judges this sense to be 「明出現見聞親近所生善根」 tr. “making clear the roots of goodness born of seeing, hearing, and drawing near in the appearance” 〔T35n1735 0885c13〕, Fazang judges it to be 「明性起見聞敬養善根」 tr. “making clear the roots of goodness of seeing, hearing, revering, and nourishing in nature-arising” 〔T35n1733 0416a10〕, and it is by the fifth name, 「開發示現如來種性經」 tr. “the scripture of the opening up and revealing of the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata” 〔T35n1733 0416b19〕, that he makes clear whence the title of the Chapter on Nature-Arising was established.
I. Doctrinal Outline and Placement
| Outline system | The place of this sense within it |
|---|---|
| The base text T279, in thirty-nine chapters | Chapter thirty-seven, the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata (the seventh assembly, the return to the palace of Universal Light) · the tenth sense, the roots of goodness planted by seeing, hearing, and drawing near, beginning 〔T10n0279 0277a16〕 and ending 〔0278c22〕 (including the circulating at the chapter’s end and the verses in repetition · running to the end of the whole of chapter thirty-seven) |
| Chengguan, Huayan jing shu | Tenth, making clear the roots of goodness born of seeing, hearing, and drawing near in the appearance, beginning 〔T35n1735 0885c13〕; and below this he opens further the fifth main division, the revealing of the name and the upholding 〔0886a18〕 · the sixth main division, the manifesting of portents and the attesting 〔0887a05〕 · the seventh main division, the gathering up in verse 〔0887b03〕 – 「出現品竟」 tr. “the Chapter on the Appearance is finished” 〔0887b21〕 |
| Chengguan, Yanyi chao | Within this range no independent heading marking the opening of an outline division for the tenth sense is found 〔not found〕 (the whole range of the Chao for chapter thirty-seven, 0614c12–0637a15, has been examined · see heading eight in full) |
| Fazang, Tanxuan ji (the commentary on the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata in the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka) | Tenth, making clear the roots of goodness of seeing, hearing, revering, and nourishing in nature-arising, beginning 〔T35n1733 0416a10〕 and ending at 「上來說分竟」 tr. “thus far the section of the exposition is finished” 〔0416b12〕; immediately upon which the fifth great section, the revealing of the name and the upholding, begins 〔0416b12〕 |
| Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun | No outline division belonging specifically to this sense is found 〔not found〕; only at 0725a02 does he cite outright 「《華嚴經．如來出現品》中付囑流通」 tr. “the entrusting and circulating within the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata of the Huayan jing”, which is related to the circulating section of this sense (see heading seven in full) |
The reason for its coming — Chengguan attaches this sense after the nine senses before it, making clear that the nine before are the whole span of one appearance, while this tenth discerns the benefit of seeing and hearing:
「第十明出現見聞親近所生善根。前九門出現，一期始終；今明於上見聞功深益遠，獎物進修。文中三：初徵起、次正顯、後結示。」 tr. “Tenth, making clear the roots of goodness born of seeing, hearing, and drawing near in the appearance. The nine gates before set forth the appearance, the whole span from beginning to end; now it is made clear that upon all of that the merit of seeing and hearing is deep and the benefit far-reaching, so as to encourage beings to advance in cultivation. There are three in the text: first the raising of the question, next the direct setting forth, and last the concluding statement.” 〔T35n1735 0885c13〕
Fazang attaches it on the same principle, but labels it straightforwardly 「性起見聞敬養善根」 tr. “the roots of goodness of seeing, hearing, revering, and nourishing in nature-arising” 〔T35n1733 0416a10〕, and puts it in sequence after the preceding sense, nirvāṇa:
「第十明性起見聞敬養善根。前既示涅槃，今明供養餘跡，成益不虛，故次明也。長行內釋中三：先就法、二約喻、三簡喻異法。」 tr. “Tenth, making clear the roots of goodness of seeing, hearing, revering, and nourishing in nature-arising. Since nirvāṇa has already been shown, now it is made clear that in making offerings to what remains behind the benefit accomplished is not in vain; and so it is made clear next. Within the explanation in the prose there are three: first in terms of the Dharma, second by way of simile, and third the setting of the similes apart from the Dharma.” 〔T35n1733 0416a10〕
The inner outline of the direct setting forth (Chengguan) —
「就正顯中，分二：先明見聞信向益、後見聞不信益。前中，先法、後喻。法中，先總、後別。」 tr. “Within the direct setting forth there is a division into two: first the benefit for those who see and hear and turn to it in faith, and after that the benefit for those who see and hear without faith. Within the former, first the Dharma and then the simile; within the Dharma, first the general and then the particular.” 〔T35n1735 0885c16〕
The four positions of planting and the three kinds of fruit (Fazang) —
「所謂於佛，若見佛及像、若聞名及稱念、若三業恭敬、若四事供養，於此四位所種善根，廣多無限不可稱說，故云功德無盡。」 tr. “That is to say, with respect to the Buddha: whether one sees the Buddha or his image, whether one hears his name or utters it, whether one is reverent in the three kinds of action, whether one makes the four kinds of offering — the roots of goodness planted in these four positions are vast and limitless and cannot be told, and therefore it says that the merit is unending.” 〔T35n1733 0416a13〕
「下別顯中，略舉三種果：一斷滅惑障果、二「於一切」下德窮來際果、三「起諸佛」下成大菩提果。又初唯斷果令得涅槃；後唯智果令得菩提；中間通二，謂棄有為隨順無為故也。」 tr. “In the particular setting forth below, three kinds of fruit are brought up in brief: first, the fruit of cutting off and extinguishing the obstruction of confusion; second, from ‘within all’ onward, the fruit of virtue exhausting the future; third, from ‘gives rise to the buddhas’’ onward, the fruit of accomplishing great awakening. Moreover, the first is solely the fruit of cutting off, causing one to attain nirvāṇa; the last is solely the fruit of wisdom, causing one to attain awakening; the middle runs through both, that is, casting off the conditioned and according with the unconditioned.” 〔T35n1733 0416a16〕
The three main divisions from the revealing of the name and the upholding onward (Chengguan) — 「大文第五「佛子此法門」下顯名受持分。於中分二：先長行、後偈頌。」 tr. “The fifth main division, from ‘Sons of the Buddha, this gate of Dharma’ onward, is the revealing of the name and the upholding. Within it there is a division into two: first the prose and then the verses.” 〔T35n1735 0886a18〕; 「大文第六現瑞證成。於中二：先現瑞、後證成。」 tr. “The sixth main division is the manifesting of portents and the attesting. Within it there are two: first the manifesting of portents and then the attesting.” 〔0887a05〕; 「大文第七「爾時普賢」下以偈總攝。文中二：先敘意、後正頌。」 tr. “The seventh main division, from ‘at that time Samantabhadra’ onward, is the gathering up in verse. There are two in the text: first the stating of the intent and then the verses proper.” 〔0887b03〕.
II. Terminology
| Chinese | Where attested | The essential sense |
|---|---|---|
| The roots of goodness planted by seeing, hearing, and drawing near | The raising of the question in this sense: 「菩薩摩訶薩應云何知於如來、應、正等覺見聞親近所種善根」 tr. “how should a bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the roots of goodness planted, at the place of the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, through seeing, through hearing, and through drawing near?” 〔T10n0279 0277a16〕 | Fazang opens it into four positions — seeing the Buddha or his image · hearing his name or uttering it · reverence in the three kinds of action · the four kinds of offering 〔T35n1733 0416a13〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「見聞恭敬供養所種善根」 tr. “the roots of goodness planted by seeing, hearing, revering, and making offerings” 〔T09n0278 0629b11〕 |
| The eleven clauses on the characteristic of not being in vain | This sense: 「出生無盡覺慧故……到無功用智地故」 tr. “because they give birth to unending wisdom of awakening … because they reach the ground of effortless wisdom” 〔T10n0279 0277a19〕 | Chengguan: 「即示不虛之相，有十一句，不出智斷恩德，思之。」 tr. “this shows the characteristic of their not being in vain; there are eleven clauses, and they do not go outside the virtues of wisdom, of cutting off, and of grace — think it over.” 〔T35n1735 0885c19〕 |
| The little root of goodness | This sense: 「於如來所種少善根亦復如是」 tr. “so it is too with the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0277a25〕 | Little and yet not to be digested away, not to be used up; Fazang assigns it to 「微少善根性不可盡」 tr. “the nature of even a slight root of goodness cannot be used up” 〔T35n1733 0416a21〕 |
| The unconditioned, ultimate place of wisdom | This sense: 「要穿一切有為諸行煩惱身過，到於無為究竟智處」 tr. “it must pass through the body of the afflictions, which is all the conditioned practices, and reach the unconditioned, ultimate place of wisdom” 〔T10n0279 0277a25〕 | The point where the simile of the diamond is joined; the sixty-fascicle text has 「乃至究竟如來涅槃智慧，然後乃住」 tr. “and on to the ultimate wisdom of the Tathāgata’s nirvāṇa, and only then does it stay” 〔T09n0278 0629b20〕 |
| The king of medicine trees · Well-Seen | This sense: 「譬如雪山有藥王樹，名曰：善見」 tr. “it is as though in the Snow Mountains there were a king of medicine trees, named Well-Seen” 〔T10n0279 0277b03〕 | The ground of the simile in which all six faculties attain purity; the sixty-fascicle text has 「大藥王，名曰善現」 tr. “a great king of medicines, named Well-Appearing” 〔T09n0278 0629b28〕 |
| The realm of the six faculties | This sense: 「若有得見如來色身，眼得清淨」 tr. “if someone gets to see the form-body of the Tathāgata, his eye attains purity” 〔T10n0279 0277b08〕 and the six clauses that follow 〔T10n0279 0277b08〕 | Chengguan: 「先明為六根境界益，合上藥王遍益。六根皆通在世滅後。」 tr. “first is made clear the benefit of being an object of the six faculties, joining the benefiting everywhere of the king of medicines above. The six faculties all run through both his lifetime and after his extinction.” 〔T35n1735 0885c25〕; Fazang cites the Baoxing lun in proof of the same 〔T35n1733 0416a26〕 |
| The benefit of what remains behind | This sense: 「若有眾生供養如來所經土地及塔廟者」 tr. “if there are sentient beings who make offerings to the ground the Tathāgata walked upon and to his stūpas and shrines” 〔T10n0279 0277b14〕 | Chengguan: 「所經土地，猶通現滅。其塔廟者，唯約滅後。」 tr. “the ground he walked upon still runs through both his presence and his extinction; the stūpas and shrines are only after his extinction.” 〔T35n1735 0886a01〕 |
| Nothing passing away in vain | This sense: 「亦種善根無空過者，乃至究竟入於涅槃」 tr. “they too plant roots of goodness with nothing passing away in vain, and even in the end enter nirvāṇa” 〔T10n0279 0277b17〕 | The pivot clause of the benefit for those who see and hear without faith; the sixty-fascicle text has 「彼諸眾生於見聞中所種善根果報不虛」 tr. “the fruit and recompense of the roots of goodness those sentient beings plant in seeing and hearing is not in vain” 〔T09n0278 0629c14〕 |
| The road of mind and of knowing is cut off | This sense: 「何以故？心智路絕，不思議故」 tr. “why is this? Because the road of mind and of knowing is cut off, and it is beyond conceiving” 〔T10n0279 0277b21〕 | The reason for setting the similes apart from the Dharma; Chengguan: 「故令外亡言象、內絕思求。」 tr. “therefore let words and images be lost without, and thinking and seeking be cut off within.” 〔T35n1735 0886a17〕 |
| The secret place of the Tathāgata | The first of the ten names: 「此法門名為：如來祕密之處」 tr. “this gate of Dharma is named: the secret place of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0277b24〕 | Fazang, following Guangtong and the rest, has 「諸佛祕密藏經，以是諸佛內證法故」 tr. “the scripture of the secret store of the buddhas, because it is the Dharma the buddhas realize within” 〔T35n1733 0416b15〕 |
| Revealing the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata | The fifth of the ten names 〔T10n0279 0277b25〕 | Fazang: 「〈性起品〉名從此而立。」 tr. “from this the name of the Chapter on Nature-Arising was established.” 〔T35n1733 0416b20〕 — whence the chapter title of the sixty-fascicle text came |
| The inconceivable vehicle | This sense: 「唯為乘不思議乘菩薩說」 tr. “it is spoken only for bodhisattvas who ride the inconceivable vehicle” 〔T10n0279 0277c01〕 | Chengguan: 「一運一切運，十信滿心即攝諸位，圓融無礙名不思議乘。」 tr. “one carrying is the carrying of all; the mind that fills out the ten faiths already gathers in all the stages; being perfectly fused and unobstructed, it is named the inconceivable vehicle.” 〔T35n1735 0886b08〕 |
| The true sons of the Tathāgata, the Dharma-king | This sense: 「唯除如來法王真子，生如來家，種如來相諸善根者」 tr. “save only the true sons of the Tathāgata, the Dharma-king — those born into the family of the Tathāgata and who have planted the various roots of goodness that are the marks of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0277c08〕 | The point where the simile of the seven treasures is joined; Chengguan: 「生如來家，合第一夫人所生太子。」 tr. “being born into the family of the Tathāgata is joined to the crown prince born of the first consort.” 〔T35n1735 0886b16〕 |
| Born into the family of the Tathāgata | This sense: 「當知此人生如來家」 tr. “one should know that this person is born into the family of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0277c21〕 | Chengguan opens nine families, taking 「生如來家為總，餘句為別」 tr. “being born into the family of the Tathāgata as the general and the remaining clauses as the particular” 〔T35n1735 0886c06〕 |
| The spontaneous knowing that has no teacher | This sense: 「成就如是功德，少作功力，得無師自然智」 tr. “bringing such merits as these to accomplishment, applying only a little effort, he attains the spontaneous knowing that is had without a teacher” 〔T10n0279 0278a05〕 | The conclusion of the prose; the sixty-fascicle text has 「少作方便，得無師智」 tr. “applying few skillful means, he attains the knowing that has no teacher” 〔T09n0278 0630b05〕 |
| The six kinds of quaking · the quaking in eighteen aspects | The section of the manifesting of portents 〔T10n0279 0278a09〕 | Chengguan: 「動剎等數皆廣多者，法難思故。」 tr. “that the numbers of the lands quaking and the rest are all vast and many is because the Dharma is hard to conceive.” 〔T35n1735 0887a06〕 |
| The Tathāgata Universal Banner of Sovereign Mastery | The attestation by those of the cause: 「各從普光明世界普幢自在如來所而來於此」 tr. “each of us has come to this place from the world Universal Light, from the Tathāgata Universal Banner of Sovereign Mastery” 〔T10n0279 0278c01〕 | Chengguan: 「佛名普幢自在者，本智高出無所不摧，事理無礙故。」 tr. “that the buddha is named Universal Banner of Sovereign Mastery is because root knowing stands out high and there is nothing it does not crush, phenomena and principle being unobstructed.” 〔T35n1735 0887b01〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「普勝如來」 tr. “the Tathāgata Universally Victorious” 〔T09n0278 0631a07〕 |
III. Similes and Rhetoric
(1) The simile of swallowing a little diamond — 「佛子！譬如丈夫，食少金剛，終竟不消，要穿其身，出在於外。何以故？金剛不與肉身雜穢而同止故。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is as when a man swallows a little diamond: in the end it is not digested away, but must pass through his body and come out beyond it. Why is this? Because the diamond will not abide together with the filth of a body of flesh and blood.” 〔T10n0279 0277a22〕:
- The ground of the simile: a man swallows a little diamond; in the end it cannot be digested, and must pass through the body and out.
