大智度論 含受品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Containing and Receiving
含受品：摩訶衍與空等，無所有故含受無量眾生（經＋論）
前一品須菩提稱歎摩訶衍勝出一切，佛答了「勝出」；這一品，佛把他其餘的讚歎一句一句接過來印可——你說衍與空等，如是如是；你說虛空受無量無邊眾生、摩訶衍也如是受，如是如是；你說這乘不見來處去處住處，如是如是；你說前際後際中際不可得、是衍名三世等，如是如是。可是每一聲印可之後，佛給出的理由都出人意表。先說等空——虛空無東西南北、非長非短、非青非黃、無生無滅、無垢無淨，一路數下去二十餘類，摩訶衍樣樣如是；有人自然要問，布施持戒是有為法，怎能同無為的虛空等？論主答：出世間的六度與如、法性、實際、智慧和合，得無生忍之後無所分別，便似虛空。接著說含受，而這裡藏著全品最深的一個翻轉。我們總以為虛空是因為廣大無邊，所以裝得下萬物；佛卻說——眾生無所有，所以虛空無所有；虛空無所有，所以摩訶衍無所有；正因為無所有，所以能受。論主替我們追問到底：虛空不過是「色不到之處」的假名，待色相而立，自身無相可得，追到最後，它不名為相、不名為所相、不名為有、不名為無，斷諸語言，寂滅如無餘涅槃——原來能含受一切的，不是一個更大的東西，而是無所有本身。有一物在，便有隔礙；唯無所有，方能一切皆受，如涅槃性中受無量眾生。然後說無來無去——已去中無去，未去中無去，去時亦無去；去者不去，不去者亦不去。凡夫肉眼所見的來來去去，佛說虛誑無實，與畜生所見無異。最後說三世等——過去空、未來空、現在空，三世等亦空，等中連等也不可得；菩薩如是解，便不以無始以來為疲厭，不以未來無邊為畏難。品末論主錄下四種說法：有人說得道無因緣，有人說時節到了自然得，有人說單憑福德，有人說單憑智慧——這些皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎；佛說的是具足因緣，六波羅蜜，三世菩薩學是乘具足，得成佛道。這一品在傳本裡有兩個名字，有的題作等空品，有的題作含受品——其實正是一義的兩面：唯其與空等，所以能含受；唯其無所有，所以無不容。空不是把世界推開，空正是世界得以安放的地方。
In the previous chapter Subhūti praised the Mahāyāna as surpassing everything, and the Buddha answered ‘surpassing’; in this chapter the Buddha takes up the rest of his praise sentence by sentence and approves it: you say the vehicle is equal to space, so it is, so it is; you say space receives immeasurable and boundless beings and the Mahāyāna likewise receives them, so it is, so it is; you say this vehicle has no place of coming, going, or abiding to be seen, so it is, so it is; you say its prior limit, later limit, and middle limit cannot be found and that this vehicle is called equal across the three times, so it is, so it is. Yet after each approval the reason the Buddha gives is unexpected. First, equal to space: space has no east, west, south, or north, is neither long nor short, neither blue nor yellow, without arising or ceasing, without stain or purity, and so on down through more than twenty kinds, and the Mahāyāna is so in every one. Someone naturally asks: giving and morality are conditioned dharmas, how can they be equal to unconditioned space? The treatise-author answers: the world-transcending six perfections come together with suchness, dharma-nature, the limit of reality, and wisdom, and after the acceptance of non-arising is attained there is no discrimination at all, and so they resemble space. Next, containing and receiving, and here lies the deepest reversal of the whole chapter. We always suppose that space holds the ten thousand things because it is vast and boundless; the Buddha says instead that because beings are without anything existent, space is without anything existent; because space is without anything existent, the Mahāyāna is without anything existent; and precisely because it is without anything existent, it can receive. The treatise-author presses the question to the end for us: space is only a provisional name for ‘the place form does not reach’, set up in dependence on the mark of form, with no mark of its own to be found; traced to the last, it is not called a mark, not called what is marked, not called existent, not called non-existent, all language cut off, still and extinguished like nirvāṇa without remainder. So what can contain and receive everything is not some larger thing but non-existence itself. Where one thing stands there is obstruction; only what is without anything existent can receive everything, as within the nature of nirvāṇa immeasurable beings are received. Then, no coming and no going: in what has already gone there is no going, in what has not yet gone there is no going, and in the time of going there is no going; the goer does not go, and the non-goer does not go either. The comings and goings the fleshly eye of the ordinary person sees, the Buddha says, are false and deceptive and without reality, no different from what animals see. Last, equal across the three times: the past is empty, the future is empty, the present is empty, and the equality of the three times is empty too; within that equality even equality cannot be found. A bodhisattva who understands this is not wearied by the beginningless past nor daunted by the boundless future. At the chapter's end the treatise-author records four views: some say the path is attained without causes and conditions, some say it comes of itself when the season arrives, some say it comes from merit alone, some say from wisdom alone; all of these are not causes and conditions, or scant causes and conditions, and Subhūti does not praise them. What the Buddha teaches is the full complement of causes and conditions, the six perfections; the bodhisattvas of the three times train in this vehicle in full and attain the Buddha path. In the transmitted texts this chapter bears two names, some heading it Equal to Space and some Containing and Receiving, and these are in truth two faces of one meaning: only because it is equal to space can it contain and receive; only because it is without anything existent does it exclude nothing. Emptiness does not push the world away; emptiness is exactly the place where the world can be set down.
卷51 〔T25 0424b18〕
大智度論釋含受品第二十三 【經】 佛告須菩提：「汝所言：『衍與空等。』如是！如是！須菩提！摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！如虛空無東方，無南方西方北方、四維、上下；須菩提！摩訶衍亦如是，無東方，無南方西方北方、四維、上下。 「須菩提！如虛空非長非短、非方非圓；須菩提！摩訶衍亦如是，非長、非短，非方非圓。 「須菩提！如虛空非青、非黃、非赤、非白、非黑；摩訶衍亦如是，非青、非黃、非赤、非白、非黑。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！如虛空非過去、非未來、非現在；摩訶衍亦如是，非過去、非未來、非現在。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！〔T25 0424c〕如虛空不增不減；摩訶衍亦如是，不增不減。 「須菩提！如虛空無垢無淨；摩訶衍亦如是，無垢無淨。 「須菩提！如虛空無生、無滅、無住、無異；摩訶衍亦如是，無生、無滅、無住、無異。 「須菩提！如虛空非善、非不善、非記、非無記；摩訶衍亦如是，非善、非不善、非記、非無記。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「如虛空無見、無聞、無知、無識；摩訶衍亦如是，無見、無聞、無知、無識。 「如虛空不可知、不可識、不可見、不可斷、不可證、不可修；摩訶衍亦如是，不可知、不可識、不可見、不可斷、不可證、不可修。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「如虛空非染相、非離相；摩訶衍亦如是，非染相、非離相。 「如虛空不繫欲界、不繫色界、不繫無色界；摩訶衍亦如是，不繫欲界、不繫色界、不繫無色界。 「如虛空無初發心，亦無二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九、第十心；摩訶衍亦如是，無初發心乃至無第十心。 「如虛空無乾慧地、姓地、八人地、見地、薄地、離欲地、已辦地；摩訶衍亦如是，無乾慧地乃至已作地。 「如虛空無須陀洹果、無斯陀含果、無阿那含果、無阿羅漢果；摩訶衍亦如是，無須陀洹果乃至無阿羅漢果。 「如虛空無聲聞地、無辟支佛地、無佛地；摩訶衍亦如是，無聲聞地乃至無佛地。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「如虛空非色、非無色，非可見、非不可見，非有對、非無對，非合、非散；摩訶衍亦如是，非色、非無色，非可見、非不可見，非有對、非無對，非合、非散。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！如虛空非常、非無常，非樂、非苦，非我、非無我；摩訶衍亦如是，非常、非無常，非樂、非〔T25 0425a〕苦，非我、非無我。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！如虛空非空、非不空，非相、非無相，非作、非無作；摩訶衍亦如是，非空、非不空，非相、非無相，非作、非無作。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！如虛空非寂滅、非不寂滅，非離、非不離；摩訶衍亦如是，非寂滅、非不寂滅，非離、非不離。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！如虛空非闇、非明；摩訶衍亦如是，非闇、非明。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！如虛空非可得、非不可得；摩訶衍亦如是，非可得、非不可得。以是故說摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！如虛空非可說、非不可說；摩訶衍亦如是，非可說、非不可說。以是故，說摩訶衍與空等。 「須菩提！以是諸因緣故說摩訶衍與空等。」 【論】 者言： 須菩提讚衍如虛空，佛即廣述成其事。如虛空無十方，是摩訶衍亦無十方；無長短、方圓、青黃赤白等，是摩訶衍亦如是。 問曰： 虛空應爾，是無為法，無色、無方；摩訶衍是有為法，是色法，所謂布施、持戒等，云何言「與虛空等」？ 答曰： 六波羅蜜有二種：世間、出世間。世間者，是有為法、色法，不同虛空；出世間者，與如、法性、實際、智慧和合故，似如虛空。從得無生忍已後，無所分別如虛空。 復次，如佛以無礙智觀實相如虛空；餘人則不然，智慧未畢竟清淨故。 復次，佛前後說「諸法畢竟空，如無餘涅槃相，如虛空」，不應致疑。餘法亦如是。乃至如虛空非說、非不說亦如是。 問曰： 如虛空，言「無所有」便足，何以說無種種相？ 答曰： 初發心菩薩〔T25 0425b〕於內外種種因緣法中著心，以是故，佛說如虛空無是種種相，摩訶衍亦如是。 【經】 「須菩提！如汝所言：『如虛空受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，摩訶衍亦受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。』如是！如是！須菩提！眾生無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍亦無所有。以是因緣故，摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？是眾生、虛空、摩訶衍，是法皆不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！摩訶衍無所有故，當知阿僧祇無所有；阿僧祇無所有故，當知無量無所有；無量無所有故，當知無邊無所有；無邊無所有故，當知一切諸法無所有。以是因緣故，須菩提！是摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？是眾生、虛空、摩訶衍、阿僧祇、無量、無邊，是一切法不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！我無所有乃至知者、見者無所有故，當知如、法性、實際無所有；如、法性、實際無所有故，當知乃至無量、無邊、阿僧祇無所有；無量、無邊、阿僧祇無所有故，當知一切法無所有。以是因緣故，須菩提！摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？是眾生乃至知者、見者，實際乃至無量、無邊、阿僧祇，是一切法不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！我無所有乃至知者、見者無所有故，當知不可思議性無所有；不可思議性無所有故，當知色、受、想、行、識無所有；色、受、想、行、識無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有故，當知阿僧祇無所有；阿僧祇無所有故，當知無量無所有；無量無所有故，當知無邊〔T25 0425c〕無所有；無邊無所有故，當知一切諸法無所有。以是因緣故，須菩提！當知摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？須菩提！我乃至知者、見者等一切法皆不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！我無所有乃至知者、見者無所有故，當知眼無所有，耳、鼻、舌、身、意無所有；眼乃至意無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有故，當知阿僧祇無所有；阿僧祇無所有故，當知無量無所有；無量無所有故，當知無邊無所有；無邊無所有故，當知一切諸法無所有。以是因緣故，須菩提！摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？須菩提！我乃至一切諸法皆不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！我無所有乃至知者、見者無所有故，當知檀波羅蜜無所有，尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜無所有；般若波羅蜜無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有故，當知無量無邊阿僧祇無所有；無量無邊阿僧祇無所有故，當知一切諸法無所有。以是因緣故，須菩提！摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？我、眾生乃至一切諸法皆不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！我無所有乃至知者、見者無所有故，當知內空無所有，乃至無法有法空無所有；無法有法空無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有故，當知阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有；阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有故，當知一切諸法無所有。以是因緣故，須〔T25 0426a〕菩提！摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？我、眾生乃至一切諸法皆不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！我、眾生乃至知者、見者無所有故，當知四念處無所有；四念處無所有故，乃至十八不共法無所有；十八不共法無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有故，當知阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有；阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有故，當知一切諸法無所有。以是因緣故，須菩提！是摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？我、眾生乃至一切諸法皆不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！我、眾生無所有乃至知者、見者無所有故，當知性地無所有，乃至已作地無所有；已作地無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有故，當知阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有；阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有故，當知一切諸法無所有。以是因緣故，是摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？我、眾生乃至一切諸法皆不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！我、眾生乃至知者、見者無所有故，當知須陀洹無所有；須陀洹無所有故，當知斯陀含無所有；斯陀含無所有故，當知阿那含無所有；阿那含無所有故，當知阿羅漢無所有；阿羅漢無所有故，當知乃至一切諸法無所有。以是因緣故，須菩提！摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？須菩提！我乃至一切諸法皆不可得故。 「復次，須菩提！我乃至知者、見者無所有故，當知聲聞乘無所有；聲聞乘無所有故，當知辟支佛乘無所有；辟支佛〔T25 0426b〕乘無所有故，當知佛乘無所有；佛乘無所有故，當知聲聞人無所有；聲聞人無所有故，當知須陀洹無所有；須陀洹無所有故，乃至佛無所有；佛無所有故，當知一切種智無所有；一切種智無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有故，當知乃至一切諸法無所有。以是因緣故，摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。何以故？我乃至一切諸法皆不可得故。 「譬如，須菩提！涅槃性中受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，是摩訶衍亦受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。以是因緣故，須菩提！如虛空受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，是摩訶衍亦如是受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。」 【論】 問曰： 何以不說「虛空廣大無邊故受一切物」，而言「虛空無所有故能受一切物眾生，摩訶衍亦無所有」？ 答曰： 現見虛空無所有，一切萬物皆在其中，以無所有故能受。 問曰： 心心數法亦無形質，何以不受一切物？ 答曰： 心心數法覺知相，非是受相，又無住處：若內、若外，若近、若遠，但以分別相故知有心。形色法有住處，因色處故，知有虛空。以色不受物故，則知虛空受物；色與虛空相違，色若不受，則知虛空是受；如以無明故知有明，以苦故知有樂。因色無故說有虛空，更無別相。 復次，心心數法更有不受義，如邪見心不受正見，正見心不受邪見。虛空則不然，一切皆受故。又心心數法生滅相，是可斷法，虛空則不然。 心心數法、虛空，但無色、無形同，不得言都不異。以〔T25 0426c〕是故，諸法中說虛空能受一切。 問曰： 我先問意不然！何以不言「虛空無量無邊能受一切物」，而言「無所有受一切物」？ 答曰： 我說虛空無自相，待色相說虛空；若無自相，則無虛空，云何言無量無邊？ 問曰： 汝言「受相則是虛空」，云何言「無」？ 答曰： 受相即是無色相，色不到處，名為虛空；以是故無虛空。 若實有虛空，未有色時應有虛空！若未有色有虛空，虛空則無相。何以故？以未有色故。因色故知有虛空，有色故便有無色。若先有色後有虛空，虛空則是作法，作法不名為常。 若有無相法，是不可得，以是故無虛空。 問曰： 若常有虛空，因色故虛空相現，然後相在虛空。 答曰： 若虛空先無相，後相亦無所住。 若虛空先有相，相無所相；若先無相，相亦無所住。 若離相、無相已，相無住處；若相無住處，所相處亦無；所相處無故，相亦無；離相及相處，更無有法。 以是故，虛空不名為相、不名為所相，不名為法、不名為非法，不名為有、不名為無，斷諸語言，寂滅如無餘涅槃。餘一切法亦如是。 問曰： 若一切法如是者，即是虛空，何以復以虛空為喻？ 答曰： 諸法因果皆是虛誑，因無明故有，誑眾生心；眾生於是法中生著，而不於虛空生著；六塵法誑眾生心，虛空雖復誑，則不爾！以是故，以虛空為喻，以麁現事破微細事。 如虛空因色故，但有假名，無有定法；眾生亦如是，因五眾和合故，但有假名，亦無定法。摩訶衍亦如是，〔T25 0427a〕以眾生空，無佛無菩薩；以有眾生故，有佛有菩薩；若無佛無菩薩，則無摩訶衍。以是故，摩訶衍能受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生；若是有法，不能受無量諸佛及弟子。 問曰： 若實無虛空，云何能受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生？ 答曰： 以是故，佛說：「摩訶衍無故，阿僧祇無；阿僧祇無故，無量亦無；無量無故，無邊亦無；無邊無故，一切法亦無，以是故能受。」 「阿僧祇」者，「僧祇」，秦言數；「阿」，秦言無。眾生、諸法各各不可得邊故名「無數」，數虛空十方遠近不可得邊故名「無數」。分別數六波羅蜜，種種布施、種種持戒等無有數；數幾眾生已上乘、當上乘、今上乘不可數，是名「無數」。 復次，有人言：初數為一，但有一；一一故言二，如是等皆一，更無餘數法。若皆是一，則無數。 有人言：一切法和合故有名字，如輪、輞、輻、轂和合故名為車，無有定實法。一法無故，多亦無，先一後多故。 復次，以繫數事，數事無故，數亦無。 「無量」者，如以斗稱量物，以智慧量諸法亦如是。諸法空故無數，無數故無量無邊，無有實智，云何能得諸法定相？無量故無邊，「量」名總相，「邊」名別相；「量」為初始，「邊」名終竟。 復次，我乃至知者、見者無故，實際亦無；實際無故，無數亦無；無數無故，無量亦無；無量無故，無邊亦無；無邊無故，一切法亦無。以是故，一切法無，畢竟清淨。 是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法；二事相因：若無眾生則無法，若無法則無眾生。 先總相說一切法空，後一一別說諸法空。實際是〔T25 0427b〕末後妙法，此若無者，何況餘法！ 從不可思議性乃至如涅槃性亦如是。 【經】 「須菩提！汝所言：『是摩訶衍不見來處，不見去處，不見住處。』如是！如是！須菩提！是摩訶衍不見來處，不見去處，不見住處。何以故？須菩提！一切諸法不動相故，是法無來處，無去處，無住處。何以故？須菩提！色，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；受、想、行、識，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。須菩提！色法，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；受、想、行、識法，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。須菩提！色如，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；受、想、行、識如，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。 須菩提！色性，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；受、想、行、識性，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。須菩提！色相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；受、想、行、識相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。 「須菩提！眼、眼法、眼如、眼性、眼相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；耳、鼻、舌、身；意、意法、意如、意性、意相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。色、聲、香、味、觸、法亦如是。 「須菩提！地種、地種法、地種如、地種性、地種相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；水、火、風、空；識種、識種法、識種如、識種性、識種相，亦如是。 「須菩提！如、如法、如如、如性、如相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。須菩提！實際、實際法、實際如、實際性、實際相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。須菩提！不可思議、不可思議法、不可思議如、不可思議性、不可思議相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。 「須菩提！檀波羅蜜、檀波〔T25 0427c〕羅蜜法、檀波羅蜜如、檀波羅蜜性、檀波羅蜜相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜；般若波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜法、般若波羅蜜如、般若波羅蜜性、般若波羅蜜相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。 「須菩提！四念處、四念處法、四念處如、四念處性、四念處相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；乃至十八不共法亦如是。 「須菩提！菩薩、菩薩法、菩薩如、菩薩性、菩薩相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。 「佛、佛法、佛如、佛性、佛相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。 「阿耨多羅三藐三菩提、阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法如性相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。 「須菩提！有為法、有為法法、有為法如、有為法性、有為法相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。須菩提！無為法、無為法法、無為法如、無為法性、無為法相，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住。 「以是因緣故，須菩提！是摩訶衍不見來處、不見去處、不見住處。」 【論】 者言： 佛謂：「須菩提！汝何以但讚摩訶衍無來、無去、無住？一切法亦如是無來、無去、無住，一切法實相不動故。」 問曰： 諸法現有來去可見，云何言「不動相」、「無來無去」？ 答曰： 來去相先已破，今當更說。一切佛法中，無我、無眾生，乃至無知者、見者故，來者去者無；來者去者無故，來去相亦應無。 復次，三世中求去相不可得。所以者何？已去中無去，未去中亦無去；離已去未去，去時亦無去。 問曰： 有身動處是名為去，已去、未去中無身〔T25 0428a〕動；以是故去時身動，即應有去！ 答曰： 不然！離去相，去時不可得；離去時，去相不可得，云何言去時去？ 復次，若去時有去相，應離去相有去時。何以故？汝說去時有去故。 復次，若去時去，應有二去：一者、知去時，二者、知去時去。 問曰： 若爾，有何咎？ 答曰： 若爾，有二去者。何以故？離去者無去相。若離去者無去相，離去相無去者。是故去者不去，不去者亦不去；離去、不去，亦無有去。 來者、住者亦如是。 以是故佛說：「凡夫人法虛誑無實，雖復肉眼所見，與畜生無異，是不可信。」是故說：「諸法無來、無去、無住處，亦無動。」 何者是？所謂色、色法、色如、色性、色相。 「色」名眼見事，未分別好醜、實不實、自相他相。 「色法」名無常生滅、不淨等。 「色如」名色和合有，如水沫不牢固，離散則無，虛偽無實，但誑人眼。色現在如是，過去、未來亦爾。如現在火熱，比知過去、未來亦如是。 復次，如諸佛觀色相畢竟清淨空，菩薩亦應如是觀。色眼法、色如，何因緣不如凡夫人所見？性自爾故！ 此性深妙，云何可知？以色相力故可知。如火以烟為相，見烟則知有火；今見眼色無常、破壞、苦惱、麁澁相，知其性爾。 此五法不去、不來、不住，如先說。 乃至無為、無為法、如、性、相，不來、不去、不住，亦如是。 【經】 「須菩提！汝所言：『是摩訶衍，前際不可得，後際不可得，中際不可得，是衍名三世等；以是故，說名摩訶衍。』如是！如是！須菩提！是摩訶衍，前際不可得，後際不可得，中際不可得，是衍〔T25 0428b〕名三世等。以是故說名摩訶衍。何以故？須菩提！過去世、過去世空，未來世、未來世空，現在世、現在世空，三世等、三世等空；摩訶衍、摩訶衍空，菩薩、菩薩空。何以故？須菩提！是空非一、非二、非三、非四、非五、非異。以是故說名三世等是菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍。 「是衍中，等、不等相不可得故，染、不染不可得，瞋、不瞋不可得，癡、不癡不可得，慢、不慢不可得，乃至一切善法、不善法不可得。是衍中，常不可得，無常不可得；樂不可得，苦不可得；實不可得，空不可得；我不可得，無我不可得；欲界不可得，色界不可得，無色界不可得；度欲界不可得，度色界不可得，度無色界不可得。何以故？是摩訶衍自法不可得故。 「須菩提！過去色、過去色空，未來現在色、未來現在色空；過去受想行識、過去受想行識空；未來現在受想行識、未來現在受想行識空。空中過去色不可得。何以故？空中空亦不可得，何況空中過去色可得！空中未來、現在色不可得。何以故？空中空亦不可得，何況空中未來、現在色可得！空中過去受想行識不可得。何以故？空中空亦不可得，何況空中過去受想行識可得！空中未來現在受想行識不可得。何以故？空中空亦不可得，何況空中未來、現在受想行識可得！ 「須菩提！過去檀波羅蜜不可得、未來檀波羅蜜不可得、現在檀波羅蜜不可得，三世等中檀波羅蜜亦不可得。何以故？等中過去世不可得、未來世不可得、現在世不可得。等中等亦不可得，何況等中過去世、未來世、現在〔T25 0428c〕世可得！尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜亦如是。 「復次，須菩提！過去世中四念處不可得，乃至過去世中十八不共法不可得；未來世、現在世亦如是。 「復次，須菩提！三世等中四念處不可得，三世等中乃至十八不共法亦不可得。何以故？等中過去世四念處不可得，等中未來世四念處不可得，等中現在世四念處不可得。等中等亦不可得，何況等中過去世四念處、未來現在世四念處可得！等中等亦不可得，何況等中過去乃至十八不共法可得！未來、現在世亦如是。 「復次，須菩提！過去世中凡夫人不可得，未來世現在世中凡夫人不可得，三世等中凡夫人亦不可得。何以故？眾生不可得，乃至知者、見者不可得故。過去世中聲聞、辟支佛、菩薩、佛不可得，未來現在世中聲聞、辟支佛、菩薩、佛不可得，三世等中聲聞、辟支佛、菩薩、佛不可得。何以故？眾生不可得，乃至知者、見者不可得故。 「如是，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住般若波羅蜜中，學三世等相，當具足一切種智，是名菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍，所謂三世等相。菩薩摩訶薩住是衍中，勝出一切世間及諸天、人、阿修羅，成就薩婆若。」 爾時，須菩提白佛言：「世尊！善哉！善哉！是菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍！何以故？過去諸菩薩是衍中學得一切種智，未來世諸菩薩摩訶薩亦是衍中學當得一切種智。 「世尊！今十方無量阿僧祇世界中諸菩薩摩訶薩亦是衍中學得一切種智。以是故，世尊！是衍實是菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍。」 佛告須菩提：「如〔T25 0429a〕是！如是！過去、未來、現在諸佛，是摩訶衍中學，已得一切種智，當得、今得。」 【論】 者言： 須菩提略讚說：「是摩訶衍，前際、後際、中際俱不可得，三世等故，名摩訶衍。」今佛廣演須菩提所讚。 是三世云何不可得？所謂過去世、過去世空，未來世、未來世空，現在世、現在世空故不可得。三世等，等者空；摩訶衍、摩訶衍自空；菩薩、菩薩自空。是三世中三世相空。空義，如先說。 此中佛自說空因緣，所謂：「空、空相，非一、非二、非三、非四、非五等，不異、不合、不散，無有分別。」是故三世等空相無所有故，是等亦空。 菩薩能如是解諸法三世等，不以無始世來為疲厭，不以未來世無邊故為難，是為菩薩三世等名摩訶衍。 是摩訶衍中等相不可得，不等相亦不可得。得是三世等三昧，破是不等相。不等相待故有等，不等畢竟無故等亦無。 欲、不欲，乃至三界、度三界，是相待法亦如是。 此中佛自說：「是諸法皆從因緣和合故無自性，自性無故空。」 復次，過去色、過去色相空，未來、現在亦如是；如色，餘四眾亦如是。所以者何？空中空相不可得，何況空中有三世五眾相！ 菩薩觀五眾空，斷貪欲，入道行，所謂檀波羅蜜等，亦如是五眾三世中不可得。三世等故，等即是空，是等中檀波羅蜜不可得。 問曰： 何以故三世及三世等中檀波羅蜜不可得？ 答曰： 諸法等中無三世，等等中等相亦不可得，何況三世！六波羅蜜乃至十八不共法亦如是。 復次，三世中，凡夫相不可〔T25 0429b〕得，聲聞乃至佛亦不可得，以眾生空故。 菩薩住般若波羅蜜，能如是學三世等空，集諸善功德，便具足一切種智。佛說：「菩薩能如是三世等中住，則能勝出一切世間及諸天、人、阿修羅。」 是時，須菩提讚言：「世尊！善哉！善哉！是摩訶衍利益諸菩薩。所以者何？過去諸菩薩學是摩訶衍，得一切種智；未得、今得亦如是。」 有人言：得清淨無因緣，染垢穢亦無因緣，大小、好醜、縛解皆無主所與。 有人言：好醜、縛解，至時節自得。 有人言：福德成就故得佛道。 有人言：但得清淨實智慧得佛道。 如是等說，皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎。 今佛捨非因緣，亦捨不具足因緣，說是具足因緣，所謂六波羅蜜，三世菩薩學是乘具足，得成佛道。 佛亦可須菩提所歎，言：「如是！如是！」 大智度論卷第五十一
《大智度論》卷51 · T25n1509 0424b18–0429b22
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.