- The substance likened: the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata must pass through the body of the afflictions, which is all the conditioned practices, and reach the unconditioned, ultimate place of wisdom.
- The sense revealed: Chengguan judges the simile to be for the virtue of wisdom — 「初少服金剛喻，喻於智德。智慧破惑，如金剛故。以有智慧者必無煩惱，故不共住。」 tr. “first, the simile of swallowing a little diamond, which is a simile for the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom breaks confusion as a diamond does; and since one who has wisdom will have no afflictions, they do not abide together.” 〔T35n1735 0885c21〕 Fazang judges it instead to be 「喻前第二德窮來際果，謂微少善根性不可盡也」 tr. “a simile for the second of the fruits above, the fruit of virtue exhausting the future, that is, that the nature of even a slight root of goodness cannot be used up” 〔T35n1733 0416a21〕.
- Where the two witnesses differ in the ground of the simile: the eighty-fascicle text has 「要穿其身，出在於外」 tr. “it must pass through his body and come out beyond it” 〔T10n0279 0277a23〕, the sixty-fascicle text has 「要從身過；至金剛輪際，然後乃住」 tr. “it must pass through the body, and reaching the diamond-wheel limit, only then does it stay” 〔T09n0278 0629b17〕 — as to where it arrives after leaving the body, the eighty does not say the place, while the sixty says outright that it reaches the diamond-wheel limit.
(2) The simile of a mustard-seed fire burning dry grass — 「佛子！假使乾草積同須彌，投火於中如芥子許，必皆燒盡。何以故？火能燒故。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! Suppose dry grass were heaped up equal to Sumeru, and a fire the size of a mustard seed were thrown into it: it would certainly all be burned away. Why is this? Because fire is able to burn.” 〔T10n0279 0277a28〕:
- The ground of the simile: a heap of dry grass as great as Sumeru, into which a fire the size of a mustard seed is thrown, is certainly burned away entire.
- The substance likened: the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata is certainly able to burn up all the afflictions and ultimately to attain the nirvāṇa in which nothing is left over.
- The sense revealed: Chengguan judges the simile to be for the virtue of cutting off — 「第二少火燒多喻，喻斷德。性究竟者，了惑本寂故。」 tr. “second, the simile of a little fire burning much, which is a simile for the virtue of cutting off. That the nature is ultimate means that confusion is understood to be originally quiescent.” 〔T35n1735 0885c23〕 Fazang judges it to be 「喻第一斷滅惑障果，謂少善根性能滅惑」 tr. “a simile for the first fruit, that of cutting off and extinguishing the obstruction of confusion, that is, that the nature of a little root of goodness is able to extinguish confusion” 〔T35n1733 0416a22〕, and brings out a further explanation, 「前滅所知障，後滅煩惱障」 tr. “the former extinguishes the obstruction to what is knowable, the latter extinguishes the obstruction of the afflictions” 〔T35n1733 0416a23〕.
- The contrast of great and small is the bone of this simile: the grass is much and the fire little, and what is much can be used up while what is little cannot — this and the ‘little diamond that is not digested’ of the simile before are the inside and outside of one thing.
(3) The simile of the king of medicine trees in the Snow Mountains — 「佛子！譬如雪山有藥王樹，名曰：善見。若有見者，眼得清淨；若有聞者，耳得清淨……若有眾生取彼地土，亦能為作除病利益。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is as though in the Snow Mountains there were a king of medicine trees, named Well-Seen. If someone sees it, his eye attains purity; if someone hears it, his ear attains purity … and if any sentient being takes the earth from beneath it, that too can work for people the benefit of removing sickness.” 〔T10n0279 0277b03〕:
- The ground of the simile: the king of medicine trees in the Snow Mountains, named Well-Seen — seeing it, hearing it, smelling it, tasting it, touching it all make the faculties pure, and taking the earth beneath it can remove sickness too.
- The substance likened: the Tathāgata, the unsurpassed king of medicines, is able to do everything that benefits sentient beings — seeing his form-body, the eye is pure; hearing his name, the ear; smelling the fragrance of his discipline, the nose; tasting his Dharma-flavor, the tongue; touching his light, the body; giving rise to recollection of him, one attains the purity of the samādhi of the recollection of the Buddha; and those who make offerings to the ground he walked upon and to his stūpas and shrines come to possess roots of goodness as well.
- The sense revealed: Chengguan judges the simile to be for the virtue of grace — 「第三藥王遍益喻，喻恩德，種種利生故。」 tr. “third, the simile of the king of medicines benefiting everywhere, which is a simile for the virtue of grace, since it benefits beings in every sort of way.” 〔T35n1735 0885c24〕 Fazang judges it to be 「喻第三成大菩提果」 tr. “a simile for the third fruit, that of accomplishing great awakening” 〔T35n1733 0416a24〕.
- The joining divides in two: Chengguan has 「先明為六根境界益，合上藥王遍益」 tr. “first is made clear the benefit of being an object of the six faculties, joining the benefiting everywhere of the king of medicines above” 〔T35n1735 0885c25〕 · 〔T35n1735 0885c25〕「後「若有眾生供養如來所經土地」〔T10n0279 0277b14〕下明遺迹之益，合上取彼地土」 tr. “and after that, from ‘if there are sentient beings who make offerings to the ground the Tathāgata walked upon’ onward, the benefit of what remains behind is made clear, joining the taking of the earth beneath it above”; Fazang divides it in two likewise — 「初以佛合藥樹」 tr. “first the Buddha is joined to the medicine tree” 〔T35n1733 0416a25〕 · 「二「若有得經卷」下合地土等，明佛滅後益」 tr. “second, from ‘if one gets the scroll of the scripture’ onward, the earth and the rest are joined, making clear the benefit after the Buddha’s extinction” 〔T35n1733 0416b01〕.
- Fazang cites the Baoxing lun in proof of the realm of the six faculties: 「諸佛如來身，如虛空無相，為諸勝智者，作六根境界，示現微妙色，出于妙音聲，令嗅佛戒香，與佛妙法味，使覺三昧觸，令知深妙法。」 tr. “The bodies of the buddhas, the tathāgatas, are like space and without characteristic; for those of surpassing wisdom they act as the objects of the six faculties — revealing subtle form, sending forth wondrous sound, letting them smell the fragrance of the Buddha’s discipline, giving them the Buddha’s wondrous Dharma-flavor, making them feel the touch of samādhi, and making them know the deep and wondrous Dharma.” Chengguan likewise says that 「《寶性論》中亦明如來與菩薩為六根境界，大同於此」 tr. “the Baoxing lun likewise makes clear that the Tathāgata is an object of the six faculties for bodhisattvas, which is much the same as what is here” 〔T35n1735 0885c27〕.
(4) The simile of the seven treasures of a wheel-turning sage king — 「佛子！譬如轉輪聖王所有七寶，因此寶故顯示輪王，此寶不入餘眾生手，唯除第一夫人所生太子，具足成就聖王相者。若轉輪王無此太子具眾德者，王命終後，此諸寶等於七日中悉皆散滅。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is as with the seven treasures possessed by a wheel-turning sage king: it is because of these treasures that the wheel-turning king is shown; and these treasures do not fall into the hands of the remaining sentient beings, save only the crown prince born of the first consort, who has come to possess in full the marks of a sage king. If the wheel-turning king had no such prince endowed with all the virtues, then after the king’s life had ended these treasures would within seven days all be scattered and destroyed.” 〔T10n0279 0277c03〕:
- The ground of the simile: only the crown prince can hold the wheel-turning king’s seven treasures; with no prince, they scatter within seven days of the king’s passing.
- The substance likened: the treasure of this scripture does not fall into the hands of the remaining sentient beings, save only the true sons of the Tathāgata, the Dharma-king; with no true sons, such a gate of Dharma is before long scattered and destroyed.
- The sense revealed: Chengguan joins it thus: 「以經合七寶者，若無此法，非真佛故。生如來家，合第一夫人所生太子。如來相者，初心頓行佛行故。散滅有二義：一不能信受則教不行故、二不能修行則行不行故。」 tr. “joining the scripture to the seven treasures: without this Dharma one is not a true buddha. Being born into the family of the Tathāgata is joined to the crown prince born of the first consort. The marks of the Tathāgata are the initial mind at once practicing the practice of a buddha. Scattering and destruction has two senses: first, if it cannot be received in faith the teaching does not go forward; second, if it cannot be cultivated the practice does not go forward.” 〔T35n1735 0886b15〕
- Where the two witnesses differ: the eighty-fascicle text states 「於七日中悉皆散滅」 tr. “within seven days they are all scattered and destroyed” 〔T10n0279 0277c07〕, while the sixty has only 「自然散滅」 tr. “they scatter and are destroyed of themselves” 〔T09n0278 0630a05〕, without the limit of seven days.
(5) The self-toppling in which the similes are set apart from the Dharma — 「佛子！如來以一切譬諭說種種事，無有譬諭能說此法。何以故？心智路絕，不思議故。諸佛菩薩但隨眾生心，令其歡喜，為說譬諭，非是究竟。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! The Tathāgata uses every simile to speak of every sort of matter, and yet there is no simile that can speak this Dharma. Why is this? Because the road of mind and of knowing is cut off, and it is beyond conceiving. The buddhas and bodhisattvas merely follow along with the minds of sentient beings, so as to make them glad, and for their sake speak similes; the simile is not the ultimate.” 〔T10n0279 0277b20〕 — that the three similes are set up and, that done, it is said outright that the simile does not reach the Dharma, is the pivot of the rhetoric of this sense. Chengguan explains its intent:
「上來〈性起〉請說因喻，〈普賢〉依請明十出現，皆借象取譬，意顯佛旨深玄。深玄之旨尚不可以智知，豈言象之能及？故令外亡言象、內絕思求，則庶幾於〈出現〉之旨。」 tr. “Above, the request in the Chapter on Nature-Arising was that causes and similes be spoken; Samantabhadra, following the request, made clear the ten senses of the appearance, all of them borrowing images and taking similes, meaning to show that the Buddha’s import is deep and dark. If the deep and dark import cannot even be known by knowing, how could words and images reach it? Therefore let words and images be lost without and thinking and seeking be cut off within, and one may come near to the import of the Chapter on the Appearance.” 〔T35n1735 0886a14〕
Fazang likewise says: 「第三簡喻異法，有標、有釋。以非世喻所能類，故云過思議也。」 tr. “third, the setting of the similes apart from the Dharma, which has a statement and an explanation. Because it is not the sort of thing worldly similes can be classed with, it is said to be beyond conceiving.” 〔T35n1733 0416b08〕
(6) How the verses in repetition answer to the similes — of the four verses in repetition, the first repeats the statement in prose and the latter three repeat the three similes in order: 「譬人吞服少金剛，終竟不消要當出」 tr. “it is as when a man swallows a little diamond: in the end it is not digested and must come out” 〔T10n0279 0278a10〕 · 「如乾草積等須彌，投芥子火悉燒盡」 tr. “as dry grass heaped up equal to Sumeru is all burned away by throwing in a mustard-seed fire” 〔T10n0279 0278a12〕 · 「雪山有藥名善見，見聞嗅觸消眾疾」 tr. “in the Snow Mountains there is a medicine named Well-Seen: seeing, hearing, smelling, touching it dispels the host of ailments” 〔T10n0279 0278a14〕. Chengguan outlines them: 「四偈分二：初一頌法說、後三如次頌前三喻。」 tr. “the four verses divide into two: the first one repeats the statement in prose, and the latter three repeat the three similes above in order.” 〔T35n1735 0887a04〕
(7) The simile of 「財」 tr. “wealth” in the verses of the circulating at the chapter’s end — 「此為超世第一財，此能救度諸群品，此能出生清淨道，汝等當持莫放逸。」 tr. “this is the first wealth that surpasses the world, this is what can bring across the many kinds of beings, this is what can give birth to the pure path; you should hold to it and not be heedless.” 〔T10n0279 0278c21〕 — taking the wealth of the world as a figure for the Dharma that transcends the world, this is the last line closing the whole chapter. The answering place in the sixty-fascicle text is 「一切諸善逝，世上世間勝，最勝歡喜眾，此經為內藏」 tr. “all the well-gone ones, surpassing the world and what is in it; for the most surpassing and joyful assembly this scripture is the inner store” 〔T09n0278 0631b02〕, which takes 「內藏」 tr. “the inner store” as the figure, the word of the simile being different.
IV. Collation with Parallel Translations
The Chinese witnesses for this sense: Śikṣānanda T279 (the base text · the tenth sense of the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata, chapter thirty-seven, together with the circulating at the chapter’s end) · Buddhabhadra T278 (part four of the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata, chapter thirty-two, of the Jin translation of the Avataṃsaka in sixty fascicles, beginning 〔T09n0278 0629b10〕 and ending 〔0631b06〕). This sense has no separately circulating scripture and no treatise that takes up its text 〔not found〕. What follows is recorded in full, sentence by sentence, without adjudication.
Sentence One The Question Raised
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Sons of the Buddha! How should a bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the roots of goodness planted, at the place of the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, through seeing, through hearing, and through drawing near? | T10n0279 0277a16 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Sons of the Buddha! How does a bodhisattva-mahāsattva know and see the roots of goodness planted, at the place of the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Equally and Rightly Awakened One, through seeing, hearing, reverence, and offering? | T09n0278 0629b10 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「見聞親近」 tr. “seeing, hearing, and drawing near”, the sixty has 「見聞恭敬供養」 tr. “seeing, hearing, revering, and making offerings”. (b) The eighty has throughout 「知」 tr. “know”, the sixty has the two words 「知、見」 tr. “know and see” raised together. (c) As for the Buddha’s epithets, the eighty has 「如來、應、正等覺」 tr. “the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One”, the sixty has 「如來、應供、等正覺」 tr. “the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Equally and Rightly Awakened One”.
Sentence Two The Characteristic of Not Being in Vain
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | They are all of them not in vain: because they give birth to unending wisdom of awakening; because they leave behind every obstruction and hardship; because they are certain to arrive at the ultimate; because there is in them no falsity or deceit; because they fulfill all vows; because they do not use up the conditioned practices; because they accord with unconditioned wisdom; because they give birth to the wisdom of the buddhas; because they run to the end of all future time; because they bring to accomplishment every kind of surpassing practice; because they reach the ground of effortless wisdom. | T10n0279 0277a18 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | They are all of them not in vain, and their merit is unending; they leave behind all craving, are ultimately liberated, and their fruit and recompense are not in vain; they fulfill all vows; within all conditioned dharmas they cannot be used up, and yet they can accord with unconditioned wisdom, giving rise to the wisdom of the buddhas to the very end of the future, and possessing in full all the grounds of the tathāgatas. | T09n0278 0629b13 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text is a parallel series of eleven clauses each ending in 「故」 tr. “because”, the sixty is nine short phrases, the opening and closing being different. (b) The eighty has 「離於一切障難」 tr. “they leave behind every obstruction and hardship”, against the sixty’s 「離一切愛」 tr. “they leave behind all craving”. (c) The last clause of the eighty is 「到無功用智地」 tr. “they reach the ground of effortless wisdom”, against the sixty’s 「具足一切諸如來地」 tr. “they possess in full all the grounds of the tathāgatas” 〔T09n0278 0629b16〕. (d) The sixty has the clause 「功德無盡」 tr. “the merit is unending”, which is the place of general discernment that Fazang explains 〔T35n1733 0416a15〕, while the eighty does not have these four words.
Sentence Three The Simile of the Diamond
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | It is as when a man swallows a little diamond: in the end it is not digested away, but must pass through his body and come out beyond it. Why is this? Because the diamond will not abide together with the filth of a body of flesh and blood. | T10n0279 0277a23 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | It is as when a man swallows a little diamond: in the end it is not digested and must pass through the body; reaching the diamond-wheel limit, only then does it stay. Why is this so? Because that diamond cannot be digested. So it is likewise. | T09n0278 0629b17 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「要穿其身，出在於外」 tr. “it must pass through his body and come out beyond it” 〔T10n0279 0277a23〕, against the sixty’s 「要從身過；至金剛輪際，然後乃住」 tr. “it must pass through the body; reaching the diamond-wheel limit, only then does it stay” 〔T09n0278 0629b17〕. (b) As for the explanation of the reason, the eighty has 「金剛不與肉身雜穢而同止」 tr. “the diamond will not abide together with the filth of a body of flesh and blood” 〔T10n0279 0277a24〕 (speaking in terms of not abiding together), while the sixty has 「彼金剛不可消」 tr. “that diamond cannot be digested” (speaking in terms of not being digestible).
Sentence Four The Joining of the Simile of the Diamond
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | So it is too with the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata: it must pass through the body of the afflictions, which is all the conditioned practices, and reach the unconditioned, ultimate place of wisdom. Why is this? Because this little root of goodness does not abide together with the afflictions that are the conditioned practices. | T10n0279 0277a25 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | The little planting of roots of goodness at the place of the Tathāgata is able to break down all conditioned afflictions, and on to the ultimate wisdom of the Tathāgata’s nirvāṇa, and only then does it stay. Why is this so? Because the roots of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata cannot be used up. | T09n0278 0629b19 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「到於無為究竟智處」 tr. “it reaches the unconditioned, ultimate place of wisdom” 〔T10n0279 0277a26〕, the sixty has 「究竟如來涅槃智慧」 tr. “the ultimate wisdom of the Tathāgata’s nirvāṇa” 〔T09n0278 0629b20〕. (b) In explaining the reason, the eighty has 「不與有為諸行煩惱而共住」 tr. “it does not abide together with the afflictions that are the conditioned practices” 〔T10n0279 0277a27〕, the sixty has 「所植諸善根不可盡」 tr. “the roots of goodness planted cannot be used up” 〔T09n0278 0629b22〕 — following upon the divergence in sentence three (the eighty speaking throughout in terms of not abiding together, the sixty throughout in terms of not being used up).
Sentence Five The Simile of the Fire and Its Joining
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Suppose dry grass were heaped up equal to Sumeru, and a fire the size of a mustard seed were thrown into it: it would certainly all be burned away. Why is this? Because fire is able to burn. So it is too with the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata: it is certainly able to burn up all the afflictions, and ultimately to attain the nirvāṇa in which nothing is left over. Why is this? Because the very nature of this little root of goodness is ultimate. | T10n0279 0277a28 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | It is as with a heap of great dry grass equal to Mount Sumeru: if someone holds a fire the size of a mustard seed to it, it can all be burned away. Why is this? Because the nature of fire can burn it all. Sons of the Buddha! So it is too with the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata: it can burn up and extinguish all the afflictions, with nothing left over, and reach ultimate nirvāṇa. Why is this? Because the nature of the roots of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata is ultimate. | T09n0278 0629b22 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「火能燒故」 tr. “because fire is able to burn”, against the sixty’s 「火性悉能燒故」 tr. “because the nature of fire can burn it all”. (b) The eighty has 「究竟得於無餘涅槃」 tr. “ultimately to attain the nirvāṇa in which nothing is left over” 〔T10n0279 0277b02〕, against the sixty’s 「無有遺餘，究竟涅槃」 tr. “with nothing left over, ultimate nirvāṇa” 〔T09n0278 0629b26〕.
Sentence Six The Simile of the King of Medicine Trees
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | It is as though in the Snow Mountains there were a king of medicine trees, named Well-Seen. If someone sees it, his eye attains purity; if someone hears it, his ear attains purity; if someone smells it, his nose attains purity; if someone tastes it, his tongue attains purity; if someone touches it, his body attains purity; and if any sentient being takes the earth from beneath it, that too can work for people the benefit of removing sickness. | T10n0279 0277b03 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | It is as though in the Snow Mountains there were a great king of medicines, named Well-Appearing. If someone sees it, his eye attains purity; if someone hears it, his ear attains purity; if someone smells its fragrance, his nose attains purity; if someone tastes its flavor, his tongue attains purity; if someone touches it, his body attains purity; and if someone takes the earth of that place, it can extinguish measureless ailments of the multitude and bring peace and ease. | T09n0278 0629b27 |
Where the variants lie: (a) As for the tree’s name, the eighty-fascicle text has 「善見」 tr. “Well-Seen”, the sixty has 「善現」 tr. “Well-Appearing”; the eighty has 「藥王樹」 tr. “a king of medicine trees”, the sixty has 「大藥王」 tr. “a great king of medicines”. (b) The eighty has 「若有嗅者」 tr. “if someone smells it” and 「若有嘗者」 tr. “if someone tastes it”, against the sixty’s 「若聞香者」 tr. “if someone smells its fragrance” and 「若嘗味者」 tr. “if someone tastes its flavor”. (c) As for the benefit of the earth, the eighty has 「除病利益」 tr. “the benefit of removing sickness”, the sixty has 「除滅無量眾病，安隱快樂」 tr. “extinguishing measureless ailments of the multitude, bringing peace and ease” 〔T09n0278 0629c02〕.