佛印可「衍與空等」：無方位、非長短方圓、非五色
佛告訴須菩提：『你所說的「衍與空相等」——正是這樣！正是這樣！須菩提！摩訶衍（大乘）與空相等。
『須菩提！就像虛空沒有東方，沒有南方、西方、北方，沒有四維（四隅）、上、下；須菩提！摩訶衍也是這樣，沒有東方，沒有南方、西方、北方，沒有四維、上、下。
『須菩提！就像虛空不是長、不是短，不是方、不是圓；須菩提！摩訶衍也是這樣，不是長、不是短，不是方、不是圓。
『須菩提！就像虛空不是青、不是黃、不是赤、不是白、不是黑；摩訶衍也是這樣，不是青、不是黃、不是赤、不是白、不是黑。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。』
非三世、不增不減、無垢無淨、無四相、非善非記
『須菩提！就像虛空不是過去、不是未來、不是現在；摩訶衍也是這樣，不是過去、不是未來、不是現在。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。
『須菩提！就像虛空不增加、不減少；摩訶衍也是這樣，不增不減。
『須菩提！就像虛空沒有垢染、沒有潔淨；摩訶衍也是這樣，無垢無淨。
『須菩提！就像虛空沒有生、沒有滅、沒有住、沒有異；摩訶衍也是這樣，無生、無滅、無住、無異。
『須菩提！就像虛空不是善、不是不善，不是有記、也不是無記（記，是善惡可記別之意）；摩訶衍也是這樣，不是善、不是不善，不是記、不是無記。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。』
無見聞知識、不可知不可證、非染非離、不繫三界
『就像虛空沒有見、沒有聞、沒有知、沒有識；摩訶衍也是這樣，無見、無聞、無知、無識。
『就像虛空不可知、不可識、不可見、不可斷、不可證、不可修；摩訶衍也是這樣，不可知、不可識、不可見、不可斷、不可證、不可修。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。
『就像虛空不是染著之相、也不是離染之相；摩訶衍也是這樣，非染相、非離相。
『就像虛空不繫屬欲界、不繫屬色界、不繫屬無色界；摩訶衍也是這樣，不繫欲界、不繫色界、不繫無色界。』
無十心十地、無四果、無三乘之地
『就像虛空沒有初發心，也沒有第二、第三、第四、第五、第六、第七、第八、第九、第十心；摩訶衍也是這樣，沒有初發心，乃至沒有第十心。
『就像虛空沒有乾慧地、姓地、八人地、見地、薄地、離欲地、已辦地；摩訶衍也是這樣，沒有乾慧地，乃至沒有已作地。
『就像虛空沒有須陀洹果、沒有斯陀含果、沒有阿那含果、沒有阿羅漢果；摩訶衍也是這樣，沒有須陀洹果，乃至沒有阿羅漢果。
『就像虛空沒有聲聞地、沒有辟支佛地、沒有佛地；摩訶衍也是這樣，沒有聲聞地，乃至沒有佛地。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。』
從非色非無色，到非可說非不可說
『就像虛空不是色、也不是無色，不是可見、也不是不可見，不是有對礙、也不是無對礙，不是合、也不是散；摩訶衍也是這樣，非色、非無色，非可見、非不可見，非有對、非無對，非合、非散。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。
『須菩提！就像虛空不是常、也不是無常，不是樂、也不是苦，不是我、也不是無我；摩訶衍也是這樣，非常、非無常，非樂、非苦，非我、非無我。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。
『須菩提！就像虛空不是空、也不是不空，不是有相、也不是無相，不是有作、也不是無作；摩訶衍也是這樣，非空、非不空，非相、非無相，非作、非無作。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。
『須菩提！就像虛空不是寂滅、也不是不寂滅，不是離、也不是不離；摩訶衍也是這樣，非寂滅、非不寂滅，非離、非不離。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。
『須菩提！就像虛空不是闇、也不是明；摩訶衍也是這樣，非闇、非明。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。
『須菩提！就像虛空不是可得、也不是不可得；摩訶衍也是這樣，非可得、非不可得。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。
『須菩提！就像虛空不是可說、也不是不可說；摩訶衍也是這樣，非可說、非不可說。正因為這樣，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。
『須菩提！由這些種種因緣的緣故，所以說摩訶衍與空相等。』
以下是論釋。
論主總述與問答：有為的摩訶衍怎麼與虛空相等
論主說：須菩提讚歎摩訶衍如同虛空，佛就廣加敘述、成立他所讚的事：如虛空沒有十方，這摩訶衍也沒有十方；虛空沒有長短、方圓、青黃赤白等相，這摩訶衍也是這樣。
有人問：虛空理當如此，因為它是無為法，無色、無方所；摩訶衍卻是有為法、是色法——所謂布施、持戒等——怎麼說它『與虛空相等』呢？
論主回答：六波羅蜜有兩種：世間的與出世間的。世間的六波羅蜜，是有為法、色法，不同於虛空；出世間的六波羅蜜，因為與如、法性、實際、智慧和合的緣故，相似於虛空。從得無生忍以後，無所分別，就如同虛空。
再者，就像佛以無礙的智慧觀諸法實相如虛空；其餘的人就不能這樣，因為智慧還沒有畢竟清淨的緣故。
再者，佛前前後後都說『諸法畢竟空，如同無餘涅槃之相，如同虛空』，不應當對此生疑。其餘諸法也是這樣，乃至『如虛空非說、非不說』也是這樣。
說一句「無所有」便足，為什麼還說無種種相
有人問：像虛空，說一句『無所有』就足夠了，為什麼還要說它沒有種種相呢？
論主回答：初發心的菩薩，對內外種種因緣之法生起執著之心；正因為這樣，佛才說如虛空沒有這種種相，摩訶衍也是這樣。
佛印可「虛空受無量眾生」：眾生、虛空、摩訶衍皆不可得
經文接著說：『須菩提！如你所說的「如同虛空容受無量無邊阿僧祇（無數）的眾生，摩訶衍也容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生」——正是這樣！正是這樣！須菩提！因為眾生無所有的緣故，當知虛空無所有；因為虛空無所有的緣故，當知摩訶衍也無所有。由這個因緣，摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？因為眾生、虛空、摩訶衍，這些法都不可得的緣故。
『再者，須菩提！因為摩訶衍無所有的緣故，當知阿僧祇無所有；阿僧祇無所有的緣故，當知無量無所有；無量無所有的緣故，當知無邊無所有；無邊無所有的緣故，當知一切諸法無所有。由這個因緣，須菩提！這摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？因為眾生、虛空、摩訶衍、阿僧祇、無量、無邊，這一切法都不可得的緣故。』
九復次之一二三：如法性實際、不可思議性、眼乃至意
『再者，須菩提！因為我無所有、乃至知者、見者無所有的緣故，當知如、法性、實際無所有；如、法性、實際無所有的緣故，當知乃至無量、無邊、阿僧祇無所有；無量、無邊、阿僧祇無所有的緣故，當知一切法無所有。由這個因緣，須菩提！摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？因為眾生乃至知者、見者，實際乃至無量、無邊、阿僧祇，這一切法都不可得的緣故。
『再者，須菩提！因為我無所有、乃至知者、見者無所有的緣故，當知不可思議性無所有；不可思議性無所有的緣故，當知色、受、想、行、識無所有；色、受、想、行、識無所有的緣故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有的緣故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有的緣故，當知阿僧祇無所有；阿僧祇無所有的緣故，當知無量無所有；無量無所有的緣故，當知無邊無所有；無邊無所有的緣故，當知一切諸法無所有。由這個因緣，須菩提！當知摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？須菩提！因為我乃至知者、見者等一切法都不可得的緣故。
『再者，須菩提！因為我無所有、乃至知者、見者無所有的緣故，當知眼無所有，耳、鼻、舌、身、意無所有；眼乃至意無所有的緣故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有的緣故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有的緣故，當知阿僧祇無所有；阿僧祇無所有的緣故，當知無量無所有；無量無所有的緣故，當知無邊無所有；無邊無所有的緣故，當知一切諸法無所有。由這個因緣，須菩提！摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？須菩提！因為我乃至一切諸法都不可得的緣故。』
九復次之四五六：六波羅蜜、十八空、四念處乃至十八不共法
『再者，須菩提！因為我無所有、乃至知者、見者無所有的緣故，當知檀波羅蜜（布施度）無所有，尸羅波羅蜜（持戒度）、羼提波羅蜜（忍辱度）、毘梨耶波羅蜜（精進度）、禪波羅蜜（禪定度）、般若波羅蜜（智慧度）無所有；般若波羅蜜無所有的緣故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有的緣故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有的緣故，當知無量、無邊、阿僧祇無所有；無量、無邊、阿僧祇無所有的緣故，當知一切諸法無所有。由這個因緣，須菩提！摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？因為我、眾生乃至一切諸法都不可得的緣故。
『再者，須菩提！因為我無所有、乃至知者、見者無所有的緣故，當知內空無所有，乃至無法有法空無所有；無法有法空無所有的緣故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有的緣故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有的緣故，當知阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有；阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有的緣故，當知一切諸法無所有。由這個因緣，須菩提！摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？因為我、眾生乃至一切諸法都不可得的緣故。
『再者，須菩提！因為我、眾生乃至知者、見者無所有的緣故，當知四念處無所有；四念處無所有的緣故，乃至十八不共法無所有；十八不共法無所有的緣故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有的緣故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有的緣故，當知阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有；阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有的緣故，當知一切諸法無所有。由這個因緣，須菩提！這摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？因為我、眾生乃至一切諸法都不可得的緣故。』
九復次之七八九：性地乃至已作地、四果、三乘乃至一切種智
『再者，須菩提！因為我、眾生無所有、乃至知者、見者無所有的緣故，當知性地無所有，乃至已作地無所有；已作地無所有的緣故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有的緣故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有的緣故，當知阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有；阿僧祇、無量、無邊無所有的緣故，當知一切諸法無所有。由這個因緣，這摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？因為我、眾生乃至一切諸法都不可得的緣故。
『再者，須菩提！因為我、眾生乃至知者、見者無所有的緣故，當知須陀洹無所有；須陀洹無所有的緣故，當知斯陀含無所有；斯陀含無所有的緣故，當知阿那含無所有；阿那含無所有的緣故，當知阿羅漢無所有；阿羅漢無所有的緣故，當知乃至一切諸法無所有。由這個因緣，須菩提！摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？須菩提！因為我乃至一切諸法都不可得的緣故。
『再者，須菩提！因為我乃至知者、見者無所有的緣故，當知聲聞乘無所有；聲聞乘無所有的緣故，當知辟支佛乘無所有；辟支佛乘無所有的緣故，當知佛乘無所有；佛乘無所有的緣故，當知聲聞人無所有；聲聞人無所有的緣故，當知須陀洹無所有；須陀洹無所有的緣故，乃至佛無所有；佛無所有的緣故，當知一切種智無所有；一切種智無所有的緣故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有的緣故，當知摩訶衍無所有；摩訶衍無所有的緣故，當知乃至一切諸法無所有。由這個因緣，摩訶衍容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。為什麼呢？因為我乃至一切諸法都不可得的緣故。』
譬如涅槃性中受無量眾生
『譬如，須菩提！涅槃性中容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生，這摩訶衍也容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。由這個因緣，須菩提！如同虛空容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生，這摩訶衍也是這樣，容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生。』
以下是論釋。
為什麼不說「廣大故能受」，偏說「無所有故能受」
有人問：為什麼不說『虛空廣大無邊，所以容受一切物』，而說『虛空無所有，所以能容受一切物、眾生；摩訶衍也是無所有』呢？
論主回答：現前可見虛空無所有，而一切萬物都在它裡面——正因為無所有，所以能容受。
心心數法也無形質，為什麼不能受一切物
有人問：心心數法（心與種種心理作用）也沒有形質，為什麼不能容受一切物呢？
論主回答：心心數法是覺知之相，不是容受之相；而且它沒有住處——不論在內、在外，在近、在遠，只是憑分別之相才知道有心。有形色之法有住處；因為有色的處所，才知道有虛空。因為色不容受東西，就知道虛空容受東西；色與虛空相違，色既然不受，就知道虛空是受；就像因為「無明」才知道有「明」，因為苦才知道有樂。是因為色之無，才說有虛空，此外再沒有別的相。
再者，心心數法還有不容受的一面：如懷邪見的心不受正見，懷正見的心不受邪見；虛空就不是這樣，因為它一切都容受。又，心心數法是生滅之相，是可斷之法；虛空就不是這樣。
心心數法與虛空，只是在無色、無形這一點上相同，不能說完全沒有不同。正因為這樣，諸法之中才說虛空能容受一切。
虛空無自相：待色相才說虛空
有人問：我先前問的意思不是這樣！為什麼不說『虛空無量無邊，能容受一切物』，而說『無所有容受一切物』呢？
論主回答：我是說虛空沒有自相，是對待色相才說虛空；如果沒有自相，就沒有虛空，怎麼還說它無量無邊呢？
有人問：你說『容受之相就是虛空』，怎麼又說『無』呢？
論主回答：容受之相就是無色之相；色所不到之處，名為虛空——正因為這樣，並沒有虛空。
如果真有虛空，那麼還沒有色的時候就應當有虛空！如果還沒有色就已有虛空，虛空就成了無相的。為什麼呢？因為還沒有色的緣故。是因為色才知道有虛空，有了色才有所謂無色之處。如果先有色、後有虛空，虛空就是被造作之法；造作之法不名為常。
如果有一個無相之法，那是不可得的。正因為這樣，並沒有虛空。
相與所相皆無所住：斷諸語言，寂滅如涅槃
有人問：虛空是常有的，只是因為色的緣故，虛空之相才顯現，然後這相依止在虛空上。
論主回答：如果虛空先前無相，後來的相也就無所依住。
如果虛空先已有相，那相就沒有所相可相；如果先是無相，相也無所依住。
如果離了有相與無相，相就沒有住處；相若沒有住處，所相之處也就沒有；所相之處沒有了，相也就沒有；離了相與相所依之處，再沒有別的法。
正因為這樣，虛空不名為相、不名為所相，不名為法、不名為非法，不名為有、不名為無，斷絕種種語言，寂滅如同無餘涅槃。其餘一切法也是這樣。
一切法既然如此，為什麼還用虛空作譬喻
有人問：如果一切法都是這樣，那一切法就是虛空，為什麼還要用虛空來作譬喻呢？
論主回答：諸法的因與果都是虛誑的，因無明而有，欺誑眾生的心；眾生在這些法中生起執著，卻不對虛空生起執著；六塵之法欺誑眾生的心，虛空雖然同樣是誑，卻不是那樣！正因為這樣，才以虛空為喻——用粗顯現前的事，去破細微難見的事。
就像虛空是因色而有，只有假名，沒有定法；眾生也是這樣，因五眾（五蘊）和合而有，只有假名，也沒有定法。摩訶衍也是這樣：就眾生空而言，沒有佛、沒有菩薩；因為有眾生，才有佛、有菩薩；如果沒有佛、沒有菩薩，就沒有摩訶衍。正因為這樣，摩訶衍能容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生；如果它是一個實有之法，就不能容受無量諸佛及弟子了。
實無虛空，怎麼能受：佛自說能受的因緣
有人問：如果實在沒有虛空，怎麼能容受無量無邊阿僧祇的眾生呢？
論主回答：正因為這樣，佛才說：『摩訶衍無故，阿僧祇無；阿僧祇無故，無量也無；無量無故，無邊也無；無邊無故，一切法也無——正因為這樣，才能容受。』
釋「阿僧祇」「無量」「無邊」：數之不可得，如以斗稱量物
所謂『阿僧祇』：『僧祇』，用秦地的話來說是『數』；『阿』，用秦地的話來說是『無』。眾生與諸法，各各求不到它的邊際，所以名為『無數』；去數虛空十方的遠近，求不到邊際，所以名為『無數』。分別去數六波羅蜜——種種布施、種種持戒等——沒有數目可數；去數有多少眾生已經上了這乘、將要上這乘、如今上這乘，數不過來，這就名為『無數』。
再者，有人說：最初的數是一，其實只有一；一加一，才說是二——像這樣推下去，全都是一，再沒有其餘的數法。如果全都是一，那就沒有數。
有人說：一切法是和合才有名字的，就像輪、輞、輻、轂和合起來才名為車，並沒有決定實在之法。一法既然無，多也就無，因為先有一、後有多的緣故。
再者，數是繫屬在所數之事上的；所數之事既然無，數也就無了。
所謂『無量』：就像用斗與秤去量東西；用智慧去量諸法，也是這樣。諸法空，所以無數；無數，所以無量、無邊。既沒有實在的智可得，怎麼能得出諸法的定相呢？因為無量，所以無邊——『量』是說總相，『邊』是說別相；『量』是最初的起頭，『邊』是最後的終竟。
再者，因為我乃至知者、見者無的緣故，實際也無；實際無的緣故，無數也無；無數無的緣故，無量也無；無量無的緣故，無邊也無；無邊無的緣故，一切法也無。正因為這樣，一切法無，畢竟清淨。
含受一切眾生及法：二事相因
這摩訶衍能含受（包含容受）一切眾生及法；這兩件事互相為因：如果沒有眾生就沒有法，如果沒有法就沒有眾生。
先是就總相說一切法空，然後一一別說諸法空。實際是最末後的妙法，這法尚且無，何況其餘的法！
從不可思議性乃至如涅槃性，也是這樣。
佛印可「不見來去住處」：五眾五義，無所從來
經文接著說：『須菩提！你所說的「這摩訶衍，看不見來處，看不見去處，看不見住處」——正是這樣！正是這樣！須菩提！這摩訶衍不見來處，不見去處，不見住處。為什麼呢？須菩提！因為一切諸法是不動之相，這法沒有來處、沒有去處、沒有住處。為什麼呢？須菩提！色，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住；受、想、行、識，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。須菩提！色法，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住；受、想、行、識法，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。須菩提！色如，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住；受、想、行、識如，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。
『須菩提！色性，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住；受、想、行、識性，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。須菩提！色相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住；受、想、行、識相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。』
眼耳鼻舌身意、地水火風空識：科科五義
『須菩提！眼、眼法、眼如、眼性、眼相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住；耳、鼻、舌、身，以及意、意法、意如、意性、意相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。色、聲、香、味、觸、法也是這樣。
『須菩提！地種、地種法、地種如、地種性、地種相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住；水、火、風、空，以及識種、識種法、識種如、識種性、識種相，也是這樣。』
如、實際、不可思議與六波羅蜜
『須菩提！如、如法、如如、如性、如相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。須菩提！實際、實際法、實際如、實際性、實際相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。須菩提！不可思議、不可思議法、不可思議如、不可思議性、不可思議相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。
『須菩提！檀波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜法、檀波羅蜜如、檀波羅蜜性、檀波羅蜜相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住；尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜，以及般若波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜法、般若波羅蜜如、般若波羅蜜性、般若波羅蜜相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。』
四念處乃至十八不共法、菩薩、佛、菩提、有為無為
『須菩提！四念處、四念處法、四念處如、四念處性、四念處相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住；乃至十八不共法也是這樣。
『須菩提！菩薩、菩薩法、菩薩如、菩薩性、菩薩相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。
『佛、佛法、佛如、佛性、佛相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。
『阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，以及阿耨多羅三藐三菩提的法、如、性、相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。
『須菩提！有為法、有為法法、有為法如、有為法性、有為法相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。須菩提！無為法、無為法法、無為法如、無為法性、無為法相，無所從來，也無所去，也無所住。
『由這個因緣，須菩提！這摩訶衍不見來處、不見去處、不見住處。』
以下是論釋。
一切法實相不動，不只是摩訶衍
論主說：佛是說：『須菩提！你為什麼只讚歎摩訶衍無來、無去、無住？一切法也都是這樣無來、無去、無住，因為一切法實相不動的緣故。』
現見有來去，怎麼說不動：三時中求去不可得
有人問：諸法現前看得見有來有去，怎麼說『不動相』、『無來無去』呢？
論主回答：來去之相先前已經破過了，如今再說一遍。一切佛法之中，無我、無眾生，乃至無知者、無見者；既然如此，來者、去者就沒有；來者去者沒有，來去之相也應當沒有。
再者，在三時之中求「去」，了不可得。為什麼呢？已去之中沒有去，未去之中也沒有去；離了已去、未去，去時也沒有去。
「去時去」的層層破斥：凡夫所見不可信
有人問：有身體動作之處就名為去；已去、未去之中沒有身動，所以去時有身動，就應當有去！
論主回答：不對！離了去相，去時就不可得；離了去時，去相也不可得，怎麼能說『去時去』呢？
再者，如果去時有去相，就應當離了去相而另有一個去時。為什麼呢？因為你說『去時有去』的緣故。
再者，如果『去時去』，就應當有兩個去：一是知有去時，二是知去時之去。
有人問：如果這樣，有什麼過失呢？
論主回答：如果這樣，就有兩個去者。為什麼呢？離了去者就沒有去相；如果離了去者沒有去相，離了去相也就沒有去者。所以去者不去，不去者也不去；離了去與不去，也再沒有一個去。
來者、住者，也是這樣。
正因為這樣，佛說：『凡夫人之法虛誑無實，雖然是肉眼所見，其實與畜生所見沒有兩樣，是不可信的。』所以說：『諸法無來、無去、無住處，也沒有動。』
色、色法、色如、色性、色相：五法逐一解釋
說的是哪些法呢？就是色、色法、色如、色性、色相。
『色』，是說眼所見的事物，還沒有去分別它的好醜、實不實、自相他相。
『色法』，是說無常、生滅、不淨等。
『色如』，是說色是和合而有的，如同水沫不牢固，離散了就沒有，虛偽無實，只是欺誑人的眼睛。色在現在是這樣，過去、未來也是如此。就像現在的火是熱的，比類而知過去、未來的火也是這樣。
再者，如同諸佛觀色相畢竟清淨空，菩薩也應當這樣觀。色這眼見之法、以及色如，憑什麼因緣不像凡夫人所見的那樣？因為性本來就是如此！
這性深妙，怎麼能知道呢？憑色相之力就可以知道。就像火以烟為相，見了烟就知道有火；如今見眼前之色有無常、破壞、苦惱、粗澀之相，就知道它的性本來如此。
這五法不去、不來、不住，如同前面所說。
乃至無為、無為法、無為的如、性、相，不來、不去、不住，也是這樣。
佛印可「三世等」：三世皆空，空非一二三四五
經文接著說：『須菩提！你所說的「這摩訶衍，前際不可得，後際不可得，中際不可得，這乘是三世平等的，所以說名摩訶衍」——正是這樣！正是這樣！須菩提！這摩訶衍，前際不可得，後際不可得，中際不可得，這乘名為三世等，所以說名摩訶衍。為什麼呢？須菩提！過去世，過去世是空；未來世，未來世是空；現在世，現在世是空；三世等，三世等是空；摩訶衍，摩訶衍是空；菩薩，菩薩是空。為什麼呢？須菩提！這空不是一、不是二、不是三、不是四、不是五，也不是異。正因為這樣，說名三世等，是菩薩摩訶薩的摩訶衍。』
等不等相不可得：乃至三界度三界不可得
『這乘之中，因為等相、不等相不可得，所以染與不染不可得，瞋與不瞋不可得，癡與不癡不可得，慢與不慢不可得，乃至一切善法、不善法不可得。這乘之中，常不可得，無常不可得；樂不可得，苦不可得；實不可得，空不可得；我不可得，無我不可得；欲界不可得，色界不可得，無色界不可得；度欲界不可得，度色界不可得，度無色界不可得。為什麼呢？因為這摩訶衍自身之法不可得的緣故。』
三世五眾、六波羅蜜不可得：空中空、等中等亦不可得
『須菩提！過去色，過去色是空；未來、現在色，未來、現在色是空；過去受、想、行、識，過去受、想、行、識是空；未來、現在受、想、行、識，未來、現在受、想、行、識是空。空中過去色不可得。為什麼呢？空中連空也不可得，何況空中過去色可得！空中未來、現在色不可得。為什麼呢？空中連空也不可得，何況空中未來、現在色可得！空中過去受、想、行、識不可得。為什麼呢？空中連空也不可得，何況空中過去受、想、行、識可得！空中未來、現在受、想、行、識不可得。為什麼呢？空中連空也不可得，何況空中未來、現在受、想、行、識可得！
『須菩提！過去檀波羅蜜不可得，未來檀波羅蜜不可得，現在檀波羅蜜不可得，三世等之中檀波羅蜜也不可得。為什麼呢？等之中過去世不可得，未來世不可得，現在世不可得；等之中連等也不可得，何況等中過去世、未來世、現在世可得！尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜也是這樣。』
三世道品與凡夫賢聖皆不可得
『再者，須菩提！過去世中四念處不可得，乃至過去世中十八不共法不可得；未來世、現在世也是這樣。
『再者，須菩提！三世等之中四念處不可得，三世等之中乃至十八不共法也不可得。為什麼呢？等之中過去世的四念處不可得，等之中未來世的四念處不可得，等之中現在世的四念處不可得；等之中連等也不可得，何況等中過去世四念處、未來現在世四念處可得！等之中連等也不可得，何況等中過去乃至十八不共法可得！未來、現在世也是這樣。
『再者，須菩提！過去世中凡夫人不可得，未來世、現在世中凡夫人不可得，三世等之中凡夫人也不可得。為什麼呢？因為眾生不可得，乃至知者、見者不可得的緣故。過去世中聲聞、辟支佛、菩薩、佛不可得，未來、現在世中聲聞、辟支佛、菩薩、佛不可得，三世等之中聲聞、辟支佛、菩薩、佛不可得。為什麼呢？因為眾生不可得，乃至知者、見者不可得的緣故。』
結：學三世等相勝出世間，須菩提稱善，佛印可
『就是這樣，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩安住在般若波羅蜜之中，修學三世平等之相，當能具足一切種智，這就名為菩薩摩訶薩的摩訶衍——所謂三世等相。菩薩摩訶薩住在這乘之中，勝出一切世間以及諸天、人、阿修羅，成就薩婆若（一切智）。』
這時，須菩提對佛說：『世尊！善哉！善哉！這菩薩摩訶薩的摩訶衍！為什麼呢？過去諸菩薩在這乘中修學，得了一切種智；未來世的諸菩薩摩訶薩，也將在這乘中修學，當得一切種智。
『世尊！如今十方無量阿僧祇世界中的諸菩薩摩訶薩，也在這乘中修學，得一切種智。正因為這樣，世尊！這乘實在是菩薩摩訶薩的摩訶衍。』
佛告訴須菩提：『正是這樣！正是這樣！過去、未來、現在諸佛，都是在這摩訶衍中修學——已得一切種智，當得、今得。』
以下是論釋。
論主：須菩提略讚，佛廣演所讚
論主說：須菩提簡略地讚歎說：『這摩訶衍，前際、後際、中際全都不可得，因為三世平等，所以名為摩訶衍。』如今佛廣為演說須菩提所讚的。
這三世為什麼不可得？就是：過去世，過去世空；未來世，未來世空；現在世，現在世空——所以不可得。三世等，這「等」就是空；摩訶衍，摩訶衍自身是空；菩薩，菩薩自身是空。在這三世之中，三世之相是空。空的義理，如同前面所說。
佛自說空因緣：不異不合不散，無有分別
這裡佛親自說出空的因緣，就是：『空與空相，非一、非二、非三、非四、非五等，不異、不合、不散，沒有分別。』因此，三世等的空相無所有，所以這「等」也是空。
菩薩能這樣了解諸法三世平等，就不以無始世以來的漫長為疲厭，不以未來世的無邊為畏難——這就是菩薩的三世等，名為摩訶衍。
等相不等相皆不可得：相待之法皆爾
這摩訶衍之中，等相不可得，不等相也不可得。得了這三世等三昧，便破去這不等之相。因為與不等相待，才有等；不等既畢竟無，等也就無了。
欲與不欲，乃至三界與度三界，這些相待之法也是這樣。
這裡佛親自說：『這些法都是從因緣和合而有，所以沒有自性；自性沒有，所以是空。』
五眾三世空、六度道品不可得，學三世等空則勝出世間
再者，過去色，過去色相空；未來、現在也是這樣。如同色，其餘四眾也是這樣。為什麼呢？空中連空相都不可得，何況空中還有三世五眾之相！
菩薩觀五眾空，斷除貪欲，進入道行——所謂檀波羅蜜等；這些也同樣在五眾三世之中不可得。因為三世平等，等就是空，這等之中檀波羅蜜不可得。
有人問：為什麼三世以及三世等之中，檀波羅蜜不可得呢？
論主回答：諸法的等之中沒有三世；等之等中，連等相也不可得，何況三世！六波羅蜜乃至十八不共法，也是這樣。
再者，三世之中，凡夫之相不可得，聲聞乃至佛也不可得，因為眾生空的緣故。
菩薩安住般若波羅蜜，能這樣修學三世等空，積集種種善功德，便具足一切種智。佛說：『菩薩能這樣在三世等中安住，就能勝出一切世間以及諸天、人、阿修羅。』
這時，須菩提讚歎說：『世尊！善哉！善哉！這摩訶衍利益諸菩薩。為什麼呢？過去諸菩薩修學這摩訶衍，得了一切種智；未得的、今得的，也是這樣。』
篇末：四種得道異說與具足因緣
有人說：得清淨沒有因緣，染上垢穢也沒有因緣；大、小、好、醜、繫縛、解脫，都沒有一個作主者所給與。
有人說：好醜、縛解，到了時節自然而得。
有人說：福德成就了，所以得佛道。
有人說：只要得清淨的真實智慧，就得佛道。
像這樣的種種說法，都是無因緣之說、少因緣之說，是須菩提所不讚歎的。
如今佛捨去無因緣之說，也捨去不具足的因緣之說，而說這具足的因緣——所謂六波羅蜜：三世菩薩修學這乘而具足，得成佛道。
佛也認可須菩提所讚歎的，說：『正是這樣！正是這樣！』
The Buddha Confirms "The Vehicle Is Equal to Space": No Directions, Neither Long nor Short, Square nor Round, None of the Five Colours
The Buddha told Subhūti: ‘What you said, "The vehicle is equal to space"—so it is! So it is! Subhūti! The Mahāyāna (the Great Vehicle) is equal to space.
‘Subhūti! Just as space has no east, has no south, west, or north, has no four intermediate directions (the four corners), no above and no below—Subhūti! the Mahāyāna is also like this: it has no east, has no south, west, or north, has no four intermediate directions, no above and no below.
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not long, not short, not square, not round—Subhūti! the Mahāyāna is also like this: not long, not short, not square, not round.
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not blue, not yellow, not red, not white, not black, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not blue, not yellow, not red, not white, not black. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.’
Not the Three Times; Neither Increasing nor Decreasing; Neither stained nor pure; Without the Four Marks; Neither Good nor Determinate
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not past, not future, not present, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not past, not future, not present. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.
‘Subhūti! Just as space does not increase and does not decrease, the Mahāyāna is also like this: neither increasing nor decreasing.