Sentence Seven The Joining of the Realm of the Six Faculties
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | If someone gets to taste the Dharma-flavor of the Tathāgata, his tongue attains purity, and he comes to possess the broad and long tongue and understands the ways of all speech; if someone gets to touch the light of the Tathāgata, his body attains purity, and he ultimately obtains the unsurpassed dharma-body; and if someone gives rise to mindful recollection of the Tathāgata, he attains the purity of the samādhi of the recollection of the Buddha. | T10n0279 0277b11 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | If someone gets to savor the Dharma-flavor of the Tathāgata, his tongue attains purity, and he obtains a tongue-faculty diamond-like, broad, long, and pure, and can set forth all sounds of speech; if someone gets to touch the light of the Tathāgata, that person at once obtains a pure form-body and ultimately reaches the unsurpassed dharma-body; and if someone recollects the Tathāgata, he attains the samādhi of the recollection of the Buddha, with right mindfulness unconfused. | T09n0278 0629c07 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「具廣長舌，解語言法」 tr. “he comes to possess the broad and long tongue and understands the ways of speech” 〔T10n0279 0277b11〕, against the sixty’s 「得金剛廣長清淨舌根，悉能演說一切言音」 tr. “he obtains a tongue-faculty diamond-like, broad, long, and pure, and can set forth all sounds of speech” 〔T09n0278 0629c07〕. (b) As for the benefit of touching the light, the eighty says only 「身得清淨」 tr. “his body attains purity”, while the sixty adds 「彼人即得清淨色身」 tr. “that person at once obtains a pure form-body” 〔T09n0278 0629c09〕. (c) Of the samādhi of the recollection of the Buddha, the eighty has 「清淨」 tr. “purity”, the sixty has 「正念不亂」 tr. “right mindfulness unconfused”.
Sentence Eight The Benefit of What Remains Behind
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | If there are sentient beings who make offerings to the ground the Tathāgata walked upon and to his stūpas and shrines, they too come to possess roots of goodness, extinguish all the troubles of the afflictions, and attain the joy of the noble ones. | T10n0279 0277b14 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | If someone makes homage and offerings at the ground of the scroll of the scripture and at the stūpas and shrines of the Tathāgata, those sentient beings come to possess roots of goodness, extinguish the troubles of the afflictions, and attain the joy of the noble ones. | T09n0278 0629c11 |
Where the variants lie: the eighty-fascicle text has 「所經土地」 tr. “the ground he walked upon”, the sixty has 「經卷地」 tr. “the ground of the scroll of the scripture” — the object of the offering is worded differently in the two witnesses. Chengguan, upon the eighty-fascicle text, judges 「所經土地，猶通現滅。其塔廟者，唯約滅後」 tr. “the ground he walked upon still runs through both his presence and his extinction; the stūpas and shrines are only after his extinction” 〔T35n1735 0886a01〕; Fazang, upon the sixty-fascicle text, outlines it as 「「若有得經卷」下合地土等，明佛滅後益」 tr. “from ‘if one gets the scroll of the scripture’ onward, the earth and the rest are joined, making clear the benefit after the Buddha’s extinction” 〔T35n1733 0416b01〕. Each commentary follows the witness it comments upon; recorded in full without adjudication.
Sentence Nine The Benefit for Those Who See and Hear Without Faith
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Sons of the Buddha! I tell you now: suppose there were sentient beings who saw the Buddha and heard the Buddha, and yet, bound and covered over by karmic obstruction, could not bring forth a mind of faith and delight — they too plant roots of goodness with nothing passing away in vain, and even in the end enter nirvāṇa. | T10n0279 0277b16 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Sons of the Buddha! Even sentient beings without faith and of wrong views, if they see and hear the Buddha, the fruit and recompense of the roots of goodness those sentient beings plant in seeing and hearing is not in vain, and even to ultimate nirvāṇa they cut off all evil and unwholesome roots and come to possess roots of goodness. | T09n0278 0629c13 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text marks 「我今告汝」 tr. “I tell you now” as a call to attend, which the sixty lacks. (b) As for those addressed, the eighty has 「業障纏覆不生信樂」 tr. “bound and covered over by karmic obstruction, they cannot bring forth a mind of faith and delight” 〔T10n0279 0277b17〕, the sixty has 「不信邪見眾生」 tr. “sentient beings without faith and of wrong views”. (c) The eighty brings out the concluding clause 「悉離一切諸不善法，具足善法」 tr. “they have all left behind every unwholesome dharma and come to possess the wholesome dharmas” 〔T10n0279 0277b19〕 later on 〔T10n0279 0277b19〕, while the sixty gathers it into this very sentence as 「斷一切惡諸不善根，具足善根」 tr. “they cut off all evil and unwholesome roots and come to possess roots of goodness” 〔T09n0278 0629c15〕.
Sentence Ten The Setting of the Similes Apart from the Dharma
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | The Tathāgata uses every simile to speak of every sort of matter, and yet there is no simile that can speak this Dharma. Why is this? Because the road of mind and of knowing is cut off, and it is beyond conceiving. The buddhas and bodhisattvas merely follow along with the minds of sentient beings, so as to make them glad, and for their sake speak similes; the simile is not the ultimate. | T10n0279 0277b20 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Sons of the Buddha! The roots of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata by seeing, hearing, making offerings, and revering cannot be told and cannot be made into a simile. Why is this? Because the Tathāgata is beyond conceiving and passes beyond conceiving; it is only in accordance with what suits that the Buddha makes similes for them. | T09n0278 0629c16 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text speaks in terms of the Dharma, 「無有譬諭能說此法」 tr. “there is no simile that can speak this Dharma” 〔T10n0279 0277b21〕, while the sixty speaks in terms of the roots of goodness, 「所種善根不可言說，不可為諭」 tr. “the roots of goodness planted cannot be told and cannot be made into a simile” 〔T09n0278 0629c16〕 — what is set apart is pointed at differently, opened and closed differently. (b) As for the reason for its being beyond conceiving, the eighty has 「心智路絕」 tr. “the road of mind and of knowing is cut off”, the sixty has 「如來不可思議，過思議故」 tr. “because the Tathāgata is beyond conceiving and passes beyond conceiving” 〔T09n0278 0629c17〕. (c) The eighty has the conclusion 「非是究竟」 tr. “it is not the ultimate”, which the sixty lacks.
Sentence Eleven The Question of the Name and the Answering of It
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Sons of the Buddha! This gate of Dharma is named: the secret place of the Tathāgata; named: that which no world can know; named: entering the seal of the Tathāgata; named: opening the gate of great wisdom; named: revealing the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata; named: bringing all bodhisattvas to accomplishment; named: that which no world can destroy; named: wholly according with the realm of the Tathāgata; named: able to purify the realms of all sentient beings; named: the setting forth of the inconceivable, ultimate Dharma that is the root real nature of the Tathāgata. | T10n0279 0277b23 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas said to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra: 「佛子！當何名此經？云何奉持？」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! By what name shall this scripture be called? How is it to be upheld?” 〔T09n0278 0629c21〕 〔He answered〕 「佛子！此經名為一切諸佛微密法藏。一切世間不能思議，如來所印大智光明開發示現如來種性；長養一切菩薩功德，一切世間無能破壞；隨順一切如來境界，令一切眾生皆悉清淨；分別演說佛究竟法。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! This scripture is named the secret Dharma-store of all the buddhas. No world can conceive it; it is the great wisdom-light sealed by the Tathāgata, opening up and revealing the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata; it nourishes the merits of all bodhisattvas, and no world can destroy it; it accords with the realm of every Tathāgata and makes all sentient beings entirely pure; it discerns and sets forth the ultimate Dharma of the Buddha.” 〔T09n0278 0629c22〕 | T09n0278 0629c20 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The sixty-fascicle text has two questions from the bodhisattvas (by what name shall this scripture be called · how is it to be upheld), while the eighty has no question and answers directly. Chengguan states this outright here: 「準晉經，此前有諸菩薩發二種問，謂何名此經？云何奉持？今但有答，即分為二。」 tr. “According to the Jin scripture, before this there are two kinds of question raised by the bodhisattvas, namely: by what name shall this scripture be called? how is it to be upheld? Here there is only the answer, and so it is divided into two.” 〔T35n1735 0886a20〕 Fazang, upon the sixty-fascicle text, likewise outlines it as 「先興二問、後還兩答」 tr. “first two questions are raised, and afterwards two answers are returned” 〔T35n1733 0416b13〕. (b) The ten names differ word for word in the two witnesses: the eighty has 「如來祕密之處」 tr. “the secret place of the Tathāgata”, the sixty has 「一切諸佛微密法藏」 tr. “the secret Dharma-store of all the buddhas” 〔T09n0278 0629c22〕; the two names of the eighty, 「入如來印」 tr. “entering the seal of the Tathāgata” and 「開大智門」 tr. “opening the gate of great wisdom”, stand against the sixty’s 「如來所印大智光明」 tr. “the great wisdom-light sealed by the Tathāgata” 〔T09n0278 0629c23〕 (how the number of the names is matched follows Fazang’s outline · see heading six · not adjudicated); the eighty’s 「成就一切菩薩」 tr. “bringing all bodhisattvas to accomplishment” stands against the sixty’s 「長養一切菩薩功德」 tr. “nourishing the merits of all bodhisattvas” 〔T09n0278 0629c24〕; the eighty’s 「能淨一切諸眾生界」 tr. “able to purify the realms of all sentient beings” 〔T10n0279 0277b27〕 stands against the sixty’s 「令一切眾生皆悉清淨」 tr. “making all sentient beings entirely pure”; and the eighty’s 「演說如來根本實性不思議究竟法」 tr. “the setting forth of the inconceivable, ultimate Dharma that is the root real nature of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0277b28〕 stands against the sixty’s 「分別演說佛究竟法」 tr. “discerning and setting forth the ultimate Dharma of the Buddha” 〔T09n0278 0629c26〕.
Sentence Twelve Determining Who Is a Vessel for the Dharma
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | This gate of Dharma the Tathāgata does not speak for the remaining sentient beings; he speaks it only for bodhisattvas headed toward the Great Vehicle, only for bodhisattvas who ride the inconceivable vehicle. This gate of Dharma does not fall into the hands of any of the remaining sentient beings, save only the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. | T10n0279 0277b29 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Such a scripture as this is discerned and expounded only for bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who ride the inconceivable vehicle and who wholly and single-mindedly seek awakening; it is not for others. Why is this? Because this scripture does not fall into the hands of any sentient being, save only the bodhisattvas. | T09n0278 0629c27 |
Where the variants lie: the eighty-fascicle text marks two capacities (headed toward the Great Vehicle · riding the inconceivable vehicle), while the sixty marks only one and adds 「一向專心求菩提者」 tr. “those who wholly and single-mindedly seek awakening” 〔T09n0278 0629c28〕.
Sentence Thirteen The Simile of the Seven Treasures
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | It is as with the seven treasures possessed by a wheel-turning sage king: it is because of these treasures that the wheel-turning king is shown; these treasures do not fall into the hands of the remaining sentient beings, save only the crown prince born of the first consort, who has come to possess in full the marks of a sage king. If the wheel-turning king had no such prince endowed with all the virtues, then after the king’s life had ended these treasures would within seven days all be scattered and destroyed. | T10n0279 0277c03 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | It is as with the seven treasures possessed by a wheel-turning sage king: it is because of these treasures that he carries on the Dharma of a wheel-turning king. The sage king’s seven treasures have none who can hold them, save only the crown prince born of the first consort, who has come to possess in full the marks of a sage king. Sons of the Buddha! If the wheel-turning king had no such prince endowed with all the virtues, then after the king’s life had ended these treasures would scatter and be destroyed of themselves. | T09n0278 0630a01 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「因此寶故顯示輪王」 tr. “it is because of these treasures that the wheel-turning king is shown” 〔T10n0279 0277c03〕, against the sixty’s 「因此寶故，行轉輪王法」 tr. “it is because of these treasures that he carries on the Dharma of a wheel-turning king” 〔T09n0278 0630a01〕. (b) The eighty has 「此寶不入餘眾生手」 tr. “these treasures do not fall into the hands of the remaining sentient beings” 〔T10n0279 0277c04〕, against the sixty’s 「聖王七寶無堪持者」 tr. “the sage king’s seven treasures have none who can hold them” 〔T09n0278 0630a02〕. (c) The eighty has the limit 「於七日中」 tr. “within seven days”, while the sixty has only 「自然散滅」 tr. “they scatter and are destroyed of themselves”.
Sentence Fourteen The Joining of the Simile, and the Two Vehicles
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | So it is too with the treasure of this scripture: it does not fall into the hands of any of the remaining sentient beings, save only the true sons of the Tathāgata, the Dharma-king — those born into the family of the Tathāgata and who have planted the various roots of goodness that are the marks of the Tathāgata. Sons of the Buddha! If there were none of these true sons of the Buddha, such a gate of Dharma would before long be scattered and destroyed. Why is this? Because all of the two vehicles do not hear this scripture, much less receive and keep it, read and recite it, copy it out, or discern and expound it! Only the bodhisattvas are able to do so. | T10n0279 0277c07 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | This scripture likewise does not fall into the hands of any sentient being, save only the true sons of the Tathāgata, the Dharma-king: those born from the family of the lineage-nature of the tathāgatas, who have planted the various roots of goodness that are the marks of the Tathāgata; if there were none of these true sons of the Buddha, this scripture would perish. Why is this? Because none of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas hear this scripture, much less receive and keep it, copy it out, or expound it — there is no such thing. Only the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas can themselves recite and keep it and copy out the scroll of the scripture. | T09n0278 0630a05 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「生如來家」 tr. “born into the family of the Tathāgata”, against the sixty’s 「從諸如來種姓家生」 tr. “born from the family of the lineage-nature of the tathāgatas” 〔T09n0278 0630a07〕. (b) The eighty has 「不久散滅」 tr. “before long scattered and destroyed”, against the sixty’s 「斯經則滅」 tr. “this scripture would perish”. (c) The eighty has 「一切二乘」 tr. “all of the two vehicles”, while the sixty opens it out as 「一切聲聞、緣覺」 tr. “all the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas”.
Sentence Fifteen The Showing by Contrast
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Suppose there were a bodhisattva who through measureless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of aeons practiced the six perfections and cultivated all sorts of factors of awakening: if he has not heard this gate of the Dharma of the Tathāgata’s inconceivable great majestic virtue, or, having heard it, does not believe, does not understand, does not accord, does not enter, he cannot be called a true bodhisattva, because he is not able to be born into the family of the Tathāgata. | T10n0279 0277c15 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Sons of the Buddha! Though a bodhisattva-mahāsattva practice the six perfections for measureless koṭis of nayutas of aeons and cultivate the roots of goodness of the factors of the path, if he has not heard this scripture, or hearing it does not believe, receive and keep, and accord with it, such a one is still a bodhisattva in name only, not born from the family of the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata. | T09n0278 0630a14 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「不得名為真實菩薩」 tr. “he cannot be called a true bodhisattva” 〔T10n0279 0277c18〕, the sixty has 「猶為假名菩薩」 tr. “he is still a bodhisattva in name only” — the denial and the assertion are opposite while what is pointed at is the same. (b) The eighty opens four clauses, 「不信、不解、不順、不入」 tr. “does not believe, does not understand, does not accord, does not enter” 〔T10n0279 0277c18〕, while the sixty has only 「雖聞不信」 tr. “though he hears, he does not believe”. Chengguan raises a doubt of his own about the two words 「設有」 tr. “suppose there were” and resolves it himself: 「此中設有之言，似當假設……斯則舉權顯實，非假設也。」 tr. “the words ‘suppose there were’ here seem to be a hypothesis … but this is bringing up the provisional to show the real, and is not a hypothesis.” 〔T35n1735 0886b25〕
Sentence Sixteen The Showing by Accord
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | If one gets to hear this gate of Dharma of the Tathāgata’s measureless, inconceivable wisdom that is without obstruction and without hindrance, and having heard it receives it in faith and understands it, according with it and awakening into it, one should know that this person is born into the family of the Tathāgata, accords with the realm of every Tathāgata, possesses in full all the dharmas of a bodhisattva, abides in the realm of the knowledge of all modes, leaves behind all worldly dharmas, gives birth to all that the Tathāgata practices, penetrates the dharma-nature of all bodhisattvas, has in his mind no doubt about the Buddha’s sovereign mastery, dwells in the Dharma that has no teacher, and enters deeply into the unobstructed realm of the Tathāgata. | T10n0279 0277c19 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva gets to hear this scripture, and having heard it turns to it in faith, receives and keeps it and accords with it, one should know that such a one is a true son of the Buddha, born from the Buddha’s family, according with the realm of every Tathāgata, possessing in full the true Dharma of every bodhisattva, abiding in the realm of the knowledge of all modes, leaving behind all worldly dharmas, giving birth to and nourishing what the Tathāgata practices, reaching the further shore of all the dharmas of a bodhisattva, having in his mind no doubt about the Tathāgata’s sovereign true Dharma, ultimately abiding in the ground that has no teacher, and entering deeply into the realm of every Tathāgata. | T09n0278 0630a17 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「生如來家」 tr. “born into the family of the Tathāgata”, against the sixty’s 「為真佛子，從佛家生」 tr. “is a true son of the Buddha, born from the Buddha’s family” 〔T09n0278 0630a19〕. (b) The eighty has 「通達一切菩薩法性」 tr. “penetrates the dharma-nature of all bodhisattvas” 〔T10n0279 0277c24〕, against the sixty’s 「到一切菩薩諸法彼岸」 tr. “reaches the further shore of all the dharmas of a bodhisattva” 〔T09n0278 0630a22〕. (c) The eighty’s 「深入如來無礙境界」 tr. “enters deeply into the unobstructed realm of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0277c25〕 has the two words 「無礙」 tr. “unobstructed”, which the sixty lacks.
Sentence Seventeen The Benefit of Practice in the Ten Clauses of Unobstructedness, and the Conclusion
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Then he is able, with the knowing that dedicates and directs his roots of goodness, universally to enter such a Dharma as this — entering without entering; and he takes no single dharma as an object of clinging, but ever contemplates all dharmas by way of one dharma. Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who brings such merits as these to accomplishment need apply only a little effort, and he attains the spontaneous knowing that is had without a teacher. | T10n0279 0278a03 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | He enters deeply into all such dharmas as these, and yet there is nothing entered; he does not think of one dharma, does not think of two dharmas, but contemplates measureless dharmas all impartially. Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who brings such merits as these to accomplishment applies few skillful means, and attains the knowing that has no teacher. | T09n0278 0630b02 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The one clause of the eighty-fascicle text, 「不入而入」 tr. “entering without entering”, the sixty does not have; the sixty has only 「而無所入」 tr. “and yet there is nothing entered”. (b) The eighty has 「恒以一法觀一切法」 tr. “ever contemplates all dharmas by way of one dharma” 〔T10n0279 0278a04〕, against the sixty’s 「不念一法，不念二法，悉平等觀無量諸法」 tr. “does not think of one dharma, does not think of two dharmas, but contemplates measureless dharmas all impartially” 〔T09n0278 0630b03〕. (c) The eighty has 「少作功力，得無師自然智」 tr. “applying only a little effort, he attains the spontaneous knowing that is had without a teacher” 〔T10n0279 0278a06〕, against the sixty’s 「少作方便，得無師智」 tr. “applying few skillful means, he attains the knowing that has no teacher” 〔T09n0278 0630b05〕. It is precisely upon the eighty’s 「不入而入」 tr. “entering without entering” that Chengguan sets up his explanation of unobstructedness 〔T35n1735 0886c23〕.
Sentence Eighteen The Verses in Repetition
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Seeing, hearing, and making offerings to the tathāgatas, the merit thereby attained cannot be measured; within the conditioned it will never be used up, but must extinguish the afflictions and depart from all suffering. | T10n0279 0278a08 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | If one sees and hears the Tathāgata, reveres him and makes offerings to him, the roots of goodness thereby planted are measureless and beyond telling. Within all that is conditioned they cannot be exhausted; the afflictions are quieted and extinguished, and departing from suffering one attains nirvāṇa. | T09n0278 0630b07 |
Where the variants lie: the verses of the eighty-fascicle text are four verses of seven syllables, those of the sixty eight verses of five syllables — the metre and the number of the verses differ from the outset. What is one verse in the eighty the sixty divides into two.
Sentence Nineteen The Quaking in Eighteen Aspects
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | They moved, moved throughout, moved throughout alike; they rose, rose throughout, rose throughout alike; they surged, surged throughout, surged throughout alike; they shook, shook throughout, shook throughout alike; they roared, roared throughout, roared throughout alike; they struck, struck throughout, struck throughout alike. | T10n0279 0278a19 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | They moved, moved throughout, moved throughout alike; they rose, rose throughout, rose throughout alike; they awoke, awoke throughout, awoke throughout alike; they shook, shook throughout, shook throughout alike; they roared, roared throughout, roared throughout alike; they surged, surged throughout, surged throughout alike. | T09n0278 0630b26 |
Where the variants lie: the third group in the eighty-fascicle text is 「涌」 tr. “surging” and its sixth is 「擊」 tr. “striking”; the third group in the sixty is 「覺」 tr. “awaking” and its sixth is 「涌」 tr. “surging” — the sixty has 「覺」 tr. “awaking” and lacks 「擊」 tr. “striking”, and the place of 「涌」 tr. “surging” in the order is different.
Sentence Twenty The Predictions in the Attestation by Those of the Fruit
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | Sons of the Buddha! Here in this assembly now there are bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands who have attained the samādhi of the spiritual penetrations of all bodhisattvas; upon all of them we confer the prediction that after one more birth they shall attain unsurpassed perfect awakening. | T10n0279 0278b06 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | When this scripture was spoken, bodhisattvas equal to the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands attained the whole illumination of a bodhisattva and all the samādhis, and received the prediction of one more birth, that they shall accomplish unsurpassed perfect awakening. | T09n0278 0630c13 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text has 「今此會中，十萬佛剎微塵數菩薩摩訶薩」 tr. “here in this assembly now, bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands” 〔T10n0279 0278b07〕, the sixty has 「說此經時，百千佛剎微塵等菩薩」 tr. “when this scripture was spoken, bodhisattvas equal to the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands” 〔T09n0278 0630c13〕 — the number and the time are marked differently. (b) The eighty attributes 「我等皆與授記」 tr. “upon all of them we confer the prediction” to the buddhas of the same name, while the sixty says directly 「授一生記」 tr. “received the prediction of one more birth” without marking who confers it. (c) The eighty says 「得一切菩薩神通三昧」 tr. “attained the samādhi of the spiritual penetrations of all bodhisattvas” 〔T10n0279 0278b08〕, which Chengguan explains as 「神通三昧即十通十定故」 tr. “the samādhi of the spiritual penetrations is the ten penetrations and the ten samādhis” 〔T35n1735 0887a16〕; the sixty has 「得菩薩一切明，一切三昧」 tr. “attained the whole illumination of a bodhisattva and all the samādhis” 〔T09n0278 0630c14〕.
Sentence Twenty-One The Weight of the Narration and Its Attribution
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | At that time, because of the majestic spiritual power of the buddhas of the ten directions, because of the power of Vairocana’s original vows, because the Dharma is so of itself, because of the power of the roots of goodness, because the wisdom the Tathāgata gives rise to does not overstep a single thought … | T10n0279 0278b16 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | Because of the power of the original vows of the buddha Rocana, because the Dharma is so of itself, because of the power of the roots of goodness, because of the Tathāgata’s unending wisdom, because the Tathāgata does not miss the season, because the bodhisattvas are transformed as suits them, because the practice of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra is carried on widely, because the knowledge of all modes is revealed. | T09n0278 0630c22 |
Where the variants lie: (a) As for the buddha’s name, the eighty-fascicle text has 「毘盧遮那」 tr. “Vairocana”, the sixty has 「盧舍那佛」 tr. “the buddha Rocana”. (b) The attribution differs — the eighty takes this passage as narration by the compilers of the scripture (beginning with 「爾時」 tr. “at that time”, narrating the reason for the gathering of those of the cause), while the sixty places this passage at the end of what the buddhas of the same name say (continuing from 0630c10, 「咸作是言」 tr. “all spoke thus”, and downward), as the close of the buddhas’ words; the narration of the gathering of those of the cause begins separately at 0630c25. (c) The weight of the narration differs — the sixty, within the section of the attestation by those of the fruit, marks the assembly’s realization with 「說此經時」 tr. “when this scripture was spoken” (attaining the whole illumination · all the samādhis · the prediction of one more birth), while the eighty has 「今此會中」 tr. “here in this assembly now”, marking those present. Recorded without adjudication.