‘Subhūti! Just as space has without stain and without purity, the Mahāyāna is also like this: without defilement and without purity.
‘Subhūti! Just as space has no arising, no ceasing, no abiding, no changing, the Mahāyāna is also like this: without arising, without ceasing, without abiding, without changing.
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not good, not not-good, is not determinate, and is also not indeterminate (‘determinate’ means that it can be marked off as good or evil), the Mahāyāna is also like this: not good, not not-good, not determinate, not indeterminate. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.’
Without Seeing, Hearing, Knowing, or Cognising; Unknowable and Unrealisable; Neither Defiled nor Detached; Not Bound to the Three Realms
‘Just as space has no seeing, no hearing, no knowing, no cognising, the Mahāyāna is also like this: without seeing, without hearing, without knowing, without cognising.
‘Just as space cannot be known, cannot be cognised, cannot be seen, cannot be cut off, cannot be realised, cannot be cultivated, the Mahāyāna is also like this: it cannot be known, cannot be cognised, cannot be seen, cannot be cut off, cannot be realised, cannot be cultivated. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.
‘Just as space is not a mark of defilement and also not a mark of separation from defilement, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not a mark of defilement, not a mark of separation.
‘Just as space is not bound to the desire realm, not bound to the form realm, not bound to the formless realm, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not bound to the desire realm, not bound to the form realm, not bound to the formless realm.’
Without the Ten Minds or the Ten Stages, Without the Four Fruits, Without the Stages of the Three Vehicles
‘Just as space has no first arousing of the mind, and also no second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth mind, the Mahāyāna is also like this: it has no first arousing of the mind, and so on up to no tenth mind.
‘Just as space has no ground of dry wisdom, ground of the stage of nature, ground of the person of the eight, ground of seeing, ground of thinning, ground of freedom from desire, or ground of what has been accomplished, the Mahāyāna is also like this: it has no ground of dry wisdom, and so on up to no ground of what has been done.
‘Just as space has no fruit of the srota-āpanna, no fruit of the sakṛdāgāmin, no fruit of the anāgāmin, no fruit of the arhat, the Mahāyāna is also like this: it has no fruit of the srota-āpanna, and so on up to no fruit of the arhat.
‘Just as space has no śrāvaka ground, no pratyekabuddha ground, no Buddha ground, the Mahāyāna is also like this: it has no śrāvaka ground, and so on up to no Buddha ground. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.’
From "Neither Form nor Formless" to "Neither Speakable nor Unspeakable"
‘Just as space is not form and also not formless, not visible and also not invisible, not with resistance and also not without resistance, not uniting and also not scattering, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not form, not formless; not visible, not invisible; not with resistance, not without resistance; not uniting, not scattering. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not permanent and also not impermanent, not pleasure and also not suffering, not self and also not non-self, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not permanent, not impermanent; not pleasure, not suffering; not self, not non-self. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not empty and also not non-empty, not with marks and also not signless, not with action and also not without action, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not empty, not non-empty; not a mark, not signless; not action, not non-action. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not quiescent and also not non-quiescent, not detached and also not non-detached, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not quiescent, not non-quiescent; not detached, not non-detached. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not darkness and also not light, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not darkness, not light. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not findable and also not unfindable, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not findable, not unfindable. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.
‘Subhūti! Just as space is not speakable and also not unspeakable, the Mahāyāna is also like this: not speakable, not unspeakable. Precisely because of this, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.
‘Subhūti! For these causes and conditions of all kinds, it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space.’
What follows is the treatise's explanation.
The Treatise-Author's Summary, with Question and Answer: How Can the Conditioned Mahāyāna Be Equal to Space?
The treatise-author says: Subhūti praised the Mahāyāna as being like space, and the Buddha then set it out at length and established what he had praised: just as space has no ten directions, this Mahāyāna too has no ten directions; space has no marks of long and short, square and round, blue, yellow, red, white, and the like, and this Mahāyāna is also like this.
Question: It is fitting that space should be so, because it is an unconditioned dharma, without form and without location; but the Mahāyāna is a conditioned dharma, a dharma of form—namely giving, keeping the precepts, and so on—so how can it be said to be ‘equal to space’?
Answer: The six perfections are of two kinds: worldly and supramundane. The worldly six perfections are conditioned dharmas, dharmas of form, and are not the same as space; the supramundane six perfections, because they are joined together with suchness, dharma-nature, the limit of reality, and wisdom, resemble space. From the attainment of the acceptance of non-arising onward, there is nothing discriminated, and so it is just like space.
Furthermore, it is like the Buddha, who with unobstructed wisdom contemplates the real mark of all dharmas as being like space; the rest cannot do so, because their wisdom is not yet ultimately pure.
Furthermore, the Buddha, earlier and later, has said again and again that ‘all dharmas are ultimately empty, like the mark of nirvāṇa without remainder, like space’; one should not give rise to doubt about this. The remaining dharmas are also like this, up to ‘like space, neither spoken nor not spoken’, which is also like this.
Saying "Nothing Whatsoever" Once Would Suffice; Why Also Say It Lacks All Kinds of Marks?
Question: Of something like space, saying just ‘nothing whatsoever’ once would be enough; why also say that it has none of all these kinds of marks?
Answer: Bodhisattvas who have first aroused the mind give rise to a clinging mind toward the dharmas of all kinds of inner and outer causes and conditions; precisely because of this, the Buddha says that just as space has none of these kinds of marks, the Mahāyāna is also like this.
The Buddha Confirms "Space Receives Immeasurable Beings": Beings, Space, and the Mahāyāna Are All Unfindable
The sūtra goes on to say: ‘Subhūti! As for what you said, "Just as space contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya (innumerable) beings, the Mahāyāna too contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings"—so it is! So it is! Subhūti! Because beings are nothing whatsoever, know that space is nothing whatsoever; because space is nothing whatsoever, know that the Mahāyāna too is nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, the Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Because beings, space, and the Mahāyāna—these dharmas are all unfindable.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever, know that asaṃkhyeya is nothing whatsoever; because asaṃkhyeya is nothing whatsoever, know that the immeasurable is nothing whatsoever; because the immeasurable is nothing whatsoever, know that the boundless is nothing whatsoever; because the boundless is nothing whatsoever, know that all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, Subhūti! this Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Because beings, space, the Mahāyāna, asaṃkhyeya, the immeasurable, the boundless—all these dharmas are unfindable.’
The Nine "Furthermores", One to Three: Suchness, Dharma-Nature, and the Limit of Reality; the Nature of the Inconceivable; the Eye up to the Mind
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the self is nothing whatsoever, and so on up to the knower and the seer being nothing whatsoever, know that suchness, dharma-nature, and the limit of reality are nothing whatsoever; because suchness, dharma-nature, and the limit of reality are nothing whatsoever, know that, and so on up to, the immeasurable, the boundless, and asaṃkhyeya are nothing whatsoever; because the immeasurable, the boundless, and asaṃkhyeya are nothing whatsoever, know that all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, Subhūti! the Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Because beings, and so on up to the knower and the seer, and the limit of reality, and so on up to the immeasurable, the boundless, and asaṃkhyeya—all these dharmas are unfindable.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the self is nothing whatsoever, and so on up to the knower and the seer being nothing whatsoever, know that the nature of the inconceivable is nothing whatsoever; because the nature of the inconceivable is nothing whatsoever, know that form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are nothing whatsoever; because form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are nothing whatsoever, know that space is nothing whatsoever; because space is nothing whatsoever, know that the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever; because the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever, know that asaṃkhyeya is nothing whatsoever; because asaṃkhyeya is nothing whatsoever, know that the immeasurable is nothing whatsoever; because the immeasurable is nothing whatsoever, know that the boundless is nothing whatsoever; because the boundless is nothing whatsoever, know that all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, Subhūti! know that the Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Subhūti! Because the self, and so on up to the knower, the seer, and all other dharmas, are unfindable.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the self is nothing whatsoever, and so on up to the knower and the seer being nothing whatsoever, know that the eye is nothing whatsoever, and that the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are nothing whatsoever; because the eye up to the mind is nothing whatsoever, know that space is nothing whatsoever; because space is nothing whatsoever, know that the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever; because the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever, know that asaṃkhyeya is nothing whatsoever; because asaṃkhyeya is nothing whatsoever, know that the immeasurable is nothing whatsoever; because the immeasurable is nothing whatsoever, know that the boundless is nothing whatsoever; because the boundless is nothing whatsoever, know that all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, Subhūti! the Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Subhūti! Because the self, and so on up to all dharmas, are unfindable.’
The Nine "Furthermores", Four to Six: The Six Perfections; the Eighteen Emptinesses; the Four Foundations of Mindfulness up to the Eighteen Unshared Dharmas
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the self is nothing whatsoever, and so on up to the knower and the seer being nothing whatsoever, know that dānapāramitā (the perfection of giving) is nothing whatsoever, and that śīlapāramitā (the perfection of morality), kṣāntipāramitā (the perfection of patience), vīryapāramitā (the perfection of vigour), dhyānapāramitā (the perfection of meditation), and prajñāpāramitā (the perfection of wisdom) are nothing whatsoever; because prajñāpāramitā is nothing whatsoever, know that space is nothing whatsoever; because space is nothing whatsoever, know that the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever; because the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever, know that the immeasurable, the boundless, and asaṃkhyeya are nothing whatsoever; because the immeasurable, the boundless, and asaṃkhyeya are nothing whatsoever, know that all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, Subhūti! the Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Because the self, beings, and so on up to all dharmas, are unfindable.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the self is nothing whatsoever, and so on up to the knower and the seer being nothing whatsoever, know that inner emptiness is nothing whatsoever, and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas being nothing whatsoever; because the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas is nothing whatsoever, know that space is nothing whatsoever; because space is nothing whatsoever, know that the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever; because the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever, know that asaṃkhyeya, the immeasurable, and the boundless are nothing whatsoever; because asaṃkhyeya, the immeasurable, and the boundless are nothing whatsoever, know that all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, Subhūti! the Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Because the self, beings, and so on up to all dharmas, are unfindable.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the self, beings, and so on up to the knower and the seer, are nothing whatsoever, know that the four foundations of mindfulness are nothing whatsoever; because the four foundations of mindfulness are nothing whatsoever, and so on up to, the eighteen unshared dharmas are nothing whatsoever; because the eighteen unshared dharmas are nothing whatsoever, know that space is nothing whatsoever; because space is nothing whatsoever, know that the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever; because the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever, know that asaṃkhyeya, the immeasurable, and the boundless are nothing whatsoever; because asaṃkhyeya, the immeasurable, and the boundless are nothing whatsoever, know that all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, Subhūti! this Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Because the self, beings, and so on up to all dharmas, are unfindable.’
The Nine "Furthermores", Seven to Nine: The Stage of Nature up to the Stage of What Has Been Done; the Four Fruits; the Three Vehicles up to the Omniscience of All Kinds
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the self and beings are nothing whatsoever, and so on up to the knower and the seer being nothing whatsoever, know that the ground of the stage of nature is nothing whatsoever, and so on up to the ground of what has been done being nothing whatsoever; because the ground of what has been done is nothing whatsoever, know that space is nothing whatsoever; because space is nothing whatsoever, know that the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever; because the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever, know that asaṃkhyeya, the immeasurable, and the boundless are nothing whatsoever; because asaṃkhyeya, the immeasurable, and the boundless are nothing whatsoever, know that all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, this Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Because the self, beings, and so on up to all dharmas, are unfindable.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the self, beings, and so on up to the knower and the seer, are nothing whatsoever, know that the srota-āpanna is nothing whatsoever; because the srota-āpanna is nothing whatsoever, know that the sakṛdāgāmin is nothing whatsoever; because the sakṛdāgāmin is nothing whatsoever, know that the anāgāmin is nothing whatsoever; because the anāgāmin is nothing whatsoever, know that the arhat is nothing whatsoever; because the arhat is nothing whatsoever, know that, and so on up to, all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, Subhūti! the Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Subhūti! Because the self, and so on up to all dharmas, are unfindable.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Because the self, and so on up to the knower and the seer, are nothing whatsoever, know that the śrāvaka vehicle is nothing whatsoever; because the śrāvaka vehicle is nothing whatsoever, know that the pratyekabuddha vehicle is nothing whatsoever; because the pratyekabuddha vehicle is nothing whatsoever, know that the Buddha vehicle is nothing whatsoever; because the Buddha vehicle is nothing whatsoever, know that the śrāvaka person is nothing whatsoever; because the śrāvaka person is nothing whatsoever, know that the srota-āpanna is nothing whatsoever; because the srota-āpanna is nothing whatsoever, and so on up to, the Buddha is nothing whatsoever; because the Buddha is nothing whatsoever, know that the omniscience of all kinds is nothing whatsoever; because the omniscience of all kinds is nothing whatsoever, know that space is nothing whatsoever; because space is nothing whatsoever, know that the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever; because the Mahāyāna is nothing whatsoever, know that, and so on up to, all dharmas are nothing whatsoever. For this cause and condition, the Mahāyāna contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Why? Because the self, and so on up to all dharmas, are unfindable.’
Just as Within the Nature of Nirvāṇa Immeasurable Beings Are Received
‘It is just as, Subhūti! within the nature of nirvāṇa immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings are contained and received; this Mahāyāna too contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. For this cause and condition, Subhūti! just as space contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings, this Mahāyāna is also like this: it contains and receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings.’
What follows is the treatise's explanation.
Why Not Say "It Can Receive Because It Is Vast", but Rather "It Can Receive Because It Is Nothing Whatsoever"?
Question: Why is it not said, ‘Space is vast and boundless, and therefore contains and receives all things’, but instead, ‘Space is nothing whatsoever, and therefore can contain and receive all things and beings; the Mahāyāna too is nothing whatsoever’?
Answer: It is plainly seen before us that space is nothing whatsoever, and yet all the myriad things are within it—precisely because it is nothing whatsoever, it can contain and receive.
Mind and Mental Factors Also Lack Form and Substance; Why Can They Not Receive All Things?
Question: The dharmas of mind and mental factors (the mind and its various mental activities) also have no form or substance; why can they not contain and receive all things?
Answer: The dharmas of mind and mental factors have the mark of awareness and knowing, not the mark of containing and receiving; moreover, they have no place of abiding—whether within or without, near or far—and it is only through the mark of discrimination that one knows there is mind. Dharmas that have shape and form have a place of abiding; it is because there is a place of form that one knows there is space. Because form does not contain and receive things, one knows that space contains and receives things; form and space run counter to each other—since form does not receive, one knows that space is what receives; just as it is because of ‘ignorance’ that one knows there is ‘clarity’, and because of suffering that one knows there is pleasure. It is because of the absence of form that space is said to exist; apart from this there is no other mark.
Furthermore, the dharmas of mind and mental factors also have a side that does not contain and receive: a mind that holds wrong view does not receive right view, and a mind that holds right view does not receive wrong view; space is not like this, because it contains and receives everything. Again, the dharmas of mind and mental factors have the mark of arising and ceasing and are dharmas that can be cut off; space is not like this.
The dharmas of mind and mental factors and space are alike only on this one point of being formless and shapeless; it cannot be said that they are entirely without difference. Precisely because of this, among all dharmas it is said that space can contain and receive everything.
Space Has No Own-Mark: Space Is Spoken of Only in Dependence on the Mark of Form
Question: What I meant by my earlier question was not this! Why is it not said, ‘Space is immeasurable and boundless and can contain and receive all things’, but instead, ‘What is nothing whatsoever contains and receives all things’?
Answer: I am saying that space has no own-mark; it is only in dependence on the mark of form that space is spoken of. If it has no own-mark, there is no space—how then could it still be said to be immeasurable and boundless?
Question: You say, ‘The mark of containing and receiving is space’; how can you also say ‘it does not exist’?
Answer: The mark of containing and receiving is the mark of the absence of form; the place that form does not reach is called space—precisely because of this, there is no space at all.
If space truly existed, then there should have been space even when there was not yet form! If there were already space when there was not yet form, space would be without a mark. Why? Because there was not yet form. It is because of form that one knows there is space; only when there is form is there what is called a place without form. If there were first form and afterwards space, space would be a made dharma; a made dharma is not called permanent.
If there were a dharma without a mark, it would be unfindable. Precisely because of this, there is no space at all.
Mark and Marked Both Have Nowhere to Abide: Cutting Off All Speech, Quiescent like Nirvāṇa
Question: Space exists permanently; it is only because of form that the mark of space appears, and afterwards this mark rests upon space.
Answer: If space was formerly without a mark, the later mark too has nothing to rest on and abide in.
If space already had a mark beforehand, that mark would have nothing marked for it to mark; if it was formerly without a mark, the mark too has nothing to rest on and abide in.
If, apart from having a mark and being without a mark, the mark has no place of abiding; if the mark has no place of abiding, the place that is marked does not exist either; if the place that is marked does not exist, the mark does not exist either; apart from the mark and the place the mark rests on, there is no other dharma.
Precisely because of this, space is not called a mark, not called the marked, not called a dharma, not called a non-dharma, not called existent, not called non-existent; it cuts off all kinds of speech and is quiescent like nirvāṇa without remainder. All other dharmas are also like this.
If All Dharmas Are Like This, Why Still Use Space as a Simile?
Question: If all dharmas are like this, then all dharmas are space; why still use space as a simile?
Answer: The causes and the fruits of all dharmas are false and deceptive; they exist because of ignorance and deceive the minds of beings. Beings give rise to clinging toward these dharmas, yet they do not give rise to clinging toward space; the dharmas of the six sense-objects deceive the minds of beings, and although space is likewise deceptive, it is not like that! Precisely because of this, space is taken as the simile—using a coarse matter, plainly before us, to refute a subtle matter hard to see.
Just as space exists because of form, has only a provisional name, and is no fixed dharma, beings too are like this: they exist because of the coming together of the five aggregates, have only a provisional name, and are likewise no fixed dharma. The Mahāyāna is also like this: in terms of the emptiness of beings, there is no Buddha and no bodhisattva; because there are beings, there are Buddhas and bodhisattvas; if there were no Buddha and no bodhisattva, there would be no Mahāyāna. Precisely because of this, the Mahāyāna can contain and receive immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings; if it were a really existent dharma, it could not contain and receive immeasurable Buddhas and their disciples.
If Space Truly Does Not Exist, How Can It Receive? The Buddha Himself States the Causes and Conditions of Receiving
Question: If there truly is no space, how can it contain and receive immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings?
Answer: Precisely because of this the Buddha says: ‘Because the Mahāyāna does not exist, asaṃkhyeya does not exist; because asaṃkhyeya does not exist, the immeasurable too does not exist; because the immeasurable does not exist, the boundless too does not exist; because the boundless does not exist, all dharmas too do not exist—precisely because of this, it can contain and receive.’
Explaining "Asaṃkhyeya", "Immeasurable", and "Boundless": Number Is Unfindable, like Measuring Things with a Bushel
As for ‘asaṃkhyeya’: ‘saṃkhyeya’ in the language of Qin is ‘number’; ‘a’ in the language of Qin is ‘without’. Beings and dharmas—for each of them no limit can be found, and so they are called ‘numberless’; counting the distances, near and far, of space in the ten directions, no limit can be found, and so it is called ‘numberless’. Counting the six perfections one by one—all kinds of giving, all kinds of keeping the precepts, and so on—there is no number that can count them; counting how many beings have already mounted this vehicle, will mount this vehicle, and now mount this vehicle, they cannot be counted through: this is what is called ‘numberless’.
Furthermore, some say: the first number is one, and in fact there is only one; one added to one is then called two—and reckoning on in this way, all of it is one, and there is no other way of numbering. If all of it is one, then there is no number.
Some say: all dharmas have names only through coming together, just as wheels, rims, spokes, and hubs come together and only then are called a carriage; there is no definitely real dharma. Since one dharma does not exist, many too do not exist, because first there is one and afterwards many.
Furthermore, number is bound to the things numbered; since the things numbered do not exist, number too does not exist.
As for ‘immeasurable’: it is like measuring things with a bushel and a steelyard; measuring all dharmas with wisdom is also like this. Because all dharmas are empty, they are numberless; being numberless, they are immeasurable and boundless. Since there is no real wisdom to be found, how could the fixed mark of dharmas be arrived at? Because they are immeasurable, they are boundless—‘measure’ speaks of the general mark, ‘bound’ speaks of the particular mark; ‘measure’ is the very beginning, ‘bound’ is the final end.
Furthermore, because the self, and so on up to the knower and the seer, do not exist, the limit of reality too does not exist; because the limit of reality does not exist, the numberless too does not exist; because the numberless does not exist, the immeasurable too does not exist; because the immeasurable does not exist, the boundless too does not exist; because the boundless does not exist, all dharmas too do not exist. Precisely because of this, all dharmas do not exist, and are ultimately pure.
Containing and Receiving All Beings and Dharmas: The Two Matters Are Causes of Each Other
This Mahāyāna can contain and receive (enclose and hold) all beings and dharmas; these two matters are causes of each other: if there were no beings there would be no dharmas, and if there were no dharmas there would be no beings.
First, in terms of the general mark, all dharmas are said to be empty; then, one by one and in particular, the dharmas are said to be empty. The limit of reality is the final, wondrous dharma; if even this dharma does not exist, how much less the other dharmas!
From the nature of the inconceivable up to ‘like the nature of nirvāṇa’, it is also like this.
The Buddha Confirms "No Place of Coming, Going, or Abiding Is Seen": Five Aspects of the Five Aggregates, Coming from Nowhere
The sūtra goes on to say: ‘Subhūti! As for what you said, "Of this Mahāyāna, no place of coming is seen, no place of going is seen, no place of abiding is seen"—so it is! So it is! Subhūti! Of this Mahāyāna, no place of coming is seen, no place of going is seen, no place of abiding is seen. Why? Subhūti! Because all dharmas have the unmoving mark, this dharma has no place of coming, no place of going, no place of abiding. Why? Subhūti! Form comes from nowhere, also goes nowhere, also abides nowhere; feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere. Subhūti! The dharma of form comes from nowhere, also goes nowhere, also abides nowhere; the dharma of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness comes from nowhere, also goes nowhere, also abides nowhere. Subhūti! The suchness of form comes from nowhere, also goes nowhere, also abides nowhere; the suchness of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness comes from nowhere, also goes nowhere, also abides nowhere.
‘Subhūti! The nature of form comes from nowhere, also goes nowhere, also abides nowhere; the nature of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness comes from nowhere, also goes nowhere, also abides nowhere. Subhūti! The mark of form comes from nowhere, also goes nowhere, also abides nowhere; the mark of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness comes from nowhere, also goes nowhere, also abides nowhere.’
Eye, Ear, Nose, Tongue, Body, Mind; Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Space, Consciousness: Five Aspects for Each Category
‘Subhūti! The eye, the dharma of the eye, the suchness of the eye, the nature of the eye, the mark of the eye come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere; the ear, nose, tongue, body, and also the mind, the dharma of the mind, the suchness of the mind, the nature of the mind, the mark of the mind come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere. Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and dharmas are also like this.
‘Subhūti! The earth element, the dharma of the earth element, the suchness of the earth element, the nature of the earth element, the mark of the earth element come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere; water, fire, wind, space, and also the consciousness element, the dharma of the consciousness element, the suchness of the consciousness element, the nature of the consciousness element, the mark of the consciousness element are also like this.’
Suchness, the Limit of Reality, the Inconceivable, and the Six Perfections
‘Subhūti! Suchness, the dharma of suchness, the suchness of suchness, the nature of suchness, the mark of suchness come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere. Subhūti! The limit of reality, the dharma of the limit of reality, the suchness of the limit of reality, the nature of the limit of reality, the mark of the limit of reality come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere. Subhūti! The inconceivable, the dharma of the inconceivable, the suchness of the inconceivable, the nature of the inconceivable, the mark of the inconceivable come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere.
‘Subhūti! Dānapāramitā, the dharma of dānapāramitā, the suchness of dānapāramitā, the nature of dānapāramitā, the mark of dānapāramitā come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere; śīlapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, vīryapāramitā, dhyānapāramitā, and also prajñāpāramitā, the dharma of prajñāpāramitā, the suchness of prajñāpāramitā, the nature of prajñāpāramitā, the mark of prajñāpāramitā come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere.’
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness up to the Eighteen Unshared Dharmas; the Bodhisattva; the Buddha; Awakening; the Conditioned and the Unconditioned
‘Subhūti! The four foundations of mindfulness, the dharma of the four foundations of mindfulness, the suchness of the four foundations of mindfulness, the nature of the four foundations of mindfulness, the mark of the four foundations of mindfulness come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere; and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, which are also like this.
‘Subhūti! The bodhisattva, the dharma of the bodhisattva, the suchness of the bodhisattva, the nature of the bodhisattva, the mark of the bodhisattva come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere.
‘The Buddha, the dharma of the Buddha, the suchness of the Buddha, the nature of the Buddha, the mark of the Buddha come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere.
‘Anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi (unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening), and also the dharma, the suchness, the nature, and the mark of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere.
‘Subhūti! The conditioned dharma, the dharma of the conditioned dharma, the suchness of the conditioned dharma, the nature of the conditioned dharma, the mark of the conditioned dharma come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere. Subhūti! The unconditioned dharma, the dharma of the unconditioned dharma, the suchness of the unconditioned dharma, the nature of the unconditioned dharma, the mark of the unconditioned dharma come from nowhere, also go nowhere, also abide nowhere.
‘For this cause and condition, Subhūti! of this Mahāyāna no place of coming is seen, no place of going is seen, no place of abiding is seen.’
What follows is the treatise's explanation.
The Real Mark of All Dharmas Is Unmoving—Not Only the Mahāyāna
The treatise-author says: The Buddha is saying: ‘Subhūti! Why do you praise only the Mahāyāna as without coming, without going, without abiding? All dharmas too are likewise without coming, without going, without abiding, because the real mark of all dharmas is unmoving.’
Coming and Going Are Plainly Seen; How Can It Be Called Unmoving? Sought in the Three Times, Going Is Unfindable
Question: Dharmas are plainly seen before us to have coming and going; how can one speak of ‘the unmoving mark’ and ‘without coming and without going’?
Answer: The mark of coming and going has already been refuted before; now it is spoken of once more. Throughout the whole of the Buddha's dharma there is no self, no being, and so on up to no knower and no seer; this being so, there is no one who comes and no one who goes; since there is no one who comes and no one who goes, the mark of coming and going too should not exist.
Furthermore, seek ‘going’ within the three times, and it is utterly unfindable. Why? Within the already-gone there is no going, and within the not-yet-gone there is also no going; apart from the already-gone and the not-yet-gone, in the time of going there is also no going.
Refuting "Going in the Time of Going" Layer by Layer: What Ordinary People See Cannot Be Trusted
Question: Wherever there is movement of the body, that is called going; within the already-gone and the not-yet-gone there is no movement of the body, so since in the time of going there is movement of the body, there should be going!
Answer: Not so! Apart from the mark of going, the time of going is unfindable; apart from the time of going, the mark of going is also unfindable—how can one say ‘going in the time of going’?
Furthermore, if in the time of going there were the mark of going, there should be a time of going separate from the mark of going. Why? Because you say, ‘In the time of going there is going.’
Furthermore, if there is ‘going in the time of going’, there should be two goings: first, knowing that there is a time of going; second, knowing the going of the time of going.
Question: If so, what fault is there?
Answer: If so, there would be two goers. Why? Apart from the goer there is no mark of going; if apart from the goer there is no mark of going, then apart from the mark of going there is also no goer. Therefore the goer does not go, and the non-goer also does not go; apart from going and not going, there is also no further going.
The one who comes and the one who abides are also like this.
Precisely because of this the Buddha says: ‘The dharmas of ordinary people are false, deceptive, and without reality; although they are seen by the fleshly eye, in truth this is no different from what animals see, and it cannot be trusted.’ Therefore it is said: ‘All dharmas are without coming, without going, without a place of abiding, and also without movement.’
Form, the Dharma of Form, the Suchness of Form, the Nature of Form, the Mark of Form: The Five Dharmas Explained One by One
Which dharmas are being spoken of? Namely form, the dharma of form, the suchness of form, the nature of form, and the mark of form.
‘Form’ means the things seen by the eye, before one has gone on to discriminate whether they are fair or ugly, real or unreal, of their own mark or of another's mark.
‘The dharma of form’ means impermanence, arising and ceasing, impurity, and the like.
‘The suchness of form’ means that form exists through coming together, like foam on water, not firm; when it disperses it is gone; it is false and without reality, and only deceives people's eyes. Form is like this in the present, and so too in the past and the future. Just as present fire is hot, one infers by comparison that past and future fire is also like this.
Furthermore, just as all the Buddhas contemplate the mark of form as ultimately pure and empty, the bodhisattva too should contemplate it in this way. Form, this dharma seen by the eye, and the suchness of form—by what cause and condition are they not as ordinary people see them? Because their nature is fundamentally so!
This nature is deep and wondrous; how can it be known? It can be known by the power of the mark of form. Just as fire has smoke as its mark, and on seeing smoke one knows there is fire, so now, seeing that the form before one's eyes has the marks of impermanence, breaking apart, suffering and vexation, coarseness and roughness, one knows that its nature is fundamentally so.
These five dharmas do not go, do not come, do not abide, as was said before.
And so on up to the unconditioned, the dharma of the unconditioned, and the suchness, nature, and mark of the unconditioned: they do not come, do not go, do not abide; it is also like this.
The Buddha Confirms "Equal in the Three Times": The Three Times Are All Empty, and Emptiness Is Not One, Two, Three, Four, or Five
The sūtra goes on to say: ‘Subhūti! As for what you said, "Of this Mahāyāna, the prior limit is unfindable, the later limit is unfindable, the middle limit is unfindable; this vehicle is equal in the three times, and therefore it is called the Mahāyāna"—so it is! So it is! Subhūti! Of this Mahāyāna, the prior limit is unfindable, the later limit is unfindable, the middle limit is unfindable; this vehicle is called the equality of the three times, and therefore it is called the Mahāyāna. Why? Subhūti! The past world—the past world is empty; the future world—the future world is empty; the present world—the present world is empty; the equality of the three times—the equality of the three times is empty; the Mahāyāna—the Mahāyāna is empty; the bodhisattva—the bodhisattva is empty. Why? Subhūti! This emptiness is not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, and also not different. Precisely because of this, it is called the equality of the three times, the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva.’
The Marks of Equality and Inequality Are Unfindable, up to the Three Realms and Crossing Beyond the Three Realms Being Unfindable
‘Within this vehicle, because the mark of equality and the mark of inequality are unfindable, lust and non-lust are unfindable, anger and non-anger are unfindable, delusion and non-delusion are unfindable, conceit and non-conceit are unfindable, and so on up to all wholesome dharmas and not-wholesome dharmas being unfindable. Within this vehicle, permanence is unfindable and impermanence is unfindable; pleasure is unfindable and suffering is unfindable; the real is unfindable and the empty is unfindable; self is unfindable and non-self is unfindable; the desire realm is unfindable, the form realm is unfindable, the formless realm is unfindable; crossing beyond the desire realm is unfindable, crossing beyond the form realm is unfindable, crossing beyond the formless realm is unfindable. Why? Because the very dharma of this Mahāyāna itself is unfindable.’
The Five Aggregates and the Six Perfections of the Three Times Are Unfindable: Within Emptiness, Emptiness—and Within Equality, Equality—Is Also Unfindable
‘Subhūti! Past form—past form is empty; future and present form—future and present form is empty; past feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness—past feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are empty; future and present feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness—future and present feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are empty. Within emptiness, past form is unfindable. Why? Within emptiness even emptiness is unfindable—how much less could past form be found within emptiness! Within emptiness, future and present form is unfindable. Why? Within emptiness even emptiness is unfindable—how much less could future and present form be found within emptiness! Within emptiness, past feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are unfindable. Why? Within emptiness even emptiness is unfindable—how much less could past feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness be found within emptiness! Within emptiness, future and present feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are unfindable. Why? Within emptiness even emptiness is unfindable—how much less could future and present feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness be found within emptiness!
‘Subhūti! Past dānapāramitā is unfindable, future dānapāramitā is unfindable, present dānapāramitā is unfindable, and within the equality of the three times dānapāramitā is also unfindable. Why? Within equality the past world is unfindable, the future world is unfindable, the present world is unfindable; within equality even equality is unfindable—how much less could the past world, the future world, and the present world be found within equality! Śīlapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, vīryapāramitā, dhyānapāramitā, and prajñāpāramitā are also like this.’
The Limbs of the Path in the Three Times, and Ordinary People, the Worthy, and the Noble Are All Unfindable
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! In the past world the four foundations of mindfulness are unfindable, and so on up to: in the past world the eighteen unshared dharmas are unfindable; the future world and the present world are also like this.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Within the equality of the three times the four foundations of mindfulness are unfindable, and within the equality of the three times, and so on up to, the eighteen unshared dharmas are also unfindable. Why? Within equality the four foundations of mindfulness of the past world are unfindable, within equality the four foundations of mindfulness of the future world are unfindable, within equality the four foundations of mindfulness of the present world are unfindable; within equality even equality is unfindable—how much less could the four foundations of mindfulness of the past world, or the four foundations of mindfulness of the future and present worlds, be found within equality! Within equality even equality is unfindable—how much less could the past, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, be found within equality! The future and present worlds are also like this.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! In the past world ordinary people are unfindable, in the future world and the present world ordinary people are unfindable, and within the equality of the three times ordinary people are also unfindable. Why? Because beings are unfindable, and so on up to the knower and the seer being unfindable. In the past world śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas are unfindable; in the future and present worlds śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas are unfindable; within the equality of the three times śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas are unfindable. Why? Because beings are unfindable, and so on up to the knower and the seer being unfindable.’
Conclusion: Training in the Mark of the Equality of the Three Times Surpasses the World; Subhūti Says "Excellent", and the Buddha Confirms It
‘Just so, Subhūti! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, abiding within prajñāpāramitā and training in the mark of the equality of the three times, will be able to fulfil the omniscience of all kinds; this is called the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva—namely, the mark of the equality of the three times. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, abiding within this vehicle, surpasses all the world, together with gods, humans, and asuras, and accomplishes sarvajñā (omniscience).’
Then Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! Excellent! Excellent! This Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva! Why? The bodhisattvas of the past trained within this vehicle and attained the omniscience of all kinds; the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of the future world too will train within this vehicle and will attain the omniscience of all kinds.
‘World-Honored One! Now the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas in immeasurable asaṃkhyeya worlds of the ten directions also train within this vehicle and attain the omniscience of all kinds. Precisely because of this, World-Honored One! this vehicle truly is the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva.’
The Buddha told Subhūti: ‘So it is! So it is! The Buddhas of the past, the future, and the present all train within this Mahāyāna—they have attained the omniscience of all kinds, will attain it, and now attain it.’
What follows is the treatise's explanation.
The Treatise-Author: Subhūti Praises in Brief, and the Buddha Expounds at Length What He Praised
The treatise-author says: Subhūti praised it briefly, saying: ‘Of this Mahāyāna, the prior limit, the later limit, and the middle limit are all unfindable; because it is equal in the three times, it is called the Mahāyāna.’ Now the Buddha expounds at length what Subhūti praised.
Why are these three times unfindable? It is this: the past world—the past world is empty; the future world—the future world is empty; the present world—the present world is empty—and therefore they are unfindable. The equality of the three times: this ‘equality’ is itself emptiness; the Mahāyāna: the Mahāyāna itself is empty; the bodhisattva: the bodhisattva himself is empty. Within these three times, the mark of the three times is empty. The meaning of emptiness is as was said before.
The Buddha Himself States the Causes and Conditions of Emptiness: Not Different, Not United, Not Scattered, Without Discrimination
Here the Buddha himself states the causes and conditions of emptiness, namely: ‘Emptiness and the mark of emptiness are not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, and so on; not different, not united, not scattered, without discrimination.’ Therefore the empty mark of the equality of the three times is nothing whatsoever, and so this ‘equality’ too is empty.
When the bodhisattva can understand in this way the equality of all dharmas in the three times, he is not wearied by the long reach of beginningless time, and does not shrink in fear from the boundlessness of the future world—this is the bodhisattva's equality of the three times, called the Mahāyāna.
The Mark of Equality and the Mark of Inequality Are Both Unfindable: So It Is with All Mutually Dependent Dharmas
Within this Mahāyāna the mark of equality is unfindable, and the mark of inequality is also unfindable. On attaining this samādhi of the equality of the three times, one refutes and removes this mark of inequality. It is in dependence on inequality that there is equality; since inequality is ultimately non-existent, equality too is non-existent.
Desire and non-desire, and so on up to the three realms and crossing beyond the three realms—these mutually dependent dharmas are also like this.
Here the Buddha himself says: ‘These dharmas all exist from the coming together of causes and conditions, and therefore have no self-nature; since self-nature is absent, they are empty.’
The Five Aggregates Are Empty in the Three Times; the Six Perfections and the Limbs of the Path Are Unfindable; Training in the Emptiness of the Equality of the Three Times, One Surpasses the World
Furthermore, past form—the mark of past form is empty; the future and the present are also like this. As with form, so too with the other four aggregates. Why? Within emptiness even the mark of emptiness is unfindable—how much less could there be, within emptiness, the mark of the five aggregates of the three times!
The bodhisattva contemplates the emptiness of the five aggregates, cuts off greed and desire, and enters the practice of the path—namely dānapāramitā and the rest; these too are likewise unfindable within the five aggregates of the three times. Because the three times are equal, and equality is emptiness, within this equality dānapāramitā is unfindable.
Question: Why is dānapāramitā unfindable within the three times and within the equality of the three times?
Answer: Within the equality of dharmas there are no three times; within the equality of equality, even the mark of equality is unfindable—how much less the three times! The six perfections, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, are also like this.
Furthermore, within the three times the mark of the ordinary person is unfindable, and the śrāvaka, and so on up to the Buddha, are also unfindable, because beings are empty.
The bodhisattva, abiding in prajñāpāramitā, able to train in this way in the emptiness of the equality of the three times and to gather all kinds of good merits, then fulfils the omniscience of all kinds. The Buddha says: ‘If the bodhisattva can abide in this way within the equality of the three times, he can surpass all the world, together with gods, humans, and asuras.’
Then Subhūti praised it, saying: ‘World-Honored One! Excellent! Excellent! This Mahāyāna benefits the bodhisattvas. Why? The bodhisattvas of the past trained in this Mahāyāna and attained the omniscience of all kinds; those who have not yet attained and those who now attain are also like this.’
Close of the Chapter: Four Divergent Accounts of Attaining the Path, and the Complete Causes and Conditions
Some say: attaining purity has no causes and conditions, and becoming stained with defilement also has no causes and conditions; great and small, fair and ugly, bondage and liberation are none of them bestowed by some one who acts as master.
Some say: fair and ugly, bondage and release are attained naturally when the time comes.
Some say: because merit is accomplished, the Buddha path is attained.
Some say: one need only attain pure, true wisdom, and the Buddha path is attained.
All such accounts of every kind are teachings of no causes and conditions, or teachings of few causes and conditions; they are what Subhūti does not praise.
Now the Buddha sets aside the teaching of no causes and conditions, and also sets aside the teaching of incomplete causes and conditions, and teaches these complete causes and conditions—namely the six perfections: the bodhisattvas of the three times train in this vehicle, bring it to completion, and attain the Buddha path.
The Buddha also approves what Subhūti praised, saying: ‘So it is! So it is!’
含受品：無所有故與空等，無所有故能含受
在問什麼
這一品開場，是佛對須菩提的一聲印可：「汝所言：『衍與空等。』如是！如是！須菩提！摩訶衍與空等。」摩訶衍即是大乘，「衍」是「乘」的音寫。前品之末，須菩提曾一連用幾層話讚歎這乘——勝出一切世間、與虛空等、如虛空受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生、不見來去住處、三世等——「勝出」一層，佛已在前品答過；本品便把其餘幾層逐一接過來，一層一層廣述成立。品名「含受」，是包含、容受之意；論中「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法」一句，正用此二字。全品四段經文、四段論釋交替：先是「與空等」——佛以如虛空怎樣、摩訶衍便也怎樣的句式，從無東西南北四維上下，到非長短方圓、非青黃赤白，一路說到非可得非不可得、非可說非不可說，二十多類負遣鋪滿一整段經文；次是「含受」——如虛空受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，摩訶衍亦如是受；再是「無來去」——是摩訶衍不見來處、不見去處、不見住處；末是「三世等」——前際、後際、中際皆不可得。於是問題來了。其一，摩訶衍是能運載眾生的大乘，布施持戒等萬行分明是有為之事，虛空卻是無為無色之法，兩者怎麼能「等」？其二，也是全品最扭轉常識的一問——說虛空能受萬物，經文為什麼不說「虛空廣大無邊故受一切物」，偏偏說「眾生無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍亦無所有。以是因緣故，摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」？無所有，怎麼反倒成了能受的理由？其三，諸法現前明明有來有去，怎麼說「一切諸法不動相」、無來無去無住？其四，三世平等，等到連「等」本身也不可得，那菩薩在這乘中還學什麼、得什麼？這一品要回答的，正是品名那兩個字：什麼樣的「大」，才含受得下無量無邊的眾生。
逐段解明
先看「與空等」。佛的印可不是一句帶過，而是把虛空的「無」一類一類數給須菩提聽：無方位——沒有東西南北、四維上下；無形狀——非長非短、非方非圓；無顏色——非青黃赤白黑；非過去、非未來、非現在；不增不減；無垢無淨；無生無滅無住無異；非善非不善、非記非無記；無見無聞無知無識；不可知、不可識、不可見、不可斷、不可證、不可修；非染相非離相；不繫欲界色界無色界；沒有從初發心到第十心的十心，沒有從乾慧地到已辦地的十地，沒有須陀洹果乃至阿羅漢果，沒有聲聞地、辟支佛地、佛地；非色非無色、非可見非不可見、非有對非無對、非合非散；非常非無常、非樂非苦、非我非無我；非空非不空、非相非無相、非作非無作；非寂滅非不寂滅、非離非不離；非闇非明；非可得非不可得；乃至非可說非不可說——每一類都以「摩訶衍亦如是」收束。論釋隨即替讀者發問：虛空理當如此，它本是無為法；摩訶衍是有為法、是布施持戒等色法，怎麼與虛空等？論答得極有分寸：六波羅蜜有世間、出世間兩種；世間的六度是有為色法，確實不同虛空；出世間的六度與如、法性、實際、智慧和合，所以「似如虛空」；得無生忍以後，無所分別，就如虛空。又問：說一句「無所有」便足，何以要一類一類數？答：「初發心菩薩於內外種種因緣法中著心」，佛是對著這一處一處的著心，一處一處地拆——二十多類負遣不是修辭的鋪張，是對症的藥單。
再看「含受」，這是全品得名之處，也是義理最深的一段。經文的走法出人意料：不說虛空大、摩訶衍大，而是一路說「無所有」——眾生無所有故虛空無所有，虛空無所有故摩訶衍無所有，以是因緣故，摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。經文先鋪一條先導的鏈子——摩訶衍無所有故阿僧祇無所有，乃至無量、無邊、一切諸法無所有——然後九個復次，把這條鏈子一次一次重新鋪過：從如、法性、實際，到不可思議性與色受想行識，到眼乃至意，到檀波羅蜜乃至般若波羅蜜，到內空乃至無法有法空，到四念處乃至十八不共法，到性地乃至已作地，到須陀洹乃至阿羅漢，到聲聞乘、辟支佛乘、佛乘乃至一切種智——每一次都由『我乃至知者、見者無所有』一類話起手——九次的起首措辭前五、中三、末一略有出入，義理不異——，穿過這一重法數，收到虛空無所有、摩訶衍無所有，而結語永遠是同一句：以是因緣故，摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。末了以涅槃性作比：「涅槃性中受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，是摩訶衍亦受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。」論釋在這裡展開全品最要緊的問答。問：何不說「虛空廣大無邊故受一切物」？答：「現見虛空無所有，一切萬物皆在其中，以無所有故能受。」——不妨如此設想：屋裡能放東西，正因為那裡沒有東西；虛空之能受，不在它是一件更大的東西，而在它根本不是一件東西。問者再逼：心心數法也無形無質，何以不能受一切物？論分辨得極細：心是覺知之相，不是容受之相，又無住處；心還有揀擇——邪見心不受正見，正見心不受邪見——虛空則一切皆受；心生滅可斷，虛空不然。可見單是無色無形還不夠，要無所揀擇、無所住、不生滅，才談得上受一切。問者三逼：那乾脆說虛空無量無邊能受就是了，何必說無所有？論索性把喻體自身也拆開：虛空無自相，待色相而說虛空——色所不到之處，名為虛空；若先有色後有虛空，虛空便是作法，作法不名為常；一路推到盡處，「虛空不名為相、不名為所相，不名為法、不名為非法，不名為有、不名為無，斷諸語言，寂滅如無餘涅槃」。既然如此，何必還用虛空作喻？答：眾生於諸法中生著，而不於虛空生著，所以「以麁現事破微細事」——喻是接引之具，不是又一件實法。最後把喻收回法上：虛空因色故但有假名，眾生因五眾和合故但有假名，摩訶衍亦然——以眾生空，無佛無菩薩；以有眾生故，有佛有菩薩。「若是有法，不能受無量諸佛及弟子」——正因為摩訶衍不是一件實有之法，它才含受得下無量諸佛與弟子。隨後論主釋名：「僧祇」，秦言數；「阿」，秦言無——眾生諸法各各不可得邊，故名無數；「無量」如以斗稱量物，以智慧量諸法亦如是，「量」名總相，「邊」名別相；乃至我無故實際亦無，一切法無，畢竟清淨。段末點出品名的分量：「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法」，而眾生與法「二事相因：若無眾生則無法，若無法則無眾生」。
第三段「無來去」。經文以一條五目的句式遍歷諸法：某法、某法之法、某法之如、某法之性、某法之相，「無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住」——從色受想行識，到眼耳鼻舌身意與色聲香味觸法，到地水火風空識六種，到如、實際、不可思議，到檀波羅蜜乃至般若波羅蜜，到四念處乃至十八不共法，到菩薩、佛、阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，到有為法、無為法。論釋先替佛點題：「汝何以但讚摩訶衍無來、無去、無住」？一切法亦如是，「一切法實相不動故」。隨即正面迎上最自然的質疑：諸法現有來去可見，云何言不動？論的答法是本論一貫的三時觀門：「已去中無去，未去中亦無去；離已去未去，去時亦無去。」問者以身動處名為去、去時應有去來立論，論層層拆之：離去相，去時不可得；離去時，去相不可得；若去時有去，應有二去，有二去便有二去者；離去者無去相，離去相無去者——是故「去者不去，不去者亦不去」，離去與不去，也再沒有一個去。來者、住者亦如是。這一路破立，不是不認得眼前的往來，而是要人看清佛那句重話：「凡夫人法虛誑無實，雖復肉眼所見，與畜生無異，是不可信。」隨後論釋把五目逐一解開：「色」名眼見事，未分別好醜；「色法」名無常生滅、不淨等；「色如」名色和合有，如水沫不牢固，離散則無，虛偽誑眼；色性畢竟清淨空，「性自爾故」——此性深妙，何以可知？以色相之力可知，「如火以烟為相，見烟則知有火」，今見眼前之色無常、破壞、苦惱、粗澀之相，便知其性本爾。五法不去不來不住，乃至無為法亦如是。
末段「三世等」。經文把空說到最徹底處：「過去世、過去世空，未來世、未來世空，現在世、現在世空，三世等、三世等空；摩訶衍、摩訶衍空，菩薩、菩薩空」——而這空「非一、非二、非三、非四、非五、非異」，數不進去，也異不出來。是衍中等不等相不可得，故染不染、瞋不瞋、癡不癡、慢不慢乃至一切善法不善法皆不可得，三界與度三界皆不可得——「是摩訶衍自法不可得故」。經文一路用遞歸的句式收緊：「空中空亦不可得」，何況空中三世五眾可得；「等中等亦不可得」，何況等中三世六度道品可得——連空自身、等自身都不留。論釋補一句最見菩薩心量的話：菩薩能如是解諸法三世等，「不以無始世來為疲厭，不以未來世無邊故為難」——三世既等，來路再長不足以疲其心，前路再遠不足以奪其志。又點明等的性質：不等相待故有等，不等畢竟無故等亦無；欲不欲、三界度三界，相待法皆爾；諸法皆從因緣和合故無自性，自性無故空。經與論在此又雙雙點出一層：過去世中凡夫人不可得，聲聞、辟支佛、菩薩、佛也不可得，未來、現在亦然——三世之等，最後落在眾生空上，連能學能證的人也不可得。而正是在這樣的不可得中，經說學此三世等者具足一切種智、勝出一切世間、成就薩婆若；須菩提隨即讚歎十方無量世界中的菩薩都在這乘中學得一切種智，佛印可說：過去、未來、現在諸佛，都在這摩訶衍中學，已得一切種智，當得、今得。全品收在須菩提的再讚與一場鑑別：有人言得清淨無因緣、染垢穢亦無因緣，縛解皆無主所與；有人言好醜縛解至時節自得；有人言福德成就故得佛道；有人言但得清淨實智慧得佛道——「如是等說，皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎」。今佛捨非因緣，亦捨不具足因緣，說具足因緣——六波羅蜜，三世菩薩學是乘具足，得成佛道。佛可其所歎：「如是！如是！」全品即此而終。
不要讀錯
不要把「與空等」讀成摩訶衍一無可修。論明說六波羅蜜有世間、出世間兩種，是出世間的六度與如、法性、實際、智慧和合，得無生忍後無所分別，方「似如虛空」——與空等是行到深處的相貌，不是不必起行的藉口。
不要把「無所有故能受」讀成故作驚人的翻案。它有現前的憑據：虛空正因不是一件東西，才能讓萬物在其中；反過來，「若是有法，不能受無量諸佛及弟子」——實法有邊有礙，無所有才無邊無礙。
不要因為論末拆破虛空、說「以是故無虛空」，就以為本品自語相違——前面用虛空作喻，後面又說無虛空。論自己交代了分寸：眾生於諸法生著、不於虛空生著，故「以麁現事破微細事」；喻是接引之具，喻體自身同樣不可執實——拆喻正是用喻的完成，不是推翻。
不要把「無來無去」讀成閉著眼否認眼前的往來。三時求去不可得，破的是有一個實去者、實去相；肉眼所見的來去，佛說如凡夫虛誑之見「不可信」——是不可信其為實，不是說世俗中沒有這回事。
不要把篇末四說當作論主並存的四個選項。四說——無因緣、時節自得、唯福德、唯智慧——論已明言「皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎」；四說是被駁而錄，不是被許而存。至於四說各出何家，論未明言，也不必代它指認。
修行作用
那二十多類「非」與「無」，可以拿來逐項照心：於長短方圓處起計較、於善惡是非處起自負、於可得不可得處起取捨——每一處著心，就以經文的句式鬆開——虛空無此相，摩訶衍亦無此相。這段經文本就是對著初發心人一處一處的著心開的藥單。
『無所有故能受』，不妨再作一比：心裡塞滿自己的成見、功勞、名位，如同屋中堆滿雜物，再放不進一人一事；愈能空其所有，愈含受得下人與事。學摩訶衍的含受，先從肯空掉自己開始。
三時觀門可以隨處起觀：行路時試問這「去」在已去、未去、去時哪一處可得；覓來覓去覓不到一個實去者，當下便是「不動相」的消息——不是身不動，是實相不動。
「不以無始世來為疲厭，不以未來世無邊故為難」，是三世等給修行人的耐力：回顧來路，不自傷起步太遲；展望前程，不自怯路途太遠。三世既等，下手處永遠是今日。
篇末的具足因緣提醒人自檢：以為得道靠運氣時節、或單靠修福、單靠聰明，都落在「非因緣、少因緣」裡；六波羅蜜福慧兼行，才是佛所印可的具足因緣——修行不揀省力的走法。
承衍
後來有古德為這一品逐文作疏，把前品與本品連讀為一組五重讚歎：前品是勝出之歎，本品依次述等空之歎、含受之歎、無來去之歎、三世之歎——四段經文恰是四歎，與論釋的四段一一相接。疏中數品首那一連串負遣為二十二種歎類；經文逐句鋪陳、密不容針，計法容有一項出入，兩種數法各有取徑，此處並存不判。於含受一歎，古德特意駁斥一種舊解——說摩訶衍只含受有著之人、不含受一切眾生及一切法——指其違了佛語與論主之意，而明摩訶衍非凡非聖、凡聖皆含，非人非法皆含受。於含受段又點出就文九復次，與經文的九個「復次」恰相吻合；於無來去一歎，就經文立十科，科科五義，義義三句——不來、不去、無住——見出這段行文織錦般的嚴密。這些讀法各有來歷，此處只誌其取徑、不判其高下。把它們帶回本品，最值得留住的，是品名兩個字經此一品的翻轉：含受，聽來像一種廣大的擁有——擁有得多，才裝得下多。本品偏說到盡處：眾生無所有、虛空無所有、摩訶衍無所有，乃至等中等亦不可得——正是這徹底的無所有，才含受得下無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。虛空所以能受萬物，不因它大，因它不是一物；摩訶衍所以能含受一切，不因它是最大的一法，因它不是一法。含受之量，即是無所有之深；學此乘者的心量也當如是——空到無一物可守，方受得下一切眾生。
Containing and Receiving: Equal to Space Because Without Anything Existent, Able to Contain and Receive Because Without Anything Existent
What Is Being Asked
This chapter opens with a word of the Buddha’s approval to Subhūti: 「汝所言：『衍與空等。』如是！如是！須菩提！摩訶衍與空等。」 tr. "What you have said—‘the vehicle is equal to space’—so it is! So it is! Subhūti! The Mahāyāna is equal to space." The Mahāyāna is exactly the Great Vehicle; 「衍」 tr. "yāna" is the transliteration of 「乘」 tr. "vehicle." At the end of the preceding chapter Subhūti had praised this vehicle in several layers of words in succession—it surpasses all worlds, it is equal to space, like space it receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings, it sees no place of coming, going, or abiding, it is equal in the three times. The layer of 「勝出」 tr. "surpassing" the Buddha has already answered in the preceding chapter; this chapter then takes up the remaining layers one by one and expounds and establishes them at length, layer by layer. The chapter’s name, 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving," means to contain and to hold; the sentence in the treatise 「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法」 tr. "this Mahāyāna can contain and receive all beings and dharmas" uses exactly these two words. The whole chapter alternates four passages of the sūtra with four passages of the treatise’s explanation. First comes 「與空等」 tr. "equal to space": with the sentence-pattern ‘as space is thus, so too is the Mahāyāna,’ the Buddha runs from having no east, west, south, or north, no four intermediate directions, no above or below, to being neither long nor short, neither square nor round, neither blue, yellow, red, nor white, all the way to being neither findable nor unfindable, neither sayable nor unsayable—more than twenty classes of negation filling an entire passage of the sūtra. Next comes 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving": as space receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings, so too does the Mahāyāna receive them. Then comes 「無來去」 tr. "no coming or going": this Mahāyāna sees no place of coming, sees no place of going, sees no place of abiding. Last comes 「三世等」 tr. "equal in the three times": the prior limit, the later limit, and the middle limit are all unfindable. And so the questions arise. First: the Mahāyāna is the Great Vehicle that can carry beings, and the myriad practices such as giving and keeping the precepts are plainly conditioned affairs, whereas space is an unconditioned, formless dharma—how can the two be 「等」 tr. "equal"? Second, and the question in the whole chapter that most twists common sense: in saying that space can receive the myriad things, why does the sūtra not say 「虛空廣大無邊故受一切物」 tr. "because space is vast and boundless it receives all things," but insists instead on saying 「眾生無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍亦無所有。以是因緣故，摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」 tr. "Because beings are without anything existent, know that space is without anything existent; because space is without anything existent, know that the Mahāyāna too is without anything existent. By these causes and conditions the Mahāyāna receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings"? How does being without anything existent turn out, on the contrary, to be the reason for being able to receive? Third: dharmas before our eyes plainly come and go—how can it be said that 「一切諸法不動相」 tr. "all dharmas are of the unmoving mark," without coming, without going, without abiding? Fourth: the three times are equal, equal to the point that even 「等」 tr. "equal" itself is unfindable—what then is the bodhisattva still to learn in this vehicle, and what is he to attain? What this chapter sets out to answer is exactly the two words of its name: what kind of 「大」 tr. "greatness" can contain and receive immeasurable, boundless beings.
Passage by Passage
First, look at 「與空等」 tr. "equal to space." The Buddha’s approval is not a sentence passed over lightly; he counts out to Subhūti, class by class, the 「無」 tr. "without" of space: without direction—no east, west, south, or north, no four intermediate directions, no above or below; without shape—neither long nor short, neither square nor round; without colour—neither blue, yellow, red, white, nor black; not past, not future, not present; neither increasing nor decreasing; without stain and without purity; without arising, without ceasing, without abiding, without alteration; neither wholesome nor unwholesome, neither determinate nor indeterminate; without seeing, without hearing, without knowing, without cognising; not knowable, not cognisable, not seeable, not to be cut off, not to be realised, not to be cultivated; neither of the mark of defilement nor of the mark of separation; not bound to the desire realm, the form realm, or the formless realm; without the ten minds from the first arousing of the mind to the tenth mind, without the ten grounds from the ground of dry wisdom to the ground of what has been done, without the fruits from the fruit of srota-āpanna up to the fruit of arhat, without the śrāvaka ground, the pratyekabuddha ground, or the Buddha ground; neither form nor formless, neither visible nor invisible, neither with resistance nor without resistance, neither joined nor scattered; neither permanent nor impermanent, neither pleasure nor suffering, neither self nor non-self; neither empty nor not empty, neither marked nor signless, neither making nor non-action; neither stillness-and-extinction nor not stillness-and-extinction, neither detached nor not detached; neither dark nor bright; neither findable nor unfindable; and so on up to neither sayable nor unsayable—each class concluded with 「摩訶衍亦如是」 tr. "the Mahāyāna too is like this." The treatise’s explanation at once raises the question on the reader’s behalf: space ought rightly to be so, for it is by nature an unconditioned dharma; but the Mahāyāna is a conditioned dharma, a form-dharma such as giving and keeping the precepts—how can it be equal to space? The treatise answers with great precision: the six perfections are of two kinds, worldly and world-transcending; the worldly six perfections are conditioned form-dharmas and are indeed unlike space; the world-transcending six perfections come together with suchness, dharma-nature, the limit of reality, and wisdom, and so are 「似如虛空」 tr. "like space"; after one attains the acceptance of non-arising there is nothing discriminated, just as with space. It is asked again: to say 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent" once would be enough—why count class by class? Answer: 「初發心菩薩於內外種種因緣法中著心」 tr. "The bodhisattva who has first aroused the mind clings with the mind to all kinds of dharmas of causes and conditions, inner and outer." The Buddha is taking apart, place by place, precisely this clinging mind, place by place—the more than twenty classes of negation are not rhetorical profusion but a prescription matched to the illness.