Sentence Twenty-Two The Verses of the Circulating at the Chapter’s End
| Witness | Verbatim, rendered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Śikṣānanda T279 | This is the first wealth that surpasses the world, this is what can bring across the many kinds of beings, this is what can give birth to the pure path; you should hold to it and not be heedless. | T10n0279 0278c21 |
| Buddhabhadra T278 | All the well-gone ones, surpassing the world and what is in it; for the most surpassing and joyful assembly this scripture is the inner store. It can give birth to measureless purely white paths; therefore leave heedlessness behind and single-mindedly uphold it always. | T09n0278 0631b02 |
Where the variants lie: (a) The eighty-fascicle text takes 「超世第一財」 tr. “the first wealth that surpasses the world” as the figure, the sixty takes 「內藏」 tr. “the inner store” as the figure. (b) The last line of the eighty, 「汝等當持莫放逸」 tr. “you should hold to it and not be heedless”, against the sixty’s 「是故離放逸，一心常奉持」 tr. “therefore leave heedlessness behind and single-mindedly uphold it always” 〔T09n0278 0631b05〕 — the order of the words of exhortation is reversed while the sense is the same. (c) The verses of the circulating at the chapter’s end are four of seven syllables in the eighty, six of five syllables in the sixty.
V. Scriptural Grounds of Sectarian Doctrine (the doctrinal eye)
(1) The little root of goodness cannot be digested away — the scriptural ground for seeing and hearing being already an entry into non-retrogression — 「於如來所種少善根亦復如是，要穿一切有為諸行煩惱身過，到於無為究竟智處。」 tr. “So it is too with the little root of goodness planted at the place of the Tathāgata: it must pass through the body of the afflictions, which is all the conditioned practices, and reach the unconditioned, ultimate place of wisdom.” 〔T10n0279 0277a25〕 Chengguan matches the three similes with the three virtues and judges this simile to be the virtue of wisdom, 「智慧破惑，如金剛故」 tr. “wisdom breaks confusion as a diamond does” 〔T35n1735 0885c21〕; Fazang judges it to be 「德窮來際果」 tr. “the fruit of virtue exhausting the future” 〔T35n1733 0416a21〕. Little and not digested away, little and yet able to burn — this is the stroke of this sense that comes nearest to the ordinary person: though what is planted be little, its nature does not abide together with the afflictions, and so it must reach the ultimate.
(2) Even without faith the root of goodness is planted — 「設有眾生見聞於佛，業障纏覆不生信樂，亦種善根無空過者，乃至究竟入於涅槃。」 tr. “Suppose there were sentient beings who saw the Buddha and heard the Buddha, and yet, bound and covered over by karmic obstruction, could not bring forth a mind of faith and delight — they too plant roots of goodness with nothing passing away in vain, and even in the end enter nirvāṇa.” 〔T10n0279 0277b16〕 Chengguan judges this to be 「明不信益者，此明益深」 tr. “making clear the benefit for those without faith; this shows that the benefit is deep” 〔T35n1735 0886a04〕, and cites three scriptures in proof:
〔T35n1735 0886a05〕「《如來祕密藏經》明「罵藥，服之得力。罵沈，燒已還香。罵佛，猶勝敬諸外道。」〔T35n1735 0886a05〕若爾，豈無罵罪？罵罪非無，今語遠益故。」 tr. “The Rulai mimi zang jing makes clear: ‘revile the medicine, and taking it you still get its power; revile the aloeswood, and burnt it still gives back its fragrance; revile the Buddha, and it is still better than revering the outsiders.’ If that is so, is there then no fault in reviling? The fault of reviling is not absent; what is spoken of here is the far-off benefit.”
〔T35n1735 0886a07〕「《法華》云「跋陀婆羅等罵常不輕，千劫於阿毘地獄受大苦惱，畢是罪已，還遇常不輕菩薩教化。」〔T35n1735 0886a07〕《涅槃》喻以毒塗之鼓，欲聞不聞無不死者。故菩薩之名，起自聞謗之日。謗尚遠益，況深信耶！況解行耶！況證悟耶！弘持之者，勉思此文。」 tr. “The Lotus says: ‘Bhadrapāla and the rest reviled Never Disparaging, and for a thousand aeons underwent great suffering in the Avīci hell; and that fault being worked off, they met again with the teaching of the bodhisattva Never Disparaging.’ The Nirvāṇa likens it to a drum smeared with poison, of which none who wish to hear it and none who do not fail to die. Therefore the name of the bodhisattva arises from the day of hearing the slander. If even slander brings benefit far off, how much more deep faith! how much more understanding and practice! how much more realization and awakening! Let those who spread and uphold this take pains to think over this passage.”
What Fazang cites are the Rulai mimi zang jing and the Dabei jing in five fascicles:
〔T35n1733 0416b05〕「五卷《大悲經》「但出家人袈裟著身，假令左手携男、右手携女，從一酒家至一酒家。佛言：我記此人不出賢劫當般涅槃。」〔T35n1733 0416b05〕如是等文，同明如來法不思議也。」 tr. “The Dabei jing in five fascicles says: ‘let it be only that one who has gone forth has the monastic robe upon his body, even though he lead a boy by the left hand and a girl by the right and go from one wine-shop to another wine-shop — the Buddha said: I record of this person that he will not pass beyond the worthy aeon without entering final nirvāṇa.’ Passages such as these alike make clear that the Dharma of the Tathāgata is beyond conceiving.”
(3) The five pairs of the ten names (Chengguan) —
「今初，有十名，分為五對：一內深外絕對，謂內證三德祕密藏故，外則凡小不能測故。二證寂開智對。三現果成因對，謂性淨萬德即是佛種，今十門出現即是現義。四越世順佛對，世尚不知，安能破壞？此十通是佛分齊境。五淨機演實對，知生佛同源則能淨故。」 tr. “Now first, there are ten names, divided into five pairs. First, the pair of the depth within and the cutting off without, that is, within it is the secret store of the three virtues that he realizes, and without, ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicle cannot fathom it. Second, the pair of realizing quiescence and opening wisdom. Third, the pair of manifesting the fruit and accomplishing the cause, that is, the myriad virtues of the pure nature are the very seed of buddhahood, and the appearance now in ten gates is the sense of manifesting. Fourth, the pair of surpassing the world and according with the Buddha — if the world does not even know it, how could it destroy it? These ten are all alike the realm proper to a buddha. Fifth, the pair of purifying capacities and setting forth the real, for to know that beings and buddha are of one source is to be able to purify.” 〔T35n1735 0886a23〕
「隨緣不變之性，諸佛本故。而性相無礙、因果圓融為不思議，過此更無為究竟法。前九別義，後一總該。」 tr. “The nature that accords with conditions and yet does not change is the root of the buddhas; and that nature and characteristic are unobstructed and cause and fruit perfectly fused is the inconceivable, beyond which there is nothing further, and so it is the ultimate Dharma. The nine before are separate senses, the last one gathers them all.” 〔T35n1735 0886a29〕
(4) Whence the title of the Chapter on Nature-Arising came (Fazang) — the fifth of the ten names, upon which Fazang fastens the chapter title of the sixty-fascicle text:
「五明開發示現如來種性經，〈性起品〉名從此而立。又釋：令佛種性起用現前，名開示也。」 tr. “Fifth, the scripture that makes clear the opening up and revealing of the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata — from this the name of the Chapter on Nature-Arising was established. Another explanation: to make the function of the buddha lineage-nature arise and appear before one is what is called opening and revealing.” 〔T35n1733 0416b19〕
And he states the reason for discerning the name here: 「何故此中辨名持者？顯義實故、以性起是法體故、要妙故。」 tr. “Why is the name and the upholding discerned at this point? Because it shows the sense to be real; because nature-arising is the substance of the Dharma; because it is essential and subtle.” 〔T35n1733 0416b13〕 — nature-arising being the substance of the Dharma, the name must be established here; and this is where the scriptural ground for the name of the Huayan school’s gate of nature-arising lies.
(5) The inconceivable vehicle and the perfect capacity — 「唯為趣向大乘菩薩說，唯為乘不思議乘菩薩說」 tr. “he speaks it only for bodhisattvas headed toward the Great Vehicle, only for bodhisattvas who ride the inconceivable vehicle” 〔T10n0279 0277b29〕. Chengguan explains vessel and non-vessel:
「非器不為，所謂權小乘、可思議乘，歷次修故，名餘眾生；是器則為，所謂圓機，不揀凡聖。趣向大乘，揀於小乘。不思議乘，揀於權乘。一運一切運，十信滿心即攝諸位，圓融無礙名不思議乘。」 tr. “What is not a vessel he does not speak for, namely the provisional and lesser vehicles, the conceivable vehicle, since they cultivate through successive stages, and these are named the remaining sentient beings; what is a vessel he does speak for, namely the perfect capacity, without picking between ordinary and holy. ‘Headed toward the Great Vehicle’ picks it out from the lesser vehicle; ‘the inconceivable vehicle’ picks it out from the provisional vehicle. One carrying is the carrying of all; the mind that fills out the ten faiths already gathers in all the stages; being perfectly fused and unobstructed, it is named the inconceivable vehicle.” 〔T35n1735 0886b05〕
He further explains the sense of 「不入手」 tr. “does not fall into the hands”: 「有圓信手能受眾行，故上為之；權小於斯不盡能受，是故不為。」 tr. “one who has the hand of perfect faith can receive the many practices, and so it is spoken for him; those of the provisional and lesser vehicles cannot fully receive it here, and so it is not spoken for them.” 〔T35n1735 0886b10〕 And he cites the Faji jing: 「是經雖行閻浮提，於能信深法者，常住如是眾生心手中行。」 tr. “Though this scripture circulates in Jambudvīpa, it ever moves in the hand of the mind of such beings as can have faith in the deep Dharma.” 〔T35n1735 0886b12〕
(6) The nine senses of being born into the family of the Tathāgata — 「當知此人生如來家」 tr. “one should know that this person is born into the family of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0277c21〕. Chengguan takes 「生如來家為總，餘句為別」 tr. “being born into the family of the Tathāgata as the general and the remaining clauses as the particular” 〔T35n1735 0886c06〕 and opens nine families 〔T35n1735 0886c06〕, citing three treatises in proof: Asvabhāva’s treatise, 「生如來家者，謂佛法界，於此證會故，名為生家。」 tr. “to be born into the family of the Tathāgata means the buddha Dharma realm, in which one realizes and meets, and so it is called being born into the family.” 〔T35n1735 0886c08〕 · Vasubandhu’s commentary, 「由此能令諸佛種性不斷絕故。」 tr. “because by this the lineage-nature of the buddhas is made not to be cut off.” 〔T35n1735 0886c10〕 · the first fascicle of the Shizhu piposha, 「今此菩薩行如來道，相續不斷故。」 tr. “this bodhisattva now practices the way of the Tathāgata, continuing on unbroken.” 〔T35n1735 0886c12〕 And he judges its stage throughout:
「前來初住見心性故，故名生家；四地寄出世故，生道品家；八地無功用故，生無生法忍家。今此通三，兼顯凡夫解心亦名生家，因果無礙故。」 tr. “Earlier, at the first abiding one sees the nature of mind, and so it is called being born into the family; at the fourth ground one is lodged in what transcends the world, and so one is born into the family of the factors of the path; at the eighth ground one is without effort, and so one is born into the family of the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. Here all three run through, and it further shows that even an ordinary person’s understanding mind is called being born into the family, since cause and fruit are unobstructed.” 〔T35n1735 0886c16〕
(7) Entering without entering — 「普入如是法，不入而入」 tr. “universally to enter such a Dharma as this — entering without entering” 〔T10n0279 0278a03〕. Chengguan:
「智體即如，如外無法而可攀緣，故無可入。心行處滅，寂然無入。不失照用故，恒以一如而觀諸法，故名而入。此二無礙，方為真入。又一即是如，便於一中已見一切。」 tr. “The substance of knowing is suchness itself; outside suchness there is no dharma that could be clung to, and so there is nothing to enter. The place where the mind’s activity is extinguished is still, without entering. Since illumination and function are not lost, one ever contemplates all dharmas by one suchness, and so it is called entering. These two being unobstructed, only then is it true entering. Moreover, the one is suchness itself, and so within the one all is already seen.” 〔T35n1735 0886c24〕
As for the benefit of practice in the ten clauses, Chengguan further opens five pairs of unobstructedness: 「一即觀不礙於止、二見佛不礙入法、三智行法界不礙起福、四智不染世不礙悲入、五體絕三世不礙用而迴向。」 tr. “First, contemplation does not obstruct stopping; second, seeing the buddhas does not obstruct entering the Dharma; third, that knowing courses through the Dharma realm does not obstruct the raising of merit; fourth, that knowing is undefiled by the world does not obstruct compassion’s entering it; fifth, that in substance it cuts off the three times does not obstruct the function of dedicating and directing.” 〔T35n1735 0886c20〕