Next, look at 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving"—this is where the whole chapter gets its name, and it is also the passage deepest in meaning. The way the sūtra proceeds is unexpected: it does not say that space is great and the Mahāyāna great, but says all the way through 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent"—because beings are without anything existent, space is without anything existent; because space is without anything existent, the Mahāyāna is without anything existent; by these causes and conditions the Mahāyāna receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. The sūtra first lays down a leading chain—because the Mahāyāna is without anything existent, asaṃkhyeya is without anything existent, and so on up to: the immeasurable, the boundless, and all dharmas are without anything existent—and then, with nine ‘furthermores,’ lays this chain down anew, time after time: from suchness, dharma-nature, and the limit of reality, to the nature of the inconceivable and form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, to the eye up to the mind, to dānapāramitā up to prajñāpāramitā, to inner emptiness up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, to the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, to the ground of the stage of nature up to the ground of what has been done, to srota-āpanna up to arhat, to the śrāvaka vehicle, the pratyekabuddha vehicle, and the Buddha vehicle, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds. Each time it begins with words of the kind ‘the self, and so on up to the knower and the seer, is without anything existent’—the opening wording of the nine times differs slightly among the first five, the middle three, and the last one, while the meaning does not differ—passes through this layer of dharma-categories, and arrives at space being without anything existent and the Mahāyāna being without anything existent; and the concluding sentence is always the same: by these causes and conditions the Mahāyāna receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. At the end it draws the comparison with the nature of nirvāṇa: 「涅槃性中受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，是摩訶衍亦受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。」 tr. "Within the nature of nirvāṇa immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings are received; this Mahāyāna too receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings." Here the treatise’s explanation unfolds the most essential exchange of the whole chapter. Question: why not say 「虛空廣大無邊故受一切物」 tr. "because space is vast and boundless it receives all things"? Answer: 「現見虛空無所有，一切萬物皆在其中，以無所有故能受。」 tr. "We see before our eyes that space is without anything existent, and all the myriad things are within it; because it is without anything existent it can receive." One may well picture it thus: a room can hold things precisely because there is nothing there; space’s ability to receive lies not in its being a bigger thing, but in its not being a thing at all. The questioner presses again: mind and mental-factor dharmas are also without shape or substance—why can they not receive all things? The treatise distinguishes very finely: mind is of the mark of awareness and knowing, not of the mark of containing and receiving, and moreover it has no place of abiding; mind also picks and chooses—a mind of wrong view does not receive right view, a mind of right view does not receive wrong view—whereas space receives everything; mind arises and ceases and can be cut off, and space is not so. So it can be seen that merely being without form and without shape is not enough; only in being without picking and choosing, without abiding, without arising and ceasing, can one speak of receiving all. The questioner presses a third time: then simply say that space is immeasurable and boundless and can receive—why say ‘without anything existent’? The treatise goes so far as to take apart the image itself as well: space has no specific mark of its own; space is spoken of in dependence on the mark of form—where form does not reach is named space; if form existed first and space afterward, space would be a made dharma, and a made dharma is not called permanent; pushed all the way to the end, 「虛空不名為相、不名為所相，不名為法、不名為非法，不名為有、不名為無，斷諸語言，寂滅如無餘涅槃」 tr. "space is not called a mark and not called what is marked, not called a dharma and not called a non-dharma, not called existent and not called non-existent; it cuts off all words and speech, and is still and extinct like nirvāṇa without remainder." That being so, why still use space as a simile? Answer: beings give rise to clinging toward dharmas but do not give rise to clinging toward space, and therefore 「以麁現事破微細事」 tr. "a coarse, manifest thing is used to refute a subtle thing"—a simile is an instrument of guidance, not one more real dharma. Finally the simile is brought back to the dharma: space, because of form, has only a provisional name; beings, because of the coming together of the five aggregates, have only a provisional name; the Mahāyāna is likewise—by the emptiness of beings there is no Buddha and no bodhisattva; because there are beings, there are buddhas and bodhisattvas. 「若是有法，不能受無量諸佛及弟子」 tr. "If it were an existent dharma, it could not receive immeasurable buddhas and disciples"—precisely because the Mahāyāna is not a really existent dharma can it contain and receive immeasurable buddhas and disciples. Then the treatise-author explains the names: 「僧祇」 tr. "saṃkhyeya" in the language of Qin means ‘number’; 「阿」 tr. "a" in the language of Qin means ‘without’—the boundaries of beings and of dharmas are each unfindable, hence the name ‘without number.’ 「無量」 tr. "Immeasurable": as one measures things with a peck-measure, so measuring dharmas with wisdom is also like this; 「量」 tr. "measure" names the general mark, 「邊」 tr. "boundary" names the particular mark; and so on up to: because the self does not exist, the limit of reality too does not exist; all dharmas do not exist; ultimate purity. At the end of the passage the weight of the chapter’s name is pointed out: 「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法」 tr. "this Mahāyāna can contain and receive all beings and dharmas," and beings and dharmas are 「二事相因：若無眾生則無法，若無法則無眾生」 tr. "two things that depend on each other: if there were no beings there would be no dharmas; if there were no dharmas there would be no beings."
The third passage is 「無來去」 tr. "no coming or going." The sūtra runs through all dharmas with a five-item sentence-pattern—a given dharma, the dharma of that dharma, the suchness of that dharma, the nature of that dharma, the mark of that dharma—each 「無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住」 tr. "comes from nowhere, goes nowhere, and abides nowhere": from form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, to eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind and form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, to the six elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness, to suchness, the limit of reality, and the inconceivable, to dānapāramitā up to prajñāpāramitā, to the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, to the bodhisattva, the Buddha, and anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, to conditioned dharmas and unconditioned dharmas. The treatise’s explanation first states the point on the Buddha’s behalf: 「汝何以但讚摩訶衍無來、無去、無住」 tr. "Why do you praise only the Mahāyāna as without coming, without going, without abiding?" All dharmas are also like this, 「一切法實相不動故」 tr. "because the real mark of all dharmas is unmoving." At once it meets head-on the most natural doubt: dharmas now visibly come and go—how can it be said that they are unmoving? The treatise answers with this treatise’s consistent gate of contemplating the three times: 「已去中無去，未去中亦無去；離已去未去，去時亦無去。」 tr. "In the already-gone there is no going; in the not-yet-gone there is also no going; apart from the already-gone and the not-yet-gone, in the time of going there is also no going." The questioner argues that the place where the body moves is named going, and that in the time of going there should be going and coming; the treatise takes this apart layer by layer: apart from the mark of going, the time of going is unfindable; apart from the time of going, the mark of going is unfindable; if there were going in the time of going, there would have to be two goings, and if there were two goings there would be two goers; apart from the goer there is no mark of going, and apart from the mark of going there is no goer—therefore 「去者不去，不去者亦不去」 tr. "the goer does not go, and the non-goer also does not go"; apart from going and not going, there is no further going at all. The comer and the abider are likewise. This whole course of refuting and establishing is not a failure to recognise the comings and goings before one’s eyes; it is a call to see clearly the Buddha’s weighty words: 「凡夫人法虛誑無實，雖復肉眼所見，與畜生無異，是不可信。」 tr. "The dharmas of ordinary people are false and deceptive, without reality; though they are seen by the fleshly eye, this is no different from animals; they are not to be trusted." Then the treatise’s explanation unties the five items one by one: 「色」 tr. "form" names the thing the eye sees, not yet discriminated as fair or foul; 「色法」 tr. "the dharma of form" names impermanence, arising and ceasing, impurity, and the like; 「色如」 tr. "the suchness of form" names form as existing by coming together—like foam on water, not firm, gone once dispersed, false and deceiving the eye; the nature of form is ultimately pure and empty, 「性自爾故」 tr. "because its nature is so of itself." This nature is deep and subtle—how can it be known? It can be known by the power of the mark of form, 「如火以烟為相，見烟則知有火」 tr. "as fire has smoke as its mark, and seeing smoke one knows there is fire"; now, seeing in the form before one’s eyes the marks of impermanence, breaking apart, pain, and coarseness and roughness, one knows that its nature is so from the beginning. The five dharmas do not go, do not come, and do not abide, and so on up to unconditioned dharmas, which are likewise.
The last passage is 「三世等」 tr. "equal in the three times." The sūtra takes emptiness to its most thorough point: 「過去世、過去世空，未來世、未來世空，現在世、現在世空，三世等、三世等空；摩訶衍、摩訶衍空，菩薩、菩薩空」 tr. "The past world—the past world is empty; the future world—the future world is empty; the present world—the present world is empty; the equality of the three times—the equality of the three times is empty; the Mahāyāna—the Mahāyāna is empty; the bodhisattva—the bodhisattva is empty." And this emptiness is 「非一、非二、非三、非四、非五、非異」 tr. "not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not different"—it cannot be counted in, nor can it be differentiated out. In this vehicle the mark of equal and unequal is unfindable, and therefore passion and non-passion, anger and non-anger, delusion and non-delusion, pride and non-pride, and so on up to all wholesome and unwholesome dharmas are unfindable; the three realms and crossing beyond the three realms are all unfindable—「是摩訶衍自法不可得故」 tr. "because the own dharma of this Mahāyāna is unfindable." The sūtra keeps tightening with a recursive sentence-pattern: 「空中空亦不可得」 tr. "within emptiness, emptiness too is unfindable"—how much less are the three times and the five aggregates findable within emptiness; 「等中等亦不可得」 tr. "within equality, equality too is unfindable"—how much less are the three times, the six perfections, and the limbs of the path findable within equality. Not even emptiness itself or equality itself is left. The treatise’s explanation adds a sentence that most reveals the breadth of a bodhisattva’s mind: a bodhisattva who can understand the equality of the three times of all dharmas in this way is 「不以無始世來為疲厭，不以未來世無邊故為難」 tr. "not wearied by the beginningless ages past, and does not find it hard because the future ages are boundless"—since the three times are equal, however long the road behind, it is not enough to weary his mind; however far the road ahead, it is not enough to wrest away his resolve. It further makes clear the nature of equality: because of dependence on the unequal there is the equal; since the unequal ultimately does not exist, the equal too does not exist; desire and non-desire, the three realms and crossing beyond the three realms—dependent dharmas are all like this; all dharmas come from the coming together of causes and conditions and are therefore without self-nature; because self-nature does not exist, they are empty. Here the sūtra and the treatise together point out one more layer: in the past world ordinary people are unfindable, and śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and buddhas are unfindable too; the future and the present are likewise—the equality of the three times comes to rest finally on the emptiness of beings, where even the person who can learn and realise is unfindable. And it is precisely within such unfindability that the sūtra says one who learns this equality of the three times fulfils omniscience of all kinds, surpasses all worlds, and accomplishes sarvajñā; Subhūti at once praises the fact that the bodhisattvas in the immeasurable worlds of the ten directions all learn in this vehicle and attain omniscience of all kinds, and the Buddha approves, saying: the buddhas of the past, the future, and the present all learn in this Mahāyāna—they have attained omniscience of all kinds, will attain it, and now attain it. The whole chapter closes with Subhūti’s renewed praise and a discernment. Some say that purity is attained without causes and conditions, that defilement and filth are also without causes and conditions, and that bondage and liberation are both not given by any master; some say that fair and foul, bondage and liberation, are attained of themselves when the season arrives; some say that the Buddha path is attained because merit is accomplished; some say that the Buddha path is attained only by attaining pure, real wisdom—「如是等說，皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎」 tr. "Such accounts as these are all not causes and conditions, or scant causes and conditions, and are not what Subhūti praises." Now the Buddha sets aside what is not causes and conditions, sets aside incomplete causes and conditions as well, and speaks of complete causes and conditions—the six perfections: bodhisattvas of the three times learn this vehicle to completion and attain the Buddha path. The Buddha approves what Subhūti praises: 「如是！如是！」 tr. "So it is! So it is!" With this the whole chapter ends.
Do Not Misread
Do not read 「與空等」 tr. "equal to space" as saying that in the Mahāyāna there is nothing whatever to cultivate. The treatise says plainly that the six perfections are of two kinds, worldly and world-transcending; it is the world-transcending six perfections that come together with suchness, dharma-nature, the limit of reality, and wisdom, and only after one attains the acceptance of non-arising, with nothing discriminated, are they 「似如虛空」 tr. "like space." Being equal to space is the appearance of practice gone deep, not a pretext for not needing to set out in practice.
Do not read 「無所有故能受」 tr. "because it is without anything existent it can receive" as a reversal made to startle. It has present evidence: precisely because space is not a thing can it let the myriad things be within it; conversely, 「若是有法，不能受無量諸佛及弟子」 tr. "if it were an existent dharma, it could not receive immeasurable buddhas and disciples"—a real dharma has boundaries and obstructions; only what is without anything existent is without boundary and without obstruction.
Do not suppose, because at the end of the treatise space is taken apart and it says 「以是故無虛空」 tr. "for this reason there is no space," that this chapter contradicts itself—earlier using space as a simile, later saying there is no space. The treatise itself has accounted for the measure: beings give rise to clinging toward dharmas and do not give rise to clinging toward space, and therefore 「以麁現事破微細事」 tr. "a coarse, manifest thing is used to refute a subtle thing"; a simile is an instrument of guidance, and the image itself likewise may not be clung to as real—taking the simile apart is precisely the completion of using it, not its overturning.
Do not read 「無來無去」 tr. "no coming, no going" as denying, with eyes shut, the comings and goings before one’s eyes. Seeking going in the three times and finding it unfindable refutes a really existent goer and a really existent mark of going; of the comings and goings seen by the fleshly eye, the Buddha says that, like the false and deceptive views of ordinary people, they are 「不可信」 tr. "not to be trusted"—not to be trusted as real, not a statement that in the worldly there is no such thing.
Do not take the four accounts at the end of the chapter as four options the treatise-author lets stand side by side. Of the four accounts—without causes and conditions, attained of itself in due season, merit alone, wisdom alone—the treatise has already stated plainly that they 「皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎」 tr. "are all not causes and conditions, or scant causes and conditions, and are not what Subhūti praises"; the four accounts are recorded in order to be refuted, not kept as permitted. As for which schools the four accounts each come from, the treatise does not say, and there is no need to name them on its behalf.
Bearing on Practice
Those twenty-odd classes of 「非」 tr. "not" and 「無」 tr. "without" can be held up to the mind item by item: reckoning over long and short, square and round; self-conceit over wholesome and unwholesome, right and wrong; taking and rejecting over findable and unfindable—wherever the mind clings, loosen it with the sūtra’s sentence-pattern: space has no such mark, and the Mahāyāna has no such mark either. This passage of the sūtra is itself a prescription written out against the clinging, place by place, of those who have first aroused the mind.
‘Because it is without anything existent it can receive’—one may make one more comparison: a heart stuffed full of its own opinions, merits, name, and position is like a room piled with clutter, which can take in not one more person or matter; the more one can empty what one has, the more people and matters one can contain and receive. Learning the containing and receiving of the Mahāyāna begins with being willing to empty oneself.
The gate of contemplating the three times can be raised anywhere: while walking, try asking in which of the already-gone, the not-yet-gone, and the time of going this 「去」 tr. "going" is findable; seeking back and forth and finding no real goer—right there is the tidings of the 「不動相」 tr. "unmoving mark": not that the body does not move, but that the real mark does not move.
「不以無始世來為疲厭，不以未來世無邊故為難」 tr. "Not wearied by the beginningless ages past, not finding it hard because the future ages are boundless"—this is the endurance the equality of the three times gives the practitioner: looking back on the road already come, one does not grieve over having started too late; looking ahead, one does not quail at the road being too far. Since the three times are equal, the place to begin is always today.
The complete causes and conditions at the end of the chapter remind one to examine oneself: to think that the path is attained by luck and season, or by cultivating merit alone, or by cleverness alone, is in every case to fall among 「非因緣、少因緣」 tr. "not causes and conditions, or scant causes and conditions"; only the six perfections, with merit and wisdom practised together, are the complete causes and conditions the Buddha approves—practice does not pick the effortless route.
Further Resonances
Later an ancient master composed a commentary on this chapter passage by passage, and read the preceding chapter together with this one as a single set of fivefold praise: the preceding chapter is the praise of surpassing, and this chapter sets forth in order the praise of equality with space, the praise of containing and receiving, the praise of no coming or going, and the praise of the three times—the four passages of the sūtra are exactly the four praises, connecting one to one with the four passages of the treatise’s explanation. The commentary counts that string of negations at the head of the chapter as twenty-two kinds of praise; the sūtra sets them out sentence by sentence, so dense that not a needle can enter, and the counting of items may differ by one; the two ways of counting each have their own approach, and here both are kept without judgement. On the praise of containing and receiving, the ancient master deliberately refutes an old reading—that the Mahāyāna contains and receives only people with attachment and does not contain and receive all beings and all dharmas—pointing out that it goes against the Buddha’s words and the treatise-author’s intent, and making clear that the Mahāyāna is neither ordinary nor noble and contains both ordinary and noble, is neither person nor dharma and contains and receives both. On the containing-and-receiving passage he further points out, following the text, nine furthermores, which match exactly the nine 「復次」 tr. "furthermore" of the sūtra text; on the praise of no coming or going, he sets up ten divisions following the sūtra text, each division with five meanings, each meaning with three phrases—not coming, not going, no abiding—showing the brocade-like closeness of the weave of this passage. These readings each have their own provenance; here only their approach is noted, without judging which is higher. Brought back to this chapter, what is most worth keeping is the reversal the two words of the chapter’s name undergo in the course of it: containing and receiving sounds like a kind of vast possession—only by possessing much can one hold much. This chapter insists on saying it through to the end: beings are without anything existent, space is without anything existent, the Mahāyāna is without anything existent, and so on up to: within equality, equality too is unfindable—it is precisely this thoroughgoing being without anything existent that can contain and receive immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Space can receive the myriad things not because it is big but because it is not a thing; the Mahāyāna can contain and receive everything not because it is the biggest dharma but because it is not a dharma. The capacity of containing and receiving is just the depth of being without anything existent; the capacity of mind of one who learns this vehicle should be likewise—only when emptied to the point of having not one thing to guard can one receive all beings.
考據Apparatus
一、科判
本品在《大智度論》釋《大品般若》之次第中屬〈釋餘品〉一段，繫卷五十一，論自題「大智度論釋含受品第二十三」〔T25 0424b18〕，總釋《大品般若》此位之品〔T08 0262c04–0265c22〕。所釋經於大正底本品題作〈等空品第二十三〉，品名與本論互異而品次同號——「等空」「含受」兩名之對偶為本品考據之樞紐，詳第四、第八目。前承〈勝出品第二十二〉，次接〈會宗品第二十四〉，本品全在卷五十一之內，不別分卷，起於〔T25 0424b18〕，訖於卷末題「大智度論卷第五十一」〔T25 0429b17〕，收一卷之尾；次品起於卷五十二之首。北宋惟白《大藏經綱目指要錄》著錄「大智度論五十一釋般若中勝出品．含受品．此二品要義」〔C056 0185c05〕，卷五十一兼涵二品，與此起訖相合。
異於〈勝出品〉之一〈經〉一〈論〉，本品〈經〉〈論〉交替四番——四段〈經〉牒引依次起〔T25 0424b19〕〔T25 0425b03〕〔T25 0427b03〕〔T25 0428a26〕，四段〈論〉釋依次起〔T25 0425a15〕〔T25 0426b14〕〔T25 0427c20〕〔T25 0429a03〕。論釋四段之中，三段以「者言」二字起首〔T25 0425a15〕〔T25 0427c20〕〔T25 0429a03〕（石本並闕此二字，見第八目），獨第二段逕以問答發端〔T25 0426b14〕，不置領起之語，體例小異，據實誌之。
品內宏觀，承前品而來。前品須菩提稱歎摩訶衍五語，佛於彼品答其勝出；本品四段經文開端皆以「汝所言」逐一回牒其餘四語——與空等、如虛空受無量眾生、不見來去住處、三世等——逐段印可而廣述之。第一段自「如是！如是！須菩提！摩訶衍與空等」〔T25 0424b19〕起，以「如虛空」句式逐類申明乘與空等，終於「以是諸因緣故說摩訶衍與空等」〔T25 0425a13〕，論釋答有為之六度云何與虛空等；第二段明眾生、虛空、摩訶衍三事皆不可得故能受，九番「復次」遞推，論釋設三重問答辨虛空能受之義，並釋阿僧祇、無量、無邊三名；第三段以「五義」句式遍歷十科，明無所從來亦無所去亦無所住，論釋更破去來相；第四段明前際後際中際不可得故三世等，論釋終於四種得道異說之並錄與具足因緣之結。四段之弧，與吉藏疏所科「等空歎、含受歎、無來去歎、三世歎」逐一相合，吉藏並以此四歎與前品「勝出歎」合為五歎一組，橫跨兩品（見第六目）。
二、術語考
含受。 品名所繫。經文言「受」——「譬如，須菩提！涅槃性中受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，是摩訶衍亦受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」〔T25 0426b09〕；論釋轉言「含受」——「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法；二事相因：若無眾生則無法，若無法則無眾生」〔T25 0427a26〕。品名「含受」正取論釋此語。其與所釋經品題「等空」之對偶，詳第四、第八目。
與空等。 第一段經文之綱。牒經同式凡十五見，皆作「與空等」，總結於「以是諸因緣故說摩訶衍與空等」〔T25 0425a13〕；所釋經同式十五見中十三見同，二見作「與虛空等」，詳第四目其一。
阿僧祇。 論自釋其名——「『阿僧祇』者，『僧祇』，秦言數；『阿』，秦言無」〔T25 0427a08〕，「眾生、諸法各各不可得邊故名『無數』」〔T25 0427a09〕。釋名之下復存數說釋「數」之有無，並錄不判，如「一切法和合故有名字，如輪、輞、輻、轂和合故名為車，無有定實法」〔T25 0427a16〕。
無量·無邊。 「『無量』者，如以斗稱量物，以智慧量諸法亦如是」〔T25 0427a19〕；又「『量』名總相，『邊』名別相；『量』為初始，『邊』名終竟」〔T25 0427a22〕——量邊對舉，與阿僧祇合為三名，遞相推無。
五義。 第三段經文之句式骨架——每科各舉其法、其法法、其如、其性、其相五義，皆「無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住」。論釋自訓其三——「『色』名眼見事，未分別好醜、實不實、自相他相」〔T25 0428a13〕，「『色法』名無常生滅、不淨等」〔T25 0428a14〕，「『色如』名色和合有，如水沫不牢固，離散則無，虛偽無實，但誑人眼」〔T25 0428a15〕；性相二義則以烟火之喻顯之（第三目）。吉藏以十科五義三義總攝此段（第六目）。
姓地（性地）·已辦地（已作地）。 十地之目。首段經文列「如虛空無乾慧地、姓地、八人地」〔T25 0424c17〕，「姓」字六本作「性」，所釋經作「性人地」，三層彙聚，詳第四目其四、第八目；十地之末「已辦地」「已作地」一地二名，兩本前後互倒成鏡像，詳第四目其五。又第二段經文之「性地」，宮本作「法性」，聖、石本作「性法」，三讀並陳（第八目）。
三世等。 第四段之綱——「是摩訶衍，前際不可得，後際不可得，中際不可得，是衍名三世等」〔T25 0428a26〕。其空之所以，經自說「是空非一、非二、非三、非四、非五、非異」〔T25 0428b04〕；等之自遣，論釋「不等相待故有等，不等畢竟無故等亦無」〔T25 0429a16〕，其義詳第五目。
三、譬喻與故事
《大智度論》以譬喻著稱，本品論釋所設諸喻，皆環繞一問——無所有者云何能受、不可見者云何可知。
虛空能受喻。 全品之名喻。問者疑何以不說虛空廣大無邊故能受，論答「現見虛空無所有，一切萬物皆在其中，以無所有故能受」〔T25 0426b16〕——不以廣大故受，以無所有故受，一語翻轉，為「含受」立義。
明暗苦樂喻。 釋因色知有虛空——色若不受，則知虛空是受，「如以無明故知有明，以苦故知有樂」〔T25 0426b23〕，虛空無自相，待色相而顯。
邪正互不受喻。 明心心數法雖同無形質而非受相——「如邪見心不受正見，正見心不受邪見」〔T25 0426b26〕，心有揀擇故有不受，虛空則一切皆受。
車喻。 釋數無定法——「一切法和合故有名字，如輪、輞、輻、轂和合故名為車，無有定實法」〔T25 0427a16〕，一法無故多亦無，故名無數。
斗量喻。 釋無量——「如以斗稱量物，以智慧量諸法亦如是」〔T25 0427a19〕，諸法空故無數，無數故無量無邊。
麁現破細。 論自答何以復以虛空為喻——「六塵法誑眾生心，虛空雖復誑，則不爾」〔T25 0426c25〕，眾生於六塵生著而不於虛空生著，故「以虛空為喻，以麁現事破微細事」〔T25 0426c26〕，此為本論用喻方法之自白。
水沫喻。 訓「色如」——「如水沫不牢固，離散則無，虛偽無實，但誑人眼」〔T25 0428a16〕，色之和合假有如聚沫。
烟火喻。 釋性深妙云何可知——「如火以烟為相，見烟則知有火」〔T25 0428a22〕，「今見眼色無常、破壞、苦惱、麁澁相，知其性爾」〔T25 0428a22〕，以相之力知性之爾。
畜生所見喻。 破現見來去——「凡夫人法虛誑無實，雖復肉眼所見，與畜生無異，是不可信」〔T25 0428a10〕，肉眼之見不足為據，諸法實無來去住。
涅槃受眾生喻（經自身之喻）。 第二段經文之結喻——「譬如，須菩提！涅槃性中受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，是摩訶衍亦受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」〔T25 0426b09〕，以涅槃性之受類摩訶衍之受，吉藏科之為含受歎第四段「舉涅槃為歎」（見第六目）。
四、所釋經文
本論所牒之四段〈經〉，與後秦鳩摩羅什譯《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》此位之品〔T08 0262c04–0265c22〕相承，四段拼合幾攝其全品，覆蓋之全同〈勝出品〉完整牒經之型，非〈報應品〉七段選插之比。
而品題本身即是全品最大之異文。所釋經大正底本品題作「摩訶般若波羅蜜經等空品第二十三」〔T08 0262c04〕，品題之下自帶一條夾註「丹本作含受品」〔T08 0262c05〕；其校記復載宋、元、明、宮、聖五本「等空」作「含受」〔T08 0262c04〕。反觀本論，大正底本品題作「含受品」而宮本作「等空品」〔T25 0424b18〕（第八目首條）——兩部經論各自異本之讀法恰兩兩交合：本論大正之「含受」，與所釋經之丹本及宋元明宮聖諸本同；所釋經大正之「等空」，與本論之宮本同。後世文獻兩名並傳——吉藏疏全篇唯用「等空品」，唐代經錄與元代文才引用皆作「含受品」，北宋惟白提要一書之內二名並見（皆詳第六目）——是「等空」「含受」實為同品之兩個品名傳統，非孤立訛字。此目誌錄其對偶，不代定何名為正。
四段對位除下列異文外，率皆逐字或近乎逐字。經逐字核對，得十五處實質異文，兩本各自成文，非轉抄之訛，並錄不判，供定本裁斷。其中六處與本論檔末校勘記相互印證（其三、其四、其五、其六、其十一、其十二），一處與校勘記一合一違（其九），詳各條並見第八目。
其一，與空等與與虛空等。所釋經「須菩提！摩訶衍與虛空等」〔T08 0262c07〕，同式十五見中二見有「虛」〔T08 0262c07〕〔T08 0263a13〕，餘十三見作「與空等」；本論「如是！如是！須菩提！摩訶衍與空等」〔T25 0424b19〕，十五見皆無「虛」。所釋經自身且不齊一，本論齊一；而所釋經此二見之校勘記自載，首見元、聖二本、次見宋、元、明、宮四本已無「虛」字〔T08 0262c07〕〔T08 0263a14〕，與本論之讀同趨。並錄不判。
其二，亦字繁簡。所釋經「摩訶衍亦如是，亦不增亦不減」〔T08 0262c18〕，本論「摩訶衍亦如是，不增不減」〔T25 0424c01〕，所釋經多兩「亦」字，虛字之別。
其三，覺與知。所釋經「如虛空無見無聞、無覺無識」〔T08 0262c24〕，本論「如虛空無見、無聞、無知、無識」〔T25 0424c07〕。本論校勘記載此句二「知」字——首見聖、石本作「覺」〔T25 0424c07〕，重述處宮、聖、石本作「覺」〔T25 0424c08〕（第八目）——非大正諸本與所釋經同讀「覺」，大正底本獨作「知」。
其四，性人地與姓地。所釋經「如虛空無乾慧地、性人地、八人地」〔T08 0263a06〕，本論「如虛空無乾慧地、姓地、八人地」〔T25 0424c17〕。本論校勘記同行二條——「姓」，宋、元、明、宮、聖、石六本作「性」；「地」，宮、聖、石三本作「人地」〔T25 0424c17〕——六本合讀恰為「性人地」，與所釋經全同，大正獨作「姓地」（第八目）。獨立傳本與諸本校記三層彙聚，本品跨文本佐證之最強一例。
其五，已作地與已辦地互倒。同句十地之末，所釋經首見作「離欲地、已作地」〔T08 0263a07〕，重述處作「無乾慧地乃至已辦地」〔T08 0263a08〕；本論適反——首見作「離欲地、已辦地」〔T25 0424c18〕，重述處作「無乾慧地乃至已作地」〔T25 0424c19〕。一地二名，兩本各自前後不一而方向恰成鏡像；本論首見之「辦」，校勘記載聖、石本作「作」〔T25 0424c18〕（第八目），與所釋經首見同讀。「辦」「作」之出入承〈出到品〉考據所誌同型異文，非本品孤例，並錄不判。
其六，所字有無。所釋經「眾生無有故，當知虛空無有」〔T08 0263b09〕，此下全段皆無「所」字；本論「眾生無所有故，當知虛空無所有」〔T25 0425b05〕。本論校勘記載此下四「所」字，宋、元、明、宮、聖、石六本皆無〔T25 0425b05〕（校記一條併記四見，第八目）——六本與所釋經一致，大正獨有。
其七，檀那與檀。九復次之六度，所釋經「當知檀那波羅蜜無所有」〔T08 0263c20〕，本論「當知檀波羅蜜無所有，尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜無所有」〔T25 0425c15〕；十科五義之六度，所釋經「檀那波羅蜜、檀那波羅蜜法」〔T08 0264c21〕，本論「檀波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜法」〔T25 0427b29〕。品內所釋經「檀那」凡十見，本論一律作「檀」——純音譯繁簡，與〈勝出品〉考據所誌同一跨品模式。
其八，禪那與禪。同列禪度，所釋經「禪那波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜無所有」〔T08 0263c22〕，本論「禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜無所有」〔T25 0425c16〕，品內所釋經三見皆「禪那」，本論皆作「禪」，與其七同一模式；所釋經自身校勘記另載「禪那【大】＊，禪【聖】＊」〔T08 0263c22〕，聖本三見皆作「禪」，與本論全本一致。
其九，是字交錯。「以是因緣故」之結句，兩本「是摩訶衍」「摩訶衍」各自參差——所釋經或有「是」〔T08 0263b24〕或無「是」〔T08 0264b03〕，本論亦或有〔T25 0425b13〕或無〔T25 0425b07〕。本論校勘記二處，大正作「摩」而六本作「是摩」〔T25 0426a01〕〔T25 0426a25〕（第八目）；其第一處所釋經對應句正作「以是因緣故，須菩提！是摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」〔T08 0264a07〕，與六本一致而大正獨略；第二處所釋經對應句則無「是」〔T08 0264b03〕，與大正合——虛字之有無，兩本兩系交錯，並錄不判。
其十，過渡句有無。三世等段，所釋經「等中現在世四念處不可得。乃至十八不共法亦如是」〔T08 0265b25〕多出一句過渡；本論「等中現在世四念處不可得。等中等亦不可得」〔T25 0428c08〕逕接下文。本論校勘記無對應記錄；惟所釋經自身校勘記載「（乃至…是）十字【大】，〔－〕【元】【聖】」〔T08 0265b26〕——所釋經元、聖二本亦缺此句，與本論一致，非孤證。
其十一，中字首見有無。所釋經「過去世凡夫人不可得」〔T08 0265c02〕首見無「中」而次見有「中」，自身不一；本論兩見皆有——「過去世中凡夫人不可得」〔T25 0428c12〕。本論校勘記此「中」字宋、元、明、宮、聖、石六本皆無〔T25 0428c12〕（第八目）——六本與所釋經首見一致，大正獨有。
其十二，勝與勝出。所釋經「住是衍中，勝一切世間及諸天、人、阿脩羅」〔T08 0265c12〕，本論「住是衍中，勝出一切世間及諸天、人、阿修羅」〔T25 0428c22〕，本論多「出」字。本論校勘記此「出」字宮、聖、石三本無〔T25 0428c22〕（第八目）——三本與所釋經一致，大正底本獨有；「勝」與「勝出」義有廣狹，尤宜並錄不判。
其十三，脩與修。同句「阿脩羅」〔T08 0265c13〕與「阿修羅」〔T25 0428c22〕，異體同字，非義理之異。
其十四，摩訶薩有無。所釋經「過去諸菩薩摩訶薩是衍中學得一切種智」〔T08 0265c15〕，本論「過去諸菩薩是衍中學得一切種智」〔T25 0428c24〕，所釋經具全稱，本論略之；所釋經自身校勘記另載「摩訶薩【大】，〔－〕【聖】」〔T08 0265c15〕，聖本亦缺「摩訶薩」，與本論略稱一致。
其十五，國土與世界。所釋經「今十方無量阿僧祇國土中諸菩薩摩訶薩」〔T08 0265c18〕，本論「今十方無量阿僧祇世界中諸菩薩摩訶薩」〔T25 0428c27〕。與〈報應品〉〈勝出品〉考據所誌同型，二本於此類詞各有一貫譯例，系統性替換而非偶然。
十五處之中，其三、其四、其五、其六、其十一、其十二六處，所釋經之讀法皆與本論非大正系統之諸本一致，而與大正底本獨異；其九則校記二處一合一違，兩系交錯。連同品題自身之對偶——本論宮本同所釋經大正，所釋經丹本及宋元明宮聖諸本同本論大正——獨立傳本與諸本校記互證之跨文本現象，承〈出到品〉〈勝出品〉考據所誌而於本品達於極盛，品名即其最鮮明之例。其一、其二屬虛字繁簡，其七、其八屬音譯繁簡，餘屬詳略、異體、系統性替換之別。全數兩本各自成文，此目並列其異，不代為定何本。
五、般若義眼
本品之眼，在「含受」二字之翻轉——能受一切，非因廣大，正因無所有。其義可約為四重。
其一，等空以無分別故。有為之萬行云何與無為之虛空等——論答「六波羅蜜有二種：世間、出世間」〔T25 0425a20〕，「出世間者，與如、法性、實際、智慧和合故，似如虛空」〔T25 0425a22〕，「從得無生忍已後，無所分別如虛空」〔T25 0425a23〕。又明佛說無種種相之所以——「初發心菩薩於內外種種因緣法中著心」〔T25 0425a29〕，故說如虛空無是種種相——品首之逐類枚舉非泛列名相，乃為破著心而設。
其二，無所有故能受。全品義眼之核。不曰虛空廣大故受物，而曰無所有故能受（第三目名喻）；推而遣虛空自身——「受相即是無色相，色不到處，名為虛空；以是故無虛空」〔T25 0426c06〕，「若先有色後有虛空，虛空則是作法，作法不名為常」〔T25 0426c11〕，終至「虛空不名為相、不名為所相，不名為法、不名為非法，不名為有、不名為無，斷諸語言，寂滅如無餘涅槃」〔T25 0426c18〕——喻依自身亦被遣盡。能受之量，佛自說遞推——「摩訶衍無故，阿僧祇無；阿僧祇無故，無量亦無；無量無故，無邊亦無；無邊無故，一切法亦無，以是故能受」〔T25 0427a06〕。且含受非單向之攝——「以眾生空，無佛無菩薩；以有眾生故，有佛有菩薩；若無佛無菩薩，則無摩訶衍」〔T25 0427a01〕，乘與眾生二事相因（第二目），空義中無能含所含之隔。
其三，不動故無來去。第三段論釋以三時求去——「已去中無去，未去中亦無去；離已去未去，去時亦無去」〔T25 0427c27〕——層層問答，終歸「去者不去，不去者亦不去；離去、不去，亦無有去」〔T25 0428a08〕；現見之來去，判為凡夫肉眼之誑（第三目畜生喻）。論主自明此廣破之所以——「一切法亦如是無來、無去、無住，一切法實相不動故」〔T25 0427c21〕，摩訶衍之無來去住，即一切法之無來去住。
其四，三世等即空，而具足因緣不廢。「是空非一、非二、非三、非四、非五、非異」〔T25 0428b04〕，等中等亦不可得〔T25 0428c08〕，「不等相待故有等，不等畢竟無故等亦無」〔T25 0429a16〕——等之為言，亦待不等而立，畢竟俱遣。而菩薩正於此中發行——「菩薩能如是解諸法三世等，不以無始世來為疲厭，不以未來世無邊故為難」〔T25 0429a12〕。品末論主並錄四說——「得清淨無因緣，染垢穢亦無因緣，大小、好醜、縛解皆無主所與」〔T25 0429b08〕、「好醜、縛解，至時節自得」〔T25 0429b09〕、「福德成就故得佛道」〔T25 0429b10〕、「但得清淨實智慧得佛道」〔T25 0429b11〕——而判之曰「如是等說，皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎」〔T25 0429b11〕，正立曰「今佛捨非因緣，亦捨不具足因緣，說是具足因緣，所謂六波羅蜜」〔T25 0429b13〕。畢竟空而具足因緣，三世等而三世菩薩學是乘得成佛道，此全品義眼所歸。
六、諸家異釋
《大智度論》本無逐文全疏之傳統，古德引釋率屬據實偏倚。本品之古德覆讀與〈勝出品〉同型——釋論之慧影疏斷層不覆，釋所釋經之吉藏疏存完整逐文之疏，為對讀主體；此外復得元代文才《肇論新疏》逐字牒引本品經文一句，為前數品古德名單之外之新見。此目誌錄其所疏所引與本品之對應，不判各家詮釋高下。
吉藏《大品經義疏》（X24n0451）卷首目次於〈勝出品第二十二〉之次逕列「等空品第二十三」〔X24 0195a24〕，不附異名夾註——前〈出到品〉條下猶注「亦名出乘品」，本品條下無之——吉藏全篇唯用「等空品」，未見「含受品」之名，與所釋經大正底本一致（第四目）。
其卷五「等空品第二十三」專章〔X24 0252c20–0254b16〕，疏文二千六百餘言，逐文對應本品。開篇立品義曰「等空品常云：乘是萬行，萬行是有，不可與空等。若真諦遣，故無萬行，無可與空等。今明品萬行宛然而畢竟空，故與空等」〔X24 0252c21〕——萬行宛然而畢竟空，是其解「等空」之綱。其科判以五歎橫跨兩品——「此品初述其第二等空歎」〔X24 0253a04〕，次「次述其第三含受歎」〔X24 0253a14〕、「次述其第四無來去歎」〔X24 0253c11〕、「次述第五無三世歎」〔X24 0254a09〕——四歎轉折與本品四段經文起始〔T25 0424b19〕〔T25 0425b03〕〔T25 0427b03〕〔T25 0428a26〕逐一精確接軌；品末復結曰「初結五歎中第五、三世平等歎，後句結五歎中第一句勝出歎」〔X24 0254b08〕——五歎之首「勝出歎」在前品，本品獨占其四，與前品疏文「今盡品述第一、勝出歎」〔X24 0252b06〕相銜（〈勝出品〉考據已誌）。
其疏諸段，與本品文相應者五端。一者，品首枚舉之數——「凡舉二十二種歎類能，由來乘是萬善有為有法，並不得舉此二十二為類云云」〔X24 0253a09〕——吉藏自陳二十二種，依經文句式逐句字面計數則得二十三類，計法略異一項，並錄不判，不強行歸併。二者，含受之諍——「次述其第三含受歎。由來摩訶衍是萬善，乃可令受行眾生，云何能含受一切眾生及一切法」〔X24 0253a14〕，「彼解云：是少分為言實錄，唯含受有著之人，不含受一切眾生及一切法。此則反佛語及龍樹意。今明摩訶衍非凡非聖，而凡聖皆含，非人非法皆含受」〔X24 0253a15〕——他家以含受為少分，吉藏斥其反佛語龍樹意，此為吉藏所存之義理諍議，本論原文未見此一異解，並錄其有此諍，不代判。三者，含受歎之分科——「今直為四：第一、舉虗空為歎，第二、阿僧祇為歎，第三、舉乘為歎，第四、舉涅槃為歎」〔X24 0253b20〕（「虗」字其書原樣），其上並誌「北人以為六義」〔X24 0253b19〕之別科而未詳列其目，誌其有而已。四者，九復次——「就文九復次：初復次、舉我類如此性等，乃至第九復次、舉我類三乘人同無所有」〔X24 0253c07〕——與本品經文九番「復次」逐一相應，「譬如涅槃」以下吉藏別立為第四段不入九數，與經文自身之分際相合。五者，十科五義三義——「就文凡舉十科：一五陰、二十二入、三六種、四如實際、五六度等門、六菩薩、七佛、八菩提、九有為法、十無為法」〔X24 0253c16〕，「此十科法一一各有五義，謂色、色法、色如、色性、色相。就五義中一一各三義，謂不來不去無住」〔X24 0253c18〕——其「五六度等門」合六度與念處等為一科，與經文逐目之顆粒度有別，並錄不判。至其釋三世歎曰「由來大涅槃、華嚴，自可非三世。大乘與般若，並是因中行，為三世所攝。今則不然，般若是一法，佛說種種名，故一切並過去、非未來、非現在、亦非三世」〔X24 0254a11〕（其「並過去」之「並」字下，底本校記云「並疑非」，照錄不改）——涉《大涅槃》《華嚴》之對觀，為吉藏獨有引申，本論原文未見此比。
元·文才《肇論新疏》（T45n1860）釋《肇論》般若無知之義，援引本品——「大品含受品云。摩訶衍如虛空。無見無聞無知無識」〔T45 0216a07〕——逐字對應本品經文「如虛空無見、無聞、無知、無識」〔T25 0424c07〕，且以「含受品」為名，與本論大正底本同、與所釋經大正之「等空品」異；其所引「知」字正與大正底本同讀，非聖石諸本之「覺」（第八目）。此係元代古德之徵引，於智顗、吉藏、窺基、慧沼、湛然、貞舜諸家名單之外新得，誌錄之。
唐《大唐開元釋教廣品歷章》著錄所釋經品目作「摩訶般若波羅蜜經含受品第二十二」〔A097 0812a11〕——以「含受品」為名而品次「第二十二」較大正少一，其品次離軌自〈出到品〉起一貫如此，〈勝出品〉考據已誌其「勝出品第二十一」之同型，非本品孤例。
北宋惟白《大藏經綱目指要錄》一書之內，品名兩見——大品經簡目作「等空品」，提要曰「摩訶衍與虛空。等無有邊量涯際也」〔C056 0139a06〕；智度論簡目則作「含受品」〔C056 0185c05〕（第一目所引）——同書依所提要之本各從其名，兩名傳統並行之直證。
慧影《大智度論疏》（X46n0791）為釋本論之唯一古疏，然僅殘卷存世。現存諸卷之覆，於〈句義品第十二〉後中斷，再起已在〈校量舍利品第三十七〉——其間諸品全數斷失，本品適在斷層之中，全然未覆；回搜「含受品」「等空品」於其書零命中，與斷層相印。據實記其殘佚，不虛列其目。
至若智顗、湛然、窺基、慧沼、貞舜名下著作，回搜「含受品」「等空品」題名皆零命中。慧琳《一切經音義》音《大智度論》一百卷〔T54 0609c22〕，題下夾註「第九帙無音」〔T54 0609c22〕；其書於此論逐卷出詞條，然第四十三卷之音後直接第五十三卷〔T54 0615a08〕，第四十四至第五十二卷原缺無音，本品所在之卷五十一適在缺列——其闕在彼書之傳本，非本品之特。近代印順《中觀今論》嘗引本品之文，屬近代學者之作，依例不歸古德引據之列，誌其存而已。
七、互讀與承衍
本品之義脈，前後相承者有三，皆此目所誌，不代定讀。
其一，承前品而合為五歎。本品四段經文開端「汝所言」，逐一回牒前品須菩提稱歎之語——「是摩訶衍與虛空等」〔T25 0422a25〕、「三世等是摩訶衍」〔T25 0422a29〕等（〈勝出品〉考據第二目）——前品佛答勝出，本品續答四歎，吉藏五歎之科正據此立（第六目）。又前品論釋已預用本品之名——「譬如虛空含受一切國土，而虛空故不盡」〔T25 0423c20〕——「含受」一詞先見於前品論釋之喻，本品論釋「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法」〔T25 0427a26〕正式承之，品名所自出。
其二，去來之破與《中論》同軸。本品論釋三時求去不可得——「已去中無去，未去中亦無去；離已去未去，去時亦無去」〔T25 0427c27〕——與龍樹《中論·觀去來品》之頌「已去無有去，未去亦無去，離已去未去，去時亦無去」〔T30 0003c08〕同一結構，二書同出龍樹、同經羅什之譯，此目誌其同軸，不代考先後。論自云「來去相先已破，今當更說」〔T25 0427c23〕，亦本論品品相貫之自指。
其三，論內自指與後世徵引。「此五法不去、不來、不住，如先說」〔T25 0428a24〕、「空義，如先說」〔T25 0429a09〕，皆承前諸卷已立之義而略之，本品之義非孤立而立。後世徵引則有文才「大品含受品云」之逐字牒引（第六目）——本品經句與「含受品」之名，於後世義學中留有實迹。
八、校本與版本說明
本品底本為《大智度論》卷五十一〔T25 0424b18–0429b22〕；所釋經校本為《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》大正題〈等空品第二十三〉〔T08 0262c04–0265c22〕；古德疏校本為吉藏《大品經義疏》卷五（X24n0451），慧影《大智度論疏》（X46n0791）殘卷不覆本品。異讀校記依大正校勘，涉大正底本與宋、元、明、宮、聖、石（石山寺本）諸本之異。工作底本檔末校勘記凡一百零一條，此表擇與品名、品次、術語、義理及分卷相涉者傳錄，並補入唯直讀原檔校記方得之卷首題、次卷首題二條，異本讀法並列保存，正文仍從現行底本讀法。
品名。 首條——「含受品」，宮本作「等空品」，聖本全闕此二字〔T25 0424b18〕。本論品名於宮本即作「等空品」，與所釋經大正品題全然同形；所釋經之丹本及宋、元、明、宮、聖諸本則作「含受品」（第四目）——品名對偶，跨文本互證，並錄不判，供定本裁斷。
品次。 「二十三」，宮本作「二十三品」，聖、石二本作「二十二」〔T25 0424b18〕。聖石一系品次較大正少一，與唐錄「含受品第二十二」（第六目）三方一致，承〈勝出品〉「第二十一」之同型，或係品目分合之異傳統，並錄不判。
卷首題。 「大智度論」四字，明、聖二本無，石本作「大智度經論卷第五十三首」〔T25 0424b18〕——石經於品首自題卷第五十三，較大正卷五十一超前二卷。此條工作底本一百零一條清單未收，唯直讀原檔校記方得，補入誌錄。
知與覺。 「無知、無識」之「知」，首見聖、石本作「覺」〔T25 0424c07〕，重述處宮、聖、石本作「覺」〔T25 0424c08〕。所釋經正作「無覺無識」（第四目其三），並錄不判。
姓與性、地與人地。 「姓地」之「姓」，宋、元、明、宮、聖、石六本作「性」；同詞之「地」，宮、聖、石三本作「人地」〔T25 0424c17〕——六本合讀為「性人地」，與所釋經同形（第四目其四），大正獨作「姓地」，三層彙聚，並錄不判。同行校勘另有一條：「乃至無第十心」之「無」，宋、元、明、宮四本闕〔T25 0424c17〕，與姓地異讀同行而異事，並誌之。
辦與作。 「已辦地」之「辦」，聖、石本作「作」〔T25 0424c18〕，與所釋經首見「已作地」同（第四目其五）；重述處大正自作「已作地」〔T25 0424c19〕，無校記——一地二名，兩本前後互倒。
樂與苦對調。 「非樂、非苦」句，「樂」宋、宮本作「苦」〔T25 0424c29〕，「苦」宋、宮本作「樂」〔T25 0425a01〕——二本於此二字互換位置，非有無之異而係字序之調，義理無礙（樂苦本相對而舉），並錄不判。
者言。 論釋起首「者言」二字，石本無〔T25 0425a15〕；第三段論釋起首同，其校記一條併及第四段起首〔T25 0427c20〕〔T25 0429a03〕——本品三段論釋以「者言」起首（第一目），石本一系皆闕。又三處論釋起首，元、明二本並有「論」字〔T25 0425a15〕〔T25 0427c20〕〔T25 0429a03〕，與〈勝出品〉「者」上有「論」字之校記同一模式。又第二段論釋起首之【論】標，宋、聖二本亦闕〔T25 0426b14〕，與該段獨缺「者言」之結構異常相參。
所字四處。 「眾生無所有故」以下四「所」字，宋、元、明、宮、聖、石六本皆無〔T25 0425b05〕，校記一條併記此下四見〔T25 0425b05–0425b07〕——所釋經同段亦無「所」（第四目其六），大正獨有，並錄不判。
摩與是摩。 「摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」之「摩」，六本作「是摩」〔T25 0426a01〕，同條併及〔T25 0426a25〕——所釋經對應二句一有「是」一無「是」（第四目其九），兩系交錯，並錄不判。
性地三讀。 「性地」，宮本作「法性」，聖、石本作「性法」〔T25 0426a13〕——三讀並陳，皆指十地系統之性地階位，並錄不判。
受與愛。 「以無所有故能受」之「受」，聖本作「愛」〔T25 0426b18〕——受愛義別，或屬聖本形近之訛，並錄不判，供留意。
聖本大段缺文。 「無量無故，無邊亦無；無邊無故，一切法亦無」十七字，聖本無〔T25 0427a07〕；「色如，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；受、想、行、識如，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住」三十一字，聖本無〔T25 0427b11〕；其後緊接「須菩提！色」四字，聖本亦闕〔T25 0427b13〕，與三十一字條同屬一次連續脫落，該段實共缺約三十五字——本品幅度最大之異文群，聖本一系連句脫落，並錄不判。
阿耨多羅三藐三菩提九字。 「阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」九字，宋、元、明、宮四本無〔T25 0427c12〕——四本一致無此九字，大正獨有，於「阿耨多羅三藐三菩提、阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法如性相」句之完整性有所繫，並錄不判。
色眼法之眼。 「色眼法、色如」之「眼」，宋、元、明、宮、聖、石六本皆無〔T25 0428a20〕——六本合讀為「色法、色如」，恰承前文色五義之列；大正獨有「眼」字，六比一之格局，於句讀所關甚大，並錄不判（讀者正文依大正底本讀）。
卷末題與次卷首題。 卷末「大智度論卷第五十一」，聖本作「大智度經論卷第五十一，釋第二十一品，訖第二十二品」，石本卷次作「五十三」〔T25 0429b17〕；次卷卷首題，宮本作「大智度論卷第五十二釋第二十四品會宗品」，聖本作「大智度經論卷第五十二，釋第二十三品，訖第二十四品」，石本作「大智度論繹第二十三品會宗品，五十四」〔T25 0429b22〕（「繹」字其記原樣）——聖本品次一貫少一，品首、卷末、次卷三處相印；石本卷次一貫多二，品首「五十三」、次卷「五十四」，與大正之五十一進五十二同步平移，非漸次擴大之漂移。次卷首題一條亦工作底本清單未收，補入誌錄，供定本與品次卷次研究參酌。
所釋經品間衍出段落。 所釋經此品之末與次品之間，傳本另存一段與〈出到品〉開篇逐字重複之衍出文字〔T08 0265c25–0266b25〕，不屬兩品任一，成因未詳——本目所據之對讀範圍已排除此段，誌此以備考。
I. Structural Placement
Within the sequence in which the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa comments on the Larger Sūtra, this chapter belongs to the section of the Commentary on the Remaining Chapters and falls in Fascicle 51. The treatise gives its own title as 「大智度論釋含受品第二十三」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Containing and Receiving, the Twenty-third"〔T25 0424b18〕, and it comments as a whole on the chapter of the Larger Sūtra at this position〔T08 0262c04–0265c22〕. In the Taishō base text the sūtra explained titles this chapter "Equal to Space, Chapter Twenty-three": the chapter names of the sūtra and of this treatise differ, while the chapter numbers are the same—the pairing of the two names 「等空」 tr. "equal to space" and 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving" is the pivot of this chapter's apparatus; details in Sections IV and VIII. It follows Chapter 22, "Surpassing", and is followed by Chapter 24, "Converging on the Tenet". The whole chapter lies within Fascicle 51 and is not divided across fascicles: it begins at〔T25 0424b18〕 and ends at the fascicle-end title 「大智度論卷第五十一」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Fifty-one"〔T25 0429b17〕, closing out the fascicle; the next chapter begins at the head of Fascicle 52. The Northern Song monk Weibai's Essentials of the Outline of the Great Canon records 「大智度論五十一釋般若中勝出品．含受品．此二品要義」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fifty-one: explains, within the Prajñā, the Chapter on Surpassing and the Chapter on Containing and Receiving; the essential meaning of these two chapters"〔C056 0185c05〕: Fascicle 51 comprises both chapters, in agreement with the start and end given here.
Unlike "Surpassing", with its single Sūtra section and single Treatise explanation, in this chapter Sūtra and Treatise alternate four times—the four Sūtra citations begin in turn at〔T25 0424b19〕〔T25 0425b03〕〔T25 0427b03〕〔T25 0428a26〕, and the four Treatise explanations begin in turn at〔T25 0425a15〕〔T25 0426b14〕〔T25 0427c20〕〔T25 0429a03〕. Of the four Treatise explanations, three open with the two characters 「者言」 tr. "[one] says"〔T25 0425a15〕〔T25 0427c20〕〔T25 0429a03〕 (the Ishiyama-dera manuscript lacks these two characters in every case; see Section VIII), while the second alone opens directly with question and answer〔T25 0426b14〕, without any introductory words—a slight difference of format, recorded as it stands.
Seen as a whole, the chapter carries on from the preceding one. In the preceding chapter Subhūti praised the Mahāyāna in five statements, and in that chapter the Buddha answered the one on its surpassing; the four Sūtra sections of this chapter each open with 「汝所言」 tr. "what you have said", citing back one by one the remaining four statements—equal to space; like space, receiving immeasurable beings; no place of coming, going, or abiding being seen; equal in the three times—confirming each section by section and expounding it at length. The first section begins from 「如是！如是！須菩提！摩訶衍與空等」 tr. "So it is! So it is, Subhūti! The Mahāyāna is equal to space"〔T25 0424b19〕 and, in the sentence pattern 「如虛空」 tr. "as space", sets forth class by class that the vehicle is equal to space, ending with 「以是諸因緣故說摩訶衍與空等」 tr. "for these causes and conditions it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space"〔T25 0425a13〕; the Treatise explanation answers how the conditioned six perfections can be equal to space. The second section makes clear that beings, space, and the Mahāyāna—all three—are unfindable, and that therefore it can receive, advancing step by step through nine rounds of 「復次」 tr. "further"; the Treatise explanation sets up three layers of question and answer to discern the sense in which space can receive, and also explains the three names asaṃkhyeya, immeasurable, and boundless. The third section, in the sentence pattern of the 「五義」 tr. "five aspects", runs through ten categories, making clear that there is no place from which it comes, no place to which it goes, and no place where it abides; the Treatise explanation further refutes the mark of going and coming. The fourth section makes clear that the prior limit, the later limit, and the middle limit are unfindable, and that therefore it is equal in the three times; the Treatise explanation ends with the side-by-side record of divergent accounts of four ways of attaining the path and with the conclusion on complete causes and conditions. The arc of the four sections matches item by item the division in the commentary of Jizang into 「等空歎、含受歎、無來去歎、三世歎」 tr. "the praise of being equal to space, the praise of containing and receiving, the praise of no coming and going, the praise of the three times", and Jizang further joins these four praises with the preceding chapter's 「勝出歎」 tr. "praise of surpassing" into a single set of five praises spanning the two chapters (see Section VI).
II. Terms Examined
Containing and receiving. The chapter name rests on it. The sūtra text says 「受」 tr. "receive"—「譬如，須菩提！涅槃性中受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，是摩訶衍亦受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」 tr. "Just as, Subhūti, within the nature of nirvāṇa immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings are received, so this Mahāyāna too receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings"〔T25 0426b09〕; the Treatise explanation shifts to saying 「含受」 tr. "contain and receive"—「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法；二事相因：若無眾生則無法，若無法則無眾生」 tr. "this Mahāyāna can contain and receive all beings and dharmas; the two matters depend on each other: if there were no beings there would be no dharmas, and if there were no dharmas there would be no beings"〔T25 0427a26〕. The chapter name 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving" is taken precisely from these words of the Treatise explanation. Its pairing with the sūtra explained's chapter title 「等空」 tr. "equal to space" is detailed in Sections IV and VIII.