(8) The attesting of the interpenetration of cause and fruit — after the manifesting of the portents both the attestation by those of the fruit and that by those of the cause are present, and Chengguan explains why:
「先果人證、後因人證。所以具二者，法玄妙故，因果交徹之法故，因圓果滿之法故。前來諸會唯菩薩者，唯因行故。發心品中唯果證者，果之本故，初心成佛難信受故。隨義各別，所以互無，唯斯具二。」 tr. “First the attestation by those of the fruit, then the attestation by those of the cause. The reason both are had is that the Dharma is dark and subtle, that it is a Dharma in which cause and fruit interpenetrate, that it is a Dharma of the cause complete and the fruit full. In the assemblies before, only bodhisattvas attested, since those were the practice of the cause. In the chapter on raising the mind only the fruit attested, since that is the root of the fruit, and because the initial mind’s accomplishing of buddhahood is hard to believe and receive. The sense in each case being different, they lack the one or the other; this alone has both.” 〔T35n1735 0887a08〕
He further explains that those of the cause come and yet do not come: 「雖來自十方而周遍法界，則來即無來矣。」 tr. “Though they come from the ten directions, yet they pervade the Dharma realm; and so their coming is no coming at all.” 〔T35n1735 0887a26〕; and explains the sense of their bearing the same name: 「皆同普者，普法同故。界佛名異者，不失主伴故。普光明者，常寂光土無不遍故。」 tr. “That all are named Universal is because the universal Dharma is the same. That the buddhas of the realms have different names is so as not to lose host and guest. Universal Light means that the land of eternal quiescent light is nowhere unpervaded.” 〔T35n1735 0887a28〕
(9) The general encomium at the chapter’s end (Chengguan) — the judgment that closes the whole chapter, and also the last gathering of the sense of the scripture in this sense:
「然此一品文旨宏奧，能頓能圓，究眾生之本源、罄諸佛之淵海。根本法輪之內更處，其心生在金輪種中，復為嫡子，妙中之妙、玄中之玄。並居凡類之心，少功而能速證。安得自欺不受，長淪生死之中？今聞解能欣，尤須自慶昔善。出現品竟。」 tr. “Now the text and import of this one chapter are grand and deep; it can be sudden and can be perfect; it plumbs the source of sentient beings and drains the ocean-depths of the buddhas. Within the root Dharma wheel it is placed higher still; the mind is born within the seed of the golden wheel and is moreover the legitimate heir; it is the subtle within the subtle, the dark within the dark. And it lies within the mind of the ordinary kind, where little effort can yet swiftly realize. How can one deceive oneself and not receive it, and be long sunk in birth and death? That today one can hear and understand and rejoice — for this above all one should congratulate oneself on the goodness of the past. The Chapter on the Appearance is finished.” 〔T35n1735 0887b16〕
VI. Divergent Interpretations of the Commentators (the ancient worthies · with their schools marked)
Chengguan, Huayan jing shu T35n1735 (phrase by phrase upon the eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka · principal)
The three similes matched with the three virtues: 「第二喻中三喻，喻其三德。初少服金剛喻，喻於智德……第二少火燒多喻，喻斷德……第三藥王遍益喻，喻恩德，種種利生故。」 tr. “Within the second, the similes, there are three similes, which are similes for the three virtues. First, the simile of swallowing a little diamond, which is a simile for the virtue of wisdom … second, the simile of a little fire burning much, which is a simile for the virtue of cutting off … third, the simile of the king of medicines benefiting everywhere, which is a simile for the virtue of grace, since it benefits beings in every sort of way.” 〔T35n1735 0885c20〕
A separate opinion brought out on the placing of the verses:
「第二偈頌，即屬第十見聞之益。不頌顯名受持，顯名受持後文自頌。此頌應在揀法異喻之前，以前長行鉤鎖顯名亦是見聞益故。若迴此偈於現瑞後，與後偈相續，文理甚順。四偈分二：初一頌法說、後三如次頌前三喻。」 tr. “The second, the verses, belongs to the tenth, the benefit of seeing and hearing. It does not repeat the revealing of the name and the upholding, for the revealing of the name and the upholding is repeated in verse in the text below. These verses ought to stand before the setting of the Dharma apart from the similes, since the prose above, linked as it is, makes the revealing of the name also a benefit of seeing and hearing. If these verses were turned round to after the manifesting of the portents, continuous with the verses that follow, text and sense would run very smoothly. The four verses divide into two: the first one repeats the statement in prose, and the latter three repeat the three similes above in order.” 〔T35n1735 0886c29〕
The ten clauses of the general gathering at the chapter’s end matched with the ten gates:
「一成正覺、二即法輪、三是見聞生善，此三正顯益故；四即出現之法，是前總門；五即是心，約智顯故；六即圓音；七即境界，境界無量，生光亦多；八即涅槃動寂自在，大般涅槃為佛莊嚴故；九即是身，約本說一故；十即是行，果中說因故。」 tr. “First, the accomplishing of right awakening; second, the Dharma wheel; third, the goodness born of seeing and hearing — these three directly reveal the benefit; fourth, the Dharma of the appearance, which is the general gate above; fifth, the mind, spoken of in terms of knowing; sixth, the perfect voice; seventh, the realm, and the realm being measureless the light born is likewise much; eighth, nirvāṇa, sovereign in motion and stillness, since great final nirvāṇa is the adornment of a buddha; ninth, the body, since the one is spoken of in terms of the root; tenth, the practice, since the cause is spoken of within the fruit.” 〔T35n1735 0887b07〕
The outline of the four verses at the chapter’s end:
「後正頌中，四頌：初一頌說分中結酬，以此總包十段意故；後三頌顯名受持，初句顯名、餘皆勸持。且分為三：初偈歎深難聞、次一偈明文由多善、後偈舉勝勸持。」 tr. “Within the verses proper that follow there are four verses: the first one repeats the concluding response within the section of the exposition, since this takes in the sense of all ten sections; the latter three repeat the revealing of the name and the upholding, the first line revealing the name and the rest all exhorting to uphold. And they divide into three: the first verse praises its depth and the difficulty of hearing it; the next verse makes clear that the text comes of much goodness; the last verse brings up its excellence and exhorts to upholding.” 〔T35n1735 0887b12〕
Fazang, Tanxuan ji T35n1733 (the commentary on the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata in the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka)
The three similes matched with the three fruits: 「初吞少金剛喻，喻前第二德窮來際果……二小火能燒喻，喻第一斷滅惑障果，謂少善根性能滅惑。又釋：前滅所知障，後滅煩惱障。三藥王多益喻，喻第三成大菩提果。」 tr. “First, the simile of swallowing a little diamond, a simile for the second of the fruits above, the fruit of virtue exhausting the future … second, the simile of a little fire able to burn, a simile for the first fruit, that of cutting off and extinguishing the obstruction of confusion, that is, that the nature of a little root of goodness is able to extinguish confusion. Another explanation: the former extinguishes the obstruction to what is knowable, the latter extinguishes the obstruction of the afflictions. Third, the simile of the king of medicines with its many benefits, a simile for the third fruit, that of accomplishing great awakening.” 〔T35n1733 0416a20〕
The outline of the section on revealing the name and the upholding, and the ten names: 「上來說分竟。第五大段顯名受持分。於中二：先興二問、後還兩答。」 tr. “Thus far the section of the exposition is finished. The fifth great section is the revealing of the name and the upholding. Within it there are two: first two questions are raised, and afterwards two answers are returned.” 〔T35n1733 0416b12〕; the ten names are established following Guangtong and the rest, the reason for each name being given in turn, and under the fifth name is fastened the origin of the title of the Chapter on Nature-Arising 〔0416b19〕; under the tenth name he says: 「十名分別說佛究竟經，上約義，此句約教，以所說佛果性起是究竟法故。又義：上十名皆以後釋前可知。」 tr. “Tenth is the scripture of discerning and setting forth the Buddha’s ultimate Dharma; the foregoing are in terms of the sense, this clause in terms of the teaching, since the fruit of buddhahood and nature-arising that are spoken of are the ultimate Dharma. Another sense: of the ten names above, each may be understood by explaining what precedes by what follows.” 〔T35n1733 0416b28〕
The four divisions of the section on upholding: 「二「佛子如是經典」下答奉持。於中有四：初辨定法器、二舉益勸信受、三信順成益、四明勸修成益。初中三，謂法、喻、合。」 tr. “Second, from ‘Sons of the Buddha, such a scripture as this’ onward is the answer concerning upholding. Within it there are four: first, determining who is a vessel for the Dharma; second, bringing up the benefit and exhorting to receive it in faith; third, the benefit accomplished by faith and according; fourth, making clear the benefit accomplished by exhortation to cultivate. Within the first there are three, namely the Dharma, the simile, and the joining.” 〔T35n1733 0416c01〕
Chengguan, Yanyi chao T36n1736
Within the whole range of the Chao for chapter thirty-seven (0614c12–0637a15) no independent heading marking the opening of an outline division for the tenth sense is found — 〔not found〕. See the record under heading eight, the edition location register.
Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun T36n1739
No outline division belonging specifically to this sense is found — 〔not found〕. Only at 0725a02 is there the phrase 「《華嚴經．如來出現品》中付囑流通」 tr. “the entrusting and circulating within the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata of the Huayan jing”, related in kind to the circulating section of this sense; see heading seven in full.
Recorded without adjudication: as for what the three similes are similes of, Chengguan matches them with the three virtues of wisdom, cutting off, and grace, while Fazang matches them with the three fruits of virtue exhausting the future, cutting off and extinguishing the obstruction of confusion, and accomplishing great awakening — Chengguan speaking in terms of virtue and Fazang in terms of fruit, so that the order in which the first two similes are matched is accordingly reversed (Chengguan puts the simile of the diamond first as a simile for the virtue of wisdom, while Fazang makes the diamond a simile for the second fruit and the fire a simile for the first). Under the simile of the fire Fazang brings out a separate explanation, 「前滅所知障，後滅煩惱障」 tr. “the former extinguishes the obstruction to what is knowable, the latter extinguishes the obstruction of the afflictions” 〔T35n1733 0416a23〕, which Chengguan does not give. In gathering the ten names, Chengguan makes five pairs, while Fazang follows Guangtong and the rest and explains each of the ten names in turn. As to the placing of the verses, Chengguan brings out a separate opinion that these four verses 「應在揀法異喻之前」 tr. “ought to stand before the setting of the Dharma apart from the similes” 〔T35n1735 0887a01〕 and 「若迴此偈於現瑞後……文理甚順」 tr. “if these verses were turned round to after the manifesting of the portents … text and sense would run very smoothly”, and yet he does not alter the order of the text of the scripture. As to whether the two witnesses have the questions and answers (the sixty has two questions · the eighty has no question and answers directly), each commentary outlines according to the witness it comments upon. Which is the right explanation, and whose order runs the better — there are divergent explanations of old; they are recorded, and no adjudication is made.
VII. Cross-Reading and Lineage
- The Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata in the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka 〔T09n0278 0629b10–0631b06〕: the complete parallel translation of this sense, the structure of the scene being wholly the same (the raising of the question · the characteristic of not being in vain · the three similes · the benefit for those without faith · the setting of the similes apart from the Dharma · the question of the name and the answering of it · determining who is a vessel · the simile of the seven treasures · the showing by contrast and by accord · the attaining of the knowing that has no teacher · the verses in repetition · the manifesting of portents · the attestation by those of the fruit · the attestation by those of the cause · the verses of the circulating at the chapter’s end); for the collation sentence by sentence see heading four. Only in the presence or absence of the questions and answers, and in attribution and the weight of the narration, do the two witnesses differ (see sentences eleven and twenty-one), 〔recorded without adjudication〕.