Equal to Space. The guiding thread of the first Sūtra section. In the cited sūtra the same pattern occurs fifteen times in all, every time reading 「與空等」 tr. "equal to space", and it is summed up in 「以是諸因緣故說摩訶衍與空等」 tr. "for these causes and conditions it is said that the Mahāyāna is equal to space"〔T25 0425a13〕; of the fifteen occurrences of the same pattern in the sūtra explained, thirteen are the same and two read 「與虛空等」 tr. "equal to space"; details in Section IV, the first item.
Asaṃkhyeya. The treatise itself explains its name—「『阿僧祇』者，『僧祇』，秦言數；『阿』，秦言無」 tr. "'asaṃkhyeya': 'saṃkhyeya' in the language of Qin means number; 'a' in the language of Qin means without"〔T25 0427a08〕, 「眾生、諸法各各不可得邊故名『無數』」 tr. "because for beings and for dharmas alike a limit is unfindable, it is called 'numberless'"〔T25 0427a09〕. Below the explanation of the name several accounts are further preserved on whether 「數」 tr. "number" exists, recorded side by side without judgement—for example, 「一切法和合故有名字，如輪、輞、輻、轂和合故名為車，無有定實法」 tr. "all dharmas have names because of coming together, just as wheel, rim, spokes, and hub come together and are called a cart; there is no fixed, real dharma"〔T25 0427a16〕.
Immeasurable · boundless. 「『無量』者，如以斗稱量物，以智慧量諸法亦如是」 tr. "'immeasurable': just as one weighs and measures things with a peck-measure, so too does one measure dharmas with wisdom"〔T25 0427a19〕; further, 「『量』名總相，『邊』名別相；『量』為初始，『邊』名終竟」 tr. "'measure' names the general mark, 'boundary' names the specific mark; 'measure' is the beginning, 'boundary' names the end"〔T25 0427a22〕—measure and boundary are set against each other, and together with asaṃkhyeya they form three names, each in turn reasoned through to non-existence.
The five aspects. The sentence skeleton of the third Sūtra section—each category takes up five aspects: the dharma itself, its dharma, its suchness, its nature, and its mark, all of which 「無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住」 tr. "come from nowhere, go nowhere, and abide nowhere". The Treatise explanation itself glosses three of them—「『色』名眼見事，未分別好醜、實不實、自相他相」 tr. "'form' names what the eye sees, before discriminating fine and ugly, real and unreal, own-mark and other-mark"〔T25 0428a13〕, 「『色法』名無常生滅、不淨等」 tr. "'form-dharma' names impermanence, arising and ceasing, impurity, and the like"〔T25 0428a14〕, 「『色如』名色和合有，如水沫不牢固，離散則無，虛偽無實，但誑人眼」 tr. "'the suchness of form' names that form exists through coming together; like foam on water it is not firm—dispersed, it is gone; false and without reality, it merely deceives people's eyes"〔T25 0428a15〕; the two aspects of nature and mark are shown by the simile of smoke and fire (Section III). Jizang comprehends this whole section through ten categories, five aspects, and three senses (Section VI).
The ground of lineage (the ground of nature) · the ground of what has been accomplished (the ground of what has been done). Items among the ten grounds. The first Sūtra section lists 「如虛空無乾慧地、姓地、八人地」 tr. "as space has no ground of dry wisdom, ground of lineage, or ground of the person of the eight"〔T25 0424c17〕; the character 「姓」 tr. "lineage" reads 「性」 tr. "nature" in six texts, and the sūtra explained reads 「性人地」 tr. "the ground of the person of nature"—a convergence on three levels; details in Section IV, the fourth item, and Section VIII. At the end of the ten grounds, 「已辦地」 tr. "the ground of what has been accomplished" and 「已作地」 tr. "the ground of what has been done" are two names for one ground, and the two texts invert them, first occurrence against restatement, as mirror images; details in Section IV, the fifth item. Further, for 「性地」 tr. "the ground of nature" in the second Sūtra section, the Palace edition reads 「法性」 tr. "dharma-nature" and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts read 「性法」 tr. "nature-dharma": three readings set side by side (Section VIII).
Equal in the three times. The guiding thread of the fourth section—「是摩訶衍，前際不可得，後際不可得，中際不可得，是衍名三世等」 tr. "of this Mahāyāna, the prior limit is unfindable, the later limit is unfindable, the middle limit is unfindable; this vehicle is called equal in the three times"〔T25 0428a26〕. As for why it is empty, the sūtra itself says 「是空非一、非二、非三、非四、非五、非異」 tr. "this emptiness is not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not different"〔T25 0428b04〕; as for equality dispelling itself, the Treatise explanation says 「不等相待故有等，不等畢竟無故等亦無」 tr. "equality exists in dependence on inequality; because inequality is ultimately non-existent, equality too is non-existent"〔T25 0429a16〕; its meaning is detailed in Section V.
III. Similes and Stories
The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa is known for its similes. The similes set up in the Treatise explanations of this chapter all turn around one question—how can what is without anything existent receive, and how can what cannot be seen be known?
The simile of space being able to receive. The simile that names the whole chapter. The questioner doubts why it is not said that space can receive because it is vast and boundless; the treatise answers 「現見虛空無所有，一切萬物皆在其中，以無所有故能受」 tr. "we see before our eyes that space is without anything existent, yet all the myriad things are within it; because it is without anything existent, it can receive"〔T25 0426b16〕—it receives not because it is vast but because it is without anything existent. A single phrase turns the matter over and establishes the meaning of 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving".
The simile of light and darkness, pain and pleasure. It explains knowing that there is space by way of form—if form does not receive, then one knows that space is what receives, 「如以無明故知有明，以苦故知有樂」 tr. "just as by the absence of light one knows there is light, and by pain one knows there is pleasure"〔T25 0426b23〕; space has no own-mark and appears in dependence on the mark of form.
The simile of wrong and right not receiving each other. It makes clear that mind and mental dharmas, though likewise without shape or substance, do not have the mark of receiving—「如邪見心不受正見，正見心不受邪見」 tr. "just as a mind of wrong view does not receive right view, and a mind of right view does not receive wrong view"〔T25 0426b26〕; the mind makes selections and so there is not-receiving, whereas space receives everything.
The simile of the cart. It explains that number has no fixed dharma—「一切法和合故有名字，如輪、輞、輻、轂和合故名為車，無有定實法」 tr. "all dharmas have names because of coming together, just as wheel, rim, spokes, and hub come together and are called a cart; there is no fixed, real dharma"〔T25 0427a16〕; because one dharma does not exist, many also do not exist, and hence it is called numberless.
The simile of the peck-measure. It explains the immeasurable—「如以斗稱量物，以智慧量諸法亦如是」 tr. "just as one weighs and measures things with a peck-measure, so too does one measure dharmas with wisdom"〔T25 0427a19〕; because dharmas are empty they are numberless, and being numberless they are immeasurable and boundless.
Refuting the subtle by the coarse and manifest. The treatise itself answers why it again takes space as a simile—「六塵法誑眾生心，虛空雖復誑，則不爾」 tr. "the dharmas of the six sense-objects deceive the minds of beings; space, though it too deceives, is not like that"〔T25 0426c25〕; beings grow attached to the six sense-objects but not to space, and hence 「以虛空為喻，以麁現事破微細事」 tr. "space is taken as the simile, using a coarse, manifest matter to refute a subtle matter"〔T25 0426c26〕. This is the treatise's own avowal of its method of using similes.
The simile of foam on water. It glosses 「色如」 tr. "the suchness of form"—「如水沫不牢固，離散則無，虛偽無實，但誑人眼」 tr. "like foam on water it is not firm—dispersed, it is gone; false and without reality, it merely deceives people's eyes"〔T25 0428a16〕; the provisional existence of form through coming together is like a mass of foam.
The simile of smoke and fire. It explains how nature, deep and subtle, can be known—「如火以烟為相，見烟則知有火」 tr. "just as fire has smoke as its mark: seeing smoke, one knows there is fire"〔T25 0428a22〕, 「今見眼色無常、破壞、苦惱、麁澁相，知其性爾」 tr. "now, seeing that eye and form have the marks of impermanence, breaking apart, pain and distress, coarseness and roughness, one knows their nature is so"〔T25 0428a22〕; by the power of the mark one knows that the nature is so.
The simile of what animals see. It refutes going and coming as seen before the eyes—「凡夫人法虛誑無實，雖復肉眼所見，與畜生無異，是不可信」 tr. "the dharmas of ordinary people are false, deceptive, and without reality; even what the fleshly eye sees is no different from what animals see, and is not to be believed"〔T25 0428a10〕; the seeing of the fleshly eye is no adequate ground, and dharmas in reality have no coming, going, or abiding.
The simile of nirvāṇa receiving beings (a simile of the sūtra itself). The concluding simile of the second Sūtra section—「譬如，須菩提！涅槃性中受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，是摩訶衍亦受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」 tr. "Just as, Subhūti, within the nature of nirvāṇa immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings are received, so this Mahāyāna too receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings"〔T25 0426b09〕. It likens the receiving of the Mahāyāna to the receiving of the nature of nirvāṇa; Jizang divides it off as the fourth part of the praise of containing and receiving, 「舉涅槃為歎」 tr. "taking nirvāṇa as the praise" (see Section VI).
IV. The Sūtra Passage Explained
The four Sūtra sections cited by this treatise stand in continuity with the chapter at this position〔T08 0262c04–0265c22〕 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra translated by Kumārajīva of the Later Qin. The four sections pieced together take in nearly the whole of that chapter, a coverage entirely of the same type as the complete sūtra citation of "Surpassing", and not comparable to the seven selectively inserted sections of "Recompense".
Yet the chapter title itself is the greatest variant in the whole chapter. In the Taishō base text the sūtra explained has the chapter title 「摩訶般若波羅蜜經等空品第二十三」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Chapter on Being Equal to Space, the Twenty-third"〔T08 0262c04〕, and below the title it carries its own interlinear note, 「丹本作含受品」 tr. "the Khitan edition reads 'Chapter on Containing and Receiving'"〔T08 0262c05〕; its collation notes further record that in five texts—the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions and the Shōgozō manuscript—「等空」 tr. "equal to space" reads 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving"〔T08 0262c04〕. Turning to this treatise, the Taishō base text has the chapter title 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving", while the Palace edition reads 「等空品」 tr. "Chapter on Being Equal to Space"〔T25 0424b18〕 (Section VIII, first entry). The readings of the variant texts of the sūtra and of the treatise thus cross each other exactly, pair by pair: this treatise's Taishō 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving" agrees with the sūtra explained's Khitan edition and with its Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, and Shōgozō texts; the sūtra explained's Taishō 「等空」 tr. "equal to space" agrees with this treatise's Palace edition. In later literature both names were transmitted together—Jizang's commentary throughout uses only 「等空品」 tr. "Chapter on Being Equal to Space", the Tang catalogue and the Yuan-dynasty Wencai in citing it both write 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving", and the Northern Song Weibai's digest shows both names within one book (all detailed in Section VI)—so 「等空」 tr. "equal to space" and 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving" are in fact two traditions of chapter name for the same chapter, not an isolated miswritten character. This section records their pairing and does not decide which name is correct.
Apart from the variants listed below, the four sections correspond as a rule word for word or nearly word for word. A word-by-word check yields fifteen substantive variants. Each of the two texts reads coherently on its own, and these are not errors of copying; they are recorded side by side without judgement, for the decision of a critical edition. Six of them confirm and are confirmed by the collation notes at the end of this treatise's file (the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, eleventh, and twelfth), and one agrees with the collation notes in one place and disagrees in another (the ninth); see each item, and Section VIII.
First, "equal to space" and "equal to space." The sūtra explained reads 「須菩提！摩訶衍與虛空等」 tr. "Subhūti! The Mahāyāna is equal to space"〔T08 0262c07〕; of the fifteen occurrences of the same pattern, two have 「虛」 tr. "void"〔T08 0262c07〕〔T08 0263a13〕, and the other thirteen read 「與空等」 tr. "equal to space"; this treatise reads 「如是！如是！須菩提！摩訶衍與空等」 tr. "So it is! So it is, Subhūti! The Mahāyāna is equal to space"〔T25 0424b19〕, and in all fifteen occurrences lacks 「虛」 tr. "void". The sūtra explained is itself not uniform, while this treatise is uniform; moreover, the sūtra explained's own collation notes for these two occurrences record that at the first the Yuan edition and the Shōgozō manuscript, and at the second the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions, already lack the character 「虛」 tr. "void"〔T08 0262c07〕〔T08 0263a14〕, tending the same way as this treatise's reading. Recorded side by side without judgement.
Second, the fuller or sparer use of "also." The sūtra explained reads 「摩訶衍亦如是，亦不增亦不減」 tr. "the Mahāyāna is also like this: it also does not increase and also does not decrease"〔T08 0262c18〕, while this treatise reads 「摩訶衍亦如是，不增不減」 tr. "the Mahāyāna is also like this: it does not increase and does not decrease"〔T25 0424c01〕; the sūtra explained has two more instances of 「亦」 tr. "also"—a difference of function words.
Third, "awareness" and "knowing." The sūtra explained reads 「如虛空無見無聞、無覺無識」 tr. "as space has no seeing and no hearing, no awareness and no consciousness"〔T08 0262c24〕, this treatise 「如虛空無見、無聞、無知、無識」 tr. "as space has no seeing, no hearing, no knowing, no consciousness"〔T25 0424c07〕. This treatise's collation notes record for the two instances of 「知」 tr. "knowing" in this sentence that at the first occurrence the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts read 「覺」 tr. "awareness"〔T25 0424c07〕, and at the restatement the Palace edition and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts read 「覺」 tr. "awareness"〔T25 0424c08〕 (Section VIII)—the texts outside the Taishō share with the sūtra explained the reading 「覺」 tr. "awareness", and the Taishō base text alone reads 「知」 tr. "knowing".
Fourth, "the ground of the person of nature" and "the ground of lineage." The sūtra explained reads 「如虛空無乾慧地、性人地、八人地」 tr. "as space has no ground of dry wisdom, ground of the person of nature, or ground of the person of the eight"〔T08 0263a06〕, this treatise 「如虛空無乾慧地、姓地、八人地」 tr. "as space has no ground of dry wisdom, ground of lineage, or ground of the person of the eight"〔T25 0424c17〕. This treatise's collation notes have two entries on the same line—for 「姓」 tr. "lineage", six texts, the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts, read 「性」 tr. "nature"; for 「地」 tr. "ground", three texts, the Palace edition and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts, read 「人地」 tr. "ground of the person"〔T25 0424c17〕—taken together, the six texts read exactly 「性人地」 tr. "the ground of the person of nature", entirely the same as the sūtra explained, while the Taishō alone reads 「姓地」 tr. "the ground of lineage" (Section VIII). The independent transmission and the collation notes of the various texts converge on three levels: the strongest instance of cross-textual corroboration in this chapter.
Fifth, the inversion of "the ground of what has been done" and "the ground of what has been accomplished." At the end of the ten grounds in the same sentence, the sūtra explained reads at the first occurrence 「離欲地、已作地」 tr. "the ground free of desire, the ground of what has been done"〔T08 0263a07〕, and at the restatement 「無乾慧地乃至已辦地」 tr. "no ground of dry wisdom, up to the ground of what has been accomplished"〔T08 0263a08〕; this treatise is exactly the reverse—at the first occurrence 「離欲地、已辦地」 tr. "the ground free of desire, the ground of what has been accomplished"〔T25 0424c18〕, and at the restatement 「無乾慧地乃至已作地」 tr. "no ground of dry wisdom, up to the ground of what has been done"〔T25 0424c19〕. One ground with two names: each text is inconsistent between first occurrence and restatement, and the directions are exact mirror images. For this treatise's first-occurrence 「辦」 tr. "accomplished", the collation notes record that the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts read 「作」 tr. "done"〔T25 0424c18〕 (Section VIII), the same reading as the sūtra explained's first occurrence. The alternation of 「辦」 tr. "accomplished" and 「作」 tr. "done" is of the same type as the variant recorded in the apparatus to "Going Forth and Arriving", and is not an isolated case in this chapter; recorded side by side without judgement.
Sixth, the presence or absence of the particle suo. The sūtra explained reads 「眾生無有故，當知虛空無有」 tr. "because beings do not exist, know that space does not exist"〔T08 0263b09〕, and from here on the whole passage lacks 「所」 tr. "suo"; this treatise reads 「眾生無所有故，當知虛空無所有」 tr. "because beings are without anything existent, know that space is without anything existent"〔T25 0425b05〕. This treatise's collation notes record that the four instances of 「所」 tr. "suo" from here on are all absent in six texts, the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts〔T25 0425b05〕 (one note records the four occurrences together; Section VIII)—the six texts agree with the sūtra explained, and the Taishō alone has them.
Seventh, the fuller and shorter transcriptions of giving. For the six perfections in the nine "further" rounds, the sūtra explained reads 「當知檀那波羅蜜無所有」 tr. "know that the perfection of giving (dāna) is without anything existent"〔T08 0263c20〕, this treatise 「當知檀波羅蜜無所有，尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜無所有」 tr. "know that the perfection of giving (dān) is without anything existent, and that the perfection of morality, the perfection of patience, the perfection of vigour, the perfection of meditation, and the perfection of prajñā are without anything existent"〔T25 0425c15〕; for the six perfections in the ten categories and five aspects, the sūtra explained reads 「檀那波羅蜜、檀那波羅蜜法」 tr. "the perfection of giving (dāna), the dharma of the perfection of giving (dāna)"〔T08 0264c21〕, this treatise 「檀波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜法」 tr. "the perfection of giving (dān), the dharma of the perfection of giving (dān)"〔T25 0427b29〕. Within the chapter the sūtra explained has 「檀那」 tr. "dāna" ten times in all, while this treatise uniformly writes 「檀」 tr. "dān"—purely a matter of fuller or shorter transcription, the same cross-chapter pattern as recorded in the apparatus to "Surpassing".
Eighth, dhyāna and dhyān. In the same list, for the perfection of meditation, the sūtra explained reads 「禪那波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜無所有」 tr. "the perfection of meditation (dhyāna) and the perfection of prajñā are without anything existent"〔T08 0263c22〕, this treatise 「禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜無所有」 tr. "the perfection of meditation (dhyān) and the perfection of prajñā are without anything existent"〔T25 0425c16〕. Within the chapter all three occurrences in the sūtra explained are 「禪那」 tr. "dhyāna", and this treatise always writes 「禪」 tr. "dhyān"—the same pattern as the seventh item; the sūtra explained's own collation notes also record 「禪那【大】＊，禪【聖】＊」 tr. "'dhyāna' in the Taishō (and likewise throughout); 'dhyān' in the Shōgozō (and likewise throughout)"〔T08 0263c22〕: the Shōgozō manuscript reads 「禪」 tr. "dhyān" in all three occurrences, entirely consistent with this treatise.
Ninth, the crossing of "this." In the concluding sentence 「以是因緣故」 tr. "for these causes and conditions", the two texts vary each in its own way between 「是摩訶衍」 tr. "this Mahāyāna" and 「摩訶衍」 tr. "the Mahāyāna"—the sūtra explained sometimes has 「是」 tr. "this"〔T08 0263b24〕 and sometimes lacks 「是」 tr. "this"〔T08 0264b03〕, and this treatise likewise sometimes has it〔T25 0425b13〕 and sometimes lacks it〔T25 0425b07〕. This treatise's collation notes in two places record that the Taishō reads 「摩」 tr. "ma" while the six texts read 「是摩」 tr. "this ma"〔T25 0426a01〕〔T25 0426a25〕 (Section VIII). For the first place, the corresponding sentence in the sūtra explained reads exactly 「以是因緣故，須菩提！是摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」 tr. "for these causes and conditions, Subhūti, this Mahāyāna receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings"〔T08 0264a07〕, agreeing with the six texts, while the Taishō alone omits it; for the second place, the corresponding sentence in the sūtra explained lacks 「是」 tr. "this"〔T08 0264b03〕, agreeing with the Taishō—the presence or absence of a function word crosses between the two texts and the two lines; recorded side by side without judgement.
Tenth, the presence or absence of a transitional sentence. In the section on equality in the three times, the sūtra explained has an extra transitional sentence, 「等中現在世四念處不可得。乃至十八不共法亦如是」 tr. "within equality, the four foundations of mindfulness of the present time are unfindable. And so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas: they too are like this"〔T08 0265b25〕; this treatise, 「等中現在世四念處不可得。等中等亦不可得」 tr. "within equality, the four foundations of mindfulness of the present time are unfindable. Within equality, equality too is unfindable"〔T25 0428c08〕, goes straight on to the following text. This treatise's collation notes have no corresponding record; but the sūtra explained's own collation notes record 「（乃至…是）十字【大】，〔－〕【元】【聖】」 tr. "(from 'up to' … 'this') ten characters in the Taishō; absent in the Yuan and the Shōgozō"〔T08 0265b26〕—the Yuan edition and the Shōgozō manuscript of the sūtra explained also lack this sentence, consistent with this treatise; it is not a lone witness.
Eleventh, the presence or absence of "in" at the first occurrence. In 「過去世凡夫人不可得」 tr. "ordinary people of the past time are unfindable"〔T08 0265c02〕 the sūtra explained lacks 「中」 tr. "in" at the first occurrence and has 「中」 tr. "in" at the second, inconsistent in itself; this treatise has it at both occurrences—「過去世中凡夫人不可得」 tr. "ordinary people in the past time are unfindable"〔T25 0428c12〕. This treatise's collation notes record that this 「中」 tr. "in" is absent in all six texts, the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts〔T25 0428c12〕 (Section VIII)—the six texts agree with the sūtra explained's first occurrence, and the Taishō alone has it.
Twelfth, "excel" and "surpass." The sūtra explained reads 「住是衍中，勝一切世間及諸天、人、阿脩羅」 tr. "abiding in this vehicle, one excels all the world and the gods, humans, and asuras"〔T08 0265c12〕, this treatise 「住是衍中，勝出一切世間及諸天、人、阿修羅」 tr. "abiding in this vehicle, one surpasses all the world and the gods, humans, and asuras"〔T25 0428c22〕, this treatise having the extra 「出」 tr. "beyond". This treatise's collation notes record that this 「出」 tr. "beyond" is absent in three texts, the Palace edition and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts〔T25 0428c22〕 (Section VIII)—the three texts agree with the sūtra explained, and the Taishō base text alone has it. 「勝」 tr. "excel" and 「勝出」 tr. "surpass" differ in breadth of sense, and particularly call for being recorded side by side without judgement.
Thirteenth, two forms of one graph. In the same sentence, 「阿脩羅」 tr. "asura"〔T08 0265c13〕 and 「阿修羅」 tr. "asura"〔T25 0428c22〕 are variant forms of the same character, not a doctrinal difference.
Fourteenth, the presence or absence of "mahāsattva." The sūtra explained reads 「過去諸菩薩摩訶薩是衍中學得一切種智」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of the past, training in this vehicle, attained omniscience of all kinds"〔T08 0265c15〕, this treatise 「過去諸菩薩是衍中學得一切種智」 tr. "the bodhisattvas of the past, training in this vehicle, attained omniscience of all kinds"〔T25 0428c24〕: the sūtra explained has the full title, and this treatise abbreviates it. The sūtra explained's own collation notes also record 「摩訶薩【大】，〔－〕【聖】」 tr. "'mahāsattva' in the Taishō; absent in the Shōgozō"〔T08 0265c15〕: the Shōgozō manuscript also lacks 「摩訶薩」 tr. "mahāsattva", consistent with this treatise's abbreviated title.
Fifteenth, "lands" and "worlds." The sūtra explained reads 「今十方無量阿僧祇國土中諸菩薩摩訶薩」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas now in the immeasurable, asaṃkhyeya lands of the ten directions"〔T08 0265c18〕, this treatise 「今十方無量阿僧祇世界中諸菩薩摩訶薩」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas now in the immeasurable, asaṃkhyeya worlds of the ten directions"〔T25 0428c27〕. This is of the same type as recorded in the apparatus to "Recompense" and "Surpassing": the two texts each have a consistent translation practice for words of this class, a systematic replacement and not a chance one.
Of the fifteen, in six—the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, eleventh, and twelfth—the reading of the sūtra explained agrees in every case with the texts of this treatise outside the Taishō line and differs from the Taishō base text alone; in the ninth, the two collation notes agree in one place and disagree in the other, the two lines crossing. Together with the pairing of the chapter title itself—this treatise's Palace edition agreeing with the sūtra explained's Taishō, and the sūtra explained's Khitan edition and its Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, and Shōgozō texts agreeing with this treatise's Taishō—the cross-textual phenomenon of independent transmission and the collation notes of the various texts corroborating one another, recorded in the apparatus to "Going Forth and Arriving" and "Surpassing", here reaches its height, and the chapter name is its most vivid instance. The first and second items concern fuller or sparer function words, the seventh and eighth fuller or shorter transcriptions, and the rest differences of detail, of variant graphs, or of systematic replacement. In every case each text reads coherently on its own; this section sets their differences side by side and does not decide for either text.
V. The Prajñā Eye
The eye of this chapter lies in the turning of the two words 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving"—it can receive everything, not because it is vast, but precisely because it is without anything existent. Its meaning can be summed up in four layers.
First, it is equal to space because there is no discrimination. How can the myriad conditioned practices be equal to unconditioned space?—the treatise answers 「六波羅蜜有二種：世間、出世間」 tr. "the six perfections are of two kinds: worldly and world-transcending"〔T25 0425a20〕, 「出世間者，與如、法性、實際、智慧和合故，似如虛空」 tr. "the world-transcending ones, because they come together with suchness, dharma-nature, the limit of reality, and wisdom, resemble space"〔T25 0425a22〕, 「從得無生忍已後，無所分別如虛空」 tr. "from the attainment of the acceptance of non-arising onward, there is nothing discriminated, as with space"〔T25 0425a23〕. It further makes clear why the Buddha says there are none of the various marks—「初發心菩薩於內外種種因緣法中著心」 tr. "the bodhisattva of the first arousing of the mind clings in mind to the various dharmas of causes and conditions, inner and outer"〔T25 0425a29〕, and therefore it is said that, as with space, there are none of these various marks. The class-by-class enumeration at the head of the chapter is not a loose listing of names and marks; it is set up to break the clinging mind.
Second, because it is without anything existent it can receive. This is the core of the eye of the whole chapter's meaning. It does not say that space receives things because it is vast; it says that because it is without anything existent it can receive (Section III, the simile that names the chapter). Pushing further, it dispels space itself—「受相即是無色相，色不到處，名為虛空；以是故無虛空」 tr. "the mark of receiving is precisely the mark of the absence of form; where form does not reach is called space; for this reason there is no space"〔T25 0426c06〕, 「若先有色後有虛空，虛空則是作法，作法不名為常」 tr. "if there were form first and space afterwards, space would then be a made dharma, and a made dharma is not called permanent"〔T25 0426c11〕, arriving finally at 「虛空不名為相、不名為所相，不名為法、不名為非法，不名為有、不名為無，斷諸語言，寂滅如無餘涅槃」 tr. "space is not called a mark, not called the marked; not called a dharma, not called a non-dharma; not called existent, not called non-existent; it cuts off all words and is quiescent like nirvāṇa without remainder"〔T25 0426c18〕—the very basis of the simile is itself dispelled to the end. The measure of what it can receive the Buddha himself sets out step by step—「摩訶衍無故，阿僧祇無；阿僧祇無故，無量亦無；無量無故，無邊亦無；無邊無故，一切法亦無，以是故能受」 tr. "because the Mahāyāna does not exist, the asaṃkhyeya does not exist; because the asaṃkhyeya does not exist, the immeasurable too does not exist; because the immeasurable does not exist, the boundless too does not exist; because the boundless does not exist, all dharmas too do not exist; for this reason it can receive"〔T25 0427a06〕. Moreover, containing and receiving is not a one-directional holding—「以眾生空，無佛無菩薩；以有眾生故，有佛有菩薩；若無佛無菩薩，則無摩訶衍」 tr. "because beings are empty, there are no Buddhas and no bodhisattvas; because there are beings, there are Buddhas and bodhisattvas; if there were no Buddhas and no bodhisattvas, there would be no Mahāyāna"〔T25 0427a01〕. The vehicle and beings, two matters, depend on each other (Section II), and within the meaning of emptiness there is no gap between what contains and what is contained.
Third, because it does not move there is no going and coming. The third Treatise explanation seeks going in the three phases—「已去中無去，未去中亦無去；離已去未去，去時亦無去」 tr. "in the already-gone there is no going; in the not-yet-gone there is also no going; apart from the already-gone and the not-yet-gone, in the time of going there is also no going"〔T25 0427c27〕—in question and answer layer upon layer, returning finally to 「去者不去，不去者亦不去；離去、不去，亦無有去」 tr. "the one who goes does not go, and the one who does not go also does not go; apart from going and not going, there is also no going"〔T25 0428a08〕; the going and coming seen before the eyes are judged to be the deception of the ordinary person's fleshly eye (Section III, the simile of what animals see). The treatise-author himself makes clear why he refutes so broadly—「一切法亦如是無來、無去、無住，一切法實相不動故」 tr. "all dharmas are likewise without coming, without going, without abiding, because the real mark of all dharmas does not move"〔T25 0427c21〕: the Mahāyāna's having no coming, going, or abiding is precisely all dharmas' having no coming, going, or abiding.
Fourth, equality in the three times is emptiness, and yet complete causes and conditions are not discarded. 「是空非一、非二、非三、非四、非五、非異」 tr. "this emptiness is not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not different"〔T25 0428b04〕; within equality, equality too is unfindable〔T25 0428c08〕; 「不等相待故有等，不等畢竟無故等亦無」 tr. "equality exists in dependence on inequality; because inequality is ultimately non-existent, equality too is non-existent"〔T25 0429a16〕—equality as a word is likewise established in dependence on inequality, and both are ultimately dispelled. And it is precisely within this that the bodhisattva sets out to practise—「菩薩能如是解諸法三世等，不以無始世來為疲厭，不以未來世無邊故為難」 tr. "the bodhisattva who can thus understand the equality of all dharmas in the three times is not wearied by the beginningless ages past, and does not find it hard because the future ages are boundless"〔T25 0429a12〕. At the end of the chapter the treatise-author records four accounts side by side—「得清淨無因緣，染垢穢亦無因緣，大小、好醜、縛解皆無主所與」 tr. "attaining purity has no cause or condition, and being stained with defilement also has no cause or condition; great and small, fine and ugly, bondage and liberation are all bestowed by no master"〔T25 0429b08〕, 「好醜、縛解，至時節自得」 tr. "fine and ugly, bondage and liberation, are attained of themselves when their time arrives"〔T25 0429b09〕, 「福德成就故得佛道」 tr. "one attains the Buddha path because merit is accomplished"〔T25 0429b10〕, 「但得清淨實智慧得佛道」 tr. "one attains the Buddha path merely by attaining pure, real wisdom"〔T25 0429b11〕—and judges them, saying 「如是等說，皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎」 tr. "accounts such as these are all non-causes and conditions or partial causes and conditions, which Subhūti does not praise"〔T25 0429b11〕, and establishes the right one, saying 「今佛捨非因緣，亦捨不具足因緣，說是具足因緣，所謂六波羅蜜」 tr. "now the Buddha sets aside non-causes and conditions, and also sets aside incomplete causes and conditions, and teaches these complete causes and conditions, namely the six perfections"〔T25 0429b13〕. Ultimately empty, yet complete in causes and conditions; equal in the three times, yet the bodhisattvas of the three times train in this vehicle and attain the Buddha path: this is where the eye of the whole chapter's meaning comes to rest.
VI. Divergent Readings of the Masters
The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa has no tradition of a complete line-by-line commentary; the ancient masters' citations and explanations lean wherever the material happens to fall. The ancient masters' rereading of this chapter is of the same type as for "Surpassing"—Huiying's Commentary, which explains this treatise, has a gap that does not cover it, while Jizang's commentary, which explains the sūtra being explained, preserves a complete line-by-line commentary and forms the main body of the comparative reading; in addition, the Yuan-dynasty Wencai's New Commentary on the Zhaolun yields a sentence of this chapter's sūtra text cited word for word, a new find outside the list of ancient masters for the preceding chapters. This section records the correspondence between what each master comments on or cites and this chapter, and does not judge the relative merit of the masters' interpretations.
Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451), in the table of contents at the head of the work, lists directly after "Surpassing, Chapter Twenty-two" 「等空品第二十三」 tr. "Equal to Space, Chapter Twenty-three"〔X24 0195a24〕, without any interlinear note giving another name—under the entry for the earlier chapter "Going Forth and Arriving" there is still the note 「亦名出乘品」 tr. "also called the Chapter on Going Forth by the Vehicle", while under this chapter's entry there is none. Jizang throughout uses only 「等空品」 tr. "Chapter on Being Equal to Space", and the name 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving" is not seen, in agreement with the sūtra explained's Taishō base text (Section IV).
His Fascicle 5 has a dedicated section, 「等空品第二十三」 tr. "Equal to Space, Chapter Twenty-three"〔X24 0252c20–0254b16〕, more than two thousand six hundred characters of commentary, corresponding line by line to this chapter. At its opening it establishes the meaning of the chapter: 「等空品常云：乘是萬行，萬行是有，不可與空等。若真諦遣，故無萬行，無可與空等。今明品萬行宛然而畢竟空，故與空等」 tr. "On the Chapter on Being Equal to Space it is commonly said: the vehicle is the myriad practices, and the myriad practices are existent, so it cannot be equal to space. If they are dispelled in the real truth, then there are no myriad practices, and nothing that could be equal to space. Now this chapter makes clear that the myriad practices are plainly present and yet ultimately empty; therefore it is equal to space"〔X24 0252c21〕—the myriad practices plainly present and yet ultimately empty: this is the key to his understanding of 「等空」 tr. "equal to space". His division spans the two chapters with five praises—「此品初述其第二等空歎」 tr. "this chapter first sets forth the second, the praise of being equal to space"〔X24 0253a04〕, then 「次述其第三含受歎」 tr. "next it sets forth the third, the praise of containing and receiving"〔X24 0253a14〕, 「次述其第四無來去歎」 tr. "next it sets forth the fourth, the praise of no coming and going"〔X24 0253c11〕, 「次述第五無三世歎」 tr. "next it sets forth the fifth, the praise of no three times"〔X24 0254a09〕—the turning points of the four praises join precisely, one by one, with the starts of this chapter's four Sūtra sections〔T25 0424b19〕〔T25 0425b03〕〔T25 0427b03〕〔T25 0428a26〕; at the end of the chapter it further concludes 「初結五歎中第五、三世平等歎，後句結五歎中第一句勝出歎」 tr. "the first concludes the fifth of the five praises, the praise of equality in the three times; the latter phrase concludes the first phrase of the five praises, the praise of surpassing"〔X24 0254b08〕. The first of the five praises, 「勝出歎」 tr. "the praise of surpassing", lies in the preceding chapter, and this chapter alone holds four of them, linking with the preceding chapter's commentary 「今盡品述第一、勝出歎」 tr. "now the whole chapter sets forth the first, the praise of surpassing"〔X24 0252b06〕 (already recorded in the apparatus to "Surpassing").
Five points of his commentary correspond to the text of this chapter. First, the number in the enumeration at the head of the chapter—「凡舉二十二種歎類能，由來乘是萬善有為有法，並不得舉此二十二為類云云」 tr. "in all it takes up twenty-two kinds to praise, by classes, its capacity; the traditional view held that the vehicle is the myriad goods, conditioned and existent dharmas, and that none of these twenty-two may be taken up as a class, and so on"〔X24 0253a09〕—Jizang himself states twenty-two kinds, whereas counting sentence by sentence literally according to the sūtra's sentence pattern yields twenty-three classes. The way of counting differs by one item; it is recorded side by side without judgement and not forcibly reconciled. Second, the dispute over containing and receiving—「次述其第三含受歎。由來摩訶衍是萬善，乃可令受行眾生，云何能含受一切眾生及一切法」 tr. "Next it sets forth the third, the praise of containing and receiving. The traditional view: the Mahāyāna is the myriad goods, which may indeed be made to receive the beings who practise it; how could it contain and receive all beings and all dharmas?"〔X24 0253a14〕, 「彼解云：是少分為言實錄，唯含受有著之人，不含受一切眾生及一切法。此則反佛語及龍樹意。今明摩訶衍非凡非聖，而凡聖皆含，非人非法皆含受」 tr. "Their explanation says: this is said of a part and is a literal record; it contains and receives only people who have attachment, and does not contain and receive all beings and all dharmas. This goes against the Buddha's words and Nāgārjuna's intent. Now it is made clear that the Mahāyāna is neither ordinary nor noble, yet contains both ordinary and noble; it is neither person nor dharma, yet contains and receives them all"〔X24 0253a15〕—another school takes containing and receiving as partial, and Jizang rebukes it as going against the Buddha's words and Nāgārjuna's intent. This is a doctrinal dispute preserved by Jizang; this divergent understanding is not seen in the original text of this treatise. It is recorded that the dispute exists, without judging it. Third, the division of the praise of containing and receiving—「今直為四：第一、舉虗空為歎，第二、阿僧祇為歎，第三、舉乘為歎，第四、舉涅槃為歎」 tr. "Now we simply make it four: first, taking up space as the praise; second, the asaṃkhyeya as the praise; third, taking up the vehicle as the praise; fourth, taking up nirvāṇa as the praise"〔X24 0253b20〕 (the graph 「虗」 tr. "void" is as it stands in his book); above this he also records a different division, 「北人以為六義」 tr. "the northerners take it as six senses"〔X24 0253b19〕, without listing its items in detail; it is recorded only that it exists. Fourth, the nine "further" rounds—「就文九復次：初復次、舉我類如此性等，乃至第九復次、舉我類三乘人同無所有」 tr. "In the text there are nine 'further' rounds: the first 'further' takes up the self as a class, as with this nature and the like, up to the ninth 'further', which takes up the self as a class with the persons of the three vehicles, all alike without anything existent"〔X24 0253c07〕—corresponding one by one with the nine rounds of 「復次」 tr. "further" in this chapter's sūtra text; from 「譬如涅槃」 tr. "just as nirvāṇa" onward Jizang sets apart a separate fourth part not counted among the nine, in agreement with the divisions of the sūtra text itself. Fifth, ten categories, five aspects, and three senses—「就文凡舉十科：一五陰、二十二入、三六種、四如實際、五六度等門、六菩薩、七佛、八菩提、九有為法、十無為法」 tr. "In the text ten categories in all are taken up: first the five aggregates, second the twelve sense-fields, third the six constituents, fourth suchness and the limit of reality, fifth the gates of the six perfections and the like, sixth bodhisattvas, seventh Buddhas, eighth awakening, ninth conditioned dharmas, tenth unconditioned dharmas"〔X24 0253c16〕, 「此十科法一一各有五義，謂色、色法、色如、色性、色相。就五義中一一各三義，謂不來不去無住」 tr. "Each of these ten categories of dharmas has five aspects, namely form, form-dharma, the suchness of form, the nature of form, and the mark of form. Within the five aspects each has three senses, namely not coming, not going, and not abiding"〔X24 0253c18〕—his 「五六度等門」 tr. "fifth, the gates of the six perfections and the like" merges the six perfections with the foundations of mindfulness and the rest into one category, differing in granularity from the sūtra text's item-by-item listing; recorded side by side without judgement. As for his explanation of the praise of the three times, he says 「由來大涅槃、華嚴，自可非三世。大乘與般若，並是因中行，為三世所攝。今則不然，般若是一法，佛說種種名，故一切並過去、非未來、非現在、亦非三世」 tr. "The traditional view: the Great Nirvāṇa and the Flower Adornment may of themselves be beyond the three times, while the Great Vehicle and prajñā are both practices within the cause and are included in the three times. Now it is not so: prajñā is one dharma, to which the Buddha gives various names; therefore all of it is alike past, not future, not present, and also not the three times"〔X24 0254a11〕 (in 「並過去」 tr. "all are past", under its 「並」 tr. "all", the base text's collation note reads 「並疑非」 tr. "the character for ‘all’ is suspected to be an error for ‘not’"; it is recorded as it stands)—this involves a comparison with the Great Nirvāṇa and the Flower Adornment, an extension unique to Jizang; the original text of this treatise has no such comparison.
The Yuan-dynasty Wencai's New Commentary on the Zhaolun (T45n1860), explaining the Zhaolun's meaning of prajñā as not-knowing, cites this chapter—「大品含受品云。摩訶衍如虛空。無見無聞無知無識」 tr. "The Chapter on Containing and Receiving of the Larger Sūtra says: The Mahāyāna is like space, without seeing, without hearing, without knowing, without consciousness"〔T45 0216a07〕—corresponding word for word to this chapter's sūtra text 「如虛空無見、無聞、無知、無識」 tr. "as space has no seeing, no hearing, no knowing, no consciousness"〔T25 0424c07〕, and naming it 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving", the same as this treatise's Taishō base text and different from the sūtra explained's Taishō 「等空品」 tr. "Chapter on Being Equal to Space"; the character 「知」 tr. "knowing" that he cites reads exactly as the Taishō base text, not the 「覺」 tr. "awareness" of the Shōgozō, Ishiyama-dera, and other texts (Section VIII). This is a citation by an ancient master of the Yuan dynasty, newly found outside the list of Zhiyi, Jizang, Kuiji, Huizhao, Zhanran, and Teishun; it is recorded.
The Tang Extended Chapter Register of the Buddhist Teaching of the Kaiyuan Era of the Great Tang records the chapter entry of the sūtra explained as 「摩訶般若波羅蜜經含受品第二十二」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Chapter on Containing and Receiving, the Twenty-second"〔A097 0812a11〕—naming it 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving", with the chapter number 「第二十二」 tr. "the twenty-second", one lower than the Taishō. Its departure in chapter numbering has been consistent from "Going Forth and Arriving" onward; the apparatus to "Surpassing" has already recorded the same type in its 「勝出品第二十一」 tr. "Chapter on Surpassing, the Twenty-first"; it is not an isolated case in this chapter.
Within the single book of the Northern Song Weibai's Essentials of the Outline of the Great Canon, the chapter name appears in both forms—the brief outline of the Larger Sūtra reads 「等空品」 tr. "Chapter on Being Equal to Space", with the summary 「摩訶衍與虛空。等無有邊量涯際也」 tr. "The Mahāyāna and space are equal, without boundary, measure, or limit"〔C056 0139a06〕; the brief outline of the Upadeśa reads 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving"〔C056 0185c05〕 (cited in Section I). Within the same book each follows the name of the text it summarises: direct evidence of the two traditions of the name running in parallel.
Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) is the only ancient commentary explaining this treatise, but survives only in fragmentary fascicles. The coverage of the extant fascicles breaks off after Chapter 12, "The Meaning of the Phrase", and resumes only at Chapter 37, "Weighing the Relics"—all the chapters in between are lost in full, and this chapter falls right within the gap, not covered at all; searching the book again for 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving" and 「等空品」 tr. "Chapter on Being Equal to Space" yields zero hits, which accords with the gap. Its loss is recorded as it stands, and no entry is fabricated for it.
As for the works under the names of Zhiyi, Zhanran, Kuiji, Huizhao, and Teishun, searching again for the titles 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving" and 「等空品」 tr. "Chapter on Being Equal to Space" yields zero hits in every case. Huilin's Sounds and Meanings of All the Scriptures gives sound-glosses for the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa in one hundred fascicles〔T54 0609c22〕, with the interlinear note below the title 「第九帙無音」 tr. "the ninth case has no sound-glosses"〔T54 0609c22〕; the book gives entries for this treatise fascicle by fascicle, but after the glosses for Fascicle 43 it goes directly to Fascicle 53〔T54 0615a08〕, Fascicles 44 to 52 being originally missing and without glosses, and Fascicle 51, in which this chapter falls, lies exactly within the missing range—the gap lies in that book's transmission and is nothing particular to this chapter. The recent author Yinshun's Present-day Discourse on the Middle Way once quoted the text of this chapter; it is the work of a recent author and, by rule, is not placed among the citations of the ancient masters; its existence is merely recorded.
VII. Cross-reading and Further Resonances
The veins of meaning of this chapter that carry on before and after are three, all recorded in this section, without fixing a reading.
First, carrying on from the preceding chapter to form the five praises. The opening 「汝所言」 tr. "what you have said" of this chapter's four Sūtra sections cites back one by one what Subhūti said in praise in the preceding chapter—「是摩訶衍與虛空等」 tr. "this Mahāyāna is equal to space"〔T25 0422a25〕, 「三世等是摩訶衍」 tr. "equal in the three times is this Mahāyāna"〔T25 0422a29〕, and so on (Section II of the apparatus to "Surpassing"). In the preceding chapter the Buddha answered on surpassing, and in this chapter he goes on to answer the four praises; Jizang's division into five praises is established precisely on this basis (Section VI). Further, the Treatise explanation of the preceding chapter already uses in advance the name of this chapter—「譬如虛空含受一切國土，而虛空故不盡」 tr. "just as space contains and receives all lands, and yet space is still not exhausted"〔T25 0423c20〕—the word 「含受」 tr. "contain and receive" first appears in a simile of the preceding chapter's Treatise explanation, and this chapter's Treatise explanation, 「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法」 tr. "this Mahāyāna can contain and receive all beings and dharmas"〔T25 0427a26〕, formally takes it up: this is where the chapter name comes from.
Second, the refutation of going and coming shares an axis with the Middle Treatise. This chapter's Treatise explanation seeks going in the three phases and finds it unfindable—「已去中無去，未去中亦無去；離已去未去，去時亦無去」 tr. "in the already-gone there is no going; in the not-yet-gone there is also no going; apart from the already-gone and the not-yet-gone, in the time of going there is also no going"〔T25 0427c27〕—the same structure as the verse of Nāgārjuna's Middle Treatise, "Examination of Going and Coming", 「已去無有去，未去亦無去，離已去未去，去時亦無去」 tr. "The already-gone has no going; the not-yet-gone also has no going; apart from the already-gone and the not-yet-gone, the time of going also has no going"〔T30 0003c08〕. The two books both come from Nāgārjuna and both passed through Kumārajīva's translation; this section records their shared axis and does not decide on priority. The treatise itself says 「來去相先已破，今當更說」 tr. "the mark of coming and going has already been refuted before; now it will be spoken of again"〔T25 0427c23〕—this too is a self-reference of this treatise, whose chapters run through one another.
Third, self-references within the treatise and later citation. 「此五法不去、不來、不住，如先說」 tr. "these five dharmas do not go, do not come, do not abide, as said before"〔T25 0428a24〕, 「空義，如先說」 tr. "the meaning of emptiness is as said before"〔T25 0429a09〕—both carry on meanings established in earlier fascicles and abbreviate them; the meaning of this chapter is not established in isolation. As for later citation, there is Wencai's word-for-word citation 「大品含受品云」 tr. "the Chapter on Containing and Receiving of the Larger Sūtra says" (Section VI)—the sūtra sentences of this chapter and the name 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving" have left real traces in later doctrinal study.
VIII. Witnesses and Editions
The base text of this chapter is Fascicle 51 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa〔T25 0424b18–0429b22〕; the collation text for the sūtra explained is the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, with the Taishō title "Equal to Space, Chapter Twenty-three"〔T08 0262c04–0265c22〕; the collation text for the ancient masters' commentary is Fascicle 5 of Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451), while the fragmentary fascicles of Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) do not cover this chapter. Variant notes follow the Taishō collation, covering differences between the Taishō base text and the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions, the Shōgozō manuscript, and the Ishiyama text (the Ishiyama-dera manuscript). The collation notes at the end of the working base text number one hundred and one in all; this section selects and transcribes those that bear on the chapter name, chapter number, terminology, doctrine, and fascicle division, and adds two entries obtainable only by reading the collation notes of the original file directly, the fascicle-head title and the head title of the next fascicle. The variant readings are preserved side by side, while the main text continues to follow the reading of the current base text.
Chapter name. The first entry—for 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving", the Palace edition reads 「等空品」 tr. "Chapter on Being Equal to Space", and the Shōgozō manuscript lacks these two characters altogether〔T25 0424b18〕. In the Palace edition this treatise's chapter name is thus 「等空品」 tr. "Chapter on Being Equal to Space", entirely the same in form as the sūtra explained's Taishō chapter title; the sūtra explained's Khitan edition and its Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, and Shōgozō texts read 「含受品」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving" (Section IV)—a pairing of chapter names with cross-textual corroboration; recorded side by side without judgement, for the decision of a critical edition.
Chapter number. For 「二十三」 tr. "twenty-third", the Palace edition reads 「二十三品」 tr. "twenty-third chapter", and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts read 「二十二」 tr. "twenty-second"〔T25 0424b18〕. The Shōgozō–Ishiyama line has a chapter number one lower than the Taishō, consistent on three sides with the Tang catalogue's 「含受品第二十二」 tr. "Chapter on Containing and Receiving, the Twenty-second" (Section VI), and of the same type as the 「第二十一」 tr. "the twenty-first" of "Surpassing"; it may be a different tradition of dividing and combining chapter entries; recorded side by side without judgement.
Fascicle-head title. For the four characters 「大智度論」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa", the Ming edition and the Shōgozō manuscript lack them, and the Ishiyama-dera manuscript reads 「大智度經論卷第五十三首」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra-Treatise, head of Fascicle Fifty-three"〔T25 0424b18〕—the Ishiyama text, at the head of the chapter, titles itself Fascicle 53, two fascicles ahead of the Taishō's Fascicle 51. This entry is not included in the working base text's list of one hundred and one and is obtainable only by reading the collation notes of the original file directly; it is added and recorded.
Knowing and awareness. In 「無知、無識」 tr. "no knowing, no consciousness", for its 「知」 tr. "knowing", at the first occurrence the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts read 「覺」 tr. "awareness"〔T25 0424c07〕, and at the restatement the Palace edition and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts read 「覺」 tr. "awareness"〔T25 0424c08〕. The sūtra explained reads exactly 「無覺無識」 tr. "no awareness and no consciousness" (Section IV, the third item); recorded side by side without judgement.
Lineage and nature; ground and ground of the person. In 「姓地」 tr. "the ground of lineage", for its 「姓」 tr. "lineage", six texts, the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts, read 「性」 tr. "nature"; for the 「地」 tr. "ground" of the same term, three texts, the Palace edition and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts, read 「人地」 tr. "ground of the person"〔T25 0424c17〕—taken together, the six texts read 「性人地」 tr. "the ground of the person of nature", the same form as the sūtra explained (Section IV, the fourth item), while the Taishō alone reads 「姓地」 tr. "the ground of lineage": a convergence on three levels; recorded side by side without judgement. On the same line there is a further collation note: in 「乃至無第十心」 tr. "up to no tenth mind", for its 「無」 tr. "no", the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions lack it〔T25 0424c17〕; it lies on the same line as the variant on the ground of lineage but concerns a different matter, and is also recorded.
Accomplished and done. In 「已辦地」 tr. "the ground of what has been accomplished", for its 「辦」 tr. "accomplished", the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts read 「作」 tr. "done"〔T25 0424c18〕, the same as the sūtra explained's first-occurrence 「已作地」 tr. "the ground of what has been done" (Section IV, the fifth item); at the restatement the Taishō itself reads 「已作地」 tr. "the ground of what has been done"〔T25 0424c19〕, with no collation note—one ground with two names, inverted between the two texts, first occurrence against restatement.
Pleasure and pain exchanged. In the phrase 「非樂、非苦」 tr. "not pleasure, not pain", 「樂」 tr. "pleasure" reads 「苦」 tr. "pain" in the Song and Palace editions〔T25 0424c29〕, and 「苦」 tr. "pain" reads 「樂」 tr. "pleasure" in the Song and Palace editions〔T25 0425a01〕—these two editions exchange the positions of the two characters. It is not a difference of presence or absence but a change of word order, and it poses no doctrinal obstacle (pleasure and pain being named as a pair of opposites in any case); recorded side by side without judgement.
"[One] says." For the two characters 「者言」 tr. "[one] says" at the opening of the Treatise explanation, the Ishiyama-dera manuscript lacks them〔T25 0425a15〕; the opening of the third Treatise explanation is the same, and its single collation note also covers the opening of the fourth〔T25 0427c20〕〔T25 0429a03〕—the three Treatise explanations of this chapter that open with 「者言」 tr. "[one] says" (Section I) all lack it in the Ishiyama line. Further, at the openings of these three Treatise explanations, the Yuan and Ming editions both have the character 「論」 tr. "Treatise"〔T25 0425a15〕〔T25 0427c20〕〔T25 0429a03〕, the same pattern as the collation note to "Surpassing" in which above 「者」 tr. "[one]" there stands the character 「論」 tr. "Treatise". Further, the 【論】 marker at the opening of the second Treatise explanation is also lacking in the Song edition and the Shōgozō manuscript〔T25 0426b14〕, which bears on the structural anomaly of that section's lone lack of 「者言」 tr. "[one] says".
The particle suo in four places. From 「眾生無所有故」 tr. "because beings are without anything existent" onward, for the four instances of 「所」 tr. "suo", six texts, the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts, all lack them〔T25 0425b05〕; a single collation note records together the four occurrences from here on〔T25 0425b05–0425b07〕. The same passage of the sūtra explained also lacks 「所」 tr. "suo" (Section IV, the sixth item), and the Taishō alone has it; recorded side by side without judgement.
Ma and "this ma." In 「摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」 tr. "the Mahāyāna receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings", for its 「摩」 tr. "ma", the six texts read 「是摩」 tr. "this ma"〔T25 0426a01〕, and the same note also covers〔T25 0426a25〕—of the two corresponding sentences in the sūtra explained, one has 「是」 tr. "this" and one lacks 「是」 tr. "this" (Section IV, the ninth item), the two lines crossing; recorded side by side without judgement.
Three readings of "the ground of nature." For 「性地」 tr. "the ground of nature", the Palace edition reads 「法性」 tr. "dharma-nature", and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts read 「性法」 tr. "nature-dharma"〔T25 0426a13〕—three readings set side by side, all referring to the stage of the ground of nature in the system of ten grounds; recorded side by side without judgement.
Receive and love. In 「以無所有故能受」 tr. "because it is without anything existent, it can receive", for its 「受」 tr. "receive", the Shōgozō manuscript reads 「愛」 tr. "love"〔T25 0426b18〕—receiving and loving differ in meaning, and this may be an error of similar graphs in the Shōgozō manuscript; recorded side by side without judgement, and noted for attention.
A long lacuna in the Shōgozō manuscript. The seventeen characters 「無量無故，無邊亦無；無邊無故，一切法亦無」 tr. "because the immeasurable does not exist, the boundless too does not exist; because the boundless does not exist, all dharmas too do not exist" are absent in the Shōgozō manuscript〔T25 0427a07〕; the thirty-one characters 「色如，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住；受、想、行、識如，無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住」 tr. "the suchness of form comes from nowhere, goes nowhere, and abides nowhere; the suchness of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness comes from nowhere, goes nowhere, and abides nowhere" are absent in the Shōgozō manuscript〔T25 0427b11〕; and the four characters that immediately follow, 「須菩提！色」 tr. "Subhūti! Form", are also lacking in the Shōgozō manuscript〔T25 0427b13〕, belonging to one and the same continuous loss as the thirty-one-character entry, so that the passage in fact lacks some thirty-five characters in all—the variant group of greatest extent in this chapter, a loss of consecutive sentences in the Shōgozō line; recorded side by side without judgement.
The nine characters of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. The nine characters 「阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi (unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening)" are absent in the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions〔T25 0427c12〕—the four editions agree in lacking these nine characters, and the Taishō alone has them. This bears on the completeness of the sentence 「阿耨多羅三藐三菩提、阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法如性相」 tr. "anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and the dharma, suchness, nature, and mark of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"; recorded side by side without judgement.
The "eye" in "form, eye, dharma". In 「色眼法、色如」 tr. "form-eye-dharma, the suchness of form", for its 「眼」 tr. "eye", six texts, the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions and the Shōgozō and Ishiyama-dera manuscripts, all lack it〔T25 0428a20〕—taken together, the six texts read 「色法、色如」 tr. "form-dharma, the suchness of form", exactly continuing the earlier list of the five aspects of form; the Taishō alone has the character 「眼」 tr. "eye". A six-to-one configuration that bears greatly on the punctuation of the sentence; recorded side by side without judgement (the reader's main text follows the reading of the Taishō base text).
The fascicle-end title and the head title of the next fascicle. For the fascicle-end 「大智度論卷第五十一」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Fifty-one", the Shōgozō manuscript reads 「大智度經論卷第五十一，釋第二十一品，訖第二十二品」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra-Treatise, Fascicle Fifty-one, explaining the twenty-first chapter through the twenty-second chapter", and the Ishiyama-dera manuscript gives the fascicle number as 「五十三」 tr. "fifty-three"〔T25 0429b17〕; for the head title of the next fascicle, the Palace edition reads 「大智度論卷第五十二釋第二十四品會宗品」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Fifty-two, explaining the twenty-fourth chapter, the Chapter on Converging on the Tenet", the Shōgozō manuscript reads 「大智度經論卷第五十二，釋第二十三品，訖第二十四品」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra-Treatise, Fascicle Fifty-two, explaining the twenty-third chapter through the twenty-fourth chapter", and the Ishiyama-dera manuscript reads 「大智度論繹第二十三品會宗品，五十四」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, unravelling the twenty-third chapter, the Chapter on Converging on the Tenet, fifty-four"〔T25 0429b22〕 (the graph 「繹」 tr. "unravel" is as it stands in the note). The Shōgozō chapter numbers are consistently one lower, the chapter head, the fascicle end, and the next fascicle confirming one another in three places; the Ishiyama fascicle numbers are consistently two higher, 「五十三」 tr. "fifty-three" at the chapter head and 「五十四」 tr. "fifty-four" at the next fascicle, shifting in step with the Taishō's advance from fifty-one to fifty-two—a parallel displacement, not a gradually widening drift. The entry for the head title of the next fascicle is likewise not included in the working base text's list; it is added and recorded, for reference in a critical edition and in research on chapter and fascicle numbering.
An intrusive passage between chapters of the sūtra explained. Between the end of this chapter of the sūtra explained and the next chapter, the transmitted text contains a further intrusive passage repeating word for word the opening of "Going Forth and Arriving"〔T08 0265c25–0266b25〕, belonging to neither chapter, its cause unknown—the range of comparative reading on which this section relies has already excluded this passage; it is noted here for reference.