- The scriptural ground for the name of the Huayan school’s sense of nature-arising: Fazang takes the fifth of the ten names in the sixty-fascicle text, 「開發示現如來種性經」 tr. “the scripture of the opening up and revealing of the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata” 〔T35n1733 0416b19〕, as that from which the title of the Chapter on Nature-Arising was established 〔T35n1733 0416b20〕, and further says 「以性起是法體故」 tr. “because nature-arising is the substance of the Dharma” 〔0416b14〕 — the name and the substance of the gate of nature-arising have their scriptural ground just here, in the section of this sense on the revealing of the name. 〔Recorded without adjudication〕
- Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun T36n1739: at 0725a02 he cites outright 「《華嚴經．如來出現品》中付囑流通」 tr. “the entrusting and circulating within the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata of the Huayan jing”, related in kind to the circulating section of this sense, though it is not an outline explanation proper to this sense; it is recorded as it stands and is not used to fill out the outline text.
- The Dasheng qixin lun T32n1666: examined with 「性起」 tr. “nature-arising”, there are zero hits throughout the file — 〔not found〕. Although the word 「善根」 tr. “roots of goodness” is often seen there, it is not cited specifically for this sense, and is not forced into use.
- Fazang’s Huayan yisheng jiaoyi fenqi zhang T45n1866: for the tenth sense (the roots of goodness of seeing and hearing) no sentence taking up its text specifically is found — 〔not found〕 (there are five citations throughout the work carrying the chapter title, one a real citation and four general, none of them citing the tenth sense alone).
- The Sanbao zhang T45n1874 · the Huayan jing zhigui T45n1871: examined with ‘seeing and hearing · roots of goodness’ and 「性起品」 tr. “the Chapter on Nature-Arising”, there are zero hits in each — 〔not found〕.
- The treatises of the lineage (the Cheng weishi lun T31n1585 · the She dacheng lun T31n1594 · the Yuqie shidi lun T30n1579 · the Jie shenmi jing T16n0676): this sense has no text taken up specifically; the absence is recorded in accordance with fact, and nothing from elsewhere is used to fill it. Only under 「生如來家」 tr. “born into the family of the Tathāgata” does Chengguan cite Asvabhāva’s treatise and Vasubandhu’s commentary 〔T35n1735 0886c07〕, which is a commentator citing them, not a treatise taking up the text of this sense; the attribution is recorded.
VIII. Edition Location Register
- Śikṣānanda T279 (the base text): chapter thirty-seven, the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata, the tenth sense, the roots of goodness planted by seeing, hearing, and drawing near, beginning 〔T10n0279 0277a16〕 and ending 〔0278c22〕 (the seventh assembly, the return to the palace of Universal Light · fascicle fifty-two). The order of the passages: the raising of the question 〔0277a16〕 · the eleven clauses on not being in vain 〔0277a17〕 · the simile of the diamond and its joining 〔0277a22〕 · the simile of the fire and its joining 〔0277a28〕 · the simile of the king of medicine trees 〔0277b03〕 · the joining of the realm of the six faculties 〔0277b07〕 · the benefit of what remains behind 〔0277b14〕 · the benefit for those without faith 〔0277b16〕 · the concluding statement 〔0277b18〕 · the setting of the similes apart from the Dharma 〔0277b20〕 · the revealing of the ten names 〔0277b23〕 · determining who is a vessel 〔0277b29〕 · the simile of the seven treasures and its joining 〔0277c03〕 · bringing up the benefit and exhorting to cultivate 〔0277c12〕 · the showing by contrast 〔0277c15〕 · the showing by accord and the benefit of being born into the family 〔0277c19〕 · the ten clauses of the benefit of practice accomplished by faith and hearing 〔0277c25〕 · the general conclusion, attaining the spontaneous knowing that has no teacher 〔0278a05〕 · the four verses in repetition 〔0278a06〕 · the manifesting of portents 〔0278a16〕 · the attestation by those of the fruit 〔0278a28〕 · the attestation by those of the cause 〔0278b16〕 · the four verses of the circulating at the chapter’s end 〔0278c08〕 – ending 〔0278c22〕 (end of fascicle fifty-two 〔0278c23〕). 〔Recorded · the granularity of the sources〕 For this sense the eighty-fascicle text is given sources at the level of the line, sentence by sentence; the verses in repetition and the verses of circulating run across pages, and for the verse passages only the two anchors of beginning and end are marked (about 〔0278a08〕 · about 〔0278c22〕), the line-level sources for each verse between them not having been checked; this is recorded in accordance with fact, and estimates are not used to fill out anchors.
- Buddhabhadra T278 (the Jin-dynasty translation, the principal witness for collation): the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata, chapter thirty-two, part four, beginning 〔T09n0278 0629b10〕 and ending 〔0631b06〕. The raising of the question 0629b10 · the characteristic of not being in vain 0629b13 · the simile of the diamond 0629b17 · the joining of the simile of the diamond 0629b19 · the simile of the fire 0629b22 · the joining of the simile of the fire 0629b24 · the simile of the king of medicines 0629b27 · the joining of the six faculties 0629c03 (the tongue-faculty 0629c07) · what remains behind 0629c11 · the benefit for those without faith 0629c13 · the setting of the similes apart from the Dharma 0629c16 · the two questions 0629c20 · the answering of the name 0629c22 · determining who is a vessel 0629c26 · the simile of the seven treasures 0630a01 · the joining of the simile 0630a05 · the exhortation to cultivate 0630a11 · the showing by contrast 0630a14 · the showing by accord 0630a17 · the benefit of practice 0630a24 · attaining the knowing that has no teacher 0630b04 · the verses in repetition begin 0630b05 (the first verse 0630b07) · the manifesting of portents 0630b23 · the quaking in eighteen aspects 0630b26 · the raining of clouds 0630b29 · the attestation by those of the fruit 0630c06 · the predictions 0630c13 · the passage on the original vows 0630c22 · the gathering of those of the cause 0630c25 · the words of the attestation by those of the cause 0631a05 · the stating of the intent 0631a11 · the verses of circulating begin 0631a20 (the first verse 0631a21 · the last verse 0631b04).
- Chengguan, Shu T35n1735: tenth, making clear the roots of goodness born of seeing, hearing, and drawing near in the appearance, beginning 0885c13. The three divisions in the text 0885c15 · the two parts of the direct setting forth 0885c16 · the eleven clauses 0885c19 · the three similes and the three virtues 0885c20 · the joining of the simile of the king of medicines 0885c25 · the Baoxing lun 0885c27 · the benefit of what remains behind 0885c29 · the benefit for those without faith 0886a03 · the citing of the Rulai mimi zang jing 0886a04 · the citing of the Lotus and the Nirvāṇa 0886a07 · the concluding statement 0886a12 · the setting of the similes apart from the Dharma 0886a13 · the revealing of the name and the upholding 0886a18 · the two questions according to the Jin scripture 0886a20 · the five pairs of the ten names 0886a23 · the nine before and the one after 0886b02 · determining who is a vessel 0886b03 · vessel and non-vessel 0886b05 · making clear receiving and not receiving 0886b09 · the citing of the Faji jing 0886b12 · the joining of the seven treasures 0886b15 · the citing of the Prajñā treatise 0886b19 · bringing up the benefit and exhorting to cultivate 0886b21 · the showing by contrast 0886b23 · the doubt about ‘suppose there were’ 0886b25 · at what stage the one without faith stands 0886b29 · the showing by accord and the benefit of being born into the family 0886c04 · the nine families 0886c06 · the judging of the three stages throughout 0886c16 · the benefit of practice accomplished by faith and hearing 0886c20 · entering without entering 0886c23 · the placing of the verses 0886c29 · the outline of the four verses 0887a04 · the manifesting of portents and the attesting 0887a05 · the two attestations by those of the fruit and those of the cause 0887a08 · the four divisions of those of the fruit 0887a12 · the four benefits conferred 0887a15 · the four divisions of those of the cause 0887a23 · coming that is no coming 0887a26 · the sense of the same name 0887a28 · the gathering up in verse 0887b03 · the ten clauses matched with the ten gates 0887b07 · the outline of the four verses 0887b12 · the general encomium at the chapter’s end 0887b16 · 「出現品竟」 tr. “the Chapter on the Appearance is finished” 0887b21.
- Chengguan, Yanyi chao T36n1736: within the whole range of the Chao for chapter thirty-seven, 0614c12–0637a15, examined with such forms as 「第十明」 tr. “tenth, making clear”, ‘seeing and hearing · roots of goodness’, 「藥王」 tr. “the king of medicines”, 「吞少」 tr. “swallowing a little”, and 「顯名受持分」 tr. “the section on revealing the name and the upholding”, no independent heading marking the opening of an outline division for the tenth sense is found — 〔not found〕. The Chao’s explanation of the ninth sense (nirvāṇa) far exceeds the Shu in length, and reaching past 0631b one still sees explanations of the three virtues and nirvāṇa and the like; the beginning and end of the Chao for the tenth sense could not be located, and the gap is recorded in accordance with fact, sources not being invented.
- Fazang, Tanxuan ji T35n1733: tenth, making clear the roots of goodness of seeing, hearing, revering, and nourishing in nature-arising, beginning 0416a10. The three divisions of the prose 0416a11 · the general discernment of the four positions 0416a13 · the three kinds of fruit 0416a16 · the three similes and the three fruits 0416a20 · the joining of the medicine tree 0416a25 · the citing of the Baoxing lun 0416a26 · the joining of the earth 0416b01 · the deep benefit 0416b02 · the citing of the Rulai mimi zang jing 0416b03 · the citing of the Dabei jing 0416b05 · the setting of the similes apart from the Dharma 0416b08 · the linking of the verses 0416b11 · 「上來說分竟」 tr. “thus far the section of the exposition is finished” 0416b13 · the revealing of the name and the upholding 0416b13 · the reason for discerning the name 0416b13 · the ten names 0416b14 (the establishing of the title of the Chapter on Nature-Arising under the fifth name 0416b20 · the tenth name 0416b28) · the four divisions of the answer on upholding 0416c01. 〔Recorded〕 From 0416c19 onward in the section on upholding the wording has not been checked in this apparatus; what is cited here goes no further than 0416c05.
- Li Tongxuan, Lun T36n1739: an outline division belonging specifically to this sense 〔not found〕; the related phrase is at 0725a02.
- Variant readings: within the range of T279 covered by this unit, 〔0277a16〕–〔0279a04〕, the Taishō base text carries 10 collation notes, recorded one by one without adjudication (base reading 【大】｜variant readings of other witnesses, several witnesses separated by ／): 〔0277a23〕消【大】＊｜銷【宮】【聖】＊（＊同校並繫〔0278a10〕〔0278a14〕〔0278b25〕之消字） · 〔0277b17〕纏【大】｜經【聖】 · 〔0277b29〕餘【大】｜除【聖】 · 〔0277c01〕趣【大】｜起【聖】 · 〔0278a18〕涌【大】｜踊【宋】【元】【明】【宮】 · 〔0278b16〕威【大】｜滅【聖】 · 〔0278b18〕越【大】｜起【宮】 · 〔0278c04〕減【大】｜滅【聖】 · 〔0278c15〕諭【大】＊｜喻【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊（＊同校並繫〔0278c16〕之諭字） · 〔0279a04〕于【大】｜唐于【明】. (＊ ＝ a Taishō asterisked collation: the same note also governs the remaining occurrences of that graph in the text; for notes of this class the T279 XML supplies no corresp for the recurrences, so the asterisk alone is shown and no second anchor is created.) The interlinear notes (phonetic and collation glosses) were stripped and recorded at the level of the original-text layer.
- Notes of the original printing, recorded for the record: 1 item (notes of the original Taishō printing / CBETA editorial remarks, carrying no
<app>collation and not counted among the Taishō collation notes listed above): 〔0279a01＋〕聖本卷首缺. - A further note upon the variant readings: 1 CBETA emendation (not counted among the Taishō collation notes listed above): 〔0277a20〕於【CB】【麗-CB】｜無此字【大】